A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality, by Joseph and Linda Ames Nicolosi.

Can Homosexuality Be Healed?, by Francis MacNutt.

Coming Out Straight: Understanding and Healing Homosexuality, by Richard Cohen.


Penguins are more progressive than we are, you guys. Penguins.

Whats with every god forsaken fantasy/sci-fi book being part of some kinda series?
I'm a hypocrite, I know. I read the Robert Jordan books, Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, all a that. And I love them, dearly. But I can't just read those authors, they don't write fast enough.

So when I'm browsing the bookstore, and all I see is 'Book of _____, Pt. 7' and '4th in the _____ Sequence', I get kinda annoyed.

I hesitate to pick up a new series, as I'm sure many others do, as well. You don't trust the author, especially one who's churned out multiple books, to not have given in to the commercialized desire for quantity over quality. Its daunting to pick up a book, only to learn that its the first book in a series of ten. What if, like I mentioned, the first book is amazing, and the rest just suck? You run the risk of reading an incomplete story. Its like just reading The Fellowship of the Ring, if Two Towers just blew. (and in some parts, it does.) You don't dare pick up Return of the King. You don't have the money to waste on books you know are gonna suck.

And then there's the more preferable, but more costly second option. The series just rocks. Every page is pure gold, and you don't know how you didn't start reading this series sooner. And then you realize, with great excitement, that you have fifteen more books to gobble before you're stuck waiting for the next book with the rest of us. The best goddamn feeling in the world. Provided you're a goddamn millionaire. Because if you're not, you gotta stretch that series over several paychecks, so long as you like other things such as eating. And that can near about kill you with frustration. (Alan Campbell, I'm lookin' at you.)

Heres my request, since I like reading. Don't put out books that you know are substandard. If a series is dragging on, end the fucker. Sure, some fans will scream, and you run the risk of ending up in the book/movie Misery. But you gain a more loyal fanbase by not feeding us crap.

Some series, I wholly approve of. But not every story need five books to tell it, you guys.

and I'm sure that comes as a huge shock to everyone. But I feel a need to let others know/warn them of what I have... experienced.

There are spoilers.

( The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb )

( The Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb )

( Smoke and Ashes by Tanya Huff )


... Yeah, I feel validated, now.

Warning. Lengthy rant, and lj-cuts are for pussies.

Two words. Ender's Game. Yeah, only a lot.

Cilck for amazing

I normally, and still, hate books/stories that victimize children in any way, physically or emotionally. Lolita is a particular source of hatred for me.

But I can't hate this book. Orson Scott Card, you have not undone me or defeated me, but you have made me think.

But I don't really want to talk about the book. I want to talk about the genre of sci-fi.

Sci-fi, for me, has always been a coin toss. There are good points to it, stories and authors that make me feel a part of that world, that future, They're capable of immersing me in something thta I could never experiance, words and worlds, people of species that are intelligent enough not to contact the human race in my lifetime, and best of all, space travel.

And then there are the stories that are like instruction manuals to my five-CD changer stereo. They pound you with meaningless information of the surroundings, the science, mathamatics and physics of it all. There seem to be no characters, no plot, just an author putting his new, edgy idea of how anti-grav would work in his universe. I admire their imagination, but I when I read fiction, I want fiction.

I will list examples of both at the end, for those who are interested in investigating for themselves.

But no matter what you want out of the realm of space and time, you can and will never escape Star Wars. Maybe not the first example of a space odyssey, but it is the most memorable. Cutting edge technology, both in and portraying the film, the struggle of good versus evil, archaic language, and that smidgin of the arcane and magical that always seems to leech into sci-fi, making it that much better. And why not? If you can almost never age when travelling through space while the planet-boud feel the press of the years so much more strongly, why shouldn't a psycic race or genetic anomaly slip in to spice things up? I mean, good lord people! Where would Star Trek be without the Vulcan mind-meld? Or E.T. without that weird symbiosis thing with Elliot? Or Dune with the Bene Gesserit? (Not to mention the blue eye thing, but thats the spice melange.) Or even Akira, not your classic martian tale, but one of futuristic psychic abiliy none-the-less.

