Dracula Readings part 3

After about 8 chapters that had somewhat lost my interest in the story, it has finally regained my attention. A somewhat shocking revelation about Lucy has finally come to light. Although the book still has not used the term vampire. There was a story about a woman in the night preying on kids, and some died. The kids all had puncture wounds on their necks, yet no one knew what had caused it. Reminds me a bit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, people trying to make excuses for these neck punctures, anything other than vampire bites. At first I thought that this mysterious woman might have been maybe one of the three sisters of Dracula, or someone that had bit Lucy. But I loved the shocking reveal that the woman was Lucy herself. So, we still don't know who bit Lucy, but I'm starting to enjoy the story again.

I love the interactions between Mina and Van Helsing, and how she turned to him to help Jonathon. After reading Jonathon's journal, I assume Van Helsing, has figured out that the Count is a vampire. I'm curious to see if this is what draws the characters back to Castle Dracula. I'm still not sure how Renfield plays into the story, or if we will return to his character again.

Back to Lucy, I like that Van Helsing was clever enough to catch vampire Lucy in a trap by laying garlic on her grave. The book is doing a good job of setting up the mythology of how vampires work. As a big fan of Buffy, I thought it curious when Van Helsing said to drive the stake through the heart using a hammer. It had just occurred to me why it is called a “stake”. Buffy makes it look easy to stake vamps. Anyway the mystery is finally coming together, and I'm starting to enjoy the story again.

New Ideas for The Hunger Games Prequel Book

According to Lionsgate Studios and author Suzanne Collins, a new book set in the world of Panem will be coming out May of 2020. Following that release a movie or more, will be made based on the book. Here is the link to the news article, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/books/hunger-games-prequel.html

As a big fan of The Hunger Games franchise, I am super excited for this new book. It will be set 64 years prior to the first Hunger Games books. So, it will take place during the 10^th Hunger Games, a part of the “Dark Days” period that was mentioned in the books. For years now I have been wanting a prequel to The Hunger Games that explores more of the society of Panem and how everything came about, leading up to the circumstances found in the trilogy.

Not knowing exactly what the story will be, here are some things that I would like to see show up in the book.

1. The “Dark Days” - We've only heard about (briefly) what the dark days were, but I hope the book further explores what lead to the dark days and how the actual “hunger games” were formed.
2. More districts – The second book and third books Catching Fire and Mockingjay gave readers a glimpse into some of the other districts outside of district 12. But there are still several districts that we no little about, so I hope the new book can provide more details about the other districts, and maybe even be set in a different district. Was district 12 always the poor district or at one point was it more equal, and at what point did things change? Questions that I've had for a while, let's see if they get answered.
3. Old Characters – Now there are a couple of characters that we meet in the original trilogy that were old enough to be alive during the 10^th hunger games. I, personally, would love to see a younger Mags. I love Mags from Catching Fire, and I believe Katniss says she is in her 80's meaning she would have been the right age for the reaping during the 10^th games. Also, president Snow was in his 70's and would be a young boy during this time. It would be fan service sure, but maybe there could be a way to add in some familiar characters organically to the new story. Also, there is mention of Haymitch's mentor in the first book, but that he died years before. So, perhaps however Haymitch's mentor was, maybe he shows up in the new book. 
4. The Capital – We get to spend some time in the Capital in the original trilogy, but not really with any of the people from the capital outside Katniss' prep team. It would be curious to see what the Capital was like, if it was different and how so, back during the 10^th games.
5. The Hunger Games – The description says that it takes place during the time of the 10^th Hunger games, but not that it necessarily will be about the games. I would certainly like to see the evolution of the hunger games. What was the technology like back then, and were sponsors still a huge factor? Also, I believe that the “Careers tributes” were not yet a thing, so what was the actual competition like for the tributes? How has the spectacle of the event evolved? There's a lot that I would like to see in an old version of the actual games.

So, there's my list of the things that I want to see happened in the new prequel Hunger Games book. What are some of your theories, or ideas that you would like to see included? Leave a comment below or tweet me. Thanks!

