apprentice

The Shaman's Apprentice
$24.95
I was thrilled to see how the medicine knowledge of the elders is being recorded and supported by people of great vision - Miranda Productions. It's a beautiful documentary of a place in the world where westerners are not only learning valuable teachings from elders but are providing the documentation and continued education of their own people. The circle of shared knowledge is a gift to all.
Thanks for making this interesting and well produced work of art.

The Ruins of Gorlan (The Ranger's Apprentice, Book 1)
$7.99
So I picked this book up because I liked the premise. The stealthy ranger/spy type character, especially one who uses bows and throwing knives, has always been interesting to me. I knew it was juvenile fiction so expected the quality of writing to be somewhat lower than most novels, but I wasn't prepared for how bad it really was. Now, I've read a lot of juvenile fiction and I'm used to mediocre writing but this was so bad that it distracted me from the plot of the novel. The author over-explains, repeats himself within the same paragraph, and generally takes twice as much space as he needs to say what he means. If he was taking all that extra room to explain for his younger readers that would be fine, but his bloated writing actually makes the story more difficult to understand. By the 8th chapter I was severely tempted to grab a red pen and do some DIY editing so that I could bear to read it aloud to my younger siblings when I visit home for the holidays. The good news is that the writing does get a little better as the book progresses which actually gives me some hope for the sequel.
The overall world of the novel is ok. We actually visit some interesting locations during will's travels. Unfortunately, the original castle where we spend most of our time, is not one of them. Be prepared to stick it out to the end to get to the good stuff.
The characters in this book are embarrassingly shallow and most of them are downright stereotypical. The five wards of Castle Redmont are an excellent example; there's the misfit (Will), the jock-type soldier/rival who later becomes a friend, the graceful dancer/love interest, the talkative over-analyzing geek and the fat motherly cook (if that last one sounds a bit harsh, it's the author, not I, who makes a constant issue of her weight). These cookie-cutter characters are supposed to be Will's best friends but they NEVER get more fleshed out than this. I just couldn't get into these characters. It's hard to love a cardboard cutout.
That said, once it gets going the action in the book is pretty interesting. If you can wade through the painful bloated first quarter of the book you should find yourself entertained. Hopefully kids will be able to get into it despite the boring beginning because it really is a nice wholesome tale about learning to be and be okay with who your are.
I gave the book 3 out of 5 stars, which translates as "it's ok" because, honestly, that's the best I can say for the series at this point. I didn't hate it but it really isn't what I'd call "good."
The story has the potential to be a really good action/adventure film in the vein of the Narnia movies. Just be sure to hire a better writer for the screenplay.
Some other wholesome adventurous "kids" series that might work out better for bedtime or fireside reading would be the Redwall series by Brian Jaques (though his plots start to repeat themselves after a while; Redwall, Mossflowed, Martin the Warrior and The long patrol are all excellent), the Narnia books, The Hobbit was one of my favorites that my mom used to read to us. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Now, If you'll excuse me, I have an 8 o'clock class that I'm already running late for. Lol.

Apprentice: Walking the Way of Christ
$14.99
Through story, parable and thoughtful commentary, bestselling author Steve Chalke calls us into a deep experience of learning and relationship with Jesus. In a journey that takes us beyond the divide of secular and religious culture, we learn to voice our most intimate questions and discover the richness of apprenticing ourselves to the master teacher in ten crucial areas of life.

Merlin's Apprentice
$6.99
Not a bad kiddie type show. Predictable. Special effects are ok...not the type of movie that would win an award, but, it is the type you can safely watch with your children..and not worry about death and mass destruction being flashed across the screen in technicolor blood.