Book Review: Novice Dragoneer and Daughter of the Serpentine by E.E. Knight

Posted on February 3, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

My library knows to send me books about dragons with women as main characters so they sent me Novice Dragoneer (Young Adult Fantasy, 489 pages) and Daughter of the Serpentine (Young Adult Fantasy, 473 pages) by E.E. Knight.

Novice Dragoneer 
“Fourteen-year-old Illeth grew up in an orphanage and, thanks to her stutter, was never destined for much beyond kitchen work and cleaning. But she’s dreamed of serving with the dragons ever since a childhood meeting with a glittering silver dragon and its woman dragoneer. For years she waits, and as soon as she is old enough to join, Ileth runs away to become a novice dragoneer at the ancient human-dragon fortress of the Serpentine. While most of her fellow apprentices are from rich families, Ileth must fight for her place in the world, even if it includes a duel with her boss at the fish-gutting table. Her path will lead her places she never imagined – whether it’s joining the dragon dancers or taking charge of a sickly old dragon with a mysterious past – and to new heights as she takes her first flight into enemy hands.”

Daughter of the Serpentine
“Sixteen-year-old Illeth is now an apprentice dragoneer, with all of the benefits and pitfalls that her elevation in rank entails. But her advancement becomes less certain after she’s attacked by an unknown enemy, and Ileth begins to suspect that someone deadly may be hiding within the walls of the Academy. Outside of the walls there is a different challenge. The Rari pirates are strangling the Vale Republic. What they lack in dragon firepower, they make up for in the brutality of their ever-expanding raids, making hostages or slaves of the Republic’s citizens. Surrounded by enemies, Ileth will need to learn what kind of dragoneer she wants to be. And as she makes decisions about her future, Ileth will have the chance to uncover the secrets of her past. Both will irrevocably change the course of her life.”

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW. This review also contains mention of sexual assault, sexual assault against a minor, purity culture, and ableism.

I spent a long, long time trying to decide whether or not I would actually type up a review for these books. The author of these books is still living but this series has some Problems. Generally, I don’t post or publish books where the author is still living and some of my comments might not be that stellar. I know how hard writing is and I know how easy it is to see negative comments and decide you’re never going to write again.

But. At the same time. I did read these books. And it’s possible there are other people like me who see the two back-of-the-book synoposises and think these books are going to be fantastic and provide a fun story with a happy ending about a girl who breaks all the odds and gets to ride dragons! Because dragons!

That’s not this series. (Maybe it will be in the future if there are any more books in the series after these two, but that’s not where it is now).

I very much liked Ileth. She’s determined in a way fantasy readers and maybe even young adult fantasy readers don’t often see. She’s not determined in a stubborn way – she’s determined in a “I will find a way to make this work, even if it’s not how I dreamed or imagined” way. Like. Nothing works for her. She’s not special in any way. No special powers, no secret finances, no secret family lines. She’s got absolutely nothing and no one there wants her there. She has no real friends, no possessions, and no skills.

But she tries anyway. She keeps going anyway. She does the best she can anyway. The Serpentine is dirty and messy and busy but still, she keeps going.

At the same time, though, she’s also absolutely passive with no actual ambition. She doesn’t take action on her own, nor does she seek out opportunities to help her situation. She allows everyone to influence her and she’s a total pushover, which goes maybe a little bit against her characterization as being extremely determined. She agrees to go on a lengthy mission to function as a prisoner because her and the other girl they sent were the most expendable. They were both expendable because they didn’t come from rich and socially influentional families and because the even more misogynistic Galantine culture wouldn’t hurt girls.

The really, really, REALLY hard part about this series for me is the blatant misogyny and the distinct lack of compassion by anyone in this entire series.

We meet Ileth as a young girl of seven who meets a dragon, Argath, and his dragon rider, Annis. This is her first experience of women being something other than a wife, maid, or prostitute in Ileth’s experience. This moment gives Ileth her dream of creating her own life as a dragoneer. Annis is a significant contributor in the second book, as well, because it’s Annis’ strategy to remove the Rari pirates from the Vale Republic’s shores, though Annis is killed in battle before Ileth gets to the academy and a very old, frail male takes the credit in the papers at the end of the book for Annis’ strategy.

During Ileth’s time at the Serpentine, everyone makes fun of Ileth’s stutter, except the Master of Novices, Caseen, and an elderly dragon everyone just calls Lodger. The most common insults involve mentioning how she must be broken because her mother was someone who was free with her sex or because of her mother’s sins or some other such nonsense. Everyone also makes special effort just to be mean and make comments along the lines of how she’ll never get married because no husband would ever suffer through her talking.

