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Reading the Dark Tower series for the first time. It's by Stephen King, which kept me back for a while, since I refuse to read or watch horror. But this isn't horror. It's an epic magical western with some really cool ideas and majestic scale and ties to our world and a dash of sci-fi and... it's unique and it's good. Right now, I'm about 3/4 of the way through book 7. (He considers it one long story, but it's broken up into 7 reasonably lengthy books. In a way, I'm lucky to have waited this long. There was a long gap between the publishing of books 3 and 4, but now all 7 are out.)
Recently came across a little passage that just jumped out at me, and felt compelled to share. Our hero, Roland, the last gunslinger, has encountered Callahan, a priest from our world (or, more correctly, the world of another of King's books, which frequently tie - at least tangentially - into the Dark Tower series). Callahan has explained that he's firmly pro-life, even in the extreme case under discussion. It's a stance Roland has never heard of before.
"Your Man Jesus seems to me a bit of a son of a bitch when it comes to women," Roland said. "Was He ever married?"
The corners of Callahan's mouth quirked. "No," he said. "But His girlfriend was a whore."
"Well," Roland said, "that's a start."
And, as long as I'm talking about stuff I've been reading...
I'd rec, to anyone interested in comics, Invincible. I'd avoided it at first, before I really understood the premise, but then they did a special thing for Issue 42, summing up the story so far. I decided to give it a shot, and was instantly hooked.
It's the tale of a teenager named Mark, who just happens to be the son of that world's version of Superman. The story begins when he first develops his powers.
But it's not just a next-gen fic. Mark's a hero in his own right, and there's drama and evil plots and subplots and all that. And some nice gags and fun along the way. But there's more to it than that. There's a twist, revealed about halfway into the first year...
You know how there's always some military guy who thinks Superman, for all that he's proved himself time and again for decades, is really the advanced scout for an alien invasion? There isn't someone like that in Invincible, but if there had been... he would have been right.
In a single issue, we're introduced to that world's version of the Justice League (and fun parodies they are). They're summoned to HQ by an emergency signal. They gather, and then, in a just a couple of bloody pages, before they even know what's happening, they're killed off. By Mark's father.
It seems he'd caught himself growing complacent. Enjoying his life amongst the lesser beings of Earth just a little too much. So he took the first step to weakening the Earth's defenses, in preparation for takeover by his people's ever-growing galactic empire.
And yet... he's not truly evil. It's amazing, but the writers are actually able to have him explain his motivations and actions (when Mark learns of what happened) in a way that almost makes sense. From his perspective, he's doing the right thing. ... Though he does come to question it.
But that's long over by issue 42. Or at least relegated (temporarily) to the background.
It's cool and it's complicated and it's a story well told, with a varied and interesting supporting cast.
And, recently, I noticed that the library had collections of the first half of the issues I'd missed. I wasn't sure about it, since I already knew how the story turned out, but... turns out it was a heck of a read, all the same. I'm really glad I checked it out (so to speak).
If you're at all into comics... give it a try!
Recently came across a little passage that just jumped out at me, and felt compelled to share. Our hero, Roland, the last gunslinger, has encountered Callahan, a priest from our world (or, more correctly, the world of another of King's books, which frequently tie - at least tangentially - into the Dark Tower series). Callahan has explained that he's firmly pro-life, even in the extreme case under discussion. It's a stance Roland has never heard of before.
"Your Man Jesus seems to me a bit of a son of a bitch when it comes to women," Roland said. "Was He ever married?"
The corners of Callahan's mouth quirked. "No," he said. "But His girlfriend was a whore."
"Well," Roland said, "that's a start."
And, as long as I'm talking about stuff I've been reading...
I'd rec, to anyone interested in comics, Invincible. I'd avoided it at first, before I really understood the premise, but then they did a special thing for Issue 42, summing up the story so far. I decided to give it a shot, and was instantly hooked.
It's the tale of a teenager named Mark, who just happens to be the son of that world's version of Superman. The story begins when he first develops his powers.
But it's not just a next-gen fic. Mark's a hero in his own right, and there's drama and evil plots and subplots and all that. And some nice gags and fun along the way. But there's more to it than that. There's a twist, revealed about halfway into the first year...
You know how there's always some military guy who thinks Superman, for all that he's proved himself time and again for decades, is really the advanced scout for an alien invasion? There isn't someone like that in Invincible, but if there had been... he would have been right.
In a single issue, we're introduced to that world's version of the Justice League (and fun parodies they are). They're summoned to HQ by an emergency signal. They gather, and then, in a just a couple of bloody pages, before they even know what's happening, they're killed off. By Mark's father.
It seems he'd caught himself growing complacent. Enjoying his life amongst the lesser beings of Earth just a little too much. So he took the first step to weakening the Earth's defenses, in preparation for takeover by his people's ever-growing galactic empire.
And yet... he's not truly evil. It's amazing, but the writers are actually able to have him explain his motivations and actions (when Mark learns of what happened) in a way that almost makes sense. From his perspective, he's doing the right thing. ... Though he does come to question it.
But that's long over by issue 42. Or at least relegated (temporarily) to the background.
It's cool and it's complicated and it's a story well told, with a varied and interesting supporting cast.
And, recently, I noticed that the library had collections of the first half of the issues I'd missed. I wasn't sure about it, since I already knew how the story turned out, but... turns out it was a heck of a read, all the same. I'm really glad I checked it out (so to speak).
If you're at all into comics... give it a try!
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I think it's really, really great right now, too.
ETA: Would you be a tester for me?
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From:
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I'll try uploading the video and PM you a link. Just let me know if it asks for a password or won't play. :)
From:
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(Sorry about before... I'd just woken up from a very rare and exceptionally long nap and was still kinda fuzzy.)