Wild Things

"Cody doesn't say a word. Just looks at her, then he snaps his cue in two, tosses the pieces onto the table. Picks up his hat and walks out. I see something in his eyes as he leaves, something in the shadows under that low brim. The desert's in there and the timberlands. All the lonely, wild places where he roams--not because anyone makes him, but because he claims he wants to."
- Someplace To Be Flying, Charles de Lint

Dark Dreams

One of the best and most surprising dreams I've had in a long time.


Two men in a forest, one with a darkness, the other without. The darker one asks the other if he can read the roots, the lighter one says he can. The forest is dark, with wet, damp earth underfoot and huge trees. The lighter one picks up a small tree root, pulling it out of the ground (roots like the Mystic’s hair in The Fall), saying that he can read it. The Darker one picks up a thicker, heavier root and pulls it out of the ground. He tells the lighter man that he cannot read this root, but once the darker man is done with him will be able to.
Cut to a cinematic shot, zooming out of the forest like the camera is in a helicopter. Flying over the trees, seeing the border between the forest and the city. The city, with tall buildings built close together, skyscrapers and shining glass. Flying fast over the tops of the buildings and twisting around, like a rollercoaster. Past the buildings, skimming over the edge of the water that the city borders on. Forest, city, water. It’s the perfect blue of CG, with small choppy ripples for waves. The lighter man is flying along, unwillingly, with this panning view and he is screaming.
Back in the forest, in a different part or possibly somewhere else just as dark and wild and wet. The lighter man is made to kneel in the dirt. Now he will learn. His hands are wet and his fingers rest on a shock plate. In the dream it is black and rectangular, about half an inch thick. The lighter man is crying, explaining the rules of physics and electricity. His fingers drip with water. The darker man, no more than a disembodied voice and a presence by now, tells the lighter one that when he is done he will be able to read the tree roots. Other dark men mill around, men with the same darkness about them but with less power. The servants of the dark one.
The man still begs, but she shocks still come and he doesn’t die. Instead it makes him into exactly what he wants.

Books I Must Have

Slowly, I have been in the process of acquiring everything on my Books I Must Have on My Shelf list. These are books that either affected me in some way or were just simply that good. There are very few books on this list (Five total), mostly because I have found myself becoming an exceedingly picky reader, so, by necessity, all of these books have been good enough to just get me in some way. Whether it was a character that I identified with or the plot just sucks you in, these are the five books that I have to have on my shelf. The entire list is Misfortune by Wesley Stace, Blood Memory by Greg Iles, The Black Jewels Trilogy (published as one book) by Anne Bishop, and Like Being Killed by Ellen Miller.
A couple of weeks ago I finally got The Black Jewels trilogy in the mail, having bought it with the money from returning a Christmas gift. (I know, that sounds terrible, but it's the truth.) I started to read it and realized that I had forgotten how much I loved this book. This book was to me their first time I read it a year ago what Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith was to me when I was thirteen. Normally when you have a book where the author who creates a large cast of characters, it can get a bit burdensome. Keeping track of all the characters, who they are, where they are, what they want, can be a little tricky and suddenly the book doesn't seem all that worth it anymore. A lot of times you can also get stock or really stereotyped characters that rely too heavily on one feature or personality trait, or all of the characters can start to seem the same. The only two exceptions I have found are Charles de Lint's books and The Black Jewels Trilogy.
The characters that Bishop creates are perfect. I love her sense of humor and the way she weaves it into the book (although it can be a little much at times), and the characters interact with each other well and have their own distinct personalities. The only times when the characters start to seem a little lackluster is when you have a large group of them all together and interacting in the same space, and the rather challenging prospect of bringing a fully formed character of a seven-year-old girl into the future where she is now a twenty-five-year-old young woman. Aside from that, this book has some of my most favorite characters in it period, which is high praise for me. The depth of the characters also keeps my interest (and keeps me from never actually finishing the book, as with de Lint's) through the whole "Must save the world as we know it!" epic battle.
All in all, one of my very favorite books, and one that I am so glad to have on my shelf.

John Jude Palencar

"Insomnia Sleeper"

"Someplace To Be Flying"

"Onion Girl"

"Postgraduate Medicine Heart"

via Johnjudepalencar.com

Witness