Hey, everyone!
Just in time for the holidays, we’re running an eBook deal on Time Reavers!
Now through Wednesday, December 28th, you can download Time Reavers for just $.99 on Amazon, so if you’ve been pondering dipping your toe into our weird, weird world of super-powered teens and giant time-ripping robot insects, now’s the perfect chance. 😀
Happy Holidays!
Charlotte – Anime Review
Jacob and I reached a point last month where we couldn’t take Crunchyroll‘s repetitive commercials anymore, so we sprung for a Premium membership. Since then, I’ve been using that as an excuse to fall asleep to the sweet, sweet sounds of anime.
My most recent binge has been Charlotte, which I watched primarily because I was curious what the title had to do with its premise of “teens with superpowers at a superpower school.”
In the series, Yu Otosaka has the ability to take over other people’s consciousnesses. The catch? He can only do it for a few seconds at a time, and his own body loses consciousness while he’s out of it. Even so, it’s useful for things like cheating on tests and rising through the ranks of his school…which catches the attention of Nao Tomori. She’s the student council president of a school for students with similar abilities, and if he doesn’t come with her, there’s a significant chance he might be captured by another organization that has plans for people with superpowers – and they’re not good ones. With a threat like that – and a little sister to take care of – how could Otosaka turn her down?
The unique twist in the series’ premise is that all the teens’ powers will disappear after adolescence, and as powerful as they are, all their powers come with some pretty significant drawbacks. One character can turn invisible, but only to one person at a time; another can move at super fast speeds, but can’t control his stops – all of which, in a way, make the characters’ situations more unfortunate, not because of the inconvenience, but because people with torturous intents are hunting them for abilities that won’t even last.
That said, if you’re into superpowers and uncontrollable crying, Charlotte is a show for you.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB5qUxR6ch4&w=560&h=315]
As evidenced by the opening titles alone, the production value of the series is quite high. The studios that collaborated on it – Key, P.A. Works, and Aniplex – were also responsible for Angel Beats, which was gorgeous to watch, if a bit boring in spots. The animation and music are on par with that (even if the accent on the English singing is a little heavy), and are so infectious to experience that I’d have probably finished the series even if it was otherwise mediocre. Fortunately, it’s not.
Charlotte is a more character-driven show than one might expect, with the superpowers being a vehicle for a surprisingly emotional story. All the main characters are complex and flawed: Yu loves his little sis but isn’t very grateful for her own expressions of love; Nao is clever and determined to save teens like her, but also comes across as self-centered and self-righteous to the point where some other students beat her up for it. The first several episodes are fairly light, even goofy examinations of these relationships as these characters seek out a superpower-of-the-episode. Then comes Episode 6, where the plot takes an almost Madoka Magica-like turn, rips your heart out, and then sends it careening through the next seven episodes to the end. I was in no hurry to watch the first half of the series, but the last half I finished in a single, voracious sitting.
Strong characterizations aside, Charlotte‘s greatest strength is its sheer unpredictability. Sometimes this results in weird tonal conflicts: It’s hard to believe that the first episodes and intense last episodes are even part of the same series. Some of the humor even in the early part comes across as over the top, and some episodes (8 and 9 in particular) rely on an enormously convenient coincidence. However, the good parts are structured so well that those don’t diminish the entertainment value.
The only exception to this is the very end, which is so stupid that I sincerely wish I’d skipped the last episode. SPOILER ALERT: Without giving too much away, the characters decide that the best way to prevent anti-powers atrocities from happening is to remove superpowers from every teen in the world indiscriminately, which is an enormous waste of a rare and awesome resource – not to mention hugely unethical. Despite his righteous intent, one main character becomes famous in the international powered community as a power-stealing terror – and yet is still depicted as a good guy, complete with uplifting inspirational music and his own happy(ish) ending. I understand what the story was going for; after all, a lot of the kids were genuinely suffering because of their powers, often imprisoned in labs or camps specifically intended to exploit those powers. But when he took healing powers from an un-oppressed girl in a rural village – without her consent, all for the sake of completeness – the story lost its credibility.
TL;DR: You will do yourself a huge favor by ignoring the last episode entirely. The main arc wraps up in the previous episode, anyway, so you’ll literally miss nothing.
Final episode aside, Charlotte‘s still a pretty entertaining show. It’s not the best series I’ve watched this year, but it definitely deserves a watch if you enjoy both emotions and superpowers in your anime. Just skip the end – I mean it – unless you want to exercise your eye-rolling muscles.
H.P. at YALLfest 2016!
Every November, I make my annual pilgrimage* to Charleston, S.C. for YALLFest, a YA reading festival organized by indie bookshop Blue Bicycle Books.
*not as an author. Just as a fangirl.
“YA reading festival” does not do this event justice, though. In actuality, it is a 2-day-long flurry of panels and signings and general book nerd mayhem revolving around the 80+ bestselling YA authors and thousands of fans that somehow manage to pack onto a few streets in Historic Charleston. It is NUTS, but it is the best kind of nuts.
