Rustin Petrae's Blog, page 7

My Review of: Sensation

Hello everyone out there.  Sorry it's been awhile but I've been busy with a new job and trying to get Book Two: Roc released.  Crazy, crazy.  I've still managed, however shocking that may be, to actually read a few books lately and I wanted to review them here.  The first one up is Sensation by Kevin Hardman.  This is a super-hero novel that I actually found quite fun to read.  It wasn't exactly trying my mental powers with mysteries and plot twists, but I liked it nonetheless.  Here are the rest of my thoughts on the book:

The things that I liked:

First off, I liked that it was a superhero novel.  I love superheros.  Love the powers.  Love the heroes vs. villains angle.  All that stuff and this book had a lot of it.  There were a lot of characters and a lot of powers going around.  Some of them were your standard superhero fare.  Superhuman speed.  The ability to fly.  Telepaths.  Psychics and stuff like that.  And then there's Jim.  Jim's power is the ability to have almost every power known to man, even if some of them kind of mimic each other.  You name it, he's got it.  When I first read the blurb about his many gifts I thought it was going to be kind of stupid, but when I actually read the book, it came off really well written in.  And he knew how to use them too.  Especially in one part and if you want to know what that part is, read the book.  It actually was worth it, to me anyways.  There are more things that I liked, including the story line and the characters, but we'll move on.

The things that I didn't like:

This was a fun read but there were some things that I didn't like.  I wasn't big fan of the predictable story line.  Although it was fun to read, it wasn't really littered with suspense or plot twists or anything of that nature.  The one big twist at the end of the novel, I saw coming a mile away.  I also wasn't real hip on how the band of villains in the beginning of the book were taken out and how easily it happened.  One of them could see the future, so all I'm saying is that if you could see the future you would've seen what was coming to you.  I don't think it should've been that easy to take out the super  gang of evil villains.  And that about sums up the dislikes for me.

Overall, Sensation was a pretty good book.  I enjoyed it and thought the characters were believable and the story line (although not suspenseful) was engaging enought to keep me turning the page.

Stars:

Four out of Five.

My Review of: After Earth

I recently watched After Earth with my kids and I have some mixed feelings about it.  I am a huge fan of Will Smith.  I usually like just about anything he happens to be in.  After Earth was no exception, for the most part.  LIke I said, there were some mixed feelings.  The premise of the movie was actually pretty cool.  I liked the notion of abandoning the earth to its own fate only to have Will Smith crash land there a couple centuries later.  Here are the rest of my thoughts on the movie.

The things that I liked:

The futuristic society is actually what I liked most about the movie.  They had really cool tech and some pretty awesome looking architecture.  The society as a whole was brilliantly thought up.  I loved the idea of being able to ghost and not feel any fear.  The opening sequence of Will Smith really tearing into the aliens showed a lot of promise, as far as the rest of the movie went.  The story of the movie definitely drew me in.  It was engaging and kept my attention the whole time.  The biggest thing that I liked about the movie, however, was the evolved forms of some very common animals.  The flying snake was really cool.  I liked the warped and mutated looking tigers and the whales with two blowholes (although I'm not sure what evolutionary quirk decided that it was necessary for them to have two of those).  The giant bird was also very impressive.  Especially the way it snagged Jaden Smith right out of the air.  The last thing that I liked about the movie was the ending.  The whole fight sequence between Jaden and the alien was very awesome to watch.  That about sums up the likes I had for the movie.  Moving on.

The things that I didn't like:

The accents.  They were horrible.  They sounded so weird.  I get that the creative vision might've required something like that but I think that overall, everyone just sound really freaking stupid.  Everyone.  I also didn't really like Jaden Smith for most of the movie.  He came off as a somewhat prissy, overly terrified, cry-baby for most of it.  It was the complete opposite of what I was expecting and I wasn't really fond of it.  Again, I get where they were going with it and why he was portrayed that way, but again, it didn't come out too well in the finished product.  In my opinion, anyways.  It was actually irritating to listen to him whining about everything and acting so blown out of proportion scared.  I also wasn't a big fan of Will Smith's character either.  He was a little too distant.  It made for a really crappy on screen father/son relationship.  Also, it was annoying to watch too.  

