So after deciding I wasn't gong to do Nano this year, I am now doing Nano.

I only discovered this yesterday, so I have absolutely no plans or notes, or hell, even a clue what I'm doing with my novel. Should be, ah, interesting. 2,019 words so far, with a planned 2k for today.

Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is surprisingly good, so far, though it looks like its going to have the usual bland hero (Is this a staple of YA or something? Every YA book I've read with a child/ teenage protagonist has been entirely unremarkable.)  Still , some lovely ideas and worldbuilding so far (I particularly like the Lady on Grey)

Started playing this on Halloween. There is a staggering amount of content in here, most of it top quality (Tiberius69's entry was a particular delight. ChaosWielder's was really quite disturbing. ActorOfVeil's bothered the fuck out of me). Though there are a few weak entries, I'm not sure what the point of Stinkeen's is. But on the whole, well worth playing, and reinstalling NWN2 for, even for just a few hours.

Adam Miller's entry was, as per usual for Miller, all style and no substance, and more than a little pointless. but I must confess I have quite a strong dislike of Miller's work, mainly due to the fact the females in his mods are always bisexual, but the guys? Are always straight. This bothers me on two levels 1) the reduction of female/female relationships to male titillation and 2) The complete absence of homosexual men (probably because as we all know, they're icky, right?) In the readme for the first Dark Waters mod, I remember him saying there was no m/m undertones in the sidetrip to the showers because "It's a family-friendly mod". That pisses me off on so many levels.

Anyway, back to Nano!

Finished Sleep, Pale Sister. Wonderful in every sense of the word. I'd highly recommend it to pretty much anyone. I'd say it was Harris' best TBH, some of her later stuff seems to recycle a few themes and characters (thoguh not to the detriment of the plot). I'll post something more detailed on it later, I need time to actually go over it in my head. I was very interested by Harris only having 4 characters, and giving them all a viewpoint. It's nop something I think I could manage. Not in 1st person at any rate.

Also, I think I'm going to really like 6th Form. Though, sadly, it looks as if a lot of last year's little cliques are still in place, despite the year being drastically reduced in number (60, I think). Dissapointed to see that two of my crushes have gone to other colleges, but for the best really. My relationship with one was cold to say the least, and the other was most definitely straight. Glad to see some other people had stayed on, and most of the people I dislike have gone. And i have an awesome form tutor. And I will now be in form with Tom for the 6th year running, which is bizarre really.

So, I've finally finished Guy Gavriel Kay's The Sarantine Mosaic. I think I'll leave it a few months before reading The Lions of Al-Rassan. Kay's books take a lot of time and involvement (Tigana took me 2 months, The Sarantine Mosaic 3 and a half). Plus, they leave you emotionally exhausted. The last line Crispin says to Styliane? Made me cry for quite some time.

The Sarantine Mosaic was a huge improvement on Tigana. For one, the main view point character, Caius Crispus, was vastly more sympathetic and interesting, than whiny, self-pitying Devin. Sure, Crispin's wife and children had recently died, but from plague. So there was nothing he could do about it. No angst, just move on. Like Tigana the viewpoint bounces a lot, and we get the viewpoints of quite a large cast of characters. But it works, mainly because, Kay's laid the duology out like a mosaic, with the same themes, lines of dialog, images and characters recurring over and over again. The fact that Crispin is a mosaic artist, and stays an artist, is wonderful (and sad there are so few artists in fantasy, considering what could be done with them). The plotting is intricate, the setting (alternate Byzantium under Emperor Justinian) is wonderful, the characters fascinating (OK, there are perhaps a few too many beautiful, powerful and witty women. But Kay does at least make them all very different, and all flawed. plus Alixana is awesome), and the prose is beautiful, though understated. A far-cry from the OTT melodrama of Tigana, although Kay can't quite resist the occasional moment of melodramatic angst and annoying omniscient narrator foreshadowing. I'd highly recommend it, even if you don't like Kay's other works.

Not sure what to read next now. I'm over 2/3 of the way through Joanne Harris' Sleep, Pale Sister, and loving every minute of it (interesting choice to only have 4 characters, and have them all as viewpoint characters).
I've started K J Bishop's The Etched City, and the first few pages I've read have been very intriguing. Looking forward to seeing where this is going.
Alan Carey's Scar Night, and Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, are both splendid, at least the little I've read has been.
I doubt anything's going to quite move me the way Mieville's The Scar did, but still, lots of interesting, different stuff to read.

I'm going to Durham in a couple of days (YAY!) mainly because, for once, my mum wants to look at the same Uni I do.

Anyway, while there, apparently, they have these shops there that sell books. Now as a poor deprived urchin from Liverpool this concept is alien to me. I may get confused.  I might buy some books while in Durham. However, I have enough tradition fantasy fare to keep me going until next year (40 books last count), so I want something a bit different to look for. Steampunk. I've not really tried anything from this genre (unless Mieville's Bas-lag novels count?). So reccys would be much appreciated. Preferably books with strong female characters, I get rather bored with all male casts.

Thanks in advance.

BTW Dentists are the handmaids of Satan. My mouth has been dead now for 3 hours. Eating a chocolate digestive? Not fun.

Summer Shorts Progress Report

Title: Whimsy of the Whisper Queen
Words Today: 678
Words Total: 1,126
Summer Shorts Total: 1126/ 5000

Favourite sentence: "She came to him in a susurrus, shattering the silence. As she whirled through the grove, he could hear the trees howl to attention whilst the wind blew a hideous fanfare."

I'm really having fun writing this. I still have no idea where it's going or what's going to happen, but I'm enjoying the journey.

Also, Joanne Harris' "Sleep, Pale Sister" is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I much prefer her more dark books like this, "Holy Fools" and "5 Quarters of the Orange" to the likes of "Chocolat" and "The Lollipop Shoes".

I'm still struggling with Guy Gavriel Kay's "Lord Of Emperors". Despite being the second and final book in "The Sarantine Mosaic", it's still not hooked me. It has a wonderful cast, a fascinating setting and the prose is very good, despite being a little too melodramatic at times. I think it's the fact there isn't much of a plot as yet. Much better than Tigana though, and Alixana is on a par with Dianora I think.