Dracula Readings part 2

Still working my way through Dracula. Right now it's all about Lucy and Dr. Seward. At first I had trouble switching between characters while listening to the audio narrator. His Dracula voice is similar to his Van Helsing voice. But eventually I sorted it out. At first I was not interested by the Lucy storyline. I still have no idea how Renfield plays into the story, so that's something I hope gets paid off. But I think I have finally cracked the Lucy story! She's slowly turning into a vampire and Van Helsing is trying to stop the transformation, without telling anyone. Still not sure how she got infected or what they will do with her.

It was also mentioned that Mina and Jonathan got married and that Mr. Hawkins died, leaving Jonathan his fortune. My question is when and how the story is going to get back to the Count and the castle. The book is titled Dracula and it's spent the last 10 or so chapters talking about these other (seemingly ancillary) characters. I also want to know what Mina's reaction to Lucy' fate will be. Is that what drives them back to castle Dracula?

I gotta say that I have, for the most part, enjoyed the story so far. I really do want it to pick back up with Dracula though, because I found him to be the most fascinating character so far. I still have about half of the book to go, so I'm hoping everything will wrap up and my questions answered. I am curious about he Van Helsing character, because I know of him as being this legendary vampire hunter, so I want to see how he will factor in with Dracula. I have about half of the book to go still, so I'll see how things turn out. 

If you've read the book, feel free to post your comments and thoughts. Go ahead and tweet at me, also. 

Bram Stoker's Dracula pt 1

While I have taken several American Literature classes, I still have major gaps in my readings of classic American literature. However, I don't have enough time to read long novels. Instead, I found an online resource that offers several classic works in both ebook form and audio book. It's called Lit2Go, https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/books/.

After browsing their immense catalog, I finally decided to give Dracula by Bram Stoker a shot. While I know of the character Dracula, I have not read the book, nor have I seen the 1930's film staring Bela Lugosi, or the 1990's film with Gary Oldman. The Dracula that shows up in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 5, is a character that I did not like. But after recently trying to read Mary Shelly's Frankenstien, and stopping after a few chapters, I thought maybe I should give Dracula a shot. My ultimate goal would be to read all of the books, that the Universal Studios monster movies are based on. Then watch the original films.

So, going into Dracula, I did not know what really to expect. I didn't know any of the characters, or what their encounters with Dracula would be like. While, I am still early on in the book, I'll say that I really enjoyed the first 3 chapters, telling Jonathan Harker's story of traveling to Castle Dracula and meeting the count. He slowly figures out there is something wrong, and puts all of the clues together. The first few chapters do a great job of building the mystery and suspense of Count Dracula. It sets an eerie atmosphere around the castle, and kept me quite intrigued. However, once the story shifted to Mina Harker's journal, I began to lose interest. Not sure what Dr. Seward, Renfield and Lucy have to do with the rest of the main story. Perhaps it will all be revealed later on, but for now, it doesn't captivate me. I did enjoy the story about the ghost ship, I thought it was eerie and tense. Would love to follow up with that story again. Since, I listening to the audio version, I do find the constant change of characters to be a bit confusing. The introduction of Van Helsing, I got mixed up with the Count, since the accent the reader uses for both sound similar. I know of the Van Helsing character, so I'm curious to see how he factors in with Dracula.

Seeing as this book is over century old, I do not mind if the story gets spoiled for me, so if anyone has read Dracula and can tell me whether or not the stuff in Mina's journal will have relevance later on in the book, I would like to know. I'll continue on, but hope that it picks the pace back up with Count Dracula. If you have read the book, feel free to tell me your thoughts on it. What did you like most? Do you enjoy the characters? Leave your comments below.

Aladdin (2019) Movie Review

The original Disney animated Aladdin movie was for a long time my favorite of the Disney classic animated movies until I re-watched the 1991 Beauty and the Beast. The musical numbers from Aladdin are some of the best that Disney has done, and my love for the original made me very excited to see the live-action version. Even though I was really hyped, I toned down my expectations after the first five minutes of the movie. I told myself, "this isn't going to be the animated movie, so I should stop expecting it to me and judge it on its own merits."

