Laura's blog

When I was in high school, I was one of the most obsessed Eragon fangirls you can possibly think of. Why I fixated on this series in particular is a whole nother blog post, but the upshot of my obsession was that I wanted my brother to read it. Me: READ THIS BOOK YOU WILL LIKE IT IT HAS DRAGONS Brother: Ugh go away Me: READ IT YOU ANNOYING SIBLING-PERSON Brother: But I don't like to read thingssssss ME: FUCKING READ IT Brother: Oh fuck off already Me: fine then I'll read it to you Brother: GO. AWAY. ME: I'M GOING TO READ THIS FUCKING BOOK TO YOU AND YOU WILL FUCKING LIKE IT OR YOU WILL ANSWER TO ME DO YOU HEAR ME I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE HELL Brother: FINE THEN So I read him the book. And he fucking liked it, as I'd told him he would. Sisters are always right about these things.  Then I read him the sequel, and he hated it just about as much as I did.  I'm amazed that I had the vocal stamina to read him this long-ass book, and amazed that he let me w...

The trilogy of verse plays, William Shakespeare's Star Wars , is one of my favorite things in this world.  The author, Ian Doescher, wrote them as part homage, part parody -- exploring the question of what would it be like if the famous Star Wars original trilogy was written in the style of William Shakespeare. Not only is the full trilogy in iambic pentameter -- the verse in which Shakespeare's plays are written -- but it also incorporates, reappropriates, and adapts a mishmash of lines from Shakespeare's plays. The majority of the verse is Shakespeare's words, reassigned and sometimes tweaked slightly for plurals and pronouns. Doescher supplements the Shakespeare with additions of his own, but keeps the plot firmly Star Wars.  The style feels strangely Shakespearean in more than just the language. Fans of Shakespeare will be reminded of the Henriad when the plot grows more chaotic -- with characters rushing on during brief transitional and battle scenes to deliv...