Book Review: The Fellowship of the Ring

I would have read it earlier, but I couldn't find it and I knew we had a copy of it. But now since I dug it out of my parents bookshelf, I can do a review! :D

"The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R Tolkien
(The 1st book of the Lord of the Rings)

On his 111 birthday Bilbo Baggins, the wealthy owner of Bag's End, suddenly disappears, leaving his cousin and heir, Frodo Baggins, with his possessions, including a Ring. Frodo knows almost nothing about the Ring until Gandalf, the wandering wizard who was a good friend of Bilbo's, shows up and tells him about it's strange history. He also tells Frodo that the Ring is very dangerous, and must be destroyed before evil hands get ahold of it. So Frodo and three of his friends--Pippin, Sam, and Merry, set out to the Land of Mordor so they can destroy the Ring. But the mysterious dark-cloaked riders following them don't look like they're simply wandering around their path by accident...

If you ever try reading (or thinking about) parts of this book when it's dark out, there's wind outside, and your door is open just wide enough for it to cast really creepy shadows, you will have a hard time sleeping. But I absolutely love reading scary books. I highly suggest 'The Fellowship of the Rings'.

Izori

Book Review: The Burning Bridge

I just finished this story, and it was really awesome. It's the second book in the Rangers Apprentice Series. I stayed up until 11 PM to finish it last night. (Actually I read all but the last few chapters until I had to go to sleep)

"The Burning Bridge" by John Flanagan
(Book 2 of the Ranger's Apprentice Series)

When Will and Halt, two Rangers, find the plans of Lord Morgarath to conquer their country, they know that King Duncan must know about this. So Will, Halt's former apprentice Gilan, and Will's friend Horace set off for Celtica to warn the King. But while they are traveling through, they make the unsettling discovery that the Celtic villages are deserted, their inhabitants either slain or captured. And a strange girl that they found, named Evanlyn, confirms the suspicion that Morgarath's Wargals are the cause of the disappearances.

Running short on time, Gilan decides to press on alone to King Duncan and deliver the plans, leaving Will, Horace, and Evanlyn to follow behind. But then the three discover that the plans Gilan is carrying are false, and Morgarath was only baiting them to cover up his true plans. If the lord suceeds, the kingdom will fall.

The good (great) things about this book is that it's really suspensful (especially when you leave off in the middle of the night) and that it has a lot of action and swordfights. A whole lot of swordfights. The only bad things about it is that there's a few instances when a character takes the Lord's name in vain, but other than that, the book was really cool. I think it's my favorite so far.

Izori

Dun Zarum

I finished my book about the girl named Ehra today!! (It's called Dun Zarum, just to refresh your memory). Though I have decided that because the book is a little short (127 pages) I'm going to sort of have it like Brian Jacques books in that I'll do three parts. The book that I was going to have as the sequel is my second part, and the last book that I was going to write will be my third. So more correctly, I finished one third of the book. (Yes, I know, I'm really excited. Writing a 127+ page book is a lot for me. And in almost exactly four months!)

Izori

Magic

Do any of you guys put magic in the books you write? I do (surprisingly it's a lot easier to write about magic then, say, historical fiction, or science fiction). The bad thing about magic is that sometimes in books it can border on sorcery and black magic :(

The other problem about writing magic is that it's hard to think up really challenging problems for your characters. Because if they can't use magic and they have to sneak into an enemy post, they have to work really hard not to be seen, but if they can use magic then they just turn themselves invisible and voila. (I still like writing about magic, though :-)

What's your view on magic in books?

Izori

Book Review: The Hobbit

I only really needed to read the beginning to do a review, but I couldn't really put it down after I began :D (And I'm not going to just copy the back of the book this time)

'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkien

Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit who has an extreme dislike for adventures, is living peacefully in his little home until one day a wizard named Gandalf shows up. Gandalf has been absent from that part of the world for a very long time, but his reputation of starting adventures is still present. When he tells Bilbo that he is going to organize another of his adventures and that the hobbit is welcome (or more like required) to go along, Mr. Baggins turns him down. Not to appear very rude however, he says that Gandalf can come and have tea with him tomorrow. But at tea-time the next day, Gandalf shows up--along with thirteen dwarves! Bilbo has no choice but to come along on the adventure, the goal of which is to defeat Smaug the Dragon and take his treasure. And to do that they have to cross the Misty Mountains, go through the dreaded Murkwood Forest (without getting lost), and fight goblins until they finally reach the abandoned city of Dale and Smaug's Mountain.

It's really good with all the trolls, goblins, and swordfights, and it's pretty exiting. I definately suggest it. Probably my favorite part is when the company comes across the trolls. All by itself that part is a really good troll-story. My dad used to read that part to me. (We did a lot of troll-stories especially when I was younger. They're a Norwegian, Scandinavian in general, tradition.)

Izori

Chapter 13 (Daran)

I would have posted quicker, but we're really, really busy. And chapters take a longer time to post than ordinary posts. Anyway...

