a series begins

about a year ago a friend lend me a copy of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time book 4, The Shadow Rising.  i have seen copies of this particular series for years now but since the book is really thick, i was not all that interested to follow the titles one after the other.  in fact, a cousin who is an avid fan of the series had been telling me to go and read since according to him its a really cool read.  well, having nothing else to read at that time, i read my friend's copy.  and i only read until about a quarter of the thick book.

i did not finish the book not because i did not like it but simply because i liked the world that it introduced to me so much that i never wanted to experience it like a stranger suddenly thrust in an unknown world that would only confuse me and not allow me to get the most of my visit.

at this time, there are already 13 books in the series if we include the prequel, Robert Jordan wrote.  so what i   did is begin my quest for all the titles and promised myself not to read a single one until i have all available titles.  

it took me 6 months to complete the first thirteen books and as soon as i was able to purchase the last one i started my journey to the land of Aes Sedais and the Dragon Reborn.

so far, i have finished the prequel and is halfway through the first title.

in the Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan has created a whole history of intrigue, suspense, adventure and magic that has captured my fancy since the very first time i read a part of that fourth book.  not only will you feel the tension of each of the seemingly real characters but you get to understand all that pushes them to do the mounting action upon action that propels the reader to move on from one page to the next.

after finishing New Spring, i feel the magic of Jordan's world grip me.  immediately, i grabbed the first official book of the series and continue my journey this time in the company of the main characters that will show me why we need to at least in our lifetime share in the intricately interwoven tale that could have been reflection of our very own.

HUSH

when i say hush, i mean one of its synonyms and that is "quiet";  to shut you mouth and not utter a single word about what i am about to say.  so shhhhhh...

hush, hush is a novel written by becca fritzpatrick and deals with a girl and the absurdity of everything that started to happen when she first got to know a new lab partner.  things spiral towards an ending that is though exciting is somewhat cliche.

from the cover, we know it is a story of an angel or a fallen angel and that somewhere along the story we get to meet one or a few of these divine creature.

now after reading the book, let say this; and its going to be a little hard so brace yourself.

the books started like stephanie meyer's twilight; mysterious new student, school setting and a little creepy dash of something eerie thrown in the way.  after a little bit, it started to remind me of NANCY DREW, honestly it did.  Sleuthing girls, going off to find clues, looking into school records etc. etc.  Then right at end it becomes SCREAM.  Yes the movie!

now, for those who has not read the book, I'm not saying its a bad read. In fact, I enjoyed all 400+ pages of it.  What Im saying is, it just takes getting used to.  

all in all, though I might not have the nudge to read this book again well lets just say my curiosity was a little piqued to try my hand at the second book.

lets see if that PATCHes it up!

*HUSH HUSH is book 24

City of Fallen Angels

L’amor che move ill sole e l’altre stel e...

My will and my desire were turned
by love, the love that moves the sun and the other
stars... PARADISO (Dante)

Have you ever had that feeling of doom that you know will eventually happen but just keeps building up until you feel ready to explode?  When you are expecting something bad and you know it is not just a thought but is really about to happen and you cant do anything about it but wait for it to be there?  Well thats how I felt reading the newest installment of the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

After reading the third book, City of Glass a few months back, I never really thought that there would be another book in the series.  In fact, I thought the ending was one of the best on any series or trilogies I have read.  The conflict was fixed, loose ends tied up, it was over and done with.  The end.  Then I read on the author's website (which I read from time to time much is my fascination on the characters within the Shadowhunter books) that there would be another book. I thought, hell, what now?  Will it eventually be one of those series that goes on and on without any ending whatsoever?  With complexities that will eventually devour everything into incomprehensible nonsense.  But still I waited for the fourth book.  And now I'm really glad I did.

City of Fallen Angels begins a few weeks after the third book ended.  And while the first conflict was resolved, this new book tells us that it was but the beginning of a whole new adventure and this time with more at stake than just the Shadowhunters. 

