Self-imposed isolation, day 33

Yesterday’s post was short, and once again, I seem to have nothing to say. That’s natural, I suppose – when you’re in isolation, nothing much happens. Which isn’t always a bad thing.

However, I did realise that (a long, long time ago) I’ve posted about some of my Lego minifigures (here and here) but I haven’t shown you my latest creations:

When you love certain books so much you want to portray some of the characters as Lego figures. 😄 From Manda Scott's Boudica series Breaca, Caradoc and, of course, Valerius.

 

And above is a portrait of some of my favourite fictional heroes: Aragorn (both Strider and King – no introduction necessary, I believe), Valerius (also in the first picture), Eirik Väkevä (Eirik the Strong from Kaari Utrio’s Vaskilintu) and last but not least, Josef Svärd from Kuninkaan rakuunat (King’s Dragoons series).

This was a bigger project for the entire family – a mayhem at an inn, a fight between the King’s Musketeers, the Cardinal’s men and the King’s Dragoons.

Happy Friday!

Autumn Equinox

Happy Autumn Equinox! As the nights grow darker, so does my taste in books, apparently... (The Finnish novel is titled "Raven Women", the other one promises to be "sexy, spooky, stylish" - we'll see.)

Autumn Equinox happens to be the birthday of one my literary crushes favourite characters, Valerius from Manda Scott's Boudica series. This day always reminds me of that character. Today, I think I'll even bake a cake to celebrate. 😉 Something with apples...

This song, "The Old Ways", by Loreena McKennitt fits my Autumn Equinox mood perfectly.

Grief and fictional characters

I thought that some of you might appreciate and perhaps find something familiar about this post from Book Riot: Five Stages of Grief When Bad Things Happen to Belover Characters.

They forgot Stage 6: Making up alternative endings/stories where things happen the way you want them to and everything is all right again. ;)

Friends

This from The Reading Room's Facebook page. I have a few friends like this. You know who you are. :)

10-year Anniversary of Battlestar Galactica

This image from here.

I had barely waken up this morning and was staring at my computer screen with sleepy eyes when I saw this piece of news: It's been ten years since the first episode of “Battlestar Galactica” premiered. That was like a bucket full of icy water emptied over my head. “That can't be right!” (Closely followed by “I feel old!”) But no, they weren't wrong. (And, naturally, since it's been 10 years, I'm talking about the later version, not the older original, which, I must admit, I've never watched.)

Anyway, “Battlestar Galactica” is one of my favourite TV series. But that very nearly never happened!

My husband and I lived in Canada in 2005, so we actually saw the pilot episode when it first aired. I wasn't impressed. My husband kept watching the show, but I didn't care to. Roughly a year later, we'd moved back to Finland, and the series premiered here. I decided to give it another chance. I was instantly hooked. I don't know what happened, or what had changed, but I really, really liked it.

It wasn't the concept or even the storyline(s) or the odd mixture of realism and mystery that grabbed me (though those are great, too). It was the human drama. The relationships between the characters are never easy, never uncomplicated, and that's what makes them real. The characters are pushed beyond their limits and they face moral dilemmas and situations where they're forced to choose the lesser of two (or more) evils. They make their choices and deal with the consequences... and they don't always do that admirably and heroically. But then there are those moments when they do. The first, I guess, is why we like them and root for them. The second is why we love them. We've been shown that they're like us – human, fallible; it's easy to root for them. And then, when they're shown doing the right thing, the impossible thing, or the noble thing... it's inspiring. It's encouraging.

And that's the show's main appeal for me. Even today, when I try to think of examples of three-dimensional characters, characters that have strengths and weaknesses, who struggle and fail, who face conflicts (external, internal – there's plenty of both) and who, as a result, change – for better or for worse (and in some cases, both)... the first characters that come to mind are the ones from Battlestar Galactica.

