Harry Potter-Setting

     Harry Potters Magical world is a vast and often dreamed about place that fills the hearts of many readers alike. A world that makes kids smile from cheek to cheek. A world that gives kids sanctuary from their problems. A world that makes people more than just muggles. It is often wondered about by readers since Rowling doesn't cover too much in detail of the magical world. Rowling likes to let people imagine a world of their own. In the movies they do a great job of imagining a world that everyone loves and can relate too. This must have been a monumental task. One line so far in my book; Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, "It looked as it once been a large pigpen, but extra rooms had been added her and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it was held up by magic (which, Harry reminded himself, it probably was). Four or five chimneys were perched on the top of the red roof. A lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read, The Burrow. Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron." This description is not portrayed in elevated diction but rather simple words like "red and pigpen". This is very simple but still allows the reader to picture "The Burrow" in their minds. Using simpler language will help the audience increase instead of making younger kids not able to read. I think this is funny because as I have said in earlier blog posts the diction used by Tolkien is very elevated and often I had to consult a dictionary to understand some of the things being said by Tolkien.

     Another line that Rowling uses to help the reader imagine themselves with Harry is, " Not daring to look at each other in the eyes, Harry and Ron followed Snape up the steps into a vast, echoing entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches. This is another descriptive line that Rowling slips into the page. It is simple and concise that does not get into the way of the plot. This is great for readers and doesn't lengthen the book a ton and still gives great description. This is why I think Rowling is such a great author. She appeals to so many people with her writing that it is no wonder she has the largest grossing series.

                                                    

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

     Of all the Harry Potter movies I have enjoyed this one the most. So when I was starting to read this book I got very excited. So far this book has been an easy read and does not have as much elevated diction as The Lord of The Rings series. Harry Potters books seem to have an easy vernacular because they are meant for all ages and should be considered books that kids should grow up with. Since I wasn't exactly a prolific reader when I was younger I thought I could go back and revisit such a classic series. There isn't many things I can talk to you about because I already have seen the movie so I know most of the plot and I already told you about why I chose this book. In this blog I will talk to you about J.K. Rowling the genius behind the book series.

     Rowling's career wasn't a typical one. She didn't plan to be a huge author, she just wrote a book she liked. But before all of that she got a degree in French and Classics. Rowling then moved to Portugal and became a foreign language teacher. This is also where she got married and had a kid. Unfortunately the marriage did  not last long and she went back to the U.K. to finish her book. She had not done any other books before this one. In fact her career and money intake was practically nothing. Rowling had to make the manuscript on a typewriter.

     What else has Rowling done? To be honest she has only done a couple of books and those were under different pen names and were for adults. This list of books include; The Silkworm, The Cuckoo's Calling, and The Casual Vacancy. These books aren't bad sellers and won't probably reach the point of her Harry Potter series but they are still good books. Her author career is not like most, she didn't know she would have the most grossing book series of all times. Who knows maybe you too will have a rags to riches story yourself, and I will have to do a blog.

More Info on Rowling

What I Want To Read Next

     I have been reading The Lord of The Rings and I am on the second book so far. Many think that I will go on to read the last book in the series The Return of the King. However I have been reading the second book and I have lost interest in the series. I liked the first book but I have slowly disliked the writing style and description used in this series. Maybe one day when I have had my break I will come back to the series and read the last book but for now I have set my goals towards the Harry Potter series since I have never actually read the series. I have seen all the movies and read the first book but I want to continue this because it is a classic piece of literary genius. I have heard lots of great things about the Harry Potter series and did enjoy the first book. I have started a trend of going back and reading lots of the popular books. The harry Potter series should take me to the end of the Summer and after that who knows what I'll read. For now, I want to focus on Fantasy because I am going through a Fantasy phase.
 
     The Harry Potter series is also similar to The Lord of the Rings, not in writing style but in the structure of the characters, setting, and story. One thing that I mentioned in my last post was the fact of the death eaters whom play a similar role as the Nazgul in The Lord of the Rings. Another thing we notice is a male main character with a best friend who serves as comic relief and someone who cares about the main character a lot. My last point but definitely not the final thing in common is how the main character has parents that have died and has left them to the comfort of the Uncle's.

