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Sky Raiders (Five Kingdoms, #1)
Sky Raiders (Five Kingdoms, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Really fun kids adventure book. I had a hard time explaining it to my wife but ultimately I realized it reminded me a lot of Harry Potter in that:

1. The main character is basically a kid (although a mature one so that he can be relatable to more age groups)
2. There is magic
3. A lot of the story focuses on Friendship during some kind of trial
4. Set in a fantastical, sometimes quirky world with fun, interesting, and sometimes spooky characters
5. Interesting story and fun premise

I really enjoy the aspects of friendship and worldbuilding: Brandon Mull did a great job of interweaving different characters and their personalities into a complex world with an interesting plotline.

Rarely does the book get boring or slow and rarely could I put it down. Sure, maybe the book was in the 12-year old section of the library but to be honest I haven't had this much fun in a series for a long time. If you're into those 5 bullet points I mentioned above and you enjoyed Harry Potter, I would strongly recommend this series. Still waiting for the 5th book to come out in late 2017 so that will definitely be a book I pick up! Enjoy!
  
King in Waiting (Lord Edward’s Archer series Book 2)
King in Waiting (Lord Edward’s Archer series Book 2)
Griff Hosker | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
King in Waiting was an enjoyable, action packed, history filled novel, about Gerald War Bow and his part in the battles to free Henry III from Simon de Montfort in 1264.

Gerald is from a poor family, and King Henry is quite clear about his opinions of Archers - they’re disposable and unimportant. Luckily, his son and heir, Lord Edward, is not of the same opinion. He values Gerald War Bow, and sees his worth. Even though he’s young, he has loads of experience and his men are loyal to him.

This book gives the reader a real feel for the time. There’s a lot of historical detail, from how battles are run, to travelling and living in medieval England. I’ve finished the book feeling as though I now know more about this period in history, and how difficult it is to draw back and let fly an arrow from a longbow (serious strength is needed!). How the nobility could have seen so little value in these men is a mystery to me. Their skill is described so well.

So, if you enjoy historical fiction and a lot of action in battle, then this is the book for you - I really enjoyed it.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the author for reading along with us!
  
A Dog Called Demolition
A Dog Called Demolition
Robert Rankin | 1996 | Humor & Comedy, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book follows the story of Danny, a young man who has always wanted a dog but has never been allowed one. So he builds one himself, a path that will eventually lead to him discovering a horrifying truth about the world.

This book is full-on Robert Rankin, meaning that unless you have read a few of his books and are used to his writing style and in-jokes a lot of this one will just make no sense (although making sense is never the aim of a Rankin book). The plot is a slight one to hang a whole novel off of and so there is a lot of inconsequential writing around the main story. Enjoying this book relies on the reader enjoying passing the time with these bits when the main plot isn't going anywhere. I enjoy spending time with Rankin's writing so enjoy the book. Others may feel otherwise.

So the book itself is full of the usual Rankin nonsense, walk on parts of characters from other books, repeated phrases and general strangeness. It's not brilliantly funny but it's pretty amusing.

Also worth noting is Danny's cameo in another book, which casts a whole different light in what might really be going on in this one.
  
The Letter for the King
The Letter for the King
2020 | Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
6
6.2 (5 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Intriguing concept, beautiful scenery, good cast (0 more)
The characters and relationships were not built up enough and the plot left too many questions without answers (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
I love fantasy tv shows, so I was excited to give this one a try. The concept was very intriguing and it was a fun watch. However, the show had a lot of good ideas but the follow-through left it feeling a bit flat. While I thought that the cast did a great job, the script (while not bad) didn't take the time to build up the relationships between characters which meant that emotional moments felt weak. The show also raises a lot of questions but the final episode spent too much time trying to build up a second season, and not enough time giving a satisfying ending. The pacing of the show was also strange. It is only six episodes but the plot seems to move really slowly while the character dynamics move too quickly. I would have like to dig deeper into the characters as they did have interesting setups but the show just didn't give time to that. All in all, the show was fun to watch with my family but left me without strong emotions about it one way or the other.
  
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Beth Orton recommended First Take by Roberta Flack in Music (curated)

 
First Take by Roberta Flack
First Take by Roberta Flack
1969 | Rock
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Someone made me a mixtape once of a lot of amazing folk and soul and jazz, kind of legendary songs, quite rare, and it had a lot of Pentangle and Fairport Convention and it had 'Compared To What' on it. And I went seeking 'Compared To What' because I thought ""what is that song?"", and that's what inspired the song 'Central Reservation'. It's just an amazing record. Come the last six years, I was just like, ""you know what, the sound of the next record is this record"". One of the reasons is that I love the fact that the drums and bass are ever-present and yet, at the same time, they're almost not there. I can't explain it; it's like all of the elements of the record are perfectly heard but each sound has so much space around it. It's got the most extraordinary rhythm, emotion and beautiful songs. When I started speaking to Tucker Martine [Sugaring Season producer], who produced the album, I said ""okay, here's a blueprint for a sound I love and a record that I love"", and that was it. We weren't being analytical; it gave us a starting place, and from there it grew out. It's just filtered through in different ways."

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Biff Byford recommended Close to the Edge by Yes in Music (curated)

 
Close to the Edge by Yes
Close to the Edge by Yes
1972 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I don’t mean this in a derogatory way, but Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson of Saxon were into the bluesy bands - simple but with a lot of groove. But me and Paul Quinn were into more muso bands like Genesis and King Crimson. That was the type of stuff we played, with more jamming and improvisation. As a bass player and singer, my goal was to play like Chris Squire. I used to try and learn the songs – it took me about six months to learn ‘Roundabout’. I‘ve talked to Rick Wakeman about Yes, and he said Jon Anderson would structure melodies like I do it. They would sit in a room and arrange things around the vocals, and we do that because it gives me more freedom to write. I could listen to this all day. NWOBHM bands liked Yes because the musicianship was great - it moves away from blues feel to a jazz feel. A lot of these guys were university trained, but we learned from listening to music. We knew nothing about music theory or scales, but prog rock really made you better as musicians when you learned to play it. It seemed unattainable because it was so good."

Source