Clare's Spot: I recommend

My sisters and I have been waiting expectantly for the day Rogue One: A Star Wars Story released, of course we did not go during the middle of the night, we do kind of like sleep. But we went today. Naturally we decided that cosplay was necessary, Even my mum joined in, wearing my Jedi cloak that we made last year.

Alice and I went full out though.

I present to you Jyn and Rey. I was a bit disappointed that Jyn has such a boring hair style, but for once all my short fly away hair came in handy. The colours are off, but I thought I did pretty well.

Alice, AKA Rey had a much more interesting hair style I had not even noticed it much before I was wondering what to do with Alice's hair, but I watched a tutorial and then did it up for her.

I could not find any finger less gloves, but I made some, it was quite hard.... to cut through that thick leather. They are not brown but the worked.

But onto the movie. I promise I won't spoil anything even though I kinda want to. Overall I loved it. I must say though that I was a bit disappointed that the movie did not begin with the scroll of words like every other Star Wars movie does, but I'll forgive that. It also did not begin with Star Wars music. which was sad, just a big bang of sound and space, stars and a planet.

I do think that this movie managed to add to the previous ones, mostly in how it gave a good reason for the Death Star, having the fault in it that could be exploited in a way to cause the whole thing to blow up. It made so much sense and was another whole new story.

K-2SO (the black droid) was actually funny, or at least more so, Then C-3PO, as much as I love C-3PO he is sometimes too stupid and too silly, like he is trying too hard to be the funny comic relief. K-2SO made some really good comments that were funny, and not forced, or added to what was going on in a good way. SO I really liked that.

There was lots of cool action, explosions, and fast moving things. My personal preference may have been to have a bit less of that, but it is Star WARS after all. The characters were pretty cool too and they were all quite different. Though there was one that did not seem to have much purpose other than in being there, and carrying a really big gun. Well he had purpose but he did not seem to have any goal other than to protect the blind dude, (who did not need much protecting) and to shoot things with his big gun.

The music did not quite have that same feel to it, because it was not the same composer, but it was still good, I don't actually remember thinking much about it while watching except for some parts missing the right music, like the very start and a Darth Vader scene.

But I enjoyed it quite a lot, and the cosplay made it even better.

Are you going to see Rogue One?

Have you even gone to a movie in cosplay?

It is about time for another book review. Well that is what I am writing about today anyway. This e-book, Dreamlander by K.M. Weiland can be bought from K.M. Weliand's store and some other places for free. Probably because once you have had one taste of her writing you will want more. And I am saying this simply because her writing is excellent and I want everyone else to have the opportunity to read her amazing books. Dreamlander is the third book by K.M. Weiland that I have read, the others were just as good. But onto Dreamlander.

What if it were possible to live two very different lives in two separate worlds? What if the dreams we awaken from are the fading memories of that second life? What if one day we woke up in the wrong world?

The characters are what makes this book so amazing. But even without all the cast of complicated interesting, endearing, funny, exasperating characters the book is still very well written. The concept is so cool too, I really liked how the dreams were not just dreams but an alternate reality. Even with the two worlds it did not get confusing but flowed well, and some questions I had at the beginning about how that world/dream traveling worked were answered later in the book without any info dumping but it showed the things I had questions about happening.

There is always so much going on in the book and I feel for the characters so much, they are such real characters and their struggles feel true and the choices they must make are so so very hard, I wanted the same things as them and believed with them what they believed and learnt with them that they were wrong. There is so much more to this story than meets the eye. There are good lessons to be learned though they are not all very obvious.

Did I mention the characters are amazing? oh I did, right...

The book is epic and fast paced and the poor characters are never given a breather. All over it is amazingly written, and some sentences are just beautiful. I also liked how there were words in the book I did not recognize and know the exact meaning of, I enjoyed looking them up and seeing how well they fit. There is so much action but also a good amount of description to balance it off.

AND THERE IS A MAP, sadly it is hard to look at when you have an e-book, but there is one!

There was quite a lot of violence and some of it, especially the battles are, lets say, well described, so I'd recommend it for older readers. Particularly when a child of another non-human race and a human are executed, and also when some people or again a person from another non-human race are seriously wounded in battle. There is also a tad of romance. But I just loved this book even though the last few chapters did have me in tears.

