• Lost until January …

    4 Comments

    So I watched the season finale of Lost last night. Warning: There be spoilers ahead.

    Overall, I thought it was a good, but not great finale. Mainly because I could see where so much of the story was going. Two weeks ago, I predicted Sawyer was going to jump off that helicopter to save the others. And he did — proving in my opinion that he is a much better hero and match for Kate than Jack ever will be. And that scene of Sawyer coming up on the beach without his shirt? Yum. 😎

    There was a lot of back and forth action tonight. To the helicopter, to the boat, back to the helicopter, to a life raft, to another boat. But we finally got some answers to the question of how the Oceanic 6 got off the island (they were on the helicopter when the freighter exploded). Although did anyone else think it was exceptionally convenient that none of the other background crash survivors on the freighter tried to get on the helicopter as it took off?

    I think Michael died in the freighter explosion, given the fact he saw Jack’s dad who told him “he could go now.” But I don’t think Jin is really dead. He’s probably washed up back on the island (wherever the heck it went) by now. Besides, if they kill Jin off, they’re down to only a few main characters on the island — Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Bernard, Rose, and the three science-types (of which Dan the math guy is the only one I like). But it looks like the island folks saw the freighter explode and will probably assume Jack, Kate, etc. are dead — until Jin washes back up on shore.

    I loved the scene with Penny and Desmond. I think that was a perfect way to close out their story arc — and I hope the writers don’t ruin it by having Ben kill Penny. I was also happy they didn’t kill Frank the pilot off. And that fight scene with Sayid and Keamy was excellent.

    So was Sun through the whole show — especially when she offers to team up with Widmore (I’m thinking she blames Ben for Jin’s supposed death, not Jack). Seems Sun’s father knows Widmore well enough to play golf with him. What will happen if Ben sends Sayid to kill Sun for working with Widmore?

    As for Ben and Locke, it seems to me that all Terry O’Quinn does now is beam with some sort of childlike wonder. And why doesn’t somebody just kill Ben already? It was clever though how he used his daughter’s murder to justify killing Keamy — and thus blow up the freighter. Ben didn’t want anyone to get off the island, despite what he told Kate.

    We also know that yes, Losties, you can time travel on and off the island. That video Locke was watching also stopped at another convenient point. And moving the whole moving the island bit? Meh. For me, the characters make the show, not the weird and illogical sci-fi stuff the island supposedly can do. Also, the island being sentient sounds like a load of hooey to me. But I’m not a big sci-fi fan.

    As for Jack, I’m tired of him, his daddy issues, his guilt, and that nasty beard. And Claire — she had a whopping thirty seconds of screen time last night. Is she dead? Alive? A ghost? I don’t really care much about the Shepherd clan anymore.

    Still, the finale hooked me enough to keep watching next year. I’ve got so much time invested in the show know I almost have to watch it until the end. Seems I can’t get off the island either. 😎

    What about you? Did you dig Lost this year?

    BTW, I plan to recap some more of this year’s shows next week.

  • ·

    Bond, James Bond …

    There’s a new James Bond book out. It’s called Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks.

    It’s sad how happy this makes me. 😎

    I told myself I wasn’t going to order any more books from Amazon until I read some that I already had. But it’s Bond … and I’m weak, very weak. We’ll see how long I can hold out before I get this.

    Hey — anybody know where I can get some Bond or spy smileys to add to the blog?

  • 878 and counting …

    Finished Wild Thing, a paranormal anthology featuring four authors. I picked this one up at the Berkley author signing at RWA last year, and Marjorie M. Liu was gracious enough to autograph it for me before the signing started. If you’ve ever met Marjorie, you know she’s as nice as she is talenter. Here’s a brief recap of the stories:

    Maggie Shayne pens a tale of a vet who can communicate with animals. Her gift makes her the target of a rapist, but luckily, there’s a sexy detective determined to keep her safe. Meljean Brook writes a story set in her Guardian universe, where a female Guardian (angel-like protector) teams up with a sexy vampire to stop a demon from opening a gate to hell.

