Promises to Keep

So the Robin Williams' movie "Hook" is one of my favorites.  If you've read the original Peter Pan by Sir James Barrie, it's actually a really good sequel.  It stays true to the old tale.

One of the things that Peter says is that his word is his  I can remember learning the hard way that a promise is something you keep, and that breaking a promise is a terrible thing to do.

In Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, a promise made by a wizard is something that they can make be true by acting on it before they even make it.  Jennifer and I have enhanced promises by calling them "wizard's promises".  They are guaranteed in our minds.

I have a few other promises out there:

When we became roommates, John and I promised never to pull pranks on each other.  We also vowed never to talk politics in order to maintain our friendship.

To a girlfriend in college, I promised that if I ever got to Paris, I would contemplate Notre Dame and write a poem.

The hardest promise I have to keep is one to another girlfriend.  When I was told that my feelings were too much for her, I said I wouldn't contact her unless she contacted me first.

I hold to that that promise like I do all of the ones I have given.  All of them are important and I intend to keep my word no matter how difficult doing that may become.

Wizard's promise...

Blood Song - Raven's Shadow

So today at lunch, I finished Anthony Ryan's Blood Song which is apparently the first book in a saga about the Raven's Shadow.

Jennifer always describes books that move her as movies.  She talks about dodging for the hero during a fight.  She talks about seeing the action like a movie while she's reading.  I can think of some that I've experienced that way, and now I have another.

As I read Blood Song, I could feel some of Ryan's influences.  The literary style of the story is reminiscent of the Kingkiller Saga by Patrick Rothfuss (also an amazing series).  There are elements that hark to the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.  And in the way that the occasional person talks, there is just a hint of Terry Pratchett.

Now that is not to say that it is a book that is just a mishmash of other people's work.  The action is fast and just carries you through.  I kept expecting the book to nearly be over because so much had happened.  And yet the story keeps going, carrying the tale and making you want more.

I am certainly looking forward to a sequel.