percy jackson

One Last MIQ: The six most interesting questions I missed (Part 2)

I’ve decided to retire the MIQ blog…and to convert it.

Welcome! This post is part of my Most Interesting Questions series, which means I’ll be answering the most interesting questions I can find or think of. This post will focus on a variety of different novels and franchises.

By the way, if you’re wondering about who I am, I’m an author from Portland, OR. I write epic fantasy and children’s science fiction.

Being that it’s early in my author career, things are very fluid. Therefore, my blog is going to be changing a little after this post.

Instead of exclusively answering the most interesting questions about various bestsellers, I’m going to focus this blog on my day to day author activities too. And possibly I’ll highlight other things in my life. Mostly, I’ll keep the blog writing related.

One part of that conversion will be accepting review requests. Over the last year, I’ve read a few indie published novels, and reviewed them on Amazon. However, in attempting to gather reviews for my own books, I’ve come to appreciate just how hard it can be, especially when starting out, to get those reviews.

So if you are an author, feel free to request a review of your novel. One thing I won’t be doing is creating a book blog. I leave that to those more skilled than I. But I like reading and would not mind helping some indie authors out with getting reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes&Noble, Bookbub, etc. If you’re not an author, just ignore that little plug. Instead, you could check out my books.

Now, I’ll get to my last MIQ blog post. This post covers Percy Jackson, Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, Mistborn, and Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy, among other works.

Q#1: If you could add anything to Camp Half-Blood, anything, rules, places, items, etc., what would you add?

A: Honestly, probably more interaction with the gods. I know it’s not in greek mythology for them to interact with their kids more, but I feel like they should do it, so many of the kids just get abandoned and not claimed. Or at least maybe there should be a movement from some of the campers or counselors to try and convince the gods to do that.

Q#2: Who would win in a fight, Katara or Amon?

A: Probably Amon. But it depends. As we know Katara can bloodbend on the full moon. Amon can blood bend any time he wants. So if it’s not the full moon, then Amon wins. But if it is, then they are both blood benders. Would one be stronger than the other? And though Amon has bloodbent more than Katara, Katara probably has just as much fighting experience as him, and there would be more to their fight than just bloodbending if their bloodbending cancelled each other out. So if it was a full moon, I could see Katara winning the fight.

Q #3: Which kind of Twinborn would you most prefer to be (Mistborn)?

A: Honestly I think it would be awesome to be able to fly, so I would like to be a Coinshot for one of my abilities. Then for the other one I would probably take the steel feruchemical ability, and be a Steelrunner too. That would strengthen my abilities too because they both use the same metal.

Q #4: Do I have to read the Mistborn trilogy to get Wax&Wayne?

A: I would say no. Brandon Sanderson repeats a lot of how the magic system and the world works in the beginning of his books. So if you hadn’t read Mistborn, you would still understand Wax&Wayne. However, that said, I believe you will appreciate Wax&Wayne a lot more if you read Mistborn first. Because there are a lot of things that carry over. It is kind of like cookies and milk. You can drink milk without cookies, and you can eat cookies without milk, but they taste better together.

Q #5: Which one is your favorite character in Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy?

A: In Book 1, I loved reading Grigori’s chapters, and I also loved reading about Ethel. In book 2, my favorites were probably Daisy and Lloyd. In book 3, I actually really came to appreciate Dimka and I would say Walli, but just at the beginning of the book. It’s hard to narrow it down even that far. But if I had to choose a favorite character overall, it would probably be Daisy. Just because her character changes so much, and in such a great way, and I really think she is probably the most well-written character in the entire series.

Q #6: Who is your favorite fictional dragon from books?

A: I love Sapphira from Eragon. Maybe I am biased because she is one of the first dragons I read about in a book, back in 6th grade. But she is really human at heart, she’s not just some wild creature or an all-knowing godlike creature, she interacts and converses in meaningful ways with the world, and has a magnetic personality. Aside from Sapphira, I also love Cuicao from my own books. She’s the dragon partner in Sand and Smoke. I guess it’s cheating to choose my own character, though.

The Six Most Interesting Questions I Missed

For each of my previous posts, I primarily answered questions from Quora.com. I’m getting daily requests for new questions to answer, and I haven’t been able to keep up with them all. So, for this blog post, I’m going to make it my goal to address some of those questions…the most interesting ones, that is.

