Of Obscure And Underrated Characters: Elwin Ransom

Tags

c.s. lewis, characters, earnest hemingway, elwin ransom, f. scott fitzgerald, out of the silent planet, perelandra, story dynamics, that hideous strength, the lost generation, the space trilogy

Okay, so not as obscure as some I could’ve picked, but it counts as obscure, since everyone seems to have forgotten that Lewis didn’t just write for children. *glares at stereotypes in general*

Disclaimer: I don’t think that all atheists write depressing things. As a Christian, however, I tend to find atheistic beliefs very depressing. I don’t intend to offend; this is simply how I read it.

Okay, so first for some background.

Dr. Elwin Ransom is the central or viewpoint character in C.S. Lewis’ novels Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, and an important character (though no longer a viewpoint character) in That Hideous Strength. He was also featured in the unfinished story The Dark Tower. These novels were written as part of a dare between Lewis and fellow Inkling J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis was supposed to write a science-fiction story, while Tolkien was going to try a time-travel novel. (Tolkien’s side of the dare is sadly incomplete.) From the three completed books and parts of The Dark Tower, you can gather some important information about the hero’s personal history.

1. Dr. Elwin Ransom is a philologist. Basically, he studies languages, probably those of the British Isles especially, given that he understands that his name isn’t actually anything to do with the act of ransoming, but is a corruption of the Scandanavian “Ranulf’s Son” (Perelandra.)
2. He fought in the First World War. I don’t recall where he was in action or if it was even mentioned which unit he was in, but he did see action.
3. He teaches at a university (I don’t remember, but I think it was Cambridge.) I wish he was my teacher.

Ransom is a pretty likeable character to begin with. He feels frustration with himself and his somewhat-impulsive side, much like Horatio Hornblower (in the books, not so much the movies), but he is very generous all the same, even when it makes things awkward (ahh, awkwardness… Lewis took the chance to poke fun at it… I can’t even come close to telling you how hilarious it is. Seriously, read the book. X-D)

But the truly ironic thing about Ransom is that he’s one of the Lost Generation.

The Lost Generation is a term used to refer to the men who fought in the First World War and came home disillusioned, with war, with themselves, and with the values of the previous generation.

Lewis, along with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Earnest Hemingway (and Ransom!), was a member of the Lost Generation and fought in the First World War.

While some people lost their way, Lewis is a good example of how bad things can either press people to disillusionment or to hope.

Ransom’s character arc is very unique compared to many fantasy and science fiction heroes. Instead of being a high-fantasy hero or a wizard or an Asgardian or whatever, he’s a human with human doubts and human struggles. These books aren’t man against nature or man against his fellow man: they are man against himself, and have perhaps the most powerful conflict of any books I have ever read as a result (with the exception of The Lord of the Rings, which similarly deals with the protagonist fighting with himself.)

The only other characters I can think of at the moment who have the same struggle (in a visible and vital capacity; sorry, Obi-Wan, Lucas really shortchanged us all when he decided to give you less screen time!) are Horatio Hornblower (written by an atheist and therefore depressing) and the Doctor (who is a telepathic, possibly immortal, time-travelling alien, for goodness’ sake.)

The thing about Lewis, however, is that, while he powerfully conveys the agony that is doubt and interior struggle, he is also absolutely brilliant at writing that moment of clarity that ends all doubt and pours new life into the soul. When the reader reaches that moment of resolution, it is a cleansing and rejuvenating experience for him or her as well as for Ransom.

Reading C.S. Lewis is like doing spring-cleaning in your head. C.S. Lewis is a whole new level of metafiction.

Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength are essentially metafiction on the Bible. Seriously, do you need any more reasons why you should go and read them?!

(Afterword: Stick with That Hideous Strength, no matter how hard it gets. There’s discourse on the Arthurian legends, so it is so worth the time.)

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Advertisement

August not-quite-TCWT: My First “Masterpiece” *cringe*

Tags

c.s. lewis, character development, robin hood legends, star wars, story dynamics, the chronicles of narnia, worldbuilding, writing

Okay. I forgot to do this before but I’m hesitant to leave it undone. So.

The prompt, as re-released by Rosalie, for August, was “What was the first thing you wrote of your own accord?”

*grabs Thinking Pillow and Kennedy-the-Dragon and sits against the Doctor’s back, thinking*

Oh my. What a doozy of a question.

Probably my first autonomous work, *smacks Turquoise in the face for insinuating that I use too many long words* written when I was nine, was a compendium of poorly written Robin Hood legends with the worst OC I have ever written. She wasn’t named Sparkles Purple Power or whatever, and she actually did have some bad habits, but she was the closest I have ever gotten to a Mary Sue. She was a very weak character, her backstory was the most cliche, she had no personality and, worst of all, she didn’t ever actually do anything (except burning the trenchers and shooting one of Prince John’s men in the backside. She was so useless she couldn’t even hit him in the back of the head. Or the ribs. Or the lung. Or any part of him where her shot might have actually done some damage. Oh, it was played for laughs, but it had been left in the wrong spot and came across as if I didn’t respect my topic at all.)

Basically, think Merida, only without the spark of life that makes Merida compelling, a tragic backstory, and no actual motivation.

Maybe that’s why everyone sounded so self-satisfied and kept rehashing everything they already knew?!

(I really did get my start writing fanfiction, you see.)

Or, wait!

It was a horrible copycat of “The Chronicles of Narnia” which started out okay (ish), but quickly spiraled downwards as I didn’t have the patience to tell a story which was longer than a front-and-back page. It had a fairly good concept if I could’ve developed it better, but now it’s been shelved. Permanently.

I hope that for posterity’s sake and definitely not out of pride that it stays hidden until the end of time.

I’m not sure how old I was when I wrote that. It was, however, definitely more than a decade ago.

After the Robin Hood fail, my next attempt at writing was a novel-length fanfiction of Star Wars, which taught me a lot about characterization and how to differentiate characters by trial and error, but nothing about story–it was horrifically plotless and basically drifted with whatever ideas I wanted to throw in. As a result, the main character (another unfortunate OC who was marginally better than my first and worst one), while she did improve in her lessons and became better at the Jedi arts, never really experienced any major personal growth. She really did deserve better.

My third (fourth?) serious attempt at writing was another young lady with a tragic backstory, maybe a bit more character and personality, but still with a negligible plot and no real character development. And the world I built for it was sadly lacking in depth and originality. Faugh.

After that, though, I did improve somewhat.

It’s been a journey, to say the least. *sigh*

Character Voice (and what exactly IS a Yankee, anyway?)

Tags

agent carter, avengers, c.s. lewis, captain america, character development, character voice, characters, dreamworks, hogan's heroes, how to train your dragon, marvel, professor v.j. duke, space trilogy, star wars, word choice, writing

Okay, I know I posted recently about something along these lines, but I just couldn’t leave it alone.

Character voice is word choice, not accent. But character voice is also defined by regionalism, and while accents are not easy to write, they can be implied.

I’ve been thinking a bit about how word use can define character voice, as well. Recently, I came across the word “nebby”, which evidently means curious to inhabitants of Pittsburgh (Thank you, Professor!), which I had not heard before.