     I do regret however not reading the Potter series when I was younger so that way I could "grow up" with the series and perhaps it would be more special to me. Now though I will have a chance to read the books and hopefully be able to talk more in social groups.

A Letter to my Friend Tolkien

     Hello, I am Ian Markley and I am close to finishing your book, The Two Towers. The book has a plethora of elevated diction. With your elevated diction you create extravagant scenes full of detail and imagery. In Middle Earth you make every blade of grass feel important, every person, every tree. I can tell by the way you wrote this series that Middle Earth is more than just a setting for you, it is a sanctuary you can go to. A place were you feel home, somewhere you can't be disturbed and go into a world you created and wanted to share with many others who are just as enthralled with the story. I am surprised that you didn't run out of words in the dictionary to use as descriptive words. I also like how you make an inconceivable hobbit a hero who takes a bearing that many men do not have the will to do. It is definitely a book for people who are underdogs in some aspect of their life. I also like how in this series that this is really just about an orphan who is looking for adventure. People get engrossed in all of the action and description but miss the simplicity of the book and perhaps the real reason an author wrote the book. I hear that you went to South Africa and remember some vivid encounters including meeting a huge hairy spider. Was that your inspiration for including a huge spider in the 3rd book when Frodo fights a spider?

     I do in fact like your books and agree that these are classic pieces of literature. This book brought back Fantasy book and has inspired many of my generation to get into the Fantasy section and is part of why we see lots of that genre in our generation. Your book has also created a foundation for many books common to yours. For instance, most books today have a wise man, accompanied with an unlikely hero. I would also like to say that you influenced a book that has captured many great minds and inspired many more; Harry Potter. You have created the foundation for this series and Rowling definitely copied some of your aspects into her story because she saw the success from your books. For instance, the death eaters are the same as the Nazgul. I think that your books will influence many people and authors for the next 100 years and hope to see that your books continue to be read and enjoyed. Oh and here is a link to why people think your books are better than Harry Potter. Why LOTR is better than Harry Potter

                                                                                                           Until Next Time,
                                                                                                                    Ian Markley

Krista Ramsey- "Locking into the Magic of Legos"

     In this column Ramsey talks about the benefits of their kids playing with Legos, how it can improve spatial and 3 Dimensional relationships.

     Link To Lego Article
     The line that I found was the best and summarized the article the best was "Like sparklers and hugs, Legos are things a child can never have enough of." This line is near the beginning of the article and helps foreshadow the rest of the article. It also shows the tone of which Ramsey view Lego's. She thinks that Lego's are helpful and shows a positive tone. We know that Ramsey is using  a positive tone with this important line because of her diction and syntax. The diction in this line is more informal using no challenging words. This shows a more casual thought towards Lego's. The syntax is a long sentence and uses a comparison to show a point. The words "sparklers" and "hugs" help us identify it is a positive tone because all humans correlate a hug and sparkler as times of happiness.

    Ramsey's style of writing is long sentences that are informal and are about health and lifestyle. We know Ramsey talks about lifestyle because of her titles; "For better vision, kids need time outdoors", "Super Bowl QBs score points for great style", and "Locking into the Magic of Lego's." These all talk about the lifestyle or health of a human life. This is what Ramsey is comfortable with and therefore writes about it. We can tell Ramsey likes to write long sentences because of her syntax, "After watching New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick slouch off the field in his cutoff hoodie, it’s been heartening to see players like Wilson show up perfectly groomed for a post-game interview." This line is in the Super Bowl article and is a rather long sentence. This style is practiced throughout the piece and shows how Ramsey leans to long sentences. Whilst using long sentences, like most columnist Ramsey likes to use informal diction to portray an easy and reader friendly column. For instance in the Lego article, "Many have been waiting with their parents for as long as two hours." Or in the vision article, "Whatever the factors behind the finding – perhaps the benefits of sunlight versus indoor lighting, the influence of vitamin D, the visual benefit of viewing objects at a distance outdoors, a reduction in visual stress – it’s left Zadnik, associate dean of Ohio State University’s College of Optometry, believing “there’s something magical about the out-of-doors.”" These rather long sentences show without them that they use a simpler diction and word choice. This quote also shows the style that Ramsey likes to use, form opinion then state why she thinks that with a quote or fact. This is shown through some of her more opinionated pieces. 

