Archiving my Twitter, Facebook and other social network activity
The latest episode of the #LesMiserables Reading Companion podcast covers the amazing scene where Eponine single-handedly stares down 6 hardened criminals and wins.
As always, their analysis turns up some really interesting connections with other parts of the book – like the fact that Eponine channels both Javert and Thenardier, the two main antagonists, but uses their traits to act heroically.
https://readlesmis.libsyn.com/ep40-iv8i-v-the-dangers-girls-face
#books
@trini I hope it’s better than the one book in the Wheel of Time series where everything happens on the same day as the climactic scene in the previous book, and you find out what everyone else was doing and how they react to it.
Each time I’ve read Les Misérables, I’ve had a greater appreciation for the chapter on argot. The first time I skipped it. The second time I decided I hadn’t missed much. The third time I could see what Hugo was doing thematically:
https://hyperborea.org/les-mis/book/slang/
The latest episode of the Les Mis Reading Companion is on that chapter, and they give it even more context, illustrating how language can be used for gatekeeping…or rebellion. https://readlesmis.libsyn.com/ep39-iv7i-iv-argot
@trini Wow. I don’t remember how much it got into that in the one book I read, but I imagine that would really start grating on me after a while.
I do remember him telling a story at a convention about late in the first book’s publishing cycle discussing “wait, the monarchists are the good guys, and the Republic of Haven are the bad guys. How do we fix this?” And they found a page where they could add “People’s” without messing up the page proofs.
@joancasta One of my favorite things about the book is the way it’s structured as a collection of original documents – of so many different types. There’s an interesting one that comes up later on once Van Helsing gets involved.
It’s also interesting to see some of the ways pop culture vampires have changed since his time.
Last week I gave up on “The Unexpected” after 5 issues. It was the only one of the New Age of DC Heroes comics that caught my eye. The first issue was good, but after that it just meandered and meandered.
It turns out DC is cancelling it with issue 8.
So I’m down to one DC comic, The Flash, which I haven’t been able to work up any enthusiasm to read since Heroes in Crisis hit.
Killing off another Flash for shock value in another book with Crisis in the title is lazy. Killing off yet another Titan for shock value is lazy. Killing off a former headliner who shares a title with another character who’s currently starring in their own book so you can kill an A-lister without actually killing off a current book is lazy.
These were shocking years ago. Now they’re cliches.
More @SpeedForce: https://speedforce.org/2018/10/tired-of-dead-speedsters/
#comics #TheFlash #HeroesInCrisis
A Wheel of Time TV adaptation is finally happening!
TV is definitely the format for it – it’s too sprawling for movies. And unlike another epic fantasy series I can think of, the story’s already done. (Early GoT convinced me that this sort of thing *could* be done on TV)
https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/2/17928400/amazon-video-robert-jordan-wheel-of-time-neil-gaiman
#books #fantasy #WheelOfTime #TV
—
I really hope this turns out to be good. My wife & I have talked on many occasions about which books might make full seasons or half-seasons or should be interleaved if someone did a GoT-style TV adaptation.
And casting… OMG we were fan-casting back when the Buffy cast were in the right age range.
I don’t plan on re-reading the series at this point, though. 14 looooong books that I’ve read already (and of which the middle four were…well, middling). I’d rather take that time to read something new, or re-read something shorter, or both.
Finished reading Night and Silence, the latest October Daye book by Seanan McGuire. Toby’s family keeps getting more and more complicated. And I’m concerned about the consequences of one character’s last-ditch rescue effort.
#amreading #fantasy #books
In other #comics #amReading, I expanded my thoughts on the Graphic Audio adaptation of #FinalCrisis – and going back to the original and its tie-ins – into a full blog review.
I was already numb to any interest in reading Heroes in Crisis. Having read the list of confirmed deaths in the first issue alone, I’ve changed my decision from “maybe pick up the trade if reviews are good” to “nope.”
I’m tired of any character who isn’t currently headlining a book being one editorial decision away from cannon fodder.
And I’m tired of comics repeating story beats just to repeat them without looking at what made them work (or not) in the first place.
#comics #HeroesInCrisis
This sounds amazing: BOOM is going to be doing graphic novels based on The Magicians (the books, not the TV show), starting with an OGN next summer focusing on Alice: her life before Brakebills and the events of the first book from her POV.
I’m not familiar with artist Pius Bak, but writer Lilah Sturges is a perfect choice.
Boom! Studios Brings Lev Grossman’s THE MAGICIANS to Comics
THE MAGICIANS: ALICE’S STORY original graphic novel is slated for release by the publisher in July 2019.
I found this old post I wrote on how Marvel or DC would have milked Lord of the Rings as an “event” comic book, with tie-ins, spin-offs, and character spotlights…
…and realized it’s not that far off from what the Hobbit movies actually *did*.
What If…Lord of the Rings had been an “Event” Comic?
@lapis Not particularly. I just wonder how many readers will reinforce the “people with allergies just want attention” stereotype in their minds.
@lapis Ugh. I was afraid of that. It’s an actual stereotype: There are people who believe that food allergies are just being exaggerated to get attention or special treatment. Which of course makes it harder to get them to accommodate the medical condition. That may be less of an issue with peers, but in a restaurant setting, or adults at a school or daycare, or someone helping out with food at an event, it can easily set someone up for real harm.
@naga Some of the catastrophes, I can go with. But one big enough to create a new moon? The planet would have basically been sterilized.
I also wondered about the secrecy of incoming communication with Red Coast 2. Surely other SETI projects would have picked up the signals, whether they could decode them or not.
@lapis Why would she want to fake it? As someone with a real peanut allergy, it’s a pain to deal with.
A lot of the people she’s lied to are going to be a little less considerate of the next person they meet with a food allergy. Maybe a little less careful.
I’m seriously impressed by the concept of the sophon. It’s one of the most overpowered pieces of impossible tech and yet it’s a simple extrapolation from string theory – and making use of known quantum effects gives it a lot of other abilities that handily explain the mysterious happenings early in the book.
#ThreeBodyProblem #SFFBookClub #amReading
@trini I remember liking On Basilisk Station well enough, but not enough to get me interested in the rest of the series.
@lapis @zephasaurus_hex
Some of the #comics I’ve read on that list:
Daytripper is amazing.
I quite liked the original Elfquest.
Fun Home is really good.
Planetary is a fascinating exploration of superhero/scifi tropes, but works best if you know the references.
Transmetropolitan is really good, but not everyone’s cup of tea.
Sandman is epic, but start w/the 2nd collection & go back for part 1 if you like it.
Astro City is a great reimagining of superheroes, hopeful & standing on its own.
@lapis @zephasaurus_hex To clarify with Sandman: It took 8 issues for the series to find its voice. So while the first collection establishes the setting and characters, it’s a very different tone from the rest of the series.
@lapis @zephasaurus_hex Oh, and Hark! A Vagrant! is a lot of fun also, especially if you like literary and historical humor. It’s a collection of unrelated comic strips rather than an ongoing story.
