#and then i can read riyria again...

[roiiibintheibis]

sir those are my emotional support rouges-for-hire duo with opposing morals and traits but are still best friends despite all that

[serpenttailedangel]

The (entirely undisclosed) writing system Brin came up with in the World of Elan drives me nuts. Symbols were made with consideration for the schwa sound and their version of S looks like an O. (Or at least, whatever the first sound in their word for 'sun' is, that letter looks like an O.) The schwa accommodation alone means it's not the Latin alphabet. The S/O thing is probably further proof it's not the Latin alphabet, but could also indicate they're not speaking English. Which is kind of a moot point because everything pre-Riyria is implicitly localized into English if for no other reason than that most of the Fhrey language is blatantly localized and in Legends and also the old writing in Riyria does not match modern speech which is, itself, portrayed in English.

Anyway, it's not the Latin alphabet nor does it seem to be a cipher of the Latin alphabet because, again, it's got schwas. Assuming I read the bit about Brin and Roan discussing schwas correctly, anyway.

So they're not speaking English probably and they're also definitely not writing with the Latin alphabet or a 1:1 cypher... yet in Death of Dulgath, Payne makes a point of explicitly stating that his name is spelled with a Y and an E rather than an I, and Royce later makes a quip about his name being Pain after all.

(Not even gonna get into all the other times etymology is made up for words in the story, or the apparent vowel shift that managed to happen during the only few centuries of the empire where reading was wide-spread.)

I understand this is all still something that can be handwaved by saying "it's just localized into English" but my brain is still churning over this. Like...

Royce's whole entire name comes from a misread of Roy, a couple city segments reduced to initials, and someone slurring the words "male" and "born" together. And I'm gonna just ignore that the E in Royce is silent and the implications that has on the in-story alphabet. I'm not ignoring it. "Royce" only has three phonemes in it and even if you assume that the actual city section symbols were swapped out for Latin alphabet letters, how much space does that leave for the name Turin claimed while dropping him off at the orphanage? Did Brin invent a whole entire alphabet with useless extra letters despite her writing system actually being tailored for the language it was made in? Did the local language morph to the point of dropping certain sounds but keeping the old spelling, thus generating silent letters? Why? The vowel shift that I said I wasn't gonna get into seems, at least from how I read it, to mean that words are outright spelled differently between Fariland and Esrahaddon's time, which seems to imply that they adjust spellings to stick to pronunciation more readily than English does. But his last name is just comes from slurring the words "male" and "born" together. Given that there's no necessary reason for those words to be the same, what's his real name.

I understand that any second-world fantasy I read that uses names that sound like English words technically has this problem, but most of them don't also reference inventing an a writing system that explicitly isn't English and then making me think about it.

Realistically, I don't want Tolkien levels of worldbuilding. I like conlangs and fantasy writing systems, but when they're on the level of needing to read an appendix to learn that the fantasy language actually has a formal and informal you but only in certain cultures and some of the characters didn't use it and there were nuances to the social interactions I read that went overlooked due to all utterances of "you" being translated with the same word in English, you are expecting too much of me as a reader. But like... there is a little part of me that wants to know what their real names are when you tie their names to a bunch of words that I'm assuming were localized.

Also I'd like a Fhrey dictionary. I just... I need to know the pattern for the words. I want this.

[nah-thanks-m8]

Rereading Riyria Revalations to a friend and struck by Alric's character development tbh.

The way he acts in the first Riyria book seems just arrogant and annoying, and super entitled (which it is). If you read a little more into it though, you can tell (the same way Royce and Hadrian do) that he is incredibly sheltered, and genuinely believes that saying/doing these things will save him-- that him telling them he's the king and treatening them with execution (again) will protect him. He has blind faith in his own importance.

At the end of the series, he becomes the king that everyone wanted him to be-- kind and compassionate, humble and wise. Don't get me wrong, he's still got an incurable case of little shit syndrome, but this time he does it from a "we're all friends" standpoint and not an "I'm better than all of you" standpoint.

I'm just having a lot of Alric feelings today because he deserved a happy ending too and I will Cry For Ever that he did not get one.

[hadrianblackwaters]

Thinking about how King Amrath would buy Arista beautiful hairbrushes on his travels to show her he loved her. Thinking about how Hilfred tried his best to salvage the brushes for Arista after the events of Theft of Swords because he knew what they meant to her. Thinking about how that single remaining hairbrush represents so much unspoken love.

[shinylitwick94]

Finished reading the “Riyria Revelations” series by Michael J Sullivan.

I read the bundle editions that contain two stories each.

This was a lot of fun!

It’s not super serious epic fantasy, it’s certainly not dark by any stretch. It’s just characters going on cool adventures in a fantasy setting and doing a little bit of world rescuing on the side.

At first I found the tone of the books a little jarring - I thought the prose was too simple and far too modern and that put me off a bit. After a while I got used to it and it didn’t bother me as much, especially after I understood that it was supposed to sound modern.

The series essentially follows two characters, the thieves Hadrian and Royce, who have complete opposite personalities.

