First, some explanations.

It was almost midnight. I was hanging around with my friends Joko and Jeeves last month in a cafe somewhere in Makati, when the topic of paranormal romance novel series came around. Joko loves these kinds of books to bits (guilty pleasures and all), and she was relishing telling us some of the ludicrous plots from such books. I then claimed that anyone can probably write a romance series (particularly one of those sub-genres, e.g. paranormal romance, horror romance, etc.) with just five set of random keywords.So Joko and Jeeves took me up to my statement, and a writing challenge was made. Here are the rules:

Objective: Develop a romance story out of five random keywords.
Detail #1: The keywords will be chosen by the other two participant.
Detail #2: One of the five random keywords is automatically "vampire".
Detail #3: You get to choose the sub-genre of your romance story.

So here are the other four keywords that Joko and Jeeves chose for me: El Filibusterismo , Darna, Bataan, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Needless to say, nawindang ako. :-P

Fast forward to this week.One of my book clubs, The Filipino Group, holds bimonthly meme challenges. And what do you know, for the first half of August, the meme challenge is called "Your Romance Novel". That is, you create your own romance novel via a writing structure provided by Tina, the meme challenge facilitator - a perfect opportunity to do Joko's bet. Two birds with one stone, ika nga.

So here we go, my proposed romance story.

Author's name: My own name. I'm going to be proud as hell if this will be published, hahaha!

Your genre: Fantasy Romance

Your novel's romance trope: Tina said to use this page. Browsing through it and because I'm bored with the usual tropes, I think the one that fits the most is "No Romantic Resolution".

Your title: Umm, "The Immortals"? Corny no?

Your setting: Primarily Europe, and the Philippines

Your villain: The fates, I guess

Your main characters / lead interests: 
(I believe that romance books with one character (usually the female) pining/dreaming/pursuing the lead interest (usually the male) is old-fashioned and frankly, boring. Both should be the main characters of the story, regardless of the gender (even if both characters are of the same gender)).

Juan Simoun de Cordoba, Duke of Almodovar del Rio
The son of a wealthy conquistador and a mestizo, he was born in 1650. His father died from a battle with the indios shortly after his birth, and his mother was forced to go back to her family. His first 18 years in the Philippines were happy despite their misfortune, and he was primarily raised by his mother and his Nana Sepang. What he did not know is that his father was the last son of an important family in Spain, and being his only known child, Simoun was his heir. He was forcibly taken from his mother and promptly shipped back to Europe. When he arrived at the Castillo de Almodovar del Rio, he has to quickly learn how to be a nobleman, including how to navigate through the dangerous waters of the royal court, and how to not get assassinated. He secretly swore to himself that he will somehow get back to the Philippines and his mother. But as the year go by, he became so comfortable with the idle life and comfort of being a duke, that he slowly forgot about his promise.

One dark and stormy night, as he got was traveling home from an all night revelry, his carriage was attacked by unknown assailants. All he saw were gleaming eyes. He felt fangs sinking painfully on his neck, then blackness overcame him. When he woke up, he was in his castle once again. During the next few days, he felt drastic changes in his body and spirit: he was becoming a vampire. To avoid suspicion, he left Spain, on the pretense of wanting to travel all over the world. In the next few years (which became decades), he learned through sheer willpower (and with the help of a mysterious mentor) how to adjust to his new life as a creature of the night, how to use his new found powers, and how to obtain some control on his now unavoidable thirst for blood. After a more than half a century he comes back to Almodovar del Rio with a new name, and pretending to be his own son. He then gathered his ducal influence, wealth, and power for a new purpose: to find a way to be human again.

Bernardina Carpio
The daughter of an engkantada and a datu, she was deliberately born to be the savior of the Filipinos against the Spanish invaders. Starting from childhood, she was trained in the art of warfare by her father, and in the art of magic and healing by her mother. She was never given a name (nor knew when she was born), and "Bernardina Carpio" was given to her by her nurse when she grew into adulthood, so that she can blend in with the population.Along with her great strength and immortality, she has the ability to change her skin, which she uses to help the oppressed by transforming herself into people we now recognize as revolutionary leaders or heroes. The downside is that she needs to "sleep" for roughly five years every half a century to recharge.

After two centuries of dedicated service to the cause, Bernardina grew restless. As she walked among the common folks, she grew envious of their freedom to choose their destinies. But she kept her quiet, since she knows her cause is too important, and the she shouldn't be so selfish. That is, until she met the strange brooding man from faraway Europe...

Your one paragraph synopsis (well, in this case, multiple synopses):
In dedication to Joko's vision of a perfect romance story, I see this as a series, at the very least, a trilogy.

Book 1 (1890):
Simoun meets and befriends the young author Jose Rizal. Rizal then takes inspiration from Simoun for his books (particularly the main character of his second book, El Filibusterismo), in exchange for stories about the Philippines. Simoun learns about about the various Philippine folklore and mysticism, including about the legend of the mysterious but powerful Bernardina Carpio. He travels back to his birth country, intent into finding the enigmatic woman, to convince or even force her into curing him. But he did not expect beautiful, untamed and strong Bernardina to be woman of his wildest dreams and eternal longing....

Book 2 (1945):
It has been a difficult decade for Bernardina. World War 2 had taken its toll on the Philippines. With the help of her assistant, the reporter/cartoonist, Mars Ravelo (who had been secretly drawing inspiration from Bernardina for his new comics, Darna), she had traveled all over the country in succor to the sick, the suffering, and the dying. And she felt, a different kind of lethargy too, the one she feels when it's time to go back to the mountains of Montalban for a five-year mystical sleep. But with the US ships on the horizon, and the first blasts of the bombs on Bataan (where Bernadina had established a small secret hospital), the so-called Liberation of the Philippines went underway. In the middle of the battlefield, she did not expect to see the figure of an enigmatic man she had knew quite well, and has dearly loved, from decades ago...

