Review for The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman

Publisher: Harcourt, Inc. ®

Summery:

[From back cover]

A tale of true love and high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing, and a frightening assortment of wild beasts—The Princess Bride is a modern storytelling classic.

As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, the reluctant Princess Buttercup is devastated by the loss of her true love, kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchmen, rescued by a pirate, forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and rescued once again by the very crew who absconded her in the first place. In the course of this dazzling adventure, she’ll meet Vizzini—the criminal philosopher who’ll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik—the gentle giant; Inigo—the Spaniard whose steel thirsts for revenge; and Count Rugan—the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans and jumping into their stories is Westley, Princess Buttercup’s one true love and a very good friend of a very dangerous pirate.

Introduction:

Many people have grown up on the beloved movie adaptation of this book. They will tell you how they first watched it as a child, and continued to enjoy it as they grew up. I didn’t have the pleasure of growing up with this wonderful story. I only discovered it a few years ago, but I fell in love with this tale of true love immediately. It wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. I reacted very much like the young boy at the beginning: “Is this a kissing book?” I thought it was just going to be another sappy, romantic fairytale retelling. I was very glad to find out that is was much more, and quite hilarious to boot. I enjoyed it so much that I bought it for my sister that Christmas. I had heard her mention that she also enjoyed it, but the main reason was because I wanted to have it at home so I could watch it more. (Yes, I bought a present for my sister so I could use it.) I found out about the book after watching the movie, but didn’t get the book right away. In fact, when I first picked up the book, I was confused by the way the author chose to write it, so I put it back. I couldn’t figure out if it really was an abridged story or not, and what was with the author notes cutting in during the story? It wasn’t until a few years later that I decided to give it another shot. It was one morning after watching the movie again that I just had an urge to know how the book compared.

Characters:

The main character is the Princess Bride herself, Buttercup. She is the most beautiful woman in the world, and is the envy of her town. People come from miles around to just get a look at her. She is actually pretty clueless about things, but not to the point of being entirely stupid. It’s all for the humor of the book, really, and Buttercup is quite an enjoyable character. She’s actually more than she seems, as I found out later on in the book during the climax, which was refreshing and unexpected. Westley is her true love, and he is strong, skilled, and intelligent, but also has this sarcastic sense of humor I really enjoyed. He braves everything, and risks everything, to get her back from the evil Prince Humperdinck. In the book, we get inside the prince’s head a bit more than what was shown in the movie, and we see he is an excellent tracker, like it showed in the movie, but he also loves the hunt. He actually enjoys it to the point of obsession, and the movie just barely touches on that aspect.

How about the other characters? Fezzik and Inigo Montoya! These two were absolutely great characters, and completely lovable. There is more back-story for them that the movie couldn’t have gone into, and that was really the main reason I got the book. I wanted to know more about these characters and how they got to where they were in the movie. There was also a great scene with Inigo and Fezzik which wasn’t in the movie at all. It’s when they traveled through Humperdinck’s “Zoo of Death.” I got to see them interact more and even face dangers that each of them in turn had to use their own strengths to make sure they both got through alive. I was on the edge of my seat, eager to find out what they were going to have to face next. It was a part I really wished had been included in the movie, but hey, it gives an extra flare to the book which sets it apart from the movie adaptation.

My thoughts:

I started into this book to compare it to the movie, but found out that wasn’t fair for both book and movie. Both are incredible, and I would highly recommend them, but they are each amazing in their own unique ways. Yes, the movie did follow the book faithfully, but I suppose that is expected, since the author of the book also wrote the screenplay. I do wish that I had read the book before I saw the movie though, so I could have created the characters in my mind the way my imagination would see them. But because the actors in the movie really do fit their roles so well, I couldn’t imagine them any other way. I started the book expecting it to take itself seriously, but the mood of the book was so different from what my preferences in books are. It doesn’t take long to get used to the author’s style and the way he chose to tell the story, however, just remember the whole thing is a satire. But a very good, attention grabbing satire. If I had a star rating system, it would get a five!

Warnings:

There is some language in the book in a few places, but it is like a word here and there, nothing much worse than what is in the movie. They can be easily overlooked, or even blotted out if you wish to do so. There are also a few scenes which could be considered slightly graphic or disturbing, and near the end of the book, in the section entitled “Buttercup’s Baby” there is mention of a more mature situation, but it is not described. I wouldn’t recommend the book for young children, but more teen to adult.

My Age Rating: 14 and up

Cya!

Review for Slathbog's Gold

Adventurers Wanted: Slathbog’s Gold

By M. L. Forman

Publisher: Shadow Mountain®

Summery:

(From Back Cover)

“The sign was small, tucked into the corner of Mr. Clutter’s bookshop window: “Adventurers Wanted. Apply Within.” No one but fifteen-year-old Alex Taylor even seems to notice it is there. And for Alex, who has wished for a change in his life, it is an irresistible invitation.

