Book Review: Spirit-Walker

I know what you're thinking: 'Ooooh! Pretty cover!' Or is it just me? Anyway, I guess there was some good in picking up Wolf Brother late, because apparently, here the sequel is! And to add to the happiness- it's in hardcover, and I NEVER buy books in hardcover unless they're from PLB. The reasons why I bought this particular one in hardcover are 1) It's pretty, 2)It was the birthday present from mom, and 3) for a hardcover book, it's pretty darn cheap- 50 bucks. Normal hardcover books have a tendency to go to 60 and 70.

Oh well, money matters aside, let's get down to the book itself. Now, Spirit-Walker takes off a few seasons after the end of Wolf Brother. Torak's been spending time with the Ravens, and far off somewhere else, Wolf has grown up. Needless to say, they still think about each other. If you were hoping for a reunion, then rejoice. If you were not hoping for a reunion because it would somehow cheapen the goodbye from Wolf Brother, don't worry so much about it- the reunion doesn't happen on page one. It happens quite late into the story anyway. The entire story is being told through the perspectives of three characters: Torak, Wolf, and Renn (yes, she's back).
So, after dispatching the demon-bear in Wolf Brother and having learnt a few important bits about his past, in this book Torak is going to have to dispatch yet another demon. Not a physical one this time- it's a sickness that has been spreading around the forest, causing people and animals to go mad. Suspecting that the whole thing ties to him and what he really is (no, he doesn't know yet. Fin-Kedinn told him), he sets off on a journey to find the cure, which takes him beyond the forest this time- to the sea.

Once again Paver pulls off her magic of drawing you into her world. With a new major setting, she introduces new concepts, new aspects of the living world she introduced to you in the first book, without being too repetitive. And it remains every bit as believeable as the first. Well, not counting one or two bits. And it's every bit as captivating- her ability to keep you turning pages hasn't deteriorated (yet. give her a couple more billion dollars and the ability to write up to book Five, and then we'll see), and at the end of the day, if you enjoyed the first one, you will love this one. The descriptions of the way people lived, their beliefs, its all here.

If there are any flaws, then I'd say that it still feels a bit rushed, though not as rushed as Wolf Brother. So that's at least an improvement. The storyline is constructed well enough, but there are a few things that might be a bit predictable. Apart from that, the revelation at the ending didn't feel explosive enough, even if Paver might have inteded for it to be that way.

All in all, a good read.

9 out of 10. Keep em' coming Ms Paver!

(Soul Eater, the next book comes out in 2006)

Book Review: The Tribes of Palos Verdes

Now here's a book that, until Feera lent it to me, was nowhere on my radar. She lent it to me quite recently, but I read it almost immediately after I put The Belgariad down. No wait, not almost. I read it immediately ><. Syat and Khairul, don't hold it against me for not reading YOUR books instantly- yours are thicker. This book is thin. So I decided to get it over and done with quickly.

And words can't express how glad I am that I decided to read it quickly. It's good. Seriously. The story revolves around a girl, Medina, and her twin brother Jim who live in Palos Verdes, California. It's a modern setting. No, it's not a fantasy book. It leans more towards Young Adult, though it arguably stands on a higher ground in terms of maturity. At first glance, it seems like another adolescent's account of growing up, of coming-of-age, but beneath that, what it really is is a subtle account of a family breakdown.

And that's where it becomes real. Medina's life is far from perfect to begin with. Her breasts are small (this fact is highlighted quite often), 'plastic girls' at high school stop to make fun of her every so often, she doesn't have much friends other than her brother, no, slash that, she hardly has ANY friends other than her brother, and to top it all off, her parents' marriage is disintegrating. To keep her mind off her troubles, Medina resorts to surfing at the beach right outside her house, taking up the challenge of bigger and bigger waves. Taking up bigger and bigger risks.

Meanwhile, her relationship with her brother starts falling apart as her brother sides with her resentful mother when the marriage falls apart. Her mother doesn't make it any easier for her either- to put it frankly, her mother's a bitch. She seems to blame Medina for everything now that her husband is out of the house, making Medina's life even more miserable. Medina doesn't really have anyone to turn to- her father left the house and she is, as far as she is concerned, not welcome to his new life yet. And so she endures living at home with her mother and Jim, who seems to drift further and further away everyday.

This story is told as simply as it would be told to a diary or a passerby, but the emotions felt are slotted between the lines. Symbolism is used to great effect in the story, which increases it's impact on the reader. It takes the reader down dark roads- houses with broken marriages, smoking pot, and the real extent of how hostile people can be to you in school if you're not 'popular enough'.

At the end of it all, it's a very powerful book which will get you thinking of a lot of things. And I'm not talking about the surfing. About life, your parents, and your siblings. Honestly said this is the first book to get me this emotionally swept up in a long while. Reading about Jim and Medina reminded me of my sister to some extent, and how close we used to be before boarding school. That, and how I still silently vow to murder any boy who breaks her heart.

I want a copy of this book for myself. I wager Feera won't part with it for any amount of money, so I guess it's time to hit the Kino Navi.

9 out of 10.

Book Review: The Belgariad-Volume

All powerful thingamabob, bad guys want it- oh wait, I've done this before. So there's really no need to tell you that as far as fantasy goes, The Belgariad doesn't really break any new ground. Or maybe, back when it was first published, this area was still considered new because Tolkien had probably only used it once. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this book series sucks. In fact I gave it 7.5 for the last volume, and this one is going to get a higher score. It's good. Just not exceptional if you're only starting to read it after touching all other sorts of fantasy series. Because honestly, how many more stories do we need about all-powerful thingamabobs?

On to business now. The previous volume stopped at book three out of the full series (Which has a total of five books). So maybe that's where the groundbreaking factor is: Who needs trilogies when you can do quintologies? HAHA! I'm not even sure if I used the proper word, so I'll move on. Anyway, the first volume ended with the good guys getting a hold over the all powerful thingamabob I talked about last time. So the final volume focuses on 1)fleeing back to their own country with the thingamabob intact and 2) going on an all out war with the bad guys with the odds against them (aren't they always?). What adds uniqueness to this story is that, at this point it is told by following the two main characters- The starry-eyed Garrion and his reluctant bride-to-be, Princess Ce'Nedra. (don't ask me how to pronounce that) Garrion's story focuses on him getting used to the throne, and, subsequently, learning of the prophecy on how he must kill the Evil God that the bad guys worship with his flaming sword of doom! Okay, so it's not called the flaming sword of doom... I'm beginning to sound like Shahril ><. The Orb apparently was meant to be attached to a sword, to create Garrion's ultimate weapon. It does fulfill requirements for being an ultimate weapon- considering they had to beat a powerful boss at the end of Volume One to obtain it, says the laws of videogames. So, with his sword, he can now fulfill the prophecy, which says he must fight Torak, the Evil God. Catch now is that there are TWO prophecies. One that belongs to the good guys, and another that belongs to the bad guys. Respectively, the good guys say that they will win, and the bad guys say that they will win. Even though it is as clear as the light of day to the reader which prophecy in the end, will be the true one, it is not to the characters in the story, and so Garrion, though fearing for his life, marches forth with Belgarath the sorcerer (think Gandalf) and Silk (my favourite character, sarcastic thief/spy) to confront Torak, hoping that if he can kill off the God quickly, he will avert the need for a war which will cause the deaths of, well, a lot of people.

Don't worry, the war isn't averted. In fact, it is used as a diversion by Princess Ce'Nedra to ensure her husband-to-be gets across the borders safely. No wait, that doesn't sound very humane, does it? Bah. Anyway, the parts of the book that don't involve Garrion involve Ce'Nedra developing from the spoilt princess into army leader, delivering speeches to rouse armies and making deals with kingdoms, etc. etc. Basically it involves her growing up, and what the other characters involved in the war have to do. At this point it gets a bit confusing, considering that there are, in my opinion, way too much characters to follow. But it doesn't in any way destroy the finer points of this book- which as in the last volume, was the livid description of the world. Yes, I would say that that is David Eddings' best aspect. Countries have actual borders, customs, food, you get the picture. The world is almost as alive as if it were real. And you want to get to know it all the more.

What is obvious, though I don't mind it so much, is like in LOTR, there seems to be a lot of racial tension which reflects our world. Dark-skinned people are more evil, primitive, and deserve to die while the Westerns are high and mighty, the good guys in gleaming armor. If the author is implying what I think, and what some other sensitive people think, he is implying, then maybe he needs a good smack on the head. Which is why, again, I say that The Belgariad is good, but not dynamic. The good guys are infinitely good, and the bad guys are infinitely bad. Fullstop. Good is good and bad is bad.

