#it was amazing and became my favorite discworld book for a time

[justafterjericho]

If you liked that vibes you could read the Hogfather book or go with the Mort (the first in the death subseries). Then just read the read of the death books in order. Mort also has the benefit of being very good at establishing not only Death as a character, but also the worldbuilding (and not only the one surrounding Death and his function) and while you can get better book for establishing how gods on the discworld work (I'll get to that one), if I remember correctly, this one still gives you some basic idea.

I would also recommend Guards! Guards! (starting point for the city watch books, late enough that Pratchett figured out his voice and what he wanted to do, early enough that there are not many references or cameo characters from earlier books (except Death, but there are very few books that don't have that cameo and if you loved Hogfather, I doubt you mind)), Truth (stand-alone, some cameos from the city watch characters), Going postal (starting point for Moist von Lipwig subseries, cameos from the city watch characters and the Truth, being quite late into the series it's one of the best books in the starting points category, but while it and it's sequel Making money can be read as stand-alones without problems, third book in the subseries - Raising steam - concludes arc about dwarf society, that starts in the city watch books and you should probably read them too before going into it, but Going postal alone can be read before any previous books) and I would say also Monstrous regiment (stand-alone, cameos from the city watch books and the Truth, also quite late into the series) can be good starting point. While these series can be read withou each other and you can choose any of those starting points, if you start with the Guards! Guards! I would definitely recommend taking all of those books (and the subseries they belong to) I've talked in this paragraph and read them as if they were from the same subseries (by that I mean chronologicaly). It's definitelly not necessary for understanding but (with the exception of Monstrous regiment) they're all set in the Ankh-Morpork and do influence the city quite a lot. On the top of that the characters interact with each other and it's both interresting and hilarious to see what each of them think of the others (lets just say that Vimes, William and Moist do not like each other very much for most of the time). Monstrous regiment just adds good outside perspective of some of those characters on the top. Like I said it's not necessary and you can start with any other of those starting points, but if you decide to start with Guards! Guards! I feel it would be missed opportunity to not do this.

Other than that from the earlier starting points there's also Small gods (stand-alone, quite early into the series, gives one a good grasp about some of the worldbuilding, expecially about how the gods work) and Wyrd sisters (generally recommended starting point for the Witches series, there's technically Equal Rites, but that's more of a prequel, it has quite a different tone from the rest of the witches books, it's mixed with the Wizards and Granny Weatherwax is the only character that will appear in the other Witches books and it's also quite apparent that some, probably not all that small, amount of time had passed between Equal Rites and Wyrd sisters, still good though, firts discworld book I've read through and I loved it).

The Wee Free Men (the first book in the Tiffany Aching subseries) is technically aimed towards younger audience, but in true Terry Pratchett fashion is also in lots of its aspects one of the darker discworld books and this subseries as a whole contains probably the darkest book in the discworld (it's been some time since I've read I Shall Wear Midnight but from what I remember it beats Night Watch, Thud! and Sniff (later Watch books) on how dark it was). Even with cameos from the Witches books (which are in every Tiffany books from what I remember) they should be okay to read without any previous books except for the last two ones (the aforementioned I Shall Wear Midnight and The Shepherd's Crown). For those two you should also read at least all of the Witches books (this time including Equal Rites) - although in the case of I Shall Wear Midnight it's mostly for one very satisfying cameo which in my oppinion deserve to be experience in the fullest. It is definitely necessary for The Shepherd's Crown though.

The last starting point I will recommend is The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. Like the Tiffany Aching books it's aimed at a younger audience, like the Tiffany Aching books it's also one of the darker books xD. It is stand-alone and one, where the only cameos are of the Death and the Death of Rats. For all its insularity from the others books it does introduce enough of the discworld and it's tone to be a good starting point. There's actually quite recent animated adaptation of this one that can be considered quite good, definitelly one of the better discworld adaptation. Sadly it could have been great if they didn't decided to make it more "kid-friendly" by erasing most of the darkness by, for example, making the villian less scary and (which angered me more) erasing a whole fucking character just so they wouldn't die because kids apparently just can't handle death (lets just ignore the Lion King). They were other changes that felt kinda unecessary but if you have any younger kids I feel they would probably like it.

I never really got into any of the wizards books (excluding Unseen Academicals and the Last Hero, but the former is pretty late into the discworld (and Rincewind isn't the main character) and the later is basically a crossover with the Watch and none of them can be counted as more of the typical wizards books), never finished the Colour of Magic and while I later read other wizards books that I finished and even somewhat liked they just never really clicked for me so I don't feel like someone who should recommend them. And there's also the Pyramids and Moving Pictures that could probably also serve as starting points but I've never read Pyramids and while I've read Moving Picture it was a long time ago and while I remember liking it just fine, it wasn't all that memorable for me and I feel they are probably much better starting points there. Although it should be noted that while Moving Pictures is a stand-alone if you've decided to go with the wizards books this one should probably be read among them, because while the wizards aren't the main characters froim what I remember (or at least not the main main) this book introduces the new Archchancellor of the Unseen University Munstrum Ridcully who becomes the permanent ficture of the University going foward and basically starts a new era for the wizards there. He does also appear in the non-wizards books, but I'd wager that if someone read the whole wizards subseries his sudden appearance could have maybe feel a little jarring (but idk).

I would generally advise against starting with reading in the publication order, at least not from the beginning (I'd call that my bias against Wizards books as a whole and CoM in particular, but there exist enough people who were put off when they started with this book to warrant it). If you really want to experience the publication order reading (which can have some benefits) I would firstly start with some stand-alone or even starting point in some of the subseries you like the synopsis of and read that and then decide to try to read the whole discworld from the start. Or you can just start with either Equal Rites or Mort and go from there, of course. Generally if you don't like some starting point in some of the subseries it's probably a good idea to just switch to some different subseries or stand-alone and not just continue within the same subseries and then decide discworld isn't for you - I'm not saying discworld is necessary for everyone, but there are quite a lot of books and a few subseries in there so trying different ones if you don't like some book (and subseries) in it before giving up on it as a whole might be a good idea.

So where does one start reading Discworld?

So, this post hove across my dash, and I need these vibes in my life immediately.

[aquilathefighter]

Ten Books To Know Me

Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like.

Thanks for the tag @littledreamling and @mathomhouse-e!!

I'm taking non-ancient literally, you will be getting literature from the 19th century lmao. In no particular order:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

This book was my hook into the sci-fi genre! It's such a fun adventure to live in the world underwater in the Nautilus! I still have the annotated version my parents got me when I was around 9 or 10 with a very beat-up, well-loved dust jacket.

2. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut's style is so influential. I adore the non-linearity of the story, how Billy gets "unstuck in time" and we see snippets of his past and his future. Of course the anti-war message is near and dear to my heart and the perspective of people who have been to war is so critical to hear. Vonnegut also has a special place in my heart as someone who taught the Iowa Writers' Workshop because that program is something my home state produces that I can be very proud of.

3. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

C'mon, I'm an ecologist! I have a degree in environmental science! This is an obvious choice for someone who cares about the environment, as it demonstrated the dangers of DDT to the public. Carson is a personal hero of mine as she essentially kickstarted the environmental movement and became one of the best science communicators in the United States. Her writing is simple, clear, and easy to understand even if you have no background in biology and chemistry. An amazing way to make people see what we are doing to our Earth.

4. Welcome to Subbirdia by John Marzluff

Woohoo! First bird book on the list! I read this in my first year seminar in college and it opened my eyes to how cool urban ecology is. I learned so much about how inhospitable suburbia can be for wildlife and what we can do to invite them back to where we live, so we can actually live beside native plants, animals, and other organisms. It's a great entry-level book about birds, the biodiversity crisis, and urban ecology.

5. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I love the weird, the silly, and the bizarre. Hitchhiker's Guide has had such an impact on my sense of humor and outlook on life. I'm gonna use this space to recommend the entire trilogy in five parts to you.

6. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Are we shocked that a Neil book landed on here? I read this in 2021 when I was working just outside the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. It actually made me a friend who introduced me to Good Omens and then Discworld. I miss him dearly. Anyways, what a fantastic world that I really felt quite at home in as a Midwesterner. Sam Black Crow is one of my favorite characters of all time.

7. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

One of my earliest beloved poets. Whitman does so much with rhythm and sound in his poems; it's no surprise he's recognized as one of the American greats. I love his use of natural imagery and the way he explores the connections between people. And the powerful homoeroticism.

8. What Do We Know by Mary Oliver

Another poet, and a tumblr favorite at that! Oliver's poetry really speaks to my soul as someone who takes in the wonders all around us, big and small. Her prose poems are truly skilled, and if you read any of them I really adore At Blackwater Pond to get a taste.

9. Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

I am so, so soft-hearted for the ecology of the Midwest and for the people who take the time to look and listen and learn from all the living beings that surround us. I've shared a quote from this book before but it really gets to the crux of what is so beautiful about the essays and natural history within:

"It is fortunate, perhaps, that no matter how intently one studies the hundred little dramas of the woods and meadows, one can never learn all of the salient facts about any one of them."

10. The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd Edition by David Allen Sibley

Last but not least, my favorite bird guide! This thing has been everywhere with me. I'm 95% sure that some of the pages have my blood on them. It's certainly got dirt all over it. This book is my bible. I take it wherever I go when I lead birding trips and when I'm somewhere that has unfamiliar birds. It is the best field guide for North American birds in my opinion.

Not sure who hasn't done this yet! Obviously no pressure to do it <3

@altair214 @lenreli @galacticstingray @pintobordeaux

[moistvonlipwig]

top 5 Discworld books?

Great question! And a very difficult one. :) I haven't re-read any Discworld books in a hot minute, so this is largely going off memory:

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

I think Pratchett's YA books were actually more consistently strong than his adult books -- the Tiffany Aching series is of course great, but so is The Amazing Maurice, and it also has a special place in my heart because it's the first Discworld book I ever read, at age 9. I think Maurice is one of the great fictional cats of all time (along with such magnificent beasts as Behemoth from The Master and Margarita, Chester from Bunnicula, and Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes), and I love the rats, especially Dangerous Beans. It's also a Story About Stories, and I do love a good Story About Stories.

The Wee Free Men

I don't know if The Wee Free Men is the best Tiffany Aching book -- I think you could make a strong case for any of the first four -- but I really love the arc Tiffany goes through in it, so it's probably my favorite one. Tiffany is one of the best-written 9-year-old girls in all of fiction ("Patronizing is a long word. Zoology is really quite short."), and I especially how love she grapples with Granny Aching's death and legacy in this book.

Night Watch

From my understanding Night Watch is generally regarded as the best City Watch book and I have to say I think it's well-earned. It's a really fascinating meditation on police, authoritarianism, and revolution, and the time travel aspect is very well-done. Also, I love Baby Vetinari and his embarrassing Aunt Bobbi who orchestrates political assassinations.

