Geeking Out at Oz Comic Con

I've been feeling a bit like Austin Powers lately - that is, that I've lost my mojo. I know it happens to us all, but ultimately one learns that it was there the whole time, you'd just lost touch with it!

One way to rejuvenate your mojo and really get those creative juices flowing is to hang out with people who share your interests and be inspired by what they are creating. So it was very timely that Oz Comic Con Brisbane happened at the Convention Centre on the weekend!

The only pop culture/scifi/fantasy/geekdom con I'd ever been to before is Supanova. I found Oz Comic Con quite different - bigger, better and a more inclusive vibe. The cosplay game was seriously On Point too - I was just walking around in awe most of the time, feeling a bit left out! When you're not in costume and you're in the minority, that's a pretty odd feeling!

We checked out the interactive spaces (art, gaming, kids) and stalls for a while before grabbing a bite to eat. I was lined up between gender-bent Marty McFly & a steampunk lady explorer. 

We headed over to the big stage to war Richard Dean Anderson's talk next. He answered a lot of questions about both Stargate and Macgyver, was a funny guy. 

We could have spent oodles of money on cool things, from authorised merch to handmade crafts, but in the end we just got some stickers and patches. 

Oz Comic Con was a heck of a lot of fun! I highly recommend it to anyone with a love of all things cult and pop culture-y. 

*I was a guest of Oz Comic Con and received a free double pass to attend. Not a sponsored post. 

Nose in a book

I have an apology to make, internet. And to you too, TV. You only have half my attention at the moment. While both of you would normally take up 100% of my leisure time, I have something else distracting me right now: a book.

Yes, I've once again grown completely obsessed with a book series. There's not enough spare time in the day to be reading it! I haven't been this "into" a book for a very long time.

The irony is, it's a series I've read before, and was one of my teenage favourites. The book in question is "Daughter of the Empire", the first in the "Empire" series by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. If you'd ever read Feist's Midkemia novels ("Magician" may even be considered a fantasy classic) this series fits in nicely as it is set in a sister-world, and pleasingly, they make a young girl the protagonist.

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Thus, I am chest-deep in a world that unlike the Midkemia novels, which have a Medieval European feel, is distinctly Feudal Japan in flavour. Kelewan is a world where the great families strive for the honour of their House, in a great Machievellian web of intrigue known as the Game of the Council.

Sound familiar? It reminds me of Game of Thrones! There's different Houses with their own colours and crests, and when you play the Game, you win or you die...

Re-discovering these books has been an absolute joy. I bought all three from the most recent Bookfest and I am overjoyed that when I finish the first one, I don't have to hunt around for the second one. That's one of my biggest annoyances about fantasy series! You can always find three copies of books two and four, but never book one and three...

So, that's what I've been doing - in between working and watching MKR, I've been escaping to a fantasy realm of warriors, Ladies, servants and Warlords.

What are you reading right now?

Book review - The Belgariad

Firstly, an explanation as to why my blog has been so quiet lately - I've been unwell. Add to that a sick partner and that translates into not much time online. Which has probably been good for me.

Today is my second day off work and I must admit, despite feeling the worst I have in a long time last night, I am feeling a heck of a lot better now, so I'm propping myself up on the PC to share with you what I've been reading lately.

When I was a teen, I discovered fantasy novels. I think it was my friends' parents collection that really inspired me - their entire office wall was a bookcase lined with fantasy and sci-fi. Both her mum and dad were huge Piers Anthony fans, but their reading tastes ranged far and wide across the genre. It was my friend's mum who first recommended to me authors like Tad Williams, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett (thank god, the covers scared me, and imagine what I would have missed out on!), Marion Zimmer Bradley, Stephen Lawhead, Raymond Feist,  and Ian Irvine.

Thank goodness she also recommended Eddings -ie. David & Leigh Eddings, authors of some of my favorite fantasy series.  I haven't read Eddings in years, but a few months ago I was at the Lifeline Bookfest trawling the fantasy/sci-fi table for any Pratchett. It was a hopeless search, I knew, as nobody EVER gives away Pratchett books (you can't find them in 2nd hand bookshops either, unless you're very lucky) but what caught my eye amoungst the usual mix of 80s sci-fi novels and 700 copies of "Magician" was Eddings. The books kept popping up - one from the Mallorean there, another from the Tamuli there. So I went through with a fine tooth comb and found all five of the Belgariad series, for $2 each. Resolving to read them exclusively in order, I went home pretty pleased with myself.

[image: mine]

I was a HUGE Eddings fan back in my Uni days - back when there were newsgroups, I used to be a regular poster on alt.fan.eddings.  We debated casting choices for future movies, argued over characters and plots, which series was best... it was great fun. And one of my first forays into the world of fandom I might add. This was before websites were actually good and Star Wars fans used to role play via mailing lists (yes, ok, I admit I did that too).

Anyway, back to my current re-read. A few months later, I'm still plunging onwards - but happy to report that I'm finally onto the fifth and last volume. I blame my stint of driving to work, but now I'm on public transport again it's much easier to allocate reading time. Disappointingly though that I am not enjoying the books as much as I remember that I used to. The writing is simplistic to the point of being juvenile, the dialogue irritating (being full of what I refer to as "Eddings wisdom") and half of the main characters just plain unlikable.  Now, unlikable characters have never stopped me before, so I have kept reading, mainly being driven on by the overarching good vs evil story line that will result in a clash of two destinies at the culmination of the series.

And I have started to question whether this series (and the ones that followed) are in fact Young Adult Fiction.  Young protagonist, put into a dangerous situation, learns he can stand on his own two feet... those of you who have read of Garion's adventures - what do you think? I always thought it was an adult fantasy series, but is iy really what we would now consider YA?

After this I'm going to start George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books - definitely no shying away from adult themes there. It's coming highly recommended by real-life AND fandom friends, so hopefully it will wash the taste of disappointment from my mouth that I get from Eddings not living up to my memories of it.