Transnational Geek

Author M. H. Boroson shares his geeky passions: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, spirit magic kung fu movies, the ethics of cultural appropriation, Chinese American literature and history, The Dresden Files, Daoist magic, strong female characters, Asian monsters, spirit world depictions, traditional Chinese foods, race, class, gender, and culture.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

A Lexicon of TheAwesome

First: nothing matters but the awesome.  Here there shall be no whining about prequels we didn't like or series that jumped the shark. 

TheAwesome takes it as a given that nothing matters but the awesome.

To be able to discuss the awesome, we need a language that can express awesomeness.  We draw from literary terms and religious studies to find the words we need.

These are terms you can expect to see in our celebration of TheAwesome:
  • The Uncanny
  • Mythopoeia
  • Sensawunda
  • Epic
  • Empathy
  • Climax
  • Set Piece
  • VillainAwesome
  • The Numinous
  • The Sublime
  • Genre
  • Transnationalism
  • Subversive
Each deserves its own blog entry, and each will get one over time.

Gunmetal Magic

Ilona Andrews' urban fantasy series starring Kate Daniels is one of my three favorites.  It ranks for me after the Dresden Files but above Deacon Chalk.  On Tuesday, as if by magic, the book will appear on my Nook (assuming the tech is up), and I probably won't sleep, eat, or blink until I've read it.

What's THE AWESOME in this series?  It's set in a world where magic returned, and now magic and technology work in alternating waves.  Creatures from myth and legend walk the streets, but the most numerous of the supernaturals are vampires and shapeshifters.

Ilona Andrews' vampires aren't like any  you've ever seen before.  They are mindless corpses expunged of fat, so their bodies are all wiry muscles, and they are psychically piloted by the mysterious group known as the People.  The motives and plans of the People are unknown, but their leader is an enigmatic, powerful immortal called Roland.

The series usually stars Kate Daniels, a young woman who has been a mercenary and an employee of the Order.  Roland is her father, and she has spent her life preparing to fight him, hopefully to kill him.  Armed with a sword named Slayer, which gives off smoke when she's angry, Kate negotiates her boundaries, cultivates her power and her allies, pursuing love and friendship in a completely compelling manner.

Gunmetal Magic is not her story.

Say what?

That's right.  This novel is an excursion into the life and voice of Kate's friend Andrea Nash, a were-hyena with a gift for sharpshooting.  I've read the beginning and it's a tense, intense opening, with Ilona Andrews' characteristically brisk and witty prose, as if Robert Parker had written an action fantasy.

And I can't wait to read it.

TRANSNATIONAL GEEKERY: The Kate Daniels series has featured a Chinese Daoshi burning a paper talisman, a Malaysian Harimau Akuan (were-tiger) appropriately named Dali Harimau, a Japanese jorogumo or spider woman, and others.

Transnational Geek gives Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels 10/10 for THE AWESOME, and 8/10 for Transnational Geekdom.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Intro

I'm your typical convention-going geek, who loves fantasy novels, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Star Wars and Star Trek; but I also love hopping vampire movies, A Chinese Ghost Story, wuxia, yokai, samurai, kaiju, and J-horror flicks.  This is the blog of a transnational geek, where you can expect to see discussions of Jin Yong's Condor Trilogy (Legend of the Condor Heroes, Return of the Condor Heroes, Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber) side-by-side with discussions of The Dresden Files and A Song of Ice and Fire.

My background: I studied Chinese language and religion, and I love kung fu movies.