Category Archives: Ambiguity

A lesson to learn from Peter Jackson (or, stating the obvious, part infinity plus eight)

By terje | Published: July 19, 2009
(Disclaimer: The following, while containing at least some opinions the author can sort of be said to hold, is more of an exploration than a presentation of ideas. It should all therefore be taken with a few barrelfuls of salt.) So I’m watching the appendices on the Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition DVD, and as [...]
Also posted in Annoyance, Art, GRRM, Harry Potter, History, Hodge-podge rambling, Impressions, Language, Literature, Malazan, Movies, Opinions, Rant, Scott Lynch, Speculations, Speculative fiction, WoT | 3 Comments

So, eh, umm…

By terje | Published: July 7, 2009
I succumbed to the dragon, and if any of you did too, we have an easier way of keeping in touch, yeah? In case you do later, I added the link to my blogroll.
Also posted in Blogroll, Conflicting emotions, Discomfort, Links, My microcosmos, Oh noes!, Pain, Panic, Paranoia, Pessimism, Scepticism, Why do I think anyone cares? | 9 Comments

Sky of Swords by Dave Duncan

By terje | Published: January 20, 2009
450 pages. Eos Fantasy paperback. 2000. Third published novel in the Tales of the King’s Blades trilogy. So. Denouement, eh? After having spent Lord of the Fire Lands setting up pretty much an alternative plotline to the one told in The Gilded Chain, Dave Duncan endeavours to straighten things out again in Sky of Swords. Obviously, any such an [...]
Also posted in Annoyance, Boredom, Disappointment, Discomfort, Great Expectations, Literature, Rant, Review, Speculative fiction, meh. | 6 Comments

The Matrix

By terje | Published: November 20, 2008
Just watched The Matrix, but seeing as I’ve already reviewed this movie somewhere else on this blog, I’m going to limit myself to pointing out how much the whole Matrix/human batteries thing seems like something out of Marx. You’ve got your people, right, who can be likened to either the people in Marxist theory in general, [...]
Also posted in Art, Awe, Bliss, Coincidents, Goosebumps!, Hodge-podge rambling, Karl Marx, Movies, Old Heroes, Pleasant surprises, Politics, Revelations, Review, Speculative fiction, Weird stuff, What I Learned Today, Whoa, Yay!, lol | 6 Comments

The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth

By terje | Published: October 13, 2008
1952. 186 pages. Gollancz SF Masterworks paperback (2003). In the 22nd century the people’s representatives in the American legislature have been replaced by those of the corporations, who in their turn are the clients of a few big, competing advertisement companies whose only concern is Sales. The citizens are no longer that; they are exclusively consumers, conditioned to [...]
Also posted in Language, Literature, Pleasant surprises, Review, Speculative fiction, meh. | 20 Comments

Neuropath by Scott Bakker

By terje | Published: September 27, 2008
Neuropath by Scott Bakker 2008. 306 pages (with afterword). Orion TPB. “Only a small fraction of your brain is involved in conscious experience, which is why so much of what we do is unconscious. The bulk of your brain’s processing falls outside what you can experience; it simply doesn’t exist for your consciousness, not even as an absence. That’s why [...]
Also posted in Conflicting emotions, Discomfort, Education, Help!, Literature, Misery, Pain, Panic, Paranoia, Pessimism, Regret, Revelations, Review, Scepticism, Speculations, Speculative fiction, Stress, Whoa, Wistfulness | 7 Comments

A TV Dante

By terje | Published: September 24, 2008
My sister is one of the most important students at NTNU’s Department of Nordistics (or whatever) and Literature, primarily through her role as founder of the departemental body responsible for arranging events related to the relevant field of study (primarily Nordic linguistics and literature, as well as literature in general). Yesterday, she had arrange a [...]
Also posted in Art, Conflicting emotions, Discomfort, Goosebumps!, Literature, Medieval stuff, Misery, Movies, Pleasant surprises, Poetry, Potential, Recommendations, Religiousity, Revelations, Review, Roman stuff, Scepticism, Speculative fiction, Television stuff, Whoa | Leave a comment

WALL-E

By terje | Published: September 20, 2008
As I went to see WALL-E (from now on Wall-E, as Nature abhors a shout, even though it’s supposed to be an acronym) last a couple of days ago, I was feeling highly ambiguous and thus also a bit scared. You see, my hopes for this movie were nothing short of astronomic, as just about [...]
Also posted in A Moistening of the Eyes, A Praise Chorus, Art, Awe, Bliss, Glee, Goosebumps!, Great Expectations, Hodge-podge rambling, Hope, Impressions, Irony, Love, Movies, My microcosmos, Optimism, Pimping, Pleasant surprises, Potential, Rant, Recommendations, Relief, Review, Speculations, Wistfulness, Yay! | 11 Comments

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

By terje | Published: July 19, 2008
1926. 273 pages. Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks. Foreword by Neil Gaiman. Where the rivers Dapple and Dawl converge is situated the small country port of Lud-in-the-Mist, capital of the free state of Dorimare. From here, the burghers send their trading ships out into the world, bringing back wealth to the upper strata of Dorimarite society. But Lud and Dorimare has [...]
Also posted in British humour, Collections, Death, Gaiman, Impressions, Irony, Language, Literature, Review, Speculative fiction | 4 Comments

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

By terje | Published: July 17, 2008
2008. 536 pages (Gollancz Fantasy trade paperback). “Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.” — Paul Gaugin. This being the opening quote of Last Argument of Kings, the concluding volume in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law series, one can perhaps perceive that this is a bleak affair. As I remarked in my reviews of the first [...]
Also posted in A Moistening of the Eyes, A Praise Chorus, Art, Awe, Conflicting emotions, Death, Discomfort, Evilness, Goosebumps!, History, Literature, Misery, Oh noes!, Pain, Panic, Paranoia, Pessimism, Recommendations, Regret, Review, Speculative fiction, Whoa, Wistfulness | 13 Comments