Here’s what Tom has in store for us this time:

It’s junior prom night. Andrea is grounded, Paul is having panic attacks, Roemi has been stood up, and Candace is trying to avoid one particular cop. Over the course of eight eventful hours, paths are crossed, plans are changed, messages are mixed, and four near strangers form some unlikely bonds.

Want to know more? There are four excerpts being released on four different blogs today! One for each character – Andrea, Paul, Roemi and Candace. I have Paul’s excerpt below and to find the rest follow the links at the bottom of the post.

Paul 

When Lannie Freston and I first started going out last summer, I felt like I’d won the lottery.

I’m still not sure how it happened. I was just minding my own business at the beach with my buddies Jerry and Ahmed when all of a sudden Lannie and her girls showed up and spread their towels a few feet away from us. In no time at all, she was asking me to put lotion on her back. I sure as hell didn’t put up a fight.

It was as easy and as quick as that. Suddenly I was her boyfriend. She told me later that she’d been eyeing me up for a while and that sitting near me at the beach was no accident. It was like she’d just flipped through the yearbook and decided that I was the one she wanted to go out with. And on the seventh day, Lannie looked at Paul and said, ‘Let him be mine,’ and it was so.

Obviously, I wasn’t going to complain. Lannie’s one of the hottest girls in Granite Ridge. She’s smart, athletic, popular and even has her own car. We spent the rest of the summer going to the beach, driving into the city and hanging out with her friends. Every long summer night ended with us parked somewhere secluded, doing what you do when you’re sixteen and Lannie Freston is your girlfriend.

Then the summer ended. We went back to school, and just like that, because I was going out with Lannie, I was at the top of the heap. I know it sounds arrogant, but it’s true. I’m not going to lie–it felt good to walk down the hallway and know that people were turning to look at us. Wishing they were us. For someone who had spent most of his life trying to fly under the radar, I was surprised at how much I liked the attention.

A lot of things changed when we started going out. For one thing, I didn’t see nearly as much of Jerry and Ahmed anymore, except at school. I just didn’t have much free time anymore. Whenever there were other people around, it was usually Lannie’s best friend, Darrah, and her boyfriend, Ryan Penner. I’d never really known Penner all that well, but now I was hanging out with him all the time. Penner’s pretty cool, I guess. Besides, it was easiest to just go with the flow.

So anyway, Lannie had been talking about prom for months. She wanted to go all out. She bought an expensive dress and took me into the city to order a tux, even though we’re juniors and only seniors wear tuxes. She said she wanted us to make a splash. In those last couple of weeks before the big night, it seemed like every conversation we had was about prom. What kind of corsage I should buy her, where we’d get our pictures taken, what restaurant I should take her to beforehand.

I went along with everything–rented the tux, got a haircut, made dinner reservations at the fancy restaurant she suggested. I wentalong with all of it, because it was no secret how important all this stuff was to her. But yesterday, after we picked up my tux, something shifted. I got home and hung it on the closet door and then sat on my bed and stared at it.

That’s when I felt it, for the first time in years.

At first it came on pretty soft, as if someone was carefully wrapping his fingers around my brain and gently squeezing. It was definitely there though–I could tell the minute it started. I lay down on the bed for a few minutes, taking slow deep breaths, and by the time Mom called me for supper, I felt okay.

I had hoped that was the end of it. But today I woke up super early to the sound of my phone vibrating on my bedside table. I reached over and groped for it. It was a typically early text from Lannie.

Rise and Shine! Big Day! 

I groaned and checked the time. Seven thirty am.

This time it came on instantly, and instead of fingers lightly pressing on my brain, it felt like a belt was cinched so tight inside my head that my thoughts were going to suffocate. My heart started to race and my skin got cold. I snapped off the ringer, tossed the phone onto the floor and pulled the covers over my head. I tried to remember my breathing exercises from a few years ago, and eventually I managed to calm myself down a little bit. It still wasn’t good though. My head was spinning and buzzing, and every slight movement made me want to puke. I couldn’t imagine getting out of bed.

