Author Liesel K. Hill's Musings on Fantasia...
Monday, January 19, 2015
HTML Question
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| How I feel trying to figure out new HTML. (Source) |
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!
So I'm finally getting around to streamlining my blogs. All of my posts will be here now, rather than having them both here and over at my LKHill blog. I will be keeping all of the features from that blog, of course. They'll just be here, not there.
So I have a question for those of you who are WAY more genius at HTML than I am. I was trying to do a custom redirect so that anyone going to that blog is automatically redirected here. I googled the code and it worked.
The problem is that any time anyone tries to go to any past post from that blog--say they find it through a search engine and click on the permalink--it still redirects them here to this blog.
Does anyone know how to do a redirect that will only work for the blog URL (http://lkhill.blogspot.com) but will allow people to access the blog's permalinks? I've been googling all the keywords I can think of, but can't find the answer.
Either it's called something specific I don't know, or it's just not possible. If anyone has any tips or suggestions for me, I'd really appreciate it. If you don't want to put a big, long, comment, feel free to email me at lkhillbooks@gmail.com.
Thanks! Happy Monday, Everyone!
Sunday, January 18, 2015
A Memory of Light Read-Along, Week 1
Welcome to week 1 of our A Memory of Light Read-Along! This week we read the Prologue-Chapter 1. Remember that everything in this section as well as everything that's come before is fair game for spoilers, so read at your own risk. I'm hosting this week.
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| Looks like Mordor, doesn't it? (Source) |
1. We get a terribly interesting chapter from Isam's POV in the Town below Thakandar. So many things we could talk about here, including the pointy-toothed Aiel. What stood out to you? What did you think? What do you want to know more about?
I want to know more about EVERYTHING!!! All we've really known about Luc/Isam is that they were pretty much raised in the Blight. Now we know where. Why haven't we heard anything about this Town before. You could write an entire book based around it. It sounds terribly sinister, and I can only imagine how twisted a child raised her would turn out to be. In that respect, it makes a lot of sense. But how did these corrupted Aiel come to be? How did Luc/Isam meld and become the hunters they are? (Histories, Man! I need histories!)
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Follow Friday: Book Duplicates
The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!
How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!
Do you own any doubles of your books? What led to getting that second...or third or fourth...copy? - Suggested by A Great Read.
There are really only two reasons this happens to me:
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| Books I wasn't very kind to and had to buy replacements. |
1) My favorite series (like Wheel of Time) that I read over and over I often have more than one kind of copy. Especially for later books, when I was caught up to the most recently published book in the series, I might have a hard copy. But then later I bought a paperback. And maybe an ecopy too so I could read on my kindle app. Or, you know, one book gets totally beat up and is falling apart, so I buy another, but can't bear to throw the old one, complete with highlights and margin annotations, away. Yeah, I'm sentimental that way. :D
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| Both hardback and paperback version of HP#3 |
2) I've gotten multiple copies of the same book for Christmas before. It's almost always my fault because I'll tell multiple people of a book I'm specifically hoping to get, and then have the nerve to be surprised when more than one person gets it for me. If one of the copies is an ecopy or was purchased online, returns become tricky. More than once I've just shrugged it off and decided I have a nice gift for the next brother whose birthday comes along. :D
How about you? Have you found yourself in similar situations?
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Movie Review: The Battle of Five Armies
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| Source |
**While I'm careful not to blatantly give anything away, there may be some general spoilers for the story. If you aren't familiar with either film or novel, maybe just skim. :D**
Plot: My biggest complaints about film two (The Desolation of Smaug) was that 1) it ended on a TOTAL cliffhanger, and 2) we didn't actually get to see Smaug die in it (more on that later). The Battle of the Five Armies picked up right at the moment Desolation left off. Smaug attacks Dale and chaos ensues. From there, we go through the final battle for the mountain. We have elves, dwarves, orcs & goblins, the men of Dale, and eagles. Of course there are smaller factions everywhere, so exactly who the five armies are is sometimes unclear to the viewer.
One really fun thing about The Hobbit films that was at least less present in the original LOTR films is that Jackson makes extensive use of the appendices. That's always fun to see for Tolkien fanatics.
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| Source |
Adaptation: Back to Smaug not dying in film two. Okay, his death was an awesome, adrenaline pumping way to open up the third film, but as a story teller, I still think I'd rather he'd have died at the end of the 2nd film. I'm not sure what spurred this decision. Yeah, it allowed them to end the 2nd film on a cliffhanger, and maybe that's what they were going for, but even so. I'd rather have had a major climax for film two, and then film three could have focused completely on the battle. Also, the title The Desolation of Smaug implied that they'd get him the end. And they...didn't.
Let's put it this way: back in The Two Towers film, they completely put off doing Shelob's lair, partly for linear timing reasons, but mostly because they wanted Helm's Deep to be the climax of the film. Then, this time around, they took the climax large from film 2 and put two MAJOR events in film 3. Don't get me wrong: I wasn't completely put off by this, but I think if they'd have done it differently, it would have made more sense and been better.
Characters: I felt like the film stayed true to the characters and what compelling characters they are. I don't think I had a huge, overt emotional reaction to either of the first two films, other than just the average, "Cool." Of course I didn't see either of the first two films in theaters, either. (Let's face it: the in-your-face, surround-sound experience is a bit different than watching it at home.) Not so this time. I seriously bawled through the entire film. And not just at the tragic parts, but because the entire thing was so compelling. (Yeah, my twelve-year-old brother totally made fun of me. :/ ) That wouldn't have happened without compelling characters. Kudos to Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage as Thorin, Luke Evans, pretty much every dwarf, and Orlando Bloom for bringing our favorite characters to life. Even Legolas got a story line near the end that was brief, but surprisingly compelling.
