A Sincere, Forlorn Response to Roy Khan's Absence from the Upcoming USA tour.

 

Dear Kamelot/Kamelot management

First of all, before I segue into the critical side of this email. I wanted to offer my condolences to Roy Khan who recently was diagnosed with a serious illness. There's no method of foretelling this event. The illness itself was beyond the realm of his control. Therefore, I completely understand that he is physically unable to perform due to these debilitating conditions. Therefore, the below criticisms are not a result of insensitivity.

Anyways, I happen to be an ardent fan of Kamelot who has been waiting for a Philadelphia concert for a long span of time. Every year, I have patiently waited for announcements of this type to surface. Upon hearing the band's music, I have been enraptured by the rich instrumentals and Roy Khan's deft, emotive voice. For me, Roy Khan's voice is inseparable from the music. His voice bolsters the emotions of the music and allows the listener to completely been entrapped in the  music's ethereal atmosphere. Hardly any other metal band of this kind has maintained this ineffable sound that has always kept my interest without fail.

I've been greatly anticipating the band's September 14th Philadelphia concert for the opportunity to hear this music performed live. I wanted the chance to have feel that same energy produced by the albums in a venue with good acoustics. With superb bands like Kamelot, the ambience of a live performance is unmatched especially when the singer himself always adds more layers to that first layer of complex musicality.

When news of Roy Khan's illness was announced, I felt greatly despaired and naturally betrayed. Though this occurrence was beyond any individual's control. With my fervor for this band, I could have formed this letter into a belligerent note that is filled with obscenities. Knowing the band's difficult situation where large sums of finances were involved, I cannot fault the band with their decision.

Yet, I still feel greatly disappointed by this news. Kamelot has been an integral part of my life when it comes to finding a daily cathartic release. The band's music has been a fundamental element in the development of my current novel "Death Seer." The same thing cannot be applied to other band's because Kamelot happens to be one of my favorite. Hardly any band's themes resonate with me to the same degree that this band's music. Roy Khan's voice has strangely become the voice of one of the story's characters or the expression of my own personal emotions that I could not properly express. His voice soars and pierces the soul.

Formerly, I was thinking of writing this letter to demand the band to postpone the concert or at least offer the opportunity of a refund. Rationality surmounted those earlier feelings and allowed me to attempt to understand the band's decision. Even then, I still will feel a void September 14th because of Roy Khan's absence. I will try to accept the new singer's interpretation of these masterful songs. Though, I will still find these feelings to be uncontrollable because the core of Kamelot's sound has always been Roy Khan's voice. Even with the skillful instrumentals of the band, there will still be this gaping hole in my heart because Roy Khan's absence will permit the music to have a missing element. On that night, I will be unable to not allow myself to feel despaired by this absence. For most dedicated USA Kamelot fans, it will surely feel like an unnatural concert even with the vocalist's best efforts.  Sadly, it's nearly impossible for any vocalist to equal the main vocalist of the band. This happens inevitably because the sound of the music works in tandem with the singer.

With that, I implore the band to consider touring in the USA sometime next year to allow Philadelphia to assuage our feelings of disappointment. As a committed Kamelot fan, I want to have the opportunity to hear Roy Khan's voice reverberate beautifully through the streets of Philadelphia. If this happens to be the only concert in Philly, the city of brotherly love will never be graced with this talent.

Again, I will attend the concert because of my understanding of the circumstances. And I hope for Roy Khan's quick recovery from this illness.

Thanks,
From a Philadelphia Kamelot Zealot,
Justin B.

In our world of sensory overload, finding quietude can be an impossible task. Religious discussions can be a difficult task due to the reality of this fabricated world. Temporarily, it coaxes us and dangerously distracts us from our intimate connection to the unknown qualities of the metaphysical. When refaced with these unanswerable questions once again, we grudgingly accept them to filter through our heads for a few minutes. As the delirium overtakes from the confusion these questions create. We divert ourselves once again into the passive, ignorant world whose spectacles lightly remind us again of these troubling questions.

