Myth Books

Book Tag - The Gods of Asgard

2014-09-27T01:04:00.001-04:00

Odin- Odin was the king of the Asgardians, also known as the “All Father.” He sacrificed his eye and hung himself on a tree in order to gain wisdom and knowledge of the future. Choose a character that you think exudes wisdom.

Thor- The god of thunder, Thor was always called upon when the Asgardians were in danger. They once entertained a giant who had invaded their celebration in the hopes of distracting him long enough for Thor to return from his journey so he could deal with the giant. Choose a character that moves the plot along, or you feel the story would go nowhere without.

Freya- Freya was the goddess of women and queen of the Valkyries. She was the most beautiful of all the Asgardians and very sought-after by gods, men, and giants alike. Choose a character that you think epitomizes sexuality or beauty. (male or female).

Loki- As the god of mischief, Loki cause much distress among the Asgardians. He was eventually imprisoned and when he escapes his bonds is destine to bring about Ragnarök, the end of the world. Choose a character that you think should be despised more than he or she actually is, or less than he or she actually is.

Frigga- The wife of Odin, Frigga was very protective of her son Balder. She made every substance known to man swear to never harm him. Balder could not be harmed by anything made of wood, steal, or stone. Tragically, Frigga made no such pact with mistletoe and Balder died from its poison. Choose a mother or father figure draped in tragedy.

Tyr- The god of war, Tyr looked after the giant wolf, Fenrir. When Fenrir became too large the Asgardians chose to bind him. They made a wager with Fenrir to try and break his bond. Fenrir would not agree to the bet unless one of the Asgardians agreed to place his hand inside Fenrir’s mouth. Tyr agreed to place his mouth into Fenrir’s mouth knowing that he would have to sacrifice his hand to ensure success. Choose a character that you think made a great sacrifice for good or bad.

Hella- Hella was the third child of Loki. She died and became the queen of Niflheim, land of the dead. She was a horror to behold, but always fair in her judgments. Choose a character that is not really evil, but creepy or disturbing to you.

Heimdall- Heimdall was the guardian of the rainbow bridge. He was able to see into other worlds Choose a character that seems to know more than he or she lets the readers know.

and always knew when the enemy approached.

Vidar- Vidar was a fierce warrior, and the only Asgardian destined to survive Ragnarök. Choose a character you are really hoping to survive the series he or she is in, or one that already did survive and for which you are glad.

Balder- Balder was beloved by all. His life ended tragically for no other reason than Loki’s petty jealousy. Choose a character who’s death you felt was unnecessary.

Book Review - Control by Lydia Kang

2014-02-13T21:33:00.000-05:00

Recommended for: Fans of YA and or Sci-Fi

Rating: 5 Stars Highly recommended

In a future world where genetically altered people are shunned by society to the point of exile, one girl must cope with the loss of one family and the stress of gaining a new one.

Control is another YA novel set in the future, where man has created his own minority. Scientists have been experimenting with human DNA resulting in people with “traits.” These traits are special abilities that include enhanced healing, breathable skin, and slow aging to name a few.

The protagonist is a seventeen-year-old girl named Zelia who moves around a lot with her father and sister. After her father is killed in a car accident, her sister is kidnapped from the hospital. Zelia finds a home with a group of genetically altered teenagers and tries to find a way to get her sister back.

The plot is very fast paced. It arrives in the second chapter and takes a firm grip on you until the very end. The main character Zelia is intelligent, determined, stubborn, and brave. The minor characters include a boy with four arms, another with two heads, and a girl with green skin.

There is also the underlying mystery of who Zelia’s father. How did he know the people that took Zelia’s sister and how does he know her new surrogate family, it is one of the things Zelia learns about in her character development.

While the story is captivating and there are plenty of interesting characters to keep your interest, “Control” does experience some of the typical YA pitfalls. A romance comes dangerously close to becoming a love triangle. Zelia’s love interest is a very typical broody, sarcastic, obnoxious boy that Zelia hates at first despite the fact that she finds him attractive. They fight and fight until her boy admits that he is in love with her and there is a new couple.

Some readers may be turned off a bit by the science that fills the pages. The characters spend a lot of time in labs doing experiments with DNA. It does not get as involved as it could have been. The author Lydia Kang is a physician, so she probably knows much more than she put in. The science is not overwhelming though unless you have a complete phobia of beakers and theoretical physics.

Overall, I would say that this one is worth the read. I look forward to seeing how this story progresses.

My first Youtube Video

2014-01-31T16:50:00.000-05:00

Hope you enjoy!

Review - Good Intentions by Elliott Kay

2013-12-20T16:27:00.001-05:00

Recommended for: Guys!

Rating: 5 Stars – Highly Recommended (with warning)

When I first saw this book, I was intrigued but something about the description on Amazon seemed a bit forced. After the description, it gave the standard warning, but then listed all the things that could possibly offend somebody. It listed everything from nudity, to lesbian sex, to arson, to violence, an entire assortment of sins. I guess I am just a sucker for those kinds of things.

As I started to read it though, something seemed familiar about it, familiar yet improved. The protagonist of the story is a collage freshman named Alex. He is very awkward and slightly clumsy. He meets two women with whom he forms a love triangle. The new world that he is thrown into is both exciting and dangerous. Any of this sound familiar? Yes, this story is “Twilight” for guys!