Frodo: The Underdog

     Frodo is the underdog of The Lord of the Rings. He symbolizes an ant. This is a lame comparison for most people, but Frodo is ant. This ant is the persistent hard worker in the background. You never see the work of the ant and they usually are just annoying under appreciated animals. They have great strength for their size and work together. When you see an ant you don't think anything of it until they multiple and become a huge problem, their anthill; or in this case Frodo's ring. Sauron the evil Lord does not take Frodo as a threat because he is a small hobbit that Sauron could crush in seconds, however Frodo is his biggest problem. Frodo works under wraps, the unsung hero. Frodo is currently escaping Sauron's Army in the land of Gondor with Faramir and  his troops. Faramir a man who tries to keep Gondor free from the "Dark Lord" thinks that Frodo could do nothing and is working for Sauron when Frodo is the only one that can save him. Appearances can often be deceptive, when you see that first ant you think nothing of it but when you see all of the ants and there hole you panic. Usually the ant surprises you because you never cared enough or thought you had the time to see if the could be part of something big like an ant hole. This describes Frodo, he is on the good guys but he is not someone you would consider a threat. In this way you can think Frodo as that ant, the thing you don't think of until its too late.

Description of Frodo: Short (3.5 feet), Black Hair, blue eyes eyes, Caucasian, round, green clothes with a grey cape, no shoes, small petite fingers, and gentle face.

More Information of Frodo Baggins

The Two Towers-Setting

      The Two Towers is a great read for people looking for vintage and challenging diction. Most of the diction in the book is describing the setting. Like most Fantasies The Two Towers takes place in a medieval time. I know this because they use swords and live in a time with magic. For the place in which they are, it is a mystical land known as Middle Earth, it has different regions similar to Earth with common features like mountains and forests. "But out of the deep shadow of the dale rose a vast spire of smoke and vapor; as it mounted, it caught the rays of the sinking moon, and it spread in shimmering billows, black and silver over the starry night." (119) This is a great example of the imagery of how Tolkien likes to describe the scene around the characters, that is unfolding. Tolkien creates this world that you feel you could live in, its all most like I'm a ghost following the people around. Tolkien creates this world that not only the characters live in but us as readers do too. I feel as if so many people like Tolkiens book because the setting is so well described that people want to be in this world.

The Best/Worst Thing about My Book

                     The Best and Worst Thing of The Two Towers

     The best and the worst thing about The Two Towers is the descriptive writing. The descriptive writing is beyond astonishing, "There they saw a little glittering fountain. They walked along the brim of the great bowl at the feet of the evergreens-it was pleasant to feel the cool grass about their toes again. They drank a little, a clean, cold, sharp draught, and sat down on the mossy stone, watching the patches of the sun on the grass and the shadows of the sailing clouds passing over the floor of a dingle." (108) This is great imagery and I just opened a random page and found it, I'm actually on 224. This imagery easily takes up 80% of the book which is a literary reader's dream but not necessarily mine. I enjoy action and plots which The Lord of the Rings series has a lot of potential for. This book does have action and scenes with great description and tension but I want more of it. Most of the time Tolkien is just describing the breath-taking world around them as they walk along their journey which is fine but I want more conflict and action included. I know this would make the book already larger than the immense size it already is but I would not care.

     Tolkien created a world that is similar to Earth in a medieval  and magical kind of way. Tolkien really captures the world around the characters but as I said a little too well. A book is not only written by the author but also as the reader. As they say, "Nobody reads the same book." It's a partnership among the author and reader, Tolkien eliminates a lot of that with all the description, I am not reading a book but rather being told a story. I would prefer to read a book than be told a story. The imagination is mostly destroyed in the book. I am definitely not trying to say to get rid of the description, maybe just limit it in some places and concentrate it in some other spots. With all the negative connotations out of the way now I can talk about the good things the description does in the book. The description of the characters is just amazing, "These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating. They were brown, shot with green light." This is a great quote of the character Treebeard who is an Ent or a tree herder. Tolkien made the director's job very easy with all of his description and characters, the director had very little work to do.