Book 3 (2015):
It is the world premiere of "In Life and Death", a true-to-life action/romance blockbuster starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Set in World War Two, it is the love story of a European and a Filipina meeting in the middle of the battlefield during the deadly Liberation of the Manila. Drawn out of hiding by curiosity and perhaps by destiny, Simoun and Bernardina meets by chance on the steps of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Will Simoun be able to convince her of to take a chance on him this time around? Will Bernardina be able to be free of her chains and take a chance of happiness with Simoun?

**************************

Is this a go or a bust? Do you think I can dupe someone into publishing this? So what do think?

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Oh, February. No time in the year can make someone assess the relationships in his or her life than in the so-called month of love. For me, the best way to celebrate February is to read a couple of books (of course!). These two anthologies focus on being human. And being human, it seems, consists of interacting with fellow humans. That can result to good things, bad things, pleasurable things, painful things, and stranger still - strange because this is where most humans naturally gravitate - a messed-up mixture of all four .

The first book is The Means of Escape, Penelope Fitzgerald's last, published posthumously. I had been a fan of Ms. Fitzgerald ever since I've read The Bookshop. I like the elegance of her language, and the deliberateness of her words. I had often wondered how long (how many revisions, changes, editing) did it took to write what A.S. Byatt, in her introduction called her "discreet, brief, perfect tales". I'm not so sure if I can call them truly perfect, but they very much seem to be. What I love about her stories is that they cannot be spoiled. You see, I like knowing the plot of a book first before plunging into it. If the book has interesting characters, good writing, and development that is not heavily dependent on the plot, I will probably still enjoy it to the bits despite knowing the story. While Ms. Fitzgerald's stories have interesting plots, it is the astuteness of her observations of the human heart and its interaction with fate that are the crux of her tales, and what ultimately made her stories brilliant. 

The stories in The Mean of Escape are that - studies of the sensibilities and absurdities of human behavior, as well as about the natural order and randomness of our lives. There are stories about morality ("The Prescription", "The Red Haired Girl","Our Lives Are Only Lent to Us"), while some are about social judgments ("The Means of Escape", "Not Shown","The Likeness"). There are mysteries ("Desideratus","Beehernz"), light hearted ones ("At Hiruharama"), and even a zombie tale ("The Axe"). My favorite stories are "The Means of Escape" (who is escaping from where?), "The Red Haired Girl" (kindness can save lives literally), and "Our Lives are Only Lent to Us" (so maddeningly Catholic, so maddeningly Filipino).

The second book is Tony Perez's Cubao Midnight Express: Mga Pusong Nadiskaril sa Mahabang Riles ng Pag-ibig. It is part of his Cubao trilogy. The other one is Cubao Pagkagat ng Dilim: Mga Kwentong Kababalaghan, which I've read in college in between required readings for PI 100 (Life and Works of Jose Rizal) in the basement of the UP Main Library. I had loved Pagkagat ng Dilim for all the dread that it had gave me, and it had been in my wishlist ever since. The third one is Eros, Thanatos, Cubao: Mga Piling Katha, which I had never seen.

Cubao Midnight Express is about love. Not the “normal” one with a normal start and normal endings (i.e. the stuff romance pocketbooks are made of), but those that are unconventional. These are stories of “hearts that are derailed by the long train tracks of love” (gosh, I really suck at translating :-P). 

Some of the stories are about people who become twisted because of failed love (the “First Trip” stories: “Tipanan” (Meeting) and “Pamamanhikan” (Courtship)). Some are stories about the absurdities resulting from people's search for love, sex, or both (the “Second Trip” stories: “Basted” (Busted), “Kaisplit” (Best Buds), and “Katalo” (Match)). And some are tragedies, as some love stories are wont to be, not just because it is eccentric or forbidden (“Balani” (Magnet), “Relasyon” (Relation)) because sometimes, even regular love will lead to a devastating heartbreak (“Ligaw” (can either mean ‘Wooing’ or ‘Lost’), and the story that distraught me the most, “Kirot” (Pain)).

Like Ms. Fitzgerald, Mr. Perez is also very much adept with his words. But unlike the former's elegance, Mr. Perez's language is gritty, grimy, and disturbing, like his muse, Cubao-by-night (to differentiate from her garish and commercial alter-ego, Cubao-by-day). We can see this adeptness in the repeating, disquieting chorus of "Pamamanhikan", the torturous English of "Basted", the colorful curses of "Katalo", and the empty idioms of "Relasyon". But my favorite story is his one of his more simple tales. As told in the point of view of a dog, "Kirot" tells of a love that is simple but true, unending and loyal - qualities that made the inevitable heartbreak so much more painful. But a dog does not know that he is heartbroken, only that he vaguely know that something is frightfully missing. The stories in the anthology, is like that - alarming in one form or the other, but each is beautiful in its own way.

  

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Christmastime is J.R.R. Tolkien.

 As a kid, the holiday break has always been my chance to read Lord of the Rings in one go. Then in college, watching The Lord of the Rings film series was a December tradition with my friends, that later turned to watching The Hobbit trilogy post-college. I cannot remember a time that I haven't turned to Professor Tolkien for some holiday cheer. This year is no different. But this time, I'd took on Professor Tolkien's earlier works, particularly The Hobbit (published on 1937) and Letters from Father Christmas (published posthumously on 1976).

Anybody who had read Lord of the Rings most likely would have also read The Hobbit (or There and Back Again), or at the very least would have watched it on the big screen.

It is the story of Bilbo Baggins, a quiet, normal hobbit living in the very normal suburbs of Bag End, Hobbiton. Hobbits are a race similar to men but shorter in height. The hobbits sensibly love creature comforts like second breakfasts and snug, comfy holes in the ground. Bilbo was recruited by the wizard Gandalf for a quest to the Misty Mountain, to recover treasures that were guarded by the dragon Smaug. He is joined by twelve dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield, the King under the Mountain. A lot of things happened on the course of their adventures, culminating into a battle between different races, all vying for the dragon horde.

