CSFF Blog Tour: Hunter Brown Day Two

So yesterday, I may have been a bit harsh on Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow. That's a judgment call. Like I said yesterday, part of that may be because it's a young adult fantasy and I'm ... well, only half of that now.

At the same time, though, this book gives me a great deal of hope. That may sound odd, given my negative reaction to it yesterday, but it does and here's why: I'm hoping that books like this will help create a greater demand for others like it in the future.

I'm talking long-term here. Let's be honest, while there have been signs that the market has been opening to speculative fiction, it's not as open as it could be (or should be, in my not-so-humble opinion). But that could change, especially if books similar to this one does well. The next generation of readers might be more open to speculative fiction. And that's a good thing.

Now I realize that I might be a bit optimistic. Obviously not every young adult speculative fiction fan is going to turn into an adult speculative fiction fan. But more books like Hunter Brown may help make our beloved market a bit more fertile.

Please go and visit the other tourists and see what they think about this month's book:
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson

Star Wars on Trial

So in the interest of full disclosure, let me say this: I'm a Star Wars fan. No, fan is not strong enough. "Geek," perhaps. I own all six movies. No, that's not strong enough either. I"m one of the suckers who kept buying the progressive edits on the original trilogy that George Lucas kept ramming down our throats. I've played at least a dozen Star Wars themed computer games and still think one of them, Knights of the Old Republic, contains a fantastic story. I owned dozens of the novels.

And yet, in spite of my fandom, I have to admit a great deal of frustration with Mr. Lucas. While the original trilogy inspired me, while the books built on the foundation of his creation, he really wrecked things up with the prequel trilogies. Far too many plotholes. Far too many missed opportunities. Far too many clunky scenes, horrible dialogue exchanges, and wooden acting. Unfortunately, my love affair with the series has waned a bit in recent years.

Some of you may know this already. About six months ago, I had some fun by creating a series of campaign commercials around the plotholes. If you haven't watched them, click the link. It'll waste maybe only ten minutes of your life. Twelve tops.

Anyway, even though I may not be as rabid of a fan as I once was, I still swing through the sci-fi section of Barnes and Noble every time I'm there to see what's new. And one time, I spotted this book: Star Wars on Trial. Needless to say, I was interested. I flipped through it for a few moments before putting it back. Maybe I'd get to read it someday.

Thanks to my mother-in-law and Christmas, someday finally came.

Basically, two men (David Brin for the prosecution and Matthew Woodring Stover for the defense) put Star Wars on trial (hence the title). Eight charges were brought against the movie franchise:

1. The politics of Star Wars are anti-democratic and elitist.
2. While claiming mythic significance, Star Wars portrays no admirable religious or ethical beliefs.
3. Star Wars novels are poor substitutes for real science fiction and are driving real SF off the shelves.
4. Science fiction filmmaking has been reduced by Star Wars to poorly written special effects extravaganzas.
5. Star Wars has dumbed down the perception of science fiction in the popular imagination.
6. Star Wars pretends to be science fiction but is reall fantasy.
7. Women in Star Wars are portrayed as fundamentally weak.
8. The plot holes and logical gaps in Star Wars make it ill-suited for an intelligent viewer.

For each charge, the prosecution submitted an essay, followed by a bit of cross-examination by the defense. Then reverse the pattern with an essay from the defense and cross-examination by the prosecutor.

I don't get into essays all that much, but this was a pleasure to read. The people who wrote them took them seriously. Or as seriously as the subject matter warranted. Many excellent points were raised by both sides and I did some serious thinking about the series from which I've derived so much pleasure. There were some interesting alternate takes on what the series is all about. Perhaps the most interesting thing that came up is that one of the biggest villains in the series is not Darth Sidious or Darth Vader. It's Yoda. The prosecution labels him a "nasty green oven mitt" and the kicker is, nobody leaps to his defense.

After looking over what everyone had to say, my opinion is that the prosecution pasted the defense. Brin's side put together some very persuasive arguments, many of which the defense conceded with a "Yeah, but so what?" counterargument. The screwy thing is is that even though he was definitely behind on points, Stover managed to squeak in a victory with his closing arguments. It's not a clean win, but it's still a win.