Now before you let the word twilight turn you off, allow me to explain the nuances and how they are twisted into something awesome! First, let us talk about Alex. He is the Bella of the story. Does that mean he is an unlikeable blank slate? I think blank slate is a strong statement, yet he is a character with whom many male readers can relate. He is awkward, he lacks confidence, and when things start to go well for him he has trouble believing his good fortunes. That is understandable, as I will show you in a bit here. He is a likeable enough character. He treats his friends and lovers with respect and dignity. He has morals. He gets along well with his mother. Most importantly, when the shit goes down, he steps up rather than expecting somebody else to handle things for him.

Now this is like “Twilight,” so there is a love triangle in it. However, it is “Twilight” for guys. In our

rendition, we don’t have love triangles. We have threesomes! Alex’s two girl friends are Lorelei, and Rachael. Lorelei is a succubus, and Rachael is an angel. I will not give away how they meet, but they end up bonded to Alex through magical means.

Lorelei is the Edward of the group. She speaks with a resounding eloquence, and she has an underlying air of danger to her. Unlike Edward though, Lorelei does not want to wait until marriage to have sex with Alex. She encourages Alex to have sex with her, and any woman he wants. She has the power to make him more sexually attractive to do it also. She even goes as far as to brag to others how good he is in bed. What guy would not want a Lorelei in his life? There is a method to her madness though. You will have to read the book to find out what I mean.

Rachel is the proverbial Jacob. She is an angel so she does have the pretense of being the nice and safe girl, but her conduct throws that into the briar patch. She speaks very crassly. She uses vulgarities and prefers to address her fellow angels with “sup bitches!” She is also voyeuristic, watching Alex have sex with Lorelei or whoever he happens to be with. She is his guardian angel though, so that gives her an excuse. :)

Eventually, trouble enters paradise and Alex finds himself on the defense from Vampires, Werewolves, other demons, a demonic lord that wants Lorelei back, and a heavenly council that may

fire Rachael for her involvement with Alex.

One thing that dragged the story down for me was the stories that gave brief looks at Alex’s past lives. They did end up being important to the plot, but I found them a bit too long and they always ended the same so I found myself skipping past them.

I did give the story my five star rating so it is something I recommend everyone should read. However, by this review and the description given where the book is advertised, it should be obvious that this book is not for everyone. No book is, but if you are easily offended, this book will offend you. People describe this book as a guilty pleasure. I would agree with that, if I ever felt guilt about anything in which I take pleasure.

If you are a guy, or if you are a girl who has a guy who will not read, this one is a must read. It is too much fun to pass up.

Hunger Games = Minotaur?

2013-12-12T01:04:00.000-05:00

A while back, I did a post about the similarities between “The Hunger Games” and “Battle Royale.” Many people have accused Suzanne Collins of “ripping off” “Battle Royale.” I still stand by what I say about it being foolish to think that they do not invite comparison, but “The Hunger Games” is still the better of the two and has plenty to be its own story. As I watch the movies though and read the story, my background in mythology always kicks in for some reason. I see the plight that Katniss goes through, I think of why she is there, why the capitol does what it does, and then draw parallels to another story that is well known and very similar. I think of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.

“The Hunger Games” is a tournament where youth is recruited to be sacrificed because of a penance that surrounding districts must pay for losing a war to the governing body also known as the capitol. The districts send a young man and woman to die in an arena as a reminder of the capitol’s power.

In the story of the Minotaur, Greece must send seven sons and seven daughters to Crete to be sacrificed as penance for their actions. In some versions of the story, King Minos of Crete sends his son Androgeus to compete in the Pan-Athenian games in Athens. Androgeus does so well in the games that people in Athens become jealous enough to send assassins to kill him. When King Minos finds out about his son’s death, he demands that Greece send Minos the assassins for execution. Nobody knows who the assassins are. Greece pays Minos by sending the entire town.

The other version of the story has Crete defeat Athens in a war. In both versions of the story, Greece must send seven sons and seven daughters to be executed every set number of years. This version of the story mirrors “The Hunger Games.” Some differences come in at this point. The biggest difference being that the seven sons and daughters are to be fed to the Minotaur while the tributes must kill each other until one remains.

Like most Greek myths, a hero emerges to kill the Minotaur and save the people of Athens. The hero’s name is Theseus. When it comes time to pick the seven sons and daughters, Theseus volunteers to take the place of one of the boys. Wait a minute, he

volunteers? Where have a seen that before?

Both Katniss and Theseus have outside help. Katniss has the help of Haymich and her sponsors, while Theseus gets help from King Minos’ daughter. Both of these assistants give the heroes things they need to aid them in their quest. Theseus gains a ball of string that helps him find his way out of the maze, while Katniss gets burn medicine, food, or anything she may need to stay alive.

One big difference that may still be on your mind is the fact that Theseus has to face a Minotaur, and Katniss does not. While Katniss does not have to face a Minotaur, she does have to face beasts that are hybrids. The Minotaur is a hybrid of a bull and a human. Katniss must face a few different hybrids. The most disturbing of these creatures can only be read about in the books. When there are only a few tributes left, Katniss must not only face the other tributes, but a pack of dogs that have features of the fallen tributes. At one point Katniss wonders if the capitol actually took the eyes from the fallen tributes and placed them in the dogs. This puts a half man half-animal creature in the arena with Katniss.