     In conclusion I want to say that The Two Towers is a great book for literary readers and people who enjoy epic fantasy genre, just becareful with all of the description.

Final Blog Reflection

Reflection

The quality of my writing has gotten progressively better due to more practice and reading. One example of this is in my first blog post I have three grammar mistakes and in my newer post I have only one. This is a quick example of how my writing got more refined over the trimester. This helps the reader and shows improvements in quality by having not as many grammatical errors. Another example of my writing quality growth is the length of which my post was near the end compared to the beginning. You might think that this is a quantity over quality but the length of my newer post had more in it with fewer mistakes. I also added in my newer post interactive and viewer friendly comments. I asked questions like “You might ask why do I like the series so much?” I also add a closing sentence talks to the viewer, “Thats all for now, I am close to finishing the 3rd book and moving on to the 4th and by the way, they keep getting better. :)” Adding questions and comments to the reader to help them get actively engaged shows improvement on quality because I have entertained the viewer more than I did in the beginning which is a main objective to be reached in blog posts. Since I am more viewer friendly and open up the reader more they can find enjoyment through connections.  When I wrote my blog post a month after my beginning I felt that my blog posts started to achieve the blogger type writing style more than an essay type of writing. This has helped in quality because I can write in different formats and have expanded my comfort zone as a reader and increased my writing abilities.

One thing I struggled with was the ability to change my writing style by using more casual terms rather than fancy terms used in essays. I overcame this challenge to make my blogs more real and authentic by trying to write my posts as if I was talking to someone in a friendly conversation. What would I say if I was talking to my friend about the book, do I use big words with my friends, etc. I think that this change helped my quality of my blog post by creating a more authentic me reflected in my writing instead of the cheesy words to impress my teachers.  A strength I had in my posts was the dedication to reading books and telling my true feelings instead of hiding to seem normal. This strength helped a lot because I always had material to talk about where some people didn’t read and had to write a ton about Romeo and Juliet instead of books they want to read. This made it easier to want to post blogs and make them lengthier rather than getting them over with as fast as I can. I did not meet my reading goal of 10 books in the trimester which I knew was not going to achieve but pushed me to try. Last year I read a total of 10 books all year which was a pitiful amount but I wasn’t pushed to read or challenged. I was impressed that I read 6 books in the trimester and am happy with my reading abilities. Next English trimester I will try to achieve this goal. I used goodreads.com a lot to help with book recommendations which helped me get into the Heroes of Olympus series which I enjoyed a lot. I think that it helped me connect to other people through books although I stopped updating and checking near the end of the book. I have improved as a reader throughout the trimester a lot. One example is that in the beginning I read one page per minute or so and now I read 2 pages in a minute or so which helped me finish more books in a lot faster time. Another thing that I improved on as a reader was connecting with the author and the book for more enjoyment. Near the end of the trimester I read a lot more and enjoyed books a lot more also. Overall I grew as both a reader and a writer over the course of this trimester which is great.

Romeo and Juliet

     In Romeo and Juliet we are on the fourth act and so far it has been romance with some bits of action. Overall I have not enjoyed Romeo and Juliet.  The action was a little lame because Shakespeare didn't explain or write about the violence. This in my opinion was a lame. You can vividly write about the action an stabbing but he just says Mercutio falls. I know this is not the focus of the event, it inspires Romeo to kill Tybalt and get exiled which leads to problems that help lead to the untimely fates of the young lovers but never the less I think Shakespeare could have added some things in for the male population. This brings me into the next point, Romeo and Juliet are not meant for guys unless they get forced to by their girlfriends and/or school. The whole message and topic are against what guys want; love and romance. Most guys like action and adventure not saying girls don't but that's what guys prefer. Shakespeare had some opportunities to include action and adventure, the fight scene could be elaborated or maybe their are more guy scene about relaxing.

     This paragraph will explain my hopes for the future acts to make them more appealing for guys. Shakespeare can show that the world is nothing beyond the walls of Verona by adding in wildlife and showing Romeo struggling to survive by fighting off bears or spear fishing, something other than Romeo sitting in the woods writing poems and crying because he is separated from his love Juliet. Romeo needs to show he is a man, sure he killed someone but that was out of anger not from him being "manly". I know it wouldn't contribute too much to the plot but it would show how the people of Verona think that the outside world is bad and the reality of it being not bad. I think if I was writing this play I would try to expand my audience as much as possible without losing the real morale and lesson. That what I feel so if your a guy and agree comment if you don't still comment.

