Top Ten Tuesday #2 - Fantasy Places I'd like to Experience

Top Ten Tuesday is a Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where I will be picking from their top tens and attempting to reveal what my thinking is behind these choices

Top Ten Fantasy Places I'd like to Experience:

1. Gallifrey
Home planet of the Time Lords, and the most beautiful place in the galaxy, before it was destroyed in the Time War... or not. What good fan-girl wouldn't wan't to go there?

2. Asgard
Mythical land of Norse Gods, home of Thor, Loki and Odin. Looks like a big shining city sitting on top of clouds and has a really nice-looking rainbow bridge. I'd love to go there and hang with the Asgardians.

3. Camelot
The legendary castle of King Arthur has been depicted in so many films, books and TV series, but I want to see how it really would have been.

4. Inkworld
Cornelia Funke's imaginary book-world certainly grabs your attention. Whether you're having a meeting with Dustfinger or a confrontation with Basta, you'd never be short of amusement or danger, but it sure sounds beautiful.

5. Rivendell / Ellesmera / Greenwood (before it got Mirkwoodified)
Anywhere were the elves live sounds like a nice place to me, and whether they belong in the Inheritance cycle or The Lord of the Rings really doesn't make a huge difference. Bring on the beautiful woodland realms and the idyllic peace.

6. Westeros
This Game of Thrones land is rife with danger, but wouldn't you love to see it? The beauty of Highgarden, the desolate mountain of the Eyrie, the silent rock of Dragonstone and the splendour of King's Landing are something that every reader /watcher of this series would want to visit for themselves.

7. Oz
Nothing says holiday like the bright, happy fairyland of Oz, with its girl ruler and its cute little munchkins. Yes, there may be a few witches and trolls lurking about, but every now and again they are killed or thwarted, so they aren't too much of a bother. You can go off here and have adventures any time you like.

8. Wonderland
The fantastical world of Wonderland isn't one you'd want to stay in for too long or you may end up with a pretty bad headache, but wouldn't it be great to go wandering in and find yourself face to face with a frumious Bandersnatch, or a Cheshire Cat, or a Tea Party where it is everyone's unbirthday?

9. Narnia
But specifically, it has to be the Narnia in the time zone when the Pevensie children are the rulers, because that's when everyone is free and there are hardly any men to mess things up. Imagine walking down the beach with a faun and talking with a Mermaid or two on your way to Cair Paravel.. bliss.

10. Neverland
Never has a tiny island hosted so many types of person; a ticking Crocodile, a group of lost boys, some Pirates, some Mermaids, some Indians, and a load of random creatures or people that flit about in the woods. For a few days, it would be nice to stop time and just relax, and as long as you don't side with anyone, you could do just that.

11. Special Mention; Discworld
Terry Pratchett's incredible imagination knows no bounds, and niether does the Discworld, by the looks of it. Pratchett can't stop writing about it and choosing things to make a satire of, and we love him for it.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The sequel to An Unexpected Journey is finally here, and fans of the book are going to love it. Once again, we follow Bilbo, Gandalf and the band of Dwarves as they carry on in their quest to conquer Smaug and claim back the Lonely Mountain and the Kingdom of Erebor.

Unlike the last film, where the beginning is somewhat a recollection and a chance to bring in the likes of Ian Holm and Elijah Wood once more, the second hurls you headlong into the story. There is no backtracking and no long-winded back-story; you are straight where the story of the first film ended. This makes the film much faster in terms of pace and settles you in to what is actually a very well-made middle film.

The plot of the original book is followed very nicely. No part is missed out (unlike in the Lord of the Rings, where a greater part was missed out due to timing issues) and in fact extra parts that piqued our curiosity in the book have been put in, such as Gandalf's adventure in Dol Guldur where he attempts to deal with the Necromancer. New ideas have also been added, and while I felt that the inclusion of Legolas is unnecessary, it does bring together the two sets of films so people who have never seen the Lord of the Rings will have extra people to recognise. Fans of the LOTR films will love this inclusion, as Legolas is a very well-loved character. Gimli is even mentioned, which is amusing as I was debating how old he might have been at this point and was entirely right.

There are a couple more new bits thrown in for good measure; A huge action sequence with Smaug (which I feel went on for a tad too long) but it was all very watchable and quite intense, a she-elf by the name of Tauriel, whose storyline is actually very interesting and quite lovely, and then there is the fact that not all of the dwarves go to the Lonely Mountain. This part is very different to the book, but I liked it nonetheless because the story had several plot-lines rather than it focusing on one thing for too long.

