dragons

Book Talk – Fantasy Fun – Dragons

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What do you think of when you hear the word “fantasy?” Does it make you think of magic and far off places? Heroes going on epic quests? Fantastical creatures? Dragons?

Years ago, I was reading advice published from a fantasy author to aspiring authors. Her advice to those wanting to break into the genre was to never write about dragons. Why? It’s overdone, she said. I remember reading this and feeling a bit confused. Why shouldn’t fantasy authors write about dragons if they want to? Aren’t dragons a staple of the fantasy genre? Aren’t they popular for a reason?

I can also understand that some fantasy novels may throw dragons into their stories because of some sort of expectation that a fantasy novel or series should have dragons in it. I’m sure there was a point in time where every fantasy book had at least one dragon thrown in there are one point or another. After all, Tolkein had a dragon, so shouldn’t all fantasy have dragons?

Well, the answer to that would actually be no. And I think that is the beauty of fantasy, you don’t have to have certain things to have a successful novel. Authors are literally making it all up in their heads! They can do anything they want. So, you want dragons? Yes, have dragons! You want other mystical creatures, great! There are no set rules.

Now, you may think that you don’t want to read or write a book just like every other book currently out there. You want something new! Something unique. And why shouldn’t you? No one is forcing you to read or write about dragons but, admit it, you are a fantasy fan you and love dragons!

Like many other magical creatures, the role of dragons has changed over the years. At one time, dragons were only a monster to defeat, an obstacle for the hero to over come in order to carry on with his quests. Knights would rescue damsels in distress who had been kidnapped by dragons (because everyone knows dragons love maidens). They’ve gone from being evil or an enemy to companions and even gods.

I personally love to read novels about dragons. I’d love to read even more! Got any recommendations for me?

What are some of your favorite dragon books? Let me know in the comments!

Adventures in Mobile Gaming – Merge Dragons/Magic

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As I mentioned in my previous post about Cat Game, Merge Dragons and Merge Magic were two games that I got really into during my 4 months working at home.

Both games are essentially the same. In one game you have different sorts of dragons that you can collect and merge to create better ones. In the other game, you have creatures such as dryads, centaurs and pixies.

Above is my current camp in Merge Dragons and below is my current garden in Merge Magic.

Other than the colours, they’re pretty similar.

As the names suggest, the main action of these games is merging objects together to create new objects. There are levels you can play and quests you can complete in your camp/garden to get stars. The regular yellow stars give you items. The purple stars give you gems. As with anything in this game, the more you merge the stars, the better items you get. Always merge your stars to their largest size.

On weekends, there are special events. Usually the games rotate between weekend so that there isn’t an event in both games at the same time. But, other weekends, there is an event in both games and then you have to get crafty. (More on that later)

Events give you a whole new map to heal, collect items for points and complete quests. Completing the events will get you awesome stuff, which always includes a new dragon/creature or two.

While the events give you awesome prizes, completing them can be tedious. In order for your dragons/creatures to work at harvesting stuff, the game needs to be open and in the event. No progress will be made if the screen of your phone or tablet is locked. This means that I usually leave the game running while I’m doing other things and let my dragons/creatures work away.

Considering it can sometimes take the whole weekend to complete an event, the developers having an event in both games as the same time can be quite annoying. If you play both games, you may have to get creative. Personally, i have two iphones, though I only use one as an actual phone. I can switch between games on different phones. Hardcore nerd? Yes, yes I am.

What I really love about these games is that there is always something to do. Even if you never play any of the levels or participate in the events, there always so much going on in your camp/garden (especially when you have more than a few dragons/creatures) that you can easily spend hours playing. And if you decide that you don’t want to play for awhile, your dragons/creatures will still be there when you return like no time passed at all.

I would highly recommend one or the other of these games. If I had to choose one over the other, I think I would choose Merge Magic. This is purely for aesthetic reasons and nothing to do with the game itself. I just happen to like the colours and the creatures better in Merge Magic.

Would I recommend playing both games? Yes and no. I like and enjoy both but as you get higher in levels, unlock more of your camp/garden and get into the events, playing both games could get demanding.

Either way, the choice is yours. Play both, play one or play none!

Do you play Merge Dragons or Merge Magic? I’d love to see your progress in the comments!

Thanks for reading.