I don’t know how long I stayed like that, but at some point Mom knocked on my door.

“Lannie’s on the phone!” she called from the hallway.

She knocked again, and when I didn’t answer, she stuck her head into my room.

“Paul, Lannie’s on the phone. She says she’s been trying to reach you all morning.” I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. “Paul?”

I pulled the covers off my head, and when she saw my face, she raised an eyebrow at me.

“Is it back?”

I could only nod.

“Is it bad?”

I nodded again.

“Does Lannie know about this?”

I shook my head.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” she said. “I’ll take care of it.”

She went downstairs, and after a minute I could hear her talking on the phone. I managed to sit up and swing my legs sideways, and somehow I made it down the stairs. I stopped, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, and watched as she finished her conversation.

“Okay, dear,” she was saying. “I should probably get off the phone and see if Paul needs anything. Okay, I will. Yes, definitely.”

She hung up and looked at me with a concerned expression I hadn’t seen since I was maybe thirteen.

“Is she pissed?” I asked.

“She isn’t a happy camper,” Mom said. “She’ll live though. You okay?”

“I guess so,” I said, shrugging.

“Oh sweetie,” she said, walking over to reach up and hug me. Not an easy task considering that I’m six foot three and she’s tiny. “I’m so sorry that your prom is ruined this way.”

“What did you tell her?” I asked.

“I told her you’re sick, and that you’ve been in the bathroom with diarrhea all morning.”

“Mom!”

“Trust me,” she said. “She didn’t ask any more questions after that.”

I went back upstairs to my room and picked up my phone from where I’d tossed it. There were already three new texts from Lannie. I didn’t bother reading them. I already knew the gist. I dropped onto the bed, lay flat on my back, closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing. The thing about a panic attack is that once you get your breathing under control, you’re halfway home. I started to feel a lot better, but I knew it could come back without much warning.

I couldn’t even think about the prom right then. I just lay there, breathing deeply. In and out. In and out. I felt my mind steadily relaxing, tension rising from my body like steam.

***

When I wake up, my alarm clock tells me I’ve been sleeping for hours. I feel better, a lot better, although a bit groggy. It’s six o’clock, which means we’ve missed our dinner reservation and Lannie is probably on her way to Terry Polish’s house for the pre-party.

I glance across the room at the tuxedo and an uncomfortable shiver goes down my spine. I haul my ass out of bed and shove the tux into my closet so I don’t have to look at it.

A movement across the street catches my eye, and I look out the window in time to see Andrea Feingold climbing out of her bedroom window and onto the roof of her garage. Weird.

I watch as she scrambles over the edge and hangs there before dropping to the ground. She lies there for a minute, staring at the sky, then gets up and turns back to glance at her house before running away down the sidewalk. I’ve known Andrea for a long time, and I’ve never seen her act like this. I wonder where the hell she’s going.

I go downstairs and out the sliding glass doors to the back deck.

Dad is home from work, and he and Mom are relaxing at the patio table. My brothers are wrestling in the backyard. “We’ve already eaten,” she says. “We didn’t want to disturb you.” She slides a plate with a couple of burgers and some potato salad across the table at me.

“So, you’re missing prom, eh?” Dad asks as I tuck into my food.

I nod, my mouth full.

“Can’t say I blame you,” he says. “I always hated that kind of thing when I was in school.”

“Do you think I can borrow your truck?” I ask him once I’ve finished eating.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Mom asks.

“I’m fine,” I say. “I just need to get out of the house for a little while. Get my mind off things.”

She looks like she wants to say something else, but she keeps it to herself.

I expect my dad to tell me to take Mom’s Corolla, like he usually does. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and tosses me his keys.

“Sweet, thanks!” I say.

“Be careful where you show your face,” says Mom. “I’ve convinced Lannie that you’re on death’s door. She probably wouldn’t enjoy seeing you bumming around town.”

Yeah, no shit , I think. Funny thing is, now that I know I’m not going to prom after all, I feel like a million bucks.

