Title: Wicked: 2003 Original Broadway Cast Recording
Authors: Stephen Schwartz (composer), Winnie Holzman (libretto), Gregory Maguire (original)
Cast: Idina Menzel (Elphaba), Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda), Joel Grey (The Wizard)
ASIN: B0000TB01Y
Plot Summary: Elphaba is an intelligent, magically talented, yet lonely and reserved young woman with an odd appearance and an unhappy home life. Galinda is beautiful, spoiled and popular, yet an equally gifted witch. When they are initially thrown together as roommates at Shiz University in the Land of Oz, they do not get along, but gradually become friends. However, things are starting to change in Oz: animals can no longer speak or hold teaching positions, and Elphaba starts to question the way things are run in the land. A handsome young ne'er-do-well, Fiyero, attracts the romantic interest of both women, leading to an eventual rivalry as they vie for his affections. However, the final straw comes when Elphaba, having visited the Emerald City with Glinda, discovers that the widely beloved Wizard is a magical fraud. She and Glinda have a falling-out over Elphaba's refusal to obey him, and the two part ways. Although their paths will intersect again in the future, they will not do so without personal tragedy and heartache for both.
Showing posts with label Fiction: Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiction: Fantasy. Show all posts
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Author: C.S. Lewis (original); Andrew Adamson, Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (screenplay)
Director: Andrew Adamson
Cast: Georgie Henley (Lucy), Skandar Keynes (Edmund), William Moseley (Peter), Anna Popplewell (Susan), Tilda Swinton (The White Witch), James McEvoy (Mr. Tumnus), Jim Broadbent (Professor Kirke), Liam Neeson (Aslan).
ASIN: B000E8M0VA (DVD)
Other Movies in Series: Prince Caspian
Other Books in Series: Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle.
Plot Summary: Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan Pevensie are four siblings growing up in London during World War II. When the German bombings make conditions in the city too dangerous, they are relocated to a country manor inhabited by an eccentric professor and his rather dour maid. In exploring the vast house, the children stumble upon a wardrobe that is a portal to a magical world known as Narnia. However, all is not well in this land: the White Witch has all creatures and areas in the land under her control, and her magic makes it "always Winter and never Christmas" in Narnia. Three of the Pevensie siblings befriend sympathetic characters in Narnia, but Edmund is seduced into joining the White Witch's side with promises of wealth, power, and all the Turkish Delight he can eat. Unfortunately, the Witch's promises prove as artificial as her imposed winter, and he becomes her prisoner. The other three siblings set out to find him and defeat the Witch, encountering both dangers and encouraging signs of change along the way. Before they return to the "real" world, they will join forces with Aslan, a talking lion and the leader of the resistance against the Witch, for the future and soul of Narnia.
Author: C.S. Lewis (original); Andrew Adamson, Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (screenplay)
Director: Andrew Adamson
Cast: Georgie Henley (Lucy), Skandar Keynes (Edmund), William Moseley (Peter), Anna Popplewell (Susan), Tilda Swinton (The White Witch), James McEvoy (Mr. Tumnus), Jim Broadbent (Professor Kirke), Liam Neeson (Aslan).
ASIN: B000E8M0VA (DVD)
Other Movies in Series: Prince Caspian
Other Books in Series: Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle.
Plot Summary: Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan Pevensie are four siblings growing up in London during World War II. When the German bombings make conditions in the city too dangerous, they are relocated to a country manor inhabited by an eccentric professor and his rather dour maid. In exploring the vast house, the children stumble upon a wardrobe that is a portal to a magical world known as Narnia. However, all is not well in this land: the White Witch has all creatures and areas in the land under her control, and her magic makes it "always Winter and never Christmas" in Narnia. Three of the Pevensie siblings befriend sympathetic characters in Narnia, but Edmund is seduced into joining the White Witch's side with promises of wealth, power, and all the Turkish Delight he can eat. Unfortunately, the Witch's promises prove as artificial as her imposed winter, and he becomes her prisoner. The other three siblings set out to find him and defeat the Witch, encountering both dangers and encouraging signs of change along the way. Before they return to the "real" world, they will join forces with Aslan, a talking lion and the leader of the resistance against the Witch, for the future and soul of Narnia.
Very Far Away from Anywhere Else
Title: Very Far Away from Anywhere Else
Author: Ursula LeGuin
ISBN: 0152052089
Plot Summary: Owen is an average young man with above-average math and science skills, who has never felt entirely at home socially. He has created a fantasy world, Thorn, in his head, but does not share it with anyone else until he meets Natalie, a beautiful young musician and fellow student who instantly relates to him. The two become friends, then become involved romantically, but neither of them is sure they are ready to go to the next level, nor are they sure which direction they want the relationship to lead.
Author: Ursula LeGuin
ISBN: 0152052089
Plot Summary: Owen is an average young man with above-average math and science skills, who has never felt entirely at home socially. He has created a fantasy world, Thorn, in his head, but does not share it with anyone else until he meets Natalie, a beautiful young musician and fellow student who instantly relates to him. The two become friends, then become involved romantically, but neither of them is sure they are ready to go to the next level, nor are they sure which direction they want the relationship to lead.
