I'm finishing up matociquala's The Chains that You Refuse and discovering that I like a lot of her later stuff more than her earlier work. I mean; they're all good, but a couple of them gave me that specfic "hah" that comes on the tail end of the successful execution of an interesting idea that I've come across in my personal experience with specfic.

For instance, I enjoyed "Tiger, Tiger". It was a cool story, but it wasn't "Schrodinger's Cat Chases the Super String". There was a uniquely ah-hah moment when I finally realized what was going on with that story that I didn't get reading the former. I mean; playing around with metaphysics like that was just plain awesome. "Two Dreams on Trains" is another favorite, likely because of my own affinity for graffiti, but I think my personal favorite (although "Gone to Flowers" is a close contender) is "The Devil You Don't". The play off the "Stagger Lee" love ballad (featured in the play I was in last spring) and the whole Western atmosphere was gorgeous. "Botticelli" struck a chord with me, partially because I'll be hard-pressed to find a spy story I don't like, and "Stella Nova" actually served as partial inspiration for the alchemy story I'm working on now.

So as I near the end, I know that I have a good time waiting for me with Blood and Iron.

So I was in the bookstore earlier today (doing a little reconaissance), and promptly discovered that the version of The Count of Monte-Cristo I possessed and had read was an abridged version and that the unabridged goes past 1000 pages. I went to grab the "uncut" version off the shelves and remembered my vow of sobriety until I can earn back all (or most) of the money I spent in the past few months (a sizable potion, indeed). So I then added it to the list of books belonging to authors I've decided to pimp for the next dozen months. I'm currently whispering to the end of my John Le Carre fanaticism (just purchased The Mission Song) and somehow during that time, managed to come across Alan Furst. A spy novel's a spy novel; there are certain things you'll find in every story ever tagged espionage fiction, but I read the first scene out of Kingdom of Shadows and bought the book. That says something about Mr. Furst (nothing that hasn't been said already, of course). So after I get through Chains, it's Kingdom of Shadows and, Inshallah, Night Shadows, which I've been informed is on its way. I know I've got Le Carre's Smiley v. Karla trilogy and A Perfect Spy waiting to be enjoyed, as is Elias Khoury's Gate of the Sun, which I've been meaning to get to since spring semester.

But, back to Dumas. I'm dedicated to get only his unabridged stuff from now on, as he's become a bit of an icon for me. Plus the fact that he's pulling a Tupac Shakur and coming out with his (alleged) last novel, The Last Cavalier, which I'm eagerly awaiting. Maybe, if I'm prudent, I'll have gotten through the Musketeers saga by the time it comes out (Mar. 2007, crosses fingers).

Funny, I guess this is what it feels like to write under deadline. This alchemy story needs to be done by Oct. 6, and I seem to be getting just about everything else done except for that. matociquala, how do you do it?