I was enamored of Ellen Kushner's world of Riverside and the elegant swordsman Richard St. Viers as soon as I read SWORDSPOINT. It sucked me in, and I love her mannerpunk with a true passion. When I eventually got around to it, I read the other two novels set in the same world...

11. THE FALL OF THE KINGS by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman

I should preface this mini-review by explaining that I like and know both Ellen and Delia through social SF occasions. I was looking forward to this book, and it didn't entirely disappoint my expectations. I thought it was rich and well-written, don't get me wrong. But it took me a really long time to get through it, which I'm chalking up to the pacing. There were places in the book where it seemed like the authors were so enamored of the history that they ignored the fact that the plot dictated they summarize instead of recapitulate all the events that happened. As a consequence, it moved a great deal slower than it needed to in certain parts.

Despite that, it's very much worth a read, if you're a Riverside completist like me (I'm still tracking down all the short stories). I would love to know what happens to Theron and Jessica and all the others, and I hope that Ellen and Delia (or one or the other) write a sequel to it one day. I was also sufficiently intrigued by Katherine that I went and found where THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD was hiding in my to be read pile.

12. THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD by Ellen Kushner

This Riverside novel I loved. I devoured it hungrily in the course of an entire night. Katherine was intriguing, the novel was sexy beyond belief, and we got to see Richard and Alec again. I loved everything about it, and I was very, very sad when it ended. That Richard was blind.... that hurt my heart, I think, but it was a book I don't regret reading at all. It's highly recommended.

13. IMADOKI, Volume 1 by Yuu Watase

I read this, very badly, in the original Japanese years ago. So when I realized that it was eventually available in English, I got it to read again. Boy, I missed a lot... It's short and sweet and pure fluff, but the main character has a pet fox (buy your own fox!), and I enjoyed it. I'll probably pick up more later.

...Kirsten Dunst's blue hair.

(Warning: The video is awesome, but I must warn you that it is NSFW, due to, as my husband said "Boobies".)

We'll get back to the ice skating shortly, but I'd like to point out that Ueno Juri, who is an excellent Japanese actress, and Eita, a good Japanese actor, will be starring in a primetime Japanese drama about Twitter this spring.

Sunao ni Narenakute [roughly: "I can't be honest or frank (with you)"] is written by Kitagawa Eriko, one of my favorite Japanese screenwriters, who's responsible for such awesome shows like Long Vacation and Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi.

It revolves around five men and women who meet through Twitter and become friends through the service. The full story can be read at Tokyograph. I am unbelievably stoked that I'll be in Japan when this is airing!

To say that I'm excited about the skating during the men's short program tonight is an understatement. Johnny Weir did well, although he wrong-edged his triple flip and lost lots of points. =( We also won't mention how utterly sad I am for Brian Joubert or Jeremy Abbott, both of who have really lovely programs.

I'd like to point out, to say again, that I really don't like Evan Lysacek. I don't know why, exactly, except that something about his skating rubs me the wrong way. It's the same way I never truly liked Timothy Goebel or Jeffrey Buttle, although I can admire that all three men are talented skaters.

But oh, the jumps on Plushenko! The utter, utter awesome of Daisuke Takahashi. The fact that Nobunari Oda did well too, as well as a whole host of other skaters. And when Daisuke's score posted, I started screaming and jumping around because suddenly the men's competition had turned into an entire horse race.

I am totally stoked for Thursday. If Daisuke doesn't implode in his long program, he's still in contention.

On another note entirely, I was also watching American Idol tonight. And seriously, how long can Ryan Seacrest and the producers draw out the suspense on the top 24? It's so cheezy that it's beyond belief. Just show us the people and get to the competition already.

One of the things I absolutely love about Twitter is that I get to talk to people all over the world on a daily basis. One of them is Nadia Lee.

Nadia is an author who I once offered representation to, many moons ago, before she eventually went with Diana Fox. We lost touch, as often happens with people who meet through business situations.

But I didn't forget Nadia and she didn't forget me. And when I eventually realized she was on Twitter, we started babbling, and discovered that we both love ice skating. Passionately, passionately love ice skating. We've spent the entire fall and winter talking about the current international skating season on Twitter, and tonight we got to tweet at each other during the Olympics Pairs Free Skate.

