Books, books, books

I can't believe my luck, I actually found and bought Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett in Booksale for only P 25! What are the odds of that? I've been scouring the book stores and suddenly without even looking for it, I found it!

I need only buy Spring of the Ram and To Lie with Lions to complete the House of Niccolo series.

Just one minor quibble: the book wasn't published by Vintage, so it's a great deal smaller than my other Dunnett books and the cover really doesn't do the book justice but beggars can't be choosers.

Niccolo Rising is the first book in the HoN series but it was Race of Scorptions (3rd book in HoN) with which I started even without the backstory I fell in love with Dunnett's writing, but I find myself constantly surprised on how different and young Niccolas is in the first book.

First impression: I think I like A Game of King's opening better than NR. GoK's opening was fun to read, NR's in comparison felt a tad more graver, it didn't have the sense of whimsy GoK had.

Still, I've just begun reading so I'm going to withold judgment til then.


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On George RR Martin's The Game of Thrones

I've finally read A Game of Thrones, the first book in Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series.

It's a far more brutal read than Dunnett's Game of Kings, which I found very hard at first. Moving from Dunnett's delicious prose to Martin's brutal telling of a country on the brink of war is jarring. The story, however pulls you in despite or because of the terrible things that keep happening to characters you come to care about.

Unlike most Fantasy series, there is no chosen one out to rid the world of the Evil One, or Dark Lord or what have you. In A Game of Thrones, there are a number of characters that are presented as contender to the throne and almost all of them are worthy of the throne.

I thought I was pretty much over with the whole High Fantasy series thing especially after Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time but I think it's safe to say I'm back in the saddle again.

Game of Kings, Dorothy Dunnett

 
Game of Kings is the first book in Dunnett’s legendary Lymond Chronicles detailing the life, loves and misadventures of one Francis Crawford of Lymond.I first heard of Dunnett and Lymond on the livejournal and was instantly curious because most of her admirers were people whose taste in books I trusted.

 I scoured bookstores but this being the Philippines, they've phased out Dunnett’s books so I ended up with only four House of Niccolo books, King Herafter and three Lymond Chronicles books: Disorderly Knights and Ringed Castle.But I've been advised that I should really, really start with the Game of Kings so I haven't touched the Lymond Chronicles and proceeded to read HoN. I enjoyed reading it and loved HoN but I would probably have appreciated it more if I had the full set.

Finally through the efforts of one blessed cousin I was able to obtain the Game of Kings. I want to write like Dunnett when I grow-up! Man, her command of language is just fantastic I think it’s even eclipsed my pure love for AS Byatt’s Possession.

 
Game of Kings is a fun read! It's like watching a great caper film, only with beautiful language and very complicated characters. One of the many appeals for GoK for me were the characters, from Sybilla, Lymond's mother; Richard, Lymond's steady and loveable character; Christian Stewart, a blind but capable girl; and of course Wat and Janet Buccleuch.

When I first read Gok, though, I had little liking for Lymond mostly because he was tormenting Richard so much. Being the eldest myself I over empathized with Richard, and who could resist Richard? Really?  But on the second reading I finally fell under Lymond’s spell, especially when he started breaking down it was just… Meep.

I was impressed at Richard, he was able to put pride behind and nurse Lymond back to health and made an effort to finally understand Lymond. I was annoyed at first at this development because I felt Richard suffered so much to just sweep Lymond's actions under the rug but a second reading put things in perspective for me. I may over empathize with Richard but he's a bigger person than I and that's why I like him! Plus, the scene with Mariotta? *wibbles*Poor

Christian Stewart. She was so capable and kind and... to die like that so far away from home because she was trying to help Lymond broke my heart.

Did I mention how supremely cool Sybilla is? She's cooler than a cool thing! At first you think she's one of those flaky mothers only to be confounded with her intelligence and the way she traps Bullo... hehe...

I also like the fun coupleness of Wat and Janet Buccleuch, they scream and argue but you can tell that it's not because they're annoyed (well, okay that's also part of that) but because they just love to argue with one another.

Much I love all the scenes I admit I had a hard time reading through the court scenes… It's strange. I can read, not easily but I could plow through Christian's death scene and Lymond's breakdown but I never could easily read through a scene where a character undergoes some humiliating or terrible ordeal. Heck, I haven’t even finished reading King Hereafter because I know Thorfinn would die in the end and I didn’t want him to die because I love Thorfinn. Probably just my mental craziness... :)

Conclusion: I love Game of Kings, it's now part of my desert island book reading. Now I just have to order Queen's Play, Pawn in Frankincense and Checkmate. It's gonna be a long year.

I finally found and bought George RR Martin's A Game of Thrones(Yes, my reading now does have a tendancy for chess or political machinations, so sue me!XD), purported to be one of the best fantasy series to come in a very long time. Martin I heard doesn't take any shortcuts or rely on any fantasy trope, I hope this is true because I was severely disillusioned by a Wheel of Time.

The recent WoT books deserve an editor with a really big scissor, a big chunk of the story in the last book should have been edited. Seriously.

However, I'm not going a sort of day off from reading and soak in the afterglow of Dunnett's wonderful prose. I'm going to try to absorb as much of her style as I can, while luxuriating in her delicious words.

Words. So very pretty.

A Nightmare

I had a very chilling nightmare last night that had, as always the mixture of Buffy in it. But the terrifying part of it wasn't that I strayed in the Buffyverse but because of something personal that's linked to Buffy.

In fact, in my dream I was Buffy. Wish fulfillment? Maybe in a strange and terrifying way.

My dream was set in an amalgam world of Buffy season 5,6 and 7.

It began horrifyingly enough with the discovery that my mother, on her way from the office, dies. My mother not Buffy's. I don't recall if it's a car accident or something else, all I could remember is that she wasn't supposed to stay that late in the office, or gone at all but she did.

Then I just sat down on this cushioned bench, and I was Buffy trying to deal with what I've seen or what Giles was telling me. But all I could think about was that my mom had plans, she was going to Europe. She wasn't supposed to die and I won't be able to see her. Not anymore.

I was in shock. Buffy was in shock.

Then Willow and Faith were beside me, trying to be comforting but strangely I, or at this point, Buffy didn't trust Willow. Buffy felt betrayed by Willow's turning evil, more so than Faith's. She was angry and afraid but focused on the rage rather than face her fears.

So Buffy goes to my mother's office and somehow there are demons there so Buffy just whales on the creatures pouring her frustrations, her fears. After they're all gone, I was left in this puddle of blood and ichor, Faith and Willow very far away.

Then I was crying, or Buffy was, it's very confusing, then I just say: "But she was going to Europe."

As if that meant something. I could just see the days stretch without my mother like a big yawning black hole because she won't ever be in my life again.

And finally, thankfully I wake-up.

I wasn't covered in sweat, I wasn't gasping, it wasn't anything like the books or the movies portray it to be. I just open my eyes and was awake. Downstairs I could hear my mother's voice calling my name but the after images of the nightmare and the desperate feeling remained with me.