Dark Souls 2 Blog

Greg Meyer

This blog will be about Dark Souls 2, Scholar of the First Sin for PlayStation 4.  Dark Souls 2, Scholar of the First Sin is the Dark Souls game to play for anyone who is new to Dark Souls. The game is more simple than the other Dark Souls games in the trilogy, with a simple task to go to a king and break a curse instead of a complicated scheme to bring back light. The graphics were okay, but they seemed no different from the graphics for PS3. The game was really fun and it was a genius idea to be able to take any of the paths to a great one in any order.  I was confused on how to get past the central area of the castle,  so that prevented me from completing the game.  It was a convenience that it was easier to find souls in this game than in any of the other Dark Souls games. I wish in the game that each class had  more variety in stamina, because each character seemed to have had the same amount of stamina. I was hoping that there would be indictments in this game, especially considering the fact that there were dark invaders in the game. I thought that the bosses were too generic and small, they were not very creative.

 

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The Giver review

 

The Giver was an interesting and exciting book that made me want to keep reading. What I liked the most about The Giver was how it always left you wondering what will happen next. The book was a little short and had little detail. There were not a good amount of dreams given to Jonas that the book talked about and his dreams were mainly just about physical pain and lacked dreams with emotional pain. The ending of the book was disappointing and I wish Louis Lowry would have made just one book with a resolving ending instead of making three more books. I am confused by the beginning where Jonas sees a jet is important. I like how the conflict is persistent and makes the book very dramatic. I thought this book had a very noticeable plot. It also had an abundance of rhetorical devices that completed the book. The setting was very mysterious, for there is no description on what state this book takes place. I like the enthusiasm that Jonas shows compared to the other normal people. I don’t agree with every decision Jonas makes, but he does it for a good reason that I can understand.

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas

Empire of Storms is the fifth installment of the Throne of Glass series written by Sarah J. Maas. This novel follows the main character Aelin Galathynius and the viewpoint of many others imperative to the plot and looming war. The different points of view make Aelin fall into the shadows more and allow her to do things that the reader wouldn’t expect, which I quite liked. With writing many different points of view, you often find that the plot went dry, a certain point of view was boring, or it just wasn’t needed to advance the story, yet Maas was able to avoid this by adding layers and interesting plots to add lovable depth to each character. The way the paths of each character intertwined was fun to follow, and if their stories had not been developed properly throughout the series I would have found myself overwhelmed with the amount of characters.

Maas’ writing is beautiful and dramatic, which works wonderfully with the high fantasy genre. She can create such vivid scenes and creatures throughout her series such as the wyverns and the different geographical locations. The map at the beginning of the book was very helpful, and the sheer length of the series allowed us to explore nearly every part of Erilea (the novella The Assassin’s Blade also helps with this and additional back story that I would recommend reading before the first book Throne of Glass so you can understand a few subtle references placed throughout the series) and I often found myself thinking as the characters would to predict where the best place for them to go next would be.

Despite the charm of her series, I do find that when the story slows down, it really slows. I would find myself painfully trying to read through a chapter or two until I gave up and set the book down for a month or two. These slow parts aren’t usually that long, and I was probably a bit impatient as some of my friends got through the book without having to stop. When the slow parts are over, Empire of Storms becomes incredibly fast paced and intense. The final one hundred pages were the most enjoyable and action packed for reasons I can’t reveal for sake of spoilers.

Empire of Storms has lots of romance to accompany the action, which is good, but I found myself a bit upset that every single one of her characters had to be in romantic relationships, even the ones that seemed best single or good friends with each other. The book does have a warning on it for explicit scenes and although there are only two, it’s worth mentioning if you aren’t a fan of that or a younger reader.

Overall, this was an entertaining, action packed book that really built up anticipation for the war and fear for beloved characters that will be front and center in the final installation Kingdom of Ash coming October 23rd, 2018. The next book in the series is called Tower of Dawn which follows Chaol, who wasn’t present in Empire of Storms. I have not read this book yet but will review it when I do.

I would rate Empire of Storms a 7.5 / 10.

