The Warlock by Michael Scott

Taking place in the modern world, among blue tooth, rock stars, and laptops, ancient wonders walk the world. Michael Scott introduced us to Sophie and Josh, who met Nicholas and Perenell Flamel in San Fracisco. This starts them on a journey that ignites their Gold and Silver Auras (of Legend!!!) and forces them to face off against many evil and deceptive characters. Their trust in the Flamels even begins to waver as we go through history in these novels.

One of my favorite aspects of this novel is the Magic system that Scott has created. Auras are no unique idea but seeing them roll off of each person and shape themselves into their spells, touched with a personalized scent, is a wonderful touch. Colored auras lend themselves to the uniqueness of each character, including Perenell whose own aura can shift colors from its clean white so that it protects her from connection to the spirit world. Sometimes I wonder what my smell would be, and I think it would be connected to the color of Aura that I would have. I am not sure what Color my aura would be but something calm and comforting, perhaps a sea green, and mixed with the smell of Rosemary...? I like it.

Me being the mythology buff that I am, I love the way he pulls any and every unsuspecting character into play. Elders, who are the Gods and Goddesses of Old, employ the use of Human Immortals who do their will on (or I should say in) the Earth Shadowrealm. You see characters such as Nicolas Flamel, but also Machiavelli, John Dee (who I may be one of the few who knew who he was before these novels = Nerd Points!) and even the likes of Virgina Dare and Billy The Kid.

The flow of the story is Atypical as well, blending the lines between good and evil. Scott, and all of his characters, very clearly state that some of the Elders are Dark Elders, and these are the ones that the "Bad" guys, like Dee and Machiavelli serve. However, there are those like the Flamels who serve no elders, and the people who are seemingly above or beyond other elders. Some characters are merely a mix of technology and Elder Aura....but yet they have more knowledge and power then the arrogant elders. The story is woven in a very non normal pattern but it forces the readers to give attention to both sides and not invest in who the author says is the good guys, which is very refreshing.

I can't say much more without breaching my NO SPOILERS rule, out of pure excitement. I don't want to wait for the Enchantress...but it is what it is.

Looking for a new series to read? Found one!

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean 4

This movie was surprisingly refreshing. I was not disappointed with Pirates 2 and 3. I thought it fit into the fantasy/pirate motif nicely. I know a lot of people who didn't care for two and three. I think that four is a nice return to the original. It has all that you would expect, Jack's wit, fun sword fights, magical situations, and very beautiful people.

Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan, were not missed. Neither were there accents, which thinking back did get slightly annoying. I think the Cast of Characters was the most disappointing thing in this movie. There were only three original characters in this movie. I guess that has its good and its bad, but for the most part I just missed the Parler(Par-lay) guys.

Blackbeard make his appearance in this movie, which leads to many other questions from the franchise. Why was he not one of the Pirate Lords that sealed Calypso? Where the hell was he when facing the British...I feel like he could have one single handedly. Or maybe that was Captain Hook?

Jack isn't crazy! Which is cool. I didn't like his character in the third movie, it was slightly annoying that he was so insane. The Black Pearl...isn't in this movie...not really...which sucked. However Queen Anne's Revenge is bad ass.

Overall Worth Seeing if you Like Pirates 1. And you should see it even more if you liked all of them.

Book Review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

This book has such a splendid review that I thought, surely it would be an easy read and would be somewhat insightful. At very least I assumed it would present me with a new take on God, and the wonders of spirituality.

This book was horrible.

I can not fathom why it has such rave reviews by so many people. I can honestly say that NO ONE suggested this book to me, but the my understanding of this book came from the media. This should have been my first clue.

As far as spirituality and God go, this book is incredibly Shallow. The course of the adventure the main character is presented with a wide variety of questionable omens. Majority of the book is about listening to the "Language/Soul of the world". Which is an idea that rings true to me, but the characterization and development that led to this idea were non existent. Morals and Points, were given to you. Bluntly. There was no thought involved, no deeper questioning needed. Santiago is faced with a tough decision, spend twenty pages fretting over it just to have another character tell you your wrong and this is why. Santiago changed his mind in that one paragraph...

Either I missed it or I couldn't tell how old this boy was, but he was INCREDIBLY arrogant, and it seemed to be encouraged by this deity/spiritualness. He felt that he had more experience, after one trip to the desert then that of a grown man who had lived three times the life of the boy. I did not like the main character.

The ending was Morally Questionable...thats all I'm going to say.

I know somethings get lost in translation, but the writing style was not the only thing that seems to have suffered.

Save yourself the couple of hours don't read this.

