Category Archives: thoughts

Review: Jennifer Flath – The Black Pearl

2016-08-09 – 21:33

Black Pearl Cover — Cover for the Black Pearl

“Will it be dangerous?”
“It is not for the faint of heart, and there are no refunds.”
Rin and Alexander (Jennifer Flath – The Black Pearl)

The right book can take you to a faraway place, where the people are familiar in a hundred different ways. The characters become friends, and even after a journey they’ll keep constant company.

The Black Pearl series, by Jennifer Flath, is one of those stories that I began to breathe and look forward to visiting. I still do. It’s like finding an overgrown stone cottage out in a wild spot of forest. It’s one of those places that feels ancient and mystical and timeless. It feels real and unreal at the same time. It’s lovely.

This review covers two completed books in the series: The Black Pearl and The Memory Spell. A third book, The Destiny Detour is currently being published as a chapter-by-chapter web serial. But these tales are focused on a young woman with mysterious presence named Rin. The epic follows her struggles to save existence from dangerous forces. Along the way, she meets friends and enemies that are crucial to her development as a person and key to her success in restoring order to the world.

Alexander could not decide how this news made him feel. If anyone was brazen enough to attack a camp full of Malum, it would be his sister. Should he be hopeful or terrified?

Characters

Flath focuses almost entirely on her characters, and the result is wonderful. I care about every person, good or evil, ambivalent or invisible, in this series. I want to know all of their stories, past present, and future. They’re all distinct and interesting and have little conflicting bits of personality that become engaging and intriguing. How will this group of people react to this situation, or the next one? I began to read as a way to hang out with these people just as much as I did to follow the plot. And there was never conflict just for the sake of inciting drama. Everyone seems very rational in their irrational outbursts or stupid decisions.

A useful writing exercise for characters is to describe them without referring to how they look. Describe them with motivations and personality and non-physical character traits. Rin is kind and curious and forgiving; she is a nurturing soul with a strength of will to resist anyone’s hope to break the Good within. Alexander is a restless scholar that wants to know everything and share that knowledge with someone he cares about; he is the embodiment of progress and growing beyond past mistakes after coming to new understandings. And Shrilynda is a woman grown distant from humanity through her quest for power and the ability to control her every situation; she is self-serving indifference and the callous disregard of ends-justifies-the-means.

The actions of these characters define them. They are strong representations of character and ideals. It takes some time to get to know some of their motivations, but it is wholly worthwhile. And Flath introduces each of the main players over careful spaces of time and action. Many begin as the embodiment of one specific archetype or set of traits, but they are gradually given depth and flaws.

But this is no Game of Thrones or Dark Knight. There are no major figures of gray ambiguity. For the most part, this story paints groups and people in swathes of light and dark, one side or the other. And that is refreshing. To me, it is more than welcome. Plus, this only adds to the fantastical mythological feeling of the story. I like the stark good and evil presented in these books. Hints at philosophical gray areas are there at the edge of the narrative, and that’s enough.

Rin smiled slightly. “Does your sword often send books or fire flying at you?”
“Not even once.” Alexander shook his head.

Setting

The Black Pearl series takes place on a different planet somewhere. Perhaps it is an alternate universe. Maybe it’s some kind of experimental hologram. It could be a different galaxy. There’s never any concrete explanation, but there are hints. That doesn’t really matter though. What matters is that the stories just scratch the surface of a living world that stands on its own with created elements while borrowing the best parts of comfortable fantastical elements. There are unicorns and giant scorpions and overly-educated panthers. There’s a great crystal palace and orc-like tribes fighting over scraps of riverside real-estate. This is the world many stories have inhabited, but it’s not just some lifeless carbon copy pasted over from Tolkien or Lewis. It’s an incarnation that shows a vivid imagination willing to take ideas and blend them and grow them into something stronger.

