Hunter's Death (Revenge of the Shiny Cover)

Hunter's Death (Hunter Book 2 of 2) by Michelle West:  When last we left this author, I was irritated that the book I thought was going to be a standalone--one I could use to test the waters for this author beloved of a beloved former co-worker before I committed to the massive 6-volume epic saga my co-worker friend adored so much--was, in fact, not a standalone.  Despite my irritation with this deception, I knew I was going to read the sequel, not just because it had a shiny cover but also because, knowing this main character was going to buy it in a horrific way and still getting to like him anyway, I felt (book nerds out there probably understand this) like I owed it to . . . someone . . . to see him through to the bitter, tragic end. 

Which did not come at the end of the book, like I sort of expected, but somewhere closer to the middle, causing some nice folks at the gym to be a bit concerned even though I kept my reaction to just copious tears and not actual sobbing or anything.  Maybe I should get some shirts that aren't threadbare and 15 years old if I am going to keep reading sad books at the gym because it's hard to blot the tears and snot with something that isn't actually absorbent . . .

Anyway, the plot threads all came together, as a new protagonist was added to the mix in the second book (probably to make up for the impending loss of the nice guy protagonist).  Things between all the plot lines began to tighten their weave as the book progressed, and the ending was horrific, sad, and complete for the story being told.  What made it even better was finding out that characters from this story are woven into two other series, one that is currently in progress (maybe just ended). 

One thing the author really does well is creating living, breathing characters that you are desperate to know more about.  And then she writes more about them in other series.  Sure, the chronology is snarly and complicated and woven through all the series, but I don't really care because I get more time with the characters who are still alive (and even some who died).  More about that in reviews to follow.

Shadow of the Lion

b Shadow of the Lion by Lackey, Freer, Flint: This is a narrow but epic historical fantasy sort of thing.  Written by a team of three authors (some with a better grasp of punctuation than others) with tons of characters and complex, interweaving narratives, Shadow of the Lion is not for the faint of heart.  It is pretty awesome, though.  The complexity made this a slow stop-and-go event for me that dragged on over several months, but I am a sucker for alternative-historical fantasy in general but especially when the emphasis is more on the historical. 

Sometimes the world-building in this sort of book is a tad muddy; we're not precisely sure where history diverged, and we're not sure what the fantasy elements are.  This book makes these things pretty clear from the word GO, and the changes are inspired.  Magic is real and given a certain amount of respect and acknowledgement by the church.  When this change is made, a lot of the crazy things the monastic knights did and many of the wacky superstitions of the time actually make sense.  It's a very nice trick: to make history more sensical by adding fantasy elements to it (just like that word I made up there). 

There is intrigue, action, betrayal, drinking, whoring, church, state, old land Spirits, good and evil, hidden identities, danger, madness, and a ton of characters of all kinds that kind of make you hate it every time the point of view changes.  Centered in medieval Venice (and the lion of St. Mark legends).  Good stuff.

How to Save a Life (epigraph by Flannery O'Connor)

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr (audiobook):  And this, THIS, is why I read fiction.  Because I can read the quote about how we need to be kind to everyone because they're all fighting battles, and I can nod and feel that twinge of sympathy, of empathy and compassion like a kick in the tail to remember to try a little tenderness.  But this story, alternating between two voices transforms that gentle kick in the butt into a brutal punch in the gut.  THESE ARE THE KINDS OF BATTLES PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING.  Their anger is not about you.  Your kindness matters.  Your restraint when you could start yelling in frustration at the customer service lady matters.  Because people are dealing with things like this and worse every day, and you never know what odd behavior is a result of these terrible things you know nothing about, love, kindness, tenderness, and grace are never wasted when you give them to others as a gift.  They say the sermons we preach the most are the ones we need to hear the most.  Amen.  I need to hear this a million times a day, every time I open my mouth, every time I sit down to write.  I need to write it on my forehead and bind it on my wrist, etc.

As for the audiobook itself,well done.  Had a few minor problems with the production, but overall it was very good.  They had different readers play each of the POV characters.  This worked very well because the voices were very different and appropriate for their parts.

