Dreams of Shadows comes across as a compendium of sorts when first read. Almost every other chapter is devoted to a different kind of supernatural creature taken up from many different kinds of lore. To my surprise, this didn't deter the story too much since the beginning--after the prologue--takes its time getting started. In fact, it made me want to read on in order to see these creatures in action. and as the action and plot found its momentum and its theme or message became more apparent, the informative breaks of supernatural creatures didn't appear so much.
The main theme being right in the title: dreams.
Now, this may come off as a bit obvious, but the dreams I that I target as the main theme of the novel are more the kind that aren't achieved rather than the kind that are. That's where a sense of realism comes to play. People, fairies and creatures of different origins are all aspiring for something that blinds them the more they try to either obtain it or protect it. Even the opening comes off as a fairy tail romance ready to be drowned the moment you think it comes across as cliche. Whether it's Colby's taste for adventure or Ewan's wish to be part of the fairies, the book turns them into tragedies.
The problem presents itself in the end, where it basically degenerates into a fight and then that's it. That's when I saw the characters as pieces, not the characters I wish I saw them as. They all had a part to be played and played it well, but it came across as hollow, and in a weird way, I think they were meant to be just that, pieces. i'm not saying that I came away from this without caring for any single character, but that they were overshadowed by the story the author wanted to tell.
Not to mention that the magic here is of the wild kind, so don't expect many reasons for some of the grander spots of wielding the unknown.
I'm throwing three stars at this book. I almost gave it four, but towards the end, the corruption of plot and magic to tell a more depressing story ripped that star right out of my hands.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Review of Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
| Stormdancer is was one of those, "Read it and you'll love it," type of books as long as you avoid its major flaw: research. Nothing in the story itself felt amiss, except for the need to have the characters speak in bursts of Japanese for the sake of novelty. Especially when that Japanese is not only wrong, but ill placed. Assuming that it was supposed to draw me in, it induced the opposite effect, pushing me away from the story--which was not only interesting, but melded with characters, demons, and a setting that is to be remembered. It's a plot I've heard all to much growing up. There's an evil tyrant that needs to be overthrown. The character goes against the norm of their culture and there's the slightest bit of magic involved. And with some luck, our hero, or in this case heroine, will somehow pull through it all. Simple right? It's when it is mixed with a religious fervor of a clan of engineers and a class of warriors clasped in steampunk armor and chainsaw swords that I find myself caught up in its flow. Not to mention that Kristoff's writing just feels nice to read. Battles don't try to force me into the scene or scare me away with how grotesque they may get. Rather, they feel beautiful to read and often reread in order to capture the momentum of the scene. They read beautifully and I was never disappointed. The one thing I did think on was sex and romance and how easily the book flowed into the subject. I'm highly critical of any romance of all the books I read. You know you get a sour taste in your mouth when our two heroes--who hate each other or are fighting against cultural norms--somehow end up together. You see it a mile away and hope that it doesn't take up too much time away from the plot. Instead, it played more like a diversion from how harsh the world is. That you should find something to make your life more bearable was what I felt to be one of the main points of the plot. I do sort of wish that Hiro, the green eyed samurai, was given more depth, but as I write this review, maybe the lack of depth was what Kristoff was aiming for, specifically for this character. You'll find out what I mean by finishing the book. While I don't want to give too much away, I can't tell if I loved the main cast or the world and situations they were born into. The guild with their steampunk machinery combined with the mantra of the lotus must bloom is still fresh in my mind. The tattoos (I'm a big lover of tattoos) that link with the four clans and their stations were something to behold. From what I can assume, all clans have a mantra of sorts with Kitsune's "looks after its own" being one of them. I'd love to hear the other three in the future books in time. But out of all this, Buruu's interactions with Yukiko are a great read. Not just because of the back and forth that will make you laugh, or in my case trying in vain to stifle yours while in the bookstore, but because of how they both change due to the mental link they share. Also, he's just cool. A thunder tiger is not something you can think of without being thrilled soon after. As you can tell, I loved this book. Regrettably, I can't give it the five star rating I want to give it. At least I can't at the moment. Yes, it does come back to the gratuitous and wrong Japanese, I was lured away from it. Granted, I do feel somewhat wrong for telling someone to ignore the Japanese when spoken, but the story was great and should not be missed. I'll definitely be checking out the next book soon and if he's changed his language around a bit, I may go back and give this book the rating I want to give it. |
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Far Cry 3: Comparable Character Progression
Before I get started, I should probably give a rundown on what the game is about.
