magic – R&D Gothic Discoveries

I was talking with a friend of mine not long ago, and the subject went through fantastic movies and books; no need to say that I immediately mentioned how amazing Harry Potter was. And, disappointment, I learned he never watched nor read this series. I mean, he obviously knew what it was, but he never actually watched or read it. From this discussion, I felt the duty to give people who never watched or read the series reasons to take the time to do so. If you don’t like to read, you may like to watch movies sometimes right?

It made us all think we could be wizards

If you were young enough when you discovered Harry Potter, you must have thought at some point that you could be a wizard too. It sure develops the imagination of the youth.

2. Hogwarts

How incredible is it? I mean, we all dreamed about visiting this place. First, the architecture is awesome and second, the vibe of this place is comforting.

3. The creatures

Goblins (Gringotts Wizarding Bank), elves (Dobby), ghosts (Nearly Headless Nick), three-headed dog (Fluffy + reference to Greek mythology: Cerberus, the three-headed dog which guards the entrance to Hades, the underworld where spirits of the dead were the only ones allowed), trolls, dragons, unicorns, centaurs, phoenix, dementors… There are so many, if we were to write a list, we would probably forget half of them. However, the variety of fantastic creatures is quite impressive, and the use of those creatures is never pointless.

4. The values transmitted

Indeed, values of friendship, family, courage, loyalty, altruism and more are all part of this series. Of course, it is a story, and in each good story, there are the villains which are in complete contradiction with all good values shared in the story, but the principal characters, Harry, Hermione and Ron, all promote the values that encourage emotional growth.

5. Settings, special effects and costumes

Well, it’s quite simple, the settings, special effects and costumes are all incredible.

6. Books vs. movie

One of the rare book series that was adapted to cinema which actually resulted to be a real success. Of course, some details are missing; a movie is obviously very different from a book, mostly in terms of length; you cannot produce a 10h movie for each book. Nonetheless, when I compare with other book series and films produced from those books, Harry Potter is most probably the only one with which I was not disappointed.

7. Just a good amount of cheesiness

Am I the only one who finds it boring when I want to watch a fantastic movie and it actually results in a love story? Well, Harry Potter does contain some love stories, but honestly, I would say that we hear about it like 4 times in all 8 movies.

8. Movies marathons or study background

Harry Potter is the perfect choice for a gloomy day movie marathon. I swear, every time I don’t know what to do during a holiday when it’s raining, I never go wrong with Harry Potter. Plus, once you know them by heart, it’s a perfect background for study or homework times (yep, I love it that much).

Ok, there are more reasons to watch or read Harry Potter, and if those ones are not enough for you, I’m sure you’ll be able to find others on other websites. But I mean, do you really need more?

*In case you would not know any of them, the titles of the films from the first to the last one are: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011).

DelphineC

The book series “The House of Night”
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Who does not like vampires? We must admit that they always are a good distraction; we pretty much never get tired of the stories or movies of which they are used as principal “creatures” to create some fear and suspense. However, there are two types of vampires; indeed, there is the terrifying one known as the one who sucks all the blood from human necks (in other words, the killer vampire), and there is the cheesy vampire known as the one who lives in harmony with humans. Which one do we prefer? Are we actually obligated to have a preference? I would say we do not, and that is the reason why I want to share this series of novels I discovered 3 years ago.

Written by Phyllis Christine Cast and Kristin Cast, the first volume of a series called the House of Night was published in March 2009 and was titled “Marked” (just so it is said, the last volume, “Lost” was published recently, in July 2018). The 18 volumes of this series (yes, indeed, 18 volumes!) contain all of what is necessary to entertain anyone who is interested in fantasy, love, magic, mystery, action and of course, vampires. I assure you, we can find them all in the same series! Isn’t it simply amazing?

You must wonder: Ok well, but what is this about? Overall, this is the story of Zoey Redbird, a 16-year old girl who is Marked to become a vampire and complete her Change, or die. The story mostly takes place in Tulsa, in the state of Oklahoma in the United States (yes, I know, another American fantasy, but I swear, it is a good one). The issue from which the story starts is that she does not have the same mark as other vampires do; indeed, she has been marked as special by the vampire Goddess Nyx and it is for you to discover why.

In brief, here are some reasons why you should take the time to read this series:

There are some vampires (this reason by itself is enough to convince you, right?).

Well, if you need some more…

2. There is a love triangle (oh yes, you’ve read well!).

3. There is suspense (sometimes, you just won’t be able to stop reading, I can testify).

4. There is death.

An extra one for you: you do not need to wait for the next episode to be released (you know what I’m referring to, don’t you?), once you finished one tome, you can start the next one right away!

Good luck and have fun in the vampire world!

DelphineC

Tag: magic

Reasons to Love Harry Potter

The House of Night