If nothing else, this book has helped me make something of a resolution. I know, mid-March isn't exactly the time to do that normally, but just go with it. I've noticed that my reading patterns for the past few years have been stuck in the same two "ghettos," namely Star Wars books and Christian fiction.

Not that I'm knocking either. I'm not planning on giving up the latter. The fact that I'm posting this in the middle of a blog tour should tell you that. But I am going to try to stretch my legs a little. Time for me to read some classic sci-fi. Research Nebula-award winning books and see what they're about. Expand my pallette.

It may take a while. I've always got a stack of books to read. Shuffling in some new stuff might not happen immediately. But there you go. If you're a Star Wars fan or want to read some interesting takes on both Star Wars trilogy, then this is a great book for you.

CSFF Blog Tour: Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow Day One

This one's going to be a little rough. I wanted to like this one, I really, really did.

Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow is a young adult Christian fantasy book that centers around a young man named ... well, you guessed it, Hunter Brown. Hunter seems like your typical "geek" outcast at school, only he's drawn into an adventure when he's given a mysterious book. The book transports him to a place called Solandria, where he joins up with a group called the Codebearers. The Codebearers are fighting the evil forces of a being named Sceleris, personified by an evil wizard named Venator. Can the Codebearers defeat the evil Shadow and will Hunter ever make it home?

Okay, now that the plot is out of the way, let's discuss why this book really didn't do it for me.

For starters, there's the fact that it's young adult fiction. Let's face reality. I'm twice the target age as the intended readers, so while I could enjoy the tale, it didn't really grab me. Maybe this would be good in the "right hands," so to speak, but those hands don't belong to me.

Second, there were craft issues that drove me up the wall. For example, the Miller brothers kept using improper speech tags all the time. We had people "smiling" their words, or so on and so forth. I've heard it many, many times before: when writing dialogue, only use "said" or "asked" and not much else. Every time I hit an improper speech tag, it jarred me a bit. There were point of view problems as well, where Hunter suddenly knew what was happening in another person's head.

Now by saying that, you may think I'm judging the Miller brothers harshly. Maybe I am. But I say these things as someone who has committed these writing craft sins in the past. Maybe the rules are a little more lax when it comes to YA fiction, I don't know.

And thirdly, the book was too preachy. The allegory was paper thin and easy to see through and that made it less enjoyable for me. Again, maybe this is something that works for YA fiction, but it didn't really do much for me.

Again, this might all be because I'm an adult reading a book intended for readers half my age. I've had this problem before (see my review from a six months ago about Twilight). Maybe if I pass it on to a young adult, said young adult will get more out of it. I have no idea.

And maybe it's just me. Tell you what. Go check out what the other tourists have to say:

Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson

Watchmen

After watching Watchmen earlier this afternoon, I'm pretty sure that Alan Moore is right.

For those of you who don't understand, Alan Moore is the writer who created Watchmen, an absolutely phenomenal graphic novel that turns just about every superhero convention on its ear. Gritty, wild, and extremely well written, Watchmen is densely packed with plot, time-bending scenes, and such a rich story and characters that it's a true work of art. And Moore firmly believes that no one should have tried to adapt his story for the big screen.

Given how incredible the source material is, the movie version came in with a considerable handicap. They tried to cover as much as they could in the opening credits, but really, that's not good enough. I seriously wonder if someone who hasn't read the graphic novel could really follow the plot the way the movie told it.

But it's not just the source material that handicapped the movie. Zack Snyder, while called a "visionary director" in the commericals, was in over his head, I think. He often tried to simply dump parts of the graphic novel into the movie, stuff that should have been adapted instead. For example, some of the lengthy narration that went on. I was okay with the inclusion of Rorschach's journal as a voice over, but when Doctor Manhatten started doing voice overs as well, it just detracted.

But the times that Snyder tried to adapt the material, he did it in a ham-fisted way. For example, Laurie's conversation with Doctor Manhatten on Mars. In the original, this is a great scene, with the conversation slowly teasing out a major revelation from Laurie. In the movie, it's just dumped in with a magical zap.

