Giveaway & Blog Tour: Remnants: Season of Wonder

Author: Lisa T. Bergren

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Remnants series

Number in series: 1^st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 304

Time period: Future

Publisher and price: Blink, $15.99 (hardcover!)

My overall opinion: Lisa’s newest book did not disappoint in the least! I am again amazed by the genres that Lisa has covered with such accuracy (the 1800s west in The Homeward Trilogy, and time travel to 1500s Italy in The River ofTime series and early 1900s Europe in the Grand Tour series). Now she forges on a new time – the future! One thing I especially loved was the creative names. They’re unique, but still easy to pronounce. My favorites included Ronan, Andriana, Kapriel, and Tressa. Cool or what? This book is a page-turner. Andriana, the heroine, is fierce yet gentle and she has a special gift for feeling the emotions of others. I could identify with her remarkably well. And then Ronan…excuse me while I attempt to collect my thoughts on this amazing guy. Lisa created yet another swoon-worthy hero – I swear she has a gift for that! The whole story is mesmerizing, and I guarantee you that you won’t be forgetting it anytime soon! The locations were great, and the action was splendid. The whole book is quite unpredictable. I’m absolutely keeping this one, and I can’t wait for book 2!

Want to buy a copy? Here are the links!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1sw88q4

B&N: http://bit.ly/1eon8x9

But wait! I have a copy to give away to one lucky winner! This is a giveaway you want to enter and a book you want to read! Here, a little blurb about it:

Andriana is a Remnant, one of the gifted teens born on the seventh day during the seventy-seventh Harvest after the Great War, and destined to act as humanity’s last shield against the horrors that now plague those who remain.

After years of training in stealth and warfare, Andriana and her Knight protector, Ronan, are finally ready to answer the Call and begin the life they were designed for. But as they embark with the other Remnants on the first of their assignments, they quickly discover that the world beyond their protected Valley home is more dangerous than they imagined.

The Sons of Sheol will stop at nothing to prevent Dri and Ronan from rescuing anyone sympathetic to the Remnants’ cause. And as the Remnants attempt to battle the demonic forces, other enemies close in. Dangers intensify, but so do Dri's feelings for Ronan--the one emotion she is not meant to feel. In the midst of their mission, Andriana must find a way to master her feelings, or risk compromising everything.

I don't have time to do my normal, more elaborate, Rafflecopter giveaway. So if you're interested in winning... all you have to do this time is leave a comment and tell me: have you read any of Lisa's books before? If so, which one(s)?

If you are a follower of this blog, you get an extra entry. You can get one more extra entry for liking the blog's Facebook page HERE. Ready? Go!

Movie: Eragon

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Genre: Fantasy

Series or set: It should technically be the first in a four-part series, like the books…but this is the only one they’ve made.

Primary actor: Ed Speleers

Length: A little under two hours

Based on: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Time period: Fantasy

Rating: PG

Year it came out: 2006

My overall opinion: I didn’t put this on my priority to-watch list, due to having heard so many negative reviews of it. However, I was pleasantly surprised! Having read the books by Paolini several years ago, I don’t know how accurate to the books this movie actually was. However, as a movie, it wasn’t bad! The graphics weren’t always amazing, but all in all, I enjoyed it and am not against watching it again. Seeing characters from Once Upon a Time and Downton Abbey was neat too – anyone else catch that? :)

Blog Tour: The Beast’s Enchantress

Author: Elizabeth Jane Kitchens

Genre: Fairy tale

Series: I do hope there’s a sequel.

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5 high

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 234

Time period: 1700s

My overall opinion: This book is a new and delightful take on the classic fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast! I was amazed by the creativity of the author – you won’t guess it all! The story was quick moving with never a dull moment – always interesting. It was an absolutely fascinating storyline. The characters were lovely and I really enjoyed getting to know each of them. I quite loved the Woodsman! This book kept me reading the whole way through, and I would definitely read more books by Elizabeth. I recommend this one especially for those who love fairy tales.

