Percy Jackson and the Olympians (part 2 of 5, The Sea of Monsters)

by The Scholar Reviews

source: Google Images

A year has past, and Percy and Company are back with more demigod shenanigans. The second installment of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Sea of Monsters improves some of the issues that the first book had, and is my personal favourite of the series. Similar to last time I reviewed The Lightning Thief, this will be a spoiler free review of the general plot and the book itself, and briefly touching on the changes in the main character, Percy. If you haven’t read Part 1 of this review series, I suggest you do, as this review will be doing some comparisons. Without further ado, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters.

Like its predecessor, Sea of Monsters is a rather old book, but it is still fairly easy to find. The paperback edition is $8.09 and available both online and in stores. It is available for the same price on Amazon, and the audiobook is available for $30.60 with a running time of about 8 hours.

I still do not suggest that readers of this series purchase or listen to the audiobook, as the narrator did not change from the last book and still does a sub-par performance, although it is not as monotone as the first book. I have read the entire series in paper format and suggest if you enjoy Rick Riordan’s writing, take a similar approach. Sea of Monsters is a solid continuation of The Lightning Thief, one year has passed, and the characters have changed and developed accordingly.

Plot-wise, Sea of Monsters is very similar to that of Jason and the Golden Fleece from greek myth. The Golden Fleece actually plays a rather large part in the story, as the magical defence around Camp Half-Blood (the demigod camp) is fading because the source of it’s power, a tree grown from the body of a daughter of Zeus, is dying. This plot ties into the overarching narrative, but the subplots are what really makes this book my favourite in the series. Firstly, the book is a rescue mission. Percy’s best friend, a satyr named Grover, has been captured by a cyclops in the Sea of Monsters (aka the Bermuda triangle) and Percy, Annabeth, and a new character named Tyson, team up to save him. This involves sneaking out on the quest they weren’t supposed to go on, and messing up pretty much everything in the process.

Percy, as a character, has developed and changed since the last book. He is older, although this does not affect his goofy, wisecracking attitude. He is also more adapted to being a demigod, and is more comfortable with who he is. Other than that, the character hasn’t really changed all that much.

In conclusion, Sea of Monsters is a strong second installment in a strong series. It develops already existing characters and storylines, but also has it’s own identity within the series. It has Riordan’s hilarious punchy writing, and is overall a good read. I rate this book 8/10 for it’s creativity and awesome ending, which I will not spoil for first time readers. If you enjoy Riordan's writing, I suggest his new series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. The series is brand new, and is similar to Percy Jackson in tone, unlike some of his other work. Also, this review series gets a new installment once every three weeks, so stay on the lookout.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E

by The Scholar Reviews

This review is going to be different and short. Just a heads up.

The Movie Poster

An American, a Russian, and a German walk into a party, and proceed to be the worst spies known to mankind. This is basically the plot of The Man from U.N.C.L.E, a summer movie that unfortunately, didn’t get the appreciation it deserved. I love this movie with a fiery passion, and it has quickly become one of my all time favourite films. This review is going to be a little different, covering more about the movie itself then where to find it, because as of yet it hasn’t been released. So flip a table and get on your moped, and let’s get started.

This movie is an adaptation of the tv show of the same name, and as someone who has only seen one episode of the original source material, I can’t really vouch for its faithfulness to the original. What I can vouch for however is that you don’t have to have seen the show to get what’s going on in the movie, as the movie functions as a “pre-sequel”. Directed by Guy Ritchie, director of the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies (some of my other all time favourite movies) and his style is pretty fantastic. The tone of the movie flips flawlessly from light-hearted comedy, to intense action, to gut-wrenching emotion and back again. The pacing of the movie is also great, I never found it to be slow or boring. Never a dull moment in this movie, that can be assured.

The plot of Man from U.N.C.L.E is rather common in spy flicks, but again they pull it off so well one wouldn’t know the difference. This particular movie uses the “Spies who hate each other are forced together to defeat a common enemy, and eventually form a grudging respect for each other” plot. It can tend to stick to this plot to a T, but it does it in a fresh funny way. That’s all I can say really without entering spoiler territory, so let's move on.

There are three main characters in this movie, Napoleon Solo, Illya Kuryakin, and Gaby Teller. To keep it short I’m going to sum them up in just a few sentences. Napoleon (or Cowboy as Illya calls him) is the stereotypical spy guy. He’s a smart mouth, and it drives his partners crazy. Illya (or Peril as Napoleon calls him) is a Russian with anger issues. Don’t touch his watch if you value your life.  Gaby is the sensible one, and the only one who can get her job done.

I have one thing to tell you about my personal views. Watch it. Just watch it. I don’t care if you don’t like spy movies, watch it. It’s so good and so well done, I’m sad not many people saw it in theatres. So really, go watch it when it comes out.

