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David McK (3369 KP) rated Fall of Kings (Troy #3) in Books
May 14, 2023
The final part in David Gemmell's 'Troy' trilogy, this was also the final book he ever wrote, as he passed away (in 2006) before it was finished by his wife Stella Gemmell and published in 2007.
As evidenced by the title, this particular volume deals with events leading up to and the actual fall of the city of Troy itself, with the Trojan Horse largely responsible (still) for this fall, but having a more mundane explanation than in the legend.
The same characters appear in this version: Agamemnon, Odysseus and Hektor chief among them, with supporting work by Cassandra and both Andromache (Hektor's wife) and Helikaon proving to be more prominent than I remember from that legend (both of whom were also prominent in the first two entries in this series i.e. 'Lord of the Silver Bow' and 'Shield of Thunder'). There's also room for some of the cast of those earlier novels (such as Banokles or Gershom), but this particular entry, I felt, was not so much about them as about the 'power players' (if you will) of Hektor, Achilles and Odysseus.
As evidenced by the title, this particular volume deals with events leading up to and the actual fall of the city of Troy itself, with the Trojan Horse largely responsible (still) for this fall, but having a more mundane explanation than in the legend.
The same characters appear in this version: Agamemnon, Odysseus and Hektor chief among them, with supporting work by Cassandra and both Andromache (Hektor's wife) and Helikaon proving to be more prominent than I remember from that legend (both of whom were also prominent in the first two entries in this series i.e. 'Lord of the Silver Bow' and 'Shield of Thunder'). There's also room for some of the cast of those earlier novels (such as Banokles or Gershom), but this particular entry, I felt, was not so much about them as about the 'power players' (if you will) of Hektor, Achilles and Odysseus.
Dalysian Hope (Dalysia #1)
10.0
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A young girl. An ancient war. Secrets and lies around every corner. Who will you trust? Sophie...
Young Adult Fantasy Romance
Happily Ever After
7.0
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Book
The third and final book in a new trilogy of twisted fairy tales from New York Times bestselling...
Light & Kingdom (Royal & Piper #2)
10.0
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Over a year after the Piper of HameLonn disappeared, his secret is found out. In the capital of...
Fantasy Romance Fairytale Retelling Young Adult
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated 3 Minutes to Midnight ( Midnight Trilogy 1) in Books
Feb 23, 2024
34 of 220
Kindle
3 Minutes to Midnight ( Midnight Trilogy 1)
By L.M. Hatchell
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A small Dublin pub …
… holds the key to humanity’s survival.
Who will learn its secret?
Half vampire, half fae, Phoenix is an abomination in the eyes of the supernatural community. Screw them! She’s more than happy to play human in the cosy Irish pub she calls home.
At least until an annoying werewolf comes knocking.
Because Phoenix may be done with the supernatural world, but it’s not quite done with her.
Her birth has triggered a prophecy, and now the clock is ticking. Humanity will be the first to suffer for her existence.
Everything, and everyone, she loves is in danger, and as the body count rises Phoenix must learn to embrace the darkest parts of herself.
Or lose it all.
I wasn’t sure about this at first but I ended up really enjoying it. Definitely a lighter fun read that flowed really well. The story and characters were good, full of all the supernatural creatures we’ve come to love.
Kindle
3 Minutes to Midnight ( Midnight Trilogy 1)
By L.M. Hatchell
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A small Dublin pub …
… holds the key to humanity’s survival.
Who will learn its secret?
Half vampire, half fae, Phoenix is an abomination in the eyes of the supernatural community. Screw them! She’s more than happy to play human in the cosy Irish pub she calls home.
At least until an annoying werewolf comes knocking.
Because Phoenix may be done with the supernatural world, but it’s not quite done with her.
Her birth has triggered a prophecy, and now the clock is ticking. Humanity will be the first to suffer for her existence.
Everything, and everyone, she loves is in danger, and as the body count rises Phoenix must learn to embrace the darkest parts of herself.
Or lose it all.
I wasn’t sure about this at first but I ended up really enjoying it. Definitely a lighter fun read that flowed really well. The story and characters were good, full of all the supernatural creatures we’ve come to love.
Alice (12 KP) rated The Silver Tide (The Copper Cat, #3) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
My 200th book of the year was the final installment in Jen Williams’ The Copper Cat trilogy The Silver Tide and was it a doozie! The Copper Cat trilogy has got to be the best series I’ve read this year, so much so that I devoured it easily. It was without a doubt the best book of the trilogy with characters we’d only heard passing mentions of in the previous ones coming full circle and smacking us in the face. Devinia the Red? FTW!
