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Alfred: The Boy Who Would Be King
Alfred: The Boy Who Would Be King
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Alfred is a mostly ordinary boy, going to school, playing video games, and reading books about medieval history. His mother is a bit eccentric but all in all, he is living the regular life of an 11-year-old. That is until a mysterious man shows up one night and Alfred suddenly finds himself in a fantastical, medieval kingdom. What is even more strange, Alfred soon discovers he has families ties to this strange land and is the only heir left to the kingdom’s throne. Thrust in the middle of a country cursed by a witch, a dark lord, terrible creatures, and famine, Alfred has his work cut out for him. But thanks to the help of a few new friends, his medieval video game, and book knowledge, he is up for the challenge.

Alfred is a determined, hopeful, excited kid living out a child’s fantasy. He manages to stay strong through horrible circumstances and uses his knowledge of the period along with that of his own time to try and make things better for his people. The mashing together of periods offers plenty of hilarious moments as Alfred tries to explain things like TV and pro-wrestlers. His knowledge of things like agriculture and battle defenses quickly become lifesavers for the peasants who have accepted the return of the king.

This fantastical adventure is a beautiful story that balances the dark, harsh realities of 6997428survival against both enemies and natural, the struggle of the weight thrust upon Alfred’s shoulders, while also remaining lighthearted, funny, and fun. The story unfolds like a puzzle before the reader, much like it does for Alfred, as you discover more about his family, magic, and the politics of this magical world. Author Ron Smorynski has done an incredible job of creating an extraordinary world and characters that you can become invested it. The story captures the pure adventure and action so longed for in fantasy adventures while also tackling growing up, history, and family struggles. To me, it brings to mind such classics as Narnia and The Castle in the Attic.

The book is an excellent beginning. While the story itself is well rounded in itself, the real magic is in the story that it has left to tell. Throughout the book, we get the beginnings of magical rules, political struggle, villains powers, and the complicated history of Alfred’s family and those that knew them. The book leaves you with as many secrets as it answers and simply begs for a sequel. I am excited to see more from this author and continue my journey with Alfred and his friends, hopefully soon!
  
Inception (2010)
Inception (2010)
2010 | Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Remember Leonardo di Caprio from Titanic?

He's virtually unrecognizable here.

Mind-bending action/adventure by Christopher Nolan - who directed The Dark Knight trilogy - following a team of crooks who specialise in extracting information from their targets subconscious whilst said target is asleep.

When a job goes wrong, Cobb (di Caprio) is thrown a lifeline by his target (Ken Watanabe): rather than stealing information, he wants him to implant an idea in another persons subconscious i.e. Inception.

With a quite impressive cast list - Leonardo di Caprio, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, that-now-grown-up-kid-from-Third-Rock-From-The-Sun (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Cillian Murphy, this might take a while to get going but is undeniably visually impressive once it does!

(snap-poll: does the spinner stop spinning at the very end? Yea or Nay?)
  
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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Triple Frontier (2019) in Movies

Apr 4, 2019 (Updated Apr 4, 2019)  
Triple Frontier (2019)
Triple Frontier (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Crime
Solid cast (0 more)
Bland plot (0 more)
Felt Kinda Pointless...
When I saw the trailer for Triple Frontier, I was reminded of the extremely fun recent Ghost Recon game, Wildlands and I was also reminded of the surprisingly brilliant Sicario sequel, Day Of The Solado. Unfortunately the movie lives up to neither of those other properties and is instead a middle of the road, hollow way to waste 2 hours.

The cast were a big selling point here for me, I am a fan of every single one of the 5 lead actors in this thing and they all did a pretty great job. The problem was the material that they were working with; a generic bland script and mediocre at best action scenes.

The whole thing just felt unremarkable and forgettable throughout and I kept waiting for it to kick into high gear and get good, unfortunately I am still waiting. That is the worst thing about this film, is that it isn't anything offensively bad and it's not good or even memorable either, it's just meh for it's entirety.

Overall, you can give this one a skip, unless you are a die hard fan of any of the main cast. The way that the plot wraps up in the end makes the whole drawn-out, pretty dull adventure that we have just been on feel extremely pointless and leaves the viewer feeling unfulfilled as the credits roll.
  
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride
William Goldman | 1973 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.6 (53 Ratings)
Book Rating
I had never read the Princess Bride before, but I was quite familiar with the movie. The director did such a wonderful job translating this book into a movie, that every scene was familiar. I listened to it via audiobook and it was the version narrated by the director himself. It was interesting because he inserted a number of asides during his narration that illustrated the effect the story had on him as a young boy and the changes that his father made in the retelling.

This could be considered a spoiler, so ignore the next paragraph if you want to avoid any possible spoilers.

My biggest qualm about the story is that it does not have an ending. As interesting as it is to decide for yourself what happens, it's never quite as satisfying as reading the entire story from start to finish and knowing what the conclusion is. It feels abrupt and that is the only thing that isn't perfect about it.

The characters, action and adventure, and story hit all of the right notes. It has become a classic for a reason and I'm so glad that I finally got a chance to read it. I would highly recommend listening to the audiobook, as it was an enjoyable way to experience the book.
  
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KarenRC (6 KP) rated The Anomaly in Books

Jul 23, 2018  
The Anomaly
The Anomaly
Michael Rutger | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
8
7.7 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Former screenwriter turned YouTuber Nolan Moore, has been leading his team and viewers on adventures to uncover mysteries in various locations, with increasingly disappointing results. His latest expedition takes them to the Grand Canyon in search of a cavern previously found by an old explorer that Nolan wants to see for himself. With his trusty team around him they head off, but after searching for two days, they start to lose hope. Just as they are about to give up and go home, they spot something high up on the canyon wall and for the first time, Nolan is convinced that he has finally uncovered an actual mystery. But what is the secret hidden in the cavern? And just how much are they going to wish that they had never found it?!
I am really excited to hear that the film rights for this book have been picked up because it is written like a Hollywood blockbuster. Not surprising really as the author is in fact a screenwriter from California! But after a bit of a slow start, the action picks up and it is then a fast-paced adventure. In the vein of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider with some brilliant characters, especially Ken, I can definitely see this on the big screen and can't wait to see who they cast.
  
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Shane Crick (5 KP) rated The Presence in Books

Dec 10, 2018  
TP
The Presence
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
You enter the life of Rosalind and events that occur within her personal life. She ends up landing the job of Branch Manager at a local library. This library Is rumored to be haunted and harbors some Interesting characters that Rosalind has to endure at her workplace. Finding herself suddenly homeless and armed with her furry friend Tofu, Rosalind finds herself engulfed In an supernatural adventure that will forever change her life and those around her.

I really wanted to like this book, but found myself dredging on and couldn't wait to finish. For me, I found It was quite slow at arriving upon any action that started to make the book more Interesting. I generally enjoy mystery, supernatural books, but this one was a tough cookie overall. I truly wished the Author added a bit more drama within the first chapters to keep It Interesting, Instead of slowly, Increasing to a dismal climax, to be drug back down the hill to reach another one. There are some good plots within the book that kept me reading and wanting to find out what the final outcome would be. However, predictable most times, I persevered on to the finish line.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book and In return, this Is my personal, unbiased review of this particular book.