Lenni Reviews: Desert Rising by Kelly Grant

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This novel introduces twins Sulis and Kadar on their way to the city of Illian from their desert home. Once there, Kadar begins apprenticing as a merchant and his sister Sulis joins the local temple to gods her people don't worship and with people who are prejudiced against those who come from the desert. Spurred on by the legacy of her now deceased mother, Sulis is bonded to a feli; giant sacred cats who help them communicate with their gods, and begins to unravel a conspiracy and oncoming war between the four gods of the temple. The novel also follows Kadar, poised on the brink of revolution with the Forsaken class in the city who are tired of being treated like chattel.

This novel is a marvelous piece of sprawling fantasy. Kelly Grant has solid world building skills and each character is unique and fleshed out in creative ways. Sulis is a great character and an excellent example of a strong female character in a fantasy setting. When she arrives at the temple and she's the outcast, she makes no attempt to hide who she is and what she knows. Her brother, Kadar, and the conflict he gets embroiled in, is thankfully as interesting as Sulis' so when you're switched between them, you stay interested in both stories. As the novel goes on, they do intersect in creative ways.

Unfortunately, the novel ends on a cliffhanger. I was flying through this book and while I enjoyed it, I felt I didn't get the pay off I wanted from all the build up in the book. I get that this is to get you to buy the second one but since this book isn't due out in paperback until May 26th, 2015, I have the feeling it's going to be a year before I get to see what happens next! Not fair, darnit...

Kelly Grant has a great world going here and I'm anxious to see where it goes. If you like magic, warring gods, and giant cats, you will enjoy this book.

First Look: Supergirl Trailer

Hey O&G Fans here is a look at the Supergirl Trailer. She references Kel-El in her voice over. Wonder if we might see the man of steel in the series. Check out the trailer below:
 

It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's not a man. It's Supergirl. In the new drama from the world of DC Comics, Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El, embraces her superhuman abilities and becomes the hero she was always meant to be. This Fall on CBS.

Vandal Savage revealed as DC's Legends of Tomorrows first Major Bad Guy and first look at Legends of tomorrow Trailer

Image Credit: DC Comics
 

Hey O&G fans, today the official story line for CW's Legends of Tomorrow has been released, and along with confirming that time-traveler Rip Hunter assembles the team of heroes. There is an immortal Threat coming. And now we know who that immortal threat is: Vandal Savage.

Thursday morning at the CW's Upfronts presentation, the network reportedly revealed Savage will be the series first "antagonist," fitting the bill as the "immortal threat"

Vandal Savage (a Justic League and Justice Society villain) was born a caveman in prehistoric times but granted immortality by a strange meteor that fell from the sky. In addition to immortality, it also worked to evolve his mind and body beyond his cro-magnon origins to be ahead of his time, both then and into the present day and sometimes in the future.

There's no word yet on who is cast to play Vandal Savage in DC's Legends of Tomorrow. DC's Legends of Tomorrow is scheduled to premiere in early 2016 on the CW. Here is a look at the trailer:
 

Time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter must assemble a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat to the planet...and to time itself. DC's Legends of Tomorrow is coming soon to The CW. SUBSCRIBE to The CW https://youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=CWtelevision Find The CW here: http://cwtv.com/ http://www.facebook.com/TheCW http://twitter.com/cw_network http://instagram.com/thecw http://plus.google.com/+thecw/ http://cwnetwork.tumblr.com/

Jem & The Holograms Trailer and Reaction

Yesterday Jem & The Holograms trailer was released. A small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her three sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden. In Universal Pictures’ Emotional and the Holograms, four aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.

Reaction: Okay I didn't watch Jem as child on Saturday mornings on CBS. Frankly I was watching Turtles. However I did recently binged watch it on Netflix. I was actually surprised how good the show was. What I like about the show is it had strong female characters. This is something you usually didn't see in the 80's cartoon world. After binged watching the series I see why so many women of that era love Jem. It was a fun show, with positive female characters and each girl were flawed to a degree but overcame adversity. 

The trailer didn't capture anything about the cartoon. Jem doesn't seem to have a musical family background. There is no sign of the Misfits. The trailer feels like a dark coming of age story, instead of a fun coming of the age story. Where is magic, glitter, fashion and fame? The music doesn't give me a contiguous feel. I'm not a huge Jem fan but the only thing shown right was Synergy. However this just the first trailer. I won't judge the film till its released.

