So yesterday my boyfriend and I went to go see the final Hobbit movie. Aside from the row of guys in front of us with a running commentary, I really enjoyed the movie. I know a lot of people complain about it, but I believe that the good outweigh the bad.
One of the biggest complaints I've heard (aside from it being split into three movies), is that it's comical. This is true, I suppose. But the movie is based of a kid's book. The book is comical and childish. Of course, parents these days would say that it's way too graphic for kids, but that's because most parents these days are paranoid idiots that think that any little bit of violence will turn their child into a monster. Furthermore, there is very little violence in the book, not until the spider scene. Even then, the actual battle of the five armies is condensed to a few pages, with very little details except for scenes that are actually away from the battle.
I can see why anyone who has not read the book will think that the movie is comical, especially when compared to The Lord of the Rings movies. But keep in mind that the Lord of the Rings books were written for adults, along with just about all his other work. The Hobbit was meant for kids. But of course, who knew that, right? Most people must have been expecting something more along the lines of Lord of the Rings. And, about it might not seem like it, Peter Jackson gave them so much more than the book does.
First off, There is no Legolas and Tauriel in the book. Their little story wasn't needed in the movie. It was to add a bit of romance, and nothing else. Tolkien had not a bit of romance in The Hobbit, and I actually preferred it that way. I guess Jackson was trying to bring in a greater audience, such as girlfriends and females that would not normally see the movies.
Then there is the whole scene near the end of the movie with Fili, Kili and Thorin. This was perhaps my favorite scene, because it's only briefly skimmed over in the book. (Major spoilers ahead) As I said, in the book the final battle is very short. There's barely any details, and what there is isn't violent. In the movie, Jackson went into detail about the death of Fili and Kili, and how Thorin killed the Orc leader (who's name is slipping my mind right now), then died too. I think this was brilliantly done.
When people complain about it the comedic relief. That is, the three Ogres in the first movie, the barrel escape in the second movie, and Dain and his dwarf army in the third movie. All these are in the book though, and are very important scenes that Jackson could not cut out, and could never be forgiven if he changed them into something more serious. These scenes defined the book as a children's novel, and although the movie is not meant for kids, you cannot just cut out such important scenes.
So I would give the movie a 4/5, I suppose. I still love Lord of the Rings the best, but the Hobbit has more action and more comic relief, which I love. I can look forward to having a Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie marathon soon!
Read it Before you Steal it!
This work by Afyvarra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Friday, 19 December 2014
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Five Things (Almost) Every Fantasy Novel Has
Sorry for the lack of posts this week, it's been another long week at work. Finals are in progress, so a couple co-workers took the week off. But that's okay, most money for me! At least everyone else is eager for hours, so we're not too desperate.
Anyway, I've been reading the Inheritance Series (Eragon, Eldest... ect.) and I've come to notice a few things that a bunch of fantasy novels seem to share. And I'm not talking about the races of creatures, like elves and dwarves, as those are uniform and not expected to change. I mean small details.
1) If there is a blacksmith, he's a good guy. The more muscles, the better.
2) If there is a large mountain range, they have to have the word Mist in them. Like the Misty Mountains, or the Mountains of Mist.
3) If it starts off with an average person living in a small village tucked into the middle of nowhere, that person is the savior of the world, and that village is actually the ancient site of a once grand and very important city, which almost everyone just conveniently forgot about.
4) A character is going to get married? Better do it before that hoard of monsters come knocking at your door. (which happens to be a small village tucked into the middle of nowhere)
5) If a character needs to know something, they will not only learn it within a month, they will be a master of it, because it's 'just in them'.
Most of these examples stem from three series; Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, and Inheritance. I'm guessing that Robert Jordan and Christopher Paolini both read Tolkien, and took a lot of examples from him. Not to say that they're bad books (Wheel of Time is still very far up on my favorite books list), but they do tend to follow a predictable path on these five points.
Anyway, I've been reading the Inheritance Series (Eragon, Eldest... ect.) and I've come to notice a few things that a bunch of fantasy novels seem to share. And I'm not talking about the races of creatures, like elves and dwarves, as those are uniform and not expected to change. I mean small details.
1) If there is a blacksmith, he's a good guy. The more muscles, the better.
2) If there is a large mountain range, they have to have the word Mist in them. Like the Misty Mountains, or the Mountains of Mist.
3) If it starts off with an average person living in a small village tucked into the middle of nowhere, that person is the savior of the world, and that village is actually the ancient site of a once grand and very important city, which almost everyone just conveniently forgot about.
4) A character is going to get married? Better do it before that hoard of monsters come knocking at your door. (which happens to be a small village tucked into the middle of nowhere)
5) If a character needs to know something, they will not only learn it within a month, they will be a master of it, because it's 'just in them'.
Most of these examples stem from three series; Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, and Inheritance. I'm guessing that Robert Jordan and Christopher Paolini both read Tolkien, and took a lot of examples from him. Not to say that they're bad books (Wheel of Time is still very far up on my favorite books list), but they do tend to follow a predictable path on these five points.
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Warbreaker Review
It's been a while since I've done a review. Not because I haven't been reading, but just because I've been lazy. You really shouldn't expect much else from me...
But I recently finished a really good book, by none other than Brandon Sanderson. It's a stand alone book called Warbreaker
The magic system in this book revolves around something called Breaths. Every human is born with one, and it's basically their soul. People can live without one, but it makes the world dull and drab for them. In fact, those that have given their Breath away are called Drabs. People can collect Breaths, and use them to animate objects made from organic materials, such as twigs, grass, clothing, even corpses and bones.
As I've come to expect from Sanderson, the book is full of plot twists and unexpected surprises. You'll start to think you understand what will happen, or think you can trust one of the characters, then Bam! Everything changes. It really keeps you hooked on the book.
I hope he writes more in this world, though I expect that he's going to keep this as a stand alone novel. However, many of his books are connected, either by the same world or with characters. I feel like he's planning just one massive world, or somehow he's going to connect nearly every book he's written. He's already started to do this by having one character make a cameo in several of his books. I would be surprised if he didn't do something with this.
So in the end, I would definitely suggest Warbreaker for anyone who likes a thrilling book, that'll keep you thinking and constantly guessing about what will happen next.
But I recently finished a really good book, by none other than Brandon Sanderson. It's a stand alone book called Warbreaker
The magic system in this book revolves around something called Breaths. Every human is born with one, and it's basically their soul. People can live without one, but it makes the world dull and drab for them. In fact, those that have given their Breath away are called Drabs. People can collect Breaths, and use them to animate objects made from organic materials, such as twigs, grass, clothing, even corpses and bones.
As I've come to expect from Sanderson, the book is full of plot twists and unexpected surprises. You'll start to think you understand what will happen, or think you can trust one of the characters, then Bam! Everything changes. It really keeps you hooked on the book.
I hope he writes more in this world, though I expect that he's going to keep this as a stand alone novel. However, many of his books are connected, either by the same world or with characters. I feel like he's planning just one massive world, or somehow he's going to connect nearly every book he's written. He's already started to do this by having one character make a cameo in several of his books. I would be surprised if he didn't do something with this.
So in the end, I would definitely suggest Warbreaker for anyone who likes a thrilling book, that'll keep you thinking and constantly guessing about what will happen next.
Thursday, 2 October 2014
The Silmarillion review
It's been a while since I've done a review, and that's most;y because I've been slogging through The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. I absolutely love The Lord of the Rings movies and the Hobbit, both the movies and the book, so I decided to give more of Tolkien's work a shot. I've already read the Fellowship of the Ring and got halfway through The Two Towers, but gave up when it got to the Frodo and Sam part. I've grown up quite a bit since then, so I figured I would be mature enough to read The Silmarillion.
Well, I wasn't wrong. It just took me a few weeks to read it. It's only 366 pages long. There's nothing actually wrong with it, and I was interested, but there was just so much going on. The whole book encompasses thousands of years, and at least two remakings of the world. There are so many people and names and places and events that I'm not really sure what happened. I could probably remember the more important things, but most of it has just been mixed together.
But of course, that's Tolkien. I remember The Lord of the Rings books being the same, and that's another reason why I stopped reading them. I always thought it was because I was so used to the movies that the books were just too different. But I think it's honestly just too much going on.
I might try to finish reading The Lord of the Rings later, especially now that a lot of events, at least from the movies, has been cleared up from The Silmarillion.