**Elizabeth Jane Kitchens, the author, sent me this book in return for my honest review. I wasn’t paid for this review in any other way, nor was I forced to review it positively. All opinions are my own.**

Movie: Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9.5

Genre: Fantasy, adventure

Series or set: Hobbit

Number in series: 2^nd

Primary actors: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage

Length: Two and a half hours or so

Based on: Technically, the original Hobbit book, with a bit pulled from LOTR

Time period: Fantasy

Rating: PG-13

Year it came out: 2013

My overall opinion: A good movie! At the time of writing this, I’ve seen it twice in the theater and will see it once more before it goes out. I liked it better the second time than the first, though I greatly enjoyed it both times! Now, here we go with what I thought of it and specific people/creatures/events/etc, in no particular order.

Be warned: spoilers are not in the least avoided! Indeed, they abound.

Bolg – Another primary orc dude to dislike, in addition to Azog who is making a return from the previous movie. And once again, he has quite a unique look about him – almost like there are bolts in his head, or at least, that was my first impression. While Azog was still the main immediately-visible villain, Bolg was also around quite often to do his dirty work for him. Decidedly despicable.

Gold – There was so much gold in this movie! Seriously. Either I haven’t heard, or I don’t remember how many gold coins were made for these scenes, but it was clearly a lot. The sheer vastness of the dragon’s lair was stunning…but I’ll come to that in a bit more detail later. Anyway. So there was all the gold in the dragon’s lair, and then down in the furnaces and all the gold that was supposed to bury said dragon was also an immense amount. Most impressive!

CGI – Like the vast amounts of gold, there were also vast amounts of CGI – albeit, very well done in my opinion. As my friend pointed out, however, part of the charm and enduring quality of the LOTR trilogy is the fact that so much of it is real, not digital. However, the CGI in this film was done nicely and didn’t detract from the story.

Dragon – One cannot write a review of this movie without a section for the dragon Smaug! He was impressive, and seemed quite accurate to the book, which I greatly appreciated. He seemed quite reasonable as far as dragons go. Certainly very large, very strong, but not impressively wise. So yeah, a good dragon!

Underground sets – There were two amazing locations that were underground in this movie – one being Thranduil’s palace with wood elves and the other, obviously, being within the Lonely Mountain. Let’s start with Thranduil’s. After I got used to the idea of elves living underground instead of just in trees (accurate to the book as it is!), I quite liked it. It managed to be underground, yet still spacious and truly beautiful. And light. Elegant curves, making it elvish. A lovely place to live. And then there’s the whole area under the Lonely Mountain. As you may know if you know me (or have read this blog for very long), I have rather a fascination with caves and underground scenes – the Mines of Moria is my hands-down-all-time favorite part in the LOTR trilogy. So going underground again here had me on the edge of my seat. The dragon’s lair is gigantic and awe-inspiring. And then the melting area…but that deserves it’s own section. Suffice to say that I have gained a very deep respect for the work of the dwarves and the area that they have created under there. I’d love to visit – after the dragon is gone and all is at peace.

Forge/furnace/melting place – This part was all so amazing. I was fascinated by how everything worked, and by watching the whole process. It’s quite an ingenious plan in the end, that whole thing with the statue, though how Thorin could’ve ever actually thought it would work is beyond me. Anyway, this was all definitely one of my favorite parts!

Sauron, orcs, and the ring – Because they all go together a lot. Sauron first. I’m not sure if he was ever named or not, but he was definitely there and a rather prominent part of this movie. He even takes on the eye form in a way. Some of that eye part was a little silly, I thought, but certainly very dramatic. Then there was the ring – already Bilbo feels often compelled to put it on and disappear, and experiences a weird world when he does. Played up a little from the book, but not an all bad change. And finally, the orcs. This was a big thing about this movie that I didn’t like – remember the scene where Gandalf goes to Dol Guldur to fight against the evil lurking there and meets Azog and co? At some point, as Gandalf is looking, he is told by the orcs that “we are legion.” There was a lot of darker content in parts of this movie, and that combined with the particular use of the word “legion” (which is pretty Biblical) felt like it was a very direct nod to satanic or demonic behavior. I’m all for a good-versus-evil battle, and think that probably some of this story does definitely correlate to the Bible. However, I really don’t like it when demonic type stuff is in the story, even when it’s clearly evil. SO I strongly disliked that.

Legolas – He’s back! Technically, it’s true, he’s not supposed to be but I think his appearance was more than worth it. It was great to see him again. He wasn’t a character who the audience got very attached to in this movie like he was in LOTR, and you never really got to know him – he spent most of his time doing awesome trick shooting. Speaking of which, I laughed when he stood on dwarf heads as they floated down the river and shot orcs – they all shot orcs. Epic. But yes! Legolas was back, up to amazing tricks once again.