Finding New Books

     Now that I have finished the House of Hades I have to wait a full year before the next one comes out and then that series will be over forever. The Percy Jackson and Olympus series have been my favorite series as I told you earlier and it seems sad that it will all be over in year. I hope I can find another series as good as this one. With that being said I can get into the purpose of my blog; finding new books and the difficulty. I find new books difficult because I want to keep reading the same series even after it’s over everything I think will suffer in comparison. Time after time I find that a new series that is just as good or even better. You would think I would learn but it just happens time after time and it discourages me to read. I am positive that you have once felt that way and as readers we wish that it could be easier to find a new book. 

          

      I think that to help these problems you should find a book before you finish the one you are currently reading. This may seem weird but it would eliminate worries about the new series and you can get straight in. I have been using this and so far it has worked great for me so I hope it does for you too. Another strategy is to go on websites like Goodreads and find books that are related to the series you are reading now. I love recommendations and find that the Goodreads ones are accurate. My last tip to find a book speedy fast is to ask a friend about books they like. This is a pretty obvious one but I think people underestimate the ability to find good books through friends. I have gotten a lot of recommendations like the Heroes of Olympus from my friend and it has turned out to be one of my favorite book series of all time.  So keep reading so you don’t question your books! That’s all the recommendations I have so far so until next time see you.

The House of Hades-Tartarus

     The House of Hades tells views from different main characters; two of which are located in the Underworld in the place of Tartarus. This place Tartarus is the place where monsters go for eternity to reform after death  and face their misery for the bad deeds done by them. Riordan describes Tartarus as a  person rather than a place which has intrigued me through the book. I never thought Tartarus could be a person but it looks and feels like one in the description provided through the book. A line I liked was, "The Doors of Death was Tartarus's heart it all made sense now." This is an important part of the story and also tells us that Tartarus is in fact a person. Along with this is talked about monsters acting like blisters on Tartarus's skin, reforming and always coming back and when they were full grown they pooped and let out monsters. This was a great metephor for the reader to understand what was happening in this Underworld.

     I feel that Tartarus really is a person, an immortal god of course but not a place anymore. This has changed my thoughts on the afterlife of these monsters, they don't go somewhere Tartarus guards them in his body, he has to be one of the oldest Gods around with a job like that. This was a fun and interesting take on the underworld and I liked every bit. It was a bit weird at first but then I got used to Percy and Annabeth climbing on Tartarus and going through him like blood in a human body. The view had changed how I viewed Percy and Annabeth's journey maybe it was like they made up Tartarus and without monsters Tartarus was without blood, he would die and shrivel up. There is always to sides to things and the monsters kept Tartarus alive and vice verse.

Theme for Mark Of Athena

 I read another book in the series I'm reading over the week from Monday to Wednesday and this book I felt had a great theme I could write about. This book is about a team of 7 demigods with amazing abilities stopping this rising of giants and the Mother of the Gods. Each one of them has an important role in the quest. A theme presented in this book would be; even the smallest abilities and actions can save the day or keep up the structure.  

One thing I have learned is that weaknesses are in everyone but if you have someone to pick up for that than you are a perfect team. All these demigods have weaknesses and all of them are covered with each other, Percy hates the sky, Jason is Zeus’s son. The best team is one that has no weaknesses because they all can be counteracted by each other. One demigod who thought he was a third wheel was Leo and he changed this entire trip. He built the transportation they have been using for this whole entire trip and was willing to sacrifice some things to keep them going. Leo feels like he has done nothing but really he has done and affected this entire quest. Another person who feels like he has done nothing is Frank and he has saved his crew-mates so many times it’s unbelievable. He can shape shift and has caught, swam, and flown to so many rescues that keeps this journey alive. This story is all about one person struggling and the rest of the members helping him/her through their struggles whether that is emotional, mental, or physical.

