Divergent Book Review

     I just finished reading the first book in the Divergent Series now I'm reviewing it. Don't worry no spoilers in this review you're safe with me. 

     Divergent was written by Veronica Roth and it takes place in futuristic Chicago where society is split into five factions Abnegation, Candor, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. The story follows a sixteen year old girl named Beatrice and she like everybody else in her class is required to take an aptitude test. This determines what faction they are best suited for. However Beatrice's test results were inconclusive and she is labeled as Divergent. Now she has to choose which faction to join.

     I was very excited to read Divergent. People have compared it to The Hunger Games series and I really enjoyed reading the Hunger Games series. I can see why it get those comparisons because there are similarities. The story is told through the eyes of a sixteen year old girl like The Hunger Games, It has the same style that the Hunger Games had where the story is told in first person. I love first person narratives because that brings you along for the ride. It makes you feel like you're in these environments. There's a love story brewing between Beatrice and someone from the faction she chooses to join that is also similar to the love story in the Hunger Games. There are also some other characters in Divergent that are similar to some of the characters in the Hunger Games. I don't want to spoil those of people who have not read the book. 

     If I have any gripes with Divergent it's that it takes awhile for the story to get going. But at the same time it was never boring. It takes awhile for the story to take shape. However in the final five chapters that's when the big action scenes happening and they were very enthralling.

     Overall I really enjoyed Divergent. It was intriguing, it kept me guessing, and the final action scenes were awesome. If you enjoyed reading the Hunger Games series, you will enjoy Divergent. I'm going to give it 4.4 out of 5 stars. Be on the look out for my review of series two of Sherlock, and I will start reading Insurgent as soon as tomorrow. I will have a review up when I finish reading it. Thanks for reading.

Sherlock Series One Review

     Tonight I finished series one of Sherlock. As I promised in my last review I'm now writing my review of it.  

     I have heard many good things about this show before I watched it. Finally I had enough so I went out and bought the first two seasons on Blu-ray. And I will say right now I should have watched this a long time ago. Sherlock is very good. 

     Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes and he did a stellar job. I've come to expect that from him every time I see him in something. He just never disappoints. Martin Freeman plays Watson and he also does a great job. The next time I watch The Desolation of Smaug, I will enjoy the scenes when Bilbo and Smaug have dialogue even more than I did the first time. Because Cumberbatch voices Smaug and Freeman plays Bilbo.

    One thing I love about this show is that when Sherlock is investigating a crime scene, cliff notes appear on the screen to show you what his mind is processing. That brings the viewer along for the ride. That's one area where the Sherlock Holmes movies directed by Guy Ritchie starring Robert Downey Jr. let me down. The other thing I love about the show is that it does a great job showing how disconnected from reality Sherlock Holmes is. For example there's a scene when Watson yells at Holmes and says "Do you realize that there are lives at stake?" Holmes just said "Does that help me solve the case? No? Then I don't care." That shows that it's all about the game for Holmes. He works the cases for the sake of it giving him something to do because he gets bored really easily.  

     I don't consider Moriarty as spoiler because you know he'll be in a Sherlock Holmes Story. Kind of like how a good Batman storyline will have The Joker. You get introduced to Moriarty in the third and final episode of the season. He had a great introduction and I can't wait to see what he does in Series two. Although so far I prefer the Moriarty in "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Mainly because it was very clear that Holmes was afraid of him in the book. So far that hasn't happened yet. However this is by far the best version of Sherlock Holmes put to screen. I'm going to give Sherlock Series one 4.5 out of 5 stars.
    

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Book Review

     Before I got my kindle, I had a few books on my to read list. That list has now multiplied that is what owning a kindle does.  


    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1894. It's a series of short stories that chronicle various adventures of Sherlock Holmes. All the stories are narrated by Sherlock's friend and sidekick Dr. Watson.