The one downside to the event is that, between all the panels and signings, there’s no hope of being able to do even half of everything, even if you skip lunch. Or even if you just eat macaroons all day, like I did.
(BTW, if you go to Charleston and don’t go to Macaroon Boutique, you have wasted your trip.)
Usually I focus on panels, but this year a bunch of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE IN THE WORLD EVER authors were in the lineup, and like heck was I not going to get some books signed.
First in the day was Jason Reynolds, who has the distinction of being one of the few non-fantasy authors that I enjoy. When I Was the Greatest and The Boy in the Black Suit rank among my favorite books, and if you haven’t read them, you’re missing two quite affecting pieces of literature. Plus the author makes faces like this:
Next in the list of great faces is Cinda Williams Chima, who looks like she knows she just murdered a character I liked.
The Grey Wolf Throne was my weekend read, and if you’re into well-designed high fantasy with wizards and Kick-Butt Independent Princesses Who Don’t Need No Men (but like them anyway), her Seven Realms series is a treat. (Currently I’m trying to plow my way to the end because she just started a new series called Shattered Realms, so you know some wild stuff had to go down between these two, and I don’t want to be spoiled. 😛 )
Then came the Adrenaline Rush Authors.
See, in previous years, YALLFest was a pretty chill event for me. But then, in previous years, I didn’t have my own book. And in previous years, the authors who influenced my writing were generally not present.
This year, however, included Eoin Colfer and Maggie Stiefvater.
A much younger me read Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series around the same time that I was beginning to feel my way around writing. As a result, it had a pivotal effect. I often credit Terry Pratchett (Rest in Peace) with inspiring the comedic fantasy style of my present writing, but in truth it was Eoin Colfer who lit the initial spark. All the fantasy, comedy, action, and sass in The Wizard’s Way – even the novel’s fascination with language – all comes back to seeds that were planted by Artemis Fowl.
Maggie Stiefvater is a more recent influence. Though I was initially put off by Shiver (I’m not a fan of romance, werewolves, or romantic werewolves), both The Raven Cycle and The Scorpio Races struck me in a profound place. They’re all artfully written pieces of literature that, despite being ultimately paranormal, are also very human – and, beyond that, beautiful to read. Whenever I encountered a rough spot when writing or just needed a little bit of inspiration, I’d play the audiobook versions of any of these; the cadence of her writing would drift and weave into my brain, and somehow in the rhythm of her words, my words would find their way out.
It’s safe to say that The Wizard’s Way wouldn’t exist without the influence of either of these writers.
Which is why Last Weekend H.P. had the brilliant idea to show them some fruit of their inspiration.
Have you ever tried to 1) write a letter to one of your favorite authors on 2) the front page of a book that you wrote, knowing that they may very well read the book and hate it OR not read the book at all OR just think you’re weird OR OR OR…? D: D: D:
It turns out that you can absolutely get an adrenaline rush from signing a book.
You can also walk around in a state of half-panic-attack while waiting to deliver it.
But now two of my favorite authors have copies of The Wizard’s Way, so that is kind of exciting.
In the end, I was so nervous that I didn’t snap any Maggie Stiefvater photos, but I did get to take a photo with Eoin Colfer! 😀 😀 😀
Speaking of whom, his was the first panel that I was able to sit in on. While much of the time was devoted to his latest release, Iron Man: The Gauntlet (Also, how cool is it that Marvel’s seeking out YA authors to expand its universe? 😀 ), he spent a surprising length of the program talking about his failures as a writer.
The discussion stemmed from a question about what projects he most regrets taking or wishes he could revisit. I was fascinated (though not entirely surprised) to learn that his biggest regret was his contribution to the Doctor Who short story collection 11 Doctors, 11 Stories, primarily because he’d written it without any real knowledge of the show or the then-rabid enthusiasm of its fandom. It was also intriguing to learn that he hadn’t wanted to write …And Another Thing, the coldly-received closer to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series – because really, how can any writer hope to compare to Douglas Adams? – but accepted the offer when Adams’ widow asked him to – because, really, how can you turn down a compliment like that?
Now that I have such context, it actually makes me curious to give …And Another Thing a try.
The discussion was an unexpectedly inspiring one. It’s not common for authors of Colfer’s caliber to talk so candidly about failed pieces of published writing, except perhaps in panels specifically devoted to them, and so to hear him speak about it in such detail – to hear that even your bestselling inspirations have recent works they regret – was strangely uplifting.
I also made it to the wonderfully titled “SPAAAAACE” panel, wherein the authors Veronica Roth, Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff, Nnedi Okorafor, and S. J. Kincaid discussed – you guessed it – outer space in YA books.
