Filled with the same Celtic mysticism, otherworldly creatures and concepts, and character driven drama as Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows, Juliet Marillier’s Child of the Prophecy is a fantastic conclusion to the Sevenwaters trilogy.

The story follows Fainne, a teenaged girl brought up as a sorcerer by her father, Ciaran, on the west coast of Ireland. Convinced Fainne is part of a prophecy to destroy the ancients, her grandmother threatens Ciaran’s health, forcing her to travel to Sevenwaters and play her part. Yet, as Fainne meets her extended family at Sevenwaters, she falls in love with the place and people, despite herself and her mission. Torn between doing what she believes is right and what her grandmother expects from her, Fainne suffers much inner turmoil right up to the unexpected and spectacular conclusion.

Fainne’s inner struggle creates a very real and believable character, allowing readers to really connect with her. Even as she performs horrible acts and gets herself into situations deeper than she can cope with, readers still sense a real relatable human being underneath, hoping she will do the right thing in the end. Marillier weaves in a romance sub-story, which helps humanise Fainne even more.

As with the prior books in the trilogy, Marillier textures the story with a lot of interesting Celtic mysticism through its supernatural figures, otherworldly creatures, and paranormal abilities possessed by several of the main characters. This, especially the animal states of mind, are convincingly depicted and, along with some rich world descriptions that few other fantasy writers conjure, helps to create a cohesive world readers won’t want to leave.

This mysticism, character struggle, and further development of the Sevenwaters world and narrative make Child of the Prophecy a MUST READ.

4 ½ stars

The Legend of Korra, the animated series follow up to Avatar: The Last Airbender, centres on new avatar, Korra, some years after the death of Aang, the previous avatar. Set in the same world, the series delivers mature content through serious and pertinent themes.

Series one finds Korra under the tuition of air-bender guru, Tenzin, Kitara and Aang’s by-the-book son. During Korra’s training, she and Tenzin are often at heads with each other. Meanwhile, she makes new friends with Mako and Bolin, two bending champions, as well as team sponsor, Asami. When the anti-bending messiah, Amon, surfaces with the ability to remove people’s bending, Korra, finds herself caught in a big mystery as she comes to terms with her weaknesses.

Series two takes places some time later when Korra’s uncle Unalaq, chief of the northern water tribe, asks Korra to use her avatar-powers to open the portals to the spirit world. This results in some drastic changes to the world as well as several betrayals.

In series three, Korra and her friends deal with the consequences of opening the spirit portals as well as a secret society who wants to destroy all forms of government.

The fourth and final series picks up some months later, with Korra wandering the world trying to escape her powerlessness and shadow self. Meanwhile, Mako has become a bodyguard for Prince Wu, Bolin a member of Kovera’s earth nation, and Asami an industrialist. This series focuses on resolving many of the character arcs, while pitting Korra against Kovera’s militaristic view of bringing unification to the world’s nations.

The Legend of Korra’s storytelling is very tight, with many plot twists, and tense scenarios. Moreover, the series, especially series four, deals with some very mature, controversial issues, such as PTSD, fascism, the consequences of mass destruction, self-belief, eastern philosophy, and connecting with the spiritual self, while retaining the focus on balance and mindfulness. At times, the portrayal of some of this material, especially series two’s spiritual focus, is clumsy, however, for the most part it is presented in a believable and relatable manner.

The female characters really come to the fore, especially in series four, offering positive (and negative) role models for young girls.

The primary protagonists are well rounded and credible characters audiences will come to love. Unfortunately, from series two onwards, Bolin is turned into a buffoon for comedic purposes, which is disappointing because it fails to honour his character. Eventually, however, he re-evolves into the character established in series one.

The series features some amazing cel and 3D animation. Characters’ gestures and animations are realistic and convincing and, in most places, the blending of cel and 3D animation is seamless.

Overall, creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartno should be applauded for creating an avant-garde animated television series that confronts mature and engaging themes and pushes the boundaries of animation. The Legend of Korra is MUST SEE TV, especially series one and four.
 
4 ½ stars

Def Leppard’s 2015 self-titled studio album, their first in seven years, is their best in two decades.

After over a decade of experimentation, the big, singalong backing vocals, heavy guitars, and thumping drums are back. From the anthemic call-to-arms of ‘Let’s Go’, the heavy guitars of ‘Dangerous’, and the sass and catchy bass-lick of ‘Man Enough’, to the positive thrust and lyrics of ‘Invincibl’e, the heavenly backing vocals in ‘Sea of Love’, and the lush dreaminess of ‘Energised’, Leppard show they still have what it takes to make a solid rock record. More than that, songs like ‘Last Dance’, ‘Touched by the Wings of an Angel’, and ‘Blind Faith’ show the band can be mature without losing the high energy and catchiness that made them chart toppers. Strangely, these songs are reminiscent in tone to Roxette’s mature album, Crash! Boom! Bang! – albeit with heavier guitars. More than that, Leppard show they really can sing, when each band member sings lead vocal on the touching ‘We Belong’.

