I spent the majority of this afternoon lying down flat. Because I am SORE!!!! That grading yesterday gave my aches, aches! And I am the most battered and bruised I can remember in… forever! Self inflicted, I know, and I passed the grading, and I’m not complaining, but boy oh boy, that’s the last time I’m attempting a Krav Maga grading when I’m not at peak fitness level!!!
So this afternoon I was mostly prone. Which gave me time to read. That’s one huge benefit of not-studying-any-more: time to read for leisure! And now that the cherubs are older and not needing so much constant ‘mummy attention’, I’m finding that I can actually read more books, in a row, than I have in literally YEARS! And I’m incredibly happy about that!
So this afternoon, I read Garth Nix. I’d always intended to, but never found the time. So today was the day. Sabriel – the first in his “Old Kingdom” trilogy – and, in spite of hating anything zombie-related with a passion, I liked it. Very clever world-building, very clever story-telling.
And weird, too.
Because a few months back, I read Paul Collins’ Dragonlinks, and I found the similarities disconcerting. The ‘adepts’ (far more developed in Collins’ work, but present in Nix’s nonetheless) who wielded power with a thin cord between them and the creature they have ‘leashed’ (my word, not theirs) and the presence of both clear fantasy world existing parallel to a world identical with modern-day Earth – this was unsettling. Even the presence of ambulances! Unexpected in a fantasy book, and far more ‘jarring’ than I had expected.
But, on the whole, an enjoyable read. I even thought the zombie-depiction quite tasteful – although perhaps I’m now ‘deadened’ (haha bad joke – I was going to write ‘desensitised’ but couldn’t resist) to the whole zombie theme from reading Dashner’s Maze Runner trilogy a couple of weeks back… But Nix’s zombie’s weren’t anywhere near as ‘oh-my-God-I-want-to-throw-up-now’ as I had expected. Nice zombie treatment. And I never imagined that I would EVER write that sentence. Ever!
And so now, it’s late and it’s Sunday so work tomorrow. Time for some Panadol and bed, I think. I wonder how sore I’ll be in the morning?
Sweet dreams, dear reader. And thanks for stopping by!
– KRidwyn