And while artistic license is a thing that can and should be exercised, the few times the writers of the screenplay used it, I think they weakened the story. For example, the ending and the lack of the squid (if you don't understand, go read the graphic novel. It's worth it). What the writers came up with instead would have caused more problems than it would have solved. It's hard to go into here without revealing spoilers. Another example: how Walter Kovacs truly became Rorschach. It was a lot more clever and powerful in the graphic novel. In the movie, it was just needlessly gross.

Which brings me to another gripe. It seems that Snyder decided to just amp up the sex and violence to the nth degree. Now there is a lot of violence and some sex in the source material, but in the graphic novel, it's more the hint of the true violence, and the sex happens, by and large, off screen, so to speak. Not in Snyder's version. Bursting entrails, graphic sex scenes, it was way over the top and, I thought, unnecessary.

There were definitely some bright spots to the movie. Jackie Earle Haley's portrayal of the pscyhopathic Rorschach was spot on and great. He was awesome. And a lot of the fight scenes were well choreographed. But someone really needs to take away Zack Snyder's slow-motion button. He can have it back after he makes a full movie without it.

So should you see it? Hard to say. I wasn't impressed. Maybe you will be.

What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church?

A friend of mine found this and posted it to his Facebook account. Interesting food for thought.

Validation

Just a fun little movie for your Tuesday. I found this one through the "Best of YouTube" podcast. Doesn't matter. I liked it.

The Infinite Day

This one took me a while to read. Not surprising since Chris Walley's The Infinte Day weighs in at a whopping 576 pages. It was a hefty book to work through.

The story picks up where The Dark Foundations left off. Commander Merral D'Avanos is heading off to the Dominion to rescue the thirty hostages kidnaped by the Margrave Lezaroth. That's a troubling prospect since that means they'll need to travel through Below Space, a realm of grayness where evil lurks around every corner.

But that's not the only problem they're facing. Another group has left the planet Farholme and is headed toward Ancient Earth. And none of them are friendly toward Merral and what he's trying to accomplish. What kind of impact will they have at the heart of the Assembly?

And then there's the Dominion itself. Lord-emperor Nezhuala is preparing his forces to invade the Assembly. What plans does he have for God's people and what, exactly, is the Blade of Night supposed to do?

If you're a regular reader of my blog (one of the two or three), you know that I was a bit ambivalent toward the first book in this series but I absolutely loved the second. So I was quite anxious to get my hands on this book and see how the series wrapped up. On the whole, I was satisfied with the book but it wasn't the best of the three.

Part of the problem were a few story choices that Walley made throughout. Call it "Monday morning quarterbacking," if you will (I'd love to find out what Vero would make of that phrase), but as I read, I kept trying to guess what Walley was going to do. There were a few times when what I guessed seemed a lot more fun and interesting. It's not that I think what Walley came up with is "wrong," but they weren't choices I would have made. It's a personal thing.

There were a few points when Walley also made some craft choices that bugged me. Toward the end, he popped into "narrator mode" and spoke directly to the reader. He did this toward the end of the book and, seeing as he hadn't done it before then or in either of the other two books, it was a bit jarring. It might have been better to fold the information into the story somehow.

I also had a theological problem with the way the conflict with the Dominion ultimately ended. I wish I could go into detail, but if I do, I'll basically drop a massive spoiler right here. Not gonna do it. Let's just say that it seems like Walley was saying that humanity pulled a trigger that only God should have had access to. I hope that's ambiguous enough.

All of this is not to say that I didn't enjoy this book. I really, really did. It was great to see how Walley created this futuristic world. What was really cool for me was the fact that he did so using post-millennial theology as a basis for his story. Seeing as so much eschatological fiction is based on dispensational premillennialism, this was a breath of fresh air. And, I have to say, his depiction of the rapture was so, so right. So right.

The last thing I have to say is this: I still do not understand why this series is classed as "fantasy." It's so not. It's science fiction, through and through. Sure, there are fantastical elements to it (such as the Below Space manifestations and Nezhuala's powers), but those simply added color to the story.

