Storybook Perfect

Always quirky, sometimes sweet speculative fiction

Month: December 2013

2013 Australian Spec Fic Authors Challenge

December 26, 2013 / / 0 Comments

BurnBrightAhh, the satisfaction of a challenge conquered.

January – Beseiged, Exile and Sanctuary, the Outcast Chronicles by Rowena Cory Daniells

February – Obernewtyn, The Farseekers and Ashling, the first three books of the Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody

March – The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

April – The Pericles Commission by Gary Corby (keen to read more, the sixth book should be out soon)

May – Lifesphere Inc Aquisition by Talitha Kalago and the Dieselpunk Epulp Showcase featuring Grant Gardiner

The Pericles CommissionJune – Burn Bright, Angel Arias and Shine Light, the Night creatures Trilogy by Marrianne dePierres

July – Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson (seriously have to read the sequels soon!)

August – I celebrated Aurealis, the amazing Aussie spec-fic magazine (of which I’ve read almost every single issue this year)

September – Midnight and Moonshine by Angelta Slatter and Lisa L Hannett

October – 2013 Redlitzer Anthology by various authors (including me)

The Wild GirlNovember – Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

December – The Magicians’ Guild by Trudi Canavan

I probably could have done more if I hadn’t decided to tackle the challenge of A Song Of Ice And Fire as well, reading all five books as well as Dreamsongs (George RR Martin’s extensive short story collection). exile

The only thing I’m sad about is the best book by an Australian author that I’ve read this year is not actually out yet so I can’t convince you all how very badly you need to buy it, but I will say, keep an eye out for news about ‘The Hungry People’ by Talitha Kalago.

Next up, I’m going to level the challenge at you again.

Australian Spec-Fic Authors Challenge – December Round-Up

December 24, 2013 / / 0 Comments

mag guildFor December I wrapped up the year long challenge with Trudi Canavan’s The Magicians’ Guild, book one in The Black Magician trilogy.

The story primarily follows Sonea, a girl who lives in the slum in a city where the only people with magic powers are the wealthy and once year the wealthy kick out the homeless and destitute in an event they call ‘the purge’. During the purge, Sonea is so mad at the magicians assisting with the purge that she – like many other people around her – throws a rock at them. Unlike everyone elses rocks, which bounce of the magical barrier around them, hers goes through and knocks one out, showing her as magically gifted.

Now begins a chase through the slums as Sonea tries to keep away from the magicians (who she is convinced intend to kill her if not hurt her terribly), while the magicians rush to try and reach her with the intent of trying to catch her before her wild magic rages out of control killing not just her, but also untold hundreds of people around her.

I really liked the characters of Sonea and Cery and the awkward little blossoming romance there and the depth of world building is hinted at with a few almost throw away lines but for me the book didn’t have a lot of velocity. I’m sorry, I know I’m always harping on about velocity in stories, but it’s something that matters to me.

I think the velocity was missing for me because the stakes didn’t seem right. If at the start we had have been left not knowing the magicians (mostly) had good intentions toward Sonea, I think the start would have been much more thrilling. I understand that Canavan needed to lay down the moves of the antagonist early so he didn’t just pop out of nowhere, but the nice magicians were in there too and it just lessened the intensity for me.

Now don’t think the book is a write-off at all! The ending was great and also paved the path for some massive stakes for the next book and I am very interested to continue on with the trilogy (I’m lining them up for next year but I’ve been dying to catch up on the Dexter books this year and plan to fit at least one in before 2014).

Ahh, I can breath a sigh of relief, I was able to complete my own challenge. How did you guys go? Owned it, just scraped home, miles off, didn’t even try? Soon I’ll do a wrap up post and level the challenge at you all again for next year.

Have a great Christmas all (and for those who don’t celebrate, a great holiday)

Expectation

December 22, 2013 / / 0 Comments
Expecting this...

Expecting this…

Expectations can be tricky things. When something doesn’t go as expected you tend to be disappointed, for example our family went to a special Christmas event. Considering average ticket cost, location and what I’d read online I had certain expectations.

They were not met.

It put a damper on the evening. The event was still fun, but I feel like it would have been much more enjoyable if I didn’t have those expectations. But meeting expectations in a story too much can lead to a very bland plot, as the reader can predict everything that will happen.

...but get this.

…but get this.

When you’re writing you have to meet certain expectations and obliterate others.

For example if you write fantasy, you must fulfill the reader’s expectation of something fantastic (magic, princesses, dashing knights, dragons, super powers – or perhaps your own spin), but you have to not take the story in obvious directions, or if you must, make it a red herring, throw in a huge twist, stick a damn spanner in the works and run away laughing into the night

Sometimes as well we get excited about something. A friend raves about a book, so we go in expecting genius, but when we read it ourselves – well it’s good, but I’m not going to run down the street naked screaming of its brilliance. So expectations can be at fault for disappointments in a different way too.