Tauriel – Finally! A female elf who’s a fighter! She was a delight to watch. I did think that the whole thing with her and Kili was a little silly – I mean sure, he’s cute and awesome, but he’s a dwarf and she wouldn’t fall for him. Ever. But all in all, I thought she was awesome and her fighting skills are amazing!

Dwarves in barrels and spiders – The barrel scene was delightful, as I have suspected since the very beginning. While I didn’t absolutely fall in love with it, it was good and certainly enjoyable. And Bombur flying out of the river in his barrel, crashing down a hill, and killing many orcs? That was amazing. The spiders…definitely gross, but a good part of the movie.

Bard – We finally get to meet Bard here! He’s not bad looking, and seems like a nice enough man – I had to keep reminding myself that while he has his good points, he’s a bad guy in the final battle (although Thorin is too a little bit). But here Bard has a son and two daughters who we get quite attached to, and I’m curious to see how they paint him in the third movie.

Fire – Strange to say, the fire in this movie really stood out for me. Lol, it sounds weird – but I walked away thinking “There was so much fire!” Smaug was certainly very fond of it and used it often. Random point.

Nazgul beginnings stuff – To anyone not familiar with the Lord of the Rings movies, much of the fore-shadowing in this movie may go unnoticed and may even seem confusing. However, LOTR fans will be fascinated by the beginnings of the Nazgul. My only drawback is, of course, that this is not really in the book at all and technically shouldn’t have been included in this movie. Their burial place, where Gandalf and Radagast visited, was fascinating though!

Gandalf’s journeyings – I will be the first to admit that seeing where Gandalf went after leaving the hobbits was fascinating, and for the most part, it makes sense to have included it – time-wise, at least. Though I think much of it isn’t learned until LOTR in the books. But it was interesting, for sure, despite the made-up parts.

Peter Jackson’s cameo – Yup, there he was within the first few moments of the actual film, chomping down on another carrot in a distinct nod to Fellowship of the Ring! I was quite excited that I caught his cameo this time. :D

Book faithfulness – Well, as some other person said, about half of it is from the book and half of it is just made up and stuck in and added to make it more exciting. It was definitely exciting. And some of the improvements were indeed improvements – some I didn’t like as much.

Something missing – One thing that hit me really hard to not have was the awesome way that the dwarves are introduced to Beorn. Here they see him as a bear, and then get chased by orcs and all just kind of run into his house. Remember how in the book, they come in by twos following Gandalf’s instructions as he steadily spins a tale, except for Bombur who comes a little before he’s supposed to? It’s such a cool way to do it, and I really missed that here. I also noted that this movie entirely skipped the river with the water that they couldn’t touch (except Bombur touched it and fell asleep and they had to carry him a great distance).

So there you go – a complete run-down of my thoughts concerning Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug! Worth your time and money to see in the theater? Absolutely. I can’t wait to watch it again!

Want more Tolkien and Hobbit things? Check out my Tolkienesque Pinterest board!

Have you seen it? What did you think?

TV Show: Merlin Season 5

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9.5

Genre: Fantasy, adventure, romance, life

Series or set: Merlin

Number in series: 5^th

Primary actors: Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, John Hurt

Length: 13 episodes, each of normal length

Based on: The classic legends about Arthur and Merlin

Time period: 1300s

Rating: TV-14, I’m guessing?

Year it came out: 2012

My overall opinion: I can clearly remember that day, not very long ago, when I logged onto Hulu and discovered something that made me ecstatic – there was a new episode sign right there by Merlin. I watched seasons 1-4 earlier this year, and have been desperate ever since to get my hands on season 5 somehow, but it never worked out. Then. Finally. Hulu got it. I was over the moon.

I watched it in a little over a week. And wow. I didn’t realize how much I had missed it – the characters, the music, the setting, the humor, the drama, all of it. It was SO good to get to see 13 new-to-me episodes of what is basically my favorite show! It may indeed be my absolute favorite.

Anyway. So I watched it. If you know anything about Merlin, you know that the last two episodes of this last season go together, and everyone says they’re sad – well, everyone is right. I sobbed. Literally sobbed. And I don’t do that often, and I’ve never done it over a TV show before…but this one was worth it, and I love it despite crying. Definitely really worth watching.

