Two months ago we brought you the FIRST look at the teaser trailer for the upcoming movie “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”. Today, we are pleased to bring you the SECOND, longer trailer for the movie based on Rick Riordan’s series. Enjoy!

Tags: Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Trailer, Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

Reviewer’s Note: This review first appeared on this site in June, 2007. Enjoy.

Wow. What a book!

Oh, you wanted more? Ok, here it is. Ender’s Game, written by Orson Scott Card is far and away the best Science Fiction book I have read.

Ever.

Even better than the book most often held up as the pinnacle of Sci-Fi, Herbert’s Dune.

Ender’s Game tells the story of young Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, the child of parents who are never named, who just go by Father and Mother. A “Third” child, uncommon in a world concerned with population control, Ender has had a monitor attached to the back of his neck since he can remember — a monitor that allows his every senses to be monitored every moment of his life by the International Fleet (IF), in the hope that the IF can determine if he is the one that they’ve been waiting for. An older brother, Peter, and a sister, Valentine, had both also been monitored, but both had been eliminated: Peter for being too heartless and agressive, and Valentine for being too caring and feeling. The IF had hoped that Ender would be a middle ground, and succeed where his siblings had failed. Then, one day when Ender is six, his monitor is removed. The Ender experiment had failed.

Until an IF officer by the name of Graff shows up at Ender’s door to tell Ender and his family that the experiment had not failed, that the removal of the monitor had simply been the next step. The following step is the transfer of Ender to Combat School, where Ender is to train to become an officer in the IF.

From the beginning, Ender is purposely isolated from his peers. If he develops any friendships, either he or his friend(s) are immediately transferred. Ender is also purposely treated as a “teacher’s pet”, to further increase his isolation from his peers. When they are not in classrooms (and little is said about classrooms), Combat School consists of, well, combat. Each student (ranging in ages from 6 to about 13) is placed in armies, and each army is constantly pitted against each other in zero-gravity simulators. They are being trained to be soldiers. Cold, calculating, efficient soldiers.

Throughout Ender’s story, we are given hints of the reason why Earth needs soldiers and commanders: many years ago, Earth was in an interstellar war with aliens described roughly resembling giant ants. “Buggers” they are called. Then, Earth was involved in defending itself from a second invasion from the buggers. Completely outnumbered, and with all hope lost, Earth was saved at the last minute by the brilliant tactics of the legendary Mazer Rackham. But that was many years ago. Earth needed a new savior. Earth needed Ender.

Ender advances through Combat School at unprecedented speed, all the time wondering if the people he knew were really his friends, or just doing their job. He slowly grows harder and colder, and becomes a masterful leader of people. He becomes everything they were hoping for. And he’s only 11.

The ending is fast, furious, and troubling. What price does the savior of humanity pay to become the man he needs to be to complete his mission? How will mankind react to a child who can kill and kill and kill? All these questions find answers in Card’s masterpiece. I strongly recommend you find this book, and discover these answers yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Tags: Ender, Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, SciFi

I know I’m doing it backwards, but I have a deep-seated need to post! I wish I wasn’t neglecting NeoLibrarium like this because as crazy as my life as been, reading is usually one of my “sane” activities. Yet, since my weekdays are full of work and school and my weekends are full of homework (and playing GW to work off stress/agression) I seem to read only snatches at a time and even then I’m reading over older, more familiar books just for the comfort of them.
For my Western Literary Tradition class we’re supposed to read Genesis. Yes, that Genesis. First book of the Bible Genesis. I will certainly re-read it, but I’m happy to say that it won’t be too difficult for me because – thanks to sermons, Sunday school, and independent reading – I’m pretty familiar with Genesis.
Genesis, taken as literature can be a bit much to slog through all by itself. Genesis taken as the first book in a series, however, might catch your interest. If you’re familiar with the stories then they’re even more interesting when you start to consider them from a scholarly point of view. I have a few things I feel the need to point out.
First, Genesis isn’t just the first book of the bible, but it is a book of firsts. The first man, the first woman, the first time God speaks to man, the first time man experiences sin, the first murder, the first marriage, the first death – ever – and so on. It’s mind-boggling, really.

Secondly, Genesis contains several diverse stories and yet they are all connected by a single theme. Not only that, but these stories take place not just years, but lifetimes apart. Adam and Eve did not sit back and drink a cup of coffee with Abram and Sarai. Lot didn’t chat with Cain about ambition. Noah didn’t warn Lot about how survivor’s guilt (or whatever it was) can make you do really stupid things, like get falling-down drunk and sleep naked. Yet all these stories are connected, each of the people has something in common with someone who came before, and then they all have their own relationship with God. A soap opera could not match the interrelatedness and complicated relationship in Genesis, let alone the rest of the bible.

Third, everything – and I do mean everything – in the Old Testament points toward the New Testament. Man is tested by being asked to sacrifice his only son, but his son is spared. God actually does sacrifice His only Son – and being God, He knew that was coming. There’s a connection to be made their about Faith and Love in the relationships between mankind and God.