A  lot of the fun in the series comes form just watching the interactions between these two and the completely different reactions they have to everything around them.

The series also has a really good supporting cast. Personally I loved the characters of Myron and Modina and was also very fond of others like Arista, Nimbus, Sir Breckton or that wonderful couple of bumbling aristocrats that shows up once or twice. Even Degan Gaunt grew on me after a while.

The plots can seem a little silly, even forced sometimes, but I find that part of the charm in this. The first book in particular had me rolling my eyes sometimes at how ridiculous the plot got, but I was having fun so I didn’t really bother me so much.

The politics are also really simplistic and sometimes almost childish, but again that didn’t bother me, because it clearly isn’t that kind of story.

My favorite stories in the series are the last two, with Wintertide narrowly placing ahead of Percepliquis. There was  a lot of great drama there and some wonderful character moments too, especially with the secondary cast.

Would certainly recommend to anyone looking for some light fantasy with fun characters and occasionally high stakes that doesn’t take itself too seriously. But please don’t make me try to spell that title again.

[signourneybooks]

There were some firsts this month which was interesting to say the least. There was also a lot of coughing and overal sickness though so I’m not sure how I feel about January yet.

There are an awful lot of reading challenges down below. For the first month I’m keeping it this way and after that I am going to always have the amount reading challenge and my own. And alternate a bit between the others. I think I’m going to do an update and a wrap up of the harry potter board game over the year instead of taking it along here as there are so many levels and all.

The Numbers

# Read 60 Books Read this month: 12 Total: 12/60

Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox 1) by Julie Kagawa / 3,5 stars // ARC

The Crown Conspiracy (The Riyria Revelations 1) by Michael J. Sullivan / 4 stars

The Girl in the Tower (Winternight 2) by Katherine Arden / 5 stars

The Winter of the Witch (Winternight 3) by Katherine Arden / 4 stars // ARC

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison / 4,5 stars // ARC

Cogheart (The Cogheart Adventures 1) by Peter Bunzl / 4 stars // ARC

Wintersong (Wintersong 1) by S. Jae-Jones / 3,5 stars

And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness / 3 stars

Shadowsong (Wintersong 2) by S. Jae-Jones / 3 stars

The Ingenious by Darius Hinks / 3 stars // ARC

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children 1) by Seanan McGuire / 4 stars // Reread

Avempartha (The Riyria Revelations 2) by Michael J. Sullivan / 4 stars

Average: 3,8

Fire Breathing Dragon: 3/20 Prompts Completed This Month: Thief / Fairytale Retelling / Classic Fantasy

Complete Alien: 1/20 Prompts Completed This Month: Steampunk

Generic Robot: 4/12 Prompts Completed This Month: WOC / Finish a Series / One word title / Mental Health

Total: 8/52

Read more about my own reading challenge here.

Level: Mt. Vancouver (36 books) Read this month: 8 Total: 8/36

Rules: Books Owned Prior to 2019 / No Library Books / Rereads can count (but not in the last 5 years read) / I Am Counting My Ebooks and ARCS received before 2019

Level: Elemental Witch  (11-15 retellings) Read in this month: 6 Total: 6/15

Level: 1 (1-10) Asian Authors Read: 2 Total Asian Authors Read: 2

⌘ This month was a bit meh on the health department. It took a month for my voice to be back to normal again and a week later it wasn’t exactly great again but also not completely gone. I also got sick for the 3rd time in 2 months which is just really frustrating. And then on the last day of the month, poof my voice went again.

⌘ As you know I have been working on my depression since the end of last year. I got to the half way point with my one on one appointments and she suggested trying a course as group therapy instead of continuing on like this. I started it this month and have been twice now. There are a total of 8 sessions and we follow a book (with homework assignments yes lol). So it does require some extra work from me, especially on the emotional front again. It was interesting to see I also recognized some thoughts of it as I was reading Shadowsong.

⌘ I managed to burn my hand just below my thumb. Very certain a portion of it is a second degree burn. Fun times.

View this post on Instagram

A while ago @therealrobinhobb offered to exchange postcards and of course i send her a #dikkiedik postcard. This weekend i got a lovely card back with a bookplate. Thank you so much ❤️ . . . #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksofig #readersofinstagram #bookaddicted #booklover #bookobsessed #spreadthebooklove #blogger #bookblogger #boekenblogger #robinhobb #bookplate #foolsfate #thegoldenfool #realmofelderlings

A post shared by Annemieke (@signourney) on Jan 15, 2019 at 12:21am PST

  ⌘ A few months ago Robin Hobb offered on her website (and mentioned on her instagram) that she liked to send out postcards if we send her one. So I did that. And this month I got her card and a book plate. So amazing. ❤

Reviews

⌘ A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer / ARC ⌘ Shadow Captain (Revenger 2) by Alastair Reynolds / ARC ⌘ Pop-Up Guide to Hogwarts ⌘ The Girl in the Tower (Winternight 2) by Katherine Arden ⌘ A Pinch of Magic (A Pinch of Magic 1) by Michelle Harrison / ARC ⌘ The Winter of the Witch (Winternight 3) by Katherine Arden / ARC ⌘ Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox 1) by Julie Kagawa / ARC

