Review Tales
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Gamers and Gods: The Complete Trilogy by Matthew Kennedy (Book Review #77)
This review is written for Online book club
“I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.”
Gamers and Gods is a trilogy about a population that lives online in a game world. This world consists of realms, avatars, and characters, each taking part in battles and game quests. The book uses intense gamer’s terminology that may not be familiar to all.
The Gods wish to take control over PanGames, the human race. PanGames is a company where the leaders of the virtual games are located. The games consist of role-playing, and there is a champion at the end of each book signifying the finale. The battles are planned by the Gods.
There are many characters introduced in the book. However, the ones I mention here, in my opinion, are the most important. Darla is a student studying engineering and Farker is the head of information for the company of PanGames. Farker is later on promoted to become the CIO of PanGames. Cheiron is a centaur that raises heroes. Manny & Elizabeth are Darla’s parents, and Aes is a demigod physician. Alexanor is the son of Machaon (Aes’s son) and Sekhmet (quantum goddess).
There is a dream world and a real world. In the dream world, the Gods are in charge, and so they draw the images. If the characters in the real world are not available, for instance, sleeping, then the image does not show. The Gods remove the dream image of the character.
Every book is a battle between the Gods fighting for self-determination of Earth’s humans.
The story of Aes was fascinating. He thinks that his body dies in the real world while he is in the dream world and so instead of going to the underworld he is trapped in the dream world. The truth is actually unknown. They think that Farker created him to be a healer. Is this game character or code developing free will? Aes has emotions and is talking back like a human but is he really a human? Cheiron has some answers for Aes’s condition, and the story happens to take a very interesting twist of events. Aes and Darla also become attached emotionally. This added a little romance to the whole scene. Aes has to fight Am-he, the quantum God of the children of Nuit, in the championship battle to end the game.
If the children of Nuit send in another Egyptian God in the pit, the humans have to have someone like Aes to battle for them. Since Aes is not coming back, his son needs to take his place. His son is unborn at the time and is carried by Darla. Darla is pregnant in the dream world but not in the real world.
PanGames plots against Machaon and the whole gang has to defend him as well as his son Alexanor, is chosen to fight in the final battle. The whole thing became intertwined and connected answering many questions and creating a hypothesis, making it a great tale to read.
I have to admit that I found this trilogy to be very hard to follow. Although the characters were constantly in game mode and the conversations were just about games, I found it hard to attach myself to any one of them. I found the story involved with the God’s to be more appealing.
There are also references to heavy topics such as Greek mythology and philosophical terminology and questions. I found the blend to be inconsistent and unnecessary.
There are many grammatical and typo errors in the books. For example, I noticed “an women” where it should be “a women” or “he” is written instead of “she.” It was a shame as the content was rich.
The books do consist of originality in plot, and the literary standard was up to speed. However, they failed to grab my interest in the first book. As I got to the second and third book, my interest then grew. It became very complicated but intriguing. The Author definitely has a great mind to create such a plot.
I would recommend this book for people that only seek and know of the world of gaming.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Pearls Of Time: Between Gods and Mortals by Whitney Rines (Book Review #75)
The land of Liansea is constantly corrupted and ravaged by the Immortals. They kill, commit genocide, poison the minds of mortals and conduct many more horrific crimes until Cabbah arrives.
Cabbah eliminates all of the Immortals except five. She appears to have stronger powers and possesses more love for the world and the humans living in it. Instead of killing the five left, she awards them with different punishments. For instance, she awards one with the responsibility of being the Gatekeeper to the underworld and awards another, the Godhood of being responsible for the peace, protection, and prosperity. As Cabbah reaches Lizia and Fayet (twins), she bestows the responsibility of mothering, fate, and prophecy to Lizia and leaves Fayet to guard her.
They can all become free of this forced duty until they learn to love, mend what they have corrupted and to pay their penance.
The story mostly focuses on Lizia and Fayet. The love between the brother and the sister is very sweet. Although Fayet is the one responsible for protecting Lizia from the dark forces and monsters that attack, it is Lizia, that is mostly worrying and guiding him towards doing the right thing. As Lizia continues to conduct her duties, Fayet falls in love with a mortal, Ayshir. This distraction prevents Fayet from adequately protecting Lizia and so she asks him to go to Ayshir and to be with her. Lizia tells Fayet that she will call for help if need be.
Although I found the relationship between Ayshir and Fayet to be uncomfortable at first, her being so young and him being more demanding than asking, it did grow on me. The family they create together nurses much love and joy. However, one thing is inevitable, and that is Ayshir is a human. Humans don’t live forever. Dark forces and other unfortunate things create much drama for this loving couple due to this fact and more. The ending of the book leaves you with a bang generating a lot of desire for wanting to know what happens next.