You are Jason Brody, a privileged white American, who goes out with his friends on the trip of a lifetime. Of course, it goes horribly wrong: you become stranded on an island, your brother is killed, your friends taken for ransom, and now you have to learn the skills to save them. Luckily for you, there's a tribe of warriors who set you on the path to becoming a warrior. Your skills are displayed for all to see in the form of the tatau (word for tattoo from the South Pacific Polynesian culture) which covers your entire left forearm.
And as you're killing pirates and blowing up enemy camps, maybe you'll start to enjoy it. For the first time in your life, you're winning. You're killing, and slaughtering, and, well, you're proud of yourself. You've found that one thing that you are proud to have done.
You are a warrior.
So if you haven't noticed yet, this sort of screams of the mighty whitey trope. In it, a predominantly white European or American or just plain white if you will, comes to an alien land, learns their ways, and then become better at it than even the original inhabitants. For some reason, I've always liked this trope. Not for the obvious racial undertones, but because it's an easy way to learn about their culture. Too bad the Rakyat are pretty shallow on that. They're the proud warrior tribe who worship ancestors (don't know if it's a group or only those in your direct lineage), know how to fight (but suck at it) and give you tattoos and drugs.
You see, as you learn more about killing, you get more of your tatau completed, which in turn means you're now more like "them," the Rakyat and less like the average guy we can relate to. And in a way, even we can relate to Jason becoming a killer. In a place where you have to kill and there are people to teach you, would you turn out any different? Would you turn down the skills to save your friends? The problem is that all the skills you learn are supposed to be from the Rakyat. So, why don't they know any of them?
In the game, you fight all sorts of animals: dogs, tigers, dingoes...the list goes on. Dogs are the easiest, dying in one shot from a shotgun. The Rakyat get murdered by them. It's horrible. I know I'm supposed to feel empowered by this game, becoming a living weapon and all, but seriously, am I that far up the food chain from these guys? They are the same people who actually live here and yet everything I do is better than them. Even their guns are the first tier of weapons. I get better stuff after an hour of playing this game.
The problem also may be that he changes a little too fast and because the game is open world--meaning you can go anywhere and do anything--it's a little out of order. When Jason kills his first man, he's close to breaking down, but has to move on, else he'll die since he killed the guy while on the run. The next time I'm supposed to kill someone, I'm being sent out to kill an entire enemy camp and Jason doesn't care one bit. This being between ten to twenty minutes after Jason tells his mentor that he's never fired a gun before. I felt a little disconnected from that. The thing is, I love character progression probably more than actual plot, unless that is the whole point of the plot that is. A person should change, that's how we function. We adapt to it, learn to move past it, but in the end, the game is still just a game in that regard. But I will give credit where it's due, because even though that is a big lapse in the narrative, the game has many other great moments that show Jason's progression into a blood loving warrior.
When you look at many works, or any for that matter, you have the person who is changing and then the person who he is changing into. This person is sometimes the mentor, who is directly teaching him these new skills and moreover, what to expect in the coming adventure. And sometimes, there is the villain who the protagonist id beginning to feel a connection to,in both power goals and aesthetically--like when Luke had his hand replaced just like his father, Anakin in Star Wars. In Far Cry 3, it follows the mentor, Dennis Rogers, who is not only your mentor, but the guy tattooing the tatau to your skin.
The mentor in this case, especially with a system like this in place where progression is key, should in a way show the player what is to come in the later stages of the game. Instead, his gun is weaker than yours. You never get to truly see him in action. And his tatau is completely tribal where yours are not. You see, tribal tattoo usually makes use of simplistic shapes in a repetitive design to make a complicated whole. Jason's tatau look more western, picturesque even, instead of the design wee're accustomed to on a tribal warrior. The only connection you have is that, like you, he was not born on the island and came into their culture a stranger.
