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Archive for the ‘Fantasy literature’ Category

Terminator Genisys “Movie Review”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Term Gens

Terminator Genisys directed by Alan Taylor and starring Arnold Schwarznegger and Emilia Clarke tells the story of Kyle Reese as he is sent back in time to the year 1984 to save John Conner’s mother Sarah Conner from the ultimate Terminator.

This movie answers a lot of questions about the series and gives movie goers a lot of insight on how the world really is in the future of John Connor’s life. We are taken on an adventure that really opens our eyes to the consequences of “we” as humans having too much technology and being able to only depend upon that technology to survive everyday life. The story runs deeper than the I-robot story, and more than touches the surface of those deep unanswered questions that the new AMC show “Humans” has to introduce.

This movie has a lot going on and I’m not going to get into too many details here, but I must say that I thought it was very well done, and that the storyline was well written. To my surprise the theater wasn’t sold out and this film did not do as well as it deserved to. I think that it’s been too many years since the series started and I felt that only people in my generation really had the chance to appreciate it. If this was done maybe ten years earlier then I believe that it would had done better at the box office.

Arnold Schwarznegger did a great job with his performance, he gave only what classic Arnold could give. The movie paid homage to the original film but also honored and embraced the Arnold of today. It was great to see Emilia Clarke in a strong female lead, something different from the fragile dragon princess in Game of Thrones. The idea of the hero ending up becoming the ultimate villain was unexpected and thrilling.

The special effects, makeup and sound all presented a fluidity of consistency that created a tone that was appropriate for a 2015 Sci-Fi action film.

I gave Terminator Genisys four stars out of five and recommend it to any Sci-Fi fan. See the others first, because once you do, the entire story will flow better.

L.L.

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Jurassic World “Movie Review”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Jurassic World

Jurassic World directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard is the Blockbuster hit of summer 2015! The action adventure Sci-Fi thriller takes place twenty-two years after things went awry at the island of Isla Nublar.  Now it is not just a park, but a full functioning adventure theme park like Disney World, which is reflective of John Hammond’s original vision from the 90’s. This island has a long list of dinosaurs and would not be complete without the genetically modified mutant dinosaur. Yes I said mutant because a lot of them are not purebred, but completely engineered with the DNA of other dinosaurs and animals like frogs and fish.

Claire a strong career driven woman played by Howard runs the massive island with an iron fist. She is soon forced to take on the role of responsible caregiver, when her sister sends her two boys on a vacation to the theme park for some much needed family time. Gray and Zach—Claire’s nephews arrive to find out that their family vacation with their aunt is now just a play-date for two. Claire continues to run things and trusts her assistant with the care of her nephews. The two quickly ditch their chaperone and start to tour the island by themselves.

Meanwhile Owen played by Pratt—an ex-military man and animal specialist works at the park training Raptors. He demonstrates his progress to some of the leading experts on the island and Claire requests his assistance before she opens a new exhibit at the park. She shows him the place where a new dinosaur will be revealed. Owen expresses his initial concerns when he finds some potential weak spots in the habitat containment unit.

A small incident occurs when some of the dinosaurs escape their habitat. Claire believes that she has everything under control, but it is just the beginning of a chain of events that eventually leads to the escape of one of the most dangerous creatures that man has ever encountered.

The playdate for two quickly transitions into a journey of survival as they along with Claire and Owen fight to survive the earthly beasts that the island has to offer.

What can I say? This movie was just great. I’m still thinking about it and I saw it Saturday night. Everything about this movie was awesome. The storyline, character portrayal and development, score and sound, and the special effects were amazing. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this movie ever since I found out that they were doing a Jurassic World. I saw it in 3D which enhanced the movie experience for me. Chris Pratt did a wonderful job with his character and he made me feel that old school excitement for cinema that only classic Harrison Ford can channel. The director Colin Trevorrow’s vison moved me as he showcased his own unique abilities while conjuring some of Spielberg’s inspiration. This movie is worth seeing a second time. Just thinking about it makes me smile which you will too, once you’re in your seat.

I gave this movie 5 stars. If I could give more I would.