We also have the symbol of “The Hunger Games,” a bird called a mockingjay. The mockingjay is a hybrid of a mockingbird and a jaberjay, another creation of the capitol. Katniss herself becomes a symbol of the rebellion of the districts later in the story and is referred to as the mockingjay. The Minotaur becomes the symbol of Theseus’ story just as much as the mockingjay symbolizes Katniss’ story.

What this comparison boils down to is a basic fear of war. In both stories, young people are drawn into a situation that means their death. When there is a war, young people are called upon to give their lives. Whether the cause is just or not, the fear of this situation is something we all carry inside of us.

I do not know if Suzanne Collins is a big fan of Greek mythology. I am willing to bet she has a working knowledge of the Minotaur’s story. Whatever the case is, there will be more stories that can be traced back to the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. It is a story that will always remain relevant, not matter how obscure it may seem to people.

Please leave comments and follow if you like this article.

Book review - Olympia Heights by Amy Leigh Strickland

2013-12-04T13:41:00.001-05:00

Recommended for: Die Hard Greek Mythology fans
Rating: 3 Stars - Liked but cannot recommend

The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover. I first want to say how all the covers in this series are really well done. The colors make them pop, and the artwork is well done. I do know that they took pictures of models against a green screen and photo shopped it. You may want to check out the books just to look at the covers.

After having just read “Pantheons,” I did get a strong feeling of “didn’t I just read this?” I am finding that many modern day stories centering on mythology involve a group of children/teenagers grouped together in a school. In this story, the school is called Olympia Heights and the kids are not direct descendants of the gods, but reincarnations of the gods themselves. I have to say the way they come to this conclusion and their complete lack of skepticism is remarkable.

The plot revolves around a series of arson that happens around town and the teenagers, referring to themselves as “The Pantheon,” take it upon themselves to investigate and stop the occurrences because they have special abilities.

The main character Zach, who is the reincarnation of Zeus, (see what the author did there) is nicknamed lighting because he is struck by lightning at a football game. He also can conjure lightning whenever he wants. He also tends to cheat on his girlfriend, who happens to be the reincarnation of Hera.

The best aspect of the story is the filler in between the chapters. Strickland gives brief retellings of the traditional Greek myths we learned in school. They are interesting retellings. You do need at least a basic knowledge of Greek mythology to understand them though.

My overall disappointment with the story is based on the plot however. Yes, these are the Greek gods going up against the Titans again. I should be expecting that. The problem is that the plot feels like an afterthought or just an excuse to end the story. Most of the time, you are learning about the individual members of the Pantheon. They give clues as to which god they are and you have to decipher who they are. Again, if you do not at least have a basic knowledge of Greek mythology you could be lost easily.

Overall, this is not a bad story. I did enjoy reading it. I cannot give it my recommendation though. If you have a good knowledge of Greek mythology and really like anything having to do with it, then you will probably like this. If you are merely a fan of fantasy or urban fantasy, there are better stories for you. If you want to learn about Greek mythology this is not your story.

Movies better than their books

2013-11-29T13:29:00.003-05:00

We have all heard it. “The book is always better than the movie,” or “The movie just left too much out.” To be honest I do agree with this sentiment. The vast majority of the time, the movie fails to capture the essence of the film, leaves to many important things out, or just plain disappoints. Sometimes they are disrespectful enough to just take the title and have nothing to do with the story.

However, despite what some people will tell you, there are instances when the movie does exceed the book. These are rare I will admit, but they do exist. When I tell people this, I always get the same reaction: give me one example. Therefore, I decided to write this blog to give people the examples I have come across in my lifetime.

A little background first. They are in no particular order. I could not do this as a top ten list because well, I could not really think of ten. (I do believe I said these were rare instances.) In all instances, I have at least read the book, or seen the movie. In most cases I did both.

So hear they are in no particular order:

The Wizard of Oz

Let’s be honest. Sometimes Hollywood does cut out the right parts. The original story by Frank Baum was a great children’s story in its day but it missed the mark in many ways. It was just one big conglomerate of Dorothy and friends having a bunch of adventures that made little to no sense. The witch was only a minor character in the book rather than the main antagonist and there was a lot of unnecessary filler.
The movie on the other hand is a timeless classic. It is a lot more focused due to the need to keep it under two hours. The witch is a much better antagonist than any villain in the book is. The movie is memorable and has spawned some of the most memorable songs in movies. “Over the rainbow,” and “Follow the Yellow brick road” are two good examples. I do not know too many people who read the book. I do not know anybody who has not seen the movie.

