Wars of the Roses: Stormbird
9.0
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Historical fiction master Conn Iggulden retells the gripping story of the English Civil War in this...
Lunar Silver Star Story Touch
Games and Entertainment
App
Long ago, a great Dragonmaster named Dyne, with the aid of his faithful companions, defended the...
Forge of Darkness
Book
Now is the time to tell the story of an ancient realm, a tragic tale that sets the stage for all the...
Centuries of Change: Which Century Saw the Most Change and Why it Matters to Us
Book
History's greatest tour guide is back. And he's ringing the changes. In a contest of change, which...
Infinity Blade III
Games and Entertainment
4.0
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Join our new forums: https://www.epicgames.com/infinityblade/forums/ What the press is saying about...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Epic (2013) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
To go along with an average plot, there was average, unemotional voice acting from a diverse cast of actors with no real standout performances other than the comedic voices of Aziz Ansari and Chris O’Dowd. The two play a slug and snail and deliver some much needed laughs after a long and dry first half hour.
However this movie makes up for limited laughs with action. For a children’s movie there is a lot of action as the forces nature versus decay battle against each other. Parents take note, the 4 year old child who watched the movie with me got a little scared at parts, but made it through to the end when held safe in the lap of his mother for the remainder of the film.
Visually, the film is pleasing and its 3D is solid, especially during any scene where the characters are flying on top of birds. In the end I left the theater without a second thought for the film. Enjoyable, but it does not have the charm as recent family films like The Croods. Kids may not mind the average story, but it is one that is easy to forget.
Brave Guardians TD
Games
App
"A magic and impressive tower-defense game with wonderful graphics" - Appszoom, 8.8/10 "A gorgeous,...
Aralon: Sword and Shadow
Games and Entertainment
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The sequel for Aralon arrives on December 3rd on iOS!!! That which is done cannot be undone, but...
The Lowland
7.0
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Epic in its canvas and intimate in its portrayal of lives undone and forged anew, The Lowland is a...
Ross (3284 KP) rated A Time of Dread in Books
Jan 16, 2018
The first book in John Gwynne's new series (Of Blood and Bone) comes a little over 100 years after the conclusion of Wrath.
In some senses, and I have seen a number of reviews opining this, this marks the start of a different series, and no prior knowledge of the Banished Lands is needed. I would agree to an extent, though I would imagine a lot of things are taken for granted (the creatures and races of people for one, if not the actual storyline). However, if someone then wants to read the previous series I think a lot of the events of those books has been spoilt, not the overall conclusion but certain little details would be annoying to have spoilt. I would strongly encourage readers to read Malice et all first (though beware of the epic scope and cast of characters from the off).
The story follows three main paths which at times become two. Riv (a trainee warrior) and Bleda (a young ward, stolen from his family at a young age) are living with the "angels" that have broken through to the real world and are training to fight the "demons". Their story serves to chronicle the events of the first series quite neatly, and shows how the angels are not perfect in their role as mankind's guardians. Drem is a trapper living in the wilderness with his father and begins to uncover some unusual signs of dark work afoot. Finally, Sig the giant (a minor character in the first series) also works to eliminate the demons from the world, but does so independently of the angels.
The scope of the story and cast of characters is so much smaller more focused than Gwynne's previous books, which took some getting used to. While I felt the scope of the first series was so epic it was hard work, here it seems like a very different, simpler work. Almost, but not quite, like a step backwards.
As usual, there are twists and turns along the way, not all of which were particularly surprising (sometimes you just know that unless someone's head was cut off, they're going to come back again later!) and I felt they could have been dealt with better.
I felt there was maybe another chunk of the story that could have been added as the final 50 pages rattled along all of a sudden and ended abruptly with more still to tell.
I very much enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the next instalment to see where the story goes from here, though I expect it will be a smaller series than TFAF, looking to tie up loose ends.