What’s Up 2019 – Week 34

Another week has passed by. As always with weekends away, its a bit slower. If you missed yesterday’s post on Fan Expo Canada, we headed down there and met up with a fellow blogging friend. First time there and not as media so it was relaxing and just did a ton of stuff that I enjoyed although would have wanted to check out all the South Building stuff but didn’t have time. Either way, things moved along a little but some things that happened over the weekend that I was away in Toronto obviously didn’t end up wrapping up.

READING

• Wild Dark Times by  Austin Case (Review)

Currently reading: Twisted Pines by Lane Baker (9% done)

Wrapped up Wild Dark Times last week right in time for the blog tour. The review is up already and linked above so I won’t talk too much about it but it was a really fun read and lived up to the premise when I read the synopsis and decided to check it out. That’s always a plus. I like books that play up on real things and add the urban fantasy element to it and shows off the author’s creativity. However, I started up Twisted Pines now. Thanks to the author Lane Baker reaching out to me years after his previous one that I also reviewed HERE. I literally just started up the book and its a converted version so its tough on the Kindle so might switch back to reading on the PC to make life a little easier for my eyes sake.

PLAYING

NOTHING! I played nothing this week. I was away and didn’t play anything on my phone. During the week, I was getting the weekend chores done before leaving for the weekend away so took up most of the evening time. Nothing is all I got here.

WATCHING

• A Home With A View (2018)
• Split (2016)
• The Fanatic (2019, Advanced screening)

Less about how I’m recommending this film but rather the fact that I saw the advanced screening for The Fanatic at Fan Expo despite some issues that occurred but was eventually fixed and we did get to see the rest of the movie. Most of the movies that I saw this week was middle of the way. Probably I’d recommend A Home With A View the most because Split was alright but not great and The Fanatic was alright and not great for probably the same reasons where the actor showcased did a good job but it thought it was being more clever than it actually did in execution. It sounds mean but they really aren’t bad films and I’ll talk about it more in the upcoming reviews.

BINGING

• We Grew Up (Season 1, 2019)
• Heart Signal (Season 2, 2019)

Currently binging: Super Vocal (Season 2), The King’s Avatar, Hyperdrive, The Coming One 3

I wrapped up the finale for both of the Tencent reality shows that I was watching last week as they aired their last episode. Both of them were pretty good. I’ll do a big post comparison on the concept for the romance/relationship thing for Heart Signal and other shows that I’ve seen before because I think its a good one to talk about and a nice little concept and they each have pros and cons. The show that just pulled at my heartstrings even though I’m not a parent is We Grew Up. I was a bit conflicted with the concept of a reality show focused on some really young kids learning to be independent despite them making all kinds of safety precautions that’s also apparent in the show. However, in the end, it does highlight a lot about the whole growing up in China and just in general parenting and young kids and how they adapt. Its pretty neat and honestly, there are some heartbreaking moments between the siblings but at the same time, there are also some funny moments as kids will have.

As for the currently binging stuff, I’m absolutely enamored with The King’s Avatar currently updated weekly on Netflix. My husband and I are watching Hyperdrive together and well, Super Vocal 2 is the competition show on my radar that I’ve generally caught up with to their latest episode.

That’s it for this What’s Up!
What have you been playing/reading/watching/binging?

Blog Tour: Wild Dark Times by Austin Case (Review/Excerpt)

Wild Dark Times
By: Austin Case

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Publication Date: July 23, 2019

SYNOPSIS

It’s the summer of 2012 and Elizabeth Megalos is a disillusioned art-school grad getting by as a bank teller in St. Louis. One evening, she’s attacked by a possessed coworker and saved by a mysterious, wise-cracking sorcerer named Eddy. He drags Elizabeth and Hugh—a skeptical scholar of the occult—to Europe, where he introduces them to his three magical celebrity friends. Once there, Eddy explains the group’s mission: preventing a Demiurge—a creature out of Gnostic Christian mythology—from fulfilling the visions of doom in the Book of Revelation. The Demiurge has been drawing power from the misguided beliefs in the Mayan apocalypse and is set to start the destruction on Dec. 21st, 2012. Through ritual magic and a series of psychedelic experiences, the group learns that Elizabeth is the key to taking down the Demiurge, though she can’t imagine how she will be the one to stop Armageddon.