Hogfather

The premise of this one alone (Death steps in for Pig!Santa) is enough to warrant high marks. This is a great Death book and I think this is also Susan at her best. I also have fondness for the film adaptation although, like so many film adaptations, it's not as good as the book.

Small Gods

One of Pratchett's most incisive satires, which also makes a case for the value of kindness, vulnerability, and even weakness. It's also extremely funny. Om and Brutha are a great duo and Vorbis is a great villain. And the ending is very moving. The book's most serious flaw is its complete and total lack of female characters, but it says something about the quality of the novel that I am largely willing to forgive it for that.

And, as a bonus, I have to mention my favorite short story:

The Sea and Little Fishes

Granny Weatherwax is probably Pratchett's best character, even if Death is his most iconic, and although the Witches books (especially Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, and Carpe Jugulum) do an incredible job exploring her character, this short story is the quintessential Granny Weatherwax. I always get chills near the end of the story when Nanny Ogg admits she became a witch to get boys and asks what Granny Weatherwax became a witch to get and she says, "Even." What a character.

[mimilind]

Terry Pratchett In Memoriam

(Image by sandara.)

(Image by 1nkor.)

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.”

Sir Terry Pratchett (28 April 1948 - 12 March 2015)

Today, 6 years ago my favorite author died. Sir Terry Pratchett became 66 years old, and during his too-short life he wrote over forty amazing books, most of them parts of his Discworld series. Even when he developed Alzheimer's disease, he would keep writing, and though his later books are not entirely up to the same standard as those he wrote in his prime, they are still amazing books. He was just an extremely talented writer, who even with Alzheimer's could write smart, funny and thought-provoking stories.

Though set in a fantasy world, his characters are realistic and very deep, and the stories often mimic our world and problems, such as poverty, racism and gender inequality. This is done with humor and warmth, and often very subtly.

In addition he had a way with words, and the amount of cite-worthy quotes from his works is boundless. In one of my fanfiction stories I begin each chapter with a quote that fits the chapter's contents, and it's never hard to find one to match. The problem is rather choosing between the many options...

I shall end this In Memoriam with one of my favorite quotes:

Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

(Image by Kenu.)

[accidentalspaceexplorer]

I think my absolute favorite books this year, in no particular order, have been:

Ocean's Echo: SF m/m romance, companion novel to Winter's Orbit, forced soulbond between lawful good man & disaster boi

Worn: A People's History of Clothing: really fantastic nonfiction about clothing & fabric, where it comes from, & how that has changed over the course of human history

Some Desperate Glory: SF, about de-radicalizing from an extremely bad cult & how to live & fix the world, + time travel + a whole lot of stuff. This book destroyed me but also it was amazing.

We Could Be So Good: historical m/m romance about newspapermen in the 1960s

Night Watch: fantasy, 5ish books in to the Discworld sub-series about the Watch, time travel + self-reflection about your growth & how you became who you are

Hope some of these recs are useful! Glad to see you here again!

I have read a lot more books than last year, partly because I was going through it with my mental health at the beginning of the year and couldn't watch TV, but I'm happy I seem to have gotten back into reading. My mental health is in a good place how but I'm still finding time to read which is great. I also gave myself permission to not give books ratings on Goodreads because assigning a star value to books was majorly stressing me out for some reason.

Anyway I hope I'll be more active on here with book content again. I would love some book recommendations from the best books you read this year, or just something fun or good you think I should read!

[morporkian-cryptid]

💕 for all of them. Go nuts

tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them! 

Dan, you don’t know what you’ve started. -cracks knucles-

Warning, long post is long.

Lupin III: At first my fave was Jigen. I clearly have a type and that type is dark and mysterious, preferably badass warrior, with a lot of snark. Also I had been obsessed with Sebastian Moran for the past years and they clearly share a lot of traits. Then for some unknown reason I became obsessed with the samurai, only the gods know why. On top of being a badass warrior and having a lot of really cool fight scenes (HIS DUO WITH JIGEN IN PART 5 OMFG), he’s also FRIGGIN ADORABLE. The dude starts blushing like a flustered teenager whenever a girl comes near him and it’s hilarious. Though to be honest, Goemon is probably one of the character who change the most depending on the season and the movie. Originally he was a fucking chad, and in Part 2 he has some pretty cool one-liners, and he’s easily one of the funniest characters of that season. And his way of speaking like he’s a goddamn grammar dictionary is hilarious. He’s just... I LOVE HIM SO MUCH OKAY? Also my love for Goemon kinda sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to find out as much as I can about traditional Japanese customs in general and samurai culture in particular, and I’ve learned a lot of very interesting things! If you ever have questions about kamons aka family crests just ask me.

Also I have a huge soft spot for Inspector Koichi Zenigata. That man is amazing and I love him. He’s a cinnamon roll and he’s also very badass and he’s just SO FUCKING STUBBORN OMG.

MorMor: Well... Moran and Moriarty, obviously. I became obsessed with Moriarty because I have a thing for evil geniuses who look and act scary, that’s a secret to no-one at this point. Also he has a LOT of potential for angst. The reason I got into MorMor in the first place was because Sebastian was an excuse for Jim not to die, then I fell in love with the fandom’s creativity and the complete freedom we have to build the characters. The MorMor fandom is kinda like a Build-A-Bear store except it’s Build-A-Moran. I love Sebastian because the fandom has made him such a complex character. Like, yes, he’s a criminal and a murderer and probably evil by most people’s standards, but... He’s also human? He loves his boyfriend so much and would do anything for him, and he has his own struggles with morals and with his past, and Jim and Seb’s relationship is something so complex and HUMAN. I think that’s what I love with them. That we can take these two horrible criminals and find the good parts in them and fucking empathize with them. Also, the massive potential for angst.

Discworld: I already declared my love for Sam Vimes in a previous ask so I won’t repeat myself.

La Quête d’Ewilan (and subsequent novels): Imma do this one in English and in French.

ELLANA. MOTHERFUCKING. CALDIN.  How can I express how fucking OBSESSED I was with her as a kid. She was my IDOL. I wanted to grow up to be like her. Her life and her philosophy shaped me in a way that I can actually recognize and pinpoint even to this day. She’s the archetype of the strong and independent woman, and to be perfectly honest she is a bit of a cliché, but when I was a kid that didn’t matter, because I had this role model of a woman who is completely and utterly FREE, who never lets ANYONE dictate what she has to do, for whom her freedom and integrity are the core element of her identity and her most precious treasure that she will never let anyone take away from her. She taught me about choices and responsibility, she taught me about friendship and love, she taught me to stand up for myself. In the end I didn’t grow up to be like her, but a part of who I am today, I owe to her, and to all the other characters in these books who gave me an example to follow and a goal to reach. Besides all the moral and philosophical aspects, she’s also a badass warrior (I’ve already told you, I have a fucking type) with incredible physical abilities (she’s the reason I have a strong fascination for knives, so now Dan knows who to blame), and a massive amount of sass.

(Also... I clearly had a massive gay crush on her even though I didn’t recognize it at the time)

ELLANA. MOTHERFUCKING. CALDIN. Comment est-ce que je peux exprimer à quel point j’étais OBSEDEE par elle quand j’étais gosse. Elle était mon IDOLE. Je voulais grandir et devenir comme elle. Sa vie et sa philosophie m’ont formée et guidée d’une manière dont je suis encore capable de discerner clairement les répercussions aujourd’hui. Elle est l’archétype de la femme forte et indépendante, et pour être parfaitement honnête elle est un peu un cliché, mais quand j’étais gamine ça n’était pas important, parce que j’avais ce modèle d’une femme complètement et totalement LIBRE, qui ne laissait jamais QUICONQUE lui dicter ce qu’elle devait faire, pour qui sa liberté et son intégrité étaient le coeur même de son identité et son trésor le plus précieux, qu’elle ne laisserait jamais personne lui arracher. Elle m’a enseigné les choix et les responsabilités, m’a parlé de l’amour et de l’amitié, m’a appris à m’affirmer et me défendre. Au final je ne suis pas devenue comme elle, mais il y a une partie de ce que je suis aujourd’hui que je lui dois, à elle et aux autres personnages de ces romans qui m’ont donné un exemple à suivre et un but à atteindre. A côté de tous ces aspects moraux et philosophiques, c’est aussi une guerrière badass (je vous ai dit que j’avais un putain de type) avec d’incroyables capacités physiques (elle est la raison pour ma fascination avec les couteaux, dagues et autres lames, maintenant Dan sait à qui s’en prendre), et une quantité incroyable de répartie.

(Aussi... j’avais clairement un putain de béguin pour elle quand j’étais gosse même si à l’époque je ne m’en rendais pas compte)

Told you this was going to be a long post. Thank you for this, Dan ^^

[kwat01]

Tis I! Your lovely secret pantom again🎅🌹 Oooo, those are the best kinds of fairy tales~ I love learning about the older tales, they are so much fun to read! Is there a particular tale that holds your heart, one you could read over and over again? Awe, sounds like she has fun though! She'll grow to love them when she gets bigger, eheh! The OG book is one of my favorites too! Is there any particular gothic literature you like to read besides POTO? I saw you like science fiction!

You know I don’t think I really have a favourite tale, but I remember when my love for them began. A girl in my 8th grade art class brought a HUGE book in with her one day that was an illustrated encyclopaedia of Celtic monsters and folktales. This thing was about 2 inches thick and as big as an old atlas book. The kind of book you would work a book collection around because it’s so awesome. I remember her saying it was her mother’s and that she would KILL her if she knew she’d brought it to school but that she wanted to create an art piece with the book as inspiration. I’ve never been able to find a copy since despite bookstore, library and, later when the internet became the norm, google searches over the last 20 years. Here is a webpage that is quite similar to the book, minus the tales to go with the descriptions and only a fraction of the monsters on offer. Gives pretty good idea of what I’m talking about though.

The other earliest memory I have is of an original telling of The Little Mermaid picture book I had as a kid and loved. The sea witch seriously scared me, but I loved the mermaids. I didn’t understand her obsession with the prince 😂 “Why didn’t she kill him?” I’d ask my mother, who replied “Because she loved him.” My brain screaming but he didn’t love her??!! And now she’s sea foam!! Uuurgh!

I've read at random real endings for some well known fairytales, like where the three bears eat goldilocks, there are multiple gorey versions of Little Red Riding Hood, I'm obsessed with the big bad wolf 🖤 The evil step sister that kept slicing off pieces of foot to fit into the glass slipper etc.

