The HBO Show

I present the new project I am working on, ontop of book reviews. I've always had a soft place in my heart for HBO TV Shows and this project offers me a little bit of a change of pace from what I am usually doing. 

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REVIEW: Wraith's Forest

(the following review is based off a Reviewer Copy I received)


Wraith's Forest shows much promise. L.J. Leger has a budding grasp on her use of prose, parts of the story read beautifully and were extremely enjoyable. The story is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast Fairy Tale with a few minor changes. Jenna is a sixteen year old girl who is appointed with the job of harvesting fruit from a magical tree so the local Wizard can make an elixer that would help keep the balance of the valley. One of the fruits is bruised, with the weight of her failure on her shoulders, Jenna needs to venture into the forest to find a magical blade from the mysterious and dangerous Wraith.

The book's only real flaw is the execution of the story. The fruit and the elixir portion of the story feels a little bit forced. Since this idea feels slightly far-fetched it is hard to feel any connection to Jenna or the people in her village. You find yourself asking: why is the elixir important? The character of the Wizard is also a little bit sketchy bouncing between a young man and a stereotypical mustache twirling denizen.

Jenna's interaction with the Wraith is the strongest portion of the story, but it feels a little bit rushed. I expect this is just because of the length of the story (it is a novella). There is much room for more interactions between Jenna and the Wraith, and possibly more information on his backstory. He is by far the most fascinating character in the story. The ending is a little bit cliche, but cute none the less. 

All in all I did enjoy this story, it just needs a little bit of work. If the Author even chose to, this story could end up being fleshed out into an entire novel.

I look forward to reading more of Leger's work.

Let's Talk About Game of Thrones Season Two

So last night the first episode of the second season of HBO's Game of Thrones aired and the fans went wild. After the major cliffhanger from the previous season, millions of fans were left hyperventilating and driving off to the nearest bookstore so they could figure out what would happen next. There was no way on God's green earth that these fans were going to wait another year till they could find out what happened next. And if that meant they had to crack a spine of a 800+ page book then by god they were going to do it!

So true.

I really didn't want to read the books, I knew if I read the books it was going to spoil the show for me. This of course broke my usual vow of reading before watching... but the show was just so good and I was so weak. Until three days later when I found myself standing in Chapters looking at the "Buy the first Four Books of A Song of Ice and Fire for Twenty Dollars" sign did I give in. I bought them all without a second thought and dove into the series and never looked back.

Like almost every other fantasy nerd, I counted down the days till the show was back, I read and watched everything that was released about the filming. I knew George R.R. Martin's touring schedule. I changed my cover photo on facebook to a direwolf. I've planned a Game of Thrones feast for the Season Finale on june 3rd. I was an all round fangirl.

And then the episode aired.

From here down there be spoilers:

So I was little sad with how the episode opened. In the book it opens on Dragonstone with the introduction of Melisandre. The sequence is a slow build which ends with the Reader realizing that there is more to this woman then just being a Priestess. She manages to survive a poisoning attempt with no side effects. This sequence is shown in the television series, but it is quickly rushed through. There is no information give about the man (The Maester of Dragonstone) and why he chose to sacrifice himself to try and kill Melisandre. I think this sequence represents my major fear of what could happen with this season. That it is going to try and do everything, and thus have to rush through everything at break neck speed. If you've read the books, you'll be fine... but if you haven't you'll find yourself scratching your head.

This was cleverly done. It's a little hard to see from the picture.
But Melisandre is the only character wearing vivid colour
It makes her stand out. Makes her seem like the odd person out.

Don't get me wrong. The episode was really good. It had its fantastic moments. For example, right before the poisoning incident, Stannis is dictating a letter that he plans to send out to every Lord bringing to light the Incest between Cersei and Jaimie. As Stannis corrects the letter, he makes little comments such as reminding the scribe to call him "Ser Jaimie Lannister the King Slayer," cause he still is a knight after all. Stannis is a really interesting character. I'm not sure how I feel about the casting of him or Davos... but Melisandre was spot on. I mean seriously.... she looks like she's going to end up being scary.

My other major issue with the episode is how they painted the Lannisters. Cersei and Joffery are labelled as villains, and will never ever be able to do anything right because they are so evil. There are many scenes that are dedicated to how horrible these characters are. Yes, I am not their biggest fans. I love the scenes were Joffery gets slapped (that 10 hour video of Joffery being slapped is one of the most fulfilling things I have ever seen in my life). But, this isn't a story focused on a big bad. Everyone here is out for something, either themselves, their family or what they deem to be what is right. Cersei and Joffery aren't good people, but then again there are a lot of bad people in this world. Tyrion on the other hand, will always be a fan favourite of the audience. Even though he's a Lannister... he's not a bad guy. Hell, he's the best guy in the whole wide world. I'll talk about him later on in the season... when more interesting things happen to him.... Hint, Hint.

All in all, as I said before. I really did enjoy the episode. I expect the series is going to be awesome. Its HBO, we have to expect only the best from them. It is rather nice to have a television show that has the same level of production values as most film sets. I am going to keep an open mind, I expect the show just needs to get the ball rolling and prove to me all my fears are for not.

Let the Battle of the Five Kings begin. :D

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I love this cover... I think it's the colours

The best way I can describe Daughter of Smoke and Bone is that it's refreshing.