And the ending is explosive. Ultraman-ish, I'd say. (chuckles) You'll find out what I mean if you read it yourself. But how the bad guy dies itself is a laugh. It's unique, I'll give it that, but I still found it hillarious.

And despite all that, I find that I enjoyed it all the same. Assuming I retain my interest as soon as I get to the bottom of my reading list, I'll move on to the Malloreon.

Or I'll shove Khairul's books further down the reading list some more and put the Malloreon there.

Ah well.

8 out of 10.

Book Review: Shadow Of The Wind

The book was on the top ten bestseller's list for Kinokuniya. God how shallow that makes me sound. I read mainstream books! Horror! And it's not fantasy for once! Well, not that my life centers solely on fantasy books, but you've probably noticed by now that I'm not the type to lean into more 'realistic' books so often, except when they're good. GOOD. Think Dan Brown and some of dad's Grisham books. This here, ladies and gentlemen, is no exception. With a well-rounded blend of horror, romance, politics and humor, 'Shadow of the Wind' is no ordinary Victorian thriller. Ambitious would be one word to describe it, as it attempts to tackle almost everything. While that may sound dangerous, Carlos Ruiz Zafon pulls it off anyway, and he'll keep you turning pages until you reach the end of the book (I know I took a long time to finish it, but that was purely because of the fact that I was busy. At home this would be the kind of book I finish overnight)

The story is narrated by one Daniel, the son of a Barcelone bookseller, who, as a part of family tradition is allowed to go to a place called the 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books' where he will choose one book and protect it for as long as he lives. When he does, he chooses the book 'Shadow of the Wind' written by one Julian Carax. As it turns out, the book is extremely rare, and it seems that a shady person seems to be after it, ready to offer money for it and known to resort to less than seemly methods to get his hands on Carax books which he later burns. This of course leads to the mystery, as to who this person is and why he hates Carax so. And at the same time, where is Carax? The author was said to have disappeared or died somewhere in France by the time the main character develops an interest in him. Not buying it, young Daniel decides to run his own investigation into the life and history of Carax, hoping to be able to track the man back into the present. Along the way he is helped along mostly by a beggar he helped off the streets named Fumero, who also seems to have a history of his own. This story is quite complex in the sense that there so many subplots that you'll get the impression that the subplots have subplots, and that may sound like it might induce headaches, but in all honesty, it won't.

In fact that is what keeps you turning pages, I think. The characters have so much behind them, and are so alive that it feels like you're feeling them. The effective use of the first-person narrative helps that point along as well, as the thriller takes time off to be a love story at certain moments involving the main character's relationship with his best friend's sister, and at the flashbacks involving Carax. The main character isn't particularly heroic, truth be told, but that's another reason why this book is good. The main character is human enough for you to sympathize for every time shit happens. The story develops by moving ahead with events, as well as filling holes in the history of the characters, tying up just nicely at the end. And although some may find the revelation to be quite predictable, it doesn't in any way hamper the style of this book.

If there is a flaw in this book, it would only be that the events tend to be uneven, in the sense that some things that could have been developed further weren't, like the concept of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books itself. But all in all, it still provides a satisfying, engrossing read.

God bless Lucia Graves for translating this book! (yeah, it was originally Spanish)

9 out of 10. And it probably deserves more.

Book Review: Pour Your Heart Into It

How many of us here drink coffee? And how many of us have had Starbucks, at least once? And how many of those are fans of the brand? What is it that we like about the establishment? The coffee is great but what really kept us coming back? Well, according to Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks Corporation, it's the atmosphere, the romance of drinking coffee and the warmth their stores exudes.

Throughtout this book, Howard tells us with great enthusiasm about how Starbucks became what it is now, from a humble little store in Seattle selling (only!) dark-roasted beans to a multi-billion, multi-store, multi-multi-multi company. Yeah, this is a business book, people.

What's unconventional about it is that it's actually fun to read. The history of the brand is absorbing and how everything seemed to fall into place just for them is wowing.

Perhaps it's all propaganda? Well, certain parts certainly felt that. I even seriously contemplated about getting a job as a barista down at the Wangsa Maju branch of Starbucks. But their mission statement is really empowering to their employees (here we go, propaganda...) and the company seems to really care about them. Great health plans, a revolutionary stock option called Bean Stock; it all seemed like Starbucks wants to make sure everyone felt like their in a family.

It all looks good on paper, but is it really the truth? *shrugs* I don't know and I'm not going to spend time trying to find out. All I know is that this book is a fascinating read.

I give it a 7 out of 10. (Which means, hey, borrow it from me but don't complain if you don't like it.)

Book Review: Message in a Bottle

Buy a box of Kleenex upon the purchase of this book; you're gonna need it. And guys, read this as far away as possible from persons of the opposite sex; you don't want them to think you're a wussy. (And for the record, I'm not either.) Once you've found a cosy enough closet to dwell in for the hours you'll spend reading this, peel the edges of the book carefully. You're going to want to keep it on a shelf when you're done.

Kleenex. Closet. What's new? It's a Nicholas Sparks book so naturally, this is a book on romance and judging by the fact that it's been made into a movie starring Kevin Costner, I'll go out on a limb and say it was wildly successful with women and SNAGs everywhere.

And rightly so too. As with all of Sparks' books, this is a touching one. By the end, you'll be crying silently and softly to yourself, wondering if you'll ever experience even the briefest moment like those the characters in this book do. (Hence the Kleenex.) And it's the kind of crying that makes you feel good.

However, if you've even read anything by Sparks before this, the effect will be slightly diminished. I've read The Notebook and True Believer, so this is actually the third one I've read. While I was still touched and amazed at the characters Sparks conjured up, at one point I thought to myself, "Hmm... typical Nicholas Sparks scene," right around the time they were making love.

But what wasn't typical about it, depends on whether you were expecting it to end like a normal Nicholas Sparks book. Because u\if you did, then you're going to be in for a neat surprise.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

Book Review: American Gods

With a title like that, one might assume that it's a book about the rich and famous in America. To an extent, that is accurate, but the "gods" are no longer rich, nor famous. Who (or, more accurately, what) are Neil Gaiman referring to? To the literal gods, of course. Those deities of the Norse and Hindu, among others. And there are a lot. Ever wondered what happened to Thor? Well, he shot himself in the '70s.

What drove Thor to kill himself? And what made the deities, who are, supposedly, all-mighty and powerful, become so... human? According to Wednesday, who is, the American version of Odin (more on that later), gods feed on prayer and belief. Now, with modern amenities and entertainment, man no longer believe in the old gods, preferring to spend time devoting the new gods, i.e. the television, media... etc.

And why are these gods called American, when they are Nordic or Hindi in origin? You see, (again, according to Wednesday) gods come to new lands when their believers go there, carrying them in their minds, and creating them there. So, using this theory, we'd have a few hundred Odins running around the world.

Throughout the novel, we see their world through Shadow's eyes, who works for Wednesday. Technically, this is a Dan Brown-ish novel. But it has so many elements in it that you won't be able to tell. Short stories are abound. History lessons, too, actually. There're elements of thriller, horror, humour and God knows what else Gaiman thought was suitable to throw in there.

If you're planning to read this, be forewarned that it's going to be a long read. Like, weeks. The pace is slow but not boring. It's just the right kind of speed for a book this ambitious. Gaiman gives you time to put down the book and process all the information, and then think about it some more before continuing. If you're looking for a Dan Brown book, don't bother with this.

I give this book a 7.5 out of 10

Book Review: Minnow On The Say

Here's a book I ran into by chance in the school library back when I was in Form Three. My reading frenzy was at it's peak, then, and I made an almost daily routine of visiting the library to borrow two books (as I was allowed only that amount). Since the selection of books in SMKTM wasn't exactly as wide as KYUEM's (but at least better than Sains Seremban's), I normally picked books randomly, without discrimination. This book was one of my first finds. It was good enough for me to buy my own copy when I finally found it, three years later.

Anyway, this book has an Enid Blyton-ish feel to it (I'm judging based on the very few Blyton books I've read. My sister is the Enid Blyton reader, not me), what with two innocent young boys as main characters, out on a kind of adventure or, more accurately, treasure hunt. Obstacles appear along the way, but it's nothing that can't be worked around. And at the very end, the clues and mystery surrounding the treasure is resolved, in an unexpected way. No, I'm not spoiling anything for you by saying that, it would have been pretty obvious how things would turn out from the moment you read the synopsis at the back of the book.

Regardless of predictability, Minnow on the Say is a charming tale. The author manages to capture the childlike innocence of two twelve-year old boys, Adam and David, who are on the search of Adam's family treasure. An orphan, Adam lives with his Aunt Dinah, who can barely afford to take care of him since she's not working, and the pension they live on from their grandfather isn't much either. When the talk of sending Adam to live with his cousins in Birmingham arises, Adam decides to find the treasure so that he can stay. The story is mainly seen through David, Adam's best friend who is drawn into the search as his friendship with Adam develops.

