Magic

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.

Yesterday, I randomly picked up a manga named M×0 as the general premise looked a little interesting: a boy is accidentally enrolled into a magic school and has to pretend that he is an all powerful magician even though he has no talent. But, unfortunately, it fizzled off after the first few chapters and all in all was a waste of my time.

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.