Undead

Though it is a commonly knowledge fact that Johnathan Maberry's "Rot and Ruin" series are the best YA zombie books out there, "Undead" by Kirsty McKay begs to differ.
     Life could not get worse for Bobby.  Not only was she forced to attend a class skiing trip with a class that hates her, a twist of fate leaves her sequestered in the school bus with the class bad boy, Smitty.  So, cue the teenage hormones and romance or the blood, guts, gore, maggots, carrot men, explosions, and . . . zombies? Joined by the pasty-faced albino nerd (Pete) and the head cheerleader (Alice aka Malice), the teenagers face down horrors such as surveillance cameras, vegetable juice, shrink-wrapped sandwiches, and the undead armed with ski equipment and their own ingenuity.  The only thing that would have been worse was if they'd gotten off the bus in the first place . .
.

I say that this is better than "Rot and Ruin" any day. No, I never did a review of "Rot and Ruin" though, yes, it is generally considered the best zombie book out there--every other zombie book gets compared to it. And, yes, Tom Imura might possibly be the most sympathetic zombie-hunter out there, but halfway through "Dust and Decay," the second book, I fell asleep. So, obviously, Tom Imura, his bratty little brother, that--girl-who-wants-revenge-but-was-basically-brought-along-for-kicks, the-kid-who-didn't-want-to-be-there-and-kept-getting-into-trouble, and the girl who was mysterious-and-oh-so-hot couldn't hold my interest for all that long.  (Oh, and I might have given away the whole plot line for the first two books.  Sorry.)
     Smitty, on the other hand, is very interesting. Possibly that could be because he is insane, unlike the Imuras who are reasonable and posses the power of forethought 50% of the time.  I highly doubt that Tom Imura would chop a zombie's head off with a snowboard.
      Anyway, and now I'll stop with the "Rot and Ruin" references, this book is my sort of book.  Plenty of guts and gore without the prominent and exaggerated battle scene towards the end, because the battle is all through out the book.  Also, there is plenty of inanity.  The whole plot is insane.  The characters are insane. The whole thing's fantastic.
      I did know what was causing people to rise again before the characters did, but that didn't ruin the plot too much.  I also figured out who was behind the whole thing, because it was a bit typical, but it didn't ruin any of the fun.  The last paragraph, though, has a twist that annoys me so much . . . My teeth clench up just thinking about it. Why do people do such things to me!?!
      My favorite character is Bobby.  At first, you get the sense that she's a reasonable heroine, the type you usually get. Yes, she is a reasonable heroine, I do agree with that, but her reasonable isn't what most people would consider reasonable. The things that seem practical to her wouldn't necessarily seem practical to me, or most normal people, in the same situation. She isn't like a lot of modern-day heroines, though, becoming despondent when something isn't working out her way (Miss Everdeen?  No, we weren't just talking about you, were we?). There is almost no one else I would rather be stuck in a truck stop with during the zombie apocalypse.
      Her supporting cast is also amazing.  Smitty, as I've already mentioned. A bad-boy to rival Ronan Lynch, (though Ronan would come out on top because Ronan's amazing).  Pete is an amazing nerd.  I classify myself among their number, and I feel that though he does not represent the majority he is definitely amazing, and that is the only word I have. What dude could not notice that they have a piece of metal shelving sticking out of his head?  His madness knows no bounds of genius.  And, of course, Alice, nicknamed Malice by Smitty.  A cheerleader with an attitude.  She's not your stereotypical ditz, but she does think she is better than the other characters.  Since they out number her 3:1, though, that does get interesting quickly.
      "Undead" came out in the United States this spring, I think.  I picked it up over the summer and read it twice within the space of a month and half, which says something to the quality because usually I have to wait six months before I can re-read something.  "Unfed," the sequal, just came out on this side of the pond, and I wanted to order it from England earlier, but my mother was taking too long so I'll probably just go over to Barnes and Noble this weekend and get it because seriously, I cannot live with not knowing what happens next any longer.  I'll pull all of my hair out of my head if I'm am forced into waiting.
       So, anyways, it's a comedy and a disaster and a train wreck that you can't stop watching.  Turn around.  Run away. Save yourself.  And beware carrots bearing gifts.

The Raven Boys

Maggie Stiefvater was excellent in the anthology "The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories," but I have been lax in reviewing her books, a mistake I will rectify by drawing your attention to the first in her new(ish) triology:   "The Raven Boys."
     
Blue's first love will die after she kisses him.  Gansey wills stop at nothing to find a sleeping, hidden Welsh king of ages past. Blue knows that Gansey will die before the year is out, and because she knows that she knows that she will be the one to kill him.  Gansey is a Raven Boy, an elite and privilege student in the local private school who can make you believe he has everything under control. In Blue's race to save Gansey's life, she may end up killing him.
        Never trust a Raven Boy.

