Move over Ariel, Emma is taking the spotlight in this fish-out-of-water tale. In the sequel to Of Poseidon, Emma has a lot to deal with, between the revelation that her mother is the long thought dead princess of the Poseidon kingdom who is fighting to not go back, and the fact that her being a Half-Breed is preventing her and Galen, a Triton prince, from being together, she has a busy Senior year ahead of her. Her problems escalate, however, when a fake Poseidon heir takes the throne, and a group of Syrenas start plotting to overthrow the Royals. It looks like everyone Emma cares about may be taken away from her, while she is forbidden from the water for fear of her life. Emma must now decide who she is--a do nothing Half-Breed or a Syrena Royal-- which will determine the fate of the underwater civilizations forever.
Between the recent vampire and zombie fads, it is extremely refreshing to have a series about another major part of mythology that has been in existence longer than either of the aforementioned combined. Between the popularity of The Little Mermaid and the not so positive stories of the sirens from The Odyssey, there appears at first glance that there is not much left to discuss about merpeople. Banks comes out of the blue, however, with a wonderful story about the Syrena and what occurs when a half human half Syrena is born.
The original book, Of Poseidon, did a fantastic job of setting up the story, of explaining the differences between it and other mermaid tales, while this sequel focuses on what happens when the underwater government starts to lose power . . . and how a merman and a human will ever work out romantic wise.
With it being told from sassy Emma and brave Galen's point of views, Of Triton is a great second book to the retelling of the mermaid story that audiences will come to love.
Sincerely,
The Night Owl
In the third book in the Across the Universe trilogy, more than half of the inhabitants of Godspeed finally reach their destination that has taken five centuries to get to: Centauri-Earth. There, Amy and Elder hope to succeed with two things: Amy hopes to finally wake the other Sol-Earth beings--including her parents--from their frozen slumber and prove to everyone that they are not there to harm them, while Elder is hoping his people will settle the new world, and find it to be better than living on the doomed Godspeed. But from the moment they land, danger and trouble plague the young leader and his girlfriend. Carnivorous monsters lurk in the woods, waiting to make a meal out of the humans, and the newly awakened military and scientists are only focused on their mission, and not the frightened civilians around them. Secrets abound between these two sides that further complicates the settling, and when Amy and Elder suspect they're not alone on the planet, they have to uncover what is being hidden in order to ever have the chance of calling this foreign world home.
As her first sci-fi series, Beth Revis does a fantastic job of creating an entire new world filled with plants and creatures that can be easily imagined by her descriptions. She also makes the scientific side of this book comprehensible and enjoyable, adding to the advancement that has taken place in this futuristic story.
One thing that Revis has never been shy about using is shock factors; in each of her books, she is not hesitant to add something that will blind-side the reader and make them flabbergasted. She continues this tradition in Shades of Earth, adding cringe-worthy moments and revelations causing the characters and readers much pain and discomfort. Concerning her characters, Revis is unafraid to have them meet an unfortunate end, and also have them act certain ways that does not put them in the best light. Though some might see these negative characteristics as a turn off, it adds to Amy, Elder, and the rest showing that even in the future they face challenges like we do today.
Shades of Earth was a wonderful read, and a great way to end the series. Perhaps the only problem about it is the ending: it doesn't go into enough detail about the colonists and what ever happens with them, or about the future of Amy and Elder's relationship. It almost feels like a cliff hanger, however it definitely isn't, though it does beg the question, "What happens next?" Although a fourth book is unnecessary, what Revis might consider doing is writing a novella about Amy and Elder a few years after this book. However, Revis has set the end of the book in such a way that if she decided to do a fourth book or a spin-off series, it would work out very well and hopefully squelch our curiosity.
Beth Revis has certainly created a fan base for her work, and Shades of Earth is a terrific way to finish her debut series.
Sincerely,
The Night Owl
We can never escape history. It's presence in our lives will never vanish, whether it be from the past few centuries or the past few millennia, in our country or in another. Thus we return to Camp Half-Blood, an ancient Greek hero training camp set in modern day New York, for the next installment in the Percy Jackson series:The Sea of Monsters. Percy returns to camp with the rest of his demigod comrades, feeling the success of his first quest diminish as he continuously fails at camp activities against Clarisse, daughter of Ares. Believing that he accomplished his first quest on beginner's luck, he attempts to contact his father Poseidon for guidance, and when his father still seems absent Percy begins to lose faith. When the camp is attacked by monsters, however, Percy must fight his doubt to help save Camp Half-Blood from the son of Hermes, Luke, who is bent on taking over Olympus. Now teamed up with his friends Annabeth and Grover and also with his newly discovered Cyclops half-brother Tyson, Percy must journey into the Sea of Monsters in order to find a way to save his home, and face his most challenging opponent yet.
While the books are very popular to consumers, the first film The Lightning Thief did not have an impressive US run at the box office. In fact, the only reason a sequel was made was because the first movie did very well overseas. Though many were unimpressed by The Lightning Thief, it did possess one thing that this film sorely lacks: Greek mythology.What's brilliant about this story, created by author Rick Riordan, is that it is the myths that are still studied and discussed today set in our modern times with characters and situations that allow today's generation to understand and appreciate Greek myths. The first movie incorporated this with the presence of Medusa in a statue store, the presence of a hydra at the Parthenon in Tennessee, the lair of the lotus eaters in a Vegas hotel, and the entrance to the Underworld located in Hollywood. These myth tie-ins, along with many others, kept the film grounded in the mythological theme.