I can see your eyes glazing from here. I'll stop now.

Ender's Game has little psychic activity going on. It's genius intellect, cunning planning and preperation, and no little deception that makes the book one of my favorite sci-fi stories. I'd even say that it was a phenomenal read, fast paced and intelligent, and a book I could not put down. I am definately going to read the entire Ender series. But that doesn't mean I liked it.

But that portion (gee, only the whole point of the book) is all I can find fault with. The charaters are realistic, despite their obvious mental advancement beyond that of normal six-year olds (Ender's age when the book began), the science is original and beliveable, and I am running out of describing adjectives so I'm going to end here before my eyes cross.

So, yeah. Read Ender's Game. And also read:

Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff
Alien vs Predator: Prey by Steve Perry
Dune by Frank Herbert
Deathstalker by Simon R. Green
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (ps neal stephenson is too a god.)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

And those are just ones I've read, and can think of right now. Ones I did not like include:

The God Emperor or Dune by Frank Herbert (too political for my tastes)
Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffery (or anything by her, actually.)
And about 99.9% of books found in the BooksaMillion sci-fi isle. Because I'm a hard-to-please bitch with snobby book tastes. Hmph! (goes back to reading Goosebumps.)

Annnnyway. I'm tired, so screw this.

Just finished the horror manga series Diabolo, by Kei Kusunoki and Kaoru Ohashi. It's a three book series, and one worth looking into. The art is clean and consistant, and the story line is easy to follow, if disturbing. The dialouge is kinda childish, for the age group the story portrays, but you get over it. Really. *twitch*

The story focus on two 17 year old boys, Ren and Rai, who were given devil powers in exchange for their souls. But for some reason they retained their souls and have dedicated their lives to hunting down the diabolo, named Nema, that cursed them and stole away their childhood friend, Mio. Ren has the power of ultimate offense, the power of the sword, and Rai has the gift of ultimate defense, the shield. Their personalities match their gifts, Ren being rather loud and abrassive, while Rai is calm, collected, and wears glasses.

Stereotyping aside, the boys' characters are very developed and rather mature for 17. Being 17 is a big deal in the manga, because it is the last year before you reach 18 (666, 6+6+6=18), and, barring extreme tragedy or whatever, you are beyond the reach of the diabolo. Actually, almost every character is 17. Kinda makes me feel special... And worried... ^^ But because Ren and Rai have made an inadvertant pact with the diabolo, they will lose their humanity when they turn 18, and have vowed not only to find Mio and destroy Nema, but to kill each other before this occurs.

Other charatcers introduced are very complex and well portrayed despite the limited space of three novels, and you're endeared to them even if they only have a five page cameo. Nana is my personal favorite.

The subject matter is understandably dark, and there is plenty of death, blood, and some torture involved. I winced a few times while reading. The books have the same feel as Count Cain and Getbackers, with a few themes from X/1999 thrown in, and there is a shonen-ai undertone, as well as breif shojo-ai. Not for a lighthearted read, to be sure. Thou hath been warned. But if you liked any of the aformentioned titles, check this series out. I loved it.

( SPOILERS and some ranting can be found here. )

Anyway, the creators also have a two book series called Sengoku Nights which should be worth checking out.

Just be careful not to get too depressed/sad or you may end up doing something rash. Like reading Tokyo Mew-Mew to make yourself feel better. It's not worth it, trust me. Seriously, read One Piece or something. [EDIT: unless of course you are Penguin, who may need more help than One Piece can give...]

Okay, now off to finish The Loch by Steve Alten (dude, read anything of his that you can get your hands on. By any means necessary. He's worth a measly assult charge) and then off to read Trainspotting. Any book that has Ewan McGregor on the front cover, looking like he's on a three day jag is worth a look. And then there's the movie...




geez, is it Friday yet?!

Just finished Liquor, by Poppy Z. Brite.

Ah-mazing. Why, you ask?

1) New Orleans
2) Cooking
3) teh gay

Need I say more? I may have to draw these guys now... (Rickey = hardcore)


Get krunk, mah pimps.