Book Review (8): Fire and Thorns

I realise that I have not posted a book review for a long time. Therefore, in the interest and the convenience that I've just finished a book, I shall post a review as soon as I can.

Here it is.



Fire and Thorns
Rae Carson

Story Sypnosis (in my own words): Sixteen year-old Elisa was marked by birth to be God's chosen one. However, she was definitely not looking like it and no one seemed to see her like it. An arranged marriage led her to discovering that her fate was more than what she had expected.

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I picked up this book by a very sheer random process of running my finger through the book spines until I found a title intriguing enough. Apparently, this book had a longer title called "A Girl of Fire and Thorns" but my book is just titled "Fire and Thorns". The story is the same.

1.  I was hooked onto the book really quickly.
When I was in the bookstore, I flipped through the first chapter and quickly found myself wanting to know more about the arranged wedding that Elisa got herself into. That was exactly what happened after I bought the book and read it properly again. Basically, I started on Saturday morning and just finished it half an hour before midnight. I did think about the book during the hours that I wasn't reading. (It took me a total of 5-6 hours or so to finish... If I'm not wrong.)

The book picked up a pretty good pace and kept at the pace throughout the entire book. I had no problems sustaining my interest over the 400 odd pages. Quite surprising, actually. It was almost too easy for me to be hooked like that. Maybe it's because it has been such a long time since I read a novel.

2. Elisa as a protagonist... together with a plethora of colourful characters.
As usual, characters make or break the story for me. You can have a cool story plot but if the characters can't deliver, the story can't shine.

Elisa is one of those unconventional heroines. Not the sort in Eon/Eona. Elisa is a fat, insecure and naive heroine who falls in love with people who give her attention because she had yearned for attention and acknowledgement all her life. She binges when she's upset and she is constantly going on about how fat she is.

I had no idea how fat she was. I mean, people were saying 'fat' in her face, she was complaining about how fat she was but it did not register in my mind. I was still thinking that she's just chubby. It was when she talked about prying breasts away in order to see her navel that I realise, "Good Lord, she is fat!" She shoves pastries in her mouth and thinks about scones. I love it.

That flaw in her was so stark, so apparent, so constant throughout the book. This really breaks all stigma about heroines needing to be beautiful and skinny. Although inexperienced, clumsy and naive, Elisa has a rather sharp acumen when it comes to reading people and gathering intelligence. She has read scriptures that makes her not only an educated princess, but one that is well-versed in war, even though she had never physically been in one.

The other characters do not pale in comparison either. Each one has some kind of quirk, a particular way of description that is so signature.

3. Twists.... Golly, I had NOT expected that!
There were SO many things that I DID NOT expect in this book. I had started the book not knowing what to expect. All my predictions came through... and then veered off into oh-my-gosh-how-did-that-happen revelations. I do not want to reveal any spoilers so I can't say more nor give examples.

I had mentioned in the Throne of Glass review that so far, the love triangles had no twists. I have to take my words back now. At the end of the book, I was quite at loss. "What now?" I ask myself.

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1. First person narrative.
I shouldn't really put this as a dislike because many, MANY young adult fiction are written in first person narrative. Eon/Eona (review here), Fifty Shades (review here), Twilight, Hunger Games and many, many chick-literature. Really, people. Is it so easy to write in the first person narrative?

Personally, it was hard for me to write in first person. I used to do it in my first serious fanfiction, which was Samurai Deeper Kyo's "KISS Me!", but when I started "I Want To Be A Turk!", something pushes me in the direction of a third person narrative. I eventually grow so used to it that now it's a little weird to write in first person. I feel that I lack perspective. Hurhur.

There aren't many stories that portrays a third person perspective, but they were all good novels. Harry Potter, Eragon, Throne of Glass (review here)...

Just saying.

2. I was apprehensive at the end.
Despite being hooked from beginning to the end, I was not blown away by the ending of the book. I did not have a strong urge to buy the sequel. In fact, I even considered borrowing from the library. Perhaps the reason was because the book ended itself quite well. There was obviously a hook for the sequel, but I'm pretty contented with how the book turned out enough to not pursue the sequel. What a weird thing to say, I know.

3. Too much reference to her Godstone.
Every few pages, Elisa HAD to refer to the mark of the chosen one, a gemstone embedded in her navel called the Godstone. She uses it for prayer, for reassurance, for warning, for clue finding... It's too much for me. It reminded me of Anastasia Steele and her limited vocabulary of "Oh my"s and "Holy cow"s. However, this may just be my personal thing, since the Godstone is the main plot trigger.

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Rating: Consider it.

It's in between Consider It and Love It, but I've placed this book under "Consider It" because as compared to the other books that I've labelled "Love It", this book does not quite make the cut. However, I do value this title very highly and will consider reading the rest of the trilogy and novellas.

Pictures taken from:
Book Cover

Disclaimer: Despite the official term, the above book review is not a wholesome and fully critical one. The book is merely reviewed and reflected on based on story writing skills and other literary elements.

Love Triangles...