Chapter 13

Ben continued on through the tunnel, his out-held sword illuminating the path ahead of him. It was scary being alone down there. Well, not quite alone (there was the occasional spider and once he startled a bunch of bats) but other than that, no one else was there.

As he walked, he glanced down at the bottle of blood he had in his hand. A bottle of blood that can break a kingdom and melt chains...that's what I call powerful.

Ben looked up then and caught sight of a mysterious shape in the shadows. Was that an ogre, waiting just beyond the light to grab him? Ben could just imagine it's evil red eyes. It reminded him of a time when he had been a lot younger. It had been night time, after Mom and Dad had tucked him in and turned off the lights. He had been lying peacefully in his bed on the verge of falling asleep when he had seen a shadowy shape on the wall. Not daring to move, he had lain in his bed until he had finally worked up the courage to turn on his nightlight and found that he had been scared of the shadow of his favorite teddy bear. Maybe it's like that; I'm only imagining things.

His sword flared up brighter, revealing the real source of the shadow--a rock sticking out of the wall. Feeling slightly foolish, Ben moved on. He didn't encounter anything else until he came to the end of the tunnel. There was a door there, with strange runes etched on it.

Ben stared at the writing for a moment, and then to his shock he found he could read the letters. They didn't change or anything, but they suddenly made sense. They read:

Here is the door to Mahal

That sounds simple enough, Ben told himself. Adonai must have arranged the 'suddenly being able to read it' thing as well as the tunnel and the way to Mahal. I bet Daran doesn't even know about the entrance into his city yet.

Ben hesitantly grasped the knob and then pushed open the door. Stepping inside, he looked around. It was dark and deserted, just like the tunnel. Actually, the only thing that was a change was that the walls were stone and metal, and not dirt. So this is Mahal.

He started walking again, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. This new tunnel (or more of a really long hall) went in an upward direction. Ben had been walking for several minutes before he came to an apparently more trafficked area of the hall. He could tell it had more use because it was lighted by torches in oddly shaped white jars, which were in small alcoves in the wall. A closer look revealed that the white 'jars' were actually human skulls. Ben shivered and tried not to look at them after that.

Then he heard footsteps in the hall around the corner ahead--many footsteps, and headed his direction. Ben tightened his grip on his sword and steeled himself for whatever he would see.

The footsteps came closer.

Ben jumped around the corner with his sword at the ready, and then gasped. In front of him stood seven huge Ogres, each armed with bows, arrows, knives, and clubs. They looked as if they had been prepared for him.

The first Ogre gave a screaming growl and loosed an arrow at Ben with amazing speed. He flicked it away with his sword just as quick, and stepping closer, twirled his sword and lopped the Ogres head off. Immediately he whirled and a ray of light shot out of his weapon, burning a neat hole through the next opponent's forehead. It too dropped to the ground.

Then Ogre #3 drew it's knife and Ogre #4 drew it's club and then they both jumped at Ben. He managed to impale #4, but he wasn't quite quick enough to catch the other, which managed to nick Ben's arm with his knife. To his surprise and concern, the skin around his wound started to bubble and burn. As Ben looked down at it, wondering what he was going to do, a beam of light emitted from the pommel stone on his sword. The wound glowed for a moment, and then it healed perfectly.

Ben didn't have time to think that over before he had to stab Ogre #3. He got it right in the throat, and it toppled over, letting out a gurgling howl before it died. He pulled his sword free and then stepped forward to slice the string of the bow that Ogre #5 held. He followed that up by thrusting his sword into the Ogre's heart.

Now all that remained were Ogres #6 and 7, which were standing close by each other. They both had bows and arrows, but obviously were not very intelligent; they didn't even have arrows on their strings. Ben cut #6 in two, and then his sword shot a narrow beam of light at #7, which detached it's head and neck from the rest of it's body. It fell onto it's side next to the rest of the Ogres.

Ben lowered his sword and stared for a moment at the carcasses of the seven Ogres, each one's blood staining the hall floor black. Then he stepped over them and walked on.

He continued on several minutes, noticing that there was an odd reddish glow coming from up ahead. It looked very evil, and it made the skulls on the walls even more scary-looking. When Ben had walked a little more he found the reason for the glow. The hall-way suddenly opened up into an enormous room. As he stepped in he saw that the room was basically a big platform, with drop-offs on all sides. From out of the drop-offs came long flames--the cause of the red light.

Even more worse than these was the completely black throne on a raised part at the end of the platform. Or rather, the figure on the throne. Ben knew right away that it was Daran.
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Izori

You know you've run out of things to read when...

-you've started reading a book on de-cluttering your house that your mom got from the library,
-you search the shelves in your room (stuffed full with books) and you've read everything there at least ten times.
-you start begging your parents to take you to the library and drop you off--for an hour.
-your brother (or sister) starts telling you a part in a cool book he (or she) just read and you can quote the exact words from the book for him (or her), no peeking.
-you've read every single book in your library.

Yes, all of that applies to me. And actually, the de-cluttering book was a little interesting.

Izori