I bask in this unfamiliar realm of incessant questions. For me, this world inspires me to write when the other world only deters me effectively. In this insular world filled with unverified notions, I can craft some narrative that seeks to offer a viable explanation for the mysterious forces that pervade this separate, uninhabited dimension.  Even when these stories require me to stall the constant stream of anxiety within my body. This constant stream of anxiety, this miasma of hypothetical thoughts, allows me to breathe in this world.

What do I speak of when referring to this world? I am speaking about the imagination, the muse, the world crafted by our pensive selves.  The Greeks beheld this world because sometimes it was the only safe realm to inhabit. They resided in it and allowed the thread of questions to draw lines between the innumerable stars that stretch themselves across the sky. With their imaginations, they could conceive ideas of love that are largely restricted in their material world.

Now in our material world, we're neglecting this internal world of ours. We fear that this beautiful sanctuary of ours is not permissible in a pragmatist's world. Instead, we must attempt to eradicate or repress any inclination to once again visit this world. Futilely, we must do the unthinkable and suppress our  one connection to the metaphysical. Instead, we must make the metaphysical practical and easily explained.

With institutionalized religion, we simply codify religious information. There will never be one more moment of thinking of a God that's free of boundaries or prejudices. Soon enough, we ascribe to the belief in the institutionalized God. This God is devoid of mystery, wonder,love, forgiveness, and prudence. Instead this God is corporeal, limited, petty, and vindictive. We allow him to exist through our fear of defying the greater human power. They've indicated to us that this God provides the only pathway to heaven. Any type of extrapolation about an alternative would lead oneself down to hell.

With this, we neglect our spiritual bodies or our only pathway to the enigmatic metaphysical realm. Our minds become inundated with  facts remembered by rote memorization. A large percentage of our brains becomes unused and forgotten. Only the paltry 20 or 30% becomes utilized and these only work as memory cells that retain the religious information. Anxiety and depression threaten to surmount our minds through the determination of our spiritual selves. Yet we prescribe these things with trite prayers and uninspired mantras. God only becomes our Lexapro that's  taken to suffuse us with a pretense of meaning to the world.

Through God's eyes, we've always been dead. We're thoughtless, ignorant, and belligerent robots. Our souls have been seeking that connection through ourselves by wanting us to become catatonic. Because, only through that would a few humans see the wonders of our souls and possibly find our true destinies. People will barrage us with judgments because they only understand the dark world without mirth. But, we do not need to sustain ourselves through feigned happiness or acceptance. According to our souls, we are meant for something far greater than the imposed sense of ourselves.

We are the ones who are spirited in our protests against all forms of injustice. Through our ensouled selves, we sight the troubles of the world. Empathy becomes our means of synthesizing the many types of information or knowledge in the world. Because we see with empathetic eyes or discerning ones, the world abhors us. All types of archaic classifications are destroyed in our minds. We know these sorts of classifications were designed to preserve the superficial world that sees without empathy. These classifications are a means of controlling every single individual. We're the ones who can see past the falsity of the "matrix" world. Our souls have allowed us to do that. The fabricated hierarchy has been used to disguise the true evil for far too long. The inquisitive know that the gay population, the feminists, the artists, and the liberals are not the antagonists.

We've abandoned the indoctrinated information that we digested with our soulless selves. For a time, we saw the world that was void of artistry. Our only aesthetics were  the artificiality of your beliefs, the lack of love that you seem to exude. Reading books, appreciating art, and listening to music has rendered that world of yours an illusion. In ourselves, we hunger love, substance, and authenticity. With the short allotted time to exist, we are no longer abiding by your laws of a empty world.

Like the Greeks before us, we will stare at the myriad of stars  that are resplendent in the sky. This panorama gives justice to the mystery and the glory of this universe and the incorporeal universe. Internally, we believe in the cause that wrought this effect, God. But the God we sight cannot be manipulated or modified. Our lives themselves become manifested by the attempts we make to understand the inexplicable. We'll live our short lives with love and autonomy. Moreover, we want our spiritual journeys to be authentic rather than created by some human force.

