Book Review: How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea - Mira Grant

How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea by Mira Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was so excited hearing this was finally getting released. I've been missing the Newsflesh world!! Unlike the other short Newsflesh stories, this is a sequel to the series (ok, San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats was a sequel but its focus was on the Rising so that doesn't count).

This one follows Mahir as he travels to Australia to meet the Australian branch of After The End Times as well as learning more about the Australian way of life, which is much different from life in Britain or America (for example).

It was an interesting story and totally worth a look for Newsflesh fans. It does poke a bit of fun at Australians but in the end, proves that they are more courageous and better prepared for a zombie apocalypse than we are (seriously, i know people who run away screaming at the smallest of spiders, can you image what would happen with zombies!)

"After the Rising was over, life for Australians went on much as it had before. They went to work, went to the pub, and endeavored not to die while living in a country that contained the lion’s share of the world’s venomous snakes, deadly spiders, and other such vermin. The addition of zombie kangaroos— and worse, zombie wombats— did nothing to change the essential character of the nation."

In conclusion, Australia is awesome. The End.

I'm joking, the book is more than that. We learn a bit more about the world since the end of Blackout. I still miss the Masons (and i'm pretty sure Mahir does too). And it was interesting to see how the world is moving forward.

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Book Review: "Lady Of The Shades" By Darren Shan

Lady of the Shades by Darren Shan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not a huge fan of murder/mysteries so this book took me some time to get into, but it was interesting and kept me guessing till the end. There was a couple of scenes I saw coming but most of the last third of the book surprised me. I love Shan's work and it's nice to see how he's writing for adults compared to his teen stuff. I'm enjoying it :)

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Film Review: World War Z (2013)

A couple of years back, a friend recommended me a book he had not long finished - "World War Z" by Max Brooks. It was about a man from the UN, who, after the zombie apocalypse, interviews survivors. This book is their stories. So, of course, when the movie was announced, i was curious. How could you turn this into a film? There isn't a focal character. Hmmmm......


My mind went elsewhere when i got linked to an application form to be an extra. I almost filled it in as well. A couple of weeks later and i spotted this sign......

I almost went crazy! I made it my goal to get onto the set and see some filming. This was a once in a lifetime chance and it happens to be a film based on a book that i've read. For people who don't know, George Square is in the center of Glasgow, Scotland. News spread fast, and before long most shops had sold out of the book and crowds gathered at the fences, hoping to see some filming, Brad Pitt or both. Me, I was there for the filming, i'm not a huge fan of Brad Pitt. 

Crowds gathered to see the action (And/Or Brad Pitt)

It wasn't actually as hard as i thought to get on set, and i was down there pretty much every day, snapping away. One day though, the whole set was pretty much open (this was near the end of the filming) and i forgot my camera!! What kind of photographer am i??? But i had my phone which was something, at least. I have photos of pretty much everything, from cars, to mail boxes/newspaper stands, to the extras, to even the guy with the little clipboard that says take x on it!! I was especially pleased with that one. This was one of the last days of filming and this was the scene where people are running across the square being chased by zombies (its in the trailer). I got to watch two takes of this being filmed, it was so fun!!

Send in the army

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't clicked on yet, it's not Philadelphia, it's Glasgow. Sorry to destroy the illusion. We laughed anyway when watching the movie because, though they changed everything to look like Philadelphia, they left the Glasgow logos on the bus stops. I don't think Philadelphia has history about The Bell That Never Rang, The Tree That Never Grew, The Fish That Never Swam and The Bird That Never Flew. Would be weird if they did. Anyway, i'm off topic now. Back to the film. So yeah, it was cool. I never saw Brad Pitt, but as i said, i wasn't fussed about that.

So the film as a whole, what did i think? Well, i wasn't impressed. But i didn't think i would be. As a fan of the book, i knew it would be nothing like it. In the end, all the book and the film had in common was the title and zombies. That's it. People who like this movie and go off and buy the book are in for a shock!

One of the RV's driven by Pitt 

It was your typical zombie movie with nothing new really added. I felt i had seen most of this before, pieced together in different movies over the years. The only main attractions to this movie i had was that i had read the book and seen the filming.

Well, actually, it wasn't totally bad. The effects were pretty good and i have Muse stuck in my head for the rest of the day (which is fine with me, being a fan of Muse).

I may not have really enjoyed it, but at the end of the day, i don't regret seeing it. When the movie ended, i said to my friend; read the book, watched the filming, met the author, seen the movie. Case closed.

CRASH!!

There isn't much left to say. Is it worth watching? I really don't know how to answer that. If you wanna see it, then go have a look. It's not a film i would hugely recommend though. But i'll let you make up your mind about it on your own.