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How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
2019 | Animation
Universal Pictures is wrapping up its How To Train Your Dragon Trilogy with the release of the film: How To Train Your Dragon: Hidden World, set to release on Friday, February 22, 2019.

The film brings back the same core cast of characters as the previous two movies, with Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), Astrid, (America Ferrera), Valka (Cate Blanchet), Eret (Kit Harrington), Gobber (Craig Ferguson), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Ruffnutt (Kristen Wiig), Tuffnut (TJ Miller), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and flashback appearances of Stoic (Gerard Butler).

The story opens on what is supposed to be a “stealthy raid” but isn’t, quite.

We learn that Hiccup and his band of friends (both Dragon and human) are on a continuous mission to rescue captured Dragons from the poachers determined to capture and exploit them.

Hiccup and his friends then bring the rescued dragons back to Berk which is now a “Dragon-Viking utopia”. This arrangement, however idyllic, does not appear to be sustainable in the long-term. It is crowded and messy and Berk is just simply running out of room to house any more Dragons! Astrid and Gobber are concerned that housing all the Dragons on Berk makes the settlement a target for the Dragon hunters, endangering the entire community.

Hiccup is still exploring and reading his father’s old records, and remains convinced that there is “more” out there. He enlists Astrid’s help in finding the hidden world where he believes that all of Berk could move to, with their Dragons to leave in peace and secrecy.

After an attack on Berk, the rest of the community is convinced that Hiccup is right (even as he is not fully convinced himself of his ability to lead them successfully) and agrees to follow him in his search for the Hidden World sanctuary.

The story follows them on their quest and the dangers and successes of the journey to find a new, more suitable home.

The music, animation, and scenery in this movie is great. The details are phenomenal, from the characters’ hair, to the movements of the Dragons, to the Hidden World cave details, really show the attention that was paid in making this movie stand out!

The story line itself, as a continuation of the previous two movies, flows well, and follows an appropriate arc, both as far as relationships as well as time.

The addition of a new Dragon, and the relationship that evolves between the Light Fury and Toothless brings a new level of evolution to the existing relationship between Toothless and Hiccup, and plays on the adage of “if you love something, set it free”.

I laughed throughout the movie, at the dragons’ antics and expressions and interactions with their humans and each other. I held my breath in anticipation at some aspects, and heard myself say ‘oh no!” under my breath at one point as well. Dragons 3 drew me in from the start, and didn’t let go till the very end of the credit rolled. (We stayed until the lights came back up, and even the credits had me smiling with their small surprises!)

I found myself both wishing that this installment wouldn’t be “the end” as well as acknowledging that this story provided a fitting end to the series of films.

If there MUST be an end, this film wraps up the story nicely and provides closure, while yet leaving enough room to imagine what might come next.

I would give this movie 5 out of 5 stars, and while we did not see it in IMAX or 3D, if you have those options available, I would recommend that as well!
  
The Dragon Warrior
The Dragon Warrior
Katie Zhao | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>The author/publisher provided a free copy of the book for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a review copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore do not affect the opinion or content of the review.</i></b>
<h2><strong><em>The Dragon Warrior</em> is such a fun and delightful read</strong></h2>
<strong>I'm 1000% sure the middle school me who got swallowed by </strong><em><strong>Percy Jackson & the Olympians</strong></em><strong> would devour this book</strong> as quickly as she inhales all the dumplings, stuffed buns and dim sum. (Look, they're comfort food.) <em>The Dragon Warrior</em> really brings back the nostalgia of those times. <strong>Katie Zhao wrote a beautiful novel that promises fun and adventure featuring Chinese mythology.</strong>

Zhao's debut novel follows twelve-year-old Faryn Liu as she is revealed to be the Heaven Breaker after she crosses paths with a demon during Lunar New Year Festivities. She and her companions set off on a quest across various Chinatowns to find the island of immortals so she can prove she is worthy to take on the role.

