Myth Adventures

---Myth adventures is a book written in 1978 by Robert Lynn Asprin. It is about a apprentice magician Skeeve. Skeeve was a thief and intended to use magik for thievery. Of course, he hadn't hoped on his master summoning a demon and then being killed by an imp assassin while simutaniously killing the imp with fire magik. So now Skeeve views a horrible, green, scaly humaniod figure who...smiles at him and shakes his hand. The demon, which is actually just a nickname for a dimension traveler is named Aahz. He is from the dimension Perv, and frequently called a Pervert, while in actuallity he is a Pervect. So they go on a comical adventure trying to get Aahz's powers back while he teaches Skeeve magik. I reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy and comedy.

With a Single Spell

--Tobas, an apprentice wizard with only one minor fire spell, is having a hard time. His master died, and he accidentally burned down the cottage he had left him as well as every single item inside that was his or his masters. And so, with nothing holding him back, he leaves towards Ethshar (Free Country). He steals a boat and boards a ship that allow him passage for helping the cook. He finally reaches Ethshar of the Spices.
--When he does, he gets forcibly recruited to slay a dragon for one of the small knigdoms and thus his adventure begins. If you are intersted in this book, read it!

Best Books of All Time

These are my personal favorite books/series of all time
1: The Belagariad/Mallorian Series by David Eddings. It has sentimental to me and it is a very good story about a farm-boy named Garion.
2: The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson. It is the best series I have ever read, and I've read a fair number of books. It is about a large array of characters, and I've posted on it before.
3: With a Single Spell by Lawrence Watt-Evans. It is about a young wizard Tobas and presents the purest form of fantasy imaginable.
4: The Annals of the Chosen. It's an interesting story, and it deals with many of the ideas that Lawrence Watt-Evans came up with back in the 80's that are intersting to me...Wizard Lord concept similar ro the Great Vond in the Unwilling Warlord.
5: The Chronicles of Narnia. Simply fun to read, and they do have intersting ideas in them and certain refrences to scripture.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I am starting The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this weekend on the request of a friend, but have no idea what the heck it's about, so I was wondering if any of my regualar viewers have and have any comments? Please comment here or if it's long use my email.

The Ninth Talisman

BOOK TWO: THE NINTH TALISMAN. If you haven't read the previous post, you should probably do that before reading this one.

In the years after Breaker (now called Sword) came back home, the first wizard he ever saw became wizard lord, the Red Wizard, Artil. He is a young man with great vision and desire to make the world a better place. He wants to deft the ler (spirits that are present in everything) and make humanity the dominant power, as oppsosed to appeasing the ler all the time. And oddly enough, he also wants to get rid of magic, this is from the back of the book:
...What if the new Wizard Lord is intent upon ruling without magic...and what if that intention includes the removal of the Chosen?

So there you go. Since Artil was a little boy he always wanted to destroy magic, priesthood, and anything that involves ler period. It's a fairly good addition to the series. There is also a third volume, The Summer Palace, which I will not be posting on, because it is just a continuation of The Ninth Talisman.

The Annals of the Chosen

THE WIZARD LORD: BOOK ONEI suppose that I had best explain the two previous posts, but I haven't had much time lately. So here's the gist of the story

The entire world is kept in delicate balance under the supervision of the Wizard Lord. It is his duty to govern and lightly protect his domain, but if he strays from the way of the just then it is up to the Chosen to intercede.

The Chosen are the Leader, the Seer, the Swordsman, the Beauty, the Theif, The Scholar, the Archer, and the Speaker, magically infused mortal individuals who for the term of their service have only one function-to be available to remove an errant Wizard Lord whether by persuasion or execution.

