Category Archives: Collections

An awesome coincident

By terje | Published: November 23, 2008
So I’m sitting in my room, working on my linguistics home exam, and I’m trying to explain why the verb paint in the sentence his father was painting a picture is not the same verb as the paint in the sentence his father never painted again, right? My line of resoning is the kind I [...]
Also posted in Awe, Coincidents, Education, English, Glee, Goosebumps!, Hodge-podge rambling, Hope, Impressions, Language, Links, Megalomania, Music, My microcosmos, Optimism, Pessimism, Pleasant surprises, Potential, Pride, Procrastination, Rant, Videos, Weird stuff, Whoa, Words, Work, Yay!, lol | 5 Comments

The Histories by Herodotus

By terje | Published: November 18, 2008
[Approximately 435 BCE] 2003. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt (1954). Introduction and notes by John Marincola (1996, 2003). 600 pages of main text. 166 pages of paratext.
Also posted in A Praise Chorus, Art, Awe, Boredom, Conflicting emotions, Education, Glee, Gloating, Great Expectations, Greek stuff, History, Impressions, Literature, Loki, Pimping, Pleasant surprises, Pride, Recommendations, Review, Strategy/Plans | 3 Comments

The Gilded Chain by Dave Duncan

By terje | Published: November 18, 2008
1998. 396 pages. Eos Fantasy Paperback. First published novel in the Tales of the King’s Blades series. In the kingdom of Chivial, it is the task of the Loyal and Ancient Order of the King’s Blades to supply the king and his chosen servants with bodyguards. Boys, unwanted troublemakers for the most part, are taken in around the age of [...]
Also posted in GRRM, Literature, Optimism, Pleasant surprises, Recommendations, Review, Speculative fiction, Yay! | 11 Comments

The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson

By terje | Published: November 10, 2008
1954. 274 pages. Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks. Paperback. Skafloc, kidnapped when he was a child and raised by the elves, received the sword Thyrfing as a naming day present from the Aesir. This was considered a perverse gift by most, as the sword has been broken by Thor to prevent it from being used to cut the roots of Yggdrasil [...]
Also posted in Literature, Medieval stuff, Norse stuff, Poetry, Recommendations, Religiousity, Review, Speculative fiction | 16 Comments

I still don’t quite believe my own eyes…

By terje | Published: August 29, 2008
Because of the extensive coverage of the American presidential election in the last couple of weeks, I’ve suddenly found myself wanting to see the complete West Wing series — of which I’ve seen the occasional season, but never the whole shebang. Subsequently, I go to Amazon.co.uk, search for “west wing”, and get this as one [...]
Also posted in Dumb luck, Glee, Great Expectations, Links, My microcosmos, Procrastination, Recommendations, Revelations, Television stuff, Weird stuff, Whoa, Yay! | 14 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 Ambiguity, British humour, Death, Gaiman, Impressions, Irony, Language, Literature, Review, Speculative fiction | 4 Comments

Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber

By terje | Published: June 9, 2008
(If this isn’t my best review, please bear over with me; it’s been over two months since I read this book.) 2001 (1970, 1962, 1970). 165 pages. “Induction” (2 pages) “The Snow Women” (74 pages) “The Unholy Grail” (27 pages) “Ill Met in Lankhmar” (62 pages) Swords and Deviltry is the first collection of short stories in the Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks series’ [...]
Also posted in Ambiguity, Annoyance, Conflicting emotions, Disappointment, Discomfort, Great Expectations, Hope, Impressions, Language, Links, Literature, Opinions, Pessimism, Potential, Review, Scepticism, Speculative fiction, meh. | 2 Comments

The Sword and the Sorcerer

By terje | Published: April 27, 2008
The Sword and the Sorcerer is one of the many fantasy movies produced in the early 1980s, most of which have in common that they are so full of cheese and plot-holes you might think they’re Swiss. In this particular case, the plot revolves around the kingdom of Eh Dan (Edain, anyone? Or Eng Land?), peaceably [...]
Also posted in Annoyance, Disappointment, Misery, Movies, Music, My microcosmos, Pain, Pessimism, Rant, Regret, Review, Speculative fiction, meh. | Leave a comment

Wastin’ money

By terje | Published: December 15, 2007
Be that as it may, seeing as I don’t think I’ll fail any of my exams, I decided to take a quick trip downtown, to visit my favourite purveyors of fine leisure activities. The first of these was Avalon, also known as Gotham. I was primarily looking for John Scalzi’s Ghost Brigades, but it as turned [...]
Also posted in Art, Comics, Great Expectations, Links, Lists, Literature, Lotta, Movies, Music, My microcosmos, Radiohead, Rant, Speculative fiction, Stress, The Doctor, Various, Whoa, Why do I think anyone cares?, Yay! | Leave a comment

Concerning music and laziness…

By terje | Published: December 10, 2007
I used to like Minor Majority. I considered them to be one of my favourite Norwegian bands of all time, and there were few things in the world that could soothe me and calm my nerves more effectively than the first couple of chords of “Think I’m Up For You And I”. And the album [...]
Also posted in Annoyance, Conflicting emotions, Disappointment, Discomfort, Hodge-podge rambling, Impressions, Irony, Misery, Music, My computer, My microcosmos, Old Heroes, Opinions, Pain, Pessimism, Rant, Regret, Stress, TMI, Why do I think anyone cares?, Wistfulness, meh. | Leave a comment