Monthly Archives: November 2021

Book Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Lord of the Flies is a book authored by Nobel Prize-winner William Golding. It is one of the best novels written in the 20th century. The book focuses on a group of young British boys stranded on an abandoned island. They tried to govern themselves at first but became violent and brutal without any adult guidance.

The story begins in a war. A plane evacuating young boys crashed and landed on a deserted island. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, found a conch shell. They blew the shell to gather everyone on the beach. After the meeting, the group selected Ralph as their chief. Ralph appointed a power-hungry teenager called Jack to lead the boys who will hunt for food.

The boys spent their days playing, building shelters, and gathering edible fruits. But the peacefulness didn’t last long. The boys turned to the darkness. They believe that a beast whom they call “beastie” was watching and waiting to kill them. Out of their fears, they killed a pig and offered its head to the beast. Jack decided to take advantage of the fears and turn against Ralph, he and his hunters formed a tribe and attacked Ralph’s supporters. Later in the story, Jack and his hunters hunted Ralph like an animal.

Lord of the Flies reveals the truth about human nature. Despite that humans appear to be kind and civilized, behind the screen lies evilness and cruelty. Golding shows that humans, especially children, must be ruled with authority in order to avoid violence. If they are ungoverned and undisciplined, they will turn to animal instinct.

-Christine J.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Book Review: King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

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Another break off series from Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone, this new duology starts off three years after the end of the Grisha Trilogy. King of Scars, an epic fantasy novel, follows the new King of Ravka, Nikolai Lantsov.

After his parents’ and older brother’s death, the weight of his country now lays on his shoulders. Nikolai along with the Triumvirate representing all Grisha take on the burden of keeping Ravka alive and intact. Plagued with the aftermath of the Darkling’s schemes, Nikolai looks to reunite east and west Ravka as well as keep the Shu and Fjerdans happy. Not only this, but every night he fights against the monster dwelling within him; a scar on his soul.

As war brews with Ravka’s northern and southern neighbors, Nina Zenik finds a way to survive behind enemy lines. As she tries to come to terms with a tragic death, she finds herself on a journey that will set the course for Ravka’s future.

To be completely honest, this book is very content heavy. It acts more as a prequel to the next book in the duology, Rule of Wolves, and took me quite a while to read. The first half of the book was interesting, as the reader follows three different characters, but it lacked any page-turning excitement.

By the second half of the book, the largest plot twist occurred and this definitely picked up the pace. With so many events happening, it left the reader wondering why each of them occurred, and Bardugo masterfully answers every one of them.

I really do recommend pushing through this book, especially if you have read the other Grishaverse books, because the ending is so worth it! There is one more book to this duology, one of my favorite out of all of the Grishaverse books, and I hope everyone who wants to read it gets to!

Happy reading!

-Katherine L.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo is available for checkout at the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Convergence by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore

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Convergence is the first book in the Zodiac Legacy series, and is written in graphic-novel format by Stan Lee, the mind behind Marvel, and Stuart Moore.

In modern-day America, twelve superpowers, each corresponding to a sign in the Chinese Zodiac, are released onto Earth. The protagonist, a Chinese-American teen named Steven, is quickly launched into an epic journey across the world to help find the humans imbued with these powers- befriending the good ones, and bringing the bad ones to justice. Throughout the course of this adventure, he learns to harness his own power- and the mysteries of the Zodiac.

I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely an action-packed thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat, and the ending (hint hint: it’s a cliffhanger!) left my brain reeling! This is a great fantasy novel if you’re looking to diversity your bookshelf as well, and I’d recommend it to everyone.

-Vaidehi B.

Convergence by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore is available for checkout at the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo

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Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy is the third book in the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.  This is my favorite book in the series so far.  These books are about a boy named Charlie Bone, who has a special magical power.  Charlie attends a school called Bloor’s Academy, where other students possess magical powers as well.  In this book, a new semester of school is beginning.  Charlie and his friends discover that a boy named Ollie Sparks has been secretly imprisoned at the school for a while.  Ollie is an “invisible boy,” because he was the victim of a magical snake that can turn its victims invisible.  Charlie and his friends try to save Ollie from his sad and lonely imprisonment.

In addition to Charlie Bone, two of my favorite characters in this book are Lysander Sage and Tancred Torsson.  Lysander is possibly the most powerful character in the book, but he is also very friendly.  Tancred also possesses very powerful abilities, and he is very helpful to Charlie throughout the book.  Charlie has other friends with special powers, and it is interesting to read about their different magical abilities.