L.L         

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Poltergeist 2015 Movie Review

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Poltergeist-poster

Poltergeist starring Sam Rockwell and directed by Gil Kenan and produced by Sam Raimi was a horror movie remake that disappointed me in many ways. The movie was supposed to be a reboot of the haunted house classic Steven Spielberg film, starring JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson, but I just couldn’t get over how badly it was done. There was nothing authentic about this film, and the writers did nothing but add some overrated special effects and overuse the original script. The names of the characters were changed for some reason, and I found that the actor’s performances were weak. The mood of the film was disappointingly mellow, and for me there was no real fear that the characters displayed.  For this to have had Sam Raimi’s name behind it, I was expecting so much more. I think that the film could have been done so much better if Sam Raimi would have had complete creative control in addition to the writing. The casting and storytelling was just all wrong, and I hope that the next horror I see will make up for this one.  The only two positive things I have to say was that the scene where we were able to see how the other realm or alternate dimension looked was good, even though I also think that the drone going into that realm was out of place. Technology should be dead in this this case. (I believe that was Raimi’s influence, good idea but it just wasn’t delivered creativity.) I also thought the scene with the family trying to leave the house was good. They are sitting in their SUV and are suddenly dragged back in through the garage as the house becomes consumed by the portal. That was an interesting add on to the movie. Throughout the movie I kept calling the little girl “Carol Anne and was comparing the remake with the original. It was so hard not to. The ghost hunter Carrigan Burke played by Jared Harris didn’t do much for me, but prove that the writers tried too hard with making the movie fit into the modern world. The paranormal research team was horrible, and at this point I can’t write anymore bad things about this movie. Wait, yes I can, it was in 3D which was an excuse for theaters to charge more money than necessary. It didn’t add any depth to the movie at all, just a dent in my purse. Not worth seeing it, but if you must as a fan of horror, wait until it’s out on cable and you have nothing else better to do.

I gave this movie two stars just because of the two scenes I liked and because I like Sam Raimi.

L.L

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The Avengers: Age of Ultron “Movie Review”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Avengers AU poster

The Avengers: Age of Ultron directed by Joss Whedon and starring Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans continues the story of the Marvel comic group of hero’s, as they continue their fight to save the earth from the threat of darkness.

The films opens with an action packed scene as the Avengers battle a group of terrorists in Europe. New enemies are introduced as the Avengers search for Loki’s stolen scepter, which has a powerful stone inside it. They race to get the scepter back into the right hands.

Once they retrieve the scepter Tony Stark and Bruce Banner waste no time with trying to create something that can help keep the peace and the scepter protected. Tony uses his engineering talents to create a form of artificial intelligence with the hopes of it being the answer to all their problems, but as soon as the AI begins to take it’s form, the stages of evolution begin to take place and the entity that was designed to help turns into something much more sinister, and out of that Ulton is born.

In the process Tony has the program set where Jarvis has control over the entity, but Jarvis is quickly overpowered and Ultron destroys Jarvis.

The team bands together to battle the constantly evolving Ultron. He does everything in his power to break the bond and trust the Avengers share including using two powerful mutants Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, (which were created by William Stryker, the same man that created Wolverine) against them. The group retreats when they are overpowered and they seek refuge at Hawkeye’s home with his wife and children as they begin to regroup.

Captain America comes up with a battle plan, and each one the Avengers uses their strengths to battle Ultron. Ultron is thirsty for more power as he creates a group of autobots, to help destroy the Avengers. In the meantime Ulton possesses one of Tony Stark’s scientists and forces her make him a more sustainable body. In the process he becomes more powerful. Eventually Scarlet Witch and Quick Silver realize that Ultron plans to destroy all the humans on the planet and take over the world with his new artificial intelligent colleagues. They go against his plan and join forces with the Avengers to help save the people of earth.

Stark comes up with a plan to recreate a manifestation of Jarvis using the stone from Loki’s scepter. The manifestation of Jarvis has now altered into Vison. A powerful being that has a multitude of abilities. The will of the Avengers is strong as they all join forces to defeat Ultron.