Also, would Obi-Wan ever use slang? Or would Tony Stark ever say “You lot”? (Yes, there are British Avengers fans out there–I can not take credit for this one–someone online mentioned that they wished that there was such a thing as Reverse Brit-Picking for Avengers fanfiction. If anyone from the British Isles wants to write Avengers fanfic–I VOLUNTEER!!! I may not be from New York, but at least I can help you make them sound American. ;-P)

The other thing that inspired this post was a rambling headache. (Yes, I am sorry.)

I was thinking about how different words mean different things to different people (like, in Great Britain, a “jumper” is the same thing as a “sweater” to us. Also, instead of “cell” they say “mobile.” (Major plot point in a Sherlock episode, here. Which is really crazy because the MacGuffin thingy is the same as Agent Carter‘s.)

And then, I was thinking about my uncle who lives in New York but was not born there. Thus, to an American, he’s not a Yankee. To an American, a Yankee is a born-and-bred New Yorker (I think it’s more the city than the state, but I could be wrong.) Meanwhile, in Hogan’s Heroes the Cockney former thief, forger, and all-around conman Newkirk regularly calls his American counterparts “Yanks”. I could go into the etymology of the word, but that’s really not the point here.

The point is that tone can be regional, and you can learn quite a bit about a character, not only by their word choice, but also how they use those words.

It’s very important that each character just sounds like their role. One example of how this is brilliant: How To Train Your Dragon. From the first moment he opens his mouth, you can tell that Hiccup is the sarcastic social pariah. And the phony Scottish accents of the adults? They create an illusion of time and place, even if it’s not an entirely historically accurate illusion… (Well, most modern-day occupants of the British Isles have at least one Scandinavian ancestor… Which is why Steve Rogers can be Irish when his name doesn’t sound like it. Rogers is probably a corruption of a common surname type–Rogerson–which is sort of normal for historical Scandanavians… just like Ransom in Lewis’ Space Trilogy comes from “Ranulf’s Son”… *gets pulled off-stage by a giant hook*)

In short, whether you’re looking to emulate Faulkner or simply to try your hand at creating the regional illusion, word choice is as important as–if not more important than–accent. Maybe you won’t even need to imply accent if you use word choice correctly…

And your spell check won’t want to strangle you as you put together the final drafts of your characters’ dialogue.

You’re welcome.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

TCWT: Late, late, late!

Tags

c.s. lewis, marshall mcluhan, novel formats, novels, story dynamics, style, teens can write too, the screwtape letters

I just realized that I entirely forgot about my Teens Can Write Too post.

Scratch that. I think I didn’t ever hear that I got accepted. Bah. Comment reply, acting up again.

So, better late than never, right?

Anyway: Books in non-novel format.

Oh, yes. Absolutely.

But it takes a very talented author to pull one off well. Though, that’s not about to stop me from trying.

I keep forgetting to update my “Novels” page, so this may be new news to some of my readers, but one of my best plot bunnies recently was about a virtual world that drove people insane, and not by some MK-Ultra thingy.

Rather than having stuff in it designed to drive people insane (well, at first… *ominous laugh*), it was too realistic. People couldn’t cope with it. It was called “Second Life” for a reason–it was too like the real world, and people aren’t supposed to try to live two lives at once.

The thing about this plot is that it would be pretty hard to write it as a novel. So I was thinking about writing it as a movie script first, and then adapting it as a novel. Maybe it would be easier, coming at the plot a second time.

(It’s definitely psychological thriller. I’m really starting to like this genre.)

On the other hand, there are styles which have been around for centuries which are non-standard format. The epistolary style, for instance, in which a story is told entirely through the use of letters written between two friends. Or enemies. Whatever you like.

Case in point: C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece The Screwtape Letters.

Collections of poetry, and short stories, too. Also, plays. (Like above!)

I’ve read about more innovative versions, such as stories which were single-sentence flash fiction, the most recent installment building on all those before it, yet still stand on their own. I don’t have the patience or the energy or puzzle-box of a mind that it would take to build something like that.

I recently read about a story which was told entirely in a series of texts, as a twist on the older epistolary style, and another which was written entirely in txtspeak and sent to subscribers’ smartphones as a serial.

However, while those avant-garde styles are intriguing, I don’t think an author should pick a style just because it’s intriguing. I think he or she should pick the style that fits best with the story he or she wants to tell.

Marshall McLuhan, a media scholar, once said in a rather extreme example “The medium is the message” (emphasis added.) While, obviously, the same message can be sent via mail or email, the choice between snail mail and email will define things such as word choice, style, tone, and also perhaps the size or length of the message. You can’t make the same impact with a song-fic that you can with a fan video; you can’t be as clear with a fan video as you can in a song-fic. Movies and books are two entirely different mediums, with different necessities and different emotional effects on the audience. That’s why it can be so hard to make a movie of a book sometimes. Medium–format–is important. But it all depends on the message. If your ambition is simply to use a certain medium, stop now. That’s not how you tell a really good story. Fit the medium to your plot, not your plot to the medium.

I’m all for non-standard format, whether avant-garde or traditional. That doesn’t mean I’ll forgive a poorly-told story for the sake of its format.

And that’s pretty much my entire opinion on format. Cake anyone?

---

6^th – http://www.ch1con.tumblr.com (Post will be published at night on 3/6!)

7^th – http://www.kirabudge.weebly.com/

8^th – http://irisbloomsblog.wordpress.com/ – Iris!

9^th – http://rcubedreadsreviews.blogspot.com/

10^th – http://ramblingsofaravis.wordpress.com/

11^th – http://arielkalati.blogspot.com/

12^th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/

13^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

14^th – http://abookishflower.wordpress.com/

15^th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/ <– clearly, this is not the correct date… :-S ELEVEN WHOLE DAYS LATE. *faceplants into keyboard* Sorry, everyone. :-S

16^th – http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/

17^th – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/

18^th – http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/

19^th – http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com.au/

20^th – http://allisonthewriter.wordpress.com/

21^st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

22^nd – http://from-stacy.blogspot.com/

23^rd – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

24^th – https://introspectioncreative.wordpress.com/

25^th – https://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

26^th – http://stayandwatchthestars.wordpress.com/

27^th – https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)

TCWT December 2014: Learning from the Masters

Tags

a tale of two cities, blogging, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, charles dickens, dee henderson, fahrenheit 451, g.a. henty, irene hannon, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, ray bradbury, redwall, sir arthur conan doyle, story dynamics, teens can write too blog chain, the silmarillion, writing

We’re back again!

I am so sorry, I’m posting this a day late. I had planned to schedule it, but… well, let’s just say that though I know better than to excuse myself to my instructors at college, you guys might actually forgive me if I say that work and college conspired to destroy ANY plans I had for this week. AT ALL. Also, late happy St. Nicholas’ Day and on time happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

I know it’s been a while since I posted for the Teens Can Write Too blog chain, but I had good excuses. Crazy college and a new job made me take a hiatus from blogging for a while. I kind-of almost want to change to a history major, but I’m going to hang on with what I have now–I figure that if I want a history degree later, I can get a history degree later by transferring credits and attending part-time. Besides, I don’t think you need a degree to go to history conventions and get in on that conversation. History people are awesome.

