Tag: adventure

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Books

Review: Stardust

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I give this book a 4.

 

I don’t feel it necessary to describe this book for three reasons. 1. You can see the description at the top of the book’s page, 2. It’s been turned into a movie and you should have at least heard of it by now, and 3. I don’t know how I would put this into my own words and not write a short essay.

I want to start off by making a confession. I’m going through a phase of reading books that I’ve already seen the film versions of to do comparisons and so far this is the first one where I think I liked the movie better. Now, if you all are ready to hunt me down and kill me, please hold off and hear me out.

The fact of the matter is I do like this story very much. It’s a really good story with excellent writing, originality and creativity, and detailed and realistic world-building. That’s why I’m giving it a 4. There’s no denying that this book is a wonderful story.

The problem that I’m currently faced with it a rare one indeed. Usually, the film versions of movies always seem to be lacking that complete sense of magic that the book usually overflows with. However when I read this book and then thought about the movie I’d already seen, the magic of the movie overpowered the book.

I realize that I’m probably a great minority in this matter, but there were parts of the movie’s story that I simply liked better, but I’m not going to talk about those. I will talk about what I really enjoyed from this book.

I like the little story of how Tristan’s parents met. That wasn’t in the movie.

I like that the Unicorn had a much more involved role and actually had a bit of a personality.

I like that Tristan wasn’t some outcast from his village and was quite well-adjusted.

There are other things I could mention, but then I’d have to put a spoiler alert on this review and I don’t want to.

This is but one of many Gaiman stories you can immerse yourself in and enjoy whether you agree with my assessment here or not. This is an adult read, though I can see teens enjoying it. I wouldn’t recommend it for children. If you like adventure and fantasy, you’ll like this book.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Books

Review: Inherited Danger

Inherited Danger (The Dawning of Power #2) by Brian Rathbone

I give this book a 3.

 

This book picks up just after the end of the first book…because it had too. Needless to say, I didn’t like the way the first book ended, but since it rolled over so evenly into the second one, I was more open-minded to continue reading the story. (I bounced back and forth between listening and reading on my Kindle.)

In this follow-up to the Call of the Herald, Catrin goes on a “Lord of the Rings” type journey in search of…I think, the understanding of her power. The style of this story seemed a bit different from the first book, but after I got used to it, it wasn’t too bad. My major complaint is that not a lot happens for a long time and then everything seemed to happen all at once.

It was nice to learn more about Catrin’s background and that of her friends, even though, outside of Benjin (can’t remember how this is spelled), the others characters seem to do very little. There are tons of new characters introduced and some of them are even still alive at the end of the book, and who knows they may appear in the next story.

The understanding of the role of Herald isn’t clarified explicitly, but I think this is a good thing. It gives the reader room to decide if the Herald is a vessel for good or evil before seeing how things will play out in the story. At this point, it could still go either way for Catrin, especially since she can’t seem to decide if she’s a strong feisty fighter or a meek lost child. Sometimes she takes hold of the situation and uses her powers boldly and other times, she makes me think of a young wizard hold out his wand with his eyes closed hoping that he’s doing something right. I want Catrin to be a stronger woman than acts like sometimes.

Also, some of the relationships in this book are too quick or underdeveloped. Catrin meets her grandmother and a few passages later, we’re on to something else.

After saying all this, I want to be clear that I did enjoy this story, just not as much as I did the first one. I’ll eventually continue the series and would recommend it to fans of epic fantasy.

See my review of The Call of the Herald here.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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EC: Battleground EC: Giovanni's Angel Promotion Videos

Video miniseries & Book Blast by @toithomas. There’s a #yorkie, a #giveaway, and Eternal Curse: Battleground.

Welcome back friends to The ToiBox of Words. I want to thank you for giving me a chance to tell you all about my latest book. Eternal Curse: BATTLEGROUND is the second book in my EternalCurse Series and it is bigger and better than the first. Written for both teens and adults, this paranormal adventure is packed full of diverse and dynamic characters, exotic and remote locations, a not too distant future, and of course the ongoing battle between good and evil. Eternal Curse: BATTLEGROUND officially releases (one month from today) May 16, 2015 at the Tidewater Comicon in Virginia Beach, VA and also online. This is a great time to pre-order your copy today!

Sound interesting, but just not sure if the sequel is a good place to start? Have no fear, my You Tube miniseries Eternal Curse Influences and a Yorkie will help you feel right at home with this book series. So go ahead and check out this episode of the five part miniseries and be sure to enter my EC: BATTLEGROUND Pre-release Giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card, from April 13th through April 17th. Sorry, the Yorkie is not included in the giveaway and no purchase is necessary. 

This giveaway has been extended to April 30th.

Like that? Be part of the conversation on twitter and tell me what media (book/movie/show etc…) you think was influenced by some other creative work. Click here to reply to my tweet and use the hash-tag #influenced in your reply. I can’t wait to see what you all have to say.

One random tweeter will receive a free digital copy of both Eternal Curse companion guides. Qualification ends 4/18/15 at 11:59 pm ET. Winner announced via Twitter on 4/21/15 around 12:00 pm ET. And now, the book…

Book Title: Eternal Curse: BATTLEGROUND
Series: Eternal Curse Series (book 2)
Author Name: Toi Thomas
Publisher: Amazon, CreateSpace, The ToiBox of Words
Reading Level: Teen/Adult
Genre: Paranormal Adventure, Religious Urban Fantasy
Content Rating: PG-13
Available Formats: paperback, ebook
Number of Pages: 305
Pre-order: The ToiBox of Words

The Blurb
In the future, will all the petty problems of everyday life be fixed or will it all go down the tubes? Giovanni and Mira can’t really say since they are too busy fighting the ongoing battle between good and evil in order to save the world- fixing it will simply have to wait.

Sometime in the fairly distant future, Giovanni and Mira are enjoying a life together but they are living no fairytale. When tragedy strikes in a way Giovanni is not prepared to deal with, he will have to decide whether life amongst the humans is worth fighting for or leave it all behind to seek a righteous calling.

Giovanni, along with a new ensemble of half-breed comrades and human companions, head into battle to face Marcos, his greatest foe. Blood, bone, and ash will be left on the battleground and the world will never be the same.

~

Don’t forget about my giveaway. Just think, it only takes 1 entry for a chance to win this prize, but if you’re feeling frisky, go for more. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

 
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