I was not a fan of Maggie Stiefvater's "Shiver" series, because I do not really put up with books that are merely about romance for the sake of romance.  I did like her "Scorpio Races" which was much better, though there was a lot of romance in there, but it was just for the sake of romance.  There were also flesh-eating horses, which is always a bonus.  "The Raven Boys" is by far the best novel she's written, and though it has romance it's romance-y with the threat of death.  So, that's perfectly acceptable.
        Also, it has my favorite thing.  A cast of absolutely crazy characters.  Blue is the main character.  She's a pretty standard tough-girl female heroine, but not in a bad way.  She has her own personality and is not stereotypical at all.  At first, I thought because she didn't have any physic powers the main conflict in the book would be her attaining the powers that were meant to be hers, or something awful and perfectly predictable like that.  I am happy to report, though, that that is not the part of the book.  Throughout the book she remains normal, but also a cut ahead of standard.  Blue is, put simply, I character that I would like to be. Though, I guess I didn't read the description of her appearance close enough, because I never get why Noah says she has spiky hair.
       The Raven Boys are also fantastic.  Noah--we'll discuss Noah in a minute, but Noah is awesome.  Gansey is the ring-leader, who is arrogant, well-intentioned, determined, and hardly able to see past the tip of his own nose.  Metaphorically, of course. Adam is the shy guy who is equally, if not more, determined to make a place for himself in the world. And, of course Ronan Lynch is your bad boy. His father was killed in front of him, so he enjoys getting drunk and getting into fist fights, as well as feeding baby ravens at the crack of dawn.  The juxposition in his personality makes him one of my favorite characters.  Oh, and if you couldn't tell, he's Irish.  (I am too, so I find it amusing.)
      Now, onto Noah.  Since this is Maggie Stiefvater, you accept that you are in her sort of off-kilter world the moment you open the cover (the off-kilter part of the world being flesh eating horses and whacked-out werewolves).  So, one of the first things that Noah says--or, more specifically, is said about Noah in Noah's presence--is sort of strange.  But, hey, this is fiction, so you accept it. Then, about seventy-five pages from the end of the book, everyone all goes like 'Omigod! Noah's actually _______ !' but you're like 'uh, yes, I knew that when Declan first said that, dummies.'  Anyways.  That still doesn't stop Noah from being awesome.
       The plot of this book is pretty good, with enough twists to keep you occupied.  Some of the things I like are the fact that:
             1) A relaxed atmosphere is maintained for the better part of the book.  It's the calm before the storm.  And, maybe people do find out who their true selves are in the face of adversary  but occasionally you want to meet the people before you are thrust into their fight with their adversary   You get to see the personalities of Blue and the Raven Boys fully develop before everything begins to crumble into pieces.
             2) Everyone knows something's going to happen.  It's said multiple times by multiple people.  Occasionally in books it's like normal-normal-normal-normal-DISASTER!  That is a very annoying habit. Because disaster doesn't come on suddenly, you can see it brewing for a while off.  In this book, you can.  Even though it's calm, you can see the storm brewing on the horizon  and you can see that despite all of the build-up and wait, it's going to be one dang good storm.
          Though, sadly, I think I already know what Gansey is going to wish for when he finds the Welsh king. (You get one wish if you find the king. It's not like I'm giving everything away, because it's told to you almost straight off.)  I mean, if you think about it it's pretty obvious.  But, maybe there will be some devastating twist and it won't actually happen that way.  Or, maybe, it'll happen the way I think it will happen and it won't be half-bad because I'm secretly a sap at heart.
          Even if the ultimate ending appears to be a bit predictable, the ending is anything but, and it is fantastic.  Everything is evening out perfectly, coming together in a happy ending in sort of a creepy/sad way.  Happy endings are always nice when they aren't too sappy.  And then my one of my favorite characters says something spectacular.  One of the best things about that line is that it hardly makes any sense.  (You know that you have a good book when the last sentence hardly makes any sense whatsoever, yet you still want to know what it means.)
        And, on that note, I might tell you that the sequel is called "The Dream Thief" is coming out on September 17th (2013, in case you're a time traveler and you were wondering what year you are in), and from the looks of it it's going to be focused around one of my favorite characters, namely one who's bald and tattooed and failing out of school and evidently has a penchant for stealing dreams.
         What did I say?  Never trust a Raven Boy.

http://maggiestiefvater.com/  I haven't looked at it yet, but it looks like a pretty interesting website, which is always good, because usually book websites can be very, uh, dull.

Rotters

What does it mean to be dead?  "Rotters" by Daniel Kraus has the answer.

Secrets are best left buried next to the skeletons in the closet, but it's hard to keep them down there when the source of your livelihood is buried six feet under, locked in a wooden box, and nestled between the pale white ribs of the ones best left in the closet.  The order of the grave robbers is an old and ancient one that's gasping its final breaths when two unexpected things happen:  Joey's mother dies, and a colleague commits the worse sort of heresy possible.  There's beauty in death, if you're around it long enough, as pale and as cold as it is.  The trouble is, if you accept death as your love, you're halfway there yourself.  Joey's drowning in a sea of bones, rats, and lies that are older than he is because nothing will ever be as it seems when you're the Resurrectionist's son.

This is not a book about zombies.  This is not a book about romance. Well, there is love, but it's not romance, really. This is not a book about happiness.  In fact, Daniel Kraus makes Lemony Snicket look like a Care Bear. This is not a book that has any definable parameters.  This is not a book that one raves and gushes about, because in a way, it's too sacred for that.
       This book does not have any definable parameters because it is so many things.  At first, it seems like a realistic fiction book, in which a boy's mother dies and then he has to go live with his horrible father and go to a horrible school where everyone picks on him, including the teachers. For a while there, you think that he's going to do alright, get the girl of his dreams, rise up from his underdog status, and show those bullies their proper places, etc. like in a lot of other books.  Then, you realize that you still have 3/4's of the book to go, you haven't even figured out why the name of the book is 'Rotters,' and that there's a picture of a shovel sticking out of the dirt next to a tombstone on the cover.
       After you get out of the part where it's all a nightmarish high-school fantasy, it gets pretty twisted.  Excuse me, really twisted.  But, that is the most fantastic part about it. In the beginning it's pretty tame.  They rob graves, big whoop.  It's pretty interesting how Joey's interactions at school are directly influenced by his 'graveyard shift' (excuse me, I had to).  He is one of the most dynamic characters I've seen, and even as he steps away from being what fundamentally made him Joey in the beginning of the book and he stops being recognizably Joey, he is still Joey.  It's rare to find a character that changes so absolutely, completely, and believably over the course of one book.
      The high school drama also serves to anchor the book.  In the end of the book, when there is no more high school stuff and everything gets dramatically more weird, the book gets almost dreamy, because there's nothing there that you can really connect with.  Yet, it's better for that.  The book becomes more because true understanding of the real situation lies on the peripheral of your understanding.  It doesn't make any sense now, while you're reading this, but it makes a lot of sense while you're reading the book.  Which, I hope you do, because it's a fantastic book.
     The whole thing with the dudes chasing after the dad because he robbed the grave after he saw the rat king is a bit absurd, though.  If I saw an evil omen, I would've gone back to my house and sat there for a while and thought some before I jumped the gun and did.  It seemed completely out of everything we knew about the Resurrectionist's character.
      Speaking of character, the characters are very.  As you know by now, I like a decently sized cast of personable characters.  This book has two main characters--Joey, and his dad, though, I would suppose you'd be amiss if you didn't count Baby as a main character, so say you have three main characters--and really, only a few of them converse at a time.  Half of the characters in the book are repulsive, and the other half are reclusive.  They are personable,if personable means they have their quirks, but they are a very odd sort of personable.  None of them are loud or overly sarcastic, which is more my style, but most are quietly cynical. And then there are, of course, the few people who devote themselves to a cause with a whole-hearted passion, which I don't really understand, but I almost can, per the style of the writing.  The only person you really connect to is Joey, and the only one you really, really like is Ike or Joey's father's mentor.  Yeah.  But everyone's personality is fantastic, even if you hate them.  Each are their own person, and you forget that they are merely characters in a book.
       The world they live in is vivid, if not bright.  A good book will keep you anchored by not moving to new places every other page.  Many places in this book are revisited and reused, so it feels like you've actually been somewhere, not skimmed by it. That doesn't make any sense either. Excuse me.
      In this day and age, people are easily offended, so I'm going to tell you that there is a bit of a religious undertone.  He doesn't go to church, but there's a dude that comes around frequently telling him that his soul needs to be saved.  And then there the two-fingered Jesus.  I mean, I don't know what people's boundaries are, and I am an open-minded person who doesn't really get people's boundaries, so I thought I would just put that out there.
      And so, now to the ending.  All I'm going to say is that it is a pretty open-ended ending, one that's fantastic and creepy and mysterious and brings up more questions than it does answers.  It's the sort of ending that leads to a sequel, in most cases, but if anyone makes a sequel to this I will personally bring them to their grave because perfection should not be messed with, and, anyways, what could be a better resolution than that?  So, for once, I am pretty pleased with an ending. That must be some sort of momentous event, no?
        The question that this book is supposed to answer, as I posed up in the beginning--'what does it mean to be dead'--is never answered outright, but you're given enough information to form your own answer.  For me, I think that the moment you die is the moment you stop worrying about whether you're truly alive.