So our main character is Breaker (he has another name, but saying it openly gives those who hear power over you, thus the nicknames). He is a nineteen or eighteen year old man who is a plain barley farmer, given a nickname for past clumsyness while adapting to his rapidly growing body. Everything is pretty normal, until the Chosen Swordsman shows up, an old man no longer able to fulfill his duty should it happen (A Wizard Lord hasn't gone bad in 100 years). He wants to find an heir. Breaker basicly says 'What the heck, I'm not doing anything better in my life,' and after several days of thinking it over, decides to take up the role.

Of course the book would be pretty boring if the Wizard Lord didn't turn dark, so that's obviously going to happen, but that's just half of the tale.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants simple enjoyment and purest fantasy, not much realism beyond the obvious requirements.

Book Two, the Ninth Talisman will be posted soon.

Ballad of the Chosen (as sung by the children in Winterhome)

From the second book "The Ninth Talisman," incorperates what happened in the last book, "The Wizard Lord."

When day turned dark and shadows fell
Across the broken lands
And madness turned to taloned claws
Our ancient ruler's hands
Then eight were called by whims of fate
To save us from our doom
The Chosen came to guard us all
And lay evil in its tomb

[Chorus] If a Wizard Lord Lord should ever turn
Against the common man
These chosen eight would bring him down
Bring peace to Barokan!

The Leader showed his bold resolve
Confronting every foe
His words would guide the Chosen as
He told them how to go

The seer sought the comrades out
And gathered them to fight
Nor could their foeman hide from her
She has the second sight

(CHORUS)

The Swordsman's blade is swift and sure
His skill is unsurpassed
If any stood against him, then
That stand would be his last

A lovely face the Beuaty has
And shapley legs and arms
She distracted evil men
And lured them with her charms

(CHORUS)

There is no lock nor guarded door
That can stop the Thief
He penatrates the fortress dark
To bring the land relief

Every song and story told
The Scholar knows them all
He knew the wizard's weaknesses
To hasten evil's fall

(CHORUS)
The Archer's missles never miss;
His arrows find their mark
He struck at evil from afar
To drive away the dark

The Speakier harks to evey tongue,
Of stone and beast and man
She found the Dark Lord's secrets out
So no defense could stand

(CHORUS)

When in the Galbek Hills there was
A monster come in human shape
The Swordsman struck the evil down
To save the land from magic rape

And thus the last of evil's spawn
Was driven out of Barokan
Never more will madness come
To trouble Barokan

No new Wizard Lord will turn
Against the common man
These Chosen eight shall keep him wise,
Bring peace to Barokan-
Yes, the Chosen guard us all,
Brought peace to Barokan!

The Ballad of the Chosen

When day turns dark and shadows fall
Across the broken lands
And madness turns to taloned claws
Our gentle rulers hands

Then eight are called by whims of fate
To save us from our doom
The Chosen eight come to guard us all
And lay evil in its tomb

[Chorus]
If a Wizard Lord should turn
Against the common man
These Chosen eight shall bring him down,
Bring peace to Barokan!

The Leader shows his bold resolve
Confronting every foe
His words will guide the Chosen as
He tells them how to go

The Seer seeks the comrades out
And gathers them to fight
Nor can their foeman hide frome him;
He has the second sight

(CHORUS)

The Swordman's blade is swift ans sure
His skill is unsurpassed
If any stands against him, then
That fight shall be their last

A lovely face the Beauty has
and shapley legs and arms
She distracts the evil men
And lures them with her charms

(CHORUS)

There is no lock nor guarded door
That can stop the Thief
He penatrates the fortress dark
To bring the land relief

Every song and stroy told
The Scholar knows them all
He knows the Wizard's weakness
To hasten evil's fall

(CHORUS)

The Archer's missles never miss;
His arrows find their mark
He strikes the evil from afar
To drive away the dark

To Speak harks to every tongue
Of stone and beast and man
He finds the Dark Lord's secrets out
So no defense can stand

If a Wizard Lord should ever turn
Against the common man
These Chosen eight shall bring him down,
Bring peace to Barokan--
Yes, the Cosen guard us all
Bring peace to Barokan!

