Forging the Fellowship Tag!

Hey'a, everyone! So, it has, in fact, been actual ages since I did a tag. I think. Let me check.

Ok, so apparently "actual ages" means "slightly less than six months." Or, if you include my other blog, right around two months. In all fairness, though, one of those months was March, which we all know was secretly a full year stuffed inside a month-sized suitcase. Anyway. Jem Jones tagged me in the Forging the Fellowship blog tag (created by Julia at Lit Aflame), in which you forge your own Fellowship out of book characters. Sounds fun, yeah? I think so, and thus I'm doing it now before I forget about it.

On a side note — over at Light and Shadows, I'm joining the blog tour for H.S.J. Williams's Moonscript, which just released yesterday. I'm sharing my full thoughts in this week's Friday 5s post, but the long story short is that it's an excellent book and you all should go buy it. Also, check back here on Wednesday for another post about the book. We'll see what it's going to be; I haven't decided yet. Anyway. ON WITH THE TAG!

1. [The Ring Bearer]: If you could choose, which of the four races would you be: Elf, Dwarf, Human, or Hobbit?
Ok, first of all, who the pumpernickel made me the Ring Bearer? I am a terrible choice for this for so many reasons. (Not least of which: I'd probably lose the thing. And then someone would be like "Sarah, where's the One Ring?" And I'd be like "Well, I had it when I was trying to find that one notebook . . . um . . . maybe it's in the box with the other notebooks? Or the other box with the notebooks? Or my desk drawer? Or buried in the piles of stuff on my desk? I don't know."

Anyway. If you asked me this five years ago, I would've said elf without hesitation. And it's still a strong consideration. But, let's be real, I'm much more hobbit-like. 

2. [Gandalf the Grey]: A wise/powerful elder/mentor character:
Fun fact: apparently I have somehow never written a "favorite mentors" list, at least not that I can find. I'm not sure how that happened in a full six years of weekly list posts, but yeah. So this question just got that much harder.

That said, I'm going with a bit of an unconventional choice: a character who's actually primarily known as a protagonist, but who grows into a mentor to other characters after a while. Who is this? Sapphira Adi from Bryan Davis's Oracles of Fire and Children of the Bard series, specifically from just before the CotB era, when she's had quite a bit of leadership experience on top of her several thousand years of life experience. While not my favorite mentor or my favorite character in general, Sapphira Adi, as an Oracle of Fire, does have the wisdom to lead a group, the spiritual discipline and power to deal with all the nastiness and terrifying enemies associated with the One Ring quest, and the patience to handle everyone else being overdramatic and ridiculous.

3. [Aragorn]: A character with good survival skills:
This one's an easy choice! We're calling in Errance from Moonscript! As a half-Celestial, half-earth elf, he's very at home in the wilderness, and as the story proves, he's a very capable defender of both himself and others. Granted, the fact that he'd have minions of Darkness after him particularly might make the quest a little difficult . . . but, let's be real, we're going to have enemies aplenty anyway. What's a few more?

4. [Boromir]: A character who makes mistakes, but has a good heart: 
It's more like "one fairly major mistake" than mistakes plural (and therefore a bit of a stretch, but I want him on the team), but we're picking Artham Wingfeather of The Wingfeather Saga for this category. Specifically, Book 3 (or late Book 2) Artham. Or possibly post-series Artham. Anyway. Artham is probably my favorite character from the Wingfeather Saga, and yes, he did have a pretty major moment of weakness, but, y'know? That doesn't change the fact that he's loyal and courageous and loving when it matters most.

5. [Gimli]: A stubborn character:
Stars, who wouldn't fit this category? I'm pretty sure that if there's one defining trait all my favorite characters share, it's that they're all pretty stubborn. (Keep in mind that determined and stubborn are synonyms, yeah?) So, who will it be? After much thought, I'm going with Robin from the Bookania Quests. She's definitely very stubborn, but in a reasonably levelheaded way. (Or, at the very least, she's not angsty. She's very straightforward, honestly.) She's capable, she's clever, she's a masterful swordswoman, and she lets exactly nothing stop her from accomplishing her goals.

6. [Legolas]: A character who is talented: 
Ok, is there actually any question here? If I'm assembling my own quest team, it absolutely has to include Bard Eanrin of the Tales of Goldstone Wood. Eanrin is a cat-faerie of many talents, including, but not limited to, singing, poetry, creating distractions, being a cat, annoying the forces of evil (and sometimes also the forces of good, but y'know), and denying his feelings/lying to himself for years on end. As a bonus, this means we have two of my favorite fictional poets (Artham and Eanrin) in the same party, which I think sounds great.

7. [Peregrin Took]: A character who at first seems useless, but ends up surprising you:
So, I had a pretty major debate for this spot: Steris from the second era of Mistborn? Or Matrim Cauthon from the Wheel of Time series? Both of them fit very well. I mean, "initially seems useless but surprises you in the end" sums up Steris's arc very well, and it's part of the reason why I love her so much. As a bonus, all the things that make you underestimate her are the things that prove essential in the end. (Plus, if she joins the party, then Waximillian Ladrian has to come along and I get a bonus gunslinger/Misting.)

And then Mat plays a very Pippin-ish role at the start of his series — the prankster, the one who touches things he's not supposed to, so forth — but even by Book 5 (which is the last one I've read; I need to get back to the series; don't judge me), he's coming to his own as astonishingly resourceful, skilled, and intelligent — all backed up by some serious luck.

