Monthly Archives: June 2018

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I Kill Giants – A Movie Review

I had heard really good things about this movie even though I don’t remember it actually making it to any local theaters.  I happened across it when looking for something else at my local library, so I grabbed it, too.

The premise is that Barbara, a middle school student, constantly prepares for battles with giants.  She tests out different baits, she rigs enormous traps, she keeps careful field notes, and, according to her, she kills a giant and saves her town about once a month.

Barbara clearly has issues.  She’s awkward, disheveled, anti-social, and could be too smart for her own good.  For some reason, her older sister is raising Barbara and her older brother, and doing a rather poor job of it.

Before long, Zoe Saldana’s character appears.  She’s a school psychologist and desperately wants to help Barbara, even though Barbara is fairly uncooperative in almost every way imaginable.

The movie is very coy about the giants issues.  It leads you to believe this is all make-believe–that Barbara is clearly disturbed and acting upon an intricate fantasy.  However, it also heavily suggests that everything happening pertaining to the giants is absolutely real–that it’s not in Barbara’s head at all.

The movie moves along pretty slowly, if I’m being honest.  It spends a lot of time walking this line between “is this real or not.”  There were several moments when I almost turned the movie off because it seemed to keep hitting that note without progressing beyond.

However, the last twenty minutes of I Kill Giants definitely made the entire movie worthwhile.  Everything comes full circle, everything is satisfactorily explained, and the film concludes on a far more emotionally potent note than I ever expected.

Do I recommend this movie?  I do, but you definitely have to be in a patient mood to watch it.  It does not shy away from delving into the complexities of adolescent psychology, nor is it in a terrible rush to resolve itself.  Some of the characters are woefully one-dimensional, and very few of them are actually likable.  This willingness to be … abrasive … is part of the movie’s charm, though.

On a final note, when I say the movie satisfactorily explained the issue of the giants, I don’t mean literally.  If you’re looking for a clear, concise, definitive answer on whether or not she is actually killing giants … you probably won’t be happy.  For me, though, the ending tied it all together sensibly enough and with enough heart that I was willing to suspend any logic and rationale and enjoy it as the creators’ probably intended.  Probably.

Image result for i kill giants movie poster

(Did you enjoy this review?  Check out Scott William Foley’s latest book HERE!)

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Where To Stay At Disney World: Family 2018 Disney World Vacation (Part 3)

You have now successfully reached Orlando, so you’re going to need someplace to stay.

When my parents were footing the bill back in the summer of 2017, we stayed at the Grand Floridian.  This is an onsite resort, which means you are considered to be staying on Walt Disney World grounds.  You get certain advantages by staying onsite, such as Magic Hours and incredibly convenient transportation.  For example, the Grand Floridan has a monorail you can reach on the top floor at the back of the main building.  It connects to Magic Kingdom, the Polynesian Resort, and the Contemporary Resort.  It also connects to the Transportation Center, where you can then catch a ride to Epcot.  Furthermore, it has a bus system that will take you to any of the parks.  The buses run all day and keep running up to an hour after the parks close.  They also have a ferry that will take you across the lake towards Magic Kingdom.  If you time it right at night, you can get an amazing fireworks show.

Our stay at the Grand Floridian was magnificent.  The resort was absolutely amazing.  The employees were not only kind, but bent over backwards to help us and foresaw any possible complications on our behalf.  Everything was sparkling clean, incredibly classy, and beautiful to behold.  We did not have one single issue during our six-day stay.

Honestly, when we return to Disney from now on, we will only stay at the Grand Floridan.  Yes, the rates our exorbitant, but you actually see where all of that money is going — you are treated like gold.  Look into special rates and packages.  The Disney cast members are extremely helpful in helping you find the best deal.  I’ve mentioned Cal before.  Cal spent an hour with us on the phone trying to help us find the best rate for the experience we wanted to have.  If you want to get in touch with Cal, here’s his contact info …

Cal
Walt Disney World® Vacation Advisor
(407) W-DISNEY / (407) 934-7639 Ext. 5243362
Days Off: Wednesday and Thursday
Hours: 10:15 AM to 7:00 PM ET