The book follows Karou, a young woman going to art school in Prague. There is much more to her then one would guess, her blue hair isn't dyed, but actually is "naturally" blue, and the fantastical sketches in her notebook might not actually be fantastical. Oh, and she can speak a ridiculous amount of languages... more than any normal seventeen year old would have learned... and can I point out that not all of them are human.

Karou's family is made up of Chimera, creatures that appear to be animal/human hybrids. Her father figure is Brimstone, a creature known as the Wishmonger, who trades wishes for teeth (human and animal). Karou has no idea why Brimstone collects teeth, but shrugs it off as a weird hobby. Karou's world shatters when one night, the secret door to Brimstone's world is destroyed in a fiery inferno.

Laini Taylor spins a fantastic tale, creating a believable world filled to the brim with interesting mythology. She goes about this in a rather effective way giving her reader just enough of the background to make them feel like they are in a world that does exist... that has some history to it, and that drives the reader to keep reading to find out more because they truly want to learn. What we find out is that there is another world where the Angels and the Chimera have battled for as long as either side can remember. Karou has no idea about what her family comes from and what is happening in their world even though she runs errands for Brimstone.

Taylor takes the idea of magic and creates an interesting spin on how it works. From what I have seen and read there has been a movement away from the Disney-ifed concept of magic and a spike in the idea that magic will have a price. This book is no exception. The magical system in this book is clever and works in the world of the story adding to the feeling that this is one compact functioning world.

The other thing that was really done well was the portrayal of love, relationships and sex. I find that in a lot of teen literature sex tends to be portrayed in a couple of reoccurring fashions: 

1. Sex either DOES NOT exist, is never mentioned or alluded to. The culmination of the character's romantic experiences end with a kiss or an embrace. 

2. The other route teen novels tend to follow is mentioning sex just to mention sex. Sexuality becomes a shock factor. The equivalent of "Hey Mom look what I'm reading!" 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone mentions sex, and it does so rather early in the book. But it works. It's part of the character, used to add another layer to her. The same can be said for relationships. Karou has a love interest, but she NEVER drops the ball to run off and be with him. At one point she tells him that she will choose her family over him if the decision ever came down to it. I was blown away.

I loved this book and I couldn't put it down. Taylor shows herself to be a strong writer and manages to tell a story full of love and heartbreak in one of the most believable fashions that I've seen in a while. If you love your paranormal romances, your urban fantasy or your regular fantasy or maybe are just looking for an enjoyable read that breaks from tradition then I recommend this book.

AFTER THOUGHT: According to Laini Taylor's blog the movie rights to this book have been sold to Universal. I'm a little bit iffy on the idea of making this book a movie. I believe that it could be visually stunning, as long as it's not given the Twilight treatment and just pumped out to be another teen paranormal romance movie. This book is so much more, and I hope if it does become a movie it won't be simplified.

REVIEW: World War Z

World War Z by Max Brooks

To start this review off, I'm going to clear something up about yours truly and zombies. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love them, but I hate how they tend to keep me up for most of the night staring at my closet with a slight look of concern. I really wanted to read this book, but I didn't know if I would be able to get through it. Lucky enough for me, my lovely Christmas present of a Kindle came preloaded with a bunch of books. I thought what the heck, might as well give this book a try. So here we go:


World War Z is a collection of people's experiences during the Great Panic and the War against the Zombies. The book covers people from many countries, ethnicities and ages. Some of the stories are horrific, some creepy, some heartwarming and all paint an interesting picture of humanity. My view on this book is mixed. I loved the idea of it. It was clever, it wasn't scary, but it was creepy. I did have some wonderful zombie themed nightmares during the process of this book. Some of the stories were more effective then others. 

My major problem with the book was the length. I feel the book could have been a little shorter. I understand what the author was trying to do including all of the stories he did. He wanted to make the reader see as many different view points (from serious to minor) to help make the story believable. The book could easily pass off as a textbook, but even though this is one of the books major strengths, it also is the books major weaknesses. There comes a point as you're reading it when you just think I get the point already.

I like the different interviews, and even though the reader doesn't get to build a complete connection with all the interviewees, their voices are real and their stories help create the Zombie World. 

If you're a Zombie lover, or even if you love a good survival story, this book is a good pick for you. I just recommend you take the story in pieces, read a few interviews at a time. But other than that, it's a good read.

It's Here, It's Finally Here: The Hobbit Trailer

The Pale Man aka the Creature that still haunts
my nightmares.

It's December 2011, and in December 2012... only a year away we'll be returning back to Middle Earth. I don't think I'll be able to put into words how excited I am right now, and how good the trailer looks. I've been a Lord of the Rings fan since I was twelve. I loved the books which developed into a love of the movies. I was one of the millions who flocked to the theatres to see the Return of the King and what all of the fans thought would be the end of an era.

Well it looks like we were all wrong. And man does that feel refreshing.

I've been following The Hobbit Blog since it went live, and now this... the trailer has finally hit the internet. And it looks extremely promising. I was excited when I heard that Guillermo Del Toro was directing, but at the same time I was a little sad. I love Del Toro's style. But at the same time I didn't think that this is what The Hobbit needed. Del Toro and Jackson's styles would never have meshed and The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy would feel disjointed. So when Del Toro dropped out of the project and the role of Director was taken up by none other than Peter Jackson, well I was pleased beyond belief. 

Rivendell looks gorgeous

If the trailer says anything about the film, it looks extremely promising. The cinematography is beautiful. I'm not too excited that the film is being shot for 3D, but I guess I can't really complain right now.

But I think the wait is going to kill me.

Pretty eh?