Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone written by J. K. Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Illustrated by Jim Kay
by J. K. Rowling

Last February my wife let me know she had found a great deal on Facebook Marketplace.  We'd wanted to pick up the illustrated editions of Harry Potter books ever since we saw them, but they were a bit expensive so we'd decided to wait.  She found a listing for The Sorcerer's Stone along with a couple regular Harry Potter books for only $5.  I told her to grab it.  The book is a bit battered, but still held together.

For the first time, J.K. Rowling's beloved Harry Potter books will be presented in lavishly illustrated full-color editions. Kate Greenaway-award-winning artist Jim Kay has created over 100 stunning illustrations, making this deluxe format a perfect gift as much for a child being introduced to the series, as for the dedicated fan.
--from Amazon.com description

I just finished reading the story to our two oldest kids (four and six) recently and have since moved on to The Chamber of Secrets (a library book that we don't have to return for a while due to the library closure).  The kids really enjoyed the read--always begging for me to keep reading when I would quit in the middle of a long chapter or at the end of a chapter.

Obviously as this is an illustrated volume it includes quite a number of illustrations.  There are a decent number of two-page spreads illustrating key points in the story.  You'll also find extra images like the dragon eggs above that provide extra details you wouldn't otherwise see.  Even pages without large artwork often have background textures and other small elements that add to the look of each and every page.  The chapter headings are also lavishly illustrated.  Jim Kay's website includes a number of the book images and descriptions for each featured photo.  I also found a detailed list of Easter Eggs hidden in the book's illustrations that I plan to read through.

I greatly enjoyed reading through this book.  Not only had it been several years since I'd read the story, but the illustrations added to the experience.  If you're looking for a read-aloud edition of the book then you will definitely not go wrong picking up this volume.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary: A lavishly illustrated large format edition of the first Harry Potter book.
Technical: 248 pages, dust jacket, frequent illustrations, bookmark ribbon affixed to spine.

~Matt

Book Review: A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells

A Night of Blacker Darkness: being the memoir of Frederick Whithers as edited by Cecil G. Bagsworth III

By Dan Wells


I first learned about Dan Wells through Brandon Sanderson, who has been one of my favorite authors for several years.  I've read a few of his books and also listened to several of his works on Audible (Zero G and its sequel are both pretty good).

So far as I can tell A Night of Blacker Darkness seems to be exclusive to audible, though the listing says "for a limited time" so it may come out in print eventually or on audio elsewhere.  Regardless, you should definitely check out this volume if you enjoy fantasy and/or historical fiction and have a good sense of humour.  The Audible description actually does a great job of summarizing the book.

"The book is Extremely Silly: imagine a horror story, as written by Monty Python, in the style of the old screwball comedies like The Producers, What's Up Doc?, and Some Like it Hot, and then imagine that for some reason it's also in the style of a Victorian frame story starring John Keats and presented by a fake historian. A delightfully funny novel full of witty dialogue brought to life by the narrative voice talents of Sean Barrett."

I was definitely laughing out loud quite a number of times as I listened to the story unfold.  It started out pretty crazy with the narrator (Frederick Whithers) faking his death to get out of prison.  He wakes up as the coffin he'd been smuggled out in is about to be buried.  However, as he pounds on the lid the gravedigger remembers his promise and opens the coffin, only to run away a short time later as the grave is surrounded by vampires.  These rather inept creatures keep turning up as they follow Frederick and his companions all around town convincing themselves and others that because Frederick isn't susceptible to any of the normal vampire failings (garlic, crosses, holy water, sunlight) he must be the prophesied "great one" who can control all of the undead armies of darkness!

Do yourself a favor and check out this delightful short audio tale and give your funny bone a good workout.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: A delightfully comic Victorian fantasy of a con artist who must chase a madcap cast of characters (some of whom are also chasing him) across southern England in an effort to con a bank into giving him a £90,000 inheritance.
Technical: 6 hours 18 minutes in length, narrated by Sean Barrett.  Available via Audible.

~Matt

Second

I finally made it to the second book of the trilogy I'm reading--mainly because I got so much reading done while working Gold on Wednesday.

A reviewer complained about the geographic and other descriptions in the books. I'm actually enjoying the larger picture of the world being painted by the descriptive language.  Apparently the author owns a atlas company and spent quite a bit of time making an atlas of the world before publishing the books.  You really do get a picture of the different scenery and seasons the characters are traveling through.




~Matt

PS I typed this shortly after midnight but fell asleep before I could post it.

-- Posted from my iPhone
(c) 2010 iWolff Ltd.

