Nine Muses

I went into this book knowing that others had said it was a somewhat dark combination of Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia.  I had no idea what I was in for.

When I finished the book last night, I set it down, walked out to my husband and said that I hated it.  I then went on to explain that I didn’t really mean that, that it was an excellent book, and that I loved it, but that it was also very dark and sometimes difficult.

If you’re looking for typical heroic fantasy, where the protagonist rises above his faults to win the day and save the world… this is not that book.  Yes, there are elements of that, and if I felt like playing devil’s advocate, I could probably make a convincing argument for it based on some few bits, but that isn’t what the book is about.

(Minor spoilers below.)
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You may wonder why I had a flurry of posts over the last month or more and then…. nothing for the last week and a half.  The cause of it is simple: Dragon Age.  The game is amazing and pretty much everything I could want in an RPG.  The combat is challenging, yet mostly intuitive.  The story is intriguing.  I have been sucked in completely.  I don’t really expect to surface for another couple of weeks, though I’ll try to post something between then and now.

On Sunday morning, I finally finished the last few quests I needed to wrap up Loremaster of Kalimdor.  I have to admit, I was nervous over the last twenty quests or so.  It certainly looked like there weren’t going to be enough to carry me all the way to the end, and I figured I’d either have to do some instance quests or hunt for dropped quest-starting items.  In the end, though, I still had two quests left in a chain once I was done.

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This past weekend, I had some good luck in two separate pet-related ways.  First, I finally had a Sinister Squashling show up in one of my Treat bags.  Now I just need the Helm and I can realistically get the Hallowed title and achievement this year.  Second, as I was working on the Loremaster of Kalimdor title by questing in Dustwallow, I saw Dart shoot past me.  I sprinted to catch up to him, and he dropped the Darting Hatchling for me, which is my new favorite companion.  Every once in a while, he runs really fast away from me, then in another direction, and then back to me.  It’s entirely too cute.

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I have now done the Crocolisks in the City fishing daily quest three times.  Each time, I have received a different bucket (pet baby crocolisk) as a reward.  That in itself may not be terribly surprising.  The drop rate is rumored to be around 60%.  What does seem surprising (and great!) to me is that each time has given me a different baby crocolisk.  Last night, I added Toothy to my collection.  That means I have only Muckbreath left to go.