berkian | three axes. voice.

three axes. voice.

[ Oh, looks like Astrid has something to say again - albeit not related to the draft, which she's obviously not on. No, this entry is brought to Luceti by her new attempt to read. Not that she's against reading - she read what little Berk had to offer, back home - but it is not her main hobby or even in the top ten.

But she's trying! Which is...something, anyway. ]

Hey. So, I assume some of the books in the library are from other worlds. I mean - I know they are, but I assume they're from the worlds of people here?

So I thought I might ask if anyone has recommendations. Preferably for something with action. But I'll try anything, I guess. That would make it a lot easier than just picking things at random based on title. ...Which is the worst way to choose a book, apparently. Or my luck is just bad today.

[ And if she sounds mildly uncomfortable asking for book recommendations, it's just because she's asking for book recommendations and that's entirely new and weird. ]

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-- you think the library has comics?

[ Guess who has never set foot inside it, Astrid. ]

[Moiraine is still far, far more comfortable writing than anything else, so Astrid can expect a reply in legible but flowing script]

I saw a copy of the Travels of Jain Farstrider in the library, a book of adventures from my world. Perhaps that might be of interest to you?

...I'm not sure. What's a comic?

[ Guess who is unfamiliar with your comic shenanigans, Neku. ]

[ Make her feel self-conscious about her own practical handwriting, why don't you! Okay, she doesn't feel that way, but she does raise her eyebrows. Impressive! ]

Jain Farstrider? What was he like? And it sounds interesting. Travels are definitely of interest to me, I mean.

[ She is jotting down that title to go find after she finishes sorting through recommendations. ]

He was a wander of some notoriety in the Borderlands to the north of my world. I have not met him personally, but I'm told that he disappeared several years ago attempting to reach Shara, a land far to the east.

[Moiraine's glad to provide something of interest, at least.]

In the tales, at least, he seems like quite a free spirit, with a quick wit and a good head on his shoulders.

What were the Borderlands like? Dangerous?

[ They sound dangerous. And she obviously likes that, or at least she seems to, from the quick written reply. ]

Explorers often meet that sort of fate. And he likely knew that was a possibility...I really think this sounds like a book I'll actually like, thank you.

[ She may or may not have pulled out every book with "war" or "dragon" in the title, with a lot of misses. ]

[Moiraine definitely notes that, her lips curling into a smile. Clearly, she's hit on a topic of interest]

They are a cold place, hard, and subject to frequent raids from the Blight by Shadowspawn. Not a place for the weak, no.

And you're quite welcome. I hope you enjoy it.

What type of action are you looking for exactly? Lots of fighting or is general adventure fine as well? There are some books that are heavier on the adventure than on fighting, after all.

Fighting is preferred, but general adventure is also acceptable. I like exploration stories? Brave new worlds, and all that.

[ Viking nature, maybe. ]

What are Blight and Shadowspawn? Or does the book detail those?

[ Obviously enemies of some sort, but... ]

I think a good classic would be "Treasure Island" then, pirates, ships, hidden treasures and betrayals all around. "Gulliver's Travels" is a good one as well, very fictional though.

And... If you feel adventurous and want to give a try to books that are a bit different from what you asked, any novel by Natsume Soseki would be good. I've seen two of his works, Kokoro and Sanshiro at the library. Don't expect fighting in those thought, the exploration they do is more... Spiritual than physical. But they are still good.

I like pirates. I mean - I don't like pirates, but I like ships. And ship battles? And I don't mind about the fictional.

[ Yoh, she is the exact opposite of spiritual. ...But she'll write those down, too. Although he'll also get a skeptical question. ] How do you do spiritual exploration?

You could try the Princess Bride.

[She's not much one for fiction in general but that story will always be special for her]

I don't remember if there are ship battles but, yes there are lots of ships in Treasure Island.

[He laughs.]

