Weekend

Happy September, everyone! Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!

I did! My mom came up to the college and spent the weekend with me, and I managed to finish my homework in time to enjoy it. So we partied all weekend, going to a wedding shower Saturday and both Sunday services and breakfast at a friend's house on Monday. =D

Sadly, Mommy had to leave Monday afternoon. Sob.

Another great thing came of her visit too! I wanted some new books for my Kindle by an author I recently discovered is awesome, but my Kindle can't connect wirelessly to my college (at least, not without a password from our campus library, which was closed all weekend). Since I'm a pathetic teen who doesn't have a car or even a license yet, I had to make sure to bring my Kindle so I could use the wireless Internet provided by some kind of food place to get my new books whenever Mommy drove me off-campus.

But eventually, I got the books! Woot! And I just finished the first of four last night, so I'll be starting on the second soon. ^_^

Hopefully the workload will be slightly manageable so that I can read the rest of the books, even if not quite as quickly as I read the others.

Anyways, have a great day, week, month, whichever! ^^ See you soon!

Second Day Back to Class

Yesterday, I had my last two classes so that I have now had all of my classes once!

The two classes I had? Well, one of them was a writing class, by the same professor as my blogging class last year. This time, instead of a blog, I'll be writing my memoirs. They may or may not be published online; I kind of hope that they are not - or at least that my professor follows Internet safety rules a little in doing so.

The other class I had was the one where I'll be going to the farm as part of my requirement. The class itself is something about social justice and I think gender diversity too maybe. I hope I don't get upset too often concerning this class.

The homework that class assigned was to read a chapter in a certain book. I wasn't even through a third of the chapter before I started talking back to the pages; and by another third of the chapter, I was probably yelling at the pages (though not at the top of my lungs - I am in a dorm with several other girls, after all...).

Maybe I'll tell you about what made me so upset tomorrow. There's not enough room left in this post to cover it, I don't think.

So, yeah. Writing and social justice. Combined with the previous day's classes of two English and a French.

It's gonna be a good year.

First Day Back in Class

Yesterday, I had my first day of classes, and I had three out of my five classes total (I'll be going to the other two today).

I had my two English classes and my French class, and I already love all of my professors, even if my one English professor is scaring me.

For that particular class, we're looking at psychological stuff. I kind of sort of wondered if that would mean some disturbing study stuff, but apparently I didn't wonder enough to drop the class. Now I've watched a movie that the professor has assigned, and I kind of freaked out really badly over it. And the professor is warning us that more disturbing stuff is ahead.

Sigh. Pray for me. Please.

Other than that, all is well. My French professor is already cracking the whip and assigning lots of homework, but that's normal for her. And it only took me a few hours last night to finish most of it, yay!

As for my other English class, it's sort of a history class - we're going to be learning about how our modern English was developed. Is it weird that I'm actually kind of excited about learning all the difficult, technical side of our language? For homework, I defined terms like morphemes and pejoration; I still don't know what morphemes are, even with the definition, but I'm still excited. xD

Hopefully this enthusiasm will last all semester. Woot, second college year, here I come!

Farming

Yesterday, I visited a farm with one of my professors and some of my classmates.

The class I visited with is one that is centered around service learning - education via helping the real world survive. My particular class's service learning project is that, this semester, we'll be volunteering at a farm, helping to plant and weed and harvest and whatever else they need.

It'll be hot, really hot, at least for the next month-ish. And it'll be hard.

But I'm cautiously looking forward to it. As long as it doesn't get gross (read: I don't want to touch the glowworms or fish or deal with any of their excretions), hard can be good. It'll be good for me, at least. Getting exercise and sunshine is healthy.

This particular farm deals a lot in veggies and berries and whatever else growable that was mentioned but I forgot. It's all organic, too.

As far as animals go, there are the aforementioned worms and fish. There are also some chickens, I've heard, but I didn't see any on that one trip.

Here's hoping all goes well! =D This post looks somewhat short, but I'mma end it here anyways. Have a great day!

Back at College

Woah, sorry I forgot about you guys yesterday and this morning! I moved back to college yesterday, so I've been re-acclimating to college life.

I got my room set up after some furniture rearrangement, and and of course my room is basically purple again. I have my two purple beds - one of which is set up like a couch with three purple pillows.

And I picked up my books for my classes, and I'm pretty sure I have all of them. One of my professors has yet to post a syllabus online, so I can't be totally sure. But I have that particular class tomorrow, so hopefully I'll find out then if I'm missing anything.

I discovered in the unpacking process that I forgot a couple of crucial things: pencils and lamps.

I love to use my purple pens that write in purple ink, but there are times when ink just shouldn't be used. So I'll need to get some pencils this weekend.

And I have only one light in my entire room, and it's on the ceiling, and it makes absolutely no difference lighting-wise until after the sun has set. So, yes, I need my lamp that has multiple lamps stemmed from it to aid the sun in its generous-but-not-quite-enough light provision through my window.

Aaaand, I guess tomorrow, I will tell you about my trip to a farm that I took today.

Neopets Intro + Latest Plot

I don't remember if I've ever told you this or not, but I intermittently play on a site called Neopets.

I started playing when I was a kid, probably about ten or eleven. It has a lot of stuff to do, from caring to up to four pets to finding hidden avatars to playing the games in its arcade to meeting other players.

Usually, I mainly play Neopets for the 'meeting other players' part. I like to be a part of a guild, where I will generally see the same 5-20 people every day. And often, I enjoy being a part of a roleplay guild.

However, sometimes I also like to play the plots that Neopets comes up with. Lately, they've gotten a plot going that only really got good yesterday. The plot is that the ruler of the biggest desert civilization invited a bunch of other world rulers for a diplomatic visit. To her utter horror, each of her guests had something stolen one night when they were all there, and she needs our help to track down the criminals.

So the first few weeks was tracking down witnesses and getting a bunch of vague clues. Now, we have three days to put those clues all together to figure out who stole what, and when and how.

I spent a good solid three hours yesterday morning trying to answer that question, and I actually loved every second of it. A lot of the players are complaining about the puzzle, saying it's not as action-oriented and player-involving as the plots way-back-when; I suppose they have a point.

But still, I enjoyed it. And now I'm logging onto one of my other accounts just to have a reason to solve the puzzle again. I'm kind of hoping to just confirm the answer I gave on my first account, but still.

It's fun. x3

Annoying, Potentially Harmful Downloads

Sometimes over the summer, I think I accidentally downloaded something harmful, though it thankfully has yet to do actual harm.

It's a thing that pops up on my screen some minutes after I sign onto my computer, every time I turn my computer on. Then it starts some scan to see how at-risk my computer is.

I always cancel the scan before it finishes, but it always tells me the final outcome of the scan anyways. And my computer, according to this scan, is always at extremely high risk.

So of course it wants me to let it clear out those "risks."

I was not born yesterday, scanner. I have been deceived by similar things before and it completely destroyed my computer. I will no longer fall for your fake helpfulness. =_=

So after I cancel the scan itself, I have to exit out of the program separately. Thankfully, just having that scan on my computer doesn't seem to do any damage. I guess I'd have to give it permission to do damage before it can.

I will never give that permission, do you hear me, scanner? e_e

I wish I had never gotten it onto my computer in the first place. I don't even remember why I let it download in the first place, or even how. And it seems non-deletable; every time I try and think I've succeeded, it still pops up every morning when I turn my computer on.

Sigh.

My Memoirs

For one of my classes this semester, I'll be writing my memoirs.

It sounds creepy to say that, like I think I'm going to die soon or something. I haven't even lived half of what's considered a generation.

That aside, though, I have a different problem: I need to think up stories from my life that will take up at least ten pages when typed out.

I think this blog helped a little bit in that. I looked at the posts I'd labeled 'Story from my Life' and may have found a couple potential topics. Trouble is, I need five total; maybe even five plus one.

Another problem with this is my memory. If I'm going to be expected to put these events in story mode, I'm going to have to do a lot of embellishing because I can't remember specific days in order, or all the stuff that happened on a single day. I just remember highlights.

Woah, I just took a look at this post, and I seem to be complaining a lot. o_O

Please don't let my list of problems fool you. I'm cautiously looking forward to this course; I think it'll be interesting to see what I and my classmates come up with.

Plus, I know the professor already from last semester, so I know what it will take to succeed in her class. It'll be a lot of work, and a big struggle to keep my grade up; but it'll definitely be interesting.

One bright side to this is that, unlike the last course I took with this professor, I don't think I'll have to find people to interview. That was nerve-racking, interviewing a total stranger. =P

College Preparing

I'm finally taking my own measures to prepare for the upcoming semester; let's all cheer for my work and boo the fact that it's necessary to do such work. xD

As the result of just one afternoon, I've mostly finished packing. Most of my stuff was already still together after the last year; when we brought the stuff home from clearing out my college room that I wouldn't be using anymore, I just dumped it all in a corner of my room and barely touched it all summer.

As a result, 'packing' for this year mostly included rearranging the stuff in the containers for maximum efficiency and space usage, plus replacing the stuff like soap and shampoo that I was running low on.

Before the week is over, I'll need to start packing clothes too. And whatever books and movies I want to take from my home room to my college room.

I've also looked over the syllabi that have been put up so far for my classes. As of yesterday evening, only two out of my five classes had a syllabus posted. I've read both of those and jotted down notes about each.

And I'm sporadically going back over all of my French notecards, trying desperately to overcome a three-month break from most things French.

So, yeah. Stuff. Busy stuff. Not fun, but necessary. Unfortunately.

At least there are no major deadlines quite yet.

