Saturday, March 23, 2013

Ages?

There seems to be some confusion over ages in the different Terminator movies/books...here I'm trying to keep track of which says what. Though I may have to edit it later with corrections.

John Connor

In T2 he's 10 years old, but in T3 when John is referring to the events of T2 I'm pretty sure that he says he was 13.

Kyle Reese

In the original Terminator he isn't quite a young man anymore -- the actor was 28 years old. But in the novelization by Randall Frakes and Bill Wisher (which is really good, by the way), his youth is greatly emphasized. He's made out to be much younger than he looks in the movie, and it gave me the impression that Kyle's younger than me (I'm 24).

Also, I had been thinking it was odd that we see Kyle as a young child in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which just seems off...

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Prediction correct

Book cover
Last month I made a prediction about the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher: For the last book or so I've been speculating that part of Harry outdoing himself each time will probably include some personal growth in the magical abilities department.

By now I'm only part way through White Night, so obviously I can't exactly talk about what Harry's doing in the latest books. But this one is already proving me right. Though in a surprising way.

SPOILERS

Why oh why didn't I also guess that Harry would get an apprentice? Every great wizard needs an apprentice. And I've been told plenty of times before (including by my Ph.D. dad who used to be a professor) that there's no better way to learn than by teaching. So it would only make sense for Harry to grow in his own power by teaching someone else.

Duh.

And now, a relevant paragraph proving that Harry has grown:

"If there hadn't been a war on, and if I hadn't been spending so much time drilling Molly in the fundamentals -- and therefore getting in all kinds of extra practice myself -- I would never have considered attempting to create such a complex focus. It was far more complicated than almost anything I'd done before. Five years ago, it would have been beyond me completely. More to the point, five years ago, I wouldn't have been as experienced or as strongly motivated" (96).

Later, on pages 125-6, Harry tells the reader that teaching Molly is why he's gotten better. In teaching her meditation he's had to review the basics himself, and (perhaps because of his many years of experience) he understands them better now than when he was first taught them by his own teacher. "I'd been getting almost as much insight and new understanding of my knowledge from teaching Molly as she'd been learning from me" (126). He then finishes preparing himself for a spell in about 10 minutes, which in a previous book had taken about an hour (I think).

...

And now, even though it's totally not related but because I've got to stick this awesome quote somewhere, here is something from a previous Dresden Files book.

"Of all my foci, the staff was the most versatile. Meant simply to assist with the redirection of forces I could use to call wind, to bend steel bars, and to channel lightning. I had used my staff to erect barriers of force, disrupt hostile magics, and in a pinch to beat the bad guys about the head and shoulders."

The Dresden Files: Blood Rites

by Jim Butcher

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Terminator by Shaun Hutson: thoughts

Book cover
I managed to get hold of The Terminator by Shaun Hutson. I was going to write an actual review, but then decided to just write down my thoughts. Which will include my opinion of the book, but also discuss plot.

I will say here though that I don't think much of the novel. Sorry, but I'll be brutally honest here.

SPOILERS

Obviously, since I love the movie, I like the story. But I didn't enjoy the book because the writing style just didn't work for me. Some of it I'm not sure how to explain, but know I didn't like it when Vukovich was repeatedly called "the Pole" (since he's Polish) and Traxler was referred to more than once as "the black man." While I don't object to the characters being called these things occasionally, Hutson used the terms often enough that I started to think that his vocabulary needed to be expanded. Beyond that, I can't really put a finger on why I dislike the writing style. Ok, maybe I could name one or two little things, but I don't want to go there right now.

Also, what's up with Kyle acting a bit out of character in chapter 24? Sarah wants to destroy Cyberdyne Systems to prevent the war, and Kyle (very understandably) isn't enthusiastic about the idea. Sarah gets ticked off and runs off, Kyle catches up to her, and while they're struggling he pulls a gun on her without thinking.

Um...no. I'm pretty sure that drawing on her isn't in his character, especially since Kyle was sent back to protect Sarah.

Despite my complaints, I did enjoy finding out some back story that isn't in the movies. I'm curious to see how much the back story matches up with the other novels when I get hold of them.

This also makes me want to re-watch the movie. :)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

What I'm reading

I figure I may as well share what I'm reading now.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
by Robert M. Pirsig
Non fiction

I am insisting to myself that I have not abandoned this...even though it's been over a month since I touched it...I still need to finish this and my brother needs to finish the book I've picked out for him. As we agreed.


The Dresden Files: Proven Guilty
by Jim Butcher
Urban fantasy

Let's just say that I am having a lot of fun with this series. :)


The Terminator: 2029-1984
by Zack Whedon and Andy MacDonald
Science fiction, graphic novel

I actually read this last night, but I keep picking it back up again today. So I guess that qualifies as me still reading it.

And yeah, I'm pretty much in love with this book. I would have preferred that the art work be a little different (by which I mean I wish that Kyle looked more like Michael Biehn...), but it is definitely fun to see this side to the story.

...and I don't think that I can say any more without going all fan girl here and squealing in excitement over this book.

Terminator book cover

Monday, March 4, 2013

Thoughts on T4

Well, one thought in particular. Concerning the ending.

SPOILERS, of course, since this is about the end of the last Terminator movie.

Why is Marcus so quick to offer his own heart to keep John alive when it means his own death? That can't be an easy decision, but it's one he makes very quickly. So I have to wonder about that.

Could it be that Marcus is concerned about things that Skynet has programmed him to do? Sure, he removed some hardware out of himself (that sounds really weird) and then rescued John despite Skynet explaining to him that he had carried out his programming beautifully. But if I were Marcus, I'd still be wondering what else Skynet might have done to me, and if it might cause more problems down the road.

At this point I'm speculating that Marcus considered himself too dangerous to the Resistance to stick around, and that he considered giving John his heart to be some way of making his death useful.

Marcus also said something about a second chance...which could be just his explanation to the people around him, or maybe he considered this decision to be part of making the most of his second chance. I need to give that more thought.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

A vampire's thoughts on sex and love

I thought a certain vampire's thoughts on sex and love were interesting enough for me to stick the quotes somewhere. This is from The Dresden Files: Blood Rites by Jim Butcher.

"Sex is more than just a sensation. It's a union of the energy of two lives. And it's explosive. It's the process of creating life. For creating a new soul. Think about that. Power doesn't get more dangerous and volatile than that."

"Love is another kind of power, which shouldn't surprise you. Magic comes from emotions, among other things. And when two people are together, in that intimacy, when they really, selflessly love each other it changes them both. It lingers on in the energy of their lives, even when they are apart."

" 'You can have everything in the world, but if you don't have love, none of it means crap,' he said promptly. 'Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. Love never fails. When every star int he heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the deep, three things will endure: faith, hope, and love.' "

These on pages 160 and 161. He says a few other interesting things on those pages.

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