Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake is kind of the strangest book yet. I have a fear of children and the Craken kids freak me out! I loved Snowman's adventure though. This is a book about a true quest for humanity and relations. I have to say that I think that the part of the book after the storm where Margaret describes stale cigarettes, chocolate, and the things we take for granted in so much detail as though the reader would't even know what they were was fantastic. I love book that make you re-think what thinks you have to an extent that they do not even exist anymore as a common day object. The problem is, when reading things like this, it seems so true. It seems as though every step we take could led this fantasy to become reality. Besides that I am glad for the prostitution, the strangeness of a simple hat, and a love triangle. CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IS BAD!... heehee ^///^
Anyways this book in the end confused me and had way too many references to the bible, Frankenstein and other things that confuse me. The end.

If this were a virus you would be dead right now.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Let me start by saying this has been my absolute favorite book this entire semester. 
Snow Crash was the perfect genre for me because it is in a way, the way I live my life.
I live in the metaverse, I look through the eyes of my computer. I store data via the internet, I am myself a Shadowrunner. This book is a huge Shadowrun champaign, change pizza 'delivery' to 'run', change 'snow crash' for 'beetles', and change 'Y.T." to 'Yue' and you have last weeks game. :D
^Yue is my character... who actually has a new alias... "Y.T." and her team member's new alias "Hiro". 
Yes I got my entire nerd group reading if they hadn't already. 
I loved the speed, I love the interpersonal relations, and I love the hyperemic needle. 
My absolute favorite part though was when Hiro is chasing Raven through the Street and the scrolls are about to fall, and I'm screaming shit he didn't make it in time and there it is, these two Brandies holding out the scrolls and all you see... "If this were a virus, you would be dead right now. Fortunately, its not." I died. I laughed for hours. Then I re-read the book again. :D

... ew?

Dawn is probably the most diverse book I have ever read as well as disturbing.  And I have read sex novels about dinosaurs and humans! The book put fear into me about a possible future. What if there were no humans to reproduce? We can just recreate them!
The theory of recreating humanity as a host species and parasite changes my view of our humanity and where we are heading. I feel closely attacked to these ideas of gender confusion and communal family.

Questions

Tan Tan:

-What is the damn setting?! Seriously fail to set up this story.

-What language are we speaking here? 

-What the hell is a Robber Queen?

-Is it just enough to help one person and leave them behind?

-Is slavery overcome by passion?

Bloodchild:

-Why is there no sex scene?

-Where can I get an egg?

-So are men impregnated by worms or eggs?
-Where the hell are these names from?

-Can you put yourself in harm to save another?

-Is our fate chosen when we are birthed?

-If an alien race came to our planet, would you buy a gun, then live off of them, and then sell your don to be a microwave?

-Really this only make me wonder about the sex and names more?

Ubik

While talking in class I realized I should have read babel 17.  Being in a lifestyle much like what you are referring to in Babel I think I would understand the story more than I did Ubik. Ubik is great because its based off beer. The story line is confusing. It seems like the majority of the story focused on this afterlife feeling. What we can do beyond the line of death and how the alive handle this. It shows how we as humans want to hold on too tight to what is gone and can never return, if even for another moment. This appeals to me because I myself am a pack-rat. I am certain if given the choice with death I would choose to hold on as long as possible.

Starship Troopers

So it has taken me a while to write up this semester's blog posts. I enjoyed all of the books but haven't had the time to write up these. Anyways, Starship Troopers, funny movie and even better as a book. I re watched the movie after reading this week's book and I have to think that the movie is a satire now.  The book was serious, less equal in sexes, and more of a story about one persons effect on his environment than the movie. 

The book was well written but tended to focus on more smaller details than necessary. I really want to hear more about these alien creatures, his relationships with females, and how he moves forward from his seemingly meaningless life.
My favorite part was when they got the crazy attack from these spider creatures and ended up going underground and being separated.  It was really a test to see if he had what no one else had. And to start the book with his normalcy to change into this unacknowledged hero was something I really enjoyed.

suggestions

Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
I am just about to start A Wise Man's Fear durning spring break.
I also believe some readings out of Shadowrun 20th ed would be awesome.
I think a tournament of Magic:The Gathering would rock too.
Also, field trip to B&N and Books A Million.
You should try adding more "Warning Sexual Content" 
Thanks a bunch!
Jessi

BioChromatic Hotties!

