I Suddenly Remembered My Charlemagne

I put off reading this book for YEARS, because it was the last book that Tamora Pierce had available. Like, long enough that she published FOUR OTHER BOOKS. MarkDoesStuff finally finished reading TP books, though, so I thought I should too.

*gazes into the abyss*

I need a hug.

I swear, this is the most Yuletide reading I've ever done. Which is, I guess, what happens when I am by myself for Christmas?

Anyway!

Queen and Consequence - The Princess Diaries.

I love this one because, in addition to being funny and capturing all the characters (and pears!) with perfection, it's also about the "real" Queen of Genovia watching a movie about herself, starring Anne Hathaway. There are Chris Pine jokes that are simply not to be missed. It's beautiful.

Sunrose Transplanted - The Trickster Books

Sarai makes a pretty understandable, if selfish, choice in "Trickster's Queen". This fic is the outcome of her decisions. It's not all easy, being out of the plots and conspiracies, but she does her best. Also, we get to see Empress Kalasin, which doesn't happen enough, as far as I am concerned.

Brightness All Around - The Protector of the Small

Wyldon asks Kel if she would like a puppy. I'm not even freaking kidding. Gods all bless.

With All Brightness - Lilo & Stitch

My feelings, you guys. MY. FEELINGS.

Delete Selected Email? - The Anger of Jonathan Franzen

Remember the time Jonathan Franzen got mad at Twitter and insulted, like, EVERYONE ALIVE? Fandom never forgets, that's for sure. And fandom is pretty damn clever about it. This is a series of movie proposals, and it does not disappoint (anyone except Jonathan Franzen, presumably).

Seeds of a Rose - Stealing Fire

Lydias. Lydias. Lydias. Lydias. Lydias.

I can't even.

This is actually a collection of short stories. Some of them take place in Tortall and the surrounding countries, some of them are non-specific fantasy and two of them take place in modern America (though one of those has a decidedly mystical bent). Common themes are, as always, awesome female characters and stories that don't shrink away from issues. Ever.

My favourite story is actually a tie, but the two stories are connected to one another by common characters, so I don't think I'm cheating too badly. Remember that time Numair turned a bad guy into an apple tree and said, kind of as a throw-away line, that somewhere an apple tree and become a man? Well, "Elder Brother" is the story of that tree-turned-man, and it is SUPER cool. The story is tied to "The Hidden Girl", which also deals with religious oppression. What makes it SUPER COOL is that the protagonists in "Elder Brother" and "The Hidden Girl" approach their oppression differently, and actually come to a better understanding of their own powers while figuring out each other. It kind of broke my brain.

The other story I enjoyed was "Lost", which features a darking and a girl who is much smarter than anyone is willing to believe. And, of course, the tale about Nawat and Aly, who have triplets thanks to Nawat's unique ancestry. The story mostly focuses on Nawat himself, though Aly gets some excellent work, and how he deals with being a man who is also a crow (and seriously, at one point I thought I would have a heart attack, and that is all I'm saying).

Rounding out my favourites was "Plain Magic", because I have a weakness for stitchmages and "Student of Ostriches" which just blew my mind with its awesomeness (and reminded me that even though I can't stand Liam, I do love the Shang Warriors).

Reading this many little stories written by Pierce reminded me of why I like her work so much. Her heroines are not the quiet "win by being female" type. I don't get as angry about that sort of heroine as I used to (for instance, Molly Hooper pretty much won "Sherlock" this season for being decidedly unfabulous), but so help me, I like the heroines who kick ass and take names so. much. more.

There's been a trend for "realism" lately (see also: the end of the "Leviathan" trilogy, the end of "Mockingjay", "The Revenant", heck, even "Fringe"), by which I mean that the heroines end a bit more quietly than I'd like. They take the back seat. They "pay the price" for "all their deception", which they used to circumvent an unfair system. Sometimes, I just want HUGE SOCIAL CHANGE, and screw 'real' you know? That's why I'm reading a book. It gives me a break from all the depressing things I see in the news.

