This week I read Eragon, by Chrisopher Paolini. I actually don't particularly enjoy the setting in which there are are knights and kingdoms (because I've just seen so many that bore me), but I actually really enjoyed this book. This fantasy book fits the hero's journey pretty well, as it is about a farm boy who finds a dragon egg, which is very, very rare. This story could be summed up simply with just a few sentences:
Once upon a time, there was a farm boy named Eragon.
Then one day, he finds a dragon egg in a forest. (Inciting incident)
Because of this, Ra'zac(assassins) come and try to find the egg. They kill Eragon's uncle.
Because of this, Eragon vowes revenge (call to action) and travels with his dragon, Saphira (supernatural aid/helper), and Brom, his mentor.
Because of this, the evil shade, Durza, finds out about them. He sends the Ra'zac and other minions to kill them.
Because of this, Eragon discovers he is magical, and has more supernatural aid. (Start of transformation)
Because of this, they get hunted even more, and Brom dies.
Because of this, Brom gets replaced by Murtaugh, another helper. He also frees an elf named Arya from jail.
Because of this, she leads them to the rebellion's hideout.
Because of this, Durza the Shade comes to kill Eragon.
Because of this, Eragon kills Durza.
From then on, Eragon is no longer a farm boy, and is a dragon rider.
Everything pretty much fits into the hero's journey pretty perfectly; when he's in the village, he is in his known space. When he leaves, after the call of action, he goes into an unknown space, which becomes known after he reaches the rebellion. He has a mentor, and helpers to help him in his journey. Eragon is tempted by Durza with power when he confronts him. His transformation "finishes" during his final battle with Durza.
This book fits the important mandatory (and sometimes cliche aka Brom, his mentor, dying) storytelling points on the dot. In the final battle, it looks like the rebellion is losing and Eragon is badly hurt (ABYSS), but then has a REVELATION, which allows him to win the battle.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Week 5: Witches
In Kiki's Delivery Service, by Hayao Miyazaki, a young witch, Kiki, sets out to make her mark on the world. In the film, witches aren't portrayed as they usually are in older western media. usually they would be portrayed with the cliche of them having a hooked nose, a pointy hat, scraggly hair, warts, ugly teeth and horrible skin. On the contrary, Kiki is seen as young, pretty, innocent and pure. There are shared themes, such as brewing potions, flying using broomsticks, a black feline companion, and wearing a big black robe. But the difference is, in old western media, those things were seen as horrible and unholy, whereas in the Kiki's Delivery Service movie universe, witches are generally seen as rare but amazing people.
Adding on to this, Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones was very similar to Kiki's Delivery Service. The first half of the book could totally be a Studio Ghibli movie. It shared all the Ghibli themes: cats, children, nice houses by the sea, mysterious forests, spirits, and beautiful scenery. Just like the movie, it was thrilling, mysterious, supernatural, and quirky.
I also thought Aunt Maria has a lot of similarities to the writing style of Harry Potter. If we're talking about witches in Harry Potter, the tone is very normal, as if they were talking about humans. There are good witches and evil witches and its like a social norm in the story.
Like Kiki's Delivery Service, Harry Potter is a good story in which the witches are not viewed as evil, dastardly beautiful, or anything else; they are seen as just members of society trying to fit in. Kiki seems more human than a supernatural being. Recently, media is trying to go for a witch character as one that is more normal and human (like Hermoine and Kiki).
Week 4: The New Weird
Recently I read a series of books that could DEFINITELY be called weird. Darren Shan's Demonata series is extremely weird in the sense it has many, many themes going on. But it also definitely counts as horror, because its super gruesome.
In the very first chapter of the first book, it starts off with the main character's parents' death. They were killed in an ALTERNATE universe by a DEMON who lives on human misery and CHESS, who they were fighting for a cure for LYCANTHROPY for their daughter. So many factors come into play in the very first chapter. The whole series covers demons, werewolves, magic, the origin of the universe, time travel, alternate universes, death as a physical being, and gods. Quite a bit of topics to cover in just 10 books.
He wraps all these themes around the fact that demons, who live in the "Demonata universe" want to cross over into our world and destroy the human race. The whole series gets more gory as it goes along, even though it was very gory from the start.
There's a lot descriptive, disgusting imagery as well. For example:
Blood everywhere. Nightmarish splashes and gory pools. Wild streaks across the floor and walls.
Except the walls aren’t walls. I’m surrounded on all four sides by webs. Millions of strands, thicker than my arm, some connecting in orderly designs, others running chaotically apart. Many of the strands are stained with blood. Behind the layer of webs, more layers—banks of them stretching back as far as I can see. Infinite.
My eyes snap from the walls. I make quick, mental thumbnails of other details. Numb. Functioning like a machine.
The dripping sound—a body hanging upside down from the webby ceiling in the centre of the room. No head. Blood drops to the floor from the gaping red O of the neck. Even without the head, I recognise him.
“DAD!” I scream, and the cry almost rips my vocal chords apart.
To my left, an obscene creature spins round and snarls. It has the body of a very large dog, the head of a crocodile. Beneath it, motionless—Mum. Or what’s left of her.
A dreadful howl to my right. Gret! Sitting on the floor, staring at me, weaving sideways, her face white, except where it’s smeared with blood. I start to call to her. She half-turns and I realise that she’s been split in two. Something’s behind her, in the cavity at the back, moving her like a hand-puppet.
The ‘something’ pushes Gret away. It’s a child, but no child of this world. It has the body of a three-year-old, with a head much larger than any normal person’s. Pale green skin. No eyes—a small ball of fire flickers in each of its empty sockets. No hair—yet its head is alive with movement. As the hell-child advances, I see that the objects are cockroaches. Living. Feeding on its rotten flesh.
This is only the beginning of the first book. Shan doesn't waste any time setting up a backstory in the first chapter, then just tearing it apart in the beginning of the second chapter, and in the third chapter sets up a transition from the main characters original home to his next living space.
Except the walls aren’t walls. I’m surrounded on all four sides by webs. Millions of strands, thicker than my arm, some connecting in orderly designs, others running chaotically apart. Many of the strands are stained with blood. Behind the layer of webs, more layers—banks of them stretching back as far as I can see. Infinite.
My eyes snap from the walls. I make quick, mental thumbnails of other details. Numb. Functioning like a machine.
The dripping sound—a body hanging upside down from the webby ceiling in the centre of the room. No head. Blood drops to the floor from the gaping red O of the neck. Even without the head, I recognise him.
“DAD!” I scream, and the cry almost rips my vocal chords apart.
To my left, an obscene creature spins round and snarls. It has the body of a very large dog, the head of a crocodile. Beneath it, motionless—Mum. Or what’s left of her.
A dreadful howl to my right. Gret! Sitting on the floor, staring at me, weaving sideways, her face white, except where it’s smeared with blood. I start to call to her. She half-turns and I realise that she’s been split in two. Something’s behind her, in the cavity at the back, moving her like a hand-puppet.
The ‘something’ pushes Gret away. It’s a child, but no child of this world. It has the body of a three-year-old, with a head much larger than any normal person’s. Pale green skin. No eyes—a small ball of fire flickers in each of its empty sockets. No hair—yet its head is alive with movement. As the hell-child advances, I see that the objects are cockroaches. Living. Feeding on its rotten flesh.
This is only the beginning of the first book. Shan doesn't waste any time setting up a backstory in the first chapter, then just tearing it apart in the beginning of the second chapter, and in the third chapter sets up a transition from the main characters original home to his next living space.
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