    The book is very well written, even if the adventure that Holmes and Watson are on is not that exciting, it's still an entertaining read because the characters are so great. The book does a very good job showing what kind of person Sherlock Holmes is. He is very intelligent, and he is a very good person. However Sherlock Holmes is not perfect by any means. One chapter begins by telling the reader of how Holmes had a drug addiction. But he uses is intellect and skills for good purposes. So he does have redeeming qualities. 

    My favorite adventures of the book were the last two. The Naval Treaty, where Holmes and Watson are helping a man who had some important documents stolen from his office. This was one of the most challenging cases in the book because there was not a lot of evidence left behind. The person who did it didn't leave any footprints or anything of the like. The last adventure the villain was Professor Moriarty who is the most well known Sherlock Holmes villain. The book did a really good job showing that Moriarty was the only villain Holmes feared. I don't want to spoil how it ended, but it was the most gripping chapter in the book.   

     Overall, I thought this book was well worth reading. To anyone who owns a kindle I got it for free. I highly recommend that you read it if you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes. I'm going to give The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes 4.4 out of 5 stars. I will begin reading the first book in the Divergent series this afternoon. I will post a review for that when I finish it. And I will start Watching The BBC Sherlock series within the next couple days. I will review each season as a watch it.
   

Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 Part 2

     This is my most anticipated movies of 2014 part 2. In part one I gave my numbers 10 through 6 picks. Now I'm going to do numbers 5 through one. 

     5. X Men Days of Future Past 
    
     I'm a little bit skeptical for this movie just because I feel it might be too cluttered. The cast from the first three X Men movies are going to be in it and the cast from X Men First Class is going to be in the movie as well. However I'm excited that Bryan Singer is back he's directed two good X Men movies in the past, and Peter Dinklage is going to be in it as well. This Movie comes out on May 23rd.  

     4. Interstellar

     To be honest I don't know too much about this movie. Other than it might involve time travel, and it's directed by Christopher Nolan. For that reason alone I'm excited. The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception are 4 of my favorite movies of all-time. Matthew McConaughey is going to be in the movie and he had a great year in 2013. I'm very excited for this movie, it comes out on November 7th.  

     3. Guardians of the Galaxy

     I'm looking forward to this movie for a number of reasons. First of all it's a Marvel movie that's going to tie into The Avengers 2, and second of all I don't know anything about these characters. So this is a very intriguing movie for me. Also I'm positive there's going to be an Avengers 2 Easter egg in there there's always one in these Marvel movies. Guardians of the Galaxy comes out on August 1st.

     2. Captain America The Winter Soldier  

     In the light of my number 3 pick, I'm going with Captain America The Winter Soldier for my number 2 pick. I got really excited when I saw the trailer for this movie especially the scene when he's fighting in the elevator. I've heard this movie is going to be like The Avengers 1.5 so I'm very excited to see this. This Movie comes out April 4th.

     1. The Hobbit There and Back Again. 

      I don't think this comes as a surprise to my readers. I loved the first two Hobbit films, This one is going to continue the story of the dwarves fighting to get their home back. The Desolation of Smaug had a big cliff hanger ending. I can't wait to see this story wrap up. I have to wait all year for for this one it comes out on December 17th.  

     These are my 5 through one picks. I want to give a special shout out to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes it just missed my list that comes out on July 11th. As always thanks for reading.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 Part One

     Since We've entered a new year, I thought I'd give a list of my most anticipated movies of the year 2014. There may be some movies that come out this year that I like more than these, but I don't know about them yet. I'll do my numbers 10 through 6 movies now and I'll do 5 through 1 either tomorrow or Saturday.
    
     10. Divergent 
     I have not yet read the Divergent books but I've heard it's similar to the Hunger Games in a few ways. I want to read the books before I see the movies, but in any case Divergent has my curiosity. I believe it comes out in theatres in late March. 

     9. Dumb and Dumber To

     The first Dumb and Dumber is one of my favorite comedies of all-time. I'm kind of skeptical about this movie as well. Part of me thinks that they should just let the movie be a classic, but maybe Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels can bring the magic back. Dumb and Dumber To comes out on November 14th.   

