Emo Nemo

Mily

Sarah

Shaidrian Rios

Jimmy Beans

miCCwatreSSop

Julie Wynne - videos

Kapuster

Nicky Tallon

Harini Sen

Vastralaya

Evan Shively (Perseus271)

This series is both entertaining and hugely frustrating. At 11 books averaging 800 pages apiece, it's quite a time investment. The plusses: + Robert Jordan has a knack for compelling plot. I really, really wanted to know what happened next at nearly every turn.  + The concepts are original - excepting of course that he takes the same stuff from Tolkien that everyone else does - and pretty nifty. I especially like the Yin/Yang idea of the one power and its male and female halves. + The characters are generally compelling, especially the ones with significant power (the trio of main characters, and various high-level bad guys). + Climactic scenes deliver what you want! Bad guys get their due! Good guys kick ass! It's fun.The minuses: - RJ tends to get WAY too caught up in a horribly juvenile girl vs. boy sort of war, which gets tiresome early on in the series, and infuriating by the end. - Most of the characters constantly behave like whiny adolescents. Everyone is always "demanding" something from others. People who are themselves incredibly rude frequently slap others for being insolent. Again, it gets old fast. - He has an obvious formula for character behavior which started to drive me absolutely insane by the third or fourth book. For example, women who are scared always "sick up"; women who are angry "smooth their skirts"; men who are angry have incredibly cold eyes; etc. - You could make a case that every book could easily lose 200 pages or so and be far better for it. - Worst of all - RJ never quite finished what he was doing before he died. So the series comes to an abrupt, incredibly unsatisfying end. (Personally, I wanted it all to end by about book seven or eight.) My feeling is that even if he had lived, the series would probably have gone on to book twenty without ending. Ending it didn't seem to be on his task list. - Book nine is the last one with anything useful to offer. Book ten was such a horrid (I mean HORRIBLE) read that I didn't even bother with book eleven - I just read the chapter summaries online.If you are interested in these books, but have not yet read the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, please run (don't walk) to the bookstore and get that instead. You will be far happier.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard contains five richly diverse fairy tales, each with its own magical character, that will variously bring delight, laughter and the thrill of mortal peril.Additional notes for each story penned by Professor Albus Dumbledore will be enjoyed by Muggles and wizards alike, as the Professor muses on the morals illuminated by the tales, and reveals snippets of information about life at Hogwarts.A uniquely magical volume, with illustrations by the author, J. K. Rowling, that will be treasured for years to come.

Book Three of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea CycleDarkness threatens to overtake Earthsea: the world and its wizards are losing their magic. Despite being wearied with age, Ged Sparrowhawk -- Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord -- embarks on a daring, treacherous journey, accompanied by Enlad's young Prince Arren, to discover the reasons behind this devastating pattern of loss. Together they will sail to the farthest reaches of their world -- even beyond the realm of death -- as they seek to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it.With millions of copies sold worldwide, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere, alongside the works of such beloved authors as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