THE WITCHING HOUR REVIEW

Anne Rice has reentered the minds of many with her recent statement about her need to leave the church of her childhood. Without too much focus being put upon this statement, I'll simply say that I greatly admire her for the honesty and authenticity involved with this statement. Many prolific authors are greatly inhibited by the reality of their fame. They cower from the reality that any comment made by them  about religious views will be divisive. As result, their book sales could be negatively impacted by their statement. In Anne Rice's case, I note that the honesty associated with her causes her to be a greatly admired individual. Therefore, I firmly believer her book sales will be positively affected due to her close adherence to her true feelings about certain issues. 

Now her book, "The Witching Hour," predated her 1998 conversion and was written during her famed atheist years. The book itself contains about 1,000 pages, making this one a prodigious novel of hers. Glancing at it, anyone can see that the book's size was inspired by her reverence for Charles Dickens works.  With opulent environments, eccentric personages, and rich prose, her books certainly are respectful of the unappreciated 19th century form of writing. Nearly every sentence of this novel proves that Anne Rice continues to be a rare talent who has been unfairly scoffed at. Like Charles Dickens or even Thomas Hardy, she's an unsullied writer who abides by her rules of writing rather than another individual's restrictions. For these reasons, her novels are purely her product rather than a novel whose various elements were compromised in efforts to please a certain critic.

Throughout reading this novel, the experience itself reflected one of appraising artwork. From the beginning, we are thrust into the enigmatic world of the Mayfair Witches. The omnipresent dark tones of the novel obscure the various pieces of the witch's history. Similar to Thornfield  manor in Jane Eyre, we form the picture of the melancholic mansion in our heads. We initially question the veiled elements of this family's history or the back story of certain residents of this mansion. Anne Rice tactfully hides these characters and slowly pulls the descriptive curtains of the story away. Slowly, various elements of the story are cast in the light of knowledge. In nearly every gothic novel, the darkness is dimly presented so we are able to explore the unexplored regions of the world. Normally, in reality, we are restricted from these dark regions due to the widely accepted belief that they may taint our spirits. Good Gothic novels, like "The Witching Hour," allow us to safely explore these elements and begin to see potential paths of redemption for many of these misunderstood characters.

Anne Rice's infamous flowery prose attests to her appreciation of nineteenth century literature. Her sentences, out of context, are a work of art to behold and attempt to replicate. There's been instances where I have purposelessly slowed the pace of my reading to admire the beauty of her sentences. One of her greatest skills lies with her ability to instantaneously transport the reader  to the world of her narrative. The world itself is beatific and full of richly detailed objects. Sometimes, I desperately want to remain camped in one of her environments without proceeding to the story's narrative because they're so intoxicating.

Thematically, the story truly reveals the author's ever-present faith in God or the fervent need to understand God. Nearly all her characters reflect those individuals who live in a realm separated from God. While they do practice their family's Catholic faith, many of the individuals are mentally apathetic to God. They haven't had any real experience with something metaphysical that would prove God's existent. Therefore, they have remained in their insular world of riches and have made the progression of their family's line their top priority. Their dynasty in some sense has been shaped into their replacement religion. While the Catholic religion they allege to follow acts as a decoy that dissuades people from delving into their true history. 

Anne Rice unknowingly has perfectly fabricated a earthbound hell dimension. The Mayfair witch manor works as an inescapable purgatory that worships self progression over the selfless discovery towards God. Michael Curry penetrates this world and encourages the uninvolved Rowan to participate with him. Some unknowable force actually thrusts Michael into this entire conflict. God never represents himself in this novel but he works inexplicably in the hearts of Michael and Rowan. He aids them in a treacherous battle against an maleficent spirit and the godless world of the Mayfair's.   In the remainder, one can only deduce that this battle will begin to manifest while the story develops the many supporting details that enrich the experience.