Gothic novels, hmm, I loved Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Wuthering Heights I can’t actually remember Dracula very well, it’s been too long. I read a lot of H.P Lovecraft and dabbled in Edgar Allen Poe, Anne Rice had a fair run. Then I’d dedicate an entire year to giant classics like the Count of Monte Cristo and become obsessed with revenge 😂 or War and Peace, my best friend said I drove her crazy when I was reading that one because I’d go off on tangents about Russian history or spout off Freemason facts, didn’t help at the time she was reading the biography of Che Guevara and was in a completely different mind space. I’ve been attempting to read Les Miserables over the last year and have been failing miserably. I couldn’t focus when I was pregnant and now I have no time 😤

Science fiction has definitely taken a backburner to fantasy and gothic novels, I love love love Terry Pratchett's Discworld and always will, I’ve read a few Dune novels and a few H.G Wells. The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is amazing, 1984 was terrifying, Slaughterhouse 5 was just mind blowing! I read a lot of science fiction in my young teens mostly and couldn’t even give you titles now! Then there was obvious fantasy novels like the Hobbit & Lord of the Rings, but lots of strange ones I’d just randomly pick from the bookstore or steal from a friends collection. A few years ago I bought the first 6 books of the Wheel of Time series on a friend’s recommendation. I made it through the first two and realised I really wasn’t having a good time, the characters just weren’t holding my interest enough. I do think about the plot now and again though and so I will have to come back to them eventually and find out where it goes. I did really enjoyed the settings in the book, very creative, I need to give it another chance i think, probably takes off in book 3 lol.

I make it a habit to never continuously read the same author because I don’t want to grow tired of their writing style. And i tend to never read a book more than once! I try to tuck it away in my mind and will reflect on them now and again, passages or chapters that will stay with you, but you can’t get the same shock, or surprise that you had in your first read, it just won’t be the same the next time around.

This was fun going down memory lane, now I’m thinking of other books I’ve forgotten about that I’ve read and loved, a good workout for a brain that’s been fixated too long.

On a side note, my girl laughed for the first time today! She’s been trying to for weeks, her attempts hilarious in their own right, but today was her first actual chuckle. It was one of the most magical things I’ve ever heard 💕😊 today has been a good day.

Thank you again for the asks Santa, so much fun! Sorry I waffled on a bit 😁

[pictsies-crivens]

The Tattoo Post

It's been a couple of weeks in coming, but, it is time I gathered my thoughts together and wrote about the tattoos I got 2.5 weeks ago, and the reasoning behind them. I'll cross-post on Twitter at some point. Apologies, it's a long one.

Here they are:

The explanation: a sad tale of the end of a marriage, now ten entire years ago. The original tattoo, on my upper arm, a birthday gift from my spouse to match their own. I won't go in to details, but we shall say the events surrounding The End caused an episode of extreme depression, and the thoughts that will inevitably accompany such episodes.

I found myself one afternoon soon after The End, sitting on the floor of the new house I had rented with my teenaged children, setting up the television service. I saw Alex Kingston, who caught my eye, as we have the exact same hair (I call her my hair twin). She was standing in the midst of a group of soldiers, with a lovely young redhead, and a young fellow in tweed. The young fellow said, "I’m about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do, jump." (Note: Whovians can probably guess I'm talking about Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone.) I remember being confused, as my dad watched Doctor Who when it aired on PBS and the Doctor guy certainly didn't look LIKE THAT. I finished watching the episode, then saw Smith and Jones (a Tennant one). Welp, I was hooked. I fell more and more for this quirky crazed show, finding other Whovians online and in the graduate classes I was enrolled in. If you notice the silhouette inside the TARDIS door, you'll discover who my Doctor is. Step the first to distracting my broken mind from it's singular focus on the dark.

I know, gentle reader, you're probably thinking, shut up, what about Crowley? Well, I'm getting there.

Step the second: I've randomly engaged with the work of Neil Gaiman through the years, starting with Sandman. I became a fan in earnest after watching Stardust (maybe 2 to 3 years after its initial release). It was in the quicksand slow-sink of my after-divorce that I found Good Omens. Gods, it was like taking in a lungfull of clear air after the near drowning in sorrow I was doing every day. I genuinely laughed, probably the first time since, well, you know, reading the paintball incident. Those ineffable idiots bring me such joy. I found Sir Terry Pratchett, DiscWorld, and the delirious giddiness his writing brings my soul.

I decided, a few years back, to cover up my tattoo that shares a similar pattern with the one on my former spouse. With what? Had to be something I loved, something that had brought me joy, one of those things that had been my life raft. The decision was easy. Doctor Who (space scene and the TARDIS, maybe Starry Night?) for the cover up, and the book cover image of Crowley (who, I had decided, was the greatest character ever conceived of in fiction). This perfectly imperfect and adorable thing right here, if you were wondering which book cover:

Well, I gathered the funds, and researched artists. I found the quite talented and cool as all get out David Cox (https://www.instagram.com/davidcoxtattoos/) and was all set to go, I was thinking, yes, this summer.

On May 31, the show dropped, and I saw a living, breathing Crowley. And my precious, impossible, enough of a bastard to be worth liking/knowing Aziraphale. (Yes, I'll probably tattoo something of him, though Michael Sheen is forever inked upon my heart now). The dam in my head with ten years of writer's block collapsed, leaving floods of words and stories in its wake. I'm writing again; I've found my (Ineffable) Muses. Searching out for my fellows in fandom here on Tumblr, I saw an art piece by the insanely talented @retrouvel.

I sent a message after a couple days thought, and asked if I could base our Crowley design off their idea. And bless them infinitely, they said yes. A bit of a change, because I wanted WINGS, and a more traditional tattoo look, but at heart, it was inspired by the amazing Retrouvel, and I can't thank them enough. Do note, he's still sideways, though not exactly sauntering. That's why I have flame haired Crowley. Apologies to Master Gaiman for the use of his fantastic line from Sandman #6 and the capitalisation of a letter that is not so in its original form. It is a favorite phrase of mine, for all its infinite possible connotations.

I'll end with this: Friends, when you're drowning as I was, find something, anything to cling to. I had my now adult offspring (hi kids didn't forget you), a lovely therapist called Misty, my Doctors😉 and my Gaiman and Pratchett; to them I still cling so very tightly. Remember, there's someone, probably more than just one someone, that wants you to stay. I'm one of them. Find your buoy, your life jacket, anything that floats in your ocean of tears and doubt (tell Rose to bunch over, there's room on that door) and bloody cling to it. Just call for it, send up a flare, rescue will come.

[elphiethesane]

meet the blogger meme

Rules: answer the 19 questions and tag some amazing people you would like to get to know better.

I got tagged by @alicecorsairs! Thanks! Oh man this never happens to me and I’m terrible at picking favorites...

i. name: Erin ii. nickname: ...Honestly the only nicknames I can think of are things that haven't been used on me in years... iii. zodiac sign: Scorpio iv. height: 5'4"-5'5" ish... Somewhere between the two. Depressingly average. v. orientation: Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Bi as heeeeeeeeell... vi. ethnicity: I think my favorite description I've ever used (on an actual school project about family background, which just makes it funnier to me), is "euro white trash". But yeah, pretty much the whitest American mutt you'll come across. Except maybe my mother. At least I tan. vii. favourite fruit: Man, I don't actually eat of lot of fruit... Peaches or pears, maybe? viii. favourite season: Uh... Gonna say fall on that one. Nice weather, no allergy issues (fuck spring in Vegas, I swear to god), and both my birthday and Halloween are in fall, so... Kinda wins out over any other time of year. ix. favourite book series: Oh boy, me and any sort of favorite book question... Sticking to just actual series of books and not individual ones, because then we'd be here all day... I don't know, Harry Potter's sentimental, I grew up with it, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... And probably the Discworld books too? x. favourite flower: Uh... I'm gonna say a tie between roses and poppies on that one. Both were kinda all over the place when I was a kid, I'm sentimental. xi. favourite scent: Man, I can't smell shit... I don't know, maybe the way it smells around here after it rains. Or the smell of coffee. xii. favourite colour: Blue! Hands down. Man this is the only favorites question I can answer easily... xiii. coffee, tea, or cocoa: Cocoa, though I do drink some tea on occasion... I can't stand coffee, though. xiv. average sleep hours: My sleep schedule is so perpetually jacked that I can't even guess. xv. cat or dog person: Honestly I'm probably a bit more of a cat person. Unfortunately I'm also highly allergic and should basically never be around a cat. I live vicariously through giving cats to fictional characters. xvi. favourite fictional characters: This is by no means all of my favorites because… If I even tried to compile that list this post would probably be sitting here for a damn month while I tried to hit every single one. So off the top of my head (or, you know, based on what fandoms are in my queue at the moment)... Castiel from Supernatural, Clara Oswald from Doctor Who (and also 12, kinda instantly became my favorite Doctor... There's a reason I've been reluctant to pick the show back up after I fell behind, I've still got both their exits ahead of me), Tony Stark from the movies or the comics really (though I haven't read as many comics as I'd like), and... I don't know, Grantaire might edge out as my favorite Les Mis character, I've always had a thing about the trainwreck man though I'm not sure why... I wish I could pick an FMA (at least for Brotherhood, I only watched the old anime once and it's a whole other story) character who's my favorite but that's just... Really really hard, there's loads of good ones. Though I suppose Hohenheim is a top contender for that position, the awkward nerd... Also, because I'm physically incapable of not including anything Disney, my favorite princesses are Belle and Rapunzel, Professor Ratigan is a delightful villain, and I've got a thing for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. I mean I could probably ramble for ages on Disney characters alone, and don't get me started on park related characters because I'll probably just end on a rant about things they've changed, but at least that's a few of them...

...I may or may not have written this section while slightly loopy from lack of sleep, forgive me if it's weird. xvii. dream trip: I should not be asked this question, I want to go everywhere. Seriously. Just... Everywhere. I mean... I had a school project where I planned a theoretical dream trip to Egypt, so that's one, and I've wanted to go to Disneyland Paris for years (that castle is probably my favorite, it seriously looks straight out of a storybook... Plus I'm fascinated by differences between the parks in general, so...), but... I don't know. I don't really have one dream trip, I just want to go everywhere. xviii. blog created: I don't remember in the slightest... I just vaguely remember it was shortly before towel day, because I'm pretty sure that was one of my first posts, and it was several years ago now. xix. number of followers: Uh... Apparently 135, though how many of those are actually active and aren't spam I have no idea.

