In My Mailbox - July 2011

 Meme by The Story Siren

Tadah! This month's mailbox is finally here!! Okay..let's see...hope i don't forget anyone XD

Athanasia & Anonymous Minion F:
They got bookmarks. Athanasia's set it's almost the same as mine (pic below) and to my minion i gave a Naruto bookmark since he finally got his first big book to read ( Martin's The Song of Fire and Ice Series).

Johnny:
Nightmare Before Christmas Trivial Pursuit (it's a special edition i think). Trying to find the image....still searching....and here it is!

Yiota:
Now i had my birthday. Which means i got some books (after my 2 months ban) and other stuff :)
1000 Piece Puzzle by Victoria Frances - gift
An awesome black dragon statue (which Athanasia already broke *yes you did! you were holding it and his sphere wasn't attached!*) - gift by Silvestro
GetGlue stickers
An awesome giraffe bookmark - gift by Anonymous Minion F
4 Fliers with first chapters of various books
Set of bookmarks
DVD of "Princess Mononoke" - gift
Immortal War (Vampirates #6) by Justin Somper - gift
Reckless by Cornelia Funke - gift by Athanasia
Wreck This Journal - gift by Athanasia
The Seer and The Sword - gift by Athanasia
Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop - gift by Athanasia
Stardust by Neil Gaiman - gift
The Hundred Thousands Kingdoms - gift by Anonynous Minion F
Geist by Philippa Balantine - for review from the author
Spectyr by Philippa Balantine - for review from the author
Krondor The Assassins by Raymond Feist - bought
Red Riding Hood - won @ Book Blogger Bingo
Mistress of the Storm by Welsh - probably i won it. i have no idea. it just appeared at my mailbox.
The Body at the Tower by Y.S.Lee - gift
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe - gift
Mistwood by Leah Cypess - gift
Austenland by Shannon Hale - gift
Miss Peregrine's Home of Peculiar Childrean - gift
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens - gift

What did you get this week? Leave your links at your comments :)

"Spellforce 2: something that has to do with Darkness and Dragons" AMAZING review by JohnnyB

OVERVIEW:

Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars is a combination Real-time strategy and RPG game created by German game developers Phenomic as a sequel to their 2003 release SpellForce: The Order of Dawn and its two expansions (Spellforce: The Breath of Winter and Spellforce: Shadow of the Phoenix). Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars has been followed by the expansion Spellforce 2: Dragon Storm.

JoWood Productions announced a second expansion - Spellforce 2: Faith in Destiny in May 2009.

Review:

After a few reviews from the other pathetic mortals and Silvestro that write in this blog I decided to add my awesome divine touch by adding a review. Now lets get on to it

We start the game, hot chick with....underwear armor and a huge ass blade and a dragon. Typical fantasy theme so no surprise there. Lets start with the campaign. It starts with a cinematic and some ominous and dark words "We were warriors..." alright no worries. The video then goes on. I wont spoil it by saying what happens but just go to the technical parts. The cinematic for today's standards is funny. I could see at least 3 mistakes and I have not even studied it. Firstly the area is too flat, as if mountains just rose out of nowhere with cliffs and stuff, then the combat scenes are fake as hell, I swear most of the times the swords did not even land on people to kill them. BUT, take into account that its a rather old game so at that time, the graphics and cinematic ARE pretty impressive, so I give it + points for that. After the cinematic we are called to create our character. The female ones are hot as hell which is no surprise but I switch to the male characters because Diraen is everywhere and he is too awesome to be left out of any story.

I have one thing to say. The avatars were UGLY! Seriously other than one or 2 exceptions that they were ok, (the one that is considered "handsome" was kinda sissy like [because saying gay or fag is wrong]). Hell I wonder how the hell women make children with those guys! I mean....UGH! Even if I accidentally walked through a dish washer in one of my attempts to find Narina and stumbled in this world I would be extremely popular.












Stupid dish washer, no other world whatsoever in it. Not even Narnia.