Jaws

The ironic thing about this choice is that so many things went wrong in the making of this movie it was a wonder it got finished let alone become the cultural icon that it did. The best example was the shark itself. The production team had so much trouble getting the thing to work that they could not show it for most of the movie. What was the result? The suspense of not seeing the shark made the movie even scarier, which is what the movie was going for.
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear Jaws? The first thing that pops into my mind is that music. You know what I’m talking about. Let’s see you swim in the ocean after listening to that for ten minutes.
The book got off track by actually introducing a love triangle. Now I’m not here to spew venom at the concept of love triangles. If done right, and put into a story that it can enhance rather than derail, it can work. It does not work when your title is Jaws. It’s about the shark people. All this thing does is swim, eats, and makes little sharks…

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

I know I may catch heat for this one, but keep in mind this is my blog. I tried to read this series, honestly. I could not get past the heavy-handed writing style, the useless characters, and the feeling that the main characters did not want to be in the story, not just the situation mind you, the story itself.
Peter Jackson in my mind did brilliantly. Not only did he manage to bring this saga to life beautifully, but also he was innovative in ways to save money. He shot all three films at once, reducing the cost and keeping the audience’s attention easier by allowing them to come out in three consecutive years. After the movie came out, everyone was quoting Golem. There’s one thing you cannot say about the books.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

This time I am not talking about the series as a whole but just this one book. I have seen several adaptations of this story. I can clearly say that the 2005 movie was my favorite. The characters looked good, they captured all the important parts of the story, and the battle scenes were just epic. I know people have an aversion to C.G.I., but you have to admit a phoenix bursting into flame midair and leaving a wall of flame, cutting off the enemy army is pretty cool.
The book, while charming and well written was written for small children. While there is nothing wrong with a children’s story, it does not have the mass appeal of the movie. When I read the book, I never got the feeling of the epic battles, the opposing armies facing each other, or anything that would make it bigger than it was. Overall, the movie has much more appeal to it.

Beowulf

Those of you who read my review of the book may remember my sentiments about this book. For the rest of you here is the nutshell: The story belongs in a museum. Only authors and English majors should read this, and the rest of you just watch the movie. Now I have experience both versions of this story and I know they did not follow the book to the letter. In fact, they added a couple twists that pretty much altered the essence of the story. In my opinion, this is usually and insult, but not this time.
Not only do I like the alterations of the story, but also how it is told. I can get over the old language used in the book but personally, I don’t see why Beowulf has to keep bringing up the fact that he killed Grendel throughout the entire book. Yes, that is what he is best known for, but the entire event barely takes up a whole page. Moreover, he has things more important ahead of him. You have to kill his mother now. Get over yourself!

The Song of Ice and Fire series, a.k.a The Game of Thrones

Yes I know that this is not a movie and really a series on HBO but let’s not worry about semantics shall we? Anyway, the book suffers from the same problems as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Martin is excessively heavy handed and he puts in more detail and history than the human mind can consume at one time. The story is very compelling, and most of the characters are well done and well thought out. There is just too much to sift through to get to that though. At the time I’m writing this I am listening to Storm of Swords on audio book and I have come to Joffrey’s wedding feast. I keep saying aloud “I get it there was a lot of food. Can we please get to the point of this chapter?”
The series concentrates on what is important: the stories, the characters, and how the petty struggles of the powerful are played out. Martin himself actually writes the screenplay for the show. It’s amazing to think that despite the book’s size he had to add elements to the story just to fill ten episodes. Most books that size could easily fill twenty if you put everything in. This destroys the most common argument of books being better than movies: you find out more from the book.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Wow, now I’m really stepping in it. I know the die-hard fans of the books think the movies cut out too much, or change to many things and on all the other movies I agree with them. With Phoenix, however I thought they managed to cut out the parts not needed and enhance what should have been the best parts of the book. I have to defend the fifth book to many people mainly because of Harry’s attitude. I guess they were turned off by the teenage angst. The movie shows this but Harry gets over it much quicker.
The one moment where the movie shines bright, enough to blind the book is the attack on the department of mysteries. In the book, you did get the feeling that the wizards were dueling each other and there was a confrontation between Voldemort and Dumbledore. The way the movie brought this to life though was epic. In the book, Voldemort and Dumbledore spent most of the duel trading banter. Voldemort tried to kill him with Avaracadavra a few times which Dumbledore managed to block with a few well-placed rocks and a sacrifice by his pet phoenix. In the movie all the stops were pulled out. Voldemort summoned a giant snake made of fire. Dumbledore tried to drown him with a globe of water. I was in awe when I saw that duel. That was what a battle between the two greatest wizards on the planet should look like.

I’m sure that there are other examples I could have put on this list, but for the time they have alluded me. Feel free to comment if you can think of any examples yourself.

Modern Disciples Lost Volumes announcement!

2013-11-10T22:54:00.002-05:00

I am pleased to announce that I have added an addition to my Modern Disciples series. The Lost Volumes will be a series of short stories that will give insight to things that happen in the world of Modern Disciples, but do not follow the same story line as the novels.

The first story entitled Deidre is about a woman who is placed in an asylum by her father. Later, when she is discovered to be pregnant, her doctor investigates to try to discover not only who the father is, but the secrete to the hallucinations Deidre has been having.

When I first started the series, I only intended doing the novels. As I write them, I find it difficult to put everything I want into them. There are parts of the characters backgrounds I cannot go into for the sake of time and book size. With these extra volumes, I can give my current readers a more extensive background on the characters they know and introduce some new ones.

These stories will only be available as 99 cent downloads for Kindle. If you need the Kindle app to read them click here.

If you already have the app, you can click here to go straight to the story on amazon.com.

Gods vs. Titans

2013-10-29T17:01:00.000-04:00

Recently I did a blog interview with Summer Lane of Writing Belle. One of the questions asked was “What is the difference between gods and Titans?” I answered her question as thoroughly as I could, however to really do the question justice, I would need to write an entire term paper. Today I will meet the question half way and explain what I can in a blog post.

