My Name is Memory

Daniel has been in love with Sophia for hundreds of years. He’s not a vampire or an immortal or a demon, but merely a human man who can remember his past lives. Daniel and Sophia’s lives have intertwined more than once and things usually end unhappily. In 2004, he has found her (now named Lucy) in Hopewood, Virginia with his ability to recognize souls he previously encountered. He purposefully avoids her for years through high school and finally tries to speak to her on the day before graduation. He only succeeds in frightening her with his talk of their past and pushing her away. They separate and Daniel figures it’s best if he no longer interferes in her life. A few years later, she can’t forget about him, so she researches some of his claims and tries to find him. A complication arises when Joaquim, Daniel’s brother from his first life, poses as Daniel and dates Lucy. Over the years, Joaquim has cultivated a hatred for Daniel and seeks to sabotage Daniel and Lucy’s relationship. Will Daniel seek Lucy out and realize what Joaquim is doing?

I didn’t really know what to expect from Anne Brashares since I haven’t read anything else that she’s written, but I was completely blown away by this book. I figured it would be cheesy and cliché because the basic plot has been done before. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Lucy and Daniel. Lucy’s narrative takes place in the present and features her journey from skepticism to acceptance and the discoveries she makes along the way. Daniel’s story, on the other hand, takes place largely in his past lives, showing how their lives have affected each other’s and how each of those lives has ended.

I enjoyed Daniel’s point of view more because of the span and depth of his memories. Brashares excels at creating different moods and settings for her characters with his narrative. It also showed why he has such strong feelings for Lucy, instead of just defaulting to fate. One aspect that I found especially interesting was that Daniel wasn’t present for any incredibly famous historical events. It would have been contrived if he had. He even points out that in the past before information could be instantly exchanged, important events went generally unnoticed to those in the rest of the world. It made the fantastical premise of the novel more grounded in reality and believable. Plus, Daniel’s chapters were in a different, less modern font, giving his story a different feel and look from Lucy’s modern story telling.

The only part of the novel that I didn’t like was the ending. There is no real resolution for the couple at the novel’s conclusion. I feel incredibly emotionally invested in their story, so there better be another book! I would definitely recommend this to fans of books like The Time Traveler’s Wife, where love spans time and space.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

SDCC 2010: Nerd Counter Protest

The Westboro Church decided to send some of their members to protest in front of Comic-Con because nerds supposedly put superheroes above God or some crazy reasoning like that. (Remember that these are the people that protest at soldier's funerals.) Anyway, when they got there, the nerds decided to strike back. About fifty people gathered for a counter protest, some in costume and all armed with signs. I personally didn't see this, but I really wish I did because I would have joined in! I was kind of disappointed that the crazies got scared away before I got there, but I'm glad there were plenty of pictures taken. Here are some signs that I found hilarious and awesome.

** All images are from Comics Alliance and Urlesque and are not mine.

In My Mailbox: Comic-Con Edition

I know; I'm still talking about Comic-Con. I've recently become very sidetracked and I intend to catch up on things. So, without further ado, here are the swag and stuff I bought at Comic-Con.

**Free Swag**

* single issues of Fables, iZombie, and The Losers

* Brain Candy by Garth Sundem

* Frankenstein's Monster by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe

* Overwinter by David Wellington

* Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz

* Buttons from Vladimir Tod, Walking Dead, and Tofu Girls

* This super awesome zombie print from Recorded Attacks signed by Max Brooks.

* A page from Frank Beddor's new graphic novel, Hatter M Volume 3, out August 10th.

**Stuff I Bought**

* Johnny the Homicidal Maniac Volume 1 signed by Jhonen Vasquez

* The New Dead signed by Max Brooks

* Walking Dead Volume 12

* Batman Soundtrack

* Dead Like Me Soundtrack

* Kirby Krackle's new album E for Everyone

* Looking Glass Wars playing cards

* Hellboy Skelanimal (so cute!)

* AIDS Giant Microbe

* Measles Giant Microbe

* A Cthulhu fish for my car

* Plus about 5 shirts that I'm too lazy to take pictures of

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

SDCC 2010: Magic the Gathering

The only other panel I went to at Comic-Con was the one for Magic the Gathering. I have been playing this card game for over ten years. I even met my boyfriend, who I have been with for eleven years this September, at a Magic tournament. We just went to the pre-release of M11, the latest set of this game, and we are already excited for the next set, Scars of Mirrodin. According to Mark Rosewater, head designer of Magic, he wanted to revisit Mirrodin, the set from 2003, with an unknown twist. This set is very artifact heavy and featured some interesting (and annoying) concepts. He wasn't able to say a lot about it, but he did show us this new card.

There is also going to be an all new planeswalker (shown here with Elspeth) AND a new version of Elspeth. Plus there will be some new angels, zombies, and vampires. Yay!

Here is some art from the new set as well. There were no names or abilities attached to them, but they look spectacular!

Plus the new art for the planeswalkers Tezzeret and Elspeth were shown, along with two unnamed reprinted cards (speculated to be Honor of the Pure and Thirst for Knowledge).

