Disney's 101 Dalmatians

Geekerella: A Fangirl Fairy Tale by Ashley Poston

This book was everything I hoped it would be. It was a very tongue in cheek look at nerdlife and fandom, while staying true to the Cinderella retelling plot without making it feel forced. Starfield, the made up show in the story, is well introduced and so well explained I wish it was a real show, or a book (hint hint wink wink). I could easily see the author pulling a Rainbow Rowell and bringing the made-up fandom to life in another book.

Main character Danielle, Elle for short, is our Cinderella. She is a hardcore Starfield fan thanks to her father who basically invented the yearly con, ExcelsiCon, for Starfield. Unfortunately he father died leaving her with her wicked stepmother Catherine and the twins, her "ugly" step-sisters, Chloe who is shallow and selfish and the archetype of a mean girl; and Calliope or Cal, who is quite and just goes along with everything. Elle works on a vegan food truck called the Magic Pumpkin in Charleston, South Carolina with her co-worker Sage, who becomes Elle's best friend/fairy godmother.

Now for the prince. Actor Darien Freeman, and closet nerd has been cast as Federation Prince Carmindor in the Starfield reboot movie. Darien is your typical actor in a reboot in the sense the fandom is heckling him, thinking he won't do it justice. Darien fears that himself as a huge fan of the original Starfield. He tries to contact the founder of Excelsicon to cancel his appearance there and accidentally reaches Elle. They begin texting and form a friendship over the span of months that Darien is filming the Starfield movie and Elle is learning to be herself, and that she hasn't lost everything we she lost her Dad.

I really enjoyed this book, it brought joy to my nerd loving heart. I loved all the references to other fandoms, and quotes. It was everything a fangirl could want. I like the fairy tale aspect of it, I mean how often have fans dreamed of meeting the actor (or actress) behind their favorite character and imagined falling in love? By tumblr's calculations, hella many times. This book brought all the warm fuzzy feelings I had when I read Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, and my love of fairy tales together. I actually pre-ordered this book so I can shelve it next to Fangirl and coyly look at them and relive our adventures together.

I would highly recommend this book!

Marco Polo (2014)

Everything I love gets cancelled. Firefly, Dollhouse, Terminator Sarah Conner Chronicles, Star-Crossed, and now Netflix's incredible and visually stunning show Marco Polo.

Marco Polo tells the tale of the titular character's journey to the Mongolian Empire and subsequent service to Kublai Khan. In the beginning Marco is a young man living in Venice after the death of his mother several years prior. His father Niccolỏ Polo returns to Venice to find his wife dead and a son he never knew about. Marco wants to travel with his father but Niccolỏ and Marco's uncle, Maffeo, refuse, causing Marco to stow aboard their ship and join them anyway. Through a montage we see the rigors of traveling across the world to the Mongolian Empire.

When Marco and his family makes it to the court of Kublai Khan, Marco is mystified by the grandeur of the Mongolian Empire. Niccolỏ and Maffeo are desperate to travel and trade along the legendary silk road, and Niccolỏ, despite displeasing the Khan for not bringing priests to Kublai, offers his son's service to the Khan in order to acquire the necessary requirements to travel the Silk Road. Marco must now navigate the dangers of Kublai's court as a Latin foreigner, unused to the customs of the Mongolian people. Marco will make friends and enemies as world's collide.

Marco Polo was an amazing show. I am a huge lover of historical shows like Vikings and now The Medici, but Marco Polo was in a different class than those aforementioned shows. Marco Polo is the explorer every kid learns about in school, he's who inspired Christopher Columbus to set sail in 1492. How many summers have countless children spent in the pool shouting "Marco" and waiting with baited breath for the return call of "Polo"? This show takes the legend and strips it down to show us the man. Marco is a scared child in the beginning, but he finds the Khan to be the father figure he has always craved and he works hard to please the Khan and make a place for himself in this strange world. This show takes you past the bloodthirsty reputation of Kublai Khan that proceeds him and shows us the cunning politician, and caring leader underneath his ruthless veneer. Other lesser know historical characters are also brought to life, The Blue Princess, Kokachin, Prince Jingham, Khutulan, and Jia Sidao to name a few.

I am extremely disappointed with Netflix's decision to cancel Marco Polo, but I am too bitter familiar with this process to believe that another network would ever pick up this show. Thankfully CW has announced that Legend's of Tomorrow is being picked up for another season so I have something to cling to whilst I cry bitter tears of resentment because the ending of Marco Polo season two left me with more questions than answers.