Monthly Archives: February 2012

Review

Review | THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

By Aidan Moher February 27th, 2012
THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus

By Erin Morgenstern
Hardcover
Pages: 400 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: 09/13/11
ISBN: 0385534639

EXCERPT

Every so often, a novel comes along that knocks me off my feet, ties me up and leaves me bound, unable to escape until I turn its final page. Even after that final page is turned though, these novels live in my memory, constanly ekeing their way into my thoughts and colouring my discussion of other, inferior novels. I’ve been lucky enough to have this experience twice in the last handful of months; first with The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht (REVIEW) and now with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre enters not a single tent on opening night. Instead, he wanders through pathways and concourses and walks in loops around the courtyard with Marco in tow, who is taking notes whenever Chandresh finds something to comment upon.

Chandresh watches the crowd, discerning how people decide which tents to enter. He identifies signage that needs to be adjusted or elevated to be easier to read, doors that are not visible enough and others that are too predominant, drawing too little attention or too much of a crowd.

But these are minute details, really, extra oil for inaudible squeaking. It could not be better. The people are delighted. The line for tickets snakes around the outside of the fence. The entire circus glistens with excitement. (p. 101)

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Art

Art | Gorgeous GAME OF THRONES portraits

By Aidan Moher February 24th, 2012
Game of Thrones, Dany by Anja Em
Game of Thrones, Arya by Anja EmGame of Thrones, Tyrion by Anja Em

Beautiful, yeah? Anja, an artist from Poland, has done nice justice to the characters and clearly take directly inspiration from still-frames of the television series. Great lighting and all the right emotion for the chracters. More of Anja’s art, including more characters from Game of Thrones and her equally (or even more) awesome original creations, can be found on her website.

News

An Aside | First details on J.K. Rowling’s next novel, for adults.

By Aidan Moher February 23rd, 2012

J.K. Rowling, author of Harry PotterAfter several years of voracious fans re-reading Harry Potter and waiting impatiently for the sometimes-enigmatic author to breath a word about her next novel, J.K. Rowling has finally announced her next novel. It’s coming from Little, Brown, doesn’t have a title, isn’t related to Harry Potter and is aimed at an adult audience. I can almost hear you salivating with unbound excitement and lust.

Via Booktrade:

“Although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series, which has been published so brilliantly by Bloomsbury and my other publishers around the world. The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher. I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing life.”

Of course, we find out little-to-nothing about the book, but it’s nice nonetheless to know that Rowling’s ready to break her relative radio silence and has proceeded far enough along with the novel to sign a deal. Any guesses what type of novel she’ll write? More importantly, though, do you think she will fall victim to Stephen R. Donaldson’s theory that fans follow series around, rather than authors?

Videogames

An Aside | THE LAST STORY coming to North America thanks to XSEED

By Aidan Moher February 22nd, 2012
THE LAST STORY coming to North America thanks to XSEED

Oh victory, you taste so sweet.

Thanks to the fine folks at XSEED Games, North American gamers are going to have the chance to experience The Last Story, an action-based RPG from Mistwalker, a Japanese developer/publisher headed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the legendary Final Fantasy series. This is, of course, the result of much hard work from dedicated fans operating under the Operation Rainfall umbrella, which was already successful in convincing Nintendo of America to publish Xenoblade Chronicles in North America (though with a very limited release).

Of the game, NintendoLife, awarding the game an 8/10, said in their recent review:

The Last Story is, in many ways, a significant achievement on Wii. With gameplay that is both simplified and complex, solid controls, attractive presentation, online multiplayer and a touching, well-paced plot, this title can be considered as a definitive entry in its genre. Technical problems with the performance, in particular regular and punishing drops in frame rate, unfortunately drag the experience back. When the game engine performs it’s terrific, but too often it struggles and significantly impacts your ability to control the action. The Last Story’s many strengths, however, ensure that it’s a story that can’t be missed.

The Last Story was just released in Europe by Nintendo of Europe. The North American version will presumably use the European English translation and voice acting, with XSEED doing the heavy lifting in localizing the game to American English and publishing/distributing the game to its North American audience. No release date has been set, but expect The Last Story to land on North American soil sometime this year.