Well, that’s enough about that.

On to the prompt!

Over the years, I have learned a lot, mainly by following the example of other authors. Remember how there’s that annoying little thing where your writing tends to mimic the style of the last author you read? Well, that’s part of it. But only part of it.

From The Lord of the Rings and the Redwall series, I learned about style and pacing. In Redwall, the style is very concrete, and the pacing is quick; when you get to the crises of the books, it’s a hard-hitting series of events leading rapidly up to the climax. The Lord of the Rings is paced slower and has a bit more of an ornate style. I have had my style compared to Tolkien’s *glares at Iris, sitting in the audience*, but I tend to prefer Jacques’ pacing.

From Irene Hannon, Dee Henderson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I learned the value of not broadcasting your plot twists all over the place. Normally I have intuitions about whodunit, but in these cases I could not see the villain until he was right in my face. Genius.

From G.A. Henty, I learned that it’s okay to take detours. (Okay, Tolkien does that too, but I read Henty first.) Adding in side plots to prolong a quest+character development for side characters=an equation for 300 pages of a good read. (Don’t hate on me. 50k is all well and good, but I like books that are 150k or 200k, even. I read The Lord of the Rings in nine days straight and actually finished reading The Silmarillion.)

From A Tale of Two Cities, I learned the value of keeping up with history and using a cultural and historic background to my advantage. Realism is the name of the game, and while you’re simulating realism, it helps to be knowledgeable about the real history behind it.

From Fahrenheit 451 I learned the importance of keeping calm through criticism. (Don’t ask me how; that’s just the lesson I took away from it. I pick up on odd things sometimes.) I’m not used to being criticized in a negative light. If you’ve been reading my blog, and especially the comments on the posts, it’s only been once or twice that I haven’t received abject praise. I don’t know if that’s because I’m good at what I do or if I have a feel for what my audience likes or if they just can’t find anything to criticize. But it’s hard to be criticized since I’m so used to praise. I just have to find out what’s relevant, and not let the rest get to me.

From C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle, I learned that it’s okay to write the tough books, the ones that might get you hated on. You might be shocked to see how much criticism gets to me, even if you’ve known me forever, but I learned from reading Lewis’ and L’Engle’s works that you have to just kick fear in the teeth and write it. You’ll be surprised by how much support you garner.

You have to write the book that wants to be written, and if it’s too difficult for adults, write it for children. ~~ Madeleine L’Engle

5^th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

6^th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

7^th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

8^th – http://introspectioncreative.wordpress.com/

9^th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/

10^th – http://kirabudge.weebly.com/

11^th – http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/

12^th – http://randomosityofeden.wordpress.com/

13^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

14^th – http://www.alwaysopinionatedgirl.wordpress.com/

15^th – http://www.juliathewritergirl.wordpress.com/

16^th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

17^th – http://horsfeathersblog.wordpress.com/

18^th – http://unironicallyexcited.wordpress.com/

19^th – http://theboardingblogger.wordpress.com/

20^th – http://stayandwatchthestars.wordpress.com/

21^st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

22^nd – http://fantasiesofapockethuman.blogspot.com/

23^rd – http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com/

24^th – http://oliviarivers.wordpress.com/

25^th – [off-day]

26^th – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/

27^th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

28^th – http://www.pamelanicolewrites.com

29^th – http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com.au/

30^th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/ and http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/

31st – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)

Oh, are you still here?

I apologize again for posting late. Don’t stick around here, though! Head right over to the next blog and don’t miss out on their post!

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Making Humor Work

Tags

brian jacques, c.s. lewis, captain america: the first avenger, creative writing, cressida cowell, editing, harping on an eyesore syndrome, how to train your dragon, humor, john flanagan, kung fu panda, looney tunes: back in action, marvel, marvel superheroes, nanowrimo, nanowrimo 2014, national novel writing month, oocs, out of character syndrome, perelandra, ranger's apprentice, redwall, spontaneous expedient character defamation syndrome, star wars, story dynamics, the avengers, the chronicles of narnia, the lego movie, the space trilogy, who framed roger rabbit, writing

I know, I know, it’s been forever. :-S Sorry about the long hiatus. I really have no excuse.

On to the post…

---

I don’t like some animated movies.

Yeah, I know. BIG surprise. But seriously, I don’t. Why?

Because the humor doesn’t work. Well, at least not for me. (My dad tends to laugh in these movies, so maybe it’s really a subjective thing…? Anyway, I don’t find them awfully funny.) Who Framed Roger Rabbit is probably the best example of this. The humor doesn’t work. (And who among us wasn’t completely mentally scarred by that stupid movie in early childhood, anyway?!) It’s a mixture of slapstick, poking fun at the characters, and innuendo. Even without the innuendo, to me it would be offensive. I much prefer the wry humor Halt uses in the Ranger’s Apprentice books. And the fun word-play and occasional mild slapstick that appears in the Redwall books.

When a movie does that, I like to call it Harping On An Eyesore Syndrome.

Some movies are, to me, a mix of playful and painful. Normally the ones that are the least painful also have the most heart, probably because they’re the ones that the filmmakers either 1) actually love or 2) know what they’re doing with.

In Kung Fu Panda, I found myself actually laughing at some of the gags, though some of them still got a blank stare from me. Brave and Tangled, the same, though I think Tangled really takes itself a bit too seriously. (Come on, Disney! You can’t have it both ways. Either keep your trademark irreverent humor, or make a “serious movie”.) Cars… do not even get me started on this movie.

The Lego Movie? I thought it would be totally stupid, but win.

How To Train Your Dragon? Absolute win.

Loony Tunes: Back in Action? Okay movie. Not my favorite. It was a blatant rip-off of spy movies and Indiana Jones, but unlike The Lego Movie, it didn’t click. I think it was trying to do too much.

Prince of Egypt? Okay, some of the humor slipped up, but mostly it was good.

So, why does some humor work but other humor doesn’t?

I think that there are a number of factors.

First of all, does the movie have “heart”? What do I mean by this? Well, in my opinion, I think this means are the characters really relatable? They can’t be just punching bags (unlike Jar Jar Binks… seriously, guys, the reason you and/or other people hate on him? It’s because he has no character development. He’s a talking, walking cardboard-or-rubber-or-both stand-up. And yes, that was pun intended.)

This leads well into my first point. The humor must be acknowledged by the characters. They must reply realistically to it, whether it’s in hurt, gamely taking the hit, or pretending not to respond while inwardly being cut deeply by the jab, even if it wasn’t intended to be insulting.

Secondly, if the humor helps to acknowledge a point of the plot, so much the better. It helps it mesh better with the rest of the story, and doesn’t poke out like an eyesore.

Some of the humor in movies like Kung Fu Panda and Captain America: The First Avenger is like this. It acknowledges the pure sucking-ness of the main character before they become awesome. However, it should never be overdone, because then instead of being humorous, the result is laughable. They make too light of a matter that’s all too serious for the main character and lose the audience while they’re at it. (The First Avenger did a marvelous job using this type of humor; it made us want to both laugh and cry at the same time. Perfection.)

