Chapter 3: Monsters, Vikings, Dragons... Oh My!

It is no secret to my family and friends (and probably my roommates as well who have to see the poster outside my door everyday) that one of my favorite movies of all times is How to Train you Dragon. Yes, I realize how much I fail at being an adult. When I was younger and my mom caught glimpses of what I was reading she would always make comments about how, though she appreciated that I liked children's or young adult literature, she wished I would read some books for adults some time. When I told her about my blog last night and that I was planning to write this article she seemed really excited but a little confused for a moment. Then out of nowhere she said, "You really do have a passion for adolescent literature. Maybe that's something you should pay attention to." That really meant a lot, thanks. If you're reading this now, hi mum!

Anyways, review! Anyone who enjoyed the movie and thinks they want to read the book I should put up this comment that the plot is nothing like the movie. In some ways I think that makes it better. In the movie, it's set up where all the vikings have a hatred of dragons and Hiccup is the first one that considers the idea that they could be trained. In the book, all vikings have a pet dragon that they train to fight and fish for them however their method for training comes from a book where the only advice is "Yell at it!" Hiccup develops a new way of training that involves learning dragonese and talking with them. Both are great stories and I loved that though I already knew most of these characters I got to explore them in a new world and with different circumstances. It was a whole new adventure. I personally think more book-->movie productions should be done that way, it keeps people from complaining about how important parts were left out, blah, blah, blah.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell is one of the best children's books I've read. It's one of those stories that makes you laugh out loud with its ridiculous disregard for history, descriptions of characters so stereotypical they become caricatures, and silly details of viking life. The characters in this story really stand out. Though they may be vikings that lived thousands of years ago all of them are people you could recognize today. Everyone knows a Fishlegs, that asthmatic, allergy ridden, too talkative, nerdy kid whose good intentions don't always work well. Snotlout is another recognizable figure, that one person who is good at all the things you fail at and has no qualms about rubbing it in your face. My favorite was probably Old Wrinkly, and not just by hilarious name alone. He's Hiccup's grandfather who fancies himself a prophet purely on the grounds of his age, not that any of his predictions ever come true.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it's one of those series I want to buy every book of and someday read to my children. I'd recomend it to anyone who has an appreciation for the ridiculous and satire and, of course, dragons. Though, I have to admit that I didn't exactly "read" this book, I listened to the audiobook which is read by David Tennant (not kidding guys, I almost just wrote Doctor Tennant there XD) and I highly recommend it. He is great at doing voices and the way he does Toothless's voice is nothing short of hilarious. I've heard from some people that because I didn't read from the book itself I shouldn't be able to count it towards my word count but my response is, this is my blog. I say it counts.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (240 pages)
Judgement: Ridiculously Impressive (9 out of 10)

Note - I know I've been doing a lot of really impressed reviews here at the start but I've read some crap in the last couple of months so I promise some bad reviews are on their way!

Another Note - There was a mix up with scheduling last week, there should have been a special Friday article that was never posted (thanks a lot blogger...) but I've hopefully fixed it and there will be fun things next week! Sorry about that guys!