Well, I wasn't wrong. It just took me a few weeks to read it. It's only 366 pages long. There's nothing actually wrong with it, and I was interested, but there was just so much going on. The whole book encompasses thousands of years, and at least two remakings of the world. There are so many people and names and places and events that I'm not really sure what happened. I could probably remember the more important things, but most of it has just been mixed together.
But of course, that's Tolkien. I remember The Lord of the Rings books being the same, and that's another reason why I stopped reading them. I always thought it was because I was so used to the movies that the books were just too different. But I think it's honestly just too much going on.
I might try to finish reading The Lord of the Rings later, especially now that a lot of events, at least from the movies, has been cleared up from The Silmarillion.
Thursday, 7 August 2014
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar children review
I just finished reading another fantastic book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. From now on, I'll just called it Peculiar Children, because the whole title is a mouthful.
This is a book that I saw once and found it interesting, but didn't buy. My friend happened to have it though, and offered to lend it to me when she was done. Thinking it would just be a quick read and a nice break from the large books I normally read, I happily accepted.
I went into it thinking it would be a young adult novel, aimed more toward children than actual young adults. After only a few chapters though, I realized this wasn't the case, as an child reading this would have nightmares. You see, this is a picture book. Each picture relates to the story, and many of them are of peculiar children. This means, quite often the pictures are creepy. The very first one you see inside the book is of a face behind a small flame. That's like opening your eyes at night and seeing nothing but darkness and a pair of eyes staring at you. Despite these pictures, the writing style is still aimed more toward a younger reader. Not that that's bad, of course. It's beautifully written, with the details being fleshed out and vivid, but not to the point of being boring. However, this also means the monsters in the story are very vivid too.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
The moment the grandpa died is when I realized that this book is much darker than I thought. It's one thing to kill off a character, but another to describe it so clearly. This is seen again near the end with another corpse.
So no, not a children's book at all, unless the child is mature enough to no longer be afraid of the dark, or see monsters in the shadows. Peculiar Children was, as I expected, a fast read, but after that it blew all my expectations. It's no wonder I'm suddenly seeing the book being sold everywhere. I would definitely recommend it to any of my friends.
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Mirror Sight review
A long time ago I did a review on the Green Rider series, prior to reading the fourth book, Blackveil. Now I've just finished reading the fifth book, Mirror Sight, and I'm very excited to review it.
If you've read the previous review, you'll know that Kristen Britain is not my favorite author when it comes to prose and her actual writing. I love her because of her plots. This most recent book, however, was significantly better. There still are parts where I was mentally correcting and editing her work, but I tend to do that with most books.
And again, like in her previous books, the plot was the significant factor. She definitely upped her game in this recent book too, just as she did her writing. There is rarely a down moment, keeping her readers hooked until the very last page. Although I always believed these books were meant for young adults (ages 13 and older), I can see that it's progressed more into an adult fantasy. Not to say it's anywhere near in graphic sex scenes as George R. R. Martin, but it does include more romance than the average book I read.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
And on the topic of Martin, this book is a close contender when it comes to character deaths. I don't think it's even possible to have as many as Martin, but it's the few that just want to make you cry. I'm not an emotional person. I'm normally happy when an author takes a different path and kills off nearly all the characters, or the main character. However, with every death in this book my heart dropped. Britain did a great job at connecting the reader to the characters, even if they were just a small element.
This book was full of surprises for me, but by far the biggest one was just finding it. Normally Britain takes forever to come out with new books, but either I wasn't paying attention to the time passing, or this one came out much sooner than I expected. I suppose she's getting more serious about writing now.
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Wickedly Good
Damn it, I did it again. To be fair, I don't even think I turned my laptop on yesterday, and today has been busy. I'm only just getting around to the blog now.
Anyway, I promised a post about Wicked, didn't I?
All I can say, is that it was amazing. Even my dad was raving about it, and he doesn't generally care for musicals. Of course, we were sitting all the way up in the nose bleeds, but it was still great. When more than four people sang together, it was hard to understand the lyrics. I'm not sure if that was just where we were sitting, or if it was the sound system. Maybe the signers were just out of sync. It's hard to say. Luckily, when it's only a few people, it was a lot easier to hear, and it was great. I'm not much for musicals either, but I enjoyed at least half the songs.
The main reason why I wanted to see the play was because I had read, and loved, the book it was based on. Now of course, since it was a live production, not everything followed the book. However, it did follow it better than most movies follow their books. It was severely downplayed on the violence and romance parts to make it family friendly, but that was okay. Those parts from the book I wasn't much interested in watching anyway.
Now, this list will include spoilers, as I'm going to point out the differences. (what I can remember, at least)
Book- Nessarose was born without arms, and therefore could not balance enough to walk
Play- Nessarose was born without the use of her legs
Book- Elphie and Nessarose have a younger brother, named Shell. He isn't too important, as far as I can remember
Play- Their mother dies giving birth to Nessarose, and therefore there is no son
Book- Elphie goes to school before Nessarose and proves herself as a very smart, capable and head strong young woman. Nessarose arrives later, and becomes the darling of the school
Play- Elphie accompanies Nessarose to the school to take care of her. It's implied that she would never have gone to school had it not been for her sister
Book- Fyrio (probably spelled wrong), is a Winky (also might be wrong), so as far as I remember, he had blue skin and diamond tattoos... or something like that
Play- Fyrio is a dashing young man that looks perfect human
Book- After something happens (I can't remember what), Elphie runs away from the school. She later goes back to see Mrs. Morrible, and finds her dead on the floor, beaten to death with a blunt object. She is found here and is accused of murder. It's later found out that it was actually Galinda that did this
Play- Elphie is tricked into giving wings to the monkeys, and after refusing to aid the Wizard, she is blamed for this mutilation and labelled as Wicked. At the very end, Galina has Mrs. Morrible arrested
Book- There is a large time lapse between when Elphie and Fyrio run away together, and when Elphie is found living in an abandoned castle. There is another time lapse between Fyrio leaving her, and her moving into said castle
Play- No time lapse. A day or two at most
Book- When she sees Dorthy coming for her, she also sees the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow. She scares the lion, rips the scare crow apart, and I can't remember about the Tin Man. She does not try to kill them
Play- Dorthy is accompanied by the Tin Man and the Lion
Book- At some point, Elphie has a son
Play- No son, or even pregnancy. I suppose the ending leaves it open for those possibilities though
Book- Elphie dies
Play- Elphie hides under a trap door, and is later found by Fyrio. They live happily ever after
Now there is a very good possibility that I was wrong about several things, or left other things out. It's been at least three years, probably closer to five, since I read the book. My memory is far from perfect, and I can't remember everything.
All in all, a beautiful musical. The costumes and props were the best part. Absolutely stunning, from the massive dragon above the stage, down to the simplest background. There were just so many details in everything. Unfortunately, we were so far away that the only way we could see the details was with the binoculars that my parents brought. Binoculars are hard to use with glasses...
I would definitely suggest anyone see this, as long as they have a hundred dollars or more to spare.
Anyway, I promised a post about Wicked, didn't I?
All I can say, is that it was amazing. Even my dad was raving about it, and he doesn't generally care for musicals. Of course, we were sitting all the way up in the nose bleeds, but it was still great. When more than four people sang together, it was hard to understand the lyrics. I'm not sure if that was just where we were sitting, or if it was the sound system. Maybe the signers were just out of sync. It's hard to say. Luckily, when it's only a few people, it was a lot easier to hear, and it was great. I'm not much for musicals either, but I enjoyed at least half the songs.
The main reason why I wanted to see the play was because I had read, and loved, the book it was based on. Now of course, since it was a live production, not everything followed the book. However, it did follow it better than most movies follow their books. It was severely downplayed on the violence and romance parts to make it family friendly, but that was okay. Those parts from the book I wasn't much interested in watching anyway.
