Sunday, May 20, 2012

Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

Title: Faerie Wars
Author: Herbie Brennan
Year Published: 2003
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Number of Pages: 368 (1st edition)
Summary: Troubled by family problems, Henry finds his life taking a whole new dimension when he and his friend, old Mr. Fogarty, become involved with Prince Pyrgus Malvae who has been been sent from the faerie world in order to escape the treacherous Faeries of the Night.

I've read this book so many times, I have the story memorized by heart. It's the best faerie book I've ever read. the characters are believable, the drama is crazy, but not over done, there's science fiction involved, and romance. Herbie Brennan has managed to combine all of these into one book. The story never gets really boring. The twists make sure of that. 

There are so many different words to describe the story: cute, funny, dramatic. I could go on, but I'm kinda lazy.

This is a young adult fiction book. I've seen some reviews saying it's a stupid book that only kids can appreciate, I've seen someone complain that he spelled it 'faerie' instead of 'fairy'. That in my opinion, is pretty stupid. It just happens to be one of those words that can be spelled many different ways and still be correct. To be honest, the imagination of Herbie Brennan is what gives this story its heart. Some people may not like 'little kiddie books' like this, and I understand that. But if you do like books with great imagination and heart, you may want to check this out.

The book starts out a little slow, but not to the point where I just put the book down and walked away. The slow parts are necessary, since they build up to the best parts.

Pyrgus is a bit annoying at first, but it's obvious he has a great heart and becomes very loveable. Henry is a normal boy who cares enough for his new friend to put his fear behind him to help his friend. Mr. Fogarty is a bit of a jerk, but under the roughness is a genius who cares very much for Pyrgus and Henry.

I totally recommend this. I would go on, but it would ruin the story. I'm not great at book reviews, but I'm trying.

There is a sequel to this which I will be reviewing soon. There are actually five books in the series. I have yet to read the fifth, but I'm working on it.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Another Bad Excuse :)

I really need to stop getting distracted. So, here is my next excuse for not being a good little writer and doing what I'm supposed to do.

I've been stressed. Mainly focusing on not making the freshman sopranos in my choir class...disappear. Really. The teacher leaves to take some kids to Allstate choir and band and tells us to split into sections and work on our music. Luckily, we have three pianos/keyboards, so that isn't a problem. The freakin' KIDS are the problem.

Our section leader was one of the few that went to Allstate. It technically goes by seniority. Even though I've been in the choir longer than anybody else in the class, she's the choir President, so she gets the spot. I have no problems with that. None at all. So, I had to take over for the section. But the only other mature soprano was out sick the first day. So I was by myself with the morons.

First off, I can't play the piano really well. I can read the music and pick out the notes on the piano, but that's the best I can do. So, I reluctantly asked one of the freshman to do it. She's always playing the piano during our free time and she told me she could read music. That lying little piece of...

Turns out she can't read music to save her life. We started with one of our African pieces, Bonse Aba. I had literally only sung the song once, the day before during class. I couldn't even get the words down yet. I kept saying banana. They had managed pretty well the day before, so I saw no problem.

Wrong. Naturally, we started with the first page. The guys start the song, so we were kind of SOL there. But once we started singing, I noticed they weren't singing it right. They were supposed to stay on the note for maybe six syllables and then go up to another note and do the same. They were going all over the place. I recognized it as page 8. So I told them. They said that was how our teacher taught them. Being apparently the only person in the section who knows how to sight read, told the girl assigned to piano duty, to pick out the notes. That's when I found out she CAN'T read music to save her life. She gave up and started playing 'Reflection' from Mulan. The sub and I shared a look that said "someone's going to die soon."

Then I told her to play the song we're supposed to be singing and ANOTHER freshman told me to shut up, since the guys weren't doing their music either. The sub got...mad. Worse than mad, but I'm trying to watch my language. So we all regrouped and the 'wannabe sopranos' got a kick to their egos when an alto who is AMAZING at piano, caught them in their lies. The sub then said that we were going to be more productive tomorrow and that if they didn't listen to me, they were in trouble.

The other sane soprano came back the next day. I thought I'd be happy. But she apparently has a superiority complex and thought she was in charge because I was playing piano. The freshman were, again, disprespectful, so I snapped. I told them to shut up, do what they were told, and show some respect. One of the dumber ones told me that I was the one being rude. Let's say the sub has really good timing. He heard and let her have it. He is by far my favorite substitute teacher ever.

During those horrible two days, I found out that the other sections have a high opinion of me. That was surprising. Really, I did not expect that at all. It made the rest of my day a little less annoying.

So, about this sub that I befriended, he is awesome. We were outside during early bird working on rifle (color guard). There was a really nice car in the parking lot that we didn't want to kill. Mainly because the license plate said "I'm Dave."

Seriously. That was it. Then the sub comes outside saying he needs to get something out of the trunk. We just looked at him like, "You, sir, are simply too amazing to have this job."

But still, I think he wanted to kill those freshman as much as I did.

Now, other than horrible school stress, I've been trying to catch up on an anime that I'd almost forgotten about.

Case Closed (Detective Conan) is only a few days older than I am. The manga came out on February 2, 1994. I came along on the 11th. The anime started airing on TV in 1996. And the best thing?

IT'S STILL GOING!!!!

As of today (4-21-12) there are 652 episodes (the most recent one airing today) and 16 movies (the most recent one airing on 4-14-12).

Most of the time, I get annoyed when anime shows run this long. Bleach is one of them. To me, it just lost it's spark. Same with Naruto. Case Closed, however, is as epic as when it started!).

Now, since I stopped watching it a few years ago, I am trying desperately to catch up. But I WILL write again!...Eventually!!!!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Why?

I just posted a story in fictionpress.com

I should be focusing on the 7 stories I have on fanfiction, but it popped into my head randomly while I was listening to music, watching TV, eating dinner, and writing the next chapter of Lost Future all at the same time.
Multitasking master. I am one.

This is by no means amazing or even 'good,' but it popped into my head and figured I'd might as well just throw it at you.

Here's the link.

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/3010866/1/Why

Leave a comment if the link doesn't work, or whatnot. Even tell me what you think. I love feedback. Well, here's another anime...thing.

Ghost Hunt!
Am I the only person who finds this image hilarious? Who in their right mind would want to screw with Naru???

Why I'm Here

Hey everybody! I'm just gonna tell you why I'm here. I use to be a regular writer at fanfiction.net but now...I got the writer's block. I've actually had it for quite a while. I also lost my computer to a virus that my sister picked up around the same time. Sooo this is gonna be a daily update of whatever excuses and whatnot that I manage to come up with.

My pen name has changed from miyaevl4 to Mriya fyi

Here's a list of stories:

  • Lost Future (Bleach archive) incomplete
  • Escaping the Captains' Wrath (Bleach archive) incomplete
  • Death is My Sanctuary (Alex Rider archive) complete
  • Life in Karakura (Bleach archive) incomplete
  • Of Life and Death (Alex Rider archive) incomplete
  • Welcome to Shinigami Academy (Bleach archive) incomplete
  • Falls Apart (Bleach archive) complete
  • Memories of a Past Life (Bleach archive) incomplete
  • Broken (Bleach archive) complete
  • All These Lives (Bleach archive) complete
  • Living in Fear (Bleach archive) incomplete
Looking at this, I understand why some people may be annoyed. Out of 11 stories, only 4 are complete. I'm an idiot.

So as of now, I'm working on the 12th chapter of Lost Future, and it should be posted soon. You can annoy me all you want here. I actually encourage it. Go on. Test it out. :)

And, to give you all a bit of humor...