Top Ten Tuesday My 5 and 4,5 Star Reads of 2018 / 2019 Releases I Am Looking Forward To – January to June / New to Me Authors in 2018  / Books I Meant to Read in 2018, but Didn’t… /

Other Posts Dancing Out of December 2018 / Dancing Out of the Year 2018 / My Year in Books 2018 Over on Goodreads / End of the Year Survey 2018 / Trying to Be an Elemental Witch – 2019 Retellings Reading Challenge / 2019 Goals & Intentions for Reading, Social Media and the Blog/ Time to Crunch Some Numbers – Reading Statistics 2018 / Why You Should Be Watching Jordskott / From US or UK Cover to Dutch Cover / Year of the Asian Reading Challenge / Books I Want to Reread This Year

⌘ Justice League / Movie Surprisingly I actually liked this. The plot wasn’t that special but the underlying tensions in the relationships were. I was worried I wouldn’t like the flash since I’m so used to the tv show The Flash. But I shouldn’t have worried. Its Ezra Miller. The only thing I wish that it wasn’t that he endlessly was used for comic relief and that there was more humor for the group as a whole. The flash stood out like a sore tumb because of his youth and because he wasn’t as brooding as the others.  More interested in seeing Aquaman now (instead of just for Jason Momoa).

⌘ Astroboy / Movie I’d never watched this and when I was browsing on demand when I was sick I came across it. I liked it. Its cute. It could have done with some more depth (and poeh certainly some more poc) but overal it was a nice watch.

⌘ IT (2017) / Movie I had some time left over one day and I decided at random to watch this. I’ve never read the book or seen the older movie. I actually liked it. I mean the whole thriller parts aren’t exactly my thing but I enjoyed the characters and their relationships. Beverly ❤

⌘ Scooby-Doo Adventures: The Mystery Map / Movie This might be the weirdest movie of Scooby yet. They were puppets and they were shown as they were in the series a Pup Called Scooby-Doo so children. The plot was all kinds of meh so yeah not a good one.

⌘ Scooby-Doo and the Mask of the Blue Falcon / Movie This one had more of a old scooby doo feeling again. But the plot didn’t really interest me.

⌘ The Passage / Season 1 / Ep 1-2 I was going to try and read books 2 and 3 before I went to look up to watch this show, like in a few years, lol. But then I saw that our Fox also started showing it very quickly after its release in the USA, and here we are. This is really just the set up and it doesn’t diverge from the book that much. Amy however in the tv show is so kick ass. Love her.

⌘ Zoo / Season 2 / Ep 1-4 We finally started this season and it is so weird oh my gosh. And addicting in a way. But so weird. Like a train wreck. You just can’t look away.

Blogs

⌘ Jackie from Death by Tsondoku talks about Jólabókaflóðið. ⌘ CW from The Quiet Pond shares their most anticipated diverse debuts for 2019. ⌘ Crini from All About Books updated her spreadsheet for 2019. ⌘ Noura from The Perks of Being Noura had me in her item The Life of a Reader. ⌘ Kathy from Books & Munches has the fantastic february fantasy themed month. ⌘ CW from The Quiet Pond, Shelea from Shut Up Shelea!, Vicky from Vicky Who Reads and Lily from Sprinkles of Dreams are hosting the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge. ⌘ Jamie from The Perpetual Page-turner talks about how her reading life has become more rich and full. ⌘ Greg shares things he’s learned from Game of Thrones. ⌘ Ely from Of Wonderland shared a list of 2019 Releases featuring disability. ⌘ La La in the Library posted the January Snidget with all the Harry Potter News. ⌘ Shannon from It Starts at Midnight talks about open endings. ⌘ Fadwa from Words Wonders shares why she loves rereading. ⌘ Brianna from Pages Unbound talks about miscategorizing adult books as young adult. ⌘ Have you seen Cait’s cover reveal of her second book? ⌘ Imryl from X=1 has created a recommendations list for my reading challenge. You can find part one here!

Dutch Blogs

⌘ Liesbet from Zwartraafje always starts the new year with numbers from last year. She also shares if she stayed within her book buying budget.

⌘ #SapphicAThon 2019 starts on February 1st to February 7th and I am planning on reading two books for that: Down Among the Sticks and Bones and The Abyss Surrounds Us.

⌘Other than that I want to read my pre orders (King of Scars, Firestart, both arrived way late), some review copies and do my buddy read with La La in the Library for The Darkest Legacy.

⌘ As for the blog, I am going on a Semi-Hiatus to fix some of the broken photos. There are still posts coming along like top ten tuesday and a wrap up post, and some books I read for review. But no more than that. Hopefully it will give me some breathing space to fix the broken photos, even though I really don’t want to spend time on it again. -_-

This monthly wrap up will be linked up with the monthly one by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction. This so we can blog hop to each others wrap ups easier.

Dancing out of January 2019 There were some firsts this month which was interesting to say the least. There was also a lot of coughing and overal sickness though so I'm not sure how I feel about January yet.