The standard of literature is excellent. It possesses a touch of poetry like writing, which adds to the language God’s speak. The plot and twists embedded were very well calculated and planned. I initially thought that the story was going to focus on the five immortals, but it moved on to Fayet and his destiny instead. The tale has an extreme amount of potential for many more adaptations. The author has done a tremendous job in describing human nature’s emotions and the complications of being with a God. When time is meaningless to one and precious to the other, how can a relationship survive?
I believe that this book would be suitable for anyone and not just for Science Fiction or Fantasy readers.
I look forward to reading more from this Author.
Written by Jeyran Main
This review was kindly requested by the Author, Whitney Rines.
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To Trust a Wolf – by Danielle Hardgrave (Book Review #74)
Helen is an archivist working in a museum and she is in charge of an annual event where she collects money from donors to keep the museum running. Her job is very important to her. A historical discovery regarding a Viking hoard attracts a lot of people, and that causes an increase in her responsibilities. Unknown to her, there is something hidden in the artifacts which put her life, museum, and everyone else in danger.
Here comes Rune Helsen, a dashing man to her rescue with a secret of his own. His agenda is not pure or clear until the end. However, he does seem to grab the heart of our heroine, and as she falls for him, Rune manages to reveal this secret to Helen while explaining the reason why many are interested in the Viking hoard.
She tags along with him on this discovery, and they are now on a mission, which will continue as Book 2.
I was astonished to see how a short story could contain this much novel content. I was very impressed by how this Author did not waste any time in including backstory and managed to build enough character to continue with her next book.
The paragraphs, literary standard and dialogues were very well put together and easy to understand. There was no fluffing of pages, and I was pleased with the mannerism of the entire plot including the twist in the story.
The tale does contain sexual content and supernatural creatures such as Vikings, Vampires, and Werewolves. This paranormal romance did also remind me of the Twilight Saga.
I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in a short story filled with paranormal creatures.
Written by Jeyran Main
This review was kindly requested by the Author, Danielle Hardgrave.
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Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (Book Review #8)
Summary
“The enchantment continues…
The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?” – by Marissa Meyer
Review
As essentials, it is safe to say that Marissa Meyers has made a good attempt to cover anything left from the Lunar Chronicles. The purpose of this book and the description provided matches its content. Each story is unique to its previous published chapter.
The Literary and standards of which the book is written are very well similar to Ms. Meyer’s previous published works. I believe that the author’s purpose was to cover and to add to her previously published work, by offering Stars Above as a sweet addition to her tales.
Since the book is divided into sections, it is only fair to review it individually. However, before I even begin, I would like to say that compared to other Authors and their book series; where the Author decides to add a book, in the end, to cover loose ends, Marissa Meyer did not waste time providing just a filler to her fans. She respected the need for explaining a few things that were questionable and gave us a good wrap up on all things that were unsaid.
The Keeper demonstrates a comprehensive and detailed story of why Scarlet has been behaving the way she has. Her mannerism and personality is no longer a secret, and I began to like her more, due to this now known vital information. This passage also explains a lot about Michelle Benoit. She has a love story that surprised me and was delightfully plotted by Marissa Meyer. You also comprehend and understand why Scarlet loves her grandma so much.
Glitches, touches base on the relationship Cinder has with Peony and her few early days with the new family. It does not hold much content worth getting excited or to discover and unfortunately lacks any substantial plot or substance.
The Queen’s Army is a delightful addition to the Lunar Chronicles. We hardly know much about Wolf throughout his journey. How he started and who his parents were was very interestingly plotted. All the fight scenes were well written with structure, and the whole theme of this story was satisfactory to complete its tale.
Carswell’s guide to being lucky starts with his family. You do feel sorry for Carswell and understand why he is such a bad boy. Girls are very attracted to him for obvious reasons and without too much detail, we just get to read a little more about how he struggles to make ends meet. Many pages were dedicated to this passage but unfortunately lacked any significant content.
After Sunshine Passes By is a beautiful and great story of Cress, her father and how she was chosen and taken away from her family. You get to read about her favourite poem and where it originates. It really gives you a sweet impression on Cress. The theme and story were appealing and worth reading.
The Princess and the guard also receive a substantial portion of Stars Above. Her relationship with Jacin is not the original story, but the relationship between Winter and her parents brings us to the conclusion of why she receives the scar she does. I believe that this was done in a logical explanation as it leads us to an understanding that Winter is not some crazy weak girl that does not know much about her surroundings. She is very smart and powerful. I wished that this personality was portrayed more in Marissa Meyer’s Winter book. However, I am happy that at least she covers this section up nicely.
The Little Android receives another dominant part of Stars Above and unfortunately, did not appeal as much to me. The impression you get is more confused at times, and then you do ask yourself what the point of the whole section is. I personally did not understand much of its content or comprehend the theme of what the Author was trying to achieve.
