monsters

4.45/5 Stars: Attack of the Aswang by Kevin Hardman

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, Audiobooks, Fantasy, monsters , ,
cover from Audible

Narrated by Mikael Naramore

Length: 5 hrs and 6 minutes

Summary:

Errol Magnus is still filling his brother’s boots so to speak. The Wardens want to test him to see if he’s a worthy successor. The journey to Apolos is quite perilous, and the party picks up some unwanted attention along the way.

Additional Comments:

  • A worthy, fun entry in a solid series by Kevin Hardman.
  • Who doesn’t love monster hunters?
  • Errol’s a good character. He’s powerful but not too powerful. He makes mistakes, gets hurt, and comes through in a pinch. He’s part detective in a way.
  • There’s fantasy violence in the story, but altogether it’s relatively kid-safe.
  • The Wardens are a neat twist on monster hunters. (Part Ranger, part detective, part magician.)
  • There are threads and plot points that span several of the books, but it still feels like a complete story.

Conclusion:

Kevin Hardman has a wide variety of scifi and fantasy series. Of his series, I like this one second best. I like it better than Kid Sensation but not quite as much as Fringe Worlds.

Associate links to follow…

Available Audiobooks: I have free codes for almost everything.

New Release: The Shadow Council Series 1: Money Makes it Deadlier – An FBI agent gets caught up in a robbery gone wrong.

Shadow Council Book 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter – A midnight summons calls FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek into a fight for a young girl’s life.

Shadow Council Book 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos – The FBI agent gets a strange ally in the quest to prevent chaos from rocking a lot of people’s holiday season.

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.

Nonfiction:
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry – A primer for chemistry students. Breaks down concepts into simple terms. 

5 Steps to Better Blurbs – A book for writers looking to improve their book descriptions

Off the Cuff Ratings for Choices Stories and Series, Part 2:

Julie Gilbert Choices Stories, Fantasy, Horror, monsters, mystery, romance, superhero , , ,

*Will contain spoilers if you haven’t read the stories*

Introduction:

This batch contains some of my absolute favorites. The music often captures the essence of the stories, but the standouts to me are The Heist: Monoco and The Elementalists. The first being fun and whimsy and the second being quirky yet magical.

Aside on How I Spend Diamonds:

I’m a sucker for … pets, spells, collections. Favorite so far might be sassy cat from Wishful Thinking. I’ve not finished the story yet though, so I can’t tell for sure. The pet choices in The Elmentalists 1 and 2 are fun. I do love the little purple dog in the second book. I named the frog from the first one Tim, so of course, the puppy had to be Tiny.

I can usually resist … special outfits, most dates. Kind of just gives me the short version of the story, which is fine. The chapters range from about 20-40 minutes to read, depending on how quickly I skim.

Ratings Batch 2:

The Elementalists Book 1, 5/5 Stars: One of my favorites so far. I’m a sucker for buying spells. I intend to replay this one.

Endless Summer 2/5 Stars: Couldn’t get into this one. I didn’t like the graphics for one thing.

The Freshman Series 3.5/5 Stars: I’m only on Book 4, and I’ve enjoyed some of the story threads, but it’s not my favorite series.

The Haunting of Braidwood Manor 3/5 Stars: Largely forgettable ghost story. This one had flashing lights they were kind enough to warn me about, but I don’t remember much.

The Heist: Monoco, 5/5 Stars: Definitely a favorite. I love the replay value, though I do think my first cast pick was better. Still haven’t tried male MC, but I really like the female con artist I made. (Her name’s Mel.)

Hero 3.5/5 Stars: Typical comic book like action. Cliffhanger ending lost it some of my respect.

Home for the Holidays 3/5 Stars: It’s cool that the MC works for a publisher, but on the whole, the story is kind of forgettable.

It Lives in the Woods 3/5 Stars: I kind of slogged through this one.

It Lives Beneath 4/5 Stars: Actually liked this one. It pits the MC against cultists and tells a creepy ghost story at the same time.

Conclusion:

What makes something compelling to me is a solid story with characters I care about. The Elementalists has pretty high stakes for the main character. I like how it ran with the chosen one trope. Bad guys wants the MC for his own take-over-the-world scheme, but MC’s sister will fight for her tooth and nail. There are some cool themes throughout the stories, like family bonds.

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime



The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.



OR



Movie Reviews 4/5 Stars: Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, Fantasy, monsters, Movie Reviews , , , ,
1 Generic movie poster.

*Will attempt to keep spoiler free until after the ads

Introduction:

Apparently, there are a lot of Godzilla movies, so I’m guessing this one will become known as Godzilla 2019. The original title (King of the Monsters) is a tad clunky. Anyway, I had the privilege of seeing an early screening of the film 5/22/19. I’m going to preface with this might be the only Godzilla movie I’ve seen start to finish because I’m not a huge monster movie fan.

Summary:

At the opening, Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and her daughter, Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), get kidnapped from a Monarch site where they’re keeping Mothra on ice. Kyle Chandler’s character, Mark Russell gets called up to help with the rescue efforts. The bad guys, led by Charles Dance’s character, Jonah Alan, want to bring balance back to the Earth by loosing the titans.

Additional Comments:

– Special effects (4/5 stars): They’re pretty. My major fear going into the movie consisted of there being so much going on that I’d get motion sick with strobing lights. Thankfully, that did not happen. The monster battles turned out epic and satisfying.

– Story (3.5/5 stars): The general premise (bad guys wreaking havoc in the name of righting the world) has been done before, but they pull it off fairly well.

– Characters (3/5 stars): I didn’t really connect with any of the human characters, even the Russell family. The “twists” and turns to their fate don’t really surprise. Godzilla is indeed impressive, as is the dragon critter.

– Fight Scenes (4.5/5 stars): The talking time got a tad boring, but the fights had sufficient space between them to each appear epic in their own right.

– If you’re a Godzilla fan, you’ll likely find a heck of a lot to nitpick, but you’ll also probably come out satisfied overall. It may not land up in your “BEST Godzilla movie EVER” category, but it’ll be decently high on your list.

– The audience at the pre-screening responded well to most of the points.

– The writers attempted humor where appropriate and sometimes where not appropriate. It landed well most of the time.

Conclusion:

Worth seeing? Yes. Worth seeing in theaters? Definitely, yes. This type of movie really ought to be seen on a big screen. Going to the movies can get expensive because of the ticket prices, food, etc, especially if you want to bring a family. That said, the larger than life struggles portrayed are definitely enhanced by a theater experience.

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.


OR

 

Randomness some might count a spoiler

– The credits were hilarious (King Ghidora – HIMSELF, Godzilla, HIMSELF, Mothra – HERSELF, Rodan – HIMSELF).

– End credit scene tied up a loose end, sort of. Overall, it was kind of boring as a last scene though.