Amazing themes and representations

I sat here thinking about a good book that I have read with amazing themes and artistic representation. It took me awhile, but eventually I came up with a few. These are the novels that have stuck out the most in my mind for artistic representation and breath taking themes. Icewind Dale Trilogy, Harry Potter, and World of Warcraft, but which one is the best?

World of Warcraft scenery

World of Warcraft Scenery

                                    

Scene from Harry Potter

Artist representation

The one that was the most mind blowing, and made me crave for more was World of Warcraft. Now although there are books called World of Warcraft, I am going to be talking about the online computer game. It is the greatest story i have ever laid my eyes upon. I know it really isn't a "novel", but the content of the game is awesome and your constantly reading/ participating in story lines. Every time you log on to this game it is like starting a new chapter in a book. The awesome part is your the main character. Your the savior of Azeroth. You make your own story. There is something for everyone in this game. The themes and game play is so diverse, your almost learning something new every time you play. You could be a auction house entrepreneur, a defender of Azeroth, an arena junkie, and the list goes on. I like do a little bit of everything!

I started playing this game in 2005, and I still continue to play almost everyday.This game has everything I need for entertainment. It satisfies  every niche of my gaming desire. This game is so thought out and well developed I have a hard time playing any other games. Unfortunately, I do want to play the "other" games to experience something new, but I just can't enjoy them as i do World of Warcraft. 

 So, yeah! back on topic. The developers put a lot of thought into the creation of this awesome game. The themes are almost always appealing. They have made 3 expansions so far and each on them have an interesting theme to them.

The Hunger Games and Conflicts

One of the books I enjoyed reading was the HungerGames by Suzanne Collins, the books in this series are Dystopian themed novels. Now at first I didn’t think I would like reading this book. It was a book my girlfriend’s little sister just finished reading, so I didn’t think it would entertain my interests. Surprisingly this book is now in my top 10 favorite books. The Hunger Games is filled with so much conflict I had a hard time putting it down.  

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The major player for the cause of the conflict was a society called the Capitol.  As well, the main character Katniss is faced with her own dilemma.  She has to provide food for her family, but in order to get the food she has to break the rules and leave the District.  Then to add more to her plate she has to worry about the Hunger Games. 

The Capitol forces the 11 Districts to draw two names for their Hunger Games event. The names of the people drawn are from the ages of 12-17. They make them fight in an event similar to gladiator match in a coliseum. Although this “coliseum” is more modern and takes place in a setting the Capitol chooses.

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The Government in this novel are real a-holes.  They make the 11 Districts sacrifice their children for the entertainment of the Capitol, but also the purpose of the Districts is slave labour. Each District has a purpose, for example; District 11 is in charge of providing coal to the Capitol. This is all consequences for a war that happen between these two societies a hundred years ago. 

In the book Katniss’s sister gets chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. So, Katniss volunteers to take her position. Self Sacrifice is an admirable trait for a protagonist. She is a heroine that tries to live her life as righteous as she can.

Drizzt Do'Urden strives for acceptance

Drizzt Do'Urden  is the main character from a series of books, by  R. A. Salvatore . I have been reading this series for 7 years and almost finished reading everything he has written. Drizzt is my favorite fictional character. First off he is a Dark Elf, and they are one of the most visually appealing races. Anyone who has played an RPG has most likely created and played a dark elf.

Dark Elf's are normally seen as a wicked subterranean race. But, some dark elf's get away from this stereotype, like Drizzt Do'Urden. He is an admirable character who bravely fights against the forces of the evil. In the beginning of the series he grows up in  Menzoberranzan , a dark elf city, which is ruled by females. The males are used as soldiers, teachers, and sex slaves, but never leaders. Everything about their daily lives is deceiving, killing, and training. As well they worship the female goddess of war, Lloth. This god urges the dark elf's to cause conflicts.


After a killing raid on surface elfs, Drizzt realizes that he is not like his people. Instead of killing the surface elf's he tries to save one. By doing so he gets punished by Lloth. This is his first step toward a different life then he has in  Menzoberranzan . The first few book in the series is Drizzt escaping his birth place, and trying to survive in the Underdark , aka "the underworld", When Drizzt makes it to the surface and looks into the sun it burns his eyes. This is his way of cleansing himself of the wrong doings and it gives him a new beginning.

He tries hard to make new friends and to find a place to call home, but he is discriminated for his race. From here on end, Drizzt goes through a huge amounts of character development, I love character building and action. For this reason, i keep reading the books from R. A. Salvatore. He is the "God" of describing fast-paced action and using events to build character.  

 Drizzt Do'Urden ends up befriending a blind human ranger named,  Montolio Debrouchee. This guy is one of Drizzt's  first companion on the surface. Drizzt can not be judge by his appearance from a blind guy, so they get along pretty good. Montolio shows Drizzt the goddess  Mielikki and  Faerûnian. By changing his beliefs Drizzt has more hope and kindness. Unfortunately Montolio dies and Drizzt moves on.


Icewind Dale is where Drizzt meets his life long companions   Bruenor Battlehammer ,   Catti-brie ,   Wulfgar , and   Regis . Together they go through hell and back. The novels with these companions are awesome, they action packed, with alittle romance and lots of character building. Through out the novels the companions die, or come close to dying. This effects Drizzt negatively, he becomes what he refers to as the "hunter" a cold, emotionless killer. It's almost like a character changing roller coaster, but he still strives to be righteous.

The Maze Runner

I recently just finished reading, “The Maze Runner,” by James Dashner. I decided to read this book to get over the, “Hunger Games hangover.” This book is listed as one of the books to read to satisfy your “Dystopian” craving. I enjoyed reading this book, but it was lacking story. Everything in the story happen so fast! The author could have stretched the idea into at least one more book or into longer chapters.

It only took a few hours to read; maybe something you would read while on 3 hour road trip.

The concept of this book is very interesting. I liked how they throw a bunch of kids together, who have above average intellect, so that they can figure out how to solve an extremely difficult maze. The people who succeed get chosen to help make a cure for a disease that is killing everyone on the planet. The main characters of the story are named after people that are very smart, like Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. In my opinion this idea is wicked…There is so much you can do with this, but unfortunately the author did not expand on the story.

Instead, the author had the main character succeed in everything. With no overwhelming obstacles to overcome, besides escaping the maze. Now I like reading novels with a lot of obstacles, and certain-doom situations the character has to get through. After reading all these conflicts, and then to have a character(s) in the story sacrifice their own life for the greater good, is what makes me teary. Even though, something like this happened in, “The Maze Runner,” I was not emotional moved. The action leading up this event was dull. Therefore, my “emotional wall” was still standing strong.

If I was the person to re-write this book, I probably would add more conflicts. I would have built more ideas around the maze. I would set traps for the characters. Add variety of creatures as antagonist, that steals resources, kidnap children, and really just mess up things for the protagonists. As well, I would like to see more female characters not just 1 female per 42 males. That really sucked. I would add more character building situations, where you can get to understand the characters. This was something the author was missing; While, I read the book the main character was just “Thomas” and nothing more. I had no connection towards him, because I really did not know anything about him. Although, the main part of the story is Thomas re-learning about himself because his memory got wiped. The story could have used a lot more character building.

Overall the book was okay to read, but I would have rather read something else.       My Rating 2/5

Jason Cardinal

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