Anyway, after I came to terms with the ugly (GAAAH) dude I was going to have to settle with, me and my ugly avatar begin the game. From that point on I have to say that I was fascinated with the game (despite that my dude looked even uglier than me, without the wild sexy look I have). The controls were typical strategy and rpg games, i liked how they managed to blend 2 genres extremely successfully. Let me explain

First of all we begin with the camera, you have 2 camera options, the first is the typical strategy top point of view. Which is best when you manage your base and want to micromanage the general units as to who whacks the other guys face and who hits that building. The other camera is following your ugly self (even uglier than the real one in my case, i guess i give them points for that, i mean it takes imagination to make something uglier than me!), in a 3rd person view. The typical rpg point of view. That is better when you want to just explore around with your ugly self and his hero friends, or just want to witness the battle from a 3rd person view.

The graphics are pretty amazing for its time. It has a very well created day cycle and they even made the armors shine depending on the sun and off course what they wear. Meaning that you see them shining brightly at day and glimmer in the moonlight at night. The terrain was far better than the flat one of the cinematic, with nicely made animations for trees grass and the characters (dont forget its not a very new game).

Then we have your ugly avatars leveling. Here its the rpg element. You get to talk to people, receive quests, sidequests, buy items, loot items gain lvls, you even get to fully customize your character and you even get to put helmets on him. Yes HELMETS! That explained how women actually bedded those guys. I mean the first time i placed a helmet to my ugly avatar i was like "Hooray! now you look a bit cool and less ugly!". I bet most men have their wives buy them cool helmets that they are forced not to take off. Anyway, the selection of skills was not that amazing and versatile, but it was far more than I expected giving you the ability to actually decide what your character will be as if it was a normal rpg.

The music was just amazing. Not something groundbreaking but it was good with some songs that were just plain AMAZING. I guess you find good music in games that not always get publicity. They managed to blend the music in with the places pretty well and passed the atmosphere of the place very successfully. One of my personal favorites is the song for Dun Mora where you go find the elves. It could easily be a big hollywood movie theme. Really...ask Yiota, she knows!

Finally lets talk about the story. I admit I havent finished it yet, but so far it goes around the same "darkness rising, hero saving the world with dragons" thing that goes on with almost every fantasy strategy game. However this one has a few things that keep you interested, the gameplay one of them, the coolness of the units the second, and off course curiosity as to see how will the story go this time. The story itself however seems rather interesting. Although it has a few classics and cliches it is pretty unique on its own. I like how they have made it so that each race has its own characteristics not bad but not good either. I like how it does not entirely condemn a race just because they are bad, but instead it just tells you a few backround information as to why things are the way they are. Another thing I liked is that the elves that help you are actually members of an Elven "prison" so to speak.

Overall I found it a surprisingly good video game, that offers more than expected of it combining 2 genres. The only thing I didnt like? Well they did not have the undead as a playable race, but I think they will remedy that at some point. After all there is a second expansion to be released

August Giveaway

I'm changing the month's giveaway. I was expecting more people taking part with the comments game but they are not and i'm sad. So i will keep it simple.
But instead random.org i will write the entries in paper and do the picking in a video for all to see! :P

Prize - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Rules:

-You MUST be a GFC Follower

-Open where BookDepository delivers

-Giveaway is open in August 2011 until Sept.10th

-Extra entries available

-Giveaway Policy

CONTEST CLOSED

Don't forget to check back in August 15th, for our official Blogversary giveaway with some awesome books and other stuff (hint: Bloodlines, Iron Knight). Until then, have fun at our Pre-Party Giveaway.


Leave any questions at the comments :)

Questions asked at the comments:

>Okay, this might sound silly, but when you say "Leave the link you shared" do you mean the link to this contest? Or a link to our twitter/FB/Tumblr/Goodreads post that promotes this? If the latter, how do we leave links to multiple posts (i.e. I posted on Twitter, FB, and Tumblr)?
You can promote only once. That means either Twitter, FB or Tumblr. Not all of them. And yes, the link i want is from the promo you did with any of your accounts. :)

>hi! I'm reading your giveaway entry and I was wondering what does "GFC" mean? :) I can't understand the acronym.. :/
Google Friend Connect. It's the follow thingy at the sidebar

Pandora's Box #3

(Meme previously called What's New Wednesday and hosted by My Love Affair With Books )

Meme Info: It's a round up for any interesting news we found the week that passed.
Anyone who wants to participate, feel free and leave your links at the comments to check it out too.

In front of every little paragraph will be a tag ( Music,Movie, Book,etc) so in case you are not interested in something you can just skip it. At the end, are our week's finds.

