Month: January 2012

eBook Review: Kid Combat – A Lost Secret

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The Adventures of Kid Combat Volume One: A Secret Lost by Christopher Helwink

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a book for middle graders, or as we say in Australia “primary schoolers”, which covers the ages of 9 to 12 year olds.

It’s a sort of cross between Get Smart or Inspector Gadget verses Superheros, although none of the characters have super strength or can fly. The reason I’ve made that connection is because the kids are a bit inventive and use different gadgets and they wear a uniform or costume when assuming their “other” identities.

This is another classic case of the cover stopping me in my tracks and yelling at me “read me”. So I did. The first two books in the series are available for free from the iTunes bookstore.

The story itself is about a group of intelligent kids who decide to stand up (secretly) against the tyrant of their town, Jones. The old man owns half the town and plans to own the other half too. He’s corrupt and the once lovely little town is changing … for the worst. Kid Combat (that’s the main character’s nickname) and his friends want to expose him and save the town from further evil and corruption.

I liked the fact that there was no foul language in the book as I believe that’s how it should be in books for younger readers. I liked the actual storyline and the characters – simple but adequate. However, there were several times when parts (either sentences or paragraphs) were repetitive, which was a bit annoying or distracting. And there were a few little inconsistencies or flaws, which I could see but a younger reader may accept without question. Overall, however, I feel the target audience (9 to 12 year olds) will enjoy the book as it will ignite their imaginations.

eBook Review: The Librarian (Book 1: Little Boy Lost)

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The Librarian (Book One: Little Boy Lost)The Librarian by Eric Hobbs

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

The story is about two friends who go on a class excursion to an old library. The library has been put on the demolition list and is due to be bulldozed to make room for a shopping centre. Whilst at the library strange things start to happen, which include characters from Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz.

The book is for younger readers, but there is some swearing and minor violence in it.

I enjoyed the story, it was interesting. The main characters were likable. The young protagonist was a pain, but I felt sorry for him in some ways too. I liked the concept of the library and what happened within its walls. And I enjoyed the way the author put today’s kids into classic stories. I would have loved something like that to happen to me when I was a kid so I believe (for that reason) this will entice younger readers to the series.

I had two problems with the book: 1) I didn’t ‘feel’ the excitement the kids should have felt when they found themselves in Oz and that made the place feel unreal and wrong, and 2) I hate cliff hangers!

Having said that, I would read book 2 to find out what happens next.

Game Review: Uncharted 3

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I’ve played the Playstation since they were first invented. I currently own PS1 and about 100 games, PS2 and about 200 games and PS3 and about 30 games (and counting). A couple of decades ago, we owned a Nintendo as well.

Most people give me a strange look when I say I play PS3 (or whatever console I might be using at the time). Few of them say it, but most of them think to themselves “she’s too old”. Well, I’m not too old and I never will be. I love playing games. Especially gory, blood-thirsty ones such as Resident Evil (Resident Evil 2 and 3 for PS1 are still my favourites). Yet I’ll also play war games, kids games, puzzle games, shooter games, whatever I can get my hands on except sports (hate them with a passion).

Every now and again I’ll write a review for the latest game I’ve completed. Today, I want to write about Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

I received this game for Christmas and was excited as I own and have completed the first two games. And thoroughly enjoyed them both I might add.

Briefly, the plot follows Drake and Sully (and a few friends) as they travel the world trying to solve a puzzle concerning a lost ancient city and the treasures they believe they will find there. Of course, the baddies in the story also know of this lost city and want something other than the treasures for themselves, but it takes Drake and Sully a long time to work this out and death and unnecessary risks are not out of the question when you want something bad enough.

This is an adventure story which kept my attention and had me coming back for more. I highly recommend it.

The storyline for this game is superb. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it felt like an interactive movie … with me controlling events, to a certain degree. The graphics are amazing. The game itself is addictive. There are four levels of play – super easy, easy, normal and hard. There are puzzles that were easy to solve and some that I found impossible to solve, however the game seems to know you’re having problems and will offer hints after a certain amount of time or after several failed attempts. I was thankful for that at times and ignored the hint prompt if I didn’t want help.

Image Source: Wikipedia