Book Review: Percy Jackson

Hey guys Eddie here. Today I will be reviewing all of the Percy Jackson books in one review.

Book: The Percy Jackson Books

Reviewer: Eddie

Publication date: Oct 12 2010

Author: Rick Roirdan

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Synopsis: A young boy named Percy Jackson finds out that he is half Greek god and half human. He goes to a special camp where there are people like him except children of different gods or goddesses. “The Oracle” tells him he must do a bunch of adventuring and world saving from the evil Titan lord Kronos.

Review: The book was OK start with a lot of "OMG I’m half god drama" but not over the top. Then as soon as he starts his journey to the camp, he single handedly kills a minataur 50x his size without a sword or  weapon. That's one of the things that I dislike in most books these days.  

But what I like is that I think that only some of the really talented authors do: they make it so it seems like an actual teenage boy  that is explaining what he is feeling, is talking and not just talking to other people in the book. Example: "The Lightning Thief" 
Percy: If you start to feel dizzy after you read the next few pages, I suggest you put the book down. 
The next book is all about healing the tree that defends his camp which gets poisoned. And the next books just keep coming together as the heroes and gods defeat the evil titans together. The book does not have that many dramatic parts, which I'm thankful for. Overall: 5 surfboards over 5 surfboards.

Book Review: Die Trying

Book Title: Die Trying

Reviewer: Dennis 

Series: Jack Reacher (Book 2)

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Publication Date: May 3 2005

Synopsis: Jack Reacher, is helping an FBI agent carry some of her clothes when they are both threatened with a gun and abducted by several men. But who would want an FBI agent? What is her secret? But probably the most important question of all is, where are they headed?

Review: This book had an odd beginning, with Reacher and an FBI agent being abducted. Wouldn't you be a little upset if you are abducted along with a random woman you don't even know? Reacher just explained that: "Just a freak of chance had put him alongside Holly Johnson (the FBI agent) at the exact time the snatch was going down. He was comfortable with that. He understood freak chances. Life was built out of freak chances, however much people would like to pretend otherwise." There wasn't much action at the beginning, just Holly's father trying to find out who took his daughter. He recruits 3 other agents to help him, one of which Holly believes to be a traitor. Lots of action close to the end. (We also learn Jack Reacher has claustrophobia). Like most of the other Jack Reacher books, there is just a little romance. 4 out of 5 surfboards.

What I liked:

• Very interesting plot, completely unexpected

What I didn't like:

• Kind of a slow start

Recommend to: Not the best one there is, but it is still a good read. I don't recommend this as a starting novel, because of the weird plot.

Book Review: Eragon

Hey guys, Eddie here. Today I will be reviewing the book that got me started in reading: Eragon.

Book Title: Eragon                                               

Series: Inheritance, Book One

Author: Christipher Poalini

Publisher: Self-Published (1^st edition)/Knopf Books for Young Readers

Synopsis: A young boy named Eragon who lives on a farm with his poor uncle and cousin finds a dragon egg in the so-called “cursed” forest. The land belongs to a rich king who rules with evil creatures. When Eragon tries to sell the egg (he does not know what it is) to a meat butcher, the man throws away his offer when he hears that Eragon had found it in the forest. The egg that Eragon found was stolen from the king’s treasure room. The next day the egg hatches into a dragon and Eragon becomes friends with the dragon. Eragon, learns of his special fate as a Dragon Rider, and together with his friend Brom (who has previous experiences as a Rider), sets out to join the rebels to destroy the evil king.

Review: This book was the one that inspired me to start my reading adventure. What is great about this book is that it keeps you wondering what Eragon will do next. The book is mostly about getting Eragon and his friends ready for the biggest fight in his life. A special trainer, who was extremely skilled in magic and all the maneuvers of dragons, helps him overcome mental and magical challenges. I wish there was more enemy victories to make it sadder so the rebel victories are even more triumphant, and the scenes needed to be a bit more descriptive. The best part is the middle/begging when the evil creatures are trying to stop him from escaping with the dragon into rebel territory.

I recommend this book for all young readers.

Verdict: 4 1/2 over 5 surfboards

Book and Movie Review: Killing Floor and The Hobbit

Book Title: Killing Floor

Reviewer: Dennis 

Series: Jack Reacher (Book 1)

Publisher: Jove

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

Synopsis: Jack Reacher gets off a bus in a small town called Mangrove. Almost right after he sits down to eat, he is arrested for a murder he didn't commit. The murder victim is someone from Reacher’s past (don’t want to spoil it). Soon he is proven innocent by a police officer named Roscoe and they try to find the killer. More bodies turn up, and soon Reacher is uncovering dark secrets about the perfect looking town and it's inhabitants.