But both she and her brother are outcasts in the Jade Society and have been treated as such for years. To the members in her local Jade Society, she's not worthy of such an important role and it's not something she plans for either (does any twelve-year-old though?). But despite frequently thinking about ròu bāo zi (I don't blame her; meat dumplings are delicious), Faryn readily steps into the role even if she might know what she's doing or feel ready to potentially command an army.

<h2><strong>Full of adventure and humor</strong></h2>
<strong><em>The Dragon Warrior</em> is a huge nod to my childhood, featuring various deities and other well-known figures from Chinese mythology.</strong> They're full of wit and sass that brought a constant smile to my face as they aided or deterred Faryn and her companions in the quest. The novel brings in aspects of family, tradition and honor, all of which are important parts of Chinese culture. It's clear throughout the novel Faryn has a strong bond with not just her brother, but also her Ye Ye.

<strong>Zhao's debut novel is a fast-paced, page-turning adventure that is chock full of humor</strong>; it's easy to forget this is a debut as this is extremely well-written, and I loved every second of it. Honestly, the only thing I'm disappointed is there probably won't be any sequels. (Someone please tell me there will be one???) <strong><em>The Dragon Warrior</em> is an engrossing story featuring Chinese mythology and tying in various aspects of the culture; </strong>I highly recommend this to Chinese American readers who want to see themselves in a world where Chinese mythology clashes into the modern world.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/the-dragon-warrior-by-katie-zhao/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
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Mothergamer (1536 KP) rated the PC version of Dragon Age II in Video Games

Apr 3, 2019  
Dragon Age II
Dragon Age II
2011 | Role-Playing
I finished Dragon Age 2 and let's just say I am feeling conflicted. I absolutely loved Origins and Awakening. The story was well thought out and throw in the factor of every choice you made had a consequence of being good, evil, or in a gray area, it really made you pay attention and think about what you wanted to do throughout the story line. There was also more to explore on the map, and there was some depth to the design, such as the forests of Ferelden, the Dalish elves camp, and Orzammar.
 I was extremely excited about Dragon Age 2 and even got the signature edition. You get a lot of great items and cool downloadable content like The Black Emporium shop and The Exiled Prince quest. However, playing Dragon Age 2 I couldn't help but notice a lot of glaring flaws throughout it with the battle system and with some of the map designs. There are also for me, some issues with parts of the story and this does include some of Hawke's story.
 First, let me start with why I had a problem with Hawke's story. There are parts of it that seem rather pointless, as if Hawke is going through the motions and not really driven the way the hero was in Origins and Awakening. There's a lack of intensity. There is also a glaring lack of tough choices. I love a great story and with Origins and Awakening, there were choices that could be made that would affect the story, take it down a different path, and everything you decided had consequences. With Dragon Age 2, it seems the story was only written one way and no matter what the player does or decides, they become the Champion the same way and go through the same events. It falls flat when you think about the intricacies and plot twists of the previous two games.
 I did like the interactions with the members of your party and there were even characters I genuinely liked. I found that my top three were Varric, Fenris, and Isabela. Hawke has a voice, so some of these interactions had a little more emotion to them, but frankly it seemed like the companions were far more interesting and witty. Even their quests and stories were more interesting to me. There was one part of Hawke's story that really had me going and to the person who wrote that, I say great job. As for the rest, it just felt dull. Sure, the ending has a fantastic pivotal point to the story line, but it felt like a chore to get to it at certain points in the game.
 Overall, I had no problem with the battle system. It was much easier to navigate, the action is fast and fluid, and the AI is pretty spot on when it comes to the other party members, making for a pretty exciting furious battle. Yet, there was a problem. Let me be clear with all my friends who told me I could change the difficulty setting to casual if a battle was too hard, I DID. I then tried various tactics and party set ups and got annihilated eight times or more. I'll give everyone a moment to let that sink in. Now, maybe it's a crazy concept, but the casual setting on a video game means you don't have lots of dead party members and game over screens. Yes, it's still a battle, but not quite so difficult. When a battle is hard on the EASY setting, that's a huge problem for me. Factor in the 30 second cool down timer for healing potions, and healing spells, it borders on ridiculous.
 While I understand that the gist of this idea was it makes you plan out and think carefully about strategies for quests, boss battles, and random fights a 30 second heal timer does not work. I could understand having a timer, but 30 seconds can make or break a quest or story oriented battle in Dragon Age 2. I played as a rogue for the first play through, and I found myself kiting things a hell of a lot waiting for the timer to be up and hoping I wouldn't die before I could heal. Needless to say, it got incredibly frustrating quite a few times!
 Finally, we have the sheer laziness of the map and dungeon designs. It was as if there was just one prototype for everything when it came to the buildings in Kirkwall. The "poor house" design, and the "rich mansion" design came across as bland and was a telling sign of how rushed this game was. There's also one map for the sewers, the Deep Roads, one mine, one mountain, and one cave. You basically go back and forth with five different locations on the world map. Compared to the other maps in the Dragon Age games, this is shameful. The map is ridiculously tiny, but it's as if they were lazy and couldn't be bothered with making the locations stand out and be unique from each other.
 I liked Dragon Age 2, but I didn't love it the way I did Origins and Awakening. I can honestly say, it's a good game, but not a great one. There's too many predictable points in some of the story telling and it's quite obvious to see where certain things were rushed especially with certain cut scenes where the characters were blinking in and out of frame. I can not in good conscience give Dragon Age 2 a stellar review as an amazing game, because it isn't. Believe me, that kills me because I absolutely love the Dragon Age series, but with that many flaws, it's not worth full price.
  
