Last Gate of the Emperor

Last Gate of the Emperor

By:

Kwame Mbalia

Prince Joel Makonnen

Blurb:

An Afrofuturist adventure about a mythical Ethiopian empire. Sci-fi and fantasy combine in this journey to the stars.

Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime — a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family… and his only friends.

Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and smart mouth, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb’s Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears.

Suddenly, all the stories Yared’s uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life, of kingdoms in the sky and city-razing monsters. And somehow Yared is at the center of them.

Together with Besa and the Ibis — a game rival turned reluctant ally — Yared must search for his uncle… and answers to his place in a forgotten, galaxy-spanning war.

Review:

I feel like I missed something while reading Last Gate of the Emperor. Why did things hinge on Yared? Why weren’t they able to defeat the bad guys ten years prior? Clearly, I missed something, and I didn’t skim, so I’m not sure how.

For once, I liked the male hero of a middle school book. Normally they’re brash and stupid and so full of their own abilities. Yared had those moments, but when push came to shove, he chose correctly. He wasn’t stupid, which I liked.

The world created was interesting, and I loved the sci-fi aspect, though I thought the last line in the book was eye-roll-worthy. I liked the characters, but ultimately this was a book not written for my age group, so I’m not going to rate it. I read it because Kwame Mbalia was associated with it, and I’ve liked the Tristan Strong books. It would probably be a good introduction to sci-fi for young readers, and hopefully, they wouldn’t miss what I clearly did.

Tristan Strong Destroys the World (Tristan Strong #2)

Tristan Strong Destroys the World (Tristan Strong #2)

By:

Kwame Mbalia

Blurb:

Tristan Strong, just back from a victorious but exhausting adventure in Alke, the land of African American folk heroes and African gods, is suffering from PTSD. But there’s no rest for the weary when his grandmother is abducted by a mysterious villain out for revenge. Tristan must return to Alke–and reunite with his loud-mouthed sidekick, Gum Baby–in order to rescue Nana and stop the culprit from creating further devastation. Anansi, now a “web developer” in Tristan’s phone, is close at hand to offer advice, and several new folk heroes will aid Tristan in his quest, but he will only succeed if he can figure out a way to sew broken souls back together.

Review:

I’m happy I listened to my librarian when she recommended the Tristan Strong series. It’s been a great source of entertainment and a nice light story to escape into. Plus, I’ve always loved mythology, and this is something I’m not super familiar with.

Tristan Strong Destroys the World picks up about a month after the last book. Tristan is doing a little better with his grief but has started having nightly nightmares. He ends up being drawn back to Alke when his grandmother is kidnapped. You end up learning more about her and the start of an explanation of why Tristan has his abilities.

The story ends not quite on a cliffhanger, but it does set up the following book’s story. This is supposed to be a trilogy, so we should reach a conclusion at that time. I kind of hope it isn’t, though. I’d love to read more in this world with these characters.

4/5

NEW Disney Toybox – Loki

We’ve got a new MARVEL Toybox figure. I was expecting Loki. So far they’ve done characters for all of their Disney+ TV shows so it makes sense. Honestly, he looks kind of eh. His picture on the side of the box is much better, you can see that at the Disney Store. The blue stone in the staff seems so dull, not sure why they didn’t go for something more shiny. Oh well, the MARVEL line continues to be meh.

Total Recall (1990)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Total Recall (1990)

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers:

Ronald Shusett

Dan O’Bannon

Jon Povill

Gary Goldman

Starring:

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Rachel Ticotin

Sharon Stone

Ronny Cox

Michael Ironside

Blurb:

When a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real – or is he?

Thoughts:

Out of Robocop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers, Total Recall is the only film by Paul Verhoeven that I can watch. I’ve seen the others several times, but they’re too graphic for me to enjoy. I just do not like them. My poor husband loves them, but he’s nice enough to watch them when I’m not around. That being said, I don’t like Total Recall either. It just doesn’t bother me the same way the others do.

I have not read We Can Remember it Wholesale by Phillip K. Dick but just based on a Wikipedia read, it doesn’t sound like Total Recall followed it very closely. Maybe it would have been better if it had. The story seems to be trying too hard to make you question if it’s real or not. Specific plot points don’t make sense or are outright stupid. Personally, I prefer to think that it’s all fake and he wakes up back in his miserable life married to Sharon Stone, but there’s no way to know.

I should probably dedicate a paragraph to the two women in the movie, but I’m finding it difficult. Sharon Stone is a spy married to Arnold, who’s supposed to keep him distracted with her body, so he doesn’t remember his past life. Or is she? He’s supposed to remember his life eventually, so why is she there exactly? Then you’ve got Rachel Ticotin, who’s a member of the rebels and in love with Arnold. She is his contact with the rebels and the woman he’s really interested in. She gets jealous that he was with Sharon Stone but quickly gets over it because she loves him so much. The women don’t have much in the way of personality and are very similar. Both love Arnold, and both can fight.

The special effects in Total Recall are good for the time. Lots of eyes exploding and faces blowing up, plus a ton of bloody squibs. It was impressive and unrealistic enough not to bother me. It’s odd, I don’t mind action violence, but some movies just hit me wrong, and I can’t handle them. Certain types of hyper-violence make me physically ill.

Nineteen-ninety has been the year for movies my husband loves. I think Back to the Future Part III is the only one of my movies I’ve watched. I’ve still got one more movie of his for the year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Then I move on to a couple of mine. The nineties are an odd mixture of both of our tastes, so there will be some random whiplash to come.

Days of Thunder (1990)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Days of Thunder (1990)

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers:

Robert Towne

Tom Cruise

Starring:

Tom Cruise

Robert Duvall

Nicole Kidman

Randy Quaid

Michael Rooker

Cary Elwes

Blurb:

A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.

Thoughts:

I am not a NASCAR fan. I always hated Sundays when my dad would watch it because it was so boring. I didn’t like football either, but something about cars driving around in circles was so much worse. I hated it. When I met my now husband, he was a big NASCAR fan. He loved to talk about it, and initially, because I wanted in his pants, I listened. Eventually, I listened because I loved him, and seeing him so excited about something was fun. I unwillingly learned more than I ever wanted to know about the sport. I now know it’s more than just driving in circles, along with a myriad of other facts. (In case anyone was wondering, he pays attention when I talk about topics I love and probably knows more than he’d ever want to know about romance books)

I never grew to like NASCAR, and in case it wasn’t clear, Days of Thunder is not my movie. In fact, I could have easily skipped it and felt no remorse over it, but my husband wanted to watch it, so I didn’t.

Alright, so Tom Cruise is a racer that can drive anything better than anyone ever, except he knows nothing about cars. Robert Duvall is old, even then, and he knows everything there is about making cars. Together, if they can get past their differences, they’ll be unstoppable. Enter Nicole Kidman, a super professional doctor, but after Tom Cruise puts her hand on his junk, she can’t seem to control herself. They hang out, and then seconds after she’s cleared him to drive again, they make out and become a thing. Also, Michael Rooker is the best driver until Tom Cruise comes along, and they have multiple dick-measuring contests. Oh, and Cary Elwes totally wants to fuck Tom Cruise.

That is Days of Thunder.