[themelodyofspring]

Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan. Completed series. Main characters are a thieving duo. The story is character driven and all the plots points merge in the last book for fantastic reveals. The banter between characters is excellent. It doesn't have a complex magic system like Stormlight but was very enjoyable nonetheless. There's also other epic fantasy books by this author you can check out (that I haven't read yet).

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch also has thieves and magic.

The Midnight Lie is YA fantasy with a story about lost magic and Gods. It also has lots of romance. Read this recently and really enjoyed it. Only one book is out yet.

Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Lost magic and Gods again. Completed duology.

An Ember in The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir is dystopian YA fantasy with diverse characters. 3/4 books out. Last book releasing this December.

Do you have any Epic Fantasy recommendations? I need a book to read and my TBR list is surprissingly short right now.

[10000dayswithoutwings]

I was tagged by @9puzzlepiece9, thanks Jenna, sorry I took so long... was away from my lappy for a week. 

I tag: @rupko unless you’ve already done it.. and anyone who just feels like it I guess.

1. COKE OR PEPSI? Coke definitely, more specifically; Vanilla coke. 

2. DISNEY OR DREAMWORKS? Mmmmmmm actually not that bigger fan of either.... but Disney because Mulan. 

3. COFFEE OR TEA? Coffee <3

4. BOOKS OR MOVIES? Books forever

5. WINDOWS OR MAC? Linux. 

6. DC OR MARVEL? Marvel

7. X-BOX OR PLAYSTATION? Xbox, but only because I grew up with one and can’t be bothered adjusting to a new console or buying new games.

8. DRAGON AGE OR MASS EFFECT? Dragon Age (but actually Lost Odyssey)

9. NIGHT OWL OR EARLY RISER? Night Owl. 

10. CARDS OR CHESS? Chess

11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate

12. VANS OR CONVERSE? Converse :) High tops are the best

13. LAVELLAN, TREVELYAN, CADASH OR ADAAR? Don’t know what those words are, but I pick Trevelyan because it’s the prettiest.

14. FLUFF OR ANGST? Angst, but it has to be resolved with fluff. 

15. BEACH OR FOREST? Beach :)

16. DOGS OR CATS? Fish (Sorry, I make my own rules :P)

17. CLEAR SKIES OR RAIN? Thunderstorm!!

18. COOKING OR EATING OUT? Eating out because I actually can’t stand cooking. 

19. SPICY FOOD OR MILD FOOD? Spicy :)

20. HALLOWEEN/SAMHAIN OR SOLSTICE/YULE/CHRISTMAS? Christmas because I always drive down to see my family :)

21. A LITTLE TOO COLD OR A LITTLE TOO HOT? Freezing cold

22. CHOOSE A SUPERPOWER! The power to speak every language in the world.

23. ANIMATION OR LIVE ACTION? Live action

24. PARAGON OR RENEGADE? Renegade

25. BATHS OR SHOWERS? Baths with tea and candles and books. 

26. TEAM CAP OR TEAM IRONMAN? Team Black Widow

27. FANTASY OR SCIFI? Fantasy!!

28. THREE FAVOURITE QUOTES: they change all the time, but at the moment

-”Everything seemed at a distance, as if painted in a shade of white. He needed more wine; he needed it now. In the back of his mind, he vaguely remembered his decision not to buy any more wine; but this seemed like the decision of another person, someone long ago and far away. In any case, he would stop later...” Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson

-“It was wise enough to know itself, and brave enough to BE itself, and wild enough to change itself while somehow staying altogether true.” The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

-”’It’s the same dagger,” Royce explained, “but from where you saw it was light while I saw it as dark. So who is right?" 

"Neither of us,” Hadrian said.

“No,” Royce said. “That’s the mistake people always make, and they make it because they can’t grasp the truth.”

“Which is?”

“That we’re both right. One truth doesn’t refute another. Truth doesn’t lie in the object, but in how we see it.” Rise of Empire by  Michael Sullivan (you know I wasn’t doing this without a Riyria quote)

29. YOUTUBE OR NETFLIX? youtube, then you don’t need netflix

30. HARRY POTTER OR PERCY JACKSON? Harry Potter!

31. WHEN DO I FEEL ACCOMPLISHED? never.

32. STAR WARS OR STAR TREK? Star Wars

33. PAPERBACK OR HARDBINDERS? Paperback, so much easier to hold. I get that they don’t last, but just buy the book again if you really like it.

34. HORROR OR ROM-COM? uuuurg action.

35. TV SHOWS OR MOVIES? TV Shows (show ((TWD)))

36. FAVOURITE ANIMAL: Hyena

37. FAVOURITE GENRE OF MUSIC: Metal \m/

38. LEAST FAVOURITE BOOK: rude question. I’m gunna say Cloudstreet by Tim Winton, only because I had to read it for school but didn’t enjoy it so it has bad memories for me. But if you don’t like a book, just don’t read it. You don’t have to have one that’s your ’least fav’

39. FAVOURITE SEASON: Winter :)

40. SONG THAT’S CURRENTLY STUCK IN YOUR HEAD: None, but as soon as I started thinking about songs that get stuck in your head, I started thinking about Cotton Eyed- Joe, so there you go.