In the end, though, I would probably pick Mat for one simple reason: he's familiar with the type of world we're dealing with. Steris (and Wax) are from a world that's a bit more Old West/Victorian-esque. Mat, on the other hand, is from a medieval-esque world that's much closer to Middle Earth in terms of cultures and technology and all that. So, he'll be able to adapt much more easily to this new location. (On a side note, we're getting Mat of anytime after about the halfway point of Book 3, but ideally Book 5.)

8. [Meriadoc Brandybuck]: A character who is small/not very strong, but has great courage:
Let's go back to an old friend and get Kale Allerion from the DragonKeeper Chronicles on this quest. Granted, by the end of the series, Kale is quite capable as a wizard, dragon keeper, and warrior, but we're calling specifically on Book 3 Kale, who's competent but still has a fair bit of learning to do. As a bonus, Kale brings with her a watch of clever, colorful minor dragons, all of whom also fit this category. Huzzah!

9. [Samwise Gamgee]: A character who is extremely loyal and doesn’t give up:
Adolin. Adolin. Storming Adolin Kholin. Absolutely, no question. He has many, many excellent qualities (he was second choice for a talented character, after Eanrin), but one of his best qualities is his loyalty — to his family, to his friends, to his duty. He makes a habit of standing by people in desperate situations. Of never giving up. And if you know him and you don't agree, I'm sorry, have we read the same book? When his father is going mad, when the world is being turned upside down (and then upside down again, and again, and again), when his friends are falling apart — he's there. Even when he's hurting as deeply as anyone else, he's standing up and keeping everyone else going and looking for hope. And so who else could I pick for this spot?

How would this group do on an actual quest? It's hard to say, and a lot of it depends on how broody Errance decides to be and how well Artham and Eanrin get along. I feel like those three would take up most of the attention while the rest of us quietly got stuff done. (That is, until we got attacked, at which point everyone is very helpful except me and half the group ends up showing off because, quite frankly, when you have a terrifyingly competent elf prince, a Throne Warden, the best swordswoman in the world, and an extremly skilled Shardbearer and duelist in the group, they're probably eventually going to get to the point of trying to show each other up. And then you have Sapphira Adi and Kale throwing around fire and wizardry, respectively, and Mat being like "Light burn these people, so extra" while being intensely extra himself. And I'm just like ". . . Imma hide and not die now, ok, thanks. Lemme know when it's safe to come out.")
 

And now we come to the part of the show where I tag people. Um. We're going to tag Deborah O'Carroll (when she comes back from hiatus) and beyond that, if you want to do this, consider yourself tagged. I can't keep track of who's actually still blogging and who's on hiatus and who still does tags and who doesn't. So. Yeah.

If you decide to do this tag, you need to:

• Include the tag banner in your post
• Link back to the creator of the tag ( LITAFLAME.BLOG )
• Thank and link back to the person who tagged you
• Forge your Fellowship out of BOOK CHARACTERS by answering the given questions!
• Tag three bloggers to pass the ring to. 

And here's a clean copy of the questions:
1. [The Ring Bearer]: If you could choose, which of the four races would you be: Elf, Dwarf, Human, or Hobbit?
2. [Gandalf the Grey]: A wise/powerful elder/mentor character:
3. [Aragorn]: A character with good survival skills:
4. [Boromir]: A character who makes mistakes, but has a good heart:
5. [Gimli]: A stubborn character:
6. [Legolas]: A character who is talented:
7. [Peregrin Took]: A character who at first seems useless, but ends up surprising you:
8. [Meriadoc Brandybuck]: A character who is small/not very strong, but has great courage:
9. [Samwise Gamgee]: A character who is extremely loyal and doesn’t give up:

Even if you don't feel like doing the tag, what do you think of my choices? And who do you think you'd pick? Please tell me in comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

January 2018 Doings!

Hallo, all! So, January is a weird month. The first half, the holidays are over and you're on break and everything's chill. You've got plenty of time to read or write or whatever you want to do, and you're only really limited by the hours in the day. And then halfway through the month, you head back to school, and suddenly it's all due dates and reading assignments and your professors start off the first non-syllabus class with "so your first project is . . ." and it's honestly a little overwhelming. And it doesn't stop. It doesn't even slow down. You just get used to having too many things to do and accept that it's going to be that way for the next several months. And, on that note, let's look back and see what my too-much-to-do looked like!

Writing!

• If you remember, I said at the end of December that my first writing goal of 2018 would be 15 hours of writing and editing over the whole month, or about half an hour per day. I didn't quite make 15- I ended up with 14.86 hours- but I think I still did pretty well. Most of that was spent in editing, but I did have a few really awesome writing days when I got in a solid hour or two.
• That said, after spending all of November and December working on Blood in the Snow edits and all of 2017 in general working on either writing or editing 30K+ stories, my inspiration kind of revolted against long projects. So, a lot of my actual words this month were tied up in four short stories.
• Two of those short stories are for the Indie e-Con writing contest, which is kind of cool in that it gives you a prompt that seems pretty characteristic of a particular genre and then tells you to not write in that genre. The other two short stories are just random bits of narrative that I came up with. One, "I'll Take the Lashes," I posted here earlier this month. The other is urban fantasy involving dragons and was going to be posted here, but then it informed me that it has a sequel, or might possibly be the start of a novella, and now I don't know what to do with it. So, yeah. That's a problem.
• I did manage some editing on Fight Song, though! Updates will hopefully resume by the end of February, assuming I don't get hijacked by short stories. I'm currently in the middle of what is simultaneously one of my favorite and least favorite scenes in the novella- favorite because I like what happens as a result, least favorite because it contains a more physical fight scene and is therefore very hard to write.
• And I finally downloaded Grammarly, after being told by multiple people that the ads actually aren't lying. I'm . . . not sure how I feel about it. For the web, it's great. For Word . . . Well, it's better than the default spellcheck, which was starting to mark errors that weren't there, but it's not as context-aware as I'd been led to believe.