I tag, uh... Whoever wants to, I guess? I don’t know who I can tag who I know I wouldn't be bothering with this kind of thing... Except maybe @eurydicenoelleharshaw, who I already know just fine. Though if you’d like an opportunity to introduce yourself to the rest of the world, dearie, take it as an invitation. ^^

[catsandorchids]

A letter to Terry Pratchett

alright, how to do this. Since i was 12 my favorite author has always been Terry Pratchett. His Tiffany Aching series shaped who i am today, and i hold his writing above all other writing. i always fantasized about meeting him and telling him how much his writing meant to me and how grateful i was. And then he died the day before my 17th birthday. and god, i wept. i completely broke down. it took me a while to recover, and even longer to find the words, but i wrote him this letter, and i thought i’d put it by the terry pratchett memorial next time i came to london (i live in denmark), but by the time i came the memorial had been painted over. and so this letter has been sitting in my documents folder for a long time, and i feel like that iis wrong. i need to put it out there somewhere in the world - even if its just for closure. i watched the BBC documentary ‘back in black’ recently and i got the idea to publish the letter here, so i may live to regret this but here it comes; my badly written, far too long letter to a man who will never read it:

Dear Sir Terry Pratchett,

I don’t really know why I’m writing this letter. As things are, you’ll never read it, and even if you could, I don’t know if I’d dare give it to you. Or if I’d even dare approach you. You see (and you’ll probably disagree/dislike me for this/get miffed about this), you rank frighteningly high on my list of natural forces, my hierarchy of deities. You probably wouldn’t like that, rather a rising ape than a fallen angel, but that is how it is. I believe in a god, but you are closer to him in my accounts than you will ever be to me. Maybe that’s wrong, don’t put your heroes on pedestals and whatnot, but I don’t think I can stop it now. It’s just how it is. So I don’t really know why I’m writing this letter, or if anyone will ever read it, but I think I needed to do it. Get out all the things I will never get a chance to tell you. Very human, isn’t it?

I got my first discworld book when I was around 11. I don’t know if it was exactly that year, maybe earlier, maybe later, but on my birthday one year in my early tween years (horrible expression by the way. Tween) I got one of your books. It was called “The wee free men” (or ‘de små blå mænd’, because I live in Denmark and couldn’t yet read English with enough confidence to brave whole books of it) and it was one of the oddest books I’d ever read. It was a large paperback book with a porcelain shepherdess and something resembling drunk smurfs on the cover, and the bit on the back spoke of witches and faeries and kidnappings and I was intrigued. Or I would’ve been if I knew what intrigued meant. My vocabulary wasn’t as big as tiffany’s.

It was my grandfather, who gave me the book. He actually gave me both that and a hat full of sky (en hat fuld af himmel). I think you would’ve liked my grandfather. He was one of those “defy-the-odds” “screw destiny” kind of people and he had a great respect for books. He had 14 grandchildren and he gave all of them books (never the same books) and urged them to read. I like to think I would’ve found a love for reading regardless of his interference, but he definitely helped things along, and to this day, all of his grandkids read, and most of us have even found a strange fondness for the odd, strange, wibbly-wobbly sci-fi or fantasy kind of books. My grandfather always gave us books for Christmas or birthdays and they were almost always great. I later found out that in his later years, my grandfather would just describe the person he was buying the books for to the clerk in the bookstore, and they’d help him find something fitting, but that didn’t erase the magic of it.

Anyway, I got the Tiffany Aching books and I was hooked immediately. Being a weird kid, the kid who’d rather read than play hide-and-seek, the kid who was always curious, who actually looked forward to school and who despised being patronized, I found a kindred spirit in Tiffany. I blew through the two first books (I didn’t know there were more than that) and to this day, the wee free men is the book I have re-read the most times. I loved your dry humor, your footnotes, and the way I would be re-reading the books and finding new jokes every time. I probably re-read the books once a year during my teenage years and they shaped me.

I wasn’t completely like tiffany – I for one would not mind being a princess – but I found elements of her in me (I especially loved that she was sarcastic and didn’t need to be saved by a prince. She would do the fighting on her own thankyouverymuch) and that kinship helped me in some really tough times. Later, when I was bullied and had suicidal thoughts, or a depression, I would think ‘what would tiffany do?’ if I was in doubt, and when I was nervous(which I was a lot given my anxiety disorder) I would scribble the ‘land-under-wave’ symbol on my left wrist with whatever writing utensil – preferably ball pen – was lying around. I started to relate to tiffany even more, given that I was now even more aware of the feeling of being the kid who cannot ‘click’ with her peers.

 I once again related more to my idol when my grandfather – the same one who gave me the books – died and I felt like there were words left in my throat, hopping around, because I’d never said them. It hadn’t felt like the time or the place or I’d forgot, and now it was too late and he wasn’t around to hear them anymore. He wasn’t around to thank for the books, to ask for advice, or to just be. And I didn’t really know how to deal with that. So Tiffany became my idol, and you one of my deities and I began to read more discworld. (I still haven’t read all the books, not even close, but I will.). And when I needed to do an exam or a presentation for school, or sing at a concert, you could find a small wave with a line under it drawn haphazardly on my left wrist.

I got it tattooed when I turned eighteen. The wave symbol, tiffany’s symbol. I’d wanted to get it tattooed since I was fifteen and realized that sometimes you don’t have a ball pen and that ink really isn’t good for your skin. I’d always have these fantasies, stupid daydreams about going to a convention or a book signing and getting a book signed by you, by the great Sir Terry Pratchett, and meeting you. I’d meet you and show you my tattoo and you’d think it was funny or cool or pretty or something and I’d tell you how much your books, and Tiffany in particular, meant to me. And you be nice and clever and fantastic and just like I’d always imagined, and I’d be awestruck and it would be good. I always imagined that, imagined just how it would be to meet the great Sir Terry Pratchett – the only sir that mattered in my head – and I could never get it to be quite real because I could never quite imagine you. But it was good, it was a promise to myself, a thing to look forward to, to look back on years later and smile. And then it wasn’t.

On March 12th 2015, you died in your sleep. And on march 12th 2015, the day before my 17th birthday I was on my couch, just 20-or-so minutes before I had to leave for gospel choir, and I read an article on my phone, from Facebook I think, and it said that you’d died. And I wept. I wept for the death of a man I loved and respected. I wept for a man who was gone too soon. I wept for a young witch I’d never hear more about, and for a young girl who’d never meet her idol. I wept for a fantasy, a daydream that would never become more than that, and for a genre of literature, which would never again reach its peak. And when my mum came in from the kitchen and asked me why I was crying I brokenly sobbed out explanations of an amazing author, a deity in my eyes, who would never again put pen to paper. And she held me and tried to comfort me, but she didn’t understand. She’d never read anything of yours, and even if she had she hadn’t grown up with, and been shaped by, your writing. And so, the tattoo became less of a thing to show you and more of a thing to honor you. To show that I remembered a man who could write colours into existence and anthropomorphic personifications to life. And I have the tattoo now. It’s on my left wrist as always, and, Sir, I really wish you could see it.

The next time I cried for you was almost a year later – the 11th of March 2016 – when my parents gave me a ‘pre-birthday present’. I was going on a week-long school trip to Spain the next day, and I’d be gone on my birthday, and so they’d decided to give me a little present the day before I left. It was a frame, and inside it was an illustration from one of your books. It was called ‘a view of Lancre’ and I was excited to begin with. And then I noticed that the bottom right corner had a bit of writing. Right there – in the bottom right corner of the page was a pencil-signature. Your signature. And I teared up. I was utterly dumbstruck. The bottom left corner had a notation: 429/950 and I could vaguely hear my parents’ slightly apologetic humorous notes of “it’s made in kind of a big batch, so it’s probably not worth much” and “it might be someday” but all that mattered to me was that signature. Because I had given up all dreams of ever getting that signature. And sure, it wasn’t the whole dream, wasn’t the meet-and-greet experience, but it was there. And I almost wept.

I try to write too, sometimes. It doesn’t always work out, and its nowhere near decent quality, let alone the quality of your works, but I try. I kind of like it, even if the process can be incredibly frustrating. I like the feeling when my words just naturally glide onto the paper, and it feels like I have a voice. I like publishing it online and seeing people react to it. Reading their responses. I like creating characters and thinking of what to do with them. And I like improving, seeing how far I’ve come, even if my stuff is closer to horrible than good.

I tried to sound like you once, in my writing. I tried to use metaphors and dry wit like you did. It didn’t turn out good, and I’m almost certain you would’ve hated it. I still cringe when I read it. But I think it’s fitting. My voice isn’t yours, and will never be yours, so I should probably stop trying to even attempt to make it yours. No one can write like you, no one ever will and that both saddens me and comforts me. After all, if heroes were replaceable, why would they be heroes? I like to think you’d like that, the acceptance of people’s voices being different. But I never met you, so I might be horribly wrong. They all say not to meet your heroes. I guess this time they’ll get their way, whether I like it or not.

I don’t know how to end this. What can I say in my imaginary letter to my dead fantasy deity? Have a nice day? Don’t drink the cool aid? I hope the afterlife is nice this time of year? I guess this letter is a way for me to get out all those things I never got the chance to say. And to say thank you. Thank you so so so much for everything. For Tiffany, for DEATH, for Susan, for granny Weatherwax, for every lesson, every morale, every dry joke or poke at the way of the world, for every book, chapter, line and word. Thank you for making me a kindred spirit and for teaching me things I hadn’t learned otherwise.

If we have learned anything from balloons, there are times we shouldn’t let go. I can promise you that I won’t.

Thank you sir.

Julie

P.S: I’ve put in a picture of my tattoo. Just so you could see

[writingwithlegends]

Terry Pratchett

Authors are amazing people who open up new worlds for their readers to explore.  They allow people to escape everyday life and delve into worlds of mystery and imagination.  I’ve been reading since a young age and one of my all time favorite authors is Sir Terry Pratchett.  The author of the fantasy and comedy series, Discworld, his books are extremely popular over in England, though not as much in America (making it very annoying to try and get all of them).  Sadly, Sir Terry Pratchett passed away in 2015, leaving behind a vast collection of books for future readers.

Early Life and Career

Terry Pratchett was a British born author who was born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire on April 28th, 1948.  An only child, he went to the High Wycombe Technical High School, now John Hampden Grammar school, where he was a member of the debate team and wrote stories for the school’s magazine.  He originally wanted to be an astronomer, but lacked the mathematical skill.  An avid science fiction fan, he read any book he could get his hands on, which is what he referred to as “getting an education”.  In 1965, he began working as a journalist for the Bucks Free Press, where he wrote under the name Uncle Jim.  

The first book that Pratchett published was Carpet People in 1971, after an interview with Peter Bander van Duren, the codirector of Colin Smythe Ltd..  This book was followed by Dark Side of the Sun in 1976 and Strata in 1981.  In 1980, Pratchett became the Press Officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board, though in 1987 he gave up the job and made writing his full time position.  In 1996 the New York Times ranked him as Britain's highest earning and top-selling author.