Now, going into the movie, I was most concerned about the actor playing Aladdin, but luckily I ended up really enjoying Mena Massoud in the role. I loved Will Smith as the Genie and loved the idea when he was first cast. While Smith doesn't have the best singing voice, he makes up for it with sheer charm and enthusiasm. Plus accompanying visual spectacles. I even enjoyed the "Friend Like Me" hip-hop remix that plays over the end credits. The new song by Princess Jasmine was also a surprisingly excellent addition to the movie. While I did miss Jafar's reprise of "Prince Ali," I also understand why they didn't add it in. It wouldn't have fitted with this version of Jafar.

Which brings me to the changes to the characters and overall story. Like the other Disney live-action remakes of the animated movies, Aladdin takes a slightly more grounded approach to the world. Yes, there is magic, but the animals, in particular, do not have the same amount of personality that they had in the cartoon. Iago only speaks in the sense that parrots are known to mimic what humans say. Rajah looks extremely badass, and Abu is still cute. Jafar is not the same colorful character from the animated movie, but much more uneasily calm, and at times a bit one-dimensional. The additions to  Princess Jasmine's character, give her more depth and ambitions than merely being trapped in a palace. There is also mention of her mother, and the addition of her handmaid gives her a human character to discuss her goals with.

One of the reasons I have enjoyed the Disney live-action remakes is that they expand the stories, and in Aladdin's case, it builds the relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine, making them have a connection before he even finds out she's a princess. Also, it develops a genuine friendship between Aladdin and the Genie. The real strength of this film, however, is simply the fact that it is a fun and exciting journey. While the music is not the quality of the animated version (some song lyrics have been changed), I have been listening to the soundtrack a lot! I had such a great time watching this movie, altogether singing along and a grin on my face the whole time. Will Smith was delightful as the Genie, Aladdin was charming and Jasmine stunning. Director Guy Ritchie adds his signature style to the film, and overall I'd say it's a good, fun, entertaining movie, on par with the 2017 Beauty and the Beast film. Can't wait to see what Disney has in store for the rest of its live-action remakes of its classic animated movies.

New Update!

Hello to all the blog readers out there, and everyone new to the blog. I just want to give an update to some changes that are going to be made on the blog. A few years ago I set out to create a blog where I could post reviews of short stories, which is primarily my main interest in reading and writing. Due to being in school at the time and having to read A LOT of stories, it made it almost harder to keep up with posting reviews on the blog. Over time, I have noticed that there is not much interest in reviews for just short stories. I then tried my hand at doing a companion podcast to the blog, I even reviewed a couple of books on there, which seemed to be more popular. But ultimately couldn't keep up.

I took a lot of time away from the blog due to graduating with my Master's Degree in English, working a full time job, and moving into a new place. Not to mention working on my own stories. Even though I haven't been posting regularly on the blog, I have been thinking about how I can make some changes and update the blog.

So here it is, the first change is going to be shortening the name of the blog from Fantastic Literature Review to simply Fan-Lit. I'm also accepting better suggestions as well. The other change is going to be the content posted on here. Instead of just posting reviews of short stories, I want the blog to become more discussion focused. So in addition to posting reviews of not only short stories, but stories of all genres, I will be also posting movie reviews, discussion posts, lists, and my general thoughts on reading and writing. And the blog won't just be limited to the written literature, but also movies and television. While those are visuals medium, remember they start with a written script. And to be honest I don't read as much as I watch movies and TV shows.

The goal is to create a broader spectrum of content for the readers to enjoy. Not everyone reads a lot of short stories like I do, so expanding the topics will hopefully open the blog up to more readers. This also allows me to fully express the ideas and opinions that I want about the stories that interest me. In addition to the above content, I am also looking to post some of my own original stories on the blog as well. As for the podcast, I do not have any current plans for starting the podcast up again. It will be enough for me to just keep up with the blog for now. But I do have something in mind for possibly next year. 

So that's it! That's the new plan for the blog. I'm hoping the new changes will enable readers to want to discuss the topics. Please feel free to write in your thoughts, questions and comments. If there's a topic, or story that you want me to discuss then please let me know. Respond to the posts and let me know what is working for the blog and what is not working. I'm looking to post at least twice a week, so check back in every few days. Thanks all!