Alchemy, Sorcery and Sibling Rivalry

Michael Scott may have a good one up his sleeve with his highly entertaining The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel series.

Spanning six books I recently got hold on four of the titles namely The Magician, The Sorceress, The Warlock and The Necromancer.

As a whole the series is great. For your standard child reader (like me) it has enough magic and even factual history to keep him or her engrossed and then run to Google or grab an encyclopedia to check if what he read was true. Another interesting thing is that aside from the two main protagonists (heroes to you) everyone else is either an an actual historical person like Nicholas Flamel and Dr. Dee. Even Shakespeare got tangled up in the whole thing (though I was rather disappointed in the way he was portrayed. He is a personal hero of mine Yes I am geek so just finish reading this.) One more noteworthy thing about the books is how seamless the "magical world" is put together as it is made up  of every main mythological reference there is. As a reader you'll get to meet gods from Egypt, India, Greece, Ireland and even Sumeria and all of them are locked in a bitter struggle over what to do with humanity.Character wise I like what Mr. Scott has done. You can never really know who to trust as the reader but there is one character you'll intensely dislike even after reading the first book alone and no, it isn't Dr. Dee. And speaking of Dr. Dee, Scott's villains are, well, there's only one word for it, cool. They're like spies, only they don't use guns but highly cool magic moves.

Overall its a nice read but not as fascinating nor truly deep as other books I read. The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel offers a few good reading hours however and I recommend it for everyone who is suffering Post-Potter Syndrome.

Enjoy!

(P.S I know I know it took me awhile to update the blog but school has been eating me up lately but at least I was able to read up on a lot of other books as well so look out for a more posts as the weeks go.)

The Bookshelf Collection

I own a lot of books (too much if my Mom puts it) ranging from children’s novels, thrillers, fantasy, fiction, and even a little historical novels. As far as back as I can remember I’ve always had books in my room to keep me company, to fight off boredom or just to simply immerse myself in another life or world for an hour or two.

Today, now that I’m 19 years old, I’ve sort of developed a little collection of books that hold a special place in my bookshelf or in his case the top portion of my brother’s wardrobe (yes we share a room). In this most sacred wooden space with a metal book end and a yellow rubber mat thing resides my favorite books, the kind that I’d go back into my house if it was on fire (God forbid) to save.

Over time the books have changed now and again but the books that I will feature here are the constant ones. They’re the barnacles to my wooden ship. The stories that they contain still cling to my psyche long after I’ve finished reading them.

 These books will definitely have a special box for them when I move to New York to pursue my writing dreams, and while I’m starving away in some cramped and musty NY apartment where my bed will double as my couch and my bathroom will be as big as my closet, these paper friends of mine will be there to remind me, and push me to create a book baby of my own that will hopefully be as great as the books that inspired me to write my own novel in the first place.

The following titles that I will share to you have shaped me, encouraged me and most of all inspired me to be a writer, and not just a writer, but a New York Times Best Selling author since the first time I’ve heard about such a title. These are the books since the age of 8 till now that has become my standard of literary greatness and hopefully, one day soon, I can get to put up my own book along with them too.

1.) His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman

This book changed my traditional perception of how a hero or heroine should act and behave. In this magnificent three book series, I was introduced to Lyra Belacqua and her deceptive ways and I was changed forever.

Most literary heroes I know tend to be morally upright and a typical goody two shoes who never breaks the rules. Lyra on the other hand doesn’t just break the rules, she destroys them. And get this: her number one skill is lying. She can lie herself out of any situation from an armored bear to a laboratory where people cut out children’s souls, she is so good at deception she can put any spy to shame.

But Lyra however learns in the end that telling the truth can go a long way and that honesty is often times more powerful than a thousand lies. In this coming of age story our little heroine grows up from an intrepid, lost little girl who follows only her whims and wishes to a young woman who discovers the pain of growing up and losing someone who taught her that love is in fact the greatest force of all.

2.) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Truth be told I was never a Gaiman fan growing up. I found his stories a little too weird, a little too creepy and just a little unsettling. Then I met Bod in his Newberry Award winning novel The Graveyard Book and I was hooked.

The Graveyard Book is a bit like the Jungle Book only this time instead of wolves, a panther, a friendly bear and a malicious tiger, Bod has a family of ghosts (a whole graveyard in fact), a vampire guardian by the name of Silas, a werewolf tutor Ms. Lupescu and a dark society of men called the Jacks-of-All-Trades who wants him to stay put in the graveyard, permanently.