Life Is Strange Episode 3 - Chaos Theory Coming May 19th

LIFE IS STRANGE EPISODE 3 - ‘CHAOS THEORY’ will be released May 19th.

In this next installment of Life is Strange, Max and Chloe’s investigation into Rachel Amber’s disappearance lead them to break into Blackwell Academy after dark, to search for answers. Secrets will be uncovered and Max will find another use for her power. Here is a screenshot below of the new episode.

First Look: Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows #1 and Variant Covers

Image Credit: Marvel Comics
 

New York, NY—May 11th, 2015— Father. Husband. Hero. The Amazing Spider-Man isn’t safe from the Secret Wars – and neither are you! Today, Marvel is pleased to present your first look at AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #1, from blockbuster creators Dan Slott and Adam Kubert! Trust us, you have to read this to believe it! Prepare for the next evolutionary step in Peter Parker’s life as the Parker family faces Battleworld…together. Peter, Mary Jane and their daughter may not have much, but they have each other. Even as his city is torn asunder by a mysterious new villain, the safety of Peter’s wife and daughter comes first. But who is this mysterious “Regent” who has claimed the lives of so many heroes? How long till Spider-Man and his family are in his crosshairs? This is the story you’ve been waiting for. No fan can afford to miss the seismic AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #1 when it explodes into comic shops this June!

Variant Covers
 

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #1 (APR150750)

Written by DAN SLOTT

Art & Cover by ADAM KUBERT

Variant Covers by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL (APR150751),

JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER (APR150752), HUMBERTO RAMOS (APR150755)
and SKOTTIE YOUNG (APR150756)

Ant-Sized Variant by MIKE DEODATO (APR150754)

MAOS Variant by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO (APR150753)
Blank Cover Variant Also Available (APR150757)

FOC – 05/11/15, On-Sale – 06/03/15

Marvel Variant Cover for Gwenom

Image Credit: Marvel Comics
 

In June, Marvel's themed variant covers is based on Gwen Stacy. With the renewed popoularity in the character thanks to Spider-Gwen, Marvel is doing variant covers to 20 different Marvel titles in June.
 

Women of Anime: Maka

Never judge a book by its cover. 

Today's woman of anime is Maka from the anime Soul Eater. Maka is a strong-willed girl who would be a great friend and confidant. She is a hard worker at the Academy for meisters and weapons and even more, she cares for her friends and her partner Soul. For those who don't know what Soul Eater is, allow me to explain.  

 Soul Eater  tells the story of three main meisters and some other students (but mostly our three) main teams. Team one has the duo of Soul  the death scythe, and his meister Maka. Next we have Black Star with his ninja weapon Tsubaki, and lastly we have Death the Kid with his twin guns Liz and Patty (my favorite team besides Maka and Soul). These three teams along with others are at the DWMA learning how to be great meisters while fighting evil such as witches and other supernatural entities. They also need to collect 99 souls and one witch soul in order for their weapon to be the ultimate weapon episodes of action, comedy, suspense and drama, Soul Eater  is not a show to sleep over. 

Cosplay Girl of the Week #120 (Amanda from Saw)

This week's Cosplay Girl we get a little brutal. I love the first three Saw movies and one of my favorite characters is Amanda. Naturally when I saw this pic the good folks at BeatDownBoggie took there was no way I wouldn't feature it. The cosplayer name is Randi Clemens. Great job Randi on capturing the fear of the bear trap.

Randi Clemens as Amanda

Cosplay Boy of The Week #106 (Casey Jones)

This week's Cosplay Boy is a friend of those Heroes on the Half Shell. Casey Jones is this week's cosplay. This is one bad ass looking Casey Jones. The tattoo makes the character really legit and more menacing. Photo Credit: BeatBoogieDown

GOD EATER ANIME PV UNVEILED

MH-esque top-heavy action game God Eater has just unveiled a PV for its soon-to-arrive anime, bearing its unique visual style coupled with plenty of intense combat sequences, sure to appease fans of the franchise if not lovers of fight scenes in general.

Here is a look at the trailer:

Uploaded by Bandai Visual on 2015-05-05.

The God Eater animation will debut this summer.

Post by Justin Williams