If you liked this excerpt you can follow Paul on Twitter –  @PaulYork1995 

To read ANDREA’s first chapter, head on over to visit Karen at Teen Librarian’s Toolbox 

To check out CANDACE’S first chapter, surf your way to Dianne at Oops! I Read a Book Again 

To read ROEMI’s first chapter, pay a visit to John at Dreaming in Books 

Now that you’ve had a taste of this novel, Tom is running an awesome pre-order contest for TAG ALONG on his website. Head to www.tomwrotethat.com to check it out!

You can also enter to win a signed ARC of Tag Along below! Just fill out the Rafflecopter (Open to US & Canada only – sorry International readers.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

TAG ALONG (Orca Book Publishers) is Tom Ryan’s second novel. His debut, WAY TO GO (Orca Book Publishers), was published in 2012 and was chosen for the ALA’s Rainbow List of notable 2012 titles for and about LGBT youth, the ALA’s Quick Picks List, The OLA’s Best Bets List of the top ten YA novels in Canada for 2012. WAY TO GO was also a nominee for the White Pine award.

Follow Tom Ryan on twitter – @tomwrotethat

The post Tag Along Cover Reveal and Exclusive Excerpt appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

Release Date: May 21 2013

Two weeks ago, thirteen-year-old Mason Stark and seventeen of his fellow cadets from the Academy for Earth Space Command boarded theSS Egypt. The trip was supposed to be a short routine voyage to log their required spacetime for summer quarter. But routine goes out the airlock when they’re attacked by the Tremist, an alien race who have been at war with humanity for the last sixty years. With the captain and crew dead, injured, or taken prisoner, Mason and the cadets are all that’s left to warn the ESC. And soon they find out exactly why the Tremist chose this ship to attack: the Egypt is carrying a weapon that could change the war forever. Now Mason will have to lead the cadets in a daring assault to take back the ship, rescue the survivors, and recover the weapon. Before there isn’t a war left to fight.

My Review

When I was first contacted about The Planet Thieves I was told it was “Star Trek meets Rick Riordan.” I didn’t need to read any further to know this was a book I needed to read. And it was exactly as described. The Planet Thieves is without a doubt, very similar to Star Trek. Remember that Star Trek episode, “The Game” guest staring Ashley Judd? Where all the adults are incapacitated so Wesley saves the day? Combine that with one of Kirk’s crazier adventures, throw in a inter planetary war and you have this book.

The Planet Thieves is an incredibly action packed read. Things happen fast but I never felt like I was struggling to keep up. Krokos kept the pacing steady and smooth. So even though there was a constant sense of urgency to the events unfolding on page, everything was always very clear. This book has already been optioned for a movie by Warner Brothers and HeyDay Films and I can’t wait to see some of the action sequenes on the big screen!

But it wasn’t just the action that made The Planet Thieves enjoyable. It was also the characters. In particular Mason Stark. Mason is just a cadet. A young kid, barely trained, but some heavy responsibility falls on his shoulders. And he bears it well. But I liked that he struggled, and I liked that he second guessed himself. He was amazing but he was also just a regular thirteen year old boy. I also really liked Tom. In the beginning he’s very serious and rule oriented. He clashed with Mason a lot, as they had very differemt personalities. But they had to overcome those differences and learn to work together and I found that aspect of the story especially encouraging.

I think older readers of this series, who also happen to be Star Trek fans (like me) may be a little irked by some of the blatant similarities between The Planet Thieves and Star Trek. For example the enemy warrior race – The Tremist fly a ship called a Hawk which is even described as “a bird circling her prey.” Sounds an awful lot like Klingons and their ship, a Bird of Prey. But that being said, I don’t think this will be a problem for the target audience of this novel – middle grade readers. I think it’s a safe bet they will be more focused on the action and adventure of this novel instead of similiarities to a show their parents may or may not have watched.

Recommendation: A thrilling, exciting start to a new series. Great for fans of Star Trek, Ender’s Game and  Star Wars: Clone Wars.

