Fandom List 9/20/09

Considering this journal has been in a bit of a state of hibernation and that my tastes have changed (somewhat) over the course of the past two years, I feel the need to rehash my fandoms as of Sept. 2009.

( Television )

( Manga and Anime )

( Video Games )

( Books and Movies )

In sum, I most actively pay attention to the following fandoms, most likely due to the fact that the majority of them are currently ongoing series:
LOST, The Office, Psych, Avatar, Bleach, Naruto, Slayers, Xenosaga, Pheonix Wright, and Final Fantasy

Thoughts on the Gemma Doyle Trilogy

A Great and Terrible Beauty: I liked it well enough. It was an easy read and passably entertaining in regard to the overall mystery--even if I totally called the twist. My only complaint was that I did not buy the friendship between the girls at all. ( spoiler )

That and the fact that some of the feminism felt forced and anachronistic.
Also, there really wasn’t a single character I found myself actively liking or enjoying. I found them all rather flat, I guess. And many of the back story/character details designed to give them depth and make them sympathetic, honestly didn’t work for me. (But more on that later.) Meanwhile, I enjoyed the interactions of Gemma/Kartik much more before Bray actually began to expand upon the romance.
In sum, I liked the book well enough to read the second.

Rebel Angels: I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Mind, all of the same gripes I had regarding the characters, the girls’ friendship, and forced feminism remained and were exaggerated. The Gemma/Kartik relationship also began to irritate me more. Maybe it felt forced? I dunno. I think it was Kartik I took issue you with. Something about his personality/characterization I didn’t quite like. But the plot, I felt, was well put together, and once more I enjoyed the over all story and mystery. (Even if I called the twist yet again.) In sort, this was easily my favorite of the trilogy.

The Sweet Far Thing: Ugh. I did not like this book. Too unnecessarily long. And, while there were some things I felt didn’t quite mesh between the first two books, this solidified my stance that Bray was doing some major retconning as the story progressed. ( spoiler )

To that end, since when is Gemma such a book nerd? I don’t recall her ever having found such comfort in them in the first book. And where did all the Tree of All Souls stuff come from? Surely there could have been some allusion to it before. And what happened to all the character development from the previous two novels? They certainly are not in the same place at the beginning of the third book as they were at the end of the second. I’m all for characters having flaws but the selfish, immature, pettiness that went on was just ridiculous. ( spoiler )

Lastly, the forced feminism was even more heavy handed than ever. Gemma’s final speech to Mrs. Nightwing was completely soapbox. I’m all for feminism and author’s including themes, but there is no need for it to be that transparent. And the meandering plot did nothing to help. ...I just did not like this book.
That said, I did end up liking at least two characters by the end of the series, Mrs. Nightwing, because I have a soft spot for stern but loving matrons, and Tom, if only because he struck me as a very human character. (And I did rather enjoy Tom/Ann while it lasted.)