sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:

Follows you (block)

Requested to follow you (accept | block)

Blocked (unblock)

Allronix

Allronix

has 4 followers and is following 4 people

Fanfic writer, political activist, and tech geek. If you'd like to know more, I can certainly tell you. Just ask nicely.
  • Seattle
  • member since September 19, 2007

Reviews

  • Sort by:
 
  • Textual Poachers (Studies in Culture and Communication)
    • Rated 5 stars

    “"Why are you wasting time writing what can't make money?" "Why are you writing in someone else's universe" "Why can't you enjoy a goddamn movie/TV show without analyzing it to death?!" "What is it about (fill in name of your fandom)."

    As a fanfic writer for over 20 years, this is the best explanation I can give an outsider for why we crazy people do what we do. Also, the more you know about the history, the conventions, and the style of your chosen creative outlet, the better you will be with it.

    Jenkins, an admitted fanboy, offers up an analysis of the history and reasoning behind fanfiction, and makes efforts to expand his analysis beyond Star Trek (before the net, kiddies, most people thought any sort of fannish activity was just for the Spock fans).

    This was the early 90's, so his internet chapter is sparse and I'll bet many modern fen don't recognize some of the lesser-known gems cites, such as the Professionals. One chapter, "This Isn't a Fairy Tale" is a case study of When Your Fandom Goes to Hell. Even those who are too young to recall just how hot Ron Pearlman was under a ton of leonine make-up will sadly recognize their own ruined fandoms and thwarted 'ships. Firefly fans, take note. FOX fucked things up a decade before Serenity took flight - it was called Alien Nation.

    However, even the most recent convert to the fanfic world will recognize the cross of "fascination and frustration" that sends us screaming to our keyboards. Slashers may find the analysis of slash as female pornography or romance divorced from gender interesting and applicable. ”

    Allronix wrote this review Friday, January 18, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Below the Root
    • Rated 0 stars

    “Poetic language and a gentle protagonist almost succeed in making you think this is a harmless fantasy novel. It's only later when you realize what in hell was going on - and then you cringe. After that, you start applauding Snyder for both her talent and her nerve.

    There are ugly things in the land of Green Sky - starvation, lies, widespread drug abuse, rule by a self-selected elite who are whispered to have fabulous powers. The elite are corrupted and cowardly, and an inner circle with a conspiracy that would do X-Files proud. Raamo, a young dreamer cast into this elite, is set apart by his REFUSAL to believe he is any better than anyone else. He is recruited by Neric, one of the other elites, who harbors the closest anyone in these books comes to outright cynicism. Their suspicions lead to them to the forbidden forest floor and a discovery that blows the whole house of cards apart.

    The second book is mostly a retelling of events in the first with a shift in POV, and the third book deals with the aftermath. A "fourth book" comes in the form of a ground-breaking adventure game for the Commodore 64. ”

    Allronix wrote this review Friday, January 18, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Dare to Be a Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction
    • Rated 0 stars

    “Dog eared, permanently placed on my bed's bookshelf for easy reach when I've got that 4AM idea. Bishop lays it down in bite-sized, blunt pieces. However, when I've got a scene on the table that I'm sweating blood just thinking of trying to pull off, that book's been my bible! ”

    Allronix wrote this review Friday, January 18, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Star Wars on Trial
    • Rated 0 stars

    “If you like the SW universe and think it's fine as-is, don't get this. If you dislike the SW universe and share the opinions Dr. Brin expressed in his salon.com article - take a pass here.

    If you like the SW universe, but ever found yourself feeling a little disturbed by the implications of certain scenes or events in the movies, GET THIS. Brin gets WAY too caught up in delivering his panegyric about American society and humanist values, but that doesn't mean the man can't make a few valid shots.

    The grousing about whether SW belongs on the fantasy or SF shelf is ridiculous. It's like trying to argue if Firefly belongs on the SF or Western shelf. Ditto with the usual "death of the midlist" argument and "dumbing down SF" arguments that also undercut their argument they're populists who trust the common man (after all, the common man isn't paying attention to the REAL story. Furthermore, they read THOSE books, and not the ones who will Uplift - pun intentional - them). The upside is that Karen Traviss's essay is one of several hilarious rebuttals.

    Many of these arguments are like really good fanfic - they stretch the limits of that universe and make may out of the holes and bugs they find there. Some get really creative in explaining certain things - I'm thinking Brin's take on Yoda and Metzger's idea of the Jedi as more or less like Neo from the Matrix - exploiters of the universe's programming bugs.

    These guys don't go far into the Expanded U, so don't expect any debate on the Vong or the Ruusan events. If you wanted to pass this along to your fellow SW fans, though, I'm sure they'd love to expand it to those.”

    Allronix wrote this review Friday, January 18, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Son of a Witch
    • Rated 0 stars

    “It is not earth-shattering, groundbreaking, or daring to take what is normally thought of as children's lit and throw in sex for the sake of sex and violence for the sake of shock.

    Overall, it's pretty dull. Liir drifts from one waypoint to the next with little sense of purpose. Most of the book, he lies in a coma, dredging up memories of his past, and that seems the entire point of the book. He has no chemistry with either lover depicted (And it's debatable on one if there was anything at all).

    In fact, most of the characters came off with little sympathy. Glinda's a shallow Anna Nicole with designer gowns and a half-dead hubby, Cherrystone invokes the Nuremberg excuse, and even Dorothy Gale comes across as a self-absorbed bitch. If there's anything wondrous or magical in the land of Oz, Maguire tries his level best to choke it to death. ”

    Allronix wrote this review Friday, January 18, 2008. ( reply | permalink )

© 2006-2012 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close