Now, this list will include spoilers, as I'm going to point out the differences. (what I can remember, at least)
Book- Nessarose was born without arms, and therefore could not balance enough to walk
Play- Nessarose was born without the use of her legs
Book- Elphie and Nessarose have a younger brother, named Shell. He isn't too important, as far as I can remember
Play- Their mother dies giving birth to Nessarose, and therefore there is no son
Book- Elphie goes to school before Nessarose and proves herself as a very smart, capable and head strong young woman. Nessarose arrives later, and becomes the darling of the school
Play- Elphie accompanies Nessarose to the school to take care of her. It's implied that she would never have gone to school had it not been for her sister
Book- Fyrio (probably spelled wrong), is a Winky (also might be wrong), so as far as I remember, he had blue skin and diamond tattoos... or something like that
Play- Fyrio is a dashing young man that looks perfect human
Book- After something happens (I can't remember what), Elphie runs away from the school. She later goes back to see Mrs. Morrible, and finds her dead on the floor, beaten to death with a blunt object. She is found here and is accused of murder. It's later found out that it was actually Galinda that did this
Play- Elphie is tricked into giving wings to the monkeys, and after refusing to aid the Wizard, she is blamed for this mutilation and labelled as Wicked. At the very end, Galina has Mrs. Morrible arrested
Book- There is a large time lapse between when Elphie and Fyrio run away together, and when Elphie is found living in an abandoned castle. There is another time lapse between Fyrio leaving her, and her moving into said castle
Play- No time lapse. A day or two at most
Book- When she sees Dorthy coming for her, she also sees the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow. She scares the lion, rips the scare crow apart, and I can't remember about the Tin Man. She does not try to kill them
Play- Dorthy is accompanied by the Tin Man and the Lion
Book- At some point, Elphie has a son
Play- No son, or even pregnancy. I suppose the ending leaves it open for those possibilities though
Book- Elphie dies
Play- Elphie hides under a trap door, and is later found by Fyrio. They live happily ever after
Now there is a very good possibility that I was wrong about several things, or left other things out. It's been at least three years, probably closer to five, since I read the book. My memory is far from perfect, and I can't remember everything.
All in all, a beautiful musical. The costumes and props were the best part. Absolutely stunning, from the massive dragon above the stage, down to the simplest background. There were just so many details in everything. Unfortunately, we were so far away that the only way we could see the details was with the binoculars that my parents brought. Binoculars are hard to use with glasses...
I would definitely suggest anyone see this, as long as they have a hundred dollars or more to spare.
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Words of Radiance review
I just realized that I didn't do a review on one of my favorite books! Words of Radiance is the second book in the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. If you go back almost a year, you'll see a review for the first book. My opinions are basically the same; amazing plot, fantastic world and great characters.
The plot is, under everything, the basic 'save the world from the Apocalypse'. There is the time limit to get everything in order, and to train people for what is to come. This was seen only a bit in the first book, and now is the most important theme in the second book.
I've said this with all of Sanderson's works, and Words of Radiance is no different. The world building is just baffling. There is so much that's new and different from our world, but it all makes sense. Everything is beautiful and described with just enough detail to form an image, but not to lose the reader. It helps that many of the more important or detailed images are followed by pictures. So yes, this book has pictures.
And finally the characters. All of their voices are great, down to the smallest characters, who only appear for one chapter. In fact, I think it's those characters that have the best voice (though I have to admit that sometimes those characters can be a little boring.) There isn't to much development in the characters between the beginning and end, but most of that development was shown in the first book. What's more, in this book there are some chapters that go back to look at the past of one of the characters. In the first book it did the same with a different character. So I suppose you get the character development that way.
There are only two things I am a little nit picky about. The first one is something that I noticed in the first book, and that's when Sanderson slips into the omniscient narrator, meaning one chapter will be about one person, but once in a while the opinions of a different person will enter the narrative. This can be as simple as just noting the feelings or intentions of someone who isn't the main character at the time. It's not something that would be too obvious by most readers.
And then something I only noticed in this book. This one versus one battle scenes are... lacking. I think it was three times in the book, he said that the character just 'felt' what to do. I understand that battle scenes, especially one on one, can be very hard to write unless you actually know how to fight with a sword, or a spear, or whatever other weapon is being used. I'm just surprised, because I never saw, or at least never noticed it, in his other books. I think this might actually be the first time that he's done the one on one combats in a book.
All in all, a fantastic book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that likes fantasy. It's similar to high fantasy, with a tiny bit of steampunk thrown in.
(I should also mention the humor. There were several times that I nearly burst out in laughter, and only stopped myself because I was in public.)
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
You Know You May Be a Bookworm When...
I know I've done something like this before (I think...) But I'm reading a really good book right now and I just couldn't help myself.
1) You have to be awake by six o'clock the next morning for work, but you stay up until midnight because the last three chapters have just been so good.
2) When you finally put your book down, your heart is actually racing, as if you were the one that just fought the battle, or ran the race, or escaped death.
3) You consider your two hundred books to be a pathetic collection.
4) You're sizing up some space in your room for a third book shelf.
5) You know that a perfect looking book is not a loved book. It's the ones with the cracked spine, the worn away corners and maybe the odd crease, that have been carried around in bags and purses because the owner cannot bear to be away from it. It looks like it's been to Hell and back, because, if you're taking a trip to help, you might as well have a book, right?
6) You savor your book like an expensive piece of Swiss chocolate. Nibble at it here, bite it there, then finish it all in one go once it's half way done. And always regret that it's now over.
7) You always feel like you don't read fast enough, because your collection is always growing twice as fast as you're reading it.
8) You would rather read your book during breaks at work/school than socialize with the people around you.
9) While on a large shopping trip, you made the mistake of buying two massive hard cover books as the first things of your trip.
10) Sometimes you forget that the people in the books don't actually exists, and you start to wonder if they'll ever do a tour or something, when you could meet them and get their autograph.
1) You have to be awake by six o'clock the next morning for work, but you stay up until midnight because the last three chapters have just been so good.
2) When you finally put your book down, your heart is actually racing, as if you were the one that just fought the battle, or ran the race, or escaped death.
3) You consider your two hundred books to be a pathetic collection.
4) You're sizing up some space in your room for a third book shelf.
5) You know that a perfect looking book is not a loved book. It's the ones with the cracked spine, the worn away corners and maybe the odd crease, that have been carried around in bags and purses because the owner cannot bear to be away from it. It looks like it's been to Hell and back, because, if you're taking a trip to help, you might as well have a book, right?
6) You savor your book like an expensive piece of Swiss chocolate. Nibble at it here, bite it there, then finish it all in one go once it's half way done. And always regret that it's now over.
7) You always feel like you don't read fast enough, because your collection is always growing twice as fast as you're reading it.
8) You would rather read your book during breaks at work/school than socialize with the people around you.
9) While on a large shopping trip, you made the mistake of buying two massive hard cover books as the first things of your trip.
10) Sometimes you forget that the people in the books don't actually exists, and you start to wonder if they'll ever do a tour or something, when you could meet them and get their autograph.
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
A Dance with Dragons Review
About a week ago I finished reading A Dance with Dragons, which is the fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, or more commonly known as Game of Thrones. So time for a review! And of course, there will be spoilers.
First off, I've found that with every book so far, each one is much better than the shows. And I'm not even saying this as a bookworm that will always defend the book. I normally get really excited when a book I love is being made into a movie or a show (though that rarely happens...) I watched the complete first two seasons, but I've only watched a couple episodes from the third and fourth, mostly because I don't get HBO on my TV and I have to find them on the internet. The first season followed the book fairly well, as far as I can remember. Then it deviated from there... By the time I started watching the fourth season, I got really confused. It's been a while since I've read the fourth book, but I know that the whole scene with Theon/Reek is wrong, because I just read it in the fifth book. Not to mention Ramsay Bolton is way too good looking. He's supposed to look like a drooling fish. Nothing is supposed to look good about him. But this is HBO, so nothing can actually be realistic, and all the glamour and sex scenes have to be hyped up. By the fifth book, I could probably count the amount of sex scenes in the whole book on one hand. (Sorry to disappoint the viewers, though I doubt you'll actually be disappointed)
But anyway, back to the book. One thing I have to clear up is the timeline. Martin originally wrote the fourth and fifth books as one book, but realized it would be massive, so split them into two books. Instead of just cutting it right down the middle, he re-ordered it so certain characters would appear mostly in the fourth book, and other characters would appear in the fifth book. That's why there is so much Cersei, Arya, Brienne and Jamie in the fourth book, and barely any of them in the fifth. I think the show tried to meld the two books together so that it makes more sense, and that's the only thing they did right. (Don't even get me talking about Tyrion's nose!)
But int he end, there is only one thing I can really say. Damn you, Martin! Stop playing with my feelings!