And it’s done with careful brush strokes of meaningful detail. There are no long passages describing places or things in this series, and instead Flath chooses to lace world building into conversation and immediacy. This can leave the world feeling somewhat like a blank canvas, but with these stories it’s executed carefully and works well. I always knew where I was and never felt like the story was a series of talking heads, and I was never glancing to the end of the paragraph in want of action. Of course, I’d love to get more info on the world and its cultures, but it really wouldn’t fit with the narrative style or pacing of the story. I’d rather wait for a reader’s companion out there in the future and enjoy the story without infodumps.

Plot

The Black Pearl starts quickly, lingers around in the middle as everyone gets to know one another, and then it rushes forward to a conclusion. The Memory Spell starts out with slow deliberate steps, gradually picks up speed, and then it shudders a little before snapping into its ending. Both are stories of great evils and the fight against catastrophic calamity. Black Pearl’s situation is definitely more dire, but with Memory Spell I cared more and knew more, so there was a feeling of more danger.

As mentioned earlier, the characters are the focus of these books. Their experiences, thoughts, goals, and reactions to the events are what I enjoyed. Sometimes, the focus is entirely on these individuals and their relationships. That slows the pacing, but it deeply enhances the impact of what happens to everyone.

Perhaps because of that focus on characters, neither of these are direct A-to-B novels. They’re winding roads of related events, though the character are always pursuing their goals. Sometimes their goalposts are moved, sometimes the goal is misunderstood, or maybe they have a hard time remembering what they were doing. These are good things. It keeps the reader guessing and nothing feels over-scripted or forced. The progressions of accomplishment are fought for and natural. It feels like Flath writes to share an adventure that happened, and adventures should never be drawn with a straight line.

Now, of the two books, The Black Pearl definitely has more of a straight line. It’s arc, though well drafted and expertly executed, is the bread and butter of Fantasy novels. A powerless, downtrodden, and unknown individual finds something / someone that sparks a change in their life and leads them to power and glory. They had the power within them the whole time. These are fantastic story elements that are fun and a delight to experience when done well. Fortunately, Flath uses tropes as they should be used: They are tools with which she conveys thought and emotion. Once again, the depth of character development pulls everything together.

The Memory Spell has a lot more surprises, but does very nearly veer into a wandering aimlessness. This may be intentional, or it might just be a byproduct of the character focus. Character progress from the first book is lost, everyone is split apart, and the cohesive team of before is shattered. So, aimlessness feels right. In fact, events of the book almost demand a lack of certainty. There was a real feeling of hopelessness and dark times that made the resolution all the more satisfying.

She had conjured a flying sheepskin rug.
At least it seemed harmless and was not currently breathing fire.

Overall

This review likely makes it plain that I am a fan of these stories. My objectivity toward the books is understandably questionable. So, for what it’s worth, I wholeheartedly recommend Jennifer Flath’s series, and I will continue to read her work. She creates satisfying stories that are epic and heartwarming and fun. 4.5 stars.

Clarity and Readability –
Originality and Interest –
Cohesiveness and Setting –
Characters and Development –
Enjoyability –

Tags amreading, black pearl, fantasy, fiction, jennifer flath, reading, review, reviews | Comment (0)

Tropes: Everything is Done Did

2016-06-05 – 19:57

Take it on down to Troperville.

No really. Take it down.

Oh man, don’t do the Tropes! Except, do the tropes, because not doing them is such a trope. And make sure you don’t do any subverting of tropes, because that’s getting old and I’m so tired and bored that I’m yawning already just thinking about it. But dang. Tropes! What the heck are they? Don’t write them, but do. Keep them in mind so you can understand the reasons they were used! Write them in a new way! Go to TVTropes and die from starvation and dehydration as you click the next rabbit-hole link.

But yeah. Tropes are a thing. Like, they are a noun that means something. The ol’ online dictionary describes them as literary or rhetorical devices, and yeah, that’s what they are. But I guess they mean more now, or at least they have connotations surrounding them with the gravitas of dark and stormy nights.

