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Hello all in the Land of Blog. Darth Bill, the Sith with the mostest, has returned from deep space with some cool stuff to share. First I would like you all to know that on Wednesday, June 24 at 6:00 pm Jana Guitar will be putting on a Manga Drawing Workshop:
Are You Interested in Manga?
Would You Like to Learn to Draw Manga or Improve Your Manga Drawing Skills?
Are You Between the Ages of 8 to 12 Years Old?
If You Answered Yes to all these Questions, do We have a Program for You!!!!! Jana Guitar will be visiting ImaginOn on Wednesday, June 24 at 6:00 pm to present a Manga Drawing Workshop. If you are interested in attending all you have to do is call 704-973-2720 and register!!!!!!!! A great time is assured for all!!!!!

Silvertongue (Book Three of The Stoneheart Trilogy) by Charlie Fletcher - Just finished this one and all I can say is: "Wow, what an exciting ride!!!!!" This volume starts off with the Walker apparently vanquished only to be replaced times 2. The Darkness trapped in the London Stone has escaped and from another Dark Dimension, unwittingly released by George and Edie, the Ice Devil has flown into our world making time stop, all people disappear and bringing a ton of snow and darkness into the world. To make matters worse the Ice Devil is calling all Taints (evil statues such as gargoyles (for the most part), dragons (also for the most part) and other monstrosities) to itself to make war on all Spits (good statues such as the Gunner, the Red Queen, the Lionheart and more). In addition to all this George must complete his quest, for he has chosen the hard way, to become a Master Maker (Magical Ability to make and heal all statues). The last obstacle he must face is a duel with the fearsome Last Knight of the Cnihtengild. Edie has her own quest to attend as she searches through time to save her mother. New characters are introduced and shocking secrets revealed as all heck breaks loose in this final volume of The Stoneheart Trilogy. Reading this book was like riding a roller coaster with action, action and more action. I really enjoyed this trilogy and can't wait to read it again!!!! It was that good!!!! You are depriving yourselves if you don't give these books a read!!!!!

If you want to see reviews of the other books in The Stoneheart Trilogy go here for Stoneheart and here for Ironhand.

Check out some actual photos of real statues some of the characters and things in the book are based on:


<----Statue of Sir Ernest Shackleton (also a very
cool historical figure)





























<---The Queen of America (middle) and her Buffalo






















Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure, Volume 4 by Shingekatsu Ihara - I'm sorry that I have not reviewed the volumes before this one because this is a really fun Manga that I have been enjoying. The main character in this series is Hareta, a crazy kid who has the ability to form special bonds with Pokemon. He is on a quest to find the Legendary Pokemon Dialga (the Pokemon ruler of time). Unfortunately the evil organization Team Galactic also has the same goal. Fortunately Hareta is aided in his quest by his friends Jun, Professor Rowen (a Pokemon Researcher) and Mitsumi (Professer Rowen's Assistant) among others. In this story Hareta takes on Regigigas, a Pokemon with the power to move whole continents, and man it is an epic battle. Then when Hareta least expects it he is betrayed by a very close friend who may actually be more poweful than him!!!! Let the best Pokemon Player win!!!!!!!

One last note before I go; I also love The Tripods Trilogy by John Christopher. Many, many years ago these were the books that first introduced me to the wonderful world of Science Fiction. Really good stuff!!!!

Well that's all for now. Until next time peace everyone,

Bill

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Yes, indeed, you all have been telling us about a lot of good books lately! Here's one from anonymous:

/%5BBoys%20Rule%20Boys%20Read%21%5D%20New%20comment%20on%20Only%20One%20More%20Week%21%21..EML/">Here is my book review of "Silvertongue" the last book in the Stoneheart Trilogy, by Charlie Fletcher.

For those who haven't read any of these three books, the two main characters are George Chapman, a 12 year old boy and Edie, a girl with an unusual talent. She is called a "Glint" because she can touch things and see into the past. The story begins in the first book when George, accidently breaks off the head of a stone dragon. When George does this he starts a chain of events that lead to a war between the "Spits" and the "Taints.

The "Spits" are metal and stone statues, of mostly historical figures who fight for the good of London. The "Taints" are sculptures of non-human creatures, such as gargoyles and dragons, they fight for the Ice Devil, an evil force of darkness. The battle takes place when time freezes in the third book and George and Edie are the only humans who don't dissappear.

Some of the other characters in this book are The Gunner, a statue of a World War I soldier, The Red Queen and her two daughters, who ride around in a chariot, Dictionary, a statue of a man who uses big words when he speaks, Hodge, his very independent cat, a raven who knows all memories and the Temple Bar Dragon who guards the city of London.

