Skip navigation

Monthly Archives: January 2013

Two Years of WordPress

The Swords of The Ancients is two years old today! Two years ago, I started this blog to help facilitate the crafting of my first novel. Since then, I’ve written upwards of 30,000 words toward that goal and developed my main characters considerably. I’m nowhere near where I would like to be in terms of progress on this particular project, but I’ve found that through various connections I’ve made since beginning this blog, I’ve found a great deal of inspiration. I thank you all, my wonderful readers. While I’d probably still continue this just for my own sake, it’s nice to know that you’re here.

It’s time for some intense reading. We started the Winter Reading Program at my library a few days ago, and so the challenge is to make it through eight books over the course of eight weeks. I’ve already knocked out a book on the making of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I’m reading a bunch of the collected editions of DC’s New 52, but I’m trying to avoid counting those toward my eight, just for the sake of getting caught up on my backlog of books. I am almost two hundred pages through The Casual Vacancy right now, and I’m really enjoying it. A full review will follow as soon as I finish. I’m going to try to get through some classic fantasy pieces now as well, such as The King of Elfland’s Daughter and The Worm Ouroboros, both of which have been recommended by V. I’ve also added The Well at the World’s End to my to-read list, since it served as an inspiration to Tolkien. There’s a few books I’ve been suggesting to patrons at work at the library recently, and so I’m considering tossing some rereading in as well, with Dune at the top of that list. So many books… Goodreads has been very beneficial in keeping track of them. If you’re a reader and you don’t have a goodreads account, I would highly recommend setting one up. It’s free, and it’s a great way to track what you’re reading, what you have read, and what you want to read, plus being able to rate and review books you’ve read.

I’m going to let you go for now, dear readers. I owe you some new stories, after all. I’ve been issued a challenge by Chuck Wendig. 1000 word flash fiction based on photos of some absolutely incredible and surreal real world locations. Feel free to take part. Entries are due by the 25th.

Excelsior!
(Note to self: Create a catchphrase that’s better than Stan “The Man” Lee’s)

Hellboy In Hell

Caution: Spoilers may lie ahead. You have been warned.

Back in the early 90’s, Mike Mignola began writing stories about a character named Hellboy, a demon pulled through to Earth during an occult ritual performed by a group of Nazis in 1944. Hellboy, then a child, was adopted by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, founder of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD). Through the professor’s kindness, Hellboy became a champion for good, fighting against ghosts, demons, and eldritch abominations for years. Over time, Hellboy learned the truth of his origins and eventually sacrificed himself to save the world. (Hey, I warned you.)

That’s right, folks. Hellboy is dead, but that’s not about to slow him down. Late last year, Mignola announced that Hellboy would be back in a new ongoing series entitled Hellboy in Hell. 

Mike Mignola's Hellboy In Hell issue one cover

Exactly what it says on the tin.

Now I’ve read through the entirety of Hellboy and a good chunk of the spin-off series, BPRD, but I can’t wait to see how this one turns out. I love Mignola’s art and stories, and I’m thrilled to see one of my favorite comic book characters have new life in him, so to speak.

Mini-Milestone

500 comments! Sure, a lot of them have been my replies to you, dear readers, but thank you.

Libraries At Sea

In February of last year, I got the chance to spend a week aboard the USS John C. Stennis, and to my great joy I found the ship’s library in my wanderings of the corridors. This opened my eyes to the surprisingly high number of libraries that exist on ships around the world. Apparently even the Titanic had two different libraries on board. This has made me think about some of the opportunities that would be available to someone who has a Masters of Library Science degree. After all, cruise ships need librarians too… I could work on my tan AND help to educate the masses. There are similar libraries everywhere. This is twenty different kinds of motivating to continue my education. Travel the world without leaving your favorite books behind. Hell, even the Semester At Sea program has opportunities for librarians to serve on their ships.

The MLS degree is still far more relevant than a lot of people think. This article from the American Library Association discusses the outlook for the degree, in contrast to a Forbes article which listed it as one of the worst choices for grad school programs. It may not be the best job line from a purely financial perspective, but, like teaching, librarianship is something people do because they love to do it, not because they want to get rich.

I’m looking at my school options for an MLS degree. I’d like to go back to school this fall, and there are two different programs that I’m considering, both of which are 100% online. I know that it’s something that I’ve talked about for a while now, so it’s time for my words to become my actions. Who knows, maybe I’ll find myself running one of those mobile libraries in the not-so-distant future.

2013: A Brief Preview

2013 is going to be the best year yet. I say that every year, but that’s because it’s true. Yeah, I’ve had fantastic experiences in the past, but each year that I’m still here, still reading and writing and doing what I love is an even better year than the one before.

What I’m looking forward to:

Books: Halo: Silentium  comes out this year, wrapping up Greg Bear’s Forerunner Saga, a sweeping epic prequel to the Halo franchise that ties in to last November’s Halo 4 release.

Dr. Sleep should hit store shelves this year as well, in late September according to Stephen King’s web page. Shining fans rejoice as we finally get to find out what happened to little Danny Torrance when he grew up.

Movies: Holy shit, have you seen the trailer for Pacific Rim? Guillermo Del Toro is back, and he’s bringing his incredible energy to what seems to be a bit of a love letter to giant Godzilla-esque monsters and massive robots built to take them down.

Iron Man 3 drops in May. I can’t wait to see Marvel’s first follow-up to The Avengers in a few months. Let’s see how Tony Stark handles dealing with one of his oldest comic book foes, The Mandarin.

We get to see J.J. Abrams’ follow-up to Star Trek with Star Trek Into Darkness. Best part about this? Benedict Cumberbatch gets to play a villain again. I can’t wait to see the crew of the Enterprise back in action.

Television: Arrested Development returns at last! Having a Netflix account would be worth it if only for this show. We’ll be seeing an entire season released exclusively via the streaming service sometime this year.

Game of Thrones is back this year as well, with the HBO adaptation of George. R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy series beginning a third season in March.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s going to be a good year, dear readers. What books, movies, etc. are you looking forward to this year?

Sherlock

My name is Philip, and I’m a Sherlock addict.

I’m not going to gloss over facts here. The BBC has given Stephen Moffat (of Doctor Who fame) a big new playground, and he’s brought Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman with him.

For the uninformed, Sherlock is a modern interpretation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes. A self-proclaimed “high-functioning sociopath,” Holmes is a brilliant (though socially impaired) consulting detective. When John Watson, former combat doctor and veteran of the most recent conflict in Afghanistan (a nice nod to the character’s history), is seeking a new place to live, circumstances lead him to sharing an apartment with Holmes. Hilarity and awesome ensue.

Each episode of the first two seasons (six episodes all together) is roughly ninety minutes long, and is inspired by one or more of Doyle’s original stories. There’s a clear respect for the original stories, despite the obvious changes that need to be made in keeping with the series’ modern setting. Holmes texts Lestrade, though rarely (if ever) from the same phone twice, John publishes his and Sherlock’s exploits on a blog rather than writing them all down (as he was the most frequent narrator of Doyle’s stories), etc. Of particular note is “The Woman” in season two’s opener, but you’ll just have to see for yourself.

The first two seasons are available on DVD and netflix. I need to watch them all again before season three airs, but due in part to Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch both being involved in The Hobbit, and Cumberbatch’s involvement in Star Trek Into Darkness, it may be some time. Latest reports have tragically hinted that it may be late 2013 or even early 2014  before new episodes are seen, as filming will now not begin until March. *sigh*

The one advantage to this? I now know that I have enough time to break out my complete Sherlock Holmes and read through all of the stories. I like this plan.

2012 in Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,600 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 8 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.