(no subject)

My migraine/headache has finally abated to the levels of I think I can think clearly and it doesn't pain me to be in the light.

So, why the hell am I dizzy?

(no subject)

I got a letter today.

They want me to speak at WonderCon. It's a big comic book convention in San Francisco.

Biggest problem? It's during the middle of Passover.

Still. This is big league stuff here.

Big league. WonderCon is put on by the same folks who do Comic Con.

Whee!

I'm going to be speaking right after Geoff Johns has a panel.

Oh fuck... my paper is about Hal Jordan and Parallax and Geoff Johns is the guy who wrote the story saying that he and Parallax were two different entities and I'm going to be arguing that might have been a mistake.


Now why can't my fiction be this awesomely loved.

(no subject)

Clanmeet pt. 2

Despite all the churning deep in Eragon's "soul" if one such as he could be said to have a soul, he manages to fall asleep and has a Significant Dream. Or... Eragon’s thoughts wandered as he sat slumped within the embrace of the padded arms of a dwarf couch, and the frame of his consciousness dissolved into the disordered fantasy of his waking dreams. I've noticed that Eragon frequently has waking dreams. He never has sleeping dreams. They're always waking dreams. I'm not really sure how that works. I really would like to know how that works. Or why can't Paolini just say Eragon daydreamed or his thoughts wandered off. Why does he need to say 'the frame of his consciousness dissolved' ? It just sounds silly. Rather like that flashback effect from Wayne's World. At least it's not the WHOOOOOOSH of the Lost flashbacks? I shouldn't have such silly images in my head when Paolini is going for deep introspection, which is what I'm assuming he's trying to do with such florid and deep sounding prose. Instead of his thoughts wandering back to his life before all of this started... they ripple. Or something.

Yet conscious of the mosaic of colored stones mounted upon the wall opposite him, he also beheld, as if a glowing scrim draped over the mosaic, scenes of his life in Palancar Valley before momentous and bloody fate had intervened in his existence. The scenes diverged from established fact, however, and immersed him in imaginary situations constructed piecemeal from fragments of what had actually been. In the last few moments before he roused himself from his stupor, his vision flickered and the images acquired a sense of heightened reality.

I have no Idea what this means. NONE. Zero. Zilich. I know the words. But it is put together in such a way that it loses its coherence and meaning. Well, he did have some mushrooms earlier. Maybe he's hallucinating?

I would love for this to just be a complete hallucination. On my part. The entire book.

Anyway, his hallucination is that of being at Horst's forge back in Caverhall and saying that he needs a sword. Horst asks him if he's alone. Where his parents are. Each time Eragon says that he doesn't know. Then a menacing figure shows up with Zar'roc and says that he is Eragon's father.

Between the gaping doors, a huge figure rimmed with pale light emerged from the clotted darkness and stood upon the threshold of the workshop. A red cape billowed from shoulders wider than a Kull’s. In the man’s left hand gleamed Zar’roc, sharp as pain. Through the slits of his brightly polished helm, his blue eyes bored into Eragon, pinning him into place, like an arrow through a rabbit. He lifted his free hand and held it out toward Eragon. “My son, come with me. Together, we can destroy the Varden, kill Galbatorix, and conquer all of Alagaësia. But give me your heart, and we shall be invincible.

“Give me your heart, my son.”

... Wait. I thought Morzan's eyes were blue and black. *double checks* his hair was dark like a raven’s feathers, and his eyes were different colors. One was blue and one was black. (pg 172)

MAKE UP YOUR MIND ON MORZAN'S EYES FOR GOD'S SAKE PAOLINI!!! CONTINUITY! IT IS NOT THAT HARD!!

Surely he must keep notes on what his characters look like. Wait. I'm probably expecting too much of him.

Never mind.

But you would think...

Wait. I'm thinking. I have to stop that in regards to this book.

There is no logic. There is no continuity. There is no logic. There is no continuity. *chants it to self* It's all a hallucination.

Eragon wakes up and is unable to go back to sleep. It takes Paolini a lot more words to say that though.


We skip ahead to the clanmeet. All the dwarves are filing in and Eragon and Orik are chatting. Orik has reminded Eragon of where the dwarves that he's stationed if they're attacked are. Eragon wants to know if things break out into fighting if he should go and kill the head of the hacking cough clan. Orik said he shouldn't, as it would look down upon. Unless, of course, Eragon is attacked first. Orik then asks Eragon to pray for luck to Sindri.

Eragon does.


The exact wording of this phrase is "And Eragon prayed."

Which is wrong.

Eragon does not pray. He does not believe in gods. We just spent an entire chunk of the previous chapter talking about how he wished he could believe in the gods of the dwarves. How he wished he could cleave onto any sort of religious belief but he couldn't commit. He believes in nothing. There is nothing for him to pray to. Even if he did pray to Sindri what is he going to say? "Hey, I don't believe in you but could you like give Orik some luck?" You don't just spend all that time talking about how you can't believe in a religion and then just knock off Eragon praying like that with a half a sentence. You need to put more into it. There needs to be more depth to this.

This is a good opportunity for character development here. He's been asked to pray. What can he do? He doesn't believe in gods. Does he make a false prayer? Would that be insulting to Orik. Should he just not do anything and wish he could do what Orik asked him to do? Thousands and thousands of things. But nothing. We just get "And Eragon prayed."

More later.