Fairy Tales, More Mythology & Geekery
First, the geekery.
Occasionally a browser does something truly worthy of mention. Even more occasionally, it is something positive. If you're a developer, or designer, or just enjoy playing with shiny toys that let you muck about with the appearance or interaction of web pages, then this post from mozilla (a bit older though it is - a month is like eons in web-time), should bring a smile to your face.
Continuing in the "web and browser" theme, I shared my glee on Twitter, but I will reiterate it here. Microsoft has decided to start automatic updating for Internet Explorer. (Death to IE6, DEATH!) I won't go so far as to say that I've resigned myself to the existence of IE with all its stubborn eccentricities, but it soothes me somewhat to know that the gradual removal of older versions of developer/designer torture will be giving way, limiting the number of iterations and iteration-unique quirks to be dealt with, coddled, and soundly cursed at. According to this article on geek.com the change should starting in Australia and Brazil this month. The only downside to this is that corporate customers will be able to block the the changes - so the major offenders (corporate types who can't be pried away from their antique machines and OS's, let alone tempted away by new, shiny, easy-to-operate toys) will likely still insist that THEIR websites must look just so in IE6. Still, it seems like a step forward. Hopefully.
And now, on to the booknerd-ness!
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
Normally, I'm not a huge fan of Juliet Marillier. Or perhaps that statement isn't entirely fair. She certainly has a way with words - a lyricism that at the same time allows her work to carry a certain darkness of emotion, a weight. She knows her Celtic lore and legend - in fact she seems a little obsessed with it, and that's perfect, since the handful of books that I've read by her have been full of druids and chieftains and groves and names that are unpronounceable to someone with no Celtic background.
But usually her themes are at once too mystical and too continually depressing for me to stomach for very long. I like a darkly gothic story as much as the next fan of vampire/ghost/otherworldly literature, but there's only so much gloom and doom I can handle before I NEED someone to spout a dry one-liner - even in a cynically fatalistic kind of way.
All that being said, I really did enjoy Heart's Blood. One of the author's few stand-alone novels, it tells the story of a young craftswoman who takes employment with a mysterious and off-putting lord, in order to escape her past. The plot is fairly straightforward, and if you're the type of reader who likes to guess how it'll all end, you won't find that a terribly difficult task. But the journey through the story is peopled with a cast of highly entertaining and sympathetic characters, human and not-so-much. You'll probably catch more than small glimpses of a familiar fairytale - but Juliet Marillier fleshes out the story with enough detail and side characters with their own, complementary stories - that the fairytale feels shiny, a new polish on something loved that's grown worn and become easy to take for granted over the years.
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
If you've never read anything by Rick Riordan - I suggest that you do so. Probably most famous for his series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Riordan also has published and won awards for a detective series for adults. I've never picked up any of his mystery/detective books intended for a "grown-up" audience, however, I find that his children's/YA fantasy is phenomenal.
The Son of Neptune, part of the series The Heroes of Olympus is definitely a children's book. The plot line is fairly straightforward. The line between good and evil is fairly clear - at least to the reader, if not immediately to the characters. And I have to admit that after several weeks of reading steampunk, and fantasy from the "grown-up's" section (saying "adult" in the same phrase as "fantasy" seems misleading and wrong, seriously, don't Google those, the results aren't pretty. *winces*), I wasn't sure that I wanted to read something that I was sure was going to be pretty simplistic. But Riordan's writing is FUN. An epic-style story in easy-to-read format, he brings Greek and Roman mythology to surprising, and rather amusing, life.
A familiar character to Riordan fans, Percy Jackson joins forces with two more unlikely young heroes, and without the aid of his memory or any of his customary companions, sets off to save the world. Again. Ridiculous, sometimes painful, sometimes downright hilarious, and thoroughly charming.
Occasionally a browser does something truly worthy of mention. Even more occasionally, it is something positive. If you're a developer, or designer, or just enjoy playing with shiny toys that let you muck about with the appearance or interaction of web pages, then this post from mozilla (a bit older though it is - a month is like eons in web-time), should bring a smile to your face.
Continuing in the "web and browser" theme, I shared my glee on Twitter, but I will reiterate it here. Microsoft has decided to start automatic updating for Internet Explorer. (Death to IE6, DEATH!) I won't go so far as to say that I've resigned myself to the existence of IE with all its stubborn eccentricities, but it soothes me somewhat to know that the gradual removal of older versions of developer/designer torture will be giving way, limiting the number of iterations and iteration-unique quirks to be dealt with, coddled, and soundly cursed at. According to this article on geek.com the change should starting in Australia and Brazil this month. The only downside to this is that corporate customers will be able to block the the changes - so the major offenders (corporate types who can't be pried away from their antique machines and OS's, let alone tempted away by new, shiny, easy-to-operate toys) will likely still insist that THEIR websites must look just so in IE6. Still, it seems like a step forward. Hopefully.
And now, on to the booknerd-ness!
Heart's Blood by Juliet MarillierNormally, I'm not a huge fan of Juliet Marillier. Or perhaps that statement isn't entirely fair. She certainly has a way with words - a lyricism that at the same time allows her work to carry a certain darkness of emotion, a weight. She knows her Celtic lore and legend - in fact she seems a little obsessed with it, and that's perfect, since the handful of books that I've read by her have been full of druids and chieftains and groves and names that are unpronounceable to someone with no Celtic background.
But usually her themes are at once too mystical and too continually depressing for me to stomach for very long. I like a darkly gothic story as much as the next fan of vampire/ghost/otherworldly literature, but there's only so much gloom and doom I can handle before I NEED someone to spout a dry one-liner - even in a cynically fatalistic kind of way.
All that being said, I really did enjoy Heart's Blood. One of the author's few stand-alone novels, it tells the story of a young craftswoman who takes employment with a mysterious and off-putting lord, in order to escape her past. The plot is fairly straightforward, and if you're the type of reader who likes to guess how it'll all end, you won't find that a terribly difficult task. But the journey through the story is peopled with a cast of highly entertaining and sympathetic characters, human and not-so-much. You'll probably catch more than small glimpses of a familiar fairytale - but Juliet Marillier fleshes out the story with enough detail and side characters with their own, complementary stories - that the fairytale feels shiny, a new polish on something loved that's grown worn and become easy to take for granted over the years.
The Son of Neptune by Rick RiordanIf you've never read anything by Rick Riordan - I suggest that you do so. Probably most famous for his series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Riordan also has published and won awards for a detective series for adults. I've never picked up any of his mystery/detective books intended for a "grown-up" audience, however, I find that his children's/YA fantasy is phenomenal.
The Son of Neptune, part of the series The Heroes of Olympus is definitely a children's book. The plot line is fairly straightforward. The line between good and evil is fairly clear - at least to the reader, if not immediately to the characters. And I have to admit that after several weeks of reading steampunk, and fantasy from the "grown-up's" section (saying "adult" in the same phrase as "fantasy" seems misleading and wrong, seriously, don't Google those, the results aren't pretty. *winces*), I wasn't sure that I wanted to read something that I was sure was going to be pretty simplistic. But Riordan's writing is FUN. An epic-style story in easy-to-read format, he brings Greek and Roman mythology to surprising, and rather amusing, life.
A familiar character to Riordan fans, Percy Jackson joins forces with two more unlikely young heroes, and without the aid of his memory or any of his customary companions, sets off to save the world. Again. Ridiculous, sometimes painful, sometimes downright hilarious, and thoroughly charming.
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