I had always read the story (yes, I forgot how many times I've reread the book) as being the tale of Bilbo Baggins' evolution from a scared, timid hobbit to a selfless hero and full-fledged leader. That a person sometimes starts his journey as one thing and comes home as another, changed irrevocably, (sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, but most of the times for both) is a constant theme in Professor Tolkien's stories, not just in his Middle-earth books, but also in his other writings. In The Hobbit, it can be summarized by Bilbo's poem during his return to Hobbiton:

"Roads go ever ever on,

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green

And trees and hills they long have known."

As a veteran of the First World War, he certainly knows how war permanently changes people, exactly like how fierce battles and the death had changed Bilbo.

"One has indeed personally to come under the shadow of war to feel fully its oppression; but as the years go by it seems now often forgotten that to be caught in youth by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than to be involved in 1939 and the following years. By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead." (Preface to the second edition of Lord of the Rings)

So yes, two conclusions. The first is that The Hobbit is not some silly Lord of the Rings prequel published primarily for kids; and two, that there's nothing like war and death to make you appreciate the things that you have and the existence of people who love you.

Let's now go to something lighter. In 1920, J.R.R. Tolkien's son, the then three-year-old John, received a letter from Father Christmas.

Father Christmas described in words, pictures, and even poems his house at the North Pole, his assistant, Polar Bear (or P.B.), his secretary, the elf, Ilbereth, P.B.'s mischievous nephews, Paksu and Valkotukka, and other various characters which includes snow elves, red gnomes, snow men, cave bears, and nasty goblins. For the next twenty years, these letters regularly arrive in the Tolkien household during Christmastime, while reply letters made by the children (John, then Michael, Christopher, and finally Priscilla) mysteriously vanish from the fireplace.

Throughout their childhoods, the Tolkien brood were regaled stories of the adventures and misadventures of Father Christmas, Polar Bear, Ilbereth, and the rest of his household, from the time the North Pole broke, to when they needed to move to another house, to when Father Christmas lit some of his wonderful fireworks to celebrate the holiday, to when P.B. got lost in the caves, to the times of the goblin attacks, and their successful defenses. It is very easy to note how strikingly similar Father Christmas to the wizard Gandalf, and, as you can see in the image on the right, P.B. to Beorn, the mysterious man-bear in The Hobbit.


The 1937 letter is funny because Father Christmas mentioned to the children that he initially though of sending them this book 'Hobbits' (which he had been sending loads to other children - mostly second editions), but he thought they might have already have many copies (duh) so he had instead sent them another 'Oxford Fairy Tale' (which I am now intrigued into finding a copy).

By 1943, most of Professor Tolkien's children had grown up (John is 26, Michael is 23, Christopher is 19, and Priscilla is 14). Father Christmas' missive that year was a letter of goodbye. He also notes that his messengers is calling the year "grim" (indirectly referring to World War II), but is glad that in the children's household, it is not as miserable as they were expecting it would be.

"... I shall not forget you. We always keep the old numbers of our old friends, and their letters; and later on we hope to come back when they are grown up and have houses of their own and children."

Which the Tolkien children did. They kept the letters and, three years after Professor Tolkien's death, compiled it into a book with Christopher's wife as the editor. I personally like it. It is a testament of a father's love and willingness to provide boundless imaginative delight to his children. I am glad that the Tolkien family published it since it had now also provided joy to other children of various ages.

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I was targeting classy but obviously obscene. What do you think?

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More Minds - Carol Matas and Perry Nodelman; ISBN: 0-590-39469-X; Fantasy, Young Adults; Scholastics, 1998.

(This review was originally posted on my multiply page on January 25, 2009.) 
 
Reading this book is like watching a full-length kiddie movie, the kind shown on Disney or Cartoon Network. And it is fun, if a bit surreal. What impressed me is that the premise of everybody having a too tremendous power – being able to change reality to suit themselves –is shown as not being the deux ex machina readers expect it to be (well, most of the time anyway). Unfortunately, the reason why the story was enjoyable, its bizarreness, is also its weakness; the story became too confusing, with incoherent storyline shortcuts done to quickly wrap up the plot. In short, it reads like it had been severely edited to keep it short, presumably not to tax out the attention span its target readers – children. It’s either that or they are planning to make a sequel. Either way, it is a good way to spoil a decent fantasy. Way to go Scholastic. Coupled with slightly unappealing lead characters, I give this a 4 out of 5.

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Dragonhaven - Robin McKinley

(This review was originally posted on my multiply page on February 3, 2009.)

Once upon a time, there was a prince who lived in an isolated forest/mountain kingdom. His mother had recently died thus making the king very sad and at the same time very protective of his only family. But the prince chafed and the king reluctantly allowed him for a solo trek through the realm. But whether through chance or fate, the prince had instead met a dying dragon - a dying mother dragon, with one of her dragonlet still breathing...

Well, not really. While the premise sounds like a typical high-fantasy dish, let me assure you it is not. The "kingdom" is an American forest park - think Yellowstone - in a modern world very similar to ours. The "prince" is Jake Mendoza, the teenage son of the Park Director. And while dragons are real, they are more or less treated ordinarily, an endangered species yes, but nothing that biologists and the rest of the scientific community couldn't explain.

Now if you think that is all there is to this story, then you don't know how adept Robin McKinley is in writing fantasy.

The fantastic and the mundane, the magical and the normal intertwine in this wonderful story. The story of a boy and his extraordinary "pet" may had been the stuff of many children's book and movies ("Free Willy" was the first thing that came to mind, then Naomi Novik's equally wonderful "Temeraire" series was the better second) but Ms. McKinley placed a fresh new twist to it. By making dragons commonplace and familiar in Jake's world, she had instead (and perhaps deliberately) emphasized their uniqueness to us readers who are bereft of dragons in OUR world.