But just because they make fun of her stutter doesn’t mean they can’t objectify a fourteen-year-old girl (who looks like she’s twelve)! An older boy convinces her to attend an after-hours, against-the-rules party by telling her that the girl she looks up to, Galia, will be there and Ileth is desperate for a friend or mentor; someone she can learn from without being worried about the social implications. But drunk and high Galia is busy having intimate relationships with drunk and high boys and then the boy who brought Ileth to this party sexually assaults her but is stopped before things get too bad by one of her peers.

Nothing happens to the older boy who assaulted her and nothing happens to any of the other teenagers breaking the rules. Ileth is now considered tainted and must be moved from the respectable lodging she had in the girls manor to the dragon dancers of ill-repute who serve a valuable function to the dragons by dancing in front of them (and any other audience present) in barely her underclothes. Boys and men leer at her and even the dragons are sexist because they like smelling the sweat of girls dancing for them because it calms them down or bewitches them. The entire series spends significant energy with even the characters trying to convince themselves that their dancing isn’t erotic in any way.

The other girls mentioned in this series are all stereotypes, filling stereotypical roles. A moon-faced friendly girl named Quith spends the series focused on gossip, fashion, and prospective boys. A rich beautiful girl named Santeel Dun Troot is cruel to Ileth, often secretly sabotaging her, though we’re supposed to believe they’re friends by the end of the second book and there are definitely some aspects of friendship there, but not in the sense that Santeel would ever voluntarily be seen socializing with Ileth. Gandy is seen as chatty shallow and nice. Galia is the girl who came from nothing who decided to give up her dragon oaths so she could marry into foreign royalty. Lady Raal (does she even have a name of her own?) is the refined disabled governess with impeccable manners.

And those in charge of Ileth in the second book say that maybe she’s better with the dragons because of her masculine aspect because she keeps her hair short and doesn’t partake of the feminine pursuits. This is after the dragoneer trainees all have to complete physically exhausting manual labor tasks but Ileth, Qith, and another girl in their group who carry food and refreshments while the boys in their group move rocks. And also after Ileth wins a strategic board game against one of the Masters, who then conveniently gets sick when it looks like she might win a second game.

The icing on the misogyny cake is in the second book where it’s mentioned that the academy allows girls in because it makes the boys work harder.

The last on my list of things about the series that absolutely bothered me was the sheer lack of compassion in this series. I realize maybe it’s part of the point of the series, to show that basing everything on wealth and power means your society stagnates and leaves out or bypasses the best people for the job, but that didn’t really make this story feel better right now. Right now, you have the rich and powerful buying their way onto dragons or buying the ability to pretend someone is their daughter so they can get her to steal dragon blood (a Big Crime). There’s even sections in the book where you have to pay off what basically amounts to the health department, otherwise the health department will send your loved ones to a prison island?

You have all this wealth in the form of these young folks who are trying to “earn” a dragon and they spend it solely on themselves. Not one of them ever demonstrates a single ounce of caring for someone else. The rich don’t buy or hand down their old sashes, but burn them instead. The rich don’t see their fellow students suffering and think about ways to reduce that suffering, perhaps by helping to buy cold weather riding gear. There are no instances of the rich helping anyone else voluntarily.

Anyway. I think I’m going to rate this series as a low two on my rating scale. I’m extremely grateful I borrowed these books from the library. If a third book ever comes out, I’ll probably read it because I am curious. I probably won’t seek it out. But it did impact me enough to encourage this extremely long rant; a rant where I still have more to say but have decided this is long enough for now.

Knight, E.E.. Novice Dragoneer. Penguin Random House LLC, 2019.
Knight, E.E.. Daughter of the Serpentine. Penguin Random House LLC, 2020.

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Book Review: The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri

Posted on January 27, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

This week’s book was The Isle in the Silver Sea (fantasy, 484 pages) by Tasha Suri.

“In an England fueled by stories, the knight and the witch are fated to fall in love and doom each other over and over, the same tale retold over hundreds of lifetimes. Simran is a witch of the woods. Vina is a knight of the Queen’s court. When the two women begin to fall for each other, how can they surrender to their desires when to give in is to destroy each other? As they seek a way to break the cycle, a mysterious assassin begins targeting tales like theirs. To survive, the two will need to write a story stronger than the one that fate has given them. But what tale is stronger than The Knight and the Witch?”

One of the most fascinating parts of this book was the constant prodding that generalizations and stereotypes are harmful, constrictive, and counterproductive to the stories themselves because in this book, the stories themselves are fully flushed characters who can drive or change the plot.

In the beginning of the book, the very first story we’re told is of a white-faced queen, a blond-haired, blue-eyed male knight, and the assumption of an ugly, rotten-flesh witch. And this is the stereotype that all witches are evil, vile creatures who are also ugly because we all know that being a witch means you are ugly. And the knight, of course, is a blond-haired, blue-eyed male who shines with virtue and goodness. And the queen is also pale-faced with ruby red lips. AND THEN as the story progresses, we also get references to how “the stories were better before we had people from other places coming to the isle” and that’s the blatant racism against people who aren’t mayonnaise-colored.

