A splendid gateway to the world of treehouse building that just might inspire users to take a crack at creating a little...
The real-life Rivendell awaits in an app that captures the arboreal awesomeness that exists, not in Middle Earth, but within the borders of the United States.
Occurring like magical outposts of the imagination, the six spectacular structures that are lovingly profiled within this tidy and well-organized app demand to be experienced. And thanks to wonderfully produced videos, carefully shot photos and immersive 360-degree panoramas, they are. Cameras slowly rise up retractable ladders and carefully bend around planked walkways, perfectly mimicking what it must be like to explore the Hermitage, Treetop Tavern, WC Ranch, Heidi’s, the Free Spirit Spheres and Jack’s Treehouse in person. The verdant forests of cedar, fir and maple that cradle these architectural wonders almost seem tangible, the rough bark right there on the other side of the touch screen’s smooth glass. But the virtual endeavor is only one aspect of the overall experience. This is an app that earnestly and enthusiastically encourages the ultimate form of interactivity. Its creators fully anticipate that the treasures to be found nestled in the Pacific Northwest will compel some to look at the timber standing outside their own backyard windows and wonder about the possibilities. In addition to putting the forest in your hands, the app includes expert tips on building your own treehouse, as well as the blueprints for replicating each of the remarkable treetop dwellings discussed. Construction details, in fact, prove to be just as fascinating as the finished product, and they are treated with the same importance. The creators are passionate about treehouses, and that dedication and attention to detail is evident in the simple and seamless navigation and well-conceived content.
A splendid gateway to the world of treehouse building that just might inspire users to take a crack at creating a little wonderment of their own. (Requires iOS 6.1 and above.)Pub Date: April 29, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Ten Thunder LLC
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
The plot is absurd, of course, but the book is a definitive pleasure. Prepare to be absorbed—and in more ways than one.
Another Brown (Inferno, 2013, etc.) blockbuster, blending arcana, religion, and skulduggery—sound familiar?—with the latest headlines.
You just have to know that when the first character you meet in a Brown novel is a debonair tech mogul and the second a bony-fingered old bishop, you’ll end up with a clash of ideologies and worldviews. So it is. Edmond Kirsch, once a student of longtime Brown hero Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist–turned–action hero, has assembled a massive crowd, virtual and real, in Bilbao to announce he’s discovered something that’s destined to kill off religion and replace it with science. It would be ungallant to reveal just what the discovery is, but suffice it to say that the religious leaders of the world are in a tizzy about it, whereupon one shadowy Knights of Malta type takes it upon himself to put a bloody end to Kirsch’s nascent heresy. Ah, but what if Kirsch had concocted an AI agent so powerful that his own death was just an inconvenience? What if it was time for not just schism, but singularity? Digging into the mystery, Langdon finds a couple of new pals, one of them that computer avatar, and a whole pack of new enemies, who, not content just to keep Kirsch’s discovery under wraps, also frown on the thought that a great many people in the modern world, including some extremely prominent Spaniards, find fascism and Falangism passé and think the reigning liberal pope is a pretty good guy. Yes, Franco is still dead, as are Christopher Hitchens, Julian Jaynes, Jacques Derrida, William Blake, and other cultural figures Brown enlists along the way—and that’s just the beginning of the body count. The old ham-fisted Brown is here in full glory (“In that instant, Langdon realized that perhaps there was a macabre silver lining to Edmond’s horrific murder”; “The vivacious, strong-minded beauty had turned Julián’s world upside down”)—but, for all his defects as a stylist, it can’t be denied that he knows how to spin a yarn, and most satisfyingly.
The plot is absurd, of course, but the book is a definitive pleasure. Prepare to be absorbed—and in more ways than one.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-51423-1
Page Count: 461
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
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