Arthur and Gwen were finally happily married and that made me happy. Merlin was using magic as usual, and I still love Arthur and Merlin and the way they interact. Gwen was still a sweetheart, except when enchanted. Morgana is horrid – who would have guessed from season one that she’d end up so horrible? Downright despicable. The knights are good…I miss Lancelot, but it is for the best that he is gone. We’ve still got Gwaine. And Percival.

Lots of delightful mystery and intrigue throughout this…a grand culmination of everything for the end…and the very last scene? Was a surprise. Even to me (and I tend to read spoilers about things…I dislike being surprised with some stuff). But it made me smile. So! Need a new show? I highly recommend this one for anyone who enjoys things to do with dragons, magic, magicians, humor, romance, adventure, knights, suspense, war, epic battles, or even just anyone with time to watch the five seasons. If you are like me in most tastes…you’ll enjoy this.

 

TV Show: Once Upon a Time Season 1

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Genre: Fairy tale, fantasy, life, romance, adventure

Series or set: Once Upon a Time

Number in series: 1^st

Primary actors: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Robert Carlyle

Length: 22 episodes, each 45 minutes (about 15 hours)

Based on: Classic fairy tales. All of them.

Time period: Present, fantasy

Rating: TV-PG

Year it came out: 2011

My overall opinion: Look at this, y’all! I finally got to watch Once Upon a Time and can now say, without any reservations, that...I’m addicted. Totally, utterly, completely. Which is rather sad, but also entirely the truth. What can I even say about this show? I don’t know where to start.

I loved every minute spent in the fairy tale land. Figuring out what fairy tale was being retold was always fun, and for the most part, I loved the unique spin taken on each. And then seeing the characters, their similarities and differences, moved forward to present day was fascinating.

The evil queen was very evil and couldn’t have been cast more perfectly. She had just the right evil smile. Emma, who wasn’t a fairy tale character really at all, was also well-cast. I greatly enjoyed her as a person, and I do admire her for the most part. She’s a really neat person. I loved Mary Margaret aka Snow White - you don’t get many people sweeter than her. And she managed to be super sweet yet not sickeningly sweet, which I really appreciated. And then David aka Prince Charming - while I didn’t always approve of how he handled his real-world relationships, I did all in all like him.

Who else was of importance…oh! Henry, of course! A sweet boy, though not the best of actors, I didn’t think. He did well overall though. And Ruby aka Red – I really liked her too, strange as that may sound-seem-be. Her fairy tale was really cool, and she’s so pretty! Mr. Gold aka Rumplestiltskin - quite alarming, and a truly menacing and mysterious character. I haven’t yet decided whether or not to feel sorry for him…he seems good, and then he does something horrid and seems bad. So I don’t know.

Really, my only true problem with the show is the CG, which stuck out even to me as being quite bad. Often the use of a green screen is clear from the sloppy edges on the characters, and the animated beasts are also pretty awful. However, if you can ignore this, the show is lovely. And also, I love the music.

So, all in all? I love Once Upon a Time and can’t wait to watch Season 2! I highly recommend it for fantasy lovers, anyone with a lot of time (which I don’t have…yet I still managed to watch this somehow), and anyone who wants to know just how the fairy tales actually happened.

Movie: Thor: the Dark World

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Genre: Superhero, adventure

Series or set: Thor

Number in series: 2^nd  

Primary actors: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston

Length: Two hours

Based on: The comic books, perhaps?

Time period: Present, fantasy

Rating: PG-13

Year it came out: 2013

My overall opinion: I enjoyed it so much! Do take into account that I’ve only seen the first Thor movie once and that was almost two years ago. I do intend to watch it again someday – I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. All in good time. However, despite comparing this one to a movie I haven’t seen for two years, I think this one was better – the graphics etc were amazing, the story kept me watching, it was just plain a good movie. Really good. Now, here we go on a few things I made notes to write about…because that’s how I do some movie reviews.

BE WARNED – THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. I HAVE WARNED YOU.

Darcy that girl: Apparently acted by Kat Dennings. She was awesome. She was just random and sometimes so annoying and such a pain and still so cute and fun and awesome and best of all – funny! Yeah, I really liked her. A lot. She was one of my favorite parts of this movie.

