Hippoi Athanatoi

Today’s lesson could actually be summed up with a single word (and one exclamation sign): wow!. However, that’d make for a pretty boring post, so I’ll elaborate some. ;)

After last week’s small glimmer of improvement among all of the so-so riding, I had really been hoping I’d get to continue on Murphy, so I was very pleased when I got assigned to him again. Murphy, alas, seemed less pleased, since he made a serious effort to take a bite out of my face as I was trying to get some of the mud and sweat out of his coat beneath his belly. These last weeks he has behaved quite well, and he’s been very good about moving aside when nudge him on either shoulder, but today he was clearly in a mood again and threw a real tantrum when I nudged his right shoulder. That’s the one he can be really difficult about, but today he started threatening quite a bit when I insisted, and even after he had given in I had to really watch my back. Still, he looked positively charming next to the new horse (Tierra), whom I suspect won’t last too long at the riding school.

Dabel Brothers Productions have provided us with some advanced reading copies of their current series for review, and we gave them a try. All in all, the three series we read look pretty good, with the licensed properties in particular earning some special distinction. DB Pro says they’re going to provide science fiction and fantasy comics “done right”, and we think with these comics (and, of course The Hedge Knight) they’re on their way to doing this. Commentary on the three series we’ve read (Marshal, Magician: Apprentice, and Red Prophet) below the fold.

With my whip (it broke off towards the end last week) fixed up like a broken leg with a thin nail and some black thread, but without any new boots or leggings, I headed off for today’s lesson at least decently prepared. At the stables, I found a new horse in Teneriffa’s stall (she’s recuperating in the loose box reserved for sick horses). Quite a pretty lady called Tierra who looked like she might not be too much taller than Fleur or Sammy. Perhaps someone I can try out, I thought, though when I asked about her later she sounded a bit frisky, so we’ll see. Either way, I didn’t have to worry about riding anyone frisky today, as it was Murphy time for me again.

Comics renaissance man Mark Smylie—award-winning writer-artist-creator of the brilliant fantasy epic comic Artesia, founder of Archaia Studio Press, and sole creator of the award-nominated Artesia: Adventures in the Known World RPG (PDF available through Drive Thru RPG)—responds with interesting answers to an interview at Broken Frontier.

Artesia is a terrific work (we’ve recently mentioned a ten-page preview of the upcoming Artesia Besieged series, for those who want a taste), and is something that any self-respecting fan of epic fantasy (especially in the style of George R. R. Martin, as politics play a major role in these stories) and/or comics should check out. Word is that a hardcover release of the first collection is in the offing for an August release.

Scott Lynch, author of the forhcoming fantasy novel The Lies of Locke Lamora which has generated a great deal of buzz (and a purchase of movie rights by Warner Brothers even before the publication of the book), is interviewd at The Bookseller. Therein, he discusses how he came to find a publisher, his penchant for killing his cast of characters (which he blames on George R.R. Martin who, perhaps not coincidentally, has been quite vocal in his praise for the novel), and more.

This is one to keep an eye on.

A ten page preview of the continuation of Mark Smylie’s fantastic Artesia, Artesia Besieged, has been posted on Newsarama. The Artesia series is very probably the best fantasy work being published today in the American market, and Mark Smylie has proven himself to be a man of many talents, what with the Artesia RPG that he single-handedly created pulling in a great deal of popular and critical praise (and an Origins Awards nomination for Best Role Playing Game).

If you’re a fan of epic or heroic fantasy, expansive world-building, gritty medieval politics, and big set-piece battles, this is a series you must check out.

Guy Gavriel Kay has made an interesting post on his forum, discussing how readers bring themselves into the reading experience, and why reactions to a scene, character, or novel can vary so widely from one reader to another. To some degree it’s elementary, but it’s a good thing to remind people of from time to time when they get into discussing their reactions to a work of literature.

Via Emerald City, we learn that Ian Cameron Esslemont, Steven Erikson’s collaborator on the Malazan Empire setting and author of the small-press-published Night of Knives (which tells the tale of Dassem Ultor around the time of the deaths of Emperor Kellanved and Dancer), will now be published through Bantam UK. They will be republishing Night of Knives in hardcover, and then will be releasing Esslemont’s next Malazan book, The Return of the Crimson Guard, something Malazan fans will definitely be looking forward to.

Press release below the cut.

Today was, quite clearly, not a good day for riding. At least not for me. First, my whip broke off towards the end. I knew I should have gotten a new one during the horse show. ;P Now I have to wait a year if I want the same, or track down something similar from another vendor. Plus, its another thing on my rapidly growing list of horsey things I need to buy.  It currently reads boots (my old ones have only thin, smooth soles left, with no traction at all, plus they’re cracking), leggings (to go with my jodhpurs), hat (I think its a bad sign when the insides of it are crumbling), a couple of shirts/t-shirts (just to look a bit more presentable) and, now, a whip too.

The riding itself didn’t start so poorly, though. I was assigned Sammy, and then I ended up switching with Gamir’s rider during the brushing & tacking up since she’s a bit scared of him. He tried to take my fingers off again when I was bridling him, and this time I noted it to the instructor once we were down in the arena, since he’s never been quite so bitey before. Sammy seemed a bit testy too, as well as quite a bit frisky. I should have known he’d have lost of extra energy given that they’ve had an extra rest over Easter,

Today we had tickets for the horse show again, but fortunately for the afternoon show instead of the one in the morning (as was the case on Friday) since too much food and too little sleep meant that we had a pretty hard time crawling out of bed at a reasonable hour. Still, we did manage to get there about an hour and a half before the final show jumping event (the final of the Western European league of the FEI World Cup) started, which allowed us to spend that time browsing through the trade show.

We spent the day at the 30th annual Göteborg Horse Show, which I have attended every year since the early 1980s (more precisely, I think I went for the first time in 1982). The program today consisted of a speed class to start with, the Young Rider (under 21) final, a display by police dogs and their handlers, mounted games featuring teams from Sweden, England, Scotland and Ireland and another pair of jumping classes to finish the day off.

The improvement in my mood from last week’s riding lesson started to wear off around Sunday, leaving me pretty badly off on Monday and early today. I could definitely use another riding lesson each week, to keep that from happening, but right now that just isn’t doable. Perhaps next semester, though. And hopefully the positive effects from this week’s lesson might last a little longer, as I got to ride Murphy again and did reasonably well too. There’s also the horse show to look forward for this weekend.

And here’s mine ...

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three neat facts, two births and one death in your journal, including the year.

Last week was a theory lesson, plus I couldn’t make it to the stables anyway since no one was around to give me a lift. So, it has been a long two weeks, and the last few days I have been seriously depressed. Not just because of the missed lesson, I imagine, but it sure didn’t help. Given that, I was really looking forward to today’s class. Unfortunately, the rearrangements of the various groups on Tuesdays has meant that we now have some people in our group that used to be in a dressage-only group. One of them was feeling very nervous about jumping, and of course the instructor ended up putting her on Murphy. Argh!

I mean, I don’t begrudge anyone who is nervous a calm horse, because I know the feeling, but the jumping lessons have been the only lessons I have been more or less certain to get Murphy for. Now, she’ll likely get him for the rest of the semester for the jumping, so I really have to hope I get him for more dressage lessons instead. I got Gamir today, and he’s likely to be the one I’ll get for jumping classes if she continues on Murphy, and that’s not a bad deal at all—as long as I still get to ride Murphy regularly.