For this second visit during the summer of 2018, we stayed at the Beach Club Resort.  Cal told us it was a close second to the Grand Floridian.  The rates were generally about $175 less a night than the Grand Floridan, but still very, very expensive.  The Beach Club resort also has the bus system for getting from park to park, and it’s handy in that the back of Epcot is literally a five-minute walk away.  In fact, we walked over to Epcot to view the fireworks several nights because it was so convenient.  They have a ferry system to reach Hollywood Studios, but it was out of service for the time being.  The Beach Club connects to the Yacht Club Resort — literally.  It’s also across the lake from Disney’s Boardwalk, which you could reach by ferry or foot.  The Beach Club shares a very cool pool with the Yacht Club.  This pool actually has a sandbar through the middle of it and a very shallow area for the children to make sandcastles and little lagoons.  They also share a lazy river that runs in a small circle.  Be aware — it’s very deep!  We only managed to get in the pool one day.  We like to hit the parks early and then swim in the evening before heading back out.  The only problem is that it tends to rain during the late afternoons and evenings in Florida.  This normally wouldn’t be an issue, but if there is a lightning strike within six miles, they won’t let you get in the water.  We would get ready, head down, and then have to delay our pool fun due to distant lightning.  In most cases, we were never able to get in at all.  We understood this was for our own safety, but it was still a bummer.

I wish I could tell you that our time at the Beach Club Resort matched our stay at the Grand Floridian … but it didn’t even come close.

Let me first say that the Beach Club bent over backwards to try to make up for the issues we experienced, but I wish these issues never came up at all.

First of all, I knew I was in for trouble when nobody could tell me if Alamo would shuttle me back to the resort when I needed to drop off my rental car at the Disney Car Care Center.  Two different Beach Club Resort cast members suggested I do a taxi, Lyft, or Uber.  When I got to Alamo, they immediately offered to shuttle me back and told me they would take me anywhere on Walt Disney property.  Upon my return, I found the two cast members and alerted them to the news.

Okay, I thought maybe this was an aberration, so I let it go.

We immediately noticed that, while some of the furniture was the same as the Grand Floridan, our room just wasn’t generally as clean.  At over $400 a night, we expected a little more, but whatever.  We rolled with it.

We hit Hollywood Studios that afternoon, spent the night, then visited Magic Kingdom bright and early the next day.  We spent the whole day at Magic Kingdom, then returned at 6:00.  We noticed our room hadn’t been cleaned.  I called down and told the concierge that we were going to go swimming, we’d like our room cleaned around 6:45 p.m.  I then went to the front desk and personally requested that our room be cleaned at 6:45 while we were swimming.  In both cases, I was told it would not be a problem.  Lightning struck within 6 miles, and so we were not allowed into the pools.  My family and I hung around until about 7:45 p.m. in order to give the cleaning service plenty of time.  When we returned at 7:45 p.m., our room still had not been cleaned.  This obviously upset me very much. Not only had I just wasted an hour, but this very simple, baseline service had not been accomplished at an incredibly expensive resort.  I called down.  I spoke to a gentleman.  I requested to speak to a manager.  He told me a manager was not available, but one named Stefan would call me back.  I then went back to the front desk.  I spoke to Samantha.  (As I’m dealing with all of this, the rest of my family is making their way to Epcot.  I’m staying behind in order to manage this unnecessary situation.)  Initially, Samantha could only nod and apologize.  At 8:00 p.m., I was not accepting excuses for a room that had not been cleaned.  She asked me if I still wanted the room cleaned.  I said I definitely still wanted this most basic of service provided — yes.  She offered $100 off our total bill as an apology.  I told her that, frankly, that amount of money is a drop in the ocean compared to what I’m spending during our 6 days at Disney.  She asked me what I would like instead.  I told her I’d have to talk to my wife about it and that I’d touch base with her again after we watched the fireworks at Epcot.

While at Epcot, Stefan called and left a message.  The gist of the call sounded like an apology and excuses as to why the room hadn’t been cleaned.