The story is set in the Barleys, a rural countryside somewhere in the UK, I'd say. I haven't taken Geography for three years now, so pardon my lack of sense. Either way, the author paints a beautiful picture of peace as she describes the place, with the green grass and the River Say behind the two main characters' houses. (Hence the 'Say' in the title. 'Minnow' is the name of the canoe that they use on their treasure hunting adventures). And the events that unfold as every chapter passes are the kind that keep you turning pages. From the discovery of the rhyme that was to be the clue to the treasure:

'When Phillip came to the single Rose
over the water,
The treasure was taken where no one knows
None but my daughter.

To the unexpected (almost) discovery of the treasure, the author never leaves you at a dull moment. The language is simple, and the story doesn't drag, so it's perfect for teens or children, at length. Think of it as a children's version of 'The Da Vinci' code, if you must. Minus the history lessons and killing, keeping only the 'treasure hunting' air.

A good read for when you need to keep things simple.

8 out of 10.

Book Review: The Belgariad- Volume One

All powerful thingamabob. Bad guy wants it. Good guys want to stop bad guy from getting it because bad guy is either going to use it to take over the world or cause a lot of property damage. Good guy has an ultimate hero meant to get ultimate thingamabob. Guided by an old powerful guy whose power is supposed to be unrivalled except for maybe that of the bad guy, and a bunch of other different characters who don't nescesarrily get along, ultimate hero travels in search of ultimate thingamabob. Results in showdown. Good guys win.

That's the premise of your typical fantasy story. And truth be told, The Belgariad uses just that. Being the cheapskate who knows that buying the individual 5 books will cost him at least 160 bucks, I have taken the easier way out (not PLB, sadly) and bought the 2-book edition, where the first volume is a combination of the first three books while the second volume is a combination of the two remaining books. One volume costs 60 bucks, resulting in me having only to spend RM120. Saves RM40.

But don't think that RM40 is the only thing I gained from all this. I also learned a very important lesson. And that is that regardless of having an all too typical premise, with not much twists to wait out for, a book can still be entertaining if the author knows how to keep you interested. Now while David Eddings hasn't really created a storyline to shout about, the world he weaves is alive and diverse enough for you to keep turning pages as the motley crue of good guys travel from place to place in pursuit of the bad guy's lackey who has the thingamabob. Now some might say that creating a rich world with its history isn't new- Tolkien got there first. Well I'll admit the truth of that, but at least this diverse world isn't accompanied by annoying loud monologues, and the only characters that do go 'thee' and 'thou' are soundly made fun of by the other characters, who at least have the sense to talk like normal people.

Now in the Belgariad, the thingabamob is The Orb (of what, I can't remember), which is supposed to contain such awesome powers that it can cause uh... bad things. And a bad minion working for the ultimate bad God stole The Orb in hopes of using it to 'revive' his master (apparently Gods in this world can be rendered comatose too). Fighting to prevent this are Belgarath and Polgara- a sorcerer and a sorceress, who are also surprisingly a father-daughter team that take the opportunity to lash at each other once in a while. Though this hardly makes up for the sarcastic, horny Church nights supplied in The Elenium, their antics are good enough for a laugh once in a while. The main character is a starry-eyed and reluctant as Frodo, however. Meet Garion. He's not really special (they never are in the beginning of the book, are they?) but he's somehow meant to get The Orb back and kill the comatose God for good. Or at least thats how the prophecy's supposed to go. Accompanied by, like I said, a motley bunch of characters who don't nescesarrily get along with each other. Think, a guy who can talk to horses, a knight who thinks he's invincible, a werebear (of sorts), a guy who can walk through walls, a sarcastic spy (my favourite character) and a bitchy, spoiled brat princess. Their different personalities and their frequent quarrels add color to the already colorful world David Eddings has laid out in front of us, making the story all the more enjoyable. Though, as in The Elenium, the main characters and only two or three others truly get character development, that's a flaw you'll hardly really notice until you get to the end of the book and think back. So that's a plus side I guess.

But as I said, the main attraction is the world itself. As the poor fellows who signed up to be main characters trudge through snow, sand, forest, etc. etc., whilst getting shot at, poisoned, maimed, etc. etc., you'll notice that the places where they go are very much alive. Countries have their own culture, their own style of dressing, etc. etc. I found the Nyissans particularly interesting, but as the slot of 'main evil bad guy' had already been taken by the time their evil queen had been introduced, she had to leave rather early, depriving the reader of a sex scene (HAAARAAAAM!, scream the Biddah Police) between a brainwashed little boy and a narcissistic woman. Oh, wait, that was a good thing.

I haven't bought Volume Two, and despite the fact that I highly doubt there to be any surprising twists awaiting me in Volume Two, I'll buy it anyway because I like this book enough to do so.

Robin Hobb still rules the fantasy arena in my book, but David Eddings still deserves som respect.

Oh yeah, and it's better than The Elenium.

7.5 out of 10.

Book Review: The New Lovecraft Circle

H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most renowned authors when it comes to horror. He's not that famous here in Malaysia, though. Blame it on lack of publicity for books, plus the fact that he's well, dead, and can't promote new things. His stories redefined the horror genre, in a sense, and till this day some stories are labelled as 'Lovecraftian style horror' because his style is, in essence, different than that of typical horror stories. Strangely enough, his original plan was to write sci-fi. He didn't like the fact that most sci-fi stories of that era depicted 'aliens' as 'humanly'. Indeed, the demons or Old Ones in his stories are meant to be aliens, in a sense, though they are a lot more bizarre. Think, really bizarre. Like beings that don't have actual physical form due to the fact that they live on a different plane altogether, or beings composed of sound. It's weird, but some people love it all the same. His stories are based on what he calls the Cthlhu Mythos, a chronology of events ranging from millions of years in the past since before dinosaurs were even on Earth, to the present day. All of them revolve around the 'Old Ones', who were said to have inhabited Earth at some point in time, and are now trying to come back here. Before you buy this book, you might have to decide whether you like Lovecraft's style. To try reading some of his works for FREE, click HERE.

And some knowledge on the Cthlhu Mythos itself would be helpful, though not essential. For that, click HERE.

So basically, this book is a compilation of stories based on the Mythos, written by Lovecraft's fans or friends. Truth be told, however, you don't need to be a fan of Lovecraft's works to read them. They're creepy all the same, exploring areas concerning demons, and insanity, and like Lovecraft's original stories, most are written in first person view, amplifying the horror factor when it comes to the bits about insanity. Though there are one or two stories that are more like history reports which you can skip, ones like 'The Statement of One John Gibson', where it is written as a statement, followed by a cassette recording from an asylum are REALLY good. Others to check out are 'The Plain of Sound' and 'Demoniacal'. New and bizarre concepts are explored in certain stories, like the usage of rock and roll occult music to summon a demon, and a futuristic movie set with shapeshifting actors. All in all, as it is an anthology, it's hard to judge as a whole, and it's hard to give it an accurate score.

As a newly-converted Lovecraft fan, I give it an 8 out of 10.

Aï! Aï! Cthulhu fhtagn!

Book Review: Royal Assassin

The second book in the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb, and by far possibly the best of the three, this book picks up where the first left off, with Regal's assassination attempt on Fitz failed miserably, where the main character still isn't in a situation to do anything about it but return to Buckeep as he is bound by duty to the King. Regal grows impatient to succeed the throne, and as he grows more ambitious, so do his attempts grow more extreme. Though the premise of being stuck in a situation where you can't do anything to the person who's repeatedly trying to kill you has been used (and proved to be fun to read) in the previous book, this book explores further into Fitz growingly complicated life. His duty to the King interferes with his love life, which recieves a stunning revival with the return of a certain someone, his ability with the Skill leads to some problems, conspiracies are being formed, and all the while, the Kingdom is STILL under fire from the Red Pirates, who seem to be getting further and further inland. And still no one is getting any closer to solving the mystery of Forging.

A lot of characters are developed in this book, again proving Robin Hobb's finesse. Most first-person type books aren't very capable of giving a balanced view on its other characters, but Robin Hobb pulls it off. Verity faces his problems as King-in-Waiting. Burrich's disapproval of Fitz's usage of the Skill still threatens their relationship. The Fool remains as mysterious as ever, and darker characters are given more spotlight in this book. The turn of events also remains, as before, unpredictable, making this book harder to put down than the first as the twists come so suddenly and so unexpectedly that they send you reeling with every passing chapter. The ending also end convieniently for you to start rushing to the stores for Book 3.