Mother: Oh, she was so sweet. Thor and Loki’s mom? Yup, her. I barely remember her from the first movie, but she was so lovely and elegant and such an amazing fighter. Her (I told you there would be spoilers…you’d better stop reading if you don’t want them) but her death was so sad…definitely the most touching and sad part of the movie. How her sons acted towards her made me sad. But she seemed like a beautiful woman inside and out. And did I mention I loved her fighting skills? I did.

Clothes: I really enjoyed seeing the clothes on a few of the characters in this film. Most notably, Thor and Loki’s mother had some lovely blue dresses that I am quite in love with. Then too, Jane had some pretty flowy dresses – and let’s face it, I’m really in love with Thor’s red cape. Because if I could have a cape/cloak like that? My life would be complete. Well, not quite, but seriously, it’s really cool.

Thor in general: What to say? I can’t write a review without mentioning him. He was a good hero, a little stupid at times, but hey – he’s Thor, what do you expect? ;) My favorite thing about him this time through was his voice. So deep, so rough, so Thor. I loved it. A lot. Listening to it for two hours? Wasn’t hard at all. And he’s not bad to watch for two hours either. I’m pretty sure they threw in one scene towards the beginning just to make the teenage girls swoon, and honestly, he’s a little too ripped for my personal preference. But I legitly don’t have any problem watching him on screen on a couple of hours. Oh he’s got problems for sure. But all in all, he’s super awesome. I think.

Loki’s humor: I mean, I could just do Loki in general, but since I’m still to decide if I feel sorry for him at all or not, I don’t know what to say. He’s very interesting. But. I do know? I love his humor. A lot. It gets me every time, even when it’s rather horrible. I mean, some of what he says is so offensive and making-fun, and yet, it’s still hilarious. And I still laugh. Even without meaning to. It’s just so cool. So yeah, I love his humor. And I really loved when he was Captain America for a little bit. That was…yeah. Funny. Poor Thor. I laughed.

Clown elves: For those of you who may not know, I can’t stand clowns. At all. I hate them. A lot. Like, a huge lot. So the elves who had faces that were almost like clowns were really freaky, especially the eyes. It wasn’t as bad as Dark Knight, but we all know from Lord of the Rings that that’s not what elves look like, silly. Not even bad elves. So yeah, I didn’t like the clown elves at all. But I suppose they weren’t bad as far as villains go.

Endings: For those of you who went to see it, did you see BOTH endings? Because guess what – not only does Marvel add ONE ending during the credits, they added two, same as in Avengers. Thankfully, some people clued us into that and we stayed all the way through the second extra ending. Make sure you do, especially if you like happy endings, because that one is and it made me happy. Very happy. Extra endings are cool.

So, there you have it – what I thought of Thor 2. Have you seen it? What’d you think? Comment and tell me! :) And just a word to the wise, long comments are my favorites. :)

 

TV Show: Merlin Season 1

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Genre: Fantasy, adventure, life, romance

Series or set: Merlin

Number in series: 1^st

Primary actors: Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Angel Coulby, Katie McGrath, Richard Wilson

Length: 13 episodes (approximately 43 minutes each)

Based on: King Arthur Pendragon and his wizard, Merlin, of lore

Time period: 1300s

Rating: Unknown – not bad

Year it came out: 2008

My overall opinion: I really love this series. Like, it’s possibly my favorite TV series of all time. This is my second time to watch Season 1, and I wasn’t disappointed! Merlin is such a nice guy, you can’t help but love him. And Arthur…well, as Merlin points out, he is rather a prat, but really, he’s also a very nice guy and I love the relationship he has with Merlin. I laugh often in this show – it’s great like that. Then Gwen…she’s such a sweet girl, and Morgana – well, seems nice enough but you soon learn otherwise. The magic is awesome, and while on this second time through, some of the creatures seemed rather obviously CG, for the most part? It’s not bad at all. So. Have I mentioned I love this show? There’s very little objectionable content. Each episode has a new adventure with one twist or another. The characters are amazing.

If you’re a fan of fantasy; King Arthur; magic; Merlin; romance; adventure; dragons; castles; knights in shining armor; suspense; or any combination of the above…you need to watch Merlin. All the seasons. But start here.

 

Movie: X-Men: The Last Stand

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Genre: Superhero, adventure, fantasy

Series or set: X-Men

Number in series: I think it’s a conclusion. Except it’s not. But it is too. … It’s complicated.

Primary actors: Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, James Marsden

Length: An hour and 3/4

Based on: the Marvel comics.