In  conclusion, I'll admit that I greatly misunderstand the belief that Anne Rice happens to be a heretical writer. How could I defend that erroneous statement when nearly every novel read by her has revealed the opposite? Anne Rice has always unconsciously written spiritual novels that reveal the inherent need for substantial meaning in our lives. Without that persistent belief in something that supersedes us and can ultimately fulfill us, we become disconsolate much like the Mayfair Witches. Furthermore, we begin seeking out other means to satiate that void. In this book, the witches depend upon shaping a cult and the vampires do so by living immortally by the aid of drinking blood.  Both series are integral pieces to fully understanding the complicated nature of Anne Rice's beliefs. 

INTERVIEW WITH JON SPRUNK (AUTHOR OF SHADOW'S SON)

 

1.Instead of asking the generalized question of "When did you know you wanted to be writer?" I wanted to ask if you vividly or vaguely recall any early story ideas during your childhood? If so, what one story idea did you have?

1. It seems like I was always making up stories for my own enjoyment. The earliest memory I have of that involved a writing assignment in third grade. We were supposed to write a book report, but instead my submission was a complete rewrite of the book?s ending. Sadly, the teacher made me do the assignment over.

2. What particular writers consciously or unconsciously inspired aspects of your story?

2. I think I was most inspired by the S&S writers I enjoyed as a young adult (Howard, Leiber, Moorcock). I'm not sure how much of that bleeds through into my own writing, but mentally that?s where my stories begin.

3. After reading through your story, were you able to note any unintended themes which unknowingly crept their way into the story?

3. Sure. The first draft of any story is a mishmash of ideas. It's not until I go back and comb through it that I can identify anything resembling a theme. One theme that I did not intend, but it crept into the book anyway, was the idea of redemption. I really didn't know Caim (the main character) had such depth until I saw for myself the lengths he was willing to go to redeem himself

4.Was the impetus of your story a dream or a hypothetical situation? If not any of these, could you describe the beginning stages of the story?

4. It began with the situation: an unsuspecting person caught up in a political/quasi-religious drama. The idea that the main character would have the ability to manipulate shadows also came very early. But I didn't know he would be an assassin. That came later when I borrowed some aspects of a novella I'd written some years before.

5. Do you utilize music as a means for story inspiration? Meaning, do you play certain songs, while writing, in an attempt to enhance a certain emotion or bolster the effect of a specific scene?     

5. I do listen to a lot of heavy metal while I'm writing. Perhaps that had something to do with the energy of the fight scenes.

6. About assassins, what type of research was involved in helping to form the story? 

6. Did I actually kill a few people to see how it felt? No, believe it or not, hit-man jobs are hard to come by. Maybe it's the economy. As far as research, I rely mainly on my imagination. I mean, I've been studying martial arts since I was a child, but beyond giving me some perspective on what it is like to be in a fight they don?t really lend much to the equation.

7. Did any of your research involve the psychology of a murderer or murder in general? (From my experience, I know that I have been meticulously researching the psychology of murderers to enable me the skills to make a murderer's malicious choices believable. Then again, my story's mainly a psychological story that involves a boy with innate ability to foretell the deaths of people with who he mistakenly looks in their eyes.)

7.I've been working in juvenile corrections for fourteen years, so I have a sliver of insight into the criminal mindset. And I stole some gum from a store when I was nine years old. Besides that, no. Interviewing real-life murderers doesn't appeal to me. I don?t think they deserve that much attention.

8. Here's a lighter question that does involved too much depth; What's your favorite movie overall?

8.I'm a big fan of movies, so I'm not sure I could choose just one. Does the original Star Wars count as a single movie in three parts?

9. What's your favorite book overall? (You are allowed to list more than one; since I happen to have a myriad of favorite books. It's a number that's so vast that I cannot even recall the exacts any more.)

9.My favorite books are: Anna Karenina, Lord of the Rings, Stranger in a Strange Land, and The Black Company. I could talk all day about any of them.

10.The Conventional question that involves being the Yoda of Aspiring writers: What tips would you offer any aspiring writers?

10. Be fearless. Read everything you can get your hands on (especially in your chosen genre, but outside it as well). Write everyday.

11. Can you offer us the basic premise of the upcoming sequel to "Shadow's Son?" Will it involve a greater number of assassins? More specifically, will there be more intriguing explorations into Caim's psyche?

