This is a book set in Tolkien’s fictional world of Middle Earth, the same place Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit took place. However this book takes place about 6500 years before Lord of the Rings. The story starts with Húrin, a man of great power, and his brother, Huor, fighting against an army of orcs. They are driven back and end up finding Gondolin, a hidden city of the Elves, which no human had ever seen. They stay there for years, but move back to their homeland. Húrin marries Morwen, and together they have a son, Túrin, and two daughters, Lalaith and Niënor. Húrin goes off to battle nine years later, but he and his army are brutally defeated. Húrin is held prisoner by Morgoth, the seemingly indestructible predecessor of Sauron, the villain of Lord of the Rings. Because Húrin would not tell Morgoth the location of Gondolin, he and his family are cursed to have misfortune follow them wherever they go. Húrin is locked up in Morgoth’s fortress of Angband, forced to watch his family suffer.

Túrin is the main focus of the book after this. After Morgoth’s forces capture his homeland, Túrin has to leave and travel to Doriath, the land of the Elves, by himself. When he arrives there the Elven King takes Túrin as his foster son, making him almost royalty in Doriath. Unfortunately, a jealous Elf who tries to kill Túrin ends up dying by accident, and it looked as though Túrin had murdered him. Therefore Túrin decides to run away from Doriath. He ends up joining a band of outlaws, who all get killed because of Morgoth’s curse.

If I were friends with anyone in this book it would be Beleg, Túrin’s best friend. He is the best bowman in Middle Earth and, unlike all the other characters, dosen’t die immediately. At least not immediately. If I were friends with Túrin somehow I would get killed.

I would rate this book at just right. It wasn’t too hard to understand but the author uses a lot of fancy words which makes it a little hard to read. It isn’t really that detailed all the time so if you don’t pay attention for a paragraph you can miss something important.

Nigel H.W. VanderWoude

This book is pretty much the history of J.R.R Tolkien’s world that the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit take place in. It starts with the creation of the world and goes on from there. It is mostly about Elves who live in Valinor, a continent in Tolkien’s world. The book describes wars they had, especially with Morgoth, a Vala (one of the creators of the world) who became evil and sought to destroy the Elves, Humans, and everything else he envied in the world. 

If I was friends with anyone in this book it would be Morgoth because if I wasn’t he’d kill me. This book can get really complicated at times and if you don’t pay attention it can really get confusing. If you haven’t read the Lord of the Rings then I wouldn’t read this book. I’d rate it at hard for difficulty.

This is a book about a mouse named Matthias who comes to Redwall Abbey, a place where all creatures are welcome to live. When the Abbey is under attack by the legendary rat Cluny the Scourge and his horde, Matthias steps up to help lead the defense of Redwall. Meanwhile, he seeks to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior, an ancient mouse warrior, which would mean certain victory for the people of Redwall. 

If I were to be friends with somebody in the book, it would be Asmodeus, a viscous adder who kills anything in his sight. I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fiction or fantasy books. It is defiantly better if you read the whole thing because the beginning is a bit uneventful. It was easy reading most of the time.

Barack Obama wants change for America, something we have been waiting for many years in the running. He wants to take the troops out of the Middle East as soon as we are ready to go and we are done there. He wants to make it easier for everyone to live and earn money. He wants to make America safer and less dependent on oil. This is what we need in a president: the will to adobt new ideas and change the way we do things to make our country, and the world, a better place.

     Jon Forest woke up, the day before college started again, to a terrible smell of gasoline. Mumbling complaints to himself about his roommate, Jon got up from his messy bed to investigate. Somehow he knew his roommate was behind this.

     “Hans, what have you done this time?” called out Jon, annoyed.

     “I by mishap spilled some flour on the stove, and the flame stopped coming,” said Hans, a new student at Hartford from the Netherlands. He spoke five languages and studied medicine but was as clumsy as an oversized ant on rollerblades. He was a genius, and many times used huge words Jon didn’t understand.

     Geek, Jon thought. That’s all he thought he was.

     “Clean it up,” said Jon.

     Hans cleaned it up with no trouble, but when he tried to turn it back on, only gas would come out.

     Jon rolled his eyes, and put his hand over the stove. His hand lit up, and the stove lit with fire. Hans starred at this with amazement. The power to control fire was a power Jon had had all of his life. He always tried to act normal, but sometimes he needed to use his power.

     Without saying anything to Hans, he walked away, and went back to bed.

     “Next time I’ll let you cook breakfast,” said Hans.