Location:Highland Ave,Fort Mitchell,United States

PS

Thanks to OneRing.net I found the following review of the Children of Húrin at LibraryJournal.com. If you didn't like LotR (Like Mark the Heretic) then don't bother to glance at this volume. It isn't LotR II either, but set much earlier in the history of Middle-earth during the eras covered by the Silmarillion. As I mentioned in my last post I'm swinging by my local Borders to pick this up as soon as I get off work! Then I'm putting my other books on hold so I can immediately delve into the tale!

~Matt

Clear the calendar

Tomorrow the Children of Húrin is released. I would pick up my copy before work if I could, but I'll have to content myself with acquiring it between morning and evening jobs.

~Matt
--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Revelation

According to the BBC, JK Rowling has announced the title to Harry Potter VII. Read no further if you don't want to know, but I doubt you'll be able to avoid it for long.







































Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.



I'm not quite up to speed on BritSpeak, but Hallows doesn't show up as a noun in a Dictionary.com search. I'm not sure how to exactly explain the title. I'm sure information will be forthcoming--though I'll avoid certain places (like Wikipedia) as I'm sure that eventually spoilers (if available) will abound. Hopefully regular media outlets will avoid turning spoilers into headlines and front page news.

This week Rowling revealed how she has gone back to writing in cafes - as she did 13 years ago when starting to write about the boy wizard.

She has also admitted how she has been dreaming of the character.

Writing on her website she described it as an "epic dream" where she was Harry and the narrator simultaneously.

~Matt

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The Celts

In the course of my unpacking I discovered the box with Stephen Lawhead books! Before loading the box into my car I withdrew the three volumes of the Song of Albion series and began re-reading The Paradise War immediately. Following upon my earlier quotes from Hood I offer you some from TPW in the same vein.

Each night Gwenllian wove the shimmering magic of the harp with her skilled ifngers, and sang the ageless songs of Albion: of Llyr and his sorry children, of inconstand Blodeuedd and her vile treachery, of Pwyll and his beloved Riannon, of fair Arianrhod, and mysterious Mathonwy, and Bran the Blessed, and Manawyddan, and Gwydion, and Pryderi, and Dylan, Epona, Don...and all the rest.

I thought I remembered these names from before. I believe that we actually heard the story of Pwyll and Riannon somewhere in the Pendragon Cycle, and perhaps one or two of the others. Any time Lawhead puts one of these tales into his text in its entirety it is a great read. One that I thought I recognized from the Hood list came back when I read a bit further:

"Hear then the tale of Nudd, Prince of Uffern." So saying, Tegid began. "In elder days, when the dew of creation was still fresh on the earth, twin sons were born to Beli, Great of Renown. The first was Nudd, and his brother was Ludd. And this is the way of it:

That whole "when the dew of creation..." is one of my favourite opening lines. I think I even used a variant in a mythological story that I wrote. Yep, I found it. Well now I have to get back to reading and sleeping. Today (Wednesday) I have no work at bigg's, so I'll hopefully buy a mattress and get much more stuff unpacked! :-)

~Matt

Aunt Bee knows her movies

I just finished watching Tristan + Isolde, based on the note I read on Aunt Bee's blog. I checked the DVD out from the library a bit over a week ago, but I've been so busy that I didn't have time to watch the movies. Yesterday I watched The Brother's Grimm and was quite less than impressed. However, besides a few jarring notes in the historical setting (common to the Scott's historical productions) T&I was a fabulous story.

The setting and cast were both quite enjoyable. However, I had to force myself to not see the worst in Marke--I'm only used to seeing that actor play villains [A Knight's Tale, The Legend of Zorro, and Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet] , so it was strange to see him as good. I think someone else mentioned it first, but I enjoyed not recognizing any of the main actors (Marke excluded) [Though Tristan was in Spider Man he was different enough here in sight and role that I didn't recognize him; the same holds true for Isolde who appeared in both Underworld movies--so yes, they're not brand new actors, but they're not major very well known stars like Brad Pitt or Matt Damon]. It was easier to see them as the characters rather than as an actor playing a part.

I always enjoy historical or fantasy films, partly because I love that period so much. I do like science-fiction, but time and again I am drawn back to fantasy. Right now I am at the fantasy end of the pendulum and am somewhat ignoring science-fiction. Though, I have no doubt I will swing back--and the ultimate favourite may never be resolved.

But, back to the movie. Some parts were predictable--such as the curing of Tristan and the method, I spotted it right off when they went to put him in the boat for burial at sea. Despite this I could still enjoy the plot. The story is an ancient one and though this adaptation is modern, still the original story predated the modern romance, Romeo and Juliet, and even some of the Arthurian legends. I am more than willing to allow more leeway than I would when suspending disbelief for a more currently set piece.