Reading!

• So, the picture is a little deceptive, because it says I read ten books, but one of those was a short story (A Blazing Seal of Approval; it's fun and on C.B.'s blog; go read it), and another I actually only read about 300 pages (out of 1200-some) of in January and the rest in December. For those who can't guess- yes, I'm talking about Oathbringer, which is amazing and awesome and the best in the series and ADSLKJFLKSDJF. There's intrigue and politics and epic battles and Kaladin and Important Revelations and Shallan and Dalinar having crises and humor and Lift and new places and an absolutely magnificent climax and more info on surges and Wit and screaming spren. Also, Taravangian is a dragon-kissed snake and I want to scream in his lying face.
• Anyway. Obviously, nothing else I read this month could top the magnificence of a new Stormlight Archive novel, but there were some other pretty fun reads. The rewritten My Kingdom for a Quest is good, though I almost think I like the new Sew better. Exiles wasn't my favorite in the series, but it did show us around more of Ilyon and put more spotlight on Daniel, both of which I enjoyed. I also finally got around to Magician's Rivalry, which Deborah O'Carroll has been recommending to me for absolute ages, and I quite enjoyed it. The Prisoner of Azkaban was also good, but it suffered from the fact that I've seen three million and fifty-one Mauraders headcanons on Pinterest and therefore know exactly who Sirius Black is and what he did and did not do and yeah. Also, Remus is kind of a wonderful person and needs a hug.
• As you might notice, I did start rereading Tolkien, but only finished The Hobbit this month. Then Fellowship of the Ring got interrupted by my newspaper-review book for the month, An Enchantment of Ravens, which I just finished yesterday and am a little in love with. It's an excellent story on its own, with a sensible artist heroine and a dramatic faerie prince (as if there were any other kinds) and intrigue and excitement and snark. However, it also critiques a trend I'm growing increasingly tired of and frustrated with: recent literature's obsession with fair folk and other magical, immortal beings. Now, I will readily admit that I enjoy a good portrayal of the darker side of faerie courts as much as anyone, and faerie princes tend to be snarky-but-noble, which is just plain fun. However, I do think that a lot of literature lately has taken those things to an extreme, and An Enchantment of Ravens nicely shows the folly of such obsession, with a heroine who succeeds not by finding some hidden magical power within herself but by her own humanness.
• And, yes, as you've noticed, I didn't really manage a classic for every three new books . . . hopefully February will go better.

Watching!

• I started off the year right by watching the Lord of the Rings extended editions with my sister! Other than FotR in September, I haven't watched the trilogy in a couple years, so revisiting it was definitely awesome. And the fact that my sister was watching for the first time made it extra special. The Lord of the Rings trilogy remains my absolute favorite movie ever (yes, I qualify it as a single unit), and it just gets better the more times I watch it.
• Otherwise, my watching has just been more of the usual: lots of Fairy Tail! The S-Class Trials arc was pretty awesome, even if it did include an angsty emo villain. Actually, come to think of it, there were multiple angsty, emo, or just weirder-than-usual villains . . . but there was also Gildarts and Loke and Freed, who haven't been getting enough screen time lately, so I'm not going to complain. The current arc, Key of the Starry Sky, is . . . less impressive. Still not bad, though, so far.

Life!

• So, like I said, the month started out pretty chill: writing, reading, watching LotR, and so on. My dad and I attended a portrait photography workshop, which was . . . well, not exactly what I expected, but still cool.
• And then I headed back to college and CUE THE PANIC THE CLASS SYLLABUS SAYS WHAT?????
• So, yeah, long story short: I decided to pick up a minor in graphic design, having been assured that my total lack of drawing skills wouldn't matter except in maybe one class. Then I looked at the syllabus for what should've been one of my two easiest classes this semester, and I HAVE TO KEEP A SKETCHBOOK what I did not sign up for this!
• Thankfully, the professor is very understanding and assured me that I don't have to be a good artist to do well in the class; I just have to improve. And, since there's nowhere to go but up from my current skill level, I should be fine. It's still magnificently stressful, though. So is Professional Editing, which is absolutely, without a doubt, my least favorite class of the semester. The material isn't hard to understand, but it's arguably the least creative of anything I've learned so far in my major, and it requires a particular type of patience which does not come naturally to me. It's not that I hate editing as a whole; I'm happy to go over a friend's paper or story or whatever else and help them make it better. I actually enjoy that, but my enjoyment comes more from my investment in the person (or sometimes the story) than from the actual editing. Do I get some satisfaction from correcting a mistake or finding a way to make an idea more clear? Sure I do. But that satisfaction is compounded according to how much I care about the piece I'm editing or the person I'm editing for, and so the class, in which I'm pretty detached from everything I edit, causes more stress than pleasure.
• On the upside, the two classes I thought would be most stressful- Documentation Design and Adobe Illustrator- have actually been super fun and chill, so that's nice. Apparently "documentation" includes a lot more than I thought it did? So I just finished making a cookbook with recipes that can be made in the college dining hall and I'm super happy with how it turned out. And now I'm working on a quick reference guide to go along with the cookbook. And I can make things in Illustrator now,  and they look actually nice and it's so satisfying even though half of what I'm doing is really just tracing or shape manipulation and yeah. I love it.
• In non-class-related news: I got to do a lot of board- and card-gaming this month, which was super fun! One of my hallmates owns Exploding Kittens, and my roomie got Codenames for Christmas, so I've been playing a good bit of those. Plus, the roomie introduced me to Fluxx, which is a super-fun card game with ever-changing rules and objectives, and I love it. Hopefully I can find an excuse to play it again soon . . .
• I'm still doing martial arts, of course, despite a few hiccups with the instructor not making it to class. Thankfully, another student (who also teaches martial arts when he's at home) filled in and showed everyone some jiujitsu-based self defense. While I really like the usual instructor, and I look forward to his return next week, I enjoyed getting some lessons from another perspective. The substitute instructor basically built on what we'd already learned in the class, showing us what to do if some of the self-defense we'd learned didn't work and how to actually use some of the other moves we'd gone over, along with answering random questions about how to defend ourselves in this, that, or the other situation. And the way he had us practice felt sort of like sparring, which was exciting . . . and also exhausting, but you know. It was still good.
• In addition to continuing martial arts, I decided on a whim to finally give swing dancing a try as a sort of reward for finishing my first big project of the semester. Friends have been telling me since last school year how fun it is, but I just never made time to try it. Now that I have, I really enjoyed it- but I'm also glad that I waited, so I could have someone show me the basics one-on-one, instead of trying to catch up with the rest of the group. I'm definitely going to continue to go to the class the rest of the semester, as long as time allows.

