Inventive, original & fresh
596690
Michael Fassbender and Henry Cavill are as dynamic as always, but put together both make a winning movie.  Add Joel Shumaker and you've really got something special.  I did have to watch the movie several times to really get a good understanding of what was going on. However, the more I watched it, the more I liked it.  This is a different kind of horror. I was trying to figure out what movie I could compare this to, but I was unable to find a movie that would really give a good description for this movie.  That's why I give it even more kudos because it is that fresh and filled with originality.  A must see for horror fans.
2687102
Very creative and thoughtful,  an enjoyable ride
3587132
Now this IS very good! An album full of ideas and musical invention and some very characterful singing. I've only had this album since late 2006, so I probably haven't given it the justice it deserves in the listening department, but I think I know good music when I hear it - well, I try!

Miho Hatori is a very creative and interesting artist and her vision for this album is a compelling one. The music is largly synthesizer/keyboard based and is therefore more colourful and richly layered than guitar based music. "The Spirit Of Juliet" could be played by a quartet of saxophones with an electronic organ. "Walking City" has a rhythmic thump over some casiotone-like keyboard lines - the song is a little like a daydream. "Today Is Like That" features an acoustic guitar and some ambient percussion & sounds. "The River Of 3 Crossings" has music quite similar to that heard on the Roisin Murphy solo album. In fact, as an artist, Miho Hatori is on the same creative side of the fence as Roisin Murphy and Bjrk. I actually think I like Miho-chan's album better than Ms Murphy's (which I liked at lot!) and I think she has the potential to rival or even better Bjrk.

"Ecdysis" is splendid, creative and very engaging album and I will certainly be on the look out for anything new from Miho Hatori.
2510598
Slanted Subjects by Mr. Andre Byers is truly a magnificent piece of work.  This original collection of poetry and short stories is defintely a breath of fresh air.  In Slanted Subjects, Mr. Byers brilliantly composed a creative mixture of love, comedy, politics and religion that stimulates the reader from cover to cover.  It's thought-provoking and has a style of its own.  I highly recommend Slanted Subjects as a must read!
1325907
Thoroughly original and clever! I was pulled in immediately and loved the characters. Waldrop deftly skewers our current pop culture and the "15 minutes of fame" mentality to which many feel entitled! Waldrop also manages to accurately portray two very disparate settings - Los Angeles and Chattanooga! Lephew/Tate is an endearing character whose struggles we can all relate to. We know he is going down the wrong path romatically, but frankly Tiffany is so amusing, we want her to stick around for comic relief.

I received a free copy of the book, but would highly recommend it for a quick amusing read that will leave you smiling at our absurd world! I also want to mention that I loved the chapter titles - something I rarely pay attention to when reading. Waldrop's were witty and fun!
3842744
This collection of micro stories is, at turns, many things: fun, smart, strange, insightful, simple, complex, refreshing... and most of all, funny. The set-up is simple: aliens are coming. Page to page, story to story, from quick snippets to fleshed out stories, you'll see the theme treated in dozens of ways. Ultimately, it's one of the most original things I've ever read, an absolute blast that can be sipped or gulped, as you please. Enjoy!
4785046
Don't Ask Me (About Vampires) is a collection of short stories by up & coming author Robert Napier. The journey begins with the book's title story, morphing into twisted tales of everything from ghosts & aliens, to Roman gods & hell bent heroes. The writer challenges you to delve deep into your own imagination as you traverse this labyrinth of vividly descriptive & cleverly written stories. I gave it five stars because in my opinion it's one of the most original & refreshingly linguistic pieces of literature I have read in quite some time. I look forward to more upcoming works from Mr. Napier in the near future & I highly recommend it to any reader with a love for adventure & a keen imagination.
103414
Cotterill offers a delightfully offbeat story and protagonists.  Endearing, clever, resourceful and mystical - a wonderful mix.  Good plot twists,great originality and a bit exotic as well.  Very original from start to finish.
4243692
The description sounds kind of crazy, right? Well, it is!

What a treat! Wildly imaginative and inventive, with a smart, no-nonsense heroine with a wise-ass sense of humor. I grinned and chuckled through the whole thing. The story is super original and Elvie's voice is fresh and real. I was hooked from page one and blew through this in a day. This story takes a few teen cliches and dumps them on their ears. (And a few alien cliches, too!) The plot is tight and full of twists, and to top it all off is an "oh, snap!" ending I did not see coming, and that has me salivating for the sequel.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, so I'm keeping it short and sweet. I pretty much loved it and I'm recommending it to all of my YA-reading friends. Worried about the teen pregnancy thing? Don't let it throw you off. This is a humorous alien adventure story, but it also has a healthy dose of "See? This is what happens when you have unprotected premarital sex." And there are some more serious moments as Elvie contemplates her future and that of her child. Elvie and Cole make a great team of brains and brawn, but I am bumping down my rating a notch because I would have liked to see their backstory explored a bit more to make their feelings for one another more plausible. But can you really call it a complaint when your only issue is that you wanted more? If you're looking for something smart and sassy and totally new and different in YA, Mothership is it.
3051581
After reading the reviews here about this mysterious group that I had never heard of, I had to try them out.
Wow.  I am so thrilled.  Being a musician myself, I am often irritated by the "cookie cutter" mentality of the industry.
This album is original.  Fleming's voice flies all over the spectrum of notes and she does it well.  From breathy soft to high melodic off-key trilled notes, she executes the notes beautifully and comfortably.  At times she is a combination of Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin (if you can fathom that) - for you older music lovers out there.  There is also a bit of flute reminiscent of Jethro Tull at times.
The vocals that accompany her are a beautiful blend.  The selections are eclectic and the listening experience is delightful.  The songs are multi- layered and have a way of making you want to hear them over again.
This album is a ticket to a different world.  When the CD is done, it makes you sit and think for a while and then perhaps turn it on all over again to ponder and enjoy that world for just one more half hour.
This CD will be placed with my collection of other original and inspired CD's as
Eric Champion- TRANSFORMATION,
Margaret Becker- NEVER FOR NOTHING- & THE RECKONING(when she was still creative and at her best before the mainstream got at her),
Novella- LIQUID EARTH -& ONE BIG SKY,
Whiteheart- POWERHOUSE -& FREEDOM, and
The Choir - CHASE THE KANGAROO- & DIAMONDS and RAIN.
If you want a different album that will make your music collection more interesting and invigorating, this one will fit that bill.
It sure did for me.
2996490
What a fun & inventive book this was! I was delighted by the characters & by the various plots that all come together beautifully at the end. Highly recommended!
2490700
Archon offers a refreshingly new perspective on spirituality and religion, blurring traditional lines between heaven and hell, good and evil and angels and devils. Author Sabrina Benulis's unorthodox approach challenges established perspectives by striking a new path, moving literature into a brave, new frontier.