I’d initially come to the panel for Nnedi Okorafor (my fangirlery for whom is well-documented), but once the group as a whole started weaving an impromptu epic about stale donuts in space, I was pretty sure I’d found some awesome new authors to add to my reading list.
Overall, though I spent more time in signing lines than panels, it was still a fun festival – I was able to meet many of my favorite authors, make new nerd friends while waiting in line, and buy more new books than I probably should have. 😀 And ultimately, for a reader, there are few things more fun than being caught in a press of thousands of other people who are just as nerdy as you. YALLfest has been one of my favorite festivals since its beginning, and it will continue to be so.
Berserk (2016, S1) – Anime Review
Sometimes you just want to watch a grimdark drama where everything is a disaster and you can’t do anything about it so why bother? This year’s election coverage should sate that thirst.
But if it doesn’t, there’s Berserk.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAkl2uJEuA4&w=560&h=315]
Note: I’m about to spoil a whole TV series and three movies and several volumes of the Berserk manga, so if you haven’t experienced any of these yet, consider this your SPOILER WARNING. Also might as well throw in every TRIGGER WARNING ever because if Berserk hasn’t made it to one yet, chances are it will eventually.
Berserk is basically “Everything sucks and then you die” given anime form. The series’ Golden Age arc, covered in a 1997 TV series, the 2012-2013 movies, and the manga (duh) is a medieval epic of warring nations, charismatic mercenary leaders, and badass swordsmen (and one swordswoman), but it ends with the infamous Eclipse Ceremony, wherein said leader sacrifices his whole mercenary band to become a god and everyone is eaten by grotesque hellish demons – except the main character, who loses one arm and one eye and has to use the other to watch his former-BFF-now-hella-enemy rape his girl until she literally goes insane.
Welcome to the Conviction Arc.
This year’s bright and cheery series picks up where the Golden Age arc left off (*in the anime. In the manga, the Black Swordsman arc bridges the two). Protagonist Guts has left former-awesome-woman-soldier-now-witless-girlfriend Casca under the watch of the blacksmith Godo and is off to find and kill the Apostles of the evil God Hand. (Also Griffith because there’s no way a man can watch another man do that do his woman and not kill the heck out of him). Before he can accomplish this, though, he has to chop through all the evil spirits attracted by the cursed brand on his neck – and on Casca’s, once she inadvertently escapes from the safety of an enchanted cave. His search for her leads him to a refugee settlement surrounding the Tower of Conviction, where he is frequently thwarted by Mozgus, the Chief Inquisitor of the Holy See, and not really thwarted by Farnese de Vandimion of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, though she tries, bless her heart.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Berserk is absolutely an adult anime. There’s blood and gore galore, grotesque and disturbing situations, and thoroughly creepy character designs, though the much-needed comic relief of the fairy Puck serves to alleviate some of this.
However, it’s also a fantastic medieval horror fantasy based upon what is possibly the best dark fantasy manga out there, and the strength of its characters and story is what keeps it from descending into torture porn.
Content aside, the first thing you should know about this Berserk series is that it seems to be made for existing Berserk fans, more so than newbies. Though the plot will make sense with minimal context, you absolutely need to have read the Golden Age arc in the manga or watched the 1997 TV series to appreciate the emotional baggage behind what goes on, especially regarding former-bro-now-evil-god Griffith, who is a likable, even admirable character in the Golden Age (until he’s not), and Casca, who is one of the best female characters in anime (until she loses her mind). I leave the movies out because, though they cover the same material, and though they’re entertaining, they aren’t so good at establishing the necessary emotional connections.
Once you know what you’re starting, you’re in for a pretty solid series. The pacing is good, and though some features of the story are exaggerated – pretty much every scene with Guts and that person-sized metal bludgeon he calls a sword; Mozgus; the horror elements in general – the story itself stays grounded with relatable side characters, in particular a group of prostitutes who take in the lost Casca:
Luca is a motherly figure who just wants to keep her girls safe; Nina is well-meaning but also abundantly terrified by their situation, enough that she frequently flip-flops between loyalty to her friends and a sense of sheer panicked self-preservation (so, the most realistic character in this series). Outside of that group, Farnese is a flagellant who punishes herself for not living up to her position as leader of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, even as she struggles with the perceived rightness of the Holy See’s actions; and Jerome is a soldier who’s just tired of this sh*t but can’t say anything because really who’s going to challenge this guy?
Still, if there weren’t characters like Guts to make this face back at Mozgus every once in a while, Berserk wouldn’t have a story – just pages and pages of carnage:
Arguably, Guts is the weakest character in terms of development. He literally has about three expressions, which are angry, Resting Badass Face, and the iconic Berserk Grin above. It’s not that he isn’t a complex character. He is. It’s just that all his development happened in the previous arc, and with that out of the way – not to mention all the trauma he met at the hands of Griffith – all his personality has room to do is care for Casca and kill demons.