And really, that makes sense because culture is ever evolving. And in our global society of sharing everything its easier to transmit ideas in condensed form. Its like powdered milk in a box that needs a little added water. Or Ikea furniture where you see the display model and then you go find the boxes that make the thing you want. Some of those parts are interchangeable and can be used for multiple final forms. It’s an adult form of Lego except there’s a lot more screwing involved.

The greatest part of assemble-it-yourself furniture is that you could make it however you want. Do you want to paint all the stuff before you put it together? Sure, go ahead! Maybe you don’t like that headboard that the assembly guide suggested. Get another one instead and somehow make it work. Customize and reshape, reimagine and carefully build. The end product becomes something special and you’ve also got something to sit on. Yet, you don’t have to do any of that if you don’t want. Maybe you really do just need a decent chair. Get the parts, align the holes, and tighten the nuts and bolts. That’s perfectly fine. It’s functional. It’s nothing pretty or unique, but it works.

Weirdly enough, there’s an odd shifting perspective on what’s cool to customize. Cars are well-known art projects, and custom woodworking is pretty nicely received. Yet, some hobbies are seen as somewhat useless or maybe only for the highly trained. Like, model rocketry is fun. Plenty of people try it once or twice. They go to a store and buy a box and put together some kind of kit. Then sometimes people feel a hook sink deep into their skin. Then the kit isn’t enough. There are modifications that must be made.

At some point any hobby can become a sometimes negatively-associated word: obsession. Except, often enough, for those that are highly accepted like sports or cars or money. Isn’t that strange? Why is it so easy to point and laugh at someone’s drive? Why do we get to pick and choose what gives joy to someone’s life? Shouldn’t we just let people find their niche? Well, except murder and sexual assault and other types of violence. Those are bad and I don’t care if it gives someone a surge of excitement.

Seriously though to find a niche is a meaning of life itself. We all want to find the place we specifically fit. No general purpose user cares what computer they use. But, the gamers and the coders and the developers want a special machine at their fingertips. And to them there’s a purpose to that selection. There’s a reason for the choices they make. A hammer is a hammer if you just need something heavy to swing. But delicate taps to shape metal need a ball pein’s specific hit.

Speaking of smashing and hitting. Now’a’days tropes have started colliding and combining with memes. Ideas are fun to exploit and explore. It’s a pleasure to express that ideal version of a repeated dream. To me that raises the question of whether or not that will dull the senses. Will people get so used to blunt concentrated thought that subtlety will be a novelty?

Nah. We’re too adaptable. And instead of adaptable it’d probably be okay to say forgetful. The things we find popular today and tomorrow will be the next generations cool new thing. That’s the way of history. Cyclical thinking is… well. It keeps coming around.

So, certainly, everything’s been done before, but that’s probably just fine. Because, really, the creation of something new shouldn’t be the goal. The creation of something that speaks to you or to a reader is more important. Remember that book you read as a child? Or that movie or cartoon? Whatever it was, at whatever the age, it affected you deeply. It changed your life.

Someone out there hates your favorite thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a show, a story, a comic book, or a cake. Your tastes are not the same. The stuff you think is dumb or pointless? Someone else loves that too.

I guess, then? Do the tropes. Do whatever you want. But do it well.

-J.A.

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Cliques: The Importance of a Writing Circle

2016-02-15 – 19:22

Clique to Continue

Double-Clique to ???

The Lost Generation found each other to create their own popularity.

Aw but that’s a bit of an over-simplification isn’t it? Alright. Accepted. Generalizing anything into one distinct statement is Bad. Capital B. Intricacies are lost in simplicity. But then again, maybe that’s Good? Capital G. Are intricacies really all that important?

Yes! Yes we shout? We must understand the details. Get into the nitty gritty specifics on even the little bitty. Oh. But who has the time? How can you possibly get into the weeds about everything that exists? There’s simply too much, and not enough of me, nor you, to know everything. But of course not. There’s not enough time for anything, so let’s do nothing instead. Anyway, you’re a nerd if you’re really into something. I mean, nerds are cool now, so maybe that’s alright. So go ahead. Get good at something in particular. But not too good, because that’s also bad? Specialize just enough in something that you aren’t a Mary Sue. Except Batman?