• They don't let you know when a disk is over, so it just goes from the last track back to the first one, and you loose the thread of the story.
• They didn't always make it clear whether something was thought versus said aloud, which in this story was VERY important and the lack of clarity was often very confusing.  (When I read my copy of the book some day, this will not be a problem, and I will have their voices in my mind, which will be a win.)

And this is why I read YA: because the process of thrashing your way to better understanding and better choices doesn't simply stop when you become an adult.  Maybe coming of age novels resonate with adults not just because they bring nostalgia but because they remind us it's always been this hard.

Dykstra's War

Dykstra's War by Kooistra: This was a solid, (mostly) standalone sci-fi novel.  Like a lot of old sci fi, the ideas carry the day (not so much the plot or execution).  There were some guns hanging on the walls unused at the end, making it seem like the author might have written (or intended to write) a third part.  Which I would totally read if it exists because I really want to know what happened to . . .

Well, anyway, the main protagonist is an aged genius physicist enjoying his retirement but a bit bored when some aliens decide to attack, and the government finds that none of their folks can get the job done.  They've been ignoring Dykstra, thinking him over the hill and worthless, but he's still got some life (and a lot of brainpower) in him, and he gets deeply involved.  There are a decent number of characters, most of them very likeable and none of them with names like Smith or Jones.  I kind of appreciated that a lot.  It was done so effortlessly and practically.  I also liked how a lot of the conflict arose from plain old miscommunication.

One of the pleasant surprises of the book was the way that some of the characters were just allowed to be Christians, and that was treated as a natural part of their characters.  (Some Evangelicals might actually take offense because these are mostly Mainline Protestants/Catholics.)  There's not a lot of this room-for-God-and-people-who-believe-in-Him-in sci-fi nowadays, which I find sad.  This is not any kind of theology book.  It's not C.S. Lewis' Space trilogy or Ender's Shadow.  It's just a world where people of faith can do science and muse about the implications as they try to figure out how to save the world from an alien species they simply can't communicate with.

Page

(Protector of the Small) Page: No more special (bad) treatment for Kel. She's a legitimate page, and she's still taking on the protecting of the small (the new squires, animals, maids, etc.). Neal is still great, though his constant crushes are wearing. Kel continues to be practical, laconic, self-contained, and heroic.

"It's just--"she shrugged. "No place is perfect."
---
"She had trouble nodding off that night. She couldn't get rid of her anger with Vinson and with a world in which servants didn't matter. It wasn't right." 

Whenever I read the Alanna books (Pierce's first series), I sometimes find myself wondering how awesome they would be if she re-wrote them now in this time of YA bounty when she's allowed to write a single book longer than the Alanna quartet. How rich the characterization, how lively the world would be!

I don't find myself thinking that so much about the Protector of the Small books. Their more compact length sort of fits Kel. She's very reserved but also somewhat straightforward; she gets to the point and then finishes.  She doesn't say any more than she has to.  She just lets her actions speak.  As a result, the briskness of her books does not necessarily bother me. They don't feel as abridged as Alanna's books. I love reading an author's books in order and watching the author progress.  : )

Yes, I seriously read the Protector of the Small books again

(Protector of the Small) First Test: I like Kel.  She's just so practical.  About everything, really.  She understands choices and consequences.  And then she grits her teeth, makes the choices, and takes the consequences, no matter how unfair.  I like that some of the villains are really villainous for reasons that make sense.  I like that some of the good guys have to make tough choices they don't like because of politics.  And I like that one major antagonist is just a war hero who really thinks he's doing the right thing.  I like that Kel succeeds because of who she is (how she was raised, her innate skills and talents and guts, and her willingness to work hard).

March Movie Madness 1: Twilight

I finally saw the last Twilight movie at the local third-run theater.  I waited for a  Tuesday, when admission is only a dollar.  And it was nearly worth every penny.  It has been several years since I read the books, so most everything was a surprise to me, including all the horrific violence (apparently okay in a PG-13 movie because it was bloodless).