http://danielkraus.com/rotters.php  Watch the video by Vorvolakas (that's a band that plays a significant part in the book).  It's pretty creepy, once you get into.  And, I think they're chanting 'pain will not escape you,' or something of that kin, but I'm too sure.  His other books look pretty cool, too.

My Quest (THIS IS NOT A BOOK TITLE)

Hello. As you have discovered, I am a singular person.  I am also a person with a lot of time on my hands, much of which I devote to reading and writing.  Sadly, though, what I've found of reading material lately all seem to fall into the same pattern.  You go into Barnes&Noble to spend that last ten dollars on that gift card left over from Christmas, and everything's the same:

                 girl (with uncontrolled superpowers) <3 boy + 2 of them must go out to end the apocalypse/solve high school drama fiasco/help fill in the blank deal with *insert tragedy here*

Or, some variation of that.  Basically, what I'm trying to say is that with the commercialization of the Young Adult novel--especially the genre of dystopian, from what I've observed) has come the decline of the sophisticated (or, at least interesting) plot.
        This is a pretty petty problem, I am well aware.  I could be using my time to do something helpful to society, but I'm not.  Excuse me, society, but all I want to do is read a good book.  But, I can hardly find them.  Do you know how much junk I have to read to find at least one good book to post on?  Or, how many book summaries that are practically exactly the same, even though they're from different authors, to find a goodly amount of books to take home from the library?
         Because of this, I am striving to weed out the books that still retain the plot and integrity that so many others have given up to be part of the mainstream.  I don't know how many people will actually read this, and out of those people who will actually care, but if anyone has any good books that they've read that they think are unique could you tell me about them?  I would love to read them.
       Thank you. :]

The Munstrumologist

                                                  mun-strum-ol-o-gy, n.
                1. The study of life forms generally
               malevolent to humans and not recognized
              by science as actual organisms, specifically
             those considered products of myth or folklore.

                2.The act of hunting such creatures.  

"The Munstrumologist" by Rick Yancey is probably the most gruesome book I have ever read. I do not exaggerate when I say that it is fantastic.
          Anthropophagi:  Headless beats with mouths in the center of their abdomen, eyes on each of their shoulder blades  and a nearly insatiable thirst for human flesh.  Doctor Warthrop: One of the foremost experts on Munstrumology and the habits of such ferocious beasts, a man with an ego bigger than most planets. The Situation?: An infestation of man-eating beasts in a small New England town in the late 1800s. Jack Kearns:  The man that's brought in to kill them. Will Henry:  The twelve year-old boy that's forced to bear witness to it all.  Someone has created a river of blood and a path of destruction, bringing dangerous beasts into this town.  Blinded by pride, it's impossible to see.  And that can have deadly consequences.

Warning:  If you are squeamish, do not read this book.  If you have an aversion to graphic descriptions, mostly involving decapitations or bugs eating people alive, do not read this book.  If you do not like the possibility that there might be monsters underneath your bed at night, do not read this book.  But, if you relish those things, then, by all means.  Please, I beg you.  Read away.
         The book is told from Will Henry's point of view, looking back on past events.  At least, that's what it's supposed to be, but it reads like your average first-person past-tense novel.  But, because he's telling you, though, and you're not supposed to be submerged within the situation to the extent that you're supposed to be in other first-person scenarios, when something is hidden from you it doesn't feel like a glaring omission. Will Henry, though, is portrayed as a twelve-year-old boy very well.  You never get the illusion that he's older than his said age, nor do you get the illusion that he's younger, which is a very difficult balance to come by, especially when an adult is writing.
         The doctor is an enigmatic figure. Will Henry feels a very strong loyalty to him, though you can't really understand why because the doctor is not the sort of fellow that you'd want to live with.  The author tries to make it clear that Will Henry has a very strong bond with the doctor by telling you repeatedly, but you only really begin to see the connection near the end of the book.
        Jack Kearns is also a conceited character.  He's the stereotypical 'rouge' character, riding up on his metaphorical white horse, concerned about his appearance, expecting people to bow down to him as he proceeds to save the day, and making witticisms that are amusing to the reader but annoying to the people he's interacting  This character, though, has fewer morals than the Grim Reaper himself (or herself).  There is also a very strange connection from this character to another historical 'legend' that appears at the end of the book.  I don't get it, and I hope that it the author follows up on it in one of the sequels.
       The plot of this book is fairly straightforward.  There aren't very many twists and turns that you can't see coming, but that's okay. Not every book has to be a work of a crazy physiologist (thought, don't we wish that was the case).  In this case, the less elaborate plot--don't get me wrong, it's plenty complicated, but it isn't "Ender's Game" thought-provoking--is preferable, leaving us to focus on what really matters.  Namely, the blood and the guts.
       The language can be a bit troublesome at times.  There are hardly any curse words in it, as far as I can remember, it's just the vocabulary.  It's written in period-vernacular, not exactly old English, but it doesn't dumb anything down.  Which is nice, but sometimes things can get lost among all the pretty words.  Yet another reason not to make the plot so complicated.  And, if you miss something, you can usually pick it up a bit on, because everything has to be reiterated (no one wants to accept things the first time around).
       This book has a fantastic last line, though.  "Yes, my dear child, monsters are real.  I happen to have one hanging in my basement."  I love that line. It's so weird and creepy and gives you such a good picture of what the rest of the book is like.  Should I stop gushing right now?
       I couldn't find the second book, "The Curse of the Wendigo" in the library when I looked for it, but I will be looking for that.  The third book, "Isle of Blood" I believe, was at the library, but there's no point in reading the third book when you haven't read the second. Oh, and, today, (because I know you care so much) I found a tree leaking a strange orange substance in my backyard and I went up and touched it.  So, now I'm terrified that little white worms, no bigger than a hair, will eat me alive.  And I leave you now with that pleasant thought.