Now we turn to Sea of Monsters. Due to the extreme lack of Greek references, and the few that are present being seriously doused out with the modern world, it's extremely difficult to remember that this isn't just some sci-fi, but is actually supposed to be Greek myths. Only one god ever makes an appearance (if you count Mr. D then it's two, however, since it's never mentioned clearly enough who he is, those who have not read the books are going to be lost), and the one god who is present mirrors nothing of his Greek self, and just seems to be a very talented magician.
The Sea of Monsters itself is very under whelming also. While the book describes monster after monster, only two ever make an appearance. One being Polyphemus the cyclops who lives on his island, which is completely opposite of what the book describes that one must wonder who came up with the idea to add so many unnecessary features, and take away from what was depicted in the greatest Greek legend of all, The Odyssey.
If an audience member has not read the book, then there are many references that they are going to miss in the movie, many of which would help clear things up in the plot. For those audience members who have read the books, they're jaws are going to drop in horrid shock and wonder "What in hades happened?!"
What's probably the saddest part of all, is that the opening scene was the best part in the movie. Filled with amazing demigod action, emotion, and hilarity, it gives the false hope that the film will surpass it's predecessor and make a successful film series based off the books. By the end, however, it appears as if the creators decided to chuck the rest of the series into this one movie and quickly finish it off . . . but then they don't, as if they changed their minds.
If Fox dares to make The Titan's Curse into a movie, then gods help them, because Zeus will fry them with a lightning bolt if they cough out another one like this.
Sincerely,
The Night Owl
Not many authors possess the bragging rights of having a book series that just gets better and better with each book; Meg Cabot is one of those authors. In the final book of her Abandon series, Pierce Oliviera is getting used to her new life in the Underworld with its ruler (and her boyfriend) John. Things begin to calm down, and she attempts to help rule the Underworld as John's consort, all while keeping an eye on her recently deceased then revived cousin Alex, and all too adaptable best friend Kayla, while also watching out for attacking Furies bent on not only punishing John but also killing her. Her and John's relationship seem to be improving, but a horrific tragedy turns Pierce's world upside down, forcing her to go once again to the surface in order to save what's most important to her. But she's on a deadline. If she is unable to bring balance to the Underworld, the souls of those departed will over flow and spill out into Isla Huesos and out into the rest of the world. Pierce must now take on her duties as queen and not only save her family and friends, but also repair her dark kingdom. Who said dating the lord of the dead was going to be easy?
Cabot possesses the unique ability to create one-of-a-kind stories, and continue to build them up--story, character, theme--and bring it to the ultimate climax and ending. For Awaken, the story is well paced, and she forgets nothing as she brings the story to a close. Awaken is definitely the best book of the trilogy, including all the characters Cabot first introduced in the previous two books, and also introduces new characters, easily tying them into the storyline in a way that they're not thrust onto the reader, but instead feel as if they have always been there.
Another uncanny gift Cabot takes advantage of is her ability to add comedy to even the most stark situations; what other book that focuses on death can make your sides hurt from laughter. Wit has always been a constant style of Meg Cabot, and even with a book that takes place in the Underworld, she is still able to incorporate it in a tasteful manner.
Loaded with action, humor, romance, and suspense, Awaken is not only a fantastic end to the Abandon trilogy (which in itself was a wonderful modern, retelling of the Persephone myth) , but possibly one of Meg Cabot's finest pieces of work.
Sincerely,
The Night Owl
As a one dollar birthday card once read, "just like fine wine, you grow better with the years." Just like that wine, CIA operatives are the same way as can be seen in the recently released film Red 2. The Retired Extremely Dangerous crew is back with extreme action and hilarity all mixed into a two hour movie. Frank (Bruce Willis) is attempting a mission that not one of his fellow ex-CIA agents have ever accomplished: living a "normal" life with his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). This dream is short lived, however, when an agent from a top secret branch of the FBI, MI6, and the Russian military all set their eyes on Frank and a missing advanced nuclear bomb they believe he was involved with hiding during the Cold War. Now he is forced back into the game (much to the delight of Sarah) along with his ever suspicious friend Marvin (John Malkovich) and weapon wheeling specialist Victoria (Helen Mirren). Between running from the FBI and MI6, dodging bullets from the world's top hit man (Byung-hun Lee) with a personnel score to settle, and an ex from the Russian government (Catherine Zeta-Jones), will Frank be able to save millions of people, improve his relationship with Sarah, and still aim towards a normal life? Perhaps this agent has finally met his match.
What was interesting about the first Red movie, was that it was not expected for there to be any realistic matches between retired agents and current trained operatives. And when it came to chase scenes (yeah it was cool when Frank easily stepped out of a speeding car shooting his gun perfectly, but realistically?) the audience was willing to bend their beliefs if for a short time. The same view is expected when going to see Red 2. The fight scenes are more impossible, the car scenes more ridiculous, and the amount of laws broken yet there being no consequences? Yep. It's definitely all doubled for this one. But there are a few movies that it's alright to do those things. Due to the comedic aspect of this film, it is okay to see Victoria shooting two guns out of different windows and hitting her targets all while the speeding car she is in skids sideways. If that was not in the movie, along with other similar improbable scenes, Red 2 would never have been able to be called an excellent sequel to the first one, which it certainly is.
This laughter driven action flick is a wonderful continuation of the Red franchise, bringing a once popular comic book story line out of obscurity and putting it back in the lime-light where it belongs.
Sincerely,
The Night Owl