This book subverts all of those harmful stereotypes and dumps them on their head and it was WONDERFUL.

The knight? A handsome and pretty knight, with a beautiful and obnoxious voice, brown eyes, brown hair, and warm tan skin. Also a woman who romanced the sister of one of her fellow knights and an effective flirt.

The witch? Dark eyes, dark skin, and a crown of fire. A woman brought to the isle as a refugee with her parents, doing her best to take care of those who are shunned and disadvantaged, and someone who has witnessed many atrocities at the hand of “the law”.

I very much appreciated how stories and librarians are enshrined in this book. The entire world is literally built on stories and the Eternal Queen sees it as her duty to protect the stories and ensure they never change, but the nature of stories is that they must learn and grow and be interpreted by people who love them or are changed by them. Even the idea of keeping stories stagnant to force things to follow set paths is contrary to what stories actually are and I loved how this was clearly demonstrated when Vina and Simran encounter the “small” stories, the whispers of forest animals, the small sounds of daily life and joy. Even the smallest story of someone’s normal day is worthy of inscription and being shared with others.

Every story is not for every person, but every story is for /some/ person. Someone out there will relate or find learning or catharsis from every story ever shared. And if a story isn’t shared, then we are all poorer for it.

This book is an ode to stories as living entities and to the librarians who protect all the stories, even the ones governments would rather smother.

This book is also an ode to becoming masters of our own fates, of choosing love and hope, even when we feel our stories are written and unchangeable.

This book is a solid four on my rating scale. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and am extremely glad it was a gift from a friend so now I own it and can reread it whenever I wish!

Suri, Tasha. The Isle in the Silver Sea. Hatchette Book Group, Inc., 2025.

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Movie Review: Mickey 17

Posted on January 26, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

This week’s movie review was for a movie that I have no information from, but I picked it up from the library based on comments I’ve seen on the internet. Mickey 17 came out last year and I didn’t know anything about it other than it dealt with cloning or something?

“Unlikely hero Mickey Barnes finds himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to his job: to die for a living.”

You know what’s fun about watching a movie you have no expectations for? Because you don’t actually know anything about it? It’s a truly unique experience.

It’s actually really rare for me to watch anything new these days, as I don’t go to the theater and I don’t have any streaming services. Those streaming platform shows I have watched are all based on existing media, usually a book series or something continuing a popular  world. So when I say I went into this movie completely blind, I mean it.

Basically, this is a science fiction movie where a bunch of religious zealots have chosen to take a multi-year journey into space to colonize a new planet following an egotistical former politician with a cult following. And we know that space is incredibly hazardous so they contract Mickey Barnes as an “expendable” – a person who dies repeatedly and then just gets reprinted. They use Mickey to document exactly what happens to a human body with radiation exposure, experiment on with new drugs, to take care of the “you will die to fix this” jobs, and in general to do everything no one wants to do.

He’s treated as a thing and not a person by everyone on the crew, with the exception of Nasha, a security person who he falls in love with who also falls in love with him.

I found the little tidbits of the history and laws of earth fascinating as a very accurate mirror to our current society. Every time we saw Kenneth and Ylfa Marshall, the resident leaders of this new colony, I was reminded about how much the very rich and influential tend to be detrimental to literally everything around them, and how often people in those positions are both heartless and soulless. They did some very horrible things and didn’t care at all about who was hurt, killed, or damaged by their actions. And they’re just like the modern billionaires, which was one of the most difficult parts of this movie – it’s alarmingly close to how our own future right now could unwind.

Overall, this was a different movie, though it did give me a lot of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind vibes, especially towards the end. I’m glad I watched it and glad I picked it up from the library. It’s possible I’ll want to see it again at some point, so I think I’ll rate it as a low three on my rating scale. It got me thinking and has a lot of important points but I don’t know that future views will be as much fun, now that I know what happens.

Mickey 17. Directed by Bong Joon Ho, performances by Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. Plan B Entertainment, 2025.

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Book Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Posted on January 21, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

This week’s book was the classic Pride and Prejudice (literary, 278 pages) by Jane Austen. This is actually the second time I’ve read this book, though the first time was exactly 13 years ago and didn’t leave me with a very positive experience. A link to my previous book review will be at the end of my current thoughts 🙂

“Jane Austen’s witty comedy of manners features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eigtheenth-century drawing-room intrigues.”

