This week’s book to read is Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I bought it on iBooks awhile time ago on the recommendation of somebody online, but it got buried in the queue as I found other books to read. Seeing him on The Simpsons a few weeks ago put it back on my mind, and I finally get around to it.
I forgot what little I read before, so all I know about it is that involve fairies but will feel much different than the YA novels I usually read. As much as I enjoy them, some of them are too formulaic. It’s good to vary my diet, even if only slightly.
I visited Old Town Albuquerque today. It was as interesting as any other old town, but what was most interesting was that almost every building was a shop. There were a few restaurants and one museums, but everything else was a shop hoping to sell the same souvenirs as the merchants along the side of a wall. It was essentially a mall of souvenirs and turquoise exactly like what you’ll find at any flea market, so I just bought a necklace with a tiny vial of fairy dust.
Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by merchants and spammers. Even my friends now send text messages trying to entice me to buy overpriced Cutco (which apparently is not a subsidiary of Edgecom) knives from Vector Marketing. It reeks of desperation when they feign enthusiasm over cutlery when they don’t even cook.
Everybody needs to make money, but why do they always have to make money on crap nobody wants or needs? I don’t need jewelry or t- shirts I’ll never wear, and why would I pay hundreds of dollars for knives that aren’t even the best? I’d pay money to see a performance though. I’d lay down a Hamilton for a chapbook. I’d open my wallet to see a symphony. I just want a memorable experience.
I accept that life is a freemium game that nickel-and-dimes you, but I wish it sold more art and less crap.
Nothing like being in a different state to catch you up on reading.
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff is a young adult novel about a changeling, a creature who is placed in the crib of a child much like a cuckoo bird’s egg, and his struggle to live a normal life in a town with a secret that everybody knows but nobody acknowledges, but it’s not so easy when the iron in the city and in the blood of his peers hurts him. When a friend’s sister is kidnapped and replaced with a changeling, he is forced to deal with the underworld from which he came. However, he does so very reluctantly.
Mackie, the changeling protagonist, is a selfish individual, choosing self-preservation over all else. The only exception is his sister. It’s frustrating to watch him brush away the questions of Tate, the sister of the missing girl, and play along with the town’s naivety. The cowardice fit his character, but I’d have preferred he grow a pair sooner. Despite his self-interest, he’s not an unlikable or unrealistic character. Most people would choose self-preservation. I enjoyed the rest of the characters as well and never felt as if any were a Mary Sue or Gary Stu, which is too often the case in novels written for teenagers and young adults.
The story flows at a good pace, which is appreciated considering that it’s almost 350 pages. None of the scenes felt like filler and no action contrived or forced. Although I question how a teenage girl could fight a dreaded demonic creature and survive, the direction the story took all the way to the end was natural. There is romance, but it’s atypical–nobody is too perfect–and it’s not the crux of the book. There was a scene that felt too explicit, especially since the characters were teenagers, but it did not last very long. There are gritty details of the town, its underworld, and the happenings that occur in the shadows, so keep in mind that it is a dark novel that deals with some mature themes.
I loved the book enough to finish it in a single session. The story is wonderful, the characters are enjoyable, and the theme of a town that smiles away the harsh realities that live right beneath them connected with me. How often do entire communities fake it and deny what really occurs in their own neighborhood? They don’t even have the excuse of demonic creatures! I saw myself in Mackie, playing along because I didn’t want to be singled out even though everybody knew I was different and weird. That is probably why I enjoyed it so much, but even if you don’t empathize with him, you’ll enjoy this book if you enjoy urban fantasy.
One of my new year’s resolutions is to read a novel a week. That might not sound like much, but I tend to have huge lulls in between books, so it’ll be a nice challenge for me to maintain momentum in my reading. I also want to share my thoughts on the books I read, if only for the excuse to write more.
The first week of 2012 was intense, so I’ll start this week with The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. It’s about a changeling who lives in the small town of Gentry who must travel to his birthplace of Mayhem, the underworld beneath Gentry, and must “find his rightful place, in our world–or theirs.”
I bought it because I’ll buy any book about fairies, even if it isn’t blatantly about them. Good Amazon reviews helped too. It’s also different from the usual YA novel I read in that the protagonist is male. It’s a fresh change after novels where the protagonist is a teenage girl who’s unique in the same way as every teenage girl who’s a main character.
I’ll write an actual review by next Monday, if not this Sunday.
A withered rose becomes a weed–
it spreads across every vine–
it strangles every seed.
Only fire can break them free,
but fire needs wood to burn.
Sometimes, bridges offer the best
fodder for fuel. Sometimes,
the cost is worth it.
A slave to the world
or a king of a stranded island
is a pauper either way. But,
in solitude, one has room
to grow. In society, forever
in the stranglehold of another’s
whim. Forever on prostrate knees
waiting to be clothed, sheltered, fed.
Sometimes, the house must be burnt,
the soil overturned, cemented.
Sand is shaky foundation,
rock is better, but steel is best.
Not even nature can shake it.
Though the world will quake
to stumble you back into place,
the world is beneath you, tucked away. Safe.
Your venomous vampire fangs salivate
whenever fresher meat approaches, but
no matter how often you feed, your head,
your heart, your spine will still coagulate.
If you don’t breathe, but only feed, then what
will ever be said but that you’re undead?
I tried to play the patient sacrifice-
indulged you in all your deficiencies
a faithful thrall, but your appetite rises
with every mercy. Nothing would suffice.