The most contentious of the tools that Ms. McKinley used was the one many other readers claim made the book horrible - her use of the first-person narrative form. The assumption was that Jake was forced to write about his experiences with the dragons a few years back and that any way of writing his memoir will do, despite his lousy (to put it mildly) writing style. And yes, there are times that I can't blame them since Ms. McKinley might have put the laid-back tone a little too far sometimes. For example, I can't believe that a 22-year old guy (at the time of the supposed writing), someone who had supposedly aced all his high school aptitude exam, use the word "amazinger" in any way possible. Not to mention wasting a few pages botching up his explanation of how "dragon telepathy/language" works (don't ask, I don't understand it myself).

Yet it was strange that many people can't get past the writing to see the gem that is the story itself (just goes to show some people can be quite anal-retentive about what they think should constitute good writing *shrug*). Despite taking me aback for a few pages at the start, I do think the relaxed tone of the first-person narrative/memoir was quite charming. And this may be because Jake is one of the most charming hero I've read in a while. In fact, all of the characters are very believable, including the dragons themselves.

All in all, I've finished the book with a warm fuzzy feeling and a general goodwill of all creatures on earth - dragons or no dragons. Five Stars.

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 Dear Mr Stevens,

        I will finally be leaving Darlington Hall tomorrow for a new life with Mr. Benn, and I should be resting for the long drive ahead. But instead I had lain awake for most of the night, thinking of ways to tell you things I wanted to say a long time ago. These things are, most definitely, not proper talk between professionals (as you call ourselves), and this letter might cause you some embarrassment or discomfort. For that, I truly offer my deepest apologies.

        I would admit that my first impression of you was not a positive one. To be frank, I found you obnoxious, snobbish, and overbearing, with a tendency to find fault in everything. I was certain that you were an automaton, like the ones found in those Verne novels, with a heart made of cold steel. I do apologize for any hurt this memory will cause you, but it was on your father’s deathbed that I had a glimpse of something curiously different. It was just fleeting, but I sensed then your vulnerability. That deep inside that shell of nonchalant professionalism, is a man, breathing, very much alive, and capable of feeling.

        Those times we were together – simple walks, chores done in silence – meant so much to me. I led a lonely life, and I believed that I found a kindred spirit in you. I will especially miss our daily meetings over cocoa. After talking about work, we’d find ourselves laughing over some silly things (which you’re probably be insisting right now only came from me), or some trivial events of the day. I wonder, did you ever realize that you unconsciously hum so softly during those rare times that you switched on the radio for a little nightcap music? I did, and I remember. What I can’t remember was when it started to shift into something else. I was surprised that you became suddenly so aloof. But then I'd catch you looking at me when you thought I wasn’t looking; or how you’d be so sullen every time I came back from my day off.  You confuse me, so very much. I wanted you to tell me what you were feeling, I hinted so many times, but you refused me. Was all of it simply a figment of my imagination? But I saw you. I sensed you. Why do you always have to pretend?

        Have you realized that you ruined me for other men? You kept breaking my heart into millions of pieces over and over again, and I loathe you for that. You made me happy every time we are together, no matter how short or insignificant to you it may be. Then, the same night, every night, I silently cry because you did not sense my feelings, or had never bothered acknowledging it. I realize now that you don’t see me the way I see you. You called me temperamental, defiant, and impossible. I am all that because, incomprehensibly, I want you, I want to share your life, your burden. But you refused to. I thought I was coaxing you out of your shell, to see that there is life outside Darlington Hall. I was wrong. I see now that there is no shell. Your soul is embedded in every brick and mortar. You ARE Darlington Hall.

        I'm tired of the heart ache. I'm tired of the tears. I am leaving. And I will be happy without you, you’ll see.

                                              Yours,
                                              Emma Kenton

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Fourteen Love Stories - Jose Dalisay Jr. & Angelo R. Lacuesta (editors)
Fiction; ISBN 971-542-412-0; Flipside Publishing, University of the Philippines Press; 2004.

"Which is why, perhaps, the love story is a strange affair. As affairs go, there are good ones and bad ones, the ones we forget and the ones we remember, over and over again. But the well-written love story is an enigma, a strange beauty. Like any story, a path is laid out, but like any affair, the outcome of that journey depends on many circumstances. One reads it and wonders how and why it works, why one is unspeakably drawn to an obscure unknown. One relishes it while it is being discovered, uncovered, but knows with absolute certainty it will end."

I'm glad that the editors of Fourteen Love Stories chose to present the stories chronologically because this gave me a chance to appreciate the changing regard of Filipinos on love and relationships over the decades. But in the end, I can't help but group the stories according to what I'd felt about them (not a good way to review a book, I know, but I'm not aiming for a proper critique =P).

The first group are the ones I had appreciated and enjoyed like artworks in a museum. Indeed, I found myself connecting some stories to certain artists: "Dead Stars" is Luna's "Tampuhan", "Midsummer" is a sensual Amorsolo,"Wedding Dance" reminds me of Botong Francisco's murals, "Tanabata's Wife", to Bencab's sculptures, and Polotan's "The Virgin" to a Manansala jeepneyscape.

I very much enjoyed reading this next group because they reminded me of friends or people I know. This lot includes Ford's "Love in the Cornhusks" (reminded me of one of my parent's kasambahay), Gonzales' "Breathe" and de Jesus' "In Her Country" (a college friend), Fres-Felix's "Alma" (my boss' mistress), and Cordero-Fernando's "The Dust Monster" (a book club friend).

Not surprisingly, the two stories I've identified with  the most were those by writers of my generation. Sitoy's "Weight" is about the subtle pressures of life that chips away one's idealism. It also made me miss the Quezon City of my college and post-graduate life, as well as the naive enthusiasm I had then. My favorite story in the anthology is Katigbak's "Passengers". It is a story of love and loss, told through bus rides. I connected with a lot of things: the girl's fondness of commuting in dingy buses, the narrator's horror of being a new driver stuck in the hellroad called EDSA with suicidal bus drivers, Metro Manila bus routes, the 'techno-dreck' which are the official soundtrack of these buses, and even that infinite parallel universe thing.