http://www.rickyancey.com/monstrumologist/index.php  For some weird reason, this site does not have anything on "Isle of Blood," which results in the fact that I don't really know what the book's called, I'm just hazarding a guess based off of what's in the authors bio.

Insignia

"Insignia," by S.J. Kincaid is "Ender's Game" with a twist.
       Thomas Raines has spent most of his life traveling from casino to casino, waiting for his dad to finally make a big win.  Tom has always been taught to distrust the government, so when a US general shows up and tells Tom that he would be perfect for controlling one of the unmanned drones that does the army's dirty work, fighting for mines and other territories on distant planets during World War III, Tom is apprehensive.  This is a chance for greatness, though, the chance to join the few elite of the Camelot Company--a military group of children who control the robots in Outer Space--and to finally become someone important. Tom's all in until they tell him that he has to get a neural implant, a machine in his brain that would make him just like the people is father always looked down on.  Thomas Raines must get his mind in order in order to make his own big win, because when gambling with your life everything that makes you you is put into question.


I know that it is unfair to compare anything to "Ender's Game" because Orson Scott Card is a genius writer, but this book can hold it's own.  I mean, the premise is basically "Ender's Game" (boy gets taken for military training and plays games instead of learns lessons), but there are a few crucial differences that make the story its own. First, they are not fighting against aliens, they are fighting against other countries, albeit elsewhere in the Solar System.  Second, all of the kids have computers in their brains.
       The main character, Thomas Raines, is a cross between Eli Monpress and Peter Wiggen, which is fantastic, but I'll get to that in a couple of sentances.  The setting, the Pentagon Spire where the cadet kids learn their lessons is a mix of Ender's Battle School and Hogwarts.  These crazy combinations are the perfect mix to create something unique and wild, and the author takes full advantage of that.
        For starters, Thomas Raines is a unique main character.  He has all of the mainuplative slyness of Peter Wiggen, with three-fourths of the ego and all of the creativity Eli Monpress (of "The Legend of Eli Monpress," a series I've yet to review here).  He's a lonely kid who has issues with authority and doing what he's told without questioning.  He is also one of the most interesting characters I've ever read about.  Most characters, one their character and behavioral patterns are established, are relatively easy to predict.  You know what their path of action is going to be before they take it which, when done right, is the sign of good writing.  T'his book, though, can still surprise you.  It's not written in first-person, so you don't know what Tom knows the moment Tom knows it.  You have to wait and watch the character traits develop, which takes a while.  I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not often that you don't know everything about the main character immediately.  When you do know his behavior patterns, it's difficult to predict what he's going to do next, not because of a bad writing style, more because Tom has such a complex personality.  Really, it's refreshing.
         Tom's friends are also amusing too.  Vik, his roommate, is very funny (I think of him as the Doctor of Doom who has a tummy ace  :P), as is Wyatt 'Manhands' Enslowe, Beamer, and Yuri.  Each of them have their own personalities, and while they might be stereotypical on occasions (Vik has a 'mirror character' in "Ender's Game," except the guy in "Ender's Game" was much more serious) they do provide a nice balance to Tom's suicidal recklessness. The characters who are not Tom's 'friends' are also colorful as well as his enemies.  They make sure that the book doesn't get too silly while having a good time.  Well, a good a time as you can have when pretty much everything you have is at stake.
        Pretty much everything happens at the Pentagon Spire.  The division names--and this is where the Hogwarts part of things comes in--are all named after famous commanders.  I forget which division Vik and Tom are him, but Wyatt's in Hannibal.  There is also a Napoleon division, for example.  One of my favorite parts of the book is when the computer coding instructor, Blackburn, sets division against division in a computer code war.  You see, it's funny because with the neural implants in their brains, the 'student-cadets' can be controlled with computer code.  I just get this picture in my head of hoards of dignified military students acting like sheep and eating the shrubbery . . . Anyway, the place is fantastically (and suitably  wacky.  Just the place that I would like to go to school in.
         Of course, just as all school in all fiction books, there are issues with the school.  Or, more importantly, issues with the faculty.  Everyone has their own private agenda in Tom's world, so even among all of the physiological manipulation a tussle is bound to happen eventually.  Most of the book, though, involves mind games and how physical combat incite deep strategical thoughts.
        The plot of the book is very good.  With Tom's relatively unpredictable though-pattern, paired with the cast of both goodies and baddies and the situation that they are all involved in, things are rocky.  Also, the book doesn't focus on one overall problem.  Most mainstream books today follow one or  two conflicts -- 1) the main character saving the world, and 2) the main character's love life and maybe 3) the main character's relationship with various other characters.  Very annoying.  The conflicts in this book is more like 1) to work with or against the system, 2) who to trust and which secrets to keep, 3) the issue with Dominion Agra, 4) the issue with Medusa and the rest of the rival people who have implants in their brain, and 5) the issue that involves issues 2,3, and 4 but is still very much its own issue.  Really, it's very interesting and complex and much better than a lot of stuff that passes for Young Adult material.  It does make for a very thick volume but, hey, all the more room to showcase the many fantastic characters of the Pentagon Spire.
         This is the first book in what is going to be a trilogy.  The second book, "Vortex" comes out on July 2cnd.  That day, you will find me anxiously waiting at Barnes & Noble, because the twenty dollars that I will spend on that book will be a sure bet.

www.sjkincaid.com  The Q&A with the author on the 'home' page is very funny--she has quite a sense of humor--and the 'extras' tab under 'Insignia' (under 'The "Insignia" Series') has a playlist of songs that match up with the book.