[Blogs] We had a debate here in the blog of which of the the upcoming Snow White movies you prefer so far: Snow White VS Snow White

[Books] Personal Demons Book 3 is called Last Rite

[Movies] I don't know how many of you have watched The Expendables movie with Sylvester Stalone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and some other guys but there is already a 2nd movie on the works. Want to know the new names to be added? John Travolta, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme...aha..you have read right. Chuck Norris and Van Damme. Let's see how many of those are true. I'm already laughing... LMAO!

[Movies/Books] Hunger Games photos of Peeta and Gale. Not big fan of them. I had imagined Peeta not that awesome XD:

 

 

 

 

 [Movie] First photo from  The Avengers...!!!

[TV] Poster of The Secret Circle. CW knows how to make good posters XD

Movies:

TV Movies Reviews

Cyberbully follows Taylor Hillridge (Emily Osment), a teenage girl who falls victim to online bullying, and the cost it takes on her as well as her friends and family. Taylor is a pretty seventeen-year-old student dealing with her parents' recent divorce and painfully aware of her lower social status in high school. When her mom gives her a computer for her birthday, Taylor is excited by the prospect of going online to meet new friends without her mother always looking over her shoulder. However, Taylor soon finds herself the victim of betrayal and bullying while visiting a popular social website.
Cast: Emily Osment (Hanna Montana), Kay Panabaker (No Ordinary Family), Kelly Rowan (The O.C)

REVIEW: I have to say i'm not really fan of Emily Osment but the movie sounded interesting and i thought to give it a try. In general i can say it was an average movie for me. I didn't enjoy it that much but neither i hated it. The cause of that i think that was how different are people in US than in Greece. The whole situation on both bullying in school and online, it's not something that i really noticed here..ever. Yes, there were bullies but in the movie is just too much. I'm wondering if it's true. How can a whole school be so mean with someone. And the mother took some bad decisions at some points. Apart from that, i found the representation of the feelings and how each person was dealing with bullying really good and accurate. Those scenes were actually Osment's best acting ever. The acting in general was average with most actors being new to me and if i'm right it was one camera movie which took me some time to get used to it.

The Witches of Oz follows the exploits of the grown Dorothy Gale, now a successful children's book author, as she moves from Kansas to present day New York City. Dorothy quickly learns that her popular books are based on repressed childhood memories, and that the wonders of Oz are very, very real. When the Wicked Witch of the West shows up in Times Square, Dorothy must find the inner courage to stop her. 

REVIEW: For some reason Wizard of Oz was never one of my favorites but the movie did have some actors that i missed watching them play. The movie has really good special effects, a quite interesting story with the known to all Oz characters, great music and an acceptable acting (except the Dorothy girl which for some reason she had the same expressions in the whole thing. You couldn't really see any emotion, or at least i couldn't ). If i have to say something negative, is how long it was. Well it was two parts and i decided to watch them both at once but i do that all the time! Sean Austin, Billy Boyd (both from LOTR movies) and Christopher Lloyd (Back To The Future Trilogy) were all amazing though and i enjoyed watching them on screen once again.

Life is pretty magical for 23-year-old Timmy Turner. He's managed to avoid all sorts of responsibilities by staying a kid at heart. He's even maintained his 5th grade status to keep his Fairy Godparents, Wanda and Cosmo! But when Timmy's childhood friend, Tootie, returns to town, Timmy is forced to deal with new crushy feelings for the once-dorky-now-gorgeous Tootie. Will he have to (gasp!) grow up? But what would happen to his Fairy Godparents? Tough questions for Timmy, but that's nothing compared to his big time battle with power-hungry evil business trying to take over his beloved Dimmsdale! It might be time for Timmy Turner to do some growing up.
Cast: Drake Bell (Drake & Josh), Daniella Monet (Nancy Drew), Jason Alexander (The Hunchback of Notre Dam), Cheryl Hines (RV)

REVIEW: This movie was so short! Barely 1 hour! I didn't even manage to enjoy it that much! Haha! I have seen the cartoon series but unfortunately i don't remember much to say how good the movie was opposite them. Anyway, it was actually really fun. I soooooo loved the fairy parents! They were hilarious! And the movie is simple but really cool. Nice effects, good jokes, an evil guy. Not much of original script but enjoyable. Definitely recommend it for kids! They love it.
Drake Bell is also really cute in his pink clothes XD Oh! I was surprised to recognize many of the actors. I was waiting for something more unknown and low budget.