Upon entering Mr. Clutter’s shop, Alex is swept away on an incredible adventure to a faraway land filled with heroic warriors, mysterious elves, and hard-working dwarfs.

Alex becomes the eighth man in a band of adventurers seeking the lair of Slathbog the Red—an evil dragon with a legendary treasure. Along the way, Alex and his new friends must battle dangerous trolls and bandits, face undead wraiths, and seek the wisdom of the Oracle in her White Tower.

Alex’s adventure takes him to distant and exotic lands where he learns about courage, integrity, honor, and, most importantly, friendship.

Slathbog’s Gold in the first book in an exciting new YA epic fantasy series and heralds the arrival of a major new talent in the genre.”

Characters:

Alex, who is the main hero, is a young boy from a world very much like our own. When he is transported into this other world, he is very confused and curious about how things work there. He has a hard time understanding how magic works in this world, and has to learn about the many different cultures he encounters along the way. While his confusion at the beginning is understandable, once you get halfway through the book, and you see he is just as clueless as he was at the start, you can get annoyed with his blandness. For example, the bulk of what he says is “What?”, “I suppose so,” or“Yes, but-.” So, I really have no idea what his character is like. All I know about Alex is that he keeps asking the other characters to explain something, or is always trying to get the other characters to take shares from rewards he obtains along the way.

Now, the supporting cast! The company leader is a man named Bregnest, who doesn’t seem to do much except tell everyone where they were going next or when they were going to stop for the night. The other characters Alex travels with are just as shallow and boring, and two of them I constantly kept forgetting were present. There is also a female character, who is called the Oracle. Everything about her seems to be just like Galadriel from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Ringsthat I can’t help but picture her as the elf queen! The only difference is that this lady isn’t an elf. Well, she couldn’t be a complete rip-off right? So, the characters don’t stand out and most are quite forgettable, or so much like characters from other books that they are unoriginal.

My Thoughts:

When I first saw this book, I was drawn to the cover. It is a beautifully designed cover with a dragon, climbing mounds of treasure and spouting flame. Just epic. What really made me want to read it though, was the description, which as I read it, sounded so much like the storyline for ‘The Hobbit’, that I wanted to see just how much it took from it. There are so many elements of this book that seem pasted straight from The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings that I couldn’t decide to laugh or to cringe. It was also a very slow read. I read halfway through it, and it seemed the characters were going through the same loop: Walk, Alex gets confused, characters explain, sleep, get up, walk, Alex is confused again, someone explains, etc. etc. So, I almost gave up and threw the book to a bottom shelf somewhere, but I kept on. I’d like to say that the last half of that book was awesome, but I can’t. I can only say that it did get better than the first half, but only because they started meeting more people and seeing more places along the way. There was one scene that I really enjoyed, however, and I wished it could have lasted longer. It was spooky and dramatic, and I thought it needed to have been expanded on.

To me, the story seemed to be just an introduction to the world, setting up its people and cultures for future books. While some of the places Alex and co. stopped were interesting, and I would have enjoyed it if they had explored those places more, other locations were rather dull and very often some place I have already seen in other stories. Perhaps the sequels are better, but I am not sure if I will be reading any of them. At any rate, this book is a simple read, and not too involved that it can’t be read over a weekend.

Warnings:

There is magic in this book, and the characters use spells to light fires and once to help in battle. Nothing elaborate. The characters use the word ‘inferno’ to light a campfire. Other times when magic is used the author just mentions that a spell was spoken. The rest of the book was descent, so if you don’t have any misgivings about magic, there are no warnings.

My Age Rating: 12 and up

Cya!

Greetings from My Bookshelf!

Hello! Amanda here, posting my first blog post, just to explain what I'm going to be doing.

I have always had a deep interest in reading. When I was young, I would grab books off the shelf. Well, if they were about horses anyway. ;) As I got older, my interests changed. I also noticed that with the many different books out there, it's not always easy to find a good book that's written well, or without something inappropriate in it. That's when I started looking for reviews. I did find a few, but not many were from a Christian standpoint, and those from a Christian standpoint didn't always list the books that I was trying to learn about. 

That's the main reason I wanted to start my own book review blog. So there would be more Christian book reviews out there for different kinds of books, some not as well known. I've always wanted to start a book review site, and now, I finally got around to doing it. ^_^ 

My first review is going to be for Adventurers Wanted: Slathbog's Gold by M. L. Forman, since it is the last book I read. As I finish books, I'll post my thoughts on the characters, the story, and warnings, if any. I will also list what age range the books seems to be appropriate for, in my opinion.

The reviews may change structure as I go along and discover what works and what doesn't. So, this is a work in progress. If you have any suggestions, I'll be glad to hear them. This is my first time doing this, after all.

Cya!