Something Old, Something New is probably the best part of Stars Above. I absolutely loved it and found it incredibly exciting and was smiling the whole time while I was reading it. The reason behind this is that you get to see everyone together for the last time. The time is after the war now, and everyone is happily situated together. Marissa Meyer attempts to show us a detailed explanation on what has happened after the war is won. A beautifully written wedding between two people that have had a hard past takes place to finalize our Lunar Chronicle Series.
A pleasant ending to a very sweet tale.
Jeyran Main
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Weight Loss for Vegans by Kayla Keyes (Book Review #26)
Lose weight and learn how to self-love in ten days using Kayla’s structured diet plan.
Kayla Keyes begins to tell us the reasons why we even start to consider making changes in our life. She believes that there are events that trigger our feelings, for example, separation, moving away from home or a new job. Her intentions are not for us to just lose some weight but to also “lose the baggage” she claims, “we are carrying around (externally & internally).”
The whole book is for vegans; that is a no-brainer considering the name of the book clearly states that however if you are not a vegan, you can still benefit from this book and still lose some weight. You just won’t be consuming any meat.
The program provides a shopping list, some aspirational quotes to motivate you and to help you succeed. Kayla provides recipes and instructions with every meal. This book is more like a detox plan. You can also continue with the diet plan after ten days if you wish.
The problem I had with the book was that there are no references to how many people have tried this or how successful her regime plan is. There are also no personal information or any story to suggest if she has struggled with weight loss (a reason to write such a book). There is also nothing stating how she even came up with such a diet plan in the book.
What I did like about the book was that she asks you to reward yourself with things that you like such as a spa treatment or a nail appointment, a haircut rather than indulging in fast food. I also liked the fact that she encourages exercise with the program and consistently makes sure that you know losing weight comes with you being happy with yourself. It does not matter what size or shape you wish to be. As long as you are comfortable in your own skin, then it is good enough for everyone else. There are four steps provided by the Author to assist you with improvement on your current level of self-love. I believe that is useful for anyone in any condition even if they don’t want to lose weight.
I recommend this book to anyone that wishes to lose weight and also learn a little about self-love.
Written by Jeyran Main
I was given this book by the Author & J.D. Jung, UnderratedReads for a review.
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Acute Renal Failure -12 Year Anniversary off Dialysis – Never give up! by James Okun
November 30, 2016, celebrated the thirteenth year since I suddenly went into acute renal failure from an unknown cause and almost died. Even as a physician, I was completely shocked to learn that from one day to the next my kidneys had shut down and I was in kidney, heart and respiratory failures (See my book The History of New Innovations in Modern Medicine Chapter 1).
It turns out that I was in pretty good company as many others develop renal failure each year (More than 661,000 Americans have kidney failure with 468,000 on dialysis http://www.kidney.org) including some very famous people who eventually died from it.
Some well know victims of Kidney failure include: Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Chiang Kai-shek, Julia Child, Alfred Hitchcock, Marlene Dietrich, Howard Hughes and General Douglas MacArthur (www.ranker.com).
Normally, your kidneys filter out toxins from the blood, reabsorb important nutrients and preserve water balance. When they fail, toxins build up in the blood, edema develops and if not treated the patient can die.
Some causative factors of acute renal failure include the effects of certain toxins and poisons, heavy metals and medications, acute blood loss and dehydration, sepsis or mechanical blockage (such as from an enlarged prostate See Chap 3 The History of…). Kidney failure can also result from the long-term effects of conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and auto immune diseases such as lupus.
If you know anyone undergoing dialysis, please support them to the utmost. It is absolutely lifesaving, and without it, the patient will die, but it is also very difficult to tolerate.
When I was on dialysis for six weeks in 2003/2004, I would get severe muscle spasms during the three to four hours undergoing treatment. One time I had an episode of acute diarrhea and lay on the bed mortified in the Charity Hospital dialysis unit (since closed after Katrina) as a nurse’s aide had to clean up the mess. I was pretty hopeless.
After outpatient treatments, I would come home so weak I had to crawl to the front door. I remember one day lying in bed and weeping because I truly believed I would never be free again to travel or exercise or do anything without being tethered to a dialysis machine. I prayed to God to help me and to send me a miracle.
The miracle came after the dialysis shunt clotted in my neck and it was taken out. I was prepped for a permanent shunt in my arm. When the preop labs came back, they were normal. No one could believe it. My prayers had been answered. Gratitude, faith, and belief had overcome cynicism, anger, and doubt. So, as bad as things may seem, be proportionate and never give up!
James D. Okun, MD is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University and of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He is the co-author of The History of New Innovations in Modern Medicine and of Erasing Scars: Herpes and Healing.
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