When we speak about gods in mythology, we tend to think of Zeus and his band of gods atop Mt. Olympus, or

we think of Thor and the people of Asgard. Essentially, the gods are shown as the beings overseeing our world. In most cases, they are benevolent until somebody violates a rule or shuns a value they hold dear like courage or kinship. In Greek mythology, the gods punished people who defiled their laws. Mortals had to live by the gods’ standards or they would be forced to push a boulder up hill, have their food stolen by monsters every night, or be cursed with some kind of deformity.

The Titans came before the gods. We essentially see them as forces of nature like a hurricane, typhoon, or a volcano. They are the basic aspects of the universe and our world in particular. Titans and mortals have very few interactions with mortals. If they do, it is for a specific purpose and the mortal will usually have to use his wits or the Titan will take advantage of the mortal. A good example of this would be Heracles and the Titan Atlas, cursed with the burden of holding up the world.

Some people might wonder why authors always seem to depict the gods and Titans as enemies. As an author who writes a series based on mythology, I can tell you that it is the easiest way to introduce conflict. Titans, or enemies similar to them, find their way into all mythologies. If someone wanted to introduce a new enemy, he or she would not only have to introduce somebody not only a legitimate threat to the gods, but accepted by the audience. Most people who know anything about mythology expect the Titans to rear their ugly heads. Some people read mythology to learn about it. They want as accurate telling of the old stories as possible.

Why is their struggle so enticing though? Family drama is one factor. As stated before, the Titans did come first and the gods are often their offspring, or at least their descendants. Children’s breaking away from their parents is a theme used in many stories including mythology and fairy tales.

What the gods and Titans conflict comes down to is a struggle for power. What will they do with their power? To answer that question we have to know what each fundamentally represents. The gods set rules for the mortals, they have a hierarchy, and they often punish mortals for not upholding the correct beliefs. The gods are essentially the embodiment of order. Order is usually associated with harmony and everything having it set place. However, order can be taken to a malevolent extreme. When this happens, order becomes tyranny. This is why authors seldom portray gods in a bad context. Some stories about gods, particularly Zeus, have centered on power being used for selfish reasons or giving the possessor of the power a false sense of entitlement.

Titans are forces of nature. As nature is unpredictable and often unforgiving, the Titans represent chaos. They go by no rules other than every man for himself. When the gods imprisoned them, it was essentially controlling nature, and therefore controlling chaos. When one thinks of chaos, they think of riots in the streets, the strong victimizing the weak and everything in flames, or worse. Just as there was a malignant side of order, there is also a beneficial side of chaos. In order to be able to live a life by one’s own wishes, that person needs freedom. The more tyranny grips us, the less power we have to make our own decisions. With the power to make our own decisions though comes the responsibility to allow freedom for others. When everyone is only concerned for his or her own freedom and not others, we see the destructive power of chaos.

When we see a symbolic conflict between order and chaos, represented by the gods and Titans, we can see how their struggles relate to our own lives. Every day we ask ourselves a question that can be traced back to this conflict. Should we allow people to carry guns? What should we expose our children to? How much should the government regulate healthcare? The conflict is nowhere near as bloody as the gods war against the Titans, but we struggle just as well.

No matter what stories are told through mythology, today or in the future, there will always be an underlying theme of order vs. chaos. Neither force can really win in the end. The struggle to maintain the balance between the two shall rage on as long as mortal man draws breath.

I apologize for the pics going away. Go google+

Book Review - Hour of the Beast

2013-10-18T17:14:00.001-04:00

4 Star rating – recommended for genre fans

Since it is the month of Halloween, I thought I would go with a horror story. I guess you could say Hollowland was also, but fighting zombies tends to be more fun than scary.

Werewolves are one of my favorite classic monsters. The cover was more than enough to entice me to read this story. From the very first chapter you learn that this is a story that does not mind the labels "dark" or "gritty." In the very first chapter, a woman has a disturbing encounter with a werewolf. If you need to know more, the cover should give you plenty of hints. The rest of the story follows her two children as they enter collage for the first time and have to cope with being who they are. This story however is not just another generic blood and guts rack up the body count horror story. There is also a good sense of mystery and mythology thrown into the mix. Science and history come into play while explaining the possible origins of werewolves. The ending has a good twist. This book is definitely not for young children, but if you like, a good horror story with some real meat to it, then you will want to give this a read.

Hunger Games vs. Battle Royale

2013-10-15T00:14:00.000-04:00

One of the most popular stories of our times is The Hunger Games. It is destined to become a classic, the first book is already a movie, and even the more casual readers could have a long discussion on its impact in society. Yet despite how great it is, there is a dark cloud looming over it. Many people are saying it is just an imitation of the story Battle Royale.

I have read both books, and have seen both movies. It would be stupid to say that they do not at least invite comparison. In fact if you have read Catching Fire, there is even more room for it. While I do believe there is plenty of room for both stories in our world, I do feel a need to address this idea of Hunger Games just being Suzanne Collins version of a story that has already been done, and if so, does it deserve the praise and accolades it receives.

First, we will look at the basic premises. Hunger Games is a dystopian future in which children are chosen from twelve distinct districts to meet in an arena where they must fight to the death. Once a year each district holds a public “reaping,” where one boy and one girl are chosen at random by drawing their name out of a hat (or glass bowl if you want to get technical.) At this point, another child may volunteer to take his or her place assuming the volunteer is the same gender. This option to volunteer becomes a major plot point for both the protagonist and some antagonists.