Literary Lego figures

As a sort of continuation to my previous post (nah, actually I'm posting this just because I think it's funny), another gift: these tiny lego figurines. You may have already met my fierce warrioress, named Breaca (if you're familiar with Manda Scott's Boudica series, and know how deeply I love it, you'll know why I named her so). Well, it seems I was appropriately enthusiastic about this figurine which I got for my name day, because a certain unnamed person decided I needed more of them. Therefore I now have not only Breaca but her brother Bán (yes, another character from the Boudica series), an axe-wielding Viking called Eirik Väkevä (Eirik the Strong – my favourite character in “Vaskilintu” by Kaari Utrio) and a Viking lady who has yet to be named. My husband suggests Ingrid Iloinen (Ingrid the Cheerful), which is nice because it made me cheerful.

Anyway, they're cute and clearly they've been picked out with my favourite historical periods in mind. They now brandish their various weapons at me under my computer screen, crying in their tiny voices, “Get to work, get to work!”

Alone with your feelings?

Does this ever happen to you? If it does, how do you cope?

That image on The Bluestocking Review's Page in Facebook reminded me of how, when you've read a truly great book, you want to talk about it so badly. Yes, even a total introvert like me gets that urge! You're bursting with thoughts and feelings and impressions, and yearning to hear how others experienced the book...

These days it's rarely a problem. There's Goodreads and book forums and Facebook sites and everything. You can read reviews and follow discussions (there may not be an exact fandom, but there probably are people who have read the book). A good discussion about a thought-provoking book is a wonderful thing, but, amazingly, it can also lead to other things.

I read Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' many years ago, and then, over a decade ago now (I had likely read the next book or two in the series by then), I started looking for others who had read it. I found my way to a fan site titled 'Ladies of Lallybroch' where I posted an introduction. I soon received an email from another reader, who said that something about my post just made her want to write to me. We started writing emails, and realised we had almost eerily much in common. She doesn't live in Finland, but we've met a couple of times, and our DHs also got on very well.

Some time later, I fell in love with M. C. Scott's Boudica series. After finishing the fourth and final book, I had to find someone to talk about it with. I discovered the author's discussion forum. It might not have been the biggest online community, but it was lovely, with people brought together by their love for the books and the characters and with an ability to engage in both serious discussions and completely crazy chitchat. I met two of my friends there, again people who live in different parts of the world from me, but people I feel very comfortable 'with' (I've met only one of them in person, but distance doesn't matter).

So, what began as a need to talk about a book led to wonderful friendships. We still sometimes talk about THE books, but mostly, now, about other things. I have shared much with these friends, and I'm very grateful that they're in my life. These books will always be special for me for that reason.

I'm also very lucky in that my husband loves reading. When I get that urge to talk about a book, there's someone who listens and understands (and doesn't think you're crazy when you rave about fictional characters and their lives). And I get to hear about the books he finds interesting. The best is when we read the same book and can talk about it (we both just finished 'The Hunter from the Woods' by Robert McCammon, and we love it – lycanthrope lore! An action-packed book with warmth and depth! And... actually, just read my husband's review). The first such book was Guy Gavriel Kay's 'Lions of Al-Rassan', something my husband, then my boyfriend, used to entice me to read fantasy. And he knew me well then already (must've been over 14 years ago): I loved the book and still count it among my favourites. Once I had read it, we sat at the dinner table for about three hours and talked and talked...

Bookish problems

I came across this image on one of the book and reading related Facebook sites that I've liked (The Bluestocking Review). I guess no comments are needed, I know there are those among you who can relate. ;)

Strong protagonists

Boudica, one of my favourite characters.

I recently came across this article about the characteristics of strong female protagonists. While I think that the characteristics listed there make great characters, the term 'strong female protagonist' gives me a pause. I'm all for strong female characters. I love them! We need them! But I'm always a little... disappointed when a book is described as having strong female characters. I've never seen it mentioned that a book has strong male characters. And I would say that the characteristics in the article define great protagonists, whether they are male or female.