I have to hand it to the casting people: they did a really good job.  Some of the secondary characters were really well done.  You could sense in the 2 minutes of screen time they were given that they really understood their characters, and you felt like they could have movies of their own.  (This is how I feel about most of the actors who played the Cullens, actually.  They didn't get much time, but they were very fully realized in the scant time they did get.)  And once again, Bella's dad totally stole the show in his scenes.  He was so good.

The CGI was still terrible.  The pacing wasn't completely awful.  The twist was kind of a surprise there at the end (one of them, anyway), and I really wondered if it happened in the original book.  Maybe it just wasn't really shown as much in the book?  Anyway, I'm glad that's over.

March Movie Madness 2: Kung-Fu Panda

The noodle-making demo extra on Kung-Fu Panda is absolutely amazing.  The movie was pretty funny, too.  I like a movie where weaknesses can become strengths.  There was some really great voice acting in this one, and the behind-the-scenes extra about that was worthwhile, too.  Actually, a lot of the extras were good.  The technical ones were fascinating, too.

"There is no charge for awesomeness."
---
"No one could stand before his bodaciousness."
---
"We do not wash our pits in the Pool of Sacred Tears"

March Movie Madness 3: Ratatouille

Oh, Ratatouille, good try.  I don't think people are less afraid of rats, though, especially after that history of rats extra.  I think that one may have backfired.  (But it was amusing.)  I think my favorite part was the one about how sometimes you mess up and yell at a friend and generally really screw up, and when you do, you need to go back and explain yourself and apologize.  I need to hear this message a lot.

"What can I do?  I am a figment of your imagination."
---
"One can get too familiar with vegetables, you know!"
---
"The truth sounds insane sometimes, but that doesn't mean that it's not . . . the truth."

Parasol Protectorate Part 2

Changeless: The weaving of fact with fiction is really fun.  This is such a genre-mash-up of a series.  Alternate history-spinster-steampunk-supernatural-Victorian-romance-fantasy-melodrama-comedy-of-errors and now a bit of highlander, soldier, and Egyptian adventure, too.  Because there wasn't enough going on.  Also, I hate her sister.  Lots.

Blameless: BEST THING IN THIS BOOK: How Lord Maccon manages to stay drunk for days (and what causes it) and why Lyall is called Professor.  Seriously. Hilarious.  Crunchy pickled snacks . . . Snort!  I cannot wait to see the manga version of this . . .

Heartless: What a movie this one would make.  Also, The Raging Octomatons would be an excellent name for a band.

Timeless: You know, one of my favorite things about this series are the names.  Where did she come up with these?  Did she go through a list and pick the most absurd and ridiculous, or did she make them up?  Either way, they're awesome and snort-worthy. 

Not that I'm complaining, really, because it was quite the fun ride, and I needed to get back to my life and not trying to finish more books to find out what happened next and what name would make me giggle for days, but it feels like the author just got tired of the series and wanted to end it, so she did.  Leaving all sorts of sad, lonely, excellent plot threads just hanging there, feeling embarrassed and abandoned.  Your mileage will vary; maybe by this point, you'll want to be done with it, but I prefer less of a whimper at the end of a series that was this much fun. 

I've decided I want someone to make it a musical.  I wonder if the audiobooks have British accented readers . . .

Parasol Protectorate Part 1

This series of 5 books eventually became The Parasol Protectorate.  It started as the potentially Taming-of-the-Shrew-esque story of a respected, landed, member of the peerage (who happens to be a Supernatural, in this case a werewolf) and his hilariously combustible relationship with someone who should be his natural enemy: an educated, witty, spinster who cancels out supernatural powers with a touch.  She is also visibly half-Italian and takes after her tall, robust, dead father and not her tiny, brainless, obnoxious mother.  The best part?  No taming.  Marriage doesn't really make either of them change, per se, except that, you know, sometimes loud people in love can be really stupid.  The secondary characters are enormous amounts of fun, and it didn't really surprise me when Yen Press decided to turn this into a manga series.  It practically screams for a visual medium with which to display all of its genre-mashup glory (and Ivy's hats).