DT
Danny The Dragon "Meets Jimmy"
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first thing I noticed about the book when I picked it up was the gold sticker on the cover that stated "Best Books AWARD FINALIST- USA Book News," and my first thoughts were, "Wow, this book must be really something." The picture on the cover featured a detailed illustration of a dragon, a boy, and smaller creature that looked vaguely like a frog. The illustration of the dragon is quite unique in that it is covered in multi-colored spots and mismatched stripes and wears a yellow-and-blue backpack and red tennis shoes. One of the opening pages shows two quotes, one from the author and one from the illustrator, discussing briefly how they both came to put together this book. The illustrations for the story itself are large, colorful, and fill the wide two-page spread, providing plenty for my two-year-old daughter to stare at and study. I did find it strange that there was no actual title page, but I suppose that would have been redundant.

The boy's name is Jimmy, and his sister's name is Sally, and both children and the dragon are polite and well-mannered throughout the story, using "Please" and "Thankyou" and helping Mom and Dad clean up both the beach supplies at the beginning of the story and the dishes after supper. The smaller green creature from the cover pops out of the green and white seashell with Danny the Dragon, and we are informed his name is Skipper and that he is Danny's navigator, but not what kind of creature he is. Danny explains that water will make him shrink back to fit inside the shell, and a lack of water causes him to come out of the shell as he grows big, which brings to mind the small toys that expand when placed in water (only opposite). All of the characters in the story are articulate and kind to each other, and there is nothing about the story that would be considered scary or bad, which is quite appropriate for the 4 to 8 year-old age group that the book is intended for. The story even promotes healthy eating, as the family has homemade vegetable soup for supper. The book is quite obviously set up for at least one sequel, as at the ending when Jimmy asks Danny where he came from and where has he been, Danny politely answers, "I will tell you some other time. For now it is bedtime. Goodnight - pleasant dreams."
  
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Becs (244 KP) rated Dragon Wing in Books

Sep 10, 2018  
Dragon Wing
Dragon Wing
Rebecca K. Busch | 2018 | Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
6
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The storyline. (1 more)
The descriptions.
Grammatical errors. (2 more)
More grammatical errors.
Missing character backgrounds.
A great read but also not a great read.
I received Dragon Wing by Rebecca Busch as a read and review copy from Austin Macauley Publishers for my full honest review.

