The End

After two years of blogging, it has come to the point where I must finally give it up. For the most part, this blog has been a labour of love. There hasn’t been much growth over the two years, but there has been plenty of fun.

Now, however, the blog has become my neglected brainchild, and, like old yellow, its time to go to the back of the shed to put it out of its misery.

If you’re reading this, I thank you for finding my blog and reading its content. The Nerd Quest series will always remind me of the wonderful summer I had between my second year and my third year.

So, as I type the last ever paragraph of this blog, I thank anyone who has read my content and enjoyed it. It means the world.

The Gunslinger Book Review

Stephen King’s The Gunslinger promises an epic journey towards an unknown land but instead of being like J.R.R Tolken’s Lord of the Rings, King’s Gunslinger ends up being more of a jet plane without enough fuel. It stutters in places and, ultimately, fails to take off.

For me, King’s novel was a journey in itself. Having purchased it at the beginning of my first year of uni, this waste of £8 took me until the middle of my second year to finish and the beginning of my third year to review. This book was incredibly dull, lacklustre and lacked any charm or charisma.

The main character, Rowland, spends the entire book walking to the next location, interacting with forgettable characters along the way. Along the way, Rowland meets a young boy and befriends him. Throughout the book we are told that Rowland had grown to love the boy, only to abandon him in his moment of need for no apparent reason.

Considering the fact that this book is the beginning of a long term series, heaven knows how people managed to get past this book and have the motivation to read the next book. Having written one book, admittedly a first draft and one of a poor quality, I hate to rip into a novel and come out with nothing good to say but unfortunately this book has no redeeming value.

 

 

Star Wars The Old Republic: Deceived

If you read my review of Sean Williams’ ‘Fatal Alliance’ [Link], then you’ll remember that I felt a little let down by Williams’ story telling. It was a novel that spoke a lot yet said nothing. Paul. S. Kemp’s Deceived was a refreshing read after the disappointment of Fatal Alliance. Deceived is a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ kind of book.

The story starts off by introducing us to the main characters, though this time they are all introduced in the first chapter, due to the book containing only thirteen, albeit long, Chapters. Zeerid, or Zee-Man as he likes to be referred as, is the first character to be introduced. Zeerid is working for an organisation called ‘The Exchange’ when he is attacked in a deal gone wrong. Determined to make enough money to give his daughter a holochair, a flying wheelchair to you and I, or better yet, prosthetic legs.

Meanwhile, Darth Malgus, a powerful Sith Lord, has made his way to the Jedi Temple with the intention of brining it crumbling to its knees. In doing so, Darth Malgus defeats and kills Master Zallow, the former master of our third main character, Aryn Leener. Aryn feels the moment her master is killed, leading her to seek out Malgus to extract her revenge.

The trio are entwined, as ever in Star Wars novels, by the events around them. The Jedi and the Sith were in peace talks when Malgus struck the Jedi Temple, leading to the Empire to take control of the planet to use as a make weight for the deal of peace. Aryn wants to get to Coruscant to find her master’s killer and Zeerid, an old friend of Aryn’s, needs to get to Coruscant to deal drugs for The Exchange.

The Story is delivered much better than Sean William’s Fatal Alliance. The characters felt a lot more realistic and, despite being slightly predictable, the story between Zeerid and his daughter was a heart-warming one that gives readers something happy in a world currently filled with much.

There wasn’t much in the way of shocks within this story. It wasn’t until Darth Malgus’ action at the end of the novel that I was truly left question what I had read, though this was a good thing. It showed us that Malgus is unpredictable and makes him a much more interesting Sith character than the apprentice in Fatal Alliance, Eldon Ax, as we see more than just a desire to gain power. His is a desire to maintain it, making him a much more dangerous beast.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, though the book could have benefited from breaking the story down into smaller chapters to give us time to register what we’ve read. By the time some chapters had finished, I couldn’t remember what had happened at the beginning of them.

This will become a common theme with me and Star Wars books but here we go anyway. Although I found this a vast improvement on the previously uninspired writing style, I still struggle to get my head around the fact that this book, along with Fatal Alliance, won The New York Times #1 spot.

