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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/us/looking-after-the-soldier-back-home-and-damaged.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23&pagewanted=all
This is heartbreaking. There’s something fundamentally wrong in a country when its warriors and their families have such a difficult time in getting excellent and quick medical help. This is the perfect example of why asking the rich to pay their fair share and closing tax loopholes for corporations like oil companies makes sense.

I’m not one of these people that says all soldiers are heroes as that’s like saying all teachers love kids, all doctors are saints, and all CEOs are crooks. But I do believe that a country makes a pact with its soldiers. In return for risking their lives to carry out the missions given them by their civilian leadership, soldiers, and by extension their families, should expect to be cared for AFTER the war is over, especially if they have been wounded. It just seems like such a simple and honorable thing to do.

The marketing gurus at Simon & Schuster have come up with a terrific idea to introduce Konowa and the lads to the world just before Ashes of a Black Frost comes out. Starting today, and probably lasting just a couple of weeks, the ebook editions of A Darkness Forged in Fire and The Light of Burning Shadows are on sale for $3.99 each. But wait, if you act now I’ll throw in this steak knife that cuts through concrete and peaches (steak knife not included 🙂

I checked and this price is for both Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook for sure, not sure about other formats. This is just the first of many promotions they’re doing in support of Ashes and I’m thrilled.

If you’re so inclined, you can find them here:

A Darkness Forged in Fire
http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Forged-Fire-Elves-ebook/dp/B001BNDVM4/ref=pd_sim_kinc1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/darkness-forged-in-fire-chris-evans/1100366690?ean=9781439105559&itm=1&usri=a%2bdarkness%2bforged%2bin%2bfire%2biron%2belves%2bseries%2b1

The Light of Burning Shadows
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Light-of-Burning-Shadows/Chris-Evans/e/9781439164587

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Burning-Shadows-Elves-ebook/dp/B002HJV79K/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

I’m intrigued and will watch again, but I’m also wary, very wary. Despite what appears to be massive firepower the military component weren’t able to kill a single dino. At best they slightly annoyed them. Not sure what the reasoning is for having such ineffective weapons, but it made this world feel significantly safer and softer than it first appeared, which I think is a shame. It’s as if they started out going for something gritty and then had to PG it for kids, or groups that sit and watch television so they can complain about the effect it has on kids.

I’m also not prepared to buy into all the intrigue that’s already flourishing. Perhaps it’s my expectations, but I was hoping for a little more original Star Trek in the sense of exploring a new world and dealing with its organic dangers and not immediately being plunged into machinations within machinations. It’s like they didn’t trust themselves and the audience to just explore before starting up with all the same mystery within a mystery games.

I get teenage rebellion (having tried it) but I don’t think even I would have been stupid enough to set up a party cove in the middle of carnivorous dino land. I remember feeling immortal, but a few of my more sensible brain cells kept me from jumping the fence to play with the lion at the zoo. Not these kids though. They look straight out of Disney casting (paging Hannah Montana for a cameo) yet romp in the jungle like it’s no big thing. Even a dino chewing on your foot turns out to need no more than a couple of bandaids and a “gee, gosh, guess we know why they call them slashers now.” Really, slashers? In the future past you can’t come up with better names than that? Actually, gnawers would have been more accurate and still really stupid.

Hmm, I sound rather harsh here, and I did get some enjoyment out of the show, but I kept hoping for something edgier. I wanted sharp corners, but kept coming up against fluffy pillow resolutions.

So, I’m wary.