The Ability by M.M. Vaughan

The world isn't fair. We live with this every day as we go about our daily lives. Well so does Christopher Lane, the main character of my latest read. Struggling to remain in school while paying the bills and making sure his mother is fed, Chris faces many challenges. Not once does he stop to access that he may be able to ask for help, not once does he bother to think maybe he could do more for himself before anyone else. After being presented with an impossible reality that his twelve year old mind may be able to move objects through telekinesis or view the memories of the people around him, Chris is thrown into a thirty year old grudge between a pupil thought dead and those who had to live with that mistake.

Six twelve year olds including Chris; are put through intense training to prevent further harmful acts as they work to unfoil a brilliant plot which is presented to the reader early on. Realistically however, we feel the impossible stretch our limits and so the author attempts to bring it back to earth by limiting some characters' abilities while causing uncontrollable circumstances among others. 

To conclude the novel, a second grudge is presented through that of a manipulated secondary evil character; they vowel to seek revenge on our main character and we are left realing with what may occur in the second half of the 'academic year'.

I hope I did not spoil the book too much for those eager beaver readers of ours but the intensity of this novel amazed me. There is a lot of comedy presented and towards the end there is even a brutal fight scene. If anyone has read the Mysterious Benedict Society and enjoyed it, they will most definitely find joy in this novel as well. 

Most importantly, similar to many of this decade's titles; the novel pulls the reader in by making realistic connections such as not reaching your full potential. Wanting to live up to somebody's standards. Longing for a connection and a relationship that has otherwise been severed and unattainable.

Let me know what interesting perspective you took from this novel if you have the chance to read it!!

-The Original NightDweller

Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)

Mankind has come a far way. Psychology has come a far way. Yet we as a civilization still lack the acceptance of all our forms and still have yet to reach our full potential. Instead we choose to degrade people, put them on drugs that suppress their inner being.

Hitman: Agent 47 is one of the latest movies to touch on what we could accomplish if only we accessed enough our brain power. We could be assassins, see the future to make the right turn and prevent accidents, recall even our most distant memories to solve a more current dilemma. All these things and more could be made possible, but what do we have to give up to get there? Do we lose all sense of fear? Will we never be able to love somebody dear to us? Would it be worth giving up these things to be a higher order being? Maybe not. But who says we can't choose that for ourselves after we are given the opportunity to experience both.

The characters within this movie start as a either stark and set on their ways of being one thing, or elusive on a path and flamboyant as to their possibilities. It becomes clear that this has an effect on them as they spend more and more time with each other, but is it a change for the better?

A line that stuck with me throughout the movie was "We determine who we are by what we do".
This has been said by many famous historians but it never has an impact on someone until they are in a boat where they must face the opinions of others and the 'fate' that is said to be theirs. You decide what it is you are after. You have known it for quite some time it just has never been clear to you.

A tremendous movie for most ages, this film is highly recommended for all of our "secret agent" and "higher being" Nightlings.

Please let us know what you thought of the movie if you've seen it or when you see it.