Another matter that I would like to bring to attention is the introduction of the character Nighteyes, the wolf, which leads to the forming of possibly the most powerful human-animal bonds ever.

Robin Hobb again wields power over our emotions. Expect to grumble, scream, shout and smile with every event that the main character experiences. With the bulk of the Farseer Trilogy in this book, if you've gotten this far, you'll realize that the 60+bucks spent (on this one and the one before) was well spent. More than well spent, even. I keep it with me, alongside His Dark Materials and The Sight, which shows just how much I adore this series.

And yet I only have Shahril to discuss it with. (rolls eyes)

Khairul won't take my word for this, but this book deserves a 10 out of 10. 12 even. It's that damn good.

Book Review: Wolf Brother

There, with Stephen King behind me, I’ve finally returned to my original pace. Yep, I’m done with Wolf Brother, in less than a day too, and when that happens, you know what that means, haha. Well even if it is no secret that I have a passion for books that have wolves in them, I’ll try my best not to let that influence my judgment in this review. Now Wolf Brother has been out for quite a while now, truthfully. I remember seeing a book review in the paper, comparing its success to the success of Harry Potter. (Another book that has received this form of praise is Lionboy, though I have yet to try that one out. Guess wolves come first.) Being a diehard Potter fan, though my enthusiasm for the series has particularly declined since the tragedy that was Order of the Phoenix, I would not say that this book is better than Harry Potter, but that’s only because in my honest opinion, the two books are two different categories altogether. Although they’re both categorized under the Young Adult section, the brand of fantasy involved in the two are significantly different, which means that Wolf Brother is a truly original concept not derived in any way from Rowling’s work.

Now, where Rowling painted a world of magic and sorcery hidden in our own world, colored it with bright characters and interesting objects, Michelle Paver takes a world that could very well exist in our own, set right after the thaw of the Ice Age, when Man was still exploring the vast lands. (Which specific era, Mesolithic, Paleolithic, don’t ask. I’ve forgotten how to tell the difference). The main character is Torak, a young boy who’s just lost his father to a bear possessed by a demon. At his deathbed, his father sends him on a quest tied to the destruction of the demon-bear, as if the bear isn’t stopped, the Forests will all die. Or something catastrophic of that magnitude. The opening of the book immediately thrusts us into that situation, which might prove to be a little too fast for some people, but if you’re willing to ignore it, the story steadily builds up at an interesting pace, revealing more things about Torak’s past and his world as the story progresses. Seeing that the premise of this story is basically a journey, it would of course be filled with some other characters, friends and enemies. Although the demon-bear would be considered as the penultimate monster-enemy-that-deserves-a-climactic-battle in the finale, the twist of logic in this story is that Torak’s enemies include nature itself. Fever, avalanches, wild animals, you get the picture. Magic exists in this book, though not in such an obvious way as portrayed in Harry Potter where wands and flashy lights define ‘magic’. Magic as depicted in this book is more primal, and less obvious, though the end of the book hinted that even more would be in store for the sequels, leaving me obviously craving more.

As for the story’s pace, as the opening was a bit sudden, the rest of the story falls in place rather quickly, and takes you through a roller-coaster ride which will keep you turning pages, as there is seldom a long moment of quiet rest for the main characters. This doesn’t mean that the author doesn’t take time to detail her world enough though, in fact, the journey takes Torak far enough for the reader to appreciate how the world was before machines and stone buildings were made. The raw power of nature, and the tribal spirit of Man, Michelle Paver pulls off this piece of work wonderfully. I wouldn’t be able to judge yet, but if I’m not mistaken, the ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ series would possibly be comparable to this story, though Clan of the Cave Bear would probably be targeted for older audiences, judging by its thickness. One of these days, if Michelle Paver takes too long to write a sequel, I might just pick it up.
If there was any flaw in this book as far as I can tell, it’s that the pace can sometimes get a bit too fast, to a point where you probably won’t feel for some characters as much as you would like to. You’ll probably realize this at the very end, however, so don’t worry about having to drag yourself through this book, because you definitely won’t. In a sense that this book is a definite crowd pleaser for adults and children alike, in the end you could probably compare it to Harry Potter after all. So from now on, maybe I shouldn’t look at that ‘as good as Harry Potter’ tag so skeptically. Judging from past disappointments, however, I will still avoid the ‘better than Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials’ tag, and the ever-annoying, still rampant in the market ‘BETTER THAN THE DA VINCI CODE’ tag.
All in all, yeah, I’m satisfied.

8.5 out of 10. Bring on the sequel, Ms. Paver!

P.S-This author would like to point out that the ‘better than Da Vinci Code’ tag, has only not disappointed him once, and that was for ‘The Rule of Four’.

Book Review: The Tommyknockers

My third Stephen King book that I've finished. Where to begin? Of course with the name 'Stephen King' emblazoned on the cover, one can't help but expect a lot, regardless of whether you're a newcomer or a longtime fan (I'm neither). Others, who have tried Stephen King and decided that his style is way too slow-paced for their tastes would know well enough to stop trying. Longtime fans who haven't read this have probably been discouraged by bad reviews, considering the fact that most fans who have tend to use the words 'disappointment' and 'Tommyknockers' in the same sentence. Well, since I'm neither a longtime fan nor a newcomer, in the end I'll have to say that I'm neither disappointed nor impressed for that matter. This book merely just 'is', where it does have glaring flaws as some fans claim, it has certain areas where it makes up for those flaws.

Alright, 'The Tommyknockers' is practically about an alien invasion of some sort. B-Grade? Not quite. And it's definitely not as typical as most 'body-snatchers' type alien stories are, though the premise would sound the same. The first part revolves around one Bobbi Anderson, who stumbles upon a strange metal object deep in the woods on the outskirts of a small town called Haven. Overcome by a strange urge, she begins digging it out, while small changes start happening to her. The story then shifts to that of Jim Gardner, Bobbi's boyfriend who's out of town at the time. Being the main protagonist of the story, he finds himself back in Haven (albeit, after a long series of unnescesarry events) to find that something is changing not just Bobbi, but all the folks of Haven. This series of events are told through small 'chapters', as the focus is removed from Jim to the rest of Haven's inhabitants, who notice the changes one way or another. And after following the viewpoint of all these people, the story ties up at the end with Gardner. A rather unique style, I'd say, which probably earns this story extra points. And since I'm an occasional sci-fi fan, the whole 'alien' premise wasn't a turn-off. It helped that the aliens weren't exactly typical, and as King always does, he makes his characters as real as real can be. Cynical, and sarcastic at times, characters in this story as you'd expect real life people to. That has always been King's finer points, in my honest opinion.

Now to the downsides. As I have often said, King isn't someone who makes you want to speed through a book. Chances are, you'll want to put down the book come 100th page or so, but as usual, if you stick around long enough, the fun'll come around eventually. You may take a few days (or weeks in my case) to get through the book, and at the end, you may not find those weeks worth it, but you won't curse yourself for paying for the book either (especially if you buy it at PLB like me). The plot has a few holes in it, here and there, and the climactic confrontations at the end left much to be desired, and you'll feel like King had a lot more explaining to do (on the Tommyknockers' part. The human parts were as usual, elaborated all TOO well).

This book has its share of moments, and being a horror novel, the moments I'm talking about are creepy. Sorta. Depends on how you define creepy. Talking dolls, and Jesus potraits, oh, and a Coke machine that moves around and kills people. Oh yeah. I'd say the moving Coke machine was the best thing in this book. Haha.

Seeing that I absolutely loved 'Salem's Lot', comparisons between the two are inevitable, so I'll just say that 'Salem's Lot' was way better than this. Of course this may possibly due to the effects the Cthulhu Mythos has had on my perception of aliens. But in all due honesty, 'Salem's Lot' didn't have as much flaws as this one did, but Tommyknockers still makes a decent read.

Now I can finally get my claws on Wolf Brother.

5 out of 10.

Book Review: Shade's Children

Sci-fi? Garth Nix?! [Paradox. Unsolvable simultaneously. Shutting down.]

Well, yes. It seems that Mr. Nix is multi-talented, after all. But one quick look at the cover, it's so damn obvious that it's still a fantasy-type story. Sure, they've got grenades, guns and holographic machine-mind entities... but that was present in the Old Kingdom Trilogy too. (Minus the holographic egoistical bastard, Shade.) So, nah, it's not really a sci-fi story after all.

It did have a Blade Runner-esque feel to it though, even if I haven't seen the movie and thus have no real authority to say that. Ahem. Anyway, it's set in a post-apocalyptic future where no adults are present and the world is overpopulated by Creatures created by the Overlords. Apparently, sometime fifteen years ago, when the Change happened, they came (from another dimension, presumably) and translocated all adults into, you guessed it, another dimension. Shocking.

