Book Review - Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen

Disclaimer: Michael Vey #1 Prisoner of Cell 25 was an outstanding book (4 ½ of 5 stars), setting the bar high for the second book of the series.  I will be comparing Michael Vey 2 (MV2) to the first book.  There may be slight spoilers ahead from both books.  Read at your own risk.

 

 

Let’s quickly get this out of the way: MV2 is a great book, with great writing and an excellent story.  So if you haven’t read it yet, go out and get it, to continue the story of the Electroclan.

MV2 picks up right where MV1 left off.  Michael and the gang are at the Elgen Academy and trying to figure out what to do next.  As the teenagers wander around trying to think of their next idea, the writing also does the same thing.  I felt the story for the first few chapters meandered around, not really knowing where it wanted to go.  Whether or not it was intentional, I still felt a little bored with how they went to a house, got in trouble, and then went to another house, and so on.  This could have been sped up a little.

 

Why I felt it was foolish: I know their teenagers, but not knowing that going back to your house—where a powerful company could be waiting for your return—is not a great idea, is just stupid to me.  The first thing I would have said was, “We can’t go home, none of us, because that’s the first place they’ll be looking.”  But Michael and crew can take down a mighty powerful company and escape death several times, but thinking nobody is waiting at your house…damn it Ostin, you’re smarter than that!  But I digress.

 

Once that house hopping party is over, and the actual story starts to kick in, the book is a pleasure to read.  The kids are together, they make new friends, Michael talks with his girlfriend, there’s even a part where Michael develops new powers—just as exciting as the first time around.  Everything is really moving and the book is awesome, and then—

 

We switch point of view to Hatch and his kids.  I have to commend Richard Paul Evans for researching and creating an entire power-plant/electric-kid station/taking-over-the-world facility, and having the whole thing laid out to us.  But again, this is where the book slightly loses me.  Instead of telling a story, we begin to hear all of Hatch’s plans and exactly what each and every building in the Elgen Peru plant does, and is meant to do.  Finishing the story, I felt this area could have been quite limited, and still told the story just as well.  At least, if I had—SPOILER—a million electric rats in the jungle, I’d know exactly how to take over the world.  Exactly how much water you would need to cool it down, how many bulls to feed them, and even how much excrement the rats would produce.  Do I need to know this?  *shrugs shoulders*

 

Some people love details.  I love details.  But I love them in small doses, with story thrown in.  The funny thing is: not only do we get a walkthrough of the Elgen Plant with Hatch and gang, but when we switch POV back to Michael, we get it again falling out of Ostin’s mouth. 

 

Now, once we get passed those sections and revert back to Michael, we’re in the clear.  The action moves, the story moves, and the pages seem to fly by.  SPOILER—the book ends on a cliffhanger.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the last chapter through Michael’s eyes, felt out of character to me.  Or maybe the writing was a little different.  Either way, something didn’t feel right, but we are left hanging until book three.  Boo.

 

All in all, MV2 is an exciting book, that can be slow at parts, and I don’t think it was as fresh or as awesome as the first, but it was well written.  MV2 should be a nice addition to your Richard Paul Evans collection.

 

Solid 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars.

Artist Review - BROM

You know this guy featured above, right?  Well, I hope so.  If you don't you better head to his website right now and learn all about him.

The artist in question is BROM, who I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times, and though he gives off a creepy vibe in his excellent illustrations, he's quite humorous in real life.  If you ever have the chance of meeting him (It seems he'll be at NYComicCon), don't hesitate.

Brom's art always borders on the sick and twisted line, but it's done in a gracious way.  Every time I see another new painting, it captivates and scares me, at the same time.  I see this as his intention, so well done.

Brom started as an illustrator and has been giving people nightmares for decades.  You're probably wondering why, I'm talking about him now, right?  Well, in the last few years he's been publishing illustrated novels/stories.  There are 3 you can pick up right now: The Devil's Rose, The Plucker and The Child Thief.  If you want to dip inside a twisted mind, these are the books to bring you there.  The Plucker is my favorite. (Not because it's the best written, but because I have a thing for evil toys...their stories are just fun to me)

If you have all three already, Brom's publishing a new book come October called KRAMPUS: The Yule Lord.  It's a new take on Santa, and from the prologue on his site Krampus Prologue it sounds awesome.  I will definitely be picking this up to complete my collection.

But that's not all!  Brom has a kickstarter right now, which I'm currently a backer, for a new comprehensive look at his decades of art.  The project has already met it's goal, which doesn't surprise me one bit, so if you want an art book that will be worth money in the future (he's offering some great gifts for backers), then head over there right now and add yourself to the backer list.  Right now.  Why are you still reading this...go!

Everything and more can be seen at his site.  So head over there from here.

http://www.bromart.com/index.html

Movie Review - ParaNorman

All I knew about ParaNorman was what I saw in the trailer.  I also knew that Studio Laika—the same studio that brought you Neil Gaiman’s Coraline—were the ones responsible for this movie.  If you’re like me, and the above is all you know, then you’re in for a treat.