Soulless: That last chapter/epilogue is pure porn.  Just saying.  There are some steamy scenes before that, some in equally inappropriate places, but they're pretty funny, too, and some character and/or plot advancement is occurring.  Not here in this last bit.  This book is the most traditional romance.  Usually, the inevitable marriage would be the end, so it was nice that the world got some more exploring afterwards in 4 other books.  I suppose that's part of what kept it out of the romance section when I worked at Borders.

Gobbling up the Immortals

Went on another Tamora Pierce binge, there.  I sped through the Immortals quartet, which I last read too long ago.  I remembered there was this girl who could talk to animals and this tall mage guy, and I remembered their names, and there were obviously Immortals involved.  I had apparently forgotten absolutely everything else, which is fine because then it's like reading something for the first time.

Things I had forgotten:

• How awful the 2005 covers were.
• The badger.
• Daine was every bit as involved in actual fighting as Alanna and Kel (two heroines from other series I had thought were more fighting-oriented). 
• Daine was the heroine who hated all Immortals at first but was able to later see them as individuals and treat them as such.
• The entire third book.  (It even took me a long while to pin down why that archeopteryx skeleton seemed familiar . . .)
• That so many other random characters from the other series made appearances here, too.
• That there had been a dead dinosaur rampage in another fantasy book, which may have primed me to like the more recent one I encountered . . .

This binge means I can now legitimately move on to the Protector of the Small Series, which I have loved dearly since it first came out and may have been the first Pierce series I read in order completely.

I'm trying to move through the various interrelated series in the order they were written except where that conflicts with the inner story continuity too much.  This is partly to travel the path of increasing length and complexity of books as Pierce grew as an author and storyteller and partly to help myself not completely forget everyone since they keep guesting all over.

FYI: These are really excellent books to only read while exercising because they make you have a sudden passion for exercising that may not be too smart when you are trying to rehab a hip with a tear in it.  You have been warned. : )

Catching Up on "Old" Movies: Juno

Juno was a cute movie.  It was funny, awkward, and sometimes touching.  With all the touching/crying bits at the end, I was kind of surprised they still considered it a comedy, but I couldn't think of any other single category that could encompass the whole thing.  The commentary and deleted scenes (with commentary) were pretty great.  Maybe they were basic film school stuff from the director and snark from the writer, but I find that fascinating.  It seems like maybe it's rare for a director to have so many favorite deleted scenes and such clear explanations of why they were removed.  And learning that some things were done on purpose while others were accidental (unconscious genius, if you wish) was amusing.

The acting was uniformly awesome, especially the bit parts, which is really outstanding.  Everyone shined, even if s/he only showed up for one scene.  The dad was just great, and the stepmother was beautifully done, too.  I was pleased to see the role her best friend was able to play throughout, as well.  Lots of the performances were understated and thus far more believable than what you usually get in a comedy.  (There were some exceptions, like the store clerk in the beginning and Jennifer Garner's character with her not-so-quiet desperation.  They still sort of FIT, though, so it all worked.)

Quirky and amusing movies should be enjoyed, and I watched this one on a long, relaxed holiday weekend.  I am pleased with it overall.

Catching up on "old" movies: Slumdog Millionaire

I recently saw most of Slumdog Millionaire (except for the R-rated parts, thanks to my pal ScreenIt.com), and, while I had some issues with cinematography, script, and coherence, I thought it was a pretty good movie.  Some of the acting (especially the kids') was a little hammy for American movies but practically reserved compared to the Indian movies.

I found myself wondering what folks from India thought about the movie.  Did it seem very "westernized" to them, or did it have a ring of authenticity?  It doesn't really seem to at all closely follow the novel it's very loosely based on, so I have no idea.  Several people seemed to think it was a cleaner, more Dickens-influenced plot in its movie incarnation.  It was pretty powerful, either way.

And of course there was a big dance scene during the credits.  That made me kind of happy.

