"A Monster Calls" by Siobhan Dowd and Patrick Ness

Side note: This book was started by Siobhan Dowd and finished by Patrick Ness because, sadly, Dowd died before she could finish it, which is a real shame. If you haven't read any of Dowds earlier books then your doing yourself an injustice. I strongly recommend them to all those who enjoy a good mystery and also a gripping fantasy; one of my personal favourites is "The London Eye Mystery". Drop a comment if you would like to see a review on it later on. 
Thanks,
Louis

The opening scene is in a house; the bedroom of a teenage boy, Conor O'Malley when he's experiencing a horrific reoccurring nightmare... Or so he thought.
He envisions the giant, towering yew tree in the back field, alive. As it moves; shuffling towards the bare brick outer shell of the house, and Conor's window, it speaks his name in a deep, resonating voice; I've come to get you Conor O'Malley...
The monster proceeds in telling 3 stories in return for a 4th; the truth about Conor's reoccurring nightmare. The stories uncover the truth about the monster and Conor in ways he could never have imagined and cure Conor of the thing he has been plagued by, that horrible thing that had been visiting his dreams ever since his mother fell ill...

RATING: 10/10- A superbly crafted book with plenty of twists and turns along the way; all the way up to a really emotional end. A brilliant read! One of my favourite books.

ELLAS FILM REVIEWS

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know (after much annoyance on my behalf) that my sister created a film reviews blog page so go check it out and leave some support in the comments!! 

Cheers,

Louis

ellasfilmreviews.blogspot.com.au

P.S. A review of "A monster calls" by Siobhan Dowd and Patrick Ness is coming out soon so watch out for that!

"Wicked" the musical blog review

I thought this would be a nice addition to this blog as it's something a little different. Comment if you enjoy and would like to see more and leave a suggestion if you want to see your favorite musical reviewed.
Side note- These musical reviews won't come out as frequently as my book blogs (which isn't saying much as I haven't posted in Aeons!!) because of their length, detail and research (it's a lot of writing!)

Thanks for the support,
                       Louis

Review:

Introduction- 
Title- Wicked
Director- Joe Mantello
Company- @thewickedcompany.co.uk - This company does specialist transport for theatre shows.
Opening date- May 28th 2003

PLOT INTRO:

The story begins with the death of the Wicked Witch Of The West being announced by Glinda the good witch. The scene then switches to the birth of the sorceress Elphaba; the offspring of her mother and a mysterious man who carries with him a liquid green drink.  Later Elphaba is born with green skin; the possible result of the green liquid her father used. Her illegitimate father orders for her to be cast away.
The play then shifts to a scene in which Elphaba and Glinda are attending college for the first time. Glinda is popular and respected whereas Elphaba is shunned and ignored. Nessarose, Elphaba's half-sister, then enters with Elphabas illegitimate father (nessas real father) and proclaims that the only reason she attends this college is to look after his pride and joy; Nessarose.

Later; after being ridiculed, Elphaba flies into a rage; producing enormous amounts of power. Her raw talent of sorcery is spotted by none other than the head teacher and exclusive sorceress; Madame Morrible. As a result of her prowess in the art of sorcery she is offered an invitation to see the Wizard in the Emerald City...

Rating: 8/10- All round a very high-class musical with an amazing set and brilliant costume and lighting. The only fault I can point out would be the fact the first half dragged on slightly.

Percy Jackson Heroes of Olympus- The Blood of olympus by Rick Riordan

This is the final book in the Percy Jackson chronicles and, personally, brings this amazing series to a jaw dropping close.

In this book, The team on-board the Argo-II find themselves on their way to Athens, the centre and most important place to all the Greek Gods. Meanwhile, Reyna, Praetor of new Rome and Nico son of God of the Underworld, Hades are on a quest to bring the Athena Parthenos (a giant golden statue of Athena that was made and originally placed in amongst the pavilions of the acropolis) too Camp Half-Blood to stop the Roman and Greek Demigods Warring with each other. The entire New Roman army arrived thirsty for Graecus or "Greek" blood. Every single cohort has turned up to fight. Camp Half-blood has only a few campers in their midst. The fate of Camp Half-blood rests on the shoulders of Nico Di Angelo and Reyna. If they can bring the Athena Parthenos back to camp in time, the war will be stopped. 
It is in Athens that Gaia plans, with her Giant sons and daughters, to overthrow Olympus, Just as the Gods had done to her son, Kronos. Each ghastly Giant was created out of the murkiest and most monstrous parts of Tartarus for two purposes. One is too serve Gaia and the other is to oppose and destroy a certain God. Her overall plan is to water the stones of the Ancient lands with the blood of a male and female Demi-God; half god, half mortal. This, and only this, will wake the Earth mother. Don't forget, the giants, including their king, porphyrion, can only be defeated with the combined powers of both God and Demi-God together. Can Percy and the crew of the Argo II save the world and stop Gaia and her Giant spawn running rampant? Find out in this final thriller of the Heroes of Olympus saga.

