Tag: epic

Just an update

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the blog and such . I have not been posting reviews as of late because I needed more time to think them through . I’ll be putting them up within the next few weeks and when you see what books I’ve been tackling you’ll understand the delay … or maybe not .

I’m looking to make longer reviews while avoiding spoilers and that as turned out to be complicated but it’ll be worth it in the end . Also looking to set up an actual rating system to put into the reviews and I think I’ve got a good , simple one , now that gets straight to the point .  As a disclaimer , I’ll add that these reviews are my opinion and they may not reflect on how you would feel reading said stories . But here is the rating system from worst to best .

Forget about it : A story that is so bad , you might as well just forget it . Will probably not be used that much as I tend to avoid reading books I don’t think will interest me .

Library read : A book  that has some interesting stuff in it but I would not spend money on it .

Discount bin : A good book that has some flaws here and there that can be ignored for a decent price .

Legendary work : A near perfect book and/or a book with a legacy that makes up for any of it’s flaws .

Think that is self-explanatory enough . Also , if things work out , I will actually set up a schedule on this website of when the reviews will be out . It almost sounds professional ! Anyways , I appreciate all who take the time to read this and hope to have the reviews up soon . Have a nice day .

Let’s talk about Star Wars ( briefly )

I know that I missed posting something on the ” Star Wars ” franchise on May 4th but better late than never , right guys ? I don’t think that there is another fictional franchise out there that has influenced my life more . My father had me watch the original trilogy at a very young age . How young ? Might have been still in diapers  . Those movies were awesome and started my interest in science fiction .

If I remember right , we watched all the prequel films when they came to theatres , and I was awestruck by them . The fight choreography , the music , the mythos , everything just combined together to make the perfect movie franchise for a young boy . Of course , the movies never came out fast enough and I needed my fix damn it ! So ” Star Wars” books and video games became a big part of my life . I’ll credit ” Star Wars ” ( alongside old horror stories ) for giving me an interest in reading in the first place . I’ll include a few book suggestions at the end of this for y’all .

” Star Wars ” also taught me something else . That people can watch the same thing but feel totally different about it . ” Revenge Of The Sith ” is my favorite ” Star Wars ” film , I used to try to explain it’s value to everyone on the internet before I learned that was a waste of time , and I’ll stick by it . Maybe another day I’ll make my case for that film on this site if their is any interest .

Overall , I’ve got a lot of good memories with this franchise . Haven’t cared much for the ” Disney ” version of the series to be honest but it doesn’t change what the George Lucas movies have accomplished . A series that combines the old pulp science fiction stories with elements from samurai films , westerns , fantasy , with cutting edge film techniques and special effects … it’s the ultimate combination . The only movie to come close to that was the first ” Matrix ” in my opinion . Let’s end this with a huge thank you to George Lucas and I guess I’ll give you that list now .

  1. ” Tales of the Bounty Hunters ” edited by Kevin J. Anderson
  2. ” The Jedi Academy trilogy ” by Kevin J. Anderson
  3. ” Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina ” edited by Kevin J. Anderson
  4. ” The Han Solo Adventures ” by Brian Daley
  5. ” Splinter of the Mind’s Eye ” by Alan Dean Foster

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

” The Godfather ” by Mario Puzo is a crime epic novel originally published in the late 1960’s .

The novel opens up with a false trial dealing with sexual assault . The father of the girl who was assaulted promises to go to the local crime Don , Vito Corleone , to get justice . A washed up singer loses control of his marriage and decides he needs the advice of his godfather to get his life back together . These two men and more decide to go to the wedding of Don Corleone’s daughter to ask their favors because apparently a Sicillian cannot say no on their daughter’s wedding day . Favor after favor is granted by the wise Don and everything seems to go fine up until The Don takes his eldest son ( Sonny ) with him to a meeting with a representative of another crime family in New York . The rival family wants to work out a deal involving political protection for their drug deals , Vito turns the deal down but Sonny shows some opposition to his fathers position . Sonny’s outburst leads to Vito and the middle brother (Freddie ) being shot . Vito survives but is unable to continue as the Don , so Sonny takes over and convinces the youngest brother ( Michael ) to join him . Michael eventually assassinated the man whom ordered the hit on his father and this sets off a war between all five of the main mafia families in New York . Believe it or not , this is still pretty much the beginning of the novel .

Just a fair warning , this novel is indeed very graphic and violent . That probably goes without saying for a crime novel but felt it should be said anyways . Let me say that this is a true epic tragedy with a 50’s and 60’s mafia backdrop . It is like a more modern Shakespeare play . Mario Puzo is truly a great character writer , we feel intimate with every important ( and some of the minor ) characters in this story . He takes some breaks from the main story to tell other short stories about each characters past and it helps make this a deeper story than your typical mafia exploitation type novel . Overall , I’d highly recommend it to any crime novel enthusiast as well as tragedy/drama fans . Hell , I’d even pay full price and I don’t pay full price for anything .