Please do not read the preceding and see a spirit of complaint. The only caution I would give is that there are at least five love scenes, though they are short, don't reveal much, and may be quickly skipped if you so choose. The fighting was well done and greatly enhanced the picture. If you enjoy a good story, even a good love story, or just a historically set film, then go and rent Tristan + Isolde (or go the cheap route like me and check it out from the library).

~Matt

Cheysuli

Well I just finished Jennifer Roberson's Chronicles of the Cheysuli last night and I'm still thinking about it. A few months ago I was in a bookstore looking for new fantasy when I saw her books--they were in omnibus format, four paperback volumes instead of the original eight. I'm so glad the publisher made this decision because the original books are unfortunately out of print. They sat here on my yet-to-read bookshelf for quite some time. I thought they definitely looked interesting, but I wasn't quite ready to read them for whatever reason.

Well whatever that reason was I wish I'd not had it! ;-) I thoroughly enjoyed each of the books and had only two regrets, that they were over and that I'd not read them earlier. But I have found out that the author has published other books (which I'll definitely be investigating) and that in the next five to eight years she'll be publishing more Cheysuli novels. Sure, it is a while to wait, but at least they're coming--unlike some authors that have finished their sagas for good.

The stories are definitely different--the Cheysuli (the central race of the novels) are shapechangers. Roberson explained that she had wanted for some time to write a book about good shapechangers, and so she did--but it turned into an eight book series! The Cheysuli (well now only the men, the warriors) each have an animal that they bond to, called their lir. They can speak to this lir and take on the shape of the lir--not the lir itself, but whatever animal it is--say a wolf, hawk, mountain lion, etc...

The library only has Roberson's historical fiction (which I nonetheless have on hold) and no other fantasy. So I'm going to have to wait until the books come out in omnibus format later this year and I'll be able to afford them. Now I'm reading Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea and enjoying it. I watched the Sci-Fi miniseries a while back, but apparently it bears little resemblance to the books. That is certainly true so far--there are similarities in the plot and characters certainly, but beyond how they shortened the plot for the small screen the script writers did more. Apparently Le Guin didn't have any creative control and didn't like the miniseries. *shrugs* It was enjoyable, but I envision the books being even better.

~Matt

PS Yes, please pray for one of my nephews. He goes in for surgery in the morning--it isn't terribly serious or an emergency. It is a scheduled procedure to remove a device that was implanted to help to straighten some bones.

ch'ya

No, it isn't pronounced "chee-yah"--try saying "ch" rapidly as you lead into an accented and quick "ya." It is a new word that I've created for myself. At this time it isn't a part of the languages that I've created. When I pronounce the word it usually has a sort of oriental flavour, and it can mean many things, none of them explicitly delineated. What really matters is the tone of your voice as you say the word, it can be an explicative of sorts (like darn or shoot!) if uttered in a frustrated voice (especially after someone has done something to you, like cut you off on the freeway) or it can be a good thing when uttered calmly and in a pleased tone. No I don't know why I've done this, but I am. Life is fun when you can do crazy things like this...and yet I question my sanity and its perception as I type these words, knowing that I'm letting this secret out to my massive (um...well...five or six persons is massive if you're an atom or a mouse, right? :-) ) audience.

Today was a good day at work as I worked with Mike again on the route I've run since last Thursday (with the exception of yesterday with Brad on his normal route). I enjoy working with him (and with Brad, just for different reasons for each) and look forward to another day tomorrow. The weather was (and I know this will shock my Californian friends! ;-) ) quite warm today, especially compared to what it has been. Despite the fact that I was born and bred in Southern California and never traveled much through snow, or stayed in snow country, the cold has never bothered me as much as it does most other Southern Californians. Today was a balmy and quite comfortable 50 degrees at its hottest. Additionally there was little wind, making for a nice day, so nice that I didn't even turn my heater on as I drove home from work! Most of the rest of my work days (with the exception of 30s on Monday) are supposed to be in the low to mid forties, rising up to near fifty next Thursday so I'm quite happy, :-).

I recieved my first paycheck today, so now I just need to remember to get an envelope so that I can deposit it tomorrow...perhaps even tomorrow morning. I've also done some Christmas shopping, though I have a bit more to get done on-line here in a bit. :-)

I should get going now since I want to get that shopping done and get back to my reading... I've decided to re-read book 5 of the Lord of the Rings (i.e. the first part of Return of the King) after watching the Extended Edition of the film. While I really do love the films and especially the extended editions my first love always has been (and will remain) Tolkien's actual books. Peter Jackson did a great job, but the movies are his interpretation and oftentimes I disagree with his interpretation in favor of what I believe to be closer to Tolkien's intent. Of course no movie can be perfect and please all fans, which is why I don't try to degrade the movie, I just go back to the books when I need a good dose of authentic Tolkien. :-)

~Matt