     As the day progressed, Jon and Hans went out of their dorm, and went separate ways, Hans going out to buy supplies, Jon sitting in the courtyards talking to some of his friends. They started making fun of Hans and insulting him. Everything they could think of that Hans did wrong was brought up. The longer they talked, the worse they were saying. Jon was starting to feel guilty for what his friends were saying part of the time, and other times he totally agreed with his friends. As Hans stepped into the courtyard, a friend of Jon’s threw a tray of food at Hans. This is going too far, thought Jon. But before he could stop his friends everyone shouted at him, calling him names and saying bad things about him. Hans turned to see Jon, right in the middle of the crowd, looking back at him.

     In his mind Hans blamed this on Jon. But wasn’t his fault, he was only making fun.

     As the days went by, through college, more and more things like this happened. Hans started to lose the only friends he had. Neither roommate would speak to each other, and as this happened, Hans began to repeat in his mind when he thought of Jon, hate him, hate him, hate him. He had reason to hate Jon; Jon had ruined his reputation. But this was turning Hans into a monster.

     Finally, the year ended. All classes were out, and students were free to go around and do what they wanted for the summer.

     The night before he had to move out, Jon went to bed very late at night. His dreams were clouded. He moved around in his bed. Finally, he felt a prick on his right arm, and winced.

     Waking up with a startle, Jon found himself in an unknown place. He looked around. Brick walls surrounded him, puddles lay about everywhere around him. A man in worn clothes and an old hat stood next to him. He was old, very old.

     “Goede morgen,” said the man in Dutch. “Onthaal aan Amsterdam!”

     “What?” said Jon, not understanding a word the old man said.

     “Welcome to Amsterdam my friend!” said the old man.

     “Who are you?” asked Jon.

     But before he could answer, a person in all black with a hood on came into the alley. He stepped up to the old man, and started mumbling some words. The old man mumbled back, clearly discouraged. The person then pulled out a gun.

     Jon quickly reacted, pulling up his sleeve. His hand lit up in flames, and flames shot at the gun, disintegrating it at the touch. The hooded person cowered and ran, screaming.

     “You saved my life,” said the old man.

     Jon paused. He was in Amsterdam. He had just saved an old man’s life. This was the first time he had used his powers for anything but personal use. He felt strange.

     “What is your name, son?” asked the old man.

     “Jon Forest,” said Jon.

     “Pieter Rees,” said the old man.

     The air seemed to leave Jon’s lungs. He realized that it was Hans’ father. He didn’t know how to react. He, by instinct, jumped in the air and flew into the distance.

     “Kids these days…” said Pieter, “…Never finish a conversation.

     Meanwhile, as Jon flew above the streets of Amsterdam he felt he needed something. He needed money. He waited downtown for someone who spoke English. But no one came. After a while night came. He felt a jolt in his spine, and had no control over himself. He flew down to the ground and saw a bank. He broke through the door, flew around until he found the vault, and burned through its tough metal door. There was a lot of money in there, all in euros. He took it all.

     Sensing someone coming, he flew away, through the wall of the vault and out into the night. He landed in an alleyway. Falling into a trance, Jon didn’t realize where he was or what he was doing. He had just robbed a bank. He had turned from a hero to a criminal in one day. Something was wrong with him.

     He obviously did not rob that bank with his own mind in him. What had happened?
     Thud. Jon’s head fell on the cold alley floor. He knew nothing more.

     Slowly, Jon regained consciousness. He was in the same alley as last night, with the same stolen money. But Jon had not a clue as to where he got it, or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was saving Pieter Rees’s life, and then running away. But now his mind turned to the money. What should I do with it?

     That day Jon went out and again looked for someone who spoke English. He found someone by luck and by even greater luck she was an apartment landlord.

     “I would let you rent a room for 400 euros a month, if that is what you want,” said the woman.

     “That would be great,” said Jon. When he went to get his money from the alleyway, the woman saw the bundles of cash. She then recognized his face.

     “Misdadig! Criminal!” She shouted out. People on the streets heard this, and looked where the woman was pointing. They all saw Jon, with the bundles of cash, and realized he was the one who robbed the bank.

     “I am no criminal!” shouted out Jon.

     The woman threw today’s newspaper at him. Jon saw on the headline: Misdadig: De rover van de bank op los! Hoge beloning voor vangst! Then he looked at the picture and saw a man in a pillar of flame, breaking into the bank, and he saw his face clearly. It was him.

     Me?

     How could this be? He was such a hero in his own mind, but now he was a pure villain. He had no memory of this happening, so he had to be controlled by something.

     Who could have done this to me?

     He flew away at that moment. He thought to himself of who could have done this. Hans, he thought immediately. But how could he have done this? He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he screeched to a halt. In front of him was Hans, hovering in the air, starring back at him. But after a few seconds, Hans’ face was covered up by all black. This was no hood or mask. This was a shadow.