Battle Royale also takes place in a dystopian future in which children are chosen at random to go to the arena and fight to the death. There is no public reaping. Instead a class of students are chosen by the government. They are kidnapped and taken to the secrete arena while they are unconscious. There is no volunteering, and you are giving no warning.

In the case of the Hunger Games, the reason for the tournament, or pageant as they like to call it, is to keep the districts in line. They pay this penance for rebelling against the capitol many years prior. In Battle Royale, there is no real set reason for it. The beginning of the book mentions experiments run by the government. The movie talks about a law that was passed to try to weed out who, in the government’s eyes, are week. I have read rumors about population control coming into play. The truth is there is no real logic behind it. When it comes to premise, I say Hunger Games get the nod.

Next, let us compare our two protagonists. First, we have Katniss Everdeen, a young woman from the poorest district who struggles to survive while taking care of her younger sister and mother. She volunteers to participate in the Hunger Games when her sister is chosen. Battle Royale we have Shuya Nanahara. He does not volunteer. He is there because his class is. He does care about his fellow classmates, many of the girls have a crush on him, but in the end, he is just there to survive. If not for an alliance he forms, he would probably be dead. Point goes to Hunger Games.

Now lets look at some antagonists. I guess you could call each respective government the real antagonists. The immediate threats though are the people who the protagonists have to face in their respective arenas. In Hunger Games, Katniss must go up against volunteers who have been training their whole life to compete in the game. They are known as “careers”. To be honest, they are not the real threat they could be. They die quickly and when two of them are allowed to team up, they do not take advantage of it.

Battle Royale is about kids that are all from the same class. They have known each other for most of their lives and they had time to form friendships, relationships, and rivalries. The most dangerous classmate though is Mitsuko Souma. She is the beautiful mean girl that takes her game up about ten notches and kills a good portion of the class before she is taken out. Two students have been through the program before the story takes place. One is Shuya’s ally; the other is the most feared male antagonist who dies last. In the book, it is his first tournament. All of these enemies are far more threatening than anything the Hunger Games has to offer. The point goes to Battle Royale.

The Hunger Games has a love triangle in it…. Yeah okay, point to Battle Royale on that one.

I think what it really comes down to is which is really the better story? I think one needs to look at the two authors and ask which one did what he or she set out to do. Suzanne Collins is a television writer, so she has extensive knowledge on how television stories go. She is also an American. Many Americans think the Hunger Games is where we are headed, or at least could see us going there. The Hunger Games are televised for all of the districts and the capital. It is made public so there is a lot of pageantry and forced drama. Are today’s television shows very different? Nobody actually dies in them, but with shock value becoming more sought after, and yet harder to come by, real deaths may be the path we are headed down. Koushun Takami, the author of Battle Royale has a background in journalism before he became a novelist. He has lived in Japan his whole life. In his personal interview at the back of the book, he talks about how Japan has always felt constricting to him and how nothing ever changes because nobody ever demands it. The government makes a law that nobody likes, the people do nothing about it. Keep in mind these are the opinions of the author and not me. He has actually lived in Japan though and I have not. I guess his point was that traditions are going to lead to people being sacrificed by the government for no discernible reason. He also has a great history of being a horror fan. He is a fan of both Stephen King and HP Lovecraft. Battle Royale may not be a scary book, but it is dark and Takami is not shy about violence. As far as my original question of does the Hunger Games deserve to escape the shadow of Battle Royale, let me ask a question. How many of you would have heard of Battle Royale if not for this controversy.

Yes, Battle Royale did have a following before the Hunger Games came out. Yes, I am sure it was very big in Japan and that particular region of the world. Hunger Games though has reached a world audience. It is because of that sphere of influence that people are comparing it to Battle Royale. While Battle Royale, may have a deeper meaning, and more of an emotional impact as far as how the characters are effected, the Hunger Games is better written, is better at holding a reader’s attention, and has a more focused premise. Battle Royal may have done it first, but Hunger Games did it better.

Book Review - Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

2013-10-13T16:48:00.000-04:00

Recommended for: Teenage girls who like kick ass females

4 Star Rating - Recommended for genre fans

Here you have it. A blog dedicated to independent publishing and mythology. I had red all these independent books and on day it suddenly occurred to me: I have not read anything by Amanda Hocking. She is epitome of what all independent authors stride to become. It seems fitting I do one of her books first.

The book is your basic post zombie outbreak story with a female protagonist on a quest to find her brother. She runs into the basic myriad of post-apocalyptic villains including, psycho cult leaders, marauders trying to kill everyone to take their food, and of course, plenty of zombies.

It is written in first person perspective from the female protagonist named Remy. A fast-paced book is even shorter than it looks.

If you are looking for a fresh new take on the zombie phenomenon, you will not find it here. However, there is enough action and the characters are likeable enough to get behind. The story though generic, is well written and has good use of internal dialogue.

This book was not written with young children in mind, as there is plenty of gore and a pinch of sex thrown in at the last moment. They are appropriate for the story though. I would recommend this for people who love their strong female protagonists, and for people who can never get enough zombie stories.

