Blog #7

I'm still reading the book Airborn by Kenneth Oppel and so far I really like it. Since the last time I posted Matt found out that he wasn't getting a promotion from cabin boy to sailmaker, he took Kate on a tour of the airship and also found out that Kate was the granddaughter of the man who they found on the balloon a year ago, and also Kate gave Matt her grandfather's journal so he could read about the creatures that her grandfather saw. The whole reason Kate took this cruise was to try and see the magnificent creatures her grandfather had described.
One idea that came up in the book that I thought was interesting was when Matt found out that he was not promoted to sailmaker. The captain of the ship really wanted him to be a junior sailmaker and it was Matt's dream to become one, but in the end the owner of the airship insisted that his son fill the position. So the son got the position because he was wealthy and his father had a lot of influence, even though Matt was the more experienced and wanted the job more. It got me thinking about how this is a situation very similar to those in the real world. So many people gain one up over other people just because they have more money, friends, or influence and not because they have more skill. Its really not fair and that's really how a lot of people who grow up in poverty stay in poverty and children of rich tycoons become rich too, because the people who grew up in poverty don't get the same chances as the richer people do. Just like how Matt can't afford to go to the infamous Sailing Academy and doesn't have an infamous father, but he has more skill, desire, and hard working ethics than the owner's son. But who gets the job? The less skilled and wealthier owner's son!
Another thing I didn't like was how Matt automatically assumed this owner's son was a horribly mean person and Matt hated him right off the bat. But really it wasn't the owner's son's fault because it was his father that gave him the job. I think Matt would be justified in hating the owner because it was the owner's fault, but it wasn't his son's.
But anyway I don't think Matt will hate him for long because the author showed him as being a really nice guy and even Matt grudgingly thought he was a nice guy. So I predict that they will soon be friends because they are around the same age and he's a nice guy and usually in books, characters in their situation usually end up overcoming their differences and going on an adventure and becoming the best of buds.

Blog #6

Since I finished the book Brisinger, I just recently started a book titled Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. So far it's about a cabin boy that serves on a luxury passenger airship called the Aurora. The cabin boy's name is Matt Cruse and he seems to be very well liked by the captain, young (around 15 years old), skilled, brave, loves being in the sky, and also his father seems to have had a connection to the Aurora and this seems to be very important to Matt (it's sort of inferred that his father is missing or dead, but this hasn't really been explained yet). In the beginning of the book Matt is on lookout duty and spots a lone hot air balloon in the night, the balloon doesn't respond with their efforts to communicate with it so they try and pull it aboard. Through some terrific and daring feats by Matt they pull it in along with a dying balloonist. Later the dying balloonist tells Matt of beautiful creatures in the sky right before he dies. Then the story skips ahead to a year later and the dead balloonist seems to be completely forgotten by Matt, but I can't help but think that the first scene really sets up the rest of the book. Why else would it be in there. So a year later the Aurora is setting off on another 5 day voyage and we are introduced to 2 passengers in particular, Kate de Vries (another 15 year old) and Miss Simpkins (her chaperon). Kate is very curious, mischievous, and polite. However Miss Simpkins seems to like nothing, is very rude, and seems to not want to be on the airship cruise. I predict that in the next couple chapters Matt and Kate become pretty good friends because they are the same age and that's usually how stories go, otherwise the author wouldn't have taken such special time to introduce Kate.
I'd also like to mention that I really liked one of the paragraphs on the very first page of the book where Matt describes the sky as being full of heroes and adventures (the constellations and their stories) fighting against each other to make themselves known. I've never really thought about the stars that way before and I think that's a really unique way of looking at them and obviously Matt must spend a lot of time gazing at them.
I really like the word choice in this book too and the plot seems to be very interesting so far and I can't wait to continue reading!

Blog #5

I finally finished reading Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (took me long enough!) and I can't say that I liked the ending. I thought that the ending didn't really end with a big of a bang as it should have. I mean sure Eragon and Saphira's mentors die, but I think that it was pretty predictable, seeing as they were going up against the immensely powerful evil king. Also this is a hero story so it's pretty predictable that Eragon will kill the evil king not his mentors and there's a whole other book still to go. So in other words I don't think it was a big surprise that the mentors died and therefore I don't think that it was the best way to end the book. At the same time at the end/climax of the book Arya and Eragon kill another shade.I don't really like this part because I think the killing of another shade sort of demeans how Eragon killed a shade in the first book and earned the title "Shadeslayer". I think that when they kill another shade it makes it seem as if Eragon's amazing accomplishment in the first book wasn't as amazing anymore. Actually I really don't know how Paolini is going to fit everything in the last and final 4th book because there is a lot of the plot that he has yet to wrap up and tie together, so I think he has his work cut out for him. I also hope that the ending/climax of his last book in the series is much more satisfactory than the one.

Blog #4

I am continuing to read the book Brisinger, and in this blog I'm going to pretend like I'm writing a letter to the author, Christopher Paolini.

Dear Christopher Paolini,
My name is Greer and I am currently reading the third book of your Inheritance Cycle, Brisinger and I would just like to tell you how much I've enjoyed it so far. I have also read the first 2 books in the series and my favorite character so far is Arya, the elf that Eragon is in love with. I like how she is such a strong and individual person and she relies on nobody but herself and she always knows everything and exactly how to do things. But I also like how she begins to crack in this book and let Eragon through the walls she has put up because it's really sad how alone she is and I'm glad that she's beginning to accept the concept that she can have friends too. I also like the witty herbalist Angelina because she's feisty, smart, sarcastic and not afraid to berate others if they are wrong even if they are of higher rank or more important than her. She really adds another dimension to the book, especially a lot of humor. Lastly, another of my favorite characters is Nasuada, the leader of the rebel army. She's very strong, will stop at nothing to help her fighters, and has a confidence that none of the other characters in this book possess.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I really love how you have a lot of strong female characters in your book, while other novels like yours don't include such notable female heroes. All of the women in your book are independent and very important to the Eragon and his quest, and not one of them needs to rely on a man or plays an insignificant role. I think that too many books today don't include enough female protagonists, and even though the hero of your story is a male, he relies heavily on his supporting cast of these 3 important female figures.