This book taught me that the unconventional can actually work with a really simple storyline and that character creation along with vivid but simple word imagery can go a long way.

Thanks Uncle Neil, you taught (and inspired me as well) a lot.

3.) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Back when the movie by Peter Jackson was earning accolades left and right, boys my age were perfectly content to live in Middle-Earth via the film but I was no such little boy. Instead I waded through the book’s high prose to get myself a clearer version of Middle-Earth where Tom Bombadil danced in the woods by the Shire and how the Eagles saved Gandalf.

The Lord of the Rings was perhaps my first taste of a sweeping grand fantasy epic that is so huge in scope that reading all three books was like reading a far more interesting history textbook only this time instead of Civil War soldiers and Spanish invaders, elves and dwarves and orcs and men waged and ruled the pages of my book and mind.

4.) The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis

Here is a set of books that I should’ve read when I was seven or six instead of when I was fourteen or fifteen. I first saw the movie, the Disney and Walden Media adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and was blown away by it (and it was just the trailer I saw).

 I still remember how I would repeat The White Witch’s line “If it’s a war Aslan wants. It’s a war hewill get” while I was washing the dishes much to my older brother’s amusement. So naturally I brought a copy and found it too, well, childish for me.

The wordings and sentences were built more for younger children that I didn’t bother to finish the book (and it was illustrated) but I still convinced myself to read the other books and with them I was not disappointed. Up to now I’d say that of all the Narnia books my favorites would be The Magician’s Nephew and The Horse and His Boy. 

I love The Magician’s Nephew primarily because it showed how Narnia came to be and I got the chills reading the part how Aslan sang the realm into life. And I love The Horse and His Boy because it was a straightforward adventure story that ended with a battle and stuff (I’m a boy so cut me some slack).

5.) The Harry Potter Sequence by J.K Rowling

Now here is the book that started it all: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Philosopher’s Stone if you’ve got the British version.)

I was around eight or nine when I was introduced to Harry James Evans Potter via the silver screen and since then I’ve been a proud Potterite after I emerged from the darkness of the movie house my eyes wide with wonder and amazement. Never have I encountered a story that has left such an indelible mark in my head, heart and soul before. Sure I was seven when I first read Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park and I had my dino craze phase but the bespectacled wizard boy’s  story was different. I too wanted a wand. I too wanted a broomstick. I too wanted to be a wizard. I too wanted to be Harry Potter myself.

It was just plain glorious.

It was then at that moment that it hit me. My eyes were tired from reading all the first three Harry Potter books in succession that it dawned up on me that I wanted to be a novelist too of J.K Rowling’s caliber. I too wanted to create a hero that the next generation of kids like me could look up to and stay up all night long just to find out what happens next after he steps through the doorway of a magical castle. I too wanted to create a world where chocolate came in the form of frogs and sports where played a hundred feet played in the air with just a broomstick to lift you up.

I too wanted to live behind my own legacy.

I was 12 then.

Now that I’m 19 years old I’m still at it and hopefully by the summer of next year I can put up a blog entry that will feature a story of my own.

Harry Potter opened up a whole world for me, and hopefully my own upcoming novel will lead another 12 year old boy into a world he’d never thought possible and inspire him to make a world of his own and share it with the rest of the world as well.

 Long live thy books and soon very soon my own will join my bookshelf and everyone else's around the world.

That P120 Ticket: X-Men First Class

As embarrassing as it sounds I only got to watch ONE movie this summer.

Just to be clear I do not live under a rock or something like that, it was just most of the movies that are being “campaigned” didn’t really catch my interest. Sure “Thor’s” trailer was interesting and stuff but there wasn’t any movie trailer that really got my attention. I spent more time browsing 888 Chinatown for DVD copies of my favorite American TV series instead of going to the cinema and watch a summer flick or two.

Then ‘lo and behold came X-Men: First Class.

Sure the trailer was bad (and I really do mean BAD except maybe for the bit where good old Magneto lifted a sub from the sea ‘cause that was EPIC) and all but I was prodded to watch the movie after several of my friends began blasting on their Facebook walls how effing cool the movie was and all so I hiked off to the movie and watched.

Before I continue my review let me get this straight. First I liked the first X-Men movie. The second wasn’t so bad either but the third could have been better. Like way WAY better. 

