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Merissa (12971 KP) rated The Cursed Kingdom in Books
Mar 28, 2019
The Cursed Kingdom by Maya Daniels
The Cursed Kingdom is a historical fantasy romance that will sweep you back to the days of Persia and Babylon. Full of outstanding descriptions, this story brings Alexander the Great to life, along with Bela obviously! In a deal made with Ishtar, Bela is bound to Babylon. However, when an army comes a'knocking, Bela's brother makes a mistake. This sets off a series of events that will change their lives forever.
I read this book in one sitting! It was so easy to keep on reading, with a smooth and flowing pace, and fantastic descriptions of people and places. With sexual tension, intrigue, betrayal, there was certainly enough here to keep me involved and engrossed.
I certainly have no hesitation in recommending either this story, or the author! The only thing I would say, is I wish I knew what happened to one of the characters at the end. Still, that's me being greedy!
Brilliant story ~ excellently told ~ highly recommended.
* 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!
I read this book in one sitting! It was so easy to keep on reading, with a smooth and flowing pace, and fantastic descriptions of people and places. With sexual tension, intrigue, betrayal, there was certainly enough here to keep me involved and engrossed.
I certainly have no hesitation in recommending either this story, or the author! The only thing I would say, is I wish I knew what happened to one of the characters at the end. Still, that's me being greedy!
Brilliant story ~ excellently told ~ highly recommended.
* 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!
Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated The Fifth Element (1997) in Movies
May 13, 2019
Shes so fragile, so human.
Number 4 in my #top10 #favourite films 'The Fifth Element'
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Flawless #comedy, bursting with creativity, a fantastic & unique story, visually outstanding with stunningly intricate costume & set design #TheFifthElement is a masterpiece. #LucBesson is a genius & really has managed to create a #scifi #world brimming with #life, progress & great ancient lore while housing complex/interesting characters that are all played by the perfect cast. Luc is such a talented director creating a clever contrast of #dark, #violent, disturbing & adult themes mixed with wacky, #camp, #comedic & #childish tones that #complement each other & that flow together so technically well that most #superhero movie directors these days still struggle with getting this balance right. #Music invokes such dread & wonder too while dialog is so sensational it makes The Fifth Element possibly the most quotable film I've ever seen. Its really a #film that I can not praise highly enough & having such a great mix of genres makes it easily accessible to everyone. Without a doubt one of my favourite #love stories of all time & definitely my favourite sci-fi, if you haven't seen it you really are missing out. ------------------------------------------------
#brucewillis #millajovovich #christucker #alien #fantasy #beauty #tuesday #filmbuff #comic #nerd #geek #garyoldman
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Flawless #comedy, bursting with creativity, a fantastic & unique story, visually outstanding with stunningly intricate costume & set design #TheFifthElement is a masterpiece. #LucBesson is a genius & really has managed to create a #scifi #world brimming with #life, progress & great ancient lore while housing complex/interesting characters that are all played by the perfect cast. Luc is such a talented director creating a clever contrast of #dark, #violent, disturbing & adult themes mixed with wacky, #camp, #comedic & #childish tones that #complement each other & that flow together so technically well that most #superhero movie directors these days still struggle with getting this balance right. #Music invokes such dread & wonder too while dialog is so sensational it makes The Fifth Element possibly the most quotable film I've ever seen. Its really a #film that I can not praise highly enough & having such a great mix of genres makes it easily accessible to everyone. Without a doubt one of my favourite #love stories of all time & definitely my favourite sci-fi, if you haven't seen it you really are missing out. ------------------------------------------------
#brucewillis #millajovovich #christucker #alien #fantasy #beauty #tuesday #filmbuff #comic #nerd #geek #garyoldman
Red Otter (340 KP) rated Terraforming Mars in Tabletop Games
Jun 1, 2019
Terraforming Mars is one of the current hallmarks of today's tabletop gaming. It's based around building an engine to turn Mars into a livable land using cards. As a sci-fi lover, its theme is fantastic. Its art.... Is mostly stock pictures, which doesn't bother me too much, but could be a nitpick for other folks. It's component quality is okay, but the player boards, thanks to the squares that are your primary tokens/markers, can easily be bumped and ruin your board. I highly recommend getting 3rd party player boards that have recesses to solve this problem.
Every turn, every player draws cards and decides which ones they want to keep. Then use resources to either terraform mars or improve their engine using cards. The game length can be highly dependent on group. I've talked to people who have games last up to four hours as people focus solely on engines versus terraforming Mars actually. My personal meta has it around 1.5 hours (with expansions). The early game can be very slow and sometimes you just never draw the cards you need for your planned engines.