As I wandered into the theater, I realized I was the only grown man without a smaller version of myself, in attendance.  You might think that’s weird, or call me a freak—like the main protagonist of the movie—but, let me explain.  I have a background in art, and I really appreciate all animated films, no matter if they’re 3d-animation or Claymation; made for children or for adults.

ParaNorman is unbelievable in its execution, and the creators should be patting themselves on the back for the astounding film they’ve created.  If you haven’t already seen the behind-the-scenes videos on youtube, do yourself a favor and visit.

Odds are, if you’re reading this review, than you already know slightly what the movie is about, so I won’t go crazy in the detail department.   ParaNorman, stars Norman, who’s basically the town weirdo and outcast.  Everyone knows that he’s the boy who claims to talk to the dead.  But it’s this boy, who no matter how badly he’s treated, will stop at nothing to save his family and the town from a centuries old curse.  There’s also a great moral lesson being shared here, which should make for good conversation with the kiddies at dinner time.

The first 15 to 20 minutes are spent meandering around with childish bathroom and bully jokes, which had me really turned off, but the children in the audience were laughing hysterically.  It’s funny because the parts that I really enjoyed toward the end of the movie, the children were in complete silence.  Anyway, after those initial 20 minutes of typical kid jokes, the actual story starts to take shape, and that’s where you earn the cost of the ticket.  What you’ve seen in the trailers has almost nothing to do with the actual story.  I’m not scared to say, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The animation is incredible, and that’s down playing it.  Do you know what goes into creating a movie like this?  The effort, the time…the time and don’t forget the time.  It fascinates me, that there’s still studios out there, that will go down this road, instead of just pumping this stuff through a computer.  Not to say that there’s no time and effort behind computer animation, but Claymation is still astounding in my book.

The way they created the scenes with the witch in the sky still has my head spinning from the beautiful visuals.  What’s crazy is: you completely forget there all just models, and you get sucked right into Norman’s world, with no trouble.

Toward the end of the movie—when the story is really rocking and rolling—is when the film itself seemed to lose its younger audience, because it can get a little dark and a tad scary.  I was going to ask the 3 month old next to me what he thought, but it seemed it was his nap time, so I held back.

The only actual problem I see with ParaNorman is: the film has a hard time defining itself.  Is it a scary movie meant for young adults or a children’s movie geared toward kids that would rather pick their noses?  It seems Studio Laika tried to do both, and ended up with a film that was a little off balance.  But, trust me…if you feel a little foolish in the beginning, and you’re thinking “Why am I watching this children’s movie?” stick with it, you won’t regret it.

ParaNorman gets a solid 3 out 5 stars.

Book Review - Brad Thor's Black List

Brad Thor’s newest book asks the question:  Would you trade a little liberty for security?  If you don’t know by now, almost everything we say, type, do and don’t do, is recorded or watched by somebody—more often than not, the government.  Our smart phones and tablets, that we hold so dear, can be used against us to track our every move.  Though most Americans don’t really care if someone is watching or listening, they’re more concerned with what Jersey Shore member got into a fight, or which no-name singer went on to the next round.  But if you’re like me, always asking questions and trying to find the truth, than Brad Thor is the author for you.

Black List picks up where Full Black, left off.  And if you’re wondering: no you don’t have to read Full Black before Black List, though you should, since the protagonist Scot Harvath is in both—and is involved in all of Brad Thor’s books, one way or the other.

Since Full Black was the previous entry into Harvath’s life, I’ll be comparing the two as we go along.

Scot Harvath is the James Bond of America, really, without the accent.  He’s an ex-Navy Seal, who will do whatever it takes to keep America safe—and he always jumps through unbelievable—but grounded—hoops to prove it. 

In Black List, Scot uncovers a plot by a company that has ties to almost all secret and non-secret Government agencies, to demolish our way of life, by destroying the Internet as we know it.  The only way to do that is to remove Harvath from the equation, by putting him on the list—hence the name of the novel.  Harvath’s world and everyone he knows in it, is turned upside down, without the knowledge of knowing who, and who not to trust. 

Brad Thor’s Black List is a solid thriller, and once I got through introductions, became a page turner to find out what was happening next.  Did you realize, I said: once I got through the introductions? 

In every novel I’ve read by Thor, he’ll give you everybody’s background story—including a brief summary of Harvath—before moving on to the plot.  Now, with new readers, that’ll instantly bring them up to speed, but for fans like me, it tends to slow down the pacing a bit.

When writing, the first thing they (who are they anyway?) tell you is “show don’t tell”.  What that means is: if a character is funny, just don’t say he’s funny.  Have him tell a joke that’s good and people enjoyed.  That allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about the type of character in the story.

Well, Brad Thor will give as much background and character information as he deems necessary, until moving forward with the plot.  Sometimes, if it’s a new character, it can be upwards of three or four pages of info.  That’s great and all, because he wants the character to be fully defined in your mind, but I like the character’s actions to determine who he is.  But I guess you can’t win them all, because I don’t really read Thor, just for the plot.