Welcome! This post is part of my Most Interesting Questions series, which means I’ll be answering the most interesting questions I can find or think of. This time, I’m not covering a specific book, film, or TV show. Rather, I’m covering a bunch of them that I’ve covered before, and I’m answering questions that I missed. Some of the franchises I’ll be covering in this post include Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Divergent, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

By the way, if you’re wondering about who I am, I’m an author from Portland, OR. I write epic fantasy for young adults and I have dabbled in children’s science fiction.

Q #1: In Harry Potter, what do you think would happen if a young wizard couldn’t afford a wand?

A: They would probably be provided for. Remember how Harry got his wand? Olivander went about, trying each and every wand to see exactly which one was the best fit. There was no discussion of cost. For a wizard, a wand is so important that I don’t think cost would be taken into account, and Hogwarts wouldn’t have anyone attending who didn’t get the best wand for their needs, or at least have the opportunity to get the best wand for their needs.

Q #2: A lot of dystopian books have the world splitting up into factions (Divergent), districts (The Hunger Games), or something similar in the future. How likely is this to actually happen far in the future?

A: I would say there’s two parts to this question. First, we have to consider whether it’s likely that the world will be ruled by one government in the future. If there’s not a single ruling entity, the whole world could not be split up into factions/districts. Second, we have to consider whether it’s likely that this one government would create a system of factions/districts. I think that it’s not particularly likely that the world would be ruled by one government in the future, so I don’t think we can even get to the second part of this question. The reason being is that in all of history the world has never been ruled by one government. Powerful countries have risen, like Rome, but they always fall, and never conquer the whole world. Plus, there is much more communication throughout the world nowadays, and more of an effort to keep super-countries from forming. Imperialism has even largely died out. If anything, there will be more countries in the far future, as people venture into and colonize space. However, it could still be that perhaps these factions/districts will form in a single country, and not the rest of the world. If this happens, that single country would have to either be aware of other countries where the districts/factions did not exist, or else they would have to be living a life with technology way behind their time, since I do not think the other countries could be hidden from that world with the technology we have nowadays, there is simply too much communication. I would say that one country developing the faction/district system is a much more likely scenario than the world adopting it, since there is such a wide array of ways a country could be run, though I think it unlikely the country running themselves this way could keep the rest of the world a secret.

Q #3: What is the Avatar the Last Airbender Live action show going to be about?

A: As far as I’m aware, it’s just going to be a retelling of the animated show.

Q #4: Who would win in a fight Percy Jackson or Optimus Prime?

A: I think it depends on where they’re fighting. On land or in the sky, Optimus Prime wins. In or near the water so that Percy can force the fight to the sea, he’d win.

Q #5: What 3 unrelated books would make a weird but workable trilogy?

A: Fun question! I think my theme for answering this question will be riches-to-rags. So for the first book we have The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, because obviously Arthur Dent has to find a cool planet for the trilogy to take place on. Once he’s there, he’ll inevitably screw things up, and that’s how we get to Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. The second book takes place about 1000 years after the first, and Arthur Dent is probably The Chosen One talked about so much in that book. Finally, after Mistborn, book three would be Holes by Louis Sachar, since by this time I imagine that’s what the day-to-day life on this planet would be like.

Q #6: Why can only portraits in Harry Potter speak? Why not photographs?

A: Because of the way that wizarding magic works. I suspect there’s some sort of magic used to give portraits life, whereas with photographs that type of magic is not generally used. There are probably portraits that can’t speak, especially in muggle homes, it’s just that the ones we do see can speak. Photographs, likewise, I suspect could speak, if the witch or wizard who created them wanted them to, but the creator elects not to give them that power most of the time, so they don’t have the ability to speak. It all comes down to what magic is used.

Thanks for reading! Now I invite you to check out more MIQ posts below, or my book Sand and Smoke, which also is fantasy, like most of the franchises in this post, with lots of action and lovable characters. If you enjoyed reading Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, or watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, you’d probably enjoy it, because it has a similar feel to all of that stuff!

Six Most Interesting Questions about The Divergent Series

But in reality the choice has already been made for them, and the choice isn’t the choice of what faction to be in; it’s the choice of whether to accept a world in which everyone is divided into different factions.

Welcome! This post is part of my Most Interesting Questions series, which means I’ll be answering the most interesting questions I can find or think of on the Divergent trilogy. Divergent includes five different factions, and when each person turns old enough, they get tested to determine what faction they will live and work in. The Divergent characters are really awesome. The books were also made into a movie, with a stellar cast, though the movie was not as good as the books, in my opinion. Divergent 2 was titled Insurgent, and Divergent 3 was titled Allegiant. Now here are the most interesting questions.