Poster / Cover Awards - July 2011

Another new meme! Hope you enjoy it!!! ^^

How it works?
We post the poster/covers of a book and a movie with the first thought in our mind when we see them and pick the winner!
When posted?
Once each month.

---------------------

by Yiota

Poster Nominees - Resident Evil: Extinction

 

WINNER -"OMG!CAN'T WAIT!":

For some reason i find it more mysterious but at the same time you can see that the movie will have some serious action. I also love the colors and it's simplicity is a good thing in this one. I like how they played with the title colors to match the background. ( + i do have this poster in my room XD)

Cover Nominees - Hex Hall

  WINNER - "THIS SEEMS INTERESTING":

I was between this one and the "MEAN GIRLS" cover. But i do like this one better. It shows you some secrets of the book which you don't get before reading and at the same time it says "i'm probably something with magic and boarding schools. read me" which actually match the book. I really don't get how they picked the rest covers. Doesn't even make much sense.

Which ones you will pick? Do you have the same reactions like me when you see them?

Your Highness, Movie Review

Throughout history, tales of chivalry have burnished the legends of brave, handsome knights who rescue fair damsels, slay dragons and conquer evil. But behind many a hero is a good-for-nothing younger brother trying just to stay out of the way of those dragons, evil and trouble in general. Danny McBride and James Franco team up for an epic comedy adventure set in a fantastical world-Your Highness. As two princes on a daring mission to save their land, they must rescue the heir apparent’s fiancée before their kingdom is destroyed.

REVIEW:
Let's make it clear that i hate movies with sex jokes and full of bad language,etc. From the trailer i knew the movie had them in but i didn't expect to be so many. 9 to 10 lines are naughty jokes about sex, penis, vagina and whatever else exist.

There is a great storyline and it could have made a great epic adventure. To tell the truth i was expecting something like Knight's Tale ( i haven't watched any of the other movies from those writers/director like Pineapple Express). But all the story was hidden behind those jokes which i didn't even find funny enough to laugh. I almost got sad about it. The cinematography, the music, the special effects are so great! So well done that i had time to see that kind of budget in an epic quest movie. And i couldn't get into it. When i didn't find the dialogues stupid, i noticed how poor job was done from such great actors.
James Franco was trying to keep his smiles in, because he wanted to laugh with the jokes and stuff and you could see it. Which i can't say i found it cute and funny like i've seen in other reviews.

The movie is not bad. It can easily get a 6-7+/10 from someone who will like it. But for certain it's not for everyone. There are chances to keep up and watch the whole thing since it has an interesting story, but you might find annoying things i mentioned above if it's not your style. For me was a waste of time, money and a great cast.

Cast: Danny McBride (Pineapple Express), James Franco (Spiderman, 127 hours), Natalie Portman (Star Wars, Black Swan), Toby Jones (Harry Potter 2, The Mist), Justin Theroux (Megamind), Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man, 500 Days of Summer),  Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Damian Lewis (Dreamcatcher), Deobia Oparei ( Doom,Moulin Rouge )

Charlie St. Cloud, Movie Review

Charlie St. Cloud has been given the gift of seen his diseased brother, but when a new love interest is in trouble he must choose between saving a life or continuing to see his brother every day.

REVIEW:
The reason I saw the movie was because I was curious to see the lead actor in a different role than the ones we used to. The story sounded interesting even though it wasn't very explainable.

What you think watching the trailer and what I understood is that Charlie is seeing his brother's ghost, because of his love for him. And when he starts dating someone, these memories he may have are starting to lose their power. Well, I was surpriced I was wrong, and I was surprised in a good way. The directing part was really good, and mostly it has to do with the fact that the places you see are great, forests, coasts, nature in general. As for the script, the movie is based on a book, so I think they followed the same language, even though I read somewhere that there are differences between those two, but most of them have to do with details. At least I think.