This book is definitely a look into the life and society of England in the late 1700s/early 1800s, and I think it’s a world that current me would have found absolutely infuriating. The good news is that current me does not have to live in the world described in this story and it provided me vast amounts of entertainment to think about how current me would interact in this society if I was randomly teleported back in time to this era. I would have started many scandals by simply speaking my mind without having a thousand different social cues that are supposed to mean something (but only if you know and understand them). I would also have worn “men’s clothes” and avoided societal expectations of marriage. I also would have struggled with calling everyone by their last names, or trying to keep up with which “Ms. Bennett” we’re talking about, since gossip was a primary entertainment function.

I would have been even more of a nusance to them and that society than I am today to my own 🙂

With that said, I do see why so many people list this book among their favorites. I very much understand the appeal to the reading tastes of England at that time, where this story would have functioned exactly like the happily ever after and wish fulfillment fantasies I’m sure many women had at that time, and maybe even have today.

You’ve got your “very average” family with too many people and not enough resources to support all of them, so someone needs to get married into a rich household so that you and all your sisters will be supported for the rest of your lives. No matter what era you live in, most people who are starving and on the streets don’t have the resources to live their best lives :/ And part of this average family is an intelligent father with a good enough job and a personal library, a mother who is maybe a little detached from reality, “the perfect daughter” who truly is a very good and positive individual, the wild and crazy “I will happily love ALL men” daughter, the two youngest daughters who emulate the others in their life because they don’t know any differently, and then the protaganist who is intelligent but very judgmental.

And then enters the rich men. We’re introduced to Fitzwilliam Darcy because of his association with Charles Bingley and Fitzwilliam definitely spends a good portion of the book very full of himself. When he “admits his feelings” to Elizabeth, his comments are some of the most pretentious words strung together in paragraphs. He clearly feels superior to literally everyone he interacts with and he basically tells Elizabeth that she’s super inferior but, you know, he totally digs her anyway.

It’s no surprise at all that she tells him to get lost.

I mean. It’s a surprise to him because he’s clearly never been rejected before but to the readers and to Elizabeth, his only positive trait is that he’s rich.

There’s learning and growth for both Elizabeth and for Fitzwilliam and I found that truly admirable that both of them admitted their faults at the very least to themselves if not to others or expressed through massive letters.

I read this book because I’m working on making this a special edition bookbinding project and it seemed like a good idea to familiarize myself with the text in order to provide appropriate artistic insight into the book design.

As much as this book is not something I normally read (there are no dragons, magic systems, aliens, or knights in this book), I did enjoy the cultural aspect of reading this story with the idea of making art out of it. And you know, past me was really prejudiced and full of pride. It’s kind of interesting how much a person can learn and grow in 13 years and how we learn to look at things through different lenses. I can say I appreciate this book a lot more now that I’m older with more life experience. But it’s still not a book that I need to reread so it’s going to stay as a very low two on my rating scale.

My previous book review is here: https://cajacobs.com/2013/01/16/review-pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen/

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Random House, Inc., 1996.

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Movie Review: the Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King (extended edition)

Posted on January 20, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

Finishing the story to remember hope in this world, I rewatched The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (extended edition).

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW.

“The final battle for Middle-earth begins. Frodo and Sam, led by Gollum, continue their dangerous mission toward the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy the One Ring. Aragon struggles to fulfill his legacy as he leads his outnumbered followers against the growing power of the Dark Lord Sauron, so that the Ring-bearer may complete his quest.”

“Something festers in the heart of Middle Earth.”

Yeah, that’s an understatement. Both in this movie and in our current world.

The beginning of each of these movies was such a solid way to continue the story while giving the smallest reminders to the audience about what might be happening now. So in The Return of the King, we start with Smeagol’s story and his turn into Gollum; a story so far in his own past he probably hasn’t even thought about it in lifetimes. And I say in “lifetimes” because Smeagol/Gollum is very, VERY old. Hundreds of years or more. What a strange use of long life, to have no goal, no purpose, no true joy, for hundreds of years and to just focus only on survival and eating fish in a dark cave.

Maybe that’s some sort of lesson for all of us. As much as it’s feels maybe better for our mental health, especially these days, to just hide from the world while it burns down, eventually, the world will come for us. And when it does, it won’t be pleasant. But if you fight for your world, even when it all feels hopeless, you can bring hope to others and buy enough time for others to gather enough strength to save the world in whatever small ways they can.

The interesting part about this story is how it’s not the typical heroes who save the day. In The Two Towers, Merry and Pippin are responsible for Isengard’s fall because they convince Trebeard to rally the ents. It’s Pippin who lights the beacon, which brings Rohan to the battle. It’s Ewoyn who destroys the Witch King on the battlefield. Here, it’s not Isildur’s Heir who saves the day. Yes, he gathers and leads the armies of men, but he functions mostly as a distraction to keep Sauron’s eyes on away from Frodo and Sam. And it’s Frodo and Sam, and even Gollum, who ultimately save the day. Though, Gollum saving the day is absolutely accidental, as his only goal was to get back “his precious”, which leads to his death and the destruction of the ring when Frodo’s strength finally failed him.