"Remember," said Ender, "The Enemies' gate is down."

---So says Ender, a child, starting at age 6, who is destined to save Earth. Written by Orson Scott Card, the saga revolves around science-fiction concepts inspired by Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. Card deals with fictional and realistic conflicts that relate to children all around the globe, but for some odd reason intimidates some adults, almost as if the potential of children scares these individuals.
---One Guidance Councelor said in all essence that she read the book because her son continually told her what a great book it was, then told Card that that the depictions of gifted children were hopelessly unrealistic. They just don't talk like that, they just don't think like that.
---Twelve high school students thought otherwise. They wrote to Card telling of how much they could relate to Card's story, how he cleverly depicts the sturuggles of being a prodegy kid, always having the potential to do amazing things and be burdened with the knowledge. People may dispute that Card had some great insight into the lives of genious kids, but there is no doubt that they could be debated with from those who understand his tale.
---Regardless of the realistic philosophical depths involved in his novel, the actual content is exciting and well-thought out. He can make Ender's thoughts and strategies amazing, mostly derived from the history of the battles during the Civil War.
---But anyway, the title of the post is derived from one of Ender's most outrageous strategies. He teaches his group to orient themselves not to the conventional gravety of the ship but in only the direcrtion they are facing (since they fight in zero gravity).
---For a more vivid descripton:
Intense is the word for Ender's Game. "Aliens have attacked earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure the humans win the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniouses-and then training them in the arts of war...The early training, not surprisingly, takes place in the form of 'games'...Ender Wiggin is a genious among geniouses; he wins all the games...He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet?" -The New York Times
---In my opinion Ender's Game is a must-read book. It's the Hugo and Nebula Award winner, and when all the other books from the same year are forgotten, this one will still be being read. Highly reccommended.

Dragonlance, A broad overview.

Hear the sage as his song decends
like heaven's rain or tears,
and washes the years, the dust of many stories
from the high tables of the Dragonlance.
For ages deep, past memory and word, in the first blush of the world
when the three moons rose from the lap of the forset,
dragons, terible and great,
made war on this world of Krynn...

---So begins the first book of Margeret Weis and Tracy Hickman's series, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It's about Dragons (obviously) who are returning to Kyrnn (the world). It starts with Flint Fieryforge, an old dwarf, who's character concept is based off the basic Dwarven Fighter Template. Add a temper and an overly proud ego and you've got him down. He's going to meet his friends and fellow adventurers after five years of them going solo. When along comes Tanis.
---Tanis Half-Elven, the result of the breeding of a human rapist and a elven mother, is a ranger in D&D classifications. (If you don't get the abbreibiations, it short for Dungeons and Dragons.) He becomes the leader of the party.
---They proceed to meet Tasslehoff Burrfoot, a Kender Thief (taken off the halfling thieves of D&D). He's the comic relief and the most popular character by far. He is cute, and that's almost the entirety of his purpose.
---Well, to make a short story short, things have changed back home. A corrupt official has taken over their homleland Solace and right after Tas gets introducted, some goblin lackeys ambush them. They make short work of them and after a few jokes from Tas continue on to the inn.
---Where they meet my favorite characters Caramon and Raistlin. They are twins who opperate together in near-perfect union. Caramon is a huge fighter, the strongest man you'll ever see. And Raistlin is a magician, a follower of the Red Mages. He has changed drasticly since they last met. And though I'm itching with the desire to type in these changes, I'll let you read it.
---Then Sturm comes, a knight based of a D&D paladin who is escorting two barabarians, Riverwind and Goldmoon. There you go, you'll understand half of what I say now.
---Everything is going great until they learn that one member of the party has broken her oath nad not shown up, Raist and Caramon's sister, Kitiara. That makes Tanis depressed because he loves her.
---They decide that she must have had a good reason and begin to share news from all the corners of the world when things start getting bad. The Theocrat decide to get drunk and after a few 'Blasphemous Tales' he get accidentally pushed into the fire, miraculously healed, and then lights himself on fire voluntarily again... Yeah, just a little drunk.
---And so begins another adventure. I hope I've sparked an interest in you, and if you're interested in pretty hardcore D&D adventure you should read this book.