Overall The Avengers: Age of Ulton was an awesome movie. The story was well written and gave each of the characters an opportunity to shine in an appropriate manner. Sometimes when movies have an all-star cast, the story can get lost in the process and the actors get swallowed whole, but this is not the case with the Avengers sequel. They each had good on screen chemistry and the new characters added to the adventure. The special effects were remarkable and captivating. The battle scenes took you to another realm and made you feel like you were in the adventure.

Now we know that there is a bigger story behind the Avengers and that all the Marvel Superhero movies are connected. In the end we see Thanos make another appearance saying “I will just have to do it my myself.” As he reaches for a glove with five holes in it. I don’t know too much about the bigger story, but I do know that the Infinity stone that was in Loki’s scepter is connected to the infinity stone in the Guardians of Galaxy. More stones will appear throughout the Marvel Superhero film world, which will lead to the Infinity Wars in the distant future.

This movie is a must see, which will kick off the season of Summer Blockbusters. I gave this movie 5 stars

L.L

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The Walking Dead Season 5 Finale “Review”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

TWD Season 5 poster

The Walking Dead season five finale went out with a bang. The entire season has been one big thrill ride after another, starting with Terminus and now ending with Alexandria. Rick and the group all have taken their own paths as they try to make sense of the new world around them. Deanna sees a world filled with possibility as her judgment as leader continues to be clouded. Rick does his best to blend in and make his new job as constable work but it doesn’t take long for tensions to rise in a community that doesn’t seem to be realistic about what’s going on in the real world.

Now that we all know that no major characters died on the show last night, we can take a deep breath. For a moment I thought that we were going loose Daryl and Glen.

The show opens with none other than Morgan sleeping in a car. He gets up to make some hot cocoa, and encounters a man who looks like big trouble. They have words and the guy threatens to take everything Morgan has. Seconds later another guy comes out and they try to double team Morgan. Morgan kicks some serious ass just using a stick. We do get some information about this new group “The Wolves.” They seem like bad business and there have been plenty of clues about what kind of people they are throughout the season. The Walker torsos that fell out the truck when Tyrese was dying was a clear sign.

(After the encounter with the “Wolves”, Morgan goes about his business and we don’t see him for a while.)

While all this is going on, we see Daryl and Aaron go out recruiting for survivals. They trail a guy wearing a red poncho, and are led to a can food warehouse. They are hopeful that they can come back to Alexandria with a trailer filled with can goods. They clear a few walkers and proceed to check out the area. They open two trucks and quickly realize that it’s a trap. Walkers from everywhere try to get them. (They strangely have” W’s” carved into their foreheads.)  Daryl and Aaron retreat to a nearby car and try to come up with a plan so they can get out. Daryl plans to lead them out so the Aaron can get away, but Aaron doesn’t go for that. Aaron makes it clear that they are in this situation together.

They try to make a break for it, and Morgan comes to the rescue, and kills just enough to clear out a path. Daryl and Aaron loose the red poncho guy and head out of that area before things get worse.

After Rick’s original confrontation with Pete the night before, he,Carol, Michone, Glen and Abraham come up with a plan of attack to take over the community just in case things go sour at the upcoming meeting.

At the meeting, Deanna plans to discuss what happened with Rick and Pete and make a decision on the future of Rick’s residence there.

Maggie does her best to try to talk to Deanna, and Reg about the situation in hopes of defusing it, but Deanna doesn’t want to hear it. Maggie storms off and tries to talk to the locals to see if that will put them at ease.

Carol and Rick have a moment, where they open up to each other about their secret of keeping more guns, as she questions some of the other members of the group. Rick is secure with his relationship with Michone and the others and let’s Carol know that she has nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, Glen’s confrontation with Nicolas spills over into the finale. With the pain of Noah’s death still heavy on his heart, he makes an attempt to follow Nicolas as he makes his way off the premises out of the Alexandria community.