My advice to new writers

2013-10-13T00:06:00.000-04:00

Every time I see interviews with writers or read about them on blogs or any other type of printed media, they always have to address the same question: What advise do you have for young writers? They always answer with a mixture of the “try harder” pep talk and some tips on how to improve writing. Having published three novels and going through the trials and tribulations that come with that, I can tell you that they are selling the young writers short with that answer.
I am not saying that improving your writing and perseverance are not necessary. Those are two very solid principles that need to be adopted. My main concern is some key points neglected by authors in these interviews. To be fair, most interviews you read are from the big name authors that have little to worry about at this point in their careers. The publishing world is a lot different from when Stephen King or Richard Patterson started. When they first got started, they wrote their manuscripts, sent them out to publishers, kept doing this until a publisher decided to buy their manuscript and publish. The process is a lot more complicated these days.
Today, new authors need a skill they did not in the days before the internet. They must have a working knowledge of marketing. Even if you go the traditional route of sending off manuscripts until one publisher understands what you are doing or can find a way to turn the story into something they consider marketable. Authors today are expected to set up their own blogs, have websites for their books, and have a presence in the social networking scene. The Stephen Kings, and J.K. Rowlings of the world can hire other people to do these things, but they still have to be done.
Knowing all this, I decided to do this entry to give new writers advice that you will not hear in normal circles. Please remember that I am basing this list on my own personal experiences so other people may have different opinions. I think a wise thing to do is get different perspectives on everything you do.

1. Learn how the language works.

This may seem obvious, but you would be amazed at how many people start writing without a solid foundation of how to. If you are serious about being a writer and want to make your living that way, you have to know sentence structure, punctuation, know how much dialogue is appropriate, and for God’s sake, do not use texting language. Also, learn the difference between passive and active language, and use active as much as possible.

2. Become a master of editing, and then find someone to help you.

Spell check is a great tool. Do not rely on it. One problem I have is that I keep interchanging the words they and the. Spell check will not find things like this. Editing is a skill you must learn, practice, and hone to perfection. No matter how good you get though, it is still imperative that you get a second pair of eyes to keep you honest. It is always hardest to critique your own work. Find somebody you trust to read your manuscript and find things that you could not. One thing I do is print out the whole manuscript on paper so that I can read the hard copy and write out corrections. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT send your manuscript out to a professional script editor and pay for them to do it. If you want a solid example of what happens when you do this, buy my first two books Modern Disciples Volumes 1 and 2. This may sound like a cheap plug, but when you read them, you will see what I mean. I sent Volume 1 to a professional editor. Volume 2 I edited myself, then my father edited it, and I edited it again. Take it from a guy who had to pay over $1000 to learn the hard way. Do the editing yourself.

3. Know the difference between traditional publishing and self-publishing.

Let me give you a brief summary of the two. Traditional publishing is finishing your manuscript, sending it off to a publisher, getting many rejections until one finally takes it. These days you have to send it to agents until one is willing to take you on, and then they send it to publishers until one takes it. Self-publishing is you send your manuscript to a company that does this, and you pay them to publish it for you. You can also just upload it to amazon.com and just sell it in E-book for if you want to do it that way. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. I will include a link to a video that explains them both very well. When you do learn the differences between them, you will have to make a decision as to which one is better for you.

4. Learn about marketing, learn about marketing, and then learn about marketing.

As authors, we do not want to worry about setting up websites, author profiles, and several different social networks. The cyber age no longer allows us to rest on our morals. We have to be good writers, and good marketers, or know people who are good marketers willing to help for a reasonable fee. If you are planning to go to college, choose marketing as one of your courses of study. You do not have to make it your major, but do not take just one class. At the very least, make marketing your minor. If you are not planning on college, there are plenty of resources on marketing books. You can start on Youtube. There are also plenty of books on how to do market your book. Get an account on Goodreads and make as many friends as possible.

5. And yes, read.

Even if you are lucky enough to take some formal classes on the art of creative writing, there is no substitute for experiencing the real thing yourself. For writers, this entails reading books yourself. When you do read them though, seriously think about what you find good and bad about the book. This will help you develop your own style. Another important aspect is to move out of your comfort zone now and again. Read something other than what you usually read. Read some independently published books also.
I hope I have given you all something to think about for your future endeavors. If you find this discouraging, that shows wisdom on your part. If you really do want to be a writer, take what I have said to heart, but do not let it weigh on you. Please leave a comment if you have one.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkYFjT...

