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Books

Review: Martian Chronicles

Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

I give this book a 4.

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When reading this book for the first time, one has to take into consideration the period in which it was written. Bradbury’s creativity and ingenuity for space travel politics, cultural qualms, and concerns of human adaptation to space travel more than make up for the lack of technical terms and factual depictions of Mars.

These are individual accounts of trips to Mars all pulled together and retold as one chronicle of the human experience on Mars. We are giving a chance to view the human effect on Mars from multiple points of views including: disgruntled Martians, welcoming Martians, eager exploratory humans, refugees, and so much more.

This isn’t just another fast paced invasion story. The Martian Chronicles deals with of the philosophical concerns of visiting other planets and the effects of encountering an alien race. As much as I adore this story and enjoy the kooky spin the Martians and their world bring to theses matters, this story could have been told using any number of indigenous tribes right here on earth, but then there wouldn’t be as grand a feeling of exploration or adventure.

Reading story after story of how the human and Martian worlds have collided, reminded me of how it felt to watch The Twilight Zone when I was a kid. Some of it is a bit scary, but mostly it’s mysterious and thought-provoking. This is one I’d definitely recommend to any sci-fi fan and maybe even a few fantasy readers.

While there is truly something here for everyone, I don’t know that everyone would be up for it. In any case, I’d say this is a family-friendly read that dad would thoroughly enjoy.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try these 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

Categories
Books

Review: Sacrifice

Sacrifice (Gryphon #3) by Stacey Rourke

I give this book a 4.

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Okay, so the Conduit of the Gryphon has always been terrified of garden gnomes and now she has a reason for it, but I’m jumping ahead of myself.

Let me go ahead and tell you why I didn’t give this great story a five and then move on. Celeste is great, she really is, but her dim-wittedness is starting to drive me crazy…that’s it. I wish the Gryphon would make her smarter.

There is so much I want to say, but I usually make a point not to give away spoilers, so bear with me. I’m just going to list a few things I wish I could elaborate more on.

1. Love continues to be in the air for the Garret family, but not for too long.

2. The title is soooo fitting, it’s almost sad just how much so.

3. Mom finally shows up for a while.

4. There is another really cool conduit to meet, thus my specification in the first sentence. Go back and take a look and see my subtlety.

5. The mystery, or lack thereof, concerning Alex keeps developing…Again, here’s why I wish Celeste was smarter.

6. Titans in this mythology are very different from others I’ve read, but I’m liking them for what they are.

7. There’s something about blondes in this series.

And lastly, I’m ready for this war to finally start.

On a personal note, I’m sad that the book covers are changing with the release of the fourth book. I liked the old covers.

Now back to those gnomes…no that would give too much away.

See my review of book 2 in The Gryphon Series, Embrace.

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

 
Categories
EC: Battleground Fun Hops

WIP The Movie! Blog Hop #cursescanbebroken

This blog hop is co-hosted by Kyra Lennon and Rachel Schieffelbein.

I have several WIPs at the moment, but the one I’m most excited about is the follow-up to my first novel. This first book, Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel,  just came out, but I’m not sitting around idly waiting for people to fall in love with it. There’s so much more of this story to be told. The idea of casting the characters of this book for a movie blew my mind, and don’t even get me started on the soundtrack.

So here is it, the line-up for, Eternal Curse: Battleground…Character Spoilers present but no plot points.

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Giovanni– He’s the title character of the first book and is actually a dual character. Giovanni/Bletsian is a kind of a shape-shifter with angelic and demonic ancestry. For him, I think I’d try to cast a complete unknown so there would be no preconceived notions about how this character would act. But I do have a specific look in mind when I picture him. I picture a handsome Middle Eastern man like Naveen Andrews with Hugh Jackman’s tall frame and Wolverine body, but with long black hair…Oh, and G/B has gray skin, so ethnicity doesn’t doesn really matter here.

