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The Prey of Gods
The Prey of Gods
Nicky Drayden | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well written, diverse characters, super unique plot (0 more)
Amazeballs!
Amazeballs. Bananapants. Just WOW! All accurate descriptions of my feelings about this book. To say the plot is extraordinarily unique would be an understatement. I can honestly say I have never read anything quite like it and I mean that in the best way possible. A crab and a dolphin in flagrante delicto? Sure, why not?

Set in Africa in the future, it features a cast of wonderfully diverse characters, whose DNA is altered through the use of a new designer drug allowing them to tap into divine superpowers they never knew they had, allied with newly sentient household robots, in a fight to save the world from an evil ancient demigoddess. Sounds wild, right? That’s because it is. It is also 100% pure greatness, not from concentrate.

This isn’t a book that eases you into its craziness. It begins with the preparation of a circumcision to be followed by a celebratory party. Within the first chapter we find out about the whole crab and dolphin thing. (Sorry y’all, trying to avoid spoilers here lol.) I enjoyed seeing this particular romance develop and unfold throughout the story, in such a strange world it was a refreshing spot of sweet and normal. Well, as normal as it could be in this book lol. I also liked seeing the way the author brought sentience to the robots and how they even developed their own personalities and loyalties. There honestly wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this. The numerous threads and subplots were each well developed and expertly woven together into a cohesive story, the characters were just awesome, the world building and mythology were well done and easy to imagine, the writing style and pacing had me hooked from page one. It’s just really well done on every level.

By far the most original and compelling book I’ve read so far this year. Nicky Drayden is definitely an author to watch! Highly recommended; two super enthusiastic thumbs up; five solid sun-sized stars!
  
    Burncycle

    Burncycle

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    Tabletop Game

    A puzzly infiltration game for 1-4 players, burncycle puts you in command of a team of robots in the...

The Animatrix (2003)
The Animatrix (2003)
2003 | Action, Animation, Drama
Great supplement to the trilogy
This collection of short films, some of which were written by the The Wachowski Brothers, is a great set of stories as both prequel and supplement to the Matrix trilogy of films. They show various wars and clashes between humans and the robots they created to the basis of forming the Matrix itself which exists in the live-action version.

The animation is really bright and eye popping and reminded me of Ghost in the Shell or even Samurai Jack at times. Some of the stories were a little too close to the trilogy while others really went in their own direction. Others reminded me of other genre films including District 9 or even War of the Worlds.

I liked the fast paced style of animation in some and others let the stories develop a little more.

For those Matrix movie fans I think you would thoroughly enjoy this!

  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) in Movies

Mar 27, 2018 (Updated Mar 28, 2018)  
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
What-time-d'you-call-this-then late-arriving sequel to Guillermo del Toro's 2013 love letter to Japanese tokusatsu movies. A new generation of giant robot pilots must stop a new attempt to wipe out the human race using giant monsters.

The plot is fairly forgettable and possibly incoherent, as is most of the acting (though Scott Eastwood makes something of an impression in an underwritten part), but you go to this kind of film to see enormous robots and kaiju smacking each other about the head with bits of skyscraper, and this movie delivers that in spades. Possibly the first western movie to capture the real spirit of Japanese monster movies, and that makes up for a lot. The world-building isn't as interesting as in the first one, but it retains a few compellingly weird touches. Pure popcorn entertainment, but made with real energy and actually quite charming in a puppyish way.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Colossal (2016) in Movies

Mar 1, 2018 (Updated Mar 2, 2018)  
Colossal (2016)
Colossal (2016)
2016 | Comedy, Drama
Imagine the scene: you and your significant other are sitting down together for an evening in front of a movie but can't decide what to watch - you have your heart set on Manchester by the Sea, with its downbeat, naturalistic tale of small-town lives blighted by alcoholism. They, on the other hand, want to watch Terror of Mechagodzilla, a garish, barely coherent story about giant monsters battling equally big robots. What to do? Worry no more: here comes Colossal, to satisfy you both.

I mean, you have to admire a film for attempting to do something a little bit different, and this is certainly that, and good performances from the leads and an inventive script initially make this a refreshingly original film. In the end though, the sheer oddness of it, a problematic tonal inconsistency, and unconvincing characterisations mean that it doesn't quite hang together or completely satisfy. Still worth a look for sheer novelty value.