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The Queens Lady
The Queens Lady
Joanna Hickson | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Queens Lady is the second in the Queens of the Tower series, and picks up the Joan Vaux story where it left off in the last book. She’s now Lady Joan Guildford, and is Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Henry VII. It’s a privileged position and means that Joan is at Court when Prince Arthur dies and Prince Henry is named as heir. Joan acts as something of a go between with the King and Queen, but King Henry is a serious, dour man - and this isn’t improved when the Queen dies shortly after her son.

Joan no longer has a place at court, and her husband falls out of favour when his enemies gain considerable influence with the King.

It was really interesting to learn about the inner workings of the English court and the precarious line that courtiers had to tread. Joan also gave some insight into some significant historical events: the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France, Princess Margaret’s marriage to King James, the arrival of Catherine of Aragon, and accompanying Princess Mary to Paris when she marries King Louis.

I’m an absolute sucker for historical fiction, and I loved the details and the very human, realistic style this book was written in. And I really liked Joan.

The ravens are a constant - after all, Joan is the Lady of the Ravens. Bu they’re not as central to the storyline this time.

I don’t know whether this will just be a duology, or if there’s more to come, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Highly recommended.
  
Tower Of Dawn
Tower Of Dawn
Sarah J. Maas | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.1 (23 Ratings)
Book Rating
Badass Women (2 more)
Big Birds
Acceptance
Vlag Ladies (2 more)
Giant Spiders
Spies
Uncovered Secrets
With the sixth book in the Throne of Glass series we come find there is more to the Vlag than what was originally thought to be. Chaol and Nesryn both discover pieces of the puzzle as well as parts of themselves through the healer, Yrene Towers, and Prince Sartaq in an attempt to raise an army to move North and to have his back healed.

Once more Mass had me caught up in the pages of her book and it was kind of bizarre to be captured by a ToG novel, yet the focus is on the Hand of the King and the newly appointed Captain of the Guard rather than Aelin, which I was glad for. I don't believe if EoS and ToD were combined as planned it could not have conveyed important plot points, character growth, and development of new characters and plots as well as being two separate books. In ToD we're able to see Chaol progress not only with his injury, but within himself as he deals with the horrors from QoS. We're able to read through how Yrene is unwillingly to work with Chaol to how she realizes it is within herself. Nesryn is able to find herself, her actual self she was not able to express in Adarlan., Even the royal family here makes progress, tiny steps to better themselves. Combined that with what is found about the Vlag as well as a certain few people and Tower of Dawn is another successful ToG book.


So if you're a fan of the others then go find a copy. If you've been wanting to read the series then it is a good time to start as the end is getting closer.
  
Magic Rush: Heroes
Magic Rush: Heroes
Games, Entertainment
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
App Rating
Non-buggy (0 more)
Boring (3 more)
Gacha (random character drawing)
Throttled progress
Free to play, pay to progress: Hostageware
The latest in a long line of soulless Gacha
This game gets a solid C for effort. An RPG with occasionally tower defense elements is okay in concept, but this implimentation is sure to leave you feeling hungry for more. As in, more of some other game. Because let me be clear there's nothing satisfying here to playing this game. Take a look at the central gameplay mechanics:
- Energy system arbitrarily keeps you from playong the game at a pace necessary to actually enjoy it (oh, of course, you can insert a quarter in the form of $5 % to keep playing for another twenty seconds)
- hero draw mechanic makes sure that you have no control over what champions you have and whether they're good or not, leaving zero room for customization
- Standard Battles amount to little more than an Idle clicker.
- Alliances encourage you to team up with people you don't know and don't and won't ever care about to do nothing
- weak and meaningless pvp battles because they're still just the aforementioned idle clicker
- re-raid previously completed maps for junk to progress! This of course costs money, and with its poor interface it is left taking days longer than it needs to. But hey, for those of us who like farming but not gameplay, I guess it makes sense.
- constant ads and offers for bundles that cost your life savings and do nothing
 - ...and much, much more, ensuring the game is 4x as generic as every other game on the entire app store. 2 stars for good (read:non-buggy) implimentation of this cash grab street beggar simulator.
  
