Catch Up If You Can

I know, I've been away for a long time. Schools required my attention this week so I've been unable to devote some time to this blog. Sorry about that. But, here's a little post in which I'm going to catch you up on the goings on in my life.
First off, let's talk about Game of Thrones. The Old Gods and the New (who names the episodes this season?) was a... frustrating episode. I'm not going into details, but all the changes from the books just didn't work. The good: Winterfell (Theon is an imbecile), King's Landing riot (Joffrey gets slapped ftw), Daenerys and the spice king. The bad: Arya's wish (it makes perfect sense for her to want Lorch killed, but in the show they made her do it for all the wrong reasons--book readers will know what I'm talking about), Jon Snow's scenes (no comment), but the thing that bugs me most is the dragon-napping. It doesn't happen in the books, and seriously, who steels dragons from their mother? Only a fool, I'd say. Bottom line, this episode gets a miserable 6/10 from me.
Moving on. I've read some pretty interesting books recently. In this post, I'm just going to comment briefly on every book; full reviews are coming.
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King: A new Dark Tower book is just what every constant reader has been waiting for. A story within a story within a story, it has a very unusual structure. Roladn and his companions aren't the main protagonists of this book. It's Tim Stoutheart, and his quest to save his mother. A recommendation for this book goes to everyone, not just those who read The Dark Tower, and not just constant readers.
Shortly before I made this blog, I finished The Wheel of Time, and it was awesome, save for a few points which were not quite so awesome, but we'll get to it in the full review of the series. The total time it took to read this series was three months. Just saying.
Next, I picked up The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. And, when I finished it, I was stunned. It was so epic, particularly the last part. Sanderson, it seems, really is going to be the heir to RJ.
I began reading A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham yesterday. I wasn't really satisfied with the prologue, but chapter 1 seems to be better, so I'm going to reserve judgement until I finish the book.
My book, A Voicer of Darkness, is going pretty well. An announcement: sometime in June, I'm going to publish the prologue of A Voicer of Darkness on this blog for free. I expect the complete book to be published in October.
There should have been a rehearsal yesterday, but I, sadly, was unable to be there. Or, to be honest, I was forced to be somewhere else. I think that we'll have a rehearsal today, though.
I believe that is all for now. So, don't worry be happy, and see you next time.

The Ghost of Harrenhal: A Review

This week's Game of Thrones is one of the best episodes overall. There are several factors that contribute to that, but the most important one is... no Ros! That's right, Ros is out for one episode, and it immediately becomes one of the best, if not the best this season. Many have already said it, but I repeat: what is the purpose of Ros (besides needless nudity and sexposition)? Well, I guess she'll turn out to be Azor Ahai (Awhore Ahai).
Renly's death makes for a strong opening, even if it was a bit rushed. Loras's grief over his boyfriend is somewhat toned down from the book, but it doesn't matter. One of the best lines of the episode goes to Margaery, "I don't want to be a queen. I want to be the queen." -- Awesome.
Tyrion: awesome as always, especially his scenes with Lancel. Also to Tyrion is related the absolute crowning moment: the scene with Hallyne the alchemist. Roy Dotrice is perfect for this role, and Hallyne's character is a lot quirkier here than it is in the books; he's on the road to becoming a mad scientist with his obsession over "the substance".
Another thing that deserves to be mentioned are Arya's scenes with Tywin and Jaqen. I'm generally a book purist, and I dislike almost every little change the series has made, but in this instance, I find myself almost wishing the show would go the totally other way. And the reason for that is simply curiosity. What would happen if Arya told Jaqen to kill Joffrey or Cersei? Would the Red Wedding be prevented? Would Tyrion still kill his father? These are interesting questions, but I have a feeling the show is not going to stray so much from the books, at least not yet.
There are probably other things I should mention, but it was two days since I watched the episode, and old people like me forget things very fast. Bottom line, I'd give this episode 9.8, just because I reserve the right to give some episode in the future a 10.
Totally unrelated, but today is May 2nd, the Harry Potter Day, so congrats to all my fellow Potterheads all over the world! May the For... oh wait, that's two days from now, sorry.