First off, I've found that with every book so far, each one is much better than the shows. And I'm not even saying this as a bookworm that will always defend the book. I normally get really excited when a book I love is being made into a movie or a show (though that rarely happens...) I watched the complete first two seasons, but I've only watched a couple episodes from the third and fourth, mostly because I don't get HBO on my TV and I have to find them on the internet. The first season followed the book fairly well, as far as I can remember. Then it deviated from there... By the time I started watching the fourth season, I got really confused. It's been a while since I've read the fourth book, but I know that the whole scene with Theon/Reek is wrong, because I just read it in the fifth book. Not to mention Ramsay Bolton is way too good looking. He's supposed to look like a drooling fish. Nothing is supposed to look good about him. But this is HBO, so nothing can actually be realistic, and all the glamour and sex scenes have to be hyped up. By the fifth book, I could probably count the amount of sex scenes in the whole book on one hand. (Sorry to disappoint the viewers, though I doubt you'll actually be disappointed)
But anyway, back to the book. One thing I have to clear up is the timeline. Martin originally wrote the fourth and fifth books as one book, but realized it would be massive, so split them into two books. Instead of just cutting it right down the middle, he re-ordered it so certain characters would appear mostly in the fourth book, and other characters would appear in the fifth book. That's why there is so much Cersei, Arya, Brienne and Jamie in the fourth book, and barely any of them in the fifth. I think the show tried to meld the two books together so that it makes more sense, and that's the only thing they did right. (Don't even get me talking about Tyrion's nose!)
But int he end, there is only one thing I can really say. Damn you, Martin! Stop playing with my feelings!
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Dangerous Women Review #2
I've just about finished reading the rest of Dangerous Women. You probably remember the first part of my review, which was probably the longest post I've ever written. This one shouldn't be as long.
1) Virgins by Diana Gabaldon
I was only halfway through this story when I did the last review, and I said I didn't like it too much. After finished it, I liked it much more. The females came in later in the story, and there was a lot of extra that I feel could have been cut out without hindering the story. However, that extra did help, if not to move the plot along, at least to make it interesting. After reading this story, I might be more interested in reading the book series that it's based off of.
2) Hell Hath No Fury by Sherrilyn Kenyon
I've read a couple of Kenyon's books, and they're definitely heavy on the romance. This one was lacking that, mostly, so that was a relief. However, it read like a teen fiction, and anyone who knows me, or has been following this blog for long enough, knows that I hate teen fiction. It was tacky, and worst of all, it used modern references. This isn't so bad for now, but in ten years those references won't make any sense. I like reading stories that mostly don't age.
3) Pronouncing Doom by S. M. Stirling
This story was very confusing and hard to get into. I read like it was the second book in a story, or like the first few pages had been omitted. Normally I don't care for a while spiel on the history of the world and what events happened to bring us to this point, but I think this story needed a bit of this to start off with. We are eventually told throughout the story, but it doesn't help if I've already read five pages and then find out what happened to throw the world into a post apocalyptic setting. The characters were great out, even if their culture confused me a bit.
4) Name The Beast by Sam Sykes
Yet another very confusing story, and this one barely got better as it went along. For the majority of the story I thought that it was written in the present, then going into flash backs. At the very end I learned it was always in the present, but switching between two places. Throw in a whole other species that is only briefly described, and it's just too much with too little explaining.
5) Caretakers by Pat Cadigan
Normally I don't care for modern stories, but this one was fairly entertaining. Not speculative fiction, with magic or anything of the sort, so really not my cup of tea. It was closer to a comedic drama. Not much else to say.
6) Lies My Mother Told Me by Caroline Spector
Near the middle I was forcing myself to read this story. It' about superheroes, and although the idea is good, the way it's put into action is tacky. The whole idea is that a virus infected humans that gave some of them super powers. The ones who received good or helpful powers are called Aces, while the ones with bad or unwanted powers are called Jokers. The problem is that it goes into the old style comic type superheroes, with tacky names and tacky powers. Near the end it really picked up though, and despite everything, it was pretty good.
7) The Princess and the Queen by George R. R. Martin
I'm only halfway through this one, but it's shaping up to be decent. Just like another story in this collection, it reads more like a history book than a fictional story. There is very little dialogue, so it's basically all descriptions of what had happened, rather than what was happening. But of course, it's Martin, so no matter what, it's entertaining to read... And there are dragons. It's also interesting because this story takes place before the events in his series A Song of Ice and Fire, so I can relate back to the series and understand what is going on.
Much shorter this time, right? Martin's story is the last one in the collection, but I would love to read more short stories. I'll probably pick up something from Value Village from time to time, since short stories are (mostly) easy to read and easy to review.
1) Virgins by Diana Gabaldon
I was only halfway through this story when I did the last review, and I said I didn't like it too much. After finished it, I liked it much more. The females came in later in the story, and there was a lot of extra that I feel could have been cut out without hindering the story. However, that extra did help, if not to move the plot along, at least to make it interesting. After reading this story, I might be more interested in reading the book series that it's based off of.
2) Hell Hath No Fury by Sherrilyn Kenyon
I've read a couple of Kenyon's books, and they're definitely heavy on the romance. This one was lacking that, mostly, so that was a relief. However, it read like a teen fiction, and anyone who knows me, or has been following this blog for long enough, knows that I hate teen fiction. It was tacky, and worst of all, it used modern references. This isn't so bad for now, but in ten years those references won't make any sense. I like reading stories that mostly don't age.
3) Pronouncing Doom by S. M. Stirling
This story was very confusing and hard to get into. I read like it was the second book in a story, or like the first few pages had been omitted. Normally I don't care for a while spiel on the history of the world and what events happened to bring us to this point, but I think this story needed a bit of this to start off with. We are eventually told throughout the story, but it doesn't help if I've already read five pages and then find out what happened to throw the world into a post apocalyptic setting. The characters were great out, even if their culture confused me a bit.
4) Name The Beast by Sam Sykes
Yet another very confusing story, and this one barely got better as it went along. For the majority of the story I thought that it was written in the present, then going into flash backs. At the very end I learned it was always in the present, but switching between two places. Throw in a whole other species that is only briefly described, and it's just too much with too little explaining.
5) Caretakers by Pat Cadigan
Normally I don't care for modern stories, but this one was fairly entertaining. Not speculative fiction, with magic or anything of the sort, so really not my cup of tea. It was closer to a comedic drama. Not much else to say.
6) Lies My Mother Told Me by Caroline Spector
Near the middle I was forcing myself to read this story. It' about superheroes, and although the idea is good, the way it's put into action is tacky. The whole idea is that a virus infected humans that gave some of them super powers. The ones who received good or helpful powers are called Aces, while the ones with bad or unwanted powers are called Jokers. The problem is that it goes into the old style comic type superheroes, with tacky names and tacky powers. Near the end it really picked up though, and despite everything, it was pretty good.
7) The Princess and the Queen by George R. R. Martin
I'm only halfway through this one, but it's shaping up to be decent. Just like another story in this collection, it reads more like a history book than a fictional story. There is very little dialogue, so it's basically all descriptions of what had happened, rather than what was happening. But of course, it's Martin, so no matter what, it's entertaining to read... And there are dragons. It's also interesting because this story takes place before the events in his series A Song of Ice and Fire, so I can relate back to the series and understand what is going on.
Much shorter this time, right? Martin's story is the last one in the collection, but I would love to read more short stories. I'll probably pick up something from Value Village from time to time, since short stories are (mostly) easy to read and easy to review.
Friday, 7 February 2014
Dangerous Women review
I cut myself on a binder today. It hurts...
But anyway! I'm about halfway done reading an anthology of short stories by well known authors. It's called 'Dangerous Women', and each story is supposed to feature a dangerous woman, obviously. What I've come to notice though, is that according to half these authors, a dangerous woman is either a stripped, prostitute, or heavily leaning on a man for support. It really makes me wonder why people can be so bad at writing women.
I'll give a quick blurb about each story I've read so far:
1) Some Desperado by Joe Ambercrombie
I loved it! It was a great way to start off the book. The main character was a feisty and scrappy young woman who was at the perfect spot between too powerful and just powerful enough to hold her own.
2) My Heart is Either Broken by Megan Abbott
I hated this one. It reminded me of 'Play it As It Lays'. I wanted to punch the female character because all she did was mope around the house, watch TV, go to bars. There was no action, and most definitely no danger. The only time anything happened was in the last page or so.
3) Nora's Song by Cecelia Holland
Simply beautiful! This story followed the young daughter of Eleanor of Aquitane. The voice was perfect, sounding like a twelve year old girl, but also like a princess. The point of view never switched, which is hard to do when you have two real and very powerful characters like the King and Queen. The main character, although young and rather helpless, showed bravery and the ability to grow into something dangerous.
4) The Hands That Are Not There by Melinda Snodgrass
This one was okay, but it's the first one where the female is a stripper. What annoys me more about these 'strong' females are strippers is that all the writer has to do is say that they had 'enchanting grace and were lithe as a cat, with a glimmer in their eye that spoke of danger'. Or something along those lines. It's all about image rather than actions. It doesn't matter if they're dancing naked for the enjoyment of men, as long as they look confident.