There were two I couldn't relate that well: Melvin's "A Normal Life" and Villanueva's "How Could You Smile". The latter is a story of infidelity, something I had no personal or familial experience. The former is about a love affair between an older, more sophisticated woman and and a much younger man. I don't really know what to feel about these two stories. Do I sympathize? Or maybe abhor? But I still enjoyed reading them, though with a certain detachment.

Considering that the wealth of Filipino stories written in English spanned eight decades, I’m amazed that the editors, Butch Dalisay & Sarge Lacuesta managed to choose only fourteen stories. That they limited the pick to only those about romantic love probably didn’t help much, as the Filipino is race that is in love with Love – one just have to flip the local channels or browse through the thousands of Pinoy romance pocketbooks to realize that. But chose they did, and they chose well. 

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Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

Science Fiction, YA; ISBN 0-439-02351-3; Scholastic Press, 2010.

Anticipating and then actually reading this book is like expecting to watch an Oscar-winning film, but you end up with an average blockbuster flick. Exciting - yeah. Unforgettable - no. Disappointing - a big HELL YEAH.

2 out of 5 stars

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Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

Science Fiction, YA; ISBN 0-439-02349-1; Scholastic Press, 2009.

Katniss Everdeen thought that after winning the Hunger Games and all the obligatory PR that follows, she and her family and friends are going to be left alone. And sure, it was a bit controversial how she and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mallark won but that's because the pair is crazily in love with each other - so all's well that end well, right?

Apparently not. President Snow, the ruthless tyrant of Panem, had set his flat, deadly eyes on Katniss. Not only for her borderline treasonous actions in the Games but to punish her for unknowingly setting off the starting fires of rebellion in the twelve districts. So what should Katniss do? Flee or fight?

One can roughly divide the book into two parts: first, the continuation of the tension and resulting rebellion that started from Katniss and Peeta's victory, reabbreviating within and without District 12; then second, the Hunger Games of that year (called Quarter Quell), in which there's going to be a surprise (and sure enough, terrible) twist to the already horrible Games.

Catching Fire has the same exciting quality that The Hunger Games have; needless to say, it's a page-turner through and through.

I'm glad that I got to see more of the other districts and the country of Panem in general. I'm one of those people who like to see lots of details in their science fiction, and I'm crossing my fingers that Suzanne Collins might be persuaded to write some sort of prequel on how this world had came about, and how Panem had been in its first few years. You see, as I read though the first part, I've been struck at how this society is so not like the nearest equivalent countries of our real world (I was thinking of communist Russia, China, and more particularly, North Korea). It's not even like it's older literary dystopian cousins (let's give 1984 and Brave New World as examples).

If I'm forced to put a finger on it, I'd say it's because Katniss' story (and consequently, the country of Panem) is still, despite the misery and the hunger and the violence, a story of fulfilled (more or less) hopes and human decency. And the fulfillment of hopes and the realization of basic human goodness are commodities that few dystopian fiction are willing to provide. But then, I'm not sure if this characteristic is inherent in this trilogy only or is some sort of unwritten requirement to dystopian young adult fictions in general. I guess that just mean one thing: I need to push up in my TBR list a few similar books like Lois Lowry's The Giver and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. :P

So anyway, the only thing I didn't like in the story are how the romances were handled. It's too deliberately vague and manipulative, of both characters and readers. And it's so unfair on Katniss. I mean, this is a girl who's supposedly decisive and caring - so why on earth should she dither on the emotions of her two closest friends, and thus heartlessly prolonging the two boys' agony? Remember, this is NOT Twilight, and Katniss is NOT Bella.

On the plus side, I'm glad they fleshed out a bit my favorite character, Haymitch Abernathy (I know his last name, yay!). Plus, I did like most of the new characters, particularly Finnick (Hollywood would have a field day in choosing the actor to play him). President Snow's bad guy character is a tad too cliché, so I'm figuring Ms. Collins will flesh him out a bit more in the third book. And the cliffhanger at the end is the bomb! :)

There, that's my review of Catching Fire. I tried to make it spoiler-free but holler if you found something (yes, I'm still the spoiler queen but I promised Blooey I won't deliberately spoil this time around, so there). Mockingjay (the third and final installment of this series) is going to be released in the Philippines on August 25. This post is quite long already so I'm going to refer you to Blooey's post on the launch event happening on Sunday, August 29. Be there!

4 out of 5 stars

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I procrastinated long enough. I need the box to put some of my to-be-read and to-be-given away books (via Bookmooch, if you’re still not into the hottest thing to hit the book swapping world). Hence I need file away my to-be-reviewed ones. I’ll be short and snappy – if I can’t deliver my reviews at a minute reading time, then I won’t deliver it at all.

Hey now, I think I like this new reviewing format! Do you agree with me? Or should I go back to the longer ones, the one book per review posts?

The Case of the Left Handed Lady: An Enola Holmes Mystery – Nancy Springer
Fiction, YA, Mystery, Adventure; ISBN 978-0-399-24517-6; Philomel Books, 2007

I like Enola Holmes, not just because she’s the sister of the celebrated Sherlock Holmes (of which I am a most devoted fan). She is one of the rare YA female protagonist that I like at all levels – she is resourceful, brave, intelligent and rational, yet have a tinge of vulnerability and loneliness – so much so that she reminds me of Katniss of The Hunger Games. Though the story itself is weak (both shaky in terms of logic & believability), the characters makes up for this shortcoming. You must also remember that this is just the second book of what seems to be a long and promising YA series. I suggest you read this one instead of watching that dreadful Sherlock Holmes movie. 4 out of 5 stars.

ShrinkLits: Seventy of the world’s towering classics cut down to size – Maurice Sagoff
Reference, Poetry; ISBN 0-89480-079-5; Workman Publishing, 1980

There are a lot of books out there that do this kind of thing: cutting up books into perhaps a paragraph or two of the bare essentials. What I like about this one is that it pushes the envelope further – Maurice Sagoff trims down them hefty classics into bite-size rhyming poems. How exact to the original text are these concise poetry? Not so much. How high is the enjoyment factor? Very high indeed. 5 out of 5 stars. A warning though: if you are a literary purist, don’t read this book.