February Plans!

• Aaaaand now it's February, which is arguably the dullest month of the year. For being two or three days shorter than all the other months, it always feels astonishingly long. Classes will keep me plenty busy, though; I have reasonably large projects coming up in almost all of them.
• Outside of schoolwork, I intend to keep my half-hour-a-day goal but modify it slightly. I'm now aiming for a half hour a day, five days a week. That'll give me a bit more buffer for when schoolwork (and, occasionally, events) keep me busy but still ensure that I'm keeping a regular schedule.
• I also hope to join in on the February is Fantasy Month festivities hosted by Jenelle Schmidt. Last year, I didn't do much, but hopefully that'll change this year. We'll see. Jenelle is hosting word wars on Facebook, so I'll definitely try to take part in those, if nothing else.
• That's . . . pretty much it, honestly. Like I said, February isn't all that exciting a month.

How was your January? Any plans for February? Are you excited for February is Fantasy Month? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Fall 2017 Reads (So Much Awesome!)

Hey'a, everyone! Normally, I would do this post a week from now, especially since next Friday actually falls on the first day of fall. However, next week I have other plans, so instead we get to explore next season's new books a week early. It's a sacrifice, I know, but one we all must make. Or, I must make, anyway. You're perfectly free to ignore this post until next Friday, but I do hope you won't, because I am super excited for some of these reads. Also, there's a lot of books to look forward to for what seems like the first time in absolute ages and it's quite wonderful.

Fall 2017 Reads

1. Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows (September 12)

Yes, yes, yes, this and the next one are technically already out. I'm only three days late, though, so we'll let it slide. Anyway- this is the only book on this list that I'm completely unfamiliar with beyond what's on Goodreads. It sounds like it has a lot of potential for awesome (and dragons, which are basically the same thing), but also a lot of potential to be just plain bad. We'll see which turns out to be the truth.

2. The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud (September 12)

I didn't know I could be this excited for a Lockwood and Co. book, but after the ending of that last one- I need this as soon as possible, please. It sounds like it's going to be an incredible conclusion. Plus, I have theories about what's going on and I want to know if I'm right or not and yeah. It's going to be great. Or I hope it will be, anyway.

3. Lightporter by C.B. Cook (September ??) 

So, Goodreads just says that this one is coming out in September, so I wondered if it was already released? But it's not on Amazon, so I guess not. I've already read Lightporter (yay, beta-ing), so now I'm mostly just excited for everyone else to read it. If only we had an official release date . . .

4. Wanted: A Superhero to Save the World by Bryan Davis (October 1?) 

Again, I don't know what exactly is going on with the release date here, because Goodreads says October 1, but the blog tour is next week? I guess maybe the blog tour is just super early? I don't know. But I've already read this one too- just finished it, in fact!- and it's decidedly awesome. Again, I can't wait until others read it too so I can talk about it with them.

5. White Sands Volume 2 by Brandon Sanderson (November 14)

Arguably the book I'm least excited for out of all of these- which is kind of ironic, since it's by one of my top three favorite authors. I didn't care for the first White Sands book, and I don't have high hopes for this one either. However, I feel obligated to read it, because it's Cosmere and it has Khriss in it and potentially clues about who-knows what. At least since it's a graphic novel, it won't take super long to read. And who knows, this one might be better than the first.

6. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (November 14)

AHHHHHH IT'S ALMOST HERE! Only two more months! Two more months! If I really wanted to, I could have started reading this a couple weeks ago, since Tor.com is giving us a preview, posting a chapter or two every so often, but I feel like that'll just drive me crazier. I want to get this book and be able to dive into it and not come out for hours. (So, I either have to read it over Thanksgiving break or clear a Saturday of schoolwork and other activities . . . doable either way.) But I want more of Kaladin and Shallan and Syl and Pattern and Dalinar's history and Szeth's development and Wit being Wit and people maybe answering some questions and probably raising more questions than they answer and just everything. 

7. Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maarten (November 28) 

I'm not quite sure what to expect from this, but based on some of the author's tweets/Facebook messages/comments-under-comics, I think it's time travel, which sounds pretty awesome, and urban fantasy, which I'm always looking for more of. This is technically Kari Maarten's debut, but I already know a little about her style from her webcomics- which, for the record, are quite awesome and mind-twisty and kind of weird. If Weave a Circle Round is anything like those comics, it's going to be absolutely awesome. 

What Fall 2017 reads are you looking forward to? Did I miss any on this list? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Summer Anytime Reads

Hey'a, everyone! I'm officially back from my hiatus! And just in time for summer too . . . well, sort of. Y'know, since unofficially, summer's been here over two weeks, but officially it starts in a few days. Either way, it's the perfect time to talk about summer reads- but not in the sense of books releasing during summer. Instead, today's post is all about the books I'd recommend for reading during the summer for one reason or another.

Summer Anytime Reads

 

1. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. If there's one book that I'd say contains the essence of a wonderful summer, it's The Penderwicks. It's lighthearted and fun, yet touching, and the Penderwick sisters are each wonderful, both in their own rights and in terms of their relationship with each other and their father. The style, too, is lovely, giving this story the feel of a classic despite being set in our modern day and age. On the whole, the story is sweet without being fluffy, playful without becoming meaningless, and entirely perfect as a companion on a warm summer afternoon.  
If you liked The Penderwicks, try: Entwined (for the sweet sisterly relationships) or The Summer of Cotton Candy (for a lighthearted contemporary story set in summertime).

2. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Howl is, of course, a good book to read at any time of the year. But it does feel like a very summertime book to me: lighthearted, amusing, classic. Pick it up on a sunshine-y morning and enjoy meeting Sophie, Howl, Calcifer, and the rest (whether for the first or hundred and first time), or save it for a rainy day and let Howl's antics and Sophie's misadventures in dealing with him make you forget all about the gloomy weather.  
If you like Howl's Moving Castle, try: Jackaby (for the, how shall we say, eccentric? male lead and amusingly bickering main pair), The Chrestomanci Chronicles (for more Diana Wynne Jones and the closest character to Howl I've found so far), or The Hollow Kingdom (for the feel of the book).

3. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. Sometimes, though, you don't want something lighthearted. Summer's the most free time any of us have, usually, and we might as well make the most of it by tackling something big. And The Stormlight Archive contains two of the biggest and best books I've ever read in my life- and if you're reading it for the first time, you'd better make it during the summer. Try it during the school year and you'll need a great deal of self-discipline to keep it from taking over your life. Summertime, though? No worries- you won't need to put it down, which is good, because you won't want to.
If you like The Stormlight Archive, try: The Blood of Kings trilogy (for epic adventures and a pretty awesome world), The Wheel of Time series* (for massive books and lore-rich worldbuilding), or the Queen's Thief series (for incredibly twisty plots).

4. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. Basically, anything Discworld is probably a good choice for the summer- they're hilarious, if not quite lighthearted, but still fairly substantial. (Not as substantial as The Stormlight Archive, no, but what is?) But if I'm going to pick just one book to recommend from the series for the summer, Going Postal is the obvious choice. It's a bit less outright weird than some of them, while maintaining all the Discworld charm, and Moist van Lipwig is definitely a summertime sort of character.   
If you like Going Postal, try: The League of Princes series (for unlikely heroes and fantasy send-ups) or The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (for fun fantasy send-up; read it straight through or flip around at will).

5. The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale. These books are neither lighthearted nor especially substantial, but they still feel like a quiet summer afternoon, especially The Goose Girl and River Secrets (first and third, respectively, in the series). The romance is sweet, the stories are both classic and original, and the writing style is the sort you want to take the time to savor.
If you like The Books of Bayern, try: Wildwood Dancing or Five Glass Slippers (for fairy-tale retellings), The Merchant's Daughter (for a romance without too much fluff), or Orphan's Song (for fairly short books worth reading slowly).

What are some of your favorite summer reads? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

*Note: I have only read the first three Wheel of Time books. Those three books, I can recommend as being good, especially the third one- mostly because Rand ceases to be an idiot and Mat gets to be awesome. I can't vouch for the rest, but I have a friend with excellent taste in reading material who says they're good.

The Other Kind of (Relation)Ship

. . . Because Valentine's Day is in two days. And so you'd think that I, as a dedicated fangirl, would be talking about my favorite ships. Except, I already did that. And so I intended to not do any Valentine's posts at all, with the exception of the Beautiful People meme, until Lalaithiel made the genius suggestion that I post about my favorite platonic relationships instead. And so I'm doing just that since, after all, Valentine's Day isn't just about romantic love; it's about love between family and friends as well. And, honestly, I love a good friendship in a story (whether I'm reading it or writing it) even more than a romance. So, today, I'm celebrating the other type of relationship- that between friends- with five of my favorite book friendships.