About the actors:
Zac Efron was great. I liked him at 17 again, but in this one he was plain great, his role had to do with a guy in the mid-20s and that means it was closer to his own age, which was more suitable for him. He reminded me absolutely nothing of High School Musical and I think he shown us how great actor he is.
I have nothing to say about Charlie Tahan and Amada Crew, because I haven't seen them in previous roles, but they both were really good.
Kim Basinger and Ray Liotta were also in the movie as the mother and the paramedic who saved Charlie's life, but they both had a really small role. You only see them in one or two scenes, and I think that this was really bold, to have just two scenes in a movie. But two really life-changing scenes for Charlie.
Lastly, there was Augustus Prew, who was the only comic person in the story. The one who never thought Charlie was crazy, treated him as his friend and was his friend.

Bottom line, I recommend you the movie. It's little sad and anxious, but it's a great one. I liked it a lot and I felt really good watching it. Even if you don't like any of the actors in this, I'm sure this movie with change your mind.

Weird Interviews Introduction Post

Hello!!! I managed to create the questions (with help of Johnny and Silvestro) for our Weird Interviews meme. I'm pretty happy about them. I totally love them ^^

F.A.Q

How it works?
Any blogger, follower, author or whatever you are (we accept robots and aliens too) can answer the questions. Just fill the form and we will notify you when it's posted with a link :)
When it's posted?
Probably each week else each second week. We will see how it will go. The interviews will go up in the turn they were submitted.
You have 2 forms there.Which one i choose?
You can answer both or just one of them. Anything that works better for you.
What's the difference between them?
The "Shazam" form has just some weird questions. And yes they are weird. Don't expect "why do you blog" and stuff like that. They are general questions. You can answer them seriously or not. Your choice. Yes, they are many but you don't have to answer them all if you don't want to.
The "Tell us your story" form has a character interview. You have to create your own character in your head and answer as him/her/it the questions.

As a good person i am, i will ask the fellow bloggers here to answer them too XD
Have fun!!! :D

Remember to answer as your own fictional character and not yourself.

Leave any questions and thoughts at the comments.

Something Borrowed, Movie Review

Friendships are tested and secrets come to surface when terminally single Rachel falls for Dex, her best friend Darcy's fiance.

REVIEW:
I was searching yesterday, movies that I haven't seen and this one popped in frond of my screen. And then I realized that I haven't made a review about this one, which is funny, because I've seen it two months ago.

Before starting my review, I'd like to tell you about the day I watched it. Some girls and I planned to go to the movies after our morning lesson. The weather was hummid and soon enough it started raining. And obviously none of us had an umbrella. The movie was on the early afternoon and we had decided to go for shopping and lunch at the mall, where the movie was playing. Due to the rain, we all were a little wet and our hair were destroyed-well, the others hair, because mine was a ponytail-as we reached the mall we were really pissed, because the rain had stopped and the sun was high(I mean, it was raining only for the five-ten minutes of walk to the tube, how disturbing was that). We couldn't do much shopping, because we didn't really had much time, but we find some to buy one or two things. As for the lunch, well, ice-cream fixed our mood.

Now, about the movie. Rachel was in love with Dex since college. One night she introduse him to her best friend, Darcy. When she realizes that Darcy likes Dex she steps out of the equation, like best friends do. After many years after a party and some drinks, she tells Dex her true feelings. And then the complicated things begin as Dex realizes that he may have feelings for Rachel and Rachel tries to figure out what she's going to do with these feelings she just revealed.

The dialogues were really good and funny in many points. As for the directing part, I wasn't expecting it. I thought the story would be presented in a straingt line, instead there were flash-backs of the college years and the characters meeting. Also the movie had many twists. I couldn't believe that a romantic comedy would make me anxious but it kind of did. The actors were also good, suitable for the roles and funny. As for the end, I was the only one who wasn't expecting it. I can't tell you, of course, but my thinking is a little complicated and the end was so simple that surpriced me.

Bottom line, I think that it was a great movie. It's totally girly and it was the perfect end of the girly day I had. I recommend it to you girls out there. I think it's suitable for a girl's night. Last but not least, sorry boys out there for not recommend it to you, but it's not for you.

P.S.1: I'm not usually doing those kind of days and if I had to choose I'd prefer an action film instead, so we can analyze it afterwards. Not that we didn't analyze this one too.
P.S.2: The movie is based on a book. I haven't read it, so I couldn't made a clear review based on the differences and the similarities.

