Introductions are to be made I suppose

Well, lets see, I guess I should tell my readers just who I am. I am a 4th year college student with one more year to go. I am an art major with minors in art history and chemistry. Weird combination, I know. I feel that in doing this, I have more of a chance to get a job doing something I enjoy. How I enjoy two very different things is beyond me, but hey, it works in the end.

As to why I am doing this? well it is also another thing that I think would be interesting especially when I get a larger viewer base who would also comment more, creating a sort of conversation that can be both informative to the person making the comment as well as to the people who are afraid to ask that same question. This also, to me at least, also allows others reading the comments to see things differently, as well as become even more interested in the book being reviewed.

A few housekeeping rules, unfortunately. Please keep the comments appropriate for the subject being discussed. Also, I enjoy CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. I don't appreciate it if someone comes along and just simply says "Oh hey, this sucked!" Okay, well why did it suck? what would you suggest I do to fix it?

I suppose that is it for now. If I feel I should say anything else later, you guys will be the first to know. :)

Paradise Lost by Milton

In this epic poem, we are faced with Milton's theistic debate about Satan and God. Here however, instead of idealizing and idolizing God, he instead makes the reader feel almost sorry for Satan. Milton also delves deeper into the happenings of Eden, as well as the fall of the angel Lucifer.

If you want something that will have you thinking and rethinking, then this is the poem for you. While reading this it really made me think about certain things like is Satan really only bad or is God really ONLY good?

All things considered (and I'm an atheist), this is one of the better books I have read involving religion. This is solely based on the fact that not only does it make the reader think but Milton combines both biblical and fictional subjects such as Jesus and Capaneus from Dante's Inferno. He even goes so far as to question the bible as well as how the subject of religion can be related back to so many different other authors like Dante.It also compares this religious view to that of government as well as different hierarchies.

When all is said and done, this is definitely something everyone should be made to read at one point or another. Even if you think it will be offensive, I'm fairly certain that it will open your eyes and make you think with a more open mind than you did before.

Lets get things rolling...

So, to begin my journey I decided to re-read one of my favorite books...oh, who am I kidding, I love almost every book I come across. The book I'm talking about is called SABRIEL, which was written by Garth Nix. In this story of a young girl's adventure to find her father, many hardships and misfortunes beset her along the way.

This story starts out innocently enough by describing her relationship, albeit tenuous and very long distance, with her father. We are then introduced to the concept of the necromancer, crossing between Life and Death, and magic, and that these are the ideas that will be repeated throughout this novel. However, unlike most authors, Nix dumps you straight into the action. Almost immediately, the action begins with the arrival of a messenger that pretty much tells Sabriel her father, Abhorsen, is in trouble by giving her the tools her father uses.

Unfortunately for Sabriel, she has no choice but to set out to save her father who is trapped in Death, even though she is no where near prepared or ready to take on the role of Abhorsen. This is a fact that she is constantly reminded of throughout the entire novel right up until the very end. 

After meeting new friends, and some not so nice characters, all of which are all a part of a larger scheme planned by a formidable creature that resides in Death, Sabriel finally learns the secret that tells why this formidable creature is out for blood. 

Will Sabriel be reunited with her father, or will she have to take on the role of Abhorsen permanently? 

There's really only one way to figure out the answer to all of the questions that arise, and that is to read this amazing novel that Nix so graciously provided for us. I feel that this would be a book that any appropriately aged child could fall in love with, as well as any teen or adult. It truly is a story you don't want to miss out on if the sci-fi fantasy genre is you or someone you love's thing.