Year In Review: 2015 Edition: Pokémon: Gotta Blurb 'Em All

I haven't posted on here since the end of March. On top of that, this is only three posts removed from last year's "What the Hell Have You Been Up To? (WtHHYBUT?)" post.

Why, you ask (even if you had no intention of asking)?

I am now roughly 80,000 words into the first draft of my work in process (an epic fantasy novel), and I estimate it will be somewhere around 144,000 words upon completion (goal: finish first draft in 2016 - preferably by August month-end).



It's been a light year for book-reading/movie-going. Let's Pokémon it! Gotta Blurb 'Em All!

Let's go with alphabetical order by title.

Books!

Annihilation (Southern Reach #1) - Jeff VanderMeer
Like an anime. Good all along, but gets all weird on you at the end.  Liked it, but not enough to bump up the sequels on my eternally growing to-read list (but they are on the list).
***

Armada - Ernest Cline
Another fun pop culture fueled outing. Not as good as Ready Player One.
****

The Autumn Republic (The Powder Mage #3) - Brian McClellan
That ride you were afraid of, but someone dragged you on anyway, and it was awesome.
****

City of Stairs (The Divine Cities #1) - Robert Jackson Bennett
REVIEWED The Hulk. Maybe you don't expect much from Bruce Banner, but once you get into it, you realize there's some good stuff buried under there.
****

The Emperor's Blades (Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne #1) - Brian Staveley
When your wife says "this is the best piece of cake I have ever had," but you really like your own cake so you just don't try it, but she keeps shoving it in front of you saying "try it, you'll like it," and you hate that goddamn song, and on top of that you're a stubborn ass, but then the veiled (and not so veiled) threats start, so you give in and pick it up, albeit resentfully, and grudgingly taste it, and realize that you owe her a really big apology for waiting so long.
*****

Firefight (Reckoners #2) - Brandon Sanderson
REVIEWED Yippy kai ay. Sanderson dropped the major plot twist game for a more straight forward adventure. Still a good time. Waiting on Stormlight Archive #3 more than any Reckoners follow-up.
*****

Last Argument of Kings (The First Law #3) - Joe Abercrombie
Ending the meeting on a high note (but deep down you secretly hope that the project manager calls the team together again for more).
*****

Nemesis Games (Expanse #5) - James S.A. Corey
Continues to be my favorite Sci-Fi series.
*****

Psycho - Robert Bloch
Seen the movie? Of course you have. It's that, almost exactly (in the book, he's chubby).
*****

The Scarlet Gospels - Clive Barker
Sardines. People love them. Me, not so much. I want to like horror more than I do.
***

The Skull Throne (Demon Cycle #4) - Peter V. Brett
REVIEWED Like playing with Smurfs or GI Joe. Taking an existing world and going into much more depth for the characters, while not exactly advancing the plot all that much.
****

Unbound (Magic Ex Libris #3) - Jim C. Hines
KitKats (my favorite candy... hint hint).
*****

Bonus! Movies!

Ant-Man
Not that I doubted Marvel, but this was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be.
*****

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Marvel. Check. James Spader. Check. Some weak spots? Forgivable.
*****

Crimson Peak
Pretty. Eery. Not overly unique premise.
****

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
I liked the movies more than the books. Not sure how much that is saying. The end DRAGGED like Peter Jackson and The Return of the King (how many endings does this movie need?!?!).
***

Inside Out
Bingbong!
Quite surprised my daughter liked it (and she would tell me if she didn't... she HATED The Good Dinosaur, which she saw with her grandma, which I heard about for several hours upon her return home from the theater). This seemed a little slow and weird for kids to me. Remember that show Herman's Head?
****

Minions
I really wanted to like this. I didn't particularly care for it.
***

Shaun the Sheep
Love me some Wallace and Gromit. This was cute. Kept the kid's attention even without dialogue.
****

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Do I really need to say anything here?
I haven't even seen the thing yet (tickets purchased, two days and counting), but I'm going to (not really) go on a limb and preemptively rate it amongst the top of the year. I'll come back and edit the post and eat crow if it's not.
*****

On Firefight (Reckoners #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Goodreads synopsis here.

Note (incase you didn't read the title): This is book two of the Reckoners series. Review for Steelheart (book one) here.

Review:
M. Night Shymalan (I know it's been a while since you read one of my reviews...  stick with me, this will make sense...  maybe). Who doesn't remember that first time they saw The Sixth Sense?  A great slow build-up of a movie.  Then BAM, Shymalan gives you a roundhouse kick to the face with a crazy plot twist (I should totally swap out that picture for Chuck Norris now...  /sigh). How long did you talk about it? How long did the "I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!" last?  And then you bumped into that one friend or relative who didn't see it and you had to bite your tongue. We all have that person who wants to talk about it, but doesn't want to know anything. Or you're watching it again with someone who hasn't seen it yet, and you just kinda keep glancing over at them over and over again, bouncing with excitement, because you have to see their reaction! I just gotta capture the look on his face.  Man, that was fun times.  Kind of like what everyone is doing with Game of Thrones these days.  I watched for people's reactions before it was cool, but then I took a mixed metaphor to the knee.

Anyway.

Appropriate picture is appropriate

A few years pass and he puts out Unbreakable. Bruce Willis, but this time we get some Samuel L. Jackson. He can do no wrong. Snakes on a Plane. FANTASTIC! So. Another slow movie. Crazy twist. Signs. Slow movie. Crazy twist. The Village. Slow movie. Crazy twist. Ok. We get it. Crazy twists.  Lady in the Water. I don't think I stayed awake. The Happening. Didn't bother seeing it. The Last Airbender. Devil. After Earth. I don't think they're even mentioning his name anymore. It's become a stigma. I know what I'm getting in a Shamalamadingdong movie. Not fun anymore.

Steelheart had a total WOAH moment in it (or two). So, my hopes for Firefight was that Sanderson wouldn't use the same tricks again. When you start relying on the same tricks, you become boring. Like when you do your reviews over and over again through some long, obscure, metaphor about how you feel instead of how the book actually is, people may just skip through what you're typing...  ignore that.

There are certainly a few surprises in Firefight, but Sanderson's story isn't one long string of events that have a sole purpose of wowing you with the bright, shiny plot twist. The characters are well developed (even if some of them stay home this time). The new characters are entertaining.  The mythology around the Epics only gets more interesting. Sparks, this is just a fun series. Like early Shyguy movies.  Mmmm. Maybe not right. Like...  Die Hard (Bruce Willis was in The Sixth Sense, so that works...  I said so).

Yeah.  I give this "yippee ki yay, mot*#($&5(*@".

Ah, hell.  I'm posting one anyway.