The Silver Tide brought several running story arcs to a close nicely with just the right amount of action, drama and hate. Now I use the term hate lightly because it wasn’t hate from me but hate of some of the characters who originally I thought were good people – boy was I wrong.
The Silver Tide was the best title and I waited until right near the end to find out what the relevance of that was. Oh it was so good! I tweeted Jen Williams just before I got there grumbling because Sebastian was being abused in the book as a character and then I read the ending and my decision changed entirely.
This book had the same easy flow of dialogue and prose with character descriptions and world building in abundance – by world building, I don’t mean the standard Ede but a new “world” called Euriale where all sorts of weird and wonderful beasties and plants to die for – literally. This new world had some wonderful if slightly psychotic characters in it and there were pirates everywhere, several of those were psychotic as well.
The storyline for this book was based around Euriale and involved time travel, long dead gods and characters who have died and been reborn; Estenn a character who is half-mad at the beginning of the book and completely mad by the time Wydrin kicked her psycho butt is a new one, she’s entirely consumed by the Twins – Res’ni and Res’na – and believes herself to the their Emissary and it is because of Estenn that things happen in this book: good and innocent people die for her cause and Y’Gria followed by Y’Ruen, Res’ni and Res’na aid her in slaughtering the mages in a time gone by.
The ending, although sad because it ended, was brilliant. It was lovely seeing Sebastian finally get his happily ever after especially after the few disastrous attempts he made in the first two books – Oster and Sebastian I ship it. Dragon with dragon-kin oh yes! There was also a major overabundance of dragons and dragon-kin in this book and some pretty sweet new magical powers for Frith which was super.
Wydrin had her moments as always and this book was fantastically British in a lot of ways; including copious use of the words “fuck” and “mum” which I liked. I really can’t fault Wydrin Threefellows character in any way, shape or form and she went through some particularly freaky things in this book (when comparing the other books to this one, definitely freaky-deaky).
In all, this series was brilliant, it was a fantastic read all round and I’ve already got two people I know wanting to steal the series from me so they can read it on their own.
The Silver Tide brought several running story arcs to a close nicely with just the right amount of action, drama and hate. Now I use the term hate lightly because it wasn’t hate from me but hate of some of the characters who originally I thought were good people – boy was I wrong.
The Silver Tide was the best title and I waited until right near the end to find out what the relevance of that was. Oh it was so good! I tweeted Jen Williams just before I got there grumbling because Sebastian was being abused in the book as a character and then I read the ending and my decision changed entirely.
This book had the same easy flow of dialogue and prose with character descriptions and world building in abundance – by world building, I don’t mean the standard Ede but a new “world” called Euriale where all sorts of weird and wonderful beasties and plants to die for – literally. This new world had some wonderful if slightly psychotic characters in it and there were pirates everywhere, several of those were psychotic as well.
The storyline for this book was based around Euriale and involved time travel, long dead gods and characters who have died and been reborn; Estenn a character who is half-mad at the beginning of the book and completely mad by the time Wydrin kicked her psycho butt is a new one, she’s entirely consumed by the Twins – Res’ni and Res’na – and believes herself to the their Emissary and it is because of Estenn that things happen in this book: good and innocent people die for her cause and Y’Gria followed by Y’Ruen, Res’ni and Res’na aid her in slaughtering the mages in a time gone by.
The ending, although sad because it ended, was brilliant. It was lovely seeing Sebastian finally get his happily ever after especially after the few disastrous attempts he made in the first two books – Oster and Sebastian I ship it. Dragon with dragon-kin oh yes! There was also a major overabundance of dragons and dragon-kin in this book and some pretty sweet new magical powers for Frith which was super.
Wydrin had her moments as always and this book was fantastically British in a lot of ways; including copious use of the words “fuck” and “mum” which I liked. I really can’t fault Wydrin Threefellows character in any way, shape or form and she went through some particularly freaky things in this book (when comparing the other books to this one, definitely freaky-deaky).
In all, this series was brilliant, it was a fantastic read all round and I’ve already got two people I know wanting to steal the series from me so they can read it on their own.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Back to the Future (1985) in Movies
Apr 10, 2019
My entire childhood
So funny how seeing a "decked out" DeLorean in a Target parking lot the other day made me want to rewatch Back to the Future again soon. It had been on my rewatch list ever since I purchased the trilogy on Blu Ray on Black Friday, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.
