My brand new blog- Editor's Article is Moving! (MUST READ)

THEBOOKGAZER.BLOGSPOT.COM Editor`s Article will be shutting down, however I will be opening a brand new book blog called The Book Gazer. All follows, posts , comments views etc have been transferred to this new blog. Further expla Click the Link above -Sincerely Eddie

My Thoughts: Nightrise by Anthony Horowitz

"The third heart-pounding book in #1 NYT bestselling author Anthony Horowitz's spellbinding The Gatekeepers series. A gate has been opened. The Old Ones have been released. And now the third and fourth of The Five -- twins with a mysterious psychic bond -- are joining the fight."-amazon
My Thoughts

Nightrise was a definite thriller, with the poor success of Ravens Gate and Evil Star I was starting to get little worried, but Anthony Horowitz definitely brought back his A game. The New York Times bestselling author somehow managed to bring back the Alex Rider feel and weave it into a complex web of legend, prophecy, and magic.  As you can tell, I actually liked Nightrise, the government " juvenile correction facility" added a third dimension to the book. A sense of high government powers conspiring for the "next big weapon".
For me the best part of Nighrise was the flashbacks! I loved the flashbacks-they're the single best thing you can do in an adventure novel, or any type of novel for that case. I wont say too much; because I really don't want to spoil the amazing flashback, but you can expect many guarded secrets to be revealed.
Rating: B+
What to expect?

• Nightrise
• Telepathy
• Prophecy 
• Flashbacks

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM EDITOR'S ARTICLE!

Check out the virtual firework display!*fizz* *crackle* *pop*Onto resolutions! My new years resolution is to take more time out of my day to do photography! Something I can now do with my new Christmas present. What's Your new years resolution?

CVC #6: Ruler of The Realm Vs Keys to the Demon Prison

Welcome to the brand new segment I like to call CVC, short for Cover Versus Cover. Basically I give you two covers, a short analysis - as well as the authors name. Based on that- you'll vote for the cover you think best. The polls will close early Friday Morning. And on Friday afternoon you'll come back to this post to see your voting results. (they'll be posted on the bottom). 4  more CVC's to go people! our seasonal winner is not so far away!  This weeks contestants are The Faerie Wars and Fablehaven!

1) Ruler of the Realm, by Herbie Brennan is (quite literally) magical, Right at the center you have a glowing translucent talisman with a gold chipped border. The main focus point! If you look a little back you can see how the jewel in the talisman blends in with the outer background of the cover, only intercepted once again by the gold rimming which brings your eye to the center. Make no mistake, the blue jewel in the talisman is not for simple decoration, its hazy clarity adds a nice modern glass feel to the cover, making it appeal to you at the local book store.
2) FableHaven! (anyone noticing the Fairy theme here?) FableHaven written by Brandon Mull has a pleasant fiery chaos theme to the cover, right at the front you can see one of the Queen's royal fairies gleefully flying away from the door to the demon prison. Another thing: The gold-red color scheme is really working here on FableHaven, everything from the tip of his spear, to the bricks on top are cast in the shimmery red glow of the fire. truly explosive. 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the book covers you see on this CVC post, However I am using them under the fair use act. Under fair Use I am allowed yo use these images as long as I am: Providing commentary (which I am) and or Providing criticism (which I am). Under fair use I must show where I have acquired these images from, you can find where I get these images from by clicking the image.

Eddie's Ramblings: Amazing Spider Man Dead?!? (Spoiler)

Credit: NewsARama

What!?!? I know this is a book blog, however when I heard the news I just had to report, plus comics are books too right?
This Wendesday afternoon Spiderman was killed in his 700'th issue,  by Dan Slott. The man who writes Spiderman in the comics. According to him he needed to "shake up the mix.” (ABC). Shake up the mix? By Killing him? "hehe-haha its all fun and games! Just a comic people like to read! no problem killing Peter Parker!"-What I imagined Dan Slott Saying at the comic meeting.  For those of you who are a little young Spiderman has been going on since the 1960's; over 50 years of comic book history, generously entertaining dozens of generations over the years. And now, he's been Killed; his mind swapped into Doctor Octopus's withering body (which soon died) while Doctor Octopus's mind is finding itself quite comfy inside Spiderman's youthful physique. All is lost as the Villain has won, He has all the power, the glory, and the credit. He (Dr. Octopus) will now accordingly take over as Spiderman, and attempt to do some good, and become the Superior Spiderman. But what exactly does this say to our children? I, myself remember prancing about in my new Spider Man Halloween costume, and shooting webs (yarn) from my wrists with glee. I also remember many other kids jumping yonder saying things like: "when I grow up, I wanna be just like Spiderman!". Superheroes are not just fictional characters on a canvas, they're prime examples of the best a human can be, they're our deepest aspirations, wishes and fantasies splurted onto paper for all to see; Human Role Models. Which leads me back to my original question; What does this teach our children? You can be evil all your life, turn good at the last possible moment and attain ultimate glory? More glory than the man who's been doing good his whole life? You don't have to be good all the time, just when it counts? never mind Peter Parker, the good old Spiderman always doing the right thing, he got killed. Doctor Octopus, the life long villain is the one who lives, he's the winner! he gets the glory of Spider man. Is this the message you want to send to your child?

