Dear Author... } Humanity has come a long way by the year 2380 in “Aurora Rising,” written by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. Countless alien species and planets have been discovered, wars have been fought and humanity’s presence has stretched across galaxies. Aurora Academy is a military training academy located millions of light years away from Earth, and Tyler Jones is at the top of his class. At graduation he should theoretically be able to pick the best of the best for his squad, but his plans go awry when he rescues a girl from cryosleep on a strange spaceship. Tyler is not only stuck with this girl, Auri, but also the rejects that no other squad leader wanted. Auri discovers she has strange powers, and the earthen government declares her and the squad fu-
“Aurora Rising”
by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
gitives. The squad is pursued across the galaxy by the government and during this, they discover a secret that could destroy the entire galaxy. It was interesting to see how the authors imagined life 300 years into the future. Different alien species were involved with the entirety of the book, and in a way it reminded me of Star Wars. I wish more of the galaxy was shown in the book though. As it was, “Aurora Rising” felt a little bland, in more than one way. The characters needed a bit more work; one of their traits were too similar to the other characters. At first, each character’s narration was unique, but over time these grew to be similar and uniform too. The authors needed to include more backstory for each character to help diversify them.
The entire book was action packed, and I never knew what was going to happen next. The very end of the book was the best part because a lot of things that happened earlier finally made sense. The ending easily held my attention and was most definitely not bland, unlike the rest of the story. While “Aurora Rising” may not have been the best book, there is plenty of room for improvement later in the series. I am looking forward to seeing how the characters develop and how they deal with the obstacles the universe throws their way.
Signed, Rita Nicholson Copy Editor
New streaming service provides more Disney content Baylee Comer Co-Editor-in-Chief
With all the streaming services now available (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and now Apple TV), Disney decided to throw its hat into the ring with its new service, Disney+.
At only $7 per month, Disney+ received 10 million sign ups on the first day the service opened. A membership includes access to not only Disney movies and shows but also content from Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucusfilms and National Geographic. Even with all the content on the service,
Photo by Baylee Comer
Megan Hardin (12) and Alyssa Stagnolia (12) huddle around Riley Pool (12) while the girls watch Disney+, the new streaming service provided by Disney which made its debut Nov. 12.
there are still certain films missing. Among these are the popular titles of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Thor: Ragnarok and even Black Panther. Due to streaming rights with Netflix, Disney+ is unable to add the movies and shows that are featured on Netflix until the contract between Netflix and Disney ends. Even though they are missing some content, Disney+ is still full of must-see shows that have ended up on my watch list. Shows that I grew up with as a kid have seemingly made a comeback, such as Twitches and Phineas and Ferb. I like how user-friendly the service is, and I like that it feels similar to Hulu’s setup. I have always felt Netflix seems to cluttered the TV with too many pictures, graphics and words, but I feel that Disney+ has met a happy medium. I like that they do not show summaries unless you click on the icon for the movie or TV show. Overall, I believe that it is a very child-friendly service. However, after a week of having the membership, the shows became repetitive. Disney
has already released a few original movies and shows on the service like “The Mandalorian,” Noelle and “The World According to Jeff Goldblum.” Soon, the company plans to release more original content, even from Marvel Studios, which has many shows lined up, such as “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” which will be released some time next year. As of right now, the service is worth the money spent, but it does not have any binge-worthy content besides that of the Star Wars saga and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Within the next year, Disney+ will be much improved in original content, and it will soon have diverse content for all audiences. Features
December 2019
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