My favorite part of the story is when Charlie and his friends help Charlie’s uncle after he was severely injured.  Charlie’s uncle, named Paton Yewbeam, had been away on a long and perilous journey.  He returns with many serious burns, and Charlie learns that he must find a special plant to cure his uncle.  The only place to find the plant is in the garden of one of Charlie’s evil aunts, so Charlie and his friends must risk their own lives to save Uncle Paton.

I enjoyed this book because Charlie and his friends take many risks to help others.  The story is very exciting, and Charlie’s life is in danger many times.  I like reading about the friendship between Charlie and his classmates, as they have many adventures together trying to save their friends and family.  I would recommend this book and the other books in the series to everyone.

-Simon H.

Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Book Review: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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I honestly had no idea what this series was even about until I found this book one day and started reading about it. It turns out that the full story of Nick Gautier, a high school student destined to become a monster known as the Malachai, is revealed, as he goes through poverty with his mom desperate for jobs and finding one as a club dancer and his father, who is the current Malachai, is in prison. Even though Nick tries his best to live his life right, he finds himself in dark corners and often unable to find anyone in his life, tormented by bullies and yelled at by his mother despite acting in defense of his bullies talking bad about her. Even today, I feel like some high school students have similar experiences with bullying, as it is still ongoing today and victims often face harsh conditions such as poverty like Nick, and even struggle with mental illnesses, with the bullying adding to their problems.

However, Nick unknowingly finds a glimpse of hope when he meets a girl named Nekoda Kennedy, a new girl at his school in his grade who he ends up making a friendship with. Although Nekoda acts friendly to Nick and treats him nicely, she is secretly tasked with the duty of ensuring that he does not become the monster he is destined to be, known as the Malachai. Although Nick believes he can trust Nekoda, his trust in her can completely be shattered once he hears about her duty. Despite this task for Nekoda, however, she sees some good in Nick and pushes herself to try to save him and keep the good in him, garnering feelings for him in the process.

Nick learning of his destiny is also a pivotal part of this book, as he tries to keep the good in himself alive to ensure that he does not become his father. This is shown in his many interactions with Nekoda, Bubba, Mark, and Kyrian, as he sees his friends as a guiding light to a straight and narrow path to preventing his destiny. His friends are primarily what separate his father from Nick, as his father seemingly has situational allies only and no true friends, although Nick has plenty of good friends and people he has helped in the past. Without his friends, Nick would surely embrace the darkness and become the monster that Nekoda has sworn to destroy.

Overall, I thought this book was very interesting despite my lack of understanding in mythical creatures and beings. The correlation to human life and mythical life is very well executed in this book, and putting Nick in a sympathetic light makes the readers want to root for him and ensure that he does not repeat his father’s history. The warfare between good and evil is also very prominent in this series as well, as each character faces their own personal demons throughout the story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good series to read.

Lawrence B.

Alternate Ending for “The Landlady”

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I recently read a short horror story called “The Landlady,” which was left on a cliffhanger. I decided to write an alternate ending for it! I would highly recommend that you read the original short story before reading the alternate ending. You can find the story at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/landlady_text.pdf

Alternate Ending for “The Landlady”

Something, just something about this whole affair bothered Billy. He couldn’t quite place his finger on what it was, a stirring of the mind, a brief flash of thought. He attributed it, of course, to the heat of the room and the time of night. “I think I should like to go to bed now,” he said.

“Of course, dear,” cried the old lady, fussing over him, “I should think so!”
Billy sighed, stepping gingerly over the dachshund to make his way to the stairs. He turned back to look at the landlady. She had her back to him, serenely gazing into the dying embers of the fire, petting the dachshund, a cold, stiff travesty of a dog. Yes, something about this whole bloody business just wasn’t quite right. Shaking his head, he stumbled slowly up the stairs and into his room. He sat down heavily on the bed, still thinking. The fourth floor? The men were still here? But how? Eyes drooping, he fell straight to sleep, questions still echoing around his head.

3 a.m. the following morning
Billy started out of sleep, thrashing wildly about his bed like a trout out of water. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked blearily around the room. A quick check of the nightstand clock confirmed his suspicion that it was indeed very early in the morning. Just a minute! A voice was coming from the landing above his. It was a mere mumbling, but a voice nonetheless. It was a crooning, haunting tone that rose and fell eerily; yes, it was a voice as smooth as silk, yet as sharp as glass. Billy was wide awake now, no chance of ever falling asleep in this cursed house again! Pulling on his robe, he slowly pushed open the door to investigate.

