I finished reading The Soulforge by Margaret Weiss on my usual weekly book reading schedule way back when. I just didn't get around to reviewing it. I also didn't get around to picking a new book. Things have been busy around here and I took a book hiatus to play and finish Super Mario Galaxy, which is awesome.

The Soulforge is also referred to by another name, The Raistlin Chronicles, book 1. This is because while it tells the early stories of many Dragonlance characters, the star of the show is the twisted mage Raistlin and also his twin brother Caramon. As an origin story, it works quite well. We get a very good look at Raistlin and why he makes the choices he does in the Dragonlance Chronicles books. He becomes much less of a mystery once you understand his early days.

It's also really cool to see all the main characters of the Chronicles series get together for the first time, which of course shapes their destiny to come. There aren't many insights into most characters, but we do get to see some Tanis and Kitiara drama.

Unfortunately, what holds this book back is the lack of any major conflict. It's divided into several chunks of early Raistlin life and most of these chunks include only Raistlin's inner conflict, which isn't even too strong. There are some very cool moments where his fate is laid out before him and he must make the critical choices that shape his future, but they are over as soon as they came and we are left simply following an ordinary magic-less life. For those unaware, wizards in Dragonlance go through years of training before they can even do their first spell and most of the book is telling Raistlin's story during that time.

The story picks up during the second half of the book. Raistlin is more grown up and willing to take risks with his magic and even goes on a quest to do what's right! He is obviously not what he is to become quite yet. And the book closes with a bang and a revelation that will help you understand some of what happened during the Chronicles books.

While not being specific to just this book, there is a key problem I have with the Raistlin character from a storytelling perspective. Typically, when we are given an underdog character like him, especially one destined to become the most powerful wizard, we get to see him work to triumph over his shortcomings, overcome his enemies with talent and perseverance, and other interesting plot devices that show just how great he is. Aside from his early studies as a youth, we get none of this with Raistlin. I won't spoil too much here, but nearly everything he becomes is owed to pure luck and things getting handed to him, from powerful artifacts to spellbooks filled with the most deadly spells. Instead of feeling like he is this entity to be feared, you feel like any ordinary mage in his shoes--with his luck--would have ended up just as powerful.

Raistlin rant over. Despite all that, if you liked the Dragonlance Chronicles books, you probably already like Raistlin anyway. And it's worth it to read his origins as they don't just explain some of his mystery; they serve as a prequel to Chronicles.

Next on my book blogging list is not actually a novel at all, but the D&D 4th Edition Player's Handbook.

Yesterday's sets of push-ups were 5, 4, 4, 3, and max (at least 5). I was able to do 5, 4, 4, 3, and max out at 8. I totally nailed it this time, so I'm officially graduating to week 2.

However, I did have one problem yesterday. It was my 4th wedding anniversary so I took the day off. We didn't have a day completely packed with stuff so I had many options for when I could do my workout. My old habit of procrastinating kicked in and I almost didn't even do it. I saw the clock hit 9pm and finally started. Recall that my workout takes me about 2 hours. Starting so late meant it was more difficult than it needed to be. I need to not do this. If I have lots of free time in the day, I need to do my workout in the first two hour block available.

Despite my procrastination though, I finished my workout and I feel stronger. It's not noticeable on every exercise, but certain ones like the push-ups I can feel the difference. And another huge motivator has appeared as well. When I flex in the mirror (no, not an activity I do all the time), particular after the workout, I can see more definition in my arm. In particular, the triceps and down through my forearm are looking and feeling nice. An article I read recently (sorry, no link) mentioned that studies show you should notice a difference from strength training after 4 workouts. I've only done 3 on my new routine, but had been doing a week of lesser training and push-ups before, so this seems about the right time.

For all those getting tired of my fitness blogging, I can assure you right now that the next two posts will be back to books. But that might not make many of you happy since they are both D&D books.

Today was a repeat of last week. The required sets were 4, 3, 2, 2, and max (at least 4). I was able to do 4, 3, 2, 2, and max out at 7, just like on Monday. Today was harder than I expected. I attribute this to two things. First, I didn't get enough sleep last night and what I did get was sporadic. I felt tired all day and didn't do my workout until the end of the day. Second, I'm putting my energy into a full strength training routine, so I don't think I can expect to progress especially fast with push-ups. Despite my enthusiasm for the 100 Push-ups program, I'd rather become stronger over my whole body than just be good at push-ups.