Oh well, hopefully us regular writers can get a shot at that one day, too.

Star Wars: Fatal Alliance

After enjoying Joe Schreiber’s Death Troopers and [Insert Name] Darth Plagueis, I decided to embark on another journey to a galaxy far far away. However, in doing so, I learnt that there is a real downside to the expanded universe. You might say this downside is, a trap.

Having enjoyed the richly detailed writing style of Joe Schreiber and the deeply complex story of Lucino’s Darth Plagueis, I found myself somewhat underwhelmed by Sean Williams’ Fatal Alliance. The main issue is that the book presumes that you know every race of the Star Wars Universe, whilst the aforementioned books at least have the decency to describe some of them to give us an idea of what they look like. I don’t want to be googling parts of the story every time a non-human character is introduced.

The story starts off rather clunky, with Jet Nebular –that isn’t his real name, trying to Acomadear a nearby ship, only for it to explode without warning. While I must say that I eventually grew to like Nebula’s character, though his introduction read like a thirteen year olds first draft fanfiction. I must confess that, had I not paid for the book, I can’t imagine that I would have read on. I don’t think I would have as a publisher.

I’m not knocking Sean Williams as writer, he has reached a level that I myself dream of reaching, though this story, for the most part, feels rather flat. Sure, there’s battles, there’s drama, there’s some cool characters, but I found myself asking myself, so what? Almost 60% of the book in building up to finding the hidden world of Sebaddon, with incidents on Hutta taking up much of the novel, but the plot feels as if it goes nowhere.

Perhaps this is the curse of the Star Wars formula? Every step forward for the main group of characters, Ula, Larin, Jet and Shigar, we are forced to take a step back to see how Sith apprentice, Eldon Ax is getting on with her quest. The Star Wars formula forces the writer to give equal time to all characters, sometimes sacrificing plot in the process.

The most frustrating thing about this book is that it is well written but lacks a plot that has enough action to keep the reader engaged. This book is very much setting up the next one, something I can’t stand, much like two part films. Sith apprentices are typically boring to read about because, in the end, they all boil down to the same character traits. Plagueis and Sidious are interesting to read about because there’s a higher purpose to them. In the end, the rest tend to fall by the way side.

The one character that I’d have wanted to slow the action down for was Dao Stryver but the Mandalorian was scarcely in the book. The ending of the book did enough to convince me to buy the next one, though only just. Whether I’ll finish the series, only time will tell. Approach this book with caution and keep expectations low. Either its incredibly easy to be considered for The New York Times #1 spot or Star Wars has the New York Times wrapped around its little finger, and I’m guessing it’s the latter.

 

Trailer Talk: Assassin’s Creed

Yesterday I was shocked to discover that a film trailer for the game series Assassin’s Creed had been uploaded to YouTube. I’m not a fan of the game series, but I was momentarily annoyed at the prospect of another video game movie.

The way video games have progressed, they are practically movie quality anyway; also a lot longer than anything the silver screen produces. I have to say, I think this trailer looks pretty good, but I’ve been tricked by trailers before.

I mean, it looks good, but, can it really live up to expectations? It’s a video game movie after all. I think it can be good, it certainly has a good enough cast, but what angle they could take on such a broad story, remains to be see.

What do you think of an Assassin Creed movie? Let me know in the comments

Book Review: Death Troopers

Joe Schreiber’s Star Wars: Death Troopers is a tense read which eventually fizzles out into normality, ending on a rather predictable and familiar note.

The premise of Schreiber’s book is that a prison barge, known as The Purge, is on its way to the Death Star when the systems begin to fail, stopping its main engines from working. The ship is suspended in space before it floats towards a seemingly abandoned Star Destroyer. Desperate for parts to fix the engine, the warden sends a ten man search party up into the empty Star Destroyer to salvage it.

When the search party split into two, one search party returns with a heavy cough, the other search party doesn’t return at all. From here, people begin to get infected and die of a strange virus. When the few surviving passengers attempt to escape, the dead rise from their slumber.