Sadly, while the albums features a plethora of excellent tunes, songs like ‘Broken ‘n’ Brokenhearted’ and ‘Forever Young’ sound like filler, while the excellent chorus of ‘All Time High’ is marred by weak verses. Further, the album doesn’t reach the technical prowess of their seminal Hysteria album, however, makes up for it with its raw energy and gusto.  

With its balanced selection of bombastic songs that are sure to be hits and mature tunes, Def Leppard is a well-balanced album and fantastic return to form for the band that showcases not only their energy but also their song writing prowess. Rock fans need to own this album.

4 stars

Lara Croft: The Guardian of the Light is an interesting take on the Tomb Raider series.

Although it includes the usual puzzle solving, platforming, and shooting action typical of the series, the action is viewed from an isometric perspective. This creates a unique atmosphere and allows for some fiendish puzzle design. The puzzles are very interesting and many later in the game will test your intellect. However, for the most part, they aren’t too difficult.

The story involves one of Lara’s rivals awakening an ancient evil that she, and an ancient guardian, have to stop. And that’s about it. While other Tomb Raider games have interesting stories, Guardian of the Light’s narrative is very shallow, and, at times, laughable.

Lara, and the Guardian, if you’re playing in co-op mode, has to traverse the tombs and levels while staying alive, and killing any enemies, who range from soldiers to undead creatures. Again, it’s very standard Tomb Raider fare, but it’s also very enjoyable.

Each tomb has optional objectives to complete, such as collecting all ten red skulls, completing the level within a short limit, and other level-specific objectives. Completing each earns the player with a reward – usually a new weapon. There are also ammo and health upgrades to be uncovered in each level. These objectives give the game more of an arcade feeling, which heightens the game’s intensity, even if players don’t set out to complete all of them.

Levels also include ‘puzzle rooms’ in which Lara has to solve a visual-spacial puzzle in order to obtain a powerup. These challenges range from overly simple, to frustratingly hard.

This leads to one of the game’s flaws – the difficulty curve is erratic. While early levels are well balanced, later ones range from easy to difficult with no real middle ground. Further, although early levels are filled with interesting puzzle designs, later levels rely on impossible-to-kill enemies to ramp up the difficulty, ruining the puzzle-shooting balance.

Still, the controls are unique, using the triggers to fire weapons, the d-pad to change between weapons, the face buttons for different skills – bombs, jumping, running, and actions – and the second analogue pad to aim your weapon. This seems odd at first, but soon becomes second nature and is quite intuitive.

Lara is gifted with a throwing spear from the Guardian of the Light at the beginning of the game, which becomes the default weapon when you run out of ammo. It is also used to overcome some puzzles in intuitive ways. Other weapons range from Lara’s standard pistols, to heavy machine guns, and grenade launchers, most of which need to be located or earned and all are dependent on finding ammo packs around the levels, which work on a one-serves-all basis.

Players can also earn or locate several artefacts to enhance of lessen in some cases, Lara’s abilities. Finally, Lara has a grappling rope she can swing on, which is useful for solving puzzles and collecting hard-to-reach items. However, this is mostly forgotten in later levels.

Each level features mostly ambient music that enhances the atmosphere, with a few more upbeat tunes for a few levels, like the swamp, which add to the intensity. Sound effects are standard Tomb Raider fare, while the dialogue is well-voiced despite some laughable lines.

Levels are an interesting mix of tombs, caverns, and outdoor areas, although towards the end the lava-filled caverns become monotonous. Graphically, the game is beautiful to look at, and although a few of the later levels feature some minimal slowdown due to the intensity of the graphical effects and on-screen action, it’s never enough to spoil the game or effect gameplay.

Overall, Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light is a unique Tomb Raider experience that offers more of the same but from a unique perspective. While it won’t win any awards for story or level balance, it’s is a well-presented package for a bargain price, with plenty of puzzles to test you brain, lots of shooting action to test your reflexes, and a good challenge. Tomb Raider fans should enjoy it and I encourage other gamers to give it a go unless you detest this style of gameplay. With currently two downloadable level packs, this game could potentially offers players with a lengthy challenge. It comes highly recommended.

4 stars.