Well, it's hard to explain, but... You could say that spiritual exploration is about self-discovery? The struggle between what you are, what society expects and wants you to be... If you live in a small village the expectations are different than if you live in the city, for example. It's basically about... Finding yourself. The "you" that you're satisfied with that makes you feel happy with your decisions and without regrets.

For example... Your dad could want you to dedicate your live to do something, and actually the place you live in, its society could want the same thing. But that doesn't make you happy, yet defying your father's wishes and the expectations of your village or city isn't something easy. It may make you feel as if you're doing something wrong... Those books are about that more or less, about how one comes to terms with that dilemma. I think it's something everyone really goes through sooner or later, but... I don't think books like that are for everyone, so I can't blame you if you think they aren't worth your time.

Well, I doubt you'd be interested in the things from home that I usually look at [Being an ancient language even most scholars have a damn hard time with.] I know a few good books that're around there! Treasure Island for one is a great one. Recommended to me by someone I know. Oh, and if you like things with ruins, traps, and treasure hunting, then I suggest reading, uhh...hold on...

[Norma goes to collect the book in question, some shuffling and footsteps heard over the journal.] Indiana Jones! There's a series of these and they're pretty good.

The Blight is a region of twisted land surrounding Shayol Ghul, the Dark One's stronghold. Shadowspawn are monsters, twisted abominations that serve the Shadow, unholy artificial creations.

Treasure Island is a good adventure story. It's about pirates and treasure--Oh! And if the Library has a copy of Grimm's fairy tales, I'd definitely recommend that one. Not...not all the stories in it are all that action packed, mind, but there are quite a few that are.

[ Neither of those words - Princess or Bride - exactly interests her. Ack. Still... ]

What's it about?

What do you usually look at from home? [ Norma is probably 100% right, though.

The second part interests her immediately, though. ] Ah, someone else suggested Treasure Island, too. And the ruins, traps, and treasure hunting part? Sounds like exactly what I'm looking for.

[ Although what kind of name is Indiana Jones? ] But thanks! I appreciate it.

[ Wow, this Treasure Island book has to be good - that's three votes of confidence and counting.

...Astrid duly moves it to the top of her to-read list. She is actually getting reasonably excited about this book. ]

Grimm's fairy tales? What are those about?

[ That...actually sounds super interesting and she's trying to figure out how nosy she can or can't be here. ]

The Dark One? Is he like a dark god or an evil magician or? [ TELL HER MORE. ]

[ ...Oh. That is honestly what she almost says: "Oh." Because...that sounds boring and sort of too spiritual and philosophical for a viking who spends most of her time focusing on swinging an axe around or training with her dragon, although Astrid does briefly consider the fact that this sounds like something Hiccup would probably like. Yoh is just giving the recommendation to the wrong Berkian.

...But.

He did take the time to try to recommend books for her, and to tell he what they were about, so...

...she should probably read them? Like, that would be the polite thing to do? Not that being polite was her top concern (or even in the top ten concerns she had) but...well, she had asked, and nothing was lost from trying but time. ]

...I'll give it a shot. It doesn't sound like what I was looking for, but you never know until you give it a go, right?

[ Once upon a time she would have said no off the bat, but then dragons became their allies because Hiccup had done something no one else ever had, outside of his comfort zone.

She...could at least read a book, if he could do that. ]

[A small chuckle.]

That's true. It never hurts to give new things a try, even if they don't work out you can say that at least you tried it.

I'm sorry I can't give you better recommendations, I'm not much of the reading type in general. My friend Manta would have probably been able to give you a wider and more accurate list.

[ Flora takes a moment to think just how to explain the Brothers Grimm. It was a really, really strange assortment of tales, no matter how you looked at it... ]

Well, it's a collection of short stories! They're all different from one another, really, so I'd like to think there's a story there for everyone. Though, a good portion of them are very, ah...gruesome in one way or another. With wolf and dragon slaying and the like.

It's about fighting, torture, revenge, monsters, escapes, true love, miracles...

[She smiles]

You should give it a try.

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