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The Alchemy of Stone

A fascinating exploration of freewill versus dependence. This book was so beautifully written, I did not want it to end. Four, self wound, clockwork stars.

The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1)

Sandersen not only saves the WoT series, but writes amazing action fantasy to boot. Four very satisfied stars.

A Darkness Forged in Fire: Book One of the Iron Elves

Poor character development and ungainly pacing mar this otherwise exciting story. The refreshing change of setting for a fantasy novel is not a gimmick, it really adds a lot. Two stars.

Ugh, third time I tried the NaNoWriMo, and third time I failed. I’m still writing more than I’ve been in the last few years. I’m putting together the last two scenes in a short story I started back in August. I’m pretty excited about this one. I’ll no doubt post it here when I’m done.

In 2005 and again in 2008 I attempted to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge, and came up short both years. 2005 I was deployed, so getting the right time to devote to writing was almost impossible. And in 2008 I just ran out of steam, in the first week, and didn’t come even a little but close to completing.

But it’s a new year. I’ve done significantly more writing this year than I did last, and I feel more solid about my skills.

However, I have no story. The story I attempted in 2005 was so under developed, that I just started from scratch and tried it again in 2008. While I didn’t get far in 2008 with it, I did get far enough that I couldn’t really justify picking up where I left off, that would be cheating. So I need to come up with something else I guess.

I’m considering online plot generators or even just character generators and go from there. Oddly enough, for the moment, I don’t have any spare characters just sitting around collecting dust, waiting for a story. But there are a few things I’d like to avoid this year. Vampires, out. Zombies, definitely fucking out. Fey folk, probably out. Elves, dwarves, halflings, out. What’s left? I’ve nothing against fantasy, and while I wasn’t completely wowed by China Miéville’s, “Perdido Street Station,” I did like that it wasn’t bound to many of the standards (maybe clichés?) of fantasy fiction. Or at least the ones I’ve restricted myself to in the past.

So, I got to get to it. Only like 10 days to go to get brain storming, and character creating, and world building, and all that fun shit before I get to the frustration that is actually writing.