”The hunger of a dragon is slow to wake, but hard to sate.”\
  \
The Folio Society edition is superbly illustrated by David Lupton.The boy is born on the island of Gont in the archipelago of Earthsea. This is a world infused with magic. Not everyone can control this magic, but those who know the right words and have a wizard soul can learn to utilize the power of the Earth to manipulate objects and events. The boy’s name is Duny; I can tell you that name because the name has no power over him. His true name is something he can only reveal to those he trusts absolutely beyond question.I know his true name, but fair reader, I’m not sure yet that I can share it with you. His aunt knows a few things, a handful of words, that can be used to bind things or call animals to her. Duny is particularly adept at calling falcons and other birds of prey. His agile mind soon surpasses what his aunt can teach him. He burns to know more. He is assigned to a mage, Ogion, who tries to teach him about the balance of magic with the Earth. There is always a cost for using magic. Understanding the levy for sorcery is the difference between being just impulsively talented and being wise about what you know. ”You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard’s power of Changing and of Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow….”If the flap of a butterfly wing in the Amazon can cause a hurricane in Florida, imagine what a wizard can do with power over the weather. It is kind of funny, but there is this one scene where wizards on different islands use spells to keep the clouds from raining on them. This storm bounces between them like a boiling stew pot. Now, a wizard like Ogion finds shelter under a tree and waits for the rain to stop. To Sparrowhawk, this type of restraint is ridiculous. If you have the power, why not use it? Duny is Sparrowhawk, and you might think that is his real name, but just because you’ve read a few paragraphs of this review doesn’t mean you’ve endeared yourself to me enough to tell you his real name. Sparrowhawk will suffice for now. Sparrowhawk becomes impatient with the restrained magic that Ogion teaches, so he is sent to magic school on the Island of Roke. There was a magic school in literature before Hogwarts? Indeed there was. The first time he goes to the dining hall to eat, there is only one table. The table, in a very Hogwarts’ fashion, expands to fit as many people who enter to eat. Sparrowhawk is soon recognized as one of the most gifted students. Spells and the names of things flow into his mind like lava, changing the landscape of his brain into something completely different. He becomes powerful.He becomes arrogant.He becomes vengeful on those who don’t appreciate his power. In a moment of hubris, he summons a dead woman from the distant past and, in the process, opens a rift that nearly kills him. It does kill the old mage who helps him close it. Something came through. Sparrowhawk is burned in mind, body, and spirit. He is guilty of a death. The shame and self-condemnation weigh heavily on him. He may become the great wizard he was intended to be, but the road will be much longer now. The shadow from another world that pursues him becomes the devil on his heels for the rest of the novel. This chase from island to island reminded me of Frankenstein and his pursuit of his monster to the North Pole. The interesting thing about this novel is that Ursula K. Le Guin’s publisher came to her and asked her to write a book for older kids. Young Adult wasn’t even a term yet in the late 1960s. She wasn’t sure she wanted to write such a book, but she was nagged by the idea of where do great wizards come from? We normally meet them when they are old sages in the vein of a Merlin or a Gandalf. She wanted G__ erhhh Sparrowhawk to be seen as more human, more fallible than how most wizards had been presented before. I liked the emphasis she puts on the importance of words in this novel and the power and magic that resides in knowing the names of things. I had trepidations about reading this book. I was reassured that I was in the capable hands of a writer I’ve enjoyed before. I have a bit of a knee jerk reaction to the term Young Adult because I’m not a Young Adult. I’m an old fuddy duddy who has a hard time watching commercials on TV geared towards youth. I certainly wince at the idea of spending hours trapped in a book intended for a younger audience. I’m somewhat alarmed at the number of ADULTS who read nothing but Young Adult. The evolution of a reader is for that person to move from picture books, then ride the escalator to Young Adult, and eventually find the elevator that will take them onwards and upwards to adult literature. I’m still pondering this. Is it an extended childhood? Why would someone always want to read about children or teenagers? Am I generationally challenged on this issue? I am happy that people are reading, and ultimately it is better that they read anything rather than nothing at all, but I do think that the more you read there should be some evolution in what you choose to read. I’m such an eclectic reader that it is difficult for me to understood people being so genre specific with their reading choices. Young Adult now dominates the publishing world. Writers are being encouraged to make changes to their novels so they can be marketed as YA. If I weren’t worried about this trend it would be fascinating. \
  \
There are dragon battles, alluring women who try to seduce G_d to their own uses. There are friendships made and lost; there are painful realizations, and there is growth and acceptance of our own limitations. Most importantly, there is a wizard as wise and as powerful as Gandolf or Merlin, who emerges like a Phoenix from the flames of his own childish conceit. His name is Ged, but you must only whisper it, or better yet refer to him as Sparrowhawk, and keep in the locked box at the center of your heart who he really is. ”He hunted, he followed, and fear ran before him.”If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.comI also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten

Now in development for TV!Since 1990, when Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time® burst on the world with its first book, The Eye of the World, readers have been anticipating the final scenes of this extraordinary saga, which has sold over forty million copies in over thirty languages.The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.When Robert Jordan died in 2007, all feared that these concluding scenes would never be written. But working from notes and partials left by Jordan, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in to complete the masterwork. With The Gathering Storm (Book 12) and Towers of Midnight (Book 13) behind him, both of which were # 1 New York Times hardcover bestsellers, Sanderson now re-creates the vision that Robert Jordan left behind.Edited by Jordan's widow, who edited all of Jordan's books, A Memory of Light will delight, enthrall, and deeply satisfy all of Jordan's legions of readers.The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass.What was, what will be, and what is,may yet fall under the Shadow.Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.TV series update: "Sony will produce along with Red Eagle Entertainment and Radar Pictures. Rafe Judkins is attached to write and executive produce. Judkins previously worked on shows such as ABC’s “Agents of SHIELD,” the Netflix series “Hemlock Grove,” and the NBC series “Chuck.” Red Eagle partners Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon will executive produce along with Radar’s Ted Field and Mike Weber. Darren Lemke will also executive produce, with Jordan’s widow Harriet McDougal serving as consulting producer." —VarietyThe Wheel of Time®New Spring: The Novel#1 The Eye of the World#2 The Great Hunt#3 The Dragon Reborn#4 The Shadow Rising#5 The Fires of Heaven#6 Lord of Chaos#7 A Crown of Swords#8 The Path of Daggers#9 Winter's Heart#10 Crossroads of Twilight#11 Knife of DreamsBy Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson#12 The Gathering Storm#13 Towers of Midnight#14 A Memory of LightBy Robert Jordan and Teresa PattersonThe World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of TimeBy Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria SimonsThe Wheel of Time CompanionBy Robert Jordan and Amy RomanczukPatterns of the Wheel: Coloring Art Based on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of TimeAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

2013 novel by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Journeys to the end of the world, fantastic creatures, and epic battles between good and evil—what more could any reader ask for in one book? The book that has it all is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, written in 1949 by Clive Staples Lewis. But Lewis did not stop there. Six more books followed, and together they became known as The Chronicles of Narnia.For the past fifty years, The Chronicles of Narnia have transcended the fantasy genre to become part of the canon of classic literature. Each of the seven books is a masterpiece, drawing the reader into a land where magic meets reality, and the result is a fictional world whose scope has fascinated generations.This edition presents all seven books—unabridged—in one impressive volume. The books are presented here in chronlogical order, each chapter graced with an illustration by the original artist, Pauline Baynes. Deceptively simple and direct, The Chronicles of Narnia continue to captivate fans with adventures, characters, and truths that speak to readers of all ages, even fifty years after they were first published.

Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found herePercy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want--but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.

The Inheritance Cycle is a tetralogy of young adult high fantasy novels written by American author Christopher Paolini. Set in the fictional world of Alagaësia (), the novels focus on the adventures of a teenage boy named Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, as they struggle to overthrow the evil king Galbatorix. The series was originally intended to be a trilogy (named the "Inheritance Trilogy") until Paolini announced on October 30, 2007, while working on the third novel, that he believed the story was too complex to conclude in just three books.
The book series as a whole received mixed reviews by critics, but has gained both popularity and commercial success. The first book in the series, Eragon, was originally self-published by Paolini in 2001, and subsequently re-published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers on June 25, 2003. The second book in the series, Eldest, was published by Knopf on August 23, 2005. Both were New York Times bestsellers. The third book in the series, Brisingr, was published by Knopf on September 20, 2008. The fourth and final book in the series, Inheritance, was published by Knopf on November 8, 2011. The series has sold 33.5 million copies worldwide.

Darkness falls…despair abounds…evil reigns…Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training in the skills of the Dragon Rider. Ages 12+.Darkness falls…despair abounds…evil reigns…Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training in the skills of the Dragon Rider: magic and swordsmanship. Soon he is on the journey of a lifetime, his eyes open to awe-inspring new places and people, his days filled with fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and nothing is what it seems. Before long, Eragon doesn't know whom he can trust.Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle–one that might put Eragon in even graver danger.Will the king's dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life. . . .

It began with Eragon... It ends with Inheritance.Not so very long ago, Eragon — Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider — was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chance.The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?This is the spellbinding conclusion to Christopher Paolini's worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.

One boy...One dragon...A world of adventure. When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and tge advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

Oaths sworn... loyalties tested... forces collide.It's been only months since Eragon first uttered "brisingr", an ancient language term for fire. Since then, he's not only learned to create magic with words — he's been challenged to his very core. Following the colossal battle against the Empires warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still, there is more adventure at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.First is Eragon's oath to his cousin, Roran: to help rescue Roran's beloved from King Galbatorix's clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength — as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices — choices that will take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?

The city of Canluum lies close to the scarred and desolate wastes of the Blight, a walled haven from the dangers away to the north, and a refuge from the ill works of those who serve the Dark One. Or so it is said.The city that greets Al’Lan Mandragoran, exiled king of Malkier and the finest swordsman of his generation, is instead one that is rife with rumour and the whisperings of Shadowspawn. Proof, should he have required it, that the Dark One grows powerful once more and that his minions are at work throughout the lands.And yet it is within Canluum’s walls that Lan will meet a woman who will shape his destiny. Moiraine is a young and powerful Aes Sedai who has journeyed to the city in search of a bondsman. She requires aid in a desperate quest to prove the truth of a vague and largely discredited prophecy—one that speaks of a means to turn back the shadow, and of a child who may be the dragon reborn.

When I read the prologue I thought this would be better than it's predecessor, after all it had such a great start but how wrong I was. What started as an amazing start soon turned into a slow bullock cart, picking speed only at occasions. I think I have made peace with the women in this story. Nothing can change them (hoping against hope Sanderson did a better job when he wrote the final books). They will always make me angry, cringe, exasperated, and irritated with their antics, and I have to accept them as they are if I want to keep on reading this story. This book introduces a lot of new characters, of which Cadsuane Melaidhrine impressed me the most. She had this aura of mystery around her. Almost everyone was so eager to please her or at least not to be on her wrong side. I am eager to know more of her powers and role she's going to play in Rand's campaign against the Dark Lord. In so many ways this book belongs to Matrim Cauthon. First he was always there to rescue me when the girls became unbearable with their cat fights or too high opinion of themselves lend them into trouble. He was always there to play the hero and gave us some much needed light moments. His character developed a lot in this book and him forgiving Nynaeve and Elyane; and then helping and protecting them on their mission, was a big step on his part. Even if he was following Rand's orders, there were times when he volunteered for some dangerous tasks. Even after being slow events of this book surely moved the story forward and it will be interesting to what happens in the next book. 

The first series that showed it was possible to do an uninspired rewrite of Tolkien and make a mint was Shannara. After that the doors were flung wide, and the next to profit off the scheme was was Robert Jordan. Of course, I'm not suggesting it's bad to take inspiration from older authors--all authors do this, as Virgil did from Homer, and Milton from Virgil, and Byron from Milton. Tolkien himself drew on the Norse Eddas, Welsh myths, English fairy tales, and Blake's myth-making.But when a skilled author takes inspiration, they expand and change what came before, combining many influences to produce their own unique voice and vision. Jordan didn't have the knowledge of language, history, or culture to truly copy Tolkien's style, nor was he able to add a unique spin.The Eye of The World is a more accessible version of Tolkien, but Tolkien is already a simplified version of the Norse Sagas, meaning that Jordan felt a need to dumb-down the accessible, which doesn't leave his book with much personality.Jordan also takes influence from the Sword &amp; Sorcery tradition, particularly R.E. Howard (Jordan even wrote and published some of his own Conan stories). However, unlike other authors of rollicking adventure Fantasy, like Leiber or Charles Saunders, Jordan kept Tolkien's plodding length. It is difficult to comprehend how an author could take such a simple, familiar story and stretch it out over so many pages.The hero is an orphan who looks different, he gets his father's magic sword, he goes on a quest with an old, wily mentor, gets attacked by evil (dark-skinned) mongoloids from the mysterious East, meets the princess by accident, becomes embroiled in an ancient prophecy, discovers a magic 'force' which controls fate (and the plot), &amp;c., &amp;c. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Like a lot of modern fantasy, the plot and characters are nothing new. If you've seen Star Wars, then you know it by heart. Every fantasy fan has read this same story again and again from countless authors--some, apparently on purpose. Of course, when this old story is told well, with slick pacing and vivid characters, we can forgive the cliches, or even enjoy them freshly, recognizing their universal appeal. But when an author is simply trotting out an old, tired story and doing nothing to make it shine anew, then the only appeal it can lay claim to is bland nostalgia.There's no reason for this sort of repetition: a new book should be more than just fanfic of an older, financially successful book. There are countless different influences out there, long before Tolkien or Howard ever touched pen to paper (many of which can be found in the link at the end of this review), so it's disappointing to see authors continually rehashing the same tedious cliches completely unchanged half a century later.Jordan's long-winded style can't even boast the wealth of meticulous details with which Tolkien filled his pages (often to the detriment of his story). It's clear that Jordan's trying to build a one of those massively detailed worlds so prevalent in pop fantasy, but it's not an interesting, original world--it's just another generic, pseudo-Medieval Europe without any of the genuinely interesting bits that made that time period unique. It's just modern characters with modern psychology swinging around magic swords in a Disneyland version of history.It might not be so bad if the lengthy asides were actually interesting, in and of themselves. If each little piece was amusing in its own right, we might forgive. If they gave us some odd bit of defamiliarization that caused us to look at our own, modern world in a new way, that would be something. Instead, we get dry, lengthy explanations of extraneous facts that we had no reason to be curious about in the first place.Some readers have pointed out that these facts show up in later books of the series, which is probably true, but then, what are they doing in this book? If Mary doesn't appear until book three, it is not useful or interesting to stop in the middle of book one and tell us she has blonde hair. Facts should not be evenly distributed throughout a series, they should be placed in close proximity to scenes that relate to them. That way they make sense to the reader and we have a reason to care about them. That's the difference between foreshadowing and a word search puzzle.If an author has to stop the story every few paragraphs to explain what's going on, then his writing is simply not working. The world should be revealed to us through characters, through their interactions, through small details of verisimilitude that are lovely or interesting on their own, and through scenes designed specifically to illustrate a point without losing focus and falling into lengthy digressions.But Jordan's characters are dull and shallow, his dialogue bland, and his plot (though it possesses many parts) lacks twists or turns. We are given an unending parade of new characters and lengthy asides, which masterfully suck all the drive, purpose, and life from an otherwise simplistic story. At half this length, the book would have been merely another two-star fantasy rehash. At a third the length, it might have started to show some pep--but Jordan had to stretch out his all-to-familiar story to doorstop proportions.In Tolkien, the first hundred pages takes place in quaint Hobbiton. This prelude prepares us for the rest of the book, allowing us to understand the strange world and characters and setting a mood. When the action takes us away, we find we have formed a certain attachment to the bucolic charm of Hobbiton (sickly-sweet as it may be). Finally, when we do depart, the world we meet is much grander in comparison. In Eye of the World, you spend the first hundred and fifty pages in a drab farming community, so that when the characters finally leave, it will seem like something is happening. This is only an illusion.Some of Jordan's fans have pointed to the 'Wheel of Time' aspect as his unique contribution to the genre--mixing Eastern philosophy and the idea of eternal recurrence in with his mock-feudal world, but it's the same thing that E.R. Eddison was doing in the 1920s, and which Michael Moorcock has been exploring and expanding on since the sixties. As such, I don't see it as some new twist that Jordan has added to fantasy, but as another bland rehash of an interesting idea some other author had decades before.Also, like most fantasy authors, Jordan seems to have a problem writing female characters. They are either whiny and snotty, or emasculating ice queens. They all speak in the exact same voice--and the joke in the writing community is that anyone who has met his wife know exactly where every one of his female characters comes from. I couldn't count on both hands the fantasy authors who seem to think 'strong woman' means 'insufferable, unapologetic shrew'. Then again, it isn't as if his male characters aren't any more interesting or fleshed-out, even if they do get a more flattering depiction.I've also been led to understand that later on in the series, we get a magical band of lipstick lesbians who 'go straight' when they grow up (and meet 'real men', like our heroes), plus a bunch of sex-fetish weirdness about punishment by naked public spanking. But I suppose that if Jordan resembles other genre writers in terms of plot, length, setting, and character, he might as well go all the way and throw in some of his own unprocessed sexual hangups.And as the series goes on, the many problems with pacing, plotting, and unfocused asides only grow worse. If Jordan can't keep everything straight in his opening book, how will he possibly deal when the story starts branching out (as stories inevitably do)? It is hardly surprising that such a tenuous grasp will inevitably slip away--as it has for so many other authors in pop fantasy, from Martin to Goodkind, who start off intending to write a trilogy and end up with ten books, each of which takes five years to write, and none of which even manage to finish the plot started in book I.So, take the plot of Star Wars, add the long-windedness of Tolkien, the piecemeal structure of Howard, the cosmology of Moorcock, add in a pinch of awkward sexual hangups, and you have yet another crap pop fantasy, ready to sell a million copies to folks who want nothing more than to read the same story over and over as written by a succession of chubby, bearded, awkward dudes. I'm sure a violent, breast-baring miniseries is already in preproduction.UPDATE: one might point to the endless repetition in modern literature as a sure sign that there is no God, no grand plan, and no purpose to the universe. A benevolent power would surely spare us the pain of such unending mediocrity.However, if there were some deity, and he had a sense of humor, then he would allow the uncreative authors to publish, to gain fame, win awards, and rake in the cash, until their series piled self-indulgently to the length of a minor encyclopedia. Then our clownish deity would let the author announce that he is finally approaching The End (for real this time!), only to perish on the cusp. Since this is precisely what happened to Jordan, I will have to keep an eye out for other signs of this humorous demiurge, possibly in the form of leper-curing banana peels and hagiographic fright wigs.My Fantasy Book Suggestions

A Memory of Light is the 14th and final book of the fantasy series The Wheel of Time, written by American authors Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, and published by Tor books. Originally expected to have been published around March 2012, the book was delayed several times, and the hardcover edition was eventually released on January 8, 2013. The book reached No. 1 on several bestsellers lists.The title A Memory of Light was previously intended to apply to a book containing the material in what are now books 12, 13 and 14. The original book was incomplete at the time of Jordan's death on September 16, 2007, from cardiac amyloidosis; his widow Harriet McDougal and publisher Tom Doherty chose to publish the book posthumously. Tor Books announced that Brandon Sanderson had been chosen to finish writing the book.

The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al'Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits...Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn....

I say this all of the time, but reading old school fantasy books is like reading with a friend. And they remind me of when I was young. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm old school. Happy Reading! Mel ❤️

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready.The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light,  was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, and now Stormlight Archive, among others, was chosen by Jordan's editor--his wife, Harriet McDougal--to complete the final volume, later expanded to three books.In this epic novel, Robert Jordan's international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion. Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, struggles to unite a fractured network of kingdoms and alliances in preparation for the Last Battle. As he attempts to halt the Seanchan encroachment northward--wishing he could form at least a temporary truce with the invaders--his allies watch in terror the shadow that seems to be growing within the heart of the Dragon Reborn himself.Egwene al'Vere, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive of the White Tower and subject to the whims of their tyrannical leader. As days tick toward the Seanchan attack she knows is imminent, Egwene works to hold together the disparate factions of Aes Sedai while providing leadership in the face of increasing uncertainty and despair. Her fight will prove the mettle of the Aes Sedai, and her conflict will decide the future of the White Tower--and possibly the world itself.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. It is part of the eighth generation of the Pokémon video game series and serves as a prequel to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (2006). The game was first announced as part of the Pokémon 25th Anniversary event in February 2021, and was released worldwide on 28 January 2022.The game follows the protagonist, sent back through time, as they travel through the Hisui region based on the island of Hokkaido during early Japanese colonization. Centered around exploration of the region's several open areas populated with Pokémon, the game's objective is to complete a roster of the region's Pokémon, known as the Pokédex. Pokémon Legends: Arceus received generally favorable reviews and was a commercial success, having sold over 12 million copies.

