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Gritty narrative (1 more)
Twisting turning plot
Fantastic dystopian fantasy
This book came highly rated by people on the fantasy faction facebook group and goodreads, so I had high expectations when I started reading. The reader is thrown straight into the thick of this strange post-apocalyptic magical world and the terms and creatures therein.
The story follows Ryhalt Galharrow, a captain in the Blackwing, a group of soldiers and enforcers working for the supreme magician Crowfoot. They are charged with keeping order along the Range and tracking down dissenters and run-aways.
Galharrow quickly finds himself embroiled in a plot and a battle to save the republic from itself and the evil Deep Kings and their hordes of mutated zombies.
The narrative is extremely gritty and at times you can almost smell the filth and second-hand brandy.
While you are thrown into it without warning and without preamble, this is to McDonald's credit, as the reader pieces things together quite quickly, or can make up their own mind about how things look and work.
To sum this up, I would say it was like Mark Lawrence or Joe Abercrombie ghost-writing a Brandon Sanderson plot - with the best aspects of both sides (the gritty dialogue from the grimdark authors with the intricately designed magic system and urban landscape of the plotter).
A superbly crafted story with excellent flowing prose.
The story follows Ryhalt Galharrow, a captain in the Blackwing, a group of soldiers and enforcers working for the supreme magician Crowfoot. They are charged with keeping order along the Range and tracking down dissenters and run-aways.
Galharrow quickly finds himself embroiled in a plot and a battle to save the republic from itself and the evil Deep Kings and their hordes of mutated zombies.
The narrative is extremely gritty and at times you can almost smell the filth and second-hand brandy.
While you are thrown into it without warning and without preamble, this is to McDonald's credit, as the reader pieces things together quite quickly, or can make up their own mind about how things look and work.
To sum this up, I would say it was like Mark Lawrence or Joe Abercrombie ghost-writing a Brandon Sanderson plot - with the best aspects of both sides (the gritty dialogue from the grimdark authors with the intricately designed magic system and urban landscape of the plotter).
A superbly crafted story with excellent flowing prose.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Brightburn (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
Horror Twist On A Classic Comic Book Icon
Brightburn is a 2019 superhero/horror movie produced by James Gunn and Kenneth Huang. It was directed by David Yarovesky with screenplay written by Mark and Brian Gunn. The film was produced by Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films, Troll Court Entertainment, and the H Collective. The movie stars Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones and Meredith Hagnar.
Living in Brightburn, Kansas, Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman), a young farm couple, struggle with conceiving a child due to fertility issues. One night, a spaceship falls from the sky near their farm. A baby boy is found inside and the couple decide to adopt him and name him Brandon. Years later, it seems Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) is a typical young boy as he has been raised without the knowledge of his true origin. However this begins to change in very dramatic ways as the spaceship that he arrived in, hidden in a trapdoor in the barn, begins to glow and affect him disturbingly.
This movie was very much horror and with the R-rating it did not disappoint in that category. However for a superhero movie, I definitely felt it could have been better, especially when it came to the storytelling. I felt like the plot wasn't structured enough and it didn't always feel like it was going somewhere except for what it had shown through the trailers. You know, like it showed in the trailers the outcome and the journey to that outcome wasn't as fun or surprising as I thought it was going to be. The kill scenes though were very brutal, which for some reason I wasn't expecting as much, I guess because the one doing them is this super-powered 12 year old. But this was an awesome concept on a very familiar story that everyone has grown up with or heard, which is basically Superman. There are comics from DC and of Superman like Red Son Superman; where it's a "what if" Superman had landed in Russia instead of United States, and there is a Justice League animated film where instead of Superman, Kal-El, the baby that escapes Krypton is Generel Zod's child and instead of landing in Kansas he lands in New Mexico and is raised by Mexican migrant farmers. But I don't think there has been a story to explore this type of different way Superman could have grown up and it was shockingly entertaining to say the least. The mid-credits scene was really cool to see as well and know that the cinematic universe for Brightburn could expand if it does well financially. I'm thinking that it won't with stiff competition such as Aladdin and John Wick 3 but who knows. I give this film a 6/10.
Living in Brightburn, Kansas, Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman), a young farm couple, struggle with conceiving a child due to fertility issues. One night, a spaceship falls from the sky near their farm. A baby boy is found inside and the couple decide to adopt him and name him Brandon. Years later, it seems Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) is a typical young boy as he has been raised without the knowledge of his true origin. However this begins to change in very dramatic ways as the spaceship that he arrived in, hidden in a trapdoor in the barn, begins to glow and affect him disturbingly.