The narrative jumps between Trig and Kale Longo, two brothers who had bene captured two weeks prior to the book, Dr Zahara Cody, the ship’s medic, Sartorios, the ship’s captain and the legendary duo of Han Solo and his trusty Wookie, Chewbacca. In the beginning the narrative jump serves as a way of introducing everybody, with the exception of Han and Chewie. As a result, the introduction is a bit slow, but, then again, most inductions are.

Once the guards, inmates and other members of The Purge are dead, the story really takes off. Han and Chewie are introduced in solitary confinement and Schreiber deserves a lot of credit for keeping the integrity of Solo’s character, ensuring that the continuity of his personality allowed this story to feel as if it really could have come before Episode IV. Schreiber also deserves a lot of credit for the huomour within the line;

‘Chewie wasn’t sure who fired first. One of them, he or Han, or maybe both of them at the same time, squeezed off a round of blasterfire into the tangled mass of squiring bodies.’

Schreiber’s acknowledgement to the ‘Who shot first’ debate had me grinning for the rest of the chapter.

Schreiber is also very able at building tension. In the introduction of Han and Chewbacca, Dr Cody tells them to be careful not to trip over any bodies, only for the bodies to vanish moments later. For the most part, Death Troopers feels reminiscent of Alien. Little is scene of the zombies in the early stages, some characters merely seeing a shadow or a figure in front of them, never to be seen again.

However, once we see the zombies properly, the tension sort of evaporates. They are, despite the gory descriptions, rather underwhelming zombies. Schreiber’s problem was that by making it so only six survivors remained alive, we don’t get to see the zombies chomping on characters worth giving a damn about. The original panic of the zombies coming to attack soon fizzles into normality.

Although I applaud the decision to bring Han and Chewie into the story, I feel that it took away from some of the other characters. Having only really been a fan of the films, my knowledge of the expanded universe can fit on a stamp with enough space left over for me to sign and date it. With this in mind, I had no clue about characters such as Trig and Kale and I felt that, despite being introduced as the main characters, I found myself rooting for Han almost ninety percent of the time.

All in all, Joe Schreiber’s Star Wars: Death Troopers is an interesting enough read that both die hard and casual fans can pick up and enjoy without too much research needed in between. An overall enjoyable but gory read.

 

Progress: Writing like a Man Possessed

I’ve spoken a lot about completing the first draft of my second novel, The Devil’s Relic, but I’m super proud of it. It was a tough slog, trying to complete it straight after the first book whilst also trying to earn a degree and maintain this blog.

My progress between books, write a book, taking 4 years to write a book and 1 year to write a book, has really excited me, giving me confidence for the completion of future books, and trust me, there’s a lot of those in the pipe line.

Because I’ve been so excited about finishing the book, I thought I would show the progress that has been made between the first few months of writing The Devil’s Relic and the chaotic final months spent in Germany.

I flew to Germany on the 6^th May. On the 4^th May I completed Chapter 13, The Secret Express. It had taken me a long time to get to this point, 8 months in fact. The most I had written in a month was 17,469 words. Little did I know that Germany would once again serve as the back drop to one of my triumphs.

May, for a month at least, served as my most successful month of writing during the life cycle of first draft of The Devil’s Relic. May saw me write 51,746 words in 31 days, completing a chapter in 2 days, a chapter being roughly 7,000 to 8,000 words, though I have since been told that is way too much. May became my golden month, allowing me to make real progress in my novel, namely 5 chapters. This was a real turning point for me and my progress.

June saw me fall short of the golden target of 52,000 words, though 39,758 was still respectable enough, especially considering that for some days in the previous 8 months I failed to reach 1,000 words a day. It was here that I realised that I should be hitting 30,000 words a month just as a minimum.

It was July, however, that saw me reach the end way before my self-imposed deadline of 3^rd September 2016. June saw me complete 4 chapters, whereas July saw me reach the end thanks to me writing 8 chapters in 26 days, finishing on the 26^th July 2016, an exact year on from The Shaman’s Journey.

A month of 72,221 words meant that the final total of my second novel was 240,000 words,  which I have since halved into two books, The Babylon War and The Devil’s Relic. The Shaman’s Journey only reached 126,000 after 4 years, a whole 174,000 words less than this new book. I can’t believe that in total I wrote 780 pages.