Overall, this movie continues the trend of being a solid five on my rating scale. I’m very glad I bought the special extended edition three pack on blu-ray and dvd. I have rewatched these movies frequently and will continue to do so in the future.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Directed by Peter Jackson, performances by Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Savies, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom,  Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, and Andy Serkis, with Ian Holm and Sean Bean. New Line Cinema, 2003 and 2012.

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Book Review: Trickster’s Queen by Tamora Pierce

Posted on January 13, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

I was extremely excited when the library notified me about the interlibrary loan of Trickster’s Queen (Young Adult Fantasy, 444 pages) by Tamora Pierce.

“Aly: No longer just a master spy, but a master of spies. Can she balance her passion for justice and her compassion for others, and at what cost?
Sarai: Beautiful, dramatic, and rash – will she fulfill the role chosen for her by destiny?
Dove: She has always stood in Sarai’s shadow. Can she prove to the world that she herself is a force to be reckoned with?
Nawat: Half crow, half man. He wants Aly for his life mate, but will the revolution make that impossible as they step into new roles to change the future?”

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW.

I was maybe a little surprised that this book skipped the entire winter at Tanair Castle on Lombyn Island, but it does make sense from a publishing perspective because there really isn’t much plot-relevant conflict. The family mourned, everyone did chores and found ways to amuse themselves during the winter, Aly trained other spies, and Sarai refused to continue sword lessons. Those last two points are fairly important to the rest of the story for character development purposes and I’m not really sure if someone who didn’t read the prologue would have the same experience. (I only mention this because I do actually know people who don’t read prologues).

There were two paragraphs in this book that really struck me because this is a fantasy book published in 2004 and these paragraphs could easily be used today.

‘”Idiots,” whispered Dove contemptuously. “Don’t they realize the whole city knows what it means when they put men in plate armor on the palace walls? Why not paint a sign that says We’re frightened and hang it on the gates?”‘ (Pierce, page 55).

and

“Did the regents understand how much they revealed by ordering their men to break up gatherings? Surely they’d been around government long enough to know it was a bad idea to let people know you feared them in groups that were not even very large.” (Pierce, page 117).

I guess for the context of this post in the future, when it’s possible someone might not be living in these interesting times of 2026 with us in the United States of America, for the last year, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement has become an armed, armored, and masked entity using force and intimidation to assault U.S. citizens, immigrants, and non-white people on the streets of U.S. cities. This entity continues to upgrade their personnel equipment, adding body armor, assault rifles, and helmets and driving unmarked vehicles.

The parallels in some of the sections of this book and the current world in which I live are extremely interesting to me, especially farther into the book when the rulers behave in more and more unstable ways.

This is one of the many reasons why reading science fiction and fantasy stories is actually crucial to how we develop has humans. Even though we don’t necessarily live in a world of magic and fantasy, we’ve all seen tyranny, we’ve all witnessed (or experienced ourselves) the plights of workers against the wealthy. We’ve seen starvation and deprivation. And when we read these fantasy and science fiction stories, we see people who see others suffering and do something about it. We see justice served to greedy evil people and kindness and compassion win the day.

These stories give us hope that every small kindness can work towards a bigger goal; a goal where we can create and live in a world governed by compassion and selflessness.

Dove is the prime example of what truly caring about your people looks like. She isn’t flashy and beautiful like Sarai, but she does genuinely care. She goes into the market and talks to everyone about how their business is doing, their families, what might impact their ability to live, and she listens. She pays attention when the merchants show concern about bad harvests and upset trade routes. She pays attention to book sellers and cloth merchants and workers on the dock. Even more interesting to me is that Dove spends all of the previous book and over half of this book believing Sarai will be the Trickster’s Queen but I’ve felt this whole series as though Dove was a much better fit for the role.

As it turns out, my feelings were correct!

I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Sarai but I also didn’t expect her to elope to Carthak with a healer. I’m glad she did, though, because it means she’ll get to have a happy life instead of the trap of royalty.

This was a good book and the series was a satisfying read, though I’m still not thrilled with how a happy ending for women means marriage and children because Aly and Nawat do wind up married and expecting at the end of the book. Overall, I’m going to rate this probably as a high three on my rating scale. While I did borrow it from the library, I might see if I can find a used copy to pick up somewhere. And I am probably likely to reread the series again.

Pierce, Tamora. Trickster’s Queen. Random House, Inc., 2004.

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Movie Review: the Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers (extended edition)

Posted on January 12, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

Continuing my need to remember hope in this world, I rewatched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (extended edition).

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW.