Diabolik Lovers

by Lily Zhang (edited by The Scholar Reviews)

The Diabolik Lovers anime series was made in 2013. It is based off of an Otome game called Diabolik Lovers ~Haunted Dark Bridal~ and a manga of the same name. The main character is a girl named Komori Yui. She is left by her father to give to vampires as a bride, but they cannot harm her. The six Sakamaki brothers names are Shu ,the oldest brother, the second eldest son Reiji, the third son Ayato, the fourth son Kanato, the fifth son Raito, and the sixth son Subaru. You can search on YouTube or Crunchyroll to watch the series . You can buy the books on Amazon at  the price of $5.00. Or you can buy the DVDs for $ 26.98.

I think this is a awesome tv series! It's about romance and murder/mystery, it mixes it all together and it makes you want to find out more about what the brothers are going to do next, as well as what Komori will do next. Is Komori really going escape this horror house? Or are the brothers going to find her and slash her down.

This is about a girl named Komori Yui. She is a regular 17 year old devoted Christian girl, until one day her dad tells her to go to the Sakamaki brothers house where she lives and obeys by their rules. The brothers will stop at nothing to obtain their strongest desire, Komori’s blood, even if it means imprisoning her forever. If she tries to run away they will find her and bring her back to her room and make her think about what she did, or suck her blood until she faints.

The characters in the story are Shu, Reiji, Ayato, Kanato, Raito, Subaru, and Komori Yui. Yui’s personality is shy,submissive and obedient if forced. Since this anime was based off an otome game, she dosen’t change or grow as a character, but acts as the “Bella Swan” character. Shu is very laid back, relaxed, cool guy. Reiji is very serious always wants to do better then eldest son Shu, acts like he's the oldest makes everybody listen to him, but most of them listen to the oldest brother. Ayato is very cheeky mischievous and surprising. Kanato is very kind, sweet acts like the youngest child like he will never grow up always carries his teddy around kind of twisted when he gets mad it's like he turned into Satan. Raito is the lustful type of guy and calls Komori little all the time. Subaru always acts cool even though he's the youngest and he gets really aggressive when people speak over top of him.

I think that this is a great series and everyone should watch it. It has good characters, and an interesting plot. It’s a fun, scary series that’s perfect for Halloween. A word of warning however, as the amine is 14+ and may disturb some more faint-hearted viewers. There is also a new season, Diabolik Lovers More, Blood, airing currently, so if the show interests you, there is more content on the way.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (part 1 of 5, The Lightning Thief)

by The Scholar Reviews

source: Google Images

Greek Gods, a twelve year old hero tasked with the quest of returning a godly weapon, and the most entertaining chapter titles known to mankind. This is about the only way I can describe the entertaining first installment to an extremely entertaining series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This review will be a spoiler free discussion of the book’s general info and availability, characters, and the basic plot. So hop on board a pegasus, grab some ambrosia and nectar, and let’s dive in.

The Lightning Thief is a fairly old book, about 9 years in fact, but it is still easy enough to find. The paperback edition from Indigo is $7.99 and the Kobo edition is $8.09, at a length of 375 pages. The audiobook on Audible is $31.93 without membership and $23.35 or one credit if a member.

I would not recommend first time readers purchase the audiobook version of the book, as the narrators of both the unabridged and abridged editions, Jesse Bernstein and Walter Lewis respectively, are rather uninspired and mediocre in their performances and may turn less steadfast listeners away. Personally I read the book on my eReader and I can say with utmost confidence that the writing is fantastic. The pace is great, a little slow at the beginning perhaps, but it makes up for it with high adventure, stellar characters, and uproarious humour. The jokes in this book are very funny, in a sarcastic way. Some of my favourites are the chapter titles, ex. I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher (chapter one) and I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom (chapter six). These may seem strange out of context, but if you read the book, they tend to cause uproarious laughter, at least they do in my case.

The plot of The Lightning Thief is similar to that of a Greek myth, which is appropriate as the series draws heavily on greek mythology. It uses the “test and quest” method of storytelling, in this case the main character Percy is thrown headlong into a world he thought only existed in stories, and is tasked with returning Zeus’s lightning bolt by the summer solstice, with the help of another demigod and a satyr. They travel across the continental US looking for the bolt and finding a series of clues, encountering many famous monsters along the way. The book's plot is fairly simple, as it is the opening to a series as well at being written for slightly younger audiences. This may turn off some readers, but I suggest patience as the main series plot isn’t revealed until the end of this book.

Our protagonist is the titular character of the series, Percy. He is goofy and lovable, with a sharp wit and some interesting traits that I can’t really talk about because this review is spoiler free. Percy is also the narrator of the book and his dry humour and sometimes silly take on things really light up the book’s narration. Other than that he fits into the “chosen hero” archetype, but is far from being perfect as opposed to the main characters of most YA fiction.

In conclusion, Percy Jackson is not for everyone. If you are a reader that enjoys mythology and classic adventure stories, then this is the book for you. If you’re not that kind of reader, then I suggest you give this series a skip, or try some other books by Rick Riordan. My recommendation would be the Kane Chronicles because it’s written for older audiences and has less of the “test and quest” formula seen in the Percy Jackson series. Overall, this book scores a 6.5/10 for me, as it is a good opening to a better series. Stay on the lookout as I plan to review the entire series.