Even after my demise, you won’t cease.
My only choice-to leave you in your vices.
If you rise from the dead and see the light
Call me again, and I’ll go out with you that night.
Be hot and cold as Katy Perry prophesied. If something is meaningful, love it with a passion and defend it to the death. Otherwise, as Emilie Autumn said, “Let it die.”
Stop being a nerd. Indulging in controversial topics on the Internet is pointless. As Dharma Montgomery once said, “If you wrestle a pig, you only get dirty, and the pig has all the fun.”
Become a real yogimon master. I’d also like better abs.
Eat like a fey. Not Tina Fey, but a fairy. In other words, be a Super Vegan. When it comes to soda, drink only Sprite like Laurel Sewell did on Wings. Not the old USA sitcom, but the paranormal romance by Aprilynne Pike. Sierra Mist is, to quote Hayley Williams of Paramore, “the only exception.”
Work life like a burlesque show. For an introvert, society is best approached as a piece of performance art; I also don’t stutter in performances. Like any play, it should not exceed three or four hours.
Live life like a video game. Treat every circumstance and event as if it has purpose. If I see a tornado carrying a car, assume God’s in that tornado and he’s aiming that car right at me.
Raise the tide of the Sea and flood the shores unceasingly. Self-explanatory.
Go! As Gwen Stefani once asked, “What you waiting for?” To quote GaGa, “I am a fucking lion and I cannot be destroyed.” As Sonic says, “If you have time to worry, then run.”
Oops… Almost forgot. Accept every challenge. Hyah!
The half-hour shower–a refuge
from the grease of moonlight work
and the hours wasted on her.
I’d drown my aches beneath this rain
all day, but her debts demand to be paid
and it’s way past midnight.
Out of the shower and into the steam
chilled with the breeze whispering
through the moldy window she hasn’t cleaned.
The fog conceals nothing; everything
in the dirty towel hamper is mine,
and her toothbrush is still dry.
She’s already in bed with an arm
around my phantom shape, a smile
sculpted on her face like those
I had when I embraced her phantom touch
in my lame high school poetry,
dressing her in jewels and royalty.
Her eyes are not emeralds, but definitely stoned,
her hair is a crown, but the gold has chipped off,
her voice is a violin that hasn’t been tuned,
her face was my sun, but now it’s the moon.
Even her majestic peaks lose luster once scaled-
She’s flat without all the symbolism.
Dull eyes open, catch my stare.
“Whatcha doing?” she asks.
“Just admiring your beauty,” I reply.
She leans forward with her lips; I tense
but eventually submit. We shut our eyes,
and I rest in peace in holy matrimony.
Sonic Generations for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 is a celebration of two decades of Sonic the Hedgehog, featuring the best of the blue blur’s greatest (and not-so-great) games. This twentieth anniversary title is such an overdose of nostalgia that all but the pickiest fans will find something to enjoy.
What little story exists is merely setup for the game’s premise: Sonic teams up with his younger counterpart to speed through stages from his past adventures beginning with the first zone of the first game, Green Hill. Each stage has an act for the younger Sonic, Classic Sonic, and the contemporary Sonic, Modern Sonic. Besides a shorter stature, rounder belly, and blacker pupils, Classic Sonic also plays differently. Whereas Modern Sonic plays as he did in Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, emphasizing speed and 3D gameplay, Classic Sonic is pure side-scrolling platforming like the old Genesis games.
Though the game emphasizes their differences, Classic Sonic’s stages are fast-paced enough and Modern Sonic’s are diverse enough that fans of one should enjoy the other. The similarities in appearance and level design might confuse newer players not well-versed into their nuances, but the game is much more forgiving than previous titles. Mistakes that would cost you lives in Sonic Unleashed now usually drop you to a lower, slower path or offer a spring to launch you back on track. Even a new player could complete a stage without losing many, if any, lives, but to finish an act optimally still requires skill.
The game’s presentation in graphics and sound is nearly perfect. Everything, even the different springs, rings with the appropriate sound of their era. The soundtrack is a greatest hits of the series’s most memorable melodies, but it also brings back music from more obscure games such as Knuckles Chaotix. The graphics are beautifully vibrant but not distracting. Even more recent stages like Rooftop Run and Planet Wisp received some polish for this game. My only quibble is with the pixellated cutscenes. Fortunately, the rest of the game does not suffer from such jarring edges. (I played the Xbox 360 version; the PS3 version might differ.)
Sonic Generations is short. The story will take 3-6 hours to complete. Even with the 90 missions, unlockables, and achievements, it’s possible to complete the game in less than 20 hours. However, Sonic games were always known more for replay value than for longevity. The acts are fun to explore and even many of the missions are enjoyable enough to replay. There’s also online leaderboards if you’re the competitive type.
The only real flaw is with the ending. The final boss is the worst one I’ve seen in a Sonic game. It was more confusing than climactic. As with the rest of the story, it felt tacked on. However, it’s such a small fraction of the game that it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. The rest of the game is fantastic.
Sonic Generations is a game most fans will love. It won’t bring back those disgruntled fans who expect it to play exactly like their favorite game. Rather than rehashing one of the older games, Sonic Generations is a blend of the best the series has to offer. It’s a nostalgic love letter to Sonic fans, but even those who aren’t yet should give the game a try. In a time when most games are derivative of more popular titles or are slightly updated sequels, Sonic Generations, despite looking like a rehash, is so much fresher and unique in what it offers.
