Quote of the month (an a perfect one for December)

"Night is not something to endure until dawn. It is an element, like wind or fire. Darkness is its own kingdom; it moves to its own laws, and many living things dwell in it." - Patricia A. McKillip

Fire Emblem Heroes: Book X Movie

When we met Fjorm way back in Book II it was to keep Nifl from getting melted down, so I suppose tis fitting that now we are trying to keep it from freezing solid. Fittingly cataclysmic, leaving the real question being: how closely will FEH's Ragnarök match Norse Myth's Ragnarok? Regardless, Fjorm has always been my favorite FEH character, so it will be great to have her back and freshly empowered. (Nice seeing that Askr is not completely dead either.)

Repost: Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R.Tolkien’s children. Inside would be letters from Father Christmas to the Tolkien household, all written in spidery handwriting with beautifully colored drawings.

Of course, Tolkien himself wrote the letters... because leave it to him to think of Santa writing to children instead of the reverse. Thus we have the book Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R.Tolkien, filled with "wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining-room; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house!"

Why I never seen it in book stores I have not a clue, but in my mind this books makes the Lord and Founder of Modern Fantasy even more incredible.

My father and I just finished rereading Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones

My father and I just finished rereading Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones.

Easily my favorite of the Chrestomanci novels, and one of two where Christopher Chant is young and Gabriel de Witt is the Chrestomanci, it is standard Jones: a seemingly 'simple' plot that is bristling with invisible tripwires as she builds up to a climax bursting with surprise after surprise. Simple being in quotes because no one but Jones could ever come up with such a brilliantly unique story. Brilliant and filled with lessons, namely how fraud and neglecting those you care for will come to haunt you no matter the probability.

Until next time Conrad, Christopher, Anthea, Millie, Robert, Hugo, Felice, and Gabriel de Witt. For this is one of those books I shall always reread again.

Fire Emblem Heroes: Book IX Ending

Oh boy. Talk about a plot twist, and Ragnarök's Harbinger indeed, because regular apocalyptic enemies are not enough; and if this follows Norse myth by even a fraction then Thórr and Loki are in trouble.

A curious 11/11 statistic

Apparently every Veterans Day for the last five years straight I (or my father and I together) either started or finished a book.

I have started The Empire of Ashes, book three of Anthony Ryan's The Draconis Memoria trilogy

I have started The Empire of Ashes, book three of Anthony Ryan's The Draconis Memoria trilogy.

The second White Drake War has begun, and the world burns under the flames of its ancient malice. Yet what was defeated once before can be again, for the Blacks are not bound to the White's dark will and fought with humanity the first time. Beyond that, it will take ancient knowledge and wondrous technologies to best it, meaning tis time for Lizanne to make use of who she freed from prison, Clay his new friends from the depths of earth and sea, and Captain Hilemore all his skill for navigating out of impossible tangles.

Corporate or imperial, revolutionary or voterist, no creed save survival and cooperation and will save humanity, as even victory will only earn them the right to rebuild a charred world.