About the Author

After pumping gas for nine years to put himself through college, Dan Krokos, now twenty-six, dropped out to write full-time. He enjoys watching TV, playing MMORPGs, and drinking coffee. Currently, he’s hard at work on the next book in Miranda’s journey. You can contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr

Giveaway

I have one copy of The Planet Thieves to giveaway thanks to Starscape! Just fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also Available For: Kobo / Kindle

The post Blog Tour: The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

Meet Spider-Man – hero to the people, champion of the weak and oopressed… and World Wrestling Alliance Championship Titleholder?! Peter Parker has it all: respect, fame, and the adoration of all. But he also has a deep, destructive secret that he keeps from the world and from his family – one that could well unravel the reality he knows!

Background

I previously reviewed the first volume in the House of M comic event. You can read that review here.

House of M Spider Man is a bit of a stand alone story. You don’t need to read the first volume to follow the plot line (although you may wonder how Earth got this way) and you don’t need to read any that follow. It simply focuses on Spiderman’s time on Earth after the mutants have taken over.  In this world Spiderman has passed himself off as a mutant (as human beings are treated as second class citizens), Gwen Stacey is alive, they are happily married and have a child, JJJ now works for Peter Parker and the Green Goblin is Peter’s wrestling nemesis (fun twists!)

Story

The idea behind this story is kind of neat. In a world now run by mutants – Spider Man has hidden the real cause of his transformation. He’s been pretending he was born a mutant and because of this deception he’s become rich and famous. He has everything he’s ever dreamed off but something feels off. It started off really strongly too but began to lose me by the end. I found the explanation for why everything had happened at little confusing and weak. Maybe if this was a longer series it would have made more sense but with only 5 issues there was little to no explanation.

The events in this volume also directly contradict the Spider Man we encounter in the first House of M volume so that drove me a little crazy as well.

Characterization

I did like, however, that we were introduced to a different Spider Man then we are generally used to. In this version he no longer has to hide his identity, which makes a huge difference. In many ways he’s more confident, more sure of who he is. But on the other hand Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy are both still alive. Though this is heart warming for Peter, it also means that he never experiences the big losses that defined his character. Because of this he fell a little flat and it was difficult to believe he was a troubled as he claimed to be.

Artwork

The artwork was very light and detailed. I liked the amount of work that went into each character’s distinct style. And the unique backgrounds of the different panels. I would have liked some more vibrant colours but overall it quite nice.

Final Thoughts

I think the ambition behind this series was admirable. It reads like a “what if?” title but in this scenario we find out the Spider Man is a lot less interesting if some of the big events in his life didn’t happen. The characters were all detailed and vibrant but the story itself was confusing and weakly tied together. A great effort but just not as interesting as the main House of M narrative.

Available from Comixology

The post The Sunday Strip: House of M Spider Man appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

Release Date: February 12 2013

It’s a summer’s evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse — the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.      Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.

The injustice is found more in the fact that the assholes are also put on the list of innocent victims. That their names are also chiselled into the war memorials.

My Review

The Dinner is one of those difficult to review books. Mostly because there’s so little I can say about it without giving anything away.

On the surface this is the story of two brothers, and their wives getting together to eat dinner. One brother is relatively well known in the community. The other thinks his brother is a buffoon. Recipe for a pleasant family meal right?

I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I heard the entire novel takes place over the course of one dinner. But once you meet these characters you’ll want to sit back and watch the drama unfold. They’re all pretty despicable people. It’s like watching reality TV. You don’t actually like the people you’re watching but you want to see them interact with one another. Each character was incredibly well described and you could just imagine all their mannerisms and back handed comments. I need to say it again – these were horrible people! They were so mean! In a way it kind of reminded me of a Martin Amis. Cruel characters, sharp wit, wry observations. Never a dull moment.

Of course, there is more to The Dinner than just a group of interesting, cruel characters. There is something deeper and darker going on just below all the surface tension. Herman Koch does a good job, slowly unraveling the mystery strand by strand. I wasn’t too surprised when the big reveal finally came out but I still really enjoyed watching all the characters put everything together. Watching this huge bombshell drop was just as entertaining as a surprise twist would have been.

