20 Random Facts About Me - #4

Remember when I used to make these lists? Probably not, but here are 20 more facts that you may or may not have known about me.

1. Some facts mentioned in the previous lists are no longer valid, considering how much time has passed.
2. I've been taking Latin for two years, and I don't plan to stop now.
3. It's cliché, but my favorite food is pizza.
4. I'd pick Star Wars over Star Trek any day.
5. I have some of the best friends in the world.
6. I hate fluorescent lights, but I love streetlights.
7. I've never owned a cell phone for more than a month.
8. I'm a Tolkien nerd.
9. I want to name my daughter Shadrika ("ruler of the shadows").
10. I've recently become hooked on graphic novels.
11. Despite popular opinion of the movie, I didn't like The Dark Knight.
12. One of my life goals is to someday attend E3.
13. I find dubstep annoying, for the most part.
14. I find the rap genre annoying, for the most part.
15. The first real band I ever saw in concert was Sidewalk Prophets.
16. I can play piano... but only sort of.
17. I ended that sentence with a preposition.
18. I'm not a fan of January, and I'm not too keen on February either.
19. I preferred the last Blogger layout, but I'm not complaining.
20. I no longer consider myself a writer.

I hope you learned something highly unimportant today.

Click here for 20 Random Facts About Me - #1
Click here for 20 Random Facts About Me - #2
Click here for 20 Random Facts About Me - #3

The Circle Series: Visual Edition by Ted Dekker

If you know me, you probably know I've been a Ted Dekker fan for a long time. Some of his stories I can't stand, while others are simply amazing. One of Dekker's most well-known works is his Books of History Chronicles, which ties several of his series and standalone novels together. That all started with the Circle Trilogy, released back in 2004. It was the Circle that introduced readers to the wondrous fantasy world of Other Earth, and it set the foundations for many spectacular stories to come.

The Circle Series: Visual Edition contains the complete graphic novels Black: The Birth of Evil, Red: The Heroic Rescue, and White: The Great Pursuit, based on their counterpart novels of the same names. The fourth and final novel in the literary series, Green: The Beginning and the End (or Green: The Last Stand) has not yet been adapted into graphic novel format. This is fine, and actually a good thing, because it works better as the standalone sequel to three of Dekker's series, and should only be read after reading all of its predecessors.

The Visual Edition is surprisingly pretty good. I actually liked the art style once I got used to it. It still follows the same story as the novels, of course, but it feels largely abridged. This is needed, so that it will even fit in comic format, but it doesn't feel like it tells the full story. It would be confusing and probably cheesy to people who have not already experienced the story.

My biggest complaint with the Visual Edition of the Circle Series is that it's not a good place to start the story for those who have not read the novels. Because the creators had to skip a lot of content, the plot feels slightly rushed and confusing. In addition, my favorite scene from the novel White was removed altogether.

In conclusion, it's a fun and cool way to revisit the world of the Circle, but only to those who have already experienced the trilogy. I would not recommend it those who haven't yet taken the plunge.