Have you had an expectation for something then been let down, either through the hype of others or even your own hype? What about the other way around, not expecting much but then had your mind blown? I’d love to hear about it.

–

both pictures copyright Disney, top one also copyright Annie Leibovitz (from her Disney Dream series) 

Australian Spec-Fic Authors Challenge – November Round-Up

December 17, 2013 / / 0 Comments

stormdancerFor November I read Jay Kristoff’s Stormdancer. Really it would have been impossible for me to not like this book. Seriously, combining Japanese culture with steampunk – it would have to have been appalling writing for me not to have dug it.

It certainly wasn’t appalling writing. At times the description did get a little too verbose for my liking and sometimes it seemed to be dropped into certain spots just to try and drag out tension (which ticks me off personally), but for the most part it was vivid and wonderful.

I still love physically strong female characters, even if certain factions on the internet seem to dislike them (well at least as long as her physical strength isn’t her only defining characteristic) so enjoyed Yukiko, even if she did border on almost-a-little-too-perfect-to-be-true on the odd occasion.

(MILD UNSPECIFIC SPOILERS AHEAD) One thing I especially loved was that the second a plan looked like it was about to work BAM! No such luck. So frequently and so well done. I constantly kept thinking ‘yeah, I know where this is going now’ and constantly got thrown back in my seat and laughed at by Kristoff (not literally we live several thousand kilometers apart). (/SPOILER)

The depth of the world was impressive. There are many different political factions all at work, all playing in their own way for power, environmental concerns, traditional Japanese gods and mythology woven into the world and lots of references to Japanese clothing and weaponry. The terminology could be a small struggle point for someone not familiar with Japan, but after the first few chapters you’d be fine. My only issue is it was summer and no one was wearing yukata – summer is for yukatas! (but that’s me being a crazy Japanophile and there were many other details that made me supremely happy so all is forgiven)

I will certainly be reading the sequel as soon as I’ve finished my December read for the challenge. Gah! Thirteen days to try and complete my own challenge! I’m also a teeny bit sad that I hadn’t read the book in time to have it signed by him at the Brisbane Supanova.

On Pushing Too Hard

December 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments
exhaustion (not me, used with permission)

exhaustion (not me, used with permission)

As regular readers would know I pushed myself hard at the end of NaNo, slamming out 20,000 words in five days (most of which I was working my day job) so I could ‘win’ against the odds.

I won, but at what cost?

For the last few weeks I’ve been creatively burned out. I have been tired in general and lethargic in my writing. I have given feedback on several pieces for my critique group’s up-coming anthology, but I’ve done no work on my own stuff. Instead I’ve picked up my 3DS and been playing Animal Crossing, Pokemon Y and Bravely Default.

I usually give myself game time after writing, like a reward, but these last couple of weeks it’s almost all I’m doing with my free time. And once you start slacking off it’s even harder to get back in gear, particularly when the games are so much fun.

I’m hoping right now that getting a few blog posts up will start to fire up my creative juices and get me back in flow because I have two stories to edit and submit before years end and a deadline for my group’s anthology as well, so I really need to get back into it!

Worst Book of the Year

December 2, 2013 / / 0 Comments

My critique group has a fun tradition at the Christmas break up party. We all bring in the worst spec fic book we’ve read this year then the books are redistributed via number in a hat.

Now a part of me wants to try a couple of these books(I ended up with several, yay for lucky draws ;p ), after all the quality of books can be subjective (beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say). In fact someone who hadn’t read a bad book had bought in a bad movie instead and T-J and I both enjoyed that movie. But I’m always strapped for time, particularly now with three dead lines looming before the year’s end. Do I risk reading a bad book because I might actually like it? Or do I save my time for books I’m more likely to enjoy(oh and you know, those pesky dead lines)?

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Phew!

December 1, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Yeah, all I can say is phew! I made it, scraping home at just over the 50,000. I slammed the 20,000 words in the last five days, but feel a bit burned out. Also, some of those later pages are going to need a hatchet attack in editing. Hmmm, apparently the competitive side of me trumped the artistic/perfectionist side of me. There’ll be time enough for editing when the draft is done (sing that to the tune of The Gambler)(totally going to make a writer’s version of that song now, but later, when rested).

Today’s my critique group Christmas party so I need to start getting stuff ready, just thought I’d fix the suspense if you were on tenterhooks as to my NaNo completion.

nano2013winner

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