Aurore C.

Dull and self-absorbed narrator, 26 Dec 2010

Just finished reading this and was thoroughly disappointed.
The writing style is very pedestrian- about a third of the book seems to consist of various meals the protagonists partake in, down to the choice of courses in restaurants. Wow.

The story itself could have been good but ended up utterly spoilt (every pun intended) by the self-absorbed whining petty narrator. Quite frankly as the book progresses I was wondering how she had any friends at all or why all the men seemed to be in love with her. There's also the fact that her dead sister came across as a selfish manipulative brat, which left me feeling sorry for what I'm sure weren't the 'right' characters… Read more

If this better than the first game, what was the first game like???, 24 Jun 2010

This game was such a disappointment.

The premise was rather interesting but that's as far as the positive goes. Despite a seemingly solid storyline (secret society, assassins etc) the game itself lacked any sense of drama, urgency or emotion.

The voice acting was absolutely dreadful. The game opens with a meeting between mysterious cloaked and carnival-masked strangers in Venice- could be exciting except they all had a broad American accent which was totally out of place with the setting and the characters themselves.
The main protagonist herself was annoying. But the worst part was the very beginning- there were two characters who were described as having grown… Read more

Very evocative and engaging, 26 Jun 2009

I rented this film the other day having not read the books (or heard about them at all).
My choice was based on the cast (Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Toby Jones and Bill Murray amongst many others)- I'm also a fan of fantasy/magic/escapist stories.

I was NOT disappointed. The cast was predictably excellent, in particular the two young leads. The story itself was unoriginal in its premise but gripping nonetheless.
Most of all what made the film for me was the strange city of Ember itself. I loved the idea of an underground city depending on its generator to survive. It was visually a lovely film and the last few scenes were very moving. Oh, and the voiceover was… Read more