Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (4460)

Content

David McK (3773 KP) rated Knights of Dark Renown in Books

Aug 8, 2021

Knights of Dark Renown

David Gemmell | 1989 | Fiction & Poetry

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

One of the rare(ish) David Gemmell stand-alone novels; [u]not[/u] part of any series such as the Stones of Power/Sipstrassi sereis, or even of the Drenai.

Indeed, there's only a single other reference made to the events of this in any of his other works: a throw-away line, briefly, during Morningstar.

The central character of this is Manannan, the Coward-Knight who once abandoned his other eight companions (the legendary 'Knights of the Gabala') to ride alone through a mysterious portal to another realm, and who is now (as the novel starts) trapped within his own armour and slowly being strangled to death by his own beard, as the armour was fashioned so that it could only be opened by passing through the portal.

As the land seems to be falling further and further into chaos, the rest of the novel deals with a terrible discovery made by Mannanan, and with the creation of a new Knights of the Gabala (the 'Knights of Dark Renown' of the title), most of whom - in true inimitable Gemmell style - start out as far from the ideal as it is possible to be!

I have to say, though, that I've always felt the ending of this story to be a little bit rushed: lots of work laying the groundwork; lots of 'meat' in the body and then it just seemingly ... ends. Almost as if Gemmell had gotten tired of the story!

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! (2019) in Movies

Sep 21, 2020

An overall good musical event, mostly deserving of its Herculean 12 Tony nominations (there should be a criminal investigation into how it only took home one). As someone who's been a die-hard SpongeBob fan since I was a fetus, not only does this capture the essence of what makes the show so great both in appearance *and* in spirit - but I wasn't vetting on this being as timely as it was (tackles prejudice, media vs. government, and takes a jab at climate change deniers just for the hell of it which of course I always endorse). The casting couldn't be better (Ethan Slater is pretty much the human embodiment of SpongeBob), the production is like a vibrant splashpad of childhood wonderment and SpongeBob trademarks brought to life - some of the best aesthetics the theatre has to offer, the songs are good (even if none really stick out), it's very funny, and most importantly it has a deep understanding of the source material and a selfless willingness to please the fans without pandering (they even reference Battle for Bikini Bottom [!!]). The introduction of Tom Kenny's Patchy the Pirate sent my kid self to the moon and back again. This is what happens when you want to make something that's good out of an existing IP. Never cared for Best Day Ever as an SS song but this may have just converted me.

Kudos

Christine A. (965 KP) rated Teen Titans: Raven in Books

Oct 10, 2019

Teen Titans: Raven

Kami Garcia | 2019 | Comics & Graphic Novels

7.3

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

graphic novel introducing Raven's origin story

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Teen Titans: Raven (Teen Titans #1) by Kami Garcia is a graphic novel with a story written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. Fans of YA may recognize Kami Garcia as a coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures series. Teen Titans: Raven is Garcia's first graphic novel.

Growing up I was a DC Comic fan but, after the introduction of the Marvel Avengers movies, especially Iron Man, I switched teams. However, you do not need to be a fan of Teen Titans, Raven, or DC Comics to appreciate the way in which Garcia and Picolo present Raven's origin story.

I thought the story was interesting and enjoyed the illustrations. Many reviews mention Raven's snarky attitude is missing from the story. I had not watched or read the Teen Titans and my niece was too young to understand attitude so I do not have a reference in which to compare Raven's story. Although enough reviews mention the lack of snarkiness I felt the need to mention it.

The 2nd book in the series, Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Teen Titans #2) will also be written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. It is scheduled to be released in 2020.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 10/10/19.