What happened to the children then? Well, in true Big Brother-style, the Overlords put all of them in the Dorms, where they are bred, fed and when they reach their 14th birthday, carried off to the Meat Factory (or as the Overlords called it, the Central Processing Facility) to be made into Creatures. I can't stress how B-movie that all sounded. *rolls eyes*

Actually, despite the Lava3 premise, Shade's Children is an enjoyable read. The four characters (Gold-Eye, Ninde, Ella and Drum) are quite endearing. The way they interact with each other and their views are fascinating. On that merit alone, this book would have scored 8 out of 10, but...

Y'see, Mr. Nix never really explained how the Overlords came and who they really are. It's frustrating to learn the existence of a supremely evil race of villains only to be deprived of the essential knowledge of who and what they are, much less why they came here in the first place. It's a lot like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII but at least in that game, the designers had the decency to explain why he wanted to destroy the world, even if that explanation is a clichéd one. With the Overlords, apparently all they wanted to do was pit their creatures against one another, kind of like a violent version of a Magic: The Gathering tournament. Imagine if Sephiroth was really a 12 year old pimply geek... *shudders*

Shade was also another complaint. It was so friggin' obvious that he's going to betray them (maybe I've read one too many Dan Brown novels), you just want to bitch-slap Ella and point her to the blinking neon sign above Shade's robotic spider head that said, "U R SCREWED MUAHAHAHAHA!" Honestly, people, if you're a team leader you should've picked it up and there really is no excuse since Ninde is a mind-reader, for God's sakes!

Lastly, the ending wasn't as satisfying as one should be. Maybe it's Mr. Nix's one flaw, because most of his endings are done this way: abrupt. Though, in this case, it was atrocious; I had to re-read it several times, and I still don't get it! *grumble grumble* So, in that fashion, I shall end this by rating the book 5 out of 10.

And I'm being nice.

[Shut down and restart.]

Book Review: Assassin's Apprentice

Ah yes, the fantasy genre loves trilogies. The Malloreon, The Elenium, The Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials, the Magic the Gathering Cycles, yes, the fantasy genre has been carried a long way on trilogies. We've gotten so accustomed to it that a fantasy book series with less than three books would be considered 'too short' and a series with more than three books would be considerd 'too long' (coughRobertJordancough). It's not a bad thing, really. More than once, the books that have swept me off my feet have come from trilogies. I think I need not gush on how much the His Dark Materials trilogy has affected my life. In fact, since the discovery of HDM, I haven't found any other trilogy that can actually captivate me and make me run to KLCC three days in a row to grab the rest of the trilogy.

Enter the Farseer Trilogy.

I remember reading a review on this series in 'The Star' before, though I won't say that the review was what compelled me to buy the series. Quite honestly, I took it out of instinct, grabbing it spontaneously off the shelf, not having anything else to read at that time. Guess that's how I tend to grab books I fall in love with. His Dark Materials, and now this trilogy are a testament to that fact.

Yes, this is another fantasy trilogy, with dragons, magic, kings and pirates, but to label it as 'typical' fantasy would be the biggest mistake anyone could ever make. The story revolves around FitzChivalry, bastard of the would-be King to the Farseer throne. At the young age of 6, (he can't recall much from before that age), he is sent to Buckeep Castle to be raised by his father's bloodline. His father, Prince Chivalry, who was supposed to be next in line to the throne was exiled upon discovery of his adultery, yet Fitz remains in the castle, raised at first by the stablemaster, Burrich. Through his eyes, we see the political games played inside the castle walls, where the main players are the two other Princes, Prince Verity (Chivalry's brother) and Prince Regal (stepbrother). Though Prince Verity, being the second son after Chivalry, is slated to be next to claim the throne from King Shrewd, it is no secret that the ambitious Regal will stop at nothing to try and claim the throne for himself. And at the same time, Fitz himself is often at the recieving end of Regal's hatred- apparently Chivalry never got along well with Regal well either. Regal would want nothing better than to have Fitz out of the castle, denied of any right to living under the Farseer name.

Which leads to the question, why exactly is Fitz allowed to stay on in the castle? Apparently, bastards can be used as weapons against the kingdom, as far as King Shrewd is concerned. The Farseer line comes with the ability to use a type of magic known as 'The Skill'. The Skill allows for reading the minds of other people across certain distances, manipulating, confusing, etc. etc. Where are the fancy fireballs, you ask? You won't find any here. There are only two forms of magic in this world- The Skill, and The Wit. The Wit allows for a psychic bonding with an animal familiar. People with The Wit in general can communicate with, not control animals, often resulting in being ostracized from society. The Wit is looked as 'dirty, dark' magic, and people who are caught with the ability are killed outright. It isn't until halfway through this book that Fitz is revealed to be capable of using The Wit, though Burrich forbids him from telling anyone about it, and forbids him from using it altogether, warning him that using The Wit will result in Fitz turning into an animal himself.

Magic aside, the brunt of this book is spent on detailing Fitz's early years in Buckeep, all the way until he starts learning under Chade (one of King Shrewd's assassins) to become an assassin. Hence the title. At the same time he also has to contend with Skill lessons, which don't go too well very often. When not in the castle, he tries to develop a normal love relationship with Molly, his love interest. And he juggles all this with the fact that someone is trying to kill him. Obviously, it's Regal. But with Regal being a Prince, there's not much that Fitz can do but try to stay alive.

Ah yes, Regal. I wouldn't be going too far by saying that he makes Umbridge of Potter fame look like a kind elderly lady who gives out candy to little children. The power that Hobb wields in this book, by making it told through a first-person viewpoint will make you weep, scream and hate along with Fitz once you get sucked in. And once you hate Regal, and I can guarantee that you will, you'll start turning pages, eager to see this bastard (not Fitz) get what he deserves. Though the opening for the book is arguably slow (it made one of my friends give up on it), once things kick into full gear (Regal starts causing problems, Fitz starts his lessons, his past is slowly revealed), you're not going to want to put this book down. And once you're done, you'll scream because you'll want Book Two immediately, but you'll sigh with relief knowing that your money was well spent.

Not picking up this book, for fantasy lovers, is a crime of the highest degree.

9 out of 10. Simply because the REALLY good parts are yet to come..

Book Review: The Light Ages

Now, where do I even begin? I bought this book out of sheer wanting something extra to bring to KYUEM, and so I picked this randomly out of the fantasy shelf. And when I saw the statement '...rival Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials Saga...', I immediately decided to give this one a go. Well, not THAT immediately, there was another book I was going to buy, forgot the title, but I flipped a coin, and this thing one, and so I ended taking this one home, a decision that I would later regeret. Now, I'm not one for slamming books really. I rarely pick up a book that I absolutely do not want to read, and hey, I did FINISH this book, but I must point out that I did so at an absolutley sluggish pace (2 weeks, which, for me, is a LONG period when it comes to books. My friends can testify to that) And, boy was I glad that I finished it! Now I can toss it aside and start worrying about the rest of the books on my reading list.

Basically this story revolves around a fantasy version of London, darker, smokier, foggier, and run on a substance called aether, the fundamental base of 'magic'. Aether basically dictates life, the guilds control the aether, and those without guilds are forced to live in poverty. This story is basically of the transition from the 'Dark Ages', ruled by aether, to a 'Light Age', where things change for the better. The story is told through the eyes of one Robert Burrows, who plays a part in the change. The story basically involves a large amount of power play and politics, discussions and social classes. Simply said, some could relate it to David Copperfield or any other story written by Charles Dickens, albeit the fantasy settings. The world has its fair of issues to deal with, poverty being only one of them. There are also changelings, people who have been exposed to too much aether to the point that they are transformed into trolls, or other deformed monstrosities. Before you get any ideas of them being a problem in the 'mindless destruction' department, the problem really is that they're still human, just not treated that way.

Now, the author seems to want you to know every last detail of the narrator's life, and London, which is a good thing in certain point of views, but most of the time it throws the flow of the story off track, which is not a good thing. It doesn't help that I'm not a fan of political stuff, not to mention the fact that, when compared to Pullman, I expected a journey. Getting this, well, it got me disappointed. If you like this kind of stuff, then maybe you want to pick this up. On all other accounts, it'll make turning pages seem like a chore, so avoid like the plague.

3 out of 10. And I'm being nice.

Book Review: The Thousand Orcs

This, my friend, is the book of a damn good trilogy. The Thousand Orc, by R.A Salvatore, may not sound like much of a title. But its whats on the inside that counts right? And the story on this baby is awesome! Of course to truly understand the whole story and get a feel for the character, you're going top have to start from the top which is going to be the... Crystal Shard Trilogy i think. Then work your way up until you reach this trilogy. I'll be doing reviews on them later.