To say this movie (and the original Star Wars trilogy) defined my childhood is an understatement. The year 1985 meant I was 14 years old and lived within biking distance of the theatre where it was showing. Only Back to the Future and The Empire Strikes Back have the distinction of being movies I saw at least fifteen times during their initial run; at one point every day for a week straight.
The story of how the film got made is an interesting as the perfect screenplay itself. Basically Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale shopped the movie around after they had made a few films, including Used Cars (good movie), but studios weren't interested. Except Spielberg. Unfortunately, the duo had just worked with Spielberg on 1941 and it was a dud.
Luckily, Zemeckis directed Romancing the Stone in 1984, so they finally went back to Spielberg with that clout and got the deal done. BTTF was actually the first film released under Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment (with the E.T. logo) that Spielberg himself did not direct.
Then, casting. Filmmakers really wanted Michael J. Fox, but he was not available due to his TV schedule filming sitcom Family Ties. They had to move on, so they cast Eric Stoltz and filmed for 5 weeks.
Zemeckis felt like something wasn't right and asked Spielberg to take a look at the dailies. They agreed Stoltz was a good actor, but not right for the part of Marty McFly. They begged the Family Ties people to let Michael do both and they finally agreed. I can't believe how Michael did two full time jobs during production, but he did and managed to create an unforgettable character that will live forever in movie history.
If anyone ever decides it is a good idea to remake, reboot and/or get a sequel going I will personally go to their house and punch them in the face! ?
To say this movie (and the original Star Wars trilogy) defined my childhood is an understatement. The year 1985 meant I was 14 years old and lived within biking distance of the theatre where it was showing. Only Back to the Future and The Empire Strikes Back have the distinction of being movies I saw at least fifteen times during their initial run; at one point every day for a week straight.
The story of how the film got made is an interesting as the perfect screenplay itself. Basically Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale shopped the movie around after they had made a few films, including Used Cars (good movie), but studios weren't interested. Except Spielberg. Unfortunately, the duo had just worked with Spielberg on 1941 and it was a dud.
Luckily, Zemeckis directed Romancing the Stone in 1984, so they finally went back to Spielberg with that clout and got the deal done. BTTF was actually the first film released under Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment (with the E.T. logo) that Spielberg himself did not direct.
Then, casting. Filmmakers really wanted Michael J. Fox, but he was not available due to his TV schedule filming sitcom Family Ties. They had to move on, so they cast Eric Stoltz and filmed for 5 weeks.
Zemeckis felt like something wasn't right and asked Spielberg to take a look at the dailies. They agreed Stoltz was a good actor, but not right for the part of Marty McFly. They begged the Family Ties people to let Michael do both and they finally agreed. I can't believe how Michael did two full time jobs during production, but he did and managed to create an unforgettable character that will live forever in movie history.
If anyone ever decides it is a good idea to remake, reboot and/or get a sequel going I will personally go to their house and punch them in the face! ?
David McK (3369 KP) rated Lost Stars (Star Wars) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
Earlier this year, I read the first of the 'new' Star Wars books leading up the The Force Awakens, following Disney's abolition of the old Expanded Universe (said book was [a:Chuck Wendig|17152|Chuck Wendig|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294919586p2/17152.jpg] 's [b:Aftermath|25131600|Aftermath (Star Wars Aftermath, #1)|Chuck Wendig|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1426620007s/25131600.jpg|44828548] ).
While th ebook was all right, it didn't (I felt) live up the 'original' (now no longer canon) continuation of [a:Timothy Zahn|12479|Timothy Zahn|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1215545810p2/12479.jpg]'s 'Heir to the Empire' trilogy, or of some of the books that came after.
I only discovered recently, when I read an article released just before the second of Wendig's Star Wars books, that he is actually a screen-writer rather than a novelist, which goes some way (I felt) towards explaining the choppy structure of the novel.
In the comments on that article, a couple of the contributors had mentioned other 'new' Star Wars books they had read, with most stating this was one of the best, so I decided to give it a go :)
Starting roughly 8 years after 'Revenge of the Sith', this novel follows the exploits of 2 childhood friends (who grow up to be more than friends) from a backwater planet, who end up fighting on different sides of the Galactic Civil War. As such, this takes in all the key events of the original trilogy - The Tantive IV chase, destruction of Alderaan, blowing up of the first Death Star, attack on Hoth, Asteroid chase, Bespin, the space battle above Endor/second Death Star - and goes slightly beyond into explaining why there is a crashed Star Destroyer on the planet Jakku (from the start of The Force Awakens).