Jane Austen: A Life - Carol Shields
Non-fiction, Biography; ISBN 0-14-303516-9; Penguin Books, 2001

Carol Shields is an Austenite and it shows. Warmth, empathy and frankness permeate in her short discourse of Austen and her work that you can’t help but agree with the novelist’s (Austen, I mean) exclamation, “If a book is well written, I always find it too short”. I quite agree. 5 out of 5 stars. One of the best biographies I ever read. If you can help it, I suggest reading the main six works before reading this one.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Seth Grahame-Smith (even if it says so on the cover, I refuse to add Jane Austen as an author to this mockery of a novel!)
Fiction, Horror; ISBN 978-1-59474-334-4; Quirk Books, 2009

Wow, this chick Jane Austen is so in nowadays. Look at these, all her sh- being relabeled as the original “chick-lit” novels, didn't know these chicklit sh- are *that* old. Too bad there’s a lot of boring stuff in here, like balls and parties and people making funny looks at each other. Bleeaach! Now, here’s an idea! Since this chick Jane Austen is a hot item commodity, why not sell our own version but one with zombies and killer ninjas and shaolin masters and pentagrams of death… * six weeks later* Dude, this writing thing sucks! So maybe I’ll just make an exact copy of this chick’s book then cut out all the crappy boring stuff then insert the cool stuff! Yeah, that’s the thing! They’ll be making a movie out of this sh-, I’m sure. I’m going to be famous and filthy rich! Yeah! Ride on!
Do I need to put stars on this one?

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The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald
Fiction, General; ISBN 0395869463; Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997.
Florence Green is a widow who, to the surprise of everyone, invested the little inheritance that she has to buying a centuries-old house and turning it into a bookshop, the only one for miles around.

This is, in its most basic, a poignant David-vs-Goliath story. I ached for Florence Green. She is a good soul, much too good for the small-town pettiness of the appropriately-named Hardborough. Textwise, the prose runs smoothly. I like that it is being gloriously short (a rarity, I'm sure). A good read altogether - perfect for that relaxing weekend afternoon. Best read with a pot of perfectly brewed English tea. Five stars.


The Queen Jade - Yxta Maya Murray
Fiction, Adventure; ISBN 0060582642; Harper Collins, 2005.
Lola Sanchez frantically searches for her archeologist mother in Guatemala when she disappeared during the onslaught of a fearsome hurricane. What she finds there was beyond her wildest expectations - legends, lost temples, mazes in the thickest jungles, ancient books, romances, quicksands, artifacts, jewels, traitorous guides, and many more.

If you like Indiana Jones, or better yet, Romancing the Stones, you'll like The Queen Jade. The characters are over-the-top, the plot is mostly implausible - sounds like a good junk-food type of fun to me. Best read with a bag of MSG-laden barbecue-flavored nacho chips. Three stars.


The PreHistory of The Far Side - Gary Larson
Non-fiction, Memoir; ISBN 0836218515; Andrews & McMeel, 1989.
Let's be clear about this: this is not one of the usual The Far Side cartoon compilation. This is a memoir (if you're polite) or a compilation of ramblings (if you're not) of its bizarre cartoonist, Greg Larson. It discusses the origin & evolution of the cartoons, as well as the Larson's creative process. It still have lots of past Far Side cartoons though; Larson had three sections for those he thought are flawed, those that had been controversial, and finally, those that are his personal favorites.

While I'm not a fanatic, I do like The Far Side, for all its crazy and often dark twists from reality. And it is interesting to know that behind that one-panel comic lies the mind of an talented but ordinary man.... nah, Greg Larson is, of course, demented as his creations show him to be. Best read while taking some good ol' tequila kicks. Five stars.

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The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins Science Fiction, YA; ISBN 0-439-02348-3; Scholastic Press, 2008.

Dystopian societies are not new in the world of science fiction, and neither are gladiatorial games. These two succinctly describe Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, the first book of a trilogy that describes the future nation of Panem, a nation comprised of a capitol city surrounded by twelve outlying districts. To keep the people of these districts subservient and frightened, the Capitol yearly hold The Hunger Games, where twenty-four children from the districts are forced to fight each other to the death. Enter our heroine Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year old girl from District 12. Life had made her into a survivor – but can she survive the arena of the Hunger Games?

I got my copy of the book one night when two nice people from Scholastic came to meet a few book bloggers. I must admit I wasn’t impressed the first time I read the blurb. The plot is a mixture of different science fiction, historical and fantasy novels and movies (let me just enumerate those that I know: The Running Man, Spartacus, Gladiator and the most comparable of them all, the Japanese movie and book, Battle Royale), not to mention that it borrowed heavily from usual Greek mythology sources (the Minotaur tale, to be exact) and those popular reality shows (umm, Survivor & Big Brother, anyone?).

I was therefore surprised when I found myself hooked after just reading the first chapter. It is one of those books that you can’t put down – to use that old and tired phrase, this one is a page turner. It struck me that for a dystopian novel, The Hunger Games is surprisingly full of hope. This lack of cynicism is probably what had appealed to me. Katniss is a survivor yes, but she is also a symbol of human decency and compassion even in the face of moral and societal degradation. Suzanne Collins made her characters unforgettable. I’m also pleased with the way romance had been handled. To intermesh it to the basic survival of our heroes is one clever plot trick.

I’m annoyed at how the marketing people overly do the hype for the trilogy, even when the last one is still non-existent. Ms. Collins doesn’t need the extra pressure right now, and I just hope this clamor will not affect the quality of the last book. I like Katniss of course, but I hope that other characters would be fleshed out by the second and third book (would love to know more about Peeta and Haymitch). So until I read the next two installments, I consider this review incomplete.

5 out of 5 stars

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The Compleat McAndrew – Charles Sheffield
Fiction, Science Fiction; ISBN 0-671-57857-X; Baen, New York: 2000.