Whatever. Not important, I suppose. What does matter is that this is a great series. If you're a fan of Christian speculative fiction, you'll want to read the whole thing.

Theological Doink Doink

You know, I was really worried when I saw that tonight's episode of Law and Order was going to revolve around some sort of Christian belief. Law and Order hasn't always been friendly toward the faith or Christian values.

But watching a case revolve around dispensational premillennialism? Maybe it's just me, but I liked it.

CSFF Blog Tour: Cyndere's Midnight Day Three

You know, as phenomenal as Jeffrey Overstreet's Cyndere's Midnight is, I've got nothing today. Not a single thing. Well, that's not true. I've got a few ideas rattling around in the far recesses of my brain about how Auralia's colors seem to have a shalom-producing effect on the inhabitants of the Expanse (and I'm deliberately using the Hebrew word for peace here for a reason). The problem is, my mind's a bit scattered right now and I can't get those thoughts to sit still for long enough to put them into any coherent order.

So I'll just ask you, dear reader, a question: have you bought these books yet? And if not, why not? Go. Do so now.

Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Rachel Briard
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Alice M. Roelke
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Jill Williamson

CSFF Blog Tour: Cyndere's Midnight Day Two

One of the reasons why I was looking forward to reading Cyndere's Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet was because I wanted more data to work with on one of the enduring mysteries in the series, namely the identity of the Keeper. If you were around my blog a year ago when we toured Auralia's Colors and you have a phenomenal memory, you might remember that I originally believed that the Keeper was some sort of Christ-figure. Then our wonderful blog tour overlord Rebecca Miller said that Overstreet has said to hold off on identifying the Keeper as a God figure.

This has left me a little puzzled, because to be honest, that identification became a bit more solid. More than that, though. After reading through Auralia's Colors before reading Cyndere's Midnight, I'm beginning to wonder if the Keeper isn't supposed to be the Father and Auralia is supposed to be the Christ figure. Given Auralia's role (limited though it may be) in Cyndere's Midnight, and especially given the way that the ale boy interacts with her memory, that seems more and more likely.

But I'm still tripped up over what Rebecca Miller said. So I've come up with a whacky alternate theory: Auralia isn't Christ. The Keeper isn't God. Instead, the Keeper is the Church. Auralia is a "generic Christian." And the Expanse and its denizens are the unsaved world.

The Keeper is seen as a horrific monster by the denizens of the Expanse. And let's be honest, the Church is seen that way by many non-Christians. Auralia is sent in to confront House Abascar and its lack of color and vibrancy, much the same way that we Christians are sent in to do the same for our friends and neighbors who don't have a relationship with Christ.

Part of the reason why I wonder about this is because there's something missing so far in these books, and that's a codified religion that is an obvious parallel to Christianity and/or Judaism. As such, it's hard to really make everything fit.

Not that that's a complaint. I tend to overthink stuff like this. You don't have to agree with my new, silly theory. But you can bet I'll be waiting for Cal-raven's Ladder to see what further brushstrokes are added to the theological portrait.

Go and see what the other tourists have to say this month:

Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Rachel Briard
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Alice M. Roelke
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Jill Williamson

CSFF Blog Tour: Cyndere's Midnight Day One

I've been looking forward to this one for a while now. After reading Auralia's Colors a little over a year ago, I've been looking forward to heading back to the Expanse. And with Jeffrey Overstreet's latest book, Cyndere's Midnight, we get to go back to that fascinating realm.

The story picks up a few months after the first book leaves off. The survivors of House Abascar are clinging to existence in the Blackstone Caves. But the story itself focuses around the House Bel Amica. Cyndere, the "crown princess" for that house, and her consort, Deuneroi, have big plans for the beastmen of former House Cent Regus. But Deuneroi, on a trip to the ruins of Abascar, gets killed.

This sends Cyndere into a tailspin. She eventually retreats to an old Bel Amican fortress called Tilianpurth. Her family and friends believe it's to find some healing. In reality, it's to carry on her dreams.