The Princess and the Pea

PART ONE

This is no ordinary princess and the pea story. I should know, for I saw it all. Yes, yes, even in times where I would be seen, I was there. An unexpected heroine is discovered in this story, and she changes everything. Twists and turns make this story an exciting one. There are surprises around every corner, ones you won’t see coming, foolish human! This is the story of a prince, princess, warrior, and of course, the pea. Oh, I must go soon! I see you still have one question on your mind. Who am I? I hear you asking. Ha ha! Well, as for that, my newest acquaintance, you will find out soon enough. 

In a far off kingdom there was an enchanted forest. Beyond that forest was a castle, where the king, queen, and princess spent their days. The princess was not allowed outside the castle walls, because of the dangers in the forest. For one, there were the mysterious goblins who always had tricks up their little sleeves. There were also the mischievous pixies and elves, who found a way to get on your nerves faster than you can say “magic”. The babbling brook will talk your ear off if you don’t cross fast enough. Drawbridges open at any given second. If you stumble upon a patch of four-leaf clovers, don’t pick any, or else you’ll receive bad luck. The giant flower meadow lives up to its name – the flowers reach past 60 feet tall! But those are only some of the dangerous wonders of the enchanted forest.

The king and queen wanted their daughter to be the most beautiful, most graceful, and most protected princess in the kingdom. After all, they believed she was a true princess.

I must interrupt here. There were two types of princesses in this realm. The royal princess, a girl born into the royal family, and a true princess, a princess who met all expectations. Those expectations were: Beauty, Gracefulness, Loyalty, Kindness, Respect, and, above all, the ability to feel a single pea under twenty mattresses. Continue on, I’m done for now.

The royal rulers protected their princess and made sure she met every expectation. However, they were forgetting one. The king and queen decided to wait until the princess’s 15th birthday before she would be tested for true princess quality. The test with the pea. In another kingdom, just beyond the enchanted forest’s border line, another king and queen protected their prince, and made sure he was eligible for the princess on the other side of the forest.

Soon, the day came when the prince had to travel through the enchanted forest and meet the princess on the other side. He packed his bags and saddled his horse. After saying good-bye to his parents, he took off into the forest to reach the other castle. Not even a mile into the forest and the prince was met with his first challenge.

Ooooooo this is about to get good! Sorry, sorry. Keep reading.

A cluster of brightly colored goblins revealed themselves from their hiding places behind toadstools.

“EE CHAA!!” a red one, probably their leader, cried out.

“YAA WOO!!” the others responded.

The other goblins surrounded the prince, some holding spears and others wielding potions.

“What?! Hey! Back off, little trolls!” the prince yelled, taking out his sword.

“KAK KROO!! KAK KROO!!” The goblins screamed in terror.

The prince raised his sword, ready to strike, for he believed the goblins were threatening him.

The chief goblin screeched out “YAK YAK YOOOOO!! EE CHA, YA MABOOO!!”

While the prince was distracted from the chief’s yelling, a purple goblin and a green goblin jumped up onto the horse and started stealing things from the prince’s satchel, replacing the looted items with exploding fruits.

What did I say? Those little rascals are full of tricks!

The prince swings his sword around, and when the gleaming weapon is inches from the goblin’s head, a bright green arrow comes flying through the air, knocking the sword from the prince’s hand.

“Leave my friends alone!” someone called out.

Yes, my friend, the warrior has arrived.

The Elementals – book 1 – How it All Started

Chapter 7 – Hickory and Thunder

“Well,” Hickory starts, “It happened six years ago.” He takes a deep breath, as if the story were long and painful.

“Go on,” Earth says, nodding to Hickory.

“Six years ago, I realized I was different. I told my parents I was, but they just told me that everyone is different in their own way. So I started keeping a journal of all that happened to me. Talking to animals, identifying trees and plants off the top of my head, turning into a lion, to name a few. I still have that at home, and my parents have never found it. Just now, I realized that I’m not alone. I’m not the only one with these elemental powers. I have you, Earth. And as I got older, I started doing things I hadn’t before. Growing plants out of my hands, turning into other animals, things that you just did a few minutes ago. Thank the spirits of nature I met you, Earth. Cause now I know I’m not alone on this.” Hickory looks at Earth, and exhales, releasing all his tension.