Likewise, the series’ antagonist is not very complex, either. Mozgus thinks he’s a good guy but he also keeps a lavish, bloody torture chamber and carries portable breaking wheels on his carriage in case he has to whip them out on the road. (You never know when you’ll have to do an impromptu holy scourging!) There are moments where he seems merciful, but nah, it’s a trap.
Nothing in this series is good without 1) being a trap or 2) dying fast.
So far so good, but if anything in this series has been a point of contention for fans, it’s the animation. The movies’ blend of 2D and cel-shaded 3D was controversial when they released, and this series’ blend was no less so, largely because Berserk has a rough art style that suits its content, and you can’t achieve the same effect with CG (or at least the movies didn’t). Though the CG in the movies wasn’t necessarily bad, it was still robotic and clean enough to be distracting.
This is still true of the 2016 series. However, it’s not quite as bad here, the reasons being that the series does a vastly better job of capturing the roughness of the manga’s art, and also that most of the series is CG, as opposed to the movies, which were roughly equal parts both. In fact, in this case, the hand drawn parts are the ones that stand out as inconsistent and strange.
Could the animation have been better? Yes. I’d have loved to see a fully hand-drawn Berserk series rendered with today’s animation technology. But given the complexity of the armor designs and the comparatively narrower audience to which a series as mature as Berserk appeals, hand drawn – i.e. more expensive – animation would likely not have been an economical choice.
Plus, the animation in the original Berserk anime was awful and it still made fans of us.
At this point we anime fans have just grown spoiled on a glut of really awesome animation, and frankly I’m so glad that the series even exists that the animation is only a minor bummer for me.
All in all, this year’s Berserk series is worthy of fans’ anticipation. If you can get past the animation (for fans), know the preceding story, and if you can stomach all the grotesquerie (for new watchers), it’s twelve episodes of time well spent.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Pokemon Go: Halloween Event – Game Review
I’ve been a Pokemon Go player since day one, but when I first learned of this past weekend’s Halloween event, I was only cautiously excited. After all, for everything Pokemon Go does right, there are ten other features that amount to “could have been awesome but were ruined by stupid problems.”
It was a pleasant surprise, then, when the event turned out to be a rousing amount of fun – with very few problems to speak of! 😀
For the uninitiated, Pokemon Go’s Halloween event ran from Wednesday, October 26th through Monday, November 1st.
During it, players could earn twice as much candy for basically everything – catching Pokemon (which earned 6 candies vs. the normal 3), trading Pokemon (2 vs. 1), hatching eggs (variable numbers depending upon the egg distance), etc.
Buddy Pokemon also yielded candy 4x faster than usual, with 1km buddies finding candy at .25km, 3km at .75km, and 5km at 1.25km.
And of course, select Pokemon fitting the Halloween theme appeared in greater numbers.
Oddly, though I imagine the increased Pokemon sightings were meant to be the big draw for the event, they were the least exciting part for me. Plus, I’m not sure why anyone at Niantic looked at Pokemon Go and said, “You know what this game needs? MORE ZUBATS.” 😐 Frankly, it’s not like any of the Pokemon featured were especially rare to begin with, but I went from having one wimpy Gastly and Meowth before the event to a whole army of Haunters and Persians during, so I can’t complain too much.
The real success of the Pokemon offerings was not in the Pokemon featured, but the sheer number of sightings in general. In my neighborhood and favorite haunts (pun intended), I’m lucky to occasionally see a Pidgey. Heck, it is exciting to see a Pidgey. But for those few days, all those areas had Meowths and Drowzees and Cubones and Gastlies galore, such that I was actually able to play without making a special trip, which is what I usually have to do (a perk of being your own boss: scheduling dedicated Pokemon Go days). That said, thanks, Niantic, for making your game playable in suburbia, if only for a week.
As fun as that was, though, the best part of the event was its candy-related perks.
Due to the aforementioned suburban lack of Pokemon, I use Pokemon Go as a glorified walking app, more than a game:
Each day I assign myself an egg or a certain number of candies and walk the distance necessary to hatch/find them. I’ve really enjoyed the introduction of the Buddy Pokemon system because it tricks me into walking more. After I hatch a 2km egg, I’ll usually see that I have 1km left to go on a Buddy candy; so I start a new egg, find a candy, see that I now have 1km on my new egg, etc… It is a vicious cycle that has resulted in some sweet leg muscles. Anyway, given the way Pokemon Go updates distances (in .2km-ish chunks rather than by step), the diminished distances introduced in this event led to A LOT of “Oh, just .1km to go” loops and resultant candies. Hooray for app-assisted health!
The candy perks had high strategic value, too (if the word “strategy” can be applied to a game like Pokemon Go). Prior to the Halloween event, I had several uncommon Pokemon that were within 10 or so candies of evolution – not a huge number, but no small amount of walking, either, given that most were egg-hatched Pokemon not common in my geographic area (and that I thus couldn’t evolve with candy from wild Pokemon). After a Halloween of plugging those Pokemon into the Buddy system, though, I evolved nearly all of them on walking alone! Combine those with all the Meowths and Zubats and Cubones and Gastlies (SO MANY GASTLIES) that I was able to evolve from catches, and this event made for an XPpalooza!