Glen already knows that something is up and after a few minutes of playing cat and mouse, he is violently encountered by Nicolas. Nicolas shoots him in the upper shoulder and Glen vanishes for a moment. Glen comes back strong pumped up with adrenalin. They argue, and get into a bloody fight. Nicolas was very careless and didn’t know how to lead runs successfully outside the walls, and Glen made it clear to Nicolas that he is not ready to venture out with a team. Nicolas was reason why they lost so many on runs before Rick’s group got to Alexandria.  Glen beats the crap out of Nicolas and was so close to killing him. He musters up the will power to not kill him and they make their way back to Alexandria together.

Back in the chapel, Sasha struggles to deal with her own loss and cope with the guilt of killing the termite at the church, and now settling in the new community has taken a toll on her. Father Gabriel walks in from his own little adventure beyond the walls. Sasha asks Father Gabriel for help and he tells her no, and replies that she doesn’t deserve to be safe because of what she did.

At the meeting Deanna and the others openly express their feelings involving Rick’s confrontation with Pete. Deanna and others wonder why Rick wasn’t there to defend himself. In the mist of the meeting Rick encounters several walkers that got in through the main gate. (At the hand of Gabriel’s irresponsibility.)  He kills one of them with his bare hands as the blood and brains spew out of the mouth, nose and eye sockets. It was a great scene.

Sasha and Gabriel get into a heated fight, and Sasha reaches her boiling point. She pulls a gun on him and is ready to pull the trigger. Maggie leaves the meeting to look for Rick, Glen and Gabriel.

Rick shows up at the meeting with a walker over his shoulder and tells Deanna that he can no longer stand and wait to watch the community get overrun because of their lack of security. During Rick’s speech Pete shows up ranting that he wants Rick out. Wielding Michone’s sword, Pete slashes Reg’s throat, killing Deanna’s husband. Everyone is standing with their mouths open as Deanna tries to put pressure on his neck, and a group of men restrain Pete. Grief stricken Deanna gives Rick the order, and he shoots Pete in the head showing no remorse. At that very moment, Daryl and Aaron show up with Morgan, as Morgan see’s first hand what Rick is capable of.

Back at the chapel, Maggie stops Sasha from killing Gabriel, and in the end, Gabriel confesses to Maggie that he was the reason why people died. Maggie extends her hand, he takes it. In the end they pray together. I think that after everything that Gabriel has done to ruin Rick and the group’s lives at Alexandria, he deserved to die, or at least be exiled from the community.

The finale was a great episode, awesome special effects and great imagery. The walker death scenes were great and the scenes with the “Wolves” were pieced together very thoughtfully. I am so happy that no major characters died and I can’t wait to see what happens in season 6. The comic books are starting to blend and reflect the show which is great and I hope Negan will be introduced in season 6. If that happens, I expect Carl to be shot again, walking around with one eye like the Governor.  I also expect Glen to be beaten to death by Lucille, which will led to Maggie’s suicide attempt. Let’s see how far they will go. I am reading book 21.

So while we are waiting for October, 11 2015 we can check out AMC’s new Spinoff called “Fear”the walking dead airing this summer. Check back on LaTaeya.com for season updates.

Happy Reading

L.L

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General Hospital Spotlight

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

billy miller jason

General Hospital spotlight
Sometimes the GH storylines start to fizzle out for me. This whole thing with Michael and Sonny has gone too far. I can’t believe that Michael would go to any lengths to keep Avery away from Sonny. Despite everything Michael has had a good life and should not still be hungry for revenge. Now that Luke is an escaped mental patient, I think that he is going to kidnap Avery. Once that happens, the court will determine that Michael is not fit to care for her. Now that we know that Luke has a split personality disorder, I am not sure where they are going to take his storyline. I think Lulu should call Laura just to tell her what is going on. This will soon lead to another Spencer adventure, which will hopefully end well.

Ava came back from the dead just to find out that she is dying from Cancer. I really hope that Maura West is not leaving the show. I’ve really grown to love her character and I love the fact that she comes with so much excitement.

I wasn’t too happy to see Spaneli when I found out that he was trying to break up Maxie and Nathan, but now that he has possibly recognized Jake as Jason, he may actually be the one to solve the case. I don’t think that he will let the whole thing rest. When Sam does find out the truth, it will not be easy for her to leave Patrick and pick up the pieces of her marriage. I think they will realize that they are two totally different people and live lives that no longer include one another.