(How this applies to the real world)

This thematic statement can apply to the real world because if you play a sport and you make one play that could change the game. You block the shot that would have gone in and made tie or lose; or you catch the ball which gives you the first down to keep the drive alive. In a job maybe you kept the project on time or you made up for a missing person to make sure the restaurant went smoothly. There are so many applications for this thematic statement. I would say that this theme is universal and can be related to humans at any time.

Review of The Son Of Neptune

      Over the weekend I virtually had nothing to do on Monday because all my friends were out of town and I was alone in my house with nothing but an Xbox 360, pool table, ping-pong table, T.V, Ipod, Bikes, etc. So I decided I would read The Son Of Neptune which turned out to be an addiction. I got so hooked I read for 7 hours the whole entire book which took up most of my day. I was so happy to be reunited with Percy and his thoughts I couldn't put the book down. I loved the book so much I had to finish the 510 page book in one day. This is why you won't see any other post about this book.

     This book starts you off just like Jason was in the beginning of The Lost Hero. Percy is running away from monsters with zero memory of his past life an not understanding his abilities and position. I think this was a great similarity for Riordan to make because you can see that Percy and Jason are in the same position trying to get the same job done to hopefully save the world. This book was better because it referenced back to Percy's past which I knew about and in The Lost Hero I didn't know much about Jason's past. When I would remember old characters and things Percy faced and he had know clue what or who they were I found humor and sadness which made me feel sympathetic towards Percy's position. I got to know Percy so well in his previous series that I felt like I got to relearn everything about him in a new book. This made me feel nostalgic and this created so much happiness that I couldn't stop reading, I wanted to know more about Percy and his adventures. I also learned a great deal about the Roman side of the Gods and the twin camp of Camp Half-blood. The Roman camp (Camp Jupiter) was very different from the Greek camp, more serious about war, stricter, and had favoritism towards other Gods that the Greeks' really hadn't considered important. This made me feel like I was learning about the Gods and series all over again.

     You might ask why do I like the series so much? I love this series so much because it is a Home-run in every category. I love history especially the Greeks which it has. I also love action and fight monsters that you don't see everyday and this books sure covers this all right. Another thing I enjoy which is weird is riddles and this book has prophecies that are composed of tons of riddles. I also love to read book that has some romance and awkwardness but not tons. One last thing that really makes this book the whole 9 yards is its charcters who have real, authentic personalities and cool powers like controlling water and shapeshifting. I would say this book is perfect to anyone who loves those things. I would put it higher that Divergent series by a long way, this is easily my most favorite series I have ever read and highly recommend it to anyone. Thats all for now, I am close to finishing the 3rd book and moving on to the 4th and by the way, they keep getting better. :)

Review of The Lost Hero

     The Lost Hero was so good I read the last 350 pages in 2 days. I think that this book is easily one of my favorites and should be rated high as well. I love history and the Greek Gods have always fascinated me. I love reading if I can find a book that satisfies my tastes of action and interesting backgrounds; then I will read that book as fast as I can. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who liked the Percy Jackson series and is interested in Greek and Roman Gods. 

     One thing I loved about the book overall is that it connects to the other world of Percy Jackson and the Greek side of the story. I loved the Jackson series and to have it all connected was a huge bonus because I wouldn't want to have to start all over again. I also think Riordan made a great transfer to Jason being the 'main character because he is so common to Percy that it feels almost like the same person. This book is also setting up for Percy to come back in the next book and that would be amazing if Riordan can make his beloved Percy come into this series also. I hope Riordan does make this connection into this series because I loved the other one and would love to see some of the book have Percy Jackson do some chapters and make it like old times. 

     Another thing I loved about this series is the uncanny similarities to the Jackson series. One thing I noticed is that Riordan use 3 characters and two of them are getting more serious about there relationship. This is exactly how Percy and his series was like. Another thing I noticed is how the leader of the group is always scared he can't succeed and doesn't want to be in power. I think not wanting power is a great leader quality because then the leader won't try to take it all when he is placed with power. I also noticed that they have an ability to really make the Gods mad at them and not create friends among them. Al though these similarities might seem small they make the reader still interested in the book because these are similar to the other series.

    Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Gods or the Percy Jackson series. I don't recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read the Percy Jackson series.