This brings her into contact with Jordam, a Cent Regus beastman with a difference: he's met Auralia. He's seen her colors. And as a result, he's changing. This causes him a great deal of strife, for he's in a pack with three of his brothers. One of them, Mordafey, has big plans for himself and the rest of the Cent Regus, one that could topple everything Cyndere is working for and threatens to destroy House Abascar a second time.

There wasn't as much mystery in this book, but that's okay. For me, the description of the Cent Regus beastmen and their history was fascinating, especially when the Four Brothers entered the ruins. Overstreet's prose continues to shine through this story and when I was done, I was ready for the next book in the series.

I'm once again a little puzzled by the theology surrounding Auralia and the Keeper, but I'll get into that tomorrow.

You definitely will enjoy this book. Make sure you pick it up soon.

Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Rachel Briard
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Alice M. Roelke
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Jill Williamson

Dollhouse

So I've always been late to the party.

For example: I had heard interesting things about Firefly when it actually aired but I never bothered to watch it. Then a few months ago, I found the entire series on DVD and watched it all in a week. And then I spent a few months kicking myself because I had missed it.

Another example: Pushing Daisies. I heard good reviews and my wife insisted I had to watch it. I didn't, not at first. Then I eventually started watching and loving what I saw. Just in time for it to be cancelled.

So when I heard about Dollhouse, I was bound and determined not to miss out on a show, especially one created by Joss Whedon (see my first example above and, while we're at it, Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog). I didn't get a chance to watch it until just now.

For those unfamiliar with the show and its concept, Echo is an "active," an agent for an underground and illegal organization. They send out the actives after programming them with skills, personalities, and memories for various "engagements." Sometimes they're basically escorts. Other times, they're assassins. In the premiere, Echo acted as a negotiator/profiler to help recover a kidnaped little girl.

But there are flies in the ointment. First of all, there is an FBI agent determined to track down the organization and shut it down. And apparently, there's an "active" named Alpha who's a loose cannon.

After watching the premiere, my initial reaction is a bit of skepticism. The concept of this organization is a little hard to swallow. The FBI agent's superior made a good point: if all you want is an escort or an assassin, why go through all the trouble to hire one that's been programmed the way Echo and her compatriots are? I'm hoping that this question will get answered in more detail in future episodes, but let's just say that my suspended disbelief rattled its cage a few times.

I'm also worried about how well Eliza Dushku will fare in this role. It's hard to say after watching her switch into three personalities in one episode (a guy's perfect date, the negotiator, and the "blank" Echo). If Echo really is going to become different people each episode, that's going to take a lot of talent. This whole show is going to hang on Dushku's ability; if she can't pull it off, things might flounder.

There were bright spots. Echo's handler, Boyd Langton (played by Harry Lennix), will be interesting to watch. From what I gather, Langton was a cop who somehow wound up working at the Dollhouse. He had obvious problems with Echo's "engagement" this week; I'm expecting further conflict between him and his superiors.

I'm also thinking that exploring the Alpha subplot will be a blast as well.

Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to watching this one from the beginning. Hopefully it will live up to my expectations. And hopefully it'll be a good, long ride.

Escape from City 17

I've mentioned before on my blog that I'm a video game fan. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em. One of the best first-person shooters I've played is Half-Life 2 and its attendant episodes. Personally, I'm looking forward to Half-Life 2 Episode 3, since they seem to be promising that we'll be able to play with the Portal gun. If that sentence made no sense to you, sorry.

So today, I logged on to Steam and I saw an ad for a video series that some Half-Life fans had put together. I now present it to you. Just to warn you, there is some violence and language issues.

Normally I'm not a fan of fanfic. But if all of it was this great in terms of quality, well, I would have to change my opinion.

The Shack

So I keep hearing about this book, this controversial book about a man who meets God out in a shack. Some people love it. Some people despise it. And to be honest, I had a hard time bringing myself to care about this controversy. I mean, let's face it. Literary brouhahas come and go pretty quickly. How often do people really argue about The DaVinci Code anymore?

But then some of my congregation members started asking me about it. And then my organist bought me a copy for Christmas. And I realized that, in spite of my ambivalence, I would have to read Wm. Paul Young's The Shack.

