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Important Elements for a Film Adaptation
For my mom’s birthday last week, she wanted to rewatch the first Twilight movie. It was a fun watch as always, and it made me want to reread the books, as always. However, it did make me question why I feel this adaptation is a good one versus others that I think are horrible. In fact, a lot of movies and television shows are adaptations of books. So, it made me ask what are the important elements for an adaptation to be good? Personally, I feel that I have evolved in my adaptation expectations over the years. I no longer expect or necessarily want a complete line by line transference…
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Battle Ground: I’m Sorry Harry
by Jim Butcher Highly Recommended Spoiler Alert! This post contains spoilers from Battle Ground by Jim Butcher. This post is about my thoughts on the events and developments in the story. Please DO NOT read further unless you have read the book or don’t care if the major events are spoiled for you. If you’d like to read my spoiler free review for this novel, click here. Battle Ground is the seventeenth book in the Dresden Files series. It has a very appropriate title for this book. The entire book is a war against the Titan known as Ethniu and her allies, the Fomor. Many important events happen in the midst of…
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Top 5 Paranormal Romance Series
#1. Immortal Guardians by Dianne Duvall Vampires are bad. Immortals, who do share a lot of qualities with vampires, are good. They hunt down the evil vampires who kill and murder. Only a select few have the potential to become an immortal instead of a vampire, and this group of immortal men don’t realize just how lonely they are, until they find themselves in front of the women of their dreams. If you like lots of really great romantic men who always treats their women right, this series will give you lots of them. All of books have really tough men who are very protective and romantic (even if some…
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Hybrid Empire
by: Amanda N Newman Recommend (11-13 years) Anika is alone in a new country trying desperately to finish her education and carve a better life for her and her parents. The only problem is that life isn’t easy in this new culture. Friends are hard to come by, and no one seems to understand her. As she starts a brand-new job, she meets Brayden, her new boss and trainer. Like her, he seemed to be different than those around him. She just might find out exactly how different he really is. Hybrid Empire is the first book in a young adult series revolving around werewolves and vampires. The story is…
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Prewriting: To Do It or Not To
Note: Every writer is different and some writers work better with different methods. These are just my thoughts on what I like doing and they might help you if you are unsure how to get started writing once you have an idea or if you’re wanting to try a new method out. I hope it’s helpful! Once you have a new idea and want to get writing, the question is, do you just right into writing story, or do you predevelop some ideas and flesh out some characters? Well, it can be hard to know what to write when you’ve got an idea, but don’t have anything beyond a simple…
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That Magic was Awesome
There are many different ways to present magic in a story and many authors do, in fact, incorporate it differently with more or less explanation about how it works. Unfortunately, there is not a clear answer for what is needed or how much explanation is needed for a story and sometimes it’s a matter of personal preference on the reader’s part. It seems to me, based on my reading experience, that high fantasies generally lean more towards more minimal magic explanation. How and when magic works or can be used is very simple. There are still defined rules on how magic works, but the author doesn’t explain all the inner…
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The Ikabog
by J.K. Rowling Recommend (children) Note: This book is a children’s fantasy novel oriented towards elementary to middle school audiences. The star rating is calculated for children audiences not for adult readers. Lord Spittleworth wants nothing more than to be rich and important. When King Fred sees the imaginary Ikabog in the marshes, Lord Spittleworth sees his opportunity to get what he wants. Suddenly the threat of the Ikabog is real and coming for the people of Cornucopia. Lies build upon lies as he strives to keep the country as well as the king under his thumb and constantly fearing the mystical creature. How long will he be able to…
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Fantasy World Anime
Magi Episode Count: 25 English Dub: All Episodes Magi pulls much of its inspiration from people and themes from the story 1001 Arabian Nights. In this world there are dungeons that are magic castles filled with treasure and traps. Each is the lair for a djinn. Then, there are those who can use Rukh an energy the comes from living things. These beings are known as magi. Three unlikely people, Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morgiana meet and forge an unbreakable friendship and go on adventures together. If you’re looking for something more light hearted and fun, this is a good anime for you. It has a very interesting story and world, but…
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Battle Ground
By: Jim Butcher Highly Recommend SPOILER ALERT: Please be aware that this is book 17 of this series. If you have not read the previous books, this review might spoil events in those books. If you wish to see a spoiler review, click here. Chicago is in big trouble. There is a seemingly indestructible titan attacking the city with an army of Fomor. Her goal is simple, destroy mankind. Harry Dresden really wishes it was his day off. However, he’s one of the few who can stand and fight to save his city, and he will give his all to protect those he sees as in his care. Jim Butcher…
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Typical Types of Magic Users
Important note: Authors manipulate, change, and reimagine these terms for their own stories, and they can be quite malleable. This is just a base for what these terms generally mean and are often associated as. While reading and writing, there is room to see what you or other authors do to make these magic users unique. Wizard/Witch- These terms are very popular for magic users and there are many different visions on what a witch and wizard may look like. They usually cast their magic with spells and ingredients or even a ritual of some kind. Common associations with these terms include wands, brooms (in the case of witches), potion…