High School Graduation Pt. 4

After my high school graduation ceremony, Mom and Dad invited all my guests back to our house for a post-graduation get-together that I hadn't known about. I knew Mom had made celebratory sweets, but I didn't know anyone but our house guests would be joining us for them.

And then, that Sunday, my pastor and associate pastor called me to the front of the church with my parents and presented me with a new Bible with my name monogrammed onto it!

And then, after the service, we all went to a community lot that my church rents from time to time for some fellowship.

Go ahead, call me dense.

But I had no idea, even when seeing the purple banner of congratulations on the door, that this was a party my church had thrown for me.

It took seeing the purple table-sheets, the purple decorations, and the purple cupcakes with a graduation cap on top, before I realized they were celebrating my graduation.

Apparently (obviously), everyone had known that little fact except for me.

I can't even describe how it felt, that they would do something like that for me. Mom and one other lady, who where there to see my first reaction, both said they thought I looked like I was about to cry. I didn't feel like I was going to cry, but I did feel somewhat overwhelmed - in the best possible way.

♥

High School Graduation Pt. 3

Finally, the evening dusked that I would have to graduate high school and (gulp) give my speech.

I arrived at the school nervous but trying to laugh my way through it. It sort of helped, sort of worsened, when I discovered that my classmates were all nervous too. Two of my classmates also had to give a speech, and even those who didn't have to speak seemed to not want to go through with this.

What probably helped me the most, upon finally entering the auditorium and sitting facing the audience, was noticing that most of my guests had found a seat front-and-center. My parents, my grandparents on both parents' sides, my pastor and his wife, and my associate pastor and his wife - they all sat in the very front row in the very center of the auditorium.

And after the graduation ceremony finished, I must say, I noticed I had had some surprise guests who absolutely positively made my night. A family from my church had driven at least an hour to see me graduate. I felt so special, you don't even know.

I gave my speech.

I must say, I had absolutely nothing to do with my delivery up there. That was fully and completely God keeping my back straight, my smile up, my voice audible and mostly even, and my timing decent.

The audience loved it.

High School Graduation Pt. 2

Having to give a speech at my high school graduation was the worst.

I got pre-planning anxiety, which made me put off starting the writing process.

And when I finally did start it, I scrapped goodness-knows-how-many drafts before I finally turned my weakness (indecisiveness) into a strength.

And then when I finally finished, none of the teachers liked it. My English teacher had issues with the humorous parts, saying she and I were alike in that neither of us knew how to deliver a punch line. My vice principal also worried about me being able to deliver on the humor I'd typed into my speech, and she also worried about some of the remarks I had put in about my classmates.

In fact, the only teacher who was supportive of my speech draft (meaning, he gave advice rather than criticism) was a teacher who was constantly teasing me about tons of other stuff.

So. Needless to say, all the criticism was definitely not helping my anxiety.

But rather than go through the horrors of writing another speech that probably no one would like, I decided to stick with my original.

Terrified I was.

More on further terror next time.

High School Graduation

So. My high school graduation, hm?

Let me first say I cling to normalcy with every shred of my being. I dislike drastic changes, and I avoid them whenever possible.

I wouldn't claim my high school years as the best of my life, but it was familiar. And because it was a tiny high school, I knew practically everybody, teachers and students.

Whatever year I was in, the class sizes I think topped ten students only ever when we were combined with other grades. My graduating class was seven people, including me; I had known three of those six classmates since middle school at least.

Also, I got along with everybody. Teachers and students. There was some conflict here and there, of course; but are you starting to get a picture of why I didn't want to leave?

Anyways, there could only be one thing worse than graduation itself, and that would be if I had to give a speech.

Well, guess what?

I had to give a speech.

Okay, enough background info, I suppose. Brace yourselves for next time.

I Might Be in Trouble

This isn't good; I think I just may have run out of things to talk about.

I've spent practically this entire summer yammering about books and a bit about video games, and now I'm at a brick wall?

With college starting back up, it just doesn't seem fair. I know you don't want to hear that "Hmmm, what should I talk about today?" any more than I want to say it.

And yet here we are, back at that awkward place where I wished never to be again.

I suppose once college starts back up, perhaps I can tell you some stories about what's happening in my life. But I'm worried that most of those stories will be something along the lines of "Ugh, I have so much work to do, a paper deadline coming up, and a test to study for, and blah blah blah!"

Yeah, that's already gotten old, hasn't it?

Hmmm... Have I ever told you about my high school graduation?

I don't think I have. Maybe that can be an idea to last at least one or two days.

Why didn't I think of that before I typed up this post about running out of stuff to talk about? Now I'm too lazy to erase it all; I spent good brainpower trying to think of how to say that I don't know what to say anymore.

Anyways. Until next time, then.

Moving Back

I'll be moving back to college in a little over two weeks, so I've been shopping around lately for stuff to put in my room this year.

Last year, I was supposed to have a roommate but ended up not getting one. This year, my parents are paying for me to have a room to myself. So I'm going a little farther with the decorating process.

For one thing, the extra bed in my room is going to need some kind of cover at least, so it's not just an ugly ol' mattress in the midst of all the other purple I plan on having. xD Along with a mattress pad and fitted sheet, Mom got me a body pillow, a normal pillow, and a pillow with arms that her coworker called her husband when she was in college.

I'll also be decorating my walls more this year. Last year, I just pinned one hand-made poster (from my "big sister") and one colored drawing (from a girl at my church) onto the only section of my wall that the college lets me put push-pins into. This year, I'll be hanging a picture of Jesus, a picture of the Pillar of Fire, and a picture of the Cloud on my walls.

This other stuff, of course, is in addition to all the stuff I'm reusing from last year, like my crates and my fridge. Along with all the other stuff that's too numerous to mention. :P

Oh, and I got a microwave too. Who knows how often I'll use it, but hopefully often enough to make it worth the buy. It was one of the cheapest microwaves they had, at any rate.

So. Yup. Moving back. Fun. Woo. Cheer.

I'm ecstatic. Can't you tell? *sarcasm*

Unknown Dangers in Free Books

I got a Kindle not-sure-how-long-ago, and ever since, I've been getting tons of free books on it, courtesy of Amazon.com.

Some of the free books are pretty awesome, while some are just okay, and others are downright horrible. Sadly, there's really no way to tell ahead of time which will be which.

Oh, sure, Amazon has a place where readers can put their reviews of the books, but it's not always helpful. There's always going to be someone who loved the book and someone who hated the book, and the people who loved it generally outnumber and outrank the people who hated it.

What I would appreciate from Amazon is ratings like they do for movies: a basic code thing that tells what audience the book should be appropriate for and the content that determines that rating.

Occasionally, but only VERY occasionally, Amazon's description of the book or some very thorough reviewer will mention something like "Warning: This book has such and such content," and I'll know to steer clear and not download that particular book. I am very grateful for those moments.

There are also occasions that I learn from experience. For instance, I no longer download books that say they have angels and demons in them because I've learned that the way any of the characters are portrayed is horrible.

But most of the time, I still innocently download books that I honestly wish I'd never ever ever laid eyes on.

Wow, this post doesn't really go with the theme I'd planned on it fitting in with. I guess I'll alter the title accordingly. Have a great day, dear readers!

Reading Beginnings Pt. 5

Although I branched out and found a bunch of authors I liked, I still starting running out of new things to read again.

So how did I solve this problem? Goodreads.com came to my rescue!

A couple summers ago, my mom took my brother and me on a trip to visit family. Dad hates traveling and probably also couldn't really get the time off, so it was just the three of us. To help my brother and me out with killing time at the airport and stuff, Mom offered to buy us new games and/or books as long as the total price didn't go above a certain amount.

Naturally, I chose books. Solely books.

I found a list on Goodreads that had several dozen books recommended for readers my age, and I probably fit at least one dozen titles into Mom's price range.

I can't remember all the books that I got, but I made many new friends out of them before the summer was over. I got the first book in several series and a few stand-alone novels. If I liked the book well enough, I looked for more in the series and/or by the same author.

That summer, I discovered the Mysterious Benedict Society, Cameron Dokey's Once Upon a Time contributions, and Princess Ben, among others.

Two or three years later now, though, I would probably be running out of new books to read again if it wasn't for one thing: free Kindle books.

Reading Beginnings Pt. 4

Probably my first branch outside the books like the Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew was Ella Enchanted.

I've somewhat talked about this before, I think. I saw the movie, and then sometime later I ran into the book at a bookstore. So naturally, I picked up the book.

At first, I was shocked by all the differences between the movie and the book, and stopped reading the book in frustration. But later, once I got my perspective and expectations straightened out, I picked up the book again and instantly fell in love.

From there, I believe I read more of Gail Carson Levine's books, particularly the Princess Tales. After I ran out of Levine's books, I found some other fairy tale stories, either in a library or a bookstore, or maybe I even stumbled across them online and followed up in one of the two types of buildings.

I remember finding Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, Once Upon a Curse by E.D. Baker, and The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley. Those first books were the bait, and I was suddenly caught by the hook. I made sure to read as many of their other books as possible!

One coworker of my mom's let me borrow the first Percy Jackson book. Because it dealt with Greek gods and goddesses, I was bound and determined not to like the series. I took the first book to be polite, but I had already formed my opinion of the series. Too bad Rick Riordan had a different plan, and I fell in love with the entire series as quickly as I could get my hands on the next book, and the next, and the next!

Of course, then, I started hunting for more of his works.

And I believe that will be all for today. See you tomorrow with more fascinating talks about how I started reading! xD ...And I apologize if I'm boring you...

Reading Beginnings Pt. 3

I think last time we left off saying that Trixie Belden had more continuity than Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children, but didn't say much overall about Trixie Belden; so here goes.

