Author Archives: TheAuthor

Arrival

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Excellent movie.  Not super exciting in an action sort of way, but gripping still.  It requires some thought and leaves you thinking when it is over.  The idea is fascinating and has me thinking about my own world and my own language.  The story, despite not being very action-based as I am used to, engaged me and definitely kept the stakes and suspense.
The construction of the movie was marvelous as well.  The director did a great job.  It felt fairly artsy, like every scene was very carefully crafted.  Each shot was deliberate.  And the sound. . . wow.  There wasn’t an epic score like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, but the sound was perfectly designed.  The music gave the right mood, but the true perfection was in the smaller sounds.  The world felt so real simply because we could hear it so well.  And the use if sound really made you feel what the characters felt, experience what they experienced.  It was beautiful.  The acting was great as well.  You could see every thought and emotion that crossed their minds written out on their faces. 
Overall, I thought this was a remarkably put together film.  Not my usual pick, but I am very glad I went to this one.

Muddied Warrior

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A knight in shining armor
Is wanted by none.
What use is a warrior
Who hasn’t walked in the mud?

Pain is a magic
All and awe inspiring
Until you start inquiring
And realize the world is not tiring
That the pain is not umpiring

Doubt is a lens
That makes an anthill a mountain in your eyes.
But if you step through the disguise
You see your heel can squash its size

Fear is but a messenger
It warns you of the bourn
You were made to leave and never mourn

When you are thrown to the wolves
Do like the ancient ones have done
And make them hunt for your prey’s blood

 
 
 
 

And as a look behind the curtain, here’s the first draft of this poem:

Pain is magic
All and awe inspiring
Until you catch the wielder in his tricks
And you realize you’ve been fooled
That the rest of the world moves on
And the pain is but a sideshow.

Fear is but a messenger
Warning you of the limits
You were born to push.

Doubt is a lens
That makes an anthill a mountain in your eyes.
But if you take the step
You will find you can put it beneath your heel.

When they throw you to the wolves
Be like the ancients
And make them hunt for you.

A knight in shining armor
Is wanted by none.
What use is a warrior
Who hasn’t walked in the mud?

From every arrow which you are shot
Take the head and add it to your scales
Til you have the armor to take the world

Tarkin by James Luceno

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​I enjoyed this one largely because it gave more information about the Star Wars universe and characters.  At times, I felt the characters didn’t quite match their movie conterparts, but, for the most part, I think it was well done.  The story wasn’t anything special, but it was enjoyable, which basically describes most of Star Wars, aside from the obvious shockers.  The world is what is more enjoyable to me, the overall story and the detailed races and planets, not the individual, isolated stories.  I don’t have a lot to say on the writing; it was good.  Mostly easy to understand, but with some flourish with the language, sometimes maybe unnecessarily so.  Not exactly how I would write it, but that is not a critique, it is a fact for everything I didn’t write.  Mostly the writing just disappeared into the story, which is a sign that it is good.  Overall, I think the book was done well and is an essential book for people wanting to understand the new canon.

Eon by Greg Bear

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I’m not really a hard sci-fi guy.  I’m just not smart enough for all the science.  Reading this book made me feel a little bit dumb and was definitely a brain workout.  I also prefer to read books for their story and hard sci-fi has a tendency to pause the story to explain the science, I feel like.  Some people with more scientifically inclined brains enjoy it I am sure, but I am not a fan.  It probably didn’t help either that I kept getting distracted while reading it, especially in the beginning, so there were a number of things that probably would have made more sense had I not been distracted.  Although, despite all the science explanation, I still have questions, mainly how the Stone’s presence affects gravity on Earth if at all.
In terms of the actual writing, I am not a huge fan.  I don’t really like the point of view.  I like very limited third person and first person.  This was less limited.  It felt like it was following one person, but then it would be focused on another person only to revert back.  Again, it is a personal preference, but I did not really enjoy it.  The action felt removed at times, like we were disengaged and being told through an outside observer rather than being made a part of the story, they happen so matter-of-fact-ly.  Again, personal preference and the story wasn’t focused on the action, so it was understandable.  Some of the reactions and interactions didn’t feel real, however.  There were a few times I thought “no person ever would say that or be that cool.”  Maybe I just haven’t been around the right kind of people, but I was doubting.
The story was good.  It was a step away from my usual conflict and war-based stories, but It was pretty good.  There didn’t really seem to be a whole lot of buildup throughout, which felt a little off, but, again, it might just be that I kept getting distracted, so I wasn’t fully engaged in the story.  The beginning of the book and the end are very different.  So much happens throughout.  That is a little overwhelming and makes some of the major events feel less important, they are just kind of drowned out.  
Overall, not really my kind of book, but it was good.  If you enjoy hard sci-fi, then I’d say read it.  If you don’t like hard sci-fi, it is your choice.