Back to this one. I'll go briefly into the plot. It starts with how a group of travelling dwarves were climbing up a hill and suddenly bombarded by rocks and spears. Only two of em survived and so they hid together and saw orcs and frost giants in league with each other. Taking this as very bad news, they crawled out of their hiding place, one with a very bad limp, and walked all the way to meet Bruenor the dwarf, king of the Battlehammer Clan and his bad of friends. Wulgar and Cattie-Brie, adopted children of Bruenor. Drizzt Do'Urden, a rebel dark elf and Regis, a plump halfling. Together they make up the heroic band of Icewind Dale. Now, a lttle story on their background.

Wulgar is a barbarian, captured young by Bruenor when he was fighting against Bruenor. lol, he made the mistake of bashing Bruenor on the head with a staff. As a side note, DO NOT bash any dwarfs on the head. Doesn't work. So anyway, Wulfgar got a closer look at the beer mug elbem on Bruenor's shield and found himself in a cave since Bruenor didn't have the heart to kill him. Oh also i forgot to mention that the barbarians were attacking this village and the dwarves helped the villagers so...

Anyway Catti-Brie's story is different. She was adopted when she was a wee' little baby. You see, Bruenor and his dwarven gang was a tad too late to save this village from an orc raid. Of course, the orcs were all slain and all that but the damage was done. Catti-Brie was the only surviving thing there so Bruenor took her in and raised her as his own. Now she speaks with a dwarven slang.

Drizzt Do'Urden, dark elf by nature, Paladin Knight by heart. Which is ironice since his whole race is an evil race, their only purpose killing and chaos. His race is known for their evil ways and their unmatched swordsmanship and powerful mages. In this case, Drizzt Do'Urde is the best swordsman from The Underdark, a place from under the earth where the majority of his race live without light. Oh dark elves can't stand light and have that heat seeing thing ability. Anyway, Drizzt here, or known simply as Drizit, can't stand the evil ways of his race and ran away. He came unto the face of the earth to escape his race. He wandered around marvelling at trees and skunks and fishes. Then one day he met the great Montolio De Brauchee, a blind ranger and worshipper of the goddess Miellikki. He helped Drizzt find his way and thought him every thing he needs to know to live in this world of ours. Of course, his tale is longer than the rest so i'll stop here. If you want to know Drizzt's history, get the Dark Elf Trilogy. It explains everything about him.

Regis is a plump halfling, more used to politics than war. That is why he is so charming. Plus the fact that he has a magical pendant that hypnotizes almost anyone. I wish i had that pendant... Anyway, he is the closest friend and adviser to Bruenor.

Back to the story plot. Ahem. Bruenor already got wind of what was happening although not as large as Frost Giants in league with Orcs so he was doing what every friendly dwarven king does in this sort of situation. Walk around with an army of battle ready dwarves at his back, warning villages and having fun with the Squisher. Or was it the Pulper? Its a mean machine though that's all i can say about it. It squishes stuffs. Anyway, remember the two dwarven friends?Well, they went to this village and stayed there to recuperate. One of them left the other and went the WRONG way in search of Bruenor. Bruenor was already on the way from another direction. Lucky thing something happened and they both met up somewhere... i can't really remember. Anyway, the town was under sieged by then and so the dwarves charge to the rescue. Of course, they were surrounded by then by a thousand orc (title) and Frost Giants lobbing rocks at them. And stuffs happened and Drizzt went out to spy on the enemy. More stuffs happened and when drizzt came back from the spying mission with his skin on, he witnessed what he thought to be the downfall of Bruenor although it wasn't Bruenor who died. Just one of his loyal followers who was wearing his helmet when Bruenor was injured and dying.

And so ends book one of this marvellous trilogy. I give this a full ten out of ten.

Book Review: His Dark Materials Continued 2

Now ain't that touching? I got blammed twice for reviewing truthfully! To each their own opinions eh? lol

Anyway... Today, ladies and gentleman, i shall be reviewing to what would be thebest book in the whole trilogy of His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. The Amber Spyglass.

Ladies and gentleman, if you are a book enthusiast, bored with all your collection of books, then this is the right books for you. For those who aren't book enthusiast but planning to read books, get this trilogy. The Amber Spyglass makes buying the whole set and reading it worth it. In book three, the children, Will and Lyra, fins out their destiny (or was that in book 2? Can't remember...) and also, finds out that in all worlds, there is NO god. No Heaven and Hell, no sin, nothing. Only Angels with one of them claiming to be god. Heaven is just a floating piece of rock covered with clouds. In the war to come, it becomes a war machine. Anyway, the term Dust is a bit confusing. It can't be seen with the naked eye. Plus, from what i read, i think in that story, Dust is god. At least i think so since everything is made of Dust. I can't really exlain to you what the Dust looks like so...

Anyway, in this book, Will and Lyra ventures into the World Of The Dead, more like a prison camp for all dead people, the holy ones, the sinners and the innocent with harpies guarding the place. Will and Lyra will make an agreement with the harpies and in exchange let the souls free to join once again with Dust and their dead daemons. Oh did i mention that once you die in Lyra's world, your daemon disappears? SORRY for not mentioning it before.

Back to the plot. Will and Lyra leads the souls of the dead out from the souls prison camp, guided by a harpy. Will cuts open a portal to the real world to find it ravaged by war between angels and humans lead by Lyra's father. And from there it gets somewhat blurry in my memory so i'm afraid i can't tell you what happens next. All i can say is when the war is over, the story is not yet over.

This book has everything. A very sad ending, one that will make you cry if you really dig this book. I give this book a 10 out of 10. A must read for book enthusiast.

Book Review: Touching Spirit Bear

'Whatever you do to the animals, you do to yourself. Remember that.'

Yes, it's another one of my YA books. The way Pai puts it, they're easier to read and understand, and they don't cause headaches, so I don't think I'll be kicking the habit of reading Young Adult anytime soon. I'm still not sure what drove me to buying this book. Possibly, I had just finished His Dark Materials at the time, and was still obsessing over how cool bears were, saw this book, and thought 'OOOOH! BEAR!'. Oh well.

The novel revolves around Cole Matthews, a fifteen year old boy who's been in trouble for a quite a long time. Stealing, fighting, etc. etc. Everything a juvenile delinquent should be. Though there wasn't any mention of rape... oh well, he's fifteen. Give him time.

The latest in Cole's impressive list of juvenile activities is smashing one Peter Driscal's skull into the sidewalk. For this, Cole will have to choose between prison and Native American Circle Justice~ which means choosing either a year behind bars or isolation for a year. Seeing the fact that the dumb people on the Circle Justice council believe that Cole has to be 'healed' spiritually, and the fact that Cole has no intention of spending a year where people get sexually deprived, he picks isolation.

And so he is sent to a remote Alaskan island where he will have no contact whatsoever with the outside world for a year. (The horror! His e-mail account will definitely expire over that much time!) That is, save for the occasional visits by Circle Justice members Garvey and Edwin who check in on him from time to time to drop supplies. Considering himself smarter than the idiots who put him on the island to begin with, Cole begins to plan his escape. Building a raft doesn't work, so he attempts swimming~ which turns out to be a dumb idea. Alaskan waters aren't exactly warm.

Furious that he can't escape, he takes it out on everything else. The shelter that Garvey and Edwin constructed for him, for one, and, well, a bear. Now if you're beginning to think that this bear is going to be the one that will guide him to Cole's spiritual recovery as well as redemption, has the ability to talk, thus spouting words of wisdom every few pages and singing jolly, motivational songs, well, you're only half right. No wait, way off.

The bear sends Cole down his road of redemption, alright. By mauling him. Now how does help, you wonder? Well I'm not spoiling that. The story is basically about what Cole learns over his period of isolation from nature and Inuit philospohy, and how he comes to terms with himself. And you get to see how Cole develops from a bitter person who is angry at the world to a...dying, bitter person who is angry at the world. Okay, I was just kidding.

Overall, this book is a good read. I re-read it a few times, which is more than I can say for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is now collecting dust on my shelf. And if I say it's worth re-reading, there, it's good.

Which makes me wonder if the juvenile delinquent centers in Malaysia should start working together with Zoo Negara, maybe toss in one juvenile per day into the bear cage and see what happens. It just might work. Though I don't think sending our juveniles to isolated islands can really work. Our waters aren't that cold, and hey, if Indons can swim to shore, I'm sure that fresh, young bodies with minds of serial rapists can do so too. But it does get me wondering about the prison system, though. Native American's 'heal' their guilty rather than punish. What good does punishment really do for anyone save for the fact that the victims get a minor sense of pleasure?

Oh well.

8 out of 10.