Speaking of my strength training routine, it went well on Sunday. With the 10 minute aerobic workout (exercise bike), it took 2 hours and 3 minutes. That's hardly a fast workout and a bit longer than I expected for the 14 exercises I do. Each exercise has 3 sets though and with all the dumbbell weight changes and breaks, it took a while.

Today I did the push-ups as part of the strength training and I'm proud to report my total time was 2 hours, 7 minutes. So I'm becoming more efficient. Keep in mind, I'm not interested in doing my reps faster; that won't help. But I'm taking long breaks, getting interrupted with phone calls (two today) and other things. I think I can pull back the workout to 1 hour, 45 minutes if I play my cards right. Now it's time to go cool off.

As I mentioned in the last push-ups post, I need to redo week 1. I don't want to cheat myself and pretend that I'm ready to move on. I remained in the easy column which means my sets are 2, 2, 2, 2, and max (at least 3). I am very pleased with my results of 2, 2, 2, 2, and doing a max of 7.

I made sure to do a full 10 minutes of aerobic workout before I started which may have helped. Last week I only did 5 minutes. But I do also feel a bit stronger. We're talking only minutely stronger, but I could really feel it when I was going for my max.

Later today I will be doing the rest of my strength training workout. Because it's later I will have to repeat my aerobic workout, but this is one of the reasons I put one of my strength training days on Sunday rather than MWF; I get some flexibility.

Over the past few days, I've been doing my dumbbell research. I've chosen several exercises to try out from various articles. Some seemed redundant or perhaps even unsafe, unnecessarily stressing muscles to be able to maximize the workout on different muscles. But I'm nearly done putting together a set of 15 or so exercises that combine dumbbells and body weight to work out every muscle group.

With 10 minutes of aerobic workout, sufficient rest periods between sets, and a cool down period, I'm looking at a very long strength training routine. But I'm fine with that. I had an epiphany the other day while talking to Christina. Most times I've tried strength training, I have approached it from the perspective that I am "not trying to bulk up." That then becomes an excuse for any number of things, from keeping my reps down to skipping workouts entirely, which of course can and did lead to stopping strength training. I may write a blog post dedicated solely to this. My new perspective on strength training is that I'll be trying to my absolute hardest and will not make excuses for myself. If I ever get to the point where I feel too bulky, it will be obvious and that is the point where I can reevaluate my plan, not when I can barely do 7 push-ups and could stand to lose 40 pounds of fat.

The end of the first week! Today's sets were set to be 5, 4, 3, 3, and max (at least 5). Unfortunately, I was only able to eek out 4, 4, 3, 3, and 5. I couldn't actually complete the first set and I didn't have the strength to do more than the minimum for the max.

Because of that, I will be repeating the first week. I can't really say I feel stronger after this first week, or at least not by much. But I'm proud of making it through the first week either way and I'm confident that I will breeze through my repeat of week one.

I mentioned my regular dumbbell strength training routine in the last post and that went well. I took out the chest exercises so that I wouldn't have any major conflicts with the push-ups. While I like my routine, I think it can be improved. I will continue to do it as normal today, but before my next strength training day I'll be looking through many online resources for dumbbell strength training and customizing a new routine. Once I get something I'm proud of I will report it here.

Today marks the second workout of the 100 push-ups program. The sets I had to do were 4, 3, 2, 2, and max (at least 4). It was hard, but I did it. My max was just barely 5 push-ups. I'm starting to worry that I may have to repeat the first week. This wouldn't be too discouraging as I'm well aware of my limited upper body strength.

But I can also proudly report that today what was holding me back was my actual chest muscles, not my joints. On Monday, my joints felt very weak and fragile. Today they didn't magically become stronger, but I could feel that my main problem was my chest muscles. I view this as a good thing and a good sign for my future progress.

Also, from reading around on this plan as well as the knowledge I already have about working out, I know I'm going to want to supplement this with my regular strength training. I was trying out a dumbbell plan on and off that I really liked (I may blog that routine some time soon). I will be resuming this plan on my push-up days to fill out my routine and work all of my muscles, but I will do only one set of each of these at first. I have yet to do that for today, so I'm going to do that now.