The Lost Hero

     I am so far 137 pages into my book and have been enjoying the book so far. This book brings back some memories from the 6th grade when I started and finished the Percy Jackson series because the plot line is the same. I like the plot similarities now because I feel like this is the same world more than I would have if it was different. In my previous blog I felt that Riordan was just copying and milking off his other successful series but now I realize that he is just trying to show you the same world in a different point of view.
    
     My favorite part of this book is how Riordan splits chapters by different points of view and I think that this is a great technique for helping the reader understand the characters better and the decisions they make which effect the overall plot. This technique is really mastered when he creates secret that you don't learn about a main character because you see the point of view from another person and this is fun and creative. This change in character perspective is sort of new to me, I have only read this once before and it makes the variety in books a lot more enjoyable.

     One thing that I hoped for was that a main character be a son or daughter of Zeus and one of the characters is (don't want to spoil anything). This fulfillment has made me one of the happiest readers I think a person can be towards a book. When I found out that he/she was a son or daughter of Zeus I was thinking of how obvious it was. I missed so many clues that it embarrassed me but I was still happy that it happened.

     My final point that I want to make is the absence of Percy has made me upset a lot over the book. I enjoyed having Percy's character in the book because he was exactly like Jason and could be a strong leader. I think though in the next book that Percy will come back and effect the book a lot.
 

Start of The Lost Hero

     I am starting a new series and I have chosen the Heroes of Olympus series. The first book in the series is; The Lost Hero. This book so far is about the main characters of Jason, Piper, and Leo who are close to mirroring the main characters in the Percy Jackson series. I have read all the Percy Jackson books and enjoyed the Gods and how the story focused on the demigods fighting with the Gods. This story begins with a similar problem, the Gods are having problems again and the demigods have to do something to save them.

     So far this story has been all about these three characters going through a mystical creature and learning that they are sons and daughters of the Gods. In the fight Jason, who is uncannily similar to Percy fights off the beast and saves everyone. Then people from the Percy Jackson series show up, one being Annabeth who thought she was going to find her boyfriend there, Percy. The group gets hauled over to Camp Half-blood which is in a little chaos of itself from a dragon running rampant.

     This book has been so far the same mirrored story as the Lightening Thief. I like how Riordan is trying to make his stories connect but he is writing and reusing the same plot line and story. This makes me a little mad because I want something fresh from the Roman side of the story. I almost feel like I am reading the same story again and I don't like that, especially because I have seen other authors make this transition. I hope the more I get into the book that the story strays a little bit more away from the Jackson  series.

Shakespeare

     In our Language Arts class we are reading Romeo and Juliet; the author, well known, is Shakespeare. When I was doing research on Shakespeare I read a lot of how Shakespeare had done things that were almost business like. One thing I read was about how Shakespeare bought a gatehouse property and was said never have lived in it. This tells me he was waiting for the property cost to go up and sell it for a profit or Shakespeare was loaning out the gatehouse to customers. This is a risk and an business man thing to do. He must have known what he was doing because he sold it years later when the city got bigger.

     One other curious thing Shakespeare did was buying stock in a business that he was a high ranking officer in. Stocks are also a thing that buisness men do to help make more money, along with investing in their own company. These actions started to get me thinking on why Shakespeare wrote and did what he did. Did Shakespeare want to be rich instead of being known as a great play writer? Did Shakespeare really do any plays or did he just buy them in business deals? Or was Shakespeare just an overall intelligent person?

     In my opinion I think Shakespeare was more of a business man than a play writer. This is what I think Shakespeare wanted to really do. You might say that Shakespeare was a great writer and if he wanted to be a business writer he should have gone to business school. I learned from my research that all boys his age went to grammar school and other writing schools for education. Shakespeare being a smart business man would have known that he should use what he's skilled at to earn money and then from that job invest it into stocks and property. An according to a chronological timeline this is what Shakespeare did. Shakespeare became known then he started to use his wealth to help invest in business.

     One more thing before I finish my blog is about the "Lost Years of Shakespeare." These 2-4 years of  Shakespeare's life could of been spent doing anything; glove making, apprenticeship, or business school. This is a bit of a stretch but I think this could of been where Shakespeare learned his knowledge of making money and stocks.

