Owlish Mutterings

Ian Graham's Monument

I just finished this book, which was weird enough that I wanted to make a comment.

The Amazon reviews are perfect- there's one that gave it one star, that says the reviewer only read 150 pages; there's at least a couple that really liked it.

Ballas is the protagonist- hero, anti-hero, scum sucking worthless waste of oxygen, whatever. He's a thief, not the "Steal from the rich and give to the poor" kind of thief, or the "I have to steal because otherwise I'll die of hunger" kind of thief. He's the "pickpocket or mug anyone I can, eat, drink, go whoring, repeat" kind of thief. Then he kills, in self defence, a major drug dealer, who just happens to be one of the people supplying drugs to the Church. In retribution, and to alleviate any other dealers' fears, he is condemned to a painful death and a horribly painful post-death. He manages to escape, and is on the run from a Church that is increasingly frantic to eliminate him.

Ballas is a bad man. He leaves a trail of bodies behind him, steals from a range of good people [a young naive priest who helps him, an older priest who is trying in small ways to reform the Church]. He destroys irreplaceable antiquities in a fit of anger. He kills everyone who gets in his way, or who might make his life more difficult. He would be a perfect template for someone wanting to run a Chaotic Evil character in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

And yet, in the end, he's not quite so bad.

Part of the question is, given his situation, and what we know of his past, could a person act this way? I think the answer is yes.

Part of the question is, who is the most evil person in the book? The protagonist, the Church elder? Someone or something else? And I don't know.

What I do know, is that this is a book I want to read again, and given that it starts with a painfully despicable person, that says something.

In the Event of A Zombie Apocalypse, I'm Doomed

Via Moral-Flexibility
38%

Mingle² - Online Dating

Who also has some really fun Motivational Posters, via Rocket Jones

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego

Via The LlamaButchers:

A characterization that's probably more true than I really want to admit

You scored as Hermione Granger, You're one intelligent witch, but you have a hard time believing it and require constant reassurance. You are a very supportive friend who would do anything and everything to help her friends out. Hermione Granger 95% Albus Dumbledore 80% Ron Weasley 75% Harry Potter 75% Remus Lupin 75% Severus Snape 70% Ginny Weasley 70% Sirius Black 50% Draco Malfoy 45% Lord Voldemort 30% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

The Falcon Flies

Stop motion movie, done well.

And it says it took 38 hours, and that seems impressively fast to me.

H/T: JP

The Falcon Flies

Stop motion movie, done well.

And it says it took 38 hours, and that seems impressively fast to me.