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Breakfast at Tiffany's: WITH House of Flowers: WITH A Diamond Guitar: AND A Christmas Memory
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Immortalised by Audrey Hepburn's sparkling performance in the 1961 film of the same name, Breakfast...
Motherhood, Rescheduled: The New Frontier of Egg Freezing and the Women Who Tried it
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How would you live your life if you could stop your biological clock? If you could be free of the...
Fairy Tale Catalog - Big Book of 555 Fairy Tales
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The first fairy tale catalog, including 555 stories - nearly all fairy tales that have ever been...
Connor Sheffield (293 KP) rated Assassin's Creed: Forsaken in Books
May 15, 2017
The story of a Templar rather than the Assassin (3 more)
Set out like a journal, makes it intriguing
Good descriptive action
An insight to the history of the character
Some chapters are slow (1 more)
The journal format limits the experience to the view of only one character
Insight to a character we barely see
- MINOR SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED ASSASSINS CREED 3 -
The 5th book in the Oliver Bowden collection of Assassin's Creed novels, follows the life of Haytham Kenway, son of Pirate / Assassin, Edward Kenway and father of the Native American Assassin Connor Kenway, who you play as in the video game Assassin's Creed 3.
Haytham is a British Templar who is sent to America during the French and Indian and American Revolutionary Wars, to learn more about, and find an ancient cave that would help the Templar Order discover more about the first civilization, also known as 'Those who came before'. After centuries of the two factions, Assassins and Templar, fighting a never ending war in secret, over advanced technology known as the Pieces of Eden, created by the first civilization.
Though it is interesting to learn more about Haytham, since we only get to play a small part of his story in the video game, my only issue, though minor it may be, with the book is that the journal format limits our experience of the story to the view point of one man, and there are so many interesting characters within the plot that are sure to have their own interesting stories to be told, but sadly we are limited to one man's thoughts and opinions, and learn very little about other characters, besides their outspoken interactions with Haytham.
However this book is exciting and really does open up a whole new story within the franchise that we do not get to see. The descriptive writing ensures that the world that is described to us, is enough to clearly imagine, as the writer imagines it, in our minds, but enough for us to also have our own image of the areas, the surroundings and the sights, sounds and smells of such a place that our protagonist visits.
If you're a fan of the franchise then I highly recommend any of these novels to you, because they open up so much more to the characters and the stories that we do not get within the games. This is what makes the books such an exciting read, because we get to delve deep inside the minds of the characters, from start to finish.
The 5th book in the Oliver Bowden collection of Assassin's Creed novels, follows the life of Haytham Kenway, son of Pirate / Assassin, Edward Kenway and father of the Native American Assassin Connor Kenway, who you play as in the video game Assassin's Creed 3.
Haytham is a British Templar who is sent to America during the French and Indian and American Revolutionary Wars, to learn more about, and find an ancient cave that would help the Templar Order discover more about the first civilization, also known as 'Those who came before'. After centuries of the two factions, Assassins and Templar, fighting a never ending war in secret, over advanced technology known as the Pieces of Eden, created by the first civilization.
Though it is interesting to learn more about Haytham, since we only get to play a small part of his story in the video game, my only issue, though minor it may be, with the book is that the journal format limits our experience of the story to the view point of one man, and there are so many interesting characters within the plot that are sure to have their own interesting stories to be told, but sadly we are limited to one man's thoughts and opinions, and learn very little about other characters, besides their outspoken interactions with Haytham.
However this book is exciting and really does open up a whole new story within the franchise that we do not get to see. The descriptive writing ensures that the world that is described to us, is enough to clearly imagine, as the writer imagines it, in our minds, but enough for us to also have our own image of the areas, the surroundings and the sights, sounds and smells of such a place that our protagonist visits.
If you're a fan of the franchise then I highly recommend any of these novels to you, because they open up so much more to the characters and the stories that we do not get within the games. This is what makes the books such an exciting read, because we get to delve deep inside the minds of the characters, from start to finish.