Thirdly, humor can be a character’s lifeline. Rather than going stark raving insane… um, was that an unintentional Avengers pun? Never mind. Anyway. Rather than losing it, entirely and permanently, they can deal with it by making a joke. Some of these jokes are sad, but some can be pretty darn witty. (The First Avenger again. Also How To Train Your Dragon–though that’s more sarcasm than actual humor–and Kung Fu Panda, which also made me want to cry in parts.)

Finally, sometimes the characters will just make a joke unintentionally, or crack one on the aside, to keep a plot moving, so the audience doesn’t get bored. (The First Avenger. Par excellence.) My absolute favorite line in Perelandra is when Dr. Ransom slips up:

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, here goes–I mean, Amen!

So, bottom line?

---

1. Humor can help keep characters sane.

2. Humor meshes well if it’s used to acknowledge something (as in lampshading a plot oversight and making it into a joke) in most cases, but don’t overdo it. (Cars. ‘Nough said.)

3. Do not poke fun at your main characters for no reason, or you may end up sacrificing character development and making your entire book into a bad joke.

4. Absolutely no spontaneous expedient character defamation or out of character syndrome. Because that is not funny. Most of the time, not even in what is referred to as “crackfic.”

5. Some characters are just pretty darn funny (like Halt, Major Montgomery, Bucky, Cap, Arven, Gobber, Gonff, Edmund Pevensie, Dr. Elwin Ransom, and Sir Percy Blakeney) without even trying.

So, that’s my post on humor and how to and how not to use it. Good luck, Nanoers. 😉

Thanks for reading, God bless, and have a great day. 😀

The Best Blogging Buddies Award

Tags

authors, awards, bbc sherlock, blogging, c.s. lewis, catholic culture, christianity, chronicles of narnia, diamond, disney, dreamworks, frozen, guitar, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, music, owl city, rise of the guardians, star wars, the last battle, the lion king, thomas jefferson, writer, writing

Hey, there’s not actually a picture for this one? Hmmm… 😛

Instead, you can enjoy looking at my beloved dog (who passed away a few years ago… :’-( )

HEEEEEERRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE’S DIAMOND!

Okay, so Miko over at The Legendary Miko nominated me for this one. Thank you so much! 🙂

And apparently, this is a new award, and I’m the third recipient in the chain! Exciting! 😀

Okay, now to review the rules…

1) You must make a post to show your award on your main blog.

2) You must tag the person who nominated you in your post.

3) You must nominate all of your best buddies, and those whom you want to become best buddies with, who, to your knowledge, have not been nominated, for this award.

4) You must ask your buddies at least 15 questions on your post.

5) You must answer all of the questions your buddies ask you. On your post.

On to the questions!

1) What is your favorite TV show? I’m Sherlocked. No more to say. 😛

2) First song that pops into your head right now? “Fireflies” by Owl City. (My sister is a big fan.)

3) What are three guilty pleasures of yours? Fanfiction (technically), hot cocoa (I can’t often seem to actually finish a full mug), and reading C.S. Lewis when I’m supposed to be reading Faulkner (honestly, I need to find a new short story!)

4) Chipotle, Subway, Taco Bell, or McDonald’s? I’m going with Subway. I’ve never been to Taco Bell, and I’ve only ever had a hot cocoa at McDonalds. I got tired of Subway back in January, but that’s that. It’s been a while.

5) What is one thing that not many know about you? Well, Iris was surprised to learn that I play guitar. Other than that, I don’t advertise that I write much, except online. Since that’s the exception, though, and everyone here knows that I write, I don’t think anyone on here knows that I like to carve toy daggers out of wood. (I should post some pictures of them some time…)

6) If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor? Fictional or real-life? Well, for fictional characters, I’d love to have Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon as my mentor, though it would also be awesome to be mentored by Doctor John Watson. 😉 And real life mentors… Thomas Jefferson and my history professor at the private college I used to attend. *sniffle*

7) If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? Ironic, I just got this question on another blog award… If I could really change my name, I’d like to change my universe as well… does that count? 😛

8) Where’s Waldo? Up in a tree. He’s in time-out and I won’t let him down… Never mind. 😛 (Who’s Waldo?)

9) What is your ideal boyfriend/girlfriend? Yikes. What a question… My ideal boyfriend will be a Christian, chivalrous, and kind. Other than that, well, I suppose I’ll have to wait to meet him. 😉

10) What color socks are you wearing? At the moment? No socks. Soon? Probably tan or gray. Wool is the best!

11) Blue or Black pens? Both! You see, I write with blue pens on even-numbered days, and black ones on the odd… Just kidding. I like to write with black and then do the primary edits in blue before typing everything up, tweaking as I go. (I like to print final drafts in purple. Unfortunately they don’t let you do that in college. :-S )

12) What’s the best book you ever read? The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. Runners up: Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet, Tolkien’s Smith of Wooton Major and Leaf by Niggle, and Lewis’ Space Trilogy. (Just finished them and I’m in heaven!!! I should totally review them!!!)

13) What would you choose to be your last meal? I don’t care what it would be, so long as it wasn’t cream of wheat, and was with friends.

14) If you were given the option to choose your death, how would you die? I would prefer to die defending my friends and/or my country. (Though I doubt that’s exactly what you wanted…) I wouldn’t care about the nonsense “go out in a blaze of glory” so long as I was doing that. (I’m not Eowyn, in case you were under the delusion that I am. 😛 )

15) What is one thing you wish you’d never heard/learned? Certain non-canon couples… Ugh. (That’s not the only thing I wish I’d never heard about, but you only asked for one! ;-P)

Here we go with my questions:

1. If society was clipped up Divergent-style and you had to pick a faction, which of these factions would you choose: Truth Seekers (scholars, archaeologists and explorers), Protectors (military and police forces), Aristocracy (leaders and rulers), or Underworld (spies, black-ops units)?
2. Are you more like Sherlock or Mycroft Holmes? (Be honest and objective! :-P)
3. For the library aficionados, what book do you not own that you would like to read again?
4. If you could re-write any pop culture catchphrase, which one would you re-write and what would it mean in its new form? 😉
5. What’s your number one underdeveloped character in a published work? (I mean, who is your favorite character that you wish the author had developed more?)
6. Frozen or Rise of the Guardians? Why?
7. Tangled or Brave? Why?
8. Do you prefer birdwatching or stargazing? Why?
9. Favorite Lion King character and song!
10. When you’re about to leave the house, what’s the first thing you grab?
11. Do you prefer the forest, mountains, or ocean?
12. Do you sing in the shower?
13. Gardening or fiber crafts (sewing, knitting, embroidery, crochet) or sports? Favorite sport?
14. Do you have a particular official spot where you hang out with friends? (Mine was the library in my hometown. Now it looks like being Barnes&Noble, since it’s close to the university…)
15. Apples, oranges, grapes, or strawberries?

And now, I hereby nominate (in no particular order):

Iris, partly because she’s awesome and partly because I miss her.

Sarahtps, because awesome lists and fun photography. 😉

Proverbs31teen, because of Superhero Sundays. 😀 (She was the one who REALLY got me started on the Avengers!)

IcedMocha34, because she’s awesome and totally deserves it. 🙂

Roo, because I know her on Nanowrimo and she’s awesome. 😉

Superseaturtle (well, that’s what I know her as… ;-P) because she welcomed me to the Lego Star Wars Gallery, which is where I got my start on the web, and because she’s doing Nano this year–yay!

