Esoteric Renaissance http://esoteric-renaissance.com/ An Irreverent Look at Technology and Art through Goddess-Colored Glasses en jayellefsw@yahoo.com Copyright 2009 2009-07-29T17:06:12-08:00 Esoteric Renaissance : GoodReads Reviews - 29 July 2009 {title_permalink=blog/post} http://esoteric-renaissance.com/blog/post/goodreads_reviews_29_july_2009/
I read...a lot.

Rather than spam this blog with a new review every day or two, as I read that many books most weeks, I've collected the reviews of the last week into one post. A couple of these are older books that I read a while back, but did not have a chance to post reviews of earlier as the blog was still in hiatus. The last three books, Books 1-3 of the "Fever" series by Karen Marie Moning, are the first three of five. A full review will come after the entire series is complete. The ratings are a good indication of my initial feelings upon first reading these three over the weekend in between Blogathon posts/prep.



Fast Ships, Black Sails Fast Ships, Black Sails by Ann VanderMeer


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Not as good as I was expecting after reading the Steampunk anthology. Took a long time to get through it as I had trouble getting into many of the stories, despite being written by some of my favorite authors.

"Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake" by Naomi Novik and "Elegy for Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores and Righteous Thieves" by Kelly Barnhill were, perhaps, the two pieces I enjoyed the most. Each one had a depth to the characters I found sadly lacking in many of the other stories -- although "Iron Face" by Michael Moorcock was a nice vignette, I found it too short a piece to bring up the general level of quality in the anthology as a whole. I would have liked to see one of his longer works included.



Divine Evil Divine Evil by Nora Roberts


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Normally, I really like Nora Roberts' stories. The plotlines and character developments are generally intriguing and three-dimensional. But, I didn't get that from this one. The two main characters were likable enough and the story kept me reading without getting bored.

Still, I can't say it was one of her best works. It was fairly easy to guess at the 'Big Bad' and, while the characters were likable, some seemed to almost slip into a caricature of "small town people" -- the town gossip, the town whore, the barkeep, the green deputy, the 'outsiders' from the city. And, while there was tension between the two main characters, the relationship between didn't seem to really struggle at all. It was a fait accomplis almost from the first kiss, give or take a couple shouting matches.

All in all, enjoyable, but not spectacular.



Steampunk Steampunk by Jeff VanderMeer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very comprehensive collection and excellent overview of the genre. The essays covering the roots of the genre were of particular interest to me. Some may find two or three of the tales a bit on the dark side. But I like dark.










Darkfever (Fever, #1) Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bloodfever (Fever, #2) Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Faefever (Fever, #3) Faefever by Karen Marie Moning


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


View all my reviews >>





]]> Reviews 2009-07-29T17:06:12-08:00 Esoteric Renaissance : Esoteric Renaissance Reopens {title_permalink=blog/post} http://esoteric-renaissance.com/blog/post/esoren_reopens/
image


Welcome back to Esoteric Renaissance~!

It's taken longer than I expected, but things are shaping up to be fully online by the end of July.

When I initially brought the site down, it was my intention to reevaluate my web presence and where I wished to focus that energy. I was becoming overwhelmed by my tendency to try all the various services and communities and needed a break. I was also seriously considering breaking my fanworks off into a new domain and keeping them separate from my original work. (That will not be happening, which is what's caused some of the slow-down -- reintegrating that information into the archives, etc.)

To give you a quick idea of what's here and what's coming back:

  • Blog - The new blog will focus more on a specific subset of topics, mostly my interests in technology, art, fandom, and spirituality. Pointers to new things elsewhere on the site may also be found here.

    There will be sprinklings of personal life mentioned, but the more "journal-ish" posts will be relegated solely to my insanejournal/livejournal. Please feel free to send me a friend request there!

    This section is open as of today.


  • ER 'Thon - What used to be known as 'Imagine This' has been absorbed into the main Esoteric Renaissance site as the new "ER 'Thon" section. All past years' archives (except for 2005, which appears to have been lost) will appear here and future events will be blogged here as well.

    Archives should be ready in a couple days. Things are currently ramping up for this year's event on July 25th, 2009.


  • Gallery - The gallery will remain pretty much the same as it always has been, although it will be expanded to include my digital art, fanart, collages, crafts, and photography. A collection of all the visual arts I dabble about in.

    This should reopen in the next week or two.


  • Writing - This section is being expanded to once again include both original and fanworks. Stories, essays, poetry, rpg characters, and a couple of new projects I am anxious to unveil.

    This section is projected to reopen by the end of the summer.


  • Vault - This is the new archive. All posts from the blog, artblog, journal, and photoblog will be stored here for anyone who wishes to review old posts. This is separate from the "blog archive" as I am essentially 'rebooting' the blog all together.

    The archive will reopen slowly over the next two or three months.


  • Altar - Back when I first started building sites on the web, back when I owned a site at GeoCities Athens and then on earthlink, I always kept a section set aside as a "book of shadows" or "meditative retreat", some place to archive poetry, chants, recipes, etc. resulting from my witchcraft practices. I haven't kept up this section since moving to my own domain, but I will be attempting to bring it back once more.

    The Altar should open by the end of the summer.


  • Graphics - It has always been my intention to offer up IM stats, sig tags, websets, and assorted other web graphics that go along with my original artwork. At one time, I had the beginnings of such a thing set up. This is the rebirth of that endeavor.

    Graphics should be available, both free and for purchase, by the end of the year.


  • Hearth - This is a new section of the site, a members only area that will allow friends to converge and chat, give access to special 'members only' sections of the gallery and writing, as well as a few other goodies. Anyone wishing to join the membership here will be required to abide by rules of respect and common decency. It is intended to be a safe place.

    More information will be forthcoming as this gets closer to opening later this year.


Hope you all will stay tuned~!





]]> Announcements 2009-06-29T16:30:22-08:00