Trixie Belden was having a lonely summer in her home way out in the countryside because at least two out of her three brothers were away at camp. Out of the blue, some rich new neighbors move in on the next hill over and Trixie finds a new best friend in Honey Wheeler. The two girls somehow run into Jim Frayne, who ran away from his legal guardian and is hiding in the third and last house out in this neck of the woods.

After two books focusing on Jim, Honey's family adopts him and Trixie's brothers Brian and Mart come back home. In later books, Di Lynch and Dan Mangan are added as main characters.

These seven teens banded together to form the Bob-Whites of the Glen club. Together, they solve mysteries and sometimes travel to different places. They don't travel quite as extensively as Nancy Drew, and these kids have the addition of school to keep up with. Unlike the Boxcar Children, the Bob-Whites don't only run into mysteries during summer vacations.

I think Trixie Belden was a lot more realistic, but I probably appreciate that now a lot better than I did as a kid. I remember being annoyed with the characters when they would get into arguments, and being especially annoyed with Trixie for complaining about her chores. Shows what I hypocrite I was, I guess, considering I had fewer chores than her and probably complained more.

Anyways, for a good long while, those three series constituted the majority of my reading experience. I probably read some Judy Moody books, but I never really liked them. I probably also read several American Girl books, mostly the ones involving Kitt Kittrage. Other than that, I would just reread the books I had already read - and reread them again and again!

Reading Beginnings Pt. 2

For a good long while, I probably didn't read much of anything for pleasure except for the Boxcar Children series; and then my mom introduced me to her childhood best friends: Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden.

We went over to my grandma's house for some reason, maybe even for the books themselves. Mom pulled out a box Grandma had stored away, and in it were several, several books! Probably about twenty Nancy Drew books (not necessarily the first twenty in the series) and about thirty Trixie Belden books (all the books in the series up to that point).

I dove into Nancy Drew immediately, and I started hoarding copies of those books much the same way as I had the Boxcar Children books. I now have about fifty Nancy Drew books!

Trixie Belden was a little harder for me to get into at the time just because it was so different from what I was used to reading. It was still a mystery series, true; but it had continuity! Shocker!

In the Boxcar Children, the continuity sort of stopped after the first five or so books. The only kind of continuity that continued after that was just the close family: the four kids and their dog of course, and their grandfather, and (very) occasionally their cousin and their great-aunt and (maybe) their housekeeper. And even at that, their great-aunt somehow melted off the years through the books to become just their aunt.

Nancy Drew was sort of the same way. She had a friend Helen Corning in the beginning, which somehow switched to Bess Marvin and George Fayne in later books. After Ned Nickerson was introduced in one of the books, I think Dave and Butch were also added for Bess and George's sake. And then those five became a (near) constant throughout most of the series - the only (near) constant in the series. Well, aside from Carson Drew and Hannah McGruen.

Reading Beginnings

I think I've told you before that it was a mystery series that got me hooked to reading in general; maybe I'll go into a little more detail about that.

For Christmas or my birthday one year (I forget which), my grandma got me the first four books to a series called The Boxcar Children. The first book doesn't have too much mystery in it, aside from the mysterious grandfather the kids are running away from, but it caught me hook, line, and sinker anyways.

What kid doesn't get excited learning about the adventures of four kids living on the run and still managing to have a great time? Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and Watch (the kids' watchdog whom they met in the woods) were just so appealing!

For years after reading those first four books, I would beg for more in the series. The original author has long since stopped writing them, but the series has been continued to include more than 100 normal books and goodness-knows-how-many special books. I now own several (and I mean SEVERAL) of those, and I borrowed even more from the library.

In the first few books, the children aged normally. Summer would come and go and the kids would solve a mystery, and the next book was the same with the kids a year older. But eventually, Henry, as the oldest, would have had to move away; so the problem of Henry leaving was solved by reversing all the kids' ages and keeping them permanently set there.

Henry forever after remained 14, Jessie 12, Violet 9 or 10 (I think 10), and Benny 6.

Rune Factory Pt. 16

Now that I'm talking talking about the details of each game, let's go over all the Rune Factory stuff in general.

I'd kind of like to try playing the first RF game again, just because I never made it very far the first time I played. I remember what a few of the bachelorettes looked like, but I probably only remember three names total out of all the characters, one of whom shows up in RF2.

Rune Factory 4 has been released, and I sort of wonder if my brother has it or is expecting to get it sometime in the foreseeable future. I think that, other than the second generation of RF2, it's the first game where you can choose your protagonist's gender. So that would be interesting.

Then again, I might choose to have my protagonist still be a boy anyways just because of my bad experiences with female leads in the Harvest Moon games. There were never any good potential love interests in those games.

But you've heard that rant already. And who knows, maybe RF will succeed in the one area HM seems to have failed me.

Anyways, either way, it'll be interesting to see the plot of this fourth game. The first, of course, I didn't play enough to get a grasp on. The second focused on the child's adventures. The third had a half-monster for a protagonist. What next?

Some of you are probably just dying inside because you know the answer and my ignorance is annoying. To you, I apologize. And respectfully, I end this post here.

Rune Factory Pt. 15

This post should wrap up Rune Factory 3's bachelorettes, and maybe even wrap up my Rune Factory series that's been going strong for about three weeks by now.

Earlier, I completely forgot to mention Marian, who is also a bachelorette living in town. I'll talk a bit about her before going to Kuruna.

Marian is a crazy witch-in-training, granddaughter of the witch who runs the local apothecary. Marian is wild and, sadly, rather incompetent; but if you ask her, she's great at what she does and her few "mistakes" are nothing to be concerned about. Yes, even though she blows up her best friend at one point, she faces it all with an attitude of "whoops, sorry; but you'll be fine! 8D" She carries with her an over-sized syringe that controls her magic, and she absolutely adores giving people shots with it.

Okay, now Kuruna, finally. Kuruna is a univir, which means she pretty much looks human except for the horn on her forehead and her much-longer-than-humans lifespan. She's the leader of the settlement in the desert, which is a sanctuary for anyone not human, so she gets to know Micah through his Wooly half and is clueless about his human half. Although Kuruna actively despises all things human, she does have a very secret obsession: human food. She tends to lose her dignity anytime she has a cake craving, and she sends Micah on a couple missions to snag her some of the beloved dishes.

Alrighty, that should wrap this section up. For now, at least. I'll figure out later if I can continue any Rune Factory stuff, or if I should start something new.

Rune Factory Pt. 14

Let's continue to introduce the available bachelorettes from Rune Factory 3, starting with Sophia.

Sophia is one of the two daughters of the richest man in town. She has a very unusual quirk when speaking: Like her father, she always says the opposite of what she means. Well, that's what the game says, but she only says the opposite of some stuff, or her speech would get way too weird. To avoid confusion for the player on what she really means, any words that are part of her opposite-speak are red. Throughout the game, Micah eventually learns to sync up with the way she talks and interact with her with clarity.

I think I'll mention Evelyn now because even though Micah can't marry her, she technically is still a bachelorette. Evelyn is Sophia's older sister and the only member of their family who does not speak in opposites. She runs a store in her home's downstairs that "might" be open at certain times, and she sells different outfits that Micah can wear in the game. She also sells some decorative furniture objects which I feel just get in the way. Sometime after Micah gets married, Gaius will ask for your help to propose to Evelyn.

The last person in town who's a bachelorette is Carmen, sister of the man who runs the local artificial fishing area. She's a tanned tomboy fisher who quickly asserts herself as Micah's master in all things fishing. Over time, though, she makes it a point to step down as master and step up as official girlfriend, going so far as to arrange Micah to get her brother's blessing on their being together.

Last up will be Kuruna, who lives in the desert settlement. I'll talk about her tomorrow.

Rune Factory Pt. 13

Let's pick up where we left off yesterday, talking about the eligible bachelorettes in Rune Factory 3.

Next up is Pia, the sort-of adopted daughter of the local innkeeper. In other words, Pia and Sakuya are more or less sisters. Pia isn't human, though; she's a mermaid. You can discover this fact anytime Pia steps foot outside while the weather is rainy, since she transforms back into a mermaid whenever she comes into contact with water. Like most mermaids, Pia despises the thought of eating fish (which has lead to war between her and Sakuya at times, since Sakuya loves sashimi), but she absolutely adores eating mean old squids because they attack innocent fish.

Collette, daughter of the local professional chef, is also available for marriage, although it took me a while to figure that out, for some reason. She's an aspiring chef with an extremely fast metabolism, so she's always eating but she stays small. Because she looks so small/young, I didn't realize she was a potential wife until seeing the hearts next to her name in the list of all characters Micah has met. She'd probably be mad at me for that too, since her size is a very sore subject and she's constantly trying to have a growth spurt.

Let's go to my favorite now: Karina. Karina is a very lazy girl, the daughter of the woman who runs the general store in town. Karina has an obsession with the city because she thinks everyone in the city gets to be lazy all the time. Sometimes, her obsession can lead to her asking dangerous requests of Micah; at one point, she actually tries to catch a cold. But most of the time, her motivation fizzles out before any real progress is made.

Wow, only got to three girls again. o_O This is going to take a while... Well, on the upside, at least it means the girls in this game have the most character depth.

Rune Factory Pt. 12

In Rune Factory 3, there are ten girls Micah can choose a wife from.

The first girl is the classic girl-who-convinces-boy-to-live-on-local-farm. This game's model is named Shara, granddaughter of the mayor. She wears flowers as her outfit. I'm not even kidding; there are flowers in her hair and all over her clothing material. She works part-time in the flower shop and picks out cologne for Micah to use if he asks for it.

