This Carrot digs ... (in no particular order), tigers, brown bears and dragons, rainstorms, lightning & thunder, snow, monkey's weddings, johannesburgers (the trees, not the wine - but i'll have some if yer offering), strawberries, dark chocolate, prawns (grilled with no sauces), double espresso, oysters (i will even do my dance for you), my new kitten Charley, Charley Boorman (natural progression), Robert Downey Jnr., Clive Owen, Dwayne Johnson, transformers, modes of interstellar transportation, astronomy, astrophysics, the beginning (and end) of all things, trying to figure out why there is/is not a God, the spectrum of all things Music, abstract art, figuring out my own abstractions, writing anything and everything, enigmas, daffodils, honesty, Hugo Boss, christmas mince pies, black lace, going overseas (and staying, eventually), the two most fascinating creatures that ever graced my life (Ewan and Faye), quiet weekends with nothing better to do than play with paint, Neil Gaiman, the art of Moebius, 'puters (grudgingly most of the time but i do so like new machines), the smell and feel of new magazines and books, acrylic paint, Herbert Evans' art shops, All things Subaru, Tanks, The Wizard of Oz movie, Ocean, whales, good (and bad) science fiction (movies, books, tv series, discussions), Crispin Glover, candle lit bubble baths, peanuts and raisins, pretzels, Belvedere Vodka (if yer buying), Christmas trees, my tarot cards, Jet Li ... that'll do for now.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Of Dragons and tiring hackneyed fantasy tales.

i never read the Christopher Paolini "Inheritance" series (Eragon et al) until we bought it for the man of our house for Christmas cos he also wanted to read the set ... and the books do have some very eye-catching artwork ... and i do so love dragons (being one myself).

The Inheritance series has to be read with the following in mind:
a) the lad was only about 15 when he wrote it
b) it was self-published first by his parents company
c) Random House have now taken over and it's sold gazillion copies internationally (gazillion copies does not equate to quality product).

And
yes, it's rather weak in parts and too contrived.
yes, the dialogue is stilted, awkward and adolescent.
yes, the character development is sketchy
yes, too many logistical problems crop up all the time, only to be deftly solved with one sentence (plot contrivance)
yes, it makes me very angry sometimes when I read how sloppy it is

But
it has a lot of merit and moves along at a fair enough pace (if you ignore all the technical lapses)

BUT (WARNING!!!)
do NOT read this Inheritance set directly after reading George R R Martin's Songs of Ice and Fire masterpieces. It will just make you so miserable.
George's books are ART, they have longevity, weight, substance and will last for generations to come. They are already classics.
The same can not be said of the Inheritance cycle and nobody should make that assumption (some have and it makes my blood boil). I keep wanting to write stuff on the pages (especially where there are blatant editorial and penmanship mistakes), pad it up a bit, give it some ADULT content, some balls, some credibility.

And i am very jealous - cos my dragon book (still in my head) beats the pants of this lot! Duh
There.
Posted by the carrot at 1:23 PM
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