I can almost literally say that there was nothing wrong with this event.
Almost. It wouldn’t be Pokemon Go without a random problem.
Early in the week, I encountered a glitch that kept my distances walked from updating, but that was fixed within a day with a quick patch. More significantly, one of Pokemon Go’s new features/issues is that it dampens the sounds of programs running in the background of a device. Which, I guess, is cool if you need the extra quiet to concentrate on flicking Pokeballs at cute little monsters. Not so much if you want to listen to music while you play – or, as I do, listen to audiobooks while you walk. With Pokemon Go’s new sound settings, I have to turn my iPhone’s volume all the way up to even begin to hear my book. (I don’t run with headphones in for safety reasons, so the book has to compete with environmental noise.) It’s not a problem worthy of nerdrage, but it would be nice to have the option to turn it off.
But really, that was the biggest problem I had with this event. Overall, though Pokemon Go’s persistent general problems have gone unaddressed (WHERE IS TRACKING? TRADING? BATTLING YOUR FRIENDS?), the Halloween event was a huge step in the right direction, and I look forward to seeing what other seasonal events Niantic has up its sleeve.
Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Vol. 1 – Book Review
After months of curiosity, I finally decided to dip my toe into the light novel waters with Fujino Omori’s Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Volume 1. In the end, it didn’t make a fan of me, but it still made for some fun before-sleep reading.
Much of my reaction was due to the quality of the writing (or perhaps the translation). It’s full of awkward exposition dumps, dialogue with minimal transitions, and even dialogue that consists solely of punctuation. It all gets the meaning across, so it’s not that it’s hard to understand, but the former English teacher in me wonders how an editor even let that slide into publication. Even the title is clunky, though I do admit it does a better job of drawing attention than any possible abbreviation could have.
Once you get used to its general clunkiness, tough, it’s a cute little read. In it, Bell Cranell is a new adventurer who, well, wants to pick up girls in a dungeon. In the meantime, he must also work to support himself and his patron goddess, Hestia. In the world of Orario, gods live among mortals, with a few mortal limitations, though they are able to grant boons to members of their Familia so these people can literally level up in various skills. (The world is not subtle with its RPG inspirations.)
Despite the epic potential of the setting, it’s not an epic story at all. Mostly it consists of Bell being awkward around girls and looking at jiggly boobs – but he’s far from am oogler or peeping tom, which is what keeps the story palatable. In fact, beneath all his awkwardness and hormones, Bell is quite likable – courageous, well-meaning, and not nearly as stupid as protagonists of these kinds of stories can be. And let’s face it, he’s only 14 years old; most 14-year-old boys are going to be at least marginally fascinated by boobs, and it was refreshing to read about one who’s at least subtle and shy about his love of the ladies. Given the nature of the series’ premise, we could have been stuck with someone much worse.
That doesn’t make it a feminist work by any means, though. xP Nearly all of the girls in the series are things for Bell to have crushes on, and all fill some anime girl stereotype – the distant, aloof tsundere; the cute moe girl; the girl who greets other girls by honking their boobs 😐 , etc. Sitting down to write this review, I literally can’t remember much more about each one than that, but Bell’s interactions with them are still endearingly sweet, and the way he uses his various crushes to motivate himself to level up and be a more capable person (as opposed to a chick magnet) is refreshing. Plus, the monster fights are fun.
It’s not a complicated read at all (I mean, it is a light novel), and I imagine the best audience for the book is young teen boys who like to imagine themselves in situations like Bell’s (so, not me). It did make me curious to try the anime, just for comparison – and because the story wants so hard to be an anime – but it didn’t leave me wanting more.
H.P. at the Pugs & Pals Picnic 2016!
I’ve wanted to go to the Pugs & Pals Picnic in Stokesdale, NC for YEARS but never could for various reasons. This year, I finally had my chance, and since I’d written a book starring a pug, I figured why not do a book signing, too?
Thus began the day’s adventure.
The Pugs & Pals Picnic is a fundraiser and adoption event held by Pug Rescue of North Carolina Inc., wherein visitors can meet all the pugs up for adoption, bring their own pugs for some play time (Pug Rule #1: All time is play time), and generally revel in the delights of all things pug.
Let’s be real: Faced with all that furry cuteness, I spent about 2% of the time actually signing and the rest of it meeting ALL MY NEW ANIMAL FRIENDS.
One was Papa Pug, mascot and spokespug for Compassionate Pug Rescue in Florida. He lost one eye when he was hit by a car, but that hasn’t stopped him from strolling about in his luxurious pram or pausing for photo ops with the little people. (Dude has like 6000 followers on Facebook!)