Broad sweeping brush strokes are a stylistic choice that some artists use to evoke much through abstraction. Abstraction is an interesting thing to think about. We abstract to understand. And then? Once we understand the abstraction, we abstract the abstraction so that we can understand even more. Programming is great at abstraction. It’s all about taking something and encapsulating that something into something else until you have to do less to get more while hiding the fact that you did anything at all. Ask a programmer what took four hours and watch them cry. I like to think of it like the gas pedal of a car. You press on a pedal and the car moves forward. That is a lie. So is the following: All humans are murderers.

We accept some abstractions, but not others, because some are offensive.

But back on subject, which is that the Lost Generation were a group of creators that interacted to some extent and made beautiful things. How’s the saying go? “Surround yourself with greatness, and you’ll get jealous quickly?” But it’s inspiring. Sure. But it pushes you further. Farther. Sure. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard in a while is that you should find someone’s work that you can’t help but imitate, and then try to be better than that. Try to be better than someone else. Yet. We are all equal, and be humble.

Balance. Is boring.

If you have a clique you will be more successful. Active social interaction helps things, and people, do better. Unfortunately, that better may worsen something for someone else. Give here, take there. Either way, you gotta group together to survive. That’s a basic thing. Cavemen did it and so do we. Not that they all really lived in caves, right? But don’t hang out with more than 150 of those people at once. We gotta have meaningful relationships or you’re just being promiscuous. Speaking of meaningful, the articles with meaningful data, meaningful research, and great information are all behind paywalls that require hefty sums. That sucks.

So. What a predicament we’re in as people that all want to be successful. That’s impossible. We can’t all be successful. Plus. In order to be successful you’d need to pool your resources together with a bunch of other people that want to be successful in the same way. And you all probably have to agree on some of the directions you’ll take at the same exact time! At least for a little while.

What’s the tipping point? It’s a myth. There is no tipping point. There is no breaking point where things begin to cascade. Have you ever played one of those quarter machines? Coin pushers? Wait. That’s wrong. There is a tipping point. Things do cascade. Once they’re already cascading? Luck can be made though.

Get enough people together, in one spot, to do one thing, and you will change something. We want to believe that this is a truth. But it is a lie as well. It is an abstraction of what actually happens. It grossly ignores the work and effort that goes into actual change. Unfortunately, we can’t all just spontaneously change.

I remember the day I stopped believing in prayer. I remember lying in bed and wondering about what I wanted to pray for. We should pray for good things to happen to other people, right? Pray for world peace. Pray for that dude over there to get his leg healed. Pray for that lady to get a better job or at least a raise. Give here, take there. Someone else prayed for another dude to get that same job. We can’t all be successful. But prayer is a great placebo. And more.

Certainties are helpful. They help us get along in the world so that we can keep on walking. Doubt is crippling. But, be skeptical. How much so? Should we believe in anything? Absolutely. Just believe in yourself. Be certain that you exist and that you can Do. After all, you’re breathing. But… There’s always a butt.

Join up with a bunch of people and do your damned best to follow a dream. Find a community that’s online, or next door, or down the street, or maybe it’s made up of four houses and a mythical boy with a lightning-bolt scar. Being part of something is crucial to facing loneliness and accepting that maybe loneliness isn’t always bad. Try everything at least once?

Eventually your dream will change, or someone else’s dream will change that you used to depend on to help carry your dream. But that’s not bad. Losing a friend, or a family member, or a dream, is good. It means you are progressing. It hurts. It makes me want to curl up under a blanket and stare at the hidden nothing behind my eyelids. Eventually I’ll start to think again. Perchance to dream.

Dreaming is good. Changing your dream is good as long as you keep dreaming. I want to dream of great things and magnificent achievements and wondrous journeys that are impossible to ever achieve. And that impossibility is fine.