Discworld

Terry Pratchett’s best known series is his Discworld novels, which is forty-one novels long.  Set on Discworld, a flat world carried on the backs of four giant elephants who stand on a turtle as he floats through space, it’s a satire of the modern world and politics.  Rather than one series from start to finish, the Discworld collection is actually a set of different mini-series and stand alone books that take place in the same world.  There are seven main series along with standalone books, maps, and companion novels.

Pratchett began writing the Discworld series in order to “have fun with some of the cliches”.  In this series he parodies everything from Shakespeare (The Witches Series) to rock music (Soul Music).  In collaboration with other authors, Pratchett also published companion maps, science books, and folklore that take place in Discworld.  The final Discworld novel was published in 2015, after Pratchett’s death.

Personal Life

In 1986 Terry Pratchett married Lyn Purves and they had one daughter together, Rhianna Pratchett, who is also an author.  Still an avid lover of the night sky, he build an observatory in his backyard.  An avid videogame player, Pratchett not only had several computers (using them for writing as soon as they were available), but also helped upgrade them and design video games based around his books.  He adored games that are “intelligent and have some depth”, citing Half-Life 2, Thief, and Oblivion as some of his favorites.  He also enjoyed fanmade missions and mods in these games.

Terry Pratchett was also fascinated with the natural world, having a greenhouse filled with carnivorous plants.  He was also a trustee for Orangutan Foundation UK, trying to protect the species in its natural habitat.  Due to his concern, fans adopted the charity as their nominated charity at conventions.  In 1995, Richard Köhler, a paleontologist, named a sea turtle fossil after Terry Pratchett, the Psephophorus terrypractchetti.

In 2009, he received a knighthood for “services to literature”, about which he was quoted as saying “you can’t ask a fantasy author not to want a knighthood”.  He was also a recipient of the British Book Awards’ Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year in 1994 and many of his books were recipients for other awards.  Pratchett also received ten honorary doctorates and was an adjunct professor of English at the Trinity College Dublin.

Alzheimer's and Death

In August 2007, Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with having had a stroke in either 2004 or 2005, which doctors believed to have caused damage to the right side of his brain.  However, in December 2007, Pratchett announced that he had been misdiagnosed and he was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.  Rather than give into despair, Pratchett decided that he was going to stay optimistic and “keep things cheerful”.  He continued writing, though by early 2008 he was having a hard time writing dedications while signing novels.  Later, he would write by either dictating things to his assistant, Rob Wilkins, or using voice recognition software.  He was open about his condition, donating one million US dollars to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and working with BBC to create a documentary about his life with the condition.  He also met with the Prime Minister and asked for more research funds to be given to dementia research.  In a 2009 article, Pratchett was quoted as saying that he wished to commit physician assisted suicide before the disease progressed too far, which was again addressed in the BBC documentary Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die.  However, in the end, he ended up dying of natural causes. On March 12th, 2015, Pratchett passed away at home at age 66, surrounded by his family and his cat.  As a way to announce his death, his assistant tweeted the following:

~Elyce

[abitoflit]

From Fond Childhood Memory to the “Big Screen,” the Story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

To bewitch, “to attract or delight (someone) in a way that seems magical” (Merriam-Webster). From the time I was very young and first read J.K. Rowling’s novels surrounding the life of Harry Potter, I was bewitched. I was drawn into a magical world, involving both witches and wizards. I entered Harry’s life first in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone around the time I was his age and he first went off to Hogwarts. I walked beside him as Hagrid informed him that he was a wizard and his parents had been killed by the dark Lord Voldemort. I discovered that there was a magical stone, created by an alchemist, which granted eternal life and that dark forces wanted to steal it. Much like Harry and his friends, I assumed that Severus Snape, the “evil” potions master, wanted to take it for himself and easily overlooked the quivering Professor Quirrell, who was actually the novel’s antagonist. I was amazed when three children, very similar in age to myself, outsmarted an adult no matter how ludicrous that seemed. When the movies first started coming out, I rushed to the theaters with my friends to watch them. The first story in the series, The Sorcerer’s Stone, was no different. It was then that I was introduced to the work of Christopher Columbus, the director, Steve Kloves, the screenwriter, and the rest of their team as I was visually drawn into Rowling’s world, a world I had previously created for myself in my own mind. Although the movie wasn’t “perfect” and failed to follow the novel exactly, I was amazed by how similar the characters looked to their literary depictions and how similar they acted to their literary models. I felt as though Daniel Radcliffe fully embodied Harry and Dumbledore had walked out of the novel and onto the screen. I was amazed that for the most part, Columbus’ film adaptation of Rowling’s first “Harry Potter” novel left little out and didn’t rearrange things, which in turn, kept it from losing sight of the original. Overall, I was happy to have been given the chance to revisit a fond memory from my childhood and felt that the positively-acclaimed story of one of our world’s favorite fictional wizards was one of the best ever produced.

The first time I read J.K. Rowling’s novel entitled, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone I was a child in the fifth grade. I read the novel first because the films had not been produced yet. I remember appreciating the novels as a child, as they captivated my boundless imagination, causing my mind to weave images of an alternate, fantastical realm of witches and wizards of which I wished I could be a part. Instead, I settled for a mixture of J.K. Rowling’s story-telling and my own imaginings. When the movies came out, I remember being overjoyed and flocked with my friends to see them; but, as time wore on, I lost interest in both the novels and the films as they grew increasingly less enjoyable in my mind’s eye. Now, I have decided to return to the beginning of the series, as this class has given me an excuse to relive a small portion of my childhood, which I look upon rather fondly. In reading the novel and watching the movie again for the first time in several years, I hoped to find a remnant of my love for the series and I longed to discover if it was time that had colored my judgment of both mediums or if my appreciation for Harry’s story had never faded.

J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone takes place in England, and follows the life of its namesake. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to house number four on Privet Drive, where Harry was sent to live after the death of his parents at the hands of Lord Voldemort, the greatest dark wizard of his time. As readers continue on Harry’s path alongside him, we discover that his Uncle Vernon and especially his Aunt Petunia, (his mother’s sister), have a severe hatred for witches and wizards and kept the secret of his magical powers from Harry. Therefore, when Hagrid tracks Harry down after each of his mysterious Hogwarts letters fails to reach him, he informs Harry of the fact that he is a wizard. At this point in time, the recognition scene unfolds, and Harry’s life as a wizard commences. Shortly after being taken to Diagon Alley in London to fetch his school supplies, Harry takes the Hogwarts Express to the mysterious, magical school known as Hogwarts. It is encased within the body of a castle made of stone. It is at the school that the story’s many obstacles begin to reveal themselves. First, there is Potter’s rivalry with Malfoy, as he chooses to forge friendships with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger as opposed to him. Second, is the conflict surrounding Harry and Professor Snape. Although his true enemy turns out to be Professor Quirrell, whose skull is infused with the energy of the Lord Voldemort, Harry spends most of the novel assuming that Professor Snape is the individual who tried to rob vault 713 at Gringotts Bank.

           An omniscient narrator sets a suspenseful tone for the entire novel, which unfolds as would a modern mystery. This is due to the fact that Harry and his two best friends spend a large portion of the novel trying to determine what was in Vault 713, why anyone would have wanted to steal it, where the vault’s contents are hidden, and what a wizard named Nicholas Flamel had to do with it all. Therefore, the story’s conflict arises as the three friends begin to view Severus Snape, their potions master, as the individual attempting to steal the stone. Outmatched by a far more experienced and skilled wizard, they often struggle to find ways to “outsmart him” and keep him from obtaining the stone. A crisis unfolds as Harry and his friends realize that their other teachers will not believe them or do anything to keep the stone from being stolen by Snape, forcing them to take matters into their own hands. However, as the climax unfolds, Harry realizes that he was wrong about Snape and that Quirrell had tricked him (and many other onlookers) into assuming that he wasn’t a threat by stuttering and acting as though he was terrified of everything. After Harry retrieves the stone from the Mirror of Erised and Quirrell is defeated, the denouement ensues, as Harry wakes up three days later in the hospital wing and is visited by the school’s headmaster, Dumbledore. It is Dumbledore who explains what became of Quirrell, Nicholas Flamel, and the stone. It is also he who explains how Harry survived and neatly wraps up Rowling’s novel.

           The novel has a single, overriding theme: the old adage, “not everything is what it seems.” This theme can largely be associated with Professors Snape and Quirrell. Although Snape seemed as though he was the book’s main antagonist (because of the way he treated Harry and his friends and the way he was bitten by Fluffy), Professor Quirrell was the book’s largest antagonist. He managed to evade suspicion because he was such an unassuming individual who frequently stuttered and became anxious in many different situations. The second application would be to Harry, who wasn’t aware he was a wizard until Hagrid had told him. Furthermore, he wasn’t aware of the true manner of his parent’s death until he met Hagrid and was told the story of Voldemort.          

           I don’t feel as though J.K. Rowling has a particularly distinctive writing style, although I would argue that she tries to employ humor. The only issue with this is that she isn’t particularly funny. I know I’m older than her intended audience (the world’s youth), but I don’t think they’d find her writing to be particularly humorous either and I feel as though this is because she doesn’t commit to it. For example, when she has Hagrid try and turn Dudley into a pig, all he manages to do is give him a tail. If Hagrid had turned him into an individual who thought he was a pig and had some pig’s features, (e.g. tail, ears, hooves), then perhaps the scene could have been made all the more amusing. Another example would be when Harry asked Dumbledore what he perceived when he looked into the Mirror of Erised and Dumbledore replied, “I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks… one can never have enough socks,” (Rowling 214). I feel as though an author who uses humor effectively in his novels would be Terry Pratchett, especially when one considers his Tiffany Aching novels, which are part of his Discworld series. This is due to the fact that he takes the novel’s comical moments and stretches them as far as they will go, without spoiling the mood. Examples would include when he has Daft Wullie play against the other wee-free-men, or even Tiffany herself, creating comical conversations and musings. In addition to her failed attempts at being funny, Rowling occasionally invents words, which are limited in their use to her magical realm and meant to add to the wonder her reader’s experience. Examples would include the term “muggle.” I don’t feel as though this practice makes Rowling’s writing style distinct because fantasy authors are meant to fabricate fantastical realms and magical creatures in order to assure that their novels may be clearly defined as part of the “fantasy” genre. For example, Terry Goodkind created “confessors” and the “pristinely ungifted” in his Sword of Truth series, while Brandon Sanderson invented “mistings” and the “mistborn” for his Mistborn Trilogy. Overall, I would say that her style is rather bland, although the story she weaves is “magical.”