After our return from Epcot, our room had been tidied up.  It appeared that the sheets were not changed — just the beds made — and floor not vacuumed.  It looked like a quick-job to me. My wife noticed several things were missing such as a bathmat (again), ice bag (again), disposable coffee cups, etc.  My wife went down to speak to Samantha because the whole situation had me far too upset.  To Samantha and Beach Club’s credit, she had a package fully prepared for us.  Samantha offered a full night’s stay refunded, as well as three fast-passes per member of our family.  We found this to be more than fair and were very satisfied with the compensation.  However, we felt as though we had to fight tooth and nail to both get the room cleaned and to procure more than an apology and an excuse.  We wanted action from the start.  The whole ordeal lasted 4 hours with us applying constant pressure to achieve satisfaction.

We thought that was the end of our troubles.  We were wrong.

The next morning, while at the bus stop outside Beach Club, we waited to go to Animal Kingdom.  There was a large group of people.  We noticed a cast member standing nearby.  We stood by the benches in the shade joining those already in the semi-formed line.  Several more families arrived, and my wife kindly informed them the Animal Kingdom line was behind us.  When the very packed bus arrived, those families that arrived after us cut in front of us and got on the bus.  When we made it to the door, the driver wouldn’t let us on — too many people.  I explained to him that most of the people who got on had cut in front of us and another family.  Can you guess what he did?  Just stared at me and then shrugged.  I next approached the cast member who had walked away as the bus initially arrived.  I explained to her the situation.  She apologized and made excuses.  I asked her what her job is, exactly.  She said to make sure people get on and off the bus safely — not to enforce any kind of order as people load.  I won’t lie, after the previous night’s debacle, I lost my cool.  Time was wasting away yet again and we were on pace to miss our first fast-pass (which we did).  I asked for her supervisor to join us.  Not surprisingly, they weren’t available and would have to give me a call.  (Which they never did.)  The cast member gave the other family and us a fast-pass for the inconvenience.  Yet again, had I not complained, the Beach Club cast members would have been more than happy to let all of these situations slide by.

As I already said, we encountered not one single issue during our stay at the Grand Floridian.  Within the first thirty hours at Beach Club, my head was about to explode due to poor customer service.

Again, the night’s refund and the three fast-passes per person absolutely compensated us for our troubles with the cleaning service.  Also, when we returned from Animal Kingdom, the Beach Club left a stuffed Mickey and Minnie Mouse toy for each of my daughters which absolutely delighted us.  Furthermore, the day after that, we had an exquisite desert platter sent to our room which we very much enjoyed.  My point is, Beach Club tried to make it up to us — we acknowledge that.

However, I honestly wish none of that had been necessary.  I would have preferred no issues at all and a smooth stay that didn’t demand that I complain and lose my temper in front of my children (something they rarely see … to that degree).

We don’t expect any further compensation.  We are satisfied with the compensation Beach Club provided.  We realize everyone has a difficult job.  We strive to be reasonable, kind people and we’re sure to tip our cleaning service daily.

But I also want to alert you to our circumstances.  It could be this was all a hiccup; maybe that kind of thing never happens at Beach Club.  I’d like to think all of the onsite Walt Disney World resorts provide exquisite service no matter what the rate variations.  It’s not like Beach Club is considered a budget option.  We were told it was a close second to the Grand Floridian!  Just be aware.  If you experience something that dissatisfies you, speak up.  For the amount of money you are paying , you deserve the best service possible.

All right!  The next installment will detail our superb adventures at each of the Walt Disney World parks!  Thanks for reading.

Foley Girls with Mickey and Minnie.jpg

(Did you enjoy this article?  Check out Scott William Foley’s latest book HERE!)

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Traveling To Disney World: Family 2018 Disney World Vacation (Part 2)

Now that you’ve booked your trip to Disney World in Orlando, you need to actually get there.

Our daughters are both under ten, so driving from Central Illinois all the way to Orlando did not seem like the ideal means of travel to me.  We are very fortunate in that we have a local airport, Central Illinois Regional Airport, that flies to the Orlando/Sanford International Airport.  Using Allegiant Air, you can fly to Orlando/Sanford in about 2.5 hours.  That sure beats 20+ hours in the car.

I know flying can be expensive, but when you take into account the gas, the food, the hotels costs, and the incidentals of driving, flying seems far more convenient and not that much more expensive.  It was very nice to wake up in Illinois and go to bed in Florida.