DivergentBooks

Q #1: Which series should I read first: The Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson, The Maze Runner, or Divergent?

A: It depends on what you like to read and who you are! I myself have read all of them except for The Maze Runner and they were all great. I would recommend Percy Jackson to anyone who’s in middle-school or approaching middle-school. It is probably the most relatable and interesting for that age-range. On the other hand, I’d recommend The Lord of the Rings for older readers – anyone who loves complex worlds especially. If you’re in college or beyond, or an advanced reader in high school, and love fantasy that’d probably be the best read. If you like Game of Thrones it’s probably the most similar of any of these to that. Divergent is quite a bit different – I would probably recommend it to high school or college kids, and I would especially recommend it to anyone who loves romance – it has some pretty heavy romance in it, and would be great for any readers who enjoyed books like The Hunger Games or Twilight. For those who are in high school and aren’t as into romance, I would actually recommend my own book series, Sand and Smoke. It’s an epic fantasy with dragons in it, and light on the romance but heavy on the action.

Q #2: In Divergent, what is the point of an aptitude test if you choose your faction anyway?

A: This is up to interpretation I think, but here’s my interpretation. I think that the aptitude test is there to reinforce the idea of factions, and to reinforce factions as the right thing. By having everyone take an aptitude test, kids are basically being prepared for the fact that they fit in better with some people and in some places than in other places and with other people. The aptitude test is one of the first ways in which people are divided and separate and put into different buckets. It starts the narrowing down, and then I think that the choice is given about what faction to be in as a way for the people in control to trick those choosing their factions into thinking they are making the choice. But in reality the choice has already been made for them, and the choice isn’t the choice of what faction to be in; it’s the choice of whether to accept a world in which everyone is divided into different factions.

Q #3: What would the Dauntless faction think of space travel?

A: The Dauntless would love space travel! As the most adventurous and daring of the factions, I think they’d probably be the ones to be astronauts, or go up in space first, even though the technology would have to be something that Erudite developed. I think that if space travel did progress to the point where things were like Star Trek in the Divergent universe, then the Dauntless would probably be the dominant faction due to their bravery and willingness to venture into the unknown and make discoveries.

Q #4: Why do authors of novels like The Hunger Games and Divergent prefer not to spend time and effort on detailed world-building?

A: I know it may seem like they don’t, but I would argue they do. As a writer myself, I know there is a lot of preparation and work that is done before even putting pen to paper. One thing to keep in mind is that Veronica Roth and Suzanne Collins likely chose not to include every single detail about their worlds because it would be too much, slow down the story, and not make for as interesting as a narrative. Part of being a writer is to know how much worldbuilding to show in your story and how much to withhold. One thing that is often used is the metaphor of an iceberg. Icebergs are huge, but we only see the small portion that is above the water when we encounter them. Worldbuilding is like that too. The best stories show you only a small portion of the world, while promising that there is a whole lot more underneath the surface waiting to be seen later.

Q #5: If Tris and Four from Divergent went to Hogwarts, what house would they be in?

A: I think they’d be in Gryffindor! The reason why is because they are brave, but they are not cruel, like some of the Dauntless. I think that all Dauntless would probably be in either Gryffindor or Slytherin. The Erudites on the other hand could be in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, the Candor in either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, and Amity I would say are probably usually in Hufflepuff while the Abnegation are probably either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.

Q #6: Something similar to Divergent?

A: The most similar thing I can think of is The Hunger Games! They both came out around the same time too. I would say that Twilight could be something that most readers of Divergent might enjoy also. Another lesser known series I would suggest is called The Guardians of Time by Marianne Curley. It isn’t a dystopian story, but it does deliver a similarly heavy dose of romance. Here’s a link to the Amazon page for the first book: The Named.

Thanks for reading! Now I invite you to check out more MIQ posts below, or my book Sand and Smoke, which though it doesn’t have much romance, is a great read for young adults.

Ten Most Interesting Questions about Percy Jackson

Percy is like the weird kid who nobody pays attention to in school, then he goes off to camp half-blood and suddenly everyone pays attention to him because now he knows who he is.

Welcome! This post is part of my Most Interesting Questions series, which means I’ll be answering the most interesting questions I can find or think of on Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson is a series about greek demigods in modern times. The main Percy Jackson characters include Percy, Annabelle Chase, Grover, and they also have quite a few school mates at Camp Half-Blood. The series was made into a movie, though I think most would agree that the Percy Jackson books are much better. This post will mostly cover the first three books in the Percy Jackson book series, pictured below.