Why Skyfall was a good Bond film

If I hadn't known it wasn't based on a book, I might have thought it was.  (This is a high compliment because I like the books.)  It was definitely a Bond film, but it wasn't stupid and brainless, and it didn't ignore the world it was setting itself in.

• The villain was believably crazy (not your generic, run-of-the-mill, mustache-twirling psycho).  He acted just that little bit off-kilter, and it was spine-chilling sometimes.  You understood what made him go insane, you saw the effects that this kind of lifestyle of service and self-sacrifice could lead to.  You also saw how he might go too far but still hold that against his superiors later.  He was scary, but he mostly made sense.
• The hero was properly dimensioned.  Suave when necessary but grumpy and surly as the situation called for as well.  There's a lot of ambiguity that I liked.  That scene with Moneypenny and the razor?  Bond exerting his charm? Yes.  Bond not sure he could shave without cutting himself?  Maybe.  Two birds, one stone.  The film was pretty psychological, too, asking the questions but not feeling a need to answer them neatly.  Why do you keep doing this?  What drives you?  Why should you be allowed to continue?  And this Bond is good at making you convincingly feel that he is in real danger, not just playing around being more awesome than the other guys.
• M really worked.  You could sense her old-school dedication to the job, and you could see where it resonated with Bond.  "I'll stop when the job's done," she said.  Damn straight.  Their relationship was complicated and simple, based on what was said and explained and what was not justified, what was simply understood.  They may have played a bit too hard on the orphans/mother thing, but that theme was consistent, so I don't hold it against them too much.
• The secondary characters were solid.  That secretary guy talking Bond to death while he's taking the tests, Moneypenny, the unfortunate girl Bond tried (and failed, yet again) to save, the guy investigating MI6, Q, and others.
• The modern stuff was integral to the film.  How do you make these movies believable in the modern world?  Some past Bond films just sort of ignored it as they reveled in gadgets and cool stunts and explosions.  This movie made the new technology integral to the plot (Q was kind of a hoot) and openly confronted how the world works now in relation to governments, spying, accountability, and international/world politics.  It didn't try to wrap everything up neatly, but it did give a chance for different views to be presented and a compelling case made for why/how Ian Fleming's characters could still really work in this setting.

I really liked it, even though it was pretty long and tense and sad.  I don't think I saw the last one with this actor, but I liked his first one, which actually stuck really close to the book it was based on (like startlingly close) until the end.  I like what they're doing with these characters

Sweet Bitterblue

Bitterblue, oh Bitterblue.  So the evil villain has been slain and his reign of terror ended, and now everything can be lovely again, right?  Oh, so very, very wrong.   That only happens in kids' stories.

Bitterblue's father was a very evil man who possessed a dangerous grace: he could make people believe anything he said.  His words literally had that power.  And he used it to take power over a kingdom and commit the kinds of atrocities that haunt a nation for generations.  Now he's been gone for years, and his daughter is struggling to pick up the pieces as a young queen.

Things start to turn around when Bitterblue starts going out to actually see how her people are living and what their lives are like in reality instead of from the stale and sterile numbers reported to her by her advisors.  Unfortunately, she finds out that the truth is very messy.  There are so many lies to undo, so many wrongs with no clear way to right.  And she's just a young ruler.  What is she supposed to do?  How can she fix her broken and hurting people?

I like realistic fantasy like this: Aftermaths can be brutal, and they don't get fixed overnight.  Messy politics and tragic situations and a variety of relationships make for a good read.   I also like worlds like this where peripheral characters visit each others' stories.  It was lovely to see Katsa and Po and lots of the others being active and finding purpose and working out their footing with each other.  It was wonderful to see the places where Fire intersected, as well.  These people are still growing people, not static, constructed characters.  There is a lot of shouting and making up and some unexpected visitors from afar and a lot of hard, sad choices and great bits about art, truth, and honor.  Good, good stuff.

Now I just have to wait for her next book.  Siiiiiiiigh.