Review: The book was pretty good, not my favorite, but still a great one so far! One thing I one thing I know about all Lee Child's books, is that he will always describe what gun was used in every situations, AND give me a lot of unnecessary info about the gun. Now, whenever I see a gun on TV or in a game I can tell you what gun that is, how big it’s clip is and a whole bunch of other stuff that serves no practical purpose in the real world! ;)

Anyways, back to the review! I've seen many reviews commenting on the overuse of sentence fragments, but I personally I don’t mind them. The mystery was gripping and I didn't figure out who the killer was until it was revealed. This book had its fair amount of action and some romance. That’s pretty much it for this review. 4.5 surfboards out of 5!

Things I Liked:

·        Awesome kick ass ending

·        Since I don’t want any spoilers, I’ll just say that at the end, there is fire. A whole lot of fire.

Things I Didn't Like:

·        Not much, just the fact there was no big, dramatic reveal… 

Recommend to: This one is a little more mature, so I’m going to say 14+, or any Reacher fans.



Movie: The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey



Director: Peter Jackson

Writer of Book: J. R. R. Tolkien

Date of release: 12 December 2012

Synopsis: Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from the Shire, sets out on a quest with 13 dwarves to retake their Mountain fortress Erebor from the dragon Smaug. Along the way they encounter many obstacles and enemies such as Goblins, Trolls, Orcs and Wargs, but also allies like Elves and Radagast the brown wizard.

Review: In this movie, there is more humour than Lord of the Rings (LOTR). Although this movie made me chuckle a few times, the humourous moments were few and far between. However, I feel the beginning was really stretched out and even though it was funny, I still got a little bored. Then right after that we have fight scene after fight scene after fight scene! And despite the characters falling hundreds of meters or getting throw around like toys by a troll they all get up and restart the whole cycle. And every single fight seen seems to look and feel the same, just with a different background every time. So the movie didn’t really make it for me there. But answer me this. LOTR is three books, they make three movies. The Hobbit is one book, they make three movies. ??? How does that make any sense? Anyways, if you liked LOTR, you should see this movie. If you’re not a big fan of Middle Earth, start with LOTR. 3.5 surfboards out of 5.

Comments: I just realized I didn't give Tripwire a rating yesterday, so the rating for Tripwire is 5 surfboards out of 5! First perfect score!

Jack Reacher Review: Tripwire (My favorite)

Book Title: Tripwire

Reviewer: Dennis 

Series: Jack Reacher (Book 3)

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Publication Date: July 5 2005

Synopsis: A private detective ends up dead. Hours before, the detective was looking for Jack Reacher. He meets with Jack Reacher but Reacher lies and claims he doesn't know any "Jack Reacher". He investigates the suspicious death of the detective and finds that his old CO's daughter had hired the detective. They follow up on her father's newest investigation, and find it leads to a MIA (missing in action) named Victor Hobie. Victor Hobie hides many dark secrets, and Reacher has to uncover them all.

Review: It was a very interesting book, (SPOILER) where we learn a lot about his old feelings towards his CO's daughter Jodie. The plot was interesting and very hooking. I was very surprised when the final reveal came. I stayed up very late to finish reading this one and it was defiantly my favorite. As always, the biggest showdown came at the end (A while ago, I started looking for when I reached about 85% done, because that was when the awesome fighting started. After I got to that point I had to finish the whole book or I'll die!).

Things I Liked:

·        Best end ever!

·        Biggest, most monumental reveal of any of the books so far

Things I Didn't Like:

·        Nothing really :)

Recommend to: Anyone who loves mystery and thriller novels! A great read for teens and young adults! Jack Reacher fans should read this one.

Comments: I know I promised to post today, and technically 9:30 is still sunday, but I'm sorry for not posting earlier. I was really busy, and tomorrow 2 books reviews (Hopefully) and "The Hobbit" movie review are coming out (I just saw it yesterday).

Post Zero

Hey everyone! Welcome to our new blog.

This is post zero of hopefully hundreds to come! Although we expect that the first couple of posts will not get a single view, we are hopeful for the future of this blog. We will try to post at least once a day.

The blog will be about book reviews, movies, and video game playthroughs/tutorials.

We are two brothers, aged eleven and fourteen who like action and mystery books. We are not too fond of romance. We like first person shooters, but also games such as Minecraft, Terraria, and Portal.

So let's jump in! We will trade off on our posts - some will be by Eddie, others by Dennis.

Dennis will start with the popular book series Jack Reacher. The first review will come tomorrow. Our goal for tomorrow's post is just one happy viewer!

Thanks for visiting!

Eddie & Dennis