The Wesnaclama Blog

Sup! It’s Nate here again, and today I will be telling you why the Inheritance cycle is an excellent series that you should read. The Inheritance cycle is made up of four books: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. It falls into the category of fantasy--there are dragons, elves, dwarves, and other creatures. Eragon was Christopher Paolini’s debut novel, written in his late teens, and it was fantastically received. Summary (spoilers!!!) Eragon, a poor farm boy, finds a strange stone while hunting that turns out to be a dragon egg! The egg hatches, and Eragon and the dragon (Saphira) quickly bond. However, strange creatures called the Ra’Zac kill Eragon’s uncle, whom he lives with because he was abandoned as a baby, and Eragon and Saphira go off to kill them with the help of Brom, a trader who also knows about dragons. The trio gets attacked in the night, and Brom is mortally wounded. As he dies, he reveals to Eragon that he was also a dragon rider. He meets a young man named ...

Hi! This is Clara, and in this blog post I will be reviewing Franchesca Ramsey’s autobiography, Well, That Escalated Quickly. Franchesca Ramsey is an actress, comedian and videoblogger, and is the host of an MTV show called Decoded. Well, That Escalated Quickly is her first book, and it was published in May of 2018. I stumbled across this book in the Uni library after watching a video of hers about reverse racism in Subbie English class. The short video was informative and well thought out, so I was interested to see her thoughts and memories in a full length, customized book. Well, That Escalated Quickly follows the story of Ramsey starting from right before she was thrown into the limelight after releasing a video called “Sh*t White Girls Say… to Black Girls” in 2012. Prior to the video release, Ramsey worked a regular job and was not at all famous. She had dealt with inappropriate comments, actions, and behavior towards her based on her race her entire life. R...

Hi! It’s Emma Murawski. I recently finished reading the amazing book Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change The World by Neil Gaiman.  In Art Matters , Neil Gaiman shares the wonders of appreciating and making art. The book is broken up into four main sections. “Credo,” the first section, describes how to come up with ideas and appreciate their impact on the world. The second section is “Why Our Future Depends On Libraries, Reading and Daydreaming.” That part of the book explains how to use existing resources to expand knowledge and creativity. “Making a Chair” provides warnings and instructions about making a chair and how that task relates to living our lives. The final section, “Make Good Art,” includes specific rules to live by. This last section is the longest and my favorite part of the book. Overall, I found Art Matters inspirational and engaging. I like that Neil Gaiman, author of Art Matters, Stardust, and Coraline , broke the book up into creative a...

Hi! It's Nate here and today, I'm going to be giving an overall review of the Leviathan  trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. You don't have to read my other posts to understand this one--I'll be going through all 3 books. Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath  are steampunk/historical fiction books that imagine WW1 with futuristic mechanical and biotechnology. In the books, the Clanker powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) are armed with fearsome mechanical walkers and planes, while the Darwinists (England, France, and Russia) have "beasties" made from genetically modified creatures. These machines and creatures are always described with great detail, so that you could picture yourself in the seat of a fabricated elephant or the cockpit of a Clanker airplane.  Summary (spoiler warning): The main story focuses on the adventures of Prince Aleksandar and Deryn Sharp. Alek is the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his parents were assassinated. Since he's ...