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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in Movies
May 5, 2018
Very good "culmination" of the last 10 years of Marvel Films
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is the best film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Said to be the culmination of 10 years worth of Marvel films - and Marvel heroes - INFINITY WAR lives up to it's bill, bringing all the Marvel Universe heroes together to fight a "big bad" that is worthy of this sort of thing - THANOS.
Voiced by Josh Brolin, the CGI Thanos is powerful, destructive, razor-focused on his one purpose with moments of "humanity" that makes him an interesting villain. The filmmakers kept his motivation and machinations simple so you are never confused by this bad guy or what he is trying to do. What surprised me is that the filmmakers added another layer to this character that was a nice layer that really added to the character, his motivations and his personality.
As for the band of heroes brought together for this film, it works well. The criticisms I have heard is that no ONE hero stands out, so EVERY hero is in the background. I couldn't disagree more. I thought the evenness of the "screen time" was one of the strengths of this film, not focusing too much on one hero (or heroes), giving all time to shine - and focus on what they do best. There were moments of humor, drama, action and heroism sprinkled across all. But what really thrilled me was the different combinations that were put together, for these heroes all had different missions and assignments and some odd and interesting cross-film dynamics took shape. I won't give any of these away, but I thought they ALL dynamics blended together nicely.
This is definitely a "fan-boy" film, giving service to fans of all these films, characters - and comics and credit for that should go to filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo (Directors of the previously best film in this series - CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER) who kept the action moving, the motivations of the participants simple and the effects dazzling.
One final note - this is the first part of a two part film, so it does end in a cliffhanger, one that works effectively well. As always with the Marvel films - but especially in this one - stay through to the end of the credits, the scene at the end of the credits sets up Part 2.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this film and can't wait to see the next one.
Letter Grade: A
9 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Said to be the culmination of 10 years worth of Marvel films - and Marvel heroes - INFINITY WAR lives up to it's bill, bringing all the Marvel Universe heroes together to fight a "big bad" that is worthy of this sort of thing - THANOS.
Voiced by Josh Brolin, the CGI Thanos is powerful, destructive, razor-focused on his one purpose with moments of "humanity" that makes him an interesting villain. The filmmakers kept his motivation and machinations simple so you are never confused by this bad guy or what he is trying to do. What surprised me is that the filmmakers added another layer to this character that was a nice layer that really added to the character, his motivations and his personality.
As for the band of heroes brought together for this film, it works well. The criticisms I have heard is that no ONE hero stands out, so EVERY hero is in the background. I couldn't disagree more. I thought the evenness of the "screen time" was one of the strengths of this film, not focusing too much on one hero (or heroes), giving all time to shine - and focus on what they do best. There were moments of humor, drama, action and heroism sprinkled across all. But what really thrilled me was the different combinations that were put together, for these heroes all had different missions and assignments and some odd and interesting cross-film dynamics took shape. I won't give any of these away, but I thought they ALL dynamics blended together nicely.
This is definitely a "fan-boy" film, giving service to fans of all these films, characters - and comics and credit for that should go to filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo (Directors of the previously best film in this series - CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER) who kept the action moving, the motivations of the participants simple and the effects dazzling.
One final note - this is the first part of a two part film, so it does end in a cliffhanger, one that works effectively well. As always with the Marvel films - but especially in this one - stay through to the end of the credits, the scene at the end of the credits sets up Part 2.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this film and can't wait to see the next one.
Letter Grade: A
9 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Girl in The Tower: The Winternight Trilogy in Books
Mar 22, 2018
The Girl in the Tower is the second in the Winternight Trilogy, after the acclaimed debut novel, The Bear and the Nightingale. It's always hard to talk about sequels without giving too much away about the preceding books, so forgive me if I'm vague. One advantage to waiting so long to read The Bear and the Nightingale was that I got to jump straight into the sequel! Now I have to several months for the third.
The Girl in the Tower revisits our heroine, Vasya, from the first book. Now she has left home to begin her adventures - though her travels are curtailed pretty quickly, and she's roped into going to Moscow with her brother and the Grand Prince, while disguised as a boy. While in Moscow she learns a little bit more about her family history, and I'm hoping the rest will be revealed in the third book this summer. (The Winter of the Witch is scheduled to release in August 2018.)
In this second book, Vasya has done some growing, and has learned to make use of the spirits she sees - she knows the hearth spirits can always find their families, and uses that trait to track a kidnapped girl when no one else can. So long as no one realizes what she's doing, she's fine. But Rus is in the crossover period between the old ways and the new, and if she's found talking to spirits, she'll be branded a witch all over again. She keeps her masquerade going through the first two-thirds of the book, but it's obvious it's going to fail eventually. The way in which it does is sudden and unexpected, and the repercussions are harsh.