The Old Kingdom Trilogy - Sabriel

The name of this trilogy is actually quite unofficial. Word is that Garth Nix never really properly named his fantastic series about Death, beyond Death and the ultimate battle between Good and Evil, or the Living and the Living Dead, in this case.

We start the trilogy with the first important character to be introduced, Sabriel. The book starts off with a prologue detailing the circumstances of her birth, a very extraordinary one, I might say. Here, like in East, we see how she was meant to be different, and what lies in her destiny.

Which is to say that yes, she's the titular character for a bloody good reason.

Of course, it wasn't revealed what she will become in that one chapter. But in the next, we'll become more acquainted with the powers that she has inherited. Don't worry if it seemed that it was a sudden introduction to her world. Garth Nix does a commendable job describing what she can do, without being too intricate with the details, unlike a certain fantasy author... (coughtolkiencough)

His skill, of course, means nothing if the world he created was uninteresting. That is, thankfully, not so. Garth Nix has created a rich world, or should I say, worlds? In practicality, the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre (spelling?) are two very different universes. While one is blooming with magic, the other is devoid of them, much like our world. In fact, Ancelstierre is almost a bit by bit copy of our world, complete with modern day weaponry and electricity! It's amazing how the author can fuse the two elements (that is, modernity and traditional swords and sorcery fantasy) together so seamlessly that they feel right.

Like any good fantasy novels, Sabriel could not possibly be complete without a talking cat. Well, yes, it sounded silly but you'll learn to love and loath (and re-love) Mogget, a cat that's not really a cat. His personality is so like a certain friend of mine that I can't help but to love him!

And the action scenes... ah, yes. Satisfying. Romance seemed a little bit stilted, but that might be because I didn't like Sabriel's love interest enough. They do, however, make a great couple, if not my favorite. And for that, this book deserves an 8 out of 10.

And yes, I'm being really critical. If it weren't for a book club, I'd have said ten out of ten. Go figure.

Book Review: Hart's War

I can't remember when I got this book. All I know is that my father rented this book from the National Library, gave me a choice whether to read this book or a book with a women drawn on its cover. Needless to say, yours truly took this book and began reading it.

This is a story of a Tommy Hart, a law student turned pilot who became a prisoner of war after his bomber was shot down. Captured by the Germans, he led a routine life until a black flier joined the camp. Lincoln Scott was disliked because of his skin color, and was later accused of killing a very popular figure inside the camp. Scott was ordered to go on trial, like a court marshall. Hart was ordered to defend Scott and in the process revealing the truth on why Trader Vic (the man who holds hatred against Scott) was killed.

My father thought it was about a war like World War I & II, Cold War, and the rest. Well, most of the time, the war's actually took place in a courtroom. For those of you who are John Grisham fans, take note. Honestly I haven't read any of his works so... can't make a direct comparison.

John Katzenbach's rather average usage of words and sentences really transformed this book. It's not as hardcore as Tom Clancy, but it does make things easier to understand. Suspense are aplenty inside this book and the twists are tight. But perhaps the best thing about this book is the feeling that it creates. It stirs up my feeling everytime I read the book, something that other political/military novels fail to create. That, in my opinion, is a plus point.

This is my The Sight. A nine out of ten.

Book Review: Stolen

'Stolen' is the sequel to another novel called 'Bitten' written by the same author. Surpassing its predecessor by far, let's ignore 'Bitten' for now and focus on this one. The main character of both books is Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf in the world. Why? Well apparently, you can only become a werewolf by two different ways. One is by inheriting the gene from your parents, and apparently, this method is only available for males. The second is by, as you should know, getting scratched. Except the problem is that getting attacked by a werewolf and surviving with a scratch is damned near impossible, as the book claims. So how did Elena survive? She got scratched by her mate/boyfriend Clayton Danvers while she was at university. Who says werewolves can't be intellectuals?

Now where 'Bitten' was about a battle amongst werewolves themselves, 'Stolen' takes it one notch higher by introducing the fact that werewolves aren't the only supernatural beings in the world, which comes as a shock to Elena since she isn't exactly the most well-informed member of the Pack about affairs regarding other 'monsters'. Apparently, a covert government organization is tracking down and catching werewolves, vampires, shamans, sorcerers and witches to study.

As Elena puts it, yeah, it sounds like a badly written season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but what makes this book worth the read is the suspense and the characters themselves. As the story is told in a first-person point of view, an insight into Elena's mind and how she looks at things make the book fun to read. The book also has its share of twists and betrayals, which only help strengthen my case when I say that this book is good!

Werewolves rule!

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Book Review: His Dark Materials Continued

What? Its he truth. I mean, its the first book! Its not the second or third where it really counts! The first books of any trilogies are always a bit lacking since it is the introduction to the whole trilogy right? So anyway, yeah it got a 9 on my watch.

Now for book two. Book two, The Subtle Knife, introduces to us a lot more characters. Say for an example Will. He is a boy, around the same age with Lyra which is 12 by the way. Anyway, his world is not the same as Lyra's as it is set in our own world where you don't see souls eating Frosties and what not. So anyway, the first chapter tells us off Will's life. Currently, he was sneaking back into his own house after dropping off his mother at a neighbours house to get a box of letter from his missing father. There, he found out that two people were already in his house. Okay i myself was confused with this part since the two people, as far as i can remember, played no important role except for the fact that Will ran away and found a portal leading to another world which so happened to be the on where Lyra followed her father into the OTHERWORLD. Of course that doesn't mean there's only two worlds. There's lots more where that came from, lots more!

Anyway, the story continues onwards to how Will met Lyra, how Will received guradianship of THE KNIFE! Its called the Subtle Knife (duh). Its a knife with two edges, one so sharp it can cut trhough anything. The other, so subtle it can rip the reality barrier in two and thus open up a portal to any world. Then the story proceeds onwards to tell us how they got into trouble and used the knife and all that. Oh did i mention Will lost two fingers?

Now the thing i like bout this second book is the characters. Phillip managed to make them.. real. Its got great character build up. You feel what they feel and al that, get my drift? Its awesome. Plus he keeps to a constant storyline and has this way of writing that makes it impossible to put the book down. I'd give it a full ten out of ten. Or in the words of nighteyes, a twelve out of ten.

Admin. Note

As a rule, just because a book has been reviewed by someone else, doesn't mean that you can't review it again. Especially if it's something as big as His Dark Materials. C'mon Khairul, you can't POSSIBLY sit happily watching Shahril giving a '9' to the biggest thing of all time! Of course, if you don't do it (rolls up sleeves), I'm going to have to defend Lyra.

Book Review: His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials IS NOT childish as the title may imply nor is it those horny erotic stuffs. Sure title sounds a bit weird but its one hell of story.

His Dark Materials is a trilogy. First book is called The Northern Lights or Golden Compass. Don't ask me why there are two titles. Anyway this book tells the beginning of a story with Lyra, the main character of this trilogy, and Pantlamoin, her daemon(NOT demon) getting into trouble by being where they were not supposed to be in the first place. Now before i start on this, let me explain a few things. Daemons are peoples souls except that you can see em on the outside. And touch em too. There is a taboo though where no one can touch another daemon except for their own. Plus, no one can go far without their daemon. Its like having your heart tugged. Oh also, daemons have animal forms although before people reach their adolescense, their shapes are not constant meaning shapeshifters. After the children become adults or teenagers, their daemons will stay in a shape that would best describe the person. Now, back to storytelling. I only told the intro so for those who want to read the book and not wish for spoilers, READ NO FURTHER. Just scroll below and see the rating.

Okay, i can't remember the story in detail so i may skip a few parts. I'll try my best. Now this book tells us about how Lyra got into trouble for sneaking into this meeting. Then her uncle found her out and told her to stay put. Then she saw the headmaster pouring poison into her uncle's wine. Obviously she told her uncle. And then after a few moments off talking nice and getting rid of poison and all that, others people pour into the room and onwards to a slide show. Lyra got her first glimpse of Dust (Will be explained later on in the rest of the trilogy) and of a tower hidden in the clouds, an alternate world. And so stuffs happened and whooosh! She was swept away into a gipsy boat and all that, met a witch and a talking bear or panzerbjson or something like that. So from there she did all sort of stuffs, basically getting into trouble. And loads of it. Its a kids thing right? Oh and did i mention that her uncle turned out to be her father? That's a shocker. Anyway, her father managed to rip open a dimension gate using the energy from a severed bond between body and soul. He used Lyra's friend so... Anyway, she followed him into the other dimension and so ends book one. Now i skipped a lot of parts so you have to read it by yourself. I give book one a 9 out of 10.

I shall start reviewing book two later as it is late in the night and my mom glaring at me. I tell if looks could blast a hole in a wall, i would be full of holes as well as the wall in front me and my neighbours house. So goodnight everyone!