I thought with the third book, the end of the trilogy that i know everything there is to know about their world,,,only to find out that i have only touched the surface of something that is so deep that it would take the rest of the upcoming books to scratch it, probably more.

I also only just realized that though Simon was one of my liked characters in the first three books, it is only now in City of Fallen Angels that I become to realize that he is as real as Jace or Clary. Also, new characters are introduced with subtlety that you sort of grow into liking them bit by bit and not suddenly thrust into your presence.

In the end, this is a whole new different ball game.  A story of love, salvation, forgiveness, hate, and self sacrifice.  The feeling of the angst of someone in love but filled with the confusion of it all emanates from Jace like a throbbing presence, add to this the questions that plague Clary's mind creates a jumble of emotions clearly evident in young lovers feeling the enormity of the emotion in all its splendor.  The characters have  all grown up and has become more real with depths and emotions not entirely different from ours.

The antagonist, when finally revealed is someone/something you would expect but then again someone/something that you would never have thought in a million years (curious? read the book).

Reading through the pages, I realized the the way the novels were written makes them perfect to be transformed to films without much changes to the premise. as a script writer, the sequences of how it was written is perfect. I cant wait for the first movie.

All in all, read the book.  Immerse yourself once more to a world that might not be our own but shouts with the goodness that makes us who we are.

*City of Fallen Angels is book 23 of the 100 challenge

twenty two

lately, i have been on a reading rampage.  not only have i devoured several books in the last days but  have been to enraptured by them that i forgot to post them here.

here are the books i have finished from cover to cover to another cover to cover.

20. Krondor: Tear of the Gods by Raymond E. Feist
21. Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey
22. Dragons of a Fallen Sun of the Dragonlance Series

currently finishing up on City of Fallen Angels, Book Four of the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.  And this ill write a review about tomorrow!

19

nineteen

the number does not describe my age but counts the number of books i have read so far this 2011.  This is in my quest for 100.  I recently finished the last two books, one the ending of a trilogy and the other the second book of one of Raymond E. Feist's numerous series.

the Amber Spyglass ends Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, a story of Lyra Belacroix, a young girl on the verse of adolescence as she moves from world to world in an adventure that will ultimately save the world.

this third book for me is the most thought provoking.  No wonder it was questioned by the Catholic church in some countries as a book not fit for young readers (as it rightfully is).  It presents the story of paradise lost in an entirely new vision.  Not only that, but it also questions the very basis of the catholic faith.

but remember that this is fiction and along with the premise and the superb writing of Pullman, I truly believe that this book is a must read.  Adventure, magic, suspense and the ultimate sacrifice that will always mean that good will always prevail.

lately, i have noticed that i have been reading a lot of Feist.  and with this title, the second in the Serpentwar Saga, i again realized why.  Raymond E. Feist presents young out of the way characters as the main personalities of his adventures.  what started with Pug and Tomas in the Riftwar Series, this story now has a different cast of characters in a setting that to me is almost more familiar than my own.

rise of a merchant prince is truly the story of Roo, an ambitious criminal turned soldier turned merchant as he rises from non-existence to that of being an important figure in Krondor, set of the story. with equal amount of wit, adventure, danger, and sexuality this is one novel that is truly Feisty (pun totally intended).

long live chrestomansi

while reading through the blogs i follow i read shiver's author, maggie stiefvater's recent post and found out to my dismay that one of the authors whose books i collect has died a few days ago.  i was saddened to think that we will no longer be gifted with more of her works and more of the wonders that she has shared with us for so many years.

i was introduced to diana wynne jones' work but a few months ago, but since reading some of her works, i have come to develop a respect and admiration bordering on awe on the way she has enriched the worlds that i have been visiting over and over again.  by accident, i was taken to the world of the chrestomansi and has since then been wanting to visit more and more often.

chrestomansi is a title.  a rank given to the most powerful magician of a parallel earth to one of our own where magic and wonder is a way of life.  he is the ultimate authority and as such is the "sheriff" of every magic user.  

