ClareR (6106 KP) rated The Story Spinner in Books
Jan 18, 2025
This novel is set in a period of history that I know nothing about. Everything was new, interesting and exciting. I know little of the Romans in Britain era. I wasn’t aware that Welsh princesses were married off to Roman generals - like Elen, from the land of the Silures, in 382AD. She has quite some story, stretching from Wales to the Roman Empire.
Cadi is a writer in 2024, and when she hears marching feet in the lane outside her cottage but sees nothing there, she finds she’s able to see the story of Elen as she writes it down. There’s something in the meadow behind her house that connects the two times - but time is running out. Someone is trying to take Cadi’s peace and sell the land to build on. And the story will be lost.
I loved the historical detail in Elen’s time, and the excitement in Cadi’s. Elen’s story is pretty exciting too, to be fair. It amazed me just how much she was able to travel around Europe and further afield. This book is pure escapism, and I loved it. History, magic - what more do you need!
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Ross (3284 KP) rated The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) in Movies
Feb 19, 2019
The plot is fairly standard Arthurian legend - boy pulls sword from stone and seeks to unite his enemies behind him in battling against forces of evil. The film does this with full knowledge and gentle telling of the actual legend, and doesn't look to be a re-telling, rather a modern day "second coming of Arthur".
There are plenty of laughs throughout the film, with a typical British flavour.
There is also action aplenty with some really powerful battle scenes and excellent SFX.
Director Joe Cornish (of Adam & Joe fame - there is also a nice cameo from Adam Buxton in the film) does a fantastic job of telling the story through the eyes of a child but without it being patronising or twee.
The cast are superb, with the young Merlin really being a star (and creepily like a young Joe Cornish). While I enjoyed Patrick Stewart's role as Merlin, I felt it added less gravitas than I think was intended and wasn't really necessary, the young incarnation perfectly playing the role himself.
A great, fun and thrilling adventure.
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