And then there's Morozko, the Frost Demon, the god of death. I love Morozko. He's by necessity enigmatic - and in a rough position. I want he and Vasya to fall in love and have a happy ending - the attraction between them is impossible to miss - but immortal beings, in this world, can't love. If they love they lose their immortality. And, possibly, their lives entirely. I hope the author has a solution in mind for these two, because I currently don't see one.
I actually liked this one more than the first book, which is unusual. I liked the first one, but I wasn't blown away. This one pulled me in and didn't let me go. Amazing sequel, and I hope the third one lives up to this standard!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
The Girl in the Tower revisits our heroine, Vasya, from the first book. Now she has left home to begin her adventures - though her travels are curtailed pretty quickly, and she's roped into going to Moscow with her brother and the Grand Prince, while disguised as a boy. While in Moscow she learns a little bit more about her family history, and I'm hoping the rest will be revealed in the third book this summer. (The Winter of the Witch is scheduled to release in August 2018.)
In this second book, Vasya has done some growing, and has learned to make use of the spirits she sees - she knows the hearth spirits can always find their families, and uses that trait to track a kidnapped girl when no one else can. So long as no one realizes what she's doing, she's fine. But Rus is in the crossover period between the old ways and the new, and if she's found talking to spirits, she'll be branded a witch all over again. She keeps her masquerade going through the first two-thirds of the book, but it's obvious it's going to fail eventually. The way in which it does is sudden and unexpected, and the repercussions are harsh.
And then there's Morozko, the Frost Demon, the god of death. I love Morozko. He's by necessity enigmatic - and in a rough position. I want he and Vasya to fall in love and have a happy ending - the attraction between them is impossible to miss - but immortal beings, in this world, can't love. If they love they lose their immortality. And, possibly, their lives entirely. I hope the author has a solution in mind for these two, because I currently don't see one.
I actually liked this one more than the first book, which is unusual. I liked the first one, but I wasn't blown away. This one pulled me in and didn't let me go. Amazing sequel, and I hope the third one lives up to this standard!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Future Home of the Living God in Books
Mar 25, 2018
Minority Representation (1 more)
Interesting premise
NO ANSWERS (1 more)
No resolution
Well that was a waste of time. This book spends its entire length asking one real question. Will the main character's baby survive? There are a number of smaller questions - Will the baby be born normal? Why is evolution turning backwards, or sideways? What happened to the main character's father? What happened to her friend from the hospital? What happened to her husband? Does she ever find freedom?
THE BOOK ANSWERS NONE OF THESE QUESTIONS.
I am really frustrated with this book. Why did I bother reading it if it refuses to resolve any of its plotlines?
We're going to get a little bit into writing theory here. It has been a classic recommendation to have the climax of your book 2/3 of the way through the book, and have the last third be denouement. Wrap-up. Show us how the climax affected the characters and the world. John Green does this well - all his books follow a standard plot line. Character A is introduced. A meets B. B changes A's life. B leaves A's life. (Those last two are usually incorporated in the climax of the book.) A has to learn how to live without B in a world changed by B's existence in it. It's a little formulaic, but it works for Green, and his books are great. Some books do not do this so well. Wheel of Time had 5-6 pages of denouement after the series climax, and nothing was really revealed about how the events changed the world for the better. Future Home of the Living God had TWO. TWO PAGES AFTER THE CLIMAX. AND THEY ANSWER NOTHING. The main character talks about missing winter.
I finished the book and almost threw it across the room. I probably would have, except for two things: I was at a friend's house, and it was a library book. That's all that saved it from that fate. I have stacks of books I want to read, and I feel like I just wasted a few hours on this piece of crap.
The writing was actually pretty good, and the main character is an Ojibwe Indian, so there's minority representation, but the book as a whole was just CRAP. Wrap up your plotlines. Answer the questions you ask. (At least the ones having to do with your plot - you can leave unanswered philosophical questions, that's fine.)
Hard pass on this book.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
THE BOOK ANSWERS NONE OF THESE QUESTIONS.
I am really frustrated with this book. Why did I bother reading it if it refuses to resolve any of its plotlines?