The next girl to be introduced to Micah is Raven, who comes across as quiet and rude and just generally antisocial. But when Micah got attacked in an opening scene, she ran to find Gaius (the dwarf she lives with who is like a father to her) to get Micah a decent weapon. She works sometimes in the forge's shop, and she enjoys making accessories. She also makes sure Gaius doesn't overwork himself.

After Shara and Raven, the other girls can be introduced in whatever order is most convenient, or whichever you choose. I'll start at the top left of the town and work my way through as if I'm reading. =P In that case, Pia and Sakuya would be up next.

Sakuya is the daughter of the town's innkeeper, and she has a very business-minded personality. She does what she can to turn out profits, and she runs a sort-of mini-shop within the inn wherein she sells items dropped by monsters. To an extent, you can control what items she carries by throwing the item you want to see in her shop into your shipping bin. (By the way, the same goes to the flower shop and perhaps a couple other stores.)

Whoops, looks like I'm out of space for this post. I'll begin with Pia next time. =3

Rune Factory Pt. 11

Just like in the previous game, courtship and eventually marriage is very important for the plot of Rune Factory 3 to be finished.

In order to talk the mayor into letting you hold a festival for humans and univir alike, you must first reveal your true half to at least one eligible bachelorette. To get Micah to work up the nerve, you must get the girl to fall in love with you and make a special request, during which Micah learns more about the girl and decides he wants the girl to know more about him too.

In order to meet the being that sent you to this town and stole your memories, you need to propose marriage to a girl. Right before your wedding, your fiancee will mysteriously vanish, and Micah will go crazy obsessed with trying to find her.

In order to get the Sharance flowers to bloom, you need to defeat the kidnapper and marry your wife. People will comment on the beauty of the blooming flowers that day.

After marriage, you can eventually have a total of three kids over time. But no matter how much time passes, I don't believe they will ever reach adulthood.

Your wife will also make you a lunch every day, depending on her own particular tastes. One girl will give you a baked riceball or toast; another girl will give you a variety of squid dishes over time.

So, seeing as how marriage is so important, I guess I should introduce you to the girls next time. =P

Rune Factory Pt. 10

In Rune Factory 3, taking advantage of your protagonist's monster form can be really fun!

Don't let the term 'monster' fool you; Micah turns into a golden Wooly, not some Orc or other scary and naturally mean-seeming monster. But Micah keeps this half of his identity a secret from the villagers anyways.

In which case, Micah can talk to each of the villagers while pretending to be just an average Wooly, and he'll receive varying reactions. Some people just look at him, some people want to hug him or sell his wool, and some people shoo him away.

It's when Micah meets the settlers out in the desert that his Wooly half really comes in handy. The settlement's leader, a univir, hates any and all humans, and she kicks Micah out on sight if he dares to show up in human form. So, opposite of what he does in the village (seeming fully human and all), Micah disguises himself as a full-blooded Wooly in order to meet the settlers and interact with them.

Later in the game, we players find out the reason Micah ended up in this town. At first, with Micah's partially restored memories, he thinks it was just because he was chasing the five monsters that, one by one, start terrorizing the village and/or the settlement.

However, he is eventually told that, because of his monster and human blood both, he was sent to be a bridge between the monsters and the humans. Only he could mend the rift and get the Sharance flowers to bloom.

Rune Factory Pt. 9

Okay, let's start talking about Rune Factory 3, the latest game in the series that I've played.

This time, the amnesiac has the default name of Micah, and he has a secret that he remembers partway through the game: He's only part human, and another part monster!

In monster form, Micah crashes unconscious in front of the mayor's house, where his granddaughter Shara finds the monster and brings him inside. When alone, Micah transforms back into a human, wakes up, and leaves. Commence normal girl-convinces-protagonist-to-stay-and-farm scene.

This game is unique in many ways from the first two games. First off, there's the whole half-monster situation.

Second, Micah slowly regains his memories throughout the game; each time he defeats the boss monster of one of the four monster-infested areas, Micah gets an orb that restores part of his memory.

Third, there are three characters that you won't meet until later in the game because they've been ostracized from human society for centuries. Micah has the difficult task of planning a party that will bring the two types of characters together.

Fourth, my conscience is somewhat settled regarding the marriage situation. I can't remember exactly how it was done, and maybe it's still lacking and irritating, but this game comes the closest to outright saying that Micah can marry a girl in this new town without worrying he's ditching some old wife/fiance from his previous home.

Rune Factory Pt. 8

*announcer's voice* Next up in Rune Factory 2: Kaiti describes the male mock marriage candidates for Kyle's daughter!

First up I guess would be Roy, son of the local weapons and armor dealer. Roy, like Cammy, was present in Kyle's day and was a real troublemaker, though he continuously claimed it wasn't on purpose. He would break something of his mom's and beg Kyle to find a replacement before she found out. In the second generation, he seems to have matured just a bit. Instead of breaking stuff, he complains about schoolwork while admitting he likes going to see his friends.

Next, let's introduce Leonel, son of Dorothy and Barrett. Not exactly sure how this odd couple produced such a different child, but I guess who am I to question? He's a super cute boy who is often mistaken for a girl, which annoys him. To which I say get a haircut! Anyways, he seems to enjoy cooking, and your protagonist will comment on how mature he seems when he tries to willingly eat stuff he doesn't like. And don't let my complaints fool you; I do like this kid.

Finally, there's Orland, son of Jake and Cecilia. He takes after his father in his serious, sometimes rude, mannerisms and convictions that elves are better than humans. He's serious about working hard in school, and he even tries to get the teachers to give harder lessons because he thinks the current ones are too easy!

Well. I suppose that about does it for the romance section of Rune Factory 2. Now I have to decide if I want to tell you more about the game itself and potentially give away spoilers (eek!), or if I want to just move on to the third RF game.

Rune Factory Pt. 7

As I've mentioned before, in the second generation of Rune Factory 2, a whole new world opens up for you as Kyle's child. But because I have already talked about it, I'll just for now talk about the mock marriage ceremonies.

Because our new protagonist is a child, you understandably cannot actually marry in this generation. But you can go through multiple wedding ceremonies that Gordon (resident priest) will obligingly perform for you. As a boy, you can "marry" Cammy, Leann, and Sera and Serena.

Cammy is actually a character Kyle has met; she was a child in the first generation and apparently has not grown up in the 7-9 years since you played as Kyle. She's Dorothy's sister, daughter of Gordon, and pretty wild. Her first generation requests whipped Kyle into a "capable man," if that tells you anything about her personality.

Leann is the daughter of Max and Julia, so she's grown up a rich kid - perhaps spoiled, but not bratty.

Sera and Serena are twins, the daughters of Ray and Rosalind. They're pretty much inseparable, and they go crazy anytime they do get separated. You can also "marry" these twins if your protagonist is a girl, due to the girls' confusion about the concept of marriage.

This seems like a rather short post, but I think I'll end it here anyways. Candidates for "marriage" if your (second generation) protagonist is a girl will be for tomorrow!

Rune Factory Pt. 6

Let's finish up with the Rune Factory 2 Generation 1 bachelorettes: Rosalind, Cecilia, and Dorothy.

Rosalind is the daughter of the richest man in town and siblings with Max, Julia's potential love interest. Somehow, she brings out a really serious side of Kyle. Your rival for her heart is Ray, the son of the town doctor (siblings with Alicia) and himself a doctor-in-training.

Cecilia is a half-elf who works as a maid for Rosalind's family. She actually was a character in the first Rune Factory game too; she appeared as a little girl who called herself Ceci. Because she knew Raguna (default name for RF1 protagonist) and now knows Kyle, she actually mentions their similar situations a couple of times. The guy Cecilia will marry should you choose not to marry her is Jake, also a half-elf, and he hates your guts just because you're human.

Dorothy is an extremely shy girl who is a nurse-in-training and daughter of the resident priest. Her withdrawn nature is starkly contrasted by her younger sister Cammy's extremely outgoing personality. In fact, you could play the entire game all the way through and only ever see what Dorothy's face looks like once. She pulls her hair back from her face for her wedding, and that's it. Aside from potentially Kyle, Dorothy's love interest is the mayor's son and resident bad boy Barrett.

So those are all the women Kyle could marry. It's possible to get the proposal item for each and every one of them, but of course, you can only propose to one girl. Giving the proposal item to anyone else after you're married will result in varying reactions. Some take it as a normal gift, and some bluntly point out that polygamy is illegal.

Rune Factory Pt. 5

In Rune Factory 2, when you play as Kyle, there are seven girls your protagonist could potentially marry, four of which have rival love interests.

The first bachelorette you meet in the game is Mana, the girl who gives you your farm and has the overprotective father. She's usually the girl I choose to have Kyle marry; I just like her personality the best. You do not have a rival for her heart.

Alicia is the town fortune-teller, also the disappointing daughter of the town doctor. Alicia dresses like a witch and has accurate weather predictions, but she makes sure to make any of her other predictions come true herself. Case in point: She once predicts for Kyle that he'll have money trouble, and then she charges him an unfair rate for that particular fortune. You have no rival for her heart.

Yue is a traveling merchant, sometimes found in town and sometimes found outside of town. She often talks about her travels to other towns, and most of her requests are business-oriented. There isn't a specific rival for Yue's heart, but if you marry a girl who does have a rival, Yue will marry that girl's other love interest so that the kids in the next generation are constant.

Julia runs the town's bathhouse and is obsessed with beauty. She's insecure and tries not to show her true self to anyone, but she also seems to have no problem letting her inner frustration loose on Kyle. Your rival for her heart is Max, son of the town's resident rich man.

Okay, four down and three to go. See you tomorrow for Rosalind, Cecilia, and Dorothy!

Rune Factory Pt. 4

In Rune Factory 2, after you take control of Kyle's child, the game takes on a new plotline.