And so here I am, having just finished this book about a man named Mack who was in desperate need of healing. His daughter was killed by a serial killer and Mack becomes withdrawn and wrapped in The Great Sadness. And then he receives an odd invitation. He's asked to return to the shack where his daughter died. The note is signed by "Papa," the nickname his wife has for God.

And so Mack heads out to the shack, where he encounters God. And God is interested in healing Mack and teaching him more about Him.

Now I can understand why some people might be upset about Young's book. His portrayal of God is a bit unusual. I'll admit I was a bit perplexed by his Holy Spirit, especially her name, Sarayu. But even that was explained. And yes, Young's attitude toward organized religion is pretty obvious and that might rankle those of us who are part of the organization.

But really, I didn't see anything all that shocking. Sure, if you wanted to use this as a theological textbook, there might be problems. If you gave someone this book as the be-all and end-all of learning what it means to be a follower of Christ, they would receive a skewed impression. And sure, you can take stuff out of context and create big scary theological monsters, but really, it boils down to one man's ruminations on God and faith. Keeping it within that context makes it a thought-provoking read.

That doesn't mean that I'm all ga-ga over it. It was an average book, and one that had craft problems. The opening foreword was a massive info dump, stuff that should have been worked into the rest of the text. Young resorts to a lot of telling instead of showing. And most maddening to me is his constant need to both capitalize and italicize The Great Sadness. You can tell that this began life as a self-published book and in this case, that's not good.

So I guess I don't get what the big deal is about. Sure, it gave me a few interesting insights on God that will hopefully help my faith grow. And in the end, that's not too bad.

New in Town

This afternoon, I went to see New In Town, the romantic comedy set in New Ulm, Minnesota. It follows the story of Lucy Hill, a corporate executive from a food company based in Miami who is sent to New Ulm in the middle of winter. Her job is to downsize a factory and automate it. It's a typical fish-out-of-water story, complete with hunky Ted Mitchell (played by Harry Connick Jr.) as the local union rep who gets under Lucy's skin.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how Lucy was portrayed. I mean, I thought it was nothing short of a miracle that the director was able to get a clay golem animated by an ancient kaballistic spell to act with such an emotional range.

Wait, that was Renee Zellweger? Oh. Well, that changes things.

All kidding aside, this was a horrible movie. Let's start positive. There were two bright spots, and they were Siobhan Fallon and a surprisingly rotund J.K. Simmons. Their characters were great (even if Fallon's Blanche was a ridiculous stereotype; more on that in a moment).

But we can't remain positive forever or for even very long with this movie. For starters, there's Zellweger's Lucy, a shrieking harridan of a character with absolutely no redeeming or endearing qualities. I get that she's supposed to be a corporate shark. I do. But there wasn't a trace of human warmth in her for most of the movie. That's probably why she didn't like Minnesota so much. Someone that cold blooded would risk death if they set foot in our state.

Which brings me to my biggest beef with this movie. Was this really supposed to be set in New Ulm? I get it, filming in Minnesota can be a bit expensive. I recently read an article that said that Minnesota hasn't kept up with surrounding states when it comes to giving breaks to movie makers. So it makes fiscal sense for Hollywood to head up to Winnipeg. But you'd think that they'd send some people to get a feel for what the real New Ulm is like.

Apparently not, though. The movie's New Ulm is ridiculous. It's portrayed as a dinky little town with a single main drag, a community where if the yogurt plant closes, everything will go down the tubes. Everyone wears flannel. TVs only get shows from the '50s. And everyone speaks with the stereotypical Minnesota accent, doncha know?

Small problem: that's not even close to the real New Ulm. I have family in New Ulm. I've been there a number of times. Where was Dr. Martin Luther College? Where was the statue of Hermann the German? And why, in a town founded primarily by German immigrants, does most everyone speak with a Norweigian accent that most Minnesotans only bust out to tell Ole and Lena jokes? Simply put, the New Ulm in the movie is nothing like the real one, which is odd since this movie is supposedly based on a real story.

