Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko

The Night Watch (Watch, Book 1) The Day Watch The Twilight Watch (Watch, Book 3) The Last Watch (Watch, Book 4)

I just finished reading Last Watch, which is the fourth and final book in the series.  They must be redoing the covers, they don’t match the ones I actually read.

Anyhow, I picked up this series because it’s one of my boyfriend’s favorite series of books.  Each book is comprised of three short stories, all of which tie together in some way.  They’re pretty easy reads, and having each book separated into three parts allows the reading to go a bit quicker too.  The books follow a main set of characters throughout all the stories, sometimes focusing on different characters.

I highly recommend these if you enjoy fantasy, especially if you like it mixed in with a more modern setting.  The stories take place mostly in Russia, as these are by a Russian author.  They are very well written, and while some things may not quite make sense (like a reference to a particular type of Russian food or drink, or a phrase, etc.) it doesn’t detract from the story.

There are a group of people, known as Others, who live among humans but have powers.  Some are wizards, some are vampires, some are werewolves, there are all kinds of magical entities.  And they’re split into two basic factions that fight back and forth, trying to tip the scale in their favor.

I enjoyed them immensely.  Thank you Dan, for getting me to read them.  *grin*

I wonder if he’s written anything else that’s been translated?  Hmmm….*runs off to search through Amazon*


three-star

Shoot ’em up

Shoot ’em up basically makes fun of action movies.  I’d say this movie was a mixed bag.  Some parts had me cracking up, and other parts just had me going ewww.  It was rather graphic, but not in a serious sort of way – if that makes any sense.  Everything was over the top, but well done.  I never knew a carrot could be so versatile. 

I think my favorite part is the rat letting him into his apt.  That was pretty cool.  And I was happy that the dog lived. 

So overall, I enjoyed it even though there were some parts that were a little too graphic for my tastes.

Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost

ShadowbridgeShadowbridge
Gregory Frost

Shadowbridge is a book that I happened to find by just browsing the bookstore.  Upon entering the bookstore a beeline is made for the Sci-fi and Fantasy section.  And more often than not at least one book is found that comes home with me.  The latest one was Shadowbridge.

It’s a story about stories.  Which I found to be an interesting way for the book to be written.  Each sub story seems to connect with the main character in some way, and they will draw you in of their own accord.

One of the sub stories is rather large, but does fit into the overall arc of the book.  Unfortunately though the main character is not really involved in this sub story that sets up another character of the novel.  This did annoy me somewhat because I was so invested in Leodora that I didn’t want to branch off of her story quite that far. Once the sub story ended it was brought around full circle and was then understandable as to why it had been included.  The character that story set up, Diverus, became a central character to the story.

There is a sequel called Lord Tophet that I will be buying next time I go to the book store.  It will continue Leodora’s story, which is good because Shadowbridge almost ended without an ending.  It’s a story that definitely isn’t over yet.  I’m looking forward to reading Lord Tophet and learning the rest of Leodora’s story.

Crossposted to Bookreports on LiveJournal.


five-star

Get Smart

Sadly, Get Smart was a disappointment.  The movie had the potential to be rather funny, but just didn’t pull it off.  All the really good moments were pretty much in the trailer.  Maybe it was the kind of humor that I just don’t get. 

I do have to say that Patrick Warburton as HYMIE at the end was awesome.  And there were a few funny moments throughout the movie, but overall it just wasn’t that great. 

Next up I believe is Lady in the Water and Shoot ’em up.  I’ve seen Lady in the Water before and I know I like it.  And I have high hopes that Shoot ’em up will be funnier than Get Smart.

Prince Caspian

The latest Netflix rental was Prince Caspian.  Yes, I’m too lazy to type out the full title.  Overall it was pretty good.  I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but it was still well done.  I was annoyed at some of the stupid mistakes the characters made, but they’re supposed to or else we wouldn’t have a plot.  And one of the actors reminded me of Robert Downey Jr.  That was a little distracting. 

Reepicheep ROCKED!  I think he was the best thing about this movie.  I remember loving him in the books as well.  He was kind of full of himself, but not in an aggravating or annoying way. Which is hard to do with characters, but the character of Reepicheep was done perfectly.  And I loved his feather.  He was awesome.

Since this is a movie review I won’t get into my dislike for the ending of the books.  I do wonder if they’ll try to do another Narnia movie.  I’m not sure there are any other books focusing on the Pavensies at all.  One of them does have Edmund and Lucy returning to Narnia, but otherwise they follow other children who’ve been woven into the story.  If they did decide to do another one, I’d probably watch it.  The movies are very well done, even if I disagree with the books (or the ending of the last book, really).