Scorpion Mountain (Brotherband Chronicles #5)

My Rating: 4/10
Goodreads: 4.44

I was tempted to just throw this one in with my review for the Slaves of Socorro, as it has many of the same problems. However, there was a little more emotional depth in this one as it shows Hal having to face the possible loss of a couple of his crew members and how he deals with it. I was a little more impressed with that. The ending, though, was rather anti-climatic and confusing. It was mostly just way too easy. Their enemies, a fanatic assassin cult, were set up to be incredibly fearsome, but they were overcome incredibly easily to the point that I kept expecting them to pop up out of nowhere at the end just to prove that they really were worth all the buildup. For a series that relies primarily on action to keep the story going, it was disappointing. I'm just hoping that the next book will be better.

Slaves of Socorro (Brotherband Chronicles #4)

My Rating: 5/10
Goodreads: 4.38

In this book, the Brotherband Chronicles mixes with the Ranger's Apprentice series as the Herons head off to Araluen to be their Skandian duty ship for a few months. I was excited to see Gilan get thrown in with the Herons, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the story overall. There was plenty of action but not a ton of character development or emotional depth. Instead of being a real continuation of the Heron's story it was more like just another humdrum adventure. I'm worried that this series, like it's companion series, is going to be stretched on indefinitely without much character development occurring over the many books.

The Royal Ranger (Ranger's Apprentice #12)

My Rating: 5/10
Goodreads: 4.41

I was surprised to hear about this one as I thought the series was over. It is an interesting addition to the series however, since Will finally gets his own apprentice and you get to see him put in Halt's position. It bothered me, though,  that throughout the book Will seems to go back and forth between acting like a copy of Halt and acting like his younger self. I would have preferred to see him acting just like an older version of his younger self. I suppose it does make sense that he would act like Halt with his apprentice since that's how he was trained, but you'd think in the thirty-or-so years in between this book and the first one he would have become a little more original. On the plus side, I did enjoy the addition of Maddie. She did help the book seem like more than just a rerun of the first book by having her own distinct personality and challenges. Other than that, the book was fairly standard for a Ranger's Apprentice book with lots of action and a decent amount of drama. It wasn't exceptional, but I'd say it's worth reading for fans of the series.

The Lego Movie

My Rating: 7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Kids-In-Mind: 1.3.1

This movie was surprisingly really good. It was predictable, like most kid's movies, but still funny and interesting. Emmett, the main character, is suddenly faced with a dilemma when he accidentally finds the "Piece of Resistance" which causes all of the rebels of his rigidly controlled world to label him as the "Special". He is supposedly named in prophecy as the one who has the power to save them all, even though he has had very few original thoughts in his entire life and is perfectly happy following instructions all day. I really enjoyed how the movie shows how important creativity and originality are while still showing the importance of rules and organization. A lot of kid's movies fail to make that distinction, but this one makes it clear that anarchy gets you nowhere along with it's message about believing in yourself and the power of individuals. With amazing animation (all in Legos) and a powerful message, it's a great movie for kids while still being interesting for adults.

Pathfinder (Todhunter Moon #1)

My Rating: 8/10
Goodreads: 4.2

As a long-time Septimus Heap fan, I was very excited to see how Angie Sage was going to add on to the Septimus Heap world with this new series. I thought that she did an excellent job of introducing new characters and new elements of the world while still including and continuing to develop old characters. I don't know that I would recommend it for people who haven't read the Septimus Heap series because there's so many references to it that they'd probably be confused, but for Septimus Heap fans I'd say it's a must-read.

Neil Flambe and the Bard's Banquet (The Neil Flambe Capers #5)

My Rating: 6/10
Goodreads: 4.0

This book is a good addition to a zany middle-grade mystery series. Like the other books it has lots of fun history references, random plot twists, and interesting characters. I really like how the recurring characters are continually being developed throughout the series. This book focuses a lot on Neil's development and his becoming more mature and more aware of his own shortcomings. I also like this book a bit better than the last couple books in the series because it was more focused on the mystery and less on the drama between characters. There was still a good bit of drama, but not nearly as much. The main thing I have to complain about this book was the ending, which contained a rather depressing cliffhanger. I'm sure it'll be swiftly taken care of in the next book, but it was a rather abrupt end to an otherwise good book.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman

My Rating: 6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Kids-In-Mind: 1.3.1

This was definitely a movie for kids, but a pretty good one. It had lots of fun history references and a cute and interesting plot about a genius dog who's adopted a little boy and taken him time-traveling. It was fairly predictable but still original and funny enough to make up for it. I don't know if I'll watch it a second time, but the first time was worth it.

I'm back!

Hey anyone who's reading this, I'm back after a long break to go on a mission for my church. And now I've made a goal to review every single movie I watch and book I read, so watch out!