 

      from Google search- www.fanpop.com  | from Google search- www.businessinsider.com

When I think of how G/B feels about and interacts with the overall story and the other characters, I think of the song, Thank You by Dido. (click here to watch video)

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Mira– She is human and is G/B’s love interest, and she’s also black (which some people find shocking). What is so special about this character in this second book is that because she’s been around G/B’s supernatural presence for so long, she too has begun to change. She is older and aging, but aging incredibly graceful. For her I picture a combination of two actresses:  Angel Bassett and Naomie Harris. Angela looks more than good for her age making her idea for the role, but Naomie fits her better in every other possible way.

  

from Google search- kissrichmond.com | from Google search- www.hellomagazine.com

When I think of Mira, from both the first book and the second, I think of Superwoman by Alicia Keys. (click here to watch the video)

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Tori (Victoria)- She is a new character to the series and pretty much the heroine of this installment. She is Mira’s daughter, but there’s more to that story than I’m currently willing to giveaway. Needless to say, they don’t really look alike. Tori is also human. She sounds nice and sweet, which she is for the most part, but later on it becomes clear why her name means “victory”. For her I picture someone like either of the Mowry Twins (more Tia Mowry-Hardrict) or Sydney Tamiia Poitier.

 

from Google search- www.eurweb.com | from Google search- www.fanphobia.net 

When I think of Tori, I think of Fighter by Christina Aguilera.

(click here to watch the video)

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Sheldon– He is also a new character to the series, and is by far, the saddest character in my story simply because of who he is. He’s a pale prepubescent boy with pointed ears, a tail, and an inability to grow up. He is G/B’s son and also a supernatural being, in case that wasn’t clear. For him I might also go with an unknown simply because kids grow up so quickly. When I think Sheldon, I think compare him more to other child characters. I guess for him, I could image some actors when they were younger, such as: Ernie Reyes Jr., Dante Basco, and Noah Hathaway.

  thelastdragontribute.tumblr.com | rufiozuko.tumblr.com | hermes-trismeg.blogspot.com

When I think of Sheldon, the song Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve comes to mind. (click here to watch the video)

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The next few characters I won’t spend so much time on because I could just keep going on for days and pages. These are secondary characters who are vital to the overall story.

Jack– He is new to the series and is another human who is up in age, though he hasn’t aged so gracefully. However, he is strong and physically fit from never faltering on an active military-like lifestyle.  For him I image someone like, Stephen Lang.

Google search- screencritix.com

Lilly– She is also human but is a returning character to the series. When my readers first meet her she is a young child, but in the second story she is a simple elderly woman of Asian descent.  For her I imagine someone like Amy Hill.

from Google search- www.asiansonfilm.com

Michael (Michelangelo)- He is another human and new character to the series and just happens to be crazy about Tori. For him I image pretty much any young, tall, blond actor. For now I’ll go for Colton Haynes with a dye job.

from Google search- instinctmagazine.com

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Up top are the major players, but I have so many more worth mentioning, but I’ll only throw in a few.

Fred– He’s a supernatural character who is new to the series. He’s tall, dark-skinned, and nice looking from the front, but from behind has a spine lined with spikes. His knees and elbows are also spiky.

Ester– She is a very important supernatural character who is also new to the series. She is a symbol and representation of purity; for that reason her skin is white like marble. She is completely hairless; yes that means she’d bald, but she still exudes femininity.

Iris– He is also new to the series and is a supernatural character. He’s a very serious character and a leader. He’s very tall and muscular and looks like a tar statue. His skin is actually black as tar.

Marcos– This is the same villain from the first book. Just as in the first story, Marcos remains a hideous troll, the opposite of his once beautiful self. In this story however, Marcos spends most of his time hidden in the form of his host. He’s uses his host body so that he’ll not have to face the harsh reality of his true appearance.

Ivor– He’s the host for Marcos in this story. He’s an average looking man, but even before he encounters Marcos he is deeply troubled and has a rather menacing look about him. He was once a gypsy.

The overall feel of this second Eternal Curse book makes me think of Uprising by Muse.
(click her to watch the video)

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ECGA coverWhile I’m making efforts to get this manuscript out to some beta readers and lastly into final edits, why not check out the first installment in the Eternal Curse Series to see where all this stared.

Click here or on the image up top to visit more stops on this hop.

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