“The Fellowship has broken, but the quest to destroy the One Ring continues. Frodo and Sam must entrust their lives to Gollum if they are to find their way to Mordor. As Saruman’s army approaches, the surviving members of The Fellowship, along with the people and creatures from Middle-earth, prepare for battle. The War of the Ring has begun.”

This is definitely the dark part of the story.

Frodo and Sam are lost in the misty crags. Merry and Pippin are captives of the Uruk-hai. Aragon, Legolas, and Gimli have been running for three days with no food. Gandalf and the Balrog fought through the center of the world.

Like. Nothing is going okay, directly from the beginning of the movie.

Gollum apparently lives to be dramatic. So much drama.

But it’s obvious from Frodo’s first interactions with Smeagol/Gollum that Frodo sees his own future in Gollum. Frodo sees how the One Ring drove Gollum to obsession and madness. He’s seen how the One Ring impacts literally everyone around him, from Bilbo’s lapses to Lady Galadriel’s terrifying “dark queen” routine, and then Boromir’s change from protector to almost-thief/enemy. He’s seen the wraiths of the nine kings of men. He’s seen how horrible everything is for everyone who interacts with the One Ring. But he knows that if he doesn’t do something, the world he loves, the world of song, dance, and comaradarie will die, as well everyone he knows and loves. He also maybe hopes that by treating Smeagol as a person, with kindness, perhaps if he becomes that far gone, someone will in turn treat him with kindness.

So, yes, it’s pity that stays Frodo’s hand and doesn’t kill him, but it’s also understanding.

The lack of women in this entire story really does bother me. I know it’s a product of the times from when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote these books as first a bed time story for his son with The Hobbit. Treebeard’s comments about how the Entwives left and they don’t remember what they look like and that’s why there haven’t been Ent children in ages is an uncomfortable discussion. The entire population of non-males have “wives” in their name? As though that is the only purpose they could possibly serve? Not that they could be individual people in their own rights?

And then the only named women in this movie are Arwen from the Rivendell elves and Eowyn, a shieldmaiden of Rohan; both of whom are romantically interested in Aragon, though they are characters of true depth and each of them changes the course of the war against Sauron, in their own ways. But, on the other side of things, I know that adding more women into this story would just add more sexism and stupidity because societal expectations of men like to enforce societal gender norms on women.

I could write entire essays on women in fantasy settings but I don’t really want to focus on that right now.

But, really, for me, Samwise Gamgee is the absolute heart of this entire story.

“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”

And I don’t really have anything else to add after that. Because what the world needs the most right now is hope.

Obviously, this movie is another five on my rating scale. Seeing this movie in the theater many years ago was a moving and motivational experience and I’m glad I bought the extended blu-ray trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Directed by Peter Jackson, performances by Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Savies, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom,  Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, and Andy Serkis, New Line Cinema, 2002 and 2012.

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Book Review: Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce

Posted on January 6, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

My first book for 2026 was Trickster’s Choice (Fantasy, 403 pages) by Tamora Pierce.

“Aly: a slave with the talents of a master spy, a fabled lineage she must conceal, and the dubious blessing of a trickster god.
Sarai: a passionate, charming teenage noblewoman who, according to prophecy, will bring an end to a cruel dynasty.
Dove: the younger sister of Sarai; she has a calculating mind and hidden depths that have yet to be plumbed.
Nawat: a magical young man with a strangely innocent outlook and an even stranger past; Aly’s one true friend in a world where trust can cost you your life.”

Trickster’s Choice does a wonderful job with having absolutely non-standard characters, the first of which is Alianne, the daughter of the Lionness and the King of Thieves turned second-in-command of Tortall’s spies, being the one to develop the skills of an international spymaster. I don’t know that I’ve read any story where the spymaster was a well-balanced woman without Childhood Trauma, whose parents are very much both alive and who love her. She’s also smart with a cunning eye and I very much enjoy her sense of humor.

Nawat is obviously a lot of fun, as are the crows in general. The relationship between the crows and the raka is so much fun! How both sides just accepts the other without blinking. I especially enjoyed when Nawat is introduced to the raka as being a former crow and everyone is just like, “Yep. That tracks. No wonder he eats bugs, runs really fast without effort, and behaves oddly.” And they just … go with it. No questions or other background. Though, his constant pressure on Aly to mate and have nestlings is a little uncomfortable to me, it makes sense from the perspective of a crow.

Sarai and Dove are both very good noble ladies, though Sarai’s love of riding and Dove’s cleverness are both noteworthy, as is Dove and Aly’s reactions to Sarai’s involvement with Prince Bronau. Dove is fantastic when she’s basically like, “He’s old, gross, and desperate. You shouldn’t have anything to do with him” while Aly’s thoughts are more along the lines of, “This is the just the kind of messing around I used to do back home but holy buckets is it cheesy and easy to see through when you aren’t one of the participants.”