41. WHAT KIND OF PAJAMAS DO YOU YOU WEAR? A fav Tshirt (must be black) and my long flannel PJ pants in winter. Tank top and tiny shorts (with anchors on them) in summer.

42. HOW MANY EXISTENTIAL CRISES DO YOU HAVE ON AN AVERAGE DAY? Well, I mean, it’s just one long ongoing one really. But I think about it maybe a couple times a day

43. SONG YOU WANT TO HAVE PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL: Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

44. FAVOURITE THEME SONG TO A TV SHOW: The one from That 70s Show

45. HARRY POTTER MOVIES OR BOOKS? Books!

46. YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OTP CANON; BUT YOU’LL FORGET THAT TUMBLR EXISTS. WILL YOU DO IT? Nah. Tumblr is great, and if I need my OTPs to be cannon then I can just go to AO3

47. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE FLOWERS? Carnations

48. A LANGUAGE YOU REALLY WANT TO LEARN: Cantonese

[many-books-little-time]

The Rose and the Thorn (The Riyria Chronicles #2) Author: Michael J. Sullivan Genre: Fantasy Pages: 347 Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Summary: For more than a year Royce Melborn has tried to forget Gwen DeLancy, the woman who saved him and his partner Hadrian Blackwater from certain death. Unable to get her out of his mind, the two thieves return to Medford but receive a very different reception — Gwen refuses to see them. The victim of abuse by a powerful noble, she suspects that Royce will ignore any danger in his desire for revenge. By turning the thieves away, Gwen hopes to once more protect them. What she doesn’t realize is what the two are capable of — but she’s about to find out.

The Riyria universe can be a bit confusing. We have The Riyria Revelations (3 books) that were published first, and then we have The Riyria Chronicles (again, 3 books) that were published after the Revelations but act as prequels to the universe. I am reading the series in chronological order but they can be read in publishing order too.

I found The Rose and the Thorn more rounded than the first book (The Crown Tower). The plot was a bit more complex and it involved more characters and storylines. This being a prequel, I felt that most of the characters here will make an appearance in the Revelations and play important parts. Also, the structure was more logical, leaving me with a sense of closure and still making me beg for more.

I marked this one as fantasy, but the truth is that it doesn’t have many fantastic elements except for one character whose gift doesn’t really play an important part… yet? The way I see this series, it’s like a medieval A Team. Are you in trouble? Do you need justice in a world that’s giving you the cold shoulder? Fear not! These two outlaws will find a way to help you! As long as you can pay the price…

The characters were just incredible. This is a story with adventure, action, and treason, but it relies almost completely on the characters’ personalities. I thought I loved the main duo when I finished the first book, but I was wrong. I love them so much now! Hadrian is the one that looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll, and Royce looks like he could kill you and could actually kill you. Ok, silly jokes aside, in this part I got to know them better, I got to see how they impact each other’s lives, how their friendship develops. I’ve always said that a hero is not interesting if they don’t care about anyone. I need to know that someone can get under their skin and that they are capable of love, even if it’s just for their grandma. Well, these boys are tough, ruthless thieves/assassins, but they care. I liked them so much that the moment I finished the book I was already missing them.

The one problem I find here is that the writing was too dense for my taste. Some sentences were five lines long and it could be exhausting at times. I had to go back at the beginning of the sentence to remember what was all about and it made me feel like I didn’t understand English even though I read most of my books in English.

However, I can’t wait to see where all the intrigues will lead. I seriously can’t wait.

[godvilletimes-blog]

Issue #2471

WEEKEND GODVILLE

Day 2715   g.e.

• Made up on the spot • Wrong on so many levels • No copy-paste allowed •

Daily Forecast

• Daily News Analysts have foretold a new financial crisis, which has caused impressionable boss-monsters to carry more gold than usual today.

• Skill training shops in towns are closed for today, since all personal coaches went into the astral plane.

Front Page

Voice of god

The words of the Almighty can sometimes echo in the hero's heart. Deities can encourage heroes to pray, to sacrifice, to speed up quests or return to a nearby town, to dig for treasure, and many other things which have yet to be discovered.

