After two long years, another World of Warcraft book. Considering that I am an active player (okay, not now exactly, I am on a break for May and June) and interested in the game universe and story for the past almost 20 years (a lot of time…), it’s tough to make a review of this one.
It’s even tougher for the current situation and with the hints for where the story is going.
Even though I am still some time and work away from finishing my story, apart from writing, I am trying to make progress elsewhere.
Since I am active Goodreads user (though so far as a reader) I was slowly trying to see if fellow readers and writers alike could help my efforts even without any specificity. Plus, it’s where I’ll most likely start my search for beta readers later next month.
So, I’ve been increasing my activity there. I joined a large and quite active group focused on SF and Fantasy some time ago (half a year maybe) and since then I am doing my best to participate in discussions when I have something to say on the topic.
For my latest read, I chose something that a member of Goodreads group was mentioning being on sale. The idea seemed interesting and so I went for it, even though it was not something in the center of my attention when it comes to (sub)genres. The book is a mixture of post-apocalyptic, folklore, urban fantasy and maybe more.
I guess everyone has some degree of experience with Murphy’s laws. I am no stranger to it, especially when hiking. There were days when the forecast was almost perfect, I forgot (or intentionally did not take) something for worse weather and it came to bite me in the arse. Or when I prepared for bad weather, only to have it end up well. Several times, I tried to (ab)use Murphy’s laws in my favor, with varying success.
The weather before the last hike was typical for mid-summer, or least that it was a few years ago. 30°C and afternoon quick storms were not something one would expect for late May or early July. Yet, in the light of the recent days, the chances for it happening during my hike were far too high.
There’s a tradition I try to keep going, to go for a hike between exams. It works well to clear my mind. This time, it became a bit extreme. Exam on Monday, okay, went better than expected. The hike was originally planned for Tuesday but the plan changed and I went for a bit different outdoor activity with my sister. So the hike was moved to Wednesday despite the fact that my legs were stiff from 36km of roller-blading in something like 2,5hrs (fastest lap I had was 12min 20sec for 4,5km, by the way).
Anyway, I still set up the alarm at 4:10, thinking that this time I might even regret it (I very rarely regret getting up early for a hike, even in bad weather) and went on with the adjusted plan. Of course, Wednesday + unknown place = being alone.
So, here it comes. First summer hike of 2018. Yes, it’s not “calendar summer” yet but the weather is not giving a damn the last few years. 30°C in mid-may, no problem. Part one, in this case, because of the second hike that I’ll cover soon.
A few times, I found myself thinking about some characters in the story I am working on and how their role and “screen time” changed from where they began (in concept stages or first draft) to where they are now (fifth draft of #1) and how these changes affected their future. I guess that characters being relevant more or less than the original plan happens and it can happen that some character is crossed out completely, especially if he or she was a cameo appearance.
In this post, I’ll look on some of those cases from my own experience.
Another month? Where’s the time gone? Okay, I know. Assignments on uni, hockey championship…
Anyway, my writing progress. There’s definitely some, even if it might be harder to see. I came to the realization that my progress reached the point where I can’t move on without external feedback. In other words, the beta stage is coming soon. This fact affects my latest progress.
After three weeks of idling, I finally got to the hills again. At first, it did not look well. It was raining three or four days before. The rain was not strong, but it was persistent and I know that for some, it’s enough to be a hit on their mood. If I went alone, I would not give it a second thought but this time, I was to bring a loose group of almost fifty people somewhere after four days of rain with a not-so-small chance for more of it that day.
So, after several weeks, I finally finished another book. This one took longer than expected, for reasons that were mostly irrelevant to the book. The book itself is good, yet I struggled to really get into it, for reasons I still don’t know.
Anyway, let’s get to the review itself. I’ll try to avoid significant spoilers, though the review will reveal something from the start.
Tomas - the wandering dreamer 
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