Add to Goodreads

EXCERPT

“Elizabeth, I don’t think this is the first time that an apocalypse has almost happened. There have been people claiming that the end is nigh for thousands of years. The way things have gone in the past—what, with the awful things people have done to each other and the large-scale tragedies that have occurred—I can’t imagine things didn’t get close to ending quite a few times. But there are good people out there, people who care about the world and struggle to help. People who can see the beautiful in the world and strive for compassion and peace instead of destruction. Have you ever heard of the Gospel of Thomas?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“It’s a Gnostic gospel. A book of sayings attributed to Jesus but which was left out of the Bible. While the New Testament talks about the Kingdom of God and the apocalypse that would lead to this perfected place, Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas says that it’s here already. That, essentially, it’s a matter of perceiving the perfection of things that are already here. This view is common to lots of other mystical traditions. In a way, the apocalypse could be seen as that Gnostic or mystical insight, where the world as we know or understand it falls apart around us, and all that is left is the Kingdom of God. The falling apart is just a matter of perception and is necessary to see the true beauty before us already… 

Amazon

REVIEW

Wild Dark Times takes a magical twist set in the few months with a group of people with various magical powers joined together to stop the apocalypse set to happen on December 21, 2012. Taking a more enchanted and dangerous adventure towards how to stop it all, the premise itself is intriguing because with fantasy of these types, there is always its own little twist on its own magical world of creatures and elements and how magic works in this urban fantasy reality. Due to those adventure elements, Wild Dark Times is quite a page-turning experience, more so as the novel dives deeper and further into each location that it moves to and the next event that happens as they approach doomsday itself, the stakes are higher just as the characters developed have taken a certain level of importance to the story as a whole as well.

As each of the characters chases down one location to the next and figures out one clue to the next, each of this group has their shine in the spotlight and their worth in the group especially the two people acquired throughout this who initially seem like they don’t quite fit into any particular use in this whole equation. One of such is the the female leading character that somehow gets pulled into this and seems like it is way over her head because of her lack of knowledge and yet the group keeps her and the other more educational fellow along. It gives these characters a space to develop and they do work out quite well despite the fact that perhaps at times, it does feel like for the length of this novel, some of the characters in this group feel a little underdeveloped and some of them don’t quite leave quite the impression making it at times hard to track who is who at the beginning except for some of their more specific uses.

Wild Dark Times is pretty clever with the pacing of the whole story. While some of the characters are quite used as they should, the constant string of things happening does help to keep it very intriguing to follow despite it feeling slightly like its going through a formula for this magic to work as they figure out one place to the next and when and where which feels like it might need a little more back story but somehow still manages to tie it together in the end. What also does work well here is the stakes do seemingly increase as it moves along as the forces they fight against also creep closer as well. Overall, everything balances out between the urban fantasy and the paranormal along with the magic elements and whole saving the world from the apocalypse take in a fun and adventurous way.

Goodreads score: 4 out of 5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Austin Case received a Master’s Degree from the University of Amsterdam in Western Esotericism and Mysticism. His academic knowledge of the occult and other peripheral phenomena has given him a unique take on fantasy and speculative fiction.

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

August 26th

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com
Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/
Entertainingly Nerdy (Spotlight) https://www.entertaininglynerdy.com
I Smell Sheep (Spotlight) http://www.ismellsheep.com/
Tranquil Dreams (Review) https://klling.wordpress.com/

August 27th

The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com
Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com
Touch My Spine Book Reviews (Spotlight) https://touchmyspinebookreviews.com

August 28th

My Bookish Bliss (Review) http://mybookishbliss.com
Didi Oviatt (Spotlight) https://didioviatt.wordpress.com
Shalini’s Books and Reviews (Spotlight) https://bookreviewsbyshalini.com/

August 29th

Inked and Blonde (Review) http://www.inkedandblondeonline.co.uk
Just 4 My Books (Spotlight) http://www.just4mybooks.wordpress.com
Scarlett Readz & Runz (Spotlight) https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/

August 30th

The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Interview) http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com
J Bronder Book Reviews (Spotlight) https://jbronderbookreviews.com/

Blog Tour hosted by: 

R&R Book Tours

What’s Up 2019 – Week 33

Welcome to this week’s What’s Up! Things are slowly getting back on track with probably only gaming still a bit lacking some action. I’ll talk more about it in that section. As for everything else, progress and moderation is the key. Its been quite sporadic on the writing front with a lot of less heavy weeks to just recuperate from July a little. Sometimes, its nice to recharge a little to get back on track stronger especially when I definitely need it. Also, I’m working out another strategy to kind of go back to zero on everything that’s outstanding because that list is now daunting and stressful to look at and let’s say I’m doing a redo and restructure on how to approach things and hopefully with less procrastination, it should be a more efficient way to do things.

READING

Currently reading: Wild Dark Times

Almost three-quarters of the way done with Wild Dark Times now and its a decent book. I have some minor issues with it so far but its still intriguing to say the least especially to see what the end game is going to be.