Christian Grey vs. Jessica Rabbit

2013-10-12T01:40:00.003-04:00

First, this is not going to be a story of these two fictional characters in a smack down, although that would be funny. What I want to do here is compare the ideal female fantasy, according to fiction, and the ideal male fantasy. I do realize that these are generalizations and people have different tastes and priorities, but both of these characters are placed on pillars as the epitome of what women and men want. Both of their names are synonymous with sexuality. 50 shades of Grey is one of the bestselling stories of our time. The sales have exceeded Harry Potter at times. When women talk about why they like this book, what is the main reason? They touch on the love story briefly, some do get into the sexual parts, but for the most part their highest praise is Christian, aka 50 shades of fucked up. We have all seen the memes, “60% of wives wish their husbands would go Christian Grey on them,” gifs with women in bathtubs. Yes, there are plenty of women who say that he is abusive. His popularity among women overshadows his criticisms. When you Google for lists of top “Hot animated women,” the same character keeps topping those lists. Jessica Rabbit has not only become a staple of what men find attractive, but her name has become a literal term for female beauty. We have all met these women who have been referred to by their peers as a “Jessica Rabbit.” So what is the appeal of Christian Grey? He is a twenty-seven year old multi-billionaire with his own company to start with. He exudes power and control in every aspect of his life. His love interest is constantly calling him “a Greek god.” In addition to his overwhelming physical appearance, he wears cologne she likes and launders his clothes with the correct detergent. Despite all of his traits that make him the ideal alpha male, he still has a flaw that his woman gets to fix. A “crack whore” mother that left him with a pension to hurt women that look like her raised Christian. Jessica is an over exaggeration of the ideal female body type. Huge hair, legs long enough to make up 60% of her body, massive lips, a waist thin enough to turn any corset into a swimming pool, and yes, breasts that looked like they will not just burst out of her dress but throw the whole thing off of her. Her dress exposes different parts of her body depending on how she stands and how she moves. She is also a singer, and when she sings she has no shame in letting her sex appeal fill the room. Her one balancing factor is that despite her strength and resolve, she still needs protection from the bad guys. From these two characters, we can come to the standard conclusion that women seem to care primarily about the cerebral while considering the physical. Men primarily focus on physical while considering the cerebral. Is there anything though that connects these two characters? Is there any common ground women and men can meet on? Both of these characters have one thing in common: they both seem to be in a relationship with somebody who is beneath their station. Christian is in love with a middle class girl fresh out of collage with self-esteem issues and apparently eyes that are too big for her head. Jessica is married to an annoying, high-pitched, cartoon rabbit. Anybody on the outside of these relationships would look on them with confusion. Does this detract or enhance their appeal? We all fantasize about being with the ideal person. We all have celebrity crushes. We all have characters from books, television, or movies that we favor purely because of their sex appeal. When we see ideal forms though settling for people that we can relate to, or at least do not seem capable of getting the ideal forms, it gives us a sense of hope. “If Ana can get Christian, maybe I can get my own Christian.” “If Jessica Rabbit will marry Roger, maybe the prom queen will go out with me.” One could argue that this is a false sense of hope, and usually it is. The fact remains that in order to be in a relationship with somebody, that person has to agree to it. Maybe despite physical appearance, ability to provide, and potential for empathy, the most appealing quality a person can have is acceptance of our own imperfect selves.

Welcome to my blog!

2013-10-12T00:11:00.000-04:00

My name is Ian Anderson. I started reading mythology at the ripe age of…well I was very young. I can remember my very first book of Greek Myths given by a tutor that my parents hired to help me with my English. Many of you may have heard of it: D'aulaires book of Greek Myths. All the pictures and different colors fascinated me. It was showing people doing things that I had never seen before, and for some reason that spoke to sense of being.

As interesting as it was however, it was still just a book. Even before PlayStation, X-Box, I-phone, or even the internet, books still had to compete for children's attention against things like television, Atari, and hand held electronic games that did nothing but beep at you and moved dots across a screen. Of course, by screen I mean a dark glass panel that would have an army of monochrome lights ready to light up at any given moment.

I think the real turning point for me was an episode of the "Superfriends". For those of you who do not know what that was, it was a watered down kid safe version of the justice league. The vague recollection of the episode was that somehow they ended up on this island where they had to face off against monsters from Greek Mythology. Superman had to face the Minotaur, Wonder Woman went up against Medusa, Batman and Robin had to solve the riddle of the sphinx, and Aquaman had to retrieve the Golden Fleece from an invisible man. How talking to fish gets you out of that one, I will never know.

After that episode, I wanted my tutor to show me the stories that involved these stories. I also bugged my parents to take me to see the original Clash of the Titans. I will admit that it was a bit scary for me at the time and I did spend a fair portion of the movie with my eyes covered, but remember I was a small child at that point. From that point, I was hooked. I never looked back, I never regretted it, and it keeps getting better the more I dedicate myself to it.

As I got older, I began to branch out discovering that there was more to mythology than what the Greeks contributed. I first learned about Norse Mythology the same way most people these days are, the comic book Thor. I first read the books not realizing that there were tales as old as the Greek Myths that dealt with, Thor, Odin, Loki, and Baldur to name a few. To this day Greek Mythology is still my favorite, but the Norse traditions are a close second.

Eventually I started to learn the stories from Egyptian, Hindu, Aztec, and Japanese Mythologies. Lately I have delved into Irish/Celtic Mythology, and even read a bit about Voodoo. They have a few things in common, many gods that have different influences on our world and very human like personalities, emphasis on heroism, and an underlying warning against arrogance, nature, and death.

Fast forward to present day. Now I am a published author of a series called Modern Disciples. I have already published the first three volumes in the series. The story centers around six children of gods, each from a different pantheon. These children called disciples are the god's eyes, ears, and hands on earth as they protect humanity from the titans and their creatures called spawn. A small sample of the spawn include, maenads, satyrs, dark fairies, Nemean beasts, giants, even vampires and werewolves are thrown into the mix, although slightly.

In future, I plan to write more in depth of the characters from the story, where I get my ideas from, the myths behind the Modern Disciples, and I will do some reviews of books that I have read having to do with mythology and other topics that interest me. I may even write some supplement stories that add to the series. I am always open to ideas though so if there are any topics you would like me to discuss feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Ian Anderson