Me in NJ and Nadia in Japan, where she lives.

Life doesn't get much better than having an ice skating buddy who loves the sport as much as you, and who you can totally get all sports-fangirl with. =) Even if they live on the opposite side of the globe. *waves*

Oh, and Shen and Zhao won, which made my night. They completely and totally deserved it.

I love the Olympics with a passion, particularly the Winter Olympics. There's something about seeing all the athletes competing, knowing that I will never, ever be able to do any of that stuff.... it's hard to put into words, but it touches my heart and makes me smile and cheer and be really happy. =)

And that was a run-on sentence, wasn't it?

Anyway, if you aren't watching the Olympics on TV (or internet), then you should be!

The Opening Ceremonies yesterday were nice, although I have to say the ones in Beijing in 2008 were better. I enjoyed the singers, thought the dancing was nice, and I liked the Parade of Nations. Yes, I'm one of those strange people that actually like the Parade of Nations. I happily knitted away and listened to Bob Costas and Matt Lauer make commentary about each and every country. I have to say that I'm very sad that the Jamaican bobsled team failed to qualify this year.

And of course, it's terribly sad to hear about the death of the Georgian luger...

For me though the highlight of the Olympics will always be the figure skating. I have waited and waited for this Olympics with bated breath, particularly because every single discipline is so freaking deep with talent this year.

I mean, take ice dance. You have Belbin and Agosto going up against Davis and White going up against two good Russian teams, plus Virtue and Moir for Canada plus two decent teams from France. And any of those teams could have a stellar competition and win it hand's down. Not to mention that over half of them are skating to Requiem for a Dream, which will instantly put those who don't skate to it at an advantage, I think.

And then you have the men's competition, where Plushenko has come back from retirement. And is reportedly able to do a quad toe-quad toe, which is freaking unbelievable. But Plushenko isn't the only one there who's incredible. There's Brian Joubert from France; Stephan Lambiel from Switzerland; Jeremy Abbot, Johnny Weir (my perennial fave), and Evan Lysacek from the US; Patrick Chan from Canada; and Daisuke Takahashi and Nobunari Oda from Japan. It's a deep, deep field, and that's not even counting other skaters who are up-and-coming, like my personal new favorite, Florent Amodio from France. You have to love the French skaters, by the way, since they do jumps and artistry with such utter flair. Also, don't discount Denis Ten from Kazakhstan who will be utterly amazing in a few years, and is incredible right now.

The pair's competition is good too, although I just want Shen and Zhao to win gold. I'll be a happy girl then.

And the ladies competition is just as intense, with Kim Yu-Na poised to take gold, if her nerves don't get the better of her. But don't discount Mao Asada, Akiko Suzuki, and Miki Ando of Japan, as well as Joannie Rochette of Canada (not a fave of mine). The US ladies are Rachel Flatt (predictable and boring) and Mirai Nagasu (really could be great one day), and shouldn't be totally discounted either. Add in Carolina Kostner of Italy, and it's going to be a very, very good competition this year.

Expect the blog to be fairly ice skating heavy the next few weeks. =)

So, tell me, what are your favorite Olympic sports and why?

10. BLACKOUT by Connie Willis

Oh boy, I am SO glad that I waited eight years for this book. I'm trying to figure out how to explain exactly how good this novel is without giving away many spoilers, and I'm failing utterly. Let's see: it's the first of a duology, since ALL CLEAR won't be out until November 2009. Ms. Willis' intrepid Oxford historians are back and time traveling, this time to World War II and the Blitz. There are great historical tidbits scattered throughout the book, like how the ravens at the Tower of London were killed in a bombing, and the government secretly took the bodies away and replaced them with new ravens--since if there were ravens at the Tower of London, England wouldn't fall. =)

And mostly, it's a thrilling, thrilling story about three historians who become trapped, for unknown reasons, in World War II in England. It's well-researched, extremely well-written, and quite literally, page-turning. I am also officially in love with Sir Godfrey, and I very much want him to eventually tell Polly how he feels. I am awaiting the second half of it with bated breath.

In the midst of all the sadness in my life lately, I am everlastingly grateful for silly things that make smile. =) Seriously adorable video here. My favorite is Koume who is the little off-sync girl on the left who eventually turns into a star.

http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/hanamaru/taisou2.html