Marvel 1602 TPB by Neil Gaiman

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Okay, so, I actually own the original six comic books, I purchased them as they came out. Gaiman Neil Gaiman does an incredible thing by asking, "what if the Marvel Universe occurred in 1602 Europe?" He answers this question with his original, masterful storytelling that he gained while writing comic books back in the heyday of Sandman. He makes each Marvel character he addresses as real as we know them to be, yet each one with a Gaiman twist. He has made the world live well in our hearts and imaginations.


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Prezzies!

Well, as the present season for yours truly is approaching again. And despite the fact that I think I have an incredibly simple list of things people can get me, for some reason, I am still thought of as “hard-to-buy-for.” So, in an effort to alleviate those of you who are buying for me, I am posting the beginnings of a new list. The first part is a carry-over from below:

As always, I want books. For those of you who don't know, I am in the process of trying to phase out all of my paperback books for hardbacks. The best place to purchase the hardbacks, or any book in general for me is at www.bookfinder.com. This beauty of a site should make any book purchasing easier. And if you aren't getting me anything for Christmas, then check out the site anyway, whether you're a collector or a reader it's just a good place to get books.

That being said, I am going to start a listing of the books I want in order of my desire to read them or what I need. Complete lists of good reads are available through the Center for the Study of Science Fiction and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (or any of the Hugo or Nebula award winners that I don’t have). But, here are the books I want no one has to get me any or all of these, but this will give you a good ballpark direction to look:

Gibson, William, Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive

Gaiman, Neil, American Gods, Anansi Boys, Stardust, Neverwhere, Any Sandman graphic Novel, except Volume 1

Herbert, Frank Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse: Dune

Herbert, Brian and Anderson, Kevin J., Battle of Corrin, The Road to Dune, Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune, Paul of Dune

Aldiss, Brian, Helliconia Summer, Helliconia Winter, Long Afternoon of Earth or Hothouse

Peake, Mervyn, The Gormenghast Novels

Farmer, Philip José, To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Ellison, Harlan, Dangerous Visions, Again, Dangerous Visions

And here are a couple of the movies I wouldn’t mind getting:

Iron Man

Serenity, Special Edition

I also would not turn down CDs from the following bands:

Katie Todd Band

Add in any of the cyclone armors like the one here at the Robotech store. Although any of the masterpiece toys would not be rejected.

New Book Review From Goodreads

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
You have to be able to put yourself deep into the language to read this book. It is one of the most incredible ever written. If you can't get past the near-biblical language, try reading Unfinished Tales instead. "Tuor and the fall of Gondolin" is one of the greatest stories that Tolkien ever wrote.



Get through the creation stuff (which I still found an incredible read) and get into the later stories of the first two ages of Middle-Earth. It explains so much of what happened with The Lord of the Rings and why it happened.


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My Review of Ender's Game

I just posted the following on a pretty cool site: Goodreads. Enjoy.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another one I try to read yearly. One of the best ever written. When an author writes a story that applies to everyone, then he has achieved something that few ever do, he has written a new piece of the monomyth for humankind. Scott achieved that with this novel. And winning back-to-back Hugo and Nebula awards for this book and its sequel Speaker for the Dead is also a first of its kind. Regardless of anyone's genre preferences, or if someone is interested in a good introduction to science fiction, Ender's Game stands as a stellar achievement of the human literary effort.


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Snow Day

Well, the snow has come. We have it still falling at quite arapid rate and have accumulated about six inches. Tomorrow is first Advent, which Jeanine probably will not attend, as she was sick on Monday. So I get to go upstairs and talk to Kori while she cooks. (No I still haven’t gotten my wireless internet card working in Ubuntu either—stupid Windows-specific jerks at Broadcom.) I have two job interviews next week. One that’s up here in the SL valley, the other in Provo, again. But hey, a job’s a job and I should be able to get $60k per year, if I do this right.

Mason

A Theme: What I Want for Christmas

A Theme: What I Want for Christmas

I want an official Daisy Red Rider carbine action 200 shot range-model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing with tells time.

Okay, if that one didn't give it away, then you really need to re-evaluate your pop culture learning.

Well, welcome to this first blog posting for mason-emerson. If you've followed my blogs before, you know that I am rather poor at keeping these up. But, as I said in my New Writer's Journey blog, the one previous to this, I think if Neil Gaiman can do this, so can I.

Over the next few days I plan on posting a list of stuff I'd like to get for Christmas. That way, when the inevitable question comes, “What do you want for Christmas, little boy?” I won't be trapped into stuttering out the unintelligible “football.”

As always, I want books. For those of you who don't know, I am in the process of trying to phase out all of my paperback books for hardbacks. The best place to purchase the hardbacks, or any book in general for me is at www.bookfinder.com. This beauty of a site should make any book purchasing easier. And if you aren't getting me anything for Christmas, then check out the site anyway, whether you're a collector or a reader it's just a good place to get books.

That being said, I am going to start a listing of the books I want in order of my desire to read them or what I need. Complete lists of good reads are available through the Center for the Study of Science Fiction and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. But, here are the books I want no one has to get me any or all of these, but this will give you a good ballpark direction to look:

McKee, Robert, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

Gibson, William, Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive

Gaiman, Neil, American Gods, Anansi Boys, Stardust, Neverwhere, Any Sandman graphic Novel, except Volume 1

Herbert, Frank Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse: Dune

Herbert, Brian and Anderson, Kevin J., Battle of Corrin, The Road to Dune, Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune

Aldiss, Brian, Helliconia Summer, Helliconia Winter, Long Afternoon of Earth or Hothouse

Peake, Mervyn, The Gormenghast Novels

Farmer, Philip José, To Your Scattered Bodies Go

Ellison, Harlan, Dangerous Visions, Again, Dangerous Visions

And here are a couple of the movies I wouldn’t mind getting:

Equilibrium

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Serenity, Special Edition

This is a start to what I'd like. More to be posted in ensuing days. But I hope this gives a general idea of what I'm after.