With Kyle, your main goals were to get married and build a school, with side goals involving befriending other villagers plus monsters and planting a bunch of crops everywhere. (I still think it's really wrong for our amnesiac to be getting married; who's to say someone isn't waiting for him in his past...?)

With Kyle's kid, your main goal is to find Kyle again, or at least find out why he left. Side plots include going to school (which is optional, but I recommend it, unless you go online for all the recipes Mana will otherwise teach you), expanding the school, befriending all the villagers, and perhaps finding a few love interests among your classmates.

As a child, you can have multiple love interests and actually go through a marriage ceremony with all of them. After all, they're only about seven, so the ceremony is just a mock wedding.

Like I mentioned earlier, your child can expand the school Kyle built. When you do, you'll have a way to make your own food and weapons and medicine, you'll also be able to access many more magic books, and you'll also be able to fight monsters in a controlled and adult-approved environment.

Very few of the adults know that your child ventures into the monster-infested areas. All the kids eventually know, but they keep it secret for you because the adults would be upset if they knew.

Hmm, this post feels poorly organized. o_O' Sorry about that. But it's a great game, and I have great fun playing as Aria, Kyle's daughter's default name. (I played once as his son too, but I forget what the default name for him is.)

Rune Factory Pt. 3

Rune Factory 2 is probably my personal favorite out of the series so far; though admittedly, it could have something to do with the fact that it was the first in the series that I played.

This game's protagonist has the default name of Kyle. You can change it if you want when you play, but that's what I'm going to refer to him as. He's found wandering the cherry tree grove by Mana and, later, her father Douglas.

Upon learning of Kyle's amnesia, Mana offers Kyle the farm she and her father own. When Kyle protests, Douglas intimidates Kyle into taking it. But he makes it more than clear that, while Kyle is to do whatever Mana says, he is equally supposed to actively avoid getting any romantic ideas towards her because Mana (when she was six) had promised to stay Douglas's little girl forever and never get married.

So after this awkward welcome, Kyle is quickly integrated into village life. It's a smaller village than in RF1, and there are only four areas Kyle can go to that have monsters. Those four areas represent the four seasons, and you can grow crops in them year-round that correspond to their particular season. (Did I mention that caves, in the RF1 game, have a similar feature?)

Although Kyle is great fun to play, the game really begins after he has his first child. He'll want to build a school. When the building is finished and he sees it, you'll lose movement control for a while as Kyle discusses stuff with himself and others.

Kyle's memory returns one stormy night and he runs off, leaving behind his wife and child (whose gender you can choose or leave to chance). The game picks back up seven years later, I think; our protagonist now is Kyle's child, just beginning school.

Rune Factory Pt. 2

The first Rune Factory game is the one I played the least out of the three I've played so far, though I'm not entirely sure why.

The default name for this amnesiac protagonist is Raguna, and the farm he borrows belongs to Misty, I believe. Raguna was about to pass out in front of her house when she found him begging for food and water. So she gave him a hoe and a watering can. Yesterday's long story short, Raguna stays at her farm.

This game has a bunch of caves that Raguna can explore, but the town's authority (mayor, I think?) bans anyone from going there. Raguna has to get a special license each time he wants to visit a new cave. I believe each cave also has a boss monster that Raguna is expected to send back to the Forest of Beginnings.

Speaking of which, that forest is different world entirely, and it's mentioned in every RF game I've played. It's not explained very well in any of them, sadly - just that it's where all monsters comes from and where they return to upon being defeated in battle. There are also gates that bring monsters from that world into this one.

Aside from the whole cave situation, there are other activities that are found in each of the following games. Farming, of course, is one. Finding a wife is another (which, by the way, I find wrong, considering the possibility that maybe he's already married or betrothed but can't remember...). Raguna, I'm sure, can also eventually cook food and forge weapons and perhaps even make accessories and medicine, but I had yet to get to those parts before getting bored with the game for some reason I still can't identify.

So, yeah, there's what I remember from RF1. I know lots of people that really enjoyed that game, so don't let my review get you down. It could just be something as simple as the fact that I played RF2 before RF1, so I was a bit spoiled by all the new and improved stuff in the second game.

Rune Factory

I've talked to you a lot about the Harvest Moon games that I've played, but I don't think I've yet mentioned the spin-off series called Rune Factory, so here we go!

So far, I believe there are four Rune Factory games. I have played the first three, but I have not played the first one enough to remember much about it. I do remember that, so far, all three games have the same beginning, simply with different characters.

The games begin with the main character wandering into a small town. A girl (eligible maiden, actually) finds our protagonist and asks him what's going on. He responds that he doesn't know because he has lost his memory.

The girl gives our protagonist a name, which the player can choose but the game does offer a suggestion. Then she invites our hero to work on her farm, claiming it's just going to waste anyways and he'd be doing her a favor.

At some point during the girl's persuasion, our hero can tell he's being taken advantage of. However, it's either the girl or the girl's father that absolutely refuses to take no for an answer.

And so the game begins, with our protagonist living on a borrowed farm, expected to jump right in to the village life and have a blast.

There are variations between the games, of course. But I'll mention those when I come to each of them. Ciao!

Chinook at the Park

A while ago, my mom and I took our dog Chinook to a park, and he took to it better than expected.

Our dog, sad to say, is a bit of a coward. He fears fireworks and thunderstorms and even our freezer. He runs away from strangers when they approach him, though he'll bark at them all day if he's safely inside and they're ringing our doorbell outside. He doesn't usually care for new environments.

However, the park we took him to was apparently different. The park was mainly a water park, but it also had a dog park and some trails for walking or biking.We stopped by the dog park first.

It was a hot day, and there were only three other dogs there. Chinook sniffed each one, but none of them (Chinook included) were interested in playing because of the heat.

So Mom and I eventually decided to take Chinook out of the dog park and go on a walk. Chinook didn't like any of the bridges, but otherwise he seemed to enjoy the trip.

When we got back to our vehicle, Chinook didn't want to get inside. He didn't want to leave!

So, yes, that day was a fun experience.

Even if it lasted only about an hour due to the heat. ^^'

Lord of the Ring

Lately, I've been trying to read J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Ring series.

Late in the previous semester at college, my college had a book sale. At this sale, my friend found the entire series plus a bunch of bonus stuff in one book. She was considering buying it until I mentioned that if she didn't, I might.

I'd never read the series before, and I remember very little of the movies that I saw only once a few summers ago. I'd honestly never had much of an interest in them until so many of my friends at college would randomly go off on long discussions about how awesome it is and quote a few lines at every turn.

Almost instantly, my friend backed off on her claim to buying the book, encouraging me to buy it.

So I did. One novel divided into three sections, which in turn are each divided into two sections, before coming to the breaking down by chapters.

Sadly, my progress is slow. I've been reading it steadily for about a month, and I've only finished little more than a sixth of the book. But I think I'm picking up my pace now that most of the world-building has been completed and I can focus on plot.

I'll probably let you know my thoughts when I've finished. Deal? =)

Dee Henderson

Now that I've talked about all of Dee Henderson's books that I've read, I'll try to touch on some of her other books.

The only two O'Malley series books I didn't really say much about were Full Disclosure and Jennifer: An O'Malley Love Story. But since in a previous post I did give a bit of info on them both, let's move on.

Henderson's Uncommon Heroes series has a few more books. In order, they are True Valor, True Honor, and True Courage. I have never read any of them, nor have I heard Mom talk specifically about them, so I can't give you much in the way of plot summary and writing quality.

Henderson also has a series called Shield of Honor, but I can only find listed the first book in the series: The Witness. Again, I don't know anything about it.

Finally, Henderson seems to have written several stand-alone books. Then again, Full Disclosure is actually listed on Goodreads as though it is a stand-alone novel, even though every impression I got from my Mom pointed towards it being part of the O'Malley series. So I'm not sure if any of these other "stand-alone" books are actually somehow connected with some of Henderson's other series.

Anyways, if you wish to see the list of Henderson's books for yourself, please follow this link. Kaiti out.

True Devotion

Now that I've told you about all of the O'Malley series that I've read, let's turn to the only other Dee Henderson book I've read: True Devotion, the first book in a series called Uncommon Heroes.

The two protagonists in this book are Kelly Jacobs and Joe Baker.

Kelly was the wife of a Navy SEAL who died some time before this book begins. Now she's hurting emotionally and spiritually, and it takes a near-drowning experience as she tries to rescue a teenaged boy before she can start straightening her life back out.

Joe, also known as Bear, is a Navy SEAL who was best friends with Kelly's husband. He knows exactly how much Kelly hurt when her husband died, and he can't ask her to risk that pain again, no matter how much he loves her.

And then - danger. Closer than any of them could ever suspect, the man responsible for Kelly's husband's death is back. Not only do our heroes have to worry about the deadly missions, but important work gets done before each mission as well. This man's last contact (for clarification: not Kelly's husband) ended up washed up on a beach dead; and now, Kelly is his new contact. Joe pulls out every trick in the book to keep the past from repeating itself, but it just might not be enough.

I liked this book. The only thing keeping me from reading the others in the series is the fact that Henderson seems to thrive on murder mystery material, and at least one murderer appears in every book of hers that I've read so far. Reading too much of that might start to depress me, or scare me; not sure which one.

But in small doses, I like her books, and this one is no exception. I feel really awful for one of the characters, and I forget what happens to him by the end of the book; but other than him, pretty much every ends up with their happily ever after.

The Rescuer

The last book in the main part of Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is The Rescuer, in which we mainly follow Stephen O'Malley, but Meghan Delhart is also a protagonist.

