Month: November 2012

my books on ilovebooks

Hello, hello. My ebooks are now also on ilovebooks.com, “an electronic bookshop stocking over 300,000 ebook titles in over 50 categories. It allows book lovers to purchase their favorite e-books and read them anywhere, anytime on their devices. The store is owned by MediaCorp, Singapore’s most diverse multimedia company with interests in TV, newspapers, radio, magazines and new media”, according to Kristine Reynaldo‘s lovely email.

Buy a copy!
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In other silly news, I got dragged to the shoot for the company AVP. I played…a corporate officer!
Oh god I hope they won’t show the video in the cinemas.
Happy long weekend! :)

prince of thorns

Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #1)Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you’re a reader who wants to get into fantasy but is allergic to doorstoppers, pick up Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns. It is a quick and engaging read. The narrative is tight and sprints in one direction (with some pause for flashbacks); it doesn’t meander to give long descriptions of landscapes and facial features. The protagonist is vile, and remains vile to the end, picking up some little epiphanies along the way. Lawrence says the book is a fantasy homage to A Clockwork Orange, and it shows.

If you have been reading a lot of fantasy stories, though, the plot is really nothing new: Jorg is nine when the Count Renar kills his mother and only brother. Instead of seeking revenge, Jorg’s father accepts gold and horses in exchange for a truce. Jorg turns 13 and runs away from his father’s castle with a group of bandits. He aims to invade the broken empire and become king by age 15.

However, despite the fantasy trappings, it’s actually far-future sci-fi. Jorg knows Plutarch, and talks about Jesus Christ, but his story happens a thousand years after a massive nuclear war that erases portions of history and access to technology. It’s like Adventure Time! Have fun spotting the WMDs.

View all my reviews

It’s Cyber Monday! (Well, in the States, it’s Tuesday here.) Check out these books on sale by Flipside Publishing.

Do consider buying:

The Viewless Dark by Eliza Victoria | $0.99 (PhP 40.59) | Amazon | iTunes | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Flipreads

Visprint will deliver books anywhere in the Philippines for free – till Dec. 10. Read more here.

Do consider buying:

A Bottle of Storm Clouds by Eliza Victoria | PhP 220

We’ve seen the Lights & Sound show at the Ayala Triangle. Drop by if you have the time.

Lights and Sound Show
Nov. 16 – Dec. 30
Watch the lights come to life in Ayala Triangle Gardens every 30 minutes from 6:00 to 9:00 PM

And I bought some new books. Again. (The KJ Parker title I split with J.)

Now reading: Prince of Thorns, to be followed by Gone Girl.

the girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland, #1)The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first heard of this book on the author’s own LJ blog. She wrote this during the US crash; Valente’s husband had been laid off and they were having difficulties paying their rent and other bills. Instead of merely asking for donations, she decided to write The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, a YA novel mentioned in her adult novel, Palimpsest. She was going to write a chapter a week, and readers could pay her whatever amount they deemed the story deserved.

I knew, after reading the fantastic first chapter online, that the serial would be published. And so I waited for the paperback, and I’m glad to finally get my hands on a copy.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this book. Its world is as absurd and as original and as magical and as frightening as Wonderland or Neverland. High time this generation got their own Wendy or Alice to love, and what better girl to love than September?

It is a marvel Valente was able to create such a playful landscape with the problems of the real world looming over her family like a gray cloud. Or maybe it’s not – a writer creates the best worlds to escape to, when escape is needed.

The meat of the story: September is a girl who lives in Omaha. Her father has gone off to war and her mother has gone off to work, and she is tired of washing teacups and waiting for her mother to come home. One day the Green Wind appears in the kitchen window, and offers her a ride to Fairyland. I won’t tell you anything more. Fairyland is best explored alone, and without a map.

Read the first two chapters here.

View all my reviews

skyfall

I couldn’t care less for James Bond, but I must clarify that the only Bond film I’ve seen from start to finish is the gritty and boring Quantum of Solace. I’ve seen none of the classic 007 movies, and what little I’ve seen of Pierce Brosnan’s films I found mediocre. The darker reboot, Casino Royale (which I haven’t seen) with Daniel Craig, has received both accolades and flak, the flak mostly coming from longtime fans who felt alienated by the new take. I think the filmmakers produced the next two films like cooks preparing soup: add a little bit of this, a little bit of that, until the longtime fans shut up.

Skyfall has that balanced taste. It has wit, wry humor, some gadgets, lots of action. It’s confident enough to make fun of the franchise (“What were you expecting, an exploding pen?”) and to get rid of most of the glitter and actually explore Bond’s motives and history. It has also added a younger character (Ben Whishaw playing tech-savvy Q), which I think will attract a new generation of Bond fans.

And we must mention Javier Bardem as Silva. I want to say best Bond villain ever, but that’s unfair because I haven’t seen all of the Bond films. But he is so good in this role.

Now I’m excited to watch more 007.

wreck-it ralph

I wasn’t planning to watch this. The marketing materials for this film were all over the place but my only thought – and I know this is incredibly unfair – was, This is not a Pixar film. 

It’s not a Pixar film! In fact, Wreck-It Ralph is a Disney film. I love Pixar, okay. They tell the most honest, most inventive stories, and the only stories that come close to Pixar’s tearjerker offerings are old-school Disney films: The Lion King, Aladdin, Mulan. The last animated Disney film that I truly enjoyed was 2010’s Tangled. And before that? Nothing comes to mind. I thought Disney’s animated franchise was on its way down, and isn’t that a shame. I still have fond memories of Beauty and the Beast.

Then: Paperman.

The main film had not started yet and I was already in tears in the cinema. Paperman is a black-and-white animated short film that blends traditional animation with computer animation. The result was magical, breathtaking. Disney should make a full-length film utilizing this technique. Read more about it.

It was a good piece to set the bar for expectations, and Wreck-It Ralph, thankfully, did not disappoint. I love going into the cinema armed only with the film title and friends’ assurances. It makes the cinematic experience purer.

And how this film surprised me.

Watch this film, I tell you.

Welcome back, Disney! Christ, what took you so long?