Can't keep writing things early, because there really isn't any intention of enforcing a schedule stricter than one post per day.
Anyway, I've finally finished reading the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate. It took me quite a while, since there were around sixty-ish books in total to read. The story felt a little bit rushed towards the end, and it was somewhat understandable. Much of the adventures of the eponymous Animorphs centred around guerilla warfare, and there are two realistic ways and one unrealistic way of ending. The two realistic ways are that the incumbent wins crushingly through simple attrition, and the guerillas keep on fighting without any real progress, which leads to the incumbent winning.
The unrealistic way of ending involves the guerilla winning somehow. It is an unrealistic ending for much of the Animorphs series because there was never any development of sympathies by the population at large, since the key plot point was for the Animorphs to harass and slow down the invading Yeerks, relying on the Andalite fleet (a regular army) to eventually come in and do the mopping up. It was always unrealistic because there was never any indication that the Andalite fleet would work with the Animorphs (there were always hints that the Andalite fleet viewed the Animorphs as nothing more than collateral damage), and so I can understand how some kind of effort was needed to escalate the narrative out of perpetual guerilla warfare into something that is more decisive.
A decisive win for the Yeerks was probably much easier to write than that of the Animorphs, but that would be a horrifically dystopian ending that was likely to be less acceptable for a ``children''/young adult book series---gotta get that positive vibes going.
Thus, the ending got from one implausible scenario to another implausible scenario, with some suspension of disbelief brought into play only because the adult family members of the human Animorphs were brought into play to lend credence necessary for the sympathetic population factor that is necessary for a successful guerilla warfare. It was still possible to suspend disbelief and award the win to the Animorphs over the Yeerks (and Andalites, curbing their arrogance somewhat).
That cliffhanger stemming from a completely from left-field story arc though... big oof. It was too implausible, and it really shattered the world building that had taken place over the sixty-ish books. It was written quite shoddily too, compressing too much time into too little space and effectively dropping all of the original lore relating to the world that was built.
If the intent was to kill the series after it ended, then it did well.
Would I recommend this series? Eh, it's still readable---the world building isn't too bad/complex, and I think it holds up quite well despite being written at a time where ubiquitous communication was not a thing. There are probably one too many implausible events strung together, but I would chalk it to the need to make the adventures more exciting without going too deep into actual real-world sensibilities---it is still a science fiction/fantasy work after all.
Anyway, I think I will work on The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa: Book 2: Sabha Parva next, even as I [slowly] read through the other long works on my reading list.
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Today has been quite hot and humid---the interior wall temperature was recorded at 30°C just as I am writing this entry, which is ridiculous considering that it is past sun-down already.
If the interior wall, a part of the apartment that does not get direct sunlight and is actively protected through the different tiers of blinds and other accoutrements reaches that level of temperature, what more can be said of where I am actually sitting, just a metre or so away from the open window? I could feel my standing fan circulating warm air, and this is after I had taken it apart to remove all that crazy dust build up.
Calling it bad is probably an understatement.
And now, we are getting some teasing of a nice and wild thunderstorm with all that thick cloud cover and thunder from a couple of kilometres away. Bah.
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We're now in July, and with it comes the official start of the second half of 2021. It's been a lousy year overall, though being on sabbatical means that I am explicitly telling myself to ignore the badness that is out there and be more disciplined in thinking and holding it together in terms of what I would want to do after my sabbatical is done. The thought of going semi-retirement has been floating about as an alternative, but I am not sure if it is really feasible, at least from the financial perspective. I won't get cabin-fever mostly for the reason that I always have things that I can do, whether it is reading, writing, composing, practising on my musical instruments, cycling, walking, or even programming. But financial resources are always necessary when living in an urban environment no matter what state one is in, since there is always that upkeep amount that needs to be paid.
As an interesting side note, we are slightly ahead of parity in the number of posts this year as compared to the number of days (188 including this entry against day 184/365 which is today). We are also at the second most number of ``rant'' entries per year as well---shows just how much ``free time'' I have on this sabbatical in order to rant so much. The year (and blog) to beat is 2007 of my poetry blog which stands at 256 entries, though it may be a tad unfair because the type of doggerel I write there takes less time than even the cruddiest rant here, just due to the number of words/characters involved.
The numbers really don't mean a thing for all purposes or intents, but perhaps making some kind of a mark may be what is necessary to celebrate this first sabbatical year that I have ever taken. It's something new for me, and out of the ordinary for many people, and is worth remembering as one of the milestones of my life.
I don't have anything else that I want to add though, so this will be all for now. Till the next update.
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