Today's task was to do five sets of push-ups: 2, 2, 2, 2, and then max out with at least 3. It was difficult but I managed to succeed. My max was 4 push-ups and I found it beneficial to take some extra time between sets beyond the recommended 60 seconds. My arms and joints are weak and I didn't want to push myself.

That's also why I stopped at 4 for my max. My arms could have endured a bit more but my joints didn't much care for it. They don't hurt, but I can feel the strain and I'd rather not risk anything.

So far so good. I can feel the burn and I'm hoping things will be a bit easier on Week 1, Day 2, coming this Tuesday.

One of the blogs I read is a fitness blog and it seems many people are now trying a new fitness challenge: to be able to do 100 push-ups. The idea is that most people can reach this goal in six weeks if they follow the plan.

I like this plan a lot. This is partly because I had already started working towards doing push-ups anyway. And it's also because it's not an all-in-one plan. I don't need to get a full fitness plan including meals, supplements, aerobic exercise, etc. I can take the 100 push-ups plan and simply add it to what I'm already doing. Right now, that means adding to walking.

Push-ups are difficult because of how overweight I am right now and because upper body strength has never been my strong point. But I will try this plan my hardest, report on my findings here on the blog and hopefully celebrate doing 100 push-ups in six weeks. My initial test resulted in being able to do three good form push-ups. I've done a few more than that the past few weeks, but they have not been good form. Chief among my problems was that I would lower myself all the way to the ground between push-ups rather than two inches above the ground.

So I'm pretty much a weakling and I will be doing the column 1 plan. Wish me luck and let me know if you are going to try it as well. Most people are doing their push-ups Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but I'm mixing things up with Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday.

When I started using Facebook, I was determined to use it the "right" way. In other words, I would only use it to keep track of friends and family. And by friends, I mean people I actually see once in a while. I saw how some people were using it as a content delivery tool, or a friend gathering tool, or any myriad of things. But I just didn't feel like that was the proper way to use it.

Now that I've used it for a while, I've found Facebook hasn't really changed the way I deal with friends. I love getting the updates, but it's really more of a supplement to how I live my life, not a game-changer. So with that in mind, I don't feel the need for my Facebook network to be very closed. I let some friend requests sit for a long time because they were from people I hadn't seen in years. Now I'll let all of those through. If I know you, online or otherwise, you can friend me. And I may just friend you, whereas I may not have before.

I may not ever have the thousands of friends that the internet pseudo-celebs have, but I'm happy with my little network. If you want to join it, my Facebook profile is now listed on the right of this site.

Despite that I loved the movie version of The Neverending Story, I don't recall wanting to read the book until I was an adult. You might say it's because kids don't want to read any more, but I did read other things. Maybe I wasn't even aware that a novel existed. Either way, I have now finally read the book in its entirety. It was written for children, but it's the kind of children's book that can be appreciated by all, perhaps best told by a parent to a child one chapter at a time.

In short, the story is of Bastian, a fat little school boy with a wild imagination and love of stories. He comes upon a magic book called "The Neverending Story" and reads of Atreyu's quest to save Fantastica. But it is a magic book and it turns out the way to save Fantastica is through Bastian and he is sucked into the book itself. The first movie covers this story quite well I think. The wikipedia entry for it says that Michael Ende was incredibly displeased with the movie adaption. I can only think that it was based not on how well they represented the book, but based on how much of it was cut! It's unfortunate that the first movie was made in the 80's before trilogies were in fashion as they are now. Perhaps then he would have been pleased to see his story become an series of movies. But we'll get back to that.

Bastian does indeed save Fantastica, but the book is only half over. He does not get magically transported back to the real world. Instead he first must do whatever he wishes, as ordered by the Childlike Empress. But his wishes have a price. The rest of the book tells the story of that price and of Bastian's quest to return to the real world. It is this story that the second movie is based on. I recall hearing about how the second movie is "sort of" based on the rest of the book. I now understand why. There were many changes. But having got through the book, I now believe the most important change is that Bastian had ever gotten back to the real world at the end of the first movie. Michael Ende had a right to be upset with how things were handled in the first movie, not so much because of the movie itself. But adding a sequel to the mix just doesn't fit right. The book is superior.

