The Problem with the "Tales of Starlight" Series and a Discovery of a Wonderful New Author

There was something bothering me the entire time I was reading Bryan Davis' most recent series.  I couldn't pin-point what it was, but something was wrong.  I finally found out what had been bothering em after reading a fabulous fantasy novel by Kristin Cashore.  After comparing the two stories I realized that while Cashore had been careful to avoid any words that are associated with our culture Davis had put in tons of ideas and words that make me think of my everyday life.

The biggest thing that made me think of our world was the Cattle Camps that are spoken of often in Davis' books.  It makes sense to call a camp filled with half-starved children a Cattle Camp here in our world (and that's just part of the story, I'm not that morbid) but are there any cattle in that world?  That world already has dragons and felsh-eating, talking bears, but do they keep cattle?  And if they do keep cattle, are the animals kept in appalling conditions like they are here or are they just kept on farms?  I agree that the rem cattle camp gives me a strong image, but at the same time it ruins the thought that the story takes place in another world.  it would have been better to name is something else or at least mention that the camps reminded a character of the places cattle were kept.  Anything to make it sound like it really belonged.

Of course, most people wouldn't have realized that something was wrong unless they: 1. read a lot of fantasy novels; 2, pick everything they read apart; or 3, have read an excellent fantasy novel before.  I happened to have noticed something was off because I read lots of fantasy novels and like to pick stories apart but I never would have known exactly what was wrong if it hadn't been for Kristen Cashore.  I initially picked up her book because it looked interesting and it was on sale.  Needless to say I was VERY pleased with my purchase.  As for exactly what I though of her books, I'll leave that for my next post but I would highly recommend her books to anyone who likes fantasy novels.

Boredom

There is nothing to do... I've applied to every store that's hiring or will be hiring within the next few months.  Now all I have to do is walk around a few times a week to make sure people remembers I applied and check for any new "help wanted" signs.  For the moment I have nothing to do.... I'm so bored!!!!  I've even gone so far as to rearrange my room multiple times to pass the time.  On the bright side, I have this room as good as it's going to get without moving the broken furniture.  However, now I have nothing else to do....  I'm considering re-reading all my books and then going to get more from the library.  And of course, I'm still waiting for my loan application forms.

It's times like these when  I wish that I had tv.  At least I could mindlessly pass some time watching the news or something.  Well, I could always go and take pictures of the city, but, right now at least, that's out of the question due to a painful headache.  Oh what I wouldn't give to have a chat with some of my friends back home.  Or make some good friends here...

After thinking about it for a while, I realized what my problem with making friends is.  I tend to become friends with people who have similar interests as me.  Unfortunately most of my interests are solitary activities.  For instance, I can't make friends playing video games because the games I play are offline, single players games.  Also I can't make friends while reading a book because I prefer to read in a quiet place where there aren't too many people.  I have been told to join a book club but the problem with that is there are no book clubs that I know of that read the types of books that I like.  I love books that have insights into real life while pulling the reader into a fantasy world.  and of course I have other standards as well such as it has to have clean language, no sex and can't be focused on the use of magic. I also despise romance novels.  A majority of them are predictable, shallow and make a mockery of what God intended love to be.  So if anyone knows of any book club that reads decent books, let me know!

Done that

I love that many of my friends and acquaintances are working in fast food places and trying to get me to work with them.  After going through what I did at McDonalds I can safely say that fast food really isn't my thing.  Now I'm hunting for a good retail job.

Unfortunately, most retail jobs want you to have previous experience.  I don't have any sales experience and the cash register that I have been trained on is different than those that are in retail stores.  Then again, it's much more straightforward ringing in items in a retail store.  Unlike a fast food place I wont have to worry about going through multiple menus to change how something is made.  It'll be as simple as scanning the item.  I can't wait until someone hires me so I can get off my butt and do something all day.  Well, something other than bake, play video games and type.