Bingo

hea abl len tab der

atio sti ape ial ant

col ver box tim oll

Yesterday's Results

1. Ringpeace (60) 2. God Nischal (58) 3. Brihtnoth (53) 4. Kaitou (51)5. Chesusaurus Rex (50) 6. Dan Maku (50) 7. Weathermatt (48)8. Gwedopang (47) 9. Darth Threepio (47) 10. Sparkoflife (47) 11. Marcus the Merciful (46) 12. Deep Thought (43) 13. Ypchua (42) 14. Kalyt (41)15. Trickiter (40) 16. Rosu (40) 17. Jayo23696 (40) 18. Goodgod less (39)19. Katja die Grosse (38) 20. God Of Boogers (38) 21. ISNULL (36)22. CCCC4 (36) 23. S624 (35) 24. Fairy Wogdog (35) 25. Josetann (35)26. Fumanchu888 (35) 27. Kvailai (34) 28. Ramona Pilgrim (33) 29. My Preciousss (33) 30. Ttam the Mighty (33) 31. Eville111 (33) 32. Exekutor (32)33. OMNITONY (32) 34. Dsnymom (32) 35. Jeffsceu (32) 36. Carmentis (31)37. Kabilonus (31) 38. The Great Kuvira (31) 39. Holy Dodo (31)40. Joeseidon (31) 41. Tamea (31) 42. Phexides (31) 43. Elizabethena (31)44. Parthenogenesis (31) 45. Kel-Sin (31) 46. Riyria (31) 47. SourceRunner (31)48. Hairplug4men (31) 49. Skatoc (30) 50. Rainbow Queen (30) 51. Fake Me (30) 52. Infamous Second Son (30) 53. HtoO (30) 54. Bastienne (30)55. Fluffalupagus (30) 56. Medemia (30) 57. Sigefrith (30) 58. Vertibraker (30)59. TheLibrarian (29) 60. EarlyMaster (29) 61. HighDef (29) 62. Chimaere (28)63. Colastie (28) 64. Puck the Majestic (28) 65. The Able King (28)66. Kerenmel (28) 67. Wahoowa (28) 68. Sheila almighty (27) 69. Zsut (27)70. Traktor (27) 71. Vinamra (27) 72. Fionnbar (26) 73. Lord BlitheCrescent (26) 74. Jequirity (26) 75. MrAtomic (26) 76. Silent Gallows (26)77. Divine Isis (26) 78. Infinitecircle (26) 79. Elynae (25) 80. WardPhoenix (25)81. Syrocco (25) 82. Zaphyre (25) 83. Nooooo Good GOOODD (25)84. Robbo76 (25) 85. Icaria (25) 86. Tsarczar (25) 87. Ooshiro (25)88. Anyaanka (25) 89. Gerrypsu80 (25) 90. Kaerran (24) 91. Sgt Jackrum (24)92. Nuketroll (24) 93. Nimloth (24) 94. Juanalmighty (24) 95. Queen Me (24)96. Mihaela (24) 97. Hangya (24) 98. Eminet (24) 99. Justin Carpenter (23)100. Razield (23)

Ideabox News

• 67 ideas were enhanced yesterday.

• Enzuna says that yes, her ER correction skills are innate reflexes, and no, she will not autograph the reporter's t-shirt.

• The goddess A Black Rockis said to have no end of new ideas. This is someone to keep an eye on, claim Godville police.

Famous Heroes of Godville

Serenity 888 - 96th-level adventurer, member of the “Blue Feather” guild, with the motto “When one must, one can.”, stands at the 57th position in thepantheon of gratitude under the vigilant supervision of the god Stansia. She was known to distribute counterfeit Godville invites during her youth.

El Jimmer - 99th-level adventurer, member of the “Raven Tail” guild, with the motto “Why not Zoidberg?”, stands at the 199th position in the pantheon of arkeology under the vigilant supervision of the god El Jimmer. Rumor has it that a local Grammatical Terror has learned to show the hero proper respect for some reason.

Wanted

The Grammatical Terror is today's prize monster. Hunters hope that the Grammatical Terror will not have seen this notice.

Caught today: 2 pcs.

Today, the head of the Biological Nightmare can be exchanged for one newly poured golden brick and a free pass to a public bathhouse.

Caught today: 3 pcs.

Breaking News

• It has been calculated that if every hero was to collect pollen for the hive mind, the ambient temperature of Godville would decrease by 7 kelvin.

• “Please, I’m begging for your help. It’s been three days and I still have no idea how to find out if a phoenix will resurrect in a barrel of wine. What shall I do?”, asks Ethel Pearl.

• For its extremely original name the “Emoticonz” guild was awarded with an honorable mention in the form of this newspaper notice.

Buy and Sell

Buying an alternate reality cheque at five times the normal cost! Godville's one and only “Bricks and Mortar” shop. Just ask for Crippler.

Found today: 3 pcs.

An urgent recall had been issued on any absolute vacuum cleaner sold since 1200 g.e. A reward for their return is being offered to prevent any further deaths.

Market Quotes

1 golden brick

3101 gold coins -2.5%

1 Godville invite

978 gold coins 6.6%

Ads

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Crossword

Across: 4. Skill. 6. Bold Artifact. 7. Monster. 8. Strong Monster. 9. Equipment. Down: 1. Monster. 2. Equipment. 3. Equipment. 5. Bold Artifact.