Remember in the movies, the lines 'There goes another one / hold your fire' right at the start of the original, with the jettison of an escape pod that holds R2-D2 and C3PO? The character who utters those (NOT either of the two main character here) is given a background, as is that who has 'analysed their attack, and has found a danger'.
Of the two leading-into-The Force Awakens novels I've read so far this year, this is the better
While th ebook was all right, it didn't (I felt) live up the 'original' (now no longer canon) continuation of [a:Timothy Zahn|12479|Timothy Zahn|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1215545810p2/12479.jpg]'s 'Heir to the Empire' trilogy, or of some of the books that came after.
I only discovered recently, when I read an article released just before the second of Wendig's Star Wars books, that he is actually a screen-writer rather than a novelist, which goes some way (I felt) towards explaining the choppy structure of the novel.
In the comments on that article, a couple of the contributors had mentioned other 'new' Star Wars books they had read, with most stating this was one of the best, so I decided to give it a go :)
Starting roughly 8 years after 'Revenge of the Sith', this novel follows the exploits of 2 childhood friends (who grow up to be more than friends) from a backwater planet, who end up fighting on different sides of the Galactic Civil War. As such, this takes in all the key events of the original trilogy - The Tantive IV chase, destruction of Alderaan, blowing up of the first Death Star, attack on Hoth, Asteroid chase, Bespin, the space battle above Endor/second Death Star - and goes slightly beyond into explaining why there is a crashed Star Destroyer on the planet Jakku (from the start of The Force Awakens).
Remember in the movies, the lines 'There goes another one / hold your fire' right at the start of the original, with the jettison of an escape pod that holds R2-D2 and C3PO? The character who utters those (NOT either of the two main character here) is given a background, as is that who has 'analysed their attack, and has found a danger'.
Of the two leading-into-The Force Awakens novels I've read so far this year, this is the better
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Diabolic in Books
Dec 25, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. There were twists I absolutely did not see coming, and Nemesis's confusion over whether she is truly human or not is an absorbing part of the plotline.
The book opens on Nemesis, an artificially created humanoid, as a child, being bonded to her charge, Sidonia Impyrean. The chemically-induced bonding creates an artificial love from Nemesis towards Sidonia - a love so strong she will kill and die to protect her. Many years later, Diabolics - what Nemesis is - are outlawed. Rather than kill Nemesis, Sidonia's family fakes her death, and eventually sends Nemesis to court masquerading as Sidonia. No one has seen Sidonia before, so the masquerade is fairly easy, other than hiding Nemesis' real abilities as one of the last Diabolics. Thrown into a world of conspiracies and courtly intrigue, Nemesis flails a little bit, but eventually finds her footing, and I can't say anymore than that because that's when the plot twists start!
This is one of the most surprising YA books I've read. I only anticipated one or two of the twists; many of the events revealed themselves to the reader at the same time that Nemesis uncovers them, which makes sense, as the book is told from her point of view.
The bond between Sidonia and Nemesis is strong and intriguing, even across star systems. I wish their relationship had been explored more. Sidonia always believed Nemesis was truly human, even when Nemesis did not. The book did not delve deeply into the actual creation of Diabolics; I'm hoping the sequel does. I'm curious if they are actually created, or if they are genetically modified humans and that's just a closely guarded secret. (Even if they are created, they're human in every way except their strength and endurance - I'm sure they're simply modified in the womb. Or test tube. Whichever. I really hope the sequel gets into that.)
I have the sequel, The Empress, requested from the library, but it's supposed to be a trilogy. I don't know when the third is due out.
This is a fantastic, surprising YA book with interesting politics and world building. I really want to learn more about the history of this world, and hopefully the rest of the trilogy will cover that.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
The book opens on Nemesis, an artificially created humanoid, as a child, being bonded to her charge, Sidonia Impyrean. The chemically-induced bonding creates an artificial love from Nemesis towards Sidonia - a love so strong she will kill and die to protect her. Many years later, Diabolics - what Nemesis is - are outlawed. Rather than kill Nemesis, Sidonia's family fakes her death, and eventually sends Nemesis to court masquerading as Sidonia. No one has seen Sidonia before, so the masquerade is fairly easy, other than hiding Nemesis' real abilities as one of the last Diabolics. Thrown into a world of conspiracies and courtly intrigue, Nemesis flails a little bit, but eventually finds her footing, and I can't say anymore than that because that's when the plot twists start!