    8. The Muppets Most Wanted 

    The Muppets are one of my favorite childhood franchises. This is the sequal to the Muppets movie that came out in 2011 which was a movie I enjoyed. There's going to be a new cast in this movie but that doesn't matter to me. I go to Muppets movies to see the Muppets. Even though I'm excited that Tom Hiddleston is going to be in it. This movie comes out on March 21st.


   7. Godzilla 
      
     I was skeptical at first when I first heard about this movie. The 1998 Godzilla movie was not a successful film. Then I saw the trailer for this movie and it looks very good. Bryan Cranston is going to be in the movie. It just looks like they're making this movie right. This movie is going to be released May 16th 

   6. Mockingjay Part 1

     I missed out on Catching Fire in theatres. I'm not proud of that because I'm a fan of the Hunger Games books, I liked the first movie, and I liked the Catching Fire book more than the first book. I heard the movie was very good. I'm going to buy it on blu-ray when it comes out. I heard there was no shaky cam in the Catching Fire movie and the director is coming back to do this movie. It comes out November 21st.   

     Those are my 10-6 picks, I will do a 5-1 list in the near future either tomorrow or Saturday so make sure to look for that. Thanks for reading.

The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Review

     Hey everyone sorry I'm getting this one to you late, but now I'm reviewing The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug. 

     The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug is a film directed by Peter Jackson starring; Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, and Benedict Cumberbatch. It's the second installment in the Hobbit trilogy.  

    As you may remember there were problems with the pacing in the first movie. I think that problem was addressed in this one. It starts out exciting and it stays that way until the end credits. Everybody gave a good performance in this movie. Martin Freeman is great as Bilbo, Ian McKellan is still awesome as Gandalf, Richard Armitage as Thorin was very good. He's like the Aragorn of these movies, but at no point did I find myself thinking that it was forced. It was good to see Legolas back in this movie. Even though I'm not a huge fan of Orlando Bloom, he had some very cool scenes. Evangeline Lilly's character was not in the original Hobbit book. They just put her in the movie for the sake of having a female character. I'm okay with that if they make it memorable and she was memorable. There is a love story brewing between her and one of the dwarves, I wasn't a huge fan of that but it didn't overshadow the main parts of the film.  

    Now need to talk about the dragon at this point. He's awesome. I've heard some fans complaining that he was in the trailer. People said that it wouldn't be as memorable when he first came on screen. The most memorable scenes with Smaug where not in the trailer. He sounded so menacing I loved it. Smaug is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch he's one of my favorite actors working today. He was the perfect choice to voice Smaug. 

    One area where this movie wasn't as good as the last one was the soundtrack. The Desolation of Smaug has a good soundtrack. I just didn't feel the need to own it after walking out of the theatre. I have the soundtrack to An Unexpected Journey I listen to it actively. I don't feel the need to own this one.  

    Overall this movie was an improvement over the first film which was still a movie that I enjoyed. It's exciting from start to finish particularly during a barrel chase towards the beginning of the movie. I'm going to give this movie 4.8 out of 5 stars. I loved this movie, I'm looking forward to the next one. Thanks for reading everyone.

Dance With Dragons Review with SPOILERS

     This is a review of "A Dance with Dragons" with spoilers. Coinsider this a spoiler warning. Let's talk about the awesome stuff. 

    As I said in my spoiler free review, Tyrion met someone very interesting in his travels east. That man was Jon Connington who served as Mad King Aerys Hand during Robert's Rebellion. He was traveling with Prince Rheagar's son Aegon the sixth. Who was assumed to be killed by The Mountain during the sack of King's Landing. That was such a big moment because that changes everything. We're left wondering how Daenerys will react to finding out that her nephew is still alive. Will she continue to push her claim on the throne, or will she give way to him? We'll have to wait until "Winds of Winter" to find out.  