A few words about Allegiant Air–yes, they had that scathing news report a few months ago.  We’ve flown Allegiant four times now in the last two years, and not once did I ever feel that our lives were endangered.  However, annoyances will arise with this airline.  They are a budget carrier, and it shows.  Three of the four times we flew with Allegiant, we had delays.  This is partly just air travel.  Everyone has delays.  One time, though, last summer, we were on the plane about to pull out three different times before they postponed the flight to the next day.  I’m talking we got on the plane, then we got off the plane.  Then we got on the plane, then we got off the plane.  Then–say it with me–we got on the plane, then we got off the plane.  My kids were great through the whole thing, but they were very confused.  The most irritating part about that ordeal is that it was impossible to reach their corporate headquarters.  I should say, though, that Allegiant put us in a nice hotel that night, and gave us each $100 vouchers with a one year expiration date.  We used those vouchers to offset the cost for this most recent trip!  I’d also like to say that all of the Allegiant employees we’ve dealt with have been very kind and professional.  Allegiant is not the most luxurious way to fly, but I certainly have no trepidation about getting on their planes.

Central Illinois Regional Airport is a dream.  It’s so clean and well-maintained.  The employees are very good there as well.  Orlando/Sanford International Airport is a little more dicey.  If you get there during off hours, it’s not bad at all.  However, it’s been packed to the gills each time we’ve been there.  It’s an international hub, so that stands to reason.  Once again, though, the employees were great.  I have a little inside information for you, by the way.  If you find yourself stuck in the Orlando/Sanford airport for any length of time, check out the international wing.  You walk down a long corridor before you enter it from the main wing.  It’s wide open with plenty of seating, plenty of shopping, plenty of restaurants, and big, clean bathrooms.  It looks much newer than the main part of the airport as well.

One more tip for flying with Allegiant.  Backpacks count as personal items, not carry-ons, as do purses.  To save money, I checked a suitcase, my wife checked a suitcase, and then our daughters shared a checked suitcase.  We did not use any carry-ons, but we each had a backpack for which we were not charged.  These personal items must fit under the airliner seat, though, so be sure to check your dimensions.

Okay, so we’ve made it to Orlando/Sanford International Airport–now how do we get to Disney World?  Ah, you’ve heard Disney runs a shuttle to Orlando International Airport, right?  Here’s the thing, Orlando/Sanford is not the same as Orlando International.  They are two different airports about forty minutes apart.  You’ve got some choices.  You can hire Lyft, Uber, or a taxi.  Lyft and Uber were out of the question for me–I’m not trusting a stranger to drive my family in Florida.  Taxis were about the same price as simply renting a car.  So … I rented a car.

I know what you’re thinking–“Scott, that’s crazy!  You rented a car just to sit in the parking lot of your resort!?”  Well, no.  We timed our flight so that it would arrive late Thursday evening.  We wanted to check in and hit Hollywood Studios right away Friday morning.  So, I rented a car from Alamo, which is a very short walk down a sidewalk outside of the Orlando/Sanford International Airport.  (Of course, I set all of this up ahead of time at the Alamo website.)  We rented a car, drove to a nearby hotel, spent the night, then drove to our resort first thing the next morning.  I parked at the resort, checked in the family, then left them to explore the resort as I returned the car at the Disney Car Care Center which has an Alamo onsite.  The Car Care Center is pretty much in the middle of the Walt Disney World grounds–it’s close to everything.  When I returned the car, I only had it for 24 hours–a one day rental.  (Actually, I only had it about 15 hours, but that’s okay.)  You see, this way you don’t have to pay a full week’s worth of car rental fees!  Great, right?  Best of all?  The Alamo at the Disney Car Care Center will shuttle you back to your resort.  In fact, they told me they’d take me anywhere I wanted to go as long as it was on Walt Disney World grounds.  Furthermore, they will also pick you up!  When it was time for us to leave, Alamo sent a shuttle for us, loaded up all of our luggage, and then drove us to the Disney Car Care Center in order to check out another car, which I then turned in to the Alamo at the Orlando/Sanford International Airport.  It’s a really fantastic service!

Of course, all of this requires careful planning.  You need to figure out what you need, communicate what you need, reserve what you need, and you need to keep all confirmation numbers on you.  I literally kept all of my confirmation papers in separate color-coded folders in my backpack with me–but I’m a little … you know.

