09 November 11

Curried tomato & chickpea soup with vegan sour cream and cilantro. On the side, wasa with vegan cream cheese, cucumber, and sprouts.

Green Lantern Week Part 5: Green Lantern: The New Guardians.

Wow, this article took a while to come out. I hope it's worth it, as this is the comic that has the potential to be my favorite of them all. Green Lantern: New Guardians took the ideas that a lot of readers found most compelling about Geoff Johns's run in Green Lantern and Blackest Night, namely the emotional spectrum and the seven Corps. While these aren't the "New Guardians" as I believe they were described during Brightest Day (Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Atrocitus, Indigo-1, Carol Ferris, Larfleeze and Saint Walker), this group is made of the same basic concept: one member of each Corps. As of issue 2, Saint Walker is the only returning member of the group, with New York Comic-Con hints lending to Larfleeze's catching up with his rogue ring in issue #3.

For those unfamiliar, the "emotional spectrum" is the foundation that life and emotion are built on in the Green Lantern universe. It was founded by seven entities (who were secondary to Entity, the personification of life, and Nekron, the personification of death), each of which created a powerful energy source and tied in to a certain emotion. These emotions and energy sources were Rage (Red), Avarice (Orange), Fear (Yellow), Will (Green), Hope (Blue), Compassion (Indigo) and Love (Violet). From each of these power sources, an almost omnipotent ring-wielding corps was formed, the members of each corresponding with their ring's guiding emotion. Each Corps has its own strengths and weaknesses, many of which have been explored, but most of which have not.

Let me give you some insight into my own tastes, and you might see why I love this concept so much. Some of the shows I enjoyed as a child: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, Captain Planet, even Care Bears and My Little Pony. What do these all have in common? A group of individuals, each with similar yet subtly different powers, that would combine these abilities in order to combat a threat. Of course, you get this with any group dynamic, but it's usually exaggerated to epic proportions in this kind of team, and so is the enjoyment factor in watching it.

And then of course, you get things like this:

By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!

There are so many tropes and shows based around this kind of combining powers that I couldn't do the topic justice in this post. Generally, it's awesome whenever it happens, and it's pretty much the premise that New Guardians was based on. While we still don't know why six extra rings sought out Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, the indication is that we're getting ever closer to a true answer, and an ultimate upheaval of the balance of power in the universe. Unless this series takes a grave misstep at some point in the future, it's something that I'm going to look forward to on the last week of every month.

Waiting on Wednesday

This is a blog meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine to spotlight upcoming books.



This weeks can't wait to read selection is:

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

DAW Hardcover

February 7, 2012

448 pages



The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, land of djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, Khalifs and killers, is at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings:



Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, "The last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat," just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame's family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter's path.



Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla's young assistant, a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety, is eager to deliver God's justice. But even as Raseed's sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia.



Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the Lion-Shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man's title. She lives only to avenge her father's death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father's killer. Until she meets Raseed.



When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince's brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time--and struggle against their own misgivings--to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.



This just sounds so exotic and interesting to me. I'm really in the mood for some good, inventive fantasy right now and this looks perfect.

08 November 11

Short Story Collection Giveaway (4 books!)

Courtesy of Penguin Books I have a collection of short stories-- 4 books worth-- to offer one lucky winner.

After Hours: Tales from Ur-Bar by Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier



Science fiction and fantasy readers have long shown an affinity for a good "bar story". Now some of today's most inventive scriveners have decided to tell their own tall tales-from an alewife's attempt to transfer the gods' curse to Gilgamesh, to Odin's decision to introduce Vikings to the Ur-Bar, from the Holy Roman Emperor's barroom bargain, to a demon hunter who may just have met his match in the ultimate magic bar, to a bouncer who discovers you should never let anyone in after hours in a world terrorized by zombies.

Courts of the Fey Edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis



Fantasy, whether classic or contemporary, has always been based on the conflict between the forces of Light and Darkness. Now some of the genre's most inventive authors bring readers into the Seelie Court, where all serve the Queen of Air and Light, and the Unseelie Court, where the forces of Darkness hold sway.

Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance Edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg



From the co-editor of Steampunk'd comes an all-new collection of adventure and romance amid Victorian steampunk settings. Sparks fly in these original stories of a steam-driven airship searching for a lost city, a crazy inventor in a powered wheelchair with a plot to take over the world, and a love story set in an alternate history version of America. Adventure abounds in these stories of love, loss, and danger- and there is plenty of steam!

Zombiesque Edited by Stephen L. Antczak, James C. Bassett and Martin H. Greenberg



From a tropical resort where visitors can become temporary zombies, to a newly-made zombie determined to protect those he loves, to a cheerleader who won't let death kick her off the team, to a zombie seeking revenge for the ancestors who died on an African slave ship-- Zombiesque invites readers to take a walk on the undead side in these tales from a zombie's point of view.





Just add your information to the form below to enter (all information is guaranteed confidential and will be discarded once contest ends) and I will randomly pick one winner by Tuesday November 29th. Open everywhere.



Good luck!



**Contest Closed**

07 November 11

It was super rainy, and after taking this photo, Jeff and I cozied up in bed with mugs of tea and watched Cast Away.

rings with wings and new beginnings

This is the last outfit I ever photographed at my old (and first ever) apartment, which, I have to admit, I was really happy to leave behind.

Something about this outfit makes me feel like a semiprecious stone. You know, like I'm simultaneously both Romeo and Juliet, checking myself out at a party. "She hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear..."

...Maybe it's because this dress makes me feel like A MILLION BUCKS, which is what you would need to get started on buying me every single piece of beautiful, flawless, stunning, &c. jewelry I want from The Three Graces, semiprecious stones or not. (I hope this doesn't look like a sponsored post, because it isn't. Although if you'd like to sponsor my happiness, please feel free to buy me any of these shiny things that make me weak in the knees.)

(Actually, I doubt that adds up to a million bucks, but my dress makes me feel like at least the summed value of the above linked items. Which is a large number. Especially considering the $13,750 earrings.)

 

MULTIPLES OF ME!

Look at me trying to be all twee and bloggery against the dirty wall of my poorly-lit apartment! Don't I look... semiprecious?

Eh? EH? The poor funnification of this post is brought to you by a Sam who has been reading Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby for class, and let me tell you, the deranged writing style rubs off very quickly.

(Funnification is not a word, Moony.)

Rings! With wings! And my face looking bizarrely tan and my hair in a swirling haze of flyaways!

Dress: Goodwill + hemmed. Thermal: some brand at Macy's. Tights: generic. Oxfords: Payless. Rings: Rapunzelsgold on etsy and Forever21.

Speaking of which, this reminds me of a song I listened to for several weeks (or months) straight in high school.

(Miles above and beyond "Hey Juliet", which was sooo 8th grade and which made a resurgence in my life right before college. Because I'm hella classy.)


P. S. Enter my Shabby Apple giveaway before the 23rd to win a dress for the price of a comment!