Clockwork Princess

"Clockwork Princess," by Cassandra Clare, is the third and final book in the 'Infernal Devices' trilogy.  If you haven't read the first two books in the series, then I would advise that you not read this, as to not spoil them for yourself.
         Mortmain is almost a thought of the past in the London Institute, with Tessa and Jem busy preparing for their wedding and Will's younger sister, Cecily, recently installed into the household.  Then Gabriel Lightwood comes, pounding on the doors of the Institute, with the news that his father has succumbed to the deadly Demon Pox.  London's supply of Yin Fen, the drug that prolongs the life of people who have contracted Demon Pox, has run out.  Jem, who must also take the drug, is days away from death when the message comes that Mortmain will give the London shadow hunters all the Yin Fen that they want, if only they give him Tessa Gray.  The fight comes to the Institute's own front stoop, and the Shadowhunters are forced to reevaluate everything they know, lest they too fall to the Infernal Devices.

I did not like the ending of this book. What ending do I like?  There are only a few perfect endings in the world, and I'll just have to accept that conclusion.  Sadly, this book is not one of the better endings, though the ending is halfway decent, I'll give it that.  But I hate how everyone has to have their cake and eat it too.  I won't say more than that, lest I spoil anything.  Still, though.  Some people have to go home unhappy at the end of the day, don't they?  -- not saying any more--
       I wish that Tessa was more of a spunky heroine.  She's more of a . . . background character, though, even if the whole book is supposed to center around her.  She's more obsessed with her boys then with getting out of . . . wherever she was.  A bit like in the first book, "Clockwork Angel."  Come on, Tessa!  I thought that we had been making progress in "Clockwork Prince!"  But, noooo, Tessa Gray must be some deranged princess.  She does three great acts throughout the whole books, three great acts that show she has a strong spine, and a fourth that isn't so great but, still, it's definitive. But, her strength is not apparent in her speech, and she is described as 'bookish.'  Uh, I can see Tessa as so much more than that.  It's a shame that her full potential isn't realized.
        Jem Carstairs is a bit better.  He's made his decision of how he's going to live his life, illness or not, and he sticks to that, which is admirable.  He does sort of . . . I won't say anything.  I've just never liked his character that much (I prefer Will).  Jem was always a bit of a wallflower, until he decided that he was going to marry Tessa and then boom, now he's his own person.  He hardly talked to Tessa before he decided he was going to marry her!  In my opinion, at least.  So, I never 'knew' him as well as I would have liked to.  And I won't say anything else here, because I could rant for a good while and give away everything.
       Will Herondale is the real break-out character here.  Before this book, you see him as a good man in the throes of a curse that will ruin his life until his dying day.  Here, Magnus has finally told him he's free of the curse and he's free to live his life as he pleases.  Then Jem and Tessa lay it on him that they're getting married, oops, Will, here's your dreams, let's stick 'em to ya.  In this book, he's dealing with his loyalty to both of them, as well as his loyalty to himself.  His inner turmoil is fantastically done.  You can feel what he's feeling with a rare acuteness, and that's a treat, even if most of what he's feeling is self-loathing.
       The Lightwood brothers also become more prominent in this book, which is good in its own way, but it takes away from the drama surrounding the main three characters.  The time that's spent focusing on Gideon and Gabriel is time that we are not focusing on Tessa.  Also, I had trouble remembering which was the older brother (it's Gideon) because both have the same first letter in their name.
       There are some happy parts where the unexpected happens.  Not that that is a happy thing, because the unexpected is usually not so pretty, but it is good all of the same.  Not everyone has to have a happy ending, and that's a lesson we all need to learn in life.  There are also some mushy parts--namely one--which is annoying, because they're just about to fight demons and stuff.  But, Magnus handles it gamely. (Magnus is, like, the most awesome person in both of the Shadowhunter series.)
       The conflicts in these books are always pretty weird, though.  It's all physiological until the last fifty or so pages, and then some big physical conflict happens.  You know what I'm trying to say?  It's almost as though the story arc has been modified to include some gigantic final battle between the two sides, while the rest of the story is entirely about the manipulation of the mind.  And it has some pretty good manipulation.  Cassandra Clare is, as always, very, very good at portraying human emotion in impossible situations.  
       One of the coolest thing about these book are the crossovers between the stories.  Between the two Shadowhunter series, there are some objects and people that are the same (hint, hint, Isabelle's locket, Church the cat) and it's cool to get their origin stories.  The families that participate in both dramas are the same (So, Clary, it isn't your fault--it's genetic), and you get to see what the 'Mortal Instrument' character's great-grandparents were like.  If you get the hardcover book, the paper covering of the books comes off to become a family tree of the Fairchilds, Lightwoods, and Herondales spanning from the 1800s to 2008.
       As mentioned, this is the third book in the 'Infernal Devicies' triology, with the first two books being 'Clockwork Angel' and 'Clockwork Prince,' respectively. I think that 'Clockwork Prince' was my favorite of the three, with 'Clockwork Angel' and 'Clockwork Princess' tied for third.  And, let me tell you, the name 'Clockwork Princess' is a misnomer.  Technically, it's a metaphor, referring to something Mortmain said in the second book.
       Some things are a little too convenient, and other things are a little too perfect, but as always, Cassandra Clare is adept at capturing the tangled webs of human (or warlock, or Shadowhunter) emotion, making 'Clockwork Princess' a tale that's a little too good.  The cast peddles in humor and misery equally, facing an inhuman army with the pure definition of humanity.
        In our world, in our time, everything goes on as planned, but in the London of the 1800s, the Shadowhunters fight their final fight.  THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT PITY.  MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON THEIR SOULS.

The url to the Infernal Devices website is this:  http://www.shadowhunters.com/theinfernaldevices/index.php
Though not as extensive as the Mortal Instruments sight, this one does have some pretty decent 'extras,' including a 'Clockwork Princess' countdown widget, which went into negative numbers 10 days, 9 hours, 48 a minutes, and 47 seconds ago.  I got the picture above from the site (I can't draw that well).  

