Books and stuff

[wiseheart]

I finally finished Tales from Earthsea. *bows to Ithilwen in gratitude* For a change of topics, I started one of the books Una sent me, Worlds of the Federation - Deep Space Nine I. It's... interesting.

Reading the Andorian part of it, I finally understood what people must suffer when reading one of my more... involved fics. The detailled background is fantastic, the atmosphere is great - but the story itself is incredibly hard to read. It took me two chapters to realize that the main heroine was actually human. It's a strangely ambivalent feeling, as on one side, the amount of detail is sometimes a wee bit overwhelming, while on the other side, I really miss some details that would make for me the understanding of the background easier. Well, later perhaps. I'm not even 1/3 deep in the book.

I'm working on my Orc essay a bit. To my surprise, I got two brand new readers with The Last Stand, although it'll never be a very popular story, I guess. Nevertheless, as long as the Orcses are talking to me... I worked out the structure of The Warrior of the White Hand, which is the prequel, and have some vague ideas about the sequel, Hunter, Prey. With that, the trilogy would be complete. Currently, I have two alternate endings in my head and haven't chosen between them so far. Will probably write a short one about Sagrat and Gorbag waaaay in the future, although toppin Tyellas in that one is more or less impossible. *g*

Elaborate writing projects must wait for a while, though. I'm so very tired. Due to permanent fear that I won't hear my alarm clock (I've got to get up almost an hour earlier now, in order to get Mom dressed and fed before we leave), I can't sleep through the night lately. But perhaps today and tomorrow, as I know taht I won't have to get up by schedule, I'll manage to sleep a little.

Poor John Paul II. is nearly gone. I never was one of his huge fans, but I hope he'll be allowed the mercy to finally die in peace. I'm curious whom the cardinals will choose as his successor, though. It's a good thing that I practically severed ties with the Church a decade and a half ago.

Edited this frigging entry three times already. I must be more tired than I've even thought.

Comments

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Poor John Paul II. is nearly gone. I never was one of his huge fans, but I hope he'll be allowed the mercy to finally die in peace. I'm curious whom the cardinals will choose as his successor, though. It's a good thing that I practically severed ties with the Church a decade and a half ago.

It seems strange to imagine him gone, and another as Pope - he's held the office for so very long. I've got my issues with him, too, but I will admit that he was a strong and incredibly charismatic leader - and some of the changes he brought to the Church were good ones.

I hope the College of Cardinals doesn't choose someone too rigid and reactionary to succeed John Paul II. While there are a lot of powerful, conservative Cardinals in the college, compared to the current pope they are all lesser men. They can't duplicate John Paul merely by elevating one of them to the papacy.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

For decades, I was incredibly mad at him for steering the Church back into the Middle Ages. Then, about a year ago, I've leafed through a book in a bookshop in Vienna. It postulated an interesting theory that the assasination of John Paul II (by Ali Agca and the Grey Wolves) was actually engineered by the more conservative circles of the Vatican, because they feared his possible reforms.

I don't know if there is any truth in that. I only know that during his reign the Church took such a conservative turn that I cannot identify with the institution any longer. But the sad fact is, that I actually *could* believe it.