1. Alee67 2. Darth Threepio 3. Pearlcaster 4. Goddygoddy 5. I Am Henry6. Xelos27 7. Varalica 8. Braulio005 9. Alice A 10. Mihaela 11. Kaerran12. RazorNate 13. The Great Jimsky 14. Damitt 15. Syvsover 16. Doct0r17. Laskljffj 18. Consus 19. Cowabungallow 20. Riyria 21. Talissa 22. The Omnipotent Fred 23. KamiNappa 24. Infinitecircle 25. The Almighty Wiz26. Kazehime 27. Makaze 28. Al-laat 29. Rosu 30. Doomy Nytress 31. Noobishly32. Spadon 33. Summer Queen 34. Dan Maku 35. Melandre 36. Ratphour 37. Io the eyeless 38. Loreleir 39. Tukang Cendol 40. Vince- 41. Carmentis 42. Sheila almighty 43. Devourer Of Doughnuts 44. Gamzeemak 45. Djojomojo46. MrWiggles 47. Yoedude 48. Luudche 49. KheirFerrum 50. XJEEGx 51. Dragon Lord Dortarat 52. WhatANegan 53. Red Shirt Crew 54. Buggaroon

Don't believe everything you read. Content may include actual facts. Printed in surround sound. 100% fact-free product. Hard copy actually quite soft.

[hhades]

Tolkien, Chaucer, Wells?

J. R. R. Tolkien – A book with world building you love: And finally, saving the best for last, Game of Thrones OF COURSE. George RR Martin built such a rich world with such a rich cast of characters and I cannot tear myself out of his world its so beautiful and God why can’t he write the last book faster...

A Song of Ice and Fire is powerful, dark, low fantasy set in a gloomily realistic world with a cast of characters none of which are quite evil or quite good... which I LOVE.

Geoffrey Chaucer – A book you love but sometimes forget about: Before I imply something crazy, I’ve only read this book twice, once yesterday and once a year or two ago, so its not like its one of my top top read it a billion times lists, but if I’ve forgotten any of those, I’ve forgotten about it, so... Phule’s Company. It’s a nice little comedic break from all my epic drama and dark fiction, and its got a lovely diverse cast of characters and a nice narrative. Its a nice little book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to smile.

Phule’s Company is the story of the headstrong heir to a business empire who decides to take on a company of loser and misfit military personnel... and turn them into an elite unit. Needless to say, its quite amusing to watch (or read about anyways).

H. G. Wells – A book that inspired your writing style: So the best answer to this question is A Song of Ice and Fire again but I’m trying not to repeat answers, so I’ll instead answer with a book that I’m trying to incorporate more of the style of into my writing, or rather a series; The Riyria Chronicles/Riyria Revelations series. They’re a fairly obscure bunch of fantasy books about a thief and a warrior who team up, and the world building is decent, but the characters are so vibrant and full of life. See, what I’ve found is that while my worlds are gorgeous and fleshed out, my characters can come across a bit dead. So I’m hoping to channel some of the life from the characters in Riyria to bring my own characters to life.

Riyria is a funny, engaging tale of two mismatched companions as they attempt to navigate the worlds of politics and wizards, and stupid bloody quests. You’ll love it. All of you.

[signourneybooks]

April was another weird month to be honest. The car was acting up. My body was being weird (but what is new on that account). The weather was going up and down. But reading wise it all went super!

The Numbers

# Read 60 Books Read this month: 15 Total: 51/60

Night Shift by Debi Gliori / 5 stars

Little Witches: Magic in Concord / 3 stars // ARC

The Copper Promise (The Copper Cat 1) by Jen williams / 5 stars // Reread

Career OWLS. Other OWLS.

Slayer (Slayer 1) by Kierstin White / 3 stars // OWLS / Ancient Runes // ARC

Stronger Than a Bronze Dragon by Mary Fan / 4 stars // OWLS / Transfiguration // ARC

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor 1) by Mark Lawrence / 4,5 stars // OWLS / Defence Against the Dark Arts

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann / 4 stars // OWLS / Charms // ARC

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman / 4 stars // OWLS / History of Magic

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings. Edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman / 4 stars // OWLS / Arithmancy

Nyphon Rising (The Riyria Revelations 3) by Michael J. Sullivan / 3,5 stars //  OWLS / Herbology

Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries 2) by Martha Wells / 4 stars // OWLS / Potions

A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews / 4 stars // OWLS / Muggle Studies

All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder (All Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder vol. 1) /  2,5 stars // OWLS / Astronomy // Graphic Novel

The Abyss Surrounds Us (The Abyss Surrounds Us 1) by Emily Skrutskie / 3 stars // OWLS / Care of Magical Creatures

Holiday in Death (In Death 7) by J.D. Robb / 4 stars // OWLS / Divination

I managed to finish all OWLS needed for my career AND I read the 4 extra owls. I am best pleased!

AVERAGE: 3,53

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Fire Breathing Dragon: 12/20 Prompts Completed This Month: Warrior / Uncommon Fantasy Creatures / Pirates

Complete Alien: 6/20 Prompts Completed This Month: Space Creatures / Space Ship

Generic Robot: 7/12 Prompts Completed This Month: Under 500 Pages / Satire

Total: 24/52

Read more about my own reading challenge here.

Level: Elemental Witch  (11-15 retellings) Read This Month: 2 Total: 13/15

I’ll show and update with the bingo card every 3 months here.