Book Review: The Treasured One

Helloooooo everybody! Its a ME! Lol, Nighteyes invited me to do this. I must say it is very interesting. My thanks and regards to him.

Ahem... now onwards to reviewing. Now, this book by David and Leigh Eddings is quite interesting despite the fact that all books by David Eddings seems to be based on Elder gods and Younger gods, a rock which is stronger than a god, an evil elder god wanting it but got beaten to it by the CHOSEN one which happened to be a clueless young man named Belgarion or Garion for short (Note: I DID NOT STEAL HIS NAME) in The Belgariad trilogy and a horny sarcastic CHURCH knight Sparhawk famous for his dry sense of humour, sharp wit, bleak mood and broken nose in another series. But in this case, the Younger Gods are heroes this time instead of people who ultimately become stronger than the gods. Of course, they still have rocky elements to help them save the day against an evil Bug Thing like opals and what not from Mother Sea who has dry humour and Father Earth. It was weird hearing the Gods calling them Mother and Father. Anyway, the Bug Thing. Its not called that of course. Its called THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE NAMED. How many evil nemesis of every living thing has that title? A lot..

Anyway, this books storyline was a little rushed but it turned out to be a good read since it involved humour, action and romance if i remember correctly. I'd give it a six... out of ten.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

(Warning. MAJOR MAJOR spoilers ahead. Not that I never spoil anything in my reviews, but this time I'm providing spoilers for a book with a fanbase so big that I won't be surprised if I get injured for not putting this warning beforehand)

I still remember how I was first introduced to Harry Potter. I was in Form One, then, and a friend named Adileen lent me the book, saying that it was really good. Being naive as I was back then, I judged the book by its cover, and jumped to the conclusion that the book was 'too childish' for me. I returned it without ever getting past the first chapter. Imagine my surprise then, when my father came home from work a few days later, handing me the very same book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone before he simply said, "Here, read this and let me know what the whole fuss is about." Intrigued, I did as I was told. Back then my dad dictated my reading list, since he was still the one paying for the books. I found the first chapter as boring as I did the first time around, but this time I went just a little bit further, touching the parts where Harry went to Diagon Alley...

And then I was sucked in. Forever destined to be a loyal fan to the series regardless of how much time has passed since then. Upon finishing the first book, I then quickly started demanding Books 2, 3 (which until now remains my favourite), and 4. Book Five I bought on my own when I was in Form Four, and now only recently, I have acquired the sixth book in the series for a whopping RM99.90. Unlike the first four books, I didn't immediately sink into the book upon acquiring it, due to the fact that my friends were over at my house that very night, and I had other matters to attend to. I only really locked on to it the moment I got back here, to KYUEM.

Now, where to begin? Book Six has been receiving a series of mixed reviews from everyone. Some say that it's good, some say that it's not, but what everyone can agree on is that it didn't suck as much as Book Five, which until now remains the only Harry Potter book that I haven't re-read more than ten times. It is good to see that JK Rowling has ditched the whole 'angry teen' phase and started moving on, and her style hasn't deteriorated at all. She's still capable of gluing her readers to her book, keeping them turning pages until the very end. For that, I'm glad. Overall, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (HBP) provides a good read, and wasn't nearly as irritating as Book Five, which was more of a chore to read. But being the second-last book in the series, Rowling still leaves much to be desired, and here's where the complaints start.

A newspaper review that slammed HBP was titled 'Harry Potter and the Half-Baked Plot'. I find myself in a position where I have no choice but to agree with the journalist who wrote the said article. Book Six opens with so much promise, and builds up so much that you feel like you're in Book Two all over again, due to the darker atmosphere. This is of course, a good thing. Chamber of Secrets was damn good. After the disappointment that was Book Five, you'll probably start thinking 'She's back. She's doing her thing again. Yes! RM99.90 well spent!' It is at the final half of the book that you'll start noticing that something's missing. It's as though Rowling got impatient and just wanted to wrap things up quickly so that the cash would just roll in. And so you get an opening that compares to Chamber of Secrets but a closing that almost brought this book down to Order of the Phoenix's standards. Not even Dumbledore's death was as dramatic as it could have been. But then that just could have been me, because to me the guy had a 'I'm going to die' label on him since Book One. That's what you get for being the fatherly, protective figure for the main character. Other examples that fall into this category are Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn (Star Wars), John Thornton (Call of the Wild), Tsinga (The Sight), Prince Verity (The Farseer Trilogy), Gandalf...the Gray (Lord of the Rings), Joyce Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)... and well, others. Lots of others whose names just don't seem to come to mind right now. But you get the idea.

I'm just glad that Lupin's alive ^^.

Book Six also sees the coupling of some characters. Too much coupling, in my opinion, that at some points the book seems more like a fanfic than the actual story. Let's see, Cho's so far off Harry's radar that she's barely mentioned in this story, so now we have (not in chronological order) Harry/Ginny, Ginny/Dean, Lavender Brown/Ron, Hermione/Cormac McLaggen, Lupin/Tonks and Bill/Fleur. See what I mean? I'm just glad that Hermione and Ron haven't confessed their feelings to each other yet. I'm not quite ready to see them stop bickering yet, though personally it was much more fun watching them bicker when the fact that they liked each other wasn't too obvious.

And in the end, after the good opening, there are just one too many loose ends, and ends that were tied up too quickly that they leave much to be desired.

But that aside, overall Book Six was a good read. Looks like Prisoner of Azkaban will remain my favourite for a while longer...

A 7 out of 10. Sad fact is that Rowling missed her chance to score an 11.

Book Review: The Sight

God, I've wanted to do this for ages, and now I've finally gotten round to doing it. Here is a book that I almost religiously carry around with me everywhere I go. Not literally, of course, but you get the picture. I am that much in love with it. I read this book at the perfect time, when I had just finished Prisoner of Azkaban, found Werewolf Apocalypse, and when my obsession with wolves led on to a minor case of therianthrope. So yeah, this book added gasoline to the fire, along with 'Blood and Chocolate' with found its way into my arms not too long after. And for a touch of historical value, I'll bet none of you know this~

'The Sight' is the first book that I have ever bought with my own money! All my previous books were daddy-sponsored, but this one looked too much like a children/teenage book to my dad that he refused to fork out even a single penny for it. I don't mind though. I wanted the book enough to pay for myself, and it set me down the dark, dark road of allowing Kinokuniya to drain my allowance.

Personal stuff aside, 'The Sight' is an awesome, awesome book. It revolves around a female wolf, Larka, who has been endowed with the gift of the Sight, a rare ability among wolf-kind. It is at about the time of Larka's birth that the wolf Morgra has taken command of the Balkar (a group of vicious male wolves), and decreed herself as the 'First of Wolves'. Being the power-hungry bitch that she is, Morgra isn't satisfied with just being the ruler of wolves. She wants Larka's power to aid her go much, much further~ to discover the secret of Man and to rule above all Lera (the word used for 'animals'). Larka's family isn't too keen on handing Larka over though. And so the first half of the book narrates the trials and hardships the family has to go through while fleeing Morgra's wolves. Eventually though, Larka realizes that for the safety of all she holds dear, she has to go off on her own and learn to master her power, so that she may challenge Morgra and liberate her kind.

Don't get me wrong though, 'The Sight' isn't set in a fantasy world. It's set very much in our world, and manages to relate to actual historical events, like the activities of Vlad the Impaler for example. But with the social heirarchy, history and politics of the Varg (the word used for 'wolves') constructed so thoroughly, it feels real enough to pull you in and drag you along for one heck of a ride, where everything ties off just nicely enough at the end.

'The Sight' has its fair share of drama and suspense. And it helps that the characters feel very much alive for you to feel for and love. Even the 'evil' characters aren't truly evil, or without motive other than pure world domination like most stereotypical villains. It's about time that the 'Big Bad Wolf' image be thrown away, I think. This books does justice to the often victimized wolves by portraying them as they really are instead of making them bloodthirsty killing machines.

And the cover's pretty. As Nicholas puts it, the way things are, the saying 'You can't judge a book by its cover' is not useable anymore. Bestselling books normally bring in enough cash for the author to hire better artists to make really, really pretty covers. As a result, most of the bestsellers are the ones with pretty covers. His Dark Materials, anyone?

Despite the amount of time that has passed since I've read this thing, it remains solid on my top ten favourite list.

10 out of 10. Possibly 12.

Foreword

Basically I decided that the book reviews deserve a different place to be put up. And I thought that it would be fun to drag along some friends to contribute as well. This way, we'll know what to dash to the bookstores for and what to avoid like the plague, or more frankly, we'll know what we want to borrow from each other, you cheapskates, you.