Tag: Novel

Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior by Cube Kid

On By Dylan LasherIn Book, Book review, Fantacy, ReadingLeave a comment

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This book is about an 8 year old villager, Runt, who wants to be a warrior but his parents want him to be a farmer.  He attends warrior school in Village Town to make his dream come true. On his journey, he meets some new people. He meets Steve who is his combat teacher, Urf who is horribly bad at combat and is called a ‘noob’,  Breeze who is his friend and later on, his partner, and Stump who is his great friend.

This book is great for children 6 and up. If you like this book, then check out Cube Kid’s other books!

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Fantacy, ReadingLeave a comment

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The Prisoner of Azkaban is by far my favorite book in the Harry Potter series. The third book in the 7 book series by J.K. Rowling, the Prisoner of Azkaban really builds the backstory of the characters. It also introduces some history to the world of Harry Potter that hadn’t been portrayed before.

Going along with the previous two books, the Prisoner of Azkaban takes place during Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s third year at Hogwarts. Unlike the first two books, however, this is the first book where the main villain isn’t the feared Voldemort. This is a nice touch as it breaks up the repetitiveness in the series of the ever growing battle between Voldemort and Harry. The Prisoner of Azkaban also dives deeper into Harry’s parentage as well as what the Potter universe looked like before book one.

This book was a great springboard for the magical world of Harry Potter to explode into what it is today. Without Rowling going into more detail about Harry’s parents and really building the foundation of this fictional world, the attachment to characters later in the series wouldn’t have been as strong and thus some of the events less meaningful. This is why this book had the most impact on the success of the story about the boy who lives under the stairs.

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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Classic, ReadingLeave a comment

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Ender’s Game was one of my favorite books when I was growing up. Orson Scott Card’s story of a young boy named Ender who finds himself in a world of fear and hate towards an alien race sounds like just another science fiction novel but the plot goes into so much deeper ideas. This is another book I would highly recommend reading before seeing the movie.

A world that is rebuilding after an invasion attempt from an alien race finds itself tipping the scales from being defensive to offensive. Ender, a young man in the esteemed military academy, receives the honor of being enrolled in the officer’s school. Here he accels in his work accomplishing more and more victories until he is promoted to an even more prestigious position. However, this position isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and Ender soon finds his superiors haven’t been entirely honest with him leading him to think deeply about who he is and where his moral compass is pointing him.

I read this book at a great time in my life when I was faced with deciding on what kind of person I wanted to be. Reading Ender’s Game in high school was a happy accident and one that I am going to try to pass on to my son when he gets older. I’ll probably reread it with him and we can go through it together for even more enjoyment.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Fantacy, ReadingLeave a comment

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second installment of J.K. Rowling’s wildly successful series about a The Boy Who Lived. Picking up right where the first book left off, it’s impossible not to get excited about what is coming next. Once again, if you haven’t read this one, what are you waiting for?!

In this book, Harry and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, return to the wizarding school of Hogwarts for their second year of education in the mystical arts of witchcraft and wizardry. Rowling shows her skills as an author by keeping up with the continuity from the first book in this very well thought out universe. Furthermore, her ability to show the gradual maturing of the three main characters as well as all the friends and enemies around them is impressive for a second time author.

If you haven’t already read this series, I would highly recommend it and if you have the opportunity to read it alongside children of your own, it is that much more rewarding. Reliving the magical world of Harry Potter with a young one has been very fulfilling experience. I can’t wait to read his review, hopefully coming soon to this blog. Stay tuned.

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone review

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Classic, ReadingLeave a comment

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Though not a very long book, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, or Sunzi, has had a substantial impact on the world since its inception. From military strategy, as the title implies, to business tactics, many people have put its teachings to use in a variety of settings. I am not sure I am one of those people for better or worse.

The Art of War was published in the 5th century BC. Composed of 13 chapters, it was meant to be and is still used as a guide for military tactics in China. Translated into French in 1772 and English in 1910, The Art of War has made it around the world and into the playbooks of many of powerful and influential people. Kind of amazing it was originally written on little bamboo sticks.

