![]() ![]() ![]() (Purchase links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, the publisher.) Mr. In Stan Lee, Bob Batchelor tells the story of the remarkable man who started out wanting to write the great American novel and ended up creating a universe instead. There’s nothing wrong with this kind of “borrowing.” Nothing at all! In fact, every single writer does it, but few have done it as well as Stan Lee, the living legend who created (or co-created) characters that have made approximately eleventy trillion dollars at the box office. The great challenge for the writer, then, is to devise a new way to tell old stories. No, friend, there are very few original stories. To some extent, these are the same story. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Odyssey…even The Hangover. If you said Ender’s Game, I would do the same. If you said Harry Potter, I would tell you that you are wrong in an effort to confuse you and to make you think. He makes friends who eventually help him out on his ultimate quest: to restore the balance between good and evil. The mentor takes the boy to a place where he can learn more about his power. One day, an older figure intrudes into his life and reveals a secret: the boy has powers that he didn’t know about. Did you ever hear that story about the young boy who doesn’t have any parents? He lives in a place that he hates and dreams of doing something more with his life. ![]()
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![]() I have followed the series from the beginning but I think that it could still be an enjoyable read for those who are only meeting our characters now.Ī Reaper at the Gates is told in alternating chapters from the perspective of the Blood Shrike, Elias and Laia as they each follow their own path on the bigger journey to save the Empire. The one thing I miss about my younger days when it comes to reading series is that I no longer have the time to re-read before I pick up a new book in a series to re-familiarise myself with the story. ![]() This is the third book in the series and it picks up where A Torch Against the Night finished, at least from what I remember it does. I am so glad I made the choice to pick it up because it was well worth it, an absolute rollercoaster ride of betrayal, battle and backstabbing. ![]() I thought I would get through it quickly but in all the chaos of July book lists my reading time suffered and it took a little longer. By the time I could look at it I probably should have picked up something else but there was no way I was moving on without reading this one. ![]() ![]() The Ember Quartet is a series that I have loved, and we have book clubbed all of the books, I was so excited to get this one lined up for June and then there were postal holdups and the book arrived really late. ![]() ![]() ![]() "A wonderful novel, deeply romantic and fabulously strange. It’s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep, deep sea. ![]() Our Wives Under The Sea is the debut novel from the critically acclaimed author of salt slow. Living in the same space but suddenly separate, Miri comes to realise that the life that they had might be gone. Memories of what they had before – the jokes they shared, the films they watched, all the small things that made Leah hers – only remind Miri of what she stands to lose. ![]() To have the woman she loves back should mean a return to normal life, but Miri can feel Leah slipping from her grasp. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah may have come back wrong. Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yet for all the intrinsic faults of Baron’s second adaptation, its foreshadowing of the faults of the then upcoming trilogy are instructive a harbinger as any. And no character ever gets a chance blossom into anything resembling proper character development due to the page count constrictions.Īlready butchered at the drawing board step, everything was already wrong from the get go. While some sloughing off of content is boilerplate for any comic-novel adaptation, its simplifications are questionable at best and detrimental at worst. Much to the detriment of an otherwise thrilling novel (and arguably one of the best in the now defunct SW EU canon) abbreviation is the name of the game and the overall quality never arises above mere mediocrity. In order to match the corporate page count threshold, the inherent charm and humanity of the original becomes compressed. Resuming all the bad qualities of the first, everyone’s favorite literary brainlet, Mike Baron continues to debase Timothy Zahn’s excellent vision of the second volume in the Thrawn Trilogy, Dark Force Rising. ![]() ![]() Meanwhile, Zoey has a few other little problems. On the run and holed up in Tulsa's Prohibition-era tunnels, Zoey and her gang must discover a way to deal with something that might bring them all down. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn't want to hear and truths she can't face? Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. ![]() Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses. What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil, and all he wanted was you?