Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1) Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, Book 2) Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) Speaking of literary heroines in general within this genre, and Andrews’ (so-called) heroine in particular, I’d like to add two corollaries to my commandment against Stupidly Wrong Gender Tropes, which I’d like both the authors and their…
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1) Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, Book 2) Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) This leads neatly into my next personal commandment for urban fantasy: Enough already with the perverse, nonsensical gender-based tropes! I know this isn’t unique to this genre, but come on now — can we please finally get…
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1) Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, Book 2) Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) First and foremost, the number one commandment for a good urban fantasy (or, I suppose, whatever writing you wish to do) is: Thou shalt… Do. The. Research! This extends to the character as well as the author….
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1) Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, Book 2) Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) I’ve always had a fondness, even well before it was popular, for the genre of urban fantasy. I adored the The Chronicles of Narnia stories as a child, but I still daydreamed with excited bemusement of what…
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown What’s the real Truth? As a friend of mine wrote when commenting on a previous Firestarter, belief in truth demands a commensurate belief in logic and critical thinking, which accepts and permits the growth of knowledge and more truth. Once we do this, we can then accept that…
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown So how’d we get here? Remember the class I initially mentioned? Well, coupled with it was another one of similar intent, but focused on the New Testament. It was one of the readings of that class which caused me to have a small but fascinated revelation about the…
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown I’ve always considered it a crying shame most versions of Christianity are unable to tolerate any challenge to their theoretically monotheistic, hierarchical, all-male trinity. Consequently it does not surprise me in the least to find Mariolatry (or worship of Mary, the “virgin mother” of Christianity) was and still…
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Originally posted May 2004 Thanks to Don, who was right when he told me I really should read this book! ;-) There is detailed plot information in this review. Please do not read if you don’t like spoilers! If the subject matter of The DaVinci Code interests you,…
Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache The Apache feel that speech should be used with economy. Verbosity is not considered precocious, merely loud. Indeed, careless use of language can be perceived as both rude to the listener and disrespectful of the ancestors. It is considered better to listen, observe, and…
Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache A sense of history is given by the Apache location stories. The stories relate the past, but are usually told in the present tense. Quotations are frequently used, to invoke a sense of current presence, and the language is concise and avoids redundancy. The…