Still more Comic-Con to come!

SDCC 2010: Danny Elfman

This past Thursday was the long awaited one day that I can go to Comic Con in San Diego. I had been saving for months and I was so excited when the day finally came!

My boyfriend and I took the train early in the morning and arrived in San Diego around 9am. We only waited in line for 20 minutes for our badges, which was a great improvement over last years wait of 3 hours. We immediately headed over to one of the ballrooms to see the Danny Elfman panel. I have been trying to even see this man in person for many years. He is my favorite film composer and his music inspired me to learn and teach music. I absolutely loved this event. He was very honest and up front, but also kind of shy. He had never been to a convention before and was a little overwhelmed with the crowd's enthusiastic responses to just about everything he said. He was first interviewed about his 25 year relationship scoring films with Tim Burton. There is going to be a ginormous box set of music being released just before Christmas commemorating this with 14 CDs and a DVD. (I so want this! If you're interested, head over here and sign up for the newsletter.) He answered all the audience's questions that time allowed from "Do you hear music in your head?" (yes; all the time) and "Is Oingo Boingo ever going to get back together?" (no because of the creepy old band looking like zombies factor and the damage to his hearing). I wanted to ask a question, but there wasn't enough time for me. I heard from Amanda Palmer's twitter that Danny Elfman was at the Evelyn Evelyn show I went to a little while ago. I wanted to know what he thought of the show and their music. When I heard that he had been there, I was sad that I hadn't seen him, but very happy that he likes some of the same music as me. Anyway, here are some pictures from the panel.

I thought the people in front of me were adorable in their Alice costumes! More Comic-Con posts later. Stuff to come includes the Magic the Gathering panel, stuff I scored, and crazy random happenstances.

Steampunk Art: Spotlight on Scott Fischer

I was first exposed to this artist because my nerdy boyfriend and I play Magic the Gathering, an awesome fantasy card game. (The new set comes out tomorrow. Yay!) Anyway, this was the first piece of art I had ever seen by Scott Fischer. Its title is Serra Avenger.

I was amazed by it. This one is not particularly steampunky, but I think there are definitely elements of steampunk. I really like this particular artist's textured style and earth tone colors that he typically uses. He takes this industrial science fiction style and merges it with fantasy in his art. I love it. Without further ado, here are some of his other wonderful and much more steampunk works:

If you'd like to learn more about Scott Fischer or see more of his works, you can visit his website or his Myspace.

** This post was made for Velvet's Steamboyz week. Check it out here! **

The Host

Creatures called “souls” have infiltrated and taken over the Earth. People go through their daily routines as normal, but they are completely different from who they were before the invasion. The world is now a utopia. No one is hungry or sick. People only die of old age and war has been eliminated. This new world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Souls are very small silver beings that attach to a host’s brain and take over the body, leaving the human imprisoned in his or her own mind. Wanderer is a special “soul.” She’s been on almost every planet her people have colonized and hasn’t found a world she really cares about. She’s implanted into Melanie, a girl who tried to kill herself to escape. Melanie isn’t silent like she’s supposed to be and fights with Wanderer, who still has control over her body. After a few months of an unsatisfying life, Wanderer decides to go to a Healer to fix her problem with Melanie. She ends up following directions to find Melanie’s boyfriend and brother because she has developed a love for them through Melanie’s memories. Will she find them or will she just die in the wilderness? Will she lead other “souls” right to them and end up ruining their lives?

This is Stephenie Meyer’s first foray into the science fiction and adult fiction genres, published in between the third and fourth books in the Twilight series. I am really impressed and I really enjoyed the novel. I like Twilight, but I look back on it and see that it needs editing to make the plot seem more integrated as opposed to an afterthought. The writing in The Host is much better and shows that Meyer has grown and evolved as a writer. The narrative is very character driven and the writing really sucks the reader in. I was completely into the story on page one. It starts from the point of view of the souls. Through their eyes, humans seem incredibly destructive and violent, making their reasoning for taking us over seem logical. This aspect of the novel was one of the most chilling. The whole idea of being inside of your body and seeing someone else walk around and communicate through it is also disturbing. It’s a cruel form of torture. Another thing that was disturbing was the amount of violence. I am not squeamish at all, but the violence inflicted upon Wanderer by humans really bothered. It was very close to domestic violence and made me cringe to read it.

I like the romantic story that occurs in this dystopic world. It involves four people in only three bodies. One person loves Wanderer and the other loves Melanie. The confusing feelings and the growing and evolving relationship between Wanderer and Melanie is compelling and interesting to read. They start out completely hating each other, but evolve into close friends. The characters are flawed, but detailed and realistic. They are what really make the story interesting and engaging. The plot doesn’t move very quickly, but I’m so taken with the characters that it doesn’t faze me at all.

Meyer describes her novel as for people who don’t like science fiction, but I completely disagree. I also feel it is disingenuous to the science fiction community. I think fans of science fiction would enjoy The Host too. I think everyone could find something they like in the novel, whether it’s action, adventure, romance, or science fiction.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins