Another Unread Book Series

   I may be jumping the gun a little by posting this, considering I've only read 3 of the 5 published books in the series, which still isn't concluded, but I just had to post this.
  If you need a good, non-cliché, original, non-romantic, action packed fantasy novel, the "Eli Monpress" series should be at the top of your To-Read list. Not only is this book a fresh take on just about everything, but it combines some of the greatest elements of writing all in one series. It has comedy, plenty of action, extremely loveable and imaginative characters, and a new kind of plot.
  The series focuses on Eli Monpress, a thief who's lifelong ambition has been to push his bounty past a million. To accomplish this, he sets up extravagant thieveries each more daring than the rest, and he gets away every time.
  Well, almost. See, his bounty has captured the attention of quite a few bounty hunters, each wanting a piece of his bounty. It also captured the attention of The Spirit Court, who sends a young spiritualist named Miranda along with her ghost hound to protect a national treasure from Eli. In this story, a spiritualist is a wizard who is able to communicate with spirits, like moss or fire and stuff. If I try to explain it much further, it sounds weird, but just like in the case of Artemis Fowl, it's totally not.
  Along the way, Eli's helpers, a superb swordsman named Josef, and a demonseed (read the book to find out what that is!) named Nico, help him along, get into trouble and despite being secondary characters, actually have interesting character arcs.
  Okay, so that's the positive stuff. Here's what was kind of off-putting for me.

         1.) Personally, it took a while to get into it. Just like with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Hunger Games, and even Harry Potter, I was hesitant at first before getting sucked in. The first half of the book (and the very end) was a little bit slow at least in the first book, but the rest is pure gold.
     2.) There seems to be a lot of villains. But hey, isn't that a good thing?
   3.) Eli is so awesome your head may explode. And he only gets better as the series goes on.
But after you get past those, the books are awesome.
Read. Them. Now.


 

From Page to Screen: What NOT to do.

  To some people, 2013 is the Year of the Snake. To others, it's the Year of the Multiple YA Novels Being Brought to Life on Screen. "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," "Beautiful Creatures," "Catching Fire," "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters" and "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" are just a few. Maybe Twilight and Harry Potter inspired them. Maybe the reaction to The Hunger Games gave people hope. Whatever the reason, 2013 shall be movie packed.
  However, along with the mind-blowing-epicness that will ensue, mistakes shall be plentiful. Here are a few do's and don’ts for the movie directors who will never read this blog ever in a million years. Sigh...

1.) Get the hair color right. And all the other character details, too. One of the biggest complaints from fans to the directors is "HEY! That character looks NOTHING like he did in the book!" Take "Percy Jackson and the Olympians." Annabeth has blond hair and grey eyes. Alexandra Daddario has brown hair and blue eyes. Most fans can look past the eye color, but come on! How hard is it to buy a can of hair dye? 

2.) Get the ages right too. Percy Jackson is not 16 in the book. He's 12. Enough said.

3.) Get the plot r--actually, just read the book. It describes the characters in great detail. It explains the plot. It takes care of the plot holes.

4.) Market the movie correctly! Don't make it seem to Twilighty. That is probably the worst comparison YA book fans could ever imagine! (Why is that? Twilight was a huge success.) Don't overplay the romance if it's an action book and don't market a middle grade book to teens and vice versa. It just. Doesn't. Work.

5.) Keep doing what you're doing. Despite all my complaints, I have to admit, any director willing to take on an adaptation of a young adult book is brilliant in my book. Thank, directors, for bringing our characters to life on the big screen, bringing new ideas to the table, and promoting them to all the world. You've introduced thousands of fans to new books, and gave the old fans something to cheer about. Forget all the negativity towards you and focus on the positive stuff. You're changing lives. You're giving people something to root for. You're ending world hun--
  ... Okay, I went a little crazy there. But seriously, thank you, directors of the world, for the movies, there will always be someone out there (me) who loves every inch of them, flaws or not.

And thanks to everyone keeping with my blog despite the chaotic posting schedule. You rock. *

*As you can see, I'm feeling a bit over-sentimental tonight. My apologies for the weirdness.