The Sea of Monsters

    I recently viewed the film version of Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan, and, as I have also read the book, I was surprised (to say the least) at the changes in the plot. I understand that the film-makers have a time limit, and are limited (slightly) in the world of special effects, so they have to make changes, and cut scenes. But this was too much. They cut massive hunks of important scenes, and added too many details to count. They also added whole new scenes. I know that you have to cut things, but in a way, adding things is worse, because the stuff you add in a series of movies will come back to bite you when you make the next movie. It was a good movie, but I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read the book, and was able to recognize the gigantic changes they made.

Sweet Venom

I recently acquired this most excellent trilogy from our local library. Well, all except the last one. But now I have it!!!!! Woot woot!!

These books are about the three Gorgon sisters. Or rather, their descendants. In every couple of generations, a set of triplets are born. Their task is to inject monsters that escape from Abysoss into the human world with their venom [Yes, they have fangs]. Each sister inherits a special trait from their ethereal ancestors. One sister has the gift of auto-porting, another has the gift of the prophecy, while another has superfast healing abilities [They all heal extremely quickly, but one sister is extra fast]. Abysoss is basically an eternal abyss, a void of darkness, where all the beasties live. Well, all they beasties except the ones that escaped to wreak havoc in the mortal world.

ATTACK OF THE CUTE!

ATTACK OF THE CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://attackofthecute.com/

Everyone Loves a Good Dystopian Fantasy

Today, my pupils, we will discuss the excellent trilogy by Ally Condie, consisting of the books Matched, Crossed, and Reached. The trilogy is about a young girl called Cassia Reyes, who live in the perfectly controlled world of THE SOCIETY. She is living in perfect harmony with everyone around her, until, at her Matching banquet, two faces appear on the screen, instead of only one. Now she must face the impossible choice, between Xander and Kye, between passion and perfection(Hint:these exact same words are on the inside cover of Matched!). 

Bar Code Tattoo

Once I read this amazing dystopian book called Bar Code Tattoo.It was about this 16 year-old girl called Kayla. In her world, everything was controlled by a company called Global-1. The latest thing was a thing called the bar code tattoo. It was a tattoo in the form of a bar code that held all your medical information, your money, and everything about you. Kayla's dad dies, and her mother says that the bar code killed him. At her school, there is a group called Decode headed by politician Dave Young. They claim that the bar code is an invasion of your privacy, and that it does something strange to your life. Some people with the bar code are rocketing unnaturally to success. For some people, like Kayla's friend Amber, the bar code ruins their life. It "malfunctions", so they can no longer use it, or it messes up their information. As Kayla decides to not get the tattoo, a law is passed that all teens without a bar code will be arrested. A bit of advice: READ. IT. NOW.

The Unwanteds

There was this book I just read, called The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann. It was set in the dystopian world of Quill. In Quill, when you reached 13 years of age, you were put into one of three groups: the strong, smart Wanteds who would go to the University, the Neccessary, who just barely squeak by, and the artistic Unwanteds, who are sent to their death. In the barren land of Quill, creativity is a death sentence. The Unwanteds are sent to the Death Farm, and supposedly thrown into the Great Lake Of Boiling Oil. But when Unwanted Alex Stowe is sent to his death, he, like so many Unwanteds before him, discovers a magician call Marcus Today. Mr.Today has created the magical world of Artime, where creativity is considered a gift, and a magical weapon. Want to find out about the flying cheetah? Read the book.

Mystic Worlds

I think that the world has many levels, multiple planes of existence. Each plane has its own horrors, its own delights. Each plane is ruled by a specific race of creatures. All the planes are copies of this Earth, just modified to support its own population. You might planeswalk in San Francisco, and come out in the same place, but the city might be floating thousands of feet in the air. Or it might be on top of an active volcano. Or everybody might be robots. There is a plane for every fantasy the human mind has ever created, and it is exact in detail to what that person has imagined. Even if that person hasn't consciously imagined that world, it will be created. All your dreams can come true if you know how to planeswalk. How to planeswalk, you ask? Well! Planeswalking is an ancient art that is only known to exactly 42 people. Those peoples numbers are quickly dwindling. By the end of 2018, there will be none left. All of those magical realms will be cut off from this world. Perhaps it is for the better. If everybody had the power to make there dreams come true, then the world would be plunged into darkness. The 42 people who know how to planeswalk have to be sucked of their pride, and their thirst for power. Their lives are lonely lives, every waking moment spent training to planeswalk. The art of planeswalking is best kept secret. 

 

Back in Time

I once saw a movie series called Terra Nova, where humanity had used up all of earth's resources, and, to escape, the mom of a young family is recruited by the project Terra Nova. Project Terra Nova is an effort to get rid of some of earth's population, to give people a second chance. Scientists found a fracture in time, going all the way back several thousand years, to the age of dinosaurs. So, by use of a portal, they send people back in several pilgrimages, and this young family is sent back on the tenth pilgrimage. The original purpose of the time portal was to go back and strip mine all of that world. The whole series is about the family discovering that, and then trying to prevent it. There was supposed to be a second series, because the last episode was a total cliffhanger,  but it was cancelled (Arrrgh!! Darn you, producers!!). Anyway, wouldn't it be great if we had that opportunity?