Overall, while I did end up liking the movie and thinking it was pretty good, I probably wouldn't watch it again.  There were a lot of things that annoyed me.  There were a lot of things that I think would've came out better if they'd made a few, minor tweaks.  It wasn't bad, by any means, but it wasn't that great either.

Stars: Three out of Five.

It was okay.

Review of Dragon by Bestselling Author Piers Anthony!

I was excited to hear that Piers Anthony had agreed to read and review my novel, Dragon (A Histories of Purga Novel).  It was definitely an honor and a privelage.  I have grown up reading his Xanth novels and quite a few others as well.  I truly admire his writing style, his imagination, and the huge stories that he publishes.  They have inspired my own creativity practically since i decided that I really loved writing and wanted to try to create my own worlds, characters, and stories.  I asked Mr. Anthony if he would read Dragon and my jaw literally dropped to the floor when he said yes.  Without any more delays, here is the review of my novel by the bestselling author, Piers Anthony! (Cue drum roll).

I read Dragon and liked it. Here is a copy of the review I plan to run in my HiPiers Column in July 2012.

I read Dragon (A History of Purga Novel) by Rustin Petrae. Conspiracy is afoot, and Prince Rone finds himself pursued by the equivalent of a drone as he flies, and crashes. But an enemy chief's lovely daughter Keiara finds him and helps him so that he survives, albeit with a lost leg. Through her he learns that much of what he has been told about her people the Terraqouis is false; they don't eat people, in fact they are vegetarians. (There's something I like about this.) The two are falling in love, but he must return to save his kingdom from a vicious revolution, and there are complications and mischief galore. What intrigues me is the way Rone's technological folk have microscopic robots called nanos that are marvelously proficient at quickly making things, ranging from guns to shelters, while the Terra can shift to animal forms, such as flying birds. While I feel that a competent copy-editor could help the text, I appreciate the quality of imagination that is on display as these two cultures interact. I did not see the relevance of the title, as dragons were not in evidence, until the end, when it became astonishingly relevant. This is worth reading.

Piers Anthony

PiersAnthony@hipiers.com

www.HiPiers.com

I want to thank Piers Anthony again for reviewing my novel.  Words cannot express the level of gratitude I have for his honest, and awesome!, review of Dragon.

Rustin

Drawing of a Baby Elephant

This was a drawing that I did awhile back.  It features a baby elephant underneath its mother's legs.  I saw the image and thoguht it would be something great to draw.  Leave me some feedback, comments, or share.  I appreciate anyone that wants to help spread the word about me, my books, or my design/art.

My Review of: Oz the Great and Powerful

Okay, okay, so I've been a little lax with the movie reviews.  I don' t mean to, it just sort of happens that way.  I don't get a chance to watch new movies much.  On that note, however, I did take my kids to see Oz the Great and Powerful recently.  Right off the bat, just based off the trailers alone, I definitely wanted to see the movie.  Here's a prequel that I thought was unique, it involved the actual Wizard of Oz.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the movie.

The things that I liked:

There was actually quite a bit that I liked to this movie.  I loved all of the characters.  I thought each one was portrayed by the exact right person.  The story, actually, is what got me hooked.  I really loved the story.  It was engaging and it kept me entertained the whole time.  I felt invested in it too, which is a good thing.  The special effects were, of course, superb.  The CGI and the imaginative landscapes were really captivating.  I thoguht it was pretty cool that they had the first bits of the movie in black and white, just like the original movie.  That was, by my estimation, pure genius.  It connected the viewers mind to the old movie.  China Girl was an awesome character and I really enjoyed the flying monkey who's name, for some reason, I can't think of right now.  Trust me though, he was funny.  Theodora was, actually, one of my favoriter characters.  You felt bad for her and wanted things to happen differently but at the same time, knowing that they wouldn't.  That about sums up some of the stuff I liked the most.  There were other, more subtle, things that I enjoyed, but we don't need to go into details.