He crept up the stairs, thoroughly examining his surroundings. He was on the third floor now. Looking about, he saw a small sewing machine, overflowing boxes of cloth, and shelves overflowing with a large variety of small bottles. The room itself smelled faintly of hospital disinfectant. Intrigued, Billy slowly stepped closer. A curious smell came from the flask closest to him. Reaching out, he pulled it from its place and gave it a cautious sniff. The flask reeked of bitter almonds and garlic. Covering his nose with his sleeve, Billy replaced the cask on its shelf and continued his trek.

Something wasn’t quite right. Billy was tripping now, stumbling and coughing. His vision doubled and his eyes watered. In front of him he saw the landlady, crooning gently to- to- he collapsed, the cold, dead face of Christopher Mulholland still swimming in his memory, mouth affixed in a plastic smile, ghastly and preserved.

The face of the landlady, cruel and hard, stared down at him. In the light, she looked a hundred years old, like the old Greek demons Billy had learned about in school. His head felt like a lump of stone. The woman leered down at him, spinning a scalpel expertly between her fingers. He rasped out one word. “Why?” The landlady’s lips turned down. She looked put out to see him awake. “Why, darling, I must keep you! You’ll wither away otherwise.” Billy coughed again, then screamed as a sharp pain sliced into his flesh, below his abdomen. As he floated in and out of consciousness, he heard the landlady singing. My Bonnie lies over the ocean, my Bonnie lies over the sea, my Bonnie lies over the ocean. The landlady smiled cruelly as she pulled her final stitch. “Please bring back my Bonnie to me…”

I hope you enjoyed it!

-Vaidehi B.

Film Review: Venom: Let There Be Carnage

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First of all, let me just say that Venom, the 2018 prequel to this movie, was pretty good considering it was the first real Venom movie marvel fans have ever gotten. It had a strong antagonist, protagonist, and had a central problem of the movie. But Venom Let There Be Carnage blew me away.

The movie was really well directed and I couldn’t wait to see it. Featuring Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, and Naomie Harris, the movie follows Eddie Brock and his symbiotic parasite Venom as they uncover the story of local serial killer Cletus Kasady.

Along the way, Cletus picks up a symbiote of his own and becomes Carnage, the main antagonist of the movie. I feel that Carnage had a strong reason to do what he did and was overall a really good villain in the movie compared to the original villain of the Venom movie, Riot.

I liked the fact that Venom and Eddie kept arguing throughout the movie and even splitting up for part of it, because it shows just how much they need each other for survival, and really brings forth a comedic aspect to their relationship.

The villain and hero in this movie are based on the original Marvel comic books and having read some of those I can say that these characters fit their original molds pretty well. However, in the comics Carnage is more evil and crazy, and I think that they could have incorporated his nature from the comics better into the movie, even though this would have required a more serious viewer rating.

The fight scenes in this movie were way better than the original Venom movie, and I just think that this movie was a really great addition to Eddie Brock’s storyline and I think that Andy Serkis did a really great job of directing this movie. It had funny moments, serious moments, and was just really good in general.

So, overall, this movie is really great, and I definitely recommend that you check it out. Hope you enjoy it!

-Brandt D.

“Ohio” by Neil Young: The Greatest Protest Song

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Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming

We’re finally on our own

This Summer I hear the drumming

Four dead in Ohio

This is the introduction and hook of Ohio by legendary musician Neil Young. It was released a month after the Kent State massacre, an event in which the Ohio National Gaurd opened fire on a group of anti-war protestors. It tragically killed 4 of the protestors, paralyzed one, and wounded 8 others (History Channel, 2021). The event cause mass outrage and there were many responses, the greatest was from Neil Young. 

Young starts the song by referencing Tin soldiers and Nixon, the men who carried out and allow the attack. But there’s more to the ‘Tin soldiers”, firstly Young is calling them out for being pawns to their masters, following orders without any empathy. But he’s also calling out the fact that many in the national guard were young, inexperienced, fake soldiers parading as real ones. Next Neil explains the feeling of his generation, on their own, the older generation and the government have abandoned them. They spend their summers hearing the drumming of marches, and the drumming of guns. Which eventually culminated in four dead in Ohio. This leads into the verse,

Gotta get down to it

Soldiers are cutting us down

Should have been done long ago

What if you knew her

And found her dead on the ground

How can you run when you know?