The Sandman: A Game of You
Title: The Sandman: A Game of You
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano
Lettering: Todd Klein
ISBN: 1563890895
Other Books in Series: Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, Dream Country, Season of Mists, Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives, World's End, The Kindly Ones, The Wake.
Plot Summary: Barbie is a young woman with an active fantasy life, living in the city with a quirky group of friends including a lesbian couple, a male-to-female pre-operative transgender, a witch, and a quiet, somewhat mysterious man who turns out to be working for the book's main antagonist. When Barbie is visited by Martin Tenbones, a large dog from the realm of Dreams, he tells her that the fantasy land of her dreams is being threatened by a malignant being known as the Cuckoo. Alarmed, Barbie travels mentally to dreamland, leaving her comatose body behind in the waking world. After finding out that George, the quiet man, is in league with the enemy, Thessaly, the witch, kills him and draws down the moon to help her and the other women in their quest to find Barbie. However, the moon will not let Wanda, the transgender, accompany the three other women, as she feels he does not count as a "real" woman. While left behind with George's head, Wanda is ultimately killed by Thessaly's magic raging out of control. Barbie eventually defeats the Cuckoo, but not without paying a price, both in terms of the land of her dreams and the loss of a dear friend.
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano
Lettering: Todd Klein
ISBN: 1563890895
Other Books in Series: Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, Dream Country, Season of Mists, Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives, World's End, The Kindly Ones, The Wake.
Plot Summary: Barbie is a young woman with an active fantasy life, living in the city with a quirky group of friends including a lesbian couple, a male-to-female pre-operative transgender, a witch, and a quiet, somewhat mysterious man who turns out to be working for the book's main antagonist. When Barbie is visited by Martin Tenbones, a large dog from the realm of Dreams, he tells her that the fantasy land of her dreams is being threatened by a malignant being known as the Cuckoo. Alarmed, Barbie travels mentally to dreamland, leaving her comatose body behind in the waking world. After finding out that George, the quiet man, is in league with the enemy, Thessaly, the witch, kills him and draws down the moon to help her and the other women in their quest to find Barbie. However, the moon will not let Wanda, the transgender, accompany the three other women, as she feels he does not count as a "real" woman. While left behind with George's head, Wanda is ultimately killed by Thessaly's magic raging out of control. Barbie eventually defeats the Cuckoo, but not without paying a price, both in terms of the land of her dreams and the loss of a dear friend.
Eragon
Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
ISBN: 0439244196 (Audio Book)
Narrator: Gerard Doyle
Other Books in Series: Eldest, Brisingr
Plot Summary: Eragon, an orphaned young man, lives with his uncle and cousin in a small town in the country of Alagaesia, ruled over by a tyrannical king. When Eragon finds a mysterious stone in the Spine, a forested mountain range near his village, he is stunned when it hatches into a dragon, whom he raises and names Sephira. When word gets back to the king's soldiers, they burn Eragon's uncle's house searching for the dragon, killing his uncle, Garrow, in the process. Dragons and their riders possess a psychic bond; through this bond, Sephira is able to instruct Eragon in the skills and responsibilities befitting his new status. As he and Sephira travel to find a group of rebels dedicated to defeating the king, they meet new traveling companions, rescue a beautiful and powerful female elf, battle and battle with the race of dwarves against evil sorcerers known as Shades and an orc-like race called Urgals, who serve the king. During his adventures, Eragon finds out about the history of dragons and their riders, as well as one who bore his name.
Author: Christopher Paolini
ISBN: 0439244196 (Audio Book)
Narrator: Gerard Doyle
Other Books in Series: Eldest, Brisingr
Plot Summary: Eragon, an orphaned young man, lives with his uncle and cousin in a small town in the country of Alagaesia, ruled over by a tyrannical king. When Eragon finds a mysterious stone in the Spine, a forested mountain range near his village, he is stunned when it hatches into a dragon, whom he raises and names Sephira. When word gets back to the king's soldiers, they burn Eragon's uncle's house searching for the dragon, killing his uncle, Garrow, in the process. Dragons and their riders possess a psychic bond; through this bond, Sephira is able to instruct Eragon in the skills and responsibilities befitting his new status. As he and Sephira travel to find a group of rebels dedicated to defeating the king, they meet new traveling companions, rescue a beautiful and powerful female elf, battle and battle with the race of dwarves against evil sorcerers known as Shades and an orc-like race called Urgals, who serve the king. During his adventures, Eragon finds out about the history of dragons and their riders, as well as one who bore his name.
The Golden Compass
Title: The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
ISBN: 0345413350
Other Books in Series: The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
Plot Summary: Lyra Belacqua, a young orphan, lives at the Oxford University of an alternate universe, one in which all people have Daemons, animal familiars with supernatural powers who are extensions of peoples' souls. While exploring Jordan College, the fictional Oxford college where she lives and her uncle works, Lyra overhears information she was not meant to know. Along with her Daemon, Pantalaimon, she decides to explore based on what she has heard, despite the danger. Her quest will ultimately lead her to explore an assassination attempt against her uncle, a mysterious entity known as Dust, intriguing and sometimes dangerous people, and a magical device that, once she learns how to use it, will lead her to adventures she never before dreamed possible.