Stephen is having issues. He used to be a firefighter with Jack, but then he became a paramedic. After several years, he developed a phobia of blood and had to quit. Doubled with quitting his job, his sister Jennifer dies, so Stephen does the adult version of running away: He takes an extended vacation.

Stephen's first and last stops along the road happen to be at Meghan's house. Meghan is an old friend who went blind after a car accident years ago. Since then, she's been living alone with her guide dog in a small town where she works for her father.

When Stephen stops running, he settles down in an old farm house just outside of Meghan's town. I think that's around the same time that a gem thief and eventual murderer comes into town. While Stephen is working towards turning his hobby into something that will make him a living, he discovers what the gem thief is looking for: jewelry pieces hidden all over the farmhouse and even in the barn, hinting that not all was as it seemed with the man Stephen bought the grounds from.

So, as per the norm, danger follows as, one by one, secrets in the past become revealed. And in the midst of all the danger, the protagonists managed to make some good memories.

My usual complaint about the romance applies here. Meghan is a Christian, and Stephen is not. But Meghan was definitely better than most of the others about resisting, despite the fact she'd had a crush on Stephen since before she got serious with God. She earned my permanent respect by outright telling Stephen that if it came down to a choice between him and God, Stephen would lose.

I also must say I think I enjoyed the Christian aspect more in this book. Stephen didn't make his choice when his life was at stake; he made his choice when he realized, on one calm night, that eternity was at stake.

The Healer

The Healer is the next book in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series, and the two protagonists are Rachel O'Malley and Jack's boss Cole Parker.

I forget the official title of Rachel's job, but her specialty is helping kids through trauma. She's good at helping anyone through trauma, really. She's also there for her own family as they deal with Jennifer's cancer.

There's a minor problem, though. Everyone relies on Rachel, including Rachel herself. All the years she's been doing this, she's never relied on anyone else, and she finally seems to be reaching her breaking point. Even though she accepted Christ in the previous book, Christianity is so new to her, and it scares her to know that there's nothing she can do in return to merit the love of Jesus - and she's facing a similar problem with her current romantic situation.

To be honest, I don't remember too much of Cole in this book. I remember a lot about him from the last book, but not so much in this one. He's strong physically, mentally, and spiritually. He becomes a shoulder for Rachel to lean on, and boy does she need it.

Aside from Jennifer's cancer, there's another crisis Rachel ends up in. I think the book started off with a flood, but the biggest mass trauma started in a school shooting. And if memory serves, there was another murder incident too.

So, yeah. Drama. Lots of it. It's been so long since I've read the book, I don't remember the finer details of my opinion towards this book. But I'm sure it was decent, at the least. =)

...Wow, that wasn't very convincingly put, was it? But I mean it; I'm sure it was pretty good overall.

Ohhh, wait, I just remembered another tragic event that happens in this book. Yeah, this is probably the most depressing book in the series. Maybe that's why I don't remember much of it: Too much sadness, so I made myself try to forget it?

The Protector

The fourth book in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is called The Protector, featuring Jack O'Malley and one of his former coworkers Cassie Ellis.

Jack is a firefighter, and a good one too. Sadly, a certain firebug doesn't seem to think so. At least, that's the assumption when several fires attributed to a single arsonist are all set during Jack's shifts at the fire station.

Cassie also used to be a firefighter, until a nearly fatal accident at The Fire cost her her career. Now that she's been released from the hospital for good, she's opening up a bookstore.

And then... Cassie sees the man who set a fire, and she instantly feels betrayed and traitorous simultaneously as she thinks she recognizes the man.

A whole mess of plotline ensues, in which Cassie rejoins the fire department, Jack pursues the relationship he had wanted for years, Jennifer's condition is a constant background plot, and more than just one O'Malley is targeted by Christianity in this book.

From what I can remember, I have two complaints about this book. One of them, I already mentioned about another book. Cassie is a Christian, and Jack is not; but romance pops up anyways. Not cool.

Another complaint I have is probably only because, being used more than once in the series, it's now overused. Lisa's conversion to Christianity was right as she was dying of suffocation, and Jack was in a similar (though more firey) situation when he accepted Christ.

I'm not in any way saying God doesn't save people when they call out to Him on their deathbeds, because He most certainly does. I'm just saying that Henderson, as an author, should probably use something that dramatic only once in a series.

The Truthseeker

The Truthseeker is Dee Henderson's third installment in the O'Malley series, featuring as protagonists Lisa O'Malley and Marcus's friend and U.S. Marshal partner Quinn Diamond.

Lisa, I believe, is a forensic pathologist. She worked with Marcus on the murder case Shari was witness to in the last book. She is now taking on a new challenge: solving cases that had been shelved decades ago because no one could discover who the murderer was.

Quinn, though he's a Christian and Lisa is not, is trying desperately to get Lisa to agree to a date with him and has been trying since the last book. But there's a bigger problem here than just stubbornness on Lisa's part; Quinn has dated two other women in the O'Malley family (Jennifer and Kate) and even accidentally reveals later that he asked out Rachel too. Lisa is definitely not happy about being asked out last.

Things get complicated in this book as Henderson juggles a plotline that follows many different strings. Lisa's past, the Christianity that seems to be taking hold of her family one by one, the stalker that shows up in Lisa's life and burns her house with all her pets trapped inside, the romance also taking hold of her family one at a time, and (worst of all) Jennifer's cancer that has recently become public knowledge among the close-knit family of seven.

Oh, and although it doesn't seem like it from the description I just gave, Quinn is more than just a side character. He takes an active part in just about every single turn in Lisa's life.

The Guardian

Second in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is The Guardian, referring to the oldest member of the O'Malley family.

Our two protagonists here are Marcus O'Malley and Shari Hanford. Marcus is a U.S. Marshal assigned to protect Shari after she becomes the only witness to the murder of a family friend who also happens to be an extremely powerful man. Shari is pretty powerful too, writing speeches for several people and aiming to be a politician herself.

The two click instantly, meeting just hours before the murder and arranging for coffee the next morning.

Then everything changes. Shari must take on a level of security similar to what you read about in Henderson's Danger in the Shadows.

This book is probably my favorite out of the O'Malley series, but I do have one pretty big problem with it. Shari is a Christian, even though she decides for a time that she doesn't like God anymore. Marcus is definitely not a Christian, though he respects her beliefs.

In my opinion, there was too much romance going on between them while they were supposed to have this major difference. I firmly believe it is extremely unwise for a Christian to get romantically involved with a non-Christian. Sadly, most of the O'Malley books have this problem.

Other than that, though, this book is pretty good overall.

The Negotiator

The Negotiator is the first official book of Dee Henderson's O'Malley series.

Dave Richman, Sara's brother, is one of the two protagonists for this book. He is, if I remember correctly, an FBI agent and former head of his sister's security. Like his sister, he is also a Christian.

Kate O'Malley is the other protagonist, second oldest "sibling" in the O'Malley family. Like I said earlier, the O'Malleys are a group of seven orphans who adopted each other and legally changed their last names to become family. And like the other members of her family, Kate is most decidedly not a Christian.

Kate is a hostage negotiator, who also recently seems to be the victim of stalker, though no one knows why. Then her name is attached with a plane that explodes, and everything changes.

Kate helps in trying to solve the mystery of the bomber, and Dave pitches in too, unable to leave the woman he met during a bank-bomber-hostage situation, for lack of better knowledge on my part as to how to explain it.

Things start to dig into Kate's past, and she also has to deal with the knowledge that a certain member of her family is dying, but no one else in the family can know yet. Dave tries to get Kate to see that God can straighten these things out, but Kate is having none of it.

How on earth can this mess be solved to everyone's satisfaction? Find out in The Negotiator.

Danger in the Shadows

As I mentioned yesterday, Dee Henderson's prequel to the O'Malley series is Danger in the Shadows.

There are two protagonists to every Henderson book that I've read so far. In this book, they are Sara Walsh and Adam Black.

On the surface, Sara is a children's author who comes from a wealthy family. Under the surface, Sara is the victim of a stalker, and has been for most of her life, necessitating security at every second of the day or night. She had been kidnapped when she was just a child, and now she is scarred inwardly and outwardly.

Adam is more or less just as he appears: a former star football player who has finally decided to step down from the field. But he also carries a bit of secrecy. It doesn't have the drama Sara's life is laced with, and it's revealed pretty early on, but it is his own personal demon.

How do these polar opposites meet? Can Sara risk being associated with a public icon? Can Adam handle the transition from fame to hiding?

Can they both trust God to not only help them survive, but to actually live?

Overall, a pretty good book. Rather dark in places, and Sara rarely gets a moment of fun without it being completely ruined five seconds later. But still. Pretty good book.

Dee Henderson's O'Malley Series

Now I feel sort of guilty because I've gone so long without mentioning my mom's favorite author, whom I've also read: Dee Henderson.

The series by Henderson that I have read almost completely is the O'Malley series, featuring seven orphans who banded together and legally changed their last names to become siblings. The stories pick up when they're around 30 years of age.

There are three books that are part of the series, although not technically. Hmm, that sounded confusing. Allow me to explain.

Danger in the Shadows is a sort of prequel to the O'Malley series. No O'Malleys are shown, but the main character later is linked indirectly with the O'Malleys.

Jennifer: An O'Malley Love Story is a book which I don't think was ever printed, but it could for a time (and maybe still) be found published online by the author for a free read. It shows how the youngest O'Malley, who never got her own book in the original series, fell in love with a man and his Savior. I have yet to completely read this book.

I have not read Full Disclosure, either. However, it contains a twist that is vital the O'Malleys, or at least our view of them. I know the twist because my mom freaked out when she read it and had to tell someone who would know what she was semi-talking about.

Anyways, we'll take a look at the O'Malley books one by one over the next several days. But you should know right now that all of them are Christian fiction, all have romance, and all have murder.

