Side note #1: I was stupid and didn't wear sunscreen that day, and ended up with a rare sunburn. It takes a lot of sun exposure, but I DO eventually burn if I'm out in it long enough...
Side note #2: I actually blacked out on the Texas Giant roller coaster -- one of those "check out the crazy g-forces on this thing!" rides. That initial drop is CRAZY, and for about two seconds, everything went black. And then it all came back, and I was like, "Best. Ride. Ever."
The drive from Austin to Dallas is about three and a half hours, and at this time, Rick and I had only known each other for about a month -- most of our interaction had been through the mail (snail mail -- actual handwritten LETTERS -- can you imagine?? I'm old...) -- so I was still in the "super quiet around people I don't know very well" stage. Fortunately, Rick can be quite talkative when he has to be, and managed to command the conversation.
I don't remember much of what was said during that drive, but I do have one memory: Rick was talking about a book series written by Raymond Feist that he loved, and he meticulously recalled characters and plot points as we sped north on I-35. I was trying very hard to pay close attention and retain all the details, as people do when they're first dating and attempting to make a good impression, but at some point I got rather lost. But I knew it had something to do with magicians, and elves, and dwarfs, and a whole bunch of Lord of the Rings-type stuff...
Over the last twenty years, Rick has, occasionally, attempted to coerce me into reading this book series. Or at least reading the first book in the series -- aptly named Magician.
But I, being a fan mostly of the realistic fiction genre, was hesitant to delve into a weird fantasy world filled with make-believe countries and creatures. I mean, sure, I read the Lord of the Rings series when I was in sixth grade... and I remember liking them enough at the time. And I read each Harry Potter book in about a day and a half -- and those certainly set realism aside...
So about ten years ago, I actually DID start reading Magician, in some sort of "I'll read Magician, you read Harry Potter" type deal. Rick got through the first four Harry Potter books quite quickly (but, strangely, he never did finish the series). I only got through the first three chapters of Magician. It just didn't draw me in, so I stopped reading it...
But even after this attempt, Rick didn't give up. Every year or so, he would bring up "The Book" and try to convince me to give it another try. He even gave a copy to our friend Nick and convinced HIM to read it, and when Nick proclaimed it to be a good book, Rick reminded me that Nick and I have similar taste in literature. "When are you going to read my book?" became an ongoing question at our house.
So finally, a couple months ago, I decided I would make a second attempt to muddle my way through Magician. Or at least get to chapter four. Rick downloaded it to my Kindle, I sighed a big sigh, and I sat down to read the 500-plus pages of text.
I'm now eighteen chapters into the book. And the verdict?
It's good.
It's really good.
DARN IT.
Rick was right about this stupid book. And I'm a big enough person to come here to my blog and say it for all the world to see -- Rick was right. And seeing as there are about a million books in this series, I probably should've just started reading them way back on that day we went to Six Flags.
Because now I have a lot of catching up to do...