Dear Sanderson,
You rock my world.

I want to someday game with you. Pick your brain. Be Siri's servant, really whatever you need.
Thanks,
Jessi

PS: Warbreaker needs more sex.



Moving on, Warbreaker just speaks to me in every way possible. It plays on the game of life. There are levels, there ways to spend "breath", and the plot is huge! I have to say more sex would be the only thing you ask for.
The play on religious beliefs and relationships within that was a wonderful take on the matter. Between the God King and Siri's believes of Austre you have to wonder if the apple really feel far from the tree. Eberron makes an amazing king with such a sad story, why not idealize him.

Some of the things I love was the description of BioChromatic whenever the  God King was around and the lifeless squirrel. I mean SQUIRRELS!...really? Just the way he has mega-plot twists and turns and loops you just don't know if dinosaurs are going to be lurking around the corner. More than anything else I love Eberron and Siri. They were made for each other. They had to be together. He is so innocent as to not understand sex, but in love and beautiful enough to write such words about her. I wish the sex scene was included and that an entire book was made of their nightly picnics.

Overall this is the story of Daisy and Peach trying to figure out if they should fight for themselves or have Mario and Luigi save them.
I love how Siri talks to Eberron. I love how

Why the spiders, Neil?

I am in love with Neil Gamien. I want to be in Stormhold with Neil. I want to read all of his books. Anansi Boys is more adult then the rest of his novels I've read though and was not as thrilled as normal. I enjoy the sickness of his children's novels. He is witty, funny, intelligent no matter the age he is writing for. Anansi Boys is defiantly not my favorite novel of his, it is a story about a lame main character and amazing side characters. I was more interested in Spider, Daisy, and everyone around them. I love modern takes on myth, I love his semi-steam punk feel.
*pause*
I want him.
*un-pause*
I will write more soon but at the moment I'm to busy being in love.
I defiantly love Stardust (the book) much more than his attempts at adult novels. He just know who to get a young girls heart racing, in more than one way. Anansi Boys play with my love for small adventures done in big ways, by having no huge plot. Instead he plays with a small quest and goal. I feel like Fat Charlie was a mistake of a main character and can't get past the lack of death and destruction in the novel.
Anywho, I shall move back to Stardust now. For a fantasy Gamien makes is so believable, like all his books. He makes sense without truth. He shows the little things that make a big story and while doing so has an amazing accent. <3

Bibidi bobidi boo

I am currently reading The Magician and will write more, but right now, I am reading chapter 5 and do not wish to stop. Ever.
And now I am done. Wow, I loved this story. I was never much into Harry Potter (after book 3) and really the closest I get to magic is Name of the Wind. Honestly though this book was clever, rich, and funny. The dynamic to the magicians vs. the normal people and the people who aren't so normal is intelligent and witty. I admit that it took so getting used to his slow writing style, but I much preferred it over Anansi Boys and other books that just fly by.
Although he covers the span of 5-years in the book I felt like only minutes went by. He is a human, a magician, a goose, a sex-craved fox all in the same breathe. Maybe I was just holding my breathe until he and Alice got together, but it was worth it. I could feel this debauchery and strive and really, Quincy just reminded me of myself. The story was not heavy plot but it had enough to keep you going.
I am very excited to see where the series goes, and I will buying the next book once its on the selves.
It must be said here and now though, my favorite kind of magic is with cards.
(look below for details)

On the tale that is longer than my cat's (teehee)

Oh how I love a good pun, almost as much as I love curling up during summer with Tolkien, Rufus, or Lewis. There is something about over described landscape and heroic characters that take you away to a better place. You transport to another land, where nothing in reality is true, and everything in a book is real. The classic fantasy is possibly my favorite genre. I can read and re-read any given fantasy for the millionth time and still gasp and cry. I can still feel the emotions of the first time I read Narnia. The fear and joy of Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan and their epic adventure.
It is said that Tolkien and Lewis were friends in their time writing. Maybe that is why their books are so similar. Tolkien taking the less religious view. Still, I am glad of their friendship for the stories they tell create hope for me. Fantasy allows for a person to see the good in people. To see that good will defeat evil and that we will be rewarded for it. At the same time it takes us to a magnificent place that is were will a long to be. So thank you Tolkien, Lewis, and others. You give me reason.
That in motion, I have to rant. I am in a Shadowrun game right now, (tabletop) that has a bunch of poser elves that wear synthetic leather and speak not in Sperethiel, but TOLKIN ELVISH! Sperethiel is the native Elvish language in the game. Really? I am going against wannabes. Don't ever learn a language that doesn't exist, and then do it poorly. Telegit thelemsa.