           The descriptions given by J.K. Rowling in her novels allowed for the natural unfolding of her story’s setting within the minds of her readers. They also provided Chris Columbus with a framework, which would allow for the development of the set, which mirrored Rowling’s imaginings. The set of the “Harry Potter” movies were developed from two separate locations. The first is at the “site of a former Rolls-Royce factory, where aircraft were made during World War II,” (Sibley 10). This site housed locations such as Diagon Alley, where Harry bought his school supplies. The second location was Durham Cathedral, “to which the designers added a pair of spires you might expect to see in the wizarding world,” (Sibley 33). I’ve noticed that the various sets employed by the cast and crew in order to make the first of the Harry Potter films used a lot of dull colors. For example, depending on the time of day, the stones, which made up Hogwarts castle were a mixture of white, dismal greys, and soft browns. The dungeons, where Harry’s potions class was held, were even darker. I felt as though these color choices were meant to reflect that a darkness loomed over the entire school as well as the dismal institutionalism of the educational system, although, the brighter colors they were highlighted with, were meant to add a certain flair to the otherwise drab set. Examples would include banners displaying the Gryffindor lion or the paintings on the wall. I also felt as though these small, subtle bursts of color where meant to represent various sparks of Harry’s curiosity as he and the other first year students explored a world otherwise unknown to them. For the most part, I felt that the lighting throughout the entire movie was low-key, especially when the characters were indoors or in the forest. The only time I felt as though the lighting was particularly bright was upon the quidditch field and that was only because each scene took place on a sunny day. With few exceptions, the school’s lighting merely consisted of what little illumination filtered in through the glass windows or whatever light danced and flickered across the surface of the walls from either torches or sconces. I feel as though they were used in order to add to the “witchy” feel of the school and the medieval aspects displayed within the towering spires and narrow window slits. I also feel as though torches and sconces were used because low-key lighting tends to cast longer shadows and keep part of the screen submerged in darkness or half-light, while the rest is immersed in light. The use of low-key lighting was a symbolic way of showing that there were rival forces battling behind the scenes within Hogwarts’ walls: the forces of good, and the darker forces employed by the Lord Voldemort, which were evil.

           A great many of the shots used in the film were done in slow motion or kept very still. There was very little, if anything, that was fast-paced. I felt as though this was done in order to allow for a more natural, gradual unfolding of the plot. The vast majority of shots were either a wide view or a close-up of one or a few of the main characters. The wider shots were used mainly to show a progression-- such as a character’s movement from one location to another, while the close-ups were used to draw attention to a specific person or set of individuals. This allowed the film’s viewers to bear witness to the emotions of each of the film’s characters, (e.g. Harry’s anguish each time his scar began to burn). Finally, the film used various sounds in order to help evoke certain emotions within its viewers. For example, it played bright, lively orchestral music, which featured instruments such as the piano and trumpets during happier scenes. Examples would include the time in which the first years first entered the Great Hall. Another example would be when the crew used computers to generate both “barking” and “snapping” sounds when Harry and his friends unwittingly stepped into Fluffy’s lair. The sounds were used in order to instill fear in their hearts, as well as those of the film’s viewers. This is because the sounds added to the sense of tension and danger experienced by the students.

           I think that the set’s overall design added to the film’s atmosphere. The school’s layout--with its winding corridors and shifting stairs, its poor lighting, cast by flickering flames, and high, vaulted towers-- added to the “magical” and “otherworldly” setting depicted within J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. The “uncertain” light, the presence of shadows, added to the sense that the story’s main plotline involved Harry, Ron, and Hermione clambering out of the darkness, their childish innocence and lack of knowledge about the magical world around them, and into a greater understanding of both magic and the dangers of the world. The occasional display of rich color, (e.g. maroon and gold, green and silver), were meant to display the subtle shift of alliances between rival parties as well as the unity, which bound the story’s three main protagonists together.

The ways in which the characters were portrayed by their respective actors also added to the strength of the film. For example, Emma Watson, who portrayed Hermione, spent a fair amount of time acting “smarter than thou,” as she insulted Ron’s spell on the train, which was supposed to turn Scabbers, (his pet rat), yellow. She also corrected him in their Charms class, when he mispronounced the levitation charm, “Wingardium Leviosa,” etc. Furthermore, she continually made various comments throughout the course of the film, which demonstrated her belief in the fact that studying and reading were the most important things in the world, (e.g. she described the book, which contained information about Nicolas Flamel as a “bit of light reading” and reminded her friends to always do more research). Rupert Grint, who played Ron, also made a fair depiction of his character as he looked largely as I imagined Ron would and acted as the silly, comic-relief character in the series. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry, also did an outstanding job. With the exception of his eyes, he looked exactly as I expected. In addition, his strong ability to emote allowed viewers to experience the awe, anguish, and large range of emotions, which Harry was meant to throughout the course of the film. Makeup was used on each of the characters to accentuate their features, (such as the color of their eyes), and to demonstrate the hardships each character endured throughout the course of the movie. For example, various forms of makeup were used to represent dirt and grime, which had accumulated on Harry’s person as he made his way through the stone’s trials. In much the same way, cosmetics were used to create cuts and bruises denoting injury. Finally, the wardrobe used in the film added to the viewer’s construct of each of the characters. For example, the robes worn by the students at Hogwarts were like a uniform. This made them relatable to children in the real world, while also managing to lump the school’s student body together in the film. It made them into a unified body, which was making its way through their educational endeavors and the adventures presented by the wizarding world. The robes worn by the school’s Professors allowed for a differentiation between “skilled and “unskilled” wizards. Meanwhile, the “more natural” attire worn by the Dursleys and the rest of the muggle world created a dividing line between the magical world and the non-magical world.

           J.K. Rowling’s novel and its film adaptation are fairly similar as far as the plot is concerned. For example, in both the film and the novel, Harry and his friends receive detention. In the novel, he, Neville, and Hermione receive detention, because he and Hermione snuck out after hours in order to deliver Hagrid’s pet, the baby dragon Norbert, to Charlie’s friends. The children needed to perform this favor for Hagrid because raising dragons was illegal. Neville was given detention for stalking around the castle in search of them. In the movie, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were given detention for visiting Hagrid after hours. In both mediums, Harry’s rival, Malfoy, is given detention for tattling on them and breaking curfew. In both cases, the children wind up serving detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest, (sometimes referred to as the “Dark Forest” in the films). The night’s goal was to discover who or what had been injuring the unicorns in the forest. In order to get her point across, J.K. Rowling used rather straightforward language during her portrayal of Harry’s and Malfoy’s discovery of the cloaked figure. I don’t feel as though Rowling used as much description as she could of and left a lot up to a person’s imagination, which in many ways, heightened the sense of both suspense and dread, which her scene was meant to evoke. For example, she begins the passage pertaining to the children’s discovery of the cloaked figure with, “Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood,” (Rowling 256). I understand from this sentence that Harry was transfixed by fear and unable to move; but, I was caught off guard by Rowling’s mention of a “slithering” sound. This is due to the fact that I have always seen the term “slithering” used to describe the shifting movement of a snake as they propel their body across the surface of the earth using their stomach muscles. I have never seen it used to describe a sort of sound before, only motion. I found myself struggling to discern just what Rowling meant and I fear that her use of this term may confuse Rowling’s intended audience (children), who may not have as extensive a vocabulary as someone who is older than them. The next line describes how the bushes trembled, which was meant to add to the sense of fear and tension, we as readers are supposed to associate with this passage. It’s easy now to imagine the leaves on the bushes rustling as some unseen entity approaches, an entity, we can sense will pose a threat to Harry and his companions. From there, a hooded figure emerges, “stalking across the ground.” No other description is given. It is simply a hooded figure. Is this figure entirely covered or do they merely have a hood drawn? Are they wearing a hooded cloak, as might the wizards of the area? Or not? What color is the cloak? Is it as dark as the night, allowing the figure to sneak around unseen? Is its color meant to mirror the blackness of its heart? Or is it some different color? Brown, green, or even pink? Again, we are reminded of Harry’s traveling companions-- Fang, (Hagrid’s dog), and Malfoy, as they remain “transfixed.” So again, she states that the children are too terrified of what they see to move. Then, quite simply, Rowling describes how the figure dips its head over the body of the dead unicorn the children had just discovered and begins to drink. Being that she never describes the color of the blood, one might think that it is the bright, crimson red blood we might associate with man or perhaps a horse. However, if one were to think back on what they had already read, they would recall that Hagrid described unicorn blood as “silvery” at the beginning of the chapter. However, I feel as though the fact that the author chose not to bring up the issue again was done purposely; perhaps, to make us forget just enough, where it would be easier for most readers to associate the death with something more human and less otherworldly. This, in turn, may cause it to hit home a little harder and make the unicorn’s death all the more tragic. From there, we see a long, “AAAAAAAAAAARGH!” It is a cry. We can only assume it is one of pain or a simple scream. In the following sentence, Rowling clarifies for us, describing it as Malfoy’s pitiful scream, which is immediately followed by he and Fang turning around and fleeing the scene. The sound causes the figure to look up, as though he had just noticed that he had not been alone and others had been watching him feast. The unicorn’s blood is described “dribbling down its front,” (Rowling 256), which led me to wonder if it was down the cloaked figure’s chest, the edge of his mouth, his face, his lips, etc. It was then that the creature rose and approached Harry. It was described as a swift movement; but, was it more of a jog or a run? Was the movement fluid, as if the assailant was sure of his step even in the darkness of the forest? I simply do not know, only, that a centaur came to save Harry, by frightening away the strange figure, which I can only imagine was like the grim reaper. This is because Rowling failed to define the passage. She left out so much description that while I had a faint inkling of what occurred, I can never quite be certain.

