What follows is a guest review by my cousin Camilla Leite, enjoy.
Kate Elliott’s Cold Magic is the story of Cathrine Hassi Barahal and her journey into the world of the cold mages and her discovery of a whole family history she never knew existed. With all she knows in question and her beloved cousin Bee in danger Cathrine must make an incredible journey to try and save Bee and learn the truth about who she really is.
Cathrines troubles start when she is suddenly forced to marry the mysterious young and powerful cold mage Andevai by her family and is whipped off to his home Four Moons House. Unfortunately she is the wrong girl and the Mansa (head of the mage house) orders her dead. Cathrine must flee for her life and hopefully make it back to her home in Adurnam in time to save Bee and herself! On the way she gets help from some unexpected sources, learns more about her heritage and that of Andevais, she meets trolls and djeli (magic people) amongst others and is betrayed many times.
Cathrines character is interesting and well developed in the story but I was left wondering about the other characters, they needed more depth. For those of you who have no idea what a mage is, like me when I started reading, it’s a sort of wizard, in this case “Cold Mage” is a wizard who controls the cold.
The story is slow getting out of the gate but gets interesting towards the end, which is frustrating if like me you don’t have the next book in the series “Cold Fire”. Cold Magic is worth a read but definitely not in my top 10, I would give it a 6/10.
When I heard John van de Ruit and Ross Garland were writing a book about The Making of Spud the Movie I was sceptical. Could they just be jumping on the financial bandwagon? Although financial success is the drive behind every product, this book is a real page turner for fans of film.
It illustrates the epic journey from book to screen, throwing in funny moments and great struggles. Van de Ruit and Garland take turns in telling the story, formatted in a similar style to the best selling Spud series.
From finding out what Spud was really about, to finding key players, everything you need to know is in this book. One of the most interesting aspects for me was reading about the struggle to find an international actor to play the Guv and all the different possibilities they considered.
Filled with stunning high quality behind the scenes pictures, quotes and stories, this is a must read for any movie buff or Spud obsessed nut. Get your copy at leading retailers today.
Side note: This book must have one of the longest full titles ever: The Making of Spud The Movie and how a wickedly splendid plan came together.
John talks about the book in my interview with him:
It has it’s similarity’s to the original but the reboot takes a fresh direction and does it well. From the training to fighting to love, Jaden Smith does a good job, but it’s Jackie Chan who’s surprising acting skills shine in some emotional scenes.
Angelina Jolie is perfection to watch, holding the story together and making it believable. Studio executives who were looking to create an answer to James Bond and the Borne Ultimatum have created something so much better. It’s sexy, it’s intense, and it’s thrilling from beginning to end.
What follows is a guest review by my cousin Camilla Leite, enjoy.
When I heard John van de Ruit and Ross Garland were writing a book about The Making of Spud the Movie I was sceptical. Could they just be jumping on the financial bandwagon? Although financial success is the drive behind every product, this book is a real page turner for fans of film.
