My "Heroes"

Through the magic of iTunes, I've been watching the new TV show, Heroes, which appears on NBC. I've been loving every minute of this TV series. The actors are great, the story is interesting and well constructed, and the special effects are terrific.

And, tonight, I was rewarded with what I consider the best episode of a TV show that I've seen in a long long time! The episode called "Five Years Gone" is a masterpiece! It was so exciting, I went back and watched the ending three times in a row!! When Sylar and Peter engage in what would have to be their final battle (in that particular timeline), you just have to jump up out of your seat with excitement.

The actors really shine in this episode... they have to leave their characters of "present day" and portray them as they would be after having to endure five extremely difficult years. And to end the story knowing that there is a (small) chance that Hiro (hah!) can go back in time and change it all, spare them all that pain and grief, is energizing.

I've downloaded the latest episode ("The Hard Part") and I'll watch it tomorrow. I will then be all caught up and I'll have to wait for the next episodes as if I'm actually watching the show on TV. Imagine that.

Ken

P.S. iTunes is great... I'm only interested in Heroes, Lost, Desperate Housewives, and The Office, so I only download those shows. I pay for them, so I don't have to watch any commercials. Heaven!

Forgot about the Potter

When I wrote my previous entry about the books I've been reading, I forgot to mention that Max and I have been slowly working our way through the Harry Potter series. We started book one a few months ago and have been reading just shy of a chapter each night before Max goes to bed. Yesterday, we finished book three and we'll be starting book four by the end of this week! Its been a lot of fun for Max and I've been enjoying the books as well.

The first book was just okay. Some nice ideas but the ending was weak since Harry was saved at the end by a plot twist that had absolutely no foreshadowing; it just appeared right when it was needed. ("Well, Harry, it looks like its curtains for you... BUT WAIT!") However books two and three were much better in terms of their story construction and character development and while book three, again, ends with the help of a deus ex machina, at least this time it was well integrated into the plotline.

The truly fun part however has been watching Max enjoy these stories. He is having a blast and loves to talk through "what if" scenarios. ("Hey Dad, what do you think would have happened if the basilisk had frozen Harry rather than Hermionie?") I've also been amazed at his ability to absorb the details of each story... he is constantly reminding me of his favorite scenes in each of the books and when the story requires that you remember some small detail from a previous chapter (or even a previous book), Max is right there with me, ready to go!

Oh, and now that we've finished book three, we can rent the associated movie and see the story "come alive". (We had seen the first movie before reading that book... but now we're going to wait and only watch the movie once we've finished the corresponding book.)

I can't wait to see what book four has in store for us!

Ken

P.S. Shadowplay by Tad Williams (see previous post) is fantastic. I'm seven chapters in and loving every page!

Book(ish) Matters

Here's a quick update on what I've been reading:

A few weeks ago I finished the very excellent book Kushiel's Scion which is the first book of the SECOND trilogy in Jacqueline Carey's magnum opus about the many different flavors of Love. Don't let that scare you off, all of these books are examples of the fantasy genre at its finest. So, if you haven't read any of this series, grab Kushiel's Dart and get started! (Her Banewreaker series is good too!)

After Kushiel's Scion, I picked up Ken MacLeod's Learning the World. This is a quick read with lots of fun ideas. It features humans spending 400 years travelling near light speed to move from one star system to another on an extremely big ship and when they arrive they discover that their destination is already inhabited. MacLeod's gift is using science fiction as a means for exploring different political and economic systems. Some of the best parts of the novel involve him detailing the financial and ecomonic models that would be required to make a trip between solar systems feasible. He also does an extremely good job of using the alien race as a means for poking fun at some of the ideas that underly our "modern" society, or at least to make you reflect on those beliefs in the harsh light of another context. Highly recommended.

Next up: Today I started reading Tad Williams new novel Shadowplay which is book two of his Shadowmarch series. Williams is great at coming up with alterations of the "traditional" way of doing fantasy. The way he conceptualizes and describes magic in his novels is especially delightful and Shadowmarch is no exception in this regard. If you haven't read Tad Williams before, then check out some of his earlier work. Start with The War of the Flowers which is a nice stand-alone book and then tackle his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn triology that starts with The Dragonbone Chair, moves to The Stone of Farewell and concludes nicely in To Green Angel Tower. And, by the time you finish with that, Tad will be done with his Shadowmarch series and you'll have three MORE good books to read!

Too many books, not enough time!

Ken

The Real Meaning of Mother's Day

The original Mother's Day was not conceived as a day to buy stuff for our mothers (although they certainly deserve nice gifts year round!), it was a day started by mothers to end warfare.

Take a look at <http://mothersdayforpeace.com/> for an excellent way to celebrate Mother's Day this year.

Ken