Snow White VS Snow White

There are 2 Snow White Movies coming out in 2012. Totally different from each other. Now they released the first photos from both movies.

Snow White #1 - March 2012

Starring: Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer,  Nathan Lane, Robert Emms, Mark Povinelli, Jordan Prentice, Danny Woodburn. 

The film is directed by Tarsem Singh. 

Summary: An evil queen and an exiled princess struggle for control of their kingdom in a spirited adventure comedy, filled with jealousy, romance and betrayal, that will capture the imagination of audiences the world over.

Snow White #2 ( Snow White and the Huntsman ) - June 2012

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin, Chris Hemsworth, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan. 

The film is directed by Rupert Sanders. 

Summary: As evidenced by the title, this new take on the fairy tale sees an expanded role for the Huntsman. In the original story, he is ordered to take Snow White into the woods and kill her, but instead lets her go. Here, the two are chained together for part of the movie as they make their escape.
The Huntsman is not a love interest (fear not, the prince is still in the story) but acts more as a mentor, teaching the teen girl to fight and survive.

 

 

 

 

Which one do you vote for, so far? 

I'm totally Snow White #2. Looks pretty epic and awesome! Who cares for the fairy tale ?;P Swords and battles! Woo hoo! And Lily Collins looks really weird as Snow White when Kristen Stewart holds a gorgeous shield and is dressed in armor XD

Manga Review: Air Gear

Itsuki Minami needs no introduction – everybody’s heard of the “Babyface” of the Eastside. He’s the toughest kid at Higashi Junior High School, easy on the eyes but dangerously tough when he needs to be. Plus, Itsuki lives with the mysterious and sexy Noyamano sisters. Life is never dull, but it becomes dangerous when Itsuki leads his school to victory over some vindictive Westside punks with gangster connections. Now he stands to lose his school, his friends, and everything he cares about. But in his darkest hour, the Noyamano girls come to Itsuki’s aid. They can teach him a powerful skill that will save their school from the gangsters’ siege–and introduce Itsuki to a thrilling and terrifying new world.

Review: 1st of all hello all long time no see ^^ bloody Clash of Kings (second book of the 5 in the saga "A tale of Ice and Fire" by R.R. Martin) kept me occupied well lets get to "work"

Only one word can discribe this manga...INSANE! A lot of mangas out there tend to "bend" or brake some laws of physichs or go over to the supernatural spectrum...well Air Gear takes this laws twists them up,remodels them to its liking and then dumps them like yesterdays newspaper! Seriously 15-16 year olds with bloody in-line rollerblades that have mini-sized super motors packed inside them can "ride" air currents which basily allows them to litterly skate on nothing but thin air! And thats not the end of it...with those skates,named Air Trecks (AT in short), they are able to perform tricks that far surrpass any human understanting or the physical abilites of teenagers, a good example of the above would be...creating a bloody hurricane! or moving at speeds higher than 250 khm/h! or creating a bloody inferno with friction of the ground alone!

But once u get over all that insane stuff ,which lets face it...it's a work of fiction so the artist can do whatever he wants, this manga is really incredible. The story is unbredictable but still well thought out,the characters have sufficient development,the art-work is simply fantastic (imo it's one of the best i have ever laid eyes upon),the fights are spectacular and above all the sense of humor is hillarious! Although most of the time it revolves around ecchi ( horny if u prefer) stuff.

Overall i think that everyone should read this manga although i keep my doubts about psysichists cause they will most likely get a heart-attack by the disortion of the laws that they try to explain in their intire lives.

Minion F out~!

Pandora's Box #2

(Meme previously called What's New Wednesday and hosted by My Love Affair With Books )

Meme Info: It's a round up for any interesting news we found the week that passed.
Anyone who wants to participate, feel free and leave your links at the comments to check it out too.

In front of every little paragraph will be a tag ( Music,Movie, Book,etc) so in case you are not interested in something you can just skip it. At the end, are our week's finds.

[Books] Official Summary of The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2) by Richelle Mead

Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a hu- man boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students—children of the wealthy and powerful—carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Richelle Mead’s breathtaking Bloodlines series ex- plores all the friendship, romance, battles and be- trayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.

Teasers and trailers of Bloodlines are already released. You can stay tuned at Shadowkissed.net

[Books] There are some news for extra stuff at Cassandra Clare's books that were announced.

