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Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2)
Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2)
Rachel Caine | 2016 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
6.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
94 of 200
Book
Paper and fire ( Great Library book 2)
By Rachel Caine

 
LET THE WORLD BURN . . .

With an iron fist, the Great Library ruthlessly controls the knowledge of the world, forbidding the personal ownership of books in the name of the greater good. Jess Brightwell has survived his introduction to the sinister, seductive world of the Library, but his life and the lives of those he cares for have been altered for ever. Embarking on a mission to save one of their own, Jess and his band of allies suddenly find themselves hunted by the Library’s deadly automata and forced to flee Alexandria.

But Jess’s home isn’t safe any more. The Welsh army is coming, London is burning, and soon Jess must choose between his friends, his family, or a Library willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in the search for ultimate control . . .




A really good follow up from the first book. Full of action! Such an intricate world Rachel has created, I can’t imagine a world where I’m told what I can and can’t read it’s my worst nightmare. It’s good to see the gang free Thomas and all come together looking forward to seeing how they get out of their new drama!!
  
TM
The Man He Never Was
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I believe in honesty, so I'll make my review completely honest. I didn't like this book. Not at first. It took me a bit to get into it. I don't normally read this type of book. But, after hearing of some rave reviews on it, I decided to take a dive and branch out to another realm of reading. Mr. Rubart, I will tell you that after a couple of tries, I finally got into the book and it swept me away and left me in awe of your amazing talent and ability to create a retelling like this.

Toren Daniels is a man with two sides: good.....and evil. I never really thought of my own life as having a good side and an evil side, until Toren's story came to life for me. The anger, the pain, the not knowing what happened and the why of it all.....those are all things that Toren struggles with, and he seeks out to remedy that. Those are things that we, as everyday human beings, struggle with. It's an emotional roller coaster ride for certain as the reader gets to follow Toren through his life and see how he deals with with doing right and wrong, good or evil.

This ended up, in my honest opinion, a 4 star read. It's a story that will not only entertain you after you give it a chance, but it's a story that will twist you up and make you think, really, really think about the meaning of good versus evil, and the way the Lord helps to deal with those. I definitely will be sharing this book with other Christian fiction fans! Mr. Rubart, hats off to you for creating this story full of meaning and truth.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*
  
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David McK (3372 KP) rated Pirata in Books

Jan 28, 2020  
Pirata
Pirata
Simon Scarrow, TJ Andrews | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Originally published as a series of five novellas, this - as such, and very much like the previous collaboration of these two authors (Invader - is a distinct multi-part book, made up of the following five parts:

Pirata: The Black Flag
Pirata: The Gates of Stone
Pirata: Hunters of the Sea
Pirata: Sea of Blood
Pirata: The Pirate Chief

As such, each of the five parts have their own distinct start, middle and end, with the series - as a whole -following the orphan Telemachus as he initially joins a merchant vessel before becoming a pirate and (perhaps too) swiftly rising through the ranks - I say perhaps too swiftly as that is my main criticism of the novel, with Telemachus - despite having lived his life on the streets of Piraeus - suddenly, and in a very short time, taking to the life of a pirate at sea.

An enjoyable enough diversion, but not as good - IMO - as Scarrow's Macro and Cato series of novels
  
Real Steel (2011)
Real Steel (2011)
2011 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
This is a good film, not a great film but very good.
Contains spoilers, click to show
This film is the reason I decided to do my own movie reviews. After hearing a review for this film from BBC Radio 1's movie reviewer, I decided to start my own review page. She reviewed this film seeing nothing more than the robots. She totally missed out on the whole plot of the movie, and then her comment "the climax takes a long time to come and it happens right at the end" made me want to climb into the radio and tape her mouth shut. I know where I expect the climax of a film to be, and I know it is nowhere but at the end of the film. Yes this film has big giant robots in it, but the plot is way more than that, it is a story about redemption and doing the right thing no matter how hard the journey. I got that much from just seeing the trailer, she saw the whole thing and missed the whole point.

OK rant over.

This is a good film, not a great film but very good. Hugh Jackman is good in this but to be fair he is good in most things. He gets to show off a bigger range of his acting skills than he has in the X-Men films. He plays Charlie Kenton, a former boxer now heavily in debt due to pushing his fighting robots too hard and expecting more than they can give, like fighting a 300lb bull! This also stars Evangeline Lilly in I believe her first role since the series Lost ended. She is also very good in this. However, the star of the film is Dakota Goya as Max Kenton. He shines as the child thrown together with the father he doesn't know. He enters the world of robot fighting with his father and manages to rescue a robot from a scrap pile. He then convinces his father to enter the robot in the fights. You really get to experience the wonder of the Robots through him. The other star is the robot he rescues, Atom. Although not sentient, the director manages to bring him to life with good camera angles and subtle sounds. You really start to feel for the robot and you manage to forget the fights aren't real. The other very clever part of the film is the setting. It is set in the near future, but the only really futuristic thing is the robots. There are no fancy cars or clothes and this enables you to connect with the film easier.

The climax of the film (at the end!), is a big showdown with the undefeated champion. Instead of just two robots bashing each other, you get Atom, the underdog, controlled by Max, and helped by his father. You see and feel each blow the robot takes and through the acting skills of Dakota Goya, you forget it's a machine and you can't help but cheer him on.

This could have been an average film, but the fine performances by the cast and the skill of the director in bringing Atom to life with just the use of camera shots and clever subtle sounds turns this film in to a joy to watch as you take the journey with father, son and giant robot.
  
President Under Siege (2016)
President Under Siege (2016)
2016 |
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Michael is the Prime Minister of Belgium, he is about the close one of the biggest deals of his career with a meeting with the President of United States of America, but he must show his levels of commitment to his cause and his family, when he gets blackmailed into killer the President. We get from this character a man that is pushed to his limits to do the right thing and protect his family. Christine is Michael’s wife, captured and forced to wait for her husband to complete his tasks while caring for their children. Eva is the assistant that has a secret with Michael and forced into playing into the games that are being played.

Performances – Koen De Bouw is great in this leading role, we see his desperation to keep his family safe and the turmoil he is feel inside about which decision to make. Tine Reymer is good as the wife which is shown to be strong for the children. Charlotte makes for a good supporting character too. The performances from the whole cast are good because they all play their part in the puzzle.

Story – The story follows the idea that a person in power is blackmailed into committing a crime which will ruin their career, life and legacy. We see how he tries to figure out a way to allude the enemies, while playing along with the game. As for twists and turns we are kept on edge wait to see where thing could go next, this is a highlight of the film and like all time-based movies, this story works for everything we are seeing.

Thriller – This movie does keep us on the edge of our seats from start to finish, we are left to see just how everything will unfold.

Settings – We do get multiple settings for this movie, this shows the life of the Prime Minister when it comes to having guests from America over for big announcements.


Scene of the Movie – Alone with the President.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Strange decisions being made by the Presidents staff.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting thriller that does keep us guessing, it shows how politicians can be pushed to limits, even the good ones and throws up a story which would leave us wondering if it could happen in real life.

 

Overall: Thriller that truly does keep us guessing.