Recommendation: Herman Koch has written a beautifully detailed, delicious mystery that has you questioning the power of family ties and wondering what exactly happened to humanity and compassion.

About the Author

Herman Koch (1953) is known as a television producer and a writer. The book ‘Het diner’, published in 2009, was his breakthrough in the Netherlands. It was published in 17 countries. It was partly based on a true story involving a homeless woman named, María del Rosario Endrinal Petit, in Barcelona (Spain), in December 2005. Koch was born in Arnhem, and later moved to Amsterdam. He studied Russian for some months, and lived in Finland for a while. Nowadays he is married to the Spanish Amalia, and has a son, Pablo (1994).

Also Available For: Kobo / Kindle

The post Book Review: The Dinner by Herman Koch appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

I’ll be reviewing this book and interviewing Abigail for my upcoming YA Pride feature. But if you’re in the Toronto area you should definitely come out to this event! It’s a gorgeous and powerful book and I think Abigail Tarttelin is definitely one to watch.

The Walker family is good at keeping secrets from the world. They are even better at keeping them from each other.

Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and the perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother. Karen, Max’s mother, is a highly successful criminal lawyer, determined to maintain the façade of effortless excellence she has constructed through the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won’t have as much control, she worries that the façade might soon begin to crumble. Adding to the tension, her husband, Steve, has chosen this moment to stand for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.

The Walkers are hiding something, you see. Max is special. Max is different. Max is intersex. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of his past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? What else are they hiding from Max about his condition and from each other? The deeper Max goes, the more questions emerge about where it all leaves him and what his future holds, especially now that he’s starting to fall head over heels for someone for the first time in his life. Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Will anyone ever want him—desire him— once they know? And the biggest one of all, the question he has to look inside himself to answer: Who is Max Walker, really?

Find it on Goodreads

The post Event: Meet Abigail Tarttelin, author of Golden Boy appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

Before heading into the event I met up with fellow Toronto bloggers, Michele (Just a Lil Lost) and Ardo (A A Omer). We grabbed some fuel (coffee) at a nearby Starbucks (that used to be a bookstore! How perfect is that?) and went in to tackle the festival crowds together.

We wandered around the venue, finding comic after comic that interested us. Seriously I wish I had all the money because I could have easily spent a fortune in there. Since we didn’t attend any of the panels, I figured the best way to do this recap would simply be to highlight some of the books that caught our eye.

First up was Once Upon a Time Machine. An anthology of futuristic fairy tales. This one instantly called out to me and I got to speak with a few of the creators. Plus they had the added bonus of some awesome posters/bookmarks

After that we stopped by the Kill Shakespeare table. Kill Shakespeare is a Canadian comic (yay Canada!) where a bunch of Shakespeare characters interact with one another. As Fables is to Fairy Tales, Kill Shakespeare is to Shakespeare. They also had these cool t-shirts, which I’m kicking myself for not picking up

When we ventured upstairs I stumbled across No Straight Lines – another anthology. This one compiled a survey of LGBTQ comics from the last four decades! It was a beautiful book and I chatted with the Editor, Justin Hall. Keep any eye out during YA Pride – you may be hearing more about this book!

And then there was Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, a new graphic novel from the always fabulous First Second Press. Any food lovers out there will want to add this to their TBR

And we stopped by to visit with Raina Telgemeier and get our copies of Drama signed

Other comics that looked interesting but I forgot to get pictures of:

Beta Testing the Apocalypse by Tom Kaczynski
My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks

So what did I bring home with me? It was no easy choice, let me tell you. But here are the chosen few:

A signed copy of Once Upon a Time Machine

Signed copies of: The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire (it was like a dream come true meeting him!) and Glitter Kiss by  Adrianne Ambrose & Monica Gallagher. Signed by Monica. Glitter Kiss came highly recommened by Ardo, so I’m excited to check it out.

It was a fabulous event. Huge thanks to the organizers and the Toronto Public Library for putting it on and for all the amazing publishers and creators that come out for it.