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race in Books
Oct 27, 2017 (Updated Oct 27, 2017)
So much more than the film
I'm so glad that I watched the film first, otherwise it would have been a total disappointment. The book is extensive, and the story of the film seems quite different to the truth. The bare bones are the same: a trio of remarkable women broke boundaries in both gender and race to be part of one of the most historic events in US and even world history - the space race.
Before John Glenn made it to space, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers’, calculating the flight paths by hand that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Forget Silicon Valley's misogynistic climate - women were the original engineers and mathematicians.
The book is awash with interesting stories of extraordinary people working in a time of segregation and all pervasive racism. It has multiple layers that delve into each character, and gives a comprehensive context into these women's lives. It basically fills in the gaps of the film, but also changes the timeline considerably as Katherine Johnson was much younger than her colleague Dorothy Vaughan. Nevertheless, an extraordinary read and a great tribute to these invisible women.
Before John Glenn made it to space, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers’, calculating the flight paths by hand that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Forget Silicon Valley's misogynistic climate - women were the original engineers and mathematicians.
The book is awash with interesting stories of extraordinary people working in a time of segregation and all pervasive racism. It has multiple layers that delve into each character, and gives a comprehensive context into these women's lives. It basically fills in the gaps of the film, but also changes the timeline considerably as Katherine Johnson was much younger than her colleague Dorothy Vaughan. Nevertheless, an extraordinary read and a great tribute to these invisible women.
Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China in Books
Mar 15, 2018
It's interesting to learn about what is happening in different countries from the perspective of the people who are actually living there. So much of what we see in our media only discusses things from an American perspective, which is obviously biased. That's not to say that one will feel more positively about the Chinese government after reading a book like this, but it does give one a better understanding of how things got the way they are and also why people went along with it, and in some cases continue to do so. In telling the stories of a variety of Chinese citizens, both ordinary and highly influential, the author does a fantastic job of capturing the mood of the people and just what everyday life is like for them. China is a country awash with contradictions, while the ruling party tries to modernize without loosing their grip on power. This is a very well written book, that is often every bit as engaging as any fictional story, that provides a fascinating look at one of the biggest players on the global stage today. Anyone with any interest in current events should read it, and be happy they live in a country where they'll be allowed to.
Sarah (126 KP) rated Safe - Season 1 in TV
Jul 30, 2018
Good, with a but...
I binged watched this in one day - the series comprises (I think) of 8 episodes of about 45 minutes each (I'm pet sitting and it was Sunday, so I had very little else to do!).
I had reservations about an American being cast in the lead role of an English drama, as I often find that the accents can be quite jarring, however, for the most part it was actually very convincing. I was worried, in the first episode, that it was going to be full of misplaced Americanisms when the middle class English doctor proclaimed "My bad", but again, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wasn't the case.
The story was definitely compelling and well-acted, but I did find that there were a few too many close-ups of people being moody for no particular reason, apparently in order to 'set the scene'.
Sadly, the characters are rather cliched, and there are too many sub-plots/side stories which are not really necessary to the plot and which detract from the overall story, in my opinion.
In short, I would say it's worth a watch and is certainly not bad, but is let down by maybe trying too hard.
I had reservations about an American being cast in the lead role of an English drama, as I often find that the accents can be quite jarring, however, for the most part it was actually very convincing. I was worried, in the first episode, that it was going to be full of misplaced Americanisms when the middle class English doctor proclaimed "My bad", but again, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wasn't the case.
The story was definitely compelling and well-acted, but I did find that there were a few too many close-ups of people being moody for no particular reason, apparently in order to 'set the scene'.
Sadly, the characters are rather cliched, and there are too many sub-plots/side stories which are not really necessary to the plot and which detract from the overall story, in my opinion.
In short, I would say it's worth a watch and is certainly not bad, but is let down by maybe trying too hard.
W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen: Becoming a Character Comedian: 2016
Book
This book reveals how Fields became a character comedian while performing in Broadway's most...
Hollywood Catwalk: Exploring Costume and Transformation in American Film
Book
The High School outsider takes off her glasses, puts on a dress, and becomes the Prom Queen; the...
TI
The Iraq War in Documentary Film
Book
This book is the first comprehensive study of documentary film on the Iraq War. In a series of close...