December is here, and with it comes holiday madness and the end of the year. It’s hard to believe we’re at the end already, that Thanksgiving is over. I can’t say there’s anything exciting on the horizon for this month, after all: it’s the holiday season. That being said, it’s no excuse not to share what goodies have helped time fly by so quickly, so without further adieu, here is November!
star wars
Culture Consumption: October 2015
Hello, November. I should celebrate the month, as it brings good food, the transition from fall to winter and an excuse to start digging sweaters out of my closet, but it’s also adding a lot of stress for my brain to marinate in, so boo! No, I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this year (last year gave me a week-long migraine for my trouble), so I guess I’ll have to spend the time reading. But first, let’s see how October turned out on the entertainment front.
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Culture Consumption: September 2015
Happy October! The year may be flying by, but really, October is my favorite month. Fall arrives, Halloween, and my birthday, all in one month! But before I get too carried away with October, let’s look back and see what kind of goodies I consumed in September, which, for the record, wasn’t a bad month at all! So without further adieu, here is the Culture Consumption for September (spoiler alert: I read lots of books!).
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Force Friday
I’ve surprised myself.
When Disney first acquired Star Wars, when they announced the new trilogy, I was excited to the point of giddy. I was flabbergasted. Gobsmacked. Because I am, first and foremost, a Star Wars fangirl, and Star Wars will forever be my first fandom. Oh, I loved plenty of things before Star Wars: My Little Pony, Jem and the Holograms, MacGyver… but Star Wars was something different, something that continued, something I wouldn’t outgrow. To this day, watching the original trilogy is like snuggling up with a favorite blanket.
So it should come as no surprise that I’m taking December 18th off from work to see The Force Awakens. It should come as no surprise that I pre-ordered Chuck Wendig’s tie-in novel: Aftermath, which is part of the “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” I’d assumed that I would read this before the movie was released, and that was the plan.
Until it wasn’t.
I’ve been talking with a few friends, and I’ve come away with the conclusion that actually, I’m not going to read Wendig’s novel, not yet. Oh, it’s here, don’t get me wrong: that sucker arrived on Force Friday, and after the package was opened I admit I petted the cover, just a little.
But I’ve learned something in the recent years, and that’s the joy of ignorance. It used to be, if there was a movie coming out based on a book I wanted to read, I’d read the BOOK before I saw the movie, assuming, of course, that the book would be better and I didn’t want to take any wind out of my sails by seeing the movie first.
What happened, instead, was a certain sense of boredom while watching the movie (or television show, as adaptations to television are QUITE popular these days). Sure, it’s fun to see how everything is adapted to the screen, but it’s not the same.
Now, I know Aftermath is not being adapted to the big screen. But I realized I just don’t want any insider knowledge. I’ll take what the posters give me, what pictures give me, but that’s it. I want to experience the movie as fresh as possible, and then, when the movie is over, I want to go home and consume all the stuff I’ve put on hold because I want the movie to tell the story on its own terms, and that’s how I want to follow it. I can fill in the blanks later.
So Force Friday came and went for me. Wendig’s book arrived, but that’s it. I expected more fanfare out of the day, more websites showing galleries of toys and the like, but I suppose I just wasn’t looking in the right places. And even if were, it’s hard to get excited over merchandise. After all, I haven’t seen the movie yet. I don’t know who my new favorite characters will be, which will heavily influence what I want to buy.
Except for BB-8. Have you all SEEN Sphero’s replica? Holy shit, I want this so bad I might fight a small child to get one. You can check out the full review here at Gizmodo, but if you just want the rundown, here’s the video:
And no, I don’t intend to terrorize my cat with this. Why do you ask?
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Culture Consumpution: July 2015
Why hello, August. Where did you come from? The year is flowing by faster the older I get, so it’s no wonder I barely manage one post per month. It takes me too long to create just this one! At any rate, feel free to peruse my list of entertainment consumed, and tell me what you consumed yourself. Got any recommendations? Lay them on me!
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Culture Consumption: June 2015
I’m officially lodging a protest to how quickly this year is passing. July, folks. July. Sheesh. At any rate, feel free to peruse my list of entertainment consumed, and tell me what you consumed yourself. Got any recommendations? Lay them on me!
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Culture Consumption: May 2015
How is it June already? I mean, seriously! Time flies when you’re having fun, that is if you consider books, comics, movies, and television shows as fun! Feel free to peruse my list of entertainment consumed, and tell me what you consumed yourself. Got any recommendations? Lay them on me!
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Forget the Hugos — Here’s Something MORE Important
I think the headline says it all. As does the trailer below.
Excuse me while I watch this on repeat, and fall in love with my very first fandom all over again.
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Star Wars: Building Tension When You Already Know the Ending
Once upon a time, the only science fiction books you’d find in my hands were Star Wars Expanded Universe novels. I adored them. I read them as soon as I could get my grubby little paws on them, whether I used my allowance, or borrowed them from the library, or cashed in my credit at the used book store. I couldn’t get enough of the stories, because I was so enthralled at seeing what happened to Luke, Leia, Han, and everyone else after the defeat of the Empire in Return of the Jedi.
I’m not sure I would’ve been able to articulate the reasons why, but back then, I was never really excited about any stories that took place between the films of the original trilogy. Not that there were many, mind you, but I realize now there was a good reason. Once the trilogy was over (and the prequels were just a distant dream), nobody really wanted to know what happened between the movies. We wanted to know what happened after.
Of course, since then we’ve gotten the prequels. We’ve gotten Expanded Universe novels so far down the timeline that some readers, like myself, got tired of seeing my favorite characters manipulated by the plot into doing things that never felt true to character. And of course, since then, Disney bought Star Wars, announced a new slate of movies, and officially deemed what had been the Expanded Universe as a kind of alternate reality, divorced from any continuity from this point on.
I’m okay with all of this.
Around the time this happened, Del Rey had announced a series of books that would focus on individual heroes of the original trilogy and fill in the blanks between the movies called Empire & Rebellion. They also got some big names to write those stories: Martha Wells would write Leia’s, Star Wars: Razor’s Edge. James S. A. Corey would write Han’s, Honor Among Theives. And lastly, Kevin Hearne would write Luke’s, Heir to the Jedi.
Of those books, Han and Leia’s were dismissed to the “Legends” line — the old Expanded Universe continuity. Luke’s got the official stamp of cannon.
All of this is background, not the point of the post.
I’m almost finished reading Razor’s Edge, which is Leia’s story. I became a fan of Martha Wells’ work when I discovered her Raksura trilogy, so I knew this would be a well-written tale.
And it is. But there’s a problem: there is very little tension. The stakes, such as they are, matter little. And it’s not Martha Wells’ fault.
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Con Nooga 2015
This past weekend I attended what I consider my very first convention. If you wanted to me REALLY technical, Con Nooga wasn’t my first: I attended Wizard World Chicago back in 2003, but that was a comic con before comic cons got taken over by television and film. Then in 2006, I attended less than 12 hours of Context in Columbus, Ohio: I wanted to meet Gary Braunbeck and take his workshop, and I also got to meet Catherynne M. Valente and get an autographed copy of Labyrinth.
But in terms of attending a full con and going to panels? Con Nooga was my first. And it was a good, safe con to have as my first: not overwhelming, but more than enough to teach me what I need to do and/or pack for my next convention. I’m already eyeing DragonCon in Atlanta this year. Cherie Priest! Carrie Vaughn! YAY!
So what did I learn? How was Con Nooga? Did I get to meet the magical Seanan McGuire? Talk to the legendary Timothy Zahn? Read on to find out!
Calico Writes 