This book—just like his many others—is heavily researched.  Thor finds, what he thinks is the next biggest thing and turns that into a story.  And if the Government watching everything we do isn’t big, Thor makes it bigger, by adding to it things like this:  “The same measures that keep you and your family safe today, could be used to track you down and imprison you, tomorrow.”  I’ll let you stew on that sentence for a while…

Scary, isn’t it?

In Full Black (the previous novel), the USA seemed on the verge of collapse, and there was an impending doom, always lingering over Harvath’s head, but in Black List, I didn’t have the same doomed feelings.  I think it has a lot to do with the computer science behind the novel.  In Full Black bombs were going off, killing Americans, and pissing me off.  But in Black List, there was this Internet takeover that Harvath saw as the end of the Country.  Now, don’t get me wrong…the Government taking over the Internet, and only allowing what they deem fit to grace the web, scares the crap out of me.  For one thing, I wouldn’t be able to express my opinions on stuff like this article.  But is it as scary as bombs?  I don’t know, maybe to some.  I just didn’t have this feeling as though it’s all going to end in this one, and maybe I should have.

The ending was good, but in Full Black, the revenge at the end was bitter sweet, and I felt it.  It made me happy as I closed the book.  Black List ended, and I just closed the book…if you know what I mean.

Black List is a good thriller, and with all the information Thor always gives, the book is worth the price of admission.  I recommend it to everyone who searches for the truth.  But if you haven’t read Full Black, then go get it right now…I’ll wait.  In the meantime, I eagerly await Brad Thor’s next book.

3 out of 5 stars

Album Review - The Lumineers

The Lumineers.com

There are albums out there that can be heard numerous times and any one person still can’t identify any name of any song.  Or there are albums that play like one long monotone melody that seems to never transition or change tempo, leading to nothing remembered and nothing gained.  The Lumineers’s self-debut album does none of that.

The American folk rock-band consists of Wesley Schultz on guitar/lead vocals, Jeremiah Fraites on drums/vocals, and Neyla Pekarek on everything else and vocals.  The power trio, are great musicians with fantastic harmonizing abilities that will have you yearning for more.  With their first released single “Ho Hey”, the Lumineers instantly seize your soul and easily tangle a web of beautiful melodies and toe-tappers around your heart. 

With Dylan-esque lyrics and melodies dancing in the same vicinity as Mumford and Sons, this Album is worth a listen.

Tracks:

1. Flowers in your hair: The finger picking on this track reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel, with the added addition of violin.

2. Classy Girls:  Fantastic piano intro and the lyrics are magically written, making you remember lost opportunities.

3. Submarines: A popping tune with prominent piano and marching band drums; a toe-tapper that gets stuck in your head, with comical lyrics.

4. Dead Sea:  The slow dramatic chords are highlighted quickly, but it’s the chorus that swirls around your memory.  The vocals are also great in this tune: scratchy with a hint of twang.  There’s also a soft addition of cello in the background.

5. Ho Hey: The crown jewel of the album, this song instantly stays with you no matter how hard you try to shake it from your mind.  It had me frantically running to my nearest guitar to try and replicate its greatness.  The video is also worthy of a view. 

6. Slow It Down:  Pained vocals make this song squeeze your heart, while the lyrics dig deep into a story of love’s past.

7. Stubborn Love:  The violin is prominent in this lovely tale.  The soft notes creep around your head, only to be exaggerated by the wonderful chorus and lyrics behind it. 

8. Big Parade: A happy toe-tapper that gives numerous haunting earworms, lasting till days later.  The real test for a song is: I place the CD in the car, turn it up to full potential and allow my better half a listen. (She loves music that I try to steer clear of: R&B and Pop) A few hours later she was humming and singing the chorus, that’s how I gauge a perfectly written melody.  Well Done.

9. Charlie Boy:  The beautiful plucked notes, followed by storyteller lyrics, paint quite the film inside the mind.  Again, perfect string instruments frame out the background.
 
10. Flapper Girl:  The piano melody brings back memories of intros to old TV shows; incredible earworm.

11. Morning Song: The only song in the album with a strong electrical guitar element.  Slower than most, the song slowly builds to an extreme with drums, vocals and guitar all filling the perfect ending to a great album.

The Lumineers is the Album to listen to on a breezy summer day, with the windows down and your feet up on the dashboard, bouncing to the rhythms.  Perfect driving songs that will make your mind drift away from the current problems and anxieties, helping focus all energies on the better part of life.
If you’re not one to plunk down the coin for the album right away, you can always stream it for free to see what I’m talking about, and then you can buy it.

Serge Marshennikov - Ravishing Realism

I was just introduced to this artist from the Muddy Colors Blog and all that crept out of my mouth was: wow.  Sometimes words really aren't necessary when you have such beautiful artwork that captures your speech.  The quietness and subtleness of these paintings only re-inforce the lovely brush-work.  Please check Serge out here: Serge on Tumblr
Thanks for making my friday Serge.

Beach Volleyball Gold Medal for Body/Looks goes to...

Zara Dampney Zara's Twitter for GBR
It was a tough decision my friends, but I think we have a winner...

Congrats to Zara.  And you the viewer, are welcome.

Runner-up:  any woman from the Brazil team. :)