Book Review: Clockwork Lives

I've been reading this book since last year and I just finished it today, so I thought I might as well write a review of the book.

Clockwork Lives {Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart}

Summary from Goodreads

In Clockwork Angels , #1 bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and legendary Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart created a fabulous, adventurous steampunk world in a novel to accompany the smash Rush concept album of the same name. It was a world of airships and alchemy, clockwork carnivals, pirates, lost cities, a rigid Watchmaker who controlled every aspect of life, and his nemesis, the ruthless and violent Anarchist who wanted to destroy it all.

Anderson and Peart have returned to their colourful creation to explore the places and the characters that still have a hold on their imagination. Marinda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village; she long ago gave up on her dreams and ambitions to take care of her ailing father, an alchemist and an inventor. When he dies, he gives Marinda a mysterious inheritance: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories — and ultimately her own.

Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales, and much more, as Marinda strives to change her life from a mere “sentence or two” to a true epic.

"Some lives can be summed up in a sentence or two. Other lives are epics." 

I have a way of picking out books when I want a new read. I go through the library, find the genre that I'm currently interested in, and pull random books in random intervals. I read the back and maybe the first page or two. Usually I end up replacing the book and continue on what might be considered a spiritual journey. When I first picked up When I first picked up Clockwork Lives, it wasn't just because it sounded interesting. I had started my search in the new books section. My fingers danced along the spines of books, grabbing one every so often. I got to the bottom shelves when the book caught my eye. It was a hard cover book with a leather cover and the letters pressed into it. Clockwork Lives the spine read with little symbols where the 'w' and 'v' should have been. I pulled the book to look at it, the look of the spine alone drew me to it. The front was just as gorgeous as the spine. I ran my fingers over the top and felt where the letters had been pressed in. I turned the book over to read the back. The summary grabbed my attention. Something in the back of my mind told me to open the book. I expected plain pages whose words would be the only thing to do that magnificent cover justice. I didn't expect the pages to be just as detailed as the cover. The pages were heavy stock and were crisp. They had a slight tint to them, like parchment paper. The chapter titles were in read and there was a little detailing here and there that added to the book's beauty. After a moment I finally read the first page. The story was interesting and I wanted to read more. So I checked that beautiful book out. Now, months later, I finally finished the book today. I had to finish it on the ebook version because I ran out of renewals at the library. But the formatting of the ebook version was just as beautiful as the physical book. 

I started out worried that the only reason I thought the book was good was because of the thought that went into the physical form of the book. I can confidently say that the story is great and the physical form adds to the experience. The world that Anderson and Peart have created is interesting and beautiful. The development of Merinda's character is so subtle that I only realized that her view on life had changed from what it was, when she herself realized it. The authors' way of describing things and providing imagery wasn't obnoxious or distracting, it was smooth and delivered in a way that blended well with the story. The dialogue added to the personalities of the people Merinda came in contact with. Since Merinda's quest is to collect stories from people, there are moments between chapters that tell the stories of the people she meets paired with an illustration of that person. I'm not going to say much else without ruining the whole thing (seriously if you pay attention to the words, events, and details, you're in for a nice treat at the end). Personally, I loved the book and I'm planning to go back and read the first one, Clockwork Angels. I probably should have mentioned sooner that you don't have to read the first book before you read the second one; it works beautifully as a stand alone book (I actually thought it was a stand alone book before I went digging). Now my goal is get my hands on my own hardcover copy of the book (the amount of thought that went into the design of the book... It's beautiful), so for now, Sanders out.

Timey Wimey (A brief {Not so brief} history of Stranger Things Have Happened)

It just occurred to me that I should probably look and see when I started this blog. So I did. I went back to the first time I posted and discovered that I started this blog in July of 2012, or at least, that was when I wrote on it the first time.

Back then I had a blue theme and my header had a wolf on it. At the time, my blog was called The Alpha's Thoughts: Insights on Life, Politics, Media, and Society. I had a wolf thing going on at the time, so naturally I incorporated wolves into the design of my blog.

The first post I wrote was (is) titled, Stuff Disney Has Ruined. If I recall correctly, I had just happened upon an episode of Jonas LA and had watched it to see where they were in the series. I was expecting a sitcom full of shenanigans and a few jokes and gags. I wasn't expecting the change in tone and pace. Jonas LA had taken a turn for a serious and dramatic feel. Things weren't as upbeat and energized as they were before. I didn't like what they did to the show (obviously since I wrote about it in a post about things Disney has ruined). So I sat down and wrote a short (seriously, it's three sentences) post that echos Jimmy Fallon's thank you notes.

I actually wrote two posts that same day, both about stuff I thought Disney had ruined. The other post was Stuff Disney Has Ruined (pt. 2). That one was about couples and how they turned out (it was also longer than three sentences). I still don't like how Disney handled the couples I mentioned and I don't like how the shows ended either (ok, American Dragon ended sorta okay but Sonny With A Chance kinda started to fall apart towards the end).

While I did post a few more things, it wasn't until December that a thought crossed my mind. Did people read this blog or was I talking to myself? So what do I do? I wrote a few sentences along with the question and posted it. It never occurred to me to look at the stats to check how much traffic and views my blog got. January rolled around and I tried to maintain my blog, which I did sort of, not really. Hey, I had posts so it was updated. Things went on like that for a few more years.

