A Book under the Sun

written by Richard Matherson There is no doubt that I was drawn to this book only because I had watched Will Smith's portrayal of Robert Neville in a post-apocalyptic world. A recent quote shared in GoodReads had further pushed me to seek this book. The book was the original masterpiece, which of course Hollywood had modified to provide an action oriented cinematic experience with Will Smith at the helm. Although most readers preferred the book's original narrative, I enjoyed the portrayal in both the book and the movie, with a higher bias towards the latter due to the dog. One-liner intro:  One of the earliest attempt to infuse science into a paranormal horror story. Best part:  Scientific thoughts in a paranormal (vampire) story, a slightly unexpected ending Not-so-best part:  Not as exciting; supposedly horror element is not as horrific; the dog which I loved from the movie is not as important

by Richard L. Carpenter illustrations by Paul Davis It has been a hectic year and I was shocked by how much time has flown past since I last typed a blog entry here. Fortunately I got myself a nice read to share here to get myself jump started into continuing in this blog. I have always been interested in the Japanese culture. Their products and cultures have pervaded most of lives nowadays, from the sushi and sashimi bars sprouting everywhere to the manga and anime which I chased with a fervour much like housewives following soaps. My hectic pace of life have not avail me the chance to plan a trip to the land of the Far East, but this book here gave me some preparation on what to expect from this isolated nation. One-liner intro:  What to do and not to do when in Japan (as the title suggested). Best part:  Refreshing look into the nation and its culture; summarized and concise, without too lengthy explanation; examples of what others did wrong when...

by Michelle Brown Note: This is a book review based on a free copy from the author. Many thanks go to the author for this generosity. This book is one of those few which catch me in a grip in the beginning and just force me to flip through the story, trying to unravel the mysteries and know the truth behind. It is, unfortunately, also another book which left me disappointed in its choice to sparingly use obscenities in its story. How employing such useless words in a book could make it into a better story is just beyond me. One-liner intro:  A original page turner of a horror story that is marred by obscenities. Best part:  Imaginative and original future world, which is getting harder to achieve since more and more stories featured an apocalyptic future; exploring a world of liberal gender relationship (this may not be 'best part' for different readers). Not-so-best part:  The use of obscenities, which is an obscenity unto itself; storytellin...

The end of August will see the return of MPH's book sales in Singapore EXPO. With volumes and price cuts to offer for your favorite paperbacks, hardcovers and magazines, this will be a bookworm's chance to replenish his stock, especially if he has missed the golden opportunity to do so in the last GSS (Great Singapore Sales). Date:             30th Aug (Fri) - 1st Sep (Sun) 2013 Admission:   (30th Aug) 3.00p.m. - 9.00p.m.                      (31st Aug - 1st Sep) 9.00a.m. - 9.00p.m. Entry fee:     Free Location:      Singapore EXPO, Hall 6B Website:        Singapore EXPO Events page  (link may expire after the event) View Singapore EXPO in Larger Map

written by James Lovegrove Being in love with Lovegrove’s novel, especially his Pantheon series, could be addictive. Even so, I was rather surprised to find that this latest story following the same pattern to be so disappointing. Although his style of military action never cease to run out of steam throughout the course of the novel, the novelty behind the idea seemed to have dwindled, leaving behind just a husk of a story which tried to continue the legacy of a bestselling series.  One-liner intro: Military action mythical sci-fi coupled with voodoo magic  Best part: Introduction of a relatively misunderstood religion and myth; military action  Not-so-best part: Voodoo priestess playing an unimportant role; lack of grandiose; disappointingly unimpressive gods and their manifestation

Just as the whole of Singapore celebrates the middle of the year with the annual GSS (Great Singapore Sales), so does all libraries in Singapore, but with its Double Your Loan promotion. So what are you waiting for? Go get double the amount you could borrow now! Date:            10 th  June - 11 th  Aug 2013 Admission:   10 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily (libraries within malls will follow the mall's opening hours) Entry fee:     Free Location:      All Singapore public libraries

written by Mark Millar penciled by Bryan Hitch Doctor Doom had been the antagonist of the Fantastic Four for as far back as I had read Marvel Comics. You wouldn’t get one without getting the other, and you wouldn’t get a good Fantastic Four story without exploring how the villain plotted against the family or how he was involved even though the situation didn’t involve Doom directly. As cruel as he gets, even Doom has a master. So who would be powerful enough to make even the evil doctor bow to and call him master?  One-liner intro: A brilliantly engaging read with twists and turns to get you hooked to the question: Who is the Master of Doom?  Best part: Showing that even Doctor Doom has a teacher; death of Uatu (not really…); really surprising twists in the beginning.  Not-so-best part: A rather dull final part wanes off to a rather usual ending; a more brilliant stroke by one of the most brilliant mind in Marvel-verse would be nice.

written by Brian Michael Bendis  colored by Butch Guice  Whenever I read Marvel Comics, I felt that the characters and stories are a little too constrained by the endless revival of heroes and villains, as well as the fact that no matter how bad the villain becomes, he always get away through jail time. Add on to that is the fact that most characters no longer has any surprises left in them, all of them explorer throughout decades of comic publishing and repeated revamps.  Ultimate Comics related characters are another story entirely. Even though the familiar characters are present in this universe, they no longer share the same background. To add on to the suspense, certain familiar characters have been cast in different light, taking on the role of another character when you thought they couldn’t be related in any way.  And to add more suspense onto even that, your familiarity with the Marvel universe will surprise you even more, when it was re...

