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Still More Random Nattering

niko: (Kino Dream)
[personal profile] niko
Tuesday, September 6th, 2005 02:12 pm

Phew...first major AOD review is up and no one's screaming that I suck, so that's a load off. 

Recent Anime Viewing:

  • Kodocha, Vol. 1:  Reviewed over at Jumpgate.  I like it.
  • Gunparade March, Vol. 1:  meh. I see what they're trying to do, but something about the storytelling style or the characters or the dub or *something* just didn't work for me.  The characters all either annoy me or are complete non-entities. I'm not in a big hurry to rent the next volume.
  • Ranma 1/2, Vol. 1-3:   Man, I'd forgotten how fun this show is.  Over time, my brain has downgraded Ranma from fun and funny to "fight anime with mammoth cast and repetitive gags".  I'd forgotten that that category doesn't automatically equal "sucky".  These early episodes where they're introducing core characters like Kuno, Ryoga, and Kodachi are great!  :)  I haven't even gotten to the entrance of Shampoo yet, though.  As the cast gets bigger, I may get more tired of the show, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Recent Reading:

  • Myth Alliances (Robert Asprin/Jody Lynn Nye):  Very by-the-numbers.  I doubt the Myth books will ever recapture their former sense of whimsy and fun, but this chapter wasn't actively bad or anything. 
  • Guardians of the Keep (Carol Berg):  Book 2 of "The Bridge of D'Arnath".  I was a bit disappointed with the first volume, but this one kicked things up a notch, and I was much happier with it.  At the end of the last book, there was one big "surprise" twist still unrevealed that was so obvious I was rolling my eyes that the main character hadn't figured it out.  Happily, that twist gets spelled out pretty early, letting the book move on to deal with ramifications of that instead of getting so bogged down in laying groundwork for big surprises like the first one.  Very enjoyable read, and ends at a good conclusion while still leaving plenty of open territory for Book 3.
  • Alphabet of Thorn (Patricia McKillip) - Only a mid-range McKillip for me...but mid-range McKillip is still better than most stuff out there, so that's not a major complaint.  This is one of her more straight-forward stories, plot-wise, and I usually enjoy her stuff a little more where she keeps something back.  I also think I ran into a similar problem here as I did with the first "Bridge of D'Arnath" book...the author is telling parallel stories in which the past is supposed to inform the present, but the present is simply so much more INTERESTING that I'd get rather frustrated when one of the extended flashbacks would pop up.
  • Tower of the King's Daughter (Chaz Brenchley) - Wow, do I really love this series so far.  I'm already in mourning that he doesn't seem to have written any other fantasy.  Great characters, great conflicts, uniquely "small scale" so far, in that the whole story is taking place inside a single monastery/fortress.  (Although that changes at the end of Book 2.)  Also big pluses for the mild slashy content...the newfound yaoi-girl in me was swooning.  ^_^

Currently reading Finding Serenity (essays on Firefly...some interesting, some not) and The Prydain Companion, a reference guide to Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books (which are to me as Tolkien's universe is to most other fantasy readers). I'm enjoying reading about how the various Prydain elements tie back to the Mabinogion and other Celtic myths.  I was especially surprised to see a note mentioning that the "Sons of Don" are also known as the "Tuatha de Danaan"...Full Metal Panic reference!  Whee!

Speaking of Prydain, went searching for fan-art the other day and found some GORGEOUS renditions of the characters:

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