How Witches and Wizards Became Feared in the World
This post is gonna be “quick and dirty” cause… well, that’s how James Patterson handles history in Witch & Wizard. I’ve read a variety of books, each handling the past in different ways. Never have I read a book that plants you so firmly in the present that the history is inconsequential. And yet this is realistic if you’re a character who never paid attention to the world or a reader who’s never stepped into the story before.
The Witch & Wizard Who Disrupt the Dystopia
James Patterson is a well-known author of the modern age, readers buying the novel just for his name. My first introduction was my editor’s shelf, crammed with Cross detective stories. She wanted to purge her personal library and I wanted to build my own. Every Patterson and Koontz book she owned went to me, and I’ve been intermingling them into my extensive “to be read” list. The first one I tried was closer to my forteit: Witch & Wizard.
Lunar Royalty, Cybernetic Slaves, and Average People in Cinder
Past couple weeks have been chaos with me working on getting a full-time job. Nevertheless, we gotta finish up Cinder by Marissa Meyer with a quick chat on the cultures.
Funny enough, my job hunting relates a lot to this topic. As a contracted designer (and having interned with several companies), I’ve witnessed very many workplace cultures that have their highs and lows. The motivations, mentalities, even the people create the overall atmosphere and determine how one approaches or tries to fit in. Different demographics nestle within said cultures too, bringing even more impressions, practices, and ideologies. Culture can be difficult to nail down unless you look with a wide lens and zoom in gradually. Otherwise, you miss the depth.
Cinder’s Sci-fi Adventure in the Futuristic New Beijing
You’ll have to forgive me; I read Cinder like a mechanized America rather than an Asian province. Lot better than reading The Selection like it’s medieval times and getting confused when the girl wants jeans, but still. Flipping my brain back and forth, I discerned what Marissa Meyer wanted to convey and inevitably fell in love with the futuristic New Beijing. Which is odd to say the least; I’m more low-tech than high-tech.
I fully believe a robot/AI apocalypse is on the horizon, though it might not look like I, Robot or Eagle Eye. The moment pristine skyscrapers with harsh angles and metallic streets come off the page for TV screen, I have an eerie feeling. Somewhere there will be a robot, and he will be evil.
A Forgotten History and a Present Danger for Cinder
My brother loves history. War history, political history. Anything regarding the founding of America and how we became what we are today. I personally can’t stand history, but there’s no denying that understanding the past reveals present problems. So is the case in Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.
You’ll have to forgive me a bit here. It’s been a minute since I’ve read the book, and while it’s sitting beside me right now, I’ve been so swamped with work and personal deadlines that this post got pushed to the bottom of my list. I’m mainly going off memory and hoping I open the book to the right page without trying. Also hoping I don’t get sucked into the story and lose track of time.
If Cinderella was a Cyborg; The Unique Ensemble of Cinder
Fairytales take different forms depending on the storyteller. Some like the Grimm Brothers keep all the gory details while others like Disney focus on the enchantment and wonder. Nowadays there may as well be a category under speculative fiction reserved for fairytale retellings. But it’s so hard to use one blanket label when you have fanciful adventures like Thief of Cahraman and grounded sci-fi like Cinder.
Testing Different Fantasy Cultures in the Realm of Cahraman
If there’s one thing I can say about Lucy Tempest’s Thief of Cahraman, it’s that she inspired me to go wild. At age 14, I wrote a fantasy novel about differing territories working together. But all the cultures were the same. Setting it aside to “marinate,” I continued reading and learning.
Then I ran across the Fairytales of Folkshore collection. Looking back, the cultures are heavy exposition that don’t do much for the story, but in the moment, I was inspired. To think traded goods and table manners could add such life to characters and their dialogue! When it comes to relating to others, culture can be the great unifier or detrimental divide.
Exploring the Humble and Wondrous Backdrops within Thief of Cahraman
My dad’s an identical triplet, and probably the greatest experiment of nature versus nurture. Obviously he and his brothers have a lot of similarities, but when it comes to driving along hills or shooting guns, the Georgia bros outmatch my Floridian suburban dad. Where you live defines a lot about who you are, and Thief of Cahraman utilizes this for Adelaide’s transformation.
Brief Look at the Mystical Myths in Thief of Cahraman
Every fantasy needs a little history, something to root the events of the tale. This can take the form of legends and rumor along with proven written history. Lucy Tempest’s Thief of Cahraman uses both proven and unproven history to keep the story moving.
Daring Characters Written in the Mystical Realm of Cahraman
Becoming an author is a tricky business. After promoting my short story for a solid month, I can honestly say I’m exhausted talking about myself. Yet that’s what self-published authors have to do. They skip the grueling process of getting nit-picked and passed over by publishers only to venture down the painstaking process of making their book ready to print and promoting it endlessly. Not to mention making themselves known amidst the hundreds of thousands of books self-published on Amazon, most of which have amateur storytelling that make readers skeptical. I was one such reader until I came across Thief of Cahraman, an Aladdin-retelling with a Selection twist.