     Another big moment in the book was when Daenerys flew on the Drogon's back. That was the dragon's first appearance in the book he was out hunting until that point. We didn't know if he was still alive or not. speaking of the dragons, Quentyn Martell was killed trying to free the other two dragons Rheagal and Viserion. I'm wondering if that will impact Dorne's alliance with the House Targaryen. Will Dorne be able to confirm Aegon's identity?

   The big character drop I was referring to in my spoiler free review was Jon Snow. However as I said I'm not sure if he's truly dead. Even if he is he could be brought back to life. At the end of the third book we find out that Catelyn Stark was brought back to life by a red preist. Melisandre is still at the Wall, and I've heard speculation that Jon Snow will be resurrected as Azor Ahai. Who is spoken of in certain prophecies that he will be the Lord of Light's instrument to defeat the Great Other. She often said that Stannis is Azor Ahai reborn however Jon got a raven from Ramsay Bolton saying Stannis is dead. Obviously Ramsay is completely crazy so we don't know if he's telling the truth.   

    Also After retaking Griffin's Roost, Jon Connington and Aegon are planning to lay siege to Storm's End. Aegon informed Connington that he wanted to lead the assault. Obviously Connington wants to keep Aegon safe at all costs so will he lead the attack or not?

  Lastly There is a lot of unrest in King's Landing. Three of the Sand Snakes are on their way to King's Landing. Nymeria Sand is coming to take the Red Viper's spot on the small council, Tyene is going to pose as a septa to gain information from the High Sparrow the same High Sparrow who Cersei had to confess to. Sarella is posing as a Maester in training at the Citadel, and Obara is hunting down Darkstar who maimed Princess Myrcella after their plot to crown Myrcella queen failed. This is all part of a big espionage mission to find out about the Lannister's plot to get rid of Prince Doran.


   Those are all the major plot points and cliffhangers that I wanted to cover. I'm so excited for "Winds of Winter to come out." I'll probably be doing more book reviews in the future. I'm gonna be reading some of the Sherlock Holmes books I'll review those as well. Tomorrow I'll post my review of the Desolation of Smaug. As Always thanks for reading this review.

   

A Dance With Dragons Book Review

     Today I finished reading A Dance With Dragons. The fifth and latest book in George R.R Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. It's been a fun seven months for me reading these books, I don't remember ever being so invested in a series of books like this.
    
     As you may remember I pointed out in my Feast for Crows review I mentioned that key characters such as Tyrion, Jon Snow, and Dany were not in that book. That is because George R.R Martin's fourth volume became too long, so he had to split it up into two books. The first half or so of A Dance with Dragons is not a sequal to "A Feast For Crows," it runs parallel to it. "A Feast for Crows mainly focuses on the events of King's Landing, The Iron Islands, and Dorne. The first half of A "Dance with Dragons" focuses on The North, The Wall and beyond, and in the East.  

     I'll give a brief overview of the characters who were not in "A Feast for Crows," I'll start with Tyrion because he's my favorite character. He's fled King's Landing and is heading east. his storyline has a few twists and turns. at one point he's on a ship and he meets someone who will have a big role in "Winds of Winter." I won't say who he is because it's a pretty major spoiler.  
    
     Jon Snow is still on The Wall. He has to face some powerful foes from beyond the Wall, and he also has enemies within the Night's Watch, and Stannis is at the Wall in this book. I don't coinsider that a spoiler because he was on his way to The Wall at the end of third season in the show.  

    Daenerys Targaryen rules in Meereen. She had one of the most complex storylines. There's a lot of things happening in the east. For those who remember when she freed all those slaves in the third book, she made a lot of enemies by doing that so they all want to get rid of her.   

     In my opinion, I think this is the second best book in the series only behind "A Storm of Swords." There are quite a few cliff hangers at the end of this book. There's one big character drop, however I'm not positive if the character is dead. However this book is extremely well written, it's intense, and I had a blast reading it. I'm going to give "A Dance with Dragons" five out of five stars. I'm looking forward to the next one. I'll be doing a spoiler review of this book that should be up in a few days, and I'll probably post my review of the Desolation of Smaug in the near future as well. Thanks for reading everybody.