[Rev.](Books) The Lovely Bones

*Yes this is a repost of the review i posted back in April, but as I did it in Word (noob error) and copied it over, it’s not working in the editor.*

The Lovely Bones is the bestselling novel by US author Alice Sebold. The novel is about a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, who is raped and murdered by her neighbour; after which the novel focuses on the effect that Susie’s death has on her friends and family. 

Susie acts as the narrator for the novel, giving the reader a first person account of the events that occur in the book. However, by using a narrator, the book falls down a touch. Susie is in Heaven, looking down upon the events that happen, but she can observe people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions that would normally not be possible just through sight.

Another part where the book falls down is its lack of continuity. It never seems to follow one standard chronological order and tends to jump around a lot, also missing out whole years of the family’s life.

This book is also insanely depressing, as it shows the pain that is felt by Susie’s family, but also leaves you with a good feeling at the end of the novel, where things start to turn around for them.

Perhaps the most bizarre thing in the novel is the climax, where Susie comes back to see her “might-have-been”, Ray Singh. This scene does involve a girl who can see dead people, though, so it’s definitely not realistic. 

The novel is a bit more realistic when it comes to the effects on Susie’s family, showing a rift between her parents, her sister grieving alone, and with her brother never fully understanding why Susie died. Through the family, the reader gets a sense of how it must be when one of your family members are murdered, and presents them in a realistic way.

I feel that the first chapter of the novel is the best, as it gives a horrific account of Susie’s murder, and juxtaposing Susie with her killer through their heartbeats. It really gives the killer a sense of maliciousness and evil, especially when he gets his knife out, and also before he kills her saying “It’s after dark”, bearing in mind the connotations that come with that utterance. However, the rest of the book never lives up to the high standard presented in the opening chapter.

A great device that Sebold uses is comic relief, which is represented by Susie’s “out of time” grandmother, who obsesses with beauty and frequently consults with alcohol. Grandma Lynn has suffered a traumatic event, using humour and wit to cover that pain, which brings comic relief for the reader in this otherwise serious and depressing novel. Another good thing about this particular character is how she sort of becomes a foster mother to the remaining Salmon children, so their life is as “normal” as it could be.

Overall, this book does have a lot of faults and could be improved upon, but I personally feel that it is a good read. If you can last through the murder, depressing sorrow, the lack of continuity, and some of the more disturbing scenes, you will receive a massive reward at the end.

+ The end is very rewarding

+ Most characters are well thought out and realistic

+ You can actually feel the sorrow that the Salmons experience

- Lack of continuity

- Some parts of the book are very unrealistic or disturbing

- Feels as though the author ran out of plot threads after the first half of the book

Rating: 6/10

[Info] Changes to EIB Review Ratings – Clear Rate System

Due to confusion about my review ratings expressed by some readers, I have opted to change my review rating scores from stars to an out of 10 system I have affectionately called my Clear Rate System.

1-2/10 = Abysmal - Stay well away

3-4/10 = Poor - A bad idea. Just don't buy.

5-6/10 = Average - Not bad, but not good either. Best for dedicated fans

.

7-8/10 = Good - A good product that should definitely be looked into.

9-10/10 = Excellent - An absolutely outstanding product. You have not lived until you have experienced this.

This system provides more clear scores, rather than the confusing stars system I brought over from my video blog (which I felt was easier to use for that format). Review scores will be gradually updated for the things I’ve reviewed prior to this change.

Also look out for the +/- points which provides a quick summary of the best and worst features of an item.

[DW] Waters of Mars Airdate Confirmed

In an exclusive interview with GMTV, David Tennant this morning confirmed the airdate of the eagerly awaited “The Waters of Mars” to be Sunday 15th November at 7:00pm on BBC One.

This will be followed by a preview of David’s final Christmas special on this year’s Children in Need.

[Rev.][Games] Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii)

Metroid Prime Trilogy
 
Developer: Retro Studios

Publisher: Nintendo

Year: 2009

The Metroid Prime Trilogy comprises of three highly acclaimed games on one single disc. And it is certainly one of the best compilation discs around.

So, what do you get in this package that warrants a purchase, even if you bought the original three games? Well, we have the European box, which comes in a shiny sleeve, pictured above, and the box itself is a standard Wii game box, but the insert card just has the box art and logo without any text (bar the PEGI logos). Inside, you get the prized disc, plus an art booklet that contains art from the games as well as giving you background to the entire Metroid Prime story, and the instruction booklet is for all three games. The bonus content from all three games is now neatly packaged up in the bonus menu on the disc too.