I have a lot of respect for Duke Mequen and Duchess Winnamine, especially as the story progresses. I read the prologue for Trickster’s Queen, the next book in this series, and I wonder if the Balitangs themselves actually know that Aly is their spymaster. Duchess Winnamine is very astute and catches on to things very quickly and there are hints throughout Trickster’s Choice to indicate she has at least a small inkling of Aly’s true purpose. After seeing Aly’s da at the end of this book, and him having even provided his true name of Cooper, I suspect Duchess Winnamine knows more than she lets on. I also suspect she won’t survive through the end of the next book, which is rather unfortunate.

I’m a little bit torn about how to rate this book. The story is very interesting and the characters are completely relatable. And I know I’m not supposed to judge past books based on current experiences and knowledge, but it’s really difficult for me to be comfortable with the obvious romantic set up between Aly and Nawat. I’m getting so used to reading stories where the happy ending means the main character doesn’t have to wind up in a relationship or if there are relationships, those relationships are mostly along the lines of equal partnerships, but I remember how so many books from previous decades were required to have the only happy ending available to women – to find a husband and have children. I definitely enjoyed this book and I liked the little references to other important figures in Tortall’s history, even though all the main women leads are now married with children, which goes towards my point about what is allowed or encouraged for stories with women as the main character.

And that just rubs me the wrong way.

So overall, I definitely enjoyed this book immensely. It’s a good, fast read and the characters are a lot of fun. And there really aren’t any forced het relationships (yet) because Aly is still not involved with Nawat, though it’s clear she is enticed with him and he clearly wants to mate with her. But for the most part, there’s not much in the way of newly-established relationships in this book. I think I will rate it as a three on my rating scale. I’ll probably read it again at some point but that’s very much going to depend on how much I enjoy the next book 🙂

Pierce, Tamora. Trickster’s Choice. Random House, Inc., 2004.

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Movie Review: the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition)

Posted on January 5, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

I didn’t realize I haven’t done a movie review for almost exactly two years. Given the state of the world right now, I really wanted to watch something with hope, friendship, and the idea that even the smallest good deeds can make a positive difference in the entire world.

Thus, a rewatch of the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW.

“With the help of a courageous fellowship of friends and allies, Frodo embarks on a perilous mission to destroy the legendary One Ring. Hunting Frodo are servants of the Dark Lord, Sauron, the Ring’s evil creator. If Sauron reclaims the Ring, Middle-earth is doomed. Winner of four Academy Awards, this epic tale of good versus evil, friendship and sacrifice will transport you to a world beyond imagination.”

One of the key components to this movie, for me, is the absolutely iconic music. I don’t know that I ever actually heard of Howard Shore before Peter Jackson’s the Lord of the Rings movies, but right from the beginning of this movie, the music dredges up so many memories. I even have the soundtracks from all three movies. The music for the Shire is so vastly different than the music anytime the elves show up, or the nazgul, or when the fellowship is traveling, or when the Uruk-hai are chasing the fellowship, or the riders of Rohan. The music is powerful and moving and just incredibly well done. I could probably do entire posts about the emotional impact of each scene of music in the Fellowship of the Ring, but suffice to say, the music is amazing.

“It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life,” Bilbo Baggins, writing in “There and Back Again: A Hobbit’s Tale” at the beginning narration of the movie. I feel like we don’t have the ability to celebrate the simple things in life right now and that makes me sad. And I very much know this is my own personal reflection on the current times we are living in because I feel like we are all slaves to the grind. Most of us are barely keeping our heads above water and it feels like all any of us have time for is going to work, getting ready for work, and doing basic chores to stay alive.

Seeing the Shrine and the hobbits living a “simple” life, just getting ready for Bilbo’s birthday celebration, inspires a love of a more technologically free society. But I do very much know that lives as depicted in the Shire are not nearly as simple or carefree as the hobbits’ lives.

The different areas and the locations of this movie are truly astounding. Each area has such a different flavor. The Shrine is clean and colorful with growing things and everyone’s houses are spaced out. This is a severe contrast to the places of men or the elves the hobbits travel through, starting with the human settlement of Bree, which the hobbits arrive at on a dark and stormy night. The streets are close together and everything is dark and confining. Bree offers the illusion of protection; a place with walls doesn’t leave you really room to move or be free. Walls can keep things out, but also people in. But then when the hobbits arrive at Rivendale, it’s such an absolutely beautiful transition. The city of the elves is shown to be spacious, with trees and waterfalls, and ancient architecture, and Elrond mentions to Gandalf that the power of the ring can’t be hidden in Rivendale. So again, those people and places the hobbits have been led to believe will be safe for them are places they can’t stay. And Lothlorien has no walls.