Author: Philip Pullman
ISBN: 0345413350
Other Books in Series: The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
Plot Summary: Lyra Belacqua, a young orphan, lives at the Oxford University of an alternate universe, one in which all people have Daemons, animal familiars with supernatural powers who are extensions of peoples' souls. While exploring Jordan College, the fictional Oxford college where she lives and her uncle works, Lyra overhears information she was not meant to know. Along with her Daemon, Pantalaimon, she decides to explore based on what she has heard, despite the danger. Her quest will ultimately lead her to explore an assassination attempt against her uncle, a mysterious entity known as Dust, intriguing and sometimes dangerous people, and a magical device that, once she learns how to use it, will lead her to adventures she never before dreamed possible.
A Wrinkle in Time
Title: A Wrinkle in Time
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
ISBN: 0440498058
Other Books in Series: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters
Plot Summary: Meg Murry and her brother Charles Wallace, the children of scientists, are both misfits: Meg does not fit in socially with her peers, and Charles Wallace, although a genius, mystifies his teachers. Their father is currently missing; before he left, he was working on a theoretical concept known as a tesseract. Together with Meg's friend Calvin O'Keefe, also a social outcast, they make the acquaintance of an eccentric old woman, Mrs. Whatsit. Along with her "sisters" Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, they transport the three through space and time via tesseract, which they explain as a "folding" of the space-time continuum. During their travels, they find out that the universe is being threatened by a malicious force, known as the Black Thing or IT, which is holding their father captive on a planet called Camazotz. The Earth, as revealed to them by the Happy Medium, is also in danger of being engulfed by the Black Thing's darkness. Partial exposure to IT injures Meg, who is nursed back to health by a friendly, telepathic creature she comes to call Aunt Beast. Once Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace reach Camazotz, they find a "Stepford Planet," a suburban hell inhabited by people all like each other, leading identical lives, under IT's thrall. In order to free her brother and father from IT, who takes them both captive, Meg must confront IT with all the things IT cannot stand: love, liberty, freedom, and the pursuit of individual happiness.
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
ISBN: 0440498058
Other Books in Series: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters
Plot Summary: Meg Murry and her brother Charles Wallace, the children of scientists, are both misfits: Meg does not fit in socially with her peers, and Charles Wallace, although a genius, mystifies his teachers. Their father is currently missing; before he left, he was working on a theoretical concept known as a tesseract. Together with Meg's friend Calvin O'Keefe, also a social outcast, they make the acquaintance of an eccentric old woman, Mrs. Whatsit. Along with her "sisters" Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, they transport the three through space and time via tesseract, which they explain as a "folding" of the space-time continuum. During their travels, they find out that the universe is being threatened by a malicious force, known as the Black Thing or IT, which is holding their father captive on a planet called Camazotz. The Earth, as revealed to them by the Happy Medium, is also in danger of being engulfed by the Black Thing's darkness. Partial exposure to IT injures Meg, who is nursed back to health by a friendly, telepathic creature she comes to call Aunt Beast. Once Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace reach Camazotz, they find a "Stepford Planet," a suburban hell inhabited by people all like each other, leading identical lives, under IT's thrall. In order to free her brother and father from IT, who takes them both captive, Meg must confront IT with all the things IT cannot stand: love, liberty, freedom, and the pursuit of individual happiness.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
ISBN: 043935806X
Other Books in Series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Plot Summary: When Harry Potter goes back for his fifth year at Hogwarts, he finds the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, gradually taking over the school as per the instructions of her real employer, the Ministry of Magic. Meanwhile, his godfather, Sirius Black, introduces him to the Order of the Phoenix, a band of magical rebels dedicated to defeating Voldemort and his followers. In the same spirit, Harry forms Dumbledore's Army among like-minded peers at Hogwarts, banding together to drive out the tyrannical Umbridge after she takes over Dumbledore's position as Headmaster. Harry's involvement in both of these groups, combined with his other problems, push him almost to the breaking point, and although he makes it through his various ordeals, victory will not come without a strong measure of personal tragedy.
Author: J.K. Rowling
ISBN: 043935806X
Other Books in Series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Plot Summary: When Harry Potter goes back for his fifth year at Hogwarts, he finds the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, gradually taking over the school as per the instructions of her real employer, the Ministry of Magic. Meanwhile, his godfather, Sirius Black, introduces him to the Order of the Phoenix, a band of magical rebels dedicated to defeating Voldemort and his followers. In the same spirit, Harry forms Dumbledore's Army among like-minded peers at Hogwarts, banding together to drive out the tyrannical Umbridge after she takes over Dumbledore's position as Headmaster. Harry's involvement in both of these groups, combined with his other problems, push him almost to the breaking point, and although he makes it through his various ordeals, victory will not come without a strong measure of personal tragedy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)