I was really wanting to love this book and give a five-star rating, but there were so many grammatical errors that it honestly killed me at times to read. Don't get me wrong, the storyline was wonderful and I loved it but with the grammatical errors, the whole book was lacking and seemed like a Wattpad story. (Now there is nothing wrong with Wattpad stories. But when you get an actual physical copy or even digital copy of a book, you kind of hold it at a higher standard compared to reading a story that is only published online.) With that being said, I could only give this story a 3-star rating due to the lack of editing Dragon Wing went through. If it was edited properly, I would say this could have easily been a 4 to a 4.5 star read. But the errors take away from some of the plot, causing it to be boring and way too difficult to read.
  
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Merissa (11953 KP) rated Dragon Mist in Books

Jan 2, 2020  
Dragon Mist
Dragon Mist
David Burnett | 2019 | Paranormal, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dragon Mist is a tale set in the time of the Summer of Love in San Francisco. It doesn't stay there though, as the Lady Dragon goes back home.

This is a very different take on dragons, or drache, as they are known in here. There is a big group of characters, both main and supporting, who help the story to move along. Some of the characters you will like, some you won't. The characters stay the same throughout, so no worries about a friend becoming an enemy. The closest you get is someone who she was friendly with.

The story is mainly comprised of Chrissie's 'courting' of James as a potential mate, but you also get her recent past catching up with her, rejected suitors, possible blackmail, and the like.

Although this is described as a paranormal romance, I found the romance to be slightly lacking. There was no connection between Chrissie and James to be seen, just what we are told.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read set in a different time.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
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Kara Skinner (332 KP) Jan 2, 2020

Sounds like an interesting book. I've been getting into stories involving dragons lately and this sounds like a good one.

Red Dragon
Red Dragon
Thomas Harris | 1989 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences, Thriller
9
7.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
194 of 200

Red Dragon ( Hannibal Lecter book 1)
By Thomas Harris

RED DRAGON: the novel that introduced Hannibal Lecter
Will Graham was a brilliant profiler of criminals for the FBI - until he suffered terrible injuries in the process of capturing Dr Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter.

Years later, a reluctant Will agrees to help the FBI hunt down a depraved serial killer. But he soon realises that he needs the help of the only mind better than his own at understanding madmen.

The mind of Hannibal Lecter...


I’m a huge fan of Thomas Harris and this is possibly my third reread of this book and series! This time I seemed to enjoy it that little more and I’m not sure if it’s because I have a clearer picture of the characters and feelings surrounding the books from the tv series! He has a way of writing so you get so involved with the story and the characters, that to me is what keeps me coming back to read these books over and over. For the short intervals that Hannibal is in theses books gives you a feeling he’s watching over everything you read. Poor old Will really has had it tough too! On to silence of the lambs!!!
  
The Hunter (The Realm #2)
The Hunter (The Realm #2)
Eve Langlais | 2020 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
100 of 200
Halfway!!
Kindle
The Hunter ( The Realm book 2)
By Eve Langlais

Suzie and her twins tired of running from a violent ex, decide to settle down in sweet suburbia. But forget the quiet life, meet Hunter, Suzie's hot next door neighbor. Masquerading as a private eye, in truth he's a tracker from a magical realm on a quest to keep his world's existence secret. Little does he know that love has its sight on him. To survive a threat from Suzie's past and a predatory shapeshifter from the Realm, they will rely on the special skills that only the Hunter possesses. But will the Hunter allow himself to be caught for the sake of love?




I think everyone need a neighbour like a hunter oh my gosh was he a bit yummy! Yes I used the word yummy! I enjoyed getting a bit more from the realm but they never spend long enough in it! The kids were just so bloody adorable and I now need two dragon babies! This was a easy quick read and I really enjoyed it. Think more could have been made with the hunting and demise of the dragon but still a decent read.
  
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BookishWoo (317 KP) Jun 8, 2020

That cover 🔥

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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) Jun 8, 2020

oh he was hot!!