11. The sequel, Shadow's Lure, will take Caim back to his homeland in the north, where he'll learn how far the Shadow's reach extends.

12. For the final question, this will be the product of my unconventional way of thinking. Could you describe to us concisely how a Valek (from Maria V. Snyder's Study series) and Caim would play out?

12. Hmmm. Well, Caim obviously has the edge in a straight-up duel (*ducks pen hurled by Maria*), but I wouldn?t put it past Valek to slip something into my boy?s drink before the fight. But Kit might warn Caim before he drank it, so he would switch cups with Valek. Ah, but is Valek immune to his own poison? (Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!) Oh, well, the world may never know...

 

Shadow's Son by: Jon Sprunk review:

        A normal comment in my book reviews, pertaining to adult fantasy books, includes mention of the surplus of generic fantasy novels that are packed with tireless exposition. Finding these sorts of fantasy novels becomes common when you're the reader like me with a great interest in fantasy books. Except when you envision exceptional fantasy books, you envision one of George R.R. Martin's brilliant books. Because his books immerse immediately and wisely use certain exposition that pays some importance to the plot.
           Shadow's Son was originally discovered by chance through Maria V. Snyder's Myspace Blog. Seeing her review, I gained an immediate interest in the novel. This interest was not developed through my trust alone with Maria V. Snyder's reviews. But also, I noted the appearance of an enigmatic assassin  based upon the cover. Knowing well enough my fascination with assassin stories, I decided to take a chance with this novel.
       Upon first reading it, you are plunged into the action without any cryptic prologues or verbose environment descriptions. The novel begins with the pivotal figure in the novel and proceeds to the main conflict. More specifically, we are offered expert uses of foreshadowing to help us gather an idea of the novel's conflict. With our adrenal energy tapped and working industriously, the reader flips the pages hurriedly in order to continue the novel's fast paced action. During the entirety of this well fashioned first scene, we are not bombarded with useless facts about the universe itself. 

    Wisely, the author carefully utilizes this information appropriately and uses it at a rightful spot. Doing so, he enhances the effectiveness of various scenes. The best example that supports my views lies with the manner that Caim's back story is slowly unclouded.  Simultaneously, we are presented new revelations about the dominant plot while being made more aware of the subplot of Caim's repressed past.  These various plots are handled tactfully by the author who understands the mechanics of story telling. This book's writing style happens to be the antithesis of the represent book of the market. 

     Instead of fashioning a story that resembles a never ending encyclopedia, he vies for a story that is written in a cinematic manner. By stripping away the unnecessary details, he does this successfully. All throughout the story, the story is told from various perspectives. The main focus upon the development upon the focused character permits the readers to imprint themselves onto these various characters. One of my general rules of good story telling involves emotive writing that desires readers to fully participate their complete selves in. When you are not writing a litany of facts about your universe, you enable yourself as a writer to mainly focus upon the characters and the various conflicts that create the needed tension to attract the reader.

  Personally, I felt though certain elements of this story have been used multiple times in many highly recognized works. The author was still able to write a novel that was never pedantic in any  way. When aspects of the story's universe were explored, they were tactically placed in important spots to improve the effectiveness of the story. None of these elements pervaded the wrong sequences that would have otherwise stifled the flow of the story. I honestly was greatly engaged in the story's action throughout. Sometimes the psyches of certain characters were not explored deeply enough or key action sequences seemed a little tiresome. Overall though the novel enthralled me which rarely happens to a highly critical individual like myself. For those reasons, I could easily overlook the novel's few shortcomings because the entertainment value of the novel was high. Yes, I did not glean any fascinating pieces of philosophical information or happen to note many sequences of deep introspection. But the novel is neither a novel that wants to wander too long in those areas. It's predominately a rich cinematic experience that begs to be read in one sitting. In all, I highly recommend it to any readers who want to read something that's purely an entertaining story.  Readers who abhor fantasy books that are pure drudgery to read will especially love this one.

Blog Announcement of Epic Proportions!

