(To find the original prompt origin, go to the website on the picture.)
Monday 13 April 2015
Sunday 28 December 2014
Classification of Stories
The normal classification of Novels, short stories and the like are often uncertain, which is good, but how do I know I've written a Novel (in word count) if my story has 34,000 words?
Novel: over 40,000 words
^.^ -Sam
Welp, here is a chart I found to help classify. Don't worry, these aren't the rules, and some may go by different measures, but I thought it could help.
Novel: over 40,000 words
Novella: 17,500 to 40,000 words
Novellette: 7,500 to 17,500
Short Story: under 7,500
Monday 22 December 2014
Book Review: The Skin Map, by Steven Lawhead
Imagine Celtic mythology and medieval Europe meeting Doctor Who without the Doctor. That's pretty much what this story is like. Some people may not like this kind of Science Fiction, because it may come across as being too random and out-of-the-ordinary, but if you give it a chance, you may be in for a surprise.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Plot
Imagine rain pouring from the sky, thunder booming right above you. You look down the street and it's bright and shiny down there, not much of a long walk away, while you have rain showering down on you. Why don't you leave that spot? Your great-grandfather has appeared. You thought he was dead, but he's obviously not, because he's standing right in front of you. He wants you to come with him, and when you do, you find yourself in a place that you can't explain - a part of town that you thought you would have known had existed. It's like a place where people are reenacting a scene from a hundred or so years ago. To make it even more odd, they act real, as if the way that you see them living is actually how they live.
This is what happens to Kit Livingstone, a young, well-to-do bloke who doesn't think much of the supernatural or anything of that sort. It isn't until his great-grandfather appears to him and brings him to experience things beyond the ordinary that Kit realizes that there is more to life than what we see with the naked eye.
The ancient Celts believed that there were places in which a person could enter, and he could emerge on the other side in a completely different universe. While we might hear a notion like that and shrug it off as nonsense, this story asks the question, "What if you find that such a belief is somewhat true?" What if you could find a place or an object - a portal, if you will - that could allow you to travel from this universe and into another one? Not only that, but you might be able to travel to the past, if not also the future.
But how do you find these portals? That's the key, and that's the mystery. What if someone made a map of the portals, allowing you to find them and use them properly? What if the person who made the map, instead of charting it on paper, tattooed it upon his own skin?
Positive Elements:
Although the protagonist characters show no sign of perfection in virtue, there is a strong sense of loyalty to one another. Although characters such as Wilhelmina may be disliked, her new-found love of life is something for which many of us may wish to find. Honour is key, and the virtue that the characters do show provide a glimmer of hope in the middle of a hopeless scenario.
Spiritual Content:
The involvement of Celtic beliefs and medieval/renaissance Europe inevitably brings up spiritual topics. There is no in-your-face Christianity to be found, but there is certainly a spiritual undertone. If you're not looking for it, you won't find it - or, at least, it may not appear to be very strong - but if you are familiar with religious topics, you might find a glimpse as to where the story will go.
Violence:
The Skin Map is nowhere near being as gruesome as that of other stories, but it doesn't shy away from the fact that people do get physically hurt. A couple of people get slugged across the face. There is at least one fight scene. Nothing incredibly explicit is described.
Inappropriate Content:
There are mentions of beauty and flirting, but nothing beyond that.
Foul Language:
While there is the possibility of "d--n" being used once or twice, nothing further of such nature is spoken.
Technical Issues:
Some people might consider the writing style to be boring and the characters flat. The writing style is more British than American, due to the fact that the author is British. The story may not seem very intriguing to everyone, and to those who dislike this kind of story, there may not be much to compel the reader to continue reading, but for those who do like this kind of story, although the story could have begun in a more interesting way and there may be some painfully boring parts, readers will find it rewarding when they do read through the entire book.
Though the characters may be flat, the plot tends to be interesting enough to keep the reader reading.