PLAYING

Not a whole lot is going on on the gaming front in this past week, the main reason is that I’m trying to get the other projects set up before sitting down to do something a little more time consuming, which is gaming because its not something that can be done quickly. However, mobile games round-up post is almost done and scheduled for release to cover the last few months of games while our next game to review on Game Warp Podcast is also decided. In the meantime, we will be posting up an episode leftover from before soon on Anchor so that’s happening. I guess the best thing to share here is my upcoming gaming plans. Whats done will remain done for now because I can’t find the energy to write up the overdue reviews and games played months ago so we’re starting fresh just like Game Warp is currently doing after a few months hiatus.

Games I’ll be taking a look at in the next while: Linelight, Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy, to start…more as I decide further what to do next and set a tentative solo gaming and Game Warp gets things back on track.

WATCHING

• An Inspector Calls (2015)
• Somewhere (2010)

Currently watching: A Home With A View (2019)

Trudging through through the Movies and Tea third season so 2010’s Somewhere was seen this past week and as usual, I won’t talk too much about it however on the spectrum of the film, it ranks above Marie Antoinette and comparable to how I feel about Lost in Translation but some little issues. I’ve been somehow spontaneously going through my Hong Kong dark comedies on my Netflix list. Its not a bad thing. An Inspector Calls is based on the English play of the same name while with the same director and some of the cast is A Home With A View, which I haven’t finished yet.

BINGING

• I’m So Pretty (2019)

Currently binging: We Grew Up, Another Me, Heart Signal 2, Dream Space 2, The Coming One 3

I’m watching a ton of variety or reality shows in general right now. Due to the contestant on The Coming One 3 that I like a lot, I found out that she is part of a TV series which I had brushed past because it didn’t seem like something that I’d like but after knowing that, I went to check out I’m So Pretty. Its a very odd TV series and does parodies of a lot of pop culture and movies and such however in its not taking itself too seriously but still giving it a very different kind of execution and its very short no matter in episode length of how many episodes, its a quick one to get through so here we are. A ton of shows are coming to an end with one episode left: Heart Signal 2, We Grew Up and The Coming One 3 is all ending next week so I’ll be looking for something new afterwards…I have an idea of what but I’ll talk about it next week.

That’s it for this What’s Up! 
What have you been reading/playing/watching/binging?

What’s Up 2019 – Week 32

Another week has gone by and another What’s Up to talk about. Things are definitely looking upwards now as things are being sorted out more. My energy level post-Fantasia is finally getting back to normal but I’m still staying away from too many movies and movie reviews just to get a little change. All the projects are slowly getting back on track gradually…for the most part.

READING

• Within by Clare C. Marshall

Currently reading: Wild Dark Times

I’m currently 7 books behind on the Goodreads book challenge so reading is going to be a huge priority. With that said, I’m working through both blog tour commitments and other things of the sort right now to clear things off my pending list as well as getting back to some of the more recent purchases that I haven’t gotten around to reading. Reviews for Lifelike and Within are coming up, especially with finishing Within this past weekend. My Goodreads goal still feels like a doable goal right now as long as I keep up the reading momentum.

PLAYING

• Bonza
• Faraway: Tropic Escape
• Toy Story Drop

Still going on my mobile games run. Its still revolving around the same games while trying to see some new games, mostly in preparation for the mobile games roundup segment to be revived. I’m trying to make more time after for some actual games on Steam and Playstation 4.

WATCHING

• Lost in Translation
• Escape Room (2019)
• Marie Antoinette

Suffice to say that Movies and Tea is relatively back on track as we are back to recording the third season and chugging along with Sofia Coppola’s directorial work. The Virgin Suicides is already out to start off the season currently. I’ll keep my thoughts for Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette for the show and possibly the review that I’ll eventually post on the Movies and Tea blog. As for unrelated films, I’m working through my discounted rentals while I was at Fantasia. The first expiring soon is Escape Room, released earlier this year. Its an alright movie right until it reaches a lackluster ending. My highlight of this week: Lost in Translation.

BINGING

• River Flows To You

Currently binging: We Grew Up, Heart Signal 2, Another Me, Dream Space 2, The Coming One 3

I took some serious time this weekend to finish up River Flows To You, which turned into a massive cry fest but then its one of those series that I really like a lot because the drama is done well and the leads are two of my faves currently in the Chinese drama thing and this type of story works for them. It has a lot of layers to the different characters and works a bit like Rush to the Dead Summer (review) but really gives it a more positive contrast (and refers to it a lot actually) and gives it a better ending. I feel in some ways, its trying to do justice to that series that was good but had a pretty questionable ending.

As for everything else in progress, some of it is ending soon with The Coming One 3 heading into semi-finals next week and Heart Signal 2 is also heading to its ending as well. I’m probably going to catch up with Another Me as the major focus as I catch up with a ton of TV binges. Expect a lot of them to come up in the coming weeks because its just too much overdue that its weighing on me until I get it all wrapped up and posted.

That’s it for this What’s Up!
What have you been reading/playing/watching/binging?