I can’t wait to find out what is going to happen to Jordan now that Sonny and Julian are a war and Sean’s suspicions of her have increased. I think that she is going to get shot and will spill the beans to Sean and TJ when she is recovering at GH. I like the sexual tension between Sloan and Anna. I like their on screen chemistry, but I still like Duke and Anna together. I believe that Sloan is not who he says he is, and that his real identity will come to light soon. I am curious to find out why Sloan wants Jake to be undercover.
Until Next Time
L.L.

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Walking Dead Mid Season Premier Season Five

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

WD S5 poster

The Walking Dead Season 5 Mid season review.

The will to go through any lengths to survive the zombie apocalypse is strong within Rick and his group. The strength they all have is slowly weakening as they embark upon a new chapter in their lives while they search for a safe place to rebuild their lives and the world around them.

I was somewhat disappointed in the events of last night’s episode. After the mourning of Beth’s death, the group tries to bounce back. Noah convinces Rick and group to go to his hometown in order to seek refuge in his family’s gated community. (Which at this point I believed was the gated community that was introduced in the comic books.) Rick agrees, so they travel to Richmond with the hope of starting something new.

Things take a turn for the worse quickly as Rick, Glen, Michone, Noah and Tyrese go to the housing community to check things out. They realize that the place has fallen and has a small walker presence. Noah tries to go to his house to see if there are any survivors and Tyrese gets bitten by one of Noah’s brother’s. Noah runs to get help, and in that process Tyrese experiences the wrath of death approaching him. Beth, Mika, her sister, Bob, the governor, and even the baseball cap Terminus guy all show up to give Tyrese a lesson in life and death.

Rick and Michone make their best efforts to cut off Tyrese’s arm in order to save him but in the end it did not help. Tyrese dies in the car on the way back to the rest of the group.
Rick and the others, especially Sasha take his death very hard, and are feeling broken down at this point. I really liked Tyrese, and was hoping that he would have lasted longer. He lasted longer in the books and did not struggle with the same things he struggled with on the show.

The episode displayed some very interesting imagery as events unfolded. Some were hard to understand in the beginning, but by the end it became clear. I think that the presence of the past dead cast members were unnecessary and out of place. I really did not think that the whole episode was going to focus of Tyrese. I really thought that it was going to have a little more direction. I felt that the flow was disjointed and I also did not understand why there were so many commercial breaks. They seemed to have interrupted the show every three minutes and I felt as though it was a reflection of the writer’s lack of direction.

I really hope that things start to mirror the deep complexity that makes up Kirkman’s world.
L.L

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General Hospital Spotlight

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

luke-spencer-photo

General Hospital spotlight

The heat is on in Port Charles as the Fake Luke doges another bullet in getting his real identity discovered. His deceitful ways go a long way, and his dramatic production at the Haunted Star could have almost been a confession. Fluke really thought that Dante was going to go up in flames along with the old house, but he was wrong. I just hope that when he leaves the party he doesn’t run into Nathan and Dante leaving the property. Now that Nathan just found Dante, Dante will spill the beans but hopefully they will make it to GH before anything or anyone stops them.

Within the next few minutes the Haunted Star is expected to go up in smoke, but at this point I don’t think that anyone will be able to stop it. Jake Doe is in the process of being interrogated by Sam, which will lead her into a bigger hole, because he does not remember anything. The police department will not be any help to her because the new commissioner is also under Helena’s control. It is going to take Sam a long time to really find out everything about Jake.

Sonny, Julian, and Ava are all in hot water as they battle with Carlos and Johnny. I hope that Sonny kills Johnny, but once Sonny does take the first shot, Carlos will give up, and try to convince Julian and Ava that he wants back in with them.

Franco left Ava, Julian and Sonny, and is on his way to save Nina from Heather, but at this point I think Nina deserves whatever Heather is planning to do to her. Franco will probably shoot Heather, and tell Nina that he loves her. I am waiting for them to finally share a romantic moment. I hope this is the last we see of Heather. I am tired of her pointless story lines.