This blog got brought back from the dead in August of last year (2015). Senior year was starting and things were happening. While I didn't make a post until September, The Alpha's Thoughts got a well overdue makeover. The first thing to go was the title. I really didn't like the title any more and I wondered, still wonder, why I named it what I named it. So I did some thinking, read some fan fics, and watched some shows, and I came up with Stranger Things Have Happened. The title and subtitle eventually was changed from The Alpha's Thoughts: Insights on Life, Politics, Media, and Society to Stranger Things Have Happened: An eclectic collection of various things at random moments.

Then I had to change the url to reflect the revamp. I didn't want to just make the url Stranger Things Have Happened, so I went with something that I thought I might never have to really change again, just me just sanders. So the sound of the blog had already grown up some, but I still had the old look. It took me a few weeks before I settled on the background that my blog has now, and it took even longer to get my header right. Finally, the revamp was done and Stranger Things Have Happened was ready to roll.

This blog started out as a place for me to rant about who knows what, it still functions as such a place now. However it has evolved into something that means a lot to me and is something I hope to keep for a long time. This blog now functions as a place where I can go on about the random things in my life, a place where I can share things that I've come across, a place where I can be me and it makes sense to be me. I've grown as a person and this blog now reflects that. I'm proud of the person I've become (even though I'm still growing and changing) and I'm proud of what I've turned this blog into. The point of this post has changed since I typed the first sentence. I started it thinking it would be brief and to the point. But then it evolved into a brief history and next thing I know, it's not even a brief history, it's more like the evolution of this blog (the headline of this post reflects the changes) and to a degree, the evolution of me. I started this blog in 2012, my freshman year. My posts started as quick posts that were to the point. They stayed that way until junior year when I decided to write about an essay given to me by my English teacher the year previous. I only wrote one post that year, mostly because I was being put through my paces at school. I reverted back to my short-to-the-point post style in January to write something for the new year. Now, in my senior year, I'm writing more and longer. Maybe it's because I have something more to say. Maybe it's because I'm more secure in who I am. Who knows. I certainly don't. But I don't care. I'm enjoying writing on my blog and that's all that maters. Sanders out.

Happy [Belated] New Year's!

So I just realized that I didn't do a New Year's post, so I'm doing one now... Better late than never, eh? Anyway, it's 2016, lots of crap went down in 2015, lets see what happens this year.

Resolutions

Short and sweet version: Read some Fleming, watch Bond.

Long version: Read more than 15 books and from there what I can (my Goodreads goal is 20); write more original fiction, but still some fan; stay on top of things and not get behind too much; take pictures and work with film.

Those are my resolutions. I just got a new-to-me film camera. It's a Nikon FG and I love it (I named it Major, like "yes sir, Major General sir"). I've already got the first roll developed, and while I can do the technical stuff, it's a bit different on a film camera than a DSLR. I'm probably going to get myself a neutral density filter so I can shoot with a small f-stop (more light gets let in and shallower depth of field). The neutral density filter will make it darker and less light will be able to get in, countering the effect of the small f-stop, basically sunglasses for my camera.

Taken on my Nikon FG... It was slightly over exposed originally, so I did some editing. Definitely need some practice.

It's also second semester. Last leg of the race, four more months of school then graduation. While I have my college acceptance, I've still got to pass everything to graduate. Senioritis is not going to get me down. I've also got to pick a senior quote for the yearbook... Not sure what it's going to be. I've got a list of Doctor Who quotes and a couple of Sherlock quotes, as well as a few bookend quotes from Criminal Minds.

It's 2016. The year has begun. We have the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to look forward to (it's going to be a mess, more on that later though). We've already lost two great stars, David Bowie and Alan Rickman both age 69 and both died of cancer. Things have already happened in the world as far as ISIS and other crap. But it's also the 50th anniversary that Star Trek first aired. 2016 is off to an interesting start and I can't wait to see what is to come. Happy New Year, Sanders out.

Way back in days of old

There was a legend told,

A legend know as Gaaa-laa-vaaant!

Ok, I'm probably sooo late in figuring out the magic that is Galavant. It's a parody, satire, funny thing that is just hilarious! Season 1 we have Galavant who is the hero thing. And princess Isabella who is the damsel thing. And Sid who is Galavant's squire thing. We see them travel to Isabella's kingdom where Galavant's ex, Madelana is with her husband, King Richard who is a total idiot and is played by Timothy Omudson... Yes, he was Carlton Lassiter on Psych. This character is a turn around from Lassiter who was a serious, no nonsense detective and certainly not an idiot... Ok he had his moments but they weren't often... Like once a season maybe twice not offen. This is a man-child king who is dense and a total idiot. Comedy gold! Anyway I won't give anything away, well I could and it still wouldn't ruin it for you. Right now, I don't know for how long, season 1 is free on iTunes. And it's worth a watch. And at the very end they so sing one final time... This line being among the ones sung... Will all the singing kill our Nielsen ratings?/ Sid, the peasants, the entire crew/ Will they be back for Season two?/ Who knows./ But if there are more shows./ Then off our hero goes./ And so the legend grows./ The legend known as Gaaaaaaaa-laaaaaaaaaa-vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant!!!

So that's Galavant... The musical comedy that just keeps you laughing. It's great I love the parody of the thing. And that's just season 1. Season 2 just premiered and I loved it! Naturally we start off with the new season song making jabs at the Bachelor and other shows, while making jab at the old season song... We're going to have to kill you if you sing that freakin' song,/ It didn't win an Emmy so it's time to move along... With new guests who'll cost the network a fortune. Lol, I love Galavant. I'm all caught up on it. Hope you decide to watch it. If you do, I hope it amuses you as much as it amuses me. Galavant. Can't wait till next Sunday. Sanders out.