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| Source |
Effects: Awesome. Just amazing. Best CGI dragon EVER! And who didn't totally go wild for Beorn leaping from an eagle's back and shifting into bear-form mid-air. Awesome! No complaints here.
Extras: Evangeline Lily's Tauriel is a big part of the films, but is a departure from Tolkien (she wasn't in the books). I've never minded her at all. I loved Lily in Lost and could totally see how they used her as a vehicle to deepen the story. I didn't love her, but I didn't mind her either. Just sort of meh. (My brothers would hate me for that. They're all completely in love with her.) Yeah, after film three, I've changed my mind. I freaking love her. The story they did with her and Kili was one of the most compelling of the film, and she had me completely in tears by the end.
Favorite scenes: I've already mentioned a few of my favorites above, but another I loved was the one where Galadriel went to save Gandalf and faced down the essence of Sauron. Greatest thing ever! Loved it! There was also a kind of sadness to see how powerful Saramon once was before he turned to the dark side. I loved that they showed him fighting alongside Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond. Cool, but also melancholy.
Ending: While I pretty much loved everything about the ending, I did wish they have given us a few more Easter eggs that pointed toward the later, LOTR series. For example, it would have been fun to actually see a teenage Aragorn. And I would have loved it if, when Bilbo returned to Bag End, a tiny little boy hobbit had run up to him yelling "Uncle Bilbo, Uncle Bilbo, you're back!" I don't even know if either of those things would have fit into the timeline, but they would have been fun. :D There was, however, mention of a young Aragorn, and an appearance by Ian Holm. I appreciated both.
Overall: Loved it. If you liked any of the previous middle earth films even a little bit, you'll love it. If you, like me, love all things Tolkien, you'll be ecstatic. If you hated all previous films, well, this one probably won't be much different for you.
(Such a sweet video. The second I heard The Last Goodbye during the credits, I knew I had to have this song in my life. :D)
What did everyone else think of the final middle earth film?
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Teaser Tuesday: Maze Runner by James Dashner
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
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| Source |
Thomas was drowning in a sea of confusion. A girl? He hadn't even thought about why the Glad only had boys, no girls. Hadn't even had a second change to notice, really. Who is she, he wondered. Why--
Newt shushed them again. "That's not bloody half of it," he said, then pointed down into the Box. "I think she's dead." (pg. 54)What are YOU reading this week?
Monday, January 12, 2015
Desolate Mantle (Street Games #2) Cover Reveal!
I'm finally getting ready to release Desolate Mantle, book 2 of Street Games! I've seriously been trying to get this book out for a year. But life happens and it kept getting back-burnered. Well, it's finally time! I'm aiming to get book 2 out in February, though I don't have an exact date yet.
Meanwhile, courtesy of the the great Kelean Patrick Burke, here is the cover of book 2. Enjoy!
Synopsis:
Meanwhile, courtesy of the the great Kelean Patrick Burke, here is the cover of book 2. Enjoy!
Desolate Mantle (Street Games #2)
In the most dangerous city in the country, one controlled by the sadistic Sons of Ares gang, Kyra Roberts recently crossed paths with detective Gabe Nichols. She dismissed any liaison with him as impossible, but telling him the truth may prove inevitable...
Walking the Slip Mire nightly, dressed in her disguise and trying to infiltrate a homicidal gang, Kyra sees plenty of things she can’t explain. When she begins to suspect a serial killer might be at work, she decides to approach Gabe again.
Gabe has plenty to keep him busy: a bizarre missing persons case, a new development in his brother’s cold case, a new neighbor, and the grisly murders that are a nightly ritual in the Slip Mire. When Kyra shows up unexpectedly, he jumps at the chance keep her around, but it’s harder than he bargained for. She’s not an average source any more than she’s an average Mireling.
Their partnership crumbles, but when things become even darker than usual in the Slip Mire, they’ll need one another get survive a hellish situation. If they can’t work together to shoulder their burdens, they’ll find themselves utterly alone. In Abstreuse, it’s not a matter of not coming out of the darkness, but of being absorbed by the darkness itself…
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Towers of Midnight Read-Along, Week 8
Welcome to week 8 of our Towers of Midnight Read-Along! This week we read the Chapters 41-48. Remember that everything in this section as well as everything that's come before is fair game for spoilers, so read at your own risk. Sue over at Coffee, Cookies & Chili Peppers is hosting this week, so hop over and check out her answers too! :D
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| Aviendha as a Maiden Source |
1. Aviendha’s visions finally show us the decision that will place the Aiel upon their path to destruction. That first step seems so logical, so will she be able to persuade the Wise Ones to avoid it when only she has seen this future? Can you see any way that Randland can avoid being overwhelmed by the Seanchan, even if the Aiel try to preserve the Dragon’s Peace?
As I said last week, it seems obvious that Aviendha will play a pivotal role in this issue, which is why she is having these visions. I think it's an especially interesting situation for her, given how long it took her to pass her final test, standing up to the Wise Ones because they were treating her unfairly. Obviously all Aviendha's learning and training have been pointing her toward this fate.
That said, the thing that sticks out most in the visions concerning the Aiel is that Rand abandoned them/rendered them useless, etc. If she can get Rand to avoid specifically that (i.e. give them a role or long term job, etc.) then perhaps this whole future can be avoided. The Seanchan, of course, are another issue altogether. An alliance with Seanchan and Mat's wife is the one thing it doesn't seem that Rand has even thought much about yet. He'll have to or else it seems the Seanchan may come to dominate Randland.
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