Review of Insurgent

     Usually I do summaries and reviews together because that makes sense so you know what I'm talking about but since I did an extensive summary in the last book I feel repeating would be a waste of time. So if you want a lead into or refresher on Insurgent, go ahead and read my last post.

     Now that I have that out of the way I can start my review. This book has lots of similarities to the first book to the way it's written and the structure with some plot too. Although as I stressed in my last review of Divergent I told you about how much annoying romance there was and how I didn't enjoy it. Just to give you an idea of the romance level I will give a quick sneak peek, "He [Tobias] kisses me back. His hands start on my cheek, and then brushes over my side, fitting to the bend in my waist, curving over my hip, sliding to my bare leg, making me shiver. I press closer to him and wrap my leg around him. My head buzzes with nervousness, but the rest of me seems to know what it's doing, because it all pulses to the same rhythm, all wants the same thing: to escape itself, and become part of him instead." Now if you don't think that is somewhat romantic then you might want to read it again. This scenario happens through the book all the time and has really been annoying rather than cute or well placed. I do know this is bias because I'm a guy and that's not what I'm looking for in a book but then again this is my review so if you don't agree put it in a comment or write your own blog post.

     If I ignore the romance I liked the book a lot and read it in about a week, I don't like reading at all and this was a great accomplishment for me. I don't usually pump out 500 page plus books in a week so I enjoyed the story and how fast I could read it with comprehension of what's going on. This should tell you how much I liked the book. This book was one full of mysteries and bound of twists. The minute you thought you knew something was going to happen something completely different happens and it was fun. I like books where I have to solve some of the pieces not just looked at the finished puzzle. The author makes you see multiple points of views and motives of people that fueled the conflict and made Tris want to go on this wild journey. I just want to say if you like twists and enjoy books with complicated plots then this book is perfect.

     My final thing I have to say about the book is Roth's ability to make ever character you meet mean something in the outcome of events, even ones you forgot about from Divergent. I also remember and realize that if you pay close attention to what Roth says then you can predict most of what happens in the future. This reminds me of Scooby-Doo and how one person they met always ended up the criminal. I like a book that can do this with actual twists and not make it too easy to predict. I hope that if you enjoy books like this than you will give this series a try.

Summary of Insurgent 2/3 of the Way Through

     So far what has happened in Insurgent is Tris, Tobias, and abnegation members have been using the Amity campus as a refuge from the Erudite. The Amity are a faction and so far have been neutral for the war between Erudite and Abnegation. Marcus has been working using his political influence to persuade the Amity to help the Abnegation cause but Amity wanting peace are stubborn to join. Tris a curious person has been lurking around the Amity compound and stumbled onto Marcus the only leader left of the Abnegation talking to the Amity leader. Marcus talked about how the Abnegation were hiding secret and powerful information that Jeanine wanted to know since she loves information and was suspiciously dangerous. Once Jeanine found out the information she wanted all the people who also knew the information to die which is why she planned the attack on the Abnegation in the last book. Tris curious of the information tries to convince Tobias; boyfriend and son of Marcus to help her find the secret information but Tobias thinks to bias and decides not to help her and calls the idea crazy.

     While Tris is once again snooping around the compound she hears cars which are only driven by the Erudite. Tris in panic decides to warn the other refugees and tells them to leave. They all decide its too late and decide to hide from the Erudite by blending in. When the Erudite start to catch on they make a run for it and some of the Abnegation died but the main characters survived. Not to give some spoilers I won't tell you which characters did in fact die. The refugees then search for a sanctuary and decided that the factionless could help, this decision was a little biased because they had guns to their heads. The factionless bring the refugees to the factionless headquarters. They are told that they can stay and the other Abnegation are in the Abnegation headquarters again and some of the Abnegation leave to find their former faction. The Factionless also told the Dauntless refugees that the faction has divided into halves, some with the Erudite and some with the Candor. The group of Dauntless refugees in the factionless and with Tris. When they get to Candor they are surrounded by Dauntless soldiers, the soldiers capture and arrest Tris and Tobias only under the charges of treason. They must go under trial for there part in the serum in the last part.While taking the trial they must reveal secrets and personal layers that will help the Candor people to show they are telling the truth. How much can Tris reveal? Will she cause conflict and outbursts with the secrets she knows, only time can tell?