Some Reading

I'm not entirely well. Spent a little time today catching up on some fanfiction - last two chapters of Isabeau's "Captain, my Captain," interesting because they deal with the possibilities of polyamory in Middle-Earth, and the latest part of Khazar-Kum's "Cursed Queen of Angmar," always enjoyable. There's also an interesting Tolkien scholar rant about tattoos by Ostadan of The One Ring. Short version: First, kids, there's a lot of ways to say "nine" in Elvish, and second, quit being copycats and get your own damn tattoo ideas! He also comments on Norwegian heavy metal as an example of, in his opinion, negative appropriation of Tolkien's imagery. Though he does approve of the "elvish love jewelry" that's out there, something I place on the same level as the upcoming Arwen Barbie doll and the Sauron shot glasses I once saw.

I'm profundly disappointed because two fantasy books that were strongly recommended to me, Anne Bishop's "Daughter of the Blood" and Sharon Shinn's "Archangel," managed to displease and annoy me, each for their own reasons. What really bugs me is that...unlike bad fanfiction...I PAID MONEY for these. While I was over in the States, yet (they arrived in a box of things I had shipped back here.) Two other fantasy books I picked up that were okay were Lois Bujold's "The Curse of Chalion" and Guy Gavriel's "A Song for Arbonne," but...well, dipping into what's out there in fantasy-land reminded me of why Tolkien's the master.