i was given a dear friend's old book with had two of her titles in the series. after devouring them in a few days, i rushed out and grabbed the other titles until i have completed in my collection the first 5 books of the series.  reminiscent of the harry potter series of jk rowling, the reader is taken to a world that is much like our own but with the magic that every child believes in.  in fact, a lot of the premise in harry potter were in the books even if they were written way before the sorcerer's stone. (i dont know, but maybe she is a favorite of rowling as well.)

i have yet to finish all titles in the series. i have read the first 4 and have the fifth in hardcopy.  now, i plan to look for her other works and complete them that i might glimpse at her worlds over and over again.  sadly, they are the only one's left and will no longer be added to.

today, though late, i salute ms. jones as she travels those worlds that she has given us a chance to look into while she live.  im sure that somewhere, she has entered the realms that will continue to delight us time and again.  

long live, chrestomansi!

the end of a saga...

among the different genres of novels, there is one that i believe needs an unending supply of creativity and imagination from the author.  that is epic fantasy.  with these kinds of works, one needs to create a believable world and characters that would not only entertain us but also make us believe in their reality.  so far, i have visited upon worlds that have given me cause to imagine and wish to be transported there.  while one would be the middleearth of the lord of the rings novels created by j.r.r. tolkien, one other world has time and again invited me to visit.

the world of midkemia and its parallel world of kelewan.

written by the genius of raymond e. feist, i have first glimpsed upon the beauty of this land and got to know these characters back in college so many years ago.  since then i have never forgotten the beauty and the intrigue that it has shared with me.

now, i have just reread the whole series that have introduced these worlds to us, the riftwar saga.

since being introduced to pug, i have been immersed to the politics and the adventure of the personalities and creatures that have since then been made known to me.  with the growing powers that he has learned as the years go, i have also increased the thirst for more and more of all things midkemian and tsurani.

devouring chapter after chapter of the first four books, i cant wait for the other titles and series that have sprung up after the best selling initial saga.  though i have read a lot of them, still reading them once more have given me the visions like a well loved movie seen again after a long period of longing.

ill bet, these titles would soon be known as novels to film just like the other works from other authors before this.  surely i will welcome the visions to compare them to the visions i have made in my mind.

like all epic fantasies, the series has ended with darkness at sethanon.  but rest assured there are still other stories about these worlds out there, just waiting for the pen of feist for us to have a glimpse of them.


*ending the series puts me at 17 at the 100 challenge:
14.Apprentice,15.Master,16.Silverthorn,17.Sethanon; almost finish with Amber Spyglass as of writing

in the realm of the fantastic

books are and have always been windows that have taken me into the lives and worlds that are described within the pages.  not a few times have i found myself too immersed in the stories that i read that i completely forget the present and exist inside for that moment.  my mind adds sound, atmosphere and little details that are otherwise not given by the author.

maybe its this reason that my genre of choice has always been fantasy.  i remember way back when my mom used to read to me bulfinch's mythology, the iconic lord of the ring series in high school and discovering the creatures of narnia in college during the 90s.  of course, the more recent world of hogwarts and harry potter is joy cut short much too soon.

what i love about these worlds are the realism behind them.  yes, realism.  i would always equate a great fantasy when the worlds and those that inhabit them are much too real to be considered as make believe.  for sure, this is the main reason that most of these titles have been made and are continued to be made into movies.

the fantasy/scifi genre for fiction is a myriad collection of these universes and alternate realities that are each fantastic in their own rights.  and in each of them are characters and ideas that are both different and mirrors of our own.  from the dragons of anne mccaffrey's dragon of pern series to the gay herald mage character of mercedes lackey, to the rodents of redwall of brian jacques; however unbelievable, they take us in because somewhere there are emotions, situations and places that remind us of our mundane world.  

i love all these worlds.  in fact, there is not one among them where id say no to an invitation to visit again.  but of all these, these are the top 5 that i would gladly live in.  