Of course, once the book was done, I had to announce it to my friends and family, as well as the people who are on my friends list due to circumstances, like we went to school one time, that I had achieved the thing that I never thought I’d do once, let alone twice! As I said in the post, I can’t wait to finish the third book, just to say that I finished the trilogy, now technically a tetralogy, that I set out to complete.

Until then, I have a lot of hard work to do if I wish to complete the third novel on 26^th July 2017, bringing a 6 year journey of first drafts to an end. What a day that will be. I hope to one day have the re-drafts finished to get progress started on being published, whether it’s through traditional publishing or self-publishing. Exciting times.

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I’m back!!!

What’s up, Champs? I’m back. Yes, that’s right, my self-imposed sabbatical is officially over. And can I just say what an exciting time it is to be back on this blog. Come up in 2016 alone, I will be reviewing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the stage play, the script and also Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Speaking of fantastic things and where to find them, my summer challenge, Fantastic Pokémon and Where to Find Them, will be loaded up in the coming weeks, severing as a fun count down to the latest Pokémon games, Sun and Moon. Fantastic Pokémon will show you how to find the first 151 Pokémon in the X & Y/ Ruby & Sapphire games, giving my own little take on each Pokémon. If you enjoy that content I might be tempted to create a full guide for the Sun and Moon game.

If you’re new to the site, then check out some of my past content. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, then check out my Summer of Nerd Quest, my crazy Harry Potter marathon, I had a lot of fun making it and hope you enjoy reading it.

If you’re interested in networking, simply leave a comment, I’d love to work with other channels, just like a do with HuntersCosplay and Brother Beardest. Should definitely check them out.

As ever, reviews for books, games, plays, films will be coming your way, nerd corner is growing and more challenges await me. So, what are you waiting for, Champs? Let’s get ourselves ready for another awesome year of writing. Until next week, stay awesome, Champs.

Next week’s blog post – Article: Progress – writing like a man possessed.

Suicide Squad Review *Possible Spoilers*

With the bright colours, crazy characters and meaningful depth to the story, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Suicide Squad was made by a different comic movie franchise to the one that created DC cluster fuck, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Being a new comer to the world of DC, Suicide Squad served as a perfect means of learning more about the characters that inhabit the streets of Gotham and beyond.

The character introductions didn’t attempt to pull the wool over our eyes. The opening scenes gave us all the information we needed about the characters without it having to feel shoe horned into the plot. The character of Amanda Waller, played fantastically by Viola Davis, introduced the characters to people who, like me, had no idea who these people were. The character set up was much like your typical heist movie, which was useful to get an idea of who they were before we met them.

Before I move onto the plot, I have to say that the soundtrack for this movie was damn right awesome. With tracks such as Eminem’s Without Me, You Don’t Own Me (Grace feat. G-Eazy)  and the legendary Bohemian Rhapsody, this film pales only in comparison to films that have the equally legendary Hans Zimmer on the score, or, albeit not a film, The Saints Row Series.

Now, onto the topic of the Joker. With anything in life, not everyone will be happy. Personally, I believed Jarred Leto played the Joker in a unique way, making it an enjoyable and disturbed watch for me personally. It is important not to try to compare him to Dark Knight’s Joker, due to different actors and different tones. Even Margot Robbie came into criticism after the trailer dropped. Any fears I had of the Aussie not brining Harley Quinn to life soon vanished. Robbie’s Quinn had the life and craziness in her that the Arkham series Harley portrayed and her love for her beloved ‘Puddin’ was interesting to watch.

My only real complaint with Harley Quinn was that, following the more practical costume of Wonder Women, we seem to have taken a step back for women in film, with one report saying that her shorts were so small that they had to be photoshopped in the trailers. Whether that story is true or not remains to be seen, but what is clear to see is that, despite the well written story line for her character and the capable and exciting acting of Margot Robbie, Harley Quinn was reduced to a sex object, much like most female super characters.

Will Smith. That was enough for me when it came to Dead Shot. This character was awesome, his backstory was equally heart-breaking as it was harrowing, just like El Diablo’s. Both characters were developed nicely, giving them a lot more screen time than both Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang, each character lacking in depth, though this wasn’t a bad thing in the long run since so many characters were introduced in one film.

