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The Jevlir Caravansary

Author: jevlir

  • Review: The Golden Compass

    I hadn’t intended to watch this one because it didn’t sound all that interesting to me, and also because it didn’t sound like there was any reason for the controversy it has aroused amongst Christians.

    My wife, however, put it in our Netflix queue, and it duly showed up. She thought it would be something I’d want to watch, so watch it I did. On the first point, I would have to say it was more interesting than I expected. Let me note that I haven’t read the books, so I cannot compare the story as some have in their reviews. On the second, I see even less reason for this to be controversial than I did before I watched it.

    The movie features a very oppressive church like organization, known as the magisterium, and the young heroine goes against this with the aid of a bunch of magical creatures, witches, devices, and such. I find it mildly interesting that a movie that purportedly espouses atheism carries on its conflict with various magical (or supernatural) creatures and even includes a prophecy. Of course, that is simply a product of the genre.

    If I hadn’t been told that the author was an atheist, I would have imagined that the book was about a tyrannical church organization, and might have a broader lesson against organized religion generally. In fact, I think that is what most people will take from it. To go to the opposite extreme in terms of literary style, I would consider Atlas Shrugged, which many Christians enjoy despite a much more explicit and integral atheistic message.

    Thus I would simply take this as a fantasy movie and let philosophical debates fall where they may. As such I find it of about average interest. It is fun from time to time, but does not really leave one in doubt very often. The story line is good and the characters are generally interesting, but fall short of unique. The acting is again fine, but not great.

    It’s the sort of thing I would normally expect to put in my Netflix queue which costs me nothing extra to watch. Then I enjoy it quite a bit.

    In my view it’s good but not great. Numerical rating: 3

  • Doing the Opposite

    I found this good suggestion at Fresh Fiction the other day.

    Now I’m not suggesting that you go out and do the opposite of whatever you’re doing, but I have found over the last couple of years that many of my own problems result from continuing to do the same thing even when it doesn’t actually work.

    In the case of Angie Fox, author of the post I cited, it was a matter of doing something nearly the opposite of what she had been. The result is that she has a new book coming out, The Accidental Demon Slayer. I know nothing about it but what she writes, but what’s important for writers is that it is published! For others, there may be some other goal.

    Now writing something different isn’t precisely the opposite of writing. But it’s still a big change. It’s a good suggestion!

  • Book: Victory Conditions

    I blogged about a previous volume in this series, Engaging the Enemy, and while I had complaints, I rated it a 4, because I will continue to go out and look for books by this particular author. Elizabeth Moon does good characterizations and her plot lines are generally interesting enough. I do not find her battle scenes all that engaging or well described. If you’re looking for David Weber style battle scenes, these don’t match up.

    Nonetheless, as I said last time, I have kept on reading the series, and while Elizabeth Moon is not on my top tier list (gotta have everything they write, NOW!), her name is a pretty good one to get me reading.

    [Spoiler alert]

    I found the ending of this book a bit anticlimactic. The final battle is not the best of the lot. I could summarize it as “there was a lot of shooting in space and then the good guys won.” The ending seems almost abrupt, one in which we’re told what happens to everyone sort of like those notes just before film credits telling you where each character ended up.

    [/spoiler]

    OK, so I will grab the next book by Moon anyhow, though this series is finished. I still rate the series a 4, but this final book is, I think, the least engaging of the series.

  • DVD: Prime Suspect

    I ran across the first and fifth of this series of DVDs on our local public library shelf while looking for other mysteries and took it home on an impulse. It was a good impulse!

    This is not the sort of humorous light stuff that I often watch or read for relaxation, nor is it the sort of hero mystery program in which the one and only sane person in a department moves through all the troubles with perfection. The lead character, DCI Tennison, is very human, makes mistakes, but also knows how to keep going.

    While her people skills may seem weak on first glance she gains the loyalty of her teams through her tenacity and dedication to the job. She expects and gets good work from them.

    The scenes are somewhat gritty. We’re not dealing with “clean” crimes in someone’s parlor. These events often take place in the “worse” parts of town. In both the episodes I watched thus far, DCI Tennison is up against real evil. You definitely know who you wish would win and who you wish would lose.

    This is a series I will definitely continue looking for. I rate it a 4 on my numerical scale.

  • Locked Room Mystery Discussion

    Jason Rosenhouse over at EvolutionBlog is writing an (at least) two part series on locked room mysteries and his favorite authors, along with some less favorite ones. I usually read Jason’s blog for evolutionary science, but he also frequently writes quite vigorously on atheism, and he gets some of that in here.

    I was not acquainted with John Dickson Carr, which he says exposes a large hole in my literary education. To be honest, I can’t recall any of my literature teachers pointing me in the direction of mysteries, at least relatively modern ones. I found those all on my own.

    For the moment I will only add that I think often that the quality of characters in a novel is substantially in the eye of the beholder. A writer rarely writes all the details, yet sometimes we fill them out as full characters and sometimes we do not. For example, I find Dorothy Sayers’ characters more interesting than her plots, which seems to be the opposite of Jason’s view.

    Nonetheless, any post that points out good authors I haven’t ever heard of is worth reading.

  • Added to my Blogroll: Words on the Water

    At first I was thinking I shouldn’t get involved here, because the first article I read by Monica Valentinelli was title What is the Definition of a Legitimate Publisher?. Good topic, no? But elsewhere I’m a publisher, though not of fiction, struggling sometimes with that legitimacy issue as I try to grow.

    Nonetheless, the article makes good points, and several others on the same blog are very worthwhile reading, especially for those who are more serious about fiction publishing for profit rather than just for fun.

    Words on the Water | Freelance Writing Blog goes on my blogroll. I hope you benefit from it.

  • Pastor Writing Fiction

    One of my fellow blogging Methodists, Rev J., is trying his hand at doing some fiction blogging. He has written Adventures of Pastor Bob – 1 and now Adventures of Pastor Bob – 2. I’m enjoying it.

  • Ventilation Serial at Clarity of Night

    Jason at Clarity of Night has a very well-written serial going right now. He writes in very small portions, and has that rarest of gifts, the ability to evoke complex imagery with very few words. You can start following the story here with part 1, but the latest is part 6, or follow the link to the serial label and scroll back.

  • The Point of Research

    I’m not anal-retentive about accuracy in a story, book, or movie, but I can sound like it. There’s a point where excessive accuracy gets in the way of telling a story, but there’s also a point where inaccuracy makes the story less authentic and interesting.

    Susan Lyons (whose work I confess I’ve never read) wrote a post on Fresh Fiction that catches the drift:

    The point of doing research isn’t to dump it all into the middle of a story, but to give the authentic details and “feel” that make the characters and story come alive and ring true. . . .

    Just so! The post is from back in May, but I just saw it yesterday. Go read the whole thing.

  • Added to my Blogroll: Fresh Fiction

    It’s all dressed up for women, but I already see something this guy can sink his teeth into. I’m adding Fresh Fiction to my Bloglines subscriptions, and I’ll be linking to a post tomorrow.