We're going to get a little bit into writing theory here. It has been a classic recommendation to have the climax of your book 2/3 of the way through the book, and have the last third be denouement. Wrap-up. Show us how the climax affected the characters and the world. John Green does this well - all his books follow a standard plot line. Character A is introduced. A meets B. B changes A's life. B leaves A's life. (Those last two are usually incorporated in the climax of the book.) A has to learn how to live without B in a world changed by B's existence in it. It's a little formulaic, but it works for Green, and his books are great. Some books do not do this so well. Wheel of Time had 5-6 pages of denouement after the series climax, and nothing was really revealed about how the events changed the world for the better. Future Home of the Living God had TWO. TWO PAGES AFTER THE CLIMAX. AND THEY ANSWER NOTHING. The main character talks about missing winter.
I finished the book and almost threw it across the room. I probably would have, except for two things: I was at a friend's house, and it was a library book. That's all that saved it from that fate. I have stacks of books I want to read, and I feel like I just wasted a few hours on this piece of crap.
The writing was actually pretty good, and the main character is an Ojibwe Indian, so there's minority representation, but the book as a whole was just CRAP. Wrap up your plotlines. Answer the questions you ask. (At least the ones having to do with your plot - you can leave unanswered philosophical questions, that's fine.)
Hard pass on this book.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Spinning Silver in Books
Dec 25, 2018
I had previously read Uprooted, and adored it, so I was eager to get my hands on this book as soon as it came out. I was very excited to see it as a Book of the Month choice for July, and quickly made it my pick!
I received the book last weekend while I was at Anthrocon, so I didn't get a chance to sit down with it until yesterday. (It officially came out Tuesday.) I proceeded to read straight through the entire book because it was SO. GOOD. Novik writes absolutely ENTHRALLING fairy tales. And in Spinning Silver, she has written fae as beautiful, alien, capricious, and as absolutely bound by rules as they should be. Doing a thing three times, even by normal means, gives one the power to ACTUALLY do the thing; in Miryem's case, turning the Staryk's silver into gold (by creative buying and selling) means she gains the power to LITERALLY turn silver into gold. Which then gets her into the trouble the rest of the book is built on.
One of my favorite lines was very near the end of the book, about the Staryk palace:
"The Staryk didn't know anything of keeping records: I suppose it was only to be expected from people who didn't take on debts and were used to entire chambers wandering off and having to be called back like cats."
My only real quibble with the book is that it shifts viewpoints between at least five characters, and doesn't start their sections with names or anything, so it takes a few sentences to figure out who's talking. It never takes too long, but it did occasionally make me go "Wait, who is this....ah, okay."
The plotlines weave in and out of each other's way for most of the book before all colliding into each other at the end and showing how everything connects. I was definitely confused on occasion, but it was that enchanting Alice-in-Wonderland kind of confusion more than actual puzzlement. The book is, by turns, a mix of Rumpelstiltskin, Tam-Lin, Winter King vs Summer King, Snow Queen, and a little Hansel and Gretel. I love seeing elements of so many fairy tales woven together and yet still remaining recognizable.
And the ending! Oh, the ending was absolutely, marvelously perfect.
I loved this book, just as much as I loved Uprooted. I can't wait to see what fairy tales Novik spins next!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
I received the book last weekend while I was at Anthrocon, so I didn't get a chance to sit down with it until yesterday. (It officially came out Tuesday.) I proceeded to read straight through the entire book because it was SO. GOOD. Novik writes absolutely ENTHRALLING fairy tales. And in Spinning Silver, she has written fae as beautiful, alien, capricious, and as absolutely bound by rules as they should be. Doing a thing three times, even by normal means, gives one the power to ACTUALLY do the thing; in Miryem's case, turning the Staryk's silver into gold (by creative buying and selling) means she gains the power to LITERALLY turn silver into gold. Which then gets her into the trouble the rest of the book is built on.
One of my favorite lines was very near the end of the book, about the Staryk palace:
"The Staryk didn't know anything of keeping records: I suppose it was only to be expected from people who didn't take on debts and were used to entire chambers wandering off and having to be called back like cats."
My only real quibble with the book is that it shifts viewpoints between at least five characters, and doesn't start their sections with names or anything, so it takes a few sentences to figure out who's talking. It never takes too long, but it did occasionally make me go "Wait, who is this....ah, okay."
The plotlines weave in and out of each other's way for most of the book before all colliding into each other at the end and showing how everything connects. I was definitely confused on occasion, but it was that enchanting Alice-in-Wonderland kind of confusion more than actual puzzlement. The book is, by turns, a mix of Rumpelstiltskin, Tam-Lin, Winter King vs Summer King, Snow Queen, and a little Hansel and Gretel. I love seeing elements of so many fairy tales woven together and yet still remaining recognizable.
And the ending! Oh, the ending was absolutely, marvelously perfect.
I loved this book, just as much as I loved Uprooted. I can't wait to see what fairy tales Novik spins next!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
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