*i wont even consider middle earth of J.R.R. Tolkien, Narnia, Hogwarts and the rest of the more popular ones since i'd think that with the movies and the hooplah about them, they'd be too over crowded with humans to be exciting for my taste, hehehe

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS by CASSANDRA CLARE

several months ago, i chanced upon a boxed set collection of three books while lounging at powerbooks in megamall.  not familiar with the author, i bought a copy of the first book; City of Bones since I was intrigued by the tattooed torso in the cover.  a week after, i had all three in the series.

The Mortal Instruments series is an urban fantasy set in modern day US.  It tells the story of the Shadowhunters, a band of special individuals gifted with extraordinary gifts.  The story talks about angels, nephilims, demons and all there rest of the creatures from the pages of fairy tales.  In fact, it even had a rat that became a vampire.  

Jace Wayland and Clary Fray has completely taken me in that I cant even wait for the fourth book out in April of this year.  And watch out, a movie with Alex Pettyfer and Lily Collins is in the works!

The Mortal Instruments titles are The City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass.  City of Fallen Angels is the 4th book.  A prequel series The Infernal Devices whose Book 1, The Clockwork Angel came out late last year is almost as good.

THE SECRETS of the IMMORTAL NICOLAS FLAMEL by MICHAEL SCOTT

fresh from my find of the mortal instruments and having to wait for the next book in the series, i browsed the titles on the bookshelves, choosing books based on instinct and on how i feel about the book cover (yes, especially for the genre, book covers matter a lot) and found The Alchemyst, the first volume in this work that totally blew me off.  

initially set in san francisco, the story chronicles the chaos that happens to a set of twins when they discovered that they are not who they thought themselves to be.  in company of nicolas flamel (yes, the very same nicolas flamel mentioned in the novels by jk rowling and apparently is a real person from history), a wizard, sophie and josh newman soon discovers and gets to meet and encounter entities only real in stories from greek, roman, egyptian and any number of mythologies.  

the story is fast paced and is full of action and movement.  in fact, to those more inclined to the more action-packed genre of fiction; the writing style feels much like da vinci code by dan brown. 

like the previous series, these books: alchemyst, magician, sorceress, necromancer and the forthcoming titles were also optioned to be made into movies.

THE WHEEL OF TIME by ROBERT JORDAN

i don't only buy books from the major bookstores.  in fact, my person is a constant fixture in any number of booksale or books for less branch all over the metro.  my new favorite is bookayukay in quezon city where i just found some missing titles to complete some of my series collections early today. 

during one of these visits, another cover got my attention.  the eye of the world, book 1 of the 14 volumes in the wheel of time series.  honestly, while reading this i totally felt i was back in middle earth but with little differences in the feel like going from one city to another in the same province.  

although the action sequence or the plot development is repetitive in each of the books, i was never the less taken into the heart of rand al thor and his being the dragon reborn.

it took me three months to finally have a copy of the first eleven books and the prequel book in the series.  book 13 and 14, written by another writer after the demise of robert jordan is to be out soon. 

THE RIFTWAR SAGA & THE SONS OF KRONDOR by RAYMOND E. FEIST

another epic fantasy series that i totally dug out of the mountain of thrift books are the titles within the rift war saga and the succeeding series, the sons of krondor.  

i was able to read this series a very long time ago when i had a friend who would loan me his books during the times i could ill afford to rent one.  now, i have almost all the titles with the exception of the newer ones that i plan to buy as soon i can finish the other books that i have recently purchased.

the riftwar saga takes place in two worlds both very much like our own if not of the existence of magic and the creatures that were "invented" for this world.  and while as all epic fantasies are alike in the broad scope of almost-nomadic main characters go, this one surprises the readers with each title  in the series.

pug, the driving character in the first two books, magician:apprentice and magician:master is a common and recurring character in all the books including those just newly published.

a graphic novel of this work is out as well.