Rick Riordan

I've already told you about basically all of Rick Riordan's books that I've read, so here is some information about some of his other books.

Riordan's two series on Percy Jackson and on the Kane kids either have or are in the process of having graphic novels made of each of the eight books in both series.

Riordan has contributed to the collection of The 39 Clues series, which I know nothing about; but apparently more than one author I've read has contributed to the series.

Riordan has written another series called Tres Navarre, which seems to be a Texan crime-solving type of series. He has currently written seven books for the series; I'm not sure if the seventh is a conclusion, a continuation, or just yet another book of the same type with no end yet in sight.

Riordan also apparently has written a stand-alone novel called Cold Springs. According to the description on Goodreads, this book seems to be fraught with death and drugs and whatnot, effectively making me decide to steer well away from it.

Other than the multiple books in other languages, I think I've pretty much covered Riordan's books now. If you want to see the list of Riordan's works yourself, please click here to go to the list on Goodreads.

See you next week!

Rick Riordan's Short Story Companion Books

To accompany the three series I've just finished talking about, Rick Riordan has written a number of smaller books that contain short stories and informational tidbits that add to the overall series they are a part of.

To mention all of them would take way too long, so I'll just mention a few.

The Demigod Files contains a few games, interviews, and short stories. It probably takes place sometime after The Battle of the Labyrinth, but definitely before The Last Olympian. The short stories are in Percy's first-person perspective, like the series it accompanies.

The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide is a book I have not read, but it seems as though the layout of the book might be similar to the last book I mentioned. And of course, this book is part of the Kane Chronicles series.

The Demigod Diaries is a book also containing short stories, though there were also puzzles for the readers themselves, similar to The Demigod Files. And, this book had one story that I never expected: an entry from Luke's diary in the days when he and Thalia were half-bloods without a home, running across the country fighting any and all monsters. The last story is what dates this book, though; it shows a mishap during the time between the first and second books of The Heroes of Olympus.

And if you're the type of reader that wants to watch worlds more contrary than Greeks and Romans collide, Riordan has written another type of book: a crossover between The Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The first one in what I hear is to be a series itself is called The Son of Sobek. It's just one short story, but it's from Carter's point of view as he runs into Percy on a hunt.

Those four books are by no means all there is. They just represent the four categories that I know of. As I wrap up with Riordan soon, I'll give you a link that will lead you to a list of his many, many works.

House of Hades

The latest book to be released in Rick Riordan's series Heroes of Olympus is titled The House of Hades, which begins perhaps a week after the end of The Mark of Athena.

In this book, the Seven from the latest Great Prophecy have been separated; Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, and the others are being led by an addition (Nico) to the mortal side of the Doors of Death.

They are still working together, though, since the other side of the Doors of Death lie in Tartarus, and the Doors have to be closed from both sides.

This is probably my least favorite book of the series so far. It was enough of a disappointment that I'm for once actually not excited to find out the end of the story. I probably will read the final book at some point, just because that's all that's left for the series, but I likely won't buy it.

Anyways, the plot of this book was basically just explained above. If you want to know some of the finer points, Piper is learning how to control her voice powers to have better control over the people she uses her powers on. Leo got blasted out of the ship and ended up on a "certain island" for a short time. Hazel is learning magic. Frank has a growth spurt. Jason's character development/"regression" that I mentioned before comes to a boiling point here. And Nico... Well, you'll find out. Fair warning: If you have the same values I do, you won't like what you find; if you don't have the same values I do, you'll probably pity Nico or even appreciate his plot twist. I think I'm in denial.

As for Percy and Annabeth... Dark. Very dark. They're in Tartarus, so what can you expect? But still... Super dark. Super creepy. Horrible curses. And there came a point where Percy very nearly crossed the line: Annabeth was terrified of him for a few seconds.

Also, there were a few appearances from characters we haven't seen since Percy's original series and a short story that came with another book of Riordan's.

Anyways. There you have it. You may agree or disagree with my views here, but there they are.

Mark of Athena

The third book in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series is The Mark of Athena, picking up exactly where Son of Neptune left off.

This book begins from Annabeth's perspective, and this time there are a total of four points of view in this book. Annabeth, as mentioned above, along with Leo, Piper, and Percy. Since you already know these characters from the last two books, let's move on to plot.

The overall quest is to travel to Rome and then Greece and stop the earth goddess Gaea from waking up. The main quest for this book is to free Nico, Hazel's half-brother, from the two giants imprisoning him.

There's a minor problem there. Giants can only be killed by gods and demigods working together, but all the gods seem to be going schizophrenic. Most of the important ones aren't able to be of any use at all. But our heroes figure they'll cross that bridge when they come to it, and Percy ends up with a fantastic idea to get one of them on their side.

And then there's the title of the book. Annabeth has a quest separate from the rest of the group. She must follow the Mark of Athena to find a treasure that was stolen from Athena and is one of the main reasons that the Greeks and Romans hate each other so much.

If Annabeth can find the treasure, she could convince the Romans not to attack Camp Half-Blood. However, none of the children of Athena to date have ever successfully completed this quest; all have died at some point or another.

Another question would be this: Can Percy, whose fatal flaw is personal loyalty, let Annabeth do this alone? For alone she must, because the Mark of Athena will not appear unless no one else is with Annabeth.

And then, just when you think Riordan can't get any more cruel, he ends this book on an even worse cliffhanger than the last time: Percy and Annabeth fall headfirst into Tartarus.

I think, from what I've read of the series so far, my favorite book would probably be a tie between this one and Son of Neptune. Maybe Son of Neptune would win out in the end, but I did really like this book too.

Son of Neptune Pt. 2

Continuing on the vein of Rick Riordan's Son of Neptune, second book in the Heroes of Olympus series, let's take a look at the plot.

Percy, missing since before last Christmas, has only now woken up to find his memories missing. He met a wolf, who I think is a goddess of some sort, who told him to go south.

Long story short, Percy nearly dies about a million times, but he makes it south into Camp Jupiter, where he instantly meets Hazel and Frank. Then after almost dying again, Percy gets interrogated by the camp's leader Reyna.

Cutting another long story short, Mars shows up and gives Frank and Percy and another member of Frank's choosing (Hazel, of course) a quest: free Death from his prison in the north - way north, Alaska north.

Things at Camp Jupiter aren't quite as cut-and-dry as at Camp Half-Blood. Even though a god has clearly ordered a quest, the camp argues amongst itself as to how to go about it. They have certain rules that must be followed to a T.

But when our heroes finally get out of the camp into the world on their quest, we've reached familiar Riordan territory. One thing leads to another to another, until it all clashes in an epic climax.

In this book, there might even be two climaxes. One to free Death, where Frank and Hazel are probably going to die and Percy is supposed to drown. A second to defend Camp Jupiter, where a humongous army of monsters is bent on blood.

And then comes the infamous cliffhanger at the end. Fans probably wanted to throttle Riordan in an attempt to get the next book more quickly. You at least won't have that problem, as there are currently two more books released in the series.

The Son of Neptune

Up next in Rick Riordan's series The Heroes of Olympus is The Son of Neptune, taking place the summer after The Lost Hero.

Neptune is Poseidon's Roman name, so guess who we see in this book? Percy! And guess where he is? The Roman version of Camp Half-Blood: Camp Jupiter!

So, everything we learned in the last book, we really don't need to remember for this book. It all comes together for the cliffhanger ending in this book, but it's really not necessary for understanding the overall plotline.

In this book, we once again get Percy's perspective on things - along with two new characters that I absolutely love. To reiterate, we have, like the last book, three protagonists we see the story from.

First up, I already mentioned Percy. Anyone who's read Percy Jackson and the Olympians and is still reading this new series probably doesn't need any confirmation that he's super awesome. So let's move on.

Frank, unclaimed demigod in the beginning of the book. He's super strong, super clumsy, and has a super adorable baby face. The only thing he seems to be good at is archery and entertaining the ghost that walks around bragging about the day a chicken stole his underwear. Frank also has a huge secret that makes him extremely vulnerable. But circumstances are about to force Frank to reveal a kind of strength that even he never knew he had before.

Hazel, daughter of Pluto, Roman version of Hades. She also carries a heavy secret, one that drives her conviction to do some little bit of good and then take whatever repercussions come her way, regardless of Frank's just-as-strong conviction to never let anyone hurt her. Hazel prefers to stay in the background, probably a result of the events sealed within her secret, but she's proven she can certainly step up and save the day when necessary, and she definitely always tries to stand up for what's right. Her ideals are also probably connected to her secret.

Okay, so now you know the characters. Sort of. Percy's the only one who's an open book at the very start. But anyways. Plot next time.

The Lost Hero Pt. 2

In Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero, first book in the Heroes of Olympus series, a lot has happened since the end of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

For one thing, Percy has vanished. About a week or so before The Lost Hero begins, Percy told Annabeth goodnight and was gone the next morning. Annabeth and most of the rest of the camp has been searching day and night to find him.

Finally, Hera gives Annabeth some advice: Jason can lead her to Percy.

But since Jason clearly remembers nothing before this day, he doesn't seem to be much help in this regard.

True to Riordan form, there now comes a quest and a deadline. Hera has been kidnapped, and Jason is given the quest to free her. I don't remember why the amnesiac was given such an important quest, but then again, Hera isn't much loved by anyone.

At any rate, Leo volunteers to go with Jason, and Piper gets into a fight with one of her new half-sisters as to which of them should accompany Jason as well. Naturally, our protagonist wins.

Along this book, we meet old friends and make new ones. We solve many problems and our characters all seem to grow. Sadly, with the other books in the series, that seems to be a bit debatable with all but Jason, and even that could by some be called regressing.