I must warn you now though, that similarly to SSBB, Metroid Prime Trilogy comes on a dual-layered disc, which means if your Wii disc drive lens isn’t totally clean, you won’t be able to play the game. However you can cheaply buy the official lens cleaning kit from online retailers, which certainly does the job, or send your Wii off to Nintendo for them to clean it.

The Wii controls from Corruption have been successfully brought over to the GameCube games, with each one working perfectly with the Wii remote and nunchuck. Visor swapping is still done with the minus button as in Corruption, and beam swapping is now done in the same way using the plus button.

So now what about the games? Do they still live up to their greatness? They certainly do.

Metroid Prime

The original Prime is the one most often said to be the best game out of the trilogy, and looking back it’s easy to see why: it’s FPS style combat system combined with first-person adventuring is a perfect combination, offering intuitive control. 

The game’s story is well developed, and when playing through you get a real sense of the Chozo’s peril at the coming of the meteor (which through Corruption we now know to be a Phazon leviathan).

The areas in the game’s world are still some of the best I’ve seen. Landing on Tallon Overworld in the first half hour is a sight to behold, with Samus’ ship soaring over the treetops, and the rain falling onto the ground below. But this compares nothing to the snowy wastes of Phendrana, which is renowned as a sight that wows gamers.
The music, composed by Kenji Yamamoto, is amazing too; with some themes such as Magmoor Caverns taken straight out of Super Metroid, but with stand-out themes such as Phendrana’s Edge, and the battle themes.

Metroid Prime is a perfect start to the trilogy, and it’ll make you want to play the other two games before you’ve considered them.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Metroid Prime 2 is the darkest out of the three Prime games, and does a good job following on from Prime; and is certainly the toughest of the three.

First you have Dark Aether, a poisoned and distorted variant on the main world featured in the game, Aether. It has been seen by some gamers as a pain to trek through, especially with the game’s ammo system; but I personally find it an exciting challenge, which in parts feels very much like a survival horror. The Hunter Ing you find once you reach Dark Torvus still give me a sense of foreboding.

The ammo system has also been criticised, but I myself found it no burden, and in several playthroughs on the GC, and my recent MPT playthrough, I have never run out of ammo.
Some of the bosses can be tough, such as the boost and Spider Guardians; but Echoes features some of the memorable bosses such as the giant Quadraxis and the grotesque Chykka.

Echoes is certainly a good game, and certainly doesn’t let down on the first game, and when you get to the end I’m sure you’ll be very satisfied.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

After the first two games, Corruption doesn’t feel as good or polished to my opinion. Corruption takes a more action-based route, foregoing some of the exploration of its prequels, and is in a way let down by that, as it omits some of the emersion and the “one alone” feeling.

However, it still attains the quality of the series, with stunning landscapes, challenging enemies, and a mind-blowing storyline.

One of my criticisms of the game is that the music (not including the opening theme here) is at times too removed from the previous two games. For example, the Galactic Federation themes, and the Berserker Lord and Ghor themes just seem a bit too action based for my liking – I prefer the vibrant alien sounding themes like those used for Rundas, Gandrayda, and Dark Samus. 

Still, it comes up better on its prequels when looking at the beautiful visuals, especially in places like Bryyo or Elysia.

The Wii controls are fully utilised in the game with certain objectives requiring those precise hand movements, which is refreshing after all the mindless shooting of Space Pirates in Norion. I quite like the Hypermode feature; which (for those who haven’t played the game) allows you to become invulnerable for a limited amount of time, but you also have to manage that power so that Samus does not become totally corrupted. The return of the stackable beams was a good addition, even though it was mainly for control reasons (no button available for visor swapping). Although it takes an element of strategy away from the game, it makes combat more fluid.

I don’t deny that Corruption is a fitting end to the Trilogy, but I would have liked to have more exploration and less focus on action.

Metroid Prime Trilogy – Overall

Overall, Metroid Prime Trilogy is the best value compilation package since the XBox 360’s Orange Box. Three fantastic games for the price of one isn’t an offer that should be passed by. Playing the three games back to back is an experience that deepens your knowledge of the series, and the Trilogy package provides an excellent presentation to do so.

For Metroid veterans, you’ll enjoy the adventure all over again, as well as gaining all the bonuses, which include cut down soundtracks for all three Prime games.

For newcomers to the Prime Trilogy or the Metroid series, prepare for one of the fullest and most enjoyable experiences you’ll ever get on any console, for even though it’s not perfect, it’s definitely one of the best games around.

Scores

Metroid Prime Trilogy – 9/10
Metroid Prime – 9/10
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes – 8.5/10
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 8/10