The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

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Return to the Cosmere world of Sel in the novella of The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson. The story of Elantris and this one both take place on Sel, but are not overtly connected and don't rely on each other narratively (at least at this point). This novella was recently released in the collection of stories, Arcanam Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson.

In The Emperor's Soul we are introduced to a new magic system and a new civilization. We meet Shai who is a thief and a Forger, who is being held captive for theft by a group of nobles who need her to restore the Emperor's soul to him. The Emperor was attacked by assassin's, and while he still lives, he is in a coma and unable to speak. A bargain is struck with Shai that if she is able to restore the Emperor, they will let her go.

The magic system that Shai is able to use is called Forging. This requires that the Forger learn all she can about her subject and recreate memories, habits, opinions, etc. and put them into a soulstone stamp so that the individual can use this soulstamp on a daily basis to remind them of their lost memories.

Most of the story takes place in Shai's room that she is being imprisoned in while creating the soulstamp for the Emperor. While this sounds kind of boring, it's actually filled with great character development, political intrigue, and interesting world building. The story takes place over a period of 90 days, but moves really fast and has great pacing.

While The Emperor's Soul is only a novella and takes place in such a confined area, there is so much information learned about this newly introduced Rose Empire of Sel. The devil is in the details as they say. I guarantee you'll be reading this one over and over to try and figure out how it not only connects with Elantris, but the rest of the Cosmere.

 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child pt. 1 & 2

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Harry-Potter-and-the-Cursed-Child-artwork Harry Potter and the Cursed Child pt. 1 & 2 is the 8th story in the Harry Potter storyline. While this story does continue Harry and Friends story, it is a different format than the previous stories. Book 8 is still in written form, but is in script form instead of novel form. I was wary of reading a 300 page script that was originally written for the stage and how that would play out. After a few minutes of reading it became easier to follow along and see who was speaking and the setting they were in. In some ways it was a quicker read than one of the novels, as due to the format the story couldn't get bogged down (for better or for worse) in the details of what people were wearing, what the room looked like, etc. It was a quick read that covered a lot of ground in such a few pages.

This book felt like a Harry Potter story from the beginning, it brought me right back into the Potterverse and there was no looking back. That is one thing I liked about the story, is that there wasn't much time spent on rehashing the past stories. This book added upon what we already knew and expanded the Harry Potter story real well. I'm interested in seeing how the play turns out and if it as entertaining as the book.

Without giving away a major plot point, there were some 'flash backs' and some 'flash forwards' that could have been long and drawn out. But they weren't and they added an extra dimension to what we already know about the story. It was good to revisit characters who are no longer with us, but the story wasn't too reliant on them. This story was able to stand on it's own and created it's own history with enjoyable new characters.

I'm not sure where they are going with this book, if it's a start of a new series or if it's just a quick visit back to the Wizarding World. I like they J.K. Rowling is willing to try new ways to tell stories in the world she has created, so as to keep the stories and mediums fresh and interesting. I do hope that at least a couple of more stories are told with these new characters and that these characters are allowed to have new adventures.

If you enjoyed reading the Harry Potter novels or watching the movies, but were apprehensive about the new story format, don't worry as it worked well enough. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a good investment of time to jump back into Harry's life and see what he's up to nowadays. I recommend giving it a read.

 

New Dr. Strange Trailer

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I'm loving this new trailer from Marvel's upcoming Dr. Strange movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch! It's look to add a completely new dimension to the Marvel Universe. I'm hoping that this movie will add some variety to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the movies are entertaining, I feel that we are seeing a lot of the same thing over and over in the MCU. There's a very big Inception vibe to this movie which promises some amazing visuals and hopefully, the story will match these visuals. It'll be interesting to see how this movie fits in to the MCU and what impact this will have on future movies. https://youtu.be/Fdhu8i_4olE

Smallville Season 5 Episode 11-Lockdown

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Two people, a man and a women, dressed as police officers break into Lex Luthor's mansion and threaten him. He escapes into his panic room with survellance cameras. The two people make their wants known: they want the spaceship that came down in the second meteor shower. Clark and Lana Lang are again in the loft and discuss their relationship and in the meantime, Clark discovers that Lana has been secretly researching the spaceship. They argue about it and Lana storms out.

