The Institute of BS Explores - Human/Dragon Transformation in Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

                  

                        Dragons are a staple of fantasy, and a frequent barb in the side of the Institute of BS’s Science Department. Everyone here is a great lover of fantasy; we’re all masochists you see, so dragons are a common subject of scrutiny amongst us. Due to this, the impossibility of dragons has been completely and overly proven (unless you ask Kyoma, who swears that the volatile nature of their guts that allows them to breathe fire, could be fired from another unnamed orifice, turning them into living jets. Pure speculation of course, due to personal fantasy rather than evidence). Or rather, was proven. You see, several months ago, we were presented with Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.

                        Unlike the traditional dragon, Rachel Hartman’s are extremely intelligent creatures with the ability to transform into a saarantras, a dragon in human form. The process that allows this is still unknown, but the problems it creates are amazingly interesting. First of these problems is where does the excess flesh go

Why I Hate the Barriers Genres Create

(Originally posted on The Intrepid Book Moth as a guest post)

Genre: a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like

               Genres are the backbone of books, the bed authors can fall back on. If an author is ever suffering writer’s block, they can just look at the genre they are writing within, take inspiration, see what’s needed. But just as they are a bed, genres are also cells. Looking between the bars, you can see your fellow inmates, crowded in their own cells; contact limited to shouts across the barren hallways.

               Trust me, there were at least five layers of metaphor in there. I don’t think I even understood all of them, but allow me to attempt to walk you through what I just said. When I think about writing (which I do way more than actually writing), I find myself subconsciously falling back onto genre conventions. It’s Sci-Fi so it needs lasers, evil corporations, and tentacled aliens. Bringing in ideas from other genres, ditching the evil corporation being overthrown with a teen who’s going to commit suicide, it feels dirty; like I’m defiling an unspoken rule. As a reader, I find myself doing the exact same, staying a mile away from genres, just because I’ve had a few bad experiences, and because I’m not supposed to read them. A teen guy reading a Romance? What’s wrong with him? This partial-bibliophobia kills the opportunities for a rich literature ecosystem, it creates formulaic plots, and fearful readers. Who does this benefit?

Waz Up?

Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I posted a real quick update, informing everyone that I was not dead. In addition to that very important announcement, I was planning on giving a more in-depth look at my plans for the blog. Problem was, I’m an idiot, so I waited till late in the evening to write it, meaning I didn’t have time to finish. Today, I’ll be fixing that.

I'm Alive!

                        I’m alive! Air is in my lungs, blood is flowing through my veins, and other life sustaining systems are sustaining life! You know what that all means- I’m back. Everyone can call their PIs and tell them that I have been found at long last. After a long, dark month spent at the family’s, I am once again returning to blogging and supplying content that is at least acceptable.

                        Originally, this post was supposed to update all of you to the various things I have planned, but since it’s now two in the morning, I’ll leave that to another day. To put it quite simply, nothing much is going to change, and I will hopefully be returning to the old schedule (review every Thursday, maybe something on Tuesdays) with a few additions perhaps, which I will go into another time!

                        Sorry about the short post, but time was being a selfish POS, refusing to change its pace for me. Try not to give too many loathing looks to your clocks though; they are nothing but the messenger.

See ya on Tuesday! (Hopefully)

P.S. This will be first post to feature my new Shameless Whore section, because why not? As far as I’m concerned, the fact that you are reading this is evidence that stage one of the Shameless Whoring has worked, meaning stage two must be started. What that means, you ask? Quite simple actually: I’ll ask you to follow me on my various social media outlets, because it makes me feel good.

Want to stay up-to-date on all the blog happenings, and get a moment to moment glimpse into my mind? Then follow @NoBSBooks on Twitter! Or, if you want something a tad more interesting, you can follow/friend/whatever-StumbleUpon-uses, so when it slowly takes over my life, I know I’m not alone.  You can find that here.

Blogging Hibernation

 To set the mood-

 

                        Alright, all five of you reading this right now, I have some terrible news. If you are one to stand while doing your blog reading, then I must ask you to sit down, lest you go weak in the knees. You see, I am around these people called “family.” I’m not just around them, but living under their roof. The presence of these other bipedal creatures has disrupted my hermit equilibrium, which is the source of my blogging energies. Without a supply of blogging juices to spew, I can’t reliably write reviews that don’t suck. What this all translates to is this: for the next two or so weeks, while I’m around these fellow human beings, I will be entering a blogger hibernation. Glad that I had you sit now, aren’t ya?

                                                           

So… See you later?

The Book Notes Project - Spreading the Love

For various reasons I won’t be putting up a review today. Instead, I’ll be talking about something far more interesting, The Book Notes Project. Spreading a little happiness, bit by bit.

 

The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand by Gregory Galloway

“Adam Strand isn't depressed. He's just bored. Disaffected. So he kills himself—39 times. No matter the method, Adam can't seem to stay dead; he wakes after each suicide alive and physically unharmed, more determined to succeed and undeterred by others' concerns. But when his self-contained, self-absorbed path is diverted, Adam is struck by the reality that life is an ever-expanding web of impact and forged connections, and that nothing—not even death—can sever those bonds.

In stark, arresting prose, Gregory Galloway finds hope and understanding in the blackest humor.”