Doctor Octopus

Just another quick note: The main problem people are having with this is that Peter Parker was "killed" off before his time, he still had many many more crime fighting years ahead of him, he wasn't even old! That's almost never happened before. Normally a superhero willingly retires (always out of old age), while his/her partner or protege takes over his/her role. E.G Robin taking over for Batman. Then the former superhero lives the rest of his/her long life as a regular citizen. Thus, creating a new generation of whatever comic that was, whilst still having an appealing ending. However Dan Slott decided not to do that, and have a different ending, that coincidentally destroyed 50 years of comic history.
Doctor Octopus is expected to take over as Spiderman in the next issue, as Editor Stephen Wacker said "Because Doctor Octopus knows all of those things and will make decisions on what he saw Peter going through," Wacker said. "In a way, he gets the ultimate victory as he becomes a better hero." A better hero? unlikely, however today I'll end this somber article with a telling qoute from a loyal Spiderman Fan: "They've really outdone themselves in their latest attempt to completely alienate their fanbase and ruin their flagship character. This would be life if Twoface murdered Batman and became the new Batman. It feels wrong, it makes my stomach turn that the villain kills my hero, takes his body, his life, and his girl. I'm a life long fan of Spiderman, and I've endured a lot over the years. The clone saga and One more day being the most painfully horrible events. This however, has pretty much made me lose faith in Marvel as a brand. I'm done reading the comics, I am doing caring about the current situation in the Marvel universe. Marvel seems intent on destroying their characters and I refuse to take more abuse as a loyal fan."-Silver6Kraid

My Thoughts: Raven's Gate By Anthony Horowitz

"This chilling NYT bestseller from Anthony Horowitz, "a master of edge-of-your-seat writing" (Booklist, starred) is "an exhilarating read" (Kirkus) that "should attract a strong following" (PW)
As punishment for a crime he didn't really commit, Matt was given a choice: go to jail or go live with an old woman named Mrs. Deverill in a remote town called Lesser Malling.
He should have chosen jail. A strange and sinister plan is coming together made in Lesser Malling, with Matt at the center of it all. People who try to help him disappear . . . or die. It all ties to an evil place named Raven's Gate - a place whose destiny is horrifyingly intertwined with Matt's own."-Amazon

My Thoughts

Raven's gate was a very odd case, it wasn't bad, nor was it amazing, but it also wasn't mediocre. It was not a horror book, nor was it an adventure novel, and not even an action book. T'was an irregular and crude combination of all three. Not quite on thing, but not exactly the other. Undefinable.
The characters in Raven's gate were good; borderline satisfactory and not anything special. The full cast of characters includes 3 dead men, Matt and hundreds of evil devil worshiping villagers. (You may think I'm kidding but I'm actually not)
In the end Anthony Horowitz  left me with little to review, a very entertaining read; but served no other purpose other than to entertain. Such books are good but very hard to review.
Rating: B-
What to expect?

• The Nexus
• Magical Gates
• Remote Villages
• The Old Ones

CVC #5: The Maelstrom Vs Leviathan!

Welcome to the brand new segment I like to call CVC, short for Cover Versus Cover. Basically I give you two covers, a short analysis - as well as the authors name. Based on that- you'll vote for the cover you think best. The polls will close early Friday Morning. And on Friday afternoon you'll come back to this post to see your voting results. (they'll be posted on the bottom). 7 more CVC's to go people! our seasonal winner is not so far away!  This weeks contestants are The Tapestry and Leviathan!

1) First up, The Tapestry. The Tapestry is a perfect example of what a cover artist can do with the right colors, if you look straight at the book you can see how all the shades hues and colors mix together to create this wonderful cover. Another thing to take note; notice how the cover seems painted? or hand drawn at the very least? That's  the work of the cover artist, Cory Godbey. What more could you ask for?
2) Onto Leviathan! I chose Leviathan for this cover war because I like how the cover artist took gears and turned them into something pleasant to look at. Tons of tiny, small and big gears are working together (both in the book and in the cover) to create something new. The best part of the cover (for me) was how the artist played around with the grey, giving everything a kind of "old rust machinery" look. Very fitting.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the book covers you see on this CVC post, However I am using them under the fair use act. Under fair Use I am allowed yo use these images as long as I am: Providing commentary (which I am) and or Providing criticism (which I am). Under fair use I must show where I have acquired these images from, you can find where I get these images from by clicking the image.