I also met Chopper as he made his rounds. He’s a senior pug whose aging legs couldn’t contain the weight of his own awesomeness, so he either has to use a doggie wheelchair or just sit in someone’s lap all day. I was happy to oblige.
As of this post, he’s available for adoption! I couldn’t adopt him (see: sis above. Also I travel too much to give a pug the necessary attention), but if you want to adopt him in my stead, have at it! Pug Rescue’s application form is here (scroll down once you click).
Finally, Chewie already has a person, but I guess he could sense my desire to PET ALL THE THINGS, as he camped out by my chair for a while and gave plenty of pug kisses.
I met several other adoptable pugs, too, but was unable to snap good pics of them. Still, Simon is a cutie (just wook at that widdle tongue!) and Emma is a sweetheart who perked up every time someone visited her pen. Somehow I missed Sid, the remaining dog on the adoption page, but his adoption is already pending anyway, so hooray for him. 🙂
Finally, I totally missed her while I was there (see: PETTING ALL THE THINGS), but there was another pug author at the event, too!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9sM3GAiLv8&w=560&h=315]
Rhys Ella is the author of the pug-centric Kato and the Fountain of Wrinkles and My Human Survived Kindergarten, so if you’re into cute books about animal mischief, give them a look! I haven’t read them yet myself, but they’ve definitely been added to my ever-growing to-read list.
The next Pugs & Pals Picnic is scheduled for October 21, 2017, and I’ll probably be there again! 😀
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Book Review
Ok, if you haven’t read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by now, that’s your own fault. Consider this your SPOILER WARNING.
(And yes I know I am months behind the rest of the world, but that is what happens when you’re writing a book. 😛 )
In case you need a plot refresher: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is basically Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Epilogue: The Play. Harry is a dad of three and the harried and overtired Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and his middle child Albus hates him, proving that adulthood sucks even if you’re a wizard. As if that’s not bad enough, his past keeps coming back to haunt him in the form of scar pains and lingering threats that Voldemort may somehow be returning. This past haunts Albus, too, as his father’s legacy weighs heavily on him, but he is his father’s son, and when it comes time to get into trouble to save the wizarding world, he does just that.
I’d really hoped to first experience The Cursed Child as a play rather than a script, but I also hate spoilers, and this is the Internet age, and none of those things combine well. After reading, I do think The Cursed Child probably works better as a performance, and it is ultimately entertaining. However, it has some very problematic parts that not even performance can save it from.
One is pacing; plays have very different pacing demands than novels do, and a reading of The Cursed Child suffers for this. Years pass in the first act within the space of a few pages. While the visual metaphor used to convey this is cool to behold (I imagine), it robs the reader of the connection one would form with the characters if given a chance to see those years played out in prose form. I didn’t feel any connection to most of the characters for much of the book (except Albus and Scorpius; more on that later), which was especially disheartening, considering that I spent seven years of my young life reading about the younger versions of some of them.
The second is that it bends, if not totally breaks Harry Potter canon to make its story work. For complicated reasons, the plot hinges upon Albus and Scorpius using a Time-Turner to keep Cedric Diggory from dying during the Triwizard Tournament of The Goblet of Fire…even though The Prisoner of Azkaban clearly establishes that Time-Turners can’t be used to alter history. The story tries to wiggle its way out of this by having Harry lament that Time-Turner technology has changed since his day, as if Time-Turners are as (comparatively) simple as computers – and also as if anything in the wizarding world has advanced in the past several hundred years.
This disregard for the rules of its own world contributes to the third problem, which is that 80% of the play reads like fanfiction – well-written fanfiction, albeit, but fanfiction nonetheless. Each of Albus’ and Scorpius’ trips into the past (there are several) alter the timeline in ways that eventually become nothing but fan service. Umbridge shows up so that readers/viewers can hate her more; Snape shows up and admittedly steals the scene he’s in, but the fact that the play undoes his death – however briefly – inadvertently cheapens it. In fact, the whole idea that the future can be so radically and easily changed by a simple Time-Turner trip makes the entire Wizarding World seem very breakable, which is jarring for a reader who’s accustomed to the solid world-building of the main series.
Because of all these, there were moments when I was afraid the script was going to be a disaster.
However – and it’s a big however – despite these flaws, the play is worth reading for what it does well.
In fact, it’s worth reading for Scorpius Malfoy alone. Ah, Scorpius. You were destined for an unfortunate school experience the moment your parents named you Scorpius, but you took your insecurities and rocked them.
