English 1000

It may be premature to say that the third book in an eleven part series is the best, especially when I haven’t even finished it, but it certainly seems like it.  In Memories of Ice, Steven Erickson once again juggles an outrageously large cast of characters.  However, the “main” characters finally get some well deserved detail that makes the story all the more fascinating.  Erickison is known for being intentionally vague, but it works for him, and his readers, no matter how frustrating it can be.  For once he does start to get into character detail, it makes it all the more satisfying.  Memories of Ice just has something the previous two books don’t necessarily have.  They seem to have more emotion to them, more chaos and darkness surrounding the main characters.  Furthermore, the way they interact in this novel also enhances their appeal and gives more information about the plot.  But, to be an epic fantasy writer, you have to be like that.  In books that are 800+ pages, you have to be vague and provide just enough information to keep the reader hooked.  You explore the characters while at the same time, holding back large portions.  That is what makes Memories of Ice a masterpiece, and it very well may remain my favorite.

1.)  The reason that Major League Baseball moved away from so called “small ball”, is quite simply, to increase interest in the sports.  The casual fans of today want excitement rather than the methodical offense of small ball which scores as a result of putting men on and letting their speed take over.  As a result, the home run started to increase in popularity.  It is a show of power and a show of dominance over a pitcher in a particular at bat.  Thus, is has become the major element to scoring tons of runs, quickly, in baseball.

2. The biggest reason that baseball has had such an upward trend in attendance records seems to correlate directly with the emergence of the home run as not only an offensive threat, but a fan favorite.  Before the 1990’s, baseball attendance had nowhere near the numbers that it had previously.

I admit, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve been surprised by a totally new, novel, idea from an author.  That’s not to say I haven’t found authors that have had very good ideas ( Steven Erickson is truly a master at it ), but it still has the general fantasy structure.  So, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened one of Ed Greenwood’s ( creator of the Forgotten Realms ) new books in a trilogy.  He uses a strategy not often seen in adult fantasy of having his main character actually being an author and for all intense and purposes, being sucked into a world of his own creation.  The interesting thing about this though, is that it isn’t a conscious creation.  His story manifests itself in his dreams and plagued him until he starting writing it.  Not only that, but he finds out that the world he had created, has been warped and he must find and defeat the cause of the change.  I hope it gets better, because the first two chapters went by quite quickly.

I’ll admit, I’ve never been much a fan of novels that take place in the “real world”.  Real world places, people, etc, have never really interested me before.  But of course, if anyone will get me interested, it’s Terry Brooks.  He’s an accomplished and very much acclaimed fantasy writer; authoring somewhere in the ballpark of twenty novels.  And his latest series, and more specifically, the last book in The Genesis of Shannara Trilogy, is quite a read.  He takes ideas, creatures, and orders, from many other novels he’s written, to contruct a truly riveting post apocylptic tale set in very areas in the United States some eighty years later.  And, he mixes in elements of fantasy.  It’s one thing to be able to generate ideas for a novel, but to be truly great, a writer has to be a story teller and Brooks is that and more.  He’s refined his craft to such a level that all characters he writes are real from the get go.  Not only that, in this trilogy, he employs a fascinating technique with flashbacks.   He’ll have a character telling something that had happened or just a reflection on, but he’ll use what seems like a modified version of third-person limited omniscient.  It’s hard to describe without actually reading it, but suffice to say, it’s almost as if you’re looking into a pool of events, watching as things played out previously, with the character’s thoughts (almost a narration) of what is happening to them, only in third person.  It really is quite fascinating.  It will be a shame when it ends, specially given the fact that it’s such a quick read.

Flabbergasted! Yes, flabbergasted! I only had a mere glimmer of hope that Paolini’s writing talent would improve, as he was almost devoid of such a thing between books one and two.  Yet, he surprised me.  His language has improved drastically, and his sentence structure is more fluid.  Above all, the depth of his geographica descriptions has evolved.  He isn’t just describing things weakly in say, a sentence or two.  He’ll actually contribute a paragraph or two.  One weak area, however, stil lies with dialogue and yes, romance.  His dialogue has improved only marginally and is most improved with but a few characters.  But, it’s the romantic writing.  ”Forgo it Paolini, you’ve no idea what the hell you’re doing!”, is what I’d tell him if I could.  Alas, that is improbably.  He has improved though, and he gets props for that.

