Review - Skylanders Adventures: The Machine of Doom by Cavan Scott (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Children’s/Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 160 pages
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Release Date: September 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0448461847
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Skylanders Adventures series
Source: Gift (for my son)
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the first in a series of books featuring the Skylanders video game characters. It’s a beginning chapter book and has lots of well done pictures.

Spyro and crew go on a quest to recover the Chattering Key in hopes of getting to the Machine of Doom before Kaos does. Along the way they run into perils like stone wyverns, mushrooms of despair, and of course the Machine of Doom.

My 5 year old son is a huge Skylanders fan and was desperate to get this book. I was worried that this was on of “those books”...you know the ones. Horribly written, horrible to read and only selling because it is a Skylanders theme book. I really wasn't expecting much since these types of books are usually poorly written. Imagine my surprise when this ended up being a very entertaining, fantasy-quest type of book.

The writing was well done; full of witty comments and clever word phrasing that made both me and my son laugh out loud. There are a number of places where silly strings of alliteration are used in very clever ways. The writing isn’t dumbed down for kids and uses some big words and some excellent description. Yes, we had to stop a few times to discuss what a word meant, but I am all good with that considering that my son is getting to learn some new words.

There is a lot of humor in here, some awesome action, and lots of teamwork between Spyro and his friends. There are even some surprising twists to the story and a decently thought-out plot.

The story is a good one; Spyro, Eruptor, and Gill Grunt go on a quest to recover the Chattering Key and get to the Machine of Doom before Kaos does. Along the way the solve puzzles and outwit the bad guys.

There are many black and white pictures throughout the book as well. These were very well done and often very humorous. The book is printed in a larger and unique font that made it fun and easy to read.

Overall this book way, way better quality than other books I've read that are knock-offs of game or toy lines. Highly recommended for fans of the Skylanders realm. This is a well written and fun story, that is actually enjoyable to read. Hopefully future books in this series are just as good as this one...then instead of groaning about having to read my son another cheap, poorly done book based on a game, I can actually look forward to the cool illustrations, fun humor, and a plot!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Audiobook Review - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult/Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/SciFi
Size: 384 pages
Publisher: Crown
Release Date: August 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0307887436
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 5/5 stars


I pretty much loved everything about this book. I listened to this book on audio, imagine my surprise when I realized that this was narrated by Will Wheaton (I just listened to Fuzzy Nation a couple weeks ago which was also narrated by Will Wheaton) and he again did an absolutely stellar job of narrating. This book is so fun and is really a kick to read if you were ever interested in, or part of, 80's geek culture. It also has a strong cyperpunk feel to it; so fans of cyberpunk should also considering checking this book out.

Wade lives in 2044 and the future is bleak, power shortages have most of humanity struggling and out of work. So most of humanity live their lives in the OASIS; a virtual reality creaked by James Halliday that consists of thousands of worlds. This is where Wade goes to school, where he plays, and where he is raised. When Halliday dies he leaves the ultimate puzzle/lottery behind. Halliday has hidden an Easter Egg in the OASIS and whoever finds it will win Halliday's substantial fortune. Wade is one of many Gunters (egg hunters) who has spent years searching for the prize. When Wade stumbles on a clue that leads him to the first key his life is changed forever.

Did you grow up in the 80's? Do you love games of all types? If so this is the book for you. This book basically is everything 80's geek culture could ever ask for. There are references to numerous 80's video games in here: Joust, Golden Ax, PacMan, Zork, and many others. As well as references to 80's movies, music, TV shows, etc. All of this is wrapped into a quest to find three keys, conquer three gates and win the prize. So there is a bit of a classic Dungeons and Dragons feel to the book as well. But this is DnD with a cyber punk twist. Certain worlds will allow magic, and others tech, but chaos regions allow for both creating some truly mind-blowing scenes involving magic, guns, and lasers. The amount of awesome 80's trivia in this book is incredible; Cline definitely put a ton of research into writing this book.

This isn't just a geek fest, there is a lot to think about in this book too. Wade's closest friends are people he's never meet in person. Wade also spends a very small amount of time in the real world; his body is mearly a piece of equipment that he keeps exercised and fed so that he can jack in to the OASIS. This brings up questions about what it means to live; do we need to do things in person for them to be real and fulfilling? As you learn more about the genius that is Halliday this question comes to a head; was he happy with his creation or did he regret his lack of interaction with other humans?

Then there is the evil corporation that has hired people to play in the OASIS for them; this group of OASIS players is known as the sixers and they do everything in their power to win Halliday's Easter Egg. The sixers are basically everything corporate that Halliday hated. With the Gunters going against the Sixers you have a classic story about the normal everyday man facing off against the evil corporation.

As Wade and his friends make more progress towards finding the Easter Egg consequences start to leak out of the OASIS into the real world and people start dying. It becomes less and less clear where the OASIS ends and the real world begins.

The characters in this book are awesome; they are all so real and fun to read about. The story is absolutely engaging, it is pretty quest based so that is the main driver...but as the story continues it becomes more and more compelling and impossible to put down.

All in all this book was an absolute blast to read. It was a fun read for someone like me who loves gaming of all types, it provided some great food for thought, it was funny and heartwarming, full of great action scenes and completely engaging. I highly recommend this book. My only caution would be if you do not like gaming and do not know anything about 80's culture then a lot of this book is going to go right over your head. A lot of the negative reviews for this book are from people who don't like gaming or just don't get it. So, uh, seriously if you don't like gaming why are you are reading a cyberpunk fantasy novel about 80's gaming culture called Ready Player One!?

Highly recommended, an absolute blast to read, I can't wait to see what Cline comes up with next.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- Dystopia Reading Challenge

 

Review - The Art of Alice: Madness Returns by R.J. Berg (5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Art
Size: 184 pages
Publisher:  Dark Horse
Release Date: May 17, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1595826978
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars



I got an eGalley of this book from Dark Horse through NetGalley(dot)com.  I loved the artwork from the first video game, American McGee's Alice, and this book goes into great detail on how the artwork was designed and detailed for the second game Alice: Madness Returns.  The artwork was absolutely stunning, it has a very dark overtone to it, and the explanations about artistic decisions that were made are engaging and interesting.

I am always a bit surprised about how much planning and work goes into the art for certain video games.  This second game in American McGee's Alice series, Alice: Madness Returns, had an incredible amount of thought put into the artwork.

Not only is the artwork absolutely breathtaking, it is also very iteresting to see the different renditions of things and to see how the art progressed as planning for the game evolved.  There is a whole chapter just on Alice and her dress and all the thought that went into how Alice would portray the game.  There are chapters on the worlds and why they were decided on and how they were built.

The developers went to great lengths to make sure scenarios from the first game are echoed and portrayed similarly in this game; it is apparent that this is the Wonderland Alice originally went to but somewhat changed.

This is a very dark book filled with very dark artwork.  If you are a fan of the first video game you know this is dark.  That being said some of the images are scary and disturbing; probably not a book you want to look through with a young child.

Overall I was very impressed with this artbook.  The art is stunning, the explanations behind it interesting, and the whole thing is very nicely put together.  Everything is well-written and easy to read.  This is a great book to pick up if you are a fan of dark fantasy art.  It is also a great book to pick up if you are a fan of this game series.  This book made me look forward to the game release of Alice: Madness Returns (out in June 2011) even more!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 100+ Reading Challenge