Time period: Future / present.

Rating: PG-13

Year it came out: 2006

My overall opinion: Enjoyable! I loved seeing Ian McKellen as something other than Gandalf – though he does totally amazingly wonderfully completely ace that particular row. But. He was really cool as Magneto. Even if he was a bad guy. As to everyone else…Hugh Jackman was amazing yet again. And this movie was pretty good if you like sci-fi/action types! I do. And I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

 

Movie: X-Men: First Class

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Genre: Superhero, adventure, fantasy

Series or set: X-Men

Number in series:  Well, this one goes way back to the beginning…I know that…

Primary actors: James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones

Length: A little over two hours

Based on: the Marvel comics.

Time period: 1960s…ish…I think…

Rating: PG-13

Year it came out: 2011

My overall opinion: Well, here’s the problem of the day – I watched this on TV. Which for me? Is weird because I never watch movies on TV. Because I was watching with a lot of people, I was also slightly distracted. So. I know I watched this movie and enjoyed it. However, I couldn’t give you much of a storyline…just didn’t pick up on that. However. Having given that disclaimer, I’ll admit that I thought it good! Note that it is PG-13...check imdb.com for reasons why. Again, the visual effects were stunning, the action was constant and riveting, and it was an enjoyable film. And also. I'm super excited for X-Men: Days of Future Past. :D May 2014!

Movie: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Genre: Superhero, fantasy, adventure

Series or set: X-Men

Number in series: Unknown – I can’t figure out the order for all of these X-Men movies.

Primary actors: Hugh Jackman (!!!!), Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston

Length: Two hours

Based on: Marvel comic books, I think.

Time period: Mostly present.

Rating: PG-13

Year it came out: 2009

My overall opinion: This was my very first introduction and going into it, I had absolutely no idea what X-Men was/were/are or what this movie was about. However, having seen this, I was eager to continue watching X-Men movies, and have continued steadily. :) Any Hugh Jackman fans out there? Yeah, thought there might a few. Well, you’ve gotta see this one! It’s amazing. There’s a little violence in a few places, and especially one of the opening scenes was…not nice. I didn’t like it. But for the most part, this was an enjoyable movie, especially the last half hour or so. And Wolverine has a really cool superpower. I've been flexing my fists for days...no blades yet. So it goes. Anyway. Great graphics, fast-paced storyline…kept me riveted.

Movie: Man of Steel

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Genre: Superhero, adventure

Series or set: Are there gonna be more superhero Superman movies, y’all?

Primary actors: Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Henry Cavill

Length: Two hours and a bit

Based on: The old comics and movies, I suppose!

Time period: Fantasy, present

Year it came out: 2013

My overall opinion: So I got to see this movie in IMAX back in July, and while IMAX didn’t become my new favorite thing…okay, I didn’t really notice anything different. I don’t go to movies often enough to notice. But. This movie was pretty awesome. The scenes filmed in the other world were amazing, and so were the ones from here on Earth. The action scenes were pretty amazing and basically really awesome. The CG was stunning. This movie is a cinematographic work of art – ummm, does that sentence make any sense? You get the idea. :) It was good and I look forward to seeing it on DVD at some point!

Zondervan Blog Tour: Merlin’s Blade

Author: Robert Treskillard

Genre: Fantasy, adventure

Series: The Merlin Spiral

Number in series: 1^st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 428

Time period: 400 ish

Publisher and price: Zondervan, $9.99

My overall opinion: Set in a fascinating era, this book is a stunning beginning to a new series set in the time of Merlin, as is clear from the title. The storyline moves along at a quick pace, and is packed with vivid characters – huge array of personalities! There’s also plenty of action, sure to keep you reading. Boys and girls alike will enjoy this one! I’d probably recommend it for 12 and up – there isn’t objectionable content that I noticed, but it’s quite a long book and the story will be better understood by slightly older readers. My only problem with the book was indeed the length – while 428 pages isn’t SUPER long, each of those pages had a lot of words/paragraphs/etc. The whole book was exciting, but by the end, despite the excitement, it was dragging a bit for me. I’m looking forward to the sequel (Merlin’s Shadow) due out in September (fyi, it has a great cover!).

**Zondervan sent me an ARC of this book for review purposes. I wasn’t required to post a positive review, only an honest one – which is what I have done. I am not recompensed in any other way.**