The last Final Fantasy for the PlayStation, Final Fantasy IX returns to the pure fantasy roots that spawned the series. This latest installment features highly...

Can you help save the people of Spira? Join Tidus and Yuna on an adventure to rid the world of Sin and bring about the Calm in one of the most popular FINAL FAN...

Wrath of the White Witch, is a tale of a young boy named Oliver who embarks on a journey into a parallel world to bring his mother back from the dea...

A peaceful beginning. The legend was born 10,000 years ago. A violent uprising. A civilization of flying creatures enslave the human race. A bloody war. In a bi...

Battlemage is a first-person caster that gives the Mage the spotlight in a way never before seen in games. With limitless magical power at your disposa...

Initially conceived as a floating symbol of American ideals at a time when the United States was emerging as a world power, Columbia is sent to distant shores w...

Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline,...

Borderlands 2 advances the distinct blending of FPS and role-playing genres to create an evolution of the Role Playing Shooter. Team up with up to 3 other playe...

BioWare completes the Mass Effect Trilogy with Mass Effect 3. Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their...

EA announced that a new installment in the Dragon Age series will arrive in the first quarter of 2011....

Mass Effect is a science fiction action-RPG created by BioWare Corp., the commercially and critically acclaimed RPG developer of "Jade Empire," and "Star Wars:...

Five decades have passed since the events of Fable II, and Albion has matured into an industrial revolution, but the fate of the kingdom is at peril. In Fable I...

The next chapter in the Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete vi...

Costume Quest is a rollicking Adventure/Role-Playing game that unfolds on Halloween night across seemingly peaceful suburban neighborhoods, a mysterious village...

Explore spooky time-traversing landscapes, wear adorable new costumes that transform into powerful Hallo-warriors, and collect even Creepier Treat Cards to wiel...

Mo, a practicing Muslim living in West Hollywood, is learning to navigate life post heartbreak. Enter Kal, an All-American guy who surprises Mo by offering to break fast with him during the holy month of Ramadan.

In December 2019, Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance charged with financial crimes, stunned the world by fleeing Japan in a Hollywood-worthy escape. What triggered his downfall from celebrated industry leader to international fugitive? Ghosn claims he fell victim to a conspiracy involving Nissan executives and members of the Japanese government. Yet the charges against him are hard to ignore. This documentary sheds light on this complex and multilayered story and divulges new details on his spectacular escape through interviews, archival footage and exclusive access to Carlos Ghosn and his wife Carole.

Fire Island is a 2022 American romantic comedy film directed by Andrew Ahn, and written by and starring Joel Kim Booster. The film co-stars Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, and Margaret Cho. Inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the story follows a group of gay friends who go on vacation to Fire Island, only for things to become complicated by classism and romance.

Two men with commitment problems attempt a relationship.

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loop-hole and reenter Heaven.

Four years after graduation, an awkward high school genius uses his sister's boyfriend's Labor Day party as the perfect opportunity to make his move on his high school crush.

Drac's Pack is back, like you've never seen them before in the final chapter of 'Hotel Transylvania'.

The Addams get tangled up in more wacky adventures and find themselves involved in hilarious run-ins with all sorts of unsuspecting characters. Sequel to the 2019 animated film, 'The Addams Family'.

This is a follow-up to the comedy Beetle Juice (1988), about a ghost who's recruited to help haunt a house.

Elemental is an upcoming American computer-animated romantic comedy drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film was directed by Peter Sohn from a screenplay by John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh, based on a story by Sohn, Hoberg, Likkel, and Hsueh, and produced by Denise Ream. It stars the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O'Hara, Mason Wertheimer, Joe Pera, and Matt Yang King. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic elements of nature, the story follows fire element Ember Lumen (Lewis) and water element Wade Ripple (Athie), who meet and fall in love after Wade is summoned by a plumbing accident at a convenience store owned by Ember's bigoted father Bernie (Carmen). While they cannot touch each other, Ember and Wade discover how much they actually have in common.

The fifth installment of the 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' series which follows the adventures of Newt Scamander.

Inside Out is a 2015 American computer-animated film directed by Pete Docter from a screenplay he co-wrote with Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios, it stars the voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan. The film follows the inner workings inside the mind of a young girl named Riley, who adapts to her family's relocation, as five personified emotions administer her thoughts and actions.

The third installment of the 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' series which follows the adventures of Newt Scamander.

Dr. Evil is back and has invented a new time machine that allows him to go back to the 1960s and steal Austin Powers' mojo, inadvertently leaving him "shagless".

A young boy learns how to be a king with the help of a wizard. A live-action adaptation of Disney's animated feature film, "The Sword in the Stone."

A doll living in 'Barbieland' is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world. A Live-action feature film based on the popular line of Barbie toys.

The story will focus specifically on a young Willy Wonka and how he met the Oompa-Loompas on one of his earliest adventures.

Four teens are tricked by Professor Oldman (Tim Curry) into visiting a haunted house for a school project.

An attractive and popular teenager, who is mean-spirited toward others, finds herself in the body of an older man, and must find a way to get back to her original body.

Heated Rivalry is a Canadian sports romance television series created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney for Crave. Based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers novel series, it follows two rival professional hockey players, Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), whose on-ice animosity conceals a passionate, secret romance. It also stars François Arnaud, Robbie G.K., Christina Chang, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, Sophie Nélisse, and Dylan Walsh.

The show had its world premiere at the Image+Nation LGBTQ+ Film Festival in Montreal, Canada on November 23, 2025 as a screening of the first episode with Jacob Tierney and several of the cast members in attendance.[1] The first season then premiered online on Crave on November 28, 2025, and was picked up for streaming on HBO Max in the United States and Australia; Neon in New Zealand; and Movistar Plus+ in Spain. The series received critical acclaim, with praise for the directing, writing, and the lead actors' performances and chemistry. It also achieved strong audience viewership, becoming Crave's most-watched original series to date and HBO Max's top debut for an acquired, non-animated title since the platform's launch in 2019. The series has been described by media outlets as a global sensation and a break-out critical hit.[2] In December 2025, it was renewed for a second season.

Four friends in a small coastal town help each other cope with adolescence.

1998 American teen drama television series

Three South Carolina women, best friends since high school, shepherd one another through the complexities of romance, career, and family.

A couple goes through a long, drawn-out divorce.

When Holly's father is transferred to Japan, she is sent to live with her big sister Valerie in New York City, turning Valerie's life upside down.

Four previously married women live together in Miami, sharing their various experiences together and enjoying themselves despite hard times. Spin-offs Nurses (1991) and Empty Nest (1988).

A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

American comedy-drama series for The WB and The CW (2000–2007)

An animated series that follows the exploits of a super scientist and his not-so-bright grandson.

Twenty years after graduation, a tight-knit group of college friends reconnects and discovers that love hasn't gotten easier with age.

The dark and twisted trials of two plastic surgeons.

The adventures of a quartet of humanoid warrior turtles and their friends.

US animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, running from 1987 to 1996

The 1989 animated feature adapted by Disney for television in a prequel that leads up to the events of the movie.

Disney's fun-loving chipmunks are re-imagined as the leaders of a team of pint-sized crime-fighters.

A team of humanoid cats fight evil in their adopted home world.

A young boy, who happens to be a genius, lives in a small town with his family and friends and often gets into crazy adventures with them involving the things he invents.

American computer-animated television series

Scooby-Doo and the Mystery, Inc. gang are launched into the 21st century, with new mysteries to solve.

Live-action adaptation of the animated series centering on the adventures of Aang and his friends, who fight to save the world by defeating the Fire-Nation

Follows the lives and tragedies of rising and fading country music stars in Nashville, Tennessee.

2012 American musical drama television series

The Russo family may be an ordinary family with an average restaurant, but behind close doors, all three children must compete to be the next family wizard.

movies

shows

books

games

Active tastebuds