Teen Cafe’

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I recently watched a movie remake of one of my favorite books, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The book, written by C.S. Lewis, is the first of a seven book series called The Chronicles of Narnia. The books in the series were short, some 200 pages each but still full of quirky humor and funny characters. This movie is based on the first story, and while the later ones are better, it still is a great book and a great movie.

The story successfully follows the book to a tee. Since the book was so short, nothing had to be cut from it to fit in the timeframe of the movie. The majority of the movie was shot in New Zealand, as was Lord of the Rings, which made for some amazing scenes. All of Narnia is depicted in such a gorgeous manner and everything looks exactly like you would expect it to.

The actors fit the characters from the book as well, and make the movie all the better. They all fit into their roles quite nicely, and make a very convincing group. The battle is truly of epic proportions and the variety of monsters and animals make for quite an interesting battle scene.

The movie appeals to a very large audience. If you have watched or read Harry Potter, you will probably enjoy this movie. If you have read the Narnia books and enjoyed them, this is an absolute must see. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe contains similarities to both the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies, giving it the best elements of both movies. Then, add a great storyline written by C.S. Lewis, and you have yourself a fantastic movie. The DVD comes with quite a slew of special features, including interesting facts about the world of Narnia. The director really did an amazing job at recreating the book, and I am impressed.

Special Effects: 8.5/10

Acting: 9/10

Story: 9.5/10

Trueness to the book: 10/10

Scene Beauty: 9.5/10

Pros: Great storyline, Scenes and setting are gorgeous, Very true to the book, Is similar to both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings

Cons: Not the best book in the series, Many other recreations of this book out there

Overall: 9.5/10

After blazing through the first two books of Incarnations of Immortality, On a Pale Horse and Bearing an Hourglass, I could not wait to read the third. The book began the same as the others, focusing on the mortal life of the Incarnation and moving in towards their time as an Immortal. Piers Anthony’s odd sense of humor is back once again, with a woman’s spin on it. The main character of this book, Fate, is composed of three women of different ages. While the book is based on Fate, it focuses mostly on Niobe (who becomes Clotho and Lachesis). Atropos is the third part of the three characters of Fate, and is not talked about as much as the other two, but still is an important part of the story. The book is once again drastically different than the first two books, making it all the more fun to read. Also, now that I know the jest of how the tales are told, I know what to expect.

This book does something very different, as it has the same character take on the role of different aspects of the same Incarnation. Niobe acts as Clotho, the youngest version of Fate, returns to her mortal life, and then later becomes the middle-aged Lachesis, another part of Fate. It was quite interesting to see an Incarnation return to his previous mortal life after being Immortal.

The story does fill in some family tree elements, as you learn that Niobe is the grandmother of Luna, who is the wife of Zane from On a Pale Horse and is the Fate who had relations with Norton from Bearing an Hourglass. It is also told that Niobe’s other daughter, Orb, will become an Incarnation herself and marry Satan. This story does indeed shed some light on things to come, but also creates many new mysteries. The book truly lives up to the greatness of the first two and does so in its own way.

Pros: Great story, does things the other stories did not do, keeping the series fresh, Explains things in the story that shed light on the relation of the characters

Cons: Does not explore such unique areas as the other two did

Overall: 8.5/10

Going back in time to read an older book!

After reading the first book, On a Pale Horse, I had very high expectations for the sequel. Once again the first few chapters made me worried, but the story quickly picked up. The humor from the first has been replaced by constant suspense, which seems suited for the book, as the protagonist is Time. The story is just as good as the first, but seems very different, as if written by a different author. The humor has been misplaced by just pure oddness, and the ways things are described are as different as the characters in the book themselves. The story is told in third person, but the way things are described seem to follow the way the main character would perceive them, not as how Piers Anthony would. Norton, the character who becomes Chronos, the Incarnation of Time, has a somewhat inanimate object that can come alive in his snake ring; “Sning” much as Zane from the On a Pale Horse had his horse/car.

Unfortunately, the book only scratches the surface of the life of Chronos, but you do get to learn much about the way he lives. The story was once again very compelling and hard to put down, but I just feel like going a little farther into the life of Chronos would have been nice. I liked how the story went back to scenes from the first book, viewing them through Norton’s eyes. Hopefully future books in the series will go deeper into the life of Norton. Overall though, another great novel in the series, making Incarnations of Immortality even better.

Pros: Great story, Still very hard to put down, another interesting subject for a story, Writing is very different but still great

Cons: Humor is replaced by just pure oddities, Does not go very far into the live of Norton

Overall: 9/10

Bearing An Hourglass (Incarnations of Immortality, Book 2)