Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1)
8.5
Rate It
Book
Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend...
First Snow (Northbound #2)
8.0
Rate It
Book
JARETH FAELING is many things. As a half-Fae, he tries to fit in a world of humans who have...
MM Paranormal Romance
The Chalice of the Gods
10.0
Rate It
Book
The original heroes from The Lightning Thief are reunited for their biggest challenge yet: getting...
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Book of Fire in Books
Mar 7, 2020
Combining dystopia and ancient history, Michelle Kenney's debut series Book of Fire slots nicely into the list of best young adult science-fiction. Set in the not so distant future, the world has been destroyed and human life can only be sustained within a specially designed lifedome - at least that is what everyone living inside has been told. The protagonist, Talia, begs to differ, having lived in secret on the outside all her life.
A rogue test missile exploded with cataclysmic effect on 3rd November 2025, leaving cities in ruins. Whilst most people ran to the lifedome, Talia's grandfather and a few others ran in the opposite direction. For years, they have lived in the relative safety of Arafel, whose existence has been kept hidden from the majority of the people living in the dome.
Unfortunately, the leader of the lifedome is one of the few who knows of their existence and wishes to eradicate them and Talia's peaceful life is suddenly destroyed when her grandfather and her twin brother Eli are captured by soldiers. Determined to rescue them, Talia and her friend Max break into the dome but what they discover makes them even more concerned about the life of not just their families but all the remaining humans.
Obsessed with Ancient Rome, the lifedome's leader Octavia has created a replica of the historical city, going as far as to genetically produce strong and powerful gladiators. Yet, the more Talia sees of the lifedome - Pantheon - the more she realises it is not just extra-strong humans that Octavia has been experimenting with. Hidden in the depth of the dome are mythological creatures made from a mix of human and animal parts; creatures that should not exist, however, they all have various defects.
Talia soon learns that her grandfather was kidnapped for a reason: he knows the secret to create the perfect DNA for these creatures and, in turn, Talia unwittingly knows it too.
Initially, all Talia wanted was her grandfather and brother back but now she is part of something much bigger and must choose between her family, self-preservation and the rest of the human race. On top of that, she begins to fall for a pseudo-Roman Gladiator. Could it get any more complicated?
Michelle Kenney has created a world where the monsters turn out to be the heroes and the humans in charge, the monsters. Reading this at the time of the coronavirus makes the apocalyptic situation a little too close for comfort but it provides a strong message not to mess with things that no longer exist. Imperfection is a common by-product of life's recover - if only Octavia could have accepted that.
Book of Fire is the first in a promising trilogy that will transport you into a world of fantasy, danger, wonderful creatures and a hint of reality. For those who love ancient history and dystopian fiction will thoroughly enjoy this series.
Thirty Days & Seven Seas – Pirate Battle Board Game Starring Clarence, Jeff and Sumo
Games and Entertainment
App
From the creators of "Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake"... Ahoy, mateys! Join Clarence and friends on...
Lionheart: Dark Moon
Games
App
Pick up and play this brand new mobile RPG with stunning graphics and animation! Build your...
RPGApps BattleApps
Secrets of the Lost Tomb
9.0
Rate It
Tabletop Game
Secrets of the Lost Tomb is a cooperative game of thrilling action-adventure and discovery. Players...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hangar 18 (1980) in Movies
May 20, 2018 (Updated May 20, 2018)
Main points of interest are as follows: Robert Vaughn as the slimy White House operator, who doesn't meet the rest of the main cast while giving a performance best-described as very Robert Vaughny. Darren McGavin comes as close as anyone to rescuing the movie as a sympathetic NASA director leading the investigation of the plastic UFO. (This is one of those movies with an almost wholly white male cast, so I expect it will be burnt at the stake in the not too distant future.)
The original ending, in which nearly everyone dies and the world is (probably) doomed by self-serving politicians, seems to have been lost to history, replaced by the one from the TV version, which is less downbeat but thoroughly pointless (so perhaps more appropriate for the movie). This isn't even fun junk, it's just witless stodge. Possibly of some value to cultural historians as a time capsule of fringe late-70s concerns, a waste of time for everyone else.
Kristin (149 KP) rated All The Dead Things (Deathling Chronicles #1) in Books
Dec 7, 2018
"Groundhog's Day" meets "Supernatural" in this exciting tale of Death and his minions!
Stan can see monsters. He's been able to do it since he was a toddler, and he saw one kill his father right in front of him. His mom doesn't believe him, of course, and he's been seeing a shrink ever since. That hasn't stopped him from seeing them, though; he's just learned how to ignore them and act "normal" over the years. That is, until this one day where he just snaps after seeing one at the end of the road. He screams at it, and it vanishes; Stan feels like he's accomplished something, after all this time. However, he wakes up the next day to find it's not ACTUALLY the next day; he's stuck in a time loop, and nobody else seems to realize it. How did this happen? And better yet, how does he fix it?
This was such a great story that I read it all in one sitting! I couldn't put it down; I had to know what was going to happen next. It's such an interesting take on the idea of the Grim Reaper, and it had all sorts of wonderful aspects: humor, love, loss, a little horror, members of the kinda-dead, and more. I really hope to read more from this author very soon, and I will be sure to pass along this title to all my friends.
5 stars =)