long live chrestomansi

while reading through the blogs i follow i read shiver's author, maggie stiefvater's recent post and found out to my dismay that one of the authors whose books i collect has died a few days ago.  i was saddened to think that we will no longer be gifted with more of her works and more of the wonders that she has shared with us for so many years.

i was introduced to diana wynne jones' work but a few months ago, but since reading some of her works, i have come to develop a respect and admiration bordering on awe on the way she has enriched the worlds that i have been visiting over and over again.  by accident, i was taken to the world of the chrestomansi and has since then been wanting to visit more and more often.

chrestomansi is a title.  a rank given to the most powerful magician of a parallel earth to one of our own where magic and wonder is a way of life.  he is the ultimate authority and as such is the "sheriff" of every magic user.  

i was given a dear friend's old book with had two of her titles in the series. after devouring them in a few days, i rushed out and grabbed the other titles until i have completed in my collection the first 5 books of the series.  reminiscent of the harry potter series of jk rowling, the reader is taken to a world that is much like our own but with the magic that every child believes in.  in fact, a lot of the premise in harry potter were in the books even if they were written way before the sorcerer's stone. (i dont know, but maybe she is a favorite of rowling as well.)

i have yet to finish all titles in the series. i have read the first 4 and have the fifth in hardcopy.  now, i plan to look for her other works and complete them that i might glimpse at her worlds over and over again.  sadly, they are the only one's left and will no longer be added to.

today, though late, i salute ms. jones as she travels those worlds that she has given us a chance to look into while she live.  im sure that somewhere, she has entered the realms that will continue to delight us time and again.  

long live, chrestomansi!

the end of a saga...

among the different genres of novels, there is one that i believe needs an unending supply of creativity and imagination from the author.  that is epic fantasy.  with these kinds of works, one needs to create a believable world and characters that would not only entertain us but also make us believe in their reality.  so far, i have visited upon worlds that have given me cause to imagine and wish to be transported there.  while one would be the middleearth of the lord of the rings novels created by j.r.r. tolkien, one other world has time and again invited me to visit.

the world of midkemia and its parallel world of kelewan.

written by the genius of raymond e. feist, i have first glimpsed upon the beauty of this land and got to know these characters back in college so many years ago.  since then i have never forgotten the beauty and the intrigue that it has shared with me.

now, i have just reread the whole series that have introduced these worlds to us, the riftwar saga.

since being introduced to pug, i have been immersed to the politics and the adventure of the personalities and creatures that have since then been made known to me.  with the growing powers that he has learned as the years go, i have also increased the thirst for more and more of all things midkemian and tsurani.

devouring chapter after chapter of the first four books, i cant wait for the other titles and series that have sprung up after the best selling initial saga.  though i have read a lot of them, still reading them once more have given me the visions like a well loved movie seen again after a long period of longing.

ill bet, these titles would soon be known as novels to film just like the other works from other authors before this.  surely i will welcome the visions to compare them to the visions i have made in my mind.

like all epic fantasies, the series has ended with darkness at sethanon.  but rest assured there are still other stories about these worlds out there, just waiting for the pen of feist for us to have a glimpse of them.


*ending the series puts me at 17 at the 100 challenge:
14.Apprentice,15.Master,16.Silverthorn,17.Sethanon; almost finish with Amber Spyglass as of writing

choices

if i were to choose...
which one would it be?
would it be the one i dream of?
or the one who dreams of me?
would it be the one i can hurt with my indifference?
or the one who can hurt me with silence?
would it be the one i think of?
or the one whom im sure thinks of me?
would it be the one i love?
or think i love?
or the one who i know loves me?
shall i continue to pursue one who needs me?
because of what i can give?
or shall i be needed because i am me?
what if the tears that is being shed...
is for my absence?
what if the words spoken...
continue to be unspoken...
what can i say?
what can i give?
what if?
why?

what big eyes you have?

a lot of fairy tales and children's stories have been re-envisioned and made into movies.  most of them packed with effects and other come-ons that have made the retelling into visions that have mesmerized viewers into awe and often times wonder.  the stories may be the same but then again, these films have again delighted those that have seen them.

to this list i add the new RED RIDING HOOD.

the story is familiar.  the village girl with the red cloak, a grandmother living on the outskirts of a forest, a woodcutter and of course the wolf.  but then again, this is where the similarities end.

the movie, directed by TWILIGHT director, Catherine Hardwicke is an all new fresh take on the red riding hood movie.  for one, the wolf is now a werewolf and from the trailer itself we feel that the movie rides on the suspense on who the werewolf really is.  throughout the film, we are given clues and chances at guesses that for me have all proven false in the end.

Hardwicke delivered the throbbing suspense and who done it thrill throughout the movie.  though I knew that she directed the all popular vampire series, I never saw any similarities with the way she directed this film apart from the instances of MTV like sound scoring that is very twilight in feel.  other than that, the film is totally different.

the scenes are superb.  in fact, from the opening scene id describe each sequence as well executed with each frame made to look like graphic novels or a page in a children's picture book. but a child's story this is not.

yes, the story is familiar to us; although the whole LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD story is summed up within the last 15 minutes of the film. here we see a mature red riding hood, thrown in are the sensual feelings of a girl enamored with a handsome woodcutter, the issues of religion, beliefs and values of friendship, family and love.

red riding hood is a movie but one that takes us away into a world of child's play but with an adult's view and the horror and feelings that make them real.

memories straight to the heart

i know i should never have gotten the impulse to pack up my things and went with long time friends to an athletic meet and submit myself to a long deserved vacation.  i had too much to gain and only a few to lose but then what i would have lost was too important to me to be deemed insignificant.  but because i love them so much i did decide to go with them.

and i lost what i have thought immune...my heart...now, on the aftermath, i think its the best decision that i have done, even if my heart is now full and about to get hurt again...