If I explained much more, I'd give too many spoilers.
Conclusion:
While there may be somewhat of a disliking for this novel, the concepts and story-lines will be thought-provoking. An obvious theme throughout the work is the idea of otherness. Imagination is key, and the possibilities are endless. There is no easy way to explain the depth of this book to those who have not read it, and although it may not be a perfect work, it still opens the imagination to ideas "outside of the box," so to speak, and some people may not want to miss the adventures that this story has to offer.
~ Fintan
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Plot
Imagine rain pouring from the sky, thunder booming right above you. You look down the street and it's bright and shiny down there, not much of a long walk away, while you have rain showering down on you. Why don't you leave that spot? Your great-grandfather has appeared. You thought he was dead, but he's obviously not, because he's standing right in front of you. He wants you to come with him, and when you do, you find yourself in a place that you can't explain - a part of town that you thought you would have known had existed. It's like a place where people are reenacting a scene from a hundred or so years ago. To make it even more odd, they act real, as if the way that you see them living is actually how they live.
This is what happens to Kit Livingstone, a young, well-to-do bloke who doesn't think much of the supernatural or anything of that sort. It isn't until his great-grandfather appears to him and brings him to experience things beyond the ordinary that Kit realizes that there is more to life than what we see with the naked eye.
The ancient Celts believed that there were places in which a person could enter, and he could emerge on the other side in a completely different universe. While we might hear a notion like that and shrug it off as nonsense, this story asks the question, "What if you find that such a belief is somewhat true?" What if you could find a place or an object - a portal, if you will - that could allow you to travel from this universe and into another one? Not only that, but you might be able to travel to the past, if not also the future.
But how do you find these portals? That's the key, and that's the mystery. What if someone made a map of the portals, allowing you to find them and use them properly? What if the person who made the map, instead of charting it on paper, tattooed it upon his own skin?
Positive Elements:
Although the protagonist characters show no sign of perfection in virtue, there is a strong sense of loyalty to one another. Although characters such as Wilhelmina may be disliked, her new-found love of life is something for which many of us may wish to find. Honour is key, and the virtue that the characters do show provide a glimmer of hope in the middle of a hopeless scenario.
Spiritual Content:
The involvement of Celtic beliefs and medieval/renaissance Europe inevitably brings up spiritual topics. There is no in-your-face Christianity to be found, but there is certainly a spiritual undertone. If you're not looking for it, you won't find it - or, at least, it may not appear to be very strong - but if you are familiar with religious topics, you might find a glimpse as to where the story will go.
Violence:
The Skin Map is nowhere near being as gruesome as that of other stories, but it doesn't shy away from the fact that people do get physically hurt. A couple of people get slugged across the face. There is at least one fight scene. Nothing incredibly explicit is described.
Inappropriate Content:
There are mentions of beauty and flirting, but nothing beyond that.
Foul Language:
While there is the possibility of "d--n" being used once or twice, nothing further of such nature is spoken.
Technical Issues:
Some people might consider the writing style to be boring and the characters flat. The writing style is more British than American, due to the fact that the author is British. The story may not seem very intriguing to everyone, and to those who dislike this kind of story, there may not be much to compel the reader to continue reading, but for those who do like this kind of story, although the story could have begun in a more interesting way and there may be some painfully boring parts, readers will find it rewarding when they do read through the entire book.
Though the characters may be flat, the plot tends to be interesting enough to keep the reader reading.
If I explained much more, I'd give too many spoilers.
Conclusion:
While there may be somewhat of a disliking for this novel, the concepts and story-lines will be thought-provoking. An obvious theme throughout the work is the idea of otherness. Imagination is key, and the possibilities are endless. There is no easy way to explain the depth of this book to those who have not read it, and although it may not be a perfect work, it still opens the imagination to ideas "outside of the box," so to speak, and some people may not want to miss the adventures that this story has to offer.
~ Fintan
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