The Hobbit

The Hobbit a story of hobbits, wizards, trolls, dwarfs and dragons a great fantasy novel. This is the beginning of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and introduces you into a world of fantasy and adventure. The story begins in Bilbos hole at bag end and the wizard Gandalf who persuades him to go on an adventure to reclaim the dwarfs treasure from the evil dragon Smaug. The journey is full of danger with trolls and goblins capturing Billbo and a disgusting creature named Gollum who wants to eat him because he stole his ring. Bilbo sneaks into the mountain which Smaug lives and he reveals his weakness which is under his scales near his heart. Bilbo steals a golden cup from Smaugs cave and becomes furious to burn lake town to the ground but Bard the archer knows his weakness and slays the dragon. After the dragon is slane an army of goblins march on the mountain and the elves, dwarfs, and men of lake town and Mirkwood join together to defeat them and Beorn and the eagles help them defeat the goblins. After the great adventure bilbo returns to his home with Gandalf and continues to live his life with the familiar comforts of home. The Hobbit was a very good fantasy story it was not one of my favorites but it was a nice beginning to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Overall The Hobbit was a very good fantasy novel that kept me interested and want to keep reading.

Kwaidan

Kwaidan is a collection of japanese ghost stories that are slow moving, interesting, and very creepy. These stories are a lot different from american ghost stories mainly because they are not about the shock factor for example some crazy killer jumping out at you trying to cut your head off. Kwaidan is all about the environment it puts you in and these stories like to build up the suspense and truly scare you. These stories tend to go into detail about the back story of the characters and the environment that you are placed in. The intension of the slow moving aspect of these stories are to bring you into the story like you are experiencing what these characters are feeling and going through in order to really feel and be scared at the big moment at the end. Some of the stories are better than others but all together they are truly scary in the fact that they don't scare you for the shock factor they make you think and literally creep you out. I enjoyed Kwaidan mainly because it was completely different for american ghost stories and it was not based on the surprise aspect of american horror. For me the cultural aspects of these stories interest me alot more than american stories and are far more original and interesting in my opinion. The stories get into your head and describe things you would not think to be necessary but emirs you in the environment and story line and it makes kwaidan much more scary than i expected. I really enjoyed this book and am now a fan of J-horror.

Vampires and stuff.

I am not the biggest fan of vampires but Interview with the Vampire is a good story. In a sense it is an interview with a vampire, Louis, who has been alive for 200 years. Louis was a plantation owner in New Orleans who had lost his wife and unborn child and has lost the will to live until he encounters a vampire, Lestat, and he becomes a Vampire. Louis is depressed until he meets and turns a little girl named Claudia and considered her his daughter. I enjoy this story mainly because it goes between Louis life from the beginning of his vampire life to him talking about it with the journalist interviewing him. Some of the aspects that all vampires deal with is the sexual tension between themselves and there victims as well as turning people into vampires whether they are full grown person or a child. It is not a sexual thrill they get out of it it is more it is a feeling of ecstasy and pure satisfaction. For Louis it is a necessary evil and he has trouble killing people because he is attached to his former human life. This story does not go through a lot of details of what a vampires traits are but the psychology of what it is like to be immortal and not change. This is not a vampire story about sucking blood and killing people it is about the aspects of what it is like to be a vampire struggling to have a family, emotions, and dealing with immortality. This interview is more than just a conversation between two people. This is a vampire movie that does not feel like a story about vampires because it goes into aspects not explored in this genre and it is done in a very gripping and interesting way. Interview with the Vampire gets a thumbs up from me it is a take on vampires that I would like to see more in this genre.

Monster Island

     This novel takes place in an over run New York City one month after a global disaster making the dead come back to life. The most know parts of the world fall first and the only places that are safe are full of ruthless people who armed and dangerous, for example Somalia. Monster Island tells the story of Gary, a man who is a zombie that has the same tendencies as his brainless zombified brethren but is able to keep some of his humanity. The other story is of Dekalb, a UN weapons inspector, and a group of school girls who have a lot of guns in Somalia were they need to find medicine that they desperately need.
     I really enjoyed reading this novel it was similar to reading a zombie movie. the book kept you reading and it was never really dull. there were many different kinds of zombies there were not just crazy decayed flesh people all over the place but there were a good amount of them throughout the book. my favorite character was Gary for the simple fact that he was a zombie but was not completely devoured by his cravings. Over all with the intertwining of both stories and the survival aspects and flesh eating zombies it was a good book. I can say now that i am a fan of Zombie movies and Zombie novels.

BRAINS!