Andrew, whom I also know from Nano. 😛

FrenziedMythology, again from Nano, better known as Gandalf or the Panda of Awesomeness. 😛

C.N. Goodhue, aka Cedric of Chessington, who I first knew on the Lego Star Wars Creations gallery and who I’ve been having some trouble staying in contact with… :-S

Truthwillwin1. All of us need a bit more political incorrectness in our lives. 😉

Robyn Hoode, because… well, Minions for one thing. ;-P I just got nominated by her for another award, too. 😛

Professor V.J. Duke, for punchiness and dadblamery.

Sheikah, for her beautiful artwork.

Coruscantbookshelf (aka Rosalie), because she got me started blogging in the first place. 😉

Erin of Laughing at Live Dragons (we have to differentiate here, for obvious reasons. 😛 )

Eric, because Lord of the Rings! *happy sigh*

Wow. That’s a lot of people. 😛 But I was restricted on the other one by the fact that I couldn’t nominate boys for it. 😛 (It says “Sisterhood” right in the award name! 😛 )

Anyway, thanks for reading, congrats to the nominees, and God Bless! 😉

Reasons Why I Loved “Captain America: The First Avenger”

Tags

authors, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, captain america, captain america: the first avenger, characters, confusing nonsense, cressida cowell, editor, how to train your dragon, marvel superheroes, movie reviews, movies, nazi germany, rambling musings, redwall, science, science fiction, small rants, star wars, story dynamics, theoretic science, world war II, writer, writing

Hello, dear readers, and sorry about the absence. I really shouldn’t have an excuse and if I do have one, it’s 1) college, 2) rough transfers, and 3) poor time management. So, really my fault this time, and I hope you enjoy the post.

Now, on to the point! I’ve probably told everyone about how I saw Captain America: The First Avenger on Sunday and absolutely loved it. I’ll probably review it once I have the chance to see it twice (I make it a rule not to review anything until the second watching, for obvious reasons; not that the second watch often changes my initial opinion), but for now I’m making a list of reasons why I loved it and why you should go see it if you haven’t yet. 😉 So, without further ado (and in no particular order):

1. Because underdogs. Everyone cheers for an underdog in a story, though it’s sometimes different in real life (because people in real life want to be on the winning side. Why else would Italy change sides halfway through WWII?) But more than just having an underdog-becomes-awesome story, The First Avenger also gives us a few reasons why it’s an underdog story. Because, as the nice scientist whose name I can’t remember states, a weak man appreciates what strength can do and, if his heart is in the right place, he won’t misuse it.
2. It has a good portrayal of hero vs. villain. Rather than having all Germans be the bad guys, it is a German scientist who didn’t agree with Hitler (they don’t mention anything about him being Jewish, which in my opinion adds to the character dynamic) and fled the country who first sees something in the young Steven Rogers. Also, to be historically accurate, there were cowardly followers and Nazis who were the spawn of darkness (because. They were.) If this movie lacked anything, it was the nice Goring brother. 😛 (Yes, Herman Goring had a brother who could not agree less with his philosophy! Look it up! 😉 )
3. Patriotism. And what’s more, a balanced portrayal of patriotism vs. nationalism. The Nazis were not patriotic. They were nationalistic. And the guys who repeatedly talk about killing Nazis? They’re nationalistic, too. Also ethnocentrist, but that’s occasionally justified. Steve just wants to get out there and fight for his country. And he’s not just fighting for his country, but he’s fighting for an ideal, which is basically what patriotism is and why patriotism is a Christian virtue. There have always been Americans who were also America-haters out there, but Steve puts these guys to shame. He’s not just fighting for his country. He’s fighting so that Nazi Germany can’t enslave more places (which is also technically ethnocentric, but this is one of ethnocentrism’s proper places, since the Nazi “ideal” was wholly evil.) He’s fighting for those back home. He’s fighting for those who can’t fight, too–especially since, at first, he was one of those.
4. This brings me to reason #4. Here we have a guy in the public spotlight after becoming a folk hero, being used as an advertising gimmick. Basically, he has attention, but he doesn’t want it. We know that he really hates this and only goes along with it because it’s for the war effort. He really wants to be over there with the soldiers who are fighting and dying. He’s a symbol, and he never particularly wanted to be one. He’s also bad at keeping up the troops’ morale (when he’s not on the field). Yet, when he gets the chance to fight, he’s not disobeying the people higher up until his friend’s life is at stake.
5. This movie is pretty darn funny! It’s great to watch, has humor, and can make you cry in places. It’s pretty well-balanced, in my opinion.
6. The protagonist feels pretty helpless around girls. 😛 I think it’s charming, and pretty funny, but it does lead to some awkward moments. Basically what I’m trying to say here is he’s not a flirt, which in my opinion is the bane of the new Spiderman movies.
7. Steve is really against violence. This is made, in my opinion, pretty clear when he makes the distinction between fighting for his country and killing Nazis. Not only is he against violence, but he also understands that sometimes–sometimes–violence is the only way to protect yourself, your friends, and your country. Also, in this occasion, he’s protecting others around the world from being overrun by Nazi Germany. (I believe C.S. Lewis made the point why he wasn’t a pacifist, and that’s what I’m talking about here.)
8. Last, but certainly not least, he has a shield. No, I’m not going to rave about superhero weaponry… okay. Maybe a little bit. Because you’ve got to admit, that buckler of his is pretty darn cool. It operates on a similar principle to a bulletproof vest, for goodness’ sake! Anyway, though a shield can be used as a weapon (thank you, Roughnut and Toughnut, for that marvelous exhibition), it’s primarily a defensive one. You use it to keep arrows, pikes, lances, and swords (and in this case, bullets and knives) from hitting you. Though it can be thrown like a discus, the edges aren’t sharp like the edges of Racketty Tam MacBurl’s buckler, so it’s mainly used to stun rather than to kill. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi choosing to use Soresu rather than Ataru later in life, Captain America’s fighting style and weaponry are the ultimate statement of his life philosophy. Be ready to defend yourself when necessary; do not attack when not provoked. As Obi-Wan puts it, “There are alternatives to fighting.”

(More about the shield. Apparently, rather than hardening up to absorb impacts, thus spreading the impact around a larger area, like a bulletproof vest or liquid armor do, vibranium actually absorbs the kinetic energy of anything coming at it, keeping shock waves running through the shield virtually nil. For instance, if the shield were somehow merely hard enough to stop bullets and other objects at high velocity from penetrating it, the vibrations throughout the shield would be enough to actually break the bones in Cap’s arm and hand. However, since vibranium actually absorbs those shock waves, this is not a problem at all. This is one incidence in which I will not question Marvel pseudo-science, because though this has not theoretically been proven possible yet, it pushes the boundaries and is innovative, like good science fiction should be. I will, however, question the portrayal–if vibranium really absorbs all the kinetic energy, then why do things make noise when they hit it? And why does Steve sometimes stagger backward upon an impact? I know this is to make it look realistic in the film, but it does call the physics into question a little bit, doesn’t it?!)

