The Bronze Horseman movie update #4: It might be happening at last!

HUGE news from Paullina Simons overnight! She posted on her blog that the movie of her book trilogy is finally going ahead!

“Hello to my patient and wonderful fans! I know you’ve been asking me for an update on the film adaptation for The Bronze Horseman, and I’ve wished I could give one to you. And now, I finally can! So happy to tell you we’ve signed with Getaway Pictures for the series.”

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know this has been an on-again, off-again project, but after the successful adaptation of Outlander to the small screen I have high hopes something as ambitious as The Bronze Horseman can finally be filmed.

So who do you think should be cast? I have a not-so-secret wish for Henry Cavill to play Shura. Even Ms. Simons has indicated she thinks he would make a great Alexander, in an interview here. Remember, whoever plays him has to live up to this quote: “He was more beautiful than that morning sun.” *sigh*

I once suggested Mia Wasikowska for Tatiana – what do you think?

And so we must wait and hope. Keep track of developments with me on IMDB and on Paullina Simons’ website.

Stacking the Shelves #3

Hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Welcome back to Stacking the Shelves, a regular meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the latest books you have added to your shelves, physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course e-books! Here is my haul from this week… and yes, I don’t know when I’ll get the time to read them all!

Library audiobooks I checked out

From my local public library I checked out two audiobooks: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and The Selection by Kiera Cass. Such pretty covers!

e-ARC from Netgalley

Netgalley granted me access to Mug Meals by Dina Cheney, and you can read my review here.

Purchased from iBooks

New Zealand iBooks had Paullina Simons’ early books on sale at $4.99 each, so I picked up Bellagrand and Children of Liberty, both prequels to the amazing The Bronze Horseman, which is one of my favourite books of all time.

Purchased from Amazon

Amazon had an 18-book bundle, Red Hot Lovers, on sale for 77c which had a book in it I had wanted to read by Daisy Prescott. On its own the book was $3.99, so I grabbed the 77c bundle just for Daisy Prescott’s Ready to Fall. Also on Amazon, I snapped up the freebie novella Valentine by Samantha Young, which was in Alex Margaret’s Stacking the Shelves last week. Thanks for that tip, Alex!

Purchased from Audible

There was also a two-for-one-credit sale at Audible, through which I grabbed The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost and Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. I really need to read Throne of Glass – it’s been on my TBR for ages, and Jeaniene Frost is pretty much an auto-buy for me.

Not bad for one week, eh? I’d better get reading and listening! Keep an eye out for my reviews of these in coming weeks. So what new books did you pick up this week? Let me know in the comments.

Lone Star, by Paullina Simons

Format: e-book, 576 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: April 1, 2015

ISBN: 9780732294908

Genre: Women’s fiction

Back cover blurb: From the author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman comes an epic new romantic saga – heart-wrenching and passionate, this compelling story of love lost and found will stay with you forever …

Falling in love was the easy part …
Chloe is weeks away from college when she embarks on a grand European adventure with her boyfriend and two best friends. Their destination is Barcelona, with its promise of romance and mystery, but first they must detour through the historic cities of Eastern Europe to settle an old family debt.

As they traverse the unfamiliar landscape of the post-Communist world, Chloe meets a boy on a train who is going off to war. Johnny carries a guitar, an easy smile – and a lifetime of secrets.
The trip becomes a treacherous journey into Europe’s and Johnny’s darkest past – a journey that threatens to shatter the bonds holding together four lifelong friends.

From Riga to Treblinka to Trieste, Chloe must face her deepest desires colliding with the future she thought she wanted.

For Chloe and Johnny only one thing is certain: whatever their destination, their lives will never be the same.

My review: The Bronze Horseman is one of my favourite books of all time, so it’s hard not to compare Ms Simons’ other works against it. This got off to a slow start for me – it’s 20 percent in before the teens go off on the European journey in the back cover blurb – but once they get to Latvia, and once Johnny Rainbow comes into the picture, the story really kicks up a notch and I became invested.

The story is set a decade ago, before every young person had a smartphone in their eyeline at all times, so when things start to go wrong in Europe, as backpacking holidays inevitably do, they have little alternative but to rely on their own limited resources to carry on. I enjoyed the switching POVs and the way Simons captured the self-absorption of youth. The twists were well telegraphed and came as no real surprise, but I applaud the way she showed us rather than told us. That’s how I fell in love with Blake.

