Writer's Blog: I Gave In

Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a-a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and-and-and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no-no texture, no-no context. It's-it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then-then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly.

Rupert Giles - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I, Robot... You Jane.

I had always said that a Kindle didn't interest me. I agree with the above quote. There is something wonderful about actually holding a book in your hands. So although I now have a kindle I don't think I'll ever stop reading books.

There is still something wonderful about a book shop. Seeing all the stories in neat rows. You can just pick up a book and flick through it - you can't do with a kindle. Like anything this device has good and bad points.

The obvious best thing about a kindle is the huge amount of free books available. As I write this post I am periodically checking the free book list and downloading them.

The Green Fairy Book.

The slightly annoying thing is that some books that should be their, i.e. they're out of copyright, aren't. Also I was very surprised to find that Harry Potter does not have a kindle edition!

The Grey Fairy Book.

Nevertheless this is an excellent purchase. Now onto what could be improved. As I mentioned you can't flick through, like you can with a book, there is of course the option to search which is almost as good. However some of the books I've down loaded are short story collections and, unless its just me being silly, it seems that you can't just jump to a story and have to instead navigate to it. This to me seems like a bit of an oversight.

The Awakening and Selected Short Stories.

Finally the geek in me is laughing. I now have a 'padd' and can pretend I'm aboard the USS Enterprise!

Writer's Blog: Sabriel

Sabriel by Garth Nix is a fantasy novel and part of The Old Kingdom series.

The story is quite complicated and I can't really do it justice here. It is the story of two worlds, one magical and one technological, these worlds are separated by a wall.

The most interesting thing in this book, and I think most original, is that magic and technology only work in their respective worlds. So a Charter Mage, this term is used in place of Witch or Wizard, can do spells in the Old Kingdom but if they cross the wall, into Ancelstierre their spells may not work. Magic can sometimes work in Ancelstierre but only in the areas close to the wall and it is dependant on which way the wind is blowing. Similarly technology is ineffective in the Old Kingdom.

These two words, neither of which is ours, make for a very interesting story. We as readers get to lean about two exciting new places.

The story is about Sabriel who leaves the technological world of Ancelstierre to go in search of her missing father. This is a novel about necromancy and magic and is an excellent read. Though it is supposed to be a children's book I believe that adults will enjoy it too. However an adult reader may find it a little simplistic in places.

I give this book ****

Writer's Blog: Asylum

Asylum is a strange book. I haven't actually seen the film but as I'm lacking a picture it seemed like a good illustration for this post.

Naturally Asylum tells the story of an Asylum. It's main character is Stella Raphael who is the wife of one of the psychiatries and becomes involved with one of the patients. As you can probably tell from the trailer it isn't the happiest of stories. However I did find the novel a good read. I can't really say, given the subject matter, that it was enjoyable but Patrick McGrath has written a good story. The question is why?

What I mean by that is a little difficult to explain. J.K Rowling for instance was compelled to write Harry Potter. The story I heard was that she wrote the first paragraph on a napkin on a train.Now I'm not saying that every writer has this feeling of needing to write. I myself find it to be an uphill struggle - yet I still want to write. The point about Patrick McGrath I'm trying to make is that I can't see him compelled to write this story or struggling through the up hill battle of writing this novel.

Of course everybody is different, There are no doubt an infinity of reasons why someone chooses to put hours and hours in to creating a new world from their fingertips. I would certainly recommend Asylum. It is always good to fine new books to read so let me know if you have any recommendations.

I have now (from the 28th July) started reading Sabriel by Garth Nix. I'll probably be reviewing this is a little over a week.

Writer's Blog: Sargasso Sector

Douglas Adams is the author of The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This is a great book certainly but it's not one I expected to find a reference to in a Star Trek book. Yes in this story the crew of the USS da Vinci discover an infinity improbability drive.

Well not quite. In this they call it an Uncertainty Drive. (p590) Strange things start to happen to crew such as - "The lift doors opened and...a kangaroo hopped onto the bridge..." (609) This is the best story in the Grand Designs collection. As I said in a previous post the other stories were meh. They had some interesting parts but on the whole they weren't so good. Although I enjoyed Sargasso Sector I feel it is misplaced in the Star Trek universe. The science in Star Trek has never exactly been great but in universe it is, theoretically, supposed to make sense. As this is not a holodeck story there is no real justification for the strange goings on. Perhaps this is just me being pernickety.

Nevertheless this was a good story and made some interesting statements about probability.

Writer's Blog: Grand Designs

I recently finished Grand Designs. Its a book in the Star Trek Corps of Engineers series.

This series has many ups and downs in quality. I think that the more recent stories have not been as good as good as some of the earlier ones. In this book the majority of the stories just get a meh from me. However I have to make an exception for Sargasso Sector. While I think that its author, Paul Kupperberg, is new to Star Trek it is a good story. I shall be discussing it fully in my next post. That should be in a few days. In the meantime you can buy the ebook here or the whole book.

Writers Blog: A Late Delivery from Cardiff

It has now been over a week since my graduation. I meant to post this last week but stuff kept getting in the way. So finally there it is my graduation photo. - Or rather a graduation photo.

It was a strange event but probably worth while. Yes, okay I admit it, mum and dad were right about the importance of graduation. Of course if I hadn't gone I would have thought that that was the right choice. I probably wouldn't have realised my mistake until sat with my grandchildren with no picture to show them! By the time I have grandchildren they'll be asking why the picture is 2D and or not moving! And the cost of their university education will be astronomical.

Now that university is finished I'm on the hunt for a job. In the mean time I hope to be posting far more frequently. So see you soon!

Writer's Blog - Symbolism

'A symbol is anything that stands for anything else. Of course, all language is symbolic - the word 'dog' has never yet bitten anybody - however, the literary forms referred to as symbolism are: metaphor, simile and allegory.' (43) Writing a Novel.
The chapter goes on to list the purposes of symbolism.

1. To Demonstrate a Concept


2. To add a further dimension


3. To sneak behind the rational mind

These concepts are rather complicated. Basically the emphasis in this section is that writing is a form of lying. "love is not at all like a rose, nor the moon like a balloon) P44 Meaning that words are already an agreed symbol. If there was some undeniable truth to words then there wouldn't be many languages.

I think the most interesting thing discussed in this section is the importance of names. It talks of how the wrong name can carry too much weight and not work in the story.

I remember hearing that Captain Jonathan Archer in Enterprise was originally to be call Jackson Archer.This was shelved when it was realised that there was only one Jackson Archer in the US. So it was then decided to call him Jeffrey Archer!

I have occasionally searched for the names of my characters. As I write this I seem to remember talking about this before. Of course its impossible to cover all possibilities. I might give a character a name that rhythms with a famous American chat show host. So on the whole I think worrying about such things is a little silly. When we consider the international nature of publications every name will sound silly somewhere.