On the other hand, this story was well written.
5) Bombshells by Jim Butcher
This story follows the series 'The Dresden Files', which is a supernatural suspense/mystery book/show. It's actually a rather complex short story, and reading the preceding books would definitely help, but most readers should still be able to understand what's going on either way. It was good, but not one of my favourites. It was witty, and used a very strong voice with a first person narrative, so that worked well. Something about it though turned me off slightly. Not sure what...
6) Raisa Stepanova by Carrie Vaughn
This was another great story! It's about a Russian female pilot in WWII who is trying to get her five kills to become an Ace. It shows a ton of emotion, not between boyfriend and girlfriend, but between brother and sister and between friend and friend. It's adorable, and actually quite heart wrenching. Definitely one of my favourites.
7) Wrestling Jesus by Joe R. Lansdale
This was another story where the female was more like a side character or a background character. Even worse, she was basically an object. The whole story revolves around to men who get together every five years to wrestle. Whoever wins gets the female. The only redeeming part is that the female apparently chooses to go to the winner, rather than being passed around.
8) Neighbors by Megan Lindholm
I'm not sure about this one. The main character is a sixty year old woman who is in the early stages of alzheimers. She puts up a fight and shows a lot of guts, along with some danger. I think I would have really enjoyed this story, but it's confusing. I suppose if you're writing from the point of view of an alzheimers patient it would be confusing though...
9) I Know How to Pick 'Em by Lawrence Block
*SPOILER ALERT*
I cannot talk about this one without explaining the whole thing. Because it was so bad I have to rant about it. First off, the woman dies! The story is in the point of view of a man in a bar. Bad choice when for a book about dangerous females. Then a woman comes in and shows interest. They go back to a hotel and bang. All the while, the writer gives this man way too much power. He is able to guess just about everything about her by her looks and mannerisms. Think Sherlock, but with a trucker in a bar. When he guesses that she wants him to kill her husband, he kills her. She shows no danger except in the fact that she's cheating on her husband and may want him dead (This isn't actually confirmed, because she doesn't have much of a voice, and he's putting words into her mouth. but she doesn't deny it too much...)
So far, my least favourite story.
10) Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
This is so far my favourite story! (Makes up for the last one) Sanderson is my favourite author too, so I expected nothing less. There are two, maybe even three strong and very dangerous females in this story, but it's not over the top or overly feminine. Like the first story, the females in this one are more smart than powerful. They use what they have, and if that doesn't work out, they try something else. They fight 'till the end and don't fall back to using their looks and charms to get what they want.
11) A Queen in Exile by Sharon Kay Grossman
This one was okay, and had potential to be great. It's written a lot like a textbook, with the occasional break to play out a scene better. There are massive time skips that start with 'for many years' or 'a few years later'. In addition, this story is basically true. It follows a real queen and real events. it's hard to slip out of textbook mode when writing a historical piece with all real people, as you don't want to get something wrong or historically inaccurate, but something things need to be embellished a bit.
12) The Girl in the Mirror by Lev Grossman
If you're a fan of Harry Potter, you'll probably like this story. It's written like a young adult book, from the point of view of a young and very smart witch who goes to a very prestigious school. It's playful and fun, with very little seriousness. A nice light read.
13) Second Arabesque, Very Slowly by Nancy Kress
This one was very well done. It's in a post apocalyptic world, where women are treasured. At some point a virus went out that made 90% of the female population infertile. Because of this, girls are forced into sex as soon as they've had their first period. After my rant about sex and strippers earlier, you would think I would hate this. But the main character is infertile, and is only in this band of survivors because she's a nurse. This story was just really well written.
14) City Lazerus by Diana Rowland
Another story where the female character is a stripper. And once again, she's enchanting and beautiful and the main character cannot help but love her. Basically the same as the first one that did this. I wasn't impressed.
15) Virgins by Diana Gabaldon
I'm only about halfway through this one, and so far there has been one female, and mentions of one other. I have no idea where it's going, but I'm not too happy with it so far. The voices are great though. The two man characters are Scottish, ad Gabaldon put a lot of effort into the accents. Can be a little hard to read, but I'm more than happy to have a Scottish accent in my head.
Sorry for the length, I guess I had more to say than I thought. and there's still more! I have six more stories to read, ad I'll post another review on them when I'm done. Going over these ones now, I realize I actually like at least half of them, but it's the bad ones that really stuck out. It's as if some of the authors really wanted to be part of this book, but had no idea how to write a strong female character. So they used a strong male and made him weakened him with 'feminine whiles'. I would like to remind people that females are not all about their bodies and using them to get what they want. Most authors seem to understand this, luckily.
But anyway! I'm about halfway done reading an anthology of short stories by well known authors. It's called 'Dangerous Women', and each story is supposed to feature a dangerous woman, obviously. What I've come to notice though, is that according to half these authors, a dangerous woman is either a stripped, prostitute, or heavily leaning on a man for support. It really makes me wonder why people can be so bad at writing women.
I'll give a quick blurb about each story I've read so far:
1) Some Desperado by Joe Ambercrombie
I loved it! It was a great way to start off the book. The main character was a feisty and scrappy young woman who was at the perfect spot between too powerful and just powerful enough to hold her own.
2) My Heart is Either Broken by Megan Abbott
I hated this one. It reminded me of 'Play it As It Lays'. I wanted to punch the female character because all she did was mope around the house, watch TV, go to bars. There was no action, and most definitely no danger. The only time anything happened was in the last page or so.
3) Nora's Song by Cecelia Holland
Simply beautiful! This story followed the young daughter of Eleanor of Aquitane. The voice was perfect, sounding like a twelve year old girl, but also like a princess. The point of view never switched, which is hard to do when you have two real and very powerful characters like the King and Queen. The main character, although young and rather helpless, showed bravery and the ability to grow into something dangerous.
4) The Hands That Are Not There by Melinda Snodgrass
This one was okay, but it's the first one where the female is a stripper. What annoys me more about these 'strong' females are strippers is that all the writer has to do is say that they had 'enchanting grace and were lithe as a cat, with a glimmer in their eye that spoke of danger'. Or something along those lines. It's all about image rather than actions. It doesn't matter if they're dancing naked for the enjoyment of men, as long as they look confident.
On the other hand, this story was well written.
5) Bombshells by Jim Butcher
This story follows the series 'The Dresden Files', which is a supernatural suspense/mystery book/show. It's actually a rather complex short story, and reading the preceding books would definitely help, but most readers should still be able to understand what's going on either way. It was good, but not one of my favourites. It was witty, and used a very strong voice with a first person narrative, so that worked well. Something about it though turned me off slightly. Not sure what...
6) Raisa Stepanova by Carrie Vaughn
This was another great story! It's about a Russian female pilot in WWII who is trying to get her five kills to become an Ace. It shows a ton of emotion, not between boyfriend and girlfriend, but between brother and sister and between friend and friend. It's adorable, and actually quite heart wrenching. Definitely one of my favourites.
7) Wrestling Jesus by Joe R. Lansdale
This was another story where the female was more like a side character or a background character. Even worse, she was basically an object. The whole story revolves around to men who get together every five years to wrestle. Whoever wins gets the female. The only redeeming part is that the female apparently chooses to go to the winner, rather than being passed around.
8) Neighbors by Megan Lindholm
I'm not sure about this one. The main character is a sixty year old woman who is in the early stages of alzheimers. She puts up a fight and shows a lot of guts, along with some danger. I think I would have really enjoyed this story, but it's confusing. I suppose if you're writing from the point of view of an alzheimers patient it would be confusing though...
9) I Know How to Pick 'Em by Lawrence Block
*SPOILER ALERT*
I cannot talk about this one without explaining the whole thing. Because it was so bad I have to rant about it. First off, the woman dies! The story is in the point of view of a man in a bar. Bad choice when for a book about dangerous females. Then a woman comes in and shows interest. They go back to a hotel and bang. All the while, the writer gives this man way too much power. He is able to guess just about everything about her by her looks and mannerisms. Think Sherlock, but with a trucker in a bar. When he guesses that she wants him to kill her husband, he kills her. She shows no danger except in the fact that she's cheating on her husband and may want him dead (This isn't actually confirmed, because she doesn't have much of a voice, and he's putting words into her mouth. but she doesn't deny it too much...)
So far, my least favourite story.
10) Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
This is so far my favourite story! (Makes up for the last one) Sanderson is my favourite author too, so I expected nothing less. There are two, maybe even three strong and very dangerous females in this story, but it's not over the top or overly feminine. Like the first story, the females in this one are more smart than powerful. They use what they have, and if that doesn't work out, they try something else. They fight 'till the end and don't fall back to using their looks and charms to get what they want.
11) A Queen in Exile by Sharon Kay Grossman
This one was okay, and had potential to be great. It's written a lot like a textbook, with the occasional break to play out a scene better. There are massive time skips that start with 'for many years' or 'a few years later'. In addition, this story is basically true. It follows a real queen and real events. it's hard to slip out of textbook mode when writing a historical piece with all real people, as you don't want to get something wrong or historically inaccurate, but something things need to be embellished a bit.
12) The Girl in the Mirror by Lev Grossman
If you're a fan of Harry Potter, you'll probably like this story. It's written like a young adult book, from the point of view of a young and very smart witch who goes to a very prestigious school. It's playful and fun, with very little seriousness. A nice light read.
13) Second Arabesque, Very Slowly by Nancy Kress
This one was very well done. It's in a post apocalyptic world, where women are treasured. At some point a virus went out that made 90% of the female population infertile. Because of this, girls are forced into sex as soon as they've had their first period. After my rant about sex and strippers earlier, you would think I would hate this. But the main character is infertile, and is only in this band of survivors because she's a nurse. This story was just really well written.
14) City Lazerus by Diana Rowland
Another story where the female character is a stripper. And once again, she's enchanting and beautiful and the main character cannot help but love her. Basically the same as the first one that did this. I wasn't impressed.
15) Virgins by Diana Gabaldon
I'm only about halfway through this one, and so far there has been one female, and mentions of one other. I have no idea where it's going, but I'm not too happy with it so far. The voices are great though. The two man characters are Scottish, ad Gabaldon put a lot of effort into the accents. Can be a little hard to read, but I'm more than happy to have a Scottish accent in my head.
Sorry for the length, I guess I had more to say than I thought. and there's still more! I have six more stories to read, ad I'll post another review on them when I'm done. Going over these ones now, I realize I actually like at least half of them, but it's the bad ones that really stuck out. It's as if some of the authors really wanted to be part of this book, but had no idea how to write a strong female character. So they used a strong male and made him weakened him with 'feminine whiles'. I would like to remind people that females are not all about their bodies and using them to get what they want. Most authors seem to understand this, luckily.
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Since Grade Nine Part 3
Onto the last part of the list! Once again, the * means I would read it again or read any sequels. I should also mention that several books on this list are from school, and a few have been left off because they were so bad I just couldn't finish reading them. *coughOnTheRoadcough*
101) Heather O'Neil- Lullabies for Little Criminals
102) David Farland- The Runelords
103) Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson- Towers of Midnight *
104) Brandon Sanderson- The Alloy of Law *
105) C. S. Lewis- The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
106) J. K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
107) J. R. R. Tolkien- The Hobbit *
108) Ursula Le Guin- A Wizard of Earthsea
109) Brent Weeks- The Black Prism *
110) Agatha Christie- Evil Under the Sun
111) George R. R. Martin- Game of Thrones *
112) George R. R. Martin- Clash of Kings *
113) George R. R. Martin- Storm of Swords *
114) George R. R. Martin- A Feast For Crows *
115) Ralph Ellison- Invisible Man
116) Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson- A Memory of Light *
117) Joan Didion- Play It As It Lays
118) Thomas Pynchon- The Crying of Lot 49
119) Tony Kushner- Angels in America
120) Don DeLillo- Falling Man
121) Brandon Sanderson- Elantris *
122) Brandon Sanderson- The Emperor's Soul *
123) David Farland- Brotherhood of the Wolf
124) Brandon Sanderson- The Way of Kings *
125) Brandon Sanderson- The Rithmatist *
126) Kristen Britain- Blackveil *
127) David Duncan- The Gilded Chain
128) Lynn Flewelling- Luck in the Shadows
129) Brent Weeks- The Blinding Knife *
101) Heather O'Neil- Lullabies for Little Criminals
102) David Farland- The Runelords
103) Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson- Towers of Midnight *
104) Brandon Sanderson- The Alloy of Law *
105) C. S. Lewis- The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
106) J. K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
107) J. R. R. Tolkien- The Hobbit *
108) Ursula Le Guin- A Wizard of Earthsea
109) Brent Weeks- The Black Prism *
110) Agatha Christie- Evil Under the Sun
111) George R. R. Martin- Game of Thrones *
112) George R. R. Martin- Clash of Kings *
113) George R. R. Martin- Storm of Swords *
114) George R. R. Martin- A Feast For Crows *
115) Ralph Ellison- Invisible Man
116) Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson- A Memory of Light *
117) Joan Didion- Play It As It Lays
118) Thomas Pynchon- The Crying of Lot 49
119) Tony Kushner- Angels in America
120) Don DeLillo- Falling Man
121) Brandon Sanderson- Elantris *
122) Brandon Sanderson- The Emperor's Soul *
123) David Farland- Brotherhood of the Wolf
124) Brandon Sanderson- The Way of Kings *
125) Brandon Sanderson- The Rithmatist *
126) Kristen Britain- Blackveil *
127) David Duncan- The Gilded Chain
128) Lynn Flewelling- Luck in the Shadows
129) Brent Weeks- The Blinding Knife *
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Since Grade Nine: Part 2
Onto the next fifty! Once again, the * means it's something I would either suggest and liked enough that I would read it again.
51) John Flanagan- The Battle For Skandia
52) Colleen Gleeson- The Rest Falls Away
53) Ariana Franklin- City of Shadows *
54) A. A. Attanasio- The Wolf and the Crown
55) Paul Doherty- Queen of the Night
56) Ellen Kushner- Privilege of the Sword
57) Multiple Authors- Year's Best Fantasy
58) Robert Jordan- The Shadow Rising *
59) Cornelia Funke- Inkdeath *
60) Robert Jordan- The Fires of Heaven *
61) Brent Weeks- The Way of Shadows *
62) Kristen Britain- Green Rider *
63) Kristen Britain- First Rider's Call *
64) Ned Resikoff- Fool's Tavern
65) Robert Jordan- Lord of Chaos *
66) Mercedes Lackey- Exile's Honour
67) Gregory Maguire- Wicked *
68) Kristen Britain- The High King's Tomb *
69) Robert Jordan- A Crown of Swords *
70) Kazou (I can't remember the last name)- Never Let Me Go
71) Robert Jordan- A Path of Daggers *
72) Robert Jordan- Winter's Heart *
73) Joseph Conrad- Heart of Darkness
74) Ariana Franklin- Grave Goods *
75) Mary Shelly- Frankenstein
76) Paul Creswick- Robin Hood
77) Donna Gillespie- The Light Bearer *
78) Robert Jordan- Crossroads of Twilight *
79) Robert Jordan- Knife of Dreams *
80) Brent Weeks- Shadow's Edge *
81) Brent Weeks- Beyond the Shadows *
82) Margaret Atwood- The Handmaid's Tale
83) John Gardner- Grendel
84) Anne Rice- Interview With the Vampire
85) Sherrilyn Kenyon- Devil May Cry
86) Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson- The Gathering Storm *
87) Brian Cullen- Seekers of the Chalice
88) Donna Gillespie- Lady of the Light *
89) Jonathan Stroud- Amulet of Samarkand
90) Sarah Micklem- Firethorn
91) Brandon Sanderson- Mistborn *
92) F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby
93) Edith Wharton- Ethan Frome
94) Robin Hobb- Assassin's Apprentice *
95) Robin Hobb- Royal Assassin *
96) Robin Hobb- Assassin's Quest *
97) Brandon Sanderson- Well of Ascension *
98) Brandon Sanderson- Hero of Ages *
99) Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice
100) Maggie Shane- Angel's Pain
51) John Flanagan- The Battle For Skandia
52) Colleen Gleeson- The Rest Falls Away
53) Ariana Franklin- City of Shadows *
54) A. A. Attanasio- The Wolf and the Crown
55) Paul Doherty- Queen of the Night
56) Ellen Kushner- Privilege of the Sword
57) Multiple Authors- Year's Best Fantasy
58) Robert Jordan- The Shadow Rising *
59) Cornelia Funke- Inkdeath *
60) Robert Jordan- The Fires of Heaven *
61) Brent Weeks- The Way of Shadows *
62) Kristen Britain- Green Rider *
63) Kristen Britain- First Rider's Call *
64) Ned Resikoff- Fool's Tavern
65) Robert Jordan- Lord of Chaos *
66) Mercedes Lackey- Exile's Honour
67) Gregory Maguire- Wicked *
68) Kristen Britain- The High King's Tomb *
69) Robert Jordan- A Crown of Swords *
70) Kazou (I can't remember the last name)- Never Let Me Go
71) Robert Jordan- A Path of Daggers *
72) Robert Jordan- Winter's Heart *
73) Joseph Conrad- Heart of Darkness
74) Ariana Franklin- Grave Goods *
75) Mary Shelly- Frankenstein
76) Paul Creswick- Robin Hood
77) Donna Gillespie- The Light Bearer *
78) Robert Jordan- Crossroads of Twilight *
79) Robert Jordan- Knife of Dreams *
80) Brent Weeks- Shadow's Edge *
81) Brent Weeks- Beyond the Shadows *
82) Margaret Atwood- The Handmaid's Tale
83) John Gardner- Grendel
84) Anne Rice- Interview With the Vampire
85) Sherrilyn Kenyon- Devil May Cry
86) Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson- The Gathering Storm *
87) Brian Cullen- Seekers of the Chalice
88) Donna Gillespie- Lady of the Light *
89) Jonathan Stroud- Amulet of Samarkand
90) Sarah Micklem- Firethorn
91) Brandon Sanderson- Mistborn *
92) F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby
93) Edith Wharton- Ethan Frome
94) Robin Hobb- Assassin's Apprentice *
95) Robin Hobb- Royal Assassin *
96) Robin Hobb- Assassin's Quest *
97) Brandon Sanderson- Well of Ascension *
98) Brandon Sanderson- Hero of Ages *
99) Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice
100) Maggie Shane- Angel's Pain
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Since Grade Nine
List time! I thought there might be a few book worms out there that might be interesting in see what exactly I've been reading. And yes, I mean exactly, because I've written down every single book I've read since grade nine. Not including books that I haven't finished... In fact, I'm probably missing several books that I forgot to write down. Since it's about 130 books long, I'm just going to do the first 50. It'll also give you in insight to how my taste in books have changed over the years. And in case anyone is interested in any of the books, I'm going to * the ones that I would re-read, and therefore suggest you read.