Top Gun (1986)
Top Gun (1986)
1986 | Action, Drama
Karaoke scenes (5 more)
Insisting on a shower
Taking me to bed before you lose me forever
Having goose talk to you....
Val Kilmer is awesome, despite not wanting to even be in it, had to for contractual reasons... it's one of his all time best.
The "Danger Zone" soundtrack
A Modern Classic, and Tom Cruise's best work.
this is an 80's classic, a movies movie. Cinema perfection. It embodies a time with no excuses, and really delivers on every level. want to know how quotable this movie is: The real Top Gun School imposes a five dollar fine to anyone in the staff that quotes the movie.

Val Kilmer is amazing: When the guys, as students, were first being spoken to by Charlie in the hanger, Maverick explains that he gave "the bird" to a MiG. She asks how he saw the MiG up close, and he says he was flying inverted. Right then, Ice coughs "bullshit" and the guys laughed. The "bullshit" line was ad libbed by Val Kilmer, and everyone's reactions are genuine.


Also a little known fat.No one had ever "buzzed the tower" at Miramar before. The Navy pilots, who were flying the scenes for the film, drew straws to see who would get to do it. It went to Lieutenant Commander Lloyd "Bozo" Abel. Michael Ironside just happened to be at the hangar that day, and the plane flew low enough to where he could actually see into the cockpit as it flew by. He said it was one of the most spectacular things he'd ever seen.


  As is this movie good sir... as is this movie....


Also here is an awesome alternate movie poster for your enjoyment. I hope it holds you over until Top Gun 2 comes out.
  
Overlord (2018)
Overlord (2018)
2018 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Saving Private Ryan meets Resident Evil!
Had heard mixed reviews on this, but saw it for 4 bucks for Black Friday so I figured I couldn't lose!

Basically, to prevent the Allied forces being massacred on D-Day, US troops are ordered to detonate a Nazi communication tower. A small band of brothers actually makes it to the ground and finds a small French town equipped with a cute French girl and her brother. When a Nazi commander comes calling for more than an interrogation, the surviving troops must decide whether t reveal themselves to save her.

I actually really got into this movie and thought the action mixed with horror was pretty cool. Some of the fight/shootout sequences were cleverly done along with some of the secrets and experiments the Nazis are hiding deep within their stronghold. There are tough decisions and ultimate sacrifices to be made and the film threads the needle between genres successfully. I could see how if you were thinking this was going to be a full out horror film you would be disappointed; however, I had kind of heard a little about it ahead of time so my expectations were redirected.

The SFX held well throughout and didn't stick out as being bad or taking you out of the action. When some of the more extreme elements are revealed, I went along with it like I was watching my son play one of his weird FPS games. A lot of the film did feel like I was watching Call of Duty or something like that. Boy do I wish I could have those yeas of my life watching my son play that crap back!

Colossally entertaining!

  
The Lady of the Ravens
The Lady of the Ravens
Joanna Hickson | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Lady of the Ravens is based on the real historical character of Joan Vaux. I find historical fiction fascinating, especially those books which have a foot firmly placed in what was the real world.

Joan and her mother are taken in to the care of Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother, during the end years of the Wars of the Roses. She becomes a good friend to Princess Elizabeth in the time before she marries Henry, and goes on to be a Lady in Waiting and eventually the Lady Governess to the Princesses Margaret and Mary.

I really enjoyed all of the historical detail and what life was really like in Tudor England: the preoccupation with death and the many ways that a woman especially, could die, and the precariousness of children’s lives.

I had never really thought about the Ravens in the Tower of London (you’re never interested about the places that are on your doorstep as you’re growing up, I fear 🤷🏼‍♀️), assumed they’d always been there and that they’d always been seen as important to the realm. But in this novel, we learn that they were actually seen as vermin by the nobility and soldiers stationed there, until Joan and her servant looked after them, convincing others - royalty especially - of their significance to the safety of England and the Royal Family.

I haven’t read Joanna Hickson books before, but I really enjoyed the characters, the insights into the royal family, the uncertainty around the possible sons of York (Perkin Warbeck for one), the descriptions of everyday life - and just the evocative styled her writing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for my copy of this great book to read and review.