Ready Player One

by The Scholar Reviews

A video game that allows the player to escape reality. A puzzle to be solved, and literally every 80’s reference that the author could scrounge up. This is the premise of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This is a spoiler free review of the basic plot, characters, and book in general, as well as what I thought about it. So without further ado, let’s dive in.

(source: Audible.com)

Ready Player One is not currently available in paper format, but it is available as an eBook (specifically for the Kobo platform) for $11.99. It is also available as an Audible audiobook, for $31.50 if not a member and $22.05 or 1 credit if a member. The audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton (one of my favourite narrators) and is 15 hours and 46 minutes long.Unlike the last book I reviewed, it is both harder to find and more expensive,possibly because of it’s length.

Once again, I listened to this book on Audible. The narration is top notch, done by one of my favourite narrators. Wil Wheaton is very good at description and making the world he’s describing seem real, and although his characters tend to sound similar, he does an all around good job. This book is written in first person from the eyes of the protagonist, a character named Wade, and has a fairly decent pace. There are a few issues however, as the plot does not really kick in until an eighth of the way through the book. The narrative is put on hold until all the backstory is explained when some of the information the author gives the reader could be put somewhere other than the beginning. Also, there is the aforementioned issue of the author sometimes just listing 80’s references, trying to include every detail of pop culture from the era. This weighs down the book tremendously, and could be done without.

The plot of Ready Player One is, once it gets started, about a virtual reality game called “the Oasis” The real world of the book is on its way to an apocalypse, and the world in general has willingly lost intrest in it, in favour of the Oasis. The story starts when the creator of the Oasis dies, leaving behind a contest as his will. The person who wins the contest wins the creators wealth, as well as the Oasis itself. This plot is okay, but it is kind of flat, without much dimension or development, in favour of the aforementioned listing of 80’s pop culture. I personally would have liked to see a little more focus on the plot, and perhaps a better sense of pacing from the narrative (as mentioned before it tends to drag)

Wade Watts, also known as Parzival in the Oasis, is the main character. He is, again, alright, but is a bit of an unrealistic character. The character has no social life, instead turning to the 80’s for entertainment and purpose. He reads like an adult video game nerd living in his Mom’s basement, and that is really his only character trait. He also exhibits symptoms of what I like to call “Main Character Syndrome” basically what that means is he’s a very stereotypical “chosen one” character, who can magic his way out of any situation. All in all, he is similar to the narrative, okay, but lacking true detail and depth.

My personal opinion on this book can be summed up as “...Meh”. The book is pretty okay, but definitely not for everyone. There are some glaring flaws in its narrative, characters, and overall execution. If you are the kind of reader who really loves Sci-Fi, and isn’t turned off by a book that drags its heels a bit, then I would completely recommend it to you. Overall, this book scores 8/10, but anyone who wants to read it should try it themselves.

Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore

by The Scholar Reviews

(source: Indigo.com)

“Lost in the shadows of the shelves, I almost fall off the ladder.” These are the words that open up my all-time favourite book, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan. This book is a masterpiece, well written with an excellent storyline and characters. The following review will go over basic information about the story and characters as well as where the book can be purchased and my personal thoughts on it. So without further ado, let us dive in.

Mr. Penumbra is not a difficult book to find. It is available in a variety of formats and prices. It is available on the Kindle ($9.99) and at Indigo and Chapters ($16.99 in store and $10.19 online) It is also available on Audible ($17 if not a member and $11.90 or 1 Credit if a member) The book is 304 pages long, and the audiobook (narrated by Ari Fliakos) is 7 hours and 41 minutes long.

I first encountered this book in its audiobook format, and immediately fell in love with it. This book is meant to be read aloud. Ari Fliakos does an incredible job with his narration, bringing the world of the book alive with his voice. It is written in first person, and consequently  there is an interesting rhythm to the book's pacing, often building in speed and intensity and then dropping abruptly as the protagonist reconnects with the real world and drops out of his inner monologue. The writing itself is similar to the way a person would talk to a good friend. It’s casual, often referring to itself as if the book doubts what it is telling you is true or accurate.

The basic plot of this book is fairly simple, but it is executed in such a fabulous way that it becomes something else entirely. The main character, Clay Janen, has recently lost his job as a web-designer due to The Great Recession, and following a series of coincidences, becomes a clerk at quite possibly the strangest bookstore in San Francisco. This bookstore is frequented by a group of strange, elderly people who periodically “check out” impossibly obscure books. As Clay tries to untangle the web of secrets surrounding the bookstore, he falls headlong into a mystery that takes him far beyond the walls of the bookstore.

Part of the reason the book is so enthralling is the colourful cast of characters that populate its world. Clay is the protagonist and narrator of the story. He is by all definitions of the word, a nerd. He enjoys video games and books, and even plays a blatant copyright-skirting ripoff of Dungeons and Dragons. The character is very enjoyable, and his view of the world often bleeds through in his narration.

My personal opinions on this book are pretty clear. I absolutely 100% adore this book. It’s quirky, well written, and extremely entertaining, with great characters and a fantastic plot. If I had to come up with a criticism it would probably be that the book’s transitions could use a little work. It was originally a short story, and the transition from the end of that story to the rest of the book is a touch sudden. But other then that, this book scores 10/10.