chronicles

Chronicles (Penguin Classics)
$16.00
Jean Froissart was a historian, writer and poet who chronicled some of the events of medieval Europe. That his work survives and is widely read to this day is remarkable in itself since Froissart's original books are more than 600 years old. Froissart's importance as a historian, strangely enough, is not because of his primary focus on European conflicts or the chivalrous nobility and in fact, Froissart has been shown to be inaccurate in some areas. The true value of Froissart's perspectives lie in the combination of subjects and the details of his accounts. Froissart wrote contemporary history that was meant to be read and appreciated in his own time. Even if Froissart might be a bit off on the details of a certain battle, we can be sure he related how battles in general were viewed. The same is true for tournaments, dress, food, etiquette, opinions and class perceptions. In a general sense, Froissart gives us much on excellent authority because his contemporary audience would have demanded realism in the particulars of daily life. Froissart presents us with a window into medieval society.

Chronicles is a very enjoyable read as either history or literature. Froissart's chapters are bite-sized and easy to digest. Even those who like medieval style fanatasy may warm to Froissart's realistic descriptions of battle, noble knights and elegant ladies.

Valkyria Chronicles
$39.99
I'm inclined to say it's my favorite game ever...I love the fire emblem series, Civilization, Final Fantasy series, but this beats them all in my opinion.

Great story, characters, gameplay, music. It is not difficult the first time through so the pacing works perfect. I thought the artistic style worked perfectly. The book mode worked perfect.

Only downsides I saw were a few cheesy dialogues and the AI was fairly dumb (at least in the first run through...maybe better in the harder mode). These didn't take away from the fun of the game though.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
$29.99
November 4th, 2009

I don't think it's a big deal, but I will mention that there is some blood in this movie. Not a lot by any means, and not enough to probably give it a second thought, but certain things gave this movie a more mature feel to it. The movie itself starts off slow, and slowly progresses, but once the first major fight scene comes up it barely falls off much.

The Lion returns in this effort which by the time half of the movie was over, I was surprised to see, and the Witch from the first one also makes a small return.

If you are worried if this is going to be too violent for a kid, I'd say overall it's not. The 1-3 year olds won't sit and watch it that much and the older ones, say 8 and up will find it engulfing and magical as I did. Sure, there is a done-that-been-there feel to it since the movie's first incarnation but Narnia: Prince Caspian is sure to please loyal fans and new fans alike.

The ones I'd worry about watching it is probably the more impressionable 4-6 year olds. It may be a bit too intense for them but overall, anyone can view this movie and take something from it.

Many have said that this wasn't as good as the first, but in contrast, I must disagree. This one had a special flair to me. Both movies may be a bit on the long side, but I enjoyed them to a good degree, especially when the first introduced itself in 2006 and I went to the theatre to see it.

3.75 stars.

end note: No, I don't usually rate like that but this movie deserves it. I was more entertained than not here.

The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath
$49.99
These books are for someone way younger than me. Each of them takes about a half hour to read, and I didn't read them all together, which I definitely should have. Maybe then I would have liked them more. As it as, I was kind of bored and spent the whole time wishing there were less of them and that they were over. I wouldn't have finished had I not been a little bit curious. And I wouldn't have been curious had there not been so many mystical creatures. So I guess it was okay. It was just,. . .VERY young. Even for me.