Friday 5s: Friendships

1. Billy Bannister and Walter Foley (Dragons in Our Midst and sequel series). Best friends and brothers-in-arms, these two couldn't be closer if they were related by blood. (Actually, they're probably closer than some siblings I could think of . . .) They've been through the literal Hell together (and separately, but yeah), fought side-by-side against everything from dragons to demons to semi-ordinary humans, and put their lives on the line for each other (and others) plenty of times. And in the midst of all that, they support, encourage, and pray for- not to mention tease!- one another, no matter what they're facing.
2. Kaladin and Shallan (The Stormlight Archive). I know, for some people this is a romantic ship . . . but honestly, I like them better as friends. They're too like each other in certain ways to work as a couple, but as friends and comrades? Once they (and by they I mostly mean Kaladin) put aside their prejudices, they can relate to each other in ways that many of the other characters can't. I know their friendship hasn't had a whole lot of time to develop, but I look forward to seeing where it goes . . . as long as it doesn't turn into the other kind of ship.
3. Michael and Fisk (Knight and Rogue series). If you ever needed proof that "opposites attract" is true for friends as well as couples, Sir Michael Sevenson and his "squire" Fisk are where the search stops. The two could hardly be more different- Michael is an idealistic, straight-arrow, noble (in both senses of the word) true-blue would-be-knight; Fisk, a streetwise, not-quite-honest (though good at heart), slightly cynical, and definitely sarcastic former thief- yet their friendship is evident. Michael would (and sometimes does) do anything to help Fisk; Fisk, despite himself, is as loyal to Michael and does his best to keep him out of too much trouble. They have arguments on more than one occasion, but they usually come to an agreement in the end . . . but right now, I still need to get my hands on Scholar's Plot, and so thinking about them makes me a bit sad. Just saying. 
4. Halt and Will (Ranger's Apprentice). Ok, this is more mentor-and-student or even (at times) close to father-and-son than just friendship. But I'm including it anyway because, well, how can I not? It's one of my favorite parts of the series: the way Will goes from fearing Halt to respecting him, desiring his approval, and, yes, looking at him as a sort of surrogate father in certain respects; the fact that Halt will sacrifice quite literally everything for Will. The way Halt guides Will, even after Will's technically on his own, but also gives him the space to learn and grow on his own when necessary. It's wonderful, that's all I'm saying.
5. Eragon and Saphira (The Inheritance Cycle). I'd be remiss if I didn't include at least one Rider-dragon pair on here; they're so much fun to both read and write. The relationship between Eragon and Saphira was one of the best parts of The Inheritance Cycle: the closeness, Saphira's wild protectiveness of Eragon- and yet the way she draws him out into adventure, out of his comfort zone- Eragon's care for Saphira, the way they tease each other . . . And the fact that Saphira can legitimately call Eragon "little one" even though she's technically way younger than him. That may or may not amuse me more than it should, but it also makes me go "awwwww."

I will admit: making this list was really, really hard. A few of the friendships that didn't quite make the top five: Frodo and Sam, Wax and Wayne, the Princes Charming, Ham and Breeze, and Abigail and Jackaby. What about you? What are some of you favorite story-friendships? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah

A Hero's Measure

Not too long ago, I was challenged by Allison Ruvidich to name my ten favorite literary heroes. This, of course, brings up the question: What makes a hero? Allison chose to define it by a character's courage, a fairly good measuring stick, since it'll affect so many of his (or her) choices. I, however, decided to take a different route: picking the first ten characters who come to mind when I think of heroes, and then trying to pinpoint one particular heroic trait that I think each exemplifies.

1. A hero is humble. Frodo Baggins (The Lord of the Rings) is a humble hobbit of the Shire, and he never makes any claims otherwise. When he agrees to take the Ring to Mordor, it's not out of any desire to be a hero. He simply recognizes the responsibility before him and accepts it. Throughout his quest, he seeks guidance from those wiser than he whenever he can. And at its end, he desires no grand accolades; he simply wishes for peace and home.
2. A hero is loyal. Of course, as we all know, "Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam"! Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings), like Frodo, isn't in this quest for glory. He's in it because he made a promise: to stick by Frodo to the bitter end- and that's exactly what he does, no matter what stands in his way.
3. A hero is imperfect. Prince Lionheart (Tales of Goldstone Wood) isn't half the hero he might like to be. He tries, true, but ultimately fails . . . and he knows it. It's not until he acknowledges that he can't do it on his own that he becomes the hero he's meant to be- but once he does that (in Moonblood), the change is evident immediately as he charges off to save his friend with no thought for himself. It's also clear in Shadow Hand, when he sets aside his own plans and accepts that his Master has given him a different Path than what he expected.
4. A hero serves others. Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings) may be the rightful king of Gondor, but the paths he chooses to walk are anything but the marble halls of a royal castle. No, he instead spends his days as a Ranger, protecting the Shire and other northern lands from fearsome foes. It's a cold, hard, lonely life, and he gets little thanks for it- many of the folk he protects, in fact, treat him with suspicion or hostility. Yet he willingly keeps on doing it. And later, during the Fellowship's travels and his encounters with Rohan, he does not force his way to a position of leadership but rather puts himself under others, serving in whatever ways he's needed. Even when he finally reaches Gondor, he does not go marching in to reclaim his throne; instead, he enters the city only to help treat the wounded.
5. A hero faces the impossible. Most people would think twice before taking on the psuedo-god who's ruled the world for the last thousand years. Not Kelsier (Mistborn). He gladly accepts the challenge- not just of figuring out how to overthrow the Lord Ruler but of figuring out how to kill him. Even when his own team thinks it's too big a task, he convinces them to give their best. And even after calamity strikes and all his plans seem to have fallen apart, he doesn't give up. And in the end, it's because of his willingness to attempt something seemingly impossible that something even bigger is set in motion.   
6. A hero protects others. From the very first time we meet him, Kaladin (The Stormlight Archive) always seems to be trying to protect someone: his squad, his brother, his bridge crew, the list goes on. If he's not, he's probably dwelling on how he couldn't protect everyone, how people keep dying around him even though he'd willingly take their places. At one point, despair over these failures drives him to almost give up- but he doesn't. He keeps doing his best to protect those who need it- even, in the end, some people who he'd have been glad to see dead.
7. A hero sets an example. Professor Charles Hamilton (Dragons in Our Midst) is pretty all-around awesome, but he's at his best when guiding and teaching Billy and his friends, sharing both his (extensive) knowledge and his faith. The effect of his influence is clear through all the books; without Professor Hamilton's guidance, Billy and other characters would neither have succeeded in their quests or have grown in their faith as much as they did.
8. A hero does her duty. Masayi Sairu (Tales of Goldstone Wood) has been raised for a single purpose: to protect her eventual master- or, as it turns out, mistress- but when it comes time for her to fulfill that purpose, it's little like what she expected. Nevertheless, Sairu does her best to carry out her duty, even though she doesn't know who or what she's protecting her mistress from. She stays true to her task no matter what, even when it means giving up her dreams, even when it brings her into conflict with a foe she never prepared to face. 
9. A hero loves the unlovable. Dame Imraldera (Tales of Goldstone Wood) could qualify as a hero for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason is her willingness to love others. We see this first in Moonblood, as she cares for Lionheart, whose largest claim to fame at the time is making some very major mistakes. It's even better shown in Starflower, in which Imraldera's ability to love others- even monsters, even dragons, even villains- is a deciding factor in the story's outcome.
10. A hero makes sacrifices. At the beginning of The Door Within, Captain Valithor is already well known throughout the Realm as a hero, perhaps even a legend. He's the best of the Allebian knights, Sentinel to King Eliam himself, and his exploits in battles against the forces of Paragory show why. But what truly makes him a hero is his willingness to sacrifice, to put others before himself- no matter what the cost might be.