But back to movies for a second. I've heard only a few rumors here and there, nothing of the official sort, that Hollywood may try its hand at The Neverending Story again. Much as I usually condemn remakes and feeble attempts at epic trilogies, I think it could work. Newer technology and effects will allow the world of Fantastica to become more real than ever. And because studios are more willing to do multi-part movies, a good team could make a two-part movie work really well. Or perhaps it'd be even better off as a mini-series on TV, split into smaller parts so kids could more easily digest the story.

Whatever way it happens--and chances are it will happen some day; Hollywood doesn't like new ideas any more--I hope for a resounding success. But even if they don't capture it on film or it ends up being terrible, The Neverending Story is a fantastic read and will live on forever.

The next book I'll be tackling is back into the world of Dragonlance. I start Soulforge, the first book of the Raistlin chronicles, later today.

I'm sure those of you completely uninterested in fantasy or D&D have already tuned out. Fooey to that, says I. This will be a short one. Today I finished the third book in the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy, Dragons of Spring Dawning.

This book wraps up the war between the forces of good and evil...except that it doesn't. Whether you take it as a really easy technique to pave the way for future novels or a commentary on life and the true nature of good and evil--i.e. that the struggle never truly ends--the world of Dragonlance is not at rest. Dragons of Spring Dawning does not end the story.

And I'm fine with that. I already knew there are dozens of other main Dragonlance books and even more secondary series. But it still felt odd for so many things to be left open-ended. I guess what bothered me most is that the "trilogy" has many significant things that happen either between books or between chapters in the books that are left out. It's not that the authors simply left them out because they would be too boring to tell; it's that they decided to make them into their own books. I haven't read many D&D books, so maybe that's just par for the course. But to me it's odd.

Then again, it's D&D. Should I expect high art literature? Probably not. In the end, I feel the second chronicles book was the standout of the series. The plots were most cohesive, the action most intense, and the drama thick enough to cut with a knife.

I struggled over what I to go to next. Truth be told, I'm in the middle of a few non-novel books I want to talk about on here as well, but that might not come soon. So my next book mini-review will likely be on the next novel on my list, The Neverending Story, translated from the German novel Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende, and which inspired the the movie of the same name.

Compared to the books I've been doing mini-reviews on the past few weeks, Xenocide is a beast. It's 600 pages of thick small text while the Narnia books have wide spacing and come under 200 pages, as does I Am Legend. The Dragonlance books are typical novel size, but read easier than Xenocide.

Which is different than Orson Scott Card's previous books that I've read. Xenocide seems to be Card's attempt at making his readers slow down. He fills it so full of ethical and moral dilemmas and the discussions of them that if you speed read through it, you're likely to miss things. And he spends so much time talking of these ethical concerns without leaving out the science fiction that is rightfully part of the story.

Xenocide continues where Speaker for the Dead left off. One of humanity's colonies has made contact with a strange intelligent alien species. A small amount of violence ensued, but things are peaceful now. The alien race eliminated in Ender's Game is being allowed--by Ender and his family anyway; no other humans know the "buggers" still exist--to grow up on the colony as well. The conflict in the book comes chiefly from two things: congress has deemed the colony to be traitorous and has sent a fleet to destroy them. And even if they can stop the fleet, the second conflict is the virus that is necessary for one alien species on the colony to exist but which could destroy the humans and the buggers.

The first 500 pages of the book are fantastic. It goes through the attempts at learning how the virus works, finding ways to fix it. It deals with finding a way to achieve faster-than-light travel, allowing the colonists to leave the planet and not be destroyed. It deals with the ramifications of destroying one intelligent species over another. And most of it is told through the discussions of a dysfunctional family of scientists and other colonists. And what really makes things interesting is actually not on the colony at all, but on another colony of super intelligent humans gifted, in theory, by the gods who are the advisers to congress. Ender's family can be extremely unlikable at times, so it was a treat to have other people to follow.