Eon

"Eon," Allison Goodman, is a novel centered around a girl pretending to be a boy in a fictional setting that closely mimics old feudal China.
       Eon wants to become one with the Rat Dragon. Every twelve years, each dragon chooses a new apprentice to train, and during that year the apprentice from twelve years ago attains unthinkable power.  Beyond this, though, gaining the apprenticeship will mean salvation for her adopted family and the chance to make the world see that Eon is something more than a cripple.  But Eon has a secret--he is actually a girl named Eona. The position of Dragoneye, lord of the dragons, is for men only, and if Eon can pass the trials with his twisted leg he must hide his true nature, or else everyone he knows could be killed.  The fate of the Celestial Empire rests in the hands of a sixteen-year-old girl who can't even begin to know what she's doing, but will do anything she needs to to get the deed done.

It is a very dramatic book, with a pretty commonplace plot, if you think about the plot to the most simplistic extension.  Girl gets power = girl attempt to save world.  Yada de yada de blah.  This, though, is not your normal fantasy.  Most fantasies are based off of European culture.  Take Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance Cycle."  Those books had dragons that bound with humans too, but they're the type of dragons normally found in Europe.  And the bond is for life, etc., but we digress.
        In "Eon," there are 12 Chinese dragons, each one representing one of the symbols of the Chinese years (rat, hare, tiger).  It can get a bit confusing at times, but you are not required to remember all of the names of all 12 Dragoneyes to comprehend what's happening which is a relief. And, the books does a much better job of explaining it than I do.
        Combine this feature with the fact that you're in feudal China and the Emperor is basically a god, things can get very interesting.  I love books where the thought processes are as equally important as the fighting, and there is a lot of intricate politics that Eon has to dance around as he makes his way through court.  One mistake, and his neck could be severed.  It makes for quite an interesting read.
       Eon's character is very interesting in and of itself.  Eon is written as a boy who is aware that he's actually a girl.  So, Eon doesn't have the complete brashness of a male, but he doesn't act like a girl. His thoughts are also schooled in the way of a male's (that's why I'm calling him a 'he'--because he's so absorbed in his chosen gender he ignores his given one).  The only way you would picture him as a girl is if you knew he was a girl previously.  That too, adds another layer of intrigue to the whole thing.  First, because it effects the way things are played out, and second, because if anyone found out, Eon's dead.
       Happy book.
       Moving on to Kygo, the heir to the throne.  He also is a very complicated person.  Raised among the women of the court, he's considered a 'girl' so he does much to prove that he really is a man.  He seems to want to be seen as a benign ruler, but he isn't afraid to impose his power upon others to get what he wants.  Within the court, he has the potential to be one of Eon's greatest enemies, if he ever finds out Eon's secret.  He winds up being one of Eon's greatest allies.  You can almost tell that the violate temper inside of him will lead to something deadly--the only thing that you're unsure of is who he'll strike out at first.
       Lady Dela and Ryko are another strange pair.  Lady Dela is a man who is a woman--basically, the opposite of Eon, but she hasn't changed her gender because her life is in danger, like Eon had.  Ryko is her guard.  On the top, he seems to be a very uncomplicated person, but in reality, he's probably the most complicated person in this book.
      Lord Ido is the designated bad guy.  You picture him as a pudgy, balding, old man at first, which is really annoying because then you get a different picture of him elsewhere, and you have to change your entire mental image . . . He isn't a very good bad guy, though, in this book.  Much too stereotypical. 
       This crew of fantastic characters aids the plot in unthinkable ways.  It had the potential to be a horrendously boring book, but Allison Goodman pulled it off.  Kudos to her.  There is a sequel, "Eona," but both books are small libraries in themselves, so I decided to review them separately.  There are other reasons for this decisions, which I will soon reveal.
       Excuse my absolute chaotic layout of this review.  No matter how much of the above you were able to understand, I encourage you to read the books.  I saw these books sitting on the shelves for about three years before I decided that they were worth my time.  Don't make my mistakes, and don't wait an eon to read the fantastic combination of history and myth.  (And please, excuse my horrible pun, but I had no other way to end this).

She has a fantastic author's website, http://www.alisongoodman.com.au/  One of the best I've seen, in my opinion.  It tells quite a bit on her and her other books, which is always interesting.

"Beautiful Creatures" Novels

The "Beautiful Creatures" quartet by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohlr can be beautifully intricate . . . or beautifully confusing.
    Beautiful Creatures:  Ethan Wate has wanted to escape Gatlin since he could remember.  To be free, not to be cooped up with in the predictable parameters of small-town Southern life.  Before he gets a chance to make good on his dreams, a girl in a hearse pulls up in the school parking lot, and his life changes forever.  Soon, Ethan has stopped asking how he can get out of Gatlin, but how he can get in to the secrets that the old town holds.
    Beautiful Darkness:  Lena Duchannes blew Gatlin away, almost quiet literally, on her sixteenth birthday.  She put off the decision of her lifetime--Should she become Dark or Light?--  for another year, but the guilt at causing her uncle's death has ravaged her mind.  Already she's pulling away from Ethan and showing Dark tendencies, such as running away with a strange Caster boy.  Concerned and worried Ethan hits the charts with a new friend and finds that the extent to which Lena's mother will go to make Lena Dark is beyond imagination--even in a world where anything is possible.
    Beautiful Chaos: With Lena finally Claimed, life in Gatlin should finally be going back to sweet, sweet normalcy.  But plagues of grasshoppers, drought, and scorching heat are ravaging the land, even though it's the middle of December.  The high-society ladies of Gatlin have decided that it must be the End of Days, but the Casters know better.  Lean broke the Order when she was claimed, and now Mortal and Caster worlds alike must suffer.  Ethan is the only one who has all of the pieces of the puzzle in his hand, and when he puts them together he arrives at a sickening conclusion:  For the world to survive, one of them must die.
    Beautiful Redemption:  The sacrifice has been made, but down in Gatlin no one is willing to let matters be with one of their own buried in the ground.  They must bend Heaven and Earth, putting themselves at risk for death themselves at the hands of their old enemy.  The peril on the other side of the veil is great as well as Ethan risks it all to return to the place he once fought to escape.