J-Horror would be much better with some J-Rock

I found that while reading A Wild Sheep Chase I feel asleep on the book countless times. I love the japanese culture and most thing surrounding it, but in all honesty, horror is not my favorite genre. I was as lost as the main character in the book. I felt like a nameless sheep on a goose chase. The book left me confused and bored, but then again, maybe I should finish it and see what I think. I got half way through the book and gave up though. No names, no real plot, and no character development.
I was interested in the romance between him and nameless folk, the whole aspect of anonymous sex came to mind. But I felt like he knew her to well, been stalking her too long for it to be appropriate. Plus she is a bit of a slut. So therefore I feel like the glory hole ideal is no longer in play and it is just a romance between two people whose names are a bleeped out.
So, really, I gave it a shot, this book just missed my target. With that said, I much prefer manga based J-horrors such as Death Note. I love L and the idea of the underworld and curses taking over. I enjoy the namelessness of the story here, because by giving your name you are liable to die. It is a mystery that keeps you wondering who is what and what is what. Plus, L is kind of sexy with his candy obsession. Then he dies.... Sad day. The anime was also very pleasing with its J-rock theme songs and colorful take on such a depressing story. Such an amazing story of cat and mouse, death and life. Now, what's your name again?

On that matter of vampires and other bloody (british usage) things.

Anne Rice may not have been the creator of the “vampire” but defiantly inspired novelists many generations later. It is my belief that Stephanie Meyer should have gotten the hint. Vampires are monsters, not self-proclaimed romanticists. A true vampire would gladly drink blood and never, never ever ever, go willingly into sunlight.
The great thing about Interview is the layout. The story telling style used in the novel makes you really think like a vampire and how he must have felt. Was he a pedophile? Did he really feel okay with himself? Why in the world would he tell this story to a human? It makes me think of all the possibilities. 

If we view vampires as squirrel eating baby-makers, what makes them different from you and I? Eternal life? Write a soft-core teen novel, be an actor in daytime TV, sing your lungs out even though you know you suck, and you can have it. The true gift of the vampires was an alluring mystery.

With Nosferatu we were given a blood thirsty monster. Blade gave us gore and techno-life. Underworld showed us a sexier side of killing. Vampire: The Masquerade gave me a way to communicate with other nerds! But Stephanie Meyer gave me nightmares... of sparkling vampires with rat tails hanging out of their mouth.

In a world where magic is so vital, the genre has opened up endless possibilities. Can we die, can we love forever, what do we live for? That is what vampires must face.

1. Dying, yes... in extreme situations.
2. Love... eternal and debaucheries.
3. Life?... well, undeath, hold the promise of knowledge, sex, and blood. What more could you ask for?

I do not hold any one writer accountable for mixing up these questions with silly notions of day-walkers, teen-aged pregnancy, and dancing werewolves. In my eye they can never ruin the appeal of a random sexy Lestat. And might I add, Selene can bite me any day.

Brains or no Brains

I started off reading this text bored. I have just finished reading "World War Z" and to my knowledge any other zombie text would not compare. Nonetheless David brought me in by chapter two. By taking the view points of many different characters and times he shows digression in a new light. Gary's character brings the most interest to me, his point of view, through being an undead is wonderful. Gary is what changes the idea of zombies being things with no emotion, hungry for more, into a new dimension.
Since my introduction to zombies with Dawn of the Dead, I have always assumed that zombies were a metaphor for societies lack of humanity. Though this holds true, especially with that state of New York, Gary is able to create this anomaly. What if zombies were friends?
Zombies for me though are a way to plan for worst-case-sanario events. Unlike any other monster, zombies don't just appear scattered... outnumbered masses would attack like any given disaster. Now, I have to say with that in mind, zombie clowns freak me out. I mean! Come on! They only thing worse would be a zombie Barney... and don't get me started on that.