Back at the mansion the two attackers reveal that the man was at the spaceship crash site and was one of the officers who responded. He was hiding under his patrol car and saw Lex and his people come and take the ship away.

Clark and Martha Kent discuss his relationship with Lana and Martha suggests that Clark tell Lana the truth. Pete and Chloe know the truth and they were still friends. Clark thinks about it as Lois Lane pulls up to discuss campaign strategy with Jonathan Kent.

Lana is kidnapped by the ex-officers and brought to the mansion as ransom for Lex to reveal the spaceship. Lex concedes and comes out of his panic room. Lana and Lex fight the intruders and escape back into the panic room. Lex is shot in the scuffle.

At campaign headquarters, at the Talon, Jonathan and Lois discuss campaign finances and it is revealed that Lionel Luthor has contributed a hefty sum to the campaign. As usual Jonathan is wary of anything coming from the Luthors, (rightfully so).

Clark shows up to Chloe and Lana's dorm room and Chloe and Clark discuss Lana and how long she has been meeting with Lex and studying the spaceship. Chloe gets a call from the sheriff that Lana's car has been found without Lana anywhere to be found.

Clark rushes to the scene, discovers a hidden GPS tracking device on Lana's car. Clark then rushes off back to the Daily Planet. At the same time a call comes in that there is an alarm at the Luthor mansion. It is revealed that the woman attacker is currently an officer with the Sheriff Dept.

The Sheriff shows up to the mansion and confronts the female officer. She discovers foul play and ends up getting shot.

Chloe and Clark do some internet searches and find out who is behind the attack and head off to find Lana.

Martha reveals that she took the money from Lionel Luthor and she and Jonathan argue about this. Jonathan lets his pride and ego get in the way, and Martha pleads with him to be different this time.

As Lex lays dying in the panic room, he and Lana talk about hair. Lex tells Lana about his 'Lexmas' dream and how she was the best part of his dream. He admits to Lana that the spaceship is gone and he doesn't know where. Lex apologizes for lying to Lana and then passes out. Lana leaves the panic room and tells the officers she will take him to the ship if they call for help for Lex. They agree and then leave the mansion.

Chloe and Clark sneak into the psychiatric hospital, via Super Shake, to review the records of the male officer. They find that Lex was observed taking the ship, and Clark runs to the mansion. He discovers the Sheriff and Lex.

The two officers take Lana to the warehouse where the ship was located, to blow it up. They don't find it, and Lana tries to escape but is knocked out. Their bomb is activated in the scuffle, the officers leave just as Clark arrives to find Lana about to be burned up from the explosion. He runs in and grabs her and rescues her.  The officers are apprehended and Lana is treated at the scene and released. Lana and Clark discuss how Lex saved her life.

Lex recovers at the hospital and Lana comes to visit. They have a heart to heart and they talk about honesty and the truth. They agree to try and solve the mystery of the ship and to be friends. They hug as friends, and of course Clark walks by and sees them hugging. Poor Lana all she wants is a friend who will tell her the truth and be honest with her, but yet none of the men in her life will be honest with her.

Chloe and Clark talk about Lana at the Daily Planet. Clark tells Chloe that he loves Lana so much and wants to be with her for the rest of his life. Once again Clueless Clark doesn't see the heartache on Chloe's face as he tells her this. Chloe tells Clark he needs to tell Lana the truth about himself.

Legion by Brandon Sanderson

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Legion is a quickly moving story about how Stephen Leeds uses his condition of having "hallucinations" for his benefit and for the benefit of others. These hallucinations are personalities that manifest themselves to Stephen, and the reader, as actual persons. As a result of these others he is able to quickly adapt to new situations that arise and uses these hallucinations to solve conflicts. Stephen comes across as crazy to those around him, but in his opinion is "perfectly sane". These hallucinations have their own individual personalities, likes, desires and flaws.

