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beboots
Quote from a book review from His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik.
Okay guys, I have never read a series so fast before (including when I was big into Harry Potter). No joke. Those of you who see me in person will have already heard me rant about the awesomeness of the Temeraire series, but for those of you who haven't seen me in the past week or so, here it is!
Essentially, it is the Napoleonic wars, but with dragons. I know, I know - you're all like "wait, what?!", but hear me out! It is pure awesome, making the history major and the fantasy author in me squee. There were a few times in which I actually had to put these books down (especially the last one, Victory of Eagles) and run around the room in excitement. I am not exaggerating.
The series is set in an alternate universe in which dragons have been around for ages, and the aerial corps are a part of every military power. They're like ships, but living, breathing, flying and speaking creatures. The author has put a lot of thought into the historical consequences of such - speaking of different breeding programmes between European nations, and even places such as China (where it is more established). There are references to the Incan Empire - which was never conquered because they have dragons.
The main character is a naval captain called William Laurence, who embodies all that I love about the regency era, the age of sail, and Jane Austen. He is very well-mannered, of minor nobility, I believe, and just... awesome. At the beginning of the book, he has captured a French ship, and there is a dragon egg aboard. Being way out to sea, it hatches before they get to land, and the young dragonet Temeraire imprints on Laurence, much to his inward horror but outward nonchalance.
So, upon reaching shore, Laurence is (eventually) transferred to the aerial corps, a much less respectable profession than being in the navy. Laurence sees that the aviators are coarse, rude (they actually introduce themselves! D: ), and, horror of horrors, wear unironed, wrinkled clothing.! Laurence still contains all of the prejudices of his era - he is immensely surprised and shocked when he learns of female aviators, for one, and can't actually look Captain Catherine Harcourt anywhere but the face because her outfit (a typical captain's uniform, including pants) is so scandalous. ;)
But, all of that aside, one of the most awesome things about this series is his relationship with his dragon, Temeraire. Reluctant at first, but Laurence eventually comes to see Temeraire as not an animal, but an incredibly intelligent being in his own right... and over the course of several books starts to question the general public (and the admiralty's) treatment of dragons (which is actually worse than horses, in some cases, despite their intelligence).
I direct you all now to my folder of favourite Temeraire fanart on deviantart: http://beboots.deviantart.com/favourites/#Temeraire Beware, for they contain spoilers! But seriously, this series is absolutely awesome. I read the first one (it's entire 356 pages) over the course of two days while skiing in Jasper (and I spent 8 hours a day skiing, to boot). The second one (equally as long), I read over a day and a half. The third, in just under two days. The fourth I took three days to read, but only because it was the first week of school. And I read the most recent (and epic) book in a day and a half.
Now, at least, I can concentrate on actual schoolwork, and get stuff other than reading done. Not that I'm complaining.
Far from it. :)
(a post on my first week of school and/or Christmas vacation may follow if I remember to write one)
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 08:22 pm (UTC)I do think that Iroh hadn't met Azula yet, and I've also given him the benefit of the doubt and thought he might not know what to do with girl-children. He had one child, a boy, and might have thought girls were odd. He was besieging Ba Sing Se for 600 days, that's nothing for the setup and the trip home, so it could have been something else. There isn't enough interaction between them to really know what's going on, but Ursa could have mentioned a better present. Send the girl a scroll about bending or some military history, she would have liked that better.
I just might have a story where the main point is finding Zuzu's mother, but Sokka has an epiphany. Zuko's been trying to make Ozai talk, and that's not going to work. So Sokka takes it upon himself to go ask Azula if she knows. He lucks out and takes the right tack. He doesn't act like she's insane, he doesn't pity her, he doesn't treat her like an idiot. He's willing to help her out in exchange, if he knows what she wants, and just wants information about her mom.
I have no idea where it goes from there. She is a spoiled evil genius child, but she was just as socially awkward as Zuzu in her own hyper-aggressive ways. Sokka is magical, and wouldn't hold much of a grudge against her. She didn't actually torture Suki, and Katara kicked Azula's butt after the Agni Kai thing, and he probably has no idea why Katara was anywhere in the area when people were throwing fire around in an emotionally-charged battle.
My friend's (slowly) writing a story that's going to be kickass. Five or so years after canon ends, Azula breaks out of the insane asylum. Sokka's moving around on his own for the White Lotus, so he's not tied down anywhere when Zuko asks him for a favor. Azula's missing, he doesn't want an international incident, and Sokka's done weirder things before. It turns out that Azula ran away after a few people made a good attempt at killing her, and by the time Sokka knows what's going on, he's found the roots of a conspiracy that eventually wants Ozai on the throne. Zany adventures ensue, and because my friend is hopeless, he cannot write any story without turning it into a romance. Luckily he's set it up the right way, so who knows. I think it's going to work.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 08:37 pm (UTC)I agree, it doesn't excuse Iroh (does he not ask about Ursa's other child at all in letters back home, just Zuko?), but it does help explain a few things.
