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icepixieIt would be wrong to just read the half- or one-page prose "Argument" (aka "summary") Milton put at the beginning of each book of Paradise Lost and skip the actual poem bits. Despite how very tempting it is, it would be wrong, especially since I'm partway through Book 9 at this point anyway, and only have three and a half more to go.
But oh, God, it's tempting.
*
Inspired by a post from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
asinpterodactyl, I picked up Mairelon the Magician and Magician's Ward, both by Patricia C. Wrede, from the library today when I was there on another futile search for newspaper articles relating to my P&T paper topic. I read the second of those books a few years ago, but never quite twigged that it was a sequel, or never bothered to get the first book, or something. Anyway, they're highly entertaining, particularly since I know the ending of the second book, and it's adorable.
I realized about fifty pages in that Mairelon and Kim could easily be the Doctor and Rose in an AU (or vice-versa, of course). The characters and relationship between them are remarkably similar. David Tennant is absolutely my mental version of Mairelon. Kim is less like Rose/Billie--she owes more to Eliza Doolittle than anything--but it still works. Hooray for cuteness!
*
I got more of my hair chopped off yesterday than I'd really planned. It's at least as short, possibly shorter, than it was when I came back from Thanksgiving sophomore year. It's not a bad haircut--it's very spring-like--but is a bit irritating in that the sides won't stay tucked behind my ears very well. It'll be about a month before they grow the quarter-inch or so necessary for that to work. Until then, I suppose I should invest in barettes. Hmph.
I managed to floor the lady who cut my hair when I told her I was about to graduate from college. She'd thought I was fifteen, sixteen at the most, and on break from high school. Oil of Olay really ought to hire me for their ad campaigns.
*
I got purple shoes today. Well, grey and purple, but whatever. Yay purple! Also a skirt that's plum, rust, and gold, which I love, but cannot find a top to go with. But I'd been eyeing it every time I went into Kohl's for the better part of a year, and it was $7, so... Maybe tomorrow I can find something at another store.
*
Hey, here's an icon that fits pretty much all the topics of this post in various ways... (Ask me why and you'll get a long reply on the glory that is Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. C'mon, you know you wanna.)
But oh, God, it's tempting.
*
Inspired by a post from
asinpterodactyl, I picked up Mairelon the Magician and Magician's Ward, both by Patricia C. Wrede, from the library today when I was there on another futile search for newspaper articles relating to my P&T paper topic. I read the second of those books a few years ago, but never quite twigged that it was a sequel, or never bothered to get the first book, or something. Anyway, they're highly entertaining, particularly since I know the ending of the second book, and it's adorable.I realized about fifty pages in that Mairelon and Kim could easily be the Doctor and Rose in an AU (or vice-versa, of course). The characters and relationship between them are remarkably similar. David Tennant is absolutely my mental version of Mairelon. Kim is less like Rose/Billie--she owes more to Eliza Doolittle than anything--but it still works. Hooray for cuteness!
*
I got more of my hair chopped off yesterday than I'd really planned. It's at least as short, possibly shorter, than it was when I came back from Thanksgiving sophomore year. It's not a bad haircut--it's very spring-like--but is a bit irritating in that the sides won't stay tucked behind my ears very well. It'll be about a month before they grow the quarter-inch or so necessary for that to work. Until then, I suppose I should invest in barettes. Hmph.
I managed to floor the lady who cut my hair when I told her I was about to graduate from college. She'd thought I was fifteen, sixteen at the most, and on break from high school. Oil of Olay really ought to hire me for their ad campaigns.
*
I got purple shoes today. Well, grey and purple, but whatever. Yay purple! Also a skirt that's plum, rust, and gold, which I love, but cannot find a top to go with. But I'd been eyeing it every time I went into Kohl's for the better part of a year, and it was $7, so... Maybe tomorrow I can find something at another store.
*
Hey, here's an icon that fits pretty much all the topics of this post in various ways... (Ask me why and you'll get a long reply on the glory that is Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. C'mon, you know you wanna.)
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-16 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-16 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-16 05:03 am (UTC)Patricia C. Wrede is one of my favorite authors. I just adore both the work and the lady herself to pieces. She's an absolute class act...she at least used to post on the AOL message boards for writing quite a lot, and offer fantastic advice. I even e-mailed her with a question for a report I was working on in high school, and got a great reply.
If you've not read her other works, I'd recommend...well, everything, but right now the only ones that seem to be reasonably easy to find in print are...
1) The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Hilarious fantasy/spoof that start off (in "Dealing With Dragons") with a princess bored to death of not being allowed to actually DO anything, so she runs off to live with a dragon. Her adventures continue in "Searching for Dragons", "Calling on Dragons", and "Talking to Dragons". Plus a short story set after those is in Wrede's "Book of Enchantments" collection.
2) "Sorcery & Cecilia" and "The Grand Tour". These two are cowritten by Wrede and Caroline Stevermer...and while they never specifically mention Mairelon, seem to be set in the same England, with the Royal College of Wizards and all. They're written in the form of letters going back and forth between two cousins (each author wrote for one of them, it started out as a game between them, which I think is awesome)...it took me a little to get used to the style, but once I did I found it fabulous. The first book certainly...actually, the second is still in my to-read stack. :?P There's an admitted Jane Austen influence here, but the characters kick butt, so I don't think that should be a problem for you. *g*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-16 06:56 pm (UTC)After graduation, I think I'll be picking up the others.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-17 04:34 am (UTC)"So many books, so little time" is far too true!
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Date: 2006-03-17 07:07 pm (UTC)"So many books, so little time" is far too true!
Good Lord, yes.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-16 02:57 pm (UTC)Now that The Grand Tour is out, and there's going to be another sequel this fall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Wrede), I really need to reread Sorcery & Cecilia, just to refresh my memory.
Were you the one who originally recommended Jonathan Strange to me? For the life of me, I can't remember who it was.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-16 06:59 pm (UTC)I need to look into her other books.
Were you the one who originally recommended Jonathan Strange to me? For the life of me, I can't remember who it was.
It's possible. I read most of it over Christmas break, and I think I was finishing it up during the first week of classes. I recommended it to several people during that time.