Scorpius is adorkable in the best way, a shy, awkward nerd who inadvertently spins that awkwardness into endearing charm. (A discussion where he tries to compliment Rose Granger-Weasley by telling her she smells like bread is priceless.) He’s isolated from all other Hogwarts students because of a nasty rumor that he might be Voldemort’s child (another bit of fan thinking, with equally fannish developments), but when he and Albus bond over their respective daddy issues, the relationship that results is worthy of J.K. Rowling at her height. Any scene featuring the two of them together is a delight to read, not only because of their interactions, but because these are the scenes that most closely approach what longtime fans love about Harry Potter – the adventure, mischief, and magic. In particular, the scene where the sweets-purveying Trolley Witch tries to prevent them from escaping the Hogwarts Express is so fun that it feels like a genuine piece of Rowling’s imagination.
If this play had been nothing but Albus and Scorpius going on adventures, it would have been perfect.
Unfortunately, the scenes involving the adult versions of the iconic characters were my least favorite part. It’s simply not fun to read about overworked, miserable, grownup Harry, Hermione, and Ron. In the original books, readers could read them and say, “Sure, things may be terrible, but at least they have magic!” but in The Cursed Child, it’s “Ugh, they have magic, but things are still terrible.” All of them have lost the spark that made them so interesting in the original books, and Ron in particular is reduced to nothing but comic relief (even more so than movie Ron). It’s like looking at enchanted portraits that only captured their least heartening qualities. One could argue that it’s a realistic depiction of adulthood – After all, even happy adulthood can’t compare to the high points of childhood – but who reads Harry Potter for realism?
All the characters become a little more interesting when the father-son issues are resolved, and the climax – which sees grownup Harry Potter at Godric’s Hollow in the past, at the very moment when his parents are murdered, unable to do anything without ruining the timeline – is deliciously heartbreaking for fans. But so much potential was squandered on the rest of the story that it’s depressing to even think about it.
The actual identity of the titular Cursed Child is also left ambiguous – maybe it’s Albus, maybe Scorpius, maybe Harry himself. Maybe it’s even this other character, who I will not disclose but is also fan service. It’s neat to have all of those possibilities, but I would have at least liked the story to hint significantly at one and then invite the reader/viewer to go “Ooo, but what if…?” Compared to everything else, though, that’s a quibble.
All this said, my reactions to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child were nearly as convoluted as the play itself. The parts that I disliked, I really disliked, but the parts that I loved have me desperate for some good Albus/Scorpius fic.*
*Or perhaps to read Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On because let’s be real, Albus and Scorpius are basically Simon and Baz and you know they’re going to Discover Things About Themselves when they reach the right developmental stage.
Holo Writing at AWA 2016!
We’re back and recovered from Anime Weekend Atlanta! This year was a little slower than our last year, but apparently election years always are (Thanks, Washington). Still, we had H.P.’s favorite location ever.
RIGHT NEXT TO THE FOOD TRUCKS.
And that was hardly the best thing about the con! Last AWA, only the first two books of the Seraphim Revival trilogy had been released. A lot of readers came to the Dealer’s Room looking for us specifically, and for a while Disciple of the Dead – the third in the trilogy – was our top seller! Naturally, we’re delighted that all of you liked the first two enough to seek us out.
AWA also saw the convention debut of The Wizard’s Way, which SOLD OUT halfway through the con!
Never has a box been so happy to be empty.
Several readers who bought it also came back the next day to say it was their new favorite series. Looks like we have a winner on our hands! If you’re among those who loved it, you’ll be delighted to learn that H.P. plans to start work on the sequel, The Wizard’s Circus, next week!
Speaking of writing, we had a lot of questions about upcoming books and projects, so for the benefit of those who weren’t able to be at the con, here’s are some answers.
Will there be a sequel to…?
We had lots of sequel questions, especially about our earliest books!
The Dragons of Jupiter – Jacob intends to follow Dragons with two sequels, The Dragons of Mars and The Dragon Revenant. Each book is roughly planned out in his head, but it’s just a matter of finding time to put it on paper!
Time Reavers – We’ve planned two sequels to Time Reavers, too – Mind Reavers and Slayer of Reavers. Jacob has already outlined Mind Reavers, but in efforts to get it out a little faster (and because collaborating on The Wizard’s Way was so much fun), he’s going to write it with H.P. once the first sequel to The Wizard’s Way is done.
Seraphim Revival (Bane of the Dead, Throne of the Dead, Disciple of the Dead) – For now, the trilogy is complete. However, if Jacob finds the time, he’d like to write a follow-up trilogy set 20 or so years after the main storyline that follows the children of the main characters. Again, finding the time is the challenge!
The Wizard’s Way – Officially, the series is called The Wizard’s Quartet, so four books are planned. H.P.’s project for the moment is the first sequel, The Wizard’s Circus – basically, Chaucey Goes to Wizard College – but it will eventually be followed by The Wizard’s Citadel and The Wizard’s End.
What are you working on now?
Jacob has several projects up in the air right now. His main project is splitting Humanity Machine into two books. You may recall that novel from a few years ago. Beta readers (and most importantly, his wife) wanted to see the end of the first draft expanded, and said expansion ended up requiring a second book to do it justice.
