Interworld apparently started as an idea for a TV show.  A high school kid who has the power to Walk between the various paralell worlds.  It’s actually rather pitch perfect for the TV environment of the mid-90s, when it was conceived.

Alas, it was not meant to be, and Interworld languished in the storage rooms of Neil and Michael until recently, when they decided to make it into a book.

I stumbled upon Interworld quite back accident.  I was trolling around Amazon (or perhaps it was the Ottawa Public Library site) and decided to do a search for my favourite author Neil Gaiman.  I was pretty convinced there would be nothing since his most recent anthology Fragile Things.  I mean, I read his blog almost daily, I would have read if there was anything new, right?

Apparently not, because a few things I had never heard of, let alone read, popped up, of which Interworld and The Eternals went on my library request list.

Interworld is probably well aimed at the 9-12 year old set, maybe a little older.  Certainly not a near 30 year old.  Not that that stopped me from liking it.  It was shades of Ender’s Game (light shades), and there’s something highly appealing about an army of various versions of oneself.  Some parts were a little too easy — Joey’s conversation with his Mom, for one — but in a book of this length and depth an author really doesn’t have time for intricate build-ups.  Plus, 9-12 year olds are much more forgiving about the suspension of disbelief thing.

Interworlds, at its heart, is a nice quick read exploring right and wrong, family and weird things like physics and math.  Oh, and a really fabulously named character — Hue.  That name, in context, made me laugh out loud.

This book was on my request list at the library, but I honestly have no idea why I originally put it there.

Regardless, it was a horrible book. Complete rubbish. There seemed to be no real plot or point, besides the main characters genius status in the area of math, and how this impacts her. Which we never really know, because all we ever read about is her studying, kissing a guy onc, then studying some more. To be fair there’s stuff about being a child of indian immigrants in Wales, but it was hardly compelling.

And the ending. That was the worst part. I’ll reveal it here because no one ever reads this blog, and frankly, anyone who does will likely never read this book.

She runs away to Brighton and, even though they locate her parents, gets put into foster care. Because she’s been abused. Because her parents made her do too much school work and too much math.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

That has to be the most ridiculous idea ever. Any forgiveness I may have had for the utter blah of the book was driven away by that.

Ugh.

So this weekend I was visiting my family and my nephew Jeremy wanted to see The Spiderwick Chronicles.  This is actually one of the few children’s fantasy series that I haven’t actually read.  For no real reason, besides just not having gotten around to it yet.

But sometimes that’s the best way to see a movie that’s based upon a book.  I could go into it with very few preconceived notions.  It was a really, really good movie, as these things go.  My nephew told me that they had changed things, but it didn’t seem too drastic.  But then, 9 year olds aren’t really that detail oriented.

The visuals of the movie were beautiful; I especially loved the scene with Lucinda and the flower fairies (pixie? sprites? I have no idea.  But they were super cute.).  And Freddie Highmore, who plays Jared and Simon was brilliant.  I had no idea it wasn’t actually two separate boys.  And he hides his accent *really* well.

I enjoyed the movie so much that I went out and ordered the following books:

• The Spiderwick Chronicles – The Complete First Series (all five books)
• The Chronicles of Spiderwick: A Grand Tour of the Enchanted World, Navigated by Thimbletack
• Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You

I didn’t get to see most of my family this past Christmas, as I decided to visit my brother and his family in Manitoba instead.  While that visit was wonderful, I did miss seeing my Mom and Sisters and the rest of the nieces and nephews.  So I decided to go down to Barrie for this whole new Family Day holiday.  Cheesy name, great idea.  A long weekend in February is never a bad thing.

Anyway, I brought my friend Olga with me this time.  I thought she could stand some down time, as well as some general boring family-esque time.   It’s always interesting to bring family and friends together, because while they both know you so well, they know very different parts of you, and you play different roles with each of them.  I was glad to bring Olga with me because she’s my oldest friend.  I was glad for one of my friends to see “where I come from”, and how my family interacts and all that.

Plus it’s good to get an outsider’s perspective.  It’s only in the last 2 or 3 years that I’ve truly come to realize how great my family actually is.  I’ve spent many years being resentful of being the youngest, feeling abandoned, dealing with some of the stuff that happened in childhood, and while none of that stuff has necessarily gone away, I certainly have had my eyes opened.  I’ve seen how other people interact with their families — and frankly, they generally don’t, or at least not on any real or intimate level.

I’m glad we’re not like that.

The Eternals is a rehash of a marvel comic by Jack Kirby that had its original run in the 70s. The version I just read is a mini-series (7 chapters) done by Gaiman in 2006. I picked this up knowing nothing of the premise, solely because it was by Gaiman, who I love beyond all imaginings.

For a good reason. This was really, really entertaining. X-menesque, with nods to the Fantastic Four. It’s pure comic goodness with the writing of Gaiman behind it. How can it get any better than that?

And it gave me one of my most favourite quotes. For some background, Earth is inhabited by three groups: The Eternals who were created by the alien Celestials, their enemies and counterparts, The Deviants – also created by the Celestials, and Humans, as far as I can tell, a happy accident. Over millennia, The Eternals (who are unkillable, hence the name) have been seen as gods by humans.

Anyway, at one point in the story a human is talking to an Eternal (Zuras). The conversation goes like this:

Human (speaking of fighting going on on Earth): You *have* to choose sides…..
Zuras: If you saw two groups of children arguing over which of them could play in some waste ground, would you choose sides?

It’s a perfectly simple statement from the perspective of god(s) when humans wonder why they don’t interfere. Brilliant!

I came across this cartoon rather randomly – a friend of a friend had brought it into work to watch at lunch. I was told how funny it was and looked it up on Youtube, only to be kind of “meh” about it. But my friend then left me with the DVD for season one, and I have to say, it’s fantastic.

The Venture Brothers is the story of Dean and Hank Venture, their father, Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture, and their bodyguard Brock Samson (the most awesome character EVER!) as they fight evil doers, aliens, ghosts and…The Monarch. While a cartoon, it is a cartoon for adults. Kids could watch it, but any of the fun stuff and humour would easily fly over their heads.

In fact, much of the humour would fly over the heads of many adults.

It’s incredibly hilarious, and definitely one of my new favourites.

Some examples:

The Monarch: Release the butterflies.

(Mass of dead butterflies fall on Brock)

The Monarch: Okay, whose job was it to feed the butterflies?

************

University Administrator: It is difficult to hold the student’s attention during Dia De Los Muertos.

Dr. Venture: Oh, right. The crazy dead people Christmas you people celebrate. What, is that suppose to be today?

University Administrator: Ah, si.

Dr. Venture: Oh great. Fantastic of you to tell me that before I came all the way down here.

<snip>

University Administrator: Ah, the monarch butterfly. They migrate here to Mexico this time of year. The Aztecs believe they were the spirits of the dead returning home.

Dean: Wow, but your full of helpful information, fella.

Hank: And how! Say, its not poisonous is it?

University Administrator: I… you’re kidding, right? No, it is not poisonous.

<snip>

Dr. Venture (squashing the butterfly): Horrible disease carrying thing.

Dean: But that might have been someone’s spirit, Pop.

Dr. Venture: All the more reason to get it the hell off me.