Before I get into this, I just want to clarify my previous post. I mentioned that I was going to upload Chapter 50. My mistake. I have not even uploaded Chapter 49. So we've gotta upload Chapter 49 first, right?

Then again, who is reading my story anymore? :( Silent readers, I suppose.

Back to the main point: Love triangles. I did not think about these until last year. That's when I really realised. I don't like love triangles. They are seriously the highlights of any romance story, but I don't like them still.

Oh, in case you are wondering, I stopped reading manga. Not that I lost interest. There were so many titles that I wanted to read (hmmm, sounds familiar with my novels too...) that I was not focusing on my career enough. So now I've stopped reading new titles.

Anyway, a few months back, I finished reading this manga called "Heroine Shikkaku". It was such a bittersweet story, because the guy and the girl did not get together until the very very last chapter. Sidenote: actually, it's pretty special in a way because most shoujo manga would spend more time drawing life after the protagonists get together. "Heroine Shikkaku" ended with the both of them finally coming to terms with their feelings. The journey to that moment was tedious, though. The boy was confused about who he likes. The girl was quite hurt throughout the entire manga.

It's kinda like that with the other titles too. In other titles, the girl actually ends up dating the rival because she was confused by the main boy's feelings. Even though everything worked out fine for the main boy and girl in the end, there was lots of heartbreak. In a love triangle fiasco, so many people will inevitably get hurt.

Honestly, I don't want that to happen to anyone, as far as possible. That's why I made it real clear with "Days of Exile" that Meia and Reno will be together. Even though I add in competition like Jasper and Kunsel, they pose no big threat. It's really difficult to console the character that is rejected, especially if a lot of emotional effort was made. I know that some manga tries to reconcile that by making the others fall in love with someone else, but that's just unrealistic.

I see love triangles being so prevalent in many books too... Twilight... Throne of Glass (review here!)...  Eon/Eona (review here!)... Hunger Games... plus a gazillion shoujo manga as the entourage.


So true, Inuyasha. So true.


The million dollar question that lasts till the end of Advent Children.


This one dragged on for FOREVER!

Is it really often the way to go? I mean, look at "Eragon (review is now available!)"! A perfectly good story without any of that love triangle stuff. Maybe that's because there were so many things going on in "Eragon" too...

Well, if the story is done well, then the love triangle adds flavour and spice. However, it's kinda sad if the love triangle is the MAIN storyplot, I think. It's understandable with shoujo manga, but not so for novel. I'm sure you can do a lot more than that, right?

Those are my opinions, and I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me. For all we know, sometime down the road, I will write a full blown love triangle story, hyuk hyuk. Life is strange, sometimes.

I shall end by wishing my country a HAPPY NATIONAL DAY!

Singapore is definitely a country to visit, once in your lifetime. Probably once is more than enough because we are THAT small. Nevertheless, it is a country to visit and understand the culture, if you can catch up with us locals.




Pictures from:
Inuyasha
Tifa and Aerith
Archie Comics
Merlion

Good Lord, has it been one month?

I apologise for taking so long to upload the newest chapter. Let me have a final proofread before I upload Chapter 50.

By the way, the story is coming to an end soon. Just that there's much much more to go before I call it quits!

Workshop: Fiction Writing (Part 2)

Thanks all, for waiting. Here is the second half of my reflections after the writing workshop. You can read about the first half here.

3. Even when you are tired, you can write pretty decent stuff.
Writing, fun as it was, was no joke. Writing and thinking of ideas from 9 to 5 was tiring. At the last exercise, my mind was already like, "let's just do something simple." So yes... I kind of relaxed and chose the first idea that came to my mind instead of working on that idea a bit more. However, after I was done, I took a look and I thought, "Hey, it could have been worse." I've submitted that piece of writing to the facilitator to look through. She will be a good benchmark to my expectations.

Of course, I'm not saying that I'm satisfied with half-committed work. Nevertheless, if there is a moral of this story, it'll be this: Don't make fatigue your excuse... as with other things like work and life and family etc. *feeling really guilty right now*

(I shall join Tamaki senpai from Ouran High School Host Club in his corner of woe...)

4. I appreciate fanfiction.net
For the sheer reason that through them I, at the very least, have been given an avenue to publish something. Anything. Publishing crap work to not-so-crap-but-still-boring work over these years gave me a valuable thing called experience.

5. I'm on the 'right' track
Not trying to be stuck up or anything, but it's just that some of the things that the facilitator had mentioned and recommended are things that I am currently doing. It's pretty awesome to know that. And I can only attribute to that many many years of stumbling and fumbling and getting people to critcise your writing. It was sad to see that I could have learnt those in just a one-day workshop rather than going through the whole thing over so many years. However, I guess I had to learn some things the hard way. What I'm trying to say is, experience is key.

6. Things are better with comrades
I was sitting in a group of six, and these people are really supportive, witty and fun to be with. In addition, they were very tactful with their comments. It was really lovely. Time just flies when I was writing with them, and we even had lunch together :P Well, all of them read my Chapter 50 draft. They did not give much comments (which meant more than it sounded), but it was an amazing feeling nevertheless to give your work to someone to look through. I should try to humble myself more to allow a second opinion because well... all my stories were written and planned and edited by me.