In literature, this is the usual farm-boy turning into a master swordsmen trope. You're not really supposed to ask how you attained such wondrous skills in basically no time at all, but bask in the fact of how cool and plot convenient it is.
Don't do that.
You are Jason Brody, a privileged white American, who goes out with his friends on the trip of a lifetime. Of course, it goes horribly wrong: you become stranded on an island, your brother is killed, your friends taken for ransom, and now you have to learn the skills to save them. Luckily for you, there's a tribe of warriors who set you on the path to becoming a warrior. Your skills are displayed for all to see in the form of the tatau (word for tattoo from the South Pacific Polynesian culture) which covers your entire left forearm.
And as you're killing pirates and blowing up enemy camps, maybe you'll start to enjoy it. For the first time in your life, you're winning. You're killing, and slaughtering, and, well, you're proud of yourself. You've found that one thing that you are proud to have done.
You are a warrior.
So if you haven't noticed yet, this sort of screams of the mighty whitey trope. In it, a predominantly white European or American or just plain white if you will, comes to an alien land, learns their ways, and then become better at it than even the original inhabitants. For some reason, I've always liked this trope. Not for the obvious racial undertones, but because it's an easy way to learn about their culture. Too bad the Rakyat are pretty shallow on that. They're the proud warrior tribe who worship ancestors (don't know if it's a group or only those in your direct lineage), know how to fight (but suck at it) and give you tattoos and drugs.
You see, as you learn more about killing, you get more of your tatau completed, which in turn means you're now more like "them," the Rakyat and less like the average guy we can relate to. And in a way, even we can relate to Jason becoming a killer. In a place where you have to kill and there are people to teach you, would you turn out any different? Would you turn down the skills to save your friends? The problem is that all the skills you learn are supposed to be from the Rakyat. So, why don't they know any of them?
In the game, you fight all sorts of animals: dogs, tigers, dingoes...the list goes on. Dogs are the easiest, dying in one shot from a shotgun. The Rakyat get murdered by them. It's horrible. I know I'm supposed to feel empowered by this game, becoming a living weapon and all, but seriously, am I that far up the food chain from these guys? They are the same people who actually live here and yet everything I do is better than them. Even their guns are the first tier of weapons. I get better stuff after an hour of playing this game.
The problem also may be that he changes a little too fast and because the game is open world--meaning you can go anywhere and do anything--it's a little out of order. When Jason kills his first man, he's close to breaking down, but has to move on, else he'll die since he killed the guy while on the run. The next time I'm supposed to kill someone, I'm being sent out to kill an entire enemy camp and Jason doesn't care one bit. This being between ten to twenty minutes after Jason tells his mentor that he's never fired a gun before. I felt a little disconnected from that. The thing is, I love character progression probably more than actual plot, unless that is the whole point of the plot that is. A person should change, that's how we function. We adapt to it, learn to move past it, but in the end, the game is still just a game in that regard. But I will give credit where it's due, because even though that is a big lapse in the narrative, the game has many other great moments that show Jason's progression into a blood loving warrior.
When you look at many works, or any for that matter, you have the person who is changing and then the person who he is changing into. This person is sometimes the mentor, who is directly teaching him these new skills and moreover, what to expect in the coming adventure. And sometimes, there is the villain who the protagonist id beginning to feel a connection to,in both power goals and aesthetically--like when Luke had his hand replaced just like his father, Anakin in Star Wars. In Far Cry 3, it follows the mentor, Dennis Rogers, who is not only your mentor, but the guy tattooing the tatau to your skin.
The mentor in this case, especially with a system like this in place where progression is key, should in a way show the player what is to come in the later stages of the game. Instead, his gun is weaker than yours. You never get to truly see him in action. And his tatau is completely tribal where yours are not. You see, tribal tattoo usually makes use of simplistic shapes in a repetitive design to make a complicated whole. Jason's tatau look more western, picturesque even, instead of the design wee're accustomed to on a tribal warrior. The only connection you have is that, like you, he was not born on the island and came into their culture a stranger.
In literature, this is the usual farm-boy turning into a master swordsmen trope. You're not really supposed to ask how you attained such wondrous skills in basically no time at all, but bask in the fact of how cool and plot convenient it is.
Don't do that.
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