Tag Archive for: science fiction

Monday Book Review: The Phantom Bully by Jeffrey Brown

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I picked up this book thinking it would be cute for my nephew for his birthday, and I ended up reading it myself. What can I say? I’m a Star Wars geek through and through.

Monday Book Review: Star Wars: Jedi Academy #3: The Phanton BullyTitle: The Phantom Bully (Star Wars: Jedi Academy #3)

Author: Jeffrey Brown

Genre: sci-fi graphic novel

Age group: middle grade

I had no idea this was the third book in the series when I first picked it up, but the book is written in such a way that it’s okay if you didn’t read the first two. This book has main character Roan in his third year of middle school. His middle school just happens to be a Jedi training academy. He’s had a history of getting into trouble (in an oops-did-I-do-that kind of way), and now someone seems intent on making middle school miserable for him.

As a middle school teacher, I enjoyed how Brown incorporated typical middle school issues into his story (first “loves,” teachers who seem difficult but really just want the best for their students, friendship issues, and bullying). As a Star Wars geek, I love how he stayed true to the Star Wars world and added in jokes that Star Wars fans will appreciate. The characters are original yet still familiar. There are droids like C-3PO and R2-D2 who acts as chaperones when Roan and his friends want to “double date.”

One happy surprise was discovering that Brown finds engaging ways to bring some positive moral messages into the story. Not only does he tackle how to handle bullies well, but he also brings up ethical issues like the “right” way to use the Jedi mind trick.

Monday Book Review: The Phantom Bully (Star Wars: Jedi Academy #3)

Here is what Roan has learned about the ethical ways to use the Jedi mind trick.

So if you have any Star Wars fans in your house, check out the Star Wars: Jedi Academy series. Very fun reading with some nice messages!

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Monday Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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Cinder has been on my TBR pile for a couple of years, at least. Yes, that’s how long my to-be-read list is! I had started reading it last summer, but then my mom fell ill and grad school started up, and the book had to be returned to the library. Thank goodness for spring break and the chance to read something other than grad school work! I’m glad I found the time to read this book that a number of my coworkers have been talking about for a while. As I explained to some friends Saturday night, I feel like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. So immersed did I become in the world Marissa Meyer created that, that I can’t wait to read the rest of the Lunar Chronicles series.

Monday Book Review: Cinder by Marissa MeyerTitle: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: dystopian/sci-fi/fairy tale retelling

Age group: YA

Synopsis: In this retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tale, we meet Cinder. After a tragic accident at age eleven, Cinder is given a second chance at life by scientists who rebuild her. She’s now part human, part machine, but completed despised by anyone who knows she’s a cyborg. Shortly after her surgery, she’s adopted by a new family, but her adoptive father dies, leaving her with a stepmother and stepsisters who don’t have much use for a despicable cyborg. Cinder is left to do the only “chore” she understands–repairing machines.

While running her repair booth at the market in New Beijing, Cinder is surprised by an unlikely guest. The handsome Prince Kai has come to her booth undercover. He needs help repairing an old android . . . and maybe a maiden to marry. However, the Queen of the Lunars (not-quite-humans who live on the moon) wants to make a marriage alliance with the young prince–and that’s just the start of her plans.

Cinder is the kind of book where I fear saying too much for fear of ruining the delightful ways author Marissa Meyer puts a spin on this classic tale. If you’re a fan of dystopian novels, sci-fi, fairy tale retellings, or all three, you’ll enjoy this book! Good, clean fun that you won’t want to put down!

Writing Wednesday: Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces Part III

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For the last two Wednesdays, I’ve been posting about Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell studied stories from mythologies around the world and found that the hero stories had certain common elements. The first phase is the separation phase. This is followed by the initiation phase. Today we’ll discuss the third and final phase of the hero’s journey. (Spoiler alert: I’ll be discussing the ending of The Odyssey and Harry Potter, so if you don’t know what happens at the end, you may want to stop reading now. 🙂 )

The return phase of the hero’s journey:

  • Refusal of Return–The hero doesn’t want to go back at first. In The Odyssey, Odysseus does find himself in a few situations (e.g. Calypso’s island) where he doesn’t want to leave.
  • Magic Flight–The hero “flies” somewhere, often this is while he’s being pursued. This could be Harry Potter on his broom, or Dorothy using her ruby slippers to go back home.
  • Rescue from Without–Someone rescues the hero and brings him back home. Hermes has to come to Calypso’s island to free Odysseus. Princess Leia has to get the Millenium Falcon back to Cloud City to get Luke after his lightsaber fight with Vader.
  • Yes, I've been to the "real" Platform 9-3/4. Too bad my cart got stuck halfway through the wall.

    Yes, I’ve been to the “real” Platform 9-3/4. Too bad my cart got stuck halfway through the wall.

    Crossing of the Return Threshold–The hero makes his way back home. This is often the opposite of a scene from the separation phase. For example, Harry Potter takes the Hogwarts Express back to the Muggle world.

  • Master of Two Worlds–Hero has control over his own world and the new world he conquered. When Odysseus returns to his home of Ithaca, he has to battle the men who were trying to marry his wife in his absence. When he defeats them, he’s won both the Trojan War abroad and the “battle” at home.
  • Freedom to Live–The object of the original quest is totally realized. Odysseus has back his wife and son. Harry Potter has defeated Voldemort. Am I giving too much away? 🙂

Parts I and II of the Hero’s Journey can be found here and here.

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