Have you ever attended a Comic Festival? And what are some comics you love?

The post Toronto Comic Arts Festival Recap appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

Release Date: April 2 2013

Eleven-year-old Holly Shepard longs for adventure, some escape from her humdrum life. That is precisely what she gets when she is given an old iron key that unlocks a door—in a tree. Holly crosses the threshold into a stunning and magical medieval world, Anglielle. And as she does so, something unlocks within Holly: a primal, powerful magic. Holly is joined on her journey by two tagalongs—her younger brother Ben, and Everett, an English boy who hungers after Holly’s newfound magic and carries a few secrets of his own.When Ben and Everett are sentenced to death by the royals, whose fear of magic has fueled a violent, systemic slaughter of all enchanted creatures, Holly must save them and find a way back home. But will she be able to muster the courage and rise above her ordinary past to become an extraordinary hero?

My Review

The Key and The Flame is a whimsical middle grade adventure. It has a very Narnia feel to it – finding a portal into another world within an every day object. But this time it’s a tree instead of wardrobe. I love stories where ordinary people/kids are whisked away to new places where they encounter adventure, danger and best of all magic. Because of this The Key and The Flame called out to me right away and I knew I had to read it.

Claire M Caterer has a real flair for setting the scene. She writes great descriptions – of the English country side, of the forest in Anglielle, of the castle. I think it’s safe to use the phrase “paints with words” in this case. But her writing isn’t overly fancy either. The voice is clearly middle grade. There are a lot of lines that are sure to get younger readers to crack a smile (and the young at heart too).

Holly, Ben and Everett were a fun and interesting bunch of characters and I especially appreciated the sister-brother relationship, between Ben and Holly. I liked that they still squabbled like siblings, but ultimately they worked together. It seemed in line with my own experience with my video game loving younger brother, so they were an easy pair to relate to. But on the other hand I also felt like we never really knew anything about these characters. There wasn’t a lot of back story for any of them. I wanted Holly to prevail because I don’t want to see anyone innocent imprisoned/murdered  but there was no deeper investment than that.

The only other problem was that the book was a bit long. I guess that’s the downfall of such great descriptions is that often they can take and add extra bulk to the story. Sometimes the large size works for Middle Grade but sometimes it seems to drag. Depends on the reader, so it may be something to keep in mind if you’re considering picking this up.

Recommendation: A fun, easy middle grade read. Great for fans of the Narnia series by CS Lewis or Wildwood by Colin Meloy.

About the Author

Claire M. Caterer was born in the Motor City and raised in the suburbs of Kansas City with a large assortment of cats, dogs, birds, hamsters, mice, and other creatures. Her childhood was spent reading about and inventing imaginary worlds. Claire holds a degree in French from the University of Kansas and spent several years working in publishing in New York City. Today she lives in the Kansas City metro area not far from where she grew up. She shares her home with her husband, daughter, two dogs, and a host of imaginary friends. Because she never properly grew up, she spends her time writing the kinds of stories she loved as a child and still loves to this day.

Also Available For: Kobo / Kindle

The post Book Review: The Key and the Flame by Claire M. Caterer appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

*just a heads up each post may contain spoilers for that episode and then ones before it*

Episode Summary

The Impossible Astronaut starts with Four envelopes, numbered two, three and four. Each containing a date, time and map reference, unsigned, but TARDIS blue – begin the latest series of the time-travelling adventures. Who sent them? And who received the missing number one? This strange summons reunites The Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song in the middle of the Utah desert and unveils a terrible secret that The Doctor’s friends must never reveal to him. Placing his life entirely in their hands, The Doctor agrees to search for the recipient of the fourth envelope. Just who is Canton Everett Delaware the Third? And what is the relevance of their only other clue: “Space 1969″? Their quest lands them in the Oval Office, where they are enlisted by President Nixon himself to assist enigmatic former FBI agent Canton in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious spaceman.