SANDMAN by NEIL GAIMAN

now this next series are not even books.  

a collection of graphic novels with art done by selected artists, this 11 volume work chronicles stories and life glimpses of the mythological being sandman.  the lord of dream, as he is called presents tales and wonders as only neil gaiman can deliver.  nuff said.

there are a lot more authors, series and books out there. in fact, i dont consider my choices here as my permanent choices.  works by ursula le guin, eragon and the inheritance series by paolini, the percy jackson books by rick riodan, pittacus lore's i am number four and the lorien legacy series etc. are great works that have found permanent spaces in my own private library.  and my choices might not be yours but let me share this with you, there are two keys to the realm of the fantastic; good authors and good imagination.  can you enter?

library

 since moving to manila, i have started a collection of novels which i have been meaning to do every since...in the few months that i have been here, i have accumulated quite a lot of titles...now, as someone who has a very limited budget, i would suggest that you trek from one thrift bookshop to the other in search of your favorite authors and titles...it would help if you keep a list of those you lack in a series and if your budget permits, grab the book when you find it...who knows when you'll get a chance to see it again...

the list i have here are mostly of fantasy novels and the currently popular ones that disappear from the shelves of national bookstore of powerbooks a few days after they are displayed... favorite authors are robert jordan of the wheel of time series, cassandra clare of the mortal instruments, j.r.r. tolkien of lord of the rings, raymund e. feist of the riftwar saga, neil gaiman of sandman, rick riodan of percy jackson, michael scott of nicolas flamel...all the rest of the title are not bad at all, in fact i am proud of this collection...and its growing at an alarming rate... heheheh

 The Eye of the World
 The Great Hunt
 The Dragon Reborn
 The Shadow Rising
 The Lord of Chaos
 The Path of Daggers
 Crossword of Twilight
 Knife of Dreams
 The Magic Engineer
 Dragon Prince
 The Star Scroll
 Wicked
 The Eyes of the Dragon
 The Magician: Apprentice
 The Magician: Master
 Silverthorn
 A Darkness at Sethanon
 Prince of the Blood
 The King's Buccaneer
 Faerie Tale
 Tears of Krondor
Faith of the Fallen
 Charmed Life
 The Lives of Christopher Chant
 The Magicians of Caprona
 Witch Week
 Conrad's Fate
 Renaissance Faire
 Salon Fantastique
 The Dragon Quintet
 The Best of American Erotica 2007
 The Courts of Love
 Graceling
 Fire
 The Faerie Path
 The Lost Queen
 City of Bones
 City of Ashes
 City of Glass
 Clockwork Angel
 The Dark Hills Divide
 Alchemyst
 Magician
 Sorceress
 Necromancer
 Skin Hunger
 Sacred Scars
 Fragile Things
 The Dream Hunters
 Seasons of Mist
 A Game of You
 Fables & Reflections
 Brief Lives
 Worlds End
 The Wake
 Preludes & Nocturnes
 The Doll's House
 Dream Country
 The Kindly Ones
 Endless Night
 Small Gods
 Children of the Shaman
 Eragon
 Eldest
 Brisingr
 Children of Amarid
 Fallen
 The Floating Island
 The Thief Queen's Daughter
 Midnight over Sanctaphrax
 Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret
 The Ratastrophe Catastrophe
 The Yowler Foul-up
 The Shadewell Shenangans
 Silver City
 Redwal
 Mossflower
 Mattimeo
 Martin the Warrior
 The Legend of Luke
 Lord Brocktree
 Last Days of Krypton
 Star Dancer
 Fire Dreamer
 I am Number Four
 Lightning Thief
 Sea of Monsters
 Titan's Curse
 Battle of the Labyrinth
 Last Olympian
 Fellowship of the Ring
 The Dragon and the Unicorn
 Dragonbone Chair
 Amber Spyglass
 Voyage of the Dawn Treader
 The Zahir
 Love in times of Cholera
 One Hundred years of Solitude