This movie was very much horror and with the R-rating it did not disappoint in that category. However for a superhero movie, I definitely felt it could have been better, especially when it came to the storytelling. I felt like the plot wasn't structured enough and it didn't always feel like it was going somewhere except for what it had shown through the trailers. You know, like it showed in the trailers the outcome and the journey to that outcome wasn't as fun or surprising as I thought it was going to be. The kill scenes though were very brutal, which for some reason I wasn't expecting as much, I guess because the one doing them is this super-powered 12 year old. But this was an awesome concept on a very familiar story that everyone has grown up with or heard, which is basically Superman. There are comics from DC and of Superman like Red Son Superman; where it's a "what if" Superman had landed in Russia instead of United States, and there is a Justice League animated film where instead of Superman, Kal-El, the baby that escapes Krypton is Generel Zod's child and instead of landing in Kansas he lands in New Mexico and is raised by Mexican migrant farmers. But I don't think there has been a story to explore this type of different way Superman could have grown up and it was shockingly entertaining to say the least. The mid-credits scene was really cool to see as well and know that the cinematic universe for Brightburn could expand if it does well financially. I'm thinking that it won't with stiff competition such as Aladdin and John Wick 3 but who knows. I give this film a 6/10.
BookblogbyCari (345 KP) rated What Did I Do? in Books
Nov 4, 2018
Book review by Cari Mayhew. Rating 6/10.
This is an odd book, but despite its haphazard beginnings, by the three-quarter mark I was hooked and could not put it down!
The first chapter runs from the viewpoint of the somewhat mentally disturbed Kristin, who has recently immigrated to Sweden following the death of her husband, Brandon, which she suspects that she caused (cause of death being an allergic reaction to nuts).
The following chapter runs from the viewpoint of Frank, who has just returned from a holiday with his wife, Birgitta, to learn that his son, Anders, has been murdered. The couple suspect that Anders was murdered by his sister, their daughter Sofia.
Frank hires a private to track down Sofia, who, it transpires, is Kristin by another name. Frank and Birgitta also immigrate to Sweden. Despite Frank’s anger at Sofia, he wants to confront her personally rather than hand her over to the police.
Interspersed between chapters on Kristen and Frank, are chapters taken from the viewpoint of a young woman who finds herself the victim of an organisation of pimps, and feels trapped in an unwanted lifestyle. For a long time in the book, it was hard to see how this had any relevance to Kristen’s or Frank’s story, but it all came together at the three quarter point, and the action heated up as characters found each other.
While reading the earlier chapters, I had a strong feeling that there had been a lot going on behind the scenes and that characters were often unaware of the whole story.
There were some characters and elements to the story that, although they were critical to the plot, often felt unnecessary, such as Kristen’s therapy sessions, and chapters from the viewpoint of a neighbour.
What was good about this book was the believability of the story telling, which I imagine would be hard to pull off, given that the subject matter includes murders and sex trafficking.
I had chosen this book hoping it would be like Memory Box by Eva Lesko Natiello where the protagonist uncovers clue after mysterious clue, but in this book the clues were few and far between.
I don’t normally make educated guesses as to who is the culprit in a mystery, but on this occasion I did and I was partly right (no spoilers).
The story’s ending and epilogue left me feeling satisfied that justice had been served.
Overall I did enjoy the book, but I’m not inclined to read more from the author. Although the writing kept me interested, it felt like reading 3 different stories that barely linked together.
This is an odd book, but despite its haphazard beginnings, by the three-quarter mark I was hooked and could not put it down!
The first chapter runs from the viewpoint of the somewhat mentally disturbed Kristin, who has recently immigrated to Sweden following the death of her husband, Brandon, which she suspects that she caused (cause of death being an allergic reaction to nuts).
The following chapter runs from the viewpoint of Frank, who has just returned from a holiday with his wife, Birgitta, to learn that his son, Anders, has been murdered. The couple suspect that Anders was murdered by his sister, their daughter Sofia.
Frank hires a private to track down Sofia, who, it transpires, is Kristin by another name. Frank and Birgitta also immigrate to Sweden. Despite Frank’s anger at Sofia, he wants to confront her personally rather than hand her over to the police.
Interspersed between chapters on Kristen and Frank, are chapters taken from the viewpoint of a young woman who finds herself the victim of an organisation of pimps, and feels trapped in an unwanted lifestyle. For a long time in the book, it was hard to see how this had any relevance to Kristen’s or Frank’s story, but it all came together at the three quarter point, and the action heated up as characters found each other.
While reading the earlier chapters, I had a strong feeling that there had been a lot going on behind the scenes and that characters were often unaware of the whole story.
There were some characters and elements to the story that, although they were critical to the plot, often felt unnecessary, such as Kristen’s therapy sessions, and chapters from the viewpoint of a neighbour.
What was good about this book was the believability of the story telling, which I imagine would be hard to pull off, given that the subject matter includes murders and sex trafficking.
I had chosen this book hoping it would be like Memory Box by Eva Lesko Natiello where the protagonist uncovers clue after mysterious clue, but in this book the clues were few and far between.
I don’t normally make educated guesses as to who is the culprit in a mystery, but on this occasion I did and I was partly right (no spoilers).
The story’s ending and epilogue left me feeling satisfied that justice had been served.
Overall I did enjoy the book, but I’m not inclined to read more from the author. Although the writing kept me interested, it felt like reading 3 different stories that barely linked together.