The Trajectory of Today’s Topics

• Upcoming book to movie deals

• I dive into the dark D&D Drow, Drizzt

• Coming events and craft fairs

Hot Off The Press

Popular Books Getting The Big Screen Treatment 

This one keeps popping up as a recommendation that I would thoroughly enjoy. My TBR is so full now that if I add another, the titles will probably sprout legs and walk out. Anyway, imagine waking up on a spaceship, you’re the only one there, and you have no memory of it. Oh, by the way, your mission, the one you forgot, is to save the earth. Guess we’re all doomed! 

Starring Ryan Gosling, Sandra Huller, and Milana Vayntrub, this book turned movie will hit theaters on March 20.

This next one, I hope, is a fraction as good as the book, Sunrise on the Reaping. This tells the heartbreaking story of how Haymitch (from the Hunger Games trilogy) gets thrown into the games and why he’s such a grouchy curmudgeon. When I read the book, I thought I was prepared… no, no, I was not. You still have time to read the book before the movie. I tend to like to watch the movie first, because then when I read the book, there is so much more depth and character development. And reading after watching the movie, I can see the faces better and hear the voices.

This movie is getting a huge cast of big names. Hopefully, this budget doesn’t dilute the story. Sunrise comes out on November 20. Some notable names include Joseph Zada as Haymitch, McKenna Grace, Elle Fanning, Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Lili Taylor, Jesse Plemons, and even the return of Jennifer Lawrence, and Josh Hutcherson. I hope that the story budget doesn’t get wasted on the cast. 

This one will be streaming on Stars, but it won’t be any less popular. Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone, the ninth book in the Outlander series. The love story between Jamie and Claire continues, now with their daughter Brianna and her husband Roger. The Revolutionary War wages on and gets closer to Jamie and Claire’s little loving home. Episodes will air weekly starting March 6th. I’m probably going to lose my wife for a while as she binges prior episodes in anticipation. 😅

Another one she’s definitely excited about is The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman. Retitled for the big screen as Practical Magic 2. The story of the Owens coven continues when Aunt Jet hears the deathwatch beetle, meaning she only has seven days to live. As the women try to save her life, they also must figure out how to save another life and break a 300-year-old curse. 

Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock return, along with Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest. This one comes out after we start decorating for Halloween, September 18th.

The Odyssey is another book getting another movie adaptation. Homer’s ancient tale has been put up on the big screen a few times before, but never with the full IMAX experience. Christopher Nolan is the director, and this is his first movie filmed exclusively on IMAX cameras. 

The story tells the tale of Greek King Odysseus and his perilous journey home after winning the Trojan War. Battered and bruised, he still has to battle sirens, cyclops, and the witch goddess Circe. Matt Damon plays the titular king, and his wife is played by Anne Hathaway. Others in the cast include Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron. You can scope this fantastic voyage on July 17th of this year. 

Bear with me a moment, I know this is a little longer than usual. The last section will be shorter to make up for it. Anyway, I have to add something else I recently found out. 🤓 Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC) is getting the live-action treatment! The best book series of all time is going to be a live-action series! It’s apparently been gaining traction since last year, with casting in the process. While my stuttering heart loves this, I’m also very, VERY concerned that this could be an absolute disaster. 

If you haven’t joined the DCC cult yet, what are you waiting for? There are a LOT of characters, creatures, settings, and more that will have to be created by CGI. There’s Princess Donut, the talking Persian cat, Mordecai, the shape-shifting game guide that goes from a rat to a frog, to an incubus, and more, depending on the floor. There’s a talking doll head, Samantha (one of my favorite characters of all time), and of course, we can’t forget Donut’s best boy, Mongo, the feathered pink and blue Mongoliensis (a pet velociraptor). 

For me, personally, CGI (unless the creators truly love their craft) has been looking cheaper as the years go by, not better. I feel it peaked when the original Jurassic Park and Terminator 2 came out, and since then, CGI-heavy movies have been more miss than hit. Some glaring misses include Gemini Man, Ant-Man and Wasp Quantumania, and the creepiest, most cringeworthy of all, Cats. Nightmare fuel! And these are just a few; there are many more that have glaringly bad CGI effects that basically ruined the movie. 

There is no release date yet, as filming hasn’t even started, but I had to share that with you because DCC is too good not to share! When I get more details, you can be assured that I will post them right here. 😄

The TBR Files

High Fantasy–But A LOT Of Politics

How can I call myself a fan of Dungeons and Dragons while I’ve never read a single book about the most popular character of all time? The Dark Elf, Drizzt Do’Urden. Dark Elves, or Drow, are a race of elves that have been banished to the underground and live their entire lives in pitch-black tunnels. Most elves are seen as stewards of nature, loving of all things natural, and considered overall as good. The Drow are exactly the opposite. They worship an evil spider queen that rewards subterfuge, assassinations, spies, and brutal carnage. 

Homeland by R. A. Salvatore introduces us to Drizzt (I always thought it was pronounced “Driz-zit,” but it’s more of an electrical sound and a single syllable), who was initially supposed to be sacrificed to the Spider Queen, right after birth. During a secret assassination of another clan, Drizzt’s oldest brother is killed by the middle brother—there are so many jokes here about middle kids I could make, but I’m trying to save time. Anyway, this satisfied the evil goddess, and Drizzt lives. He grows up to be the greatest warrior the Drow have seen, but he doesn’t fall in line with the evil lifestyle. He bucks the system, which causes all kinds of trouble for him and his house.  

The overall story was good. I love a good fantasy book, and if there are familiar D&D elements, I enjoy it even more. The issue I had with this book was all the politics and world-building. Even though the book was relatively short, it kind of dragged on in sections. I get that this is a new world, and the first in a series, so there’s got to be a decent amount of explanation. But, I would have liked a little more action to break up all the rules, all the chess pieces being moved around, and how this house plans on taking that house down. 

I'll continue with the series because the ending hints that some big things are on the horizon, but if it drags on like the first book… I will likely move on to something else. There were good times, and there were bad times, but the good barely overtook the bad, ☕☕☕.  I hope the rest is satisfying because R.A. Salvatore has written some 50 to 60 books, most about the chaotic good Drizzt Do’Urden, and I’m led to believe that his adventures are peak storytelling!

…And Then This Happened

Set a spell, Take your shoes off, Y'all come back now, y'hear?

As promised, this section is very short. This is a list of coming shows and art fairs I will be attending. If you are in the area, come on out and say hi! We love talking to returning visitors!

• March 7, Fisherville Spring Craft Show

• April 11, Shenandoah Comic Con, Harrisonburg

• May 2, Blue Ridge Arts & Crafts Festival 

• July 11, Bear Chase Christmas in July

• September 12, Pawpaw Fest

• October 10, 11, Nightmare Weekend, Raleigh, NC

• October 16-18, 23-25, Ravenwood Faire

We usually do the Bluemont Faire in September as well. This year it’s being held on the 19th and the 20th. I’m undecided if we will do that one yet. Also, we have been waitlisted for a few dates for the Clarke County Farmer’s Market, which happens every weekend in Berryville, VA, from May until October. More details will be forthcoming when I get them.