The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising

I'm doing two books because I'm way behind on posting. This will summarize both books.
The Dragon Reborn is an awesome book about Rand's journey into acceptance of what he is. He really is confused and very unhappy about his current situation.
Mat, well Mat is the luckiest man alive and he shows it constantly near the middle of the book. Never loses at dice, things just happen that are good for him.
Perrin meets Faile (means Falcon) , who is a trader's daughter and a Hunter of the Horn (The Great Hunt, ring bells?). She is pretty awesome. And she seems to like Perrin a lot.
Anyway, it is also about all the important forces in the world meeting at the city Tear at the end, and the Heart of Stone, which you can read more about in the book.

And now the Shadow Rising. It's about the Aiel, mostly. Rand and Elayne get together. Oh, yeah and Rand proved the othe world that he's the Dragon Reborn by pulling Callandor (The Sword that is not a Sword) out of the Heart of Stone. (Ok, so I told you a little bit). They head into the desert, called the Waste, where the Aiel live in desolate conditions. It is my belief that the Aiel are based of native americans.
Mat gets messed up like the other two at last. He loses a bunch of memories then gets them replaced with others.
Oh, and Perrin get famous for saving his homeland. He is a very good leader.
I suggest thses books to anyone who desires a thrilling and challenging read.

The Great Hunt

The Great Hunt is the sequel to the Eye of the World and is of equal quality if not better. The ending is epicly amazing, perhaps the best ending in the series. Rand has some awesome plot developments, Perrin remains more or less the same, and Mat still does not have anything going for him besides decaying slowly. you meet a few key characters and other things that make it interesting. Plus there is the Horn of Valere, which brings back the dead heroes of the past. A very intriguing read, to say the least. I recommend the book to anyone who is looking for a challenging read and an exciting adventure.

Eye of the World #2

First of all, I personally think this is the greatest writer of all time and his books are amazing, even if they aren't my favorite for sentimental reasons, they are in pure literature genius. Mat is everyone's favorite character, and by that I mean everyone i have asked period. Rand is mine. He's just a wee bit crazy later, an Aielman, and the saviour of this fictional Earth, let's get a reality check for a moment, Jesus is the saviour of Earth, but not in this book. Now I may be giving a little bit away by saying that about Rand, but I didn't say how, and technically I don't know if he is or not, I'm just guessing. Rand is a bit messed up, granted.
Naturally, I must have some backing to what I say so, I'll tell you what to expect, as said by the critics; "The Eye of the World is the best of its genre." -The Ottawa Citizen, "Jordan's world is rich in detail and his plot is rich in incident. Highly recommended." -ALA Booklist, and my favorite- "Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal....The battle scenes have the breathless urgency of firsthand experience, and the....evil laced into forces of good, the dangers latent in any promised salvation, the sense of unavoidable onslaught of unpredictable events bear the marks of American national experience during these last three decades." Pretty cool huh?
But don't take my word for it. It's Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World, Book One of the Wheel of Time series. I suggest this to anyone who wishes to challenge themselves with an advanced and in-depth fantasy novel.

The Eye of the World

The epic adventure of Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Egwene. Four young adults from Emond's Field in The Two Rivers. When Trollocs attack on Winternight their lives change forever. Rand acquires a heron-marked sword, indicating the rank of blade-master. Perrin gets a wicked battle-axe. The Trollocs, being humans mixed with beast at essence, and twice as large as an average man. They are servants of the Dark One, and at this instant trying to either kill or capture the three two rivers boys. Egwene is able to channel, meaning she can use the One Power, which is really very complicated so you'll have to read the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is up to an advanced fantasy adventure, featuring in-depth characters and original ideas, concepts, and an interesting progression of the story-line. Let the dragon ride once again on the winds of time.