And that’s how we got from Central Illinois to Walt Disney World and back!  Thanks for reading!

The next installment will arrive soon, and it will detail the resort we stayed at in 2017 and the resort we stayed at in 2018.  Hint: not all outlandishly expensive resorts on Walt Disney World grounds are created equal.

CIRA Airport 2018

(Did you enjoy this article?  Check out Scott William Foley’s latest book HERE!)

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Dr. Nekros’ First Review Is In!

Thanks so much to Jen Weaver! She not only wrote a very flattering review regarding Dr. Nekros: Book One, but she also managed to be the first ever to do so!  I am so appreciative that she took the time and effort to say a few words about my book.

If you want to read what she said, click HERE!

DR NEKROS BOOK ONE E EDITION COVER

 

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How We Booked Our 2018 Trip To Disney World: Family 2018 Disney World Vacation (Part 1)

We were fortunate enough to visit Disney World during the summer of 2017 in celebration of my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.  Because my brother and sister-in-law had done Disney on several occasions, they, as well as my parents, basically prepared the whole thing for us.  I loved it so much, I insisted on going back this summer!  And because we learned so much last time around, we were able to duplicate what we found to be a magnificent time.

My wife, children, and I just returned from another magical trip, and I’ve already had a few people ask for advice on planning their own excursion.  I thought our personal experience might be helpful, so I’m going to write about it during the coming weeks — from start to finish.

The first step is planning the trip.  This is something you probably want to do several months ahead of time.  There are people who will plan your trip for you (such as Jessica Parlier  or Stephanie Reed), but you can also simply call Walt Disney World and work through it all with a cast member.  (They call their employees “cast members.”  It was really confusing at first.  Everyone is a cast member — whether acting on stage or taking phone calls.)

We began this trip, just like last trip, by buying the latest copy of Birnbaum’s 2018 Walt Disney World: The Official Guide.  Trust me when I tell you this thing is worth its weight in gold.  It details every park (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot), every resort, every ride, every show, every restaurant, and every shop.  Thanks to this book, we knew exactly what we wanted to do on a daily basis.

So, after settling on what we wanted to get out of this trip, we called Disney.  Fortunately, we ended up speaking to an incredibly nice man named Cal.  Cal spent well over an hour on the phone with us organizing our trip.  He next answered several call-backs during the following days, as well as various emails.  He is incredibly patient, helpful, and informative.

This is his job with Disney, so he does not charge a percentage.  If you’d like to reach him, here’s his contact information …

Cal
Walt Disney World® Vacation Advisor
(407) W-DISNEY / (407) 934-7639 Ext. 5243362
Days Off: Wednesday and Thursday
Hours: 10:15 AM to 7:00 PM ET

There are a few items I want to discuss with you as you plan your own trip.  Last summer, we went all out because my parents were willing to pay for us to go all out.  Let me tell you, after paying for the trip myself this time, every penny is worth it.  Allow me to explain …

We decided to stay on site.  That means that our resort is actually connected to the parks.  For example, Epcot was literally a five minute walk from The Beach Club Resort, the place we most recently stayed.  At Beach Club, they also had (nice) buses that would transport you to any of the other parks at no extra charge.  These buses run all day at about twenty minute intervals.  They continued running up to an hour after each park closed.  This means we could close down the parks without worrying how we would get back to our room!  In the summer of 2017, we stayed at The Grand Floridian.  This (best-of-the-best) resort actually had an elevated monorail that would drop you off right in front of Magic Kingdom and Epcot.  Otherwise, you could ride buses to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom.  All of the resorts have these buses running all of the time.

Yes, these resorts are very expensive.  However, the convenience of it all made it well worth the money.  You also get to enjoy “Magic Hours” if you are staying on site, which means, on certain days, you get to open the park an hour early or stay an hour later than everyone else.  (Be sure to check the schedule, though.  Magic Hours change from day to day, park to park.)

Also, I heartily recommend that you purchase the “Park Hopper” pass.  This means you can go to any park you want on any day during your stay.  You can start the day at Animal Kingdom and then finish the day at Epcot to watch the fireworks.  Yes, it’s more expensive, but it’s also very freeing overall and allows you to do what you want, when you want.  Talk to Cal, he’ll explain it all to you!