My two favorite books in this series are "Beautiful Creatures" and "Beautiful Chaos."  "Beautiful Redemption is pretty decent, while my reaction to "Beautiful Darkness" was 'Wha . . .?  That was random."  But, more on that later.
     Yeah, I know that this is a romance story, okay?  Deal with it.  They also fight evil-demon thingies and evil relatives.  And such.  So, yeah.  And Lena is strange and writes long skirts and funky necklaces and writes depressing poetry, so that makes everything okay.  Anyway . . .
    It's very interesting that these books are written from the perspective of a male. They're obviously aimed towards girls (though, I know a guy who likes them), but they're written by two women. I say kudos to them for being able to pull it off.  No offense to you, males, if you're reading this, but it is very hard to write from your perspectives, I not being one of you. And, most books aimed at girls have girl main characters.  Easier to relate to and all that.  Ethan, though, is very easy to relate too.  Which propels the book to its status.  If you couldn't relate to Ethan, at least, then the second book is too difficult to even attempt to pursue. 
      That leads me to my special rant, written out specifically for you on "Beautiful Darkness."  Wow.  Okay, when you write/read fantasy, you generally come to accept that each fantasy world you enter comes with a certain set of rules.  In "Eragon" by Christopher Paloni, it is accepted that using magic saps some of your energy.  In one book, Eragon gets exhausted from causing rocks to hail down on someone. If, in the next book, he was able to lift an entire mountain using magic without any extra reserves of magic, then everyone would be outraged because he just violated the rules of the world Christopher Paloni created for him.  Does that make any sense?  In the book, the characters operate by the rules which are set down, much like we must operate by the rules of physics and all that.  Because flying isn't possible.  You would look twice at someone who started flying right in the middle of the street, right?  Because that violates the 'rules' of this world.  So, why in the name of all that is did Kathy Garcia and Margret Stohl make Sarafine pull the ---- out of ----!?  That made no sense!  They never said that they couldn't do it, yeah, but they never explained why she could!  Very random.  I was very outraged.  And what was the deal with that place that ---- ----- took Lena?  It was hardly mentioned in the rest of the books.  It was just this random place that they needed to make their story work.  But a story only works if it works within the parameters that's already set out for it.
        Anyway.  Sorry, I've been planning that rant for some time.
        One of the best things about these books are the characters.  We've already established that Ethan is pretty darn awesome. So is Lena.  There are a bunch others, though, that all deserve and honorable mention;  Link, Liv, Ridley, John, Amma, Macon, the Sisters.  They are all fantastically quirky.  Hardly any cookie-cutter in them at all, which is fantastic and keep the whole thing very interesting to read.  I think that you start reading these books for the cool titles they have (Oh, come on, admit it."Beautiful Creatures" is one cool title.) and keep reading for the characters.  They're the sort that stay with you long after the last cover of the last book has been shut.
       One thing that I don't get, though; a bunch of people have names that begin with 'L' and are four or less letters long.  That makes it pretty hard when you speed read.  All during "Beautiful Darkness" I kept tripping up.  "Wait, isn't Lena supposed to be--Oh, wait, that word was Liv."  Yeah.  That might just be an issue for me, but, you know . . .
       Even though some of the books don't follow all of the 'rules' and though they are very mushy and romantic, for each of their bad qualities they have details and twists that redeem them.  And, believe me, the result is very beautiful.

Even though these are popular books, I can't find an official site on it.  But, as half the world knows, there is a movie out (heh heh heh), so here's the link to the IMDb trailer of that.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1559547/   I would advise you to watch the featurette (is that what it's called?) of Ridley meeting Ethan and Link because it is very amusing.  Also, I want it for the record that no one in the movie looks like they do in the book, and in the book they look better.  And that the dude who plays Ethan is not extraordinarily good looking.  Just saying.

Death Watch

"Death Watch," Ari Berk, is a fantastic novel on death and what it means to live.
       Lichport is a town where the dead outnumber the living.  Amos Umber used to be the town's Undertaker, putting the spirits of the dead to rest and keeping the fragile peace between the world.  Amos Umber went missing while working a year ago, though, and his disappearance has haunted his son, Silas.  Moving into his uncle's house in Lichport, Silas stalks the old, abandoned streets looking for clues to his fathers appearance.  But Silas is no child and the more time he spends looking for his lost father is less time he has to figure out the real problem in Lichport, the one that's got everyone on their toes; a lonely ghost locked in a house, an insane man looking for blood, and the ship wicked that's hovering just beyond the horizon.

You know what's going on forty pages after Silas steps over the threshold and into his uncle's house.  Well, you know the basic premise of what's going to happen, but still.  That's a hundred pages into a (I want to say) 500 page book? Eh.  Could be better.
     Also, Silas is a spoiled brat.  All he thinks about is his 'girlfriend' and his father's disappearance.  Okay, so, maybe he's not a spoiled brat.  But he's pretty self-absorbed.  He is a basically good person and he's selfless when he can see past his own problem.  When Mr. Peale dies he's still wrapped up in his father and he has to do the final rites.  Hello?  Quit worrying.  There's a time for everything.  Eventually, though, I do believe that he learns his lesson.  It's always nice to see a character grow after reading an absurdly long novel.  In my mind, he was cutting an impressive figure by the end, but that might just be my perception and my obsession of good beating evil, good personalities over bad personalities.
     I'm not saying that it's a bad book, though. It's one of those books that can carrying on no matter what mood the protagonist is in.  There isn't a dreadful amount of dialogue; the descriptions of things outweigh the dialogue by far.  The amount of description is like that of C.S. Lewis's, in literary nature, of course.  I've heard some people describe the Narnia books as wordy, and if you can't handle those I don't believe that "Death Watch" is for you.
      But, lo, the descriptions describe something wonderful.  The ghostly worlds jump of the page.  It's phenomenal.  The town of Lichport is as real as any town on the map, sometimes more real.  The closed in lanes of the Narrows; the playground;  the cramped, chaotic, and serene sight of that graveyard that's on the hill that I've gone and forgotten the name of; and (one of my favorite parts) the tea house and the alehouse where the spirits go to forget that they ever lived.  They all played like a little movie in my head, and I believe that I would recognize those places if I ever stumbled across them.
       Also, I love books about death.  I know that's extraordinarily morbid, but I do. Books that bring up theories about what happens to you after you die, books that speculate what the meaning of death is.  This is a book that does both, with an added question: What is death if you've never really lived at all  The question is sort of buried within the many pages, but I agree with it wholeheartedly, or, at least, as much as one can agree with a question.  The book also brings up another interesting concept (yes, this one also has to do with death); the memory of the dead.
       Not the memory of the spirits, but how people remember them.  Silas's mother's grandfather decided not to die, so he's basically a 'zombie' or a corpse with a will.  No, he does not try to eat anyone's brains, sorry for the disappointment.  Mainly, he sleeps.  But, all that aside, Silas's mother's grandfather is a good example of the books theme "Remember the dead," because Silas's mother is afraid of her grandfather. She doesn't want to remember him.  In fact, she moves so she doesn't have to remember him anymore.  This could be in part because he's a corpse, but it also could be a metaphor, and not just about death.  A lot of people are afraid to remember things that are painful to them.
      Also, in the spirit world, spirits try to remember things too.  I think that those souls 'have lost something but have given up on looking for it' but I don't have the book in front of me so I can't check up on the correct wording.  But these souls lost something in their life, and now, upon their death, they've given up looking, but they're still stuck. This could be another metaphor, but about people who are living.
     So, really, the book isn't all about death.  It's about the living and how death affects them.  It has multiple levels, which makes for an enthralling read.  All in all, Silas Umber's story isn't half bad, not half bad at all.  Now, if only he can stay alive long enough to give us more of them.

