Awix (3310 KP) rated The War of the Worlds in TV
Dec 2, 2019
Part of a grim tradition where BBC attempts to adapt SF, fantasy and horror classics operate to different standards than when they are tackling Austen or Dickens. If the team who perpetrated War of the Worlds got their hands on Pride and Prejudice, it would end up being a lesbian romance between the Bennets' maid and one of the minor daughters, performed on ice, with a frame story concerning the Boer war. It's not just that it does the book badly, it genuinely doesn't seem interested in it at all. Someone gets a leaden, clumsy speech articulating the subtext of the novel (how to adapt a great book for the hard-of-thinking) but as to what this version of the story is supposed to be about or why we should care at all... It takes real skill and determination to screw up a classic piece of literature quite this badly.
To The Kwai and Back: War Drawings 1939-1945
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In 1939, as an art student, Ronald Searle volunteered for the army. Called up in September, he...
Young Jean Lee recommended Le Bonheur (1965) in Movies (curated)
NeverSeconds: The Incredible Story of Martha Payne
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Martha Payne is nine years old. She set up a simple blog neverseconds where she reviewed her school...
Flashlight & Morse Utility
Utilities and Photo & Video
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-Light, Morse and Strobe -Brightness Adjustment -Screen Lock Super fast start of the flashlight!!! ...
Weald
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On a remote livery yard in rural England, Jim arrives 'home' after eight years away, in need of...
The New Politics of Regionalism: Perspectives from Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific
Ulf Engel, Heidrun Zinecker, Frank Mattheis and Antje Dietze
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This edited volume approaches regionalism as one potential pattern in a changing global order. Since...
The Warrior-Prophet
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The first battle against the heathen has been won, but while the Great Names plot and squabble over...
Kyera (8 KP) rated City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2) in Books
Jan 31, 2018
As much as I loved the first book, you can see a marked improvement in Cassie’s writing even by this second book. There is a particular scene in which the setting is described so vividly that you can easily imagine the location building around you in your mind. Immersive world building is always very important to me in books, especially fantasy series, so I cannot recommend this series enough. Although it is the earliest of her writing, you cannot miss out on all of the details she provides about the world. You go on the journey with Clary as you both learn about Downworlders, the Clave, and demons.
City of Ashes further develops the relationships and connections between the characters. You can feel how much they care for one another and it’s really authentic. Although I’ve read this series before it has been a while since I delved into the series that started it all. I am being reintroduced to favourite characters and realizing just how much they’ve grown over the course of the numerous novels that Cassie has written. As I re-read interactions and laugh at witty lines, I fall in love with the characters all over again. I remember what it is that made me care for them in the first place, not just their strengths but their vulnerabilities.
There’s not much else I can say without discussing plot points or spoiling things from this or the first book, so I would just end it with – please, if you’re hesitant, give this series a chance. I would highly recommend it and in my opinion, it definitely needs to be read prior to reading Cassie’s newest series, the Dark Artifices. As incredible as the world building is in that series, it’s adding to the lore that has been built and evolved over the course of ten novels. It won’t be as impactful if you don’t have the foundational knowledge before you read the Dark Artifices.