Recently, an epiphany has surfaced in my caffeine addled mind.  Something that could spell the end of my book review focus for eternity. Eternity is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but I've honestly reached some conclusions in my mind. Because, for the past few months my energy has been expended by another project in my life that requires about eighty percent of my mental energy. Suffice to say, book reviewing is at odds with this personal project of mine. I cannot genuinely write book reviews with the same zeal because some uncontrollable force in me has other ideas. These ideas are of an entirely different breed of species than book reviews.

Balancing writing a lengthy series and review books is a near impossible task. The past two months of my life have centered around this novel's development. Book reviews have actually become a distraction from my work or from my focus upon researching history. Though, it might appear to be simplistic to write reviews and write a novel simultaneously. Believe me, novel writing requires far too much energy for me to write reviews as well. I cannot effectively write a novel with book review tasks meddling with my plot's development.

Basically, I've come to a decision to completely alter the purpose of this blog. Over the past several months, I've tirelessly scoured the internet in search of places to honestly discuss deep topics with civility. My internet discoveries excavated some disturbing truths about internet discussion. It seems that most internet discussion involves spite and belligerence. For these reasons, interesting discussions are stalled by interesting discussions being changed into verbal warfare.

When planning to write my only review for July, I sat down and my mind screamed in revolt. (By the way, I do plan on writing the review tomorrow due to establishing a commitment to post it.) My mind kept routing my thoughts back to my story or some theological or philosophical that it wished to resolve. I ignored my mind futilely and fought to write the review. Only,my words were becoming another piece of my story instead of the book review. 

I am generally in fear of the blog sphere because I feel like I'm abandoning something which many people are expectant of. Book reviews were the prime reason for this blog's original creation. Without them, what does my blog develop into? What sort of blog will be created afterwords.

Well, my blog then becomes experimental and also becomes a dumping grounds for the many thoughts that pulse through my mind. Meaning, I'll occasionally post a generalized post about a certain topic and wait for a very active discussion to be conceived from it. Or, I'll plan to have a monthly blog read that I'll discuss in detail. But, I'll also encourage my blog followers to read the book and discuss as well. Essentially, this blog would become more interactive as result and also resemble an online book discussion group. These discussions would help with relieving some of my stress with novel writing and also allow me to have an enjoyable distraction. Book reviewing has become drudgery for me because I am sometimes required to read books that I do not particularly enjoy. Writing without ardor causes me to lose my passion for writing my novel. I need to completely committed with novel writing and cannot allow for menial tasks to leech my energy.

I'm doing this because I need something stimulating and different from the main cropping of activities on the internet. For a long time, I've been desirous of deep discussions about topics I'm intrigued by. It's been an arduous task for me personally to find discussion forums that encourage these types of discussions. Normally, I've found discussion forums to be intellectually confining due to the webmaster's legalistic beliefs. With several others, I've discovered that the members normally resort to bullying and begin forming a hierarchy on their forum of favorite individuals. I aim for this discussion blog to be divergent from these in that I would discourage elitism and promote honest,free thought. Inevitably, someone will form pacts with others and being the process of discussion deterioration. But, I hope to dissuade people from that by having my own posts take on a curious tone, not a volatile one.

In conclusion, I wish to begin August with a discussion of JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit," or perhaps some other discussion of a favorite read. Please expect these discussions to include references to philosophical ideas or the author's of allusion. Of all things, I would love for these discussions to journey outside Plato's cave. I'm encouraged by this whole idea and hopefully others will like the idea. Whether you agree or not, please leave a comment about your suggestions for the direction of my blog.

Also, there will be a book review and interview posted here tomorrow as planned. This might be my last for a long while. Unless I feel compelled to write a review of a book that I read on my free time. Again, thanks for trying to understand my recent decisions!

Warbreaker by: Brandon Sanderson Review

Synopsis:
Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.  