After really being into Newsweek for the past year and a half, it’s safe to say I’ve found the one journalist I hold above all others at this point, Fareed Zakaria.  In today’s age of journalism it seems like it’s impossible to find a forgein affairs journalist that has any clue as to what he or she is talking about.  Zakaria on the other hand is quite a find.  Even the casual reader can tell just how globally and, more specifically, culturally literate, especially in matters dealing with the Middle East.  The other day I read his latest article, If You Want to Free Your Country, First Liberate Its Land, and it was a fascinating read.  He layed out how the US has changed its way in trying to spread democracy, and essentially left behind the strategy that worked.  In general terms, liberating the land of a non-democratic entity (giving it back to the people) has been successful with Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.  However, with the current strategy of the US (such as settling debts and the like) there are failures in Haiti, Cuba, the Phillipines, and Nicaragua.  It really just goes to show how much the US has changed over the years, especially under the Bush presidency.

With the upcoming release of Christoper Paolini’s new book, Brisingr, I have to say something; I hope he has improved.  Granted, he was 15 when he began his first novel in what is now the Inheritence Cycle, he continues to show  lack of skill when compared to other fantasy writers, even young adult writers, in his twenties.  For some reason, his writing style seems immature.  Short paragraphs, syntax that lacks variety, and word choice that seems subdued makes it appear as though he’s still has the voice of a teenager.  That, however, is but  small issue.  His greatest weakness lies with character development.  His main character is an almost unchanging being who may grow physically, but not mentally.  Moreoever, his secondary characters are static and lack depth.  Don’t get me wrong, his books are entertaining and it’s nice to have an easy fantasy read, but with his next book, I would hope he’s changed things up a bit.  If not, then it’s a shame because the central premise of his novels is of worth.

You can tell fairly quickly, with the first few pages actually, the differences between Jordan and Erickson’s styles. They each start of each chapter quite differently, and the novels themselves. To make it easier to understand, I’ll outline some of their key differences.

Jordan:
1. To start off his novels, he has a brief paragraph, almost a philosophical musing, that appears right off the bat. If you are familiar with the 3 fates of Roman/Greek mythology, it takes ideas from it.
2. Jordan has an incredibly vast creative mind for describing the world he has created. Mountains, plains, cities; everything is detailed well, while at the same time, not falling off from the story or trying to be too fine.
3. His character description is more refined. He has a set list of main characters that have, through the course of the series, been highly developed that reader’s actually have more of a chance to relate and understand.

Erickson:
1. He takes a different approach. To begin his novels, as well as his chapters, he has ‘historical’ writings and occationally poems or excerpts from epic poems about the world he has created. This method is quite entertaining because he really has skill with poetry and mixes in some humor.
2. Erickson doesn’t spend as much time for details of the ‘natural world’ as does Jordan, but for his battle scenes, and depictions of gore, he is quite descriptive, which is a first for me of the fantasy novels that I’ve read.
3. He relies more on a vast outline of characters, with the ‘main characters’ not getting as much detail as one would expect. However, his writing skill is so refined, that he is able to put just enough detail into each novel, that the reader really does learn the characters well.

After competing the second to last book in Robert Jordan’s epic series, The Wheel of Tme, it seemed quite impossible that another author could hope to construct a world as rich and complete as Jordan’s. It wasn’t just the descriptions of geographical scenery (mountains, rivers, forges) and his mastery of city building, but the depth of his character development that set him apart from others, because world building really is only a slim part of the battle in creating a believable setting. So, I was cautiously optimistic about a new epic series that my brother had suggested to me. The first few pages of Steven Erickson’s first novel in the series, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, seemed a bit dull. However, as it progressed, I was astonished at the level of precision that Erickson had in creating a world akin to Jordan’s ability. True, their styles are different, very different in fact; yet, it still had the special quality that truly makes a fantasy series. But, the thing that set Erickson apart was the shear volume of characters he had constructed for his story. They all seem like minor characters if one just glances through his Persona Dramatis, but they are all infact, developed at a high level. Each one is developed enough through the book that they seem real, and the reader can actually relate to them, after a fashion.

And as a result, I find it quite impossible to put Erickson’s books down after beginning a new chapter.

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