More excitingly, Jacob is also working on a SECRET PROJECT with David Weber, though, given that it is a SECRET PROJECT, you’re not supposed to know about it just yet. 😛
Where are the cosplay pictures?
Ok, no one actually asked this, but if you were perchance looking for the cosplay pictures H.P. usually takes at cons, they’re over on our Instagram page!
Well, as you can see above, there’s plenty of writing to be done, so we’re off to work on some books! See you next post! 😀
Countdown to The Wizard’s Way!
It’s been eventful here at Holo HQ!
Stars aligned so that H.P. could transition to working full-time for Holo Writing, which means that you’re about to see many more updates, contests, giveaways, appearances, and yes, BOOKS.
Speaking of which, The Wizard’s Way is well on its way to being released! Comments from beta readers have come in, edits have been made, layout is complete, and now all we’re waiting for is that final glorious proof copy. Once we’ve affirmed its perfection, it’ll be time to release the Steelgore!
We love all our books, of course, but we’re especially excited to bring you this one.
Though Jacob contributed a lot of content, The Wizard’s Way is primarily H.P.’s weird, hyperactive brainchild, and in it, you’ll see a face of the Holoverse that you’ve never seen before. Namely the face involving fire-breathing steel lions, pug butlers, bear libraries, and lots of general mayhem. But the latter is nothing new. 😛
And hey, if you’d like to receive an update when the novel releases, be sure to join our mailing list!
The Wizard’s Way – Cover Reveal!
Well, it’s been an adventurous month, but it takes more than a malfunctioning eyeball and a collapsed lung to stop me, which means that Draft #4 of The Wizard’s Way is DONE!
Our next step is to see what our beta readers have to say, apply their advice in the next round of edits, and then drop this bad boy – okay, bad but well-intentioned; Chaucey is complicated – on September 1st!
Who’s Chaucey, you ask? Read on to find out—and then to get your first official look at the cover art!
J. Chaucey Thatcher has a monster inside him, but this is the least of his worries.
A murderer prowls the Iron City, slaying inventors. An angry mob storms close behind, blaming wizards. Any they find, they burn alive.
Chaucey is an inventor. He is also secretly a wizard, and the only person who can help with this secret was just murdered before his very eyes.
But when it comes to investigating, Chaucey is as dogged as his best friend is dog. With the help of his loyal pug butler, his sparky (almost? maybe?) girlfriend, and a sleuth of rambunctious bears, he has vowed to unravel the mystery of these murders and save the city from the grips of terror.
But the monster inside him burns for escape.
Will he save the Iron City? Or will the monster destroy it first?
And now, drum roll please…
…
…
…
Though really, forget drum rolls. Let’s bring out the whole band for our illustrator, Mandy O’Brien (aka Painted-Bees on DeviantArt, Tumblr, and Twitter).
I’d been following her art for years on Deviant Art (I mean LOOK AT THIS), so when I started pondering illustrators for a colorful fantasy adventure with two civilizations of talking animals, I didn’t have to ponder long. Her vibrant style combined with the animated quality of her art meshed perfectly with the world I’d pictured in the novel, and looking at these illustrations is like looking at characters that walked right out of my brain onto a computer screen!
Read about them this Fall!
Monsters. Murder. Swashbuckling Pug Butlers.
Coming September 2016.
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Holo Writing at SC ComiCon 2016!
Another SC ComiCon has come and gone, and – as always – we had a great time! We premiered two new t-shirts (coming soon to the Etsy shop!) and the final cover of The Wizard’s Way (coming soon to this blog!). We also met several new fans, saw several familiar faces, and to answer several recurring questions:
- Time Reavers and Dragons of Jupiter sequels are indeed in the works! In fact, Jacob recently finished the outline for Mind Reavers (that is, Time Reavers 2)- but the novel itself is currently in the queue behind:
- Splitting Humanity Machine into 2 books (Remember that one?)
- Finishing the final draft of The Wizard’s Way
- Writing a story for an upcoming Safehold anthology
- And a Super Cool Super Secret Project
So, it will be some time before Mind Reavers happens, but expect lots of cool stuff in the meantime.
Of course, we also snapped some awesome cosplay pics!
We don’t have nearly as many this year, though, because HP is master-in-chief of cosplay fangirling, and she actually couldn’t see for most of the con. Turns out what we thought to be a persistently weird contact lens was actually a detached retina (#conlife #partyhard).
Then, because she likes to multitask, she suffered a spontaneous partial lung collapse 5 days into recovery, spent 10 days in the hospital, and is now at home recovering from that with a bunch of ice cream, Netflix, and a load of editing to do.
As you can see, it’s already been a busy con season, and we haven’t even made our second appearance!
We’ll be at Free Comic Book Day at The Tangled Web on Saturday, May 7th @ 8am, so if you missed us at SC ComiCon, be sure to stop by! 😀