That said, none of Pierce's heroines fail to earn their victories, and some of those victories are very small. But they are all won for Right, not Might, and often they are won for God (by whatever definition God is operating under at the time), and that is always, always something I adore. I am so glad, so, so glad, that Pierce has written these stories, and glad I finally got to read them.

9/10, for being so much of what I like.

I am going to attempt to review this book.

It may end badly.

If it ends at all. ;)

( At least I've more or less calmed down... )

Everyone has (or could have) that one author. I always thought mine was going to be Marion Zimmer Bradley. I was wrong. Tamora Pierce always manages to work issues important to her into her novels, whether it's the use of fur or who a person loves, and it never feels soap-boxy or forced. I want to be like her when I grow up.

But enough about me!

( Now for the actual review! (more spoilers than usual)(also flailing) )

So I am standing by last night's rating, which was 10,000/10, for being about hope, love, girls, awesomeness, and for making me cry like a crying thing for the last fifty pages or so.

I wrote a fic for Yuletide. I got so lucky with my prompt this year, and then I got extra lucky because I got pretty much the same prompt BACK. It was seriously the gift that kept on giving. ;)

Anyway, I wrote Going Rogue, staring George Cooper and Alanna the Lioness, with a special guest appearance by Beka Cooper.

I received Mission Accompliced, a cleverly titled ficlet where Alanna has a serious mission, and George helps.

My fic is not f-locked. Some of the older stories may be linked to ff.net, but for the most part, everything is on livejournal.

( Stargate SG-1 Master List )

( Stargate Atlantis Master List )

( Lord of the Rings Master List )

( Angel Master List )

( Battlestar Galactica Master List )

( Inception Master List )

( Sanctuary Master List )

( Firefly Master List )

( Marvel Master List )

( Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra Master List )

( Randoms: Narnia, Who, Fringe, Jericho, Tamora Pierce, Tangled, Dollhouse, The Bourne Trilogy, Criminal Minds, Defying Gravity, Highlander, Avatar/Korra, The Avengers and Once Upon a Time )

If you want CSI, Without a Trace, The West Wing or Veronica Mars, you are most welcome to look through my tags and on my ff.net page. The CSI is pretty bad, as it was my first tries at writing.

Post a comment and I'll tell you five things I associate with you, and then you get to post about them in your own lj.

I ended up with input from havocthecat, gabolange and abyssinia4077 for this. As relative newcomers to my f-list, I wasn't entire sure what to expect! I ended up with: UF, archaeology, cake, toasters and Boomer; Korea, Canada, bookstore, travel and cake; and BSG, cakes and the making thereof, my default icon and my thoughts on Madeleine L'Engle, Daniel/Janet, and my favourite pairing ever.

( UF )

( Archaeology )

( Toasters )

( Boomer )

( Korea )

( Canada )

( Bookstore )

( Travel )

( BSG )

( My Default Icon and How I Feel About Madeleine L'Engle )

( Daniel/Janet )

( My Favourite Pairing Ever )

The more astute of you will notice that ALL THREE requested Cake and this has not been explained. The reason for this is simple: the pictures of my latest endeavour are still on the camera, and I haven't got to them yet. It will be up in the next couple of days, along with a post about the random things that brought me to cake making. :)

ETA: The Cake Post

AN: And some more! There are a few more to be written and they are in nothing like chronological order, just so you know.

ETA: Hi! So obviously I wrote this before I read Trickster. I think I may have written it before Trickster was published. Anyhoodle, I was gloriously wrong about the nature of Daine's pregnancy. I won't spoil it for you though. Read the book. It's hilarious.

Disclaimer etc. with Part One

( Moments Thereafter: Tale the Second )

For eldanna. Send help!

Spoilers: “The Immortals” and “The Lioness Quartet”

( Tale the First )