Shades of the classics are embedded in the storyline. Benulis introduces a world reminiscent of Dante's Purgatory and Milton's Paradise Lost, with its battle between gods and titans. Archon appeals to more discriminating tastes. The complex theme makes for compelling reading.

Archon has all the strengths and qualities of a masterpiece - excellent writing, crisp metaphors and similes, tight sentence structure, eerie scene descriptions, a complex main character (Angela). Each chapter begins with a text blurb extracted from ancient text, establishing appropriate tone and context for what follows.

The second chapter introduces the multi-dimensional, conflicted persona of Angela in an intriguing, well-crafted way, establishing a firm base from which the story builds momentum with each subsequent chapter. The reader is left dangling on a cliff's edge, puzzling whether Angela is insane or in possession of supernatural powers, and, as the story draws to a climax, whether she's the Archon.

Throughout the novel, Benulis refuses to compromise her unique imagination to appeal to simpler tastes. Archon does not follow established genre formulas, thereby protecting the integrity of this incredibly unique story. Innovation and creativity strike at the heart of this must-read novel.
1393263
There's an old saying among writers (and creatives in general) that there's "nothing new under the Sun." Fortunately, R.J. Harris has turned that tired old trope on its head. In all the young-adult fiction I've read over the years (it's a lot...) I haven't stumbled upon an idea quite as fresh as this one in a while. It was so refreshing to open this book up to a new kind of story, with Native American characters taking center-stage and diving into an entire mythos of lore, spiritual awakening, latent magical powers, ageless sage leaders, and, naturally, angsty young people battling not only big scary monsters, but themselves in a conflict of deep personal struggle, of self discovery, of a painful past, and of a hopeful future.

Harris gives us a nice formula and layout here, with each chapter of The Spirit Breather featuring both the voices of Joseph, handsome, if brash, immortal member of an ancient race of Native protectors; and Emily, an unsuspecting, fierce young woman who struggles to move past a life-altering event and discover her destiny, and how she's connected to something much larger than herself. In hearing from both of these characters, and in experiencing their inner monologues, struggles, feelings, etc., we are graced with dynamic characters who grow and change throughout the course of the story, and who help us explore some very compelling themes about the power of self transformation. They are not passive products of the world around them but, rather, active participants in their own destinies. Joseph experiences new emotions and struggles to define how he feels because of the distance between himself and his humanity. Emily, on the other hand, grows into the hero everyone around knows she is, but that she herself can't seem to accept. It is these transformations that fuel the forward motion of the plot in Harris' engaging tale.

The characters are beautifully flawed and, at times, a bit neurotic, which makes for interesting growth and some phenomenal interactions with side characters (the lovable Chandler, for instance; or the unstable, shady Derrick). The Spirit Breather takes readers on a fun, unique ride through the wilderness of Western Carolina, and delves into the mystical, and beautiful culture of the Cherokee in a page-turning, action-packed volume that will keep readers guessing, and have them begging for the next chapter in Joseph's and Emily's stories.
890571
It's refreshing to see original ideas from newcomers. Very much enjoyed this book & will buy sequel when its out.
2926458
Surely not for everyone, but this is a major contemporary novel--long, dense, loosely structured, even plotless at times, but nonetheless the work of a major talent.  The writing is masterful, inventive, original, quite funny in places.  The strange characters introduced, the author's ear for strange dialogue, and the sudden breaks in setting through the reader into unexpected worlds as abruptly as cinematic cuts.  You will be drawn into this book and then have to keep reading.  It gives many hours of pleasure.
4227838
A lot of reviews will mention how this album blends many genres (with precision fluidity), and that is very true. It is not easy to fit this band into a box, but that is a huge part of what makes them so interesting.

They blend fusion elements from the likes of Mahavishnu Orchestra,
With soulful and captivating vocal melodies that resonate originality, depth, and beauty.
They are obviously thoroughly proficient in both their chops and their songwriting skills (sometimes a rare combination!) - they never let their talent get in the way of their music.

As of writing this, the full album can be sampled on YouTube. Get an idea of how unique this band sounds for yourself, and then give them your money!!! The world needs more creativity. These wonderful people truly deliver.

5/5 hearts
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
532528
A very enjoyable read that has original material for it's date