⌘ So instead of health problems at the start of the month I now had car problems. My car had its yearly check up at the end of February. In March I had to return to fix a shake while driving. And in April I seemed to have problems with my cooling system. It was not fun.  I gave me a lot of stress and sadness. I tried very hard not to let it rule me. It got fixed and as we were driving back from my parents at Easter, another light went on. Grr.

⌘ The change of the clock at the end of March messed a bit with Merijn’s sense of bed time and he keeps coming out of bed for 30 minutes. I hope he’ll get used to it again because it being light when he goes to bed is just going to get worse.

⌘ We got some fun bits for our garden to cheer it up.

⌘ We took Merijn to a fairytale theme park more geared towards his age with a very large playground as well. He loved it. He was so tired but he loved it.

⌘ Then a few days later Merijn got the sixth disease/roseola. He broke out in bumps and red splots over night, ended up with a high fever for 24 hours and then his temperature went back to normal. The break out took a few days longer to go away, een more so with some of the warmer days we had. He was better in time for Easter

⌘ For Easter we went to my parents. Which was fine. We had some great weather. Merijn stayed the week with my parents and we went back on King’s Day.

⌘ For some reason I got a bad case of hayfever? And then I woke up the last weekend of April and I had a swollen, stiff and sometimes painful knee. Who even knows what I did…

Reviews

⌘ The Unicorn Anthology. Edited by Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weissman // ARC ⌘ The Beauty and the Beast by Gabriella-Suzanna Barbot de Villeneuve ⌘ Slayer (Slayer 1) by Kierstin White // ARC ⌘ Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor 1) by Mark Lawrence ⌘ Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Top Ten Tuesday Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book  / Older Books I Don’t Want You to Forget About! / Ten Rainy Day Reads  / Eight Blog Posts I Think Give You the Best Glimpse of Me

Other Posts Dancing out of March 2019 / Best of the Bunch // March 2019 / Dancing Versus – The Passage / Snapping Those Bookish Pictures / Why Do I Seem to Have So Many Reading Goals but Rarely Any Personal Goals? / Buying Full Series Before Reading the First Book: How Has That Been Working Out for Me? / Is Limited Third Person Point of View Still My Favorite? / Book Haul #42 / In Which Spring Arrived with Sequels / With Which Characters Would I Describe Myself?

⌘ The Lost City of Z / Movie / DNF I watched a good portion of this but it was a bit boring and I couldn’t really care about any of the characters.

⌘ The Warrior’s Gate / Movie / DNF I couldn’t do it. This screamed white savior all over it. Also why in hells name would a chinese man give a white teenage boy that works for him a family heirloom?

⌘ Spirited Away / Movie / Rewatch

⌘ Goosebumps / Movie I was excited to see they were showing this here and I liked the humor at the start. Then it kind of dwindled and I think Jack Black was trying a bit too hard to be honest.

⌘ Inspector Lewis / Season 1 / Ep 1-4 / Rewatch / COMPLETED

⌘ Game of Thrones / Season 6 / Ep 1-8 Well I finally started this season now everyone is watching the final season, lol.

In April I participated in Anderwereld’s #aprilmeetthebookworm photo challenge so here you can see the picture I took for that.

You and your shelf / What are you currently reading / Golden Oldie Favorite Reread / How long have you been reading? / First Fantasy Book Favorite Writer / TBR / Reading Spot

Reading Buddy / Favorite Fantasy World / Biggest Book on Your Shelf Special Book to You / Favorite Bookish Item / Most Fun Reading Memory Your Reading Goal / Favorite Bookish Quote / A Genre You Still Want to Try

Favorite Drink / Pleasant Surprise Bookmarks / Your Biggest Treasure Best Meeting in the Bookish World / Your Favorite Book Store

Your Favorite Series / Your Favorite Blog/Site Favorite Reading Snack / Favorite Character April Book Haul / April Wrap Up

Blogs

⌘ Cait from Paper Fury talks about what it is like to write an own voices book. She also shares a collab post with other autistic bloggers/authors about what they would like to see more in books regarding autism. And here was a book shelf tour! ⌘ Fadwa from Word Wonders recommends books based on the twelve zodiac signs. ⌘ Vicky from Vicky Who Reads created a tutorial about DIY sprayed edges. ⌘ Krysta from Pages Unbound asks where the ya books for younger teens are. ⌘ Lindsey from Lindsey Reads shared ten inspirational quotes for introverts.

Dutch Blogs

⌘ I wrote a guest blog in Dutch for Anderwereld about why second-hand books are fun too. ⌘ Emmy from Zon en Maan did another compliments for book bloggers survey and has posted the results with the compliments.

⌘ It is WYRD AND WONDER TIME! I’ve already started on May 1st with some posts for this fantasy themed month and of course so shall be my reading.

⌘ Other than that I don’t really know. I guess I’ll be working on the blog some. And I kind of really need to get on those pictures. But that might be more of a Summer evening task. You know, those nights that you can’t sleep on time anyway because its so hot?

This monthly wrap up will be linked up with the monthly one by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction. This so we can blog hop to each others wrap ups easier.

Dancing out of April 2019 April was another weird month to be honest. The car was acting up. My body was being weird (but what is new on that account).