Since Faerie Month is ongoing at the Mercuriousity Shop, I had intended to finish this book up in May and give a full report. However the book it not finished and it doesn't really look like I'm going to manage it within the Month of May.

So I'm going to comment with the book, as of yet, not completely read.

Almost a year ago now, I read an ultimately unsatisfying modern faerie tale by one Emma Bull, called War for the Oaks. It wasn't really a bad book. It's just that I was hoping for more when I sat down to read it. I was rather underwhelmed.

So when I sat down with Holly Black's young adult novel, Tithe, I was prepared for another underwhelming. Much as I like modern faerie stories, I find that when one is dealing with names other than Gaiman or DeLint, one is generally in for an underwhelming.

My only other exposure to Black's writing was the Spiderwick Chronicles, which are charming in their own right. But let us not mince words-- would any of us who read them, be reading them if they weren't illustrated by Tony Diterlizzi? Probably not.

In any case, the impression that I got of Black's writing from the Spiderwick Books was not overwhelmingly positive. They aren't bad, say. But they are nothing very remarkable.

This was the baggage I sat down to read Tithe.

And after a sputtering start-up Tithe had my full attention. The main character is a normal teenage girl, with normal girl problems. Except for one. She can see faeries. And as such, she finds it difficult not to be drawn into and used by their politics in spite of herself.

This is a very similar premise to War For of the Oaks. And I found myself thinking as I read, that this is the sort of book I was hoping War for the Oaks would be.

I understand that Tithe was published before Black even started work on Spiderwick, and I have to wonder where she's hiding the casual and relaxed style of writing she used in Tithe. The writing in Spiderwick is cold and stiff by comparison.

All this is to say, I highly recommend tithe for the modern faerie-tale sympathist. Thus far, the book hasn't been terribly revolutionary, but it has worked masterfully with the materials that already exist.

Last weekend, Andrea and I spent our Saturday in a Library teaching kids how to play the Lord of the Rings miniatures game. We were serving as temporary employees as our friends a the GW store came up short-handed for the weekend.

I have to admit there are worse jobs than teaching a game to fledgling misanthropes. :)

But, really, that's what made the event for me. The library was holding a sort of card game/board game/roleplaying festival in which a large number of games were being demo'ed by library staff, game company employees and enthusiasts. It was quite rewarding to hang out with kids who were very likely going to grow up into the same class of socially maladjusted indivuduals as yourself.

Good to see society's still cranking out quality stock to people the future with.

This weekend past, Andrea and I went to the Detroit Masonic Temple to see the Lion King musical. I have two words:

Amazing.

The show took the basically strong source material and added very rewarding and very magical additional material.

One of the more impressive aspects of the musical was due largely to its limitations. Since there was no way to get animals on stage to do the numbers, a lot of visual symbolism had to be invoked. This need for pantomime and puppetry enriched the show with a cultural energy that really doesn't come through with the same strength in the animation.

The savannas belonged to Africa. The magic of the story was more magical. There was something of a context added that really wasn't there in the animation.

It was a great show!

Since January, my job has escalated in complexity as I've taken on more and more responsibilities around the office. We've had a couple of veterans around the place either become remote employees or quit altogether. In my department, I've been racing around picking up the pieces.

I've also seen fit to add another hobby to the pile of things I do with my limited amounts of free time.

This means that a number of the things I used to do for fun and/or sanity have diminished and/or completely fallen by the wayside.

Posting regularly to this blog is one of those things that have fallen by the wayside because it requires a certain amount of discipline to do so. It's easier for me to say: "I don't have time for that frivolity" than it is for me to sit down and organize my thoughts enough to compose.

This is a discipline I must have if I ever plan on becoming a published writer. I must make time for the frivolity in the few moments I have.