Have you read any books by K.M. Weiland?

If you are a writer, have you checked out her blog on which she posts writing related tips, regularly?

The wait is finally over, for those who like me got ARCs of this book anyway. For everyone else it is almost here! And I am so excited because this book belongs to such a good series/trilogy. Obviously this is my honest review of this amazing book.

What book am I talking about? A Time To Rise of course by the lovely Nadine Brandes. I am honored to take part in her book tour.

I don't want this post to be spoilery for those who have not read the first books so here is the synopsis of book one. You can find the synopsis for A Time To Rise on Goodreads.

How would you live if you knew the day you'd die?

Parvin Blackwater has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside.

In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the crooked justice system. But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall -- her people's death sentence.

What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people.

But her Clock is running out.

A Time To Rise was worth the wait, I was expecting this to be as amazing as the other two and it certainly lived up to my expectations. There were many elements of faith in the other books but even more in this one, and by this book in the series I had grown to expect that so it was lovely. It is really refreshing to read a book that is saturated in biblical faith. But it also all applied and was necessary to the story; it has a reason and purpose. It makes this novel so much better and unique. It is an inspiring read.

This story pulled my emotions every way. The characters are all so real Parvin, Tawny, Solomon, Willow and their struggles so relatable and I really liked how some of them changed so much through this series and yet are still the same … Skelley Chase… The theme of forgiveness was powerful too. And many of the side characters were quite intriguing people as well, with their own stories, that we never really heard in this book. (because that would be unnecessary) But it made for good characters.

There were quite a few surprising twists that I did not see coming, at all. I never even suspected there would be twists in those places. The story had me flicking through pages… e-book pages anyway as fast as I could read. A few bits had me laughing aloud.. and laughing/crying at other times.

Some horrible things happen, in the story. (Realism peoples) Some people do many horrible things; some good people make bad choices. But there are no gruesome detailed descriptions of the violence. So I really can’t say there was anything I did not like about this book, except for everything I loved of course!

I find most romance in books is painful to read, but in A Time To Rise (and the other two books, but particularly in this one where it is there a lot more) the romance is lovely and beautiful and a wonderful example of how a relationship like that should really be. It made for some heart wrenching moments.

The story is just beautiful and so full of faith and the ending satisfied me. I am just trying not to think about how it is now ended. But Nadine did a wonderful job in making the ending sound like a new beginning for the characters while still being a great series ending.

Look at that photo, I even have a signed copy of the first book! Well, a sticker that is signed and in the front cover, but that is just as good!

Now after reading that review you want to buy the book right? So here are some links to the previous books in the Out of Time Trilogy as well as A Time To Rise!

You can find A Time to Die the one it started with all these places:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Christian Book Distributors

Goodreads

As for A Time to Speak, possibly my favourite of the three:

And A Time To Rise the third and final book:

If you Pre-Order A Time To Rise you can sign up to get some cool swag -like mini character magnetic bookmarks and other out of time series bookmarks- on this post on Nadine's blog.

And there is going to be a Facebook Party to celebrate the release too, which you should totally join in on because Facebook parties are, in my experience anyway, always so fun. What could not be fun when there are book giveaways and author chats?

That American time then translates to 9am on Wednesday the 19th, if you are in the same time zone as me (Australian Eastern Time Zone UTC+10:00) And then again I just realised there is that horrible thing called daylight saving so that could make it 8am, or 10am, my poor little brain is so confused now, but we will work it out some time before then.

And in case you do not know Nadine here is a little introduction.

I am an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination. I never received my Hogwarts letter, but rest assured I’m no Muggle (and would have been in Ravenclaw House, thank you very much.) This Harry Potter super-nerd has been known to eat an entire package of Oreos (family-size) by herself, and watches Fiddler on the Roof at least once a year. I write about brave living, finding purpose, and other worlds soaked in imagination. My dystopian trilogy (The Out of Time Series) challenged me to pursue shalom, which is now my favorite word (followed closely by bumbershoot.) When I’m not taste-testing a new chai or editing fantasy novels, me and my

knight-in-shining armor (nickname: “hubby”)

are out pursuing adventures.

