S.W. Lothian's Blog, page 20
June 6, 2015
The Quest Series | Omnibus Edition | Books 1-3 | Now Available
| Books 1-3 |
| NOW AVAILABLE |
The Quest Series is a time travel adventure that is packed full of exciting action, adventure and mystery. Since its release, it has delighted readers of all ages and received high praise along the way. The first book, The Golden Scarab, was a finalist in the 2013 Readers’ Favorite Awards. Book 4, The Missing Link, is on the way, so this Omnibus Edition (Exclusive to Amazon) lets you catch up and get ready for the series finale.
| CLICK THE BOX TO BUY FOR JUST $4.99 usd |
PS. If you have already read the series, it would be great if you could take a couple of minutes to share your thoughts with a quick review on the exclusive Amazon Omnibus Edition :)
The Quest Series | Omnibus Edition | Books 1-3 | Coming Soon
May 28, 2015
EPCOT | Walt Disney World | Florida | Part 2
Our recent visit to EPCOT was the first time we had been there in 15 years. It’s a big park, so we were prepared for lots of walking, and being so big, it gives the impression that the crowds aren’t as large. Make sure that you check your map while you visit, because it’s easy to miss things because many of the attractions are spread out. We didn’t realise that there was a Soarin’ ride until after we left :(
Here is a little something I tracked down while preparing this post. It’s a great video of a TV special that aired in 1982 to celebrate the opening of EPCOT. It’s very dated, but retro is ‘in’ so therefore it’s perfect to include. The show starts at about the 2 minute mark (anything before that is just opening credits etc). You may just want to skim through it, but be sure to keep an eye out for a real surprise a little past the 10 minute mark. If you do, tell me in the comments below who you see.
World Showcase
The World Showcase is a trip around the world, where you get to see the sights, hear the sounds, and taste the foods of countries from all over the world. Each of the eleven countries is a zone, all of which surround a huge central lake. It’s a great way to travel the world without the airport lines or luggage problems. We didn’t stay into the night, but there is a wonderful IllumiNations light and fireworks spectacular above the lake each night.
The detail in the buildings is brilliant (as expected from Disney), but personally I’d prefer each country to have a central ‘fun’ attraction above and beyond the food and setting. Some do, some don’t. I guess it’s just personal preference as to what you are expecting from this park. I think kids would be less interested in this section of the park than parents.
World Showcase – Mexico.
World Showcase – Mexico – The indoor night markets are a great first stop and we also rode on the Gran Fiesta Tour, which is a boat ride to discover the sights of Mexico.
World Showcase – Norway
World Showcase – Norway
World Showcase – China
World Showcase – Germany
World Showcase – Germany
World Showcase – Germany
World Showcase – Italy
World Showcase – Japan
World Showcase – France
World Showcase – United Kingdom. Disney are the masters of gardens and landscaping. The UK gardens stood out as being particularly nice.
World Showcase – United Kingdom
World Showcase – United Kingdom. I loved the UK buildings. The detail was amazing.
World Showcase – CanadaThe Sum of All Thrills ™
This was an unexpected find in one of the showcase pavilions. It’s a motion-simulator ride where you get to design your very own roller-coaster and then get to experience it with virtual reality. The level of thrill is based completely on your own design and the mathematics behind it. So if you like tame coasters it’s tame, but if you’re after high thrills then make sure you cram as many twists and turns into your design as possible.
Riders are strapped into seats and then a canopy is lowered over them. The only thing left visible to spectators are the dangling feet of the rider (see our video above). So, you’re sitting on the end of a robotic arm and being tipped, twisted, turned upside down and swooping from side to side. That’s what this one is all about. It’s great fun as you virtually ride the coaster that you personally designed in 3D.
You also get a link to relive your coaster online when you get home. Click the link here and then input the code 3R93UHZ if you want to see what we designed and rode.
EPCOT is a great park to spend a day that’s a bit different to the other Disney theme parks. It’s more exhibition, less fun, but worth the visit. I think that kids (and me) would love the thrill rides, while adults are more likely to drool over the details of the World Showcase.
Families need to balance the experiences to keep everyone happy (or split up for the day and meet up with each other later on).
Click here if you missed part 1 of our EPCOT visit.
Be sure to take a look at my other posts about our travels as they go live, or check my previous Travel Adventures posts for the ones already published. If you’re not a current follower, just click the FOLLOW button on the sidebar.
PS: I have no affiliation or relationship with WDW, except that I am a customer and fan.