Thoughts on the Episode

Talk about a powerful opening scene. The Impossible Astronaut hits where it hurts – the death/murder of the Doctor. I knew something bad was about to happen. It’s a Stephen Moffat episode – of course something heart breaking is going to happen. I have to admit, my reaction was pretty similar to Amy’s when that first shot rang out.

Then things start to plateau a bit, as we learn that’s actually a future version of the Doctor. Hope is restored and you begin to believe. BUT THEN you get confronted with these creepy weirdos.

Sometimes I think Moffat’s secret goal is for me to never sleep again. First the Weeping Angels and now this. Though I’ve enjoyed many of the Doctor Who “monsters” lately – these are the first legitimately scary ones in awhile. Their faces, combined with the weird noise they make combined with the fact that they can turn you into human confetti with just a touch of their fingers. Oh and there’s practically no way to protect yourself because you forget them as soon as you look away? Yup. Definitely terrifying.

And then there’s the Doctor and River’s relationship. Most of the time I like the way River and the Doctor interact. They’re funny and flirty and I love the grin on his face. And some of my favourite moments have come from their interaction. But sometimes he’s quite cruel to her (“Now I love a bad girl, me. But trust you? Seriously?”) and you can see it kills her a little, because how little he knows about her. And that’s what truly breaks my heart.

But before you think I was all head over heels for this episode I need to get this off my chest: AHHHH MOFFAT!!

You may remember in my post on The Christmas Carol  I wondered how Kazran could interact with his younger self and not rip a hole in space and time. Well here we are not an episode later and River is telling Amy that the Doctor can’t interact with his previous or future self because he would create a paradox that “could rip a hole in the universe.”

It’s like he want my brain to explode.

The post Doctor Who Watch a Thon Season 6×1 “The Impossible Astronaut” appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

Release Date: May 17 2011

R is a young man with an existential crisis—he is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. His ability to connect with the outside world is limited to a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. After experiencing a teenage boy’s memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim’s human girlfriend, Julie. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His choice to protect her will transform not only R but his fellow Dead and perhaps their whole lifeless world. Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies explores what happens when the cold heart of a zombie is tempted by the warmth of human love.

“There is no ideal world for you to wait around for. The world is always just what it is now, and it’s up to you how you respond to it.”

My Review

My original goal was to read this book before going to see the movie. But then I got fairly busy and didn’t get to the book in time and before I knew it the movie was out of theatres. But I was still curious so I read the book anyway (I can always rent the movie right?)

The neat thing about this book is that it puts the reader right into the head of a zombie (R). It was a nice change from your standard zombie fare. And as zombies go, R is a pretty interesting character. He doesn’t know who he was before he was reanimated, but he has had a pretty busy after life since then. He can form full thoughts and opinions – even if he can’t speak very well – and faces a whole bunch of unique problems and obstacles. In this way Warm Bodies was a really unique and interesting story.

However, once you get past the zombie point of view, Warm Bodies is a pretty standard love story at heart. Basically, it’s Romeo and Juliet (With R as Romeo and Julie as Juliet respectively). And this is where it kind of made me lose interest. I’m all for re-tellings, don’t get me wrong. But I like there to be a new angle, a new perspective and once you stripped away the zombie element, the story itself was predictable and a tad cliché. Even the names didn’t stray very far from the original.

I think the main reason Warm Bodies is worth reading is for Isaac Marion’s style. He writes some really kick ass sentences. The only problem with listening to the audiobook version of this book was that I couldn’t sticky note all my favourite passages. But I CAN include some of them here for you to drool over:

“I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I’m drowning in ellipses.”

“In my mind I am eloquent; I can climb intricate scaffolds of words to reach the highest cathedral ceilings and paint my thoughts. But when I open my mouth, everything collapses.”

“I crush her against me. I want to be part of her. Not just inside her but all around her. I want our rib cages to crack open and our hearts to migrate and merge. I want our cells to braid together like living thread.”

Doesn’t that make you want to read more?

Recommendation: Warm Bodies is a good book if you want a nice easy, light read. Not what you would normally expect from a zombie novel, but fun none the less.