     “Fear the shadow,” said Hans. Immediately, the sky turned black and thunder clasped in the sky, rumbling seconds after.

     “Hans, what possessed you to do this?” asked Jon, discouraged.

     “You ruined the little bit of life I had in America. I was hated there. I am feared here. I am Schaduwijs, Shadow-Ice. I have far greater power than you could imagine having,” explained Hans.

     At that moment Jon looked to his right, and just barely he could see the sun go below the horizon. His pupils grew bigger and bigger by the second. His eyes finally turned black. No more did he have control over his actions. He had become the villain within for the second time.

     “I could cure you if I wanted,” said Hans. “I could bring you back to your normal self. I would, but you have no mind right now to accept my offer.” He cackled.

     Jon shouted, his hands lighting with flames. He directed the flames at Hans. Hans was quicker. Hans conjured up a stream of ice, deflecting the raging fire. The fire streamed backward in all directions, setting the building below aflame.

     In revenge, Jon flew at Hans and dragged him down into the burning building. He then pulled him out, but as he did Hans escaped his grasp and flew away, Jon following. They came to the North Sea, and that is where they fought, both flying and shooting fire and ice at each other. Many citizens went out to the beach to see the fight happen.

     At one point, Jon had the upper hand. They were locked in a stream of fire and ice. But soon, Hans came back and froze the fire, disabling Jon for a moment. Jon felt cold, very cold. Finally Hans struck the final blow. He entirely froze Jon, and sent him flying into the North Sea. With this done, Hans went away, flying back somewhere in Amsterdam, leaving Jon to die.

     Jon’s eyes slowly opened. He was in a white room, with a whole matter of medical supplies and posters of the human body. He suddenly realized he was in a hospital room.

     What happened? He asked himself. He had no recollection of the previous night. The last thing he remembered was finding Hans at the door.

     Suddenly, as he looked out the door, Jon saw a person gushing blood out of his heart like a sprinkler. Jon fainted.

     The doctors could not save Jon; he died from his wounds. Most of his bones were broken, and had severe trauma to his spinal cord. He wasn’t mourned by the city, not one bit. He was just another criminal with superpowers.

     A few hours later, Hans met his father, Pieter, in their home outside the city.

     “That boy saved my life,” said Pieter. “You should heal him.”

     “He ruined mine,” said Hans.

     They did not speak for the rest of the day. Hans thought to himself about what he should do.

     Finally Hans made his decision. He went to the hospital, went to Jon’s room, and out of the forgiveness of his heart, he used his power of healing to bring Jon back to life. He turned to leave, but he heard words from behind him.

     “You saved my life, Hans,” said Jon.

     “I was only returning a favor,” answered Hans.

     The next day they went by plane back to America, back to college, back to a normal life. From that point on Jon and Hans were the best of friends. Strange, how two mortal enemies set aside their differences and became friends. Strange, how the hero became the villain and the villain became the hero. Jon did not know what to make of this. 

It’s about a man named Farlomé who escapes from a prison named Cartha, held by the self-proclaimed king of Avëa, Morthir, for rebellion. Farlomé then looks for his old home, hoping to forge a war against Morthir.

Brisingr

This is the third book in the Inheritance Series, which is summarized in a different article. Eragon, a Dragon Rider, and Saphira, his dragon, have won several battles against the Empire and now have to fulfill the seven promises they made to the Varden, the Dwarves, and the Elves. First, Eragon has to fulfill his promise to his cousin Roran, which is to save Katrina, Roran’s future wife, from the monstorous Ra’zac.

If I were to be friends with one person in this book, it would be Oromis, Eragon’s mentor. He is very powerful and wise, but I would not want to be on his bad side.

This book was fairly easy, but I would not recommend it to just anyone. I would recommend it to anyone who was interested in fantasy, dragons, and war, or just a good read. This series has notably long books, and I would not recommend it to someone who can’t handle books over 100 pages.

No. of Pages: 763

But, Here’s the downside. I own the 360 version, and besides story mode and training, there is nothing else. No dueling mode, no two player, nothing. The only thing you can do to make your character a little different is change his costume and lightsaber. A custom costume would be nice, but the lightsabers were fine. I have also played the Wii edition, which has dueling and all that nice stuff. 

I still love to play this game though, no matter how many times I play it. If you use cheatcodes to change the costume to a different character, there is a whole new aspect to gameplay. So, if you use cheatcodes, the gameplay is a bit more unique.

Out of 10, I would give this game a 7. Maybe not the best buy, but good to rent once or twice if you want to save some money.