[Books/Movies] The first poster for Hunger Games was released. It's a motion poster (that means it's moving). I don't get why a motion poster but anyway....

[Movies] New Hobbit photos:

 

[Movie] First photo of Lily Collins as Snow White. I don't like :p She is....weird?

 

[Movies] It was released at Comic Con the new poster and trailer for In Time movie. I really like the poster so i wanted to share it with you. You can see the trailer also at the end of the post.

[TV] I found out about a new TV Series called Once Upon A Time.

Emma Swan is a bail bonds collector who is drawn to the town of Storybrooke by her son whom she gave up for adoption ten years ago. The whole town is a parallel world inhabited by fairy tale characters who don’t remember their past lives or their true identities. Both mother and son hold the future of the real and fairy tale worlds in their hands. I am oddly excited about this series. It most likely has to do with many of the guys in control being veteran’s of the mythologically dense Lost. Those men being creators and writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz as well as producer Damon Lindelof.

What do you think?

More

[Music] New video: Monster by Paramore

Comic Con is on the move right now, which means there are tons of new trailers and news coming out for all books, tv and movies. I'm trying to find the most interesting and most important of all. I currently have many TV News so keep checking the Summer Fall TV Series post for updates. Also some of trailers are fan recorded since they are not officially released yet.

Movies:

Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Lost Adventures) , Graphic Novel Review

One of America's hottest shows returns! For three years, millions of eager fans tuned in each week to watch Nickelodeon's hit animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Ever since, fans have been hungry for more - and now their wait is finally over!
This volume collects the long-out-of-print, fan-favorite comics previously published in Nickelodeon Magazine and with the Airbender DVDs, plus over 70 brand-new comics pages. That's over 26 stories set in Airbender continuity, by a host of top-notch talent, many of whom worked on the original animated series itself.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Lost Adventures)
Graphic Novel, 240 pages
Expected Publication: July 27, 2011 by Dark Horse Comics

REVIEW:
I've previously read another graphic novel from Avatar which was supposed to be the original story, but it was actually based on the movie which was not good at all. Plus, it had the characters appearance changed so when i got this one from NetGalley, i had my doubts of what i will see.

As it seems, this one is created of some of the original creators of the series and some others new ones. It has 4 parts (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Bonus Stories) with each one of them includes short stories of 5 (more or less) pages.
Each story is placed in the right chronological order and not only that but they actually had connection with the animation series! Seriously, it was like watching the show! It was that cute and stupid things that made the show awesome, with Sokka and his jokes, some romance between Aang and Katara, more Zuko and Iroh, more Toph and her weirdness!! I absolutely loved it! I finished it in about an hour and i didn't stop laughing from the first to the last story. There is no chance, a fan of the series don't like it. Is exactly what we are used to.

What was not easy to get used to it though, was the difference between the artists. There were artists who draw exactly like the show was (probably they draw the animation there too) and some others which the sketches were a bit different. 2/3 of it, is the usual known to as sketches so it's not such a big deal.

Kids and fans of the show (teens,grannys..even dogs) will love it. Adults who are new to this they might find it silly. I belong to the first category ^^

Thanks NetGalley and Dark Horse Comics for a digital edition of the novel.

A House of Night Series: Untamed, Review

Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you. Just ask Zoey Redbird-she's become an expert on suckiness. In one week from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a close group of friends who trusted and supported her, to being an outcast. Speaking of friends, of the two Zoey has left, one is undead and one is unMarked. And Neferet has declared war on humans, which Zoey knows in her heart is wrong. But will anyone listen to her? Zoey's adventures at vampire finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened.

REVIEW:
This is the fourth book of the House of Night series. As always, we follow Zoey Redbird's point of view, while she struggles in the vampire world she now belongs.

In this book, Zoey reunites with her friends after Aphrodite ordered her to. She now has no boyfriend, which is a relief, and things seem to follow a nice path after the High Priestess of all the Vampires settles into the House of Night. But obviously, the nice path will soon transform into a rocky mountain. Neferet is starting to show her real self to all and Zoey finds herself being the bad person in the story as she tries to explane everything.