Why Everyone Should Read Fire

Oh, Fire, I loved reading you this time, too.  All girls should read this book, so they can wrestle with the fact that sometimes people hate you or love you, but their actions are their responsibilities.  Your actions are yours.  Don't ever let them make you think their actions are your responsibility.

In fact, everyone should read this if only it would help them learn that lesson.  You are responsible for the choices you make and the actions you choose.  And I am responsible for mine.  We should all think before we act and choose wisely. 

What I've been reading lately

The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock: In this volume, DJ sort of dates this guy, and that ends badly.  Mostly she keeps dealing with her screwed up, silent family, as they deal with a real crisis or two.  I love this narrator's voice and the way she comes to realize things about herself and the people around her and starts to act on them in small but powerful ways.

Book Girl and the Wayfarer's Lamentation: So what does a book series do after it resolves what you thought was going to be its main conflict?  Well, I'll have to find out in the next volume because this was the volume where some big showdowns happened, and it gets pretty brutal.  There are a lot of reversals in this book as characters and motivations are twisted and shown to be not exactly what you were led to believe.  Lots of emotional tension and some great book-related information, as per usual.

Newton's Cannon by J. Gregory Keyes: Ben Franklin + Alchemy = pretty entertaining. Unless you're London.  At least he's really sorry.

Margaux with an X, Now Playing: Stoner and Spaz II, and Deadvilleby Ron Koertge: The endings are never cheaply happy.  Each protagonist is so unique.  All the books are united by their common excellence.  Not perfect, mind you, but great.  I am impressed by his ability to make convincing characters who so easily move the plot along while narrating in first person.  I need to study this; if done right, the books just seem to hum along even if there's not really much action.  I am also impressed by his ability to create realistic adult characters, use interesting family groups/dynamics, and seamlessly include characters with various kinds of disabilities.  Well done!

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis: This book is always an interesting read (especially if you're me and forget everything between readings).  Ponder once again these clear examples, this lack of theological buzzwords, the thought-provoking ideas grounded firmly in a time past.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson: If you are easily offended, this one is not for you; the language is frequently R-rated, as is the content (sometimes more "R" for ralph-inducing).  As the Bloggess, Jenny Lawson tells stories about her screwed up life.  And it is screwed up. 

People who think they grew up with quirky parents will be put in their places by this book.  There are baby racoons in jams, lessons in couch etiquette, more than you really wanted to think about cow artificial insemination, dead babies, saint-worthy husbands, feeling stabby, and more neuroses than you can shake a roadkill puppet at.  You will find that you really love your job (unless you work in HR).  You will be grossed out and offended for sure.  You might also laugh hard enough to have an asthma attack.  More than once.

Best served in small doses, this one nonetheless adds up surprisingly well into something akin to a memoir.  However, you really need to know what you're getting into when you read this, or you will be disappointed.  It's not Shakespeare, and it's not trying to be.  If you read it like a blog (a little bit every so often), you'll probably end up with a better opinion of it than if you try to read it like a normal memoir or novel.  If it starts getting tedious, stop reading and come back to it later when you need a really weird pick me up.

Glad not to be a redshirt

John Scalzi cracks me up on his blog Whatever, frequently.  His newest novel Redshirts had the same effect.  I'm not sure if I should call it a satire, but it's more than a parody.  It's definitely a darkly comic work built around what would happen if the poor red-uniformed schmucks who died with idiocy and frequency on the original Star Trek series realized that something was screwy and tried to do something about it.  As someone who has never seen all of the original Star Trek series (or any of it recently), I wondered if it would be something I would be able to enjoy.  I've read quite a bit of science fiction and have liked the other Scalzi novels I've read (and have resonated with his sense of humor), so I figured I was in safe hands.  I was.