As for Sonny and his new crew, I really hope that they can make it to the Haunted Star to save everyone, but since Johnny is in their way, I don’t think they will make it.
I am excited to see how things turn out!
L.L

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Dark Betrayal:Chronicles of the Celestial book two “Excerpt”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

SavedPicture-201410373131.jpg

As I paced back and forth in the Loving Hills Rehabilitation Center lobby, the hospital was in disarray. Doctors and nurses were running around, and the security staff was gathered outside the lobby entrance all asking questions at once. The uneasiness of the situation gave off its own energy. My mother Pandora threw herself out of the window of her room seconds after I tried to heal her of the darkness that had held her for so long. I thought that healing my mother would cure her of her condition, but clearly, but clearly I’d been wrong. Almost regretting my actions, I could not gather the words to explain what really happened. Within minutes the police were scampering around to survey the area.

Angelo acted fast, and tried to keep the hospital staff and police away from me for a while so I could think of a way to explain what was going on. The craziness in the lobby quickly vanished. I wasn’t sure what he actually did, but it gave me enough time to get myself together. The silence in the lobby was pretty haunting and to be honest, I think I blacked out for a moment.

When I could think clearly again, I realized that a detective was staring me in the face with a little notepad in his hand. He looked at me with concern. “Are you okay, Miss London?” he asked. “You look a little pale.” I trembled slightly as I eyed him, and luckily, he assumed that I was in shock over everything that had happened—which was true to some degree. What he didn’t know was that I was worried that it was becoming harder to hide the truth about myself—about my powers and what I really was. I silently hoped that Angelo would come and rescue me from this interview. He didn’t though, so I did my best to cooperate and answered all his questions as honestly as I could, despite the fact that I still hadn’t re-acclimated to being back on the Earthly realm after having astral-traveled to so many other realms.

I was anxious to get home to sort this whole thing out when I was done with the detective, but my stay at the hospital turned out to be very lengthy. The police searched every nook and cranny of the hospital for hours, looking for any sign of my mother. In the end, the police officially declared her a missing person, and asked me to come down to the station to answer more questions. By the time Angelo and I made it back to my house it was very late in the evening.

I was so upset with myself and what went down with my mother that I could barely think straight. I sat at the small round kitchen table, with a steaming cup of hot cocoa in front of me. I gazed at the floral table cloth as I pondered my mistake. Angelo started to prepare dinner, and I sipped on the hot beverage trying to relax. It was no use. I left my mug on the table and went upstairs to take a shower.
I tossed my clothes in the hamper, drew the shower curtain back, and turned on the water. I stepped in slowly and inhaled the steam, closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax. I rubbed my hands over my head, as the water saturated my long black hair. My mother was still on my mind. I was hurt. What in the world went wrong? How could I misunderstand Michael? Why would Michael, the archangel and leader of the Great Seven, tell me to go to my mother if healing her was not the intent? I was thinking so hard that I gave myself a headache.

I tried to clear my mind as I dried off and threw on some dark jeans and my old Milford High School tee shirt. I couldn’t be bothered with drying my hair or putting on makeup. I brushed my hair thoroughly and pulled it back in a low ponytail. I looked at my pale reflection, and studied my icy blue eyes. I felt empty and sad.

I made my way back down the steps and into the kitchen. Silently I sat down in front of a nice place setting. Angelo got out my mom’s special dishes—the ones she used when company came over for dinner. I guess he must have thought that seeing my mom’s dishes would put me in a better mood. I smiled sadly as I thought about my family.

“Angelo I can’t believe this,” I said as I ran my finger around the edge of the plate. “I really thought that healing my mom was going to go smoothly. What did I do that was so wrong?” I couldn’t look at Angelo’s beautiful face, feeling that I was to blame for what happened.
Angelo stopped, then turned to face me. “How about healing a fallen angel that is consumed with the darkness?” he answered, barely holding back his anger.
“I thought that I was supposed to heal her,” I replied. “I had no idea that my mother was going to go psycho.”

“Well she did.”

“Angelo, I really don’t believe that. I spoke to my mother. It was my mother. She wasn’t in a dark place. The light surfaced from within me. You were not there, but it was real,” I said to him as a tear formed in the corner of my eye. Angelo knelt down in front of me. He placed both hands on my knees and looked directly into my eyes.