Still though, I love this game for its heavy emphasis on theme and on how good a powerful engine can be.
Every turn, every player draws cards and decides which ones they want to keep. Then use resources to either terraform mars or improve their engine using cards. The game length can be highly dependent on group. I've talked to people who have games last up to four hours as people focus solely on engines versus terraforming Mars actually. My personal meta has it around 1.5 hours (with expansions). The early game can be very slow and sometimes you just never draw the cards you need for your planned engines.
Still though, I love this game for its heavy emphasis on theme and on how good a powerful engine can be.
Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated Before I Met Him in Books
Jun 5, 2019
Before I Met Him is another gripping book from author John Nicholl featuring DI Gareth Gravel. With not enough evidence to prosecute abuser Sheridan, the best thing the cops can do now, is to wait for him to slip up. Oh, right. Tell that to the little six year old girl and her family, and see what happens next… and that’s just how Nicholl played this story. Seventeen years later we get to see exactly what damage was done. The hunted does in fact become the hunter.
Wow! As depressing as this sounds this is a fantastic, gory, and engrossing read. Before I Met Him blends the psychological thrills expected in a crime book with elements of pure horror. Who wouldn’t want the abused to get their own back? But is there ever a right way to do it? Is an eye for any eye justice, or plain old revenge? If you can’t hunt the one that did it to you, will any other abuser do? There are just some of the questions this book had me thinking as I dissected each twist and turn and raced towards the blood curdling end.
It’s dark, sadistic, and totally creepy. It’s another brilliant, well-written John Nicholl book!
Bloody marvellous!
Literally.
Wow! As depressing as this sounds this is a fantastic, gory, and engrossing read. Before I Met Him blends the psychological thrills expected in a crime book with elements of pure horror. Who wouldn’t want the abused to get their own back? But is there ever a right way to do it? Is an eye for any eye justice, or plain old revenge? If you can’t hunt the one that did it to you, will any other abuser do? There are just some of the questions this book had me thinking as I dissected each twist and turn and raced towards the blood curdling end.
It’s dark, sadistic, and totally creepy. It’s another brilliant, well-written John Nicholl book!
Bloody marvellous!
Literally.
Michael Packner (32 KP) rated Monopoly in Tabletop Games
Jun 15, 2019
It's a classic. (4 more)
It teaches both the positives and the negatives of capitalism.
It's a great game to play with a group of people.
The rules are fairly open to customization.
The game itself is extremely customizable to give a more personal experience.
The game can take way too long to finish for a simple board game. (2 more)
It can get a bit redundant.
Arguments can definitely ensue between more hardcore players.
There's a reason Monopoly may be the most recognizable board game in history. It is damn fun and a great time with small or large groups of people. The game is a fantastic learning experience about capitalism and the highly customizable nature of the game gives it the ability to be a highly personal experience. However the game really suffers from the fact that it can take hours to complete a single game which also makes the game highly redundant at times, draining much of the enjoyment. The best way to play is definitely with house rules so you have the power to affect the length and redundancy of the game, as well as the personalization of the game. All faults considered, it's still a top 5 or at the very least top 10 of all time table top game.
Lilyn G - Sci-Fi & Scary (91 KP) rated Gwendy's Button Box in Books
Jan 31, 2018
An interesting plot bunny, but a bland book.
So, one of the things that makes a lot of horror book lovers give me the stink-eye is the fact that I freely admit to the fact that I don't really like to read Stephen King's books. I'm a huge fan of his plots, but I have an attention span the length of a gnat, so when he goes off on his 'wanders', I go glaze-eyed and generally move on to something else.
But, I saw everyone talking about Gwendy's Button Box, and took note of the fact that it had been 'co-written' by Richard Chizmar. Given the fact that it was a novella, I decided to give it a try. (I got the audio version from the library.) And.. it was... okay? Yeah, okay is the right word.
The narrator did a fantastic job as Gwendy, and the concept of the Button Box was a great one. The character development of Gwendy is excellent. However, the actual story itself just left me scratching my head and wondering if I missed something. It was a good thought experiment, but coming from two horror writers, I was a little taken aback at the lack of actual, you know, horror.
But, I saw everyone talking about Gwendy's Button Box, and took note of the fact that it had been 'co-written' by Richard Chizmar. Given the fact that it was a novella, I decided to give it a try. (I got the audio version from the library.) And.. it was... okay? Yeah, okay is the right word.