Nadine Stuff: (which you should check out because she is a most lovely person)

Website: http://nadinebrandes.com

Newsletter: http://nadinebrandes.com/my-newsletter

Facebook: http://facebook.com/NadineBrandesAuthor

Instagram: http://instagram.com/NadineBrandes

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NadineBrandes

It is finally the time to share the cover of A Time to Rise! For any who do not know A Time to Rise is the third and last book in the Out of Time Series by Nadine Brandes. It is set to be released on the 14th of October 2016 in America which makes it the 15th here in Australia.

But to the point, you want to see the cover. Actually you probably scrolled down and saw it before coming back to read anything.

That is what I do.

So with no more delay I present to you

*insert sound of dramatic music*

*insert imaginary drum roll*

*insert a great gust of wind*

the cover

A Time to Rise!

Doesn't it look so good!

You can find it here at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27230665-a-time-to-rise

Now follows the synopsis which contains spoilers for the previous books so consider yourself warned.

What more can you sacrifice than your life?

Parvin Blackwater is dead.

At least…that’s what the Council—and the world—thinks. But her sacrifice tore down part of the Wall long enough to stir up hope and rebellion in the people. Now she will rise again. Strong, free, and fearless.

Parvin and Solomon must uncover the mysterious clues that Jude left behind in order to destroy the projected Wall once and for all. Meanwhile, the Council schemes to new levels of technology in its attempts to keep the people contained. Can a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer really bring shalom to the world?

So if you have not read the previous books you should forget that you just read that synopsis, and read the other two books now, so you are ready for A Time to Rise when it comes out. The three of them look so good together, I can't wait for them to all sit in a row on my shelf.

Now I bombard you with links

You can find A Time to Die all these places:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Christian Book Distributors

Goodreads

As for A Time to Speak, look here for it:

And because if you don't know what an amazing person Nadine is you are really missing out. She here are some links to the places she usually resides on the internet:

Website: http://nadinebrandes.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/NadineBrandesAuthor

Instagram: http://instagram.com/NadineBrandes

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NadineBrandes

And there is also a giveaway of cuteness. A whole set of the tiny bookmark characters! So enter into that before you go.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
>

Have you read any of Nadine's books?

Do you like dystopian fiction?

I have only read three books from this series -Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl- but they are all really good and I want to read the rest of the books too. Heartless is the first book in the series, Starflower is the fourth and Draven's Light is number seven and a half. They are fantasy books, in which lurk dragons and other evil powers, which are trying destroy the world or capture peoples hearts, but also there are brave men and women of courage. It made me think of this quote by C. S. Lewis;

“Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.”

Many people have read these books and have their own opinions about them, or just heard enough about them to make judgments. People have seen the movies and decided if the books are good or not from them. I have been told many different things about them:

"Every child should read these books"

"These books should be banned, they are evil"

"This is my favourite series ever, you need to read it"

"Oh, no you should not read the Harry potter books."

Having never read or watched anything Harry Potter (at least as far as I can be absolutely sure of doing) I did not like to voice an opinion. But one day, after yet another of these conversations, I decided I would read them so that I could have an informed conversation about them. As it turned out, I like them.

I just finished listening to the audio book of Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

I really would not recommend reading the synopsis from Goodreads, it gives away way too much, here is the one I read.

"An author whose previous, wildly successful novels have earned him a reputation as fantasy's master of magic, Brandon Sanderson continues to dazzle audiences with this tale of princesses and gods. In this extraordinary world, those who attain glory return as gods. And those who can master the essence known as breath can perform the most wondrous miracles - or unleash the most devastating havoc."

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads, but I possibly should have given it four.... there are no half stars though. Rating books is really hard.

Warning: there are a few minor spoilers in this review.

11th October 1943 A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a shot at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

It is here, the cover of The Tournament at Gorlan! And it is supposed to be released on October the 6th 2015. I had a lot more ravings about it in a previous post. I also linked to a place where you can read an exert, the first few pages of The Tournament at Gorlan. Mostly it is Halt at his worst, or gloomiest.... typical Halt.