Writer's Block: Ready, steady, read

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I knew those review-ish things I posted on LJ would be useful--I had to look over them to remind myself of what I read this year. XD

My standards for fiction have considerat: if I can read a book to the end and be reasonably entertained by it, I will call it a good book. Not a "great" book, but still. So here are the books that I read this year that ranged from entertaining to great:

- The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan. Actually, I can't remember whether I read it at the end of last year or the beginning of this one, but whatever. I liked it quite a bit for the excellent writing, great dialogue, and amazing portrayal of complicated characters/relations. (Unfortunately, I didn't like the sequel nearly as much.)

- The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg. One of those rare instances of first-person narration used in a good way. Plus, interesting characters, a vibrant world, and a compelling mystery.

- The Conqueror's Shadow by Ari Marmell. Best dialogue ever, hands down. Also, I really liked the main character, who could've been really clichéd and cheesy but instead ended up totally awesome.

- Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin. Steamboats + antebellum America + well-written vampires for a change = amazing book (although the first half was a lot better than the second half).

- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Fun, fun times in WWI Europe, steampunk version.

- The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Definitely more on the entertaining end of the spectrum, but I actually liked it because of its overall message. I'm also a little puzzled why Dan Brown is considered a bad writer (apart from his factual inaccuracies) if he can write a coherent, gripping story--anyone want to enlighten me?



Year in Review: Books is now done. Next up: music.

Year in Review: Music

Maybe this will come up as a Writer's Block prompt on LJ within the next few weeks...

So, best music this year? Well, since I listen to mostly video game soundtracks, I'll first talk about the best video game music of the year. And for me, there's no question about that...

It's a tie between the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers soundtrack and the Nier soundtrack.

Some tracks from FFCC: The Crystal Bearers:
~ Veo Lu Sluice: www.youtube.com/watch
~ Alfitaria Capital: www.youtube.com/watch
~ Kuule tää Unelmain: www.youtube.com/watch

Some tracks from Nier:
~ Song of the Ancients / Fate: www.youtube.com/watch
~ Hills of Radiant Winds: www.youtube.com/watch

I like these two soundtracks for very different reasons. The FFCC: CB soundtrack is incredibly diverse and contains very high-quality compositions. (I'm still disappointed about the fact that very few people like the soundtrack, though...) The Nier soundtrack is amazingly beautiful.

Second, I'd like to mention the Trauma Team soundtrack, which I also really liked. Honorary mentions go to Super Mario Galaxy 2--not that it's so far down the list because it's bad, but it did have somewhat less of an impact on me after the first SMG. It's still an awesome soundtrack, though. And finally, a word for Xenoblade--I'm actually pretty iffy on most of the compositions, but Colony 9 (www.youtube.com/watch) almost makes up for the rest of the soundtrack on its own.

Not a video game soundtrack, per se, but the Symphonic Legends concert was really awesome. My favorite is the Encore: www.youtube.com/watch


In terms of non-video game music, I have to say I really love Time, from the Inception OST (www.youtube.com/watch) and Päikese Poole, by Urban Symphony (www.youtube.com/watch).


I could go on and on about music that didn't come out this year, but that I heard for the first time this year, but I think I'll just say the Year in Review: Music is now done. I'll probably talk about movies and video games later on in the month.