Next, take a hard look at the dining plan.  Again, this appears very pricey upfront, but it will save you money in the long run.  Our plan basically provided us a quick service meal per day, a sit-down meal per day, and then several “snacks” per day.  You pay a flat-rate and can then order basically whatever you want.  I could order a $75 steak and it cost me no more than the $25 hamburger.  A drink and dessert is also included with each sit-down dinner.  Plus, many strange things can count as snacks.  For example, a side of bacon at my resort counted as a snack.  As did a muffin.  Or a cinnamon roll.  If you research, you can basically eat your breakfast off of your snacks.  We never end up using all of our snacks, but that’s okay, because you can purchase packaged food items or candy in the gift shops with your snacks and then take them home with you!  If you elect to pay out of pocket, you will spend $50 to $100 for a family of four eating a lunch consisting of a hamburger, soft drink, and fries.  The food is grossly overpriced, but it somehow all evens out if you go with the dining plan.  Ask Cal about it!

Finally, we all want pictures of our wondrous time, right?  Disney offers something called a “Memory Maker” package.  Again, you pay upfront for this, but it is so worth the money!  Any time you see a Disney photographer in a park (and they are literally everywhere), you can have them take your picture.  After they take the picture, they will tap your “magic band” (which is a wristband you’ll get in the mail well before you’re due to arrive) and then the pictures will automatically upload to the Disney app you will download to your phone.  Once the pictures download, you are encouraged to save them to your phone and start sharing them via text, social media, whatever!  These are high quality photographs that could certainly go in a frame provided you are not a sweaty mess from that Florida heat.  We had Disney photographers take about 200 pictures of us between the park attractions, meeting characters, etc.  (I’ve included one at the end of this article.)  I don’t know how much these pictures would cost to purchase on an individual basis, but I heard somewhere in the area of $20 per photograph.  If you’re picture people, this is a must.

So, that wraps up this first installment.  My biggest piece of advice is plan ahead, do your research, and know what you want to get out of the experience.  You’re going to spend a ton of money no matter what, but if you’re spending it on exactly what you desire, it’s worth it.  I have not regretted one penny from either trip I’ve taken.  I am financially conservative, but believe me when I say if you try to save a little here and there beforehand, that amount you saved will get spent in the park.  If you’re going to Disney, you might as well go all out and get the full experience, right?

MagicKingdom2018

(Did you enjoy this review?  Check out Scott William Foley’s short stories HERE!)

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Annihilation – A Movie Review

I happen to really enjoy Alex Garland’s work, particularly Ex Machina.  Annihilation hit the theaters and disappeared almost immediately, so I didn’t get a chance to see it until last night.

In preparation for the film, back when I thought I’d catch it in the theaters, I read the source material.  (My review for the book can be found HERE.)  This action proved totally unnecessary.  You can watch Annihilation without reading a single page of the book and be just fine.  This is the case for two reasons.  Firstly, Garland stripped the book’s sci-fi elements down to the barest essentials, which made a murky plot in the book very easy to digest on film.  Secondly, Garland radically changed almost every personality aspect of Lena, Natalie Portman’s character.  She is far more balanced, warm, and sociable in the movie than in the book.  Garland also created a mainstream background for Lena compared to what existed in the book.

In fact, Garland altered a great deal of the movie from the book.  The general premise is the same, but the circumstances, environments, and characters are all very different.  This is not a bad thing at all.  Garland delivered a tight, suspenseful movie that kept me guessing throughout.  At times it struck me as almost horror because the scenes were so intense.  But, I wouldn’t call it a horror movie — not by a long shot.  I wouldn’t even call it a science fiction movie, though it exists firmly within that world.  I would rather label this movie as a thrilling character study.

Portman plays a complex person.  Her husband in the film, played by Oscar Isaac, is equally complicated.  And while I found Portman’s supporting characters a little flat, everyone must agree that Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Gina Rodriguez gave it their all.  Again, it has much in common with a horror movie in that we get snippets of who these characters are amidst the suspense, but we get to know none of them deeply.

I keep mentioning horror, yet the movie is actually very quiet in many ways, which certainly builds the suspense.  It doesn’t feel obligated to tell you everything going on, though much is revealed by story’s end.  However, stay loose and enjoy the ride.  The movie demands a certain level of interpretation from the viewer.