Given that this was the first time I’d seen Cara Delevingne act, I have to say that she nailed her roll as The Enchantress. The character was creepy and a worthy villain for the piece. Now, not that this is the fault of either Delevingne or Joel Kinnaman who plays Rick Flag, I didn’t believe the love story that added up to majority of their character development, mainly because they were hardly on screen together. Still, both actors played their characters well.

I had very few problems with the films plot, though I felt there was one glaring problem. The team is assembled and then suddenly a big threat that they have to deal with just magically appears. I feel as though the order should have reversed but hey, that’s films for you. It all felt just a little bit too perfect, as though it was always bound to happen to the characters.

So, all in all, this film was a very enjoyable experience, one that I look forward to having again, be it from watching the film again or from the obvious sequel. Check out Suicide Squad, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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Captain America: Civil War *Spoiler Free*

With the way leigons of fans swarm to see their favourite heroes battle it out on the big screen it is little wonder that both Batman vs Superman and Captain America: Civil War had lines that led up the stairs and out the door of Sutton’s empire cinema.

Much like the heroes themselves, the fan base is split between their loyalties.  Team Cap and Team Iron Man is not as black and white as Batman or Superman. It isn’t even the captains that is the problem. It’s the people in their team. There are so many fan favourites battling it out in this film that the fear of one of them biting the dust has been a whispered concern during the on sought of trailers.

Having been part of the original group of people who were bullied and looked down on for liking things like comic book movies and star wars, I’m delighted that both have become something that is enjoyed universally. I’m not bitter that I had to deal with the taunts. It made me relate more to the likes of Peter Parker and aspire to be as heroic as Cap or as smart Tony Stark. I guess for me, a film like this and the avengers reminds me just how far this genre has gone. It’s probably how the WOW fans feel seeing their beloved game hit the big screen, something I will watch as a casual audience member.

The film jumps straight into the action, much like Age of Ultron. Cap’s group of heroes undergo a mission which goes wrong, leading to the government and other world leaders to declare the Avengers “vigilantes.” The plot then jumps around in different countries without ever losing its cohesion. The large number of heroes aid the plot instead of hinder it, something I feel DC’s Dawn of Justice failed to do with three heroes. This film is about morality, loyalty and duty, showing the heroes suffer the repercussions of their actions. This plot line is similar to Dawn of Justice, however if feel Civil War handles the idea of terrorism and global threat in a more adult, relatable manner.

Something that every review will touch on. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Whilst I didn’t feel Holland looked the part as Peter Parker, any concern about the new web slinger on the block soon went out the window once he put on his new, Stark made suit. This felt something of a home coming for Spider-Man. He felt true to the comics. Witty, goofy and fun, this new Spider-Man thrives on the combination of Marvel’s writing and Holland’s natural portrayal of our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. The scenes between Parker and Stark are equally as enjoyable, thanks in no small part to the wit of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. The best moment for me was when Peter began to explain his origin story and Tony cut him off, showing us that Marvel understands the fans plea for no more Spidey origins. Expect big things from the wall crawler.

The Black Panther was the same. As quick, easy introduction and then a instant glimpse of him as the Panther. He was easily one of the best characters in the film and this was aided by  Chadwick Boseman’s performance and an awesome suit. I don’t want to say too much to prevent any spoilers. Just know he is awesome.

Marvel have always had a talent for back and forth humour. The heroes bounced off of each other and had my cinema screen giggling like children. It is refreshing to see a film that is dealing with such serious topics and still have time to entertain the masses with sharp, clever humour. The character interaction was so good that I came away with a better appreciation of characters such as Ant-Man and Vision.

The story telling was spot on in this film. The reveal at the end is devastating one, something that makes the scenes in the trailer look tame in comparison. Also can I just say hooray for  a set of trailers that undersold their film. The stuff put into the trailer was nothing compared to the

I’m looking forward to seeing what Marvel’s upcoming films will present to its ever growing fan base. I just pray we don’t suffer burn out until then. Also never leave a Marvel film until the credits are fully finished. You won’t regret it.