Writing Lessons from Video Games: Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

 

I've only heard of this game recently what with the remake having just come out this year, but my two good friends recommended it to me so I thought I'd give it a shot. I really enjoyed it. It was a great original story with more twists at the climax than I’ve ever seen in a story! The characters are all great and so well developed for a large cast! And the world building is just amazing!

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is set on a world where people and machines live on two dormant titans known as the Bionis and Mechonis. These two races are at constant war with each other. After a terrible attack on his village a Homs named Shulk armed with the mysterious blade called the Monado seeks revenge against the machina who have devastated his people.

Warning: Big spoilers for points 3-5!

Book Review and Writing Lessons: Gatekeepers by Robert Liparulo

 

The house talks. It breathes. And it's hungry.

The Kings have been in the creepy old place, their new home, for only a few days, but they've experienced enough terror to last a lifetime. And the mystery is growing even more baffling. Shadowy and shifting, the big house conceals doors into other worlds that blur the line between memories and dreams and the slightest misstep can change history forever.

At least, that's if they believe the trembling old man who shows up claiming to know them. "There's a reason you're in the house," he tells them. "As gatekeepers, we must make sure only those events that are supposed to happen get through to the future."

The problem is that horrors beyond description wait on the other side of those gates. As if that weren't enough, the Kings are also menaced by sinister forces on this side like the dark, ancient stranger Taksidian, who wants them out now.

Xander, David, and Toria must venture beyond the gates to save their missing mother and discover how truly high the stakes have become.

Series: Dreamhouse Kings (Books 3)

Genre: MG Fantasy
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishing (February 21, 2012)
Page Count: 320 pages

My friend and I decided to read this book together and it's certainly one of my favorites of the series so far!

Monthly Wanderings: September 2020

 

FALL IS HERE! It's a gamble her in Georgia if it's going to cool down or stay hot for another month. Kinda like reverse Groundhog Day ... But this year the weather has cooled down and it's been fabulous! Fall is in the air! AND I AM SO READY FOR IT!

Book Review and Writing Lessons: Crooked House by Agatha Christie

The Leonides are one big happy family living in a sprawling, ramshackle mansion. That is until the head of the household, Aristide, is murdered with a fatal barbiturate injection. Suspicion naturally falls on the old man’s young widow, fifty years his junior. But the murderer has reckoned without the tenacity of Charles Hayward, fiancé of the late millionaire’s granddaughter.

Genre: Adult Mystery
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reissue edition (February 1, 2011); Originally Dodd, Mead and Company (March 1949)
Page Count: 256 pages

I've become an Agatha Christie fan in the last year, so I've been itching to get my hands on another one of her mysteries! Crooked House is considered one of her best, so I decided to give it a go! 

Writing Lessons from Video Games: The Gabriel Knight Trilogy

 

The Gabriel Knight PC game series is a 90s franchise I hadn't heard of until recently when writing a review for a gaming website. When my editor asked me to include a comparative title for my review, I decided to give the first game a shot since the remake was on-sale. I ended up really liking the first two games of the trilogy, but not liking the third. So I'm very torn about this series as a whole.

Gabriel Knight focuses on the titular character's adventures as a Schattenjaegar or Shadowhunter as he solves mysteries surrounding supernatural creatures around the world.

Warning: Spoilers in points three and five.

Yellowstone National Park 2020 Report

 

Gosh, I haven't done a report post in so long. 2020 has not been the year for traveling lol, but I'm happy to finally be able to share my adventures with you all again. Yellowstone National Park has been on my must-see list since I saw got the World Explorer card in the mail (Anyone else remember those?). The bison, the geothermal activity, the mountains, the weather. All up my alley. With most of my plans for this year being canceled, I decided to spontaneously take a trip to this amazing place with my dear sister-cousin. Brace yourself for a long post!