Sincerely,
Greer

Blog #3

I'm still reading the book, Brisinger by Christopher Paolini and I came across a part that I found very interesting. It's about this girl who was accidentally given the power to feel others pain, see what they are about to do, and know their insecurities and fears. Here is a quote from the book by Elva, the girl who was mistakenly given these powers, "I will do as I please, and woe unto those who oppose me, for I know all their fears and shall not hesitate to play upon them in order to fulfill my wishes." (pg. 268). I found it interesting because I started to wonder, if I or anyone else had these powers would I actually use them? I mean it's hard to have something and then not use it, even if you think it is morally wrong. But it is still so easy and natural to use, I imagine it would be hard to resist. Also I think there is a fine line between using your own talents to their full potential and then crossing that line their is abusing your own talents. But in the case of this particular talent, is it crossing the line to even use your talent or even think of using it? In this case Elva seems to want to abuse her given powers, just like when she tries to manipulate Eragon (the hero of the book) merely seconds after she says the above quote.
Another thing that happens concerning Elva and her powers is when the leader of the good side wishes for Elva to use her powers for the good side to fight the bad. Elva refuses. Before Elva agreed to help only because their was a large amount of pain that came with her powers and if she helped the good side the pain would lessen. But when Eragon took the pain away she refused to help even though she knew that the good side's cause was just and if the good side didn't win then they might all be killed. Yet she still refused to help and I think this was because even though Elva knew the good side was her chance at survival, she didn't want to help because she wasn't passionate about their cause. She understood it, but she didn't care all that much about it. I also think that there is a certain personality that makes up a martyr or a person fully devoted to a cause, like Eragon or Harry Potter for example, I think they have to be brave and care about all the lives around them, and Elva just doesn't seem to fit that mold very well.

Blog #2

I recently purchased and started reading the book Brisinger by Christopher Paolini. It is the 3rd book in a series of 4 books and as I was reading it I couldn't help but notice how much the main character, Eragon, has changed since the first book in this series. In the first book Eragon was rash and only longed for an adventure, but in this 3rd book, it is quite clear that he has changed a lot.He now contemplates his actions more and thinks about their consequences. In the first book I don't think it bothered Eragon when he killed other beings, but now as we get to the 3rd book, we can see that these killings have really started to take a toll on him. This is demonstrated very well on pg. 193 when Eragon asks his friend, Arya if she ever sees the people she kills staring back at her like he sees his kills staring at him. This shows that Eragon is becoming more and more bothered by the deaths he must inflict in order to save himself and others. Eragon also comes to realize the fine line between the difference of justice and revenge. Near the beginning of the 3rd book he encounters a man that has caused many of the deaths of his friends and fellow townspeople and yet he cannot kill him because he realizes that even though he wants to kill the man he can't because that would be revenge and also he does not hold the power to dispense justice, that is not his duty. So he lets the man go on a journey of redemption and if he reaches the end of that journey he will be well cared for. In the first book I don't think Eragon would have done that because he would have seen someone who hurt his friends and he would have killed him. Another thing Eragon begins to understand is that people can be redeemed for their wrong-doings and he begins to let them have chances to prove they can make up for what they have done wrong, as demonstrated in the case of the man he hates. I think that with all these factors combined we can definitely say that Eragon has matured as a character and as a person through all the hardships he has faced and he has changed for the better.

Blog #1

I currently finished reading a book titled Breaking the Ice: My Journey to Olympic Hockey, The Ivy League, and Beyond by Angela Ruggiero. It's an autobiography of a women's hockey career that has been very successful and has included several Olympic medals. I thought this book was alright writing wise because there weren't any glaring grammar mistakes and it had plenty of voice in it, but her writing style was just sort of bland. I guess that's what you get from a hockey player trying to write a book! But I thought what made this book special was the events that happen to the main character, Angela. I think Angela is a very determined and hard working person, but I also think that she knows that hockey is not the most important thing in her life. She knows that other things such as school, friends, and family are just as necessary. This is shown when she takes a little while off and decides what she wants to continue doing. She takes her decision very seriously trying to balance her life and her dreams. In the end she does choose to follow her dreams to the Olympics, but to come back the next year and finish her education at Harvard. She also shows that she thinks education is important when she almost fails her Psychology class in college, but instead steps up and focuses solely on her education for the time being. This also demonstrates her ability to get up after a fall and try again. Furthermore, she grew up in California and that's a state with a very warm climate and not a lot of hockey. This shows her determination to succeed and her want to do anything it takes to make her a better player because hockey rinks are quite scarce in CA and you have to work really hard to even get ice time. However, even though Angela is a very interesting person, I think that she could've added a lot more to her book to make it better. I really wanted to hear more about her life at Harvard because she barely explains anything about it and it was such a huge part of her (she did spend 4 years there). I also wanted to hear more about her time as an Olympian because she really only described getting there and the Olympics are such a big deal. How could she not write more about it? However as I said, even though she is such an amazing person and an amazing hockey player, an amazing writer she is not. But I did like the book for its content and thought she has had some incredible achievements.