Finally, the special effects are beautiful.  The premise is that a meteorite hits a remote area in Florida.  It begins to change the life within an ever-expanding zone.  This is a mutation occurring at the cellular level, so the results are pretty astounding.  Garland definitely succeeds at providing lifeforms that are both exotic but also within the realm of reality.  It’s quite a sight to behold.

All in all, I feel that this is a severely underappreciated movie.  It’s strange and demands a certain level of intellectual engagement by the audience, but it’s also well-made, well-acted, thrilling, and unique.  I highly recommend you give it a try.

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(Did you enjoy this review?  Check out Scott William Foley’s short stories HERE!)

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Green Lantern: Earth One by Hardman and Bechko – A Book Review

It made my day when I won this graphic novel by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko through Goodreads.  I’d been hearing good things about it, and even though I’m not a huge Green Lantern fan, I thought the idea of reworking him within the Earth One concept could be a wonderfully entertaining experience.

Even though Green Lantern has been rooted in science fiction for the last sixty years or so, word on the street said this book would strip away all of the fantasy elements the character carries and make it a true work of science fiction.

If you’re unfamiliar with the character, Hal Jordan is a test pilot who was chosen to replace a deceased member of the Green Lantern Corps, which is an intergalactic police force.  Each member wears a ring that will create hard light constructs of anything the wearer imagines.  However, Green Lanterns must recharge their ring every twenty-four hours with a battery that looks quite a bit like a … well, lantern.  That’s green.  This corps has hundreds if not thousands of members, and you can imagine all of the betrayals, deaths, love connections, uprisings, reshuffling of power, and so on that has occurred during the last several decades.

In this version, they broke with tradition and made Hal Jordan a rejected astronaut who currently works as a space prospector.  And … that’s about it.  Though the circumstances are slightly different, he still happens across the ring.  He eventually connects with other Green Lanterns.  He organizes and leads them.  This Jordan is more of an underdog, but I found the whole book very similar to what’s come before.  Even his costume is pretty much the same.

In my opinion, they did not take it nearly far enough.  They did not break away from his Silver Age roots in any meaningful way.  That’s generally been my issue with all of the Earth One books, though.  The idea is that these books would depict what these heroes would be like in today’s real world, and the answer is … pretty much the same.

I do want to commend Gabriel Hardman’s art, though.  He’s got an expert sense of anatomy and perspective, and his backgrounds are exquisite.  I also very much enjoyed Jordan Boyd’s colors.  His use of green light surrounded by the darkness of space felt fresh.  At times he seems to employ a dot matrix technique, which was also felt both nostalgic and original.

So while the book is well executed, I didn’t find it particularly inspired.  It wan’t the innovative science fiction extravaganza that I expected.

Image result for green lantern earth one book cover

(Did you enjoy this review?  Check out Scott William Foley’s short stories HERE!)

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Dr. Nekros: Book One Is Live On Kindle and Nook! Read It For Only 99 Cents

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve collected my e-serial, Dr. Nekros, into a series of three books — the first of which is available today!  Book Two will arrive mid-July and Book Three appears in early August.  All three are brisk, action-packed reads that will both make you laugh and keep you up at night.  And even though each book is around 140 pages, I’m offering Book One for just 99 cents!  You can take a chance on me for just 99 cents, right?  Still not sure?  Read this to make up your mind …

Dr. Nekros: Book One focuses upon the disfigured doctor’s pursuit for vengeance and his estranged loved ones’ quest to save him.

Micah Vadenburgh suffered mutilation by the demon Xaphan. The trauma drove him from both his wife Zetta and his doctoral degree. Years later, living off the money he swindles from hapless victims, Micah has transformed into Dr. Nekros. He travels the countryside in a haunted 1936 Packard while searching for the monstrosity that defiled him. 

As Zetta and her new husband Jason work to reverse Micah’s downward spiral, an intricate trap has been set by something far more evil, far more conniving than anything Dr. Nekros ever expected.

A supernatural thriller with a wickedly dark sense of humor, Dr. Nekros: Book One will immerse readers in a tale filled with psychological suspense, nightmarish horror, and … redemption?

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DR NEKROS BOOK ONE E EDITION COVER