Thursday, 2 August 2012
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Ilona Andrews – Kate Daniels books
Compendium of Vampire Typological Traits and General Characterization in Contemporary Fantasy Novels
Part 6
Ilona Andrews – Kate Daniels books
Overview:
“The world has suffered a magic apocalypse. We pushed the technological progress too far, and now magic returned with a vengeance. It comes in waves, without warning, and vanishes as suddenly as it appears. When magic is up, planes drop out of the sky, cars stall, electricity dies. When magic is down, guns work and spells fail.
It’s a volatile, screwed-up world. Magic feeds on technology, gnawing down on skyscrappers until most of them topple and fall, leaving only skeletal husks behind. Monsters prowl the ruined streets, werebears and werehyenas stalk their prey; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.
In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But sometimes even trained killers make friends and fall in love, and when the universe tries to kick them in the face, they kick back.”
[Source]
What is vampirism?
Vampirism is a viral disease that kills the host and transforms it into a senseless, soulless, moving body with empty brain and just one intent left – kill any- and everything alive. Left to their own devises, vampires would kill until nothing alive would remain on earth and then starve to extinction.
However, their dead, empty brain is ideally suited for necromancers. They are used as one might an avatar in a computer game or a puppet – by taking control over brain and piloting these creatures for any number of nefarious – or mundane – reasons. They are very resilient against physical hardships, making them ideal tools for safely approaching and entering high risk sites and situations while the pilots themselves do not leave the safety of their homes or offices many miles away.
Obviously, not every person is suited to become a necromancer which seems to require a very specific brand of magic. Selective few undergo lengthy, intensive training process provided by necromancers’ organization called ‘The People’, the most talented of them become ‘Masters of the Dead’ (equivalent in our world could be branch manager in a large corporation). The purpose and main goals of this organization so far is unclear.
Part 6
Ilona Andrews – Kate Daniels books
Overview:
“The world has suffered a magic apocalypse. We pushed the technological progress too far, and now magic returned with a vengeance. It comes in waves, without warning, and vanishes as suddenly as it appears. When magic is up, planes drop out of the sky, cars stall, electricity dies. When magic is down, guns work and spells fail.
It’s a volatile, screwed-up world. Magic feeds on technology, gnawing down on skyscrappers until most of them topple and fall, leaving only skeletal husks behind. Monsters prowl the ruined streets, werebears and werehyenas stalk their prey; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.
In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But sometimes even trained killers make friends and fall in love, and when the universe tries to kick them in the face, they kick back.”
[Source]
What is vampirism?
Vampirism is a viral disease that kills the host and transforms it into a senseless, soulless, moving body with empty brain and just one intent left – kill any- and everything alive. Left to their own devises, vampires would kill until nothing alive would remain on earth and then starve to extinction.
However, their dead, empty brain is ideally suited for necromancers. They are used as one might an avatar in a computer game or a puppet – by taking control over brain and piloting these creatures for any number of nefarious – or mundane – reasons. They are very resilient against physical hardships, making them ideal tools for safely approaching and entering high risk sites and situations while the pilots themselves do not leave the safety of their homes or offices many miles away.
Obviously, not every person is suited to become a necromancer which seems to require a very specific brand of magic. Selective few undergo lengthy, intensive training process provided by necromancers’ organization called ‘The People’, the most talented of them become ‘Masters of the Dead’ (equivalent in our world could be branch manager in a large corporation). The purpose and main goals of this organization so far is unclear.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Metric Time
April the 1st in history:
1975:
Australia's This Day Tonight news program revealed that the country would soon be converting to "metric time." Under the new system there would be 100 seconds to the minute, 100 minutes to the hour, and 20-hour days. Furthermore, seconds would become millidays, minutes become centidays, and hours become decidays. The report included an interview with Deputy Premier Des Corcoran who praised the new time system. The Adelaide townhall was even shown sporting a new 10-hour metric clock face. The thumbnail (found at TelevisionAU.com) shows TDT Adelaide reporter Nigel Starck posing with a smaller metric clock. TDT received numerous calls from viewers who fell for the hoax. One frustrated viewer wanted to know how he could convert his newly purchased digital clock to metric time.
Find more here.
1975:
Australia's This Day Tonight news program revealed that the country would soon be converting to "metric time." Under the new system there would be 100 seconds to the minute, 100 minutes to the hour, and 20-hour days. Furthermore, seconds would become millidays, minutes become centidays, and hours become decidays. The report included an interview with Deputy Premier Des Corcoran who praised the new time system. The Adelaide townhall was even shown sporting a new 10-hour metric clock face. The thumbnail (found at TelevisionAU.com) shows TDT Adelaide reporter Nigel Starck posing with a smaller metric clock. TDT received numerous calls from viewers who fell for the hoax. One frustrated viewer wanted to know how he could convert his newly purchased digital clock to metric time.Find more here.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
I don't know if I'm happy or annoyed with myself for not picking up this book earlier. I've had it for ages. It's bloody brilliant.
