The Journal of the Two Sisters [SPOILERS] · 7:11pm Jun 12th, 2014
I know I already put a spoiler warning in the title, but seriously, if you haven't read the book, and you want to, you really don't want to read this.
So, yesterday I finally got my hooves on a book I've been anticipating for months: The Journal of the Two Sisters. I thought, 'This'll be great! It's written by Amy Keating Rogers, and it's supposed to talk about Celestia and Luna! What's not to love?'
I guess between the promise that the book would reveal the backstories of our two favorite princesses, and my own self-hype for it, it didn't really live up to my expectations. This is, in part, because I have my own headcanon as to how Celestia and Luna ended up as the rulers of Equestria, and if you consider The Journal of the Two Sisters canon, since it is written by one of the writers of the show, it really blows some of my headcanon out of the water.
My girlfriend absolutely hates it. She feels like it was watered down because it's a "children's book," and that Hasbro had a hand in it not being all it could be, which I suppose, I can agree with.
I don't hate it, but I think it kind of brings up more questions than it answers. Like, if Celestia and Luna (apparently?) grew up in Canterlot with other Alicorns, how did they end up with Star Swirl, and what happened to the Alicorns, since they're (again, apparently) the only ones left?
Also, if Celestia and Luna thought the Royal Canterlot Voice was silly, how did Luna (apparently?) end up using it enough that she didn't seem to know how to address her subjects in any other way?
Celestia expresses early on that she doesn't really consider herself a ruler, and she doesn't consider the ponies of Equestria her subjects. She thought of herself more as a protector. So if that's the case, when did she really allow herself to be seen as a ruler? This one's kind of fuzzy, since I personally think that Celestia really doesn't think of herself as being any better than anypony else, but she lets the ponies treat her like royalty, even if she doesn't particularly like it.
There's some things I did like, like when Luna met the zebras, that Celestia enjoyed flying with Commander Hurricane (hehe), and how Celestia and Luna ended up getting their cutie marks, and there's other parts I thought were kind of squishy, but it was awesome when Celestia went all solar flare with the dragon.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, overall, I'm glad I only spent the $4.99 for the Kindle Edition instead of the $14.99 for the hardback. (I might end up buying the hardback...eventually, just for completion's sake, since I have The Elements of Harmony). The Journal of the Two Sisters was good for being aimed at MLP's target audience: children, but it didn't really float my boat. (Also, absolutely no mention of Tirek or Scorpan! I was hoping that was why it was released after the season 4 finale!)
Haven't read it yet, but it sounds like the supplemental materials are really dancing around the immortality question. This doesn't address it, and AltSombra in the comics is apparently a long lived unicorn, but they never address that. But, if it was written by a writer then hopefully that means they left out the best parts for season 5.
Just read this and I didn't much like it. Honestly, when I was reading it, it felt like I was reading a fanfic. It read like something you'd find here on FIMFiction or fanfiction.net. Ugh! And it was only twenty pages! Seriously?!