“Syd, I know that it was real. You don’t have to convince me of it. A part of your mother is still in her, but she did succumb to the darkness—you saw it. That is what the darkness does,” he said. I bowed my head with despair. “Please don’t blame yourself,” he continued. “You were only doing what you felt was right. As your Guardian I should’ve explained it to you,” Angelo said serenely.

“Sydney, we must find her before the Council does. All the angel vamps have on their minds is locating Pandora’s Box and unleashing the fury within it.” I looked up at him with concern as he spoke. “We have to stop them and we need help to do it.”

We both knew we needed to summon The Great Seven, also known as the archangels. They were the head of the angel hierarchy. They protected me with their celestial wards and gave me the power to heal—the power I had used so unsuccessfully on my mother. It was a gift and an honor to be able to heal sickness and pain, to be able to bring someone out of the darkness and into the light. After receiving the gift, I had healed the captives at Kalaston, and I thought the archangels had wanted me to heal my mother next—but I must have been wrong.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23443937-dark-betrayal

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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies “Movie Review”

Posted in Fantasy literature, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The hobbit Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Martian Freeman and Ian McKellen is the last installment of The Hobbit series. The story picks up where The Desolation of Smaug leaves off as Thorin and the dwarves make an attempt to reclaim their mountain home.

The dragon Smaug retreats from the mountain in an effort to wreak havoc upon the people of Laketown. Determined to save his home and his family Bard takes matters into his own hands along with his young son to defeat the dragon. While the people of Laketown seek refuge and the remaining dwarves along with Tauriel try to escape the burning town, Bard defeats Smaug with a single shot from a steel spear.

Bard reunites with his family and the people of Laketown make their way to the Lonely Mountain in order to find a new home. Meanwhile Thorin settles into being a king, but is possessed by the power of his gold. Bard tries to make him share some of his gold in exchange for their alliance so that his people can start to rebuild their lives, but Thorin refuses. Thorin is still in search of the Arkenstone and makes his fellow dwarves look for it. Bilbo finds the stone but keeps it a secret from Thorin with the belief that he will lose himself even more once he has the stone.

Now that the dragon Smaug is dead, he is no longer a threat, and with Thorin not in his right mind, the neighboring races of Middle Earth make their way to the Lonely Mountain to take it and the riches inside.

The armies march to the mountain and Bilbo makes a deal to trade the Arkenstone to the Elvin king Thranduil in hopes that Thorin will fight to defend his lands. The plan backfires and Bilbo is back where he started as he tries to save Thorin from himself. Thorin eventually finds the strength to overcome his greed and starts to embrace the honorable man that he truly is.

The battle of good and evil is on as the forces of darkness try to overcome good, but in the end goodness prevails with a cost. Thorin and the Orc general fight to the death, while Kili dies trying to protect his unclaimed love—Tauriel. Bilbo says his goodbye’s as he makes his way back to The Shire with a very powerful ring that he believes is kept a secret.

The Battle of the Five Armies was a great movie. Jackson did a great job with telling the story, and putting the pieces together and setting the stage for what’s to come in The Lord of The Rings. Even though fans a very familiar with the characters old and new alike, it was nice to see how they each were developed and took shape. Throughout the entire Hobbit series, I made mental notes and referred back to events that occurred in The Lord of the Rings. I really liked how Gandalf, Saruman, and Galadriel’s involvement in the story really evolved. I even appreciated Legolas’ back story, when it came to how he became a loner in the first LOTR film.

The story was very cohesive and well done. The special effects and Score did not disappoint and the overall tone of the film has a very enthusiastic vibe. It’s hard to say goodbye to a story that has impacted fans on such a personal level. The energy behind this project is really historically and creativity epic and I don’t think that any other movie series could ever top it. The cast was wonderful, the visual representation opened up all the senses of imagination and stimulated parts of yourself that only a creative imagination can dream up.

I gave the Hobbit 5 stars and am looking forward to seeing the entire series in order from beginning to end.
L.L.

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