Furious Friday # 2 - The Sword of Shannara

Hi there everyone!

Welcome to my second fabulous Friday... though if you may have noticed, this is a Furious Friday. 

This is for a few different reasons, but I will get to that shortly. 

Now, today I will be talking about the Sword of Shannara series, by Terry Brooks... a series which was recently given life by MTV. Let me preface this by saying... I watched the pilot for the series, and the production value actually looks pretty incredible. I will perhaps expand upon my feelings for that at a later date, but for now, I need to rant about this damn book. 

OK, firstly, there is 26 books in this series. The first chronological book in the series is called the Sword of Shannara, and that is what I will be talking about today. In terms of the actual Shannara chronicle, this book come about at the halfway mark, maybe a little earlier. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, thousands of years after our modern era. Don't let that statement fool you, this book is high fantasy, elves, dwarves, gnomes and all. The justification for that is a stretch, but somewhat believable. 

Hang on, I need to make one more preface to this post. I have not finished this book yet. I fully intent to, but I need to clear my mind of some of this... vitriol first. Ok, that warning finished, I will continue. 

Two things really irritate me about this book. Irritate me so much I am struggling to enjoy this book. 

The first thing that really irritates me is the way Mr. Brooks writes in this first endeavor. I hate his narrative style... he jumps characters to abruptly, changes perspective with little to no indication of change. It sometimes takes several sentences to realize... crap, we are talking about that guy now. I think I am going to come up with a name with this narrative... I am going to call it a Virus Narrative. This "Virus Narrative" goes as follows. He will be following a singular character, following what they are doing, sometimes talking about what they are thinking... then when that character interacts with another, all of a sudden the narrative switched to the second character. It is pretty frustrating.  

Second thing that frustrates me to no end is that the story concept for this book thus far, about two-thirds of the way through the book... is that it is nearly an idea for idea copy of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. Just a few character comparisons for you. 

Chosen One - Shea/Frodo

Best friend who stays because loyalties? - Flick/Sam

Magic user that guides party and randomly leaves - Allanon/Gandolf

Really douche bad guy everyone thought was dead - Warlock Lord/Sauron

The scary black beings that are evil and searching for chosen one - The Skull Bearers/Ring Wraiths

If that was it, fine. But no, the story concepts are the same. Wizard meets chosen one, tells him of his danger. Naive chosen one and buddy have to leave home because scary baddies are closing in. Hard travels till they reach a nearby town that has someone that can help them. Eventually reaching the safety of a realm of a different race... where the wizard meets up with them again, and holds a council of races to decide that... a small group of people can complete the task together after a journey. 

Are you kidding me? Literally, concept for concept copy of Lord of the Rings. 

Now, I do have hope for where this story is going. I am really hoping it will shortly divert in the ideas, because as it stands I am truly struggling to read this. 

Now, I want to make it a habit of including some good things that I have found in the book. 

The one good thing I care to talk about at this point... is the created world of the book, the setting. I am engaged in the background story, the world. 

And with that... I think I will end this rant. 

Have more to add? Have some good things to put in? Feel free to comment below. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Rob-

Origins - Part 4 - Books

This Origins part is one I have been thinking about for a while now, one that, in particular, drives my creativity.

 

Books.

 

Books sustain me. Drive me. Titillate and Stimulate my brain 

 

Books introduce me to ideas... I could never grasp otherwise.

 

Books teach, books expand, and books push.

 

I have a passion for books... all types. I go through phases of books... Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical non-fiction, will everything in between.

 

Books have given me a prodigious vocabulary, and a drive to write. Most of all, books give me Imagination.

 

When I was younger, I was slow to pick up reading. it took me a long time, I was too easily distracted. I wanted to play outside, I wanted to play with Legos, I wanted to play on the computer. I did not want to read. Well, it would appear the problem was my book choices. When I was 6 years old, my parents got rid of our Television. Decided they did not want it in the house. Spending 11 years, 11 Formative years without a television was the greatest gift I think my parents could have given us. We had to find ways to entertain ourselves. The first book I remember being truly excited to read was Harry Potter. I was in 3rd or 4th grade, 8 or 9 years old, and my mom gave me Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I was entranced. I couldn't put it down. I sprinted through the book... then did it again. and again. I got the second book, devoured it, then the third... until there was no more out... I had to wait for Mrs. J.K. to release more books. Truly, a test in patience, that. For the next 5 years, as soon as a Harry Potter was released, my entire family would scramble to read it first. Usually it was my sister, followed by my mother, followed by me, and then my father when he wanted to. That was a true bone of contention between us, who got to read Harry Potter first. I will say, thankfully, spoilers were never an issue. I guess we respected each other enough not to spoil the book for each other.

Books just became a way of life for me. I would read in class, read before bed, get in trouble because I stayed up reading till the wee hours of the morning on a school night... it was just my way of life with books. Another book, and series that changed the way I looked at reading, and writing, was the Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings.

 

Tolkien forged a world through his writing, a world that millions of people discovered and explored. I was one of those people. For me, it all started with the Hobbit. Now, the Hobbit is a book that follows Bilbo Baggins as he travels from the Shire to the desolate lair of the great dragon Smaug. but you all know that. Tolkien's way of writing truly painted the pictures for me, presented the characters with their flaws and assets. He immersed the reader in his world... and guided them along the path of his choosing. It also helps that the movies are some the best screen adaptations of books, but who really cares about movies anyway. (Just Kidding)

 

Once I went to college, I began taking classes that relate to literature. I wanted to know more about what made a good book, and how I could eventually write a book of my own. Once I started learning about literature, I realized I had to completely restart how I read books. I was not looking for connections or social commentary. I was not even looking at the emotional evocations that came from within me as I read. I realized.... I had been reading wrong.

 

Since that transformative moment, I have strove to pick up as much as I can in each book I read. I look for what I connect with on an intellectual level, as well as an emotional level. I began to notice that if I could not find the book relatable in some fashion, I could not finish it. Mind you, I do not find many of those. I have only stopped reading one book in the last two years because it was almost too relatable... it was talking about abortion as my wife was pregnant with our son.

 

The last book series I want to discuss is one that... frankly, is not the best, but it has had a profound impact on me. That series is The Wheel of Time Series, by Robert Jordan. Now, this actually offered the best juxtaposition between before and after college reading experiences. Before college, I thought it was a great series, awesome story, deep characters... a bit dense in places, but really stinking good. Favorate book series, without a doubt. After college, I realized a few different things. Firstly, the story really is awesome, well thought out, and immense. Secondly, the characters are particularly two dimentional, meaning they do not have a whole lot of personality. In that same vein, the women are written... well, they are cookie cutter copies of the same woman having different experiances. That lack of depth is alarming. Thirdly, and a particularly important part... the flow of the story is glacial at parts. for example, you could skip the ninth book entirely and not miss a thing. Mind you, I still love the series, and listen to it on audio book regularly, but I cringe when I hear certain parts.

 

As of now, end of 2015, I am on a Science Fiction kick, reading everything I can about it.

 

How did you get into books? What are some of your favorites?

 

-Rob-