This is an anthology of hard science fiction (sf) stories. Hard science fiction is defined in Wikipedia as "characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both". Charles Sheffield's definition of what isn't hard sf is better: "if you take the science and scientific speculation away from a story, and not do it serious injury, then it was not hard sf to begin with". What I like about this definition are two things - first is the stressing of the importance of the scientific mumbo-jumbo in the story, and second is that it isn't all truly grounded to reality, it may even be all just speculation, but the important thing is that it is believable and consistent to the current scientific knowledge of that time.

The book is a compilation of (mis)adventures of a physicist, Arthur Morton McAndrew and his long-suffering companion, the spaceship captain Jeanie Roker. If that sounds fun, I assure you that it is, unless you're a novice hard sf fan (I'm not even talking about those who aren't sf reader). Even the author (a true-to-life mathematician and physicist) had unapologetically stated in the Appendix that the stories the hardest sf that he had ever wrote. That is what makes the book both appealing and unappealing; people would either like it or hate it - no fence sitting.

I liked the stories but I have to admit that it has flaws. Hard sf books may ground themselves to real science, but they are still work of fictions - hence they still need to appeal to readers. I think Sheffield knows this, which is why his better stories are his later ones (they were written when he had quit his scientific profession and wholeheartedly became a writer); unfortunately, this realization had been a bit too late. I also noticed that he was often deliberately ambiguous and obfuscating, which I did not like, considering there are other sf authors that didn't need to trick the reader to force them to his viewpoint.

Finally, although his scientific grounding may be neat, some of his story development were illogical and a few characterization illogical - perhaps so that his characters will do or be in a more fantastic (hence interesting) position in otherwise boring and mostly procedural stories.

But still, all in all, I did like them, even if they are not representative of the hard sf genre. I give the book 3 out of 5 stars.

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Dark Water – Koji Suzuki
Fiction, Horror; ISBN 10932234-10-1; Vertical, New York: 2004 (originally published in Japan as Honogurai mizu no soko kara, Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo: 1996).

Water as the harbinger of both life and death – that is the most obvious theme of this anthology of horror stories. In “Floating Water” (of which the movie Dark Water is based) a mother and daughter were beset by a specter of a lonely drowned little girl; “Solitary Isle” tells of a creature lurking in a seemingly pristine island; “The Hold” is a chilling tale of revenge served by a dead wife to her fisherman husband; “Dream Cruise” is a tale of a yacht crew being held hostage by a ghost; “Adrift” is a mind-bending story of a ghost ship; “Watercolors” is about the strange happenings in the toilet of an abandoned discotheque; “Forest under the Sea” is about an explorer that had discovered a mysterious cave that flows beside and under a river; and finally, the “Prologue” and “Epilogue” is cumulatively a story that ties in with the aftermath of what happened in “Forest under the Sea”.

Beneath the apparent premise, there are more subtle ones. All of the stories tackle the familial: of the complicated (regenerative and destructive) relationship of parents to children and vise versa, of the different and similarities despite generation gaps, of what it takes to be a family or be included in one in modern Japan (revolving around the Tokyo Prefecture; this specific placing is important to the third theme of the anthology which is the moral and physical decay of the city vis a vis with the cleansing power of nature). This inter-meshing of different layers within seemingly simple stories is what made the book profoundly mesmerizing and ultimately enjoyable.

This was the book I chose for the March reading discussion, where my book club talked about Japanese literature. I’m glad that I picked this as my book, since it made me think about what makes a Japanese story or novel, well, Japanese. Horror is certainly an intriguing genre, as almost everyone I know is exposed to the Western side of the idea: from Stephen King, Anne Rice, or the more classical Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe, to name a few. But it seems that the Japanese had been dealing with the unknown and the paranormal for centuries, and it shows. To accept supernatural beings as casually as meeting another person, without reaching to far-fetched logical explanations, and even to accept premonitions and gut feelings (familiar to us as paramdam and kutob) is not just Japanese but is also inherently Asian.

But to tell you the truth, Dark Water doesn't belong to the horror genre at all. The horror is in the people of the story, rather than on any supernatural being. The anthology gives the reader glimpses of the darkness inherent in the human being, and that is what ultimately gives this book its eeriness. Many horror fans would be turned off by this; it might be boring to those who are expecting the usual fare from this author (considering that many of the now-famous Japanese horror flicks – The Ring is the best example – are based on his stories, I wouldn’t be surprised at that too). Personally, it is refreshing to read something creepy without the blood, gore and all the mess. And I do hope I won't be the only one.

5 out of 5

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The Named – Marianne Curley
Fiction, Fantasy, YA; ISBN 1-58234-913-4; Bloomsbury, 2002.

For once, the review blurb at the back had been accurate. It is from Kirkus Review (I don’t know this publication though) and it says:

“Swashbuckling time-travel plus soap-opera relationships make for a page-turning start to a promised trilogy… An ongoing guilty pleasure.”

Yup, that sums up what I think of this book so neatly that I just stop right here… but then, I don’t want to be accused of plagiarizing another person’s review.

In my own words, I just will describe The Named as a decent read. Not a must-read but it is a good book that can be absorbed as an in-between. It has all the right ingredients for a fantasy adventure YA book – exciting action, good nicely-plotted fantasy story, characters that aren’t annoying (only slightly so), even a hint of budding romance (but not so much). By the end of the book, I’m searching Bookmooch to see if there are copies of the second and third book out there. Yet I’m still giving this one an imperfect score.

The problem is that the story is predictable and the book is rife with fantasy clichés (for more information, I suggest The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, Diana Wynne Jones' very excellent 'travel guide'). Time travel, hidden worlds, nine chosen ones as destined saviors – yes, all the familiar and comfortable fare. Even the six of the nine chosen saviors (gods, nine is so Lord of the Rings) is formulaic – the rugged handsome young leader, the Elvin-like almost-immortal guide/mage, the angst-ridden haunted warrior, the jokester, the doubter, and right down to the pure-of-soul female cleric-err, healer. As in any typical fantasy yarn, most of the characters are underdeveloped, to make way for the adventure-driven plot. Despite this, the book isn’t that bad – it’s just that a true-blue fantasy reader might find herself a little restless, that’s all.