The things that I didn't like:

Not a lot here.  I think the biggest thing was that, although he did great in the movie, I thought there were times when James Franco looked a little weird.  He would smile really big, but the dialogue and situation didn't quite fit with a smile that wide.  It was a little off-putting.  There were other times where I think he fell a little short in the role, but overall, it wasn't enough to detract from the rest of the movie.  Rachel Weisz also had instances where her facial expressions weren't matching up with what was going on in the movie.  Again, a little off putting, but essentially it wasn't bad enough to detract from the story.  The only other thing I didn't like was that even after it came out that Eveanora was actually the Wicked Witch, the Royal Guards (or whatever their name was) were still loyal to her.  That didn't make much sense to me.  That's all for the things I didn't like though.

Overall, I felt the movie was well worth the money paid to see it.  It kept my interest the whole way through.  There were parts that I thoguht were clever and I really enjoyed the comedy and humor in it as well.  I also enjoyed all the cool stuff the Wizard makes at the end and how his story got started and why he chose to stay in Oz.

Stars: Four out of Five

Great movie and well worth it.

My Review of: My Boyfriend Merlin

I found a free promotion for this My Boyfriend Merlin on Amazon.com and decided to get
it and review it. I am and have always been very fascinated with Merlin
and the Arthurian legend so I figured this would definitely be worth
checking out. It was an interesting read. Less in the romance and heavy
on the action which I always like (although the romance is still there).
Here are my thoughts on the book.

The things that I liked:

Merlin
of course. He was obviously one of the central characters and I was
glad to see the way he was portrayed. There was an air of mystery about
him that I thought went well with the character. The sword and the stone
was also very cool. I really liked how the author decided to
incorporate that. It was unique. I did like the characters in the novel
as well. They all had pretty good depth and believable personalities.
They kept my interest throughout the book. Ryan was a very headstrong
girl and it got her into predictably bad situations but she was also
strong and capable. Vane was probably one of my favorite characters.
Love the wise-cracking types that seem to not care but end up caring a
lot. I know that the title leads you to believe one thing and the novel
doesn't hold true to that but I wasn't disappointed. It was still pretty
entertaining.

The things that I didn't like:

It started
really slow for me. I had a hard time actually reading maybe the first
one-third of the book. After that though, it got a lot easier. The story
just really started flying. There were some errors and typos in the
beginning that I noticed but the rest of the book wasn't quite as bad.
There were maybe two or three that I remember. The biggest gripe I have
is with some of the characters. I couldn't quite follow who was who and
why they were doing certain things. Oliver and Paul were the main ones. I
didn't feel like their actions toward the end were really explained in
depth and it left me confused. There were other things like that which
were distracting but it didn't detract from the novel too badly.

Overall
I thought it was a fun enjoyable read and it deserved the four star
rating. The characters were believable and the writing was good. It does
make me want to read the next books in the series and I would like to
know how the story ends. Also, the gargoyles being incorporated into
the story was a very nice added touch.

Stars: Four out of Five

This book, although it started slowly for me, did impress me by the end.

You can get the book on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/My-Boyfriend-Me...

My Review of: Diary of a Teenage Superhero

I went searching for a new super hero novel to read and came across Diary of a Teenage Superhero. Since I am a huge fan of the super hero genre I thought it would
be an awesome read. While I was a fan of of the action in the book and
the abilities the author used, the book, as a whole, fell flat with me.
The author gave it a pretty good try though. It did keep my interest
through till the end. Here are the rest of my thoughts.

The things that I liked:

I
liked the angle that the super teens lost their memories. I am a fan of
the first chapter in general. I really liked how the main character
woke up with no memory and there is a dying man on the floor. I thought
that was a really awesome way to start a book. I thought that the
characters were well written for most of the book, especially Brodie.
There were some instances where I thought the author was trying too hard
on their dialogue or their personalities.

The things that I didn't like:

The
powers were very strange to me. I didn't really understand exactly what
kind of abilities Brodie had. I also wasn't fond of the powers Dan had.
I thought that his mental domination powers stemmed from his
telekinetic abilities but those turned out to be a connection to metal. I
didn't really understand that. I didn't like the author's continued it
was more luck than design line. That, I feel is being a bit lazy. I also
didn't like the inconsistencies. The man dying in the hotel room said
to trust no one but the main character seems to trust everyone right off
the bat. The only thing he does is show slight hesitation. There was
also the big bad General of Typhoid. They had him unconscious but it is
never explained how he gets away. What happened there? The
predictability of the book was also an issue for me. I could pretty much
guess everything that was going to happen from the super teens facing
off against the evil doctor after they thought they'd killed to
being betrayed by the guy they shouldn't have trusted. There were also a
lot of fragment sentences. A little is okay for dramatic emphasis but
nearly 70% of the book was comprised of them. It got a little old after
awhile.