Book Review: The Lost Gate

Danny North is a powerless child in a family of Gods. Or so it would seem. These God's don't have as much power as they think they should, and Danny isn't nearly as powerful as they think.

Orson Scott Card is one of those prolific authors that I avoided for along time just because I sensed Mass Market Stereotypical Stories. However, at least with this book I was wrong. His portrayal of the Gods of old was quiet intriguing. Combining mythology and comic book explanations, Card creates and world where it worked.

He hinges everything upon this Rainbow bridge, the Bifrost, or as he calls them Gates. These gates act as invisible portals to a select group of those that can sense, create, open, close, and/or eat them. 1600 years ago, not-the-original-Loki, vanished taking with him all of the gates, and now gate mages, already feared as tricksters are all but banned. Most are killed when their powers develop. Yet Danny has gotten along well, because he didn't know and apparently most of his family is far enough removed from the idea that they never suspected it.

As Danny explores the world, he meets many very interesting characters each with a true psychology of their own. Those, who have powers, have personalities similar to the idea of their natural connection as well. The characters are very believable, and they are very true to their powers.

The Plot is calm and exciting enough to keep momentum as you breeze through the book. It is not one that has an EPIC climax where you are hinged at the edge of your seat for twenty five pages. This book is one long journey that has enough twists to keep you traveling easily, and pleased all the while.

All in all, it may not have been enough for me to explore Card any farther but I'll definitely finish this series.

You should pick it up!

Book Review: Jim Butcher Book 9 - White Night

I said I wasn't going to review another one of the Dreseden Files books, but...I Lied. This one topped my charts as my favorite. There were many good qualities, that all of them posses but brought this one together much better than any of the others.

One thing. Lasciel, I love you. Or I should say... Lash, I love you.

The White Court of Vampires comes into play very heavily in this book, and it brings forth Jim Butcher genius! I'm not sure how but he has a way of connecting every little detail and making it flawless.

Molly, Harry's apprentice, is coming along nicely, and it shows how Harry is growing as a Character at his ability to teach her and himself along the way. He learns new and innovative ways to use magic, because of their niche differences.

Read it.

Movie Review: Priest

I had my hopes set pretty low for this movie, mostly because I had absolutely no idea what this movie was about. I knew that it was an action thriller that was about vampires and vampire hunters. So I was okay with going to see it initially. Needless to say that I was thoroughly exhausted because of a recent event at church. So watching this I was very uninhibited and just went with the flow of the movie.

I want to start by saying that I had no idea that this was based off of a comic book...and when the movie went briefly comic, I was confused and just kinda ignored the situation. After researching a little bit about the original comic, I think I can safely say that the movie has absolutely nothing to do with it other then similar themes.

I don't remember any names, I'm not sure they used them. I'm not sure that this was a bad thing, I liked the non declarative nature that it represented. Karl Urban makes a great vampire.

The movie is mostly visually appealing. It isn't overly gory and the killing is creative. I loved the weapons that were used, especially the throwing stars. That said, I was really disappointed with the main guys main weapon...this decorative cross that held sentimental value. I expected him to hit a button and be wielding a blast of sun light, or at least some sort of awesome sword. However he unsheathed a three inch knife....effective but lame.

If my only complaint was the weapon, the movie is worth seeing. Just don't have expectations...of any type.

I got bored so I mocked up a cover for my book!

Book Review: The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller

I'm not sure where to begin. This book...was interesting. Most books I read are action driven books, being young adult or a magic slinging fantasy style, I'm not used to books driven almost entirely on character. It took me FOREVER to finish this book, and actually has me a little weary to read the sequel (and there are another pair after that). In six hundred and six pages, I expected quiet a bit from prophesy, and magic...

However. This is not what happened. Asher of Restharven is the youngest son (20 years old) of a lowly fisherman who splits all profits eight ways, proportionate to seniority. He does not like this, nor does he much care for his brothers. So he sets out and to the big city to make alot of money and return to buy a boat for just him and his father. Thats cool, good start. When he gets to the city, we encounter our first action! Huzzah. Saving the prince from a bucking stallion, and earning himself a much coveted job. From this point on and the next four hundred and fifty pages, the book is focused on the mundane fashion of Asher's life and the whispered hints of his destiny spoken by two other minor characters.

When this Prophesy was first mentioned, I was excited. It sets up a great premise, however it seems that it was abandoned in the first novel. Mentioned a lot, and always saying that part of it are coming true, but never actually connecting the dots. The event that I expected to happen based on the prophesy, didn't even happen to Asher, who is blatantly called the Innocent Mage. I now feel obligated to read the second book...eventually for the sake of my own curiosity.

