Fantasy

While I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett (based on the book that I've read thus far), Mort, for all its hype, was a tad underwhelming. There were occasional moments of utter brilliance. But they were largely overshadowed by bouts of dull mediocrity. I really did not dig the character of Cutwell and the plot itself was a little too haphazard.

The Wise Man's Fear is the sequel to Patrick Rothfuss' enjoyable The Name of the Wind, and it's a good 'un. While the flaws notes in the first book are still present in this work, the plot and flow are far smoother. But what makes the difference in book two is the level of imagination which, in some places, is absolutely riveting. The world of the Fae and the Ademre is just the kind of thing I like to soak my brain in.

Hunter × Hunter is a rather underrated action/adventure/fantasy anime (based on a manga) that I have just finished watching in its entirety. While the general premise of the story is not anything terribly creative, the fantasy elements of the story, especially Nen, are very imaginative and interesting.

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of my favourite authors (authoresses sounds rather dodgy, no?) of all time. While she is better known for her Vorkosigan saga, a very popular sci-fi, space opera-ish series, I was completely enchanted by her foray into fantasy, which yielded the excellent Chalion series.

I just finished reading Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, thanks to whoever OCR'd it. The book itself, is not bad compared to the rest of the series. However, just as anybody who is aware of my opinions on this subject will attest, J. K. Rowling, while an authoress with a admirable imagination, is just not very good at writing.

I watched Shrek 3 yesterday and I am still in mourning over it. What was an entertaining part 1 has been sodomised into mindless drivel that is neither well written nor well animated or well voiced for that matter. I sincerely hope that there isn't going to be a part 4.

Hollywood should be banned from making sequels based on the commercial performance of a movie.

I reread this book by Ursula K. Le Guin—one of my favourite authors—last week. What I have always loved about the Earthsea universe has been its atmosphere. It carries a serenity that is rarely found elsewhere; the only candidate I can think of immediately are the anime, Mushishi and Kino no Tabi.

The story is simple, the characters few, and the flow excellent. Highly recommended.

Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind is a pretty entertaining fantasy novel. It has all the usual ingredients for success: a young boy-hero gifted in magic, a quick thinker, and a general rags-to-riches storyline. Add in a school/university setting and more underdog-ness, and you wonder if the author made up a list of attributes in best-selling fantasy novels and decided to blend them all in for a sure-fire milkshake of success. There is also more than a little bit of Le Guin's Earthsea universe sprinkled throughout Rothfuss' effort.

John Carter is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' (of Tarzan fame) 1917 novel, A Princess of Mars. I haven't read the book. However, keeping the age of the story in mind, this movie is highly entertaining, if very Hollywood-sy. The story is a nice blend of sci-fi and fantasy with a decent plot and a nice twist at the end. The action is mostly good, the humour mostly funny and the clichés mostly bearable. But the acting could have been better.