Review:
    Lately, I've been in a reasonably pleasant mood where my mind incidentally becomes overcharged with energy. With this unused energy, I become tense and need some immediate academic outlet to exhume it from my body. In this case, writing a review of a book I had finished six months ago seemed to be the wise choice amongst many other favorable activities. "Warbreaker," has always struck me as being a divergent book when compared to other fantasy novels. First of all, Brandon Sanderson has always won my favor for including strong females who rely on their prowess and wit rather than their beautified bodies. They conceal their personal strength and intrinsic intelligence to manipulate the political happenings set before them. Working incognito allows them to bring forth more lasting results to the political arena because no one's even aware of their secret agenda. Basically, the patriarch of Brandon Sanderson's world cares more about notoriety than bringing about effective, beneficial change to their government. Similar to Elantris and Mistborn, women and men whom work about change in hiding are championed as the heroes of his story.

  Wisely, though  the elements of his characters cannot be purely categorized under restrictive moral definitions. Brandon Sanderson keenly pays attention to the diversified views of his characters without judgment. He allows them the opportunity to freely voice their distinct views on several issues in the book. Even things which should be overtly amoral such as the using the life force of individuals to promote several Gods' immortality appears in the book as a very complicated issue. Dissecting the various views contained in this issue requires careful attention to the various backgrounds and titles a number of characters have. Because these various elements unconsciously influence their current views on a certain issue, like taking advantage of a nation's populace to help the Gods to endure. In other words, they rely upon the life forces or breath of the citizens whom sacrifice that in order to reap heavenly rewards afterwords.

Allegorically, this book reflects the Machiavellian use of religion to assert a ruling class's power over a certain number of lower citizens. In typical fantasy fashion, the metaphysical becomes manifested and helps display this intricate relationship between politics and religion. With regards to my mention of the diverse number of perspectives, there still exists a strong moral message contained in the ambiguity of the nation's politics. As always, a few members are sanitized from the impurities of political conflict. In their arsenal lies intellectual autonomy which helps them to sift through the various layers of complex issues and focus upon universal truths to aid them in their  mission. 

Overall, I love Warbreaker far more  than Mistborn because the story's elements are unconventional and do not use many fantasy archetypes. Additionally, the eventual story lead up to the climax contains some pivotal plot elements. Whereas Mistborn contained many unneeded plot elements that ended up bloating the book with unnecessary scenes which could have been excluded. Actually, this proves that Brandon Sanderson scrutinizes his writing and improves his writing based upon these former mistakes. Though, there still exists a band of mercenaries who are nearly indistinguishable from the ones in Mistborn. Strangely, their personas closely match each other which resulted in my own personal confusion between the two sets of mercenaries. 

Even with these minor drawbacks, the story still remains a personal favorite of mine due to the creativity of the magic system, the witticism, and endearing female characters. I believe a part myself remains slightly more critical of Brandon Sanderson's writing due to my high respect for his meticulousness. He is truly endowed with a gift for writing structured fantasy tales with very interesting characters. Also, his fight scenes are actually necessary and do not exist as interim between the more important scenes of character development. A part of me envies his ability to control a myriad number of story elements and still have a book remain extremely entertaining. Perhaps envy would not be the appropriate word choice here;instead I have great respect for the author's propensity to write novels with well shaped female characters, fascinating political intrigue, mesmerizing action sequences, and personable characters. But most importantly his books are entirely free of any uncomfortable sexual elements and can be easily recommended to  any type of reader.  All the while, the book contains an innumerable number of layers that very few fantasy novels overlook.

Symphonic Metal

     Symphonic Metal greatly confounds people, the concept itself. Typically, people associate metal music with a wholly discordant sound with guttural voices. The orderly structure of this music vanishes entirely or at least they believe so. But the real question these individuals need to ponder is, " why should art abide by preformed structure?" Doesn't the structure of art come from the minds of individuals with a creative bent. In their minds, the disorderly fashion of the music has a structure of being disorderly. By being disorderly, it's offering an insight into the workings of society or the human psyche. All this extrapolation though is spoken in the language of music, an unspoken expression of the inexpressible. Through the minds of diversified listeners, the meaning can be altered, according to their difference in beliefs or ideals. 