           As I mentioned previously, Harry and his friends wind up in detention in Columbus’ film adaptation for a slightly different reason, although, it still culminates in the same scene with the unicorn’s blood being drawn into the lips of a mysterious figure. At the beginning of the scene, Harry, Malfoy, and Fang stop moving and we are given one final look of the forest around them. The trees are blanketed in darkness, which is used to lend an air of both mystery and foreboding to the night. A faint mist rests within the air, its vaporous tendrils tickling the trees, shrouding some of their more precise features and the distinctness and vibrancy of their colors from view. I believe that this feature was added to the setting in order to add an air of mystery, as it reminded viewers that the forest was filled with the unknown and that danger could be lurking around every corner. From there, the picture cuts to an image of the cloaked figure leaning over the body of a pure white, deceased unicorn. Their image is outlined in mist and framed by the body of a broken tree devoid of adornment, such as leaves and branches. The contrast of the darkness of the night, the tree, and the creature’s cloak, when compared to the pure white of the unicorn’s pelt and the silvery nature of the mist, serves to represent the collision of light and dark forces. Part of the broken tree, which lies on the left side of the frame, has a jagged edge, which points like an accusatory finger over the surface of the cloaked figure, as though blaming it for disrupting the tranquility of the night, as it cuts through the lingering tension, which had only hinted at the threat of danger. Now, clearly it has emerged. For the moment, it remains unclear what the figure is doing, why the cloaked individual is hovering over the body of the unicorn. However, as the scene lingers, we can see its head bobbing slightly, as though it is drawing something away from the unicorn and given our knowledge of the novel, we know it is drinking the creature’s blood. Then, the camera cuts away from him and toward Harry. It closes in on his face and his body from his pectoral muscles up. He can be seen wincing and rubbing the scar Voldemort left him with. A sort of ominous, near screeching-type orchestral music can be heard in the background; I believe it to be a mixture of piano and some brass instruments, such as the trumpet. Within a heartbeat, the scene cuts back to the cloaked figure. This time, the image lingers much closer to the body of the figure hovering over the fallen unicorn. We can see the top of the cloak dipping into the indentation of the unicorn’s long neck, where it meets the rest of its body. A thin trickle of silvery blood may be seen dripping down its neck and toward the forest floor. The mist in the background highlights their bodies, making it appear as though the figure is both holding its prey down by its shoulder, while gripping its long horn at the same time. It is as though the figure is defiantly expressing, without words, that it conquered the threat presented to it by the unicorn’s horn, allowing it to become the greatest peril within the forest’s expanse. The ominous music swells, as the figure raises its head and we catch a glimpse of the lower portion of its face. We can see the unicorn blood dripping from its teeth; the strange, silvery-blue coupling with the white crowns. The creature growls, reminding viewers of its vampiric tendencies. From there, the frame shifts to Malfoy. It tightens in on his face; but, keeps the lantern he is holding at the edge of the frame. He can be seen screaming in sheer terror just before the frame shifts and we can see Fang beginning to turn away from the monster, as its own body looms over the unicorn in the back of the frame. Although the two, (Malfoy and Fang), haven’t truly begun to run yet, viewers get a sense that they are about to put some distance between themselves and the monster. Then, we can see the two characters running as Malfoy screams. Harry turns momentarily to watch them go as he removes his hand from his scar as though it has stopped flaring. Now, without the presence of the great dog and the Slytherin first year student, Harry is in more danger than ever, as he is utterly alone in an ill-lit and unfamiliar place. The scene rests for a moment, before the frame cuts back to the cloaked figure, who can be seen rising and moving away from the body of the unicorn. A strange, clanking noise, (as though someone is randomly hitting keys on a keyboard), can be heard intermingling with more ominous sounding orchestral music and Malfoy’s screams. The figure is then shown to be moving away from the unicorn and closer to Harry. It seems to glide over the surface of the ground like a ghost as Harry backs away from it. The next frame tightens around Harry a bit and we can see that his lips are parted in fear and his eyes are getting wider. Slowly, he backs away in trepidation in his best attempt to put distance between himself and the unnamed threat. Harry gulps, and then the scene suddenly shifts to the cloaked figure again. He puts his arms out, allowing the cloak’s long, sweeping fabric to dangle between both its body and the ground. It’s as though it is meant to symbolize that the darkness it presents is becoming all encompassing. Again, the orchestral music swells and the trumpets and percussive instruments can be heard above the winds and other instruments. The body of the beast straightens as it looms closer, the frame tightening again, as viewers are led to feel as though Harry is looking into the eyes of the grim reaper. From there, the frame shifts back and forth from Harry to the figure as the figure comes forward, closer to the front of the screen and Harry moves farther back to avoid it. After a short time, Harry moves too far and stumbles over a tree root. He pulls his legs into himself, as though “tightening up” so he’ll appear smaller and less of a threat. Perhaps, if he seems unimposing enough, he feels, the monster will go away; but, it doesn’t, it keeps on getting closer. We can see a mixture of terror and uncertainty in Harry’s eyes as the scene continues to progress and he backs away on his hands, before looking up as a centaur jumps over his head and frightens the beast away. The monster leaps into the air and is lost within the night sky.

           Christopher Columbus was the individual who directed the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, while David Heyman produced it. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. Janet Hirshenson, Susie Figgis, and Jane Jenkins worked together, in order to find an appropriate cast. John Williams wrote the film’s music, while John Seale worked on the cinematography. Stuart Craig was the production designer, Richard Francis-Bruce edited the work, Robert Legato supervised the special effects as did John Richardson and Nick Davis. Cari Thomas and Karen M. Murphy were visual effect producers, Nick Dudman did creature and makeup effects, and Judianna Makovsky designed the costumes. Todd Arnow was the unit production manager, John Midgley was the sound mixer, Keith Hatcher was the location manager, and from what I gathered, a large group of individuals worked on location scouting, which included the director himself. Generally speaking, the film was well-received by critics. I believe a large portion of the film’s positive ratings had to do with the fact that it was both a children’s movie and a film adaptation of a novel. I learned several things about the process of adapting a story from the page to the screen. In the interest of both time and space, I will highlight only a single aspect of the process:

A standard method for filming a scene begins with the master shot, a continuous long shot covering the entire action. Then portions of the action are filmed again, from different distances and angles. Later, the best shots will be selected and edited for continuity, using the master shot as a general guide. To ensure continuity of action, the scene is blocked… by walking the actors through each movement before shooting, (Costanzo 36).

With that being said, I already knew that a large team was involved in the production of the entire movie. What I hadn’t known was that a large portion of the set was at “the site of a former Rolls-Royce factory where aircraft were made during World War Two” (Sibley 11). I also didn’t know what caused Columbus to choose specific actors for their parts. For example, he said that Emma Watson had “Hermione’s sense of humor” and that she “was bright-sharp as a whip,” (Sibley 13). Rupert Grint, who portrayed Ronald Weasley, was chosen because “he had this devilish, mischievous quality, and his face was a wealth of all these emotions. He had a wonderful sense of humor but also a real sense of soul.” Daniel Radcliffe, who portrayed Harry Potter on screen, was chosen because his “screen test was amazingly charming, but there was one thing that he had that you couldn’t teach anyone, which was this sort of haunted quality that Harry Potter had in the books” (Sibley 13).

           I feel as though the movie follows the novel fairly well as a lot of the dialogue is the same, as is its progression through Rowling’s original story. However, there were some minor changes and omissions. For example, Peeves (an annoying poltergeist found at Hogwarts) and Piers, Dudley’s friend, with whom he visited the zoo on his birthday, were left out of the film. Furthermore, Daniel Radcliffe, who played the role of Harry, looked largely as I imagined him; although, he had blue eyes, as opposed to the same green as his mother’s. He did a good job of portraying a young individual, unsure of himself and how to navigate the world around him, especially a world, which he viewed through the lens of a child. For, after finding out that he was a wizard, he was allowed to explore a world which had been entirely unknown to him. I liked to see the awe in his face when he first took note of a quidditch field or the amazement in his eyes when he got his first look at Diagon Alley. The Dursleys acted as I envisioned, although Dudley and Petunia were brunettes instead of blondes, as was the case in the novel. I thought Ron would have more freckles; but, he acted as I imagined--the frightened, and most foolish member of Harry’s trio.

           With that being said, I noticed that there were a lot of changes between both mediums and that Neville Longbottom had a far smaller role in the film, than he did in the novel. For example, he was kept out of detention and really only came into play when he received the remembral from his grandmother, fell off his broom during riding class, and stood up to Harry and his friends when they tried to sneak out to stop Snape from stealing the sorcerer’s stone. In each case, Harry’s storyline is portrayed in the same fashion as in the novel with few if any changes. The greatest changes, I noticed, tended to occur at the beginning of the story. For example, in the beginning of the novel, Dudley goes to the zoo with his friend Piers for his birthday. The only reason Harry got to come along was because his babysitter was unable to watch him. At the zoo, he talks to the snake in the reptile house, and finds out that it never got to see its homeland, Brazil. However, when the glass to the snake’s enclosure disappears, the snake escapes and no one gets trapped behind the glass. In the film, the Dursleys go to the zoo with Harry, and Piers doesn’t attend as he was not included in the script. Again, Harry talks to the snake from the other side of the glass and discovers that it was born in captivity and has never seen its home in Burma. When the glass vanishes, Dudley somehow falls in. The snake escapes and Dudley gets trapped behind the glass, which magically reappears.

           Overall, I think that the film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s novel entitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was a fair adaptation. This is due to the fact that the movie followed the novel’s storyline fairly well and everything looked largely as I imagined--Hogwarts, the grounds surrounding the school, Harry’s cupboard, etc. In addition, although some of the characters didn’t look exactly as I pictured them and although some of the characters didn’t actprecisely as I imagined they would, I felt as though the casting director did an exceptional job of choosing the actors who would portray Rowling’s characters on screen. Richard Harris, who portrayed Professor Dumbledore, embodied everything that Rowling revealed of his character in the novel. He not only looked the part; but, he was patient, kind, warm and friendly, while also displaying the air of a professor and a wise old wizard. I don’t feel as though Steve Kloves’ screenplay was a work of art in its own right, although Chris Columbus really brought his vision and Rowling’s magical world to life. I think that Columbus managed to do this by using a script similar to the original novel and by deftly choosing a location in which to film and people with which to produce the movie. With that being said, I think I have trouble separating the script from the movie and viewing it as one might view and assess a book because I know that unlike a novel, it was meant to have other people play a part. Therefore, it seems incomplete to me, unless the final project is assessed altogether, at which point all the different elements which go into the production of an epic film (e.g. sound and lighting) come together and transform it into something wonderful.

           In conclusion, I read J.K. Rowling’s novel entitled, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone first because it was released before the film. I remember being in awe when I found out that Harry was a wizard and would get to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in order to learn his craft. I was enthralled by Rowling’s ability to weave a tale of mystery, which led me to wonder just who was after the sorcerer’s stone. Much as was Harry, I was amazed to discover that the story’s main antagonist was Professor Quirrell, who was working in conjunction with the parasitic Lord Voldemort. When Harry defeated them, I was glad to know that good would once again triumph over evil. Overall, I felt as though Chris Columbus created a film adaptation similar to the novel, in the sense that it moved very little around, omitted very little, and added very little.

Works Cited

“Bewitch.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster. nd. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.

Costanzo, William V. Great Films and How to Teach Them. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 2004.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Dir. Chris Columbus. Perf. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson. 2001. DVD.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. N.p.: Scholastic, 1998.

Sibley, Brian. Harry Potter: Film Wizardry. N.p.: Harper Collins, n.d.