I should probably pass this along, but I don't know who to tag. So, I'll open it up to whoever wants to make a post answering the question: Who are your top ten favorite literary heroes? Of course, if you don't want to make a post, that's fine too, but I'd still love to hear your answer in the comments.
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Top Ten Tuesdays: Books/Series I Read in 2014

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Book-wise, 2014 was a really awesome year. I discovered new series to love, branched out into a genre I usually wouldn't consider, and added Brandon Sanderson to my top three favorite authors. My reading adventures took me from the Shattered Plains to Middle Earth, from the Gallagher Academy to Adarlan, from Goldstone Wood to Newcago, and so many other places. I met new character-friends and revisited old ones. With all that, choosing my Top Ten Books- or even Top Ten Series- of 2014 will be difficult, but I'm going to try my best. (Though . . . I may go a few over just ten.)

1. Golden Daughter by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

This book was insanely amazing. There is one Tale that I like better than it, and that one is Heartless. I stayed up until almost midnight on a school night reading it, and I never do that. Never. Except, obviously, for this book. If you want to hear me obsess over it more, you can read my review.

2. The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
The Mistborn trilogy was mind-blowing. I'd be reading them, and I'd be like "Ok, this is really cool" one minute, and then the next I'd be like "Oh my pumpernickel what just HAPPENED?" I saw next to nothing coming- and yet I'd think about it and realize that the clues were there; I'd just missed or misinterpreted them.

3. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
Like Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive is seriously mind-blowing. The worldbuilding, the twisted and tangled plots and backstories, the characters- it's all seriously incredible and definitely deserving of the title "epic". Also, Words of Radiance evoked the largest emotional reaction of any book I've ever read. I am not exaggerating. 

4. Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
This wasn't my favorite of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, but it was still awesome. It's hard to say a lot without giving out spoilers, but  . . . Time is a very interesting thing. Also, I never thought I could like Foxbrush as much as I did in this book.

5. The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
This series isn't quite like anything I've ever read, which is part of what makes it so amazing. I love the characters, especially Eugenides. Also, the author has a way of giving you just enough information that you think you know what's going on and then springing a twist on you with that one piece of information that you didn't know. My favorite in the series was The King of Attolia, but they're all awesome.

6. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
I've read a lot of books about dragons, but none portray these magnificent (if sadly fictional) beings in quite the same way Seraphina does. Rachel Hartman takes traditional dragonic features, gives them little- but powerful- twists, and then adds in new elements to create a very unique take on dragons, which I loved. I also liked the mystery in the story; it was very well done.

7. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Superheroes gone bad? Sounds awesome- but that's only the start. Add in amazing characters- Cody and David in particular- a dystopian city of steel, and Brandon Sanderson's insane plotting skills and you get this amazing book. If you like action or superhero stories (or even if you don't), you should definitely read this book.

8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
These books just keep getting better! Cress is definitely my favorite Lunar Chronicles heroine- maybe because she's so much like me. I loved just about all of this, particularly the ending- no spoilers, but it was beautiful. Except for the cliffhanger, which was . . . not so beautiful. But it was worth it. 

9. The Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell
A good fantasy-mystery can be hard to find, which makes the Knight and Rogue books that much better. I heard about this series several times from a friend of mine, but never tried it until this year. Oh, am I glad I finally picked it up! Really getting into the first book took a chapter or two, but once I'd picked up a few things about the characters and setting, I really enjoyed it, and the next two books are awesome.