Legion is well written and has a good pace. For the length of the story there is good character and story development in the amount of time available to do so.  Legion is a fun book that can be read in an hour or two and is enjoyable.

As Legion begins we are introduced to the main character, Stephen Leeds, who is by his account, a genius. However, he is plagued by these hallucinations. These hallucinations are separate persons with their own personalities and agendas. Stephen interacts with them as individuals and relies on them for information throughout the course of the story. While this phenomenom is not explained or fleshed out (which is what the author seems to have done intentionally), it is intriguing to read.  The reader is expected to read on without the explanation being given, however it doesn't impact the story. There are hints in the story that this wasn't always the case with Stephen and that it was a condition that was brought on to him somehow.

There are a couple of interesting things about Legion that captured my interest from the start. One is the concept of having multiple personalities being a help and not a hinderance to one's life. This concept is addressed in the story, not only in theory but also demonstrated throughout the story, which is one of the reasons why the reader doesn't get hung up on "How does this all work?".   Another interesting concept is the MacGuffin (that is more fully fleshed out than most) of the camera and how it is included in the plot of the story. While this MacGuffin lends itself to science fiction, it was believable and fun to read. With the inclusion of this particular MacGuffin and it's capabilities, the story is like a modern day Indiana Jones adventure - but better.

This short novella is one of Brandon Sanderson's shorter books, and as Brandon is known for his lengthy novels this can come as a surprise for those that haven't read one of his shorter stories. While Brandon's longer novels are amazing, his short novellas are just as entertaining. Such is the case for Legion.  With the speed and efficiency that Brandon writes his books, I'm sure there will be a follow up to this story especially since the ending leads us to believe that there are more Stephen Leeds stories to tell.

I recommend this novella to all readers who enjoy a good mystery. There is a little bit of violence, akin to a PG movie, and there are no scenes of sex and no swearing.

Divergent

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Divergent is the start of a great new series by author Veronica Roth. Veronica is a new writer, with this being her first published novel. She hangs out on Goodreads.com alot and blogs often.

Divergent is a young adult novel set in a dystopian world where society has broken down into different factions. Each faction has a specific purpose and serves a unique role in this society. This novel has drawn comparisons to the Hunger Games, and while there are some general similarities, it isn't the Hunger Games 2.0.  The story is a coming of age story with the main character, a teenage female named Beatrice Prior. (No, this is not the Hunger Games 2.0). Every year there is a ceremony where the young people have to choose which faction to join. Most end up joining the one they were raised in. Beatrice ends up choosing a different faction than the one she was raised in. She ends up leaving her home and family to join a new group of people to learn the new factions lifestyle.

Beatrice renames herself Tris and has to learn how to go from being raised in a peaceful faction, Abnegation, to learning how to fight, as she has joined the faction that is more aggressive and in charge of enforcing law and order - Dauntless. Much of the story's angst comes as Tris has to learn how adapt to this new lifestyle and her training with the other new recruits.  There are some emotional struggles for Tris, there is a lot of physical action and fighting, and there is romance as Tris falls in love with one of her trainers.

Divergent is written in the first person POV of Tris and while it took me a couple of chapters to get used to the style; it allowed me to easily read through the story in a matter of hours. While the world of Divergent doesn't have much depth to it, the characters are mostly well developed and their actions are believable. I had fun reading this book and it is one of those summer reads that you're glad that you read it and can move on to your next book.

Divergent is a good story overall, quick paced, easy to read with some good angst. At times, it was easy to tell this was Ms. Roth's first novel due to the simple writing style. The story was pretty linear with not much depth. However, I did enjoy the overall story and it is a page turner. I would recommend it for those that are looking for something fun and quick to read.