First I had issues with the storyline. Sure it was cool that Jean Grey got all bad-ass and all but c’mon I think she was too good of a character to waste and killed off (and I would KILL to have her telepathic and telekinetic abilities). 

Second, that mutant kid, whose power can neutralize other mutants’ powers should have been used as a weapon against Jean Grey aka Phoenix to SAVE her. It’s simple really, Wolverine distracts Phoenix, he stabs her with the kid’s blood or whatever stuff it was that shut off a mutant’s powers and ‘wala!!! Famke Jansen gets to be in another X-Men movie. 

Lastly, X-Men 3 felt more like Wolverine’s movie rather than the X-Men as WHOLE.

Having said that I went to the movie house without much enthusiasm that I would most certainly display come July 15^th for Harry Potter 7 Part 2. So I watched the movie and boy did I WATCH the movie. 

Scene after scene was cleverly put together, and for once the story wasn’t so bad, in fact the story was good like chocolate and ice cream on a warm waffle (sorry for the food analogy, I’m hungry).

In fact it was so good I’m fairly sure now that I’m a telepath as well (or at least for a couple more weeks until HP 7 brings me to tears).

And here are the top 7 reasons why X-Men First Class is totally worth your bucks:

1.) Magneto’s Bad Ass Displays of Power

From those anchor chains he used to demolish Sebastian Shaw’s ship to that epically awesome submarine lifting to that majorly epically divine moment where he stopped all those missiles, Magneto has now earned my respect as one of my favorite fictional baddies of all time. He’s so cool….he’s magnetic.

2.) Mystique’s History

Though I still have no idea who the heck Mystique’s mother is, seeing her as a child was nice enough and why her character is so attached to Magneto is even worth a couple more minutes of airtime. Movie mavens may hate a little history but I myself LIKE it.(Why though does Mystique have a thing for everybody? Xavier? Magneto? Beast?) 

3.) Beast goes Beastly

I’d never thought that Beast and Mystique would have once upon a time have a little “attraction” there but since they’re both blue, might as well right? And just imagine how their kid would be like! A super smart shape shifting powerhouse baby, but alas Mystique had to go all dark side on Beast so there there.And who could forget when we’d finally see his signature blue fur? And most of all, Beast can make costumes? What is he a part time designer?

4.) Mutant Slamdowns

As with all X-Men movies your two hours would never be complete unless there’s a little hard-hitting action here and there. From that aerial fight between Angel and Banshee, to Havoc and that teleporting dude, to Magneto versus Shaw and a whole lot of other fight scenes it was good old testosterone filled fun.

5.) Emma Frost

Hey everyone loves a bad girl especially if she turns into a walking, talking diamond statue THAT can read minds AND she’s pretty as hell as well. But just like the saying “Not all that glitters is gold’ or in this case diamonds, Emma is as cold as her diamond form. She gives a new meaning to being an “ice queen”.

6.) The Cameos

Cameos are fun especially if they’re from the original cast members like Hugh Jackman himself. Yeah “Fuck off” I’d say.

7.) Prof. X is Suddenly Cool

Since I was little Prof. X has only been that telepathic dude in a wheel chair but under James McAvoy’s hands, Prof. X was suddenly WAY cool to me. Who knew he was smooth with the ladies and that telepathy can be really AWESOME? From that mind control thing to freezing a person in his tracks, Prof. X had me pressing my fingers on my temple as well, well after the movie has ended.

Telepaths? Yeah I am one, and I can read your mind just right now.

So go and watch ahead or like in my case, watch it all over again, because X-Men First Class is truly first class.

 And fellow mutants here's the trailer and forget that i said it was bad.

Books for Insomniacs

Books for Insomniacs

We all know the feeling.

That dry eyed, “I-wanna-rub-my-eyes-all-night-long” sensation. That “Why-is-my-pillow-not-soft-enough?” compliant. Those “Hell-what’s-so-interesting-about-my-ceiling-anyway?” nights where milk just won’t do and your mommy’s sleeping pills begin to look like the only way to 8 hours of sleep paradise.

Yup, it’s official.

You've got hit by some idiotic witch’s “Anti-Sleep Spell” or what Muggle doctors prefer to call as “Insomnia”.