1) J.K Rowling- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2) Erin Hunter- The Sight
3) John Flanagan- The Burning Bridge
4) John Flanagan- The Icebound Land
5) Erik L'Homme- Face of the Shadow
6) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Beast of Barakai *
7) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Dragons of Barakai *
8) Jane Yolen/Robert Harris- Odysseus in the Serpent Maze
9) Tamora Pierce- Wild Magic
10) Jo Walton- The King's Name *
11) Jo Walton- The King's Name *
12) Sherrilyn Kenyon- The Dream Hunter
13) Erin Hunter- Firestar's Quest
14) Edith Pattou- Fire Arrow
15) Tamora Pierce- Wolf Speaker
16) Donita K. Paul- Dragonspell
17) Robert Jordan- New Spring *
18) Tamora Pierce- Emperor Mage
19) Tamora Pierce- Realm of the Gods
20) Erin Hunter- Dark River
21) Philip Pullman- The Golden Compass
22) Amelia Atwater Rhodes- Wyvernhail
23) Tamora Pierce- First Test
24) Robert Jordan- From the Two Rivers *
25) Tamora Pierce- Page
26) Tamora Pierce- Squire
27) Stepheni Meyer- Twilight
28) Tamora Pierce- Lady Knight
29) George Orwell- Animal Farm
30) Tamora Pierce- The First Adventure
31) Tamora Pierce- In the hands of the Goddess
32) Tamora Pierce- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
33) Tamora Pierce- Lioness Rampant
34) Robert Jordan- The Eye of the World *
35) Stepheni Meyer- New Moon
36) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Flightless Falcon *
37) Sherwood Smith- Crown Duel *
38) Robert Jordan- The Great Hunt *
39) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Legend of Nightfall
40) Stephani Meyer- Eclipse
41) Greg Keyes- The Briar King *
42) Alex Archer- The Spider Stone
43) Greg Keyes- The Charnel Prince *
44) Robert Jordan- The Dragon Reborn *
45) Greg Keyes- The Blood Knight *
46) Ariana Franklin- Mistress of the Art of Death *
47) Ariana franklin- The Serpent's Tail *
48) Stepheni Meyer- Breaking Dawn
49) Gael Baudino- Dragonsword
50) Greg Keyes- The Born Queen *
By this point I think I was just starting grade ten, so it's been about a years worth of books there. Not bad, I think that's nearly a book a week. Then again, most of those books only ranged between 300 and 400 words... Anyway, the next parts of the list will come later.
1) J.K Rowling- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2) Erin Hunter- The Sight
3) John Flanagan- The Burning Bridge
4) John Flanagan- The Icebound Land
5) Erik L'Homme- Face of the Shadow
6) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Beast of Barakai *
7) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Dragons of Barakai *
8) Jane Yolen/Robert Harris- Odysseus in the Serpent Maze
9) Tamora Pierce- Wild Magic
10) Jo Walton- The King's Name *
11) Jo Walton- The King's Name *
12) Sherrilyn Kenyon- The Dream Hunter
13) Erin Hunter- Firestar's Quest
14) Edith Pattou- Fire Arrow
15) Tamora Pierce- Wolf Speaker
16) Donita K. Paul- Dragonspell
17) Robert Jordan- New Spring *
18) Tamora Pierce- Emperor Mage
19) Tamora Pierce- Realm of the Gods
20) Erin Hunter- Dark River
21) Philip Pullman- The Golden Compass
22) Amelia Atwater Rhodes- Wyvernhail
23) Tamora Pierce- First Test
24) Robert Jordan- From the Two Rivers *
25) Tamora Pierce- Page
26) Tamora Pierce- Squire
27) Stepheni Meyer- Twilight
28) Tamora Pierce- Lady Knight
29) George Orwell- Animal Farm
30) Tamora Pierce- The First Adventure
31) Tamora Pierce- In the hands of the Goddess
32) Tamora Pierce- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
33) Tamora Pierce- Lioness Rampant
34) Robert Jordan- The Eye of the World *
35) Stepheni Meyer- New Moon
36) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Flightless Falcon *
37) Sherwood Smith- Crown Duel *
38) Robert Jordan- The Great Hunt *
39) Mickey Zucker Reichert- Legend of Nightfall
40) Stephani Meyer- Eclipse
41) Greg Keyes- The Briar King *
42) Alex Archer- The Spider Stone
43) Greg Keyes- The Charnel Prince *
44) Robert Jordan- The Dragon Reborn *
45) Greg Keyes- The Blood Knight *
46) Ariana Franklin- Mistress of the Art of Death *
47) Ariana franklin- The Serpent's Tail *
48) Stepheni Meyer- Breaking Dawn
49) Gael Baudino- Dragonsword
50) Greg Keyes- The Born Queen *
By this point I think I was just starting grade ten, so it's been about a years worth of books there. Not bad, I think that's nearly a book a week. Then again, most of those books only ranged between 300 and 400 words... Anyway, the next parts of the list will come later.
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Luck in The Shadows Review
I finished this book on Saturday night, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. Luck in The Shadows is the first book in the Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling, and was written in 1996 (three years younger than I am!) I admit, with books written over fifteen years ago, I get a little tentative. You can see changes in writing styles sometimes, such as in the last book I read (The Gilded Chain). I believe books these days are less likely to sugar coat details such as sex, nor do they spare the reader the heart-rending deaths of characters *coughGeorgeMartincough*. Now this is just based on books I have read, comparing older to newer. But onto the review!
I think what I loved most were the characters. The main character, Alec, is an adorable young man that you can't help but think of as a twelve year old (probably not the aim of the author though...) He borders on being a perfect character because of his quick learning skills, but Flewelling made him perfectly flawed. You see, he's being trained to be a spy, but he's scared of heights, revolted by corpses, hesitant to kill anyone and not all that great with a sword.
The other main character, Seregil, is much closer to being a perfect character. He is basically Alec, but fully trained and without the faults. The only thing that makes this acceptable is that he is thrust into situations that he cannot control, reminding the reader that although he may be damned near perfect, he is not a god. I should add that he's also some of the comic relief.
