Erika (17788 KP) rated Shadow and Bone - Season 1 in TV
Jul 16, 2021
This series wasn’t really made for a general audience, it was made for the fans of the book trilogy. The series starts, and the watcher is immediately thrust into this fantasy world that doesn’t really make much sense with no prior knowledge. If you couldn’t tell from the series description, I wasn’t really into it. It took me two months to watch all eight of the episodes. I almost didn’t keep watching after the first two episodes, but my boss encouraged me to keep going.
The storyline is your standard YA novel, a girl who didn’t know her powers, some lame love triangle, and for some reason, the girl is the only one that can save the world. Nothing new to see here. My interest was only piqued by Barnes’ character Kirigan, and Barnes was the main reason I actually kept watching the show. The seventh episode, which features Kirigan’s backstory, was the most interesting.
The whole kidnapping crew storyline wasn’t really all that interesting. The leader, Kaz (Freddy Carter) is a kingpin-type character with an unexplained limp, or I missed the explanation. The crew also had an assassin-type character, Inej (Amita Suman), who might not really have been an assassin, again, missed that explanation. The best member of this crew was Jesper (Kit Young), who was the charmer, expert trick shooter, and the second most interesting character in the series.
The subplot with the whole kidnapping Alina thing was neither here nor there, I don’t even remember the characters’ names that were involved in this subplot. Maybe it meant something to the readers of the novels, or it’ll make sense in the next season, but it certainly didn’t mean anything to me. I think I fast-forwarded through those portions in the last episode.
I think I started liking it after the seventh episode, but two interesting episodes does not make an interesting series. It’s been about a week since I finished it, and I honestly had to look up all the characters’ names. I probably seem flippant about explaining the different plots, but it’s legitimately all I remember. This series also didn’t leave me with a hankering to read the book series, nor would I care to watch any further seasons. I’m sure if you’re a fan of the book series, you’d probably love this, but it was not for me.
Nightblade's Vengeance
Book
In a thrilling fantasy series from the author of the Nightblade novels, revenge becomes a quest for...
Ironfoot: The Enchanter General
Book
Medieval magic, murder, and mayhem! It is 1164, and for a hundred years England has been ruled by...
Fantasy
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Rocketman (2019) in Movies
May 29, 2019
This is more like an Elton John musical complete with rather strange fantasy elements, and I have to admit that the fantasy is mostly the bit I didn’t like. Singing with younger versions of himself were fine, but the rest I just found a little too odd and ill fitting. However despite this, it’s still a rather good musical. All of the songs that you’d expect are in here and it was a struggle not to sing along. I do think that the general sound on the music in this didn’t seem quite as good as Bohemian Rhapsody, it didn’t feel quite as immersive and concert like and it was in the same screen!
Taron Egerton does a wonderful job, I’ve said before that he’s a marvellous actor and he proves it yet again here. Whilst he doesn’t look exactly like Elton John i can’t imagine anyone else playing this role and there were some moments later on in the film that I had to do a double take as he looked so like him! There are other great performances too, namely Richard Madden as the smarmy John Reid and Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin. There are some scenes with Bernie and Elton that almost have me in tears. I know fairly little about Elton’s earlier life so for me this was rather an informative and fascinating film too, and I was beyond glad at the end to hear that Bernie is still going. I couldn’t have coped if he wasn’t!
This film isn’t faultless and I felt like it was rather drawn out, but it’s still a rather good musical biopic and definitely one I’d like to see again and sing along too. Indeed, wouldn’t this be marvellous as a musical stage show?
tonidavis (353 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) in Movies
Dec 13, 2017
Not only do we see our old favorites of Han solo Cewbacca Princess now General Leia the new characters leave a force of there own you cant help but admire Rey strength and determination. Fall in love with little BB-8. Finn ability to feel even though hes a storm trooper bring up a whole new level of meaning to established characters from the series.
Ive always like the dark side more than the light as my friendtell me i only ever like assholes so obviously Darth Vader is my favorite star wars character however Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader. However much he may wish to be and although the ending cements his darkness between Vader and Kylo there no choice who i think is the better villian so this film get a 9/10 rather than 10/10
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Ironfang Invasion, Vault of the Iron Citadel 6 of 6
Book
With an army of their own, the heroes finally wage war against the Ironfang Legion in the climactic...
Over the Emerald Valley (Immortal Jewels) by Lee Colgin
Book
Life as a concubine to the devious Viceroy Abasi isn’t so bad. Temaj has food, shelter, and every...
MM Paranormal Fantasy Romance
ClareR (5721 KP) rated She Who Became The Sun in Books
Jun 13, 2023
Shelley Parker-Chan has added a twist to the story, though. The Zhu Yuanzhang in this story is actually female. Born a girl, she steals her brothers identity when he dies so that she can survive - girls were not important enough to survive otherwise. She decides to live her brothers life, and as a fortune teller has foretold, she will rise to great heights in his name. And this process starts by Zhu being taken in and educated by the monks at a monastery.
This isn’t fantasy as much as it is historical fiction. Ok, there is a little bit of magic, but I took that as being an explanation of a leaders charisma. The writing IS beautiful, particularly the descriptions of the relationship between Zhu and the eunuch General Ouyang, and the queer story of Zhu and her wife.
We’re left on a bit of a cliffhanger, I’ll warn you, but we won’t have long to wait for the sequel!
The Tempest
William Shakespeare and Martin Butler
Book
Performed variously as escapist fantasy, celebratory fiction, and political allegory, The Tempest is...
Amelia's Tea (8 KP) rated Mistborn: The Final Empire in Books
Sep 30, 2019
Initially I found the book hard to get into, just for the sheer amount of information to take in, however when I got over this hump I was sucked in.
I loved the protagonist, Vin. I found her very believable and easy to root for. Without spoiling anything, her story is amazing to follow. She's not a Mary Sue, has her flaws and even failures.
In general, I loved the characters - even the hateable ones, I loved to hate them.
The world-building is incredibly extensive and enjoyable. The lore is fascinating, and this book left me dying to find out more. I ordered the follow-up book while I was still on my holiday, so that it would arrive once I landed home!
Overall I definitely recommend this book for fantasy fans.