One of my favorite things about the Scalziverses is that John Scalzi leaves room for God in his books.  He is not a believer (he has spoken at length and very well about these topics on his blog), but he doesn't think all faith and religion will go away in the super-advanced, all-science worlds of the future, and he doesn't think or write as if all people who believe in God are stupid.  I appreciate this because his politeness on the topic is not universal in speculative fiction these days.  In fact, it seems kind of rare for authors to leave any room for God or faith in their books.  More frequently, I see anti-theism and bitterness or nihilism or science explains it all and no room or time for any higher power's existence even to be speculated about worlds.  I much prefer ones where I can feel un-hated  and not completely marginalized as a person of faith.

Pretty much everything I could say about the story itself would be a spoiler.  This is unfortunate.  If you go to his blog, he has some links to reviews (with cautions about the ones with spoilers).  You'll figure out if you're likely to enjoy his sense of humor based on posts like this one in which he says, "As part of my continuing mission to remind authors and other creative people that there is nothing they will ever create that will be universally loved, here are some choice comments from one-star reviews of Redshirts, my current, fastest-selling and in many ways most enthusiastically received book."

And if he's not your cup of tea, he wants you to know that's okay.  You don't have to read his books if you don't resonate with his sense of humor.  ". . . why would you do that to yourself? Life is often unpleasant enough without choosing to fill your recreational hours pursuing a book from an author with whom ample previous readings have shown you have little rapport."

Anyway, after reading this book, I found myself happy that when our division got matching red polo shirts last year, our secretary short ordered and gave mine to someone else while I was on vacation.  There are many days when someone in the department is wearing theirs.  Since I read this book, whenever I see someone wearing one, it makes me snicker.  Thanks, Mr. Scalzi.  Now I know whey the engineers asked for orange.  Must not have been any geeks on the color-choice selection committee for our division . . .

So when's the TV show going into production?

Ryria Revelations: When's the TV series?

I have finished reading Sullivan's The Ryria Revelations, and I am wondering when the TV miniseries will happen.  These books call for a TV series.  Someone should answer that call.

It won't be on HBO, though.  This is not an internecine policial plot-driven, epic, dynastic struggle across the decades.  This is fun, sometimes campy, occasionally grouchy, characer-driven fantasy comfort food-type stuff.  More Belgariad than Game of Thrones.  Definitely not HBO.  Maybe USA, as they've done good things with odd-couple humor (think Psych) and bad boys who destroy things (Burn Notice).  Elves and dwarves would be a change for them, but the same feeling of "characters welcomed" is there, if they even still use that tag line.

I hope no one ever really tries to make a movie of the thing or even a trilogy.  The series was designed to be one story across six books, and the overarching plot reflects that.  If you're looking for a full character journey in book one, you will be disappointed, but if you are looking for a character arc across all 6 books, there you'll find something worth looking at.  I mean, maybe you could do the first one as a movie and then the rest as a TV series.  Anyway, you need room for most of the plot threads to be there and slowly coming to a boil.  Some of them could be trimmed, but not many.

This series could be a good opportunity for a couple of guys in their late 30s to be awesome action heroes.  That doesn't happen very often, really.  Usually it's the young guys who get tapped, but these characters would fail if the mythical movie/TV creators tried to make them younger.  These guys have lived life.  They've known each other for years as adults.  They are a team, broken and battered but still wisecracking.

An interesting fact about this series is that it started as a self-publishing thing and then got a little crazy and landed a formal publishing deal for the last book (and then all the previous ones under different names, so good luck with that).  Here's hoping the editing and layout issues will be solved by professional editing and layout people! 

Another interesting fact is that the series claims to be sort of reacting against the dark fantasy that's becoming more prevalent.  This does not mean there is a low body count.  People you like die and kill, sometimes brutally, but the author tried to keep things PG-13 and mostly succeeded, so kudos for that.

A good thing about this series is that all six books are out.  Yes, not since the Night Angel Trilogy have I been able to sit down and read a whole series over the course of a month.  No forgetting names and places (well, not much anyway) or wondering who this character is or what incident they're talking about from a volume that came out years ago.  It was nice.  (Thanks, P!)

If you are looking for super-epic and ground breaking fantasy, go look somewhere else.  If you want a good-natured, completed series of familiar fantasy fun, stick around.  I promise Arista gets better.  Eventually.