I actually listened to The Art of War as an audiobook while I was doing my dishes one afternoon. And that’s about how long this book is. Though I didn’t have any kind of battle or situation in mind other than completing my task of cleaning the kitchen, I honestly don’t think I got a lot out of the book other than whatever your opponent is doing, do the opposite and be ruthless about it. Unless they are being ruthless, than be compassionate. Maybe someday I will go through it again and see if the meaning changes. What are your thoughts?

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The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Classic, ReadingLeave a comment

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The Three Musketeers (I never really got the name. They primarily use swords. Not muskets) is an amazing adventure tale from Alexandre Dumas. Though very long winded in its original form like The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers has just as much if not more adventure than it’s successor. The Disney adaptation was pretty good as well.

The story of the The Three Musketeers is a coming of age tale of d’Artagnan, a young man looking for adventure in the early 1600’s. After leaving home for Paris, he finds he can’t fulfill his dream of becoming an honored Musketeer. He does meet 3 of the Guards’ more interesting members: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The four of them uncover a plot to assassinate the king and go off on an adventure all over France to thwart it.

This is a great story and with many different versions out there, it is easy to find one for all reading levels. I think at this point I have read several starting at a young age and who knows how many times I’ve seen the Disney movie with Charlie Sheen before he went crazy. I would recommend this book to just about anyone.

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The Count of Monte Cristo review

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Fantacy, ReadingLeave a comment

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The first installment of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, if you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for?! The third best selling book of all time, as reported by The Guardian, with over 4.2 million copies sold, it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t read the story of the boy who lived. But there are people out there that haven’t. I know a few and it blows my mind.

The beginning of the epic tale of a boy who was abandoned with his hateful aunt, uncle, and cousin in England, Harry Potter soon finds out he isn’t an ordinary 11 year old boy. From meeting a half giant to attending a secret school for witches and wizards, this book will keep you begging for more. And you’re in luck! There are 6 more of them, 3 side books, a play, and 8 movies to feed your Potterhead obsession.

I am so glad I was at the right age to read these books when they came out. Like millions of other children in the 90’s and 00’s, Harry Potter was a story we could all relate to growing up through the awkward years between the single digits and college. Now with a child entering that age, I have really enjoyed rereading and reliving the excitement and wonder with him. If you haven’t read this one, come on! Get on with it!

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets review

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Reading, Science FictionLeave a comment

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Ready Player One is by far the best science fiction book I’ve read in a decade or more. When my brother recommended it to me I thought it was just going to be a video game, nerd book but it is so much more. Having grown up watching Star Wars and reading books like Ender’s Game, Ready Player One is a modern day scratch for a sci-fi itch.

The story follows a young boy in a future where virtual reality takes up just about every aspect of a person’s day. From entertainment and leisure to work and education, everything takes place in the virtual universe called the Oasis. Throw in an abundance of 80’s pop culture references and a survival against “the man” action plot and anyone born since 1980 will be completely overtaken with nostalgia and excitement.

Written by screenwriter Ernest Cline, Ready Player One is an easy, enjoyable read and made for a very fun movie. Having said that, I would recommend reading the book over the movie because there are way more references and some of the ones in the movie are hard to spot because there are so many of them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone but readers who were around in the 80’s and 90’s might find it more enjoyable.

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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

On By J. Patrick LasherIn Book, Book review, Classic, Reading1 Comment

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Probably the longest book I have ever read, French writer Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo was well worth the 1,400 plus page marathon. The story, or how-to manual on revenge, follow Edmond Dantes and his life starting at ok, dropping to horrible, and his rise to greatness through the motivation of vengeance. Yes, this book is as epic as it sounds.

Edmond Dantes, a sailor, becomes captain of his ship and is about to marry his beautiful bride, Mercedes. Fernand Mondego, Edmond’s best friend, and Danglars, Edmond’s coworker, are jealous of this and plot to have Edmond, something of an ignorant, charged with treason. While sentenced to a prison island, Edmond befriends Abbe Faria, who teaches him to genius level intelligence which Edmond uses to plot the most elaborate revenge plan ever.

Though this book is quite long I have had no problem reading it twice. The plot and history are so exciting, you can’t wait to see what will happen next or to see if Edmond wins back his beautiful bride, Mercedes. Alexandre Dumas is definitely an author for the ages. I had to read The Three Musketeers after this and it was awesome too.

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The Three Musketeers review