“Well, that was sappy,” Thunder says. “Time for my story.”

Marina gleefully squeals and daintily claps, happy to hear Thunder’s back story.

“It started six years ago, just like all of you, and it was hurricane season. My house was right in the path of the hurricane, and we had to run for shelter. We quickly packed bags and ran out to our car. That was when it hit – the hurricane. I saw a glowing blue orb in the center of the storm. I hopped out of the car, like the heroic six-year-old I was, and–”

“Wait, wait, wait! Is this actually real?!” Earth interrupted. “What SIX YEAR OLD would go running into a destructive storm, chasing after some glowing ball that happened to be his favorite color?!”

“I would,” Thunder continued. “Anyway, I hopped out of the car and sprinted towards the bright blue light. My parents screamed at me, telling me to come back to them. I didn’t listen. I was drawn to the orb, as if it were calling me. I slowly made my way through the storm, reaching for the orb. I came to it, and reached out. I touched the orb, and was flung back.”

Marina gasped and covered her eyes.

“The storm went away with me, and all was clear. Blue lines appeared in my hair, and I realized that whenever it rained, I could control how much rain there was, when it started and stopped, and I could bounce it back and forth as if it were a toy. There. That was waaaay better than my bud Hickory’s story,” Thunder finishes.

“Well,” Earth says, “Now we all know that we are alike, and shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”

Then the alarm sounded.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Jonathan Harker, an English lawyer, is traveling to the Castle Dracula in Transylvania, to transfer real estate in England to Count Dracula. Harker becomes nervous when all of the local citizens react in fear after they hear of where he is going; regardless, he continues on the road to the castle until he meets the Count’s driver in the Borgo Pass. The mysterious coach driver drives on to the castle, arriving in pitch darkness, surrounded by the howling of wolves.

 

Even though his rooms are comfortable, Harker finds Count Dracula to be a strange man and Harker is confused when, after accidentally cutting himself shaving, the Count lunges at Harker’s throat in “demoniac fury.” Harker soon finds himself locked inside the castle and attacked by three female vampires, whom he can barely fight off. Harker also discovers the Count’s secret, which is that he drinks human blood to survive and, now he wants to kill Harker. The Count escapes Jonathan’s attempt to kill him, and he leaves the castle with boxes of earth, toward England. Jonathan Harker is now weak, sick, and left alone with no way of escaping from the castle.

Back in England, Dracula is wreaking havoc on Harker’s family and friends. With the help of Van Helsing and others they finally track down Dracula and put an end to his destruction.

I definitely recommend this book if you like a good classic with a mix of romance and horror.

Infinity’s Shore

Review by notverygeneric

Infinity’s Shore by David Brin is one of four books depicting the tale of the starship Streaker and her crew. In the two Uplift trilogies, races of the Five Galaxies gain status by finding pre-sapient races and uplifting them to sapience. Unfortunately humans uplifted themselves into sapience, causing widespread problems in Galactic culture. As a “wolfling” race they would have been “adopted” into another clan, and forced into the customary 100,000 years of service for the reward of sapience, had they not already uplifted chimpanzees and dolphins. Streaker was the first dolphin-crewed ship to be commissioned for research purposes. On its first mission it went to a cluster of old red suns…and, unfortunately, found exactly what it was looking for: Starships, billions of years old and the size of moons.

Suddenly, Streaker was on the run, escaping brilliantly a twelve-fold ambush as soon as it left for home. Dozens of races tried to get its bounty, offering huge sums for its capture, but Streaker continued to outsmart them all, escaping a siege on the watery world of Kithrup. When the dolphins tried to make contact with the supposedly neutral Navigation Institute at Oakka, they were ambushed again and had to run as NavInst proved not as neutral as they hoped. Now they are trapped on the planet Jijo, where six different races, many condemned to extinction, live in hiding. But somehow, a Jophur ship—full of fearsome stacks of waxy rings—has followed them and is threatening the races with genocide. This is a great series to read because of the unique situation the story is told in, and a great series to buy.