The one thing that I did not particularly care for was the wording that the scientist uses to describe what happens to the personalities of those who receive the serum he created. Though I suppose we could attribute it to English being (probably) his second language. 😛 I don’t think the serum actually changes someone’s personality, per se. It merely underscores, magnifies, or works on what is already there. It gives a good man the opportunity to do great things, and gives a bad man the power to do worse evil. I don’t think it changes people’s personalities. In my experience, most of the time it’s only time and circumstances to do that, and with the serum, time is a factor that doesn’t really play in, since the transformation is relatively quick.

So there you have it, a quick critique and a short post on theoretic science all in one. ;-P

That much said, go watch the movie! 😛

The Villains’ Table: Antagonists Who Made the Biggest Impression On Me

Tags

baroness emma orczy, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, castaways of the flying dutchman, disney, disney fairies, j.m. barrie, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, peter pan, redwall, return to neverland, secret of the wings, star wars, the chronicles of narnia, the clone wars, the pirate fairy, the scarlet pimpernel

Hello, and welcome to another list! This time, we are discussing the Top Ten Villains who Made an Impression on Me.

I mentioned in my TCWT post that I was thinking of posting this. Well, here it is, realized. 🙂

1. Tash, The Last Battle, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. Basically the demonic opposite of Aslan, Tash was a four-armed beast with a vulture’s head and demanded human sacrifice of his worshipers.  Honestly, if Tash was not the father of lies (and desensitization), who’d want to serve him?
2. Darth Sidious, The Return of the Jedi, Star Wars. Was there ever any quibbling? This villain is something of an archetype, but oh Force, he pulls it off with charisma. Darth Sidious made an impression on me, mostly because he was THE villain, back in the day when I was wide-eyed and clutching my teddy bear as I watched The Return of the Jedi for the first time. I mean, most villains want the hero dead. Sidious wanted Luke’s soul. How creepy is that?!
3. Gabrielle Damien (Mademoiselle Guillotine), A&E’s Scarlet Pimpernel trilogy, based on the books by Baroness Orczy. Both blatant and shockingly vile, Mademoiselle Guillotine has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. What earns her a place on this list, though, is her hatred for Catholicism and disrespect for the sacred, coupled with her utter disregard for human life or dignity. Surprisingly enough, Damien was shot by the series’ main villain, which redeemed him, slightly, in my eyes. (That alone should tell you exactly what I think of Damien.)
4. Maguda Razan, The Angel’s Command, Castaways of the Flying Dutchman trilogy, by Brian Jacques. She was a sort of mafia-boss-slash-mother-of-evil-slash-abomination. Think Sidious’ insanity crossed with the White Witch and then throw in a splash of Tash, and you have Maguda Razan. She kidnapped Ben basically because she wanted to feed off of his nightmares and the memories of his time on the Flying Dutchman years before.
5. Shift, Ginger, and Rishta Tarkaan, The Last Battle, Narnia. Shift and his cadre of liars made a special impression on me. I was as enraged by their deceptions as the heroes of the story were (after reading the book, I had a dream where I was chasing Shift through Narnia, walloping him with a frying pan. I have counted it as one of my sweetest ever.) Their respective, well-deserved deaths (claimed by Tash, losing the power of speech, and claimed by Tash) were received by me with vindictive feelings of justification.
6. The White Witch, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Narnia. The White Witch was a conniving deceiver, and I still think she hasn’t been portrayed correctly on screen. In the old BBC movies, she looked overdone (though that’s due to the style of the times), and her acting seemed overly dramatic. However, she was the better of the two portrayals, in my opinion. (Those movies also had the perfect Peter, too… *sigh* In fact, all of the Pevensies, Jill, and Eustace were perfectly casted. It’s the costume design and the special effects that I have problems with.) The White Witch in the new movies seems a bit too exotic for the role. (I have not seen the new movies. But from what I have seen, this is what I think.)
7. Moriarty, Sherlock, based on the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is one of those generic villains who wanted the hero dead in the original. However, his intellect earned him a spot on this list even before the BBC series. Andrew Scott’s acting brings the character of Moriarty to new levels; from mere brilliant criminal mastermind, he goes to total insane psychopath, playing a game against Sherlock. The biggest difference between Moriarty and Sherlock is that Sherlock has a reason to live, while Moriarty is “bored” by life, and his only reason to live is to play the game. (Also, is he coming back in Season Four?!)
8. Cluny the Scourge, Redwall. He was the Redwall villain. He made a big impression on me mostly because he was almost like an orc only he was a rat, and I was eleven, I think. It was the more kid-friendly version of orcs, actually. 😛
9. Grima Wormtongue, The Two Towers, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Sauruman was an also-ran, competing for this spot, but though he managed to nearly permanently wreck the Shire, it was Wormtongue I felt made the bigger impression. There’s something in the human psyche that despises a truth-twister, and as a truth-twister Wormtongue definitely qualifies.
10. Captain Hook, Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. There was no way I was going to leave the number one villain of childhood off this list. (Sid, aka The Destructive Kid Next Door, from Toy Story was the only other person I’d consider for this spot, and he comes nowhere near to what I felt from Hook.) Hook was scary. He wanted to kill Peter. He was able to use Peter’s cockiness against him. That’s what I liked about him as a kid.
    Pros as a teenager/young adult: Hook is the most sympathetic villain you will come across in children’s literature. He is wonderfully fleshed out, and even has more backstory than Peter, though parts of his past are shrouded in mystery. Since Peter symbolizes the innocence and wonder of childhood (in my fanfiction re-telling of Peter Pan I go so far as make him a metaphor for fairytales and the far reaches of the imagination,) Hook thus symbolically, by extension, wants to do away with the innocence and wonder and imagination of childhood. Yet he still feels bad about it! (“No little children to love me.”)
    And last but not least, for a word about Hook in The Pirate Fairy. In my opinion, Hook (played by Tom Hiddleston) was the best part of The Pirate Fairy. Without him, it would have been just another Disney fairy movie, (No offense, Secret of the Wings), with its corresponding message of “follow your heart”, “believe in yourself”, and “have faith” (well, scratch that last one, it’s actually from Return to Neverland.) IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE IN ALL THE WORLD WHO WANTS TO SEE A REMAKE OF Peter Pan, only with Hiddleston as Hook and Asa Butterfield as Peter?! (And a properly vindictive Tinker Bell, from which Disney has recently strayed?!)
    Anyway, Tom Hiddleston played a thoroughly entrancing Hook, making us feel like he was a good guy who’d fallen in with bad companions, until the turn-about near the end, when he shocked us by the fact that, though he is able to believe enough to fly (grown-ups flying is still really nausea-inducing for me, unless it’s the Return to Neverland version of Wendy; in my opinion, it detracts from the mystique it should have–Disney, please do your research!), he is the mastermind of the pirates’ plan.
    The other thing I’d love to see with Hook would have to be a story where he ends up helping Peter, Wendy, Michael, John and the Lost Boys to save Neverland (or helps Wendy, Michael, John, and the Lost Boys to rescue Pan.) Actually, this is the plot of the latter part of the retelling I’m working on, though it would be nice to see other people’s takes on it as well. 😉
11. Captain/Admiral/Grand Moff Tarkin, Star Wars. No, actually, there is no number eleven. 😛 Tarkin is just the runner up. As is everyone else after him on the list. Tarkin struck me as evil because he’s a sociopath who doesn’t care who gets in his way, and he will stop at nothing to see the Jedi removed from military service (mainly because of their MORALS, which is vile in the extreme,) and vilified as well, if possible. Tarkin is a good example of why, after the Clone Wars began, for the Jedi there was really no good way out. They are keepers of the peace, not soldiers, as Master Windu explains, but once they’ve begun as a part of the fighting, they are no longer able to withdraw, due to people like Tarkin, who would gladly perpetrate all kinds of atrocities if the Jedi were to leave the field of war. Also, the war has horrible effects on their young (Ahsoka Tano’s inability to relax, for one, and Barriss Offee’s fall for another), and not just on their young: Pong Krell, a full Jedi Knight, is allured by the power the Dark Side offers and falls. (In fact, Obi-Wan and Anakin’s journey is actually a microcosmic allegory for what is happening to the Jedi as a whole. Ever since Qui-Gon’s death, Obi-Wan has been doomed to failure with Anakin by both his own promise to train Anakin and his [often conflicting] oath to serve the Republic and Jedi Order. Obi-Wan’s unwillingness to talk about his emotions, furthered by Anakin’s tendency to throw it back into his face when he summoned up the guts to do so, exacerbated the problem, sending them, inextricably linked, in a downward spiral, which ended with Anakin’s fall, which wounded Obi-Wan in a way that he never recovered from. Similar things happened with the Jedi Order and the crippled, failing Republic.)
12. Pong Krell, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Yes, most of my villains are from Star Wars or Narnia, I’m well aware. -_- This guy is the reason why the Jedi were vilified in the latter years of the Clone Wars. As explained above, he sold out his loyalties to the Republic and Jedi Order in the hopes of gaining a place in what he believed to be Dooku’s “New Order”. In the process, a bunch of clones were murdered, including Waxer, the trooper who befriended the little girl (Numa) back in Season One. (I am still in shock from Waxer’s death. And it’s been almost two full seasons since Umbara!) Umbara was an attempt on the Clone Wars writers’ part to show the darker side of war, and was the first incident of friendly fire actually shown on the Clone Wars. Man, did they nail the story. :’-( (I totally wanted to see Obi-Wan finding out about Krell’s treason and come and fight him and be incredibly awesome and do some tail-kicking, but it didn’t happen, and I guess the episode was more effective this way. However, there was a darker side to the clones taking Krell down; they proved that clones could, in fact, defeat Force Users, even those of dubious alignment.)
13. Sauruman. He laid waste to the Shire, desecrating something we held sacred. And he was killed by Wormtongue, partially redeeming the Rohan traitor.