Overall the book did hold my interest but it was just
okay for me. The characters were entertaining mostly and the plot did
have its moments. It was predictable and there were some holes in it
though. Maybe with some added revisions it can really step up its game.

Stars: Three out of Five.

It was just okay.

You can find the book on Amazon.com at: http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Teenage-S...

Cover Reveal for Book Two: ROC

Since it is so close to July I thought that I would do a cover reveal for Book Two: Roc here on my blog.  I am very excited about its upcoming release.  Keep checking back on my site.  In a week or so, I am going to post a new freebie with Roc's first and second chapters.  I will also be posting them up on Scribd.com so check there also.

Thank you for all the support.

Rustin

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My Review of: Skylander's Giants

I figured I would start doing some video game reviews as well.  I am actually not that big of a gamer, but I do like to play them from time to time.  The first one that I'm going to start with is Skylander's Giants, the sequel to the populare Skylanders Spyro's Adventure game.  This is a very unique video game because there are a series of toys attached to it that come alive in the video game when put on the Portal of Power.  The first game did interest me, but we didn't end up getting it.  This past Christmas, we were able to get Giants for our son. That's why I'm starting with the second game in the series instead of the first.  Here's my thoughts on the game.

Things that I liked:

The game itself is has some very cool stuff going on.  The storyline is not every complex but still enertaining.  I really liked the villain in the game, Kaos.  He had a cooky personality that made the game appealing to kids.  The thing that drew me to this game, of course, was the fact that it had these toy characters attached to them.  Already, the fact that this is so unique to video games impressed me.  The characters (or atleast most of them) were all really cool with relatively awesome abilities.  The other thing that I liked about it was that you could upgrade each character's abilities and make them stronger.  This gave us other goals that would make playing the game even funner.  On top of that, you can also work to level up each character to make them stronger.  On top of that, you had what they called Heroic Challenges that could further improve your characters stats.  Not only do you have the storyline part of the game but you also have the battles where you can face your Skylander characters off against each other.  This really prolongs the game for not only my son but for me as well.  It makes it more entertaining for a lot longer.  I've probably played Skylanders Giants with him well over two hundred times (and that is guessing on the low side).  The other thing that I did like about this game was collecting the characters themselves.  Although it is irritating when you can't find the one you want, it is also really fun to get a new character and see what they do.

Things that I don't like:

Althugh the story to Giants is pretty well-thought out, I wasn't overly fond of some of the chapters in it.  I felt like they were a little on the boring side and I wasn't really looking forward to playing some of them gain when my son and I would start a new game.  There are some highly annoying Heroic Challenges (like the Drobots purple chompy one).  The biggest thing that I wasn't a fan of was the fact that some of the characters couldn't change their paths in the second game, Ie the Giants themselves, the new characters, and any Lightcore.  I didn't really see why these characters couldn't switch paths especially because all the Series 2 characters from the first game could.  I felt that was really unfair.  I also hate that there's characters out there that you just can't get anymore unless you want to pay an arm and a leg.  Then there's the Magic Giant, Ninjini.  Where is she?  She's been out for I don't know how long and I haven't even seen her in a store yet.  We only need her to complete the Giants and there's been no sign of her.  I think that if you're going to make a game with toys attached to it you should make them radily available for purchase, that's all I'm saying.  If you want to make some of them harder to get, fine.  Make the variants harder to get.  I don't care if I ever see Scarlett Ninjini in a store as long as I can get regular Ninjini without any problems.  That about covers my dislikes of the game.

Overall, Skylanders (1&2) are an awesome concept.  I know you might have to pay extra for the toys but having them makes the game more fun.  I am definitely looking forward to the new one coming out this fall and I know my son is too.

He loves the game so much, I asked him to come up with his own Skylanders.  These are some of the Skylanders he and I created together.

   

Copyright by Rustin Petrae.