What's more disturbing to me is that Hollywood seems to assume that a trip to a small town in southern Minnesota (not northern, you imbeciles!) wouldn't just be a trip across country, it'd also be a voyage back in time. The movie is riddled with stereotypes (Fallon's Blanche one of them), hollow characters that lack depth.

The real tragedy of this movie is that there are so many missed opportunities. It's pretty clear that Ted Mitchell's daughter Bobbie isn't too keen on Lucy when she first arrives. Why not explore that tension a bit? It was obvious that Flo, the town's diner's waitress, really doesn't like Lucy, yet she only appears twice. Given that the run time is only 97 minutes, they had some wiggle room to develop some of these dead ends.

Some might consider this movie a love letter from Hollywood to small town America. If that's what it's supposed to be, the message delivered is actually the title of another movie out right now: he's just not that into you.

The Wrestler

I usually am not an "Oscar" sucker. I'll go see the movies I want to see and if they wind up getting an Oscar nod, great! I think this is the first time that I've ever gone and seen a film because of its award ceremony buzz.

That isn't to say that I wouldn't have gone to see The Wrestler unless it hadn't generated such buzz. I know I've admitted to this before, but I am a professional wrestling fan. So I would have wanted to go see this anyway. But when I found out that the critics were falling in love with this performance, when talk of Oscars started floating around, I realized I had to go see this. And so I patiently waited for this film to make it to the Twin Cities so I could.

I'm glad I went and saw it. While the story's end was telegraphed from about a third of the way in, it was still heart warming and wrenching to watch as Randy "The Ram" Robinson tries to cope with a life outside the ring. He still wrestles against much younger men. He attends signings where his fellow wrestlers are in wheelchairs and wearing catheters. And he desperately seeks out contact with someone, anyone, who will accept him as Randy and not "The Ram."

I recently read an article by a critic that focused on that aspect of the film, how so many of the characters are looking for simple connections between each other, connections that would affirm their identities. It's also the story of a man who clings to something for too long, so long that it consumes him and becomes his identity.

But for me, what really stood out was how desperately professional wrestling needs to upgrade the way they treat the wrestlers. Especially the big names. Especially the biggest company of them all.

Another reviewer said that as he watched this movie, he said that the "ghosts" of deceased wrestlers like Eddie Guerrera and Chris Benoit came to watch with him. I thought he was being a bit melodramatic until I was sitting in the theater and Eddie came and sat down next to me as well.

Lets face it. Professional wrestling is a cruel business. While the stories and feuds are "fake" and scripted, while the moves are done with safety in mind, it's still a dangerous sport where people can get injured and even killed because of what happens to them in the ring. What's truly sad is that there are probably plenty of men like "The Ram," men who tried to make their fortune in the ring, got a little taste of fame and money, and then lost it all and are now trying to deal with the consequences of their lifestyle. It's a shame that they don't have a better system set up to help them.

So should you go see the movie? If you're a wrestling fan, definitely. If you're curious about the hype, do so. It's definitely worth it.

The Future of Publishing?

This past weekend, TIME magazine published a thought-provoking article about modern book publishing. I offer it as food for thought.

It's not entirely surprising what it says. I've heard that the publishing industry has been hurting lately. But it certainly does make me wonder what the industry will look like a decade from now.

Perhaps we'll see more companies like this one.

CSFF Blog Tour: The Book of Names Day Three

One of the central themes of The Book of Names centers around the idea of names, oddly enough. It's not just the titular object that I'm talking about. Briggs seems to base some of his book's idea on the ancient idea that names carry power.

This is actually an idea that pops up in the Bible. Remember Exodus 3? God shows up in a burning bush and tells Moses to head back to Egypt. Before he goes, though, Moses has a question for God: "Suppose I do go and tell the Israelites that You sent me. What if they ask me what Your name is? What should I tell them?" God's answer is the cryptic "I Am Who I Am."

One of the reasons why God might have answered that way is because of what the ancient Egyptians believed. Names have power. If you knew a person's true name, you had power over them. For example, the goddess Isis once gained power over Ra, the supreme god, by learning his true name. It's entirely possible that Moses, with his Egyptian education, asked God what His name was as a back-up position. If he knew God's true name, he could try to control Him.