Belgarath the Sorcerer: Epic Tale

This book is pretty awesome. Its based of the series The Belgariad and The Mallorean, which up until I read the Wheel of Time series, were my two favorite series ever. One of the characters that is in both is Belgarath, the first disciple of the god Aldur. Over 7000 years old and counting, this guy's has to be my second favorite besides the main character Garion. He uses sorcery, the wizardry of the fantasy novel. It actually obeys the laws of physics, this sorcery (excepting the fact that its fictitious).
Anyway, he is basically the man who was in charge of making sure every thing happened like the prophesy said it should, which he did everything flawlessly. I recommend this book to anyone with a good sense of humor and a love for fantasy literature.

Favorite Things About My Book

I liked that in the end of the book, every thing turned out to be alright. I also liked how he ruthlessly abused his money, it seemed to illustrate you far one might go to achieve vengeance, and also how when you fantasize about it you lose the other parts of your life that are so precious. Finally, i liked the plot progression. It didn't take forever to get to the main plot or the meat of the story.

New Book (2+3)

Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Both very interesting and simply enjoyable books. C.S. Lewis' books always seem to entertain in such a way that the up-most joy possible from a book spawns. I thought that Prince Caspian is a very good in-between book for 1+3 and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader effectively closes Lucy and Edmund's part in the books, while keeping one more character to continue the legacy.

New Book (1)

I started The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe yesterday and have no doubt that I will complete it to-day. And by gum its a jolly-good book! I like the simplicity of the storyline and the references to the Bible so far. This will probably be my only post for this particular book.

Soundtrack

for the Count of Monte Cristo/Emond-
Congratulations by the Traveling Wilburys
when Emond and Fernand fight-
Theme from Mortal Kombat by the Soundtrack & Theme Orchestra
for Mercedes and Emond-
If You Leave by Ochestral Manoeuvers in the Dark (OMD)
and finally,
for M. Morrel and Mlle. Villefort,
Something So Strong by Crowded House

Entry #4

I'm still not sure where on earth Emond learned all the cultured actions and statements he does, he was a sailor, not a noble. It seems as though he just got the knowledge, which is usually done in fictional books, but not realistic fiction. But, I guess it furthers the plot, so I'll just have to leave my logic out of this one.

Entry #3

Dantes was completely pure in heart, he never thought about himself in any way, shape, or form. Through prison though, he became harder, still "good", no doubt about it, but, harder. Revenge is his main, actually, only concern. With millions of francs on his hands to carry out that vengence, i'm not so sure that he'll be able to make it out "good."

Quote Response

I belive this quote means that reading allows one to see the world differently, as though through the eyes of a character of a book. You may see or hear thing that realte to a book, which feels as though regular life is not so bland as first thought. Naturally, this cannot be a full book-like expeirence, but still an adventure all the same.

In my book, the character has very many unjust things done to him. However, he finds a way through them. In this case it adds hope to your life, as though the book helped you see that you cannot give up.

Entry #2

Dantes was convicted of a crime he didn't commit to cover up the prosecutor's father's involvement in an attempt to free Napolean, this all happened one hour before his wedding. Bad day for Emond Dantes.

Entry #1

Emond is a captain of a ship now, and can buy his dad a house (who apparently was not doing so well, living of 60 francs out of the 200 Emond left him). It also appears that Emond can marry Mercedes, his girlfriend. It's good to be captain.

What book did I choose and why did I choose it?

I chose the Count of Monte Cristo because I saw the movie and it was great. My logic is that in every movie made from a book I have seen, the book is better, so this must be really good.

What about this book do I think will challenge me?

Well, i've heard that most revenge stories were based off this one, and I think that I should be able to identify where others have "stolen the idea" so to speak.