. : : Valar Morghulis : : .

Gotcha!

Christopher Pike is one author I remember from the early 2000s who consistently tricked my sister into loaning his novels from our local library. His books resembled standard teen novels on the outside and were also placed next to a huge rack of Sweet Valley novels.

I soon found out* that these novels by Pike start off as young adult drama but quickly turn into a science fiction novel (complete with aliens and spaceships in one instance) and are usually quite good. Every time I read one of these books I would picture the duped person reading in bewilderment as the seemingly normal story took a science fiction detour. Great fun.

*Being too lazy to actually go to the libary to loan books myself and having anyway finished all the interesting ones there a long time ago – it’s a small libary – I usually ended up reading some of the books lying around at home.

Dumbledore Is A Fairy

It looks like not everyone heard about this. (Of course, no one reads George’s blog.) Arun sent me a text message first, telling me this totally unnecessary fact.

If you still don’t understand what the hell I’m talking about, read this.

This was one thing the world would have been better off not knowing. How the hell cares? The series is over.

You know what’s really gay? The ending.

Robert Jordan Is Dead

He’s gone.

Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney Jr. was his real name), author of the incredible The Wheel of Time series died on Sunday of a rare blood disease. He was 58 years old.

I was about 15 years old when Krish Raghav introduced me to the series. At first I didn’t know what to make of it but I reached the chapter called Winternight in the first book The Eye of the World and I was immediately hooked. He built a whole new complex fantasy world and the best part was that it didn’t resemble The Lord of the Rings simply because he put so much effort into describing the customs and practices of each group of people in the series.

After 11 books of an epic battle between Darkness and Light, the series was set to conclude with a monstrous 2000 page final book. But Jordan’s gone. What will happen to us now?

And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered, and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age, and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man. Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth. Neither shall anything stand nor abide…

Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow, born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end. The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind. Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us. And burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation.

–from The Karaethon Cycle:
The Prophecies of the Dragon,
As translated by Ellaine Marise’idin Alshinn,
Chief Librarian at the Court of Arafel,
In the Year of Grace 231
Of the New Era, the Third Age

Fellow mourners:
George
Ashok

Other Harry Potter Stuff

Tired of waiting for the last Harry Potter book? Here are some other things to keep you busy:

Potter Puppet Pals
Two animations I found sometime back on this site. Funny stuff.

Alternate Harry Potter Storyline
This is a fan fiction series that branches off from the original series after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Adithya brought this to my attention. He says it’s pretty good. It consist of three books.

Quote from the site:

The books pick up where Rowling’s fifth book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) left off. They diverge from the original novels there, so you will note quite a few contradictions between them and Rowling’s sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Essentially, my brother’s books finish the Rowling series and then some: The Veil of Mystery is book six, The Ring of Reduction is book seven–the end of Harry’s time at Hogwarts–and Phoenix Intuition takes place a few years after Harry graduates. So if you begin reading The Veil of Mystery, it is advised that you re-read Rowling’s The Order of the Phoenix so as to remind yourself where things stand.

All three of my brother’s books were completed before Rowling released The Half-Blood Prince. My brother may or may not write another Harry Potter book in the future, but if he does, it will likely be quite different from the novels he has written, and may be in a very different time and setting.

The books tend to be long. Both Veil and Ring would be more than 1000 pages each if published in hardcover form. We’re talking more than 400,000 words each. Phoenix Intuation is about half that length.

You might also be surprised at the quality: they are extremely well-written. I’m not just saying that because it’s my brother, I mean it. Many readers have even said they prefer my brother’s book six to Rowling’s version–and frankly, I agree. A matter of personal preference, of course–both authors take the series in different directions, which will suit different people in different ways. But to be compared favorably to Rowling is no small feat.

It should also be said that the novels are written for an older audience. There is an strong tendency to weave in elements of morality (without getting even near “preachy”), current events, and observations of interpersonal relationships. In contrast to Rowling’s books where characters act in ways that are forced by drama or mystery, my brother’s rendition of the characters is more in line with real life, the way responsible and rational people act–and yet he maintains drama and mystery.

Oops, forgot the link. Here it is: http://www.blogd.com/archives/001234.html

Nine Days to Go – 2 Mbps connections for the masses!

I want those 2 Mbps connections now!

My 128 Kbps is slow. Slow. So slow. I have to pause a 9 MB download to access any torrent. Imagine that. Ridiculous!

(That reminds me, Harry Potter book 7 is to be called ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. It was on the news yesterday. I’m not that big a fan of the series but the books are pretty good.)

Ah, 2 mbps connections. Ah! Bliss!

Pack your bags, cable TV and CAS. Close down the theatres.

Nine days to go. Gotta call Airtel and ask for their response.