So, there’s my list of Top Ten Villains who made an impression along with three runner-ups. (Sorry Dooku did not make it onto the list, he’s awesome and I love to write him, but he didn’t make nearly the impression on me that even Cluny did.) I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

TCWT: Beginnings and Endings (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILBO AND FRODO!)

Tags

a swiftly tilting planet, a wind in the door, a wrinkle in time, beginnings, book reviews, brian jaques, c.s. lewis, castaways of the flying dutchman, catholic culture, creative writing, endings, j.r.r. tolkien, john flanagan, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, ranger's apprentice, reading, redwall, reviews, robert louis stevenson, star wars, the chronicles of narnia, the hobbit, time quintet, treasure island, writing

Hello, everyone!

Now, before I get into the TCWT post, I want to just make one little announcement.

Today is the shared birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins! *confetti flies everywhere* Happy birthday to the Ringbearers!

Okay, now that I’ve said that… 😉

Beginnings and endings. Now this reminds me of a paper I wrote in high school! Which will never see the light of day until it gets a boatload of revising. So don’t ask. Or you can ask, but be prepared for it to not happen for a very, very long time.

Specifically, my favorite beginnings and endings.

Let’s do this by series.

First of all, favorite beginnings and endings for The Chronicles of Narnia.

1. The Magician’s Nephew, both as a beginning to the series, and its own beginning and ending. This. Book. Rocked.
   First of all, we have the story of how Diggory and Polly met, and the fact that they were sent into Narnia by a ruthless pseudo-scientist/magician who was also partly insane (wouldn’t any number of YA authors just love to try their hand at a plot this juicy nowadays?!), but it’s not just that that makes the book great. It foreshadows World War II and people like Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler. (I would not be surprised to hear that Lewis did not approve of the US’s alliance with the USSR. Good grief, I don’t approve of it. And I’m American.)
   *cough* Anyway…
   Well, this book as a whole is the beginning of Narnia and the Chronicles of Narnia series. But its opening, while modest, is no less of a favorite for me. And its ending! The hiding of the magic rings (we’ll get to Tolkien and the rest of the Inklings later, I promise!), the cure of Diggory’s mother, and the promise of hope.
2. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The book that began it all. Seriously. Was ever story so well encapsulated? It wraps itself up very well, and smaller elements that were included (especially the Professor, who is–guess who? Diggory Kirk [yes, that is really his last name!], all grown up! and Susan’s horn, which becomes a major point in the plot of Prince Caspian.)
3. The Horse and His Boy. Unlike the rest of the Narnia stories, this one actually does not have anything to do with “our world”, unless you count the presence of the Pevensies (SPOILER! 😛 Who cares, anyway?! Most of you have already read all of the Chronicles of Narnia!) The ending is good, okay, but it’s the ending I really love. This is the one Narnia book that describes Archenland, and it tells us about the people of Archenland, and gives a very satisfying ending.
4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Okay, yes, I love pretty much all of the Narnia series, but Dawn Treader stands out among the Narnia books. Again, the beginning is not nearly as euphoria-inducing as the ending is. It appears that Lewis may have been playing with the idea of the Seven Friends of Narnia at this point–of course, though, at this point only Lion, Witch, Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Dawn Treader were written, which means that Diggory was only a flight of imagination, and Polly probably hadn’t ever (in Lewis’ mind) come into Narnia at all yet. The three aforementioned books were intended to be a trilogy, complete in themselves, and it seems that Lewis didn’t plan to write any more books. However, step back and take the series as a whole. If you read them in Narnian-time order, not writing order, then by the end of Dawn Treader there are seven friends of Narnia. (Susan hasn’t left the group yet, remember.) And Dawn Treader and The Last Battle are the most similar in style, and ending as well. Coincidence? Most likely not.
5. The Last Battle. If I have to pick one favorite Narnia book, it is this one. (Dawn Treader is a close second.) First of all, the opening is riveting. An impostor Aslan? Narnia’s King captured? WHAT?! IT DOESN’T EVEN BEGIN IN “OUR WORLD”?! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! *squees*
   Seriously, though. ❤
   This Narnia book raises the stakes like no other. (I plan on making a list of the top villains who made an impression on me, to show you what I mean.) However, this book is also probably the one which is hardest for a child to read. (You’ve been warned.) It is both heartbreaking, exciting with its call to war, the rage against the lies… It is a true emotional rollercoaster. This one, more than any other of Lewis’s books, made me understand what “passion” really meant. More than any other book, really.
   And now, for the ending. While some people are upset that Susan didn’t get to the “True Narnia” in Aslan’s Country at the end of the series (read more about that here, and I highly recommend the rest of his blog for thought-provoking stuff on theology and popular culture!), I was both saddened by the fact that Susan had made herself not to believe in Narnia (which was, by the way, a recurring theme throughout the book–which is why, now, whenever I hear anyone say anything REMOTELY smacking of “We’re out for ourselves!” [*cough cough* “The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs!”], I always throw a fit and demolish their argument in a blaze of righteous flurry and the occasional lightsaber-to-their-newspaper), and gladdened by the fact that by the very fact of her leaving the Friends of Narnia she was given a second chance. The problem, really, that we’re talking about here, is the bland/blase reaction of the remaining Friends of Narnia to her exclusion. But you’ll just have to read Malcolm’s post, linked in above, if you want to know what Lewis’s thoughts on the whole “Problem with Susan” issue was. I’m not giving it away to you! You wouldn’t go find his completely awesome blog otherwise!
   Anyway, back to the ending, proper. It is, in my opinion, a very satisfying close to the series. It was a blissful, happy, euphoric ending. It echoed the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse to Tridentine Rite lovers like me). In fact, I am thinking about making myself a T-Shirt that says “The Rapture only happens to people who loved The Last Battle!” (DISCLAIMER: The author of this post does not believe in the Rapture as preached by certain Christian sects. She does, however, believe that reading The Last Battle will bring you pretty freaking close!)