The Mortal Instruments Trilogy

"The Mortal Instruments Trilogy" by Cassandra Clare is comprised of five books but only the first three are worth mentioning:

        City of Bones:  Clary Fray was in the night club Pandemonium when she watched three teenagers dispose of another being.  Now Clary's mother has been taken prisoner by a strange beast and she's found out that her mother has been having her memories erased by a warlock who lives in TriBeCa.  What?  Secrets and dreams are coming apart at the seams, and Clary's having trouble standing on her own two feet when a mysterious group called the Shadowhunters (prickly, pretty Isabelle; prickly and shy Alec; and prickly, egotistical and f-i-n-e Jace) come to help her fight the demons that are creeping up on all sides.

      City of Ashes:  Bodies of Downworlder children, drained with blood, have been found in dark, abandoned alleyways.  Idris and the Clave, the land and government of the Shadowhunters, has decided that its time to get involved, but it would be better if our heroes were left to their own devices because what they'll have to do to save the day won't be sanctioned by any book of regulations.  Clary's trapped in her own personal nightmare when she finds that she has more of a family than she ever could hope for -- if only her new-found familial ties didn't include him.  

      City of Glass:   Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your family closest of all, because if their hands are in yours they can't stab you in the back.  Breaking several laws, Clary breaks into Idris, the land of the Shadowhunters, enraging the highest magical law on this world or any other.  While hiding out from them in their own country, Clary finds several secrets that she never thought even existed.  But time's running out if she's to stop her own flesh and blood from destroying all she's come to love.  

Let me tell you, these books are wicked.  Yeah, sure, there might be a bit too much romance in some places, but the demon fighting it pretty awesome.  And the psychology behind it all!  It's really quite astounding.  The other two books in this 'Trilogy' (should it be called a 'quintet'?  because, clearly, there are five books) are worth nothing because a) they are simply ridiculous (Just how many times can a person come back from the dead?  Cassandra Clare's got a bit of James Patterson in her.) and b) we get it.  Clary has a boyfriend.  Thank you.  You can stop illustrating your point for us now.

       I really liked the diversity of the characters in this.  Simon, Clary's best friend, is the source of a good chunk of the problems for the group, but, generally, he's a good natured guy and I admire him for that.  He is also a voice of stability and reason among all of the craziness and magic, which is always good in a book like this that can get caught up in the thrill of its own mystique.  Jace is an egotistical maniac, and I think that it's been established that I have a soft spot for that sort.  Isabelle is the ultimate femine fatal, complete with a miniskirt and a sword.  Alec is a lost and a little needy, almost, until he realizes who he is and how he (and him telling the world who he is is one of the most fantastic moments in the whole trilogy). Magnus Bane is a riot, but his majesty is sort of kept under wraps for fear of throwing the whole story overboard.  Clary is the perfect contemporary fiction heroine, with her cell phone and subway map.  Not exactly the cast of 'Spud,' but pretty darn close.

      The villain of the series, Valentine, is intensely complicated, but that doesn't make him seem any more human.  One thing that I don't like about villains in general (like I have only one thing to complain about) is that they're larger than life, and that keeps them from being human.  We can connect with the main characters, the protagonists, but we never feel what the bad guy is feeling.  This is a technique used to make us hate the villain, which is necessary for the story to work, but it still can be sort of . . . impersonal.  How can I hate Valentine if I don't even know the person he is?  You have to just accept that the bad guy is a bad guy and move on in this story.  

      A strong point of this story, other than the wonderful cast of protagonists, is the setting.  Modern New York City with an underbelly full of demons.  To fight the demons, there is a system of police called 'Shadowhunters' run mainly by teenagers because they're the only ones who haven't died yet.  In between the two groups are the 'Downworlders';  werewolves, vampires, Faeries, and other miscellaneous half-demon scum.  It is fantastic.  

      The books, even though they talk about killing demons and your own family members preach about accepting people.  The Shadowhunters hate the Downworlders because the Shadowhunters are part angel and the Downworlders are part demon.  But to win, they must join together.  It's a nice sentiment.

     Final messages:  The books are messed up.  Messed up messed up.  Like, 'oh, is this my brother I'm kissing?!' messed up.  So . . . The books also have a quite bit of religion in them.  Magnus quotes the Bible, at one point, and the whole thing of angels vs. demons is religious, though the demons come from different dimensions, not from deep down under.  Also, Alec is gay.  I, personally, find that pretty awesome because it shows his inner strength and conveys a new way of someone being who they know they are.  

      "The City of Bones" is a movie that comes out on August 23, 2013.  The complete series is, in the order as listed, "The City of Bones," "The City of Ashes," "The City of Glass," "The City of Fallen Angels," and "The City of Lost Souls."  So. The last two books do have their own charms, by the way of you getting to see a side of the characters you didn't get to see in the other three books, but they are so not the best.  Especially not "The City of Fallen Angels."  Just sayin'.  

      Is it fine to tell a white lie for the safety and well being of a person that you love?  But when the lies collapse, the person you lied for might not be as well off as intended.  

This link is better than most book links:  www.mortalintruments.com  The illustrations of the characters are lame, though.  None of the people look like that, I swear.  

This is the link to the movie trailer, which I watch at least once a day: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/   My favorite part is when Clary says "There's too many of them!"  and Jace says "Have a little faith," because Jace is so full of himself, it's rather amusing.  This is the cast list to the movie, which is cool; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/fullcredits    Magnus is awesome.