Can George and Edie solve the riddles the Sphinxes tell them? What happens to the Queen of Time? Is little Tragedy a good guy or a bad guy? What is it like traveling through mirrors and fighting flying gargoyles in the snow?
If you want to know the answers to these questions you are going to have to read this book. I will say it was a real page turner and I hate that the story is over. I hope Mister Fletcher writes another book with some of these characters or at least about some of other statues that come to life.

Wow, anonymous, I'd hate to find out what it's like fighting a gargoyle in the snow! This one sounds really good. Darth Bill likes this series--have you read this one yet? What'd you think?

Carl

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We have just received a new review, but I can't tell if it's from a boy or a girl. It's signed Anonymous, so I don't know. Let's hear it:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Call To Arms!": I have a review for the blog. I just finished a very cool book called "Who Stole the Wizard of Oz?" It is by AVI. The story is all about a brother and sister who are twins, Toby and Becky. There is a very neat puzzle within the mystery of who stole a copy of "The Wizard of Oz" from a school library. There is both action and suspense. I'm now starting the second book by Charlie Fletcher,"Ironhand". The first book "Stoneheart" was hard to put down so I expect the same from this one.

Very good, Anonymous. Avi writes very good books. Click on the label below to see what other Avi books we've reviewed. Bill wrote about the Stoneheart book on May 30 and Ironhand on August 29. They sound good to me too!

But the big question is: are you on the boys' side or the girls' side? Or maybe you're not on either side. Maybe you're a peace-loving soul who just wants us all to read together in peace.Well, we boys are noble creatures and would not harm the tiniest fly. Even when we slice our enemies to bits with light sabers, it's all in good clean fun. But we were forced into this battle by a hostile takeover by the girls! So, until the girls cease this totally-unprovoked and vicious attack on us innocent boys, we will have to defend ourselves!! Can we hear it, guys? We need three more boys to write in to even the odds--four or more to win!!

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I remember when I was about 11 or 12 (maybe older; as you get older your memory gets more and more fuzzy) making a major discovery that would change my life forever. That discovery was "Rock 'n' Roll" with one of my favorite rockers at the time being Alice Cooper (on the right in the picture above, the one who is not green or a frog). He was kinda scary but also a whole lot of fun. My parents hated him and his music and could not understand what I saw in him. Even though they did not like the music or him, they let me buy his records and watch him on the T.V. whenever he was on. My parents were cool in that way. Now that doesn't mean that they wanted me to see and hear things they thought were vulgar or inappropriate, but after watching him and listening to his songs they decided that even though they still did not care for him that it was okay if I wanted to listen and watch him. So I did and had a bunch of fun doing so. He is still one of my rock heroes to this very day. I like his music and who he is as a human being (I just finished reading his autobiography he wrote in 2007). Anyway enough of my reminiscing, lets talk about a really cool book, besides the Alice Cooper one, that I just finished reading that also involves Rock.



Ironhand: Book Two of The Stoneheart Trilogy by Charlie Fletcher - This book takes of where Stoneheart (click HERE to see my review of that book), the first book in the trilogy, left off. It takes off like a rocket and doesn't stop the whole way through the story. The story starts with George and Edie determined to rescue the Gunner who has been captured by the evil and mysterious Walker. Now I know some of you are scratching your head asking who or what is a Gunner and a Walker. Well this story is set in a London that most people are not even aware exists. In this London, stone statues and carvings are very much alive. The statues in London are divided into two types. The taints (gargoyles, dragons and other sorts of inhuman stone creations) are evil soulless creatures. The spits (The Gunner and other more or less human looking statues, but not always as we see in this book) whom are akin to humans in that they have souls and tend, for the most part, to be on the side of good. What it really boils down to is what the statue makers intended them to represent and thus become. The Gunner is a statue of a World War I English Soldier who helped George and Edie quite a bit in "Stoneheart." The Gunner is the Walker's prisoner because of this help after George inadvertently set off a war between the taints and spits. The Walker, a sinister sorcerer type, is a servant of dark powers and leads the taints in their war against the spits. This book moves through both present day and the past. The reader travels with the characters from present to World War I to a pre-industrialized England and other strange places and times. This book is full of wonderful twists and turns that will keep the reader turning page after page. One word of advice, if you really want to enjoy this book fully, you should definitely read Stoneheart first. Man, I can hardly wait for the next book!!!! They are that good!!!!!!!!!

Checkout some of these real statues in London that some of the characters in the books may be based on:































































Interesting stuff, eh? Well I hope you all have a great Labor Day Weekend and peace,

Bill

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