The narrator did a fantastic job as Gwendy, and the concept of the Button Box was a great one. The character development of Gwendy is excellent. However, the actual story itself just left me scratching my head and wondering if I missed something. It was a good thought experiment, but coming from two horror writers, I was a little taken aback at the lack of actual, you know, horror.
Dan sellwood (1 KP) rated Dreams and Shadows in Books
Feb 2, 2018
Fantastic debut
Contains spoilers, click to show
A wonderful debut from C. Robert Cargill. The novel follows the lives of two boys, Ewan and Colby. Both boys have a fantastical journey ahead of them, Ewan is stolen by fairies from his parents at an early age by a specialist child stealing fairy (Dithers) and Colby meets a djinn (Yashar) who agrees to grant him wishes which leads him to see the world.
While sounding at first like a magical fairy story you soon realise the story does carry a certain sadness and darkness. The djinn for example is cursed to only ever grant wishes that end in turmoil. You learn this through small chapters that centre around telling stories about the characters in the book, which I found to be a wonderful way to build chacterisation.
Despite being quite dark the book does well to build on characters enough so that you do find yourself getting attached to them. So not only are the characters well thought through but they bring enough personality and emotion to evoke lots of feeling in the reader.
While I don't promise this book will bring you a happy ending, its hard to put down and will certainly have you wanting to move on to the sequel.
While sounding at first like a magical fairy story you soon realise the story does carry a certain sadness and darkness. The djinn for example is cursed to only ever grant wishes that end in turmoil. You learn this through small chapters that centre around telling stories about the characters in the book, which I found to be a wonderful way to build chacterisation.
Despite being quite dark the book does well to build on characters enough so that you do find yourself getting attached to them. So not only are the characters well thought through but they bring enough personality and emotion to evoke lots of feeling in the reader.
While I don't promise this book will bring you a happy ending, its hard to put down and will certainly have you wanting to move on to the sequel.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Good Day to Buy in Books
Mar 9, 2018
Sarah is helping the Spencers downsize their possession before a planned move, but things take a tragic turn when Sarah finds them lying on the garage floor in the middle of the sale. Then, that afternoon, Sarah’s estranged brother Luke shows up asking for help is hiding out for a couple of days. Luke disappears just as the police being looking for him on connection with what happened at the Spencer’s. Can Sarah figure out what Luke is doing and clear his name?
Luke adds an interesting element to this addition to the series. The plot is fast paced and kept me so engaged I had a hard time putting the book down. I did have a couple of niggle with the ending, but they are very minor. I love the characters in this series, and it was fantastic to see all of them again. While the love triangle may be over, we did see both of the men in Sarah’s life in this book. Fans will delight in this book and it will hook new readers on the series.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-review-good-day-to-buy-by-sherry.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Luke adds an interesting element to this addition to the series. The plot is fast paced and kept me so engaged I had a hard time putting the book down. I did have a couple of niggle with the ending, but they are very minor. I love the characters in this series, and it was fantastic to see all of them again. While the love triangle may be over, we did see both of the men in Sarah’s life in this book. Fans will delight in this book and it will hook new readers on the series.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-review-good-day-to-buy-by-sherry.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Biscuits and Slashed Browns (Country Store Mysteries #4) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
March brings a maple syrup festival to Brown County, Indiana, and Robbie Jordan is hoping to snag some of the tourists into her shop, Pans ‘N Pancakes. However, the festival has also brought Dr. Warren Connolly to town, a professor hated for many reasons. He is found murdered one morning before the day’s events can get started, and the police begin to look at one of Robbie’s friends as the killer. Then a local maple syrup farmer goes missing. What is going on?
I thought we might be in for some lectures as Dr. Connolly is first introduced to us as a climate change denier, however, this was dropped after the second chapter as we begin to find real motives for his murder. In fact, we get several strong motives and suspects that kept me turning pages and guessing until the end. While I missed one of the regular characters, the rest were present and accounted for and were as charming as ever. The setting is fantastic, too. I’d love to visit Robbie’s store.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-biscuits-and-slashed-browns.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
I thought we might be in for some lectures as Dr. Connolly is first introduced to us as a climate change denier, however, this was dropped after the second chapter as we begin to find real motives for his murder. In fact, we get several strong motives and suspects that kept me turning pages and guessing until the end. While I missed one of the regular characters, the rest were present and accounted for and were as charming as ever. The setting is fantastic, too. I’d love to visit Robbie’s store.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-biscuits-and-slashed-browns.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
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.