That's why God replies with the enigmatic "I Am Who I Am" (which is even more cryptic in the original Hebrew; the grammar is a bit vague). He lets Moses know that He can't be controlled by human beings. He's no genie in a bottle.

This idea of names being a part of us reminded me of something I often say when I perform baptisms. All of us are born with a true name, one that describes us fully. That name is "Sinner." But because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, God can and will change our names to "Christian." Our new name becomes a part of us and changes our destiny.

Anyway, there we go. A little sermonic rambling for your Wednesday. Go see what the other tourists have to say:

Sally Apokedak
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Rachel Briard
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Timothy Hicks
Joleen Howell
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Alice M. Roelke
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Timothy Wise

CSFF Blog Tour: The Book of Names Day Two

While I enjoyed The Book of Names once I got into it, there was one thing that kept me a bit uncomfortably almost to the very end. Simply put, Briggs's foundation for his story seems to be a sort of blend between Christianity and Norse mythology. I can't be sure since I've never really studied Norse mythology, but what little I know seems to suggest a connection. For example, Cruedwyn Creed's sword was apparently enchanted by Loki. And many of the mythic names that crop up in the story seem to have a Norse flavor to them.

This disturbed me a little at first. Should we really be blending our faith with pagan beliefs?

But then I realized that I was being a little hypocritical. One of my favorite C.S. Lewis books is Til We Have Faces. For those of you unfamiliar with that tale, Lewis retells the story of Psyche and Cupid with a decidedly Christian twist. Once I realized that, I set my trepidation aside and my enjoyment for the book went up.

I remember a few years ago, fellow Blog tourist Mirtika once challenged us to take one of Aesop's fables (about foxes, if I remember correctly) and then locate Bible verses dealing with foxes to come up with the seeds of a story's plot. I'm afraid I didn't participate that time, but I did purchase a few books on mythology at the time, intending to mine them for ideas. I didn't follow through on that either, but reading The Book of Names made my eyes wander to the shelves and think, "That might not be a bad idea after all."

There is one caveat in all of this. It's my belief that we have to be careful when using mythology as a foundation for our stories that we don't allow the myths to overshadow or twist our Christian beliefs. I say this because there was one thing in The Book of Names that made me a bit confused. In this book, the Christ-analogue seems to be named Aion. There were a few times where Briggs mentions that Aion has come and will come to Karac Tor a total of nine times. Needless to say, that made me a bit confused. But I suppose it may work differently in alternate realities.

Whatever. I'm thinking I might need to start pulling down those mythology books soon. Who's with me?

Before you do, though, make sure that you go and visit the other blogs on the tour and see what the other tourists have to say:

Sally Apokedak
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Rachel Briard
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Timothy Hicks
Joleen Howell
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Alice M. Roelke
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Timothy Wise

CSFF Blog Tour: The Book of Names Day One

This month, we're considering The Book of Names by D. Barkley Briggs, a Young Adult fantasy series.

It's the story of the Barlow brothers. They've recently moved to a small farm in Missouri with their professor father. The transition is a difficult one, but Hadyn and Ewan, the two older brothers, discover a strange runestone, one that transports them to a place called Karac Tor. They're told that they could be heroes summoned to help a troubled land. For a mighty sorceress is stealing the names of young people in attempt to unleash a great evil. Will Hadyn and Ewan be able to find their way home again, or will they be consumed by the ever growing evil?

It took me a while to get into this book. I don't know why that is, but once I did, it was worth it. Briggs crafts a rich world with a fascinating spiritual hierarchy (the Whites, the Blacks, and the Grays). His characters are fun to follow, especially as Hadyn and Ewan learn that they have special abilities in Karac Tor.

Personally, my favorite character is Cruedwyn Creed, a swashbuckling warrior with a rather interesting blade. He always kept me laughing to the very end.

It's definitely worth a read. I know I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, Corus the Champion.

Go and check out what the rest of the tourists have to say:

Sally Apokedak
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Rachel Briard
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Timothy Hicks
Joleen Howell
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Alice M. Roelke
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Timothy Wise