I don’t want to give away spoilers, but there is a link to this story and that of Tatiana and Alexander. That link kept me reading even when the subject matter got heavier, and the finale is just lovely. The only thing missing for me is that I would have liked to have seen what Moody thought of their adventures once the teens returned to Maine.

While not as wonderful and epic as The Bronze Horseman, this is one of Paullina Simons’ best works and I would highly recommend it.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 4/5

Amazon

Update: The Bronze Horseman film

So, things aren’t sounding too good about the likelihood of a movie version of The Bronze Horseman, by Paullina Simons, as we reported here last year.

Ms. Simons has posted this on her blog:

Dear Friends,

And now for some news about the film option of The Bronze Horseman. Things have not worked out quite as I hoped, but that’s only because I can’t see the future and don’t know what’s still ahead. 

At the moment, though, the 18-month option with Andy Tennant’s production company has unfortunately come to an end. After months of no activity at all, we tried to extend the option at deadline time (plus 30 days grace), but we could not resolve the most important issue, and that is whose script to use, mine or Ross’s. I strongly felt and continue to feel that Ross’s vision for the story and adaptation of the book were diametrically opposed to my own. So reluctantly we parted ways, and the rights to the book have reverted back to me. The difference between 2009 and now is that now I have a finished script. Which means that we can now seek and find someone else who gets the story, loves the characters, and perhaps can put his/her passion behind the project to get the film off the ground, so to speak, and onto the big screen, but this time with my script as a condition of development.

I know you are disappointed by this and let down, as you can imagine I am, but don’t be disheartened. Because I remain hopeful and optimistic that great things are just around the corner for our two crazy kids. We have a couple of intriguing prospects we are working on and I will keep you posted as soon as I know something more concrete. In the meantime, you know that Tania and Shura live on inside my heart, especially these days, as I immerse myself in the young doomed life of the two people who once loved each other and who made Alexander.

IMDB still has it listed in the development stage and scheduled for release in 2012, but obviously that’s unlikely now. It had been an interesting proposal with Andy Tennant (Sweet Home Alabama, Hitch, The Bounty Hunter) directing.

As we said before, Henry Cavill (The Tudors) has a lot of support for the role of Alexander Barrington Belov, but is busy at the moment being Superman. I’ve also seen people suggesting Joe Manganiello (True Blood) – he seems too old to me – and, of course, the Facebook page is still up in support of my pick, Robert Pattinson, here. 

Remember, whoever plays Alexander has to live up to this quote: “He was more beautiful than that morning sun.”

For my Tatiana, I’ve been thinking maybe Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland)?

And so we must wait and hope. Keep track of developments with me on IMDB and on Paullina Simons’ website.

The Bronze Horseman to be made into a film

One of the most exciting things I found out about this week was that The Bronze Horseman, by Paullina Simons, is in development to be turned into a film.

I read the book in 2000 when it was first released here in New Zealand, and I absolutely loved it. My mother gave it to me as a birthday present after she had heard the author interviewed on the radio by leading broadcaster at the time, Paul Holmes. Holmes raved about the book, despite its outward appearance as a bit of “chick lit”. Sure, it deals with themes of love and UST, but set amid the Siege of Leningrad it also has serious themes of war, starvation, cannibalism and the privations of Stalinist Russia.

According to IMDB, the movie is in the development stage and is scheduled for 2012. Movie insider @Larry411 tweeted that it had been at the scripting stage since March 17 and would be directed by Andy Tennant (Sweet Home Alabama, Hitch, The Bounty Hunter).

Already there is huge interest in the project, with Facebook pages set up for casting suggestions. Already Henry Cavill (The Tudors) has a lot of support for the role of Alexander Barrington Belov, but for my money I would like to see Robert Pattinson in a role as challenging as this. A Facebook page has been set up in support of Rob as Alexander here.

Remember, whoever plays Alexander has to live up to this quote: “He was more beautiful than that morning sun.”

As for casting Tatiana, who knows? We will have to watch this space. Keep track of developments with me on IMDB and on Paullina Simons’ website.