Fourthly (I hope that’s a word), Genesis lays the groundwork for humanity. Most of the “hiccups” in society can be spotted in Genesis – and if not there, believe me, it appears elsewhere in the Bible. Most of the roadblocks people face in life, and faith, appear in Genesis. More importantly, you get to read God in direct communication with men. So hey, forget the WWJD craze, just look up Genesis and you can find what God would say, or maybe ponder what answer you would get if you said, “Hey, um, God? What would happen if…?” (Not touching the eye-for-an-eye thing you crazy people.)

Lastly, if you read Genesis and don’t at least feel curious to know more then you probably just did all that with a closed mind. I’ve encountered that attitude towards Chrisitanity, and the Bible by association. We’re not the only ones that can be stubborn and full of ourselves. o.o

Anyway…I’m looking forward to looking over Genesis again. It’ll be interesting to see what questions/points/etc get raised when we discuss this in class. As always, I’ll do my best not to call everyone unbelieving devil-worshippers when they start saying it’s all just a metaphor.

(For those of you who don’t know me, I am just kidding when I say that. I’ve never said that to anyone.)

I’m pretty sure I must have reviewed this at some time in the past because I got it from the stores brand-new – which is something I only do when I’m really obsessively looking forward to a book. I picked it up the other day because I had only read it once since buying it (blasphemy!) and I wanted some comfort reading to de-stress.
On the second reading I noticed a few things that I may not have given much attention to the first time around. The first thing is that even though the story is really focused on a different pair of characters, characters from the Black Jewels Trilogy (and the anthology Dreams Made Flesh) appear much more often than you would think. Like the trilogy that initially introduced readers to this particular universe/world/society, the story is divided into sections by characters and/or the place where the action is taking place – though the division is more by chapter. This makes life interesting because it means that if you’re a good reader you won’t flip ahead and you have to wait to find out what happens next to certain characters.
I also have to say, despite wanting to see more of Lady Cassidy’s story, I was giddy to see the original Black Jewels characters again because they are so much fun.
Lady Cassidy is also a great character, as are Theron and Gray – the other primary characters of the story as a whole.
Cassidy is a Rose-Jeweled Queen. This means that she is a “lighter-Jeweled” witch, indicating that her well of reserve power is not as deep or as potent as someone whose Jewels are farther down in the spectrum. However, being born into the caste of Queen means she is a member of the ruling class in her matriarchal society.
Theron is a rogue Green-Jeweled Warlord Prince. This means that his power is much more potent, and his well much deeper than Lady Cassidy’s. His land has been torn by war and there are no good Queens old enough and experienced enough in the Old Ways of the Blood to rule. And a Queen must rule because all males – and especially a Warlord Prince – feel the instinctual need and desire to serve. It’s something that protects the women in society when they are vulnerable, and also holds the social structure together. Theron’s being a Warlord Prince means that Theron is a law unto himself, and his social caste is both a long step up from a Prince or Warlord, but a long step below a Queen. Being a rogue means that Theron has never served in a Queen’s court, so he has little experience with Protocol – the every day give-and-take between a Queen, her court, and the people ruled by them. Theron does know, however, that he must pledge himself to the new Queen in order to help heal the land and care for his people.
So, Theron goes to the fabled Shadow Realm to beg a favor from a man that knew his ancestors in order to find a suitable Queen.
He wants someone with dazzle, with flash and glitter, who can bring the stronger men in his Territory into her court and form them into a cohesive unit.
What he gets is Cassidy – red-haired, freckled, tall, and big-boned. A light-Jeweled Queen who just lost her court. What he doesn’t realize is that Cassie is also trained well in Protocol and the Old Ways of the Blood. She is a good Queen, fiercely loyal, protective of the land and her new people, honest, strong-willed, just…and possessor of a formidable temper.
Gray is a Warlord Prince who was captured and tortured by the twisted Queens that ruled before the war. He was only 15 at the time of his capture, and when he was rescued at 17 he was broken in mind and body. Since then he has lived exclusively with the rogues, cared for by his cousin Theran and the Sapphire-Jeweled Warlord Prince Talon.
When Theron moves back to Grayhaven – the family’s old estate – to offer his home and service to the new Queen, Gray decides to follow. Once there, they find that Gray is unable to even enter the house because it was the place he was taken and tortured by the old Queen. So, he lives in the garden’s shed.
When he runs into the new Queen, Cassidy, he realizes that she is different. She is not cruel, like the old Queen. She will not hurt him. He has never seen red hair, freckles, or hazel eyes. To him, she is exotic and beautiful, and kind. He sees her love for the land and recognizes a good Queen.
He also realizes that he is not whole enough to offer himself for service in her court, or as a companion. So he decides that he must learn to change. It means he will risk hurting himself both emotionally, and physically. It also means he could become the man he was meant to be before he was captured.
Theron, Gray, and all of the new Queen’s court must learn not only the Old Ways, must not just learn Protocol, but must relearn what it really means to be Blood. What it really means to be a Warlord, or a Prince, or a Warlord Prince, and how they all fit into the society that holds them all together. Cassidy also has to learn. She has to evaluate her true purpose in ruling, how to deal with the men who serve her, and how to care for a land whose people were torn apart by savagery and whose society was twisted long before she arrived.
And if all that doesn’t interest you…then just stop reading now because it’s a wonderful story. I’ll grant you that the world can be confusing from the outside, but…if you’ll go to Anne Bishop’s website (there’s a link on the sidebar) you can get a little primer on the Realms of the Blood.
Enjoy!

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