Now of course the story itself has faults. The biggest one that annoyed me was the beginning. It kind of reminded me of some spy movie, like James Bond (which I'e never seen, so I could be completely wrong). It was tacky, and used pretty much to set up the relationship between Alec and Seregil. *MINOR SPOILERS*The beginning starts out with Alec in a jail cell. This is actually the darkest part of the whole novel, and sets up a false tone for the rest of the book. It's clearly stated that Alec has been tortured many times, and that he is likely to be sold into slavery. Now I've never been imprisoned or tortured, but I'm fairly certain this would scar someone for life, both mentally and emotionally. However, the only time the prison is ever mentioned after the first couple chapters is when Alec is remembering how he escaped, not the experiences during his imprisonment.
Other than that, the plot is enthralling, the character are (mostly) believable, and I would definitely like to read the rest of the series if I can get my hands on it.
And here are some additional cover arts, which I just found to be beautiful.
Friday, 6 September 2013
The Gilded Chain Review
I'm going to interrupt my story about my vacation so that I can review a book I finished. I just don't want to forget anything about it.
I finished reading The Gilded Chain by Dave Duncan near the end of my trip. It took me forever to read because the writing was terrible. The plot was interesting though, and that's the only reason I continued to read it.
The very base of the book is the idea that specially trained soldiers can be connected to someone by having a sword driven through their heart, therefore making them unconditionally loyal to this person. If their ward dies, especially if it's violently, they'll pretty much go insane. They're able to be released, or retired though, if they're knighted.
Sounds pretty interesting, right? It'll be easier to just make a lit of everything I found wrong...
1) The narrative was bad. It was written as if the main character was speaking, but the book was in third person. if Duncan had written it in first person, it would have been amazing, or if he had not included the thoughts of the main character in the narrative.
2) It went way too fast. I understand skipping several years while someone was growing up, then skipping a few uneventful years later on. However, Duncan skipped two years while the main character went on a journey, and later mentioned things such as shipwrecks, pirates and sickness, all of which would have been fascinating to read about.
3) He uses multiple names for characters. Even the main character has two names; Durendal and another that I can't remember at the moment. When it's the main character, you learn to remember the multiple names, but Duncan would on occasion use nicknames or pet names for other characters, making it hard to follow.
4) It kind of feels like he was writing the whole book with a thesaurus open next to him. It's a fine line between sounded smart and sounding fake when it comes to using large and fancy words. Personally, I don't think it fits when it comes to speculative fiction. Keep it for literature and non-fiction, because most people who read speculative fiction are doing it as a escape, and don't want to have to keep looking up words.
Now of course there were some good aspects about the book, or else I would never have continued with it.
1) The descriptions were very good, especially of the people. It was very easy to envision everyone, except for the main character. This is probably due to the fact that the narrative is almost written in his voice, and would have sounded even more unnatural.
2) The plot. As I mentioned before, the plot is very good. I love how it runs along a timeline, rather than a few days or weeks with flashbacks and complicated twists. This means it's strictly linear and easy to follow, even with several time skips. It's also kind of broken up, so that once one plot twist ends, another begins.
And that's all for this book. It's a good read if you can get over the poor writing. I should also mentioned that this book is about fifteen years old, so there has been lots of time for potential improvement. I have another book by Dave Duncan that I'll try reading later. Unfortunately, it happens to be the third in a series (I bought it at a library book sale), so it might take me a while to get the first book.
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
The Rithmatist review *SPOILERS*
I just finished reading another book by Brandon Sanderson, this one about four times shorter than the last. It's called The Rithmatist, and is 370 pages long, so a nice quick read. I would say it's for a younger reader though, probably suitable for a middle school student or early high school.
You know way back when I said I didn't have many examples of historical speculative fiction books? Well, here's one! It's a steampunk type idea, set in a Victorian era United States. Except, the states include lower Canada, and are separated into large islands, so instead of being called the United States, they're called the United Isles. Furthermore, there are mentions of going ons in Europe and South America that do not match with history. So although it's a world that we're familiar with, it's been changed just enough to be speculative fiction.
Now the magic comes from chalk. That sounds strange, but it's kind of like the idea of witchcraft and the pentagrams, except in this book it's circles. If someone is chosen as a Rithmatist, they have the ability to bring 'life' to chalk. It's actually fairly hard to explain, but Sanderson does it very well. As in the previous book I read by him, he incorporates drawings, which is very handy when it comes to explaining all the chalk drawings that are possible.
Although I loved reading this book, it's not Sanderson's best work, by far. There was something that annoyed me every time I came across it, but I can't seem to remember what it was, so obviously it wasn't too big. But I suppose it was written for a younger reader, so there are bound to be things that I don't like. However, it was a pleasure to read, and I would definitely suggest it as a light read over a weekend.
And another beautiful cover:
Monday, 5 August 2013
The Way of Kings Review *SPOILERS*
I've finally (almost) finished it! This is the book I mentioned forever ago, the one that's 1,252 pages long. I'm almost done it, with a little less than 100 pages left, but I got a little excited and decided to do the review now. I highly doubt my opinion will change in the last few chapters.
I think we might have the beginning of a series that will be a contender for my favourite book series. This book is amazing, but definitely not for anyone who hates world building. The Way of Kings is unique because of the new world that Brandon Sanderson has created. The biggest detail is something called the Highstorms, which are pretty much hurricanes that come every few days. The world also includes massive exoskeleton creatures, plants that are either made of rock or disappear into the ground at the slightest wind or touch, seasons that last only weeks, and of course magic. Of all of Sanderson's books, this is definitely the best example of world building.
Of course, creating a new world can be confusing for the reader. I love it, as it gives you the chance to use your imagination and see old things at new angles. However, I know there are plenty of fantasy fiction readers who hate it. They don't like trying to figure out what a simple thing is, and don't understand why it has to be given a new name. For example, the end of a year is called a Weeping, money is called spheres, and devices that use some sort of electricity are called fabrials. But the best part is how Sanderson shows all the new details. Of course he uses words, but in addition he created a character who is very skilled at drawing. It's through many of her drawings that we see things such as Chulls (large lobster-like creatures with a thick shell), skyeels (basically flying eels...) and the many plant forms.
Every author and book has flaws though. There were several grammatical or spelling errors that I noticed, but the those were easy to pass over. The largest thing I noticed, and one that may have been deliberate, was the use of the omnipotent narrator. Normally this'll mean getting into the mind of several characters, but being separated by a page break or a chapter. He does this, but in the same chapter, and even in the same paragraph, he'll switch between two or three different points of views. It's very distracting, but probably not that big for someone that reads, but does't write.
Despite the flaws, this is definitely one of my favourite books. Anything by Brandon Sanderson has been amazing, and I would suggest any of his works to other fantasy fiction readers. He's one of those authors that you might have heard of a few times, but never thought to pick up his books. Do it! You'll never regret it!
And some additional art:
Monday, 24 June 2013
Review: A Murderous Procession *SPOILERS*
I'm going to interrupt the character conversations to make a review, as I just finished a book today and I want to write about it before I forget. (even though I completely forgot about Friday's post anyway...)
The book this time is called A Murderous Procession. It's the fourth book in a series by Ariana Franklin, though it's one of those series where each book could be a stand alone. All of her books are historical fiction, and all are murder mysteries. What I love about them is how historically accurate they are. Of course the main character is fictional, along with a few others, but it still has Henry II and mentions of the Normans. After my history class (Europe in the High Middle Ages) I understand a lot of the references and smaller details. It's great for anyone that loves European history, but might be a little too detailed for anyone who doesn't even know what a Cathar is...
Anyway, the main character is named Adelia Agular, a female doctor of death from Sicily. I won't go over the first three books, but by this book, she's been in England for seven years, and is finally going back to Sicily with a procession that includes the English Princess who is going to marry the Sicilian prince. in this group is someone out to kill her though.
Ariana Franklin is in line with Agatha Christie when it comes to suspense, in my opinion (though I've only read one Agatha Christie book...) Although you have a suspicion at the beginning about who it is, through the rest of the story you begin to doubt and suspect other people. In this particular novel though, at the end I laughed in triumph because I had guessed right, so Franklin might have slipped up a bit here by giving away one clue too early.
Now the best, and worst, part about this book is the very end. It's a huge cliff hanger. Honestly, someone is on the brink of death, and Franklin just ends it! Then guess what? She dies! Not the character, oh no. Ariana Franklin died in 2011, and never finished the series. I am going to be agonizing over this for months now. The reason why I say the ending is so good is because I didn't really like the character that might have died... and it was beautifully written. No important characters had died for a while, so I think it was called for.
Anyway, sorry for missing my Friday post, and I'll get back into the Character conversations on Wednesday. My next book review may take a while, because I'm now onto a book that's 1,252 pages long... Yay!
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