An excerpt from a book I'm reading:

[Transient]

From a fantasy novel set in a medieval time frame:

From on high, Cattie-brie saw the torch, and with its light, she also saw the large sacks that Harkle had inquired about. She instinctively aimed for the torchbearer, thinking to slow the smokepowder crew, but then took a chance and agreed with Harkle, shifting her aim slightly and letting fly, straight for the pile of sacks on the pirate's decking.

Her [flaming] arrow streaked in the instant before the man put the torch to the cannon, as the Sea Sprite was running practically parallel to the pirate ship. It was just an instant, but in that time, the torchbearer was foiled, was blown into the air as the streaking arrow sliced into the sacks of volatile smokepowder.

The pirate ship nearly stood straight up on end. The fireball was beyond anything Harkle, or even Robillard, had ever seen, and the sheer concussion and flying debris nearly cleaned the Sea Sprite's deck of standing crewmen, and tore many holes in the schooner's lateen sails.

The Sea Sprite lurched wildly, left and right, before Duedermont could regain his senses and steady the wheel. But she plowed on, leaving the trap behind.

"By the gods," Cattie-brie muttered, truly horrified, for where the pirate square-rigger had been, there was now only flotsam and jetsam, splinters, charred wood, and floating bodies.

Drizzt, too, was stunned. Looking on the carnage, he thought he was previewing the end of the world. He had never seen such devastation, such complete carnage, not even from a powerful wizard. Enough smokepowder could flatten a mountain, or a city. Enough smokepowder could flatten all the world.

"Smokepowder?" he said to Harkle.
"From the Gondish priests," the wizard replied.
"Damn them all," muttered Drizzt, and he walked away.

[Transient]

This passage was from a book called Passage to Dawn by R.A. Salvatore, and is part of the Legacy of the Drow quintology, which is in turn part of the larger Dark Elf series (spanning some 17-odd books thus far).

I would say this is Salvatore's personal critique of society/current events disguised as part of a dramatic action scene in this book. Which is a very good book, I might add. :icon14:

[Transient]

This is Drizzt, BTW:

[werldhed]

Lots of penises on that cover.

[werldhed]

btw, excerpt from the paper I'm reading:

Addition of exogenous NRG increased the amounts of CDK4 and cyclin D1 associated with p21 in MCF7 and MCF7-ErbB2 cells but had no effect on the association of p21 with these molecules in MCF7-NRGα2c cells. p21-associated CDK4 activity was up-regulated in MCF7 and MCF7-ErbB2 cells treated with NRG with respect to untreated cells but was only slightly increased in MCF7-NRGα2c cells (Fig. 4B). Interestingly, the resting level of p21-associated CDK4 activity in MCF7-NRGα2c cells was higher than that present in MCF7 or MCF7-ErbB2 cells. In contrast, p27-associated CDK4 activity was significantly decreased in MCF7 and MCF7-ErbB2 cells treated with NRG, whereas it did not substantially change in MCF7-NRGα2c cells (Fig. 4C). In the latter, the resting level of p27-associated CDK4 was analogous to the values found in MCF7 and MCF7-ErbB2 cells treated with NRG.

[werldhed]

This is Fig. 4, btw:
[lvlshot]http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org.floyd.lib.umn.edu/content/vol65/issue15/images/medium/04-4023f04g.gif[/lvlshot]

[Transient]

You mock me!

*raises fist in defiance*

[werldhed]

:icon30:

Nah, I just wish I was reading your book instead. This crap sucks.

I've heard the Dark Elf books are good. I never got around to reading them, though.

[Transient]

If you're interested enough to buy the books, I can hook you up with a complete chronological list of the series from amazon.com.

[ForM]

Last read:

The SIlent Blade

currently reading:

The Spine of the World.

Next up:

Servant of the Shard

[phantasmagoria]

i'm reading And Eternity, the last in Pier's Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series,

next i plan to read The Magus by John Fowles

[Transient]

Last read:

The SIlent Blade

currently reading:

The Spine of the World.

Next up:

Servant of the Shard

You can actually skip Servant of the Shard if you want. It deals with separate characters aside from the main party. Artemis Entreri, to be precise, and Salvatore's got a trilogy going now that Servant is considered the first book for.

The Sellswords Trilogy:
Servant of the Shard
Promise of the Witch King (out in paperback in September)
Road of the Patriarch (out in hardcover in October)

[ForM]

Nope not gonna skip, I enjoy every line I read, even if its dull and boreing.

Reading is good. Not reading is bad.

[Transient]

It's not dull and boring; it's an awesome book. I jsut meant you should put it off and read it together with the other 2 Sellswords books when they're available in paperback. :icon14:

[Transient]

“All my life, I have been searching for a home,” the drow said quietly. “All my life, I have been wanting more that that which was offered to me, more than Menzoberranzan, more than friends who stood beside me out of personal gain. I always thought home to be a place, and indeed it is, but not in any physical sense. It is a place in here,” Drizzt said, putting a hand to his heart and turning back to look upon his companions. “It is a feeling given by true friends.

“I know this now, and know that I am home.”
“But ye’re off to Carradoon,” Cattie-brie said softly.
“And so’re we!” Bruenor bellowed.

Drizzt smiled at them and laughed aloud. “If circumstances will not allow me to remain at home,” the ranger said firmly, “then I will simply take my home with me!”