Dear old Encarta Encyclopedia (version 2004 that is) states that:

Insomnia, (is a) condition in which a person has difficulty getting sufficient sleep. About 60 million people in the U.S. suffer from insomnia. It can be caused by an overactive thyroid gland, diabetes, violent muscle twitching, or drinking caffeine-containing beverages before going to bed, but experts estimate that in three-fourths of all cases the cause is a psychological one. After anxiety-producing events such as the death of a loved one or loss of a job, a person may experience sleep difficulties for a short period. Many persons recover their normal sleep rhythm spontaneously, but others become frustrated and depressed and develop chronic insomnia. Napping during the day may throw off the sleep pattern further

© 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

If you had trouble reading that it simply means that you should forget about sleeping all together and instead you should try watching reruns of Grey’s Anatomy instead from the comfort of your couch. It’s that or some other medical drama with lots of dramatic music like House. Just try to avoid watching those “reality shows” that’ll kill your brain cells. Remember your brain already has some trouble putting you to sleep. You don’t have to reciprocate by frying your neurons.

Of course Mommy’s sleeping pills can be a fine answer to shutting your brain down for 8 hours or so but I don’t really think you’d like to wake up with her standing over your bed and a nasty frown on her face. Trust me it’s a lot less painful to endure a sleepless night than waking up to a “little speech” if you get my gist.

Personally however when I find that the Sandman has forgotten to spread his little sleeping magic in my bedroom I turn to my trusty little friends: my books. Nothing like the sight of a thick, well-written book with a really good plot and amazingly made characters can relax my strained brain lobes and send me off to Z-Land (I did warn you that a geek was writing this, didn’t I?) in just a jiffy.

But however in some cases the book is just too darn good to put down and what happens is your insomnia becomes your best-friend since it’ll let you finish an entire 679 page book while everyone else is sleeping and when morning comes you’ll look like a complete zombie (but an intelligent, well-read one nevertheless).

So here goes my first post, and list.

I know present to you the books for insomniacs:

1.) “IT” by Stephen King

Fear 

Okay so it’s a horror story about a killer clown, but I must say it did put me to sleep (and a very vivid nightmare as well) after I read it. The opening chapter of the novel was hellishly scary to boot that my phobia for clowns has now been cemented deep into my psyche. But “IT” isn’t really just a horror story. It’s a story about the strength of friendship and how a single event can bind together very different people and call them once more into rising up to destroy something so evil that it made Bongo the Clown look psychotic once and for all.

Note:

Try to get a night light on as well after you’ve read the novel. I swear it helps.

This is one clown you don’t wanna mess with.

2.) “Fear Nothing” by Dean Koontz

Now here is a story that is so good it’ll keep you up all through the night. It’s a story about a man inflicted with a rare genetic disorder that prohibits him from ever seeing daylight and this very same disease (which is real by the way) will be the very thing that can help him survive one night that’ll change him forever. Mr. Koontz here has crafted what I think is one of his most memorable characters to date (the other being Odd who can see spirits and the other a dog called Einstein) in the persona of Chris Snow. He will enthrall you with his wit and humor while he recounts being chased by a troop of murderous monkeys (and there is nothing funny about that) and at the same time make you think about your place in the universe as well.

3.) “Dear John” by Nicholas Sparks

Okay first I’m a dude, a STRAIGHT dude, but I swear Sparks is so annoyingly good in writing those cheesy love stories that I’m considering buying his other works as well (except maybe The Last Song, if it’s cover design is that girl from Hanna Montana). It’s a poignant love story between this Army dude and this college girl and if you’ve seen the movie try to read the book just to see the difference. It’s a simple, it’s a beautiful, and it’s a sincerely powerful story of love that’ll make you think what love and happy endings truly mean.

4.) “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman

It’s a children’s novel yes but it is a children’s novel that’ll put most modern day writers to shame (ehem, ehem, sparkling vampires). This is the story of a boy raised in a cemetery with a mysterious guardian, a loving ghostly family and a terrible destiny that he must face one day. From start to finish, “The Graveyard Book” is one fine read and if it does make you stay up late all night, I assure you the eye bags will all be worth it. Plus the ending is, well, painful and poignant and if you have someone under the age of 20 in your house try to make him read the book. It’ll tell him what growing up really means.

5.) “The Deathly Hallows’ by J.K Rowling (My fictional mother)

No need for explanations here right? You did read my introduction to this whole blog thing didn’t you? Yeah, I thought so.

POTTER FREAKS RULE.

So next time the “anti-sleepies” wage war on you, just grab any of these titles and read away. When life gives you lemons ,make the best lemonade there is and then sell your lemonade at double the price.

Try to make that one out.