4 out of 5

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Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare (Book 1) – Darren Shan
Fiction, Horror, Children; ISBN 0-316-90571-2; Little Brown, 2000.

Most boys of any age like the icky the bloody, and the gross – and Darren Shan would know that all too well, or he wouldn’t had wrote this long novel of 13 parts.

Now you might think that I didn’t like the book; I did. The book was fun and simple (too simple in the first few chapters that it almost had that talking-down tone that many children’s book fall on all too often). Despite the easy wording, the action was fast-paced, the characterizations are satisfying, and the macabre (but not too much) details are mesmerizing. The protagonist, Darren Shan is a boy that any kid of the same age can very well relate to and sympathize with.

This is just the prep of the long “Saga of Darren Shan”, and it shows. I have nothing against multi-book serials; just as long as each part is satisfying by itself – needless to say, this one failed me. The bare story should had been fleshed out, or better yet, the first three books should had been combined (of course, the publishers won’t do that; any savvy book marketer would be horrified to waste profit).

I did hear that the saga gets better along the way. I don’t doubt that – I’m sure I’m going to enjoy books 2 to 13 too. But everything had the aura of being too calculated, like anything less than fun is going to be harmful to the revenues. This is, after all, a budding franchise which, by the looks of the things – including the upcoming movie and the increasing number of fans, both young and old – wouldn’t be waning any time soon.

3 out of 5 stars

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The Otterbury Incident – C. Day Lewis, Illustrations by Edward Ardizzone
Fiction, Children's ; No ISBN; Puffin Books edition, 1961 (first published in 1948).

I’ve done it again. I’ve placed a book in my Bookmooch inventory that I now want to keep for myself. *Sigh*

When I saw this book in Booksale, I was intrigued by the cover – that is unusual because I usually decide chiefly from the back blurb (which this book doesn’t have). It does have some sort of front description though:

“This is a really super story – I should know, I wrote it.”

So says George, the smug narrator. Of which the editor added:

“P.S. George is right, although he sound a bit too pleased with himself – it’s a very good story and we think everyone between 9 and 12 will enjoy it – girls as well as boys”.

I’m not sure if that is accurate though, unless the editor meant girls that are slightly tomboyish (although one have to admit that most real girls are tomboyish). It is an action-filled novella after all, full of heroic battles, mortal combats by water-pistols or wooden swords, some Sherlock Holmesian sleuthing, funny stuff, crime-fighting commandos, and other jolly good deeds.

Oh, I had just to mention the writing. For example: “The Abbey tower rode the morning mists like a galleon’s poop.” Yup, that sounds like a cheeky 12-year old English boy to me.

Despite the details that set the book in England of World War II, the story doesn’t talk directly about that war, which makes one even more sensitized to the situation. The War is something that the children accept all too tacitly for comfort, such as it is natural to have older brothers in RAF and to have food rationed out, or to even have bombs occasionally fall from the sky. And this is one of the reasons why I liked it – of course, it is tragic but look at this quiet insignificant village – despite the hardship, lives bloom, and boys will still be (adorable, pesky little) boys.

5 out of 5 stars

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Coraline – Neil Gaiman
Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adults / Children; ISBN 0-380-80734-3; HarperTrophy, 2003.

Let’s face it. Neil Gaiman is a darn good storyteller and the people to complain that his awards were the results of just being popular clearly don’t know what they are talking about. But I have to be honest here – despite being a fan, I only know him for his graphic novels, with the large bulk from his multi-awarded Sandman series, and a smattering of his Marvel projects. This is my first time reading a pure text-based Gaiman work.

And I simply loved it. While it is obviously a children’s book, anyone who can read and love fantasy and all its trappings – quirky characters, wonderland settings and curveball-kind of plot turns – would surely be swept away. It is deliciously creepy to adults, and I imagine it to be scarier to the kids. But it never patronizes the young readers, like many YA and children’s books tend to do. It also doesn’t insult their intelligence and capability to handle strange and/or frightening story twists.

Many of the acclaims and blurb compared Coraline to the Narnia series and Alice in the Wonderland, of which Gaiman obviously borrowed heavily from (Hidden doors? Passageway to another world? Talking cat? A lost girl?). If the story isn't original, what made it a good read then? Well, to answer myself, Gaiman's cleverness springs from hpw he weaves these familiar threads into something that looks inventively new, even if it’s really is not. He is simply a very decent writer who knows how to control and discipline his work into a finely-tuned novel.

I really shouldn’t end this review without saying anything about Dave McKean. McKean and Gaiman had been working together since the Sandman days, and the comfortable relationship between the two shows in their output. While I don’t know the first thing about giving critiques on illustrations, I do like McKean’s quirky and messy style, which compliments Gaiman’s weird story.

Give this book all the stars that you can dole out – it deserves every last one.

Should be given more than 5 out of 5

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A Soldier’s Christmas – Rachel Lee, Merline Lovelace,Catherine Mann
Fiction, Romance, Anthology; ISBN 0-373-77014-6; HQN, 2004.

When I picked up this book, I though, hmm, soldiers and Christmas – might be a nice light romance fluff, something palate-cleansing before reading another “heavier” book. Boy, I was wrong. Such an uninspired nonsense. What a propagandist slop. It heavily doles out sermons of the truth, justice and the American way that even the most patriotic American housewife would roll her eyes and/or give a snicker or two. If you’re not with the good guys (i.e. US armed forces and everyone that are 100% rooting for them), you’re probably a bad guy (i.e. the “terrorists” or “rebels”, terms that the book dispense liberally but is unsurprisingly and conveniently vaguely defined).

This might be my worst book of the year. Better steer away from this one.

1/2 out of 5 stars

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