Being a Character drive novel, the Characters are phenomenal! I loved each of there very distinctive personalities, and they do play off each other well. The characters and their non-western wit and lingo are worth the read by themselves I think.

As a friends said, everyone is established, so perhaps there is no need to go through another five hundred pages of mundane life to get a book that is action driven.

I am not sure where I stand on this book. The last 100-200 pages were very well written, it stands to question though...if you can fight through the first two thirds of the book...

Look into it, at very least.

Movie Review: Thor

This movie was made, purely for the visionary artist to say "Hey, Look what we can do!". 1 part star trek, 1 part star wars, and a whole lot of parts of geek orgasm. The movie was fantastic from a visual point of view. From a comic point of view, it was pretty good too. We can never expect perfection from Hollywood when it comes to comics, but it was a decent rendition and will probably receive better reviews then the likes of Hulk and or Spider Man trilogy.

I have not kept up with Thor as much as I have the others, but my knowledge of mythology allowed me to enjoy the story anyways. I know enough about the Marvel Thor to have enjoyed the references to various things.

I can generally blame the crap movies on giving major roles to really famous people. I.E. the Fantastic four being cast with Jessica Alba and Chris Evans. However I love Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins. Fantastic casting I do believe. The story was good, up until it came time for him to have his life changing realization.

"I am Thor! I deserve it."
-Hammer doesn't budge-
-1 night of heavy drinking with guy who tells you to leave town-
"Oh...I'm human...I must be charismatically chivalrous now"

This life changing, climactic attitude adjustment...happens in about 5 minutes worth of movie. The rest of the movie is good, but I wish there were a little broader of a character arch. Other then that no complaints. Could be worse....

Palpatine: Come to the Dark Side....
Anikan Skywalker: No!
Palpatine: We has cookies...
Anikan: Okay.... :D -Eats cookies of evil....gets bad contacts-

My bad recreations aside this is kind of what happens. Thor is cool, a good movie with good characters. The story is true to the comics mostly, and should be accepted in the comic world with approval.

Go see it!

Book Review: Why do men have nipples?

I took a break from the high fantasy, for an hour and blew through this toilet side book. It is a humor book that explores many questions about the body. The title question is just one of about a hundred that they give you not only stellar wit, but a true medical answer when possible. One of the authors is actually a Doctor so it helps, and the other...well he's just funny.

There really isn't much to say about this book other then it is one that is worth keeping next to your toilet, as the authors admit themselves.

Go Read it!

High Fantasy v. Urban Fantasy

I think I am a very impatient reader. The book I am currently reading is High Fantasy, and I feel like it is taking me forever to get through it. I love reading, and I'm not a biased reader when it comes to Urban vs High. However I do think that High Fantasy is a disadvantage as the times become faster.

I guess first, you have to know the difference between Urban and High fantasy. High Fantasy is where the writer has created everything in the world, and it is uniquely named, run, and has a distinct existence separate from the world in which we know and live. This world may have its own laws, language, society, races, and even cosmos. Some high fantasy can even parallel our own world, but it has to be separate. I was shocked as I entered into reading this most recent novel, I had to struggle to remember what the last High Fantasy book was that I read. I know now that my absolute favorite author, Tamora Pierce, is a High Fantasy author. Usually, I do avoid the genre.

Urban Fantasy is that which the characters interact in this world, the one where we know. This has many faces, shapes and forms in which to play. Just because this world has rules, doesn't mean that an Urban Fantasy author can't manipulate or even break them. Urban Fantasy, like Jim Butcher, takes place in the heart of a city, or on the side of a mountain that we all know. You can have Historical Urban which takes history and adds a new perspective to what "actually" happened. Most Urban Fantasy allows for the ignorance of those who don't know magic exists thus preserving the plausibility factor. Novels like Percy Jackson, and The Alchemist (Michael Scott) even claim some of the most famous people in the world as their own.

There is a weird subsection, I suppose, that mingles the two. Harry Potter for instance has all the characteristics of both, right? They have their own world parallel to this one, and yet live fully on our planet, in our world. You could make arguments that this is just a subsection of Urban Fantasy, but this Urban-High takes new levels in their novels.

My argument that High Fantasy is at a disadvantage, is that fact that it takes so bloody long to create an accurate picture of the world, characters, magic, laws, etc...that some readers maybe bored with the novel before they even get started. I think this is my problem, I am toughing it out and reading this novel in hopes that I won't regret it. That said, Character development cannot be sacrificed in High Fantasy, for the sake of world development. Also it could be said that Character Development can't be taken for granted in a world that we already know.

Okay...soap box over.