So now we get on to the visuals. As always with adaptations of Tolkien's novels, the scenery, the design of costumes and the effects are simply magnificent. For me, though, I particularly liked Laketown and Mirkwood, despite the fact we see quite little of it. Oh and Smaug? He is just as terrifying as I ever imagined him to be, and yet not really as clever as he should be thanks to that enormous action sequence where Smaug is simply following the dwarves about and getting confused by the fact there are so many of them.

The actors in this are all excellent. Martin Freeman shines again as Bilbo, as he discovers he has more courage than he thought; this time tables are turned as Bilbo begins saving the dwarves. Luke Evans also does a great job as Bard the Bowman, and Bard's story is a given a little bit more significance too (but you'll have to see the film to find out how!) Aiden Turner also comes into his own with a flexibility that I can only marvel at. How is it that one man can play a vampire and a dwarf and play the characters in an utterly different style? Kili is an extremely likable dwarf and is given his own subplot in this particular installment. It leaves me secretly hoping that the third film ends up slightly different to the book (again, spoilers!)

There is one tiny little thing I think this film, as well as it's predecessor, lack. The book was for children originally, and so it had a large amount of comedy in it. Most of the dwarves were amusing, the conversations with Smaug were witty, the barrel sequence was hilarious and highly memorable. I think the film has left out most of the hilarity in favour of the darker mood that encapsulates the LOTR franchise. I think I would have liked to see lighter moments in this film as it would be much more in keeping with the book.

In a nutshell, The Desolation of Smaug is everything I could have asked for. It is full of references to the other books, new plot-lines to add interest and has a vast amount of action. Apart from the lack of comedy, the film is a roaring success in my eyes. It is certainly something that most people would like, particularly people who are fans of the fantasy genre and of Tolkien. 9 out of 10.

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The Lord of The Rings - J.R.R Tolkien

As some of you may have noticed, there has been rather a big lack of book reviewing going on recently on this blog. Why? Because I have been undertaking the momentous task of finally reading The Lord of The Rings.

I would like to say first off that many people find this book difficult to read, and I agree, it is rather like wading through a thick and rather sticky marsh in places. It was written way back in a time when authors had such a fixed idea about who there characters are and what their world is like that every minute detail of the landscape and the thoughts of the characters are meticulously written down. So, for those of you who think they can't handle that type of writing, I would ask you  to leave this one to the book worms and the hardcore fantasy fanatics.

I am one such fanatic though. And so I have to say that even though it took me 3 months to complete my reading of this book, it was time well spent. The movie, which the book MUST be compared to at some point, does extremely well at showing the reader the main story, and making it as compelling and exciting as they possibly can.

But they miss so much. The absolute terror that the Black Riders induce in people is never really shown, and many characters and scenes are missed out whilst others are put in. For example, Frodo never sends Sam away at any point, and there is a large section in the first book, concerning Forests and a strange, ancient being by the name of Tom Bombadil, that is missing entirely from the story. However, I think that had this part been in the film, it would have almost stopped it dead, so it may be for the best.

Back to the book, my favourite character by far was Sam Gamgee. Probably because we get to know him much more than any other character in the entire book. The books are written from the viewpoints of the hobbits, rather than from the men, which proves very interesting.

When we are following Frodo into Mordor, Sam's point of view is the one that we have, and we learn that he is a loyal and caring companion who only wishes to help. Not only that, but he is in fact quite brave and clever, despite not looking that way. He is really the only character that has been opened up to us in his entirety, with even Merry and Pippin's thoughts not showing quite as much depth.

The book is extremely well written, with a superb plot that is well thought through. We follow a great journey in a land that is so unlike our own, sometimes it is easy to become lost in it. The beginning can take a while to get into, as a great deal of the book is actually still in the Shire.

The end can also be a little long winded, but hold on, because there is a very interesting part that was never put in to the films. As I said, it can be a difficult read at times, but I implore anyone to give it a go at least once, if only to say that they have read one of the greats.

As for me, I give it a 9/10.

More To Come...

Recently I've been very busy with deadlines looming dangerously close. On Wednesday, I officially finish for the year, so I shall be back then with some rather wonderful blogs.

Coming Soon:
The Green Hornet
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
Lord of the Rings
Fast and Furious 5
Up

I hope you'll forgive me for my busy-ness by reading those beauties.