And, just like in the first Percy Jackson book, we are finally introduced to the main villain for the series.

This book was fun and exciting, especially for those fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians who were sorry to see the series end. I did like it, but I also do have to say that it didn't seem quite the same quality of writing as the preceding series.

Of course, I suppose that could have something to do with I was missing Percy as badly as Annabeth. And it could also have something to do with my distaste for Piper. But still.

Anyways, in all, not a bad start to a new series.

The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero begins Rick Riordan's sequel series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians; this series is titled The Heroes of Olympus, and it picks up the winter after the conclusion of The Last Olympian.

The Lost Hero is told from three different perspectives: Jason, Leo, and Piper.

Jason wakes up on a bus with no memories of anything, including Piper and Leo, who say they've known Jason for months. When chaos erupts over the Grand Canyon, he acts on instinct and more or less saves everyone from dying. Then Annabeth shows up and takes our three protagonists to Camp Half-Blood, where Jason continuously refers to the gods by their Roman names.

Leo is the scrawny mechanic who's always making jokes, but who's also always running away. He's stayed at his current school for a while, though, and he finally made friends in Piper and Jason. Sadly, he's been feeling like the third wheel again ever since Piper and Jason started dating. When he gets taken to Camp Half-Blood, he's warily excited about learning that, all of a sudden, he has a dad and several siblings - even if all of them, including the six-year-old, look like they could beat him up in a heartbeat if they felt like it.

Piper. What can I say? This girl is a mess of contradiction. She's the rich beautiful half-Indian daughter of a movie star who pays little to no attention to her, so she steals anything and everything to get his attention. But she tries hard to look less beautiful and she hates a ton of attention. Finally, she was shipped off to the school where she met Jason and Leo. She's sometimes shy, sometimes tough-talking, sometimes "sweetly" in charge. I wish I could give you a less biased opinion of her, but the more I read from her perspective, the less I like her. I'm sorry.

Anyways, today was a lot about the protagonists. Tomorrow, I guess I'll do a bit more plot.

The Serpent's Shadow

The final book in Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles trilogy is The Serpent's Shadow, and this book, like the last, also takes place about three months after the close of the previous book.

Everything is finally coming to its climax in this book. All the scenes Riordan set up in the first two books come to a point where they need an answer, a solution, and fast, or everything else in the worlds of the mortals and of the gods will break apart and Chaos will reign.

First and foremost, the snake Apophis needs to be destroyed. Problem is, everyone agrees that destroying him will take an insane amount of skill; and even if someone were to get that skilled, the penalty would be death for them in the end anyways. Carter and Sadie's only hope is an old dead guy who is probably lying to them about another way, but what choice do they have?

Second, Sadie would insist that her love problems rank right up there with beating Apophis. Frankly, I find Riordan's solution to Sadie's problem to be cheating, but I guess if Sadie accepts it...

It wouldn't be fair to mention Sadie's love issues again without going back to Carter's. His situation seemed a lot more natural, and his love interest might actually be my favorite character in the entire series.

And of course, there's the entire little situation I forgot to mention before: Carter and Sadie and their entire group of trainees are sort of considered to be outcasts and even traitors to the main magicians in Egypt. Also, Carter and Sadie's uncle has been communing with the Chaos god Seth, which really doesn't help matters. At all.

So, allow me to reiterate: Everything that has been mentioned in the last two books works up to a boil in this book. It's now all or nothing.

Overall, I'd say this series is pretty good. Not great, but not bad. And I might just be saying that because Riordan tried to mush together his books with the Bible, and that's just not going to end well ever, I don't care how great an author you are.

Also, I think I mentioned this before, but I may as well say it again: the Egyptian gods are minutely less bratty and spoiled than the Greek gods. Bonus points go to the Egyptians for being more willing to listen to the input of humans.

So, yeah, pretty good series.

Throne of Fire

Second in Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles series is The Throne of Fire, situated three months after the previous book.

In this book, things get a bit more complicated.

For one thing, Carter and Sadie have opened up their home in New York for training new magicians, so there are more characters to get to know.

Added to that, Sadie's caught in a love triangle because she has a huge crush on one of her students and yet is also majorly crushing on a god she met in the last book.

To continue the love drama, Carter is also head over heels - for a girl who doesn't remember him at all.

On a different note, shout-out to Sadie for her birthday! The world is ending, and she insists on taking the day off to celebrate her birthday.

And I suppose I should mention the main quest for this book: to retrieve the sun god Ra. He disappeared forever ago, and no one knows where he went. But Carter and Sadie are determined to find him, convinced that Ra could be their only hope against the Chaos snake Apophis.

In the meantime, stuff happens. Dramatic, life-threatening stuff. So let's all climb aboard putting our lives in the hands of two teens who can scarcely stop arguing with each other and everyone else in their entire universe! Yah!

The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid is the first book in another series by Rick Riordan called The Kane Chronicles.

This series has two main characters, Carter and Sadie Kane, who, although they're as different as night and day in both personality and appearance, are full-blooded siblings. The series also focuses on the Egyptian gods.

Carter and Sadie, like Percy, had no idea at the beginning of the book that the ancient Egyptian gods were real. Then they watched their father sacrifice himself to summon five of the biggest, each of whom choose someone in the vicinity to be their host. Carter becomes the host for Horus, and Sadie hosts Isis.

Of course, evil is also released. First off, their dad is now dead. Second, an uncle shows up out of the blue and takes Carter and Sadie on a short river journey all the way from England to New York.

It's been a while since I've read the book, so I can't remember too many of the details, especially without giving away spoilers. Let's just say this book also mirrors the Percy Jackson series in that no book in the series would be complete without a quest and a time limit.

I'm honestly not too sure how I liked this book. I thought it was well-written in true Riordan style, and the Egyptian gods seem to be slightly less bratty and spoiled than the Greek gods - slightly.

But I didn't appreciate how Riordan talked about Moses (God's prophet who lived in Egypt for the first forty years of his life) as if he was a magician who also believed in Egyptian gods. I feel like there were a couple other complaints I had, but they were probably minor compared to my first one about Moses.

The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian is the final book in Rick Riordan's series Percy Jack and the Olympians, taking place around the end of the summer, almost a year after the close of the last book.

As finales go, this probably ranks around some of the best. Sacrifices are made, connections are forged or broken, a traitor is discovered just as that traitor decides to choose to be a good guy again. And the traitor we have been aware of since book one also makes an attempt at redemption. Coupled with the choice that Percy was prophesied to make, the cursed blade did indeed reap the hero's soul.

There are not really any loose ends Riordan leaves open at the end of this book. In fact, the only one I can think of is the new Great Prophecy that was spouted at the very end.

As far as plotlines that do get wrapped up, the prophecy that directed this book is fully explained, as per usual for the prophecies of the other books.

In a very delightful twist, the Olympians are told to start building thrones in the throne room for all of the Greek gods, not just the twelve major ones. Most of them aren't happy about it, but support arises from an unlikely source and the task is undertaken along with a couple other changes.

Also, fans of the romance in these books will be either delighted or upset, as Percy ends up with a girlfriend at the end of this book. I will not say who; I'm trying not to spoil anything if you haven't heard all the great stuff about this couple. But maybe I'll just say that, in my opinion, this was the only choice that could have ever worked out, regardless of what happened to the other girls Percy could potentially have chosen.

I feel I should also warn you, just like I have been with a couple of the other books. This book has war. The last book, as you may guess from the title, has a full-on battle; but that was nothing compared with the scale on which this war is fought. Percy leads his army of demigods and satyrs and automatons and, later, Hunters of Artemis in defending the entirety of Manhattan, or at least the Empire State Building.

Just like any war, there are consequences. People die. And Percy himself is grappling with the knowledge that, even though he had just gained a mostly impervious shield, his soul would likely be reaped by a cursed blade, which would mean his own death as well.

Anyways, great book. I highly recommend this series of awesomeness.

Battle of the Labyrinth

The fourth book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is called The Battle of the Labyrinth, and it occurs summer following the previous book.

Percy has just attended orientation at the school where his mom's boyfriend teaches, and it looks like Percy might be kicked out before the school year has even started this time, thanks to a monster attack that made all mortals except one teenage girl think Percy attacked and killed a defenseless cheerleader.

At any rate, Percy runs into Annabeth and they go back to camp, where they accidentally make a huge discovery that could have meant a surprise attack on Camp Half-Blood. A quest is arranged, and this time Annabeth heads the operation, choosing for her teammates Percy, Grover, and Percy's brother Tyson.

The team heads underground, into the Labyrinth, which has caused more than one person in the past to lose their sanity. Annabeth and the rest run into one problem after another, be it in the form of a monster or a god that has decided to side against the Olympians in the inevitable war coming up.

Finally, the group separates. Grover and Tyson run off in one direction, while Percy and Annabeth go in another. Then Percy and Annabeth separate, and it looks like Percy's fatal flaw, personal loyalty, has finally claimed his life.

True to Riordan humor, Percy reappears in Camp Half-Blood in time to witness his own funeral. One the fact that he survived has been established, he tells Annabeth he has figured out how to make her quest a success.

I have to say, this book has the most bittersweet ending yet. The big plot points as far as the quest and the battle in the end are successful, but at what cost? Percy seems to be caught in a complicated love triangle - or is it a square - or some complex shape without a name. Another character dies, although this one is more justified, I guess. Probably worst of all, Annabeth loses a love to worse than death.

Anyways, Riordan does try to end on a happy-ish note, with Percy's mom potentially getting engaged and Percy getting a birthday visit and gift from his father Poseidon. But it really just doesn't cut it. Thankfully, he makes up for it with the next book.