This of course describes the event more, but it also pleads for empathy. Neil wants the soldiers and those in charge of the war in Vietnam to imagine if they knew one of the victims. He accuses them of cowardice, running away from something that should have never occurred. He also informers them of the protestors’ message, that the war in Vietnam should have been done long ago. 

The bridge of the song is a repetitive chant of “na na na na na na na”, which allowed the song to easily sang at protests. The recording of the song itself uses multiple voices for this portion of the song. The ending is also repetitive, with Young sounding more and more desperate as he echos out

Four dead in Ohio

-Parker K.

Bibliography:

History Channel Article https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/national-guard-kills-four-at-kent-state

Game Review: Sky Beneath

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Sky Beneath made by MindHaven Games is a third-person puzzle game that utilizes gravity to create challenging and exciting levels for players to solve. This puzzle platformer allows players to play as Cassie, a scavenger working with a friend named Annie, as the two try their best to infiltrate and loot abandoned mining facilities. On your journey, players need to use their most powerful and useful weapon, gravity.

The game itself is extremely well rendered, and has great graphics! The controls were pretty standard, and easy to get used to. There was a short tutorial at the beginning of the game, and the game was pretty easy to get good at. The map in Sky Beneath was huge! It had tons of doors and extra areas that players could explore. There were also a couple of cutscenes and letters that players could find, that gave the game a little bit of lore and depth.

I want to talk about the best feature in Sky Beneath, the gravity. Throughout the game, players wear a suit that allows them to change gravity in any direction they want. Because of this, players can run on walls, ceilings, etc. I found this concept to be really innovative, and it added a lot more to the game as a whole. If the player decides to switch the gravity too much, it can get very disorienting, and it may be hard to keep track of where you are. I think this game mechanic was the most confusing, but it was pretty easy to get used to and it was very fun.

Throughout the game, I felt like the levels and puzzles were getting more and more challenging. The game first started off as a platformer, and was very easy to progress. The game started to add more and more mechanics, such as gravity suits and wrist launchers that allowed players to pick up and move items. Eventually, I was stuck on a certain level, and I had to spend lots of time trying to solve that one level. Sky Beneath is definitely a hard game, and requires a lot of patience and skill.

I definitely enjoyed playing Sky Beneath. This difficult platformer game introduced a lot of new game mechanics, while still sticking to the original puzzle games such as Portal or Portal 2. If you enjoyed either of those games, you should definitely give this game a try. Adding the gravity suit and wrist launchers opens up the possibilities of new and game changer tech, and I can’t wait to see the future of platformer games, including Sky Beneath. I would rate this game a solid 8 out of 10.

Daniel C.

“The House” Short Story

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I strolled down the sidewalk on the sunny Thursday morning, lost in my thoughts and worries. Was I ever going to find a home that was perfect? I idly examined the mansion I found myself in front of. Manicured lawn, tall hedges hiding the home, marble fountain bubbling up on the walkway… “I could live with this,” I mumbled to myself. I peer through the hedges, trying to catch a glimpse of the house. Suddenly, two boys sauntered up the lawn in front of me, no more than three yards from me! I fervently prayed they wouldn’t notice me, and they didn’t. Breathing a sigh of relief, I strained my ears to hear what the taller of the pair was explaining to his squat friend. “Yeah, the house is nicer since Dad put the new stone siding and fireplace in…” Hmm… a fireplace? I listened closer, sneaking around to the back where I could hear the boys’ voices through the open kitchen window. Newly painted living room, nearest house a quarter mile away? “Lovely, lovely,” I thought. Damp and musty basement? Could get a discount for that… But new plumbing was an added plus. A den was rather unnecessary but perfect for a home theatre system. “Speakers, projector, screens..” Quite lost in my reverie, I came to when the boys were already upstairs! I put my ear to the wall, and was barely able to hear Tall’s voice over Squat’s rapid questions. Three upstairs bedrooms… Perfect for a study and a recreation room. I could hear Tall’s voice more clearly now. “The bathroom in the hall is mine, since Dad added one to my sisters’ room for them… yeah, this is a leak; the roof finally rotted…” A leak! That was worth a hefty price reduction… Grinning to myself, I decided that I had heard enough. As I ambled down the street, I imagined myself putting in an offer, one they wouldn’t be able to resist. How did I know so much about their house? Well, that was my little secret… 

Linwood Custom Homes Named Finalist in Six National Home ...

-Vaidehi B.