All the same, I'm over the middle right now and can't wait to find out how it all ends. The temptation to leaf to the end and have a quick peek is great. I'm resisting.
Nothing much really happens in this book. It takes place in GB in modern times. It's just a life of a girl, called Polly, from age 10 to 19. Only one day, at 19, she suddenly discovers that she's got another set of memories in her head - a set she'd completely forgotten and didn't know about. About people, things she'd done, strange things, too. And now, she's remembering.
And there's this person, Tom. He's a grownup, ordinary man, who she met when she was 10 at a funeral, of all places.
They took a liking to each other, and started playing a game - "Let's pretend you're not you". They invented that Polly would be assistant-hero in training, and Tom - a hero in training, and they'd tell each other stories how those two would kill dragons, fight wizards etc. Sometimes, when they are together, these stories almost come true, in a sort of and round-about way. Polly and Tom are not sure they want to believe it's not a coincidence.
And then there is the family of Tom's ex-wife. Seems right nasty people. And also seems they are somehow controlling Tom, and they don't like Tom's friendship with Polly. They hate it, actually. And they can do stuff to split them up and hurt them, strange stuff. Like making garbage flow together into a great, ugly shape-monster and pursue them. Or make Polly's mom hate her and put her out of home (that one ends well, Polly gets to live with her grandmother). Or bring to life tin-armour in an amusement fair's House of Horrors, and attack them. Yes. Well. As I said before, strange stuff.
And that's how far I've gotten. And I think they won't be talking anymore after this last incident - there were hints about it earlier. And Polly will forget everything - how? Why?
I want to find out all the answers. That's a DWJ's book, she usually gives out all the explanations in the very last chapter, along with a grand-finale scene where almost every character participates. That's her thing.
And I love her style in this book. It's very languid and unhurried, with ample amount of strangeness, action and tension. Her readers are kept guessing and waiting impatiently to get back to reading.
All the same, I'm over the middle right now and can't wait to find out how it all ends. The temptation to leaf to the end and have a quick peek is great. I'm resisting.
Nothing much really happens in this book. It takes place in GB in modern times. It's just a life of a girl, called Polly, from age 10 to 19. Only one day, at 19, she suddenly discovers that she's got another set of memories in her head - a set she'd completely forgotten and didn't know about. About people, things she'd done, strange things, too. And now, she's remembering.
And there's this person, Tom. He's a grownup, ordinary man, who she met when she was 10 at a funeral, of all places.
They took a liking to each other, and started playing a game - "Let's pretend you're not you". They invented that Polly would be assistant-hero in training, and Tom - a hero in training, and they'd tell each other stories how those two would kill dragons, fight wizards etc. Sometimes, when they are together, these stories almost come true, in a sort of and round-about way. Polly and Tom are not sure they want to believe it's not a coincidence.
And then there is the family of Tom's ex-wife. Seems right nasty people. And also seems they are somehow controlling Tom, and they don't like Tom's friendship with Polly. They hate it, actually. And they can do stuff to split them up and hurt them, strange stuff. Like making garbage flow together into a great, ugly shape-monster and pursue them. Or make Polly's mom hate her and put her out of home (that one ends well, Polly gets to live with her grandmother). Or bring to life tin-armour in an amusement fair's House of Horrors, and attack them. Yes. Well. As I said before, strange stuff.
And that's how far I've gotten. And I think they won't be talking anymore after this last incident - there were hints about it earlier. And Polly will forget everything - how? Why?
I want to find out all the answers. That's a DWJ's book, she usually gives out all the explanations in the very last chapter, along with a grand-finale scene where almost every character participates. That's her thing.
And I love her style in this book. It's very languid and unhurried, with ample amount of strangeness, action and tension. Her readers are kept guessing and waiting impatiently to get back to reading.
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Friday, 4 December 2009
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Trouble in My Paradise
Something bad happened. My home computer died a gory death, taking along all my files to the deepest pits of oblivion. All. Every each one of them. Including over 8000 e-books. To say I was disappointed would be a huge understatement.
Reason – someone greedy and stupid in my apartment building was stealing electricity. They somehow connected the wires making the electricity meter go backwards. Two hours of such activity reduces a month of usage. Very clever, you say? Maybe, for them.
The rest of the building suffered beyond measure. As it turns out, when one person steals in this way, voltage in other apartments goes up several times, burning almost all electric appliances unless they are disconnected from power network, yes, it even doesn’t matter if they are or aren't turned on.
Luckily (well, considering) for me, I’ve only permanently lost my hard drive and TV which I wasn’t watching all that much in the first place. Old lady next doors also lost her TV, but hers went out with a bang – it burst into flames at
If we discover who this pilfering scum is, it’s pretty safe to say he might very well find himself hanging from a high branch in the courtyard. Our house was positively fuming with badly suppressed rage when it happened. The landlord also wasn’t amused. There’s an investigation going on. I really hope they find out who did it.
This is really uncool.
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