10. The Word Changers by Ashlee Willis
Bookish girl gets stuck inside a book? It sounded like it would be right up my alley, and it was! I especially loved the idea of characters in books having lives of their own (and the explanation of why, in some books, you're always discovering details that you didn't remember before), and of what might happen if they rebelled
against their Author.


11. The Hollow Kingdom trilogy by Clare B. Dunkle
This trilogy reminds me of Howl's Moving Castle in some ways. It's lighthearted, humorous fantasy with just the right twist of unexpected romance. The characters were great, particularly Marak, and I liked the somewhat unusual take on goblins and elves and their rivalry.

12. Five Glass Slippers by Elisabeth Brown, Emma Clifton, Rachel Heffington, Stephanie Ricker, and Clare Diane Thompson
Five unique Cinderella retellings in one book? What's not to like? Each of the five stories is awesome in its own way. My favorite is "The Windy Side of Care"- I love the dialogue, the characters' plotting, and the twist of humor.

Honorable mentions go to the Girl of Fire and Thorns series and the Throne of Glass series, both of which are also awesome but have some romantic stuff that's borderline on what I'm comfortable with. (I had to skip one scene in particular in the second Throne of Glass book.) What about you? What were your favorite books of 2014? Please tell me in the comments, or feel free to make your own Top Ten Tuesdays post!

Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Top Ten Tuesday: Places Books Have Made Me Want To Visit

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Hello, everyone! Book-related places to visit seems to be a fairly popular subject. I've already done two posts on the subject: one about fictional worlds I'd like to visit, and a collab with Emma of Awkwordly Emma on real-life book locations. However, I'm very happy to do another, especially since my list keeps expanding with almost every new book or series I discover! To keep from repeating myself too much, I'll be focusing on specific places that I'd like to visit, rather than general locations or worlds.

1. The Shire (The Lord of the Rings). I'm going to try to minimize the number of LOTR-related places I put on this list, simply because if I don't, it'll turn into my itinerary for a year-long tour of Middle Earth. However, I do very much want to visit the Shire, especially Bag End. No doubt the hobbits would wonder about the strange human girl wandering about their hills and roads, but I'd be too busy trying to see everything (and meet my favorite hobbit characters) to pay much attention to their stares. Of course, since I've no chance of seeing the real Shire, I'll happily settle for the New Zealand version. (The same can be pretty much said of any locale from the LOTR books/movies.)
2. The Haven Library (Tales of Goldstone Wood). Some of you may recall that I've mentioned that I want to work here, not just visit. However, I'll settle for the latter if Dame Imraldera isn't looking for another assistant. With all the stories contained there, and all the interesting people who seem to pass through, it's probably my favorite location in either the Far or Near World!
3. Cair Paravel (The Chronicles of Narnia). Picking just one Narnian location to visit is difficult, since I've loved that world so long. In the end, I decided that Cair Paravel has probably made the biggest impression on me, and so that's where I'd go. 
   
4. The Shattered Plains (The Stormlight Archive). No, the Shattered Plains- particularly the warcamps, which is where I'd want to spend most of my time- are not a particularly pleasant place. However, there are certain not-so-pleasant places that I'd want to see anyway, simply because they sound interesting. The Shattered Plains are one of these, particularly since they play such a large part in the books. (Of course, the world of The Stormlight Archive in general is one I'd want to visit because it's so different from anywhere I've read about before.)
5. Rivendell (The Lord of the Rings). Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to put too many LOTR locations on this list, but I love Rivendell too much to leave it off. It seems like such a peaceful,
   
   beautiful place. It would be grand, true- it's the home of elves, after all- but not the imposing kind of grand like Minas Tirith (where I'd most likely feel perpetually mouse-like, if you get my meaning). 
6. Elendel (The Alloy of Law). Much as I love the Mistborn trilogy, I don't think I'd want to visit during or before the time it occurs. That world sounds absolutely miserable. Afterwards, however, is a different matter. I'd love to see for myself what the Mistborn would becomes after the trilogy ends, and Elendel seems like the best place to do that.
7. Fenworth's Castle (The DragonKeeper Chronicles). It's a castle . . . in a tree . . . which mostly consists of a massive library. Aside from its location (in the midst of a swamp), I cannot see anything about this that isn't rather awesome. 
8. The 12-Year Market (Tales of Goldstone Wood). The 12-Year Market could be considered more an event than a location, but I'm counting it anyway. Visiting a Faerie market would be quite exciting (and much safer than venturing into the Wood)! Who knows what I might find among the stalls- or who I might meet among the Faerie folk tending them? 
9. Great-Uncle William's House (House of Many Ways). This house might seem unassuming at first, but just how big is it inside? With one door leading to any number of rooms, it's hard to say. I'd love to explore and see what I could stumble upon. I'd probably get lost fairly quickly unless I borrowed Charmain's map, but I think the adventure would be worth it.
10. 
    
    

    Howl's Castle (Howl's Moving Castle). This is mostly because I want to know what it looks like. Is it just a castle that inexplicably moves around? Does it float? Is it like the movie, where there are leg thingys that seem to move it? Does it look like a traditional castle, or something else? (I usually imagine it as looking fairly traditional and floating a foot or so off the ground, but I do wonder.)

Well, there's my list. I meant to include some real places as well as fictional ones, but as you can see, that didn't happen. Of course, considering the kind of books I usually read, my lack of real locations shouldn't be surprising. What about you? What book-related locations, whether real or fictional, would you like to visit? Please tell me in the comments!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)