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Fantasy

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) – 5 Stars

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dvd cover: HArry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)This is the story of the boy who lived. An orphaned eleven-year-old named Harry Potter, who had been living with relatives ever since his parents died, just found out he was a wizard. He gained admission to the prestigious Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was the greatest day of his life, since he could leave behind his family who didn’t treat him nicely and be immersed into this new world. Once he is in his new world, he finds out he is THE FAMOUS Harry Potter since he is the only person to survive a deadly curse. And he’s got the lightning bolt scar to prove it.  Over the course of the school year Harry and his friends, Ron and Hermione, go on adventures to solve the mystery of what is being guarded at Hogwarts.

This movie is one of the few successful adaptations of any book.  All of the people involved captured everything is the book visually perfectly.  When the camera scans and shows Hogwarts for the first time it was exactly how I pictured it.  For anyone who didn’t the read the books first, this movie was the start of a phenomenon.  After watching the first Harry Potter the viewer can see how the book itself could capture the imagination of so many kids and get them to read.

Starring: Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint
Directed by Christopher Columbus

Review by Anne B.

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Book Review: Reticence by Gail Carriger – 4 Stars

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For those who enjoy paranormal steampunk novels, request copies The Custard Protocol series.  I recently reread the third book Competence and then promptly read Reticence the fourth book in this series written by Gail Carriger.  Both are fun reads with some excitement.  The last book features Professor Percival Tunstell, but not to worry this book does feature strong capable smart women.  In fact this book introduces a new character who is a female doctor.  Some readers might expect to find a more traditional story at this point, and will be disappointed by the twists and turns as the Custard dirigible  travels to Egypt and Japan.  As a word of caution relationships are definitely not traditional in most of Gail Carriger’s books.  I was caught up in the development of my favorite characters from the series.  Unfortunately Reticence is the last book in the series so there will be no new adventures for the adopted family of the Custard.  I give Reticence 4 out of 5 stars.  The series overall however is definitely 5 stars. I highly recommend it for a nontraditional action romance set in an alternate 1890s with paranormal fantasy included.

Review by Nancy H.

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Book review: The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein by Robert A. Heinlein

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book cover: The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein by Robert A. HeinleinMy dad borrowed this book from the library and told me I would enjoy it. He gave it to me once he was finished, and had to renew it twice because of me. Oops.

This is the first Heinlein book I’ve ever read, so I feel it was a good introduction to him. I enjoyed every story in this anthology. Some were funny; some were thrilling; and at least one brought a tear to my eye. Obviously, the anthology includes a wide variety of fantasies. The only one that bugged me was the final story, which involved time travel. I can’t explain much without giving away major spoilers, but there’s a serious paradox in this story. Narratively, I can understand the paradox, but whenever I try to work my way through it logically, my brain hurts. I suppose that’s the nature of paradoxes though.

This anthology has inspired me to look into reading more of Heinlein’s works. Thankfully, my dad has at least a dozen here in the house, so I won’t get bored any time soon.

Review by Jessica A.

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Book Review: The For at River’s Bend by Jack Whyte

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book cover: The Fort at River's Bend by Jack WhyteSpoilers ahead, though not ones that aren’t pretty obvious to anyone already familiar with Arthurian Legend.

This is the fifth book in the Camulod Chronicles. At this point in the story, Arthur is about 8 or 9 and Merlin has taken him into hiding, along with a small group of trusted friends from Camulod. Through the course of the story, Arthur grows to manhood and the Camulodians settle in quite nicely in their new home. This is short-lived, of course, since they must inevitably return to Camulod so that Arthur can take his place there. That is where the group are headed at the end of the book.

I noticed something while reading this book, that things on the whole tended to overwhelming go Merlyn’s way. He is so clever and so is most everyone around him, that he achieves all that he sets his mind to. True, a good deal of luck was involved, but it felt as though every conflict worked out in Merlyn’s favor. It just felt too easy, especially in the way they always seem to happen upon the best way to devise a new model of weapon. This has been the way of things through much of the series, but never so pronounced as in this book. No matter, though. An ill wind has come through Britain and the next book will likely bring more difficulties for Merlyn, Arthur, and the people of Camulod.

Review by Jessica A.

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Book Review: The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy

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book cover; Faceless Ones by Derek LandyI’m going with a theme this week, it seems. Hahaha

I read this nearly two years after reading the previous entry in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. Unlike in many series, this book did little to refresh my memory of characters and situations; it fully expected me to remember from one book to the next with little prompting. This is not necessarily a fault with the book (obviously, I was at fault for waiting so long to read the third installment) but merely a case of Landy having high expectations of his readers.

As with the previous books, the snappy remarks are quite prevalent. Skulduggery remains very smooth and cool, though other characters have been suggesting to Valkyrie that he may not be as heroic and admirable as she believes. Other secrets and past misdeeds are hinted at, but not revealed, making one eager to read the next installment to learn just how so-and-so may have betrayed such-and-such in years gone by.

There is a scene near the end of this book which reminded me a scene from another young adult fantasy series. There was a difference here though: I was not as moved by the events here as I was in the other book. I realized this is because this is very much an action-and-dialogue-driven book, rather than character-driven. We see very little of the characters’ lives outside of the investigation and the crisis at hand. This is focused on in the fact that Valkyrie does not experience her “normal” life at all. She has a mirror image (literally) who goes to school for her and at the end of the day Valkyrie downloads the mirror’s memories. Thus, Valkyrie had her first kiss but only remembers that it happened; she does not remember the feel or the flush of heat to her face or anything else associated with first kisses. She missed out on that, which is a great loss indeed.

Although I enjoyed the book, I do not believe it was the best or strongest in the series. Thankfully, there are more books left in the series that I can sink my teeth into.

Review by Jessica A.

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Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

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book cover: American Gods by Neil GaimanWhat happened to the gods that people worshiped in their homelands after they moved to America? Well, the gods appeared in America as well. What happened when belief waned in those gods? Some faded, some died, some were forgotten forever, and some try to survive in a country full of new gods of the media and internet age. How do the new gods and old gods get along with one another? To put it mildly, a war is about to start.

Shadow, a man just released from prison, who whiles away the time by performing coin tricks, is approached by a strange man named Wednesday. Wednesday offers him a job, which hurtles Shadow squarely into this world of gods about to go to war. The storm is coming and all parties are very interested in Shadow. I can’t describe much more without giving too much away, but Shadow’s journey takes him all over the United States.

This book was terrific. So terrific, that I originally spelled the word with three r’s. I’m a fan of Neil Gaiman to begin with and American Gods does not disappoint. I am eager now to read Anansi Boys.

Review by Jessica A.

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