One new character enters the story. He's name is Stark and Zoey starts liking him. For once more, the two female authors are giving us a clear picture of what's going on into a teenager vampire's mind. What I liked about the book, and I like in all the previous ones, is that the story flows. You follow a mind and even though you can't always relate to it, you don't really care. It's like having a friend tell you how was its day, with every thought and every detail.

Well, I can't say that I read it too fast, it took a normal-for me-time to finish it, alongside my lessons and my social life. But I think that if you follow the series, then you'll know what I'm saying by telling you that it was a nice, calm book.

Alice: Madness Returns Game Review

Alice: Madness Returns delves deep into the dark and violent side of the imagination, creating a nightmarish Wonderland where Alice must face the demons that haunt her visions. Visit the grim reality of Victorian London and then travel to the beautiful yet ghastly Wonderland to uncover the root of Alice's madness and discover the
truth behind a deadly secret, kept hidden for years.

Eleven years ago a horrific fire took Alice s family from her and left her mind horrifically scarred. Afterwards she was confined to Rutledge Asylum, where she struggled to confront her demons by slipping further into her fantasy world of Wonderland. Now, after ten years, she has finally secured her release yet she still bears the heavy psychological burden of that tragic event.

With her mind in tatters, she is unable to resolve the fear prompted by her strange memories, dreams, and visions. Perhaps she'll do better in Wonderland. She always has. She travels there, seeking what the "real" world can't provide: security, knowledge, and the truth about the past But in her absence, Wonderland too has suffered. Something has gone horribly wrong, and now a great evil is descending upon what once was her beautiful refuge. Can Alice save Wonderland and herself from the
madness that consumes them both?

Features:

Intense 3rd person action: Use multiple upgradeable melee weapons including the explosive Teapot Cannon, the punishing Hobby Horse, and the classic Vorpal Blade

Explore a dark and shattered Wonderland: Encounter familiar but now strange characters, including the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar and the Red Queen

Magical abilities: Obtain peculiar abilities in Wonderland such as floating with Alice's dress, shrinking, or growing to towering sizes in order to crush enemies

Interactive puzzles: Intuitive and rewarding puzzles such as transforming obstacles, musical memories, chess, and picture blocks

The Complete Collection, with an enhanced edition of the first Alice title

Review

Today I have a special lesson for you newbies: "Never underestimate young civilians". Even in the fiercest of battles fighters try to find something worth living for and when they see a child, or even worse a girl, on the battlefield they immediatly let their guard down. That's a classic grave mistake. Countless cultures have exploited this reaction by training children to be deadly vanguard units. Today of course their is no need to do that with the advancements in robotics and antimatter reactors they can just destroy the whole planet or create robotic infiltrators but you have to learn by your ancestors' mistakes ;)

Alice madness returns is a tottaly awesome game, I got stuck playing it all day long and even at the times I started getting bored something extrordinary popped up and caught my interest all over it again. They even have samurai killerbees :D

Graphics: The graphics are still flawed but they are way better than the original game ( American McGee's Alice ) that Johnny reviewed. Their are many cool animations though that really make up for most of the graphics flaws, and I didn't experience even 1 single graphics related bug which is something most uncommon. I especially likes the physics in this game, you can actually see Alice's hair and clothes moving aroung as she moves or falls :D And the second best thing is the world. Yiota already posted something about the artwork, I think it was a graphic novel or something, and I have to say that it tottaly rocks. It has this dark, bloody, moody, semi-insane, psycho, pyromaniac style that I love in action games. Also the graphics are highly adjustable so even a low end machine can run it, I think, haven't actually tried it but I know that the graphics can get really low or really high from the settings.

Gameplay: Although many say this game is an adventure I think it is an action-sided action/adventure because the fighting and running around parts of the game are much more than the riddle and puzzle solving parts. That said I loved the gameplay. It had very easy controls and some very cool animations on moves such as a vampiric-like evasion action that turns Alice in a cloud of black butterflies and moves a bit away and then reasembles :D

Story: This game has one of the most twisted and dark storylines ever, it rulez ;) Alice's home and family were burned soon after she returned from the first storyline and now her wonderland is all messed up, bloody and dark filled with monsters. And to fix herself she must fix her wonderland. Along the progress of the game she unlocks memories of her past, weapons and cool costumes.

Bottomline: buy it now.



Buy Alice Madness Returns @ Amazon.co.uk