“It’s long since we had any hope,” Boromir in Lothlorien during the elven lament to Gandalf. And wow, do I feel that in my bones right now, especially coming from Boromir. The extended edition shows a lot more of Boromir and casts him in a completely different light than the theatrical release of this movie. We see Boromir wanting only to protect his people and then to protect the hobbits. I think because all of the “heavy hitters” like Gandalf and Aragorn, and maybe even Legolas and Gimli, are focused on protecting just Frodo, Boromir focuses more on Merry Brandybuck and Peregrin Took (Pippin). We see Boromir teaching sword fighting to Merry and Pippin and every time danger shows up, Boromir’s first words and actions are to protect Merry and Pippin. He continues to fight until the very end, even though he says so many times in this movie that there is no hope, especially not for his people. But he keeps trying to do better. He keeps trying to help, even though he makes mistakes. He makes mistakes and he owns how his behavior has hurt Frodo and then he sacrifices himself by protecting Merry and Pippin as long as possible.

So many people on the internet and in scholarly circles have posted in-depth character analysis of every character and their development throughout the movies and one can easily get lost down many rabbit holes of research when doing even a basic internet search. If the minutia analytics fascinate you, there are many rabbit holes for you to find 🙂

And I really do believe that’s one of the strongest messages of this movie. You can be far over your head in most situations but still try your hardest to protect your friends. From Boromir’s sacrifice to Gandalf’s stand off with the balrog, and even Merry and Pippin fighting the cave troll in the Mines of Moria, everyone in the Fellowship contributes to the quest.

The world feels like a continuous dumpster fire, with every day bringing new horrors. Evil is gaining more of a foothold and the world feels more overwhelming and hopeless every day. And then the servants of evil are getting bolder, murdering or enslaving anyone in their path, while the heroes are splintered, hunted, and endangered.

Funny how that description could either belong to The Fellowship of the Ring or to the actual real world in which we live right now.

The Fellowship of the Ring doesn’t end with all the heroes happy and healthy and the quest complete. It’s the first movie in a known trilogy. In fact, it’s a pretty dark ending. Gandalf is lost. Boromir is dead. Merry and Pippin are captured by the Uruk-Hai and taken off towards Isengard. Frodo and Sam have left the others and are heading alone on the darkest path of the movie. The Fellowship is broken with 2/9 of their party gone and 2/9 captured. That’s almost half of the companions dead or prisoners.

This movie is about hope, for all the darkness inherent therein. Never believe in your own limitations. Never believe what others believe you can or can’t do. Never stop fighting, or caring for the people who matter to you. Keep going. Your actions may seem small and insignificant, but every little bit matters.

Overall, this movie is easily a five on my rating scale. I am grateful to have seen this movie in the theater, many years ago when it first came out, and I am equally grateful I purchased the entire extended blu-ray movie trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Directed by Peter Jackson, performances by Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Savies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, and Andy Serkis, New Line Cinema, 2001 and 2021.

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Goals and Thoughts for 2026

Posted on January 1, 2026 by C.A. Jacobs

I didn’t realize it’s been about 18 months since the last time I posted. 2025 has continued the trend of being an absolute garbage dumpster fire. I’ve struggled with having or finding the energy for many things in my life but I think it’s time for me to get back to having goals and things to work towards.

Here are some things I’d like to accomplish in 2026:

1. I’d like to get back to the habit I had of reading one book a week and posting a review. While I have easily been reading at least a book a week, I definitely haven’t been posting any reviews.

2. I’d also like to get back into the habit of posting one movie or tv show a week. This one might be harder since I don’t watch very many things. But I guess we’ll see.

3. I want to make at least two books completely from scratch this year. I will probably make at least one when I take one of my American Academy of Bookbinding classes this year, but I’d also like to make two completely on my own, outside of class.

4. A couple of years ago, I started work on the History of LEGO Castle and the History of LEGO Elves. I’d like to finish both of those projects.

5. I’d like to finish my mapping project and notes for both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

6. How long has it been since I actively worked on my writing? Or submitted anything for publication? It’s been a bit. So. I guess I would like to submit at least five things for publication this year.

7. I’d like to keep my job and maybe build up a bit of a savings account.

8. Do we think I can actually get my library cleaned up and useable at some point this year? I have no idea. But it seems like something that would definitely make my life better 🙂

9. Having all my LEGO nicely inventoried and put away correctly is a massive daydream. But if I at least try to work on it, maybe I’ll make enough progress to be satisfied?

10. I want to spend at least one of my weekends per month exploring my home. Maybe going on camping trips to the National Parks or the State Parks.

So. That’s it, then. The 10 things that would help me get my life back on track. I have many hopes for this year but I also acknowledge the world in which we currently live. So.

Treat each other like brothers and sisters and be a positive steward to the planet in which we live 🙂

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