    Marjorie M. Liu introduces Maxine Kiss, the heroine of her new urban fantasy series (the first book comes out in June). Maxine is covered with living tattoos that transform into demons at night — but one man makes her long for a more normal life. Alyssa Day pens a tale in her Warriors of Poseidon universe, where one of the warriors cozies up to a female shape-shifter as he tries to make an alliance with her pack.

    I’d never read Shayne or Day before, so this book was a good introduction to them. Overall, I liked Liu and Day’s stories the best. The world building and idea of living tattoos was really well done in Liu’s story, and her writing was as lush and descriptive as ever. Day’s story was a great mix of action-adventure and fun, and reminded me a lot of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series. I’ll probably pick up the first book in the Poseidon series and see how I like it.

    Overall, a good anthology with a variety of styles to choose from. Thumbs up.

    Up next: Something from the TBR pile

  • 877 and counting …

    7 Comments

    Finished Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge. I heard Caitlin speak on an urban fantasy panel at RT this year and picked up her book from the freebie room.

    This urban fantasy focuses on Luna Wilder, a detective in Nocturne City who’s on the trail of a vicious serial killer. Complicating matters is the fact Luna is a lone werewolf without a pack, which means she’s pretty far down on the magical totem pole. Also, her police captain is doing everything in his power to keep Luna from finding the truth. Then, Luna meets Dmitri Sandovsky, a pack leader who was close to one of the victims. Sparks fly, to say the least. Too bad the killer has Luna in his sights — and is willing to do anything to bring her down.

    One of the things I liked most about this book was Luna and her job. The reader actually gets to see Luna doing police work, visiting a crime scene, following up at the morgue, tracking down a suspect, etc. You get a feel for the mechanics of the job, and it’s a real part of the story and not just a toss-in or wallpaper, like some of the professions are in other books I’ve read. Also, the scenes between Luna and her sexist pig of a co-worker were hilarious — especially when she roughs him up for being, well, an idiot. 😎

    I also liked the descriptions, particularly the one where Kittredge describes Dmitri and his Fu Manchu mustache. When’s the last time you read about a hero with a Fu Manchu mustache? (Although he doesn’t have it when Luna meets him.) Her characters resembled real people and not the perfectly buff guys or busty gals you see in a lot of novels.

    I also really liked the map in the front of the book, which laid out where everything was in Nocturne City. Maps and glossaries are always pluses in my book. Yes, I know, I’m a total geek. :rolleyes:

    The only real quibble I had was the relationship between Luna and Dmitri. I thought it developed a little too quickly, since Dmitri was sleeping with one of the serial killer’s victims and was going to make her his mate. I would have liked to have seen more of Dmitri’s grief and the two of them taking things a little slower.

    Still, if you want to go on an urban fantasy reading binge (like I’ve been doing lately) and are looking for titles to try, pick up Night Life and add it to your TBR. You’ll probably enjoy it. Thumbs up.

    Up next: Wild Thing, an anthology featuring Marjorie M. Liu, among others

  • ·

    The great blue middle …

    2 Comments

    I spent most of my holiday weekend working on the second draft of Assassin 2. I wrote 8,869 words and now have about 82,000 total. I managed to move from chapter 13 all the way up to chapter 21. Only about 10 chapters to go. The end is almost in sight.

    Unfortunately, this is always the hardest part for me. The closer I get to the end, the more difficult it is to make myself sit down in front of the computer. Because I’ve been working on this for weeks now and I just want to finish. I want to do other things, like finish the book I’m reading, clean off my desk, and just mindlessly sit in front of the television for an hour without feeling guilty that I’m not doing book stuff.

    But I’ve still got those 10 chapters and 20,000 words to go. Ugh. I don’t like it, but I’ll make myself keep plugging along, even if it’s only for an hour at a time. Still, ugh. :hulk:

    What about you? When do you hit the wall in your writing?