This is one of the most surprising YA books I've read. I only anticipated one or two of the twists; many of the events revealed themselves to the reader at the same time that Nemesis uncovers them, which makes sense, as the book is told from her point of view.
The bond between Sidonia and Nemesis is strong and intriguing, even across star systems. I wish their relationship had been explored more. Sidonia always believed Nemesis was truly human, even when Nemesis did not. The book did not delve deeply into the actual creation of Diabolics; I'm hoping the sequel does. I'm curious if they are actually created, or if they are genetically modified humans and that's just a closely guarded secret. (Even if they are created, they're human in every way except their strength and endurance - I'm sure they're simply modified in the womb. Or test tube. Whichever. I really hope the sequel gets into that.)
I have the sequel, The Empress, requested from the library, but it's supposed to be a trilogy. I don't know when the third is due out.
This is a fantastic, surprising YA book with interesting politics and world building. I really want to learn more about the history of this world, and hopefully the rest of the trilogy will cover that.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Blade (1998) in Movies
Jan 15, 2020
Blade is undeniably a product of it's time. It's the late 90s, everyone loves leather and shades, everyone loves Wesley Snipes, everyone loves dumb one liners, so the character of Blade is ripe for adaption.
But the importance of this gory action flick should absolutely not be understated. Not only was it the first proper big (ish) budget Marvel film, but it's pre dates Black Panther as the first superhero film with a black lead, and it pre dates The Punisher as the first R-rated Marvel blockbuster.
But in a pre X-Men world, comic book movies weren't a big deal at this point. I actually remember me and my friends sneakily renting and watching it (we were 10 at the time...) and none of them even knowing that Blade was even a comic book!
Here we are all these years later and the Blade trilogy is now remembered fondly (well, at least the first two are!)
Wesley Snipes is of course the star of this particular vehicle, and here, he is the most Wesley Snipes he's ever been. The cheesy one liners still come off well, and lend a nice comedic edge to the buckets of blood on display. The charm that he brings to the Blade character is the main reason why it's been hard to imagine anyone else in the role for so long (although I am here all day long for Mahershala Ali)
The other big character throughout the trilogy is Whistler, played by Kris Kristofferson, just generally being old, grumpy and badass, and is honestly the best character in the whole thing (here's hoping the MCU introduce a Whistler series on Disney+...)
Stephen Dorff plays Deacon Frost, the films villain, and he's really not much more than a generic superhero bad guy (the first of many).
The choreography and the fight scenes are pretty great, and the willingness to go hard R is what set Blade apart before comic book movies became a thing. It's sooooo bloody in parts, that it verges heavily into horror territory.
The CGI effects are utterly horrible by todays standards, but it's not used nearly enough to discredit the film too much.
Blade is a decent enough adaption of the cult Marvel series, and is a fun, gory blockbuster, but as mentioned, it's an important step in comic book cinema. Long live Blade!
But the importance of this gory action flick should absolutely not be understated. Not only was it the first proper big (ish) budget Marvel film, but it's pre dates Black Panther as the first superhero film with a black lead, and it pre dates The Punisher as the first R-rated Marvel blockbuster.
But in a pre X-Men world, comic book movies weren't a big deal at this point. I actually remember me and my friends sneakily renting and watching it (we were 10 at the time...) and none of them even knowing that Blade was even a comic book!
Here we are all these years later and the Blade trilogy is now remembered fondly (well, at least the first two are!)
Wesley Snipes is of course the star of this particular vehicle, and here, he is the most Wesley Snipes he's ever been. The cheesy one liners still come off well, and lend a nice comedic edge to the buckets of blood on display. The charm that he brings to the Blade character is the main reason why it's been hard to imagine anyone else in the role for so long (although I am here all day long for Mahershala Ali)
The other big character throughout the trilogy is Whistler, played by Kris Kristofferson, just generally being old, grumpy and badass, and is honestly the best character in the whole thing (here's hoping the MCU introduce a Whistler series on Disney+...)
Stephen Dorff plays Deacon Frost, the films villain, and he's really not much more than a generic superhero bad guy (the first of many).
The choreography and the fight scenes are pretty great, and the willingness to go hard R is what set Blade apart before comic book movies became a thing. It's sooooo bloody in parts, that it verges heavily into horror territory.
The CGI effects are utterly horrible by todays standards, but it's not used nearly enough to discredit the film too much.
Blade is a decent enough adaption of the cult Marvel series, and is a fun, gory blockbuster, but as mentioned, it's an important step in comic book cinema. Long live Blade!