There aren't nearly enough good stories out there about the quest to find out what happened to Ursa. I think that that was one of the biggest dangling unresolved plot threads of the series. Dead/not dead? Banished? A general on the front, what?
Also that sounds super neat! If you need anyone to bounce ideas off of, you know where to find me... :3
I would imagine that Azula will still be very good at getting at all of Sokka's psychological weak spots. One of Sokka's tasks will be to help her learn that she doesn't have to be continually trying to manipulate people, and that she can have friends that don't stay with her because of fear.
Ooh... and that other story sounds neat-o too! Send me a link whenever it gets posted? "Azula's missing, he doesn't want an international incident, and Sokka's done weirder things before." XD Excellent justifications!
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 08:56 pm (UTC)I also don't give Iroh many points for how he tried to turn Zuko around. If you want him to change, then help him out or let him do it naturally. His approach was absolutely no good with Zuzu.
The main point of my little thing with Sokka and Azula is probably getting Azula to ask for something at all. She's going to end up playing crazy within a couple years. She can get better with help, but Azula has more of an advantage if the world thinks that she is insane. She doesn't trust her friends, thinks her mother hates her, her dad turned on her, her brother spat on the second chance she handed him on a silver platter... she's a lonely, angry girl whose friends are both too busy to stay with her. Sokka is the first interesting thing to happen in ages.
Azula manipulated Sokka very, very well in Black Sun. She'll do fine.
I like to imagine that Ursa was White Lotus, but I have no idea why she didn't reappear. I also would have expected her to have Words with Ozai after Zuko's banishment.(That could explain why Ozai took Zuko back in, even—Ursa might have made him promise to behave himself in the future, she's killed a Fire Lord before.)
My friend's story is going to be fun, I think, especially because Sokka's brilliant ideas eventually involve sneaking Azula out of Ba Sing Se (they were visiting Toph) while both of them are dressed as Kyoshi Warriors. I'm pretty excited about that.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 09:51 pm (UTC)"His approach was absolutely no good with Zuzu." WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT PITHY METAPHORICAL PROVERBS ALWAYS WORK PERFECTLY WITH ANGRY TEENAGERS
"Azula has more of an advantage if the world thinks that she is insane." Trufax. Underestimate her at your peril. ;)
I've read several good (and sadly short) fics that speculate on what happened to Ursa. I personally think that she must be alive but banished, because, references to genocide aside, this is still a TV show aimed at young people, and so I don't think that the creators would have Ozai killing off his wife.
This is a interesting take on how Ursa's exile would end:
http://community.livejournal.com/white_knuckle/39451.html?thread=279579#t279579
...and it's one sentence sequel:
http://community.livejournal.com/white_knuckle/58368.html?thread=1357568#t1357568
This one was my favourite speculative drabble:
http://community.livejournal.com/white_knuckle/46670.html?thread=660046#t660046
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 11:58 pm (UTC)I have no idea what Iroh was thinking, seriously. Tea and Pai Sho-- he might as well whip out the brightly-colored grandparent candy and see how much good that would have done. (I guess "not much.")
Sane-Azula-playing-crazy was half the reason I wanted to write the story where Sokka's doing Zuko a favor and trying to find Ursa (and time for a breath).
The "have we met?" at the end of the other-Ursa was terrible. "Secluded house arrest" is really the only alternative to "dead" that makes sense, though, because I don't imagine that Ursa would have let Zuko's banishment pass without comment.
Losing posts to the whims of the internet is really, really annoying. Whenever I do, I get very careful for days after, and then I forget and after a while I lose a long post that took ages to write.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 12:10 am (UTC)I wanted to make a reference to Hamlet here, but my brain isn't working at the moment. Too much art history studying for me. >_>
A lot of the typing commands are second nature to me, you see. I use "Tab" and "ctrl + something" all the time. I was going for "ctrl + t" for new tab and I clicked "ctrl + r" (refresh) instead. So it's mostly my fault. BUT STILL-! :P
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 12:21 am (UTC)After he's starting to get it, throw him into hypothetical situations, make it clear that temper can cost you in a battle... forget about Ozai, forget trying to replace Ozai. Zuko doesn't know what fathers do, and maybe it doesn't matter. Be the mentor that he needs, and in time Zuko is going to look around and realize that he can be happier on his little exile-ship sailing around getting nothing done than he ever was in Fire Nation. Start looking for Ursa instead if Zuko's interested.
None of this is guaranteed to work, but "angry young man" is pretty easy. "Angry young man with good reason from a nasty background"-- just look how Zuko reacts to people being kind, and go from there.
/end ranting. Iroh couldn't decide if Zuko should be treated like a man or a child, and that's the problem with teenagers. They need both. I think he could have had an easier time of it if he'd paid more attention.
I've done control-R before. I've also done things where enough time passed that the website won't send the post in, and refreshes itself for you.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 01:03 am (UTC)Oh yes, websites that refresh themselves after a period of inactivity annoy me so much. >:(