[fic-dreamin]

I refuse to believe it's over I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye to this phenomenal series. A few years ago, fresh after getting my first Kindle (which was a big deal for an English language reader not living in an English speaking country) I randomly chose "Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer" as my next read. Oh boy, I was in for a ride. The adventures of a necromancer of some little infamy quickly became on of my favourite book series ever. A series which is now coming to a close (at least for the time being, as the author claims). Go to Amazon

... Cabal series is (in my opinion) one of the best fantasy series of the last decade **Spoilers**The Cabal series is (in my opinion) one of the best fantasy series of the last decade. But this book fell short of the rest in this series for me. I feel like it got bogged down in its own style, and I ended up skipping half of it on my first read through and still understood the last chapter just fine. I thought Horst's characterization was a bit odd, I had never thought of him as an idiot before but this book took every opportunity it could to say "Oh yes, by the way, Horst is dumb". I get that he's in the company of Leonie and Johannes, but I always enjoyed how Horst was people-smart while Johannes was book-smart. Go to Amazon

Please don't let this be the end... I had this book in hand as soon as it was released and it has taken me this long to write a review. I was not ready for this series to end and to have to say goodbye to these characters. The first book in the series in by far the best and was impossible to beat. This book was such a disappointment I was almost heartbroken. I gave the book 2 stars instead of 1 because I adore some of the characters so much. I feel like this was not meant to be the end and the author for some reason decided to take the easy rode and give the series a sloppy ending instead of sitting on the series until he could give it the ending it deserved. I am a very picky ready and I thought I found a diamond in the rough with this author. Shame on you sir for setting such high expectations and not delivering. I can only pray that you revive the series some time in the future and give new life to this amazing world and let the characters find new adventure and fall in love with who they SHOULD HAVE by the end of the series...you know who I am talking about. Go to Amazon

Please let there be another Cabal! Howard implies that this, his best Cabal ever, might be the last. I hope not, as the final chapter leaves many unanswered questions that another book could address. Again, his plot is involved and convoluted and beautiful in its complexity. The characters so well written that you feel they could really exist. The humor present all through the book and the battles between good and evil beautifully written. I believe I speak or all the Cabalists when I say DO NOT FAIL TO WRITE ANOTHER CABAL SOON! Go to Amazon

If you like Terry Pratchett's style, try these novels! The Cabal series rocketed to the top of my favorite novels the moment I started reading the first one. I love the style, the dry humor, the characters, and the ideas. Every book is different and this 5th book of the series is just as good as anything that has come before! I won't give any synopsis, since you can find that anywhere, but I will say that nothing in the book disappoints.* I am very happy that I did not realize these were "horror" novels until after I started reading them, since that might have made me overlook the funniest stories I have read since discovering Terry Pratchett's Discworld. (In fact, the style is similar enough that if you like the later Discworld books then you should read these right away.) Go to Amazon

Five Stars Brilliant As Ever Yes!!!! Another excellent book in the Cabal series long live the brothers cabal... Appalling Disappointment, still can't believe it I rather enjoyed this book Fitting Finale Wonderful dark humor and grand adventure. The best adventure of the series

[reincarnatedasacupcake]

Spring colds turn to viral pneumonia, always fun. I spent most of May sick, hanging out on my couch and binge watching Netflix. And when I couldn't stand to watch anymore crappy movies, I turned to the solace of audiobooks. How wonderful they are. 

Here's what I read and listened to this month:

The Heir (The Selection #4)

by Kiera Cass 

342 Pages (8:48 Hours)

Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought.

Audible had a sale and I managed to pick up a bunch of books to complete series that I was working on. When I started this, I didn't realize that it was going to be taking place 20 years in the future. Although I was glad that America's story was over, as I couldn't figure out where the story would go from there, I wasn't thrilled with their snotty daughter and redoing the selection all over again. Yet as the book went on, I found myself really getting into it and watching the characters grow in a way that they didn't in the first part of this series. By the end, I couldn't wait to start the next book so I could find out what would happen. 

Revisionary (Magic Ex Libris #4)

by Jim C. Hines

389 Pages

When Isaac Vainio helped to reveal magic to the world, he dreamed of a utopian future, a new millennium of magical prosperity. One year later, things aren't going quite as he'd hoped. 

An organization known as Vanguard, made up of magical creatures and ex-Porters, wants open war with the mundane world. Isaac's own government is incarcerating "potential supernatural enemies" in prisons and internment camps. And Isaac finds himself targeted by all sides. 

It's a war that will soon envelop the world, and the key to victory may lie with Isaac himself, as he struggles to incorporate everything he's learned into a new, more powerful form of libriomancy. Surrounded by betrayal and political intrigue, Isaac and a ragtag group of allies must evade pursuit both magical and mundane, expose a conspiracy by some of the most powerful people in the world, and find a path to a better future. 

But what will that futures cost Isaac and the ones he loves?

This series just keeps getting better and better and it's getting harder not to justify buying it in hardcover just so I can find out what comes next. Now that magic is out in the open, the game has totally changed. People are up in arms about the uses of magic both good and bad and many are angry that they've been kept in the dark about it for so long. But while magic can heal the sick and save lives, it can also create new weapon and new destructive armies of magic wielders. It's a pretty neat look at magic that you don't usually get. I also really love libriomancy and the thought of magic coming out of books. So cool.

   The Crown (The Selection #5)

by Kiera Cass

278 Pages (7:12 Hours)

When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

Who do you think is going to win? It's amazing that with these Bachelor type books, you really do pick a favorite and hope that they win. For me, I was right and super happy about it. This book actually had moments where I found myself getting really emotional. Wasn't expecting that to happen at all. Maybe it was a side effect of being sick. :P

I'm glad this series is over, as I don't think they could've added anything else to complete it more that it already is. I'm looking forward to reading some of her other books.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3)

by Maggie Stiefvater

391 Pages (10:03 Hours)

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.

The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.

Mothers can disappear.

Visions can mislead.

Certainties can unravel.

I was glad to pick this series up again, since It's been awhile since I read the last one.

I'm going to say, without a doubt, that this was my favorite out of all of them. 

I really loved that as everything finally started to come together that it all started to fall apart as well. It also had one of the best villains in the series in it.

One Salt Sea (October Daye #5)

by Seanan McGuire

354 Pages

October "Toby" Daye is finally doing all right—and that inevitably means it's time for things to take a turn for the worse. Someone has kidnapped the sons of the Duchess Dianda Lorden, regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must not only find the missing boys, but also prove that the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction. She'll need all her tricks and the help of her allies if she wants to make it through this in one piece.

Toby's search will take her from the streets of San Francisco to the lands beneath the waves. But someone is determined to stop her—and whoever it is isn't playing by Oberon's Laws. As the battle grows more and more personal, one thing is chillingly clear. When Faerie goes to war, not everyone will walk away.

Oooooh..... so good! This month seemed to really be full of the best of the best of series and I'm very happy about that. This one was no exception. I love this series so much.

I always love the descriptions of faerie and the trip to the undersea kingdom knocked my socks off. I am a sucker for a good undersea kingdom. It's hard to imagine the stakes being even higher than usual for Toby and her friends, but somehow they always are. Having to stop a war takes the story telling to new heights and I love it (and hate it for pulling at my heart strings)

Must read more....

Equal Rites (Discworld #3)

by Terry Pratchett

283 Pages

On Discworld, a dying wizard tries to pass on his powers to an eighth son of an eighth son, who is just at that moment being born. The fact that the son is actually a daughter is discovered just a little too late. The town witch insists on turning the baby into a perfectly normal witch, thus mending the magical damage of the wizard's mistake. But now the young girl will be forced to penetrate the inner sanctum of the Unseen University--and attempt to save the world with one well-placed kick in some enchanted shins! 

Adam has really gotten me into Discworld lately, so this became my RBA book for the month. You can tell that this book is early in the Discworld Universe because it doesn't quite have the same flow or level of sass that his later books have. That doesn't make it any less fun though. I love the fact that even early on he's challenging gender roles and "how it's always been"

This book truly great for someone like me.

The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4)

by Maggie Stiefvater

448 Pages (11:51 Hours)

All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love's death. She doesn't believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

It's always hard to come to the end of a series, but at the same time, it's nice when it's over. That's how I felt about this book. There were some great revelations (and I'm totally shipping it!), but I wasn't overly thrilled about how it ended. I found it to be a little anti-climactic after all the hype surrounding it. Maybe it's just me. I loved everything else about it though.

The Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company #1)

by Glen Cook

319 Pages

Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Balck Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead.

This was my original RBA for the month, but with being sick and this book being heavy and awkward, it's one of those huge soft cover books that are hard to hold, and me being sick and weak, I put it aside for a lighter paperback. It's also 3 books in one, so it's extra big and clunky. It was a hard book to get into. The writing style is awkward and takes some getting use to, but once you do, the story is quite interesting. Being part of a mercenary guild is difficult, especially when you realize you might be on the wrong side. It also takes a neat look at magical warfare and puts a bit of a more modern spin on it. I will be reading the rest of the books later this year 

At the Sign of the Crow and Moon (Sorcery Ascendant Sequence 0.5)

by Mitchell Hogan

80 Pages (2:15 Hours)

Ten years before A Crucible of Souls…

In the bustling capital city of the Mahruse Empire, Felicienne Shyrise spends her days as a talented investigator, taking on stolen goods and missing person cases, and the occasional murder the city guard are too incompetent, or too lazy, to resolve.

During nights, she hones her skills playing Dominion, a board game almost as complicated as life itself. She dreams of making a name for herself, and becoming the richest woman in the Empire.

But when she’s roped into a murky investigation by a First Adjudicator to the immortal Emperor himself, her life is thrown into disarray. Will this be the perfect opportunity to showcase her skills and make valuable connections, or will her future now be in the hands of political powers that can never be denied.

Working against her will, and afraid of the consequences of refusing the commission, she uncovers evidence that points to an attempt on the Emperor’s life. Felicienne rapidly finds herself a target, and must use her considerable wits to uncover the plot of an unseen enemy who always seems to be one step ahead of the game.

This is a standalone novella of 20,000 words. No prior knowledge of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence is required to enjoy it, which means it's a perfect introduction for new readers or a chance for Sorcery Ascendant veterans to spend a little more time with Felicienne Shyrise.

So, on top of being sick, my phone went wonky for a few days when the new iPhone update came out and got stuck in an endless loop of updating. So not being able to get to my current audiobook, I booted up my old phone and listened to a short story that I had yet to get to. It was a prequel to an already established story, but I was able to to still follow along just fine. It was okay. I'm sure if you knew the characters and the universe, it would be more interesting, but on it's own it wasn't anything impressive. I might look into the others later on, but we'll see.

Books that I am currently reading

Vision of the Future (Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn #2)

by Timothy Zahn

341 of 694 Pages (12:59 of 26:15 Hours)

Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow #2)

by Anthony Ryan

425 of 602 Pages (24:39 Hours) Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Extraordinary Voyages #6) by Jules Verne 228 of 394 Pages

A Fine Balance

by Rohinton Mistry

30 of 603 Pages

Seeing (Blindness #2) by José Saramago 237 of 307 Pages