By the way, if you’re wondering about who I am, I’m an author from Portland, OR. Many of my books would also be great reads for any fan of Percy Jackson, feel free to check them out using the menu above!

Q #1: Could Percy Jackson win a fight against any of the Avengers?

A: He might be able to hold his own against some of the weaker Avengers. Against the likes of Iron Man and Captain America he’d definitely be toast. One weakness to consider is the fact that his sword, Anaklusmos, can only affect gods, demigods, Titans, giants, and monsters. Since most of the Avengers are humans with superhuman capabilities, the sword wouldn’t work on them. Would the Hulk be considered a monster though? If Thor is a god or even a demigod then it would work on him. Percy does also have the benefit of being able to control water, but the Avengers have all faced worse than that. Percy is much younger than any of the Avengers, which means that he would not be as physically strong as them. If he let any of them get up close, he’d most certainly be toast.

Q #2) What would Percy Jackson be like if the series was written by George R.R. Martin?

A: Percy Jackson would probably die at the end of the first book. Luke would have succeeded in killing him, and book number two would be about Annabeth rising to fill Percy’s shoes. By the end of the first trilogy Grover would be in charge of camp half-blood, Clarisse would be recruiting an army to help Ares take over control of Mount Olympus from Zeus, and Kronos would have taken over the underworld and killed Hades.

Q #3) Is there going to be another Percy Jackson?

A: It depends what is meant by another Percy Jackson. I think there could be another book. At some point in the future I think it likely will be another attempt at a movie, or maybe a TV show, given the popularity of the series.

On the other hand, there likely will be and already are other characters and series like Percy Jackson. They’re not exactly the same, but Percy Jackson is a very inspirational series.

Q #4) Could Percy Jackson get his sword pen through airport security?

A: I’d say definitely yes! The sword is magic, and airport security isn’t equipped to deal with magic. It can transform into a pen, so it’d look relatively harmless when passing through. And, I suspect, the government shutdown would make this even easier for Percy.

Q #5) Who would win in a fight between Green Arrow and Percy Jackson?

A: Green Arrow. And it’s not even close. He’s an ordinary human, which means Percy couldn’t harm him with Anaklusmos. Percy’s only option would be to fight him at a distance, but unless there was a huge body of water nearby, Green Arrow has the agility and training to easily avoid any water Percy might attack with. Plus, Green Arrow has a whole assortment of arrows. He’d easily win against Percy Jackson, even at a distance.

Q #6) Why does Percy Jackson suck?

A: This is a great question to answer now, since we’ve now established that Percy would lose in a fight against Green Arrow, and likely lose in a fight against most of the Avengers. Percy Jackson would suck going head-to-head against superheroes, because that’s what they do all day is fight. Their bodies and their skills are superior. Percy, however, is incredibly bright. What sucks about him is his raw power, but what rocks is his intellect.

Q #7) How attractive is Percy Jackson?

A: I’d say he grows more attractive as the series goes on. Percy is like the weird kid who nobody pays attention to in school, then he goes off to camp half-blood and suddenly everyone pays attention to him because now he knows who he is.

Q #8) What if Percy Jackson died?

A: It depends when he died. At the very best, Annabeth would be horrified, but the world would go on. At the very worst, the gods would start a war and America would crumble.

Q #9) If the gods go to Hogwarts, which house would they be in (the gods in Percy Jackson)?

A: Zeus and Poseidon would be in Gryffindor. Hades and Ares would be in Slytherin. Athena would be in Ravenclaw. Hermes would be in Hufflepuff. I think Dionysus would be in Gryffindor, but he’s a harder one to pin down. Artemis would probably be a Ravenclaw like Athena, and I think Apollo would be a Hufflepuff like Hermes.

Q #10) Who would win in a fight, Percy Jackson or Katara?

A: Two water-benders facing off against each-other! This is most certainly the closest matched two people we’ve examined in a fight so far. Like against the others, Percy would not be able to use Anaklusmos against Katara, but she doesn’t usually have a weapon either, so this would just put them on even more equal footing. Percy’s advantage, however, comes from the fact that water heals him, without him having to do anything. Just being in water heals Percy, whereas Katara has to actively water-bend in order to heal herself. Even if Katara did use water-bending against Percy, it couldn’t harm him, because water heals Percy. Katara would not be similarly advantaged, so I give this win to Percy.

Thanks for reading! Now I invite you to check out more MIQ posts below, or my book Sand and Smoke, which also is fantasy, with lots of action and lovable characters, and draws inspiration from Percy Jackson in one way…but I can’t tell you how, because that would spoil the book.