Sadly, I have not read Lewis’s Space Trilogy often enough to include it in the runners. I haven’t even finished it. :’-( Still, enjoy my dear friend Rosalie’s description of Dr. Ransom here. ;-P *notices some people in the crowd gawking at the picture* *bangs them on the head with a newspaper* READ THE DESCRIPTION! NO GAWKING AT THE PHOTO!!! (I don’t care HOW attractive you may find Ewan McGregor, keep the fawning off my blog!)

Next up: Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet!

A Wrinkle in Time begins with the cliche beginning “It was a dark and stormy night.” It doesn’t stop there, though. It makes it its own. And in the end, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which vanish in a gust of wind.

However, A Wind in the Door gets the top place on this list, I think. It begins with “There are dragons in the twins’ vegetable garden.” and ends with the unforgettable:

“You were gone long enough. Did you count the stars or something?”

“We don’t have to count them,” Meg said. “They just need to be known by Name.” Calvin’s eyes met hers for a long moment and held her gaze, not speaking, not kything, simply being.

Then she went up to Charles Wallace.

Seriously! BEST. ENDING. EVER!

A Swiftly Tilting Planet, both beginning and ending, is tied up in Mrs. L’Engle’s adaption of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, called “Patrick’s Rune” in the story:

In this fateful hour
I place all heaven with its power
And the sun with its brightness
And the snow with its whiteness
And the fire with all the strength it hath
And the lightning with its rapid wrathAnd the winds with their swiftness along their path
And the sea with its deepness
And the rocks with their steepness
And the earth with its starkness,
All these I place
By God’s almighty help and grace
Between myself and all the powers of darkness.

Does that give you goosebumps? It does to me!

And finally, for the Hobbit  and the Lord of the Rings books. Now, I think that, while LotR’s beginning was interesting enough, it’s not quite the same as Hobbit‘s. “In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.” How’s that for a great opening? It certainly gets questions started as to what a Hobbit is and why it lives in the ground! However, since Hobbit is the prequel to LotR, it makes a lot of sense that way. Frankly, though Hobbit‘s ending is satisfying enough, LotR’s is, in my opinion, the stronger of the two. Both bring about great changes in the world of Middle-Earth. Hobbit sees the return of the King Under the Mountain and the cities of Dale and Esgaroth, while LotR has no less than the return of the King Elessar to both Gondor and Arnor, and the destruction of the One Ring and the overthrowing of Sauron to boot!

In Hobbit, it was Bilbo’s poem that made the greatest impression on me.

Roads go ever on and on
Over rock, and under tree
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass, and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever on and on,
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that have a-wandering gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows greenAnd trees and hills they long have known.

And in LotR, Frodo sums it up best: “We set out to save the Shire, Sam, and it has been saved; but not for me.”

In the end, both the Bagginses go into the West with the Elves, in search of Valinor, and Sam returns home to his wife and children. “Well, I’m back.”

Note to Ranger’s Apprentice fans:

I am so sorry, but RA is not eligible to run. Like the Space Trilogy, I haven’t read it enough to know the beginnings and endings very well.

Now for Brian Jaques’ work.

I especially love Mariel of Redwall for its beginning and ending. The book begins with an amnesiac Mariel arriving on the coast of Mossflower country, promising (as Liam would say) the search for the truth about her past. And it closes with the defeat of Gabool and the departure of Mariel and Dandin to go in search of adventure. However, The Legend of Luke and Martin the Warrior, not to mention Mossflower, were close seconds: Legend of Luke for its opening and closing sequences, detailing the building of Redwall Abbey, Martin the Warrior for its description of Martin’s barely-existent childhood and (SPOILER ALERT!) the cheek to kill off a character we really loved to drive Martin southward, toward Mossflower Country, and Mossflower for the arrival of Martin at Kotir in Mossflower and the closing defeat of Tsarmina, who had enslaved the woodlanders.

And as you’re probably already tired of this, I think I will stop after just one more.

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman trilogy.

WHY MR. JACQUES!? WHY!? *bursts into tears*

Each of these books is complex, detailed, involves a much intenser battle between good and evil (sometimes more openly manifested!) than the Redwall books, and remains vivid in the imagination for days and years afterward. (Why do you think I keep on forgetting and naming yet another protagonist “Ben”?! Hint: It’s not just Obi-Wan’s doing! *Obi-Wan shoots an annoyed glance in my direction*) It’s like… gah! I don’t know what to compare it to! Think Jedi Apprentice (Melida-Daan specifically), only little Obi-Wan has a dog and his destiny is tied to the sea, and gaaah the feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelsss…. *breaks down crying* *Obi-Wan relents and comes over to pat me on the back*

Okay, bad comparison. Let’s see. I think the closest I can get is it’s a bit like Treasure Island (which had a marvelous ending in its own rite,) a bit like what Star Wars would have been if the story centered around Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had survived to train Anakin, and the sorrows the Elves must face when the younger Children of Illuvatar die. It also has strong resonances with Ranger’s Apprentice (shut it with the whatever-apprentice similes, Erin, before you burst into tears again!) It’s the only series with a ‘young’ protagonist (SPOILER the protagonist is eternally fourteen) I’ve ever read where the hero had no permanent mentor. Sure, he has a mentor/father figure who dies, but after that other people mentor him as well… sort of.

The thing about these books is that the endings are always both sweet, and at the same time, heartbreaking, since Ben and Ned (that’s Ben’s telepathic friend, the dog) must wander the world constantly, helping those they come across, and they can’t let anyone know that they’re immortal. I just want to give them both a great big hug.

*sigh* Excuse me, please. I just wanted to make myself reread all those books. (Dare I say, oops?)

Thanks for reading (and especially for sticking through until the end!), and God Bless!