In conclusion, I had a brilliant time. I can't wait to go for another one someday. You ask, "Are you using the things that you're learning into your stories?" Truthfully, not always. It's a little time consuming, hurhur. But the tips do appear in my mind once in a while as reminders. Hehe. Yup. I'll continue to work hard for my readers and my characters.

Tamaki Sempai's corner of woe taken from here.

Workshop: Fiction Writing (Part 1)

I went to a writing workshop a few weeks ago. To those who are clueless, here is the details of that workshop. You may need to click on the image to have a larger view.

If you remember my previous post, I was talking about how afraid I was to meet other writers because of my background as a fanficion writer. Turns out that I was too paranoid about it.

The workshop was amazing. Well, I think it's kinda rude to disclose what I've learnt. I think that it's best to the facilitators at the workshop. At most, I'll give some kind of remark rather than a detailed  So if you are here, expecting some kind of crash course, well, you're not going to get it, sorry :(

Firstly, we did a self-introduction. I was the second one in the line, so I had to make quick decisions. Should I just keep quiet? Or kick myself in the shins and jump into the fire? Well, I made the latter choice.

"Hi, I'm aichioluv, and I'm... I'm a closet fanfiction writer."

No one really reacted. Do they even know what is fanfiction? My facilitator, however, chuckled, though not in a bad way (I hope). So I continued.

"I'm here (in this workshop) because I want to see what I'm lacking in my writing, which should be a lot. And I want to see how I can improve in my writing."

Yup, my self-introduction went by smoothly. Not angry mob of nay-sayers, no pitch forks, nothing. Yes yes yes, I was overreacting, I admit. But seriously, I know the general reputation of fanfiction being completely unoriginal (duh, it's fanfiction!) and substandard. Of course I worry. It was absolutely liberating, my confession. After that, I felt less concerned, for some reason. No one judged me, at least they did not say it out.

I really enjoyed the workshop and I've picked up some tips for improvement. If I really had to nitpick, I wished that we had gone more in depth. Maybe analyse author's works and discuss how we can use their awesomeness to improve ourselves. Hmm, is it even legal?

Apart from that, I'm simply glad that the workshop delivered what it needed to deliver. Here are some of the things that I've discovered and rediscovered during the workshop.

1. I had no idea I have an inner critic.
At the start of the workshop, we were supposed to dismiss our inner critic. I was thinking, "What inner critic? I will be happy enough if I was more critical of my work." Due to everyone from fanfiction.net being so nice and friendly, even if I had any mistakes, they may put it in such a roundabout way... or maybe they did not even notice.

Then, I remembered. Once upon a time, I received a painfully honest review for one of my earlier works. In his/her defense, I'm super grateful for that review because it gave me a good reality slap on my face. Unoriginal as it may be, fanfiction is, obviously, works and characters created by the original author. To make characters out of their character is kind of an insult to the author, in my opinion now. So I'm glad that that reviewer was honest enough to tell me.

That being said, since then I was ever so cautious in my planning and I try to be real critical with myself - especially with character portrayal. Sometimes, I feel exceedingly frustrated when I can't illustrate certain personalities the way I imagined it to be. I guess that could be my inner critic trying to giving my ideas 'friendly reminders' back to oblivion.

So, I do have an inner critic. Never thought about that. While it's good to have a certain standard for yourself, it is just as important to ignore the internal naysayers and write what YOU want to write.

2. I've pushed myself out of the box.
I guess I really surprised myself there. Not that I am a really good fantasy/adventure writer in the first place, but I never considered making characters more than what I was comfortable with. In the end, I thought of things and ideas that were sort of out of my usual style. At least, what was what I tried to do. I did try to make one of the characters in an exercise a failed comedian, but I guess even the function of a failed comedian failed on me. *sigh* humour was never my strong point. Nevertheless, I was glad that I tried to do something slightly different. Turns out that I could so it if I really try.

I'll continue another time!

Details of workshop were taken from here.

Did you ever not know the importance of something until it's gone?

Yes, the cliche sentence.

I'm feeling it big time now.

I've just deleted an entire section of writing.

It's gone. Forever.

Damn it.

I want to curl up and cry >_____<

EDIT: I'VE FOUND IT! I found a previous version in my harddisk. That folder was not backed up for many months but well, I wrote that scene a long time ago so... I'm just so happy and grateful and relieved.

Phew.

It is over...

EDIT (28 June): Well, further reading of the novellas just threw my entire chapter around. So yes, I'm back to editing the last chapter. Still, it's pretty awesome that I've made it this far. Just saying *smirk*

Yes, it is over.

If you are wondering what I am blabbering about. I am actually quoting from the last chapter of Days of Exile.

Yup, you've heard me.

Days of Exile is completed!

Well, there are still things going on, but rest easy, citizens of fandom. You will get your story out soon. Let's say... around August? So near yet so far, huh? :)

I wanted to write about the writing workshop, but oh well. Another time, I suppose?