Notes on the Audio

Kevin Kenerly does great ‘zombie’ voice. It was rough and raspy and sounded like it was battling against the bodies natural instincts to decompose. However this also worked against the book because he sounded really old compared to Julie’s 19. As far as I could tell the book never explicitly tells you how old R is, but I sincerely hope he’s not as old as he sounds. Not a bad audiobook overall but it doesn’t really stand out either.

About the Author

Isaac Marion was born near Seattle in 1981 and has lived in and around that city ever since. He began writing in high school and self-published three novels before finally breaking through with Warm Bodies. He currently splits his time between writing more novels, playing obscure instruments in obscure bands, and exploring the country in his 1977 GMC motorhome.

Also Available From: Audible / Kobo

The post Audiobook Review – Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion appeared first on More Than Just Magic.

 Release Date: May 3 2013
Directed by: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsley 

The events of Loki’s attack on New York City has left Tony Stark a completely changed man. Now saddled with a severe case of insomnia and post traumatic stress disorder, Tony spends his sleepless nights the only way he knows how – coming up with new prototypes for the Iron Man suit. But now new events require that Tony suit up again. A villainous mad man known only as the Mandarin has staged a horrible attack on the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, and is coming for Tony. An angry Tony wants to confront the Mandarin face to face, who proceeds to stage an attack on Tony’s Malibu mansion and leaves him with absolutely nothing – no Pepper, no toys except for a defunct Iron Man prototype called the MK42, and he’s stranded in the middle of Tennessee. Tony believes the attack on the Chinese Theater and an attack on a small town in Tennessee are related. As he puts the pieces together and tries to get the MK42 working, he discovers far more sinister forces at work greater than the Mandarin himself. But how does an event from Tony’s past fit in with the events of the present?

My Review

It’s hard to write this review because I honestly think one of the best things about this movie is how it surprises you. So many things about Iron Man 3 were unexpected and because of that the character and story still felt fresh and exciting, even 3 movies into the franchise (or 4 depending on how you count it). It’s an action packed thrill ride that still manages to maintain a strong storyline – how many action movies can actually make that claim?

The Tony Stark we encounter in Iron Man 3 is a different Tony Stark than before. I really appreciate the way they’ve taken the time to develop and challenge his character throughout the series. He’s always changing, always learning and constantly affected by what happens around him. In the case of Iron Man 3 he now suffering from pretty intense anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I really appreciated how they presented this new challenge in his life. They easily could have been flippant or dismissive of it – made it just another plot device. But instead I truly felt for Tony Stark. Every panic attack made me want to reach through the screen and hold him tight. Early on in the movie he says “Nothing’s been the same since New York.” In the delivery of this single line we know he is a changed person and it has been difficult for him to deal with that change. I think this element alone is a testament both to Robert Downey Jr’s acting skills and the writers for making Iron Man such a well rounded character.

Robert Downey Jr is charming as always as Tony Stark, but it of course helps that he’s surrounded by an awesome cast of characters. I especially like the addition of Harley – an awesome and brilliant kid, who basically serves as Tony Stark’s side kick for a portion of the movie. Their back and forth was so hilarious and heart warming and there’s no way you won’t fall in love with Ty Simpkins. He’s just so sassy and adorable!

And not to be overlooked – Pepper Potts. Since the beginning I’ve been a huge Pepper Potts fan. I love that she’s a strong minded, intelligent woman and that her character isn’t solely defined by her romantic relationship with Tony. She’s extremely capable and always says what’s on her mind. What’s not to like? Her role in Iron Man 3 is an incredible one and if you’re a fellow fan, you’re going to be grinning ear to ear with pride. Guaranteed. She just so bad ass!

And last but not least Ben Kingsley is fabulous as the Mandarin. Just fabulous.

So I obviously really loved this movie. I think it combined everything that I love about the superhero genre and added in some great commentary about PTSD/anxiety disorder, fear of “the other” and was just a genuinely enjoyable two hours. And as an added bonus you get some sexy RDJ dancing:So go see it. And come back to thank me later. 

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