The last 100 pages, as I implied above, take things in a different direction. I was reading them, I wasn't sure if I liked them. Upon finishing them and spending some time thinking about what happened, I have to say I wasn't entirely pleased. It's a clear cut case of Deus Ex Machina if I ever saw one. Not only does it easily fix many of the major problems the characters were facing without them actually fixing themselves, or learning or growing through the situation, but it also handily sets up the story in the next Ender book, Children of the Mind. It just doesn't feel right, sort of like Card is cheating his way out of a plot that he made too complex for the characters he created to solve, despite all of their super-intelligence.

Still, most of the book was excellent and enjoyable to read. It's definitely worth it after reading Speaker for the Dead. And I do intend to read Children of the Mind at some point despite that people say it's just more of the last 100 pages of Xenocide. I'm a completionist like that. But next on my list to read, thanks to a friend's purchase, is the next Dragonlance book, Dragons of Spring Dawning.

Finally finished! Last night I cracked open The Last Battle, the final book in the Chronicles of Narnia. I made it two chapters in before I realized I would be reading the entire book in a single sitting.

I'm not really sure why. I can't put my finger on it. It's a very different book from the rest of the series. It infuriates you to read about and see in your mind's eye the horrible things that occur for most of the book. There's very little hope, unlike the rest of the series. Aslan is not there to guide and save the people. The help from the Earth children is too little, too late.

But it all makes sense when you think about it. The Last Battle is a parallel to the Book of Revelations, essentially. It's the end of not only the Narnia books, but the Narnian country. And not only is the end of the Narnian country, but of the world of Narnia in its entirety. The first book saw the creation of Narnia, the last book its destruction. And in that destruction there is hope. The Last Battle has one of the most glorious endings to a story I've ever read. Those that have read it know exactly what I'm talking about. I won't spoil it for the rest.

I read the entire book in one sitting because it felt important, like it was something I should do. And I did want to. I love finishing things and I have many many books (and other things) to finish. Perhaps that's why I had to get through it? Maybe it was just that at this time of my life, that's the kind of story I needed to read. Whatever the cause, I have now finished the Chronicles of Narnia and I feel good. Next on the reading list? I'm finally getting back to Orson Scott Card. I'll be reading Xenocide, the third book of the Ender side of the Ender's Game universe.

Another Dragonlance book down. The second book in the Chronicles series, Dragons of Winter Night was a treat to read. It's everything a sequel should be. And it makes me want to jump right into the third book in the series immediately despite that I will not be.

The first book, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, is a typical first in a series. It's got a lot of familiar themes in it: love, justice, revenge. And it is filled with D&D style action that no fan of the game should be displeased with. It also doesn't make the reader try too hard. While the story is fun and the characters endearing, it's basically just a chronicle of a relatively short journey where no great tragedy occurs.

Dragons of Winter Night expands beyond the first and really shines in comparison. There is death and despair, politics and intrigue. The journey splits several directions, with all parties' adventures important to the others. The conflicts are much deeper in Winter Night. The knight, Sturm, struggles with the order of knights and the corruption within. The elven characters struggle with the potential wars between the elves and the humans and each other. Many characters must fight instead of being with the one they love. And all characters fight an inner struggle with the destiny that has been thrust upon them.

Unfortunately for me, while Dragons of Winter Night was a great read, it also ends in a huge series of cliffhangers. Still, I must press on. I thought about making my next book something different than the fantasy course I've been on, but I can't wait to finish the Narnia series so the next book I read will be The Last Battle. Look for my mini-review in the next week.

The Silver Chair is the second to last Narnia book, by C. S. Lewis. I'm nearly finished! I have to say that The Silver Chair is probably my least favorite so far. But that said, being the least favorite book of a series I have thoroughly enjoyed is not so bad.

I think perhaps what holds back The Silver Chair is that it just feels a bit like filler. There is one returning Earth child, an unlikable one, a new Earth girl who is welcome, and Caspian returns...for only a tiny part of the book. Other than that, there's the usual amount of Aslan and then it's just wandering throughout the world above Narnia central. The whimsical nature is not as strong as the other books, with some giants and underworld gnomes as the main encounters in the book.

But overall, I did still enjoy the read. The end worked out particularly nicely. I can't wait to get started on the last book in the series, but the next book I'll be going to is the second Dragonlance Chronicles book, Dragons of Winter Night.