May 20, 2015
Help Me Choose My Next YA Read
Having read and enjoyed The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner series’ over the past year, I find myself keen to discover a new YA book or series that I can sink my teeth into. There is no doubt that there are a bazillion great reads out there, but I’m hoping visitors to my site can throw some recommendations and ideas my way.
I’ve scoured the net (well, a little bit of it anyway) and listed quite a collection of some contenders below. I would really appreciate it if you could cast a vote (or make a suggestion) at the end of this post to help with this life changing decision. (FYI – if it’s too heavy on romance, then it’s probably not what I’m looking for)
Nil | Lynne Matson
On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days–to escape, or you die.
Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field.
Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time. – GOODREADS.
Hungry | H.A. Swain
In the future, food is no longer necessary—until Thalia begins to feel something unfamiliar and uncomfortable. She’s hungry.
In Thalia’s world, there is no need for food—everyone takes medication (or “inocs”) to ward off hunger. It should mean there is no more famine, no more obesity, no more food-related illnesses, and no more war. At least that’s what her parents, who work for the company that developed the inocs, say. But when Thalia meets a boy who is part of an underground movement to bring food back, she realizes that most people live a life much different from hers. Worse, Thalia is starting to feel hunger, and so is he—the inocs aren’t working. Together they set out to find the only thing that will quell their hunger: real food.
H. A. Swain delivers an adventure that is both epic and fast-paced. Get ready to be Hungry.- GOODREADS
The Doomsday Code | TimeRiders 3 | Alex Scarrow
Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912.
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010.
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026.
But all three have been given a second chance—to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history…
In 1993 British computer hacker Adam Lewis finds his name in a coded manuscript that is almost one thousand years old. How did Adam’s name get in there… and why?
Confronted by Adam in 2001, the TimeRiders travel back to Sherwood Forest in 1193 to discover the origins of the ancient message. But when a strange hooded man appears interested in the same thing, they begin to wonder what terrible threat this cryptic link from the past holds for the future… – GOODREADS
After the Snow | S.D. Crockett
Fifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone.
But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone — he doesn’t have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl — but Willo just can’t do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family? – GOODREADS
The 5th Wave : Book 1 | Rick Yancey
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.
Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. – GOODREADS
The Compound | S.A. Bodeen
Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they’ve become accustomed to their new life. Accustomed, but not happy.
For Eli, no amount of luxury can stifle the dull routine of living in the same place, with only his two sisters, his father and mother, doing the same thing day after day after day.
As problems with their carefully planned existence threaten to destroy their sanctuary—and their sanity—Eli can’t help but wonder if he’d rather take his chances outside.
Eli’s father built the Compound to keep them safe. But are they safe—or sorry? – GOODREADS
The Eye of Minds | Mortality Doctrine 1 | James Dashner
Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?
But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.
The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker. And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team. But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever. – GOODREADS
The Rule of Three | Eric Walters
One shocking afternoon, computers around the globe shut down in a viral catastrophe. At sixteen-year-old Adam Daley’s high school, the problem first seems to be a typical electrical outage, until students discover that cell phones are down, municipal utilities are failing, and a few computer-free cars like Adam’s are the only vehicles that function.
Driving home, Adam encounters a storm tide of anger and fear as the region becomes paralyzed. Soon—as resources dwindle, crises mount, and chaos descends—he will see his suburban neighborhood band together for protection. And Adam will understand that having a police captain for a mother and a retired government spy living next door are not just the facts of his life but the keys to his survival, in The Rule of Three by Eric Walters. – GOODREADS
Enclave | Ann Aguirre
New York City residents, decimated by war and plague, live underground in Enclaves, barely past age 20. Deuce 15, trained as Huntress, pairs with odd Fade, who was boy Topside. Elders ignore warning, exile both. Monster Freaks, more organized, killed nearest Enclave. Guided by old memories, in gang-infested ruins, pair face apocalyptic world with new dangers and feelings. – GOODREADS
The Book Thief | Markus Zusak
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul. – GOODREADS
May 13, 2015
MG Book Review | Frankie DuPont and the Lemon Festival Fiasco| Julie Anne Grasso
May 6, 2015
MG Book Review | Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes | Eleanor Coerr
May 3, 2015
Children’s Book Week 2015 | Kindle Fire HD Giveaway
April 29, 2015
YA Book Review | The Death Cure (Maze Runner 3) | James Dashner
April 22, 2015
EPCOT | Walt Disney World | Florida | Part 1
April 14, 2015
YA Book Review | The Hunger Games – Mockingjay (HG3) | Suzanne Collins