RATING: 9/10! A fitting end to the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus sagas.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Frodo, son of Drogo and nephew of the famous Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit, lives with Bilbo in the Shire. Bilbo is having some problems with Gandalf, the wizard, who is telling him to get rid of the ring and pass it on to Frodo. The ring can get too powerful, almost like an addiction. You don't choose the ring, the ring chooses you...

Bilbo is having trouble with the Took family. Even though he is partially Took, they still want his house. Why is it fair that he's gone on all these adventures to kill a so-called dragon and come back with all these riches? Surely he could go and build a bigger house somewhere else? Bilbo says that he was going to give the house away to the Tooks and the ring to Frodo and buy a smaller house in another nearby town in Middle Earth. Bilbo gives a leaving party in his huge pavilion and invites everyone in the village of the Shire to come. Gandalf creates his famous fireworks and stuns the crowd of Hobbits. And then, after his leaving speech, Bilbo puts on the ring...and vanishes. As you know, if you've read the Hobbit then you probably know that the ring, when put on, makes you vanish into thin air. It is one of the three most powerful weapons in Middle Earth and if it falls into enemy hands can cause catastrophic damage.

Frodo is talking with Gandalf in Bilbo's hole. All the furniture is being replaced with the Tooks' items. Gandalf needs Frodo to go on a quest and allows him to take one other companion. Gandalf overhears something outside. An eavesdropper. He whizzes out of the door like a bolt of lightning and picks up the gardener Sam Gamgee. "How much have you heard?" "Barely anything...I was just gardening...I couldn't help it. Please spare me, oh mighty Gandalf!"
"This is exactly the person who will assist you on your journey; after all, he has heard too much." And so the epic quest begins...

I think that J.R.R. Tolkien is a real wizard with words. The intro might be a bit long but once you get past that and into the real fizz of the book you will end up really enjoying it. After all, the intro is needed for those who haven't read the Hobbit.


RATING: 9/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Asterix and the Picts by Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad

This is the latest book in the Asterix series out just before Christmas and is, this time, written and illustrated by different people! Instead of R. GOSCINNY and A. UDERZO, the founders of Asterix the Gaul and the people who have written and drawn all of the other books beforehand, it is now written in the same style but by different authors!

This book starts with Asterix and Obelix strolling on the beach when they stumble upon a man frozen in a giant ice cube. The man frozen has strange tattoos on his chest and some sort of kilt around his waist. Since Obelix has infinite strength (because he fell into the potion of strength when he was a baby) he had no trouble taking him back to the Gaulish village to be examined by their druid, Getafix. Obelix brings the man in the giant ice cube into a fire-lit room to be melted. Meanwhile Getafix ponders over who he is and where he came from.

Once the ice cube has fully melted the man steps out but he can't speak. His mouth is numb! However Getafix soon finds a solution to the problem by brewing a simple talking potion. He then starts to inspect the tattoos. After a while Getafix concludes that he is a Pict from Scotland. He then instructs Asterix and Obelix to take a boat to Scotland.
Will they be able to battle the ferocious tribes of Picts in Scotland? And how will they fair against the legend of Loch Ness??

This book is another great addition to the series of Asterix the Gaul and I personally think that the different author and illustrator gives a good contrast.


Rating: 10/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                                

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

"My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse."

I decided to put that down because it basically sums up the book. As you've probably guessed by now it's about a boy who doesn't look very ordinary. He does all the stuff that modern day kids like you and me do, for example, he plays Xbox, eats ice cream and rides his bike but his face is, let's say, extraordinary.

August is ten and has a best friend called Christopher, a mum, a dad and a sister called Via. Christopher and August used to do everything together. They would play with August's Star Wars action figures, they would watch T.V.together. Everything. The first major thing that happens in this book is that Christopher moves away and August's mum and dad are considering school for him. Now school is a big thing for August as he has always been home-schooled by his mum. His parents end up looking at a school called Beecher Prep. The middle school Director is called Mr Tushman (oh and by the way, a middle school director isn't fancy terms for head teacher.) A few pupils from the school show August around. One is called Charlotte who, as you will later find out, gets A* in everything. Then there is Julian. He's one of those kids that really gets on your nerves but acts all nice and polite in front of the teacher. Finally there's Jack Will and, well, he's just Jack Will.


I don't really want to go into any detail about what happens next because the story kicks off round about now. It has everything though - bullying, fitting in in high school, friendships and lots more! I really think this is one of the best books that I've read (as well as Phoenix by S.F. Said.) It is suitable for all ages but maybe younger kids (ie younger than me) might not relate to it too much and is a really good read for you adults too. It's one of those stories that has just the right amount of humour and doesn't feel as if the author rushed it.


RATING: 8/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!