Īt the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey's friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren't Neferet's secrets any longer. ![]() ![]() ![]() But we can't fool along, we got to rush we ain't got no time to spare. If we was prisoners it would, because then we'd have as many years as we wanted, and no hurry and we wouldn't get but a few minutes to dig, every day, while they was changing watches, and so our hands wouldn't get blistered, and we could keep it up right along, year in and year out, and do it right, and the way it ought to be done. "It ain't no use, Huck, it ain't agoing to work. But he sighed, and pretty soon he stopped digging, and then for a good little while I knowed he was thinking. ![]() ![]() "This ain't no thirty-seven year job, this is a thirty-eight year job, Tom Sawyer." So we dug and dug, with the caseknives, till most midnight and then we was dog tired, and our hands was blistered, and yet you couldn't see we'd done anything, hardly. Tom said he was right behind Jim's bed now, and we'd dig it under it, and when we got through there couldn't nobody in the cabin ever know there was any hole there, because Jim's counterpin hung down most to the ground, and you'd have to raise it up and look under to see the hole. ![]() We cleared everything out of the way, about four or five foot along the middle of the bottom log. As soon as we reckoned everybody was asleep, that night, we went down the lightning-rod, and shut ourselves up in the lean-to, and got out our pile of fox-fire, and went to work. ![]() ![]() ![]() The four ‘mabinogi’ tales, from which the Mabinogion takes its name, are thought to be the earliest dating from the 11th century. The tales they told tended to be memorised only in outline, the details being filled in and embellished as the story unfolded.Įxactly how these stories found their way into the written form is unclear, however the tales range from Celtic mythology to the better known accounts of the adventures of Arthur and his knights. These early Welsh or Celtic storytellers wandered Britain and beyond, swapping their many tales for board and lodging. These tales are thought to have a much more ancient provenance, being passed down through the generations by word of mouth by the early Welsh bards. The work is a collection of eleven tales of early Welsh literature and draws upon the mystical word of the Celtic people intertwining myths, folklore, tradition and history. ![]() The Mabinogion is based upon a 14th century manuscript known as ‘Red book of Hergest’. ![]() ![]() ![]() Nicholas Meyer was the director of Star Trek movies II and VI and writer of Star Trek IV. With something new every month, the Sackett’s Trek Report was always one of our favorite Starlog columns. Long time Star Trek fan Bob Vosseller joins us again to consider Gene Roddenberry’s assistant Susan Sackett’s Trek Report leading up to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Check out the Nature’s Hunger series to see what Joe has been up to! See link below. Jim also worked on Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ![]() Star Trek fan film producer Joe Cepeda explores the model-making skills of Jim Dow, the chief modeler for Star Trek: Phase II (Star Trek’s television series that almost was) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. They have more on Star Trek’s highly anticipated first movie! What happens next? Stay tuned for their new podcast coming soon! Model Maker Jim Dow ![]() Renowned podcast team Bob Turner & Kelly Casto return to discuss the Susan Sackett-penned Star Trek Report. Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 01:14:06 | Recorded on DecemWhat to expect from episode 14: Star Trek in Starlog Magazine Issues 27 and 28? Trek Report from Starlog 27ĭecember of 1979 was when Star Trek: The Motion Picture first hit theaters. ![]() ![]() ![]() Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, May 14, 2012: Review Quotes School Library Journal Best of Children's Books 2012 Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2012:Ī perfect choice to inspire new readers and writers. ![]() Declared a best children's book of the year by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, this book is sure to appeal to kids, parents, teachers, and librarians. ![]() Along the way he discovers small details that he has never noticed before, a timid baby owl who becomes his friend, and an idea for a story. Encouraged by the little yellow bird to look closely at the world around him for inspiration, Rocket sets out on a journey. Rocket loves books and he wants to make his own, but he can't think of a story. Full color.īook Synopsis The #1 New York Times Bestseller This irresistible sequel to the New York Times bestselling How Rocket Learned to Read is a perfect choice to inspire new readers and writers, according to a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. This irresistible sequel to the "New York Times" bestseller, "How Rocket Learned to Read, " is sure to appeal to kids, parents, teachers, and librarians. About the Book Rocket loves books and he wants to make his own, but he can't think of a story. ![]() ![]() ![]() The series is also nicely intertwined because they are all part of the same band, so you get the chance to catch up with old characters in each new book which I really loved. With lavender hair and big violet eyes, he captivates Brent Rose from the start, and not just with his music. Heller Witting is an amazing musician and proves to be the answer to a sound that the band was missing. But if you can get past that it is a lot of fun. Heaven Sent gets a hell of new keyboardist with a name to match. It does take a bit of suspension of disbelief that ALL the band members end up being gay, especially since they don’t all start out that way. ![]() I’d say the series ranged from 4-4.5 for me and I’d definitely recommend it, especially if you like a lot of Mykles’ work or really enjoy OFY books. Most showcase an out-for-you (OFY) theme. Each of the first four stories features one of the band members, the fifth covers all the couples, and the last book focuses on their manager, Gretchen. The Heaven Sent series follows a rock band named, you guessed it, Heaven Sent, led by lead singer Johnnie Heaven. It is a long series, so rather than reread and review them all here, I decided to start a new feature on Joyfully Jay called Series Spotlight where I’ll highlight a particular series and talk about each of the books, but not do a formal review. I read them all straight through a while back once I started the first one I couldn’t put them down until I finished them all. In fact, five of them are in the top 10 Goodreads Best Gay Rockers list. ![]() ![]() I’d be willing to venture that the books in Jet Mykles’ Heaven Sent series are among the most popular and well known m/m books focusing on rock stars and musicians. ![]() |