Ruin by John Gwynne

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I had a long enough break between the last book and this one to reengage fully with the story and I enjoyed it all the way through this book.  It was pretty unrealistic at times, aside from the obvious fantasy elements.  The biggest example of this was the remarkable timing.  There were many times when certain events happened at just the right time, such as two groups of people meeting up just in time to join a battle that was all but lost.  But those were forgivable, as the story as a whole was still enjoyable.  I very much admire Gwynne’s ability to have all these different storylines and characters moving alongside each other and have them come affect each other and come together.  With this book, a lot of the stories converged and the overall story built significantly.  Very exciting and kept me up three hours too late last night so I could finish.
The actual writing is much the same as the first two books.  Still different than I am used to, but it is usually clear.  He does still have a habit of restating things.  Sometimes I understand why he does, it is from a different character’s POV, but it often offers no new information and I’m left thinking “we already know this.”  His use of thoughts still bugs me.  I am not a fan of direct thoughts in most instances anyway, but his use sometimes has no apparent use.  It often feels like the thoughts were added after the fact, restating something word for word.  And there is so much of it some places.  A few pages are half italicized and it feels off and distracts from the story.
Overall, I very much liked the book.  I do have some issues with how it is written, but they do little to detract from my enjoyment.  I still recommend the series and look forward to the next book. 

Fiction on the Wall

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All my life I’ve been staring at this wall
And reading the writing, a story for the ages
Full of heartache and loss
With a villainous hero
Who plays the mentor and the fool.

I’ve read about a battle for change
With victory a concept
True only in lies
That left him broken and falling,
Devastated by the loss
Of who might have been.

And no story is true
Without a love that no one wants
And a demon that no one hates.
And where’s the fun
If the hero has friends
When he needs them most?

These words etched into stone
Tell of a possession
That started as a deal
And ended without a soul.
And of a prison that none can see
But through the words of a book in green.

There is a character who is not a monster
And another who doesn’t know her.
One who speaks but they don’t hear
And one that has his books and wisdom.
There is one who is trapped in a jar
And who wants a tattoo on his sleeve.

At the end is an ellipsis
That moves farther down with each passing day.
The longer I stay
The more this fiction is written on this wall.

Statue of Bronze

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A war between copper and tin
Shredding a statue of bronze
And leaving it wonderin’
If it is the sum or if it is the parts
Or if it is a being of a different skin.

It is frozen in place,
In the corner of a garden,
Its eyes fixed on a sacred base
And the angel of gold stood on its face

With every hand placed on her skin
The molecules of his within
Break apart, not how they’ve been,
Until he fears that he will melt
To a puddle, when it’s felt
Will leave a burning and a welt
On all who notice where he dwelt.

He pleads the sculptor of his life
To keep his shape set through his strife
And turn him from his golden queen
Or lift her eyes to be his wife

Operation Mirage Part 3

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Be sure to read Part 1 here
and Part 2 here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 

The team is clearly elite.  

I rub my bloody hands together over my spare clothes as I watch them.

Each of them has a unique style different than the short-cropped hair and clean shaven appearance of most agents.  One of them sports a bald head with a massive beard sprouting from his chin.  Another has his head shaved into low and wide double mohawks.  The woman in the group has blonde braids down the sides of her head that connect into one large braid in the back; the top of her head is dyed black.  She and the youngest of the men have tattoos like circuitry running up one side of their necks and curling around their brows.  Another of the men has a similar tattoo running up the shaved side of his head, but his is intermixed with numbers and images of various weapons, both modern and historical.
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Operation Mirage Part 2

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Be sure to read Part 1 here
And when finished here, read Part 3 here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 

I glance at the hand that stops me in the hallway to the agent bunkroom, then move my eyes up the arm attached to it and to the face of its owner.  A sheen of sweat glistens under long, black hair.  Frey examines my face.  I place my red fingers over her clean ones and hold them there for a few moments before dropping my arm back to my side.
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Operation Mirage Part 1

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Blood is on my hands. Red rivers run through canyons that make up my palm print. It pools in the crooks of my curled fingers, creating lakes of a man that used to be. Drops overflow and cascade over the backs of my knuckles where they draw together until they are strong enough to leap into the air. They fall one by one between my boots, where they hit the ground and explode as scarlet stars over broken pieces of white concrete.
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