     The word "symphonic," exudes a feeling of lavish Mozart compositions and lustrous environments. Normally the aforementioned metal fans cower in fear because this music relies entirely on an ordered, mathematical system of music creation. Even worse, the stereotyped listeners of this genre are normally affluent members of society or openly pretentious people. Truthfully, the very concept of musical creation derives itself from the workings of classical music. Consciously or unconsciously, musicians use the techniques of classical music creation when creating supposed works of "chaos." Basically, even chaotic music has some semblance of structure or order. Because any human creation has some base layout to construct upon. Though the following levels may be unwieldy or contain a lesser amount of the initial layer of pure order.

   Enough philosophy, if anything the philosophical content proves that all works of art even the loud metal music must be taken seriously. Back on topic, symphonic metal's unique styling offers a clearer picture of the true complexity and richness of metal music. Beethoven and Mozart, upon hearing symphonic metal music would be speechless because so much of the genre's contribution involves the same technique and system of creation as these two composers.  

    Epica,for example, appears on the surface to be largely unstructured and uninspired. Careful detail would unwrap these assumptions and show them for their falsity. Underneath the surface of chaos, lies a ordered and ingenious mathematical structure. Mark Jansen, the genius behind Epica's music, deceives most listeners by making them believe the music is mostly moronic drivel. Some could go further and say that the use of gutturals are placed there in order to conform to the expectations of metalheads.  Close scrutiny reveal a deeper layer or a battle waged between order or chaos. Simone Simmon's ethereal voice struggles to overdominate the chaotic guttural voice of Mark Jansen. Sometimes Mark Jansen triumphs until the music segues back to Simone Simmons who contradicts the chaos and provides the listeners with a semblance of order. 

Symphonic Metal, the name itself, proves to be a contradiction based on surface level analysis of these respective genres. Remember classical means "order," for most, and metal music provides listeners with the sensation of uncontrollable, unwieldy chaos. Therefore Epica's use of soprano singing and guttural screeches are intentional on the part of the creators of the music. In some ways, they are subliminally informing people of their misconceptions of these genres. If one were to listen and recognize the various layers involved in this music, they would recognize that both genres respectively have the opportunity to be completely ordered or chaotic. Of course, this depends entirely on the mood that the music strives to create. Normally, this mood, as with the workings of music are hard to pinpoint.  

Weirdly, symphonic metal serves a role to pay homage to the rich knowledge of preceding civilizations. The symphonic sound works to preserve the archaic while also combining contemporary, innovative sounds. Gregorian Chants are normally used in order to remind music listeners of their effectiveness of driving powerful emotions through a song. Instead of a weakened emotion, middling through the music, the Gregorian Chants bolsters a certain emotion and makes it more pronounced. 

Various symphonic metal bands engineer their own unique stylization of the genre's most recognized sound. Kamelot, for example, combines the atypical sounds of power metal and symphonic metal then permit Roy Khan voice to fuse them together expertly. Speaking of Roy Khan, an important component of symphonic metal happens to powerful vocalists. Most bands incorporate vocalists with rich operatics to bridge two seemingly divergent sounds. Either it be a mix of symphonic, metal, power metal, Arabic, or other unqiue sounds, the strong vocalists augments the power of the sound and finalizes it. 

Roy Khan stands as the most skilled vocalist of the many symphonic metal vocalists out there. Expectantly, the vocalist reputation remains low due to his genre of choice. Again, people's confusion  over the implications of the genre's name creates a trepidation from the safehold of safe sound. No one really wishes to deviate themselves from the normalcy of safe music techniques. Because the genre has a low reputation and much hate among many metal or classical elitists, tactful musicians are greatly underappreciated. In my personal opinion, Roy Khan can sing far better than many rock vocalists but because his voice involves operatics. People overlook his vocal skills and instead looks for someone who half heatedly sings a very generic rock song.

After reading this article, if you're interested in seeking out more substantial information about this unconventional genre. Please check out the listed bands below  whom I find to be very skilled in their interpretations of this sound. Feel free to comment any critiques or other pertinent comments!!

Reccomended Symphonic Metal Bands:
Xystus
Kamelot
Nightwish
Within Temptation
Delain
Epica
Stream of Passion
Leaves' Eye
Apocalyptica
Sonata Artica
Avantasia
Symphony X
X Japan



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