Starfighters of Adumar was the ninth and last of the novel in the popular X-Wing series before the long lull in the series. With the launch of Mercy Kill , I went back to reread the novel and to get myself back into the seat of Rogue Squadron before I go ahead to read the latest installation of the series.  One-liner intro:  An engaging read of how pilots practice diplomacy - through aggressive negotiations! Best part:  A fresh departure from usual space fights; intriguing read on Wedge's love life; hilarious dialogues to entertain readers in between fights. Not-so-best part:  Unimpressive enemies; unimpressive tactics and strategies.

I was drawn to I Am Number Four initially because of the attention grabbing title and its mention of humble backwater Malaysia, but I returned to grab the sequel because of the drama it introduced in the former.  This time Pittacus Lore blessedly shed most of the mushy romance that is part of an adolescence love story, and focused more on the struggle of a displaced alien from another planet. The plot is more captivating this round, with more to offer compared to the first book. Definitely a better read in my opinion.  One-liner intro: A superb, intense and captivating teen read on @$-kicking aliens on the run, with more dramatic powers but less mushy romance.  Best part: Less mushy, more fighting; good contrast between 2 protagonists that allows the reader to easily shift from one perspective to the other; tying up loose ends from the first title. Not-so-best part: Not so bright protagonist; no clever use of the available powers.

written by J. Michael Straczynski pencils by Shane Davis After Straczynski's bout in Marvel ended with the death of May Parker in The Amazing Spiderman  and another death of a member of Fantastic Four, he was signed up by DC Comics to work on the character of Superman. The character of Superman was quite intriguing, with his history seldom changing and the character had always been Kal-El/Clark Kent. Having said that, modern readers are becoming more serious, demanding stories with more depth to it, stories which provoke thought and invoke emotions. It seemed that Straczynski's work on the character was precisely to redefine the character's initial days as a superhero, rewriting on what we know of Superman. And his initial work of Superman: Earth One  was quite an impressive work IMHO.

If you are not aware, then be aware - THE Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is back! After announcing its presence back in October, Lieutenant Wolf is back once more with its 75 - 95% discounts on all 3 MILLION of its books. This is a bargain hunt which book lovers could not and should not miss out. Today is only the 4th day of the sales and already throngs of crazed book  hunter poured into MIECC , grabbing whatever they can from being snatched by other equally crazed hunters. Enter the halls to hunt for your treasure before December 23rd (Sun) . Date:             7 th  (Fri) -23 rd  Dec (Sun) 2012 Admission:   6.30 a.m. - 11 p.m. daily Entry fee:     Free Location:      Singapore Paragon Shopping Center, atrium Website:        BBW Facebook page ,  BBW blog View MIECC in Larger Map

written by Jonathan Hickman art by Steve Epting and Nick Dragotta I had been hanging onto Fantastic Four issues on and off now, and none seemed to impress me as much as this "final" issue of Fantastic Four. With the foreboding title of "Three", it seems that one of the member will go off the pages permanently, although fans of Western comicdom knew how much that will stay, what with all those dead heroes and villains showing up again and again via illogical reasons. Counting Down to "Three" This volume is the fourth volume of Fantastic Four, collecting issues 583 - 588 as well as chronicling the supposed death of a certain permanent member of the team. Marvel's First Family was no stranger to dangerous missions, nor were they unfamiliar with situations when they had to worked out problems without the full team present. Unfortunately super major problems arose, each one of them having an equal chance of turning catastrophic and harm th...

written by Grant Morrison One of the most shocking crossovers in DC Universe which changed familiar characters' background and storyline drastically was introduced in Crisis on Infinite Earth . After that Infinite Crisis  was introduced and tried to market the same concept again, extending events from that first major crisis. But with hints being thrown around that this second crisis was but a "middle crisis", there was speculations in comicdom that a "final crisis" has yet to come. And so a few years back in 2008, Final Crisis  was launched to put recent events around that time to an end, in another major crisis which once more see the death of major characters. The Final Crisis ? The hardcover and paperback edition collect Issues 1 - 7 from titles of the same name, as well as 2 issues of  Final Crisis: Superman Beyond  and Final Crisis: Submit . Leading to the plot in these issues were stories surrounding different main characters in their own ...

I was once excited to be able to borrow double the amount of books with my meager SGD50++ per annum library membership fee. And now I get to be excited again! With the return of the Double Loan Promotion, public library users of Singapore enjoy to double up their reading by borrowing double the amount available to their status. With such wealth of new reading material arriving monthly, it would be a wonder for any frequent visitor not to scream out loud, not for Halloween but for the chance to grab more books! This news may come late from me, but fear not, for the period lasts until end of January next year, allowing you ample time to spend the year end holidays with! Date:             20 th  Oct 2012 -31 st  Jan 2013 Admission:   10 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily (libraries within malls will follow the mall's opening hours) Entry fee:     Free (Duh, it's a LIBRARY...) Location:      All Singa...

by Benjamin David Burrell Note: This is a book review based on a free copy from the author. Many thanks go to the author for this generosity. Although the beginning was quite uneventful, the story's introduction of all new races made this an original work by itself. One-liner intro:  An epic in the making, with all new races and a heart racing momentum pushing past the pages. Best part:  A cliffhanger at the end which draw me to wait for the sequel; a twist in which the main protagonist was not the hero, but the protector to the hero; a good build of momentum which held me glued to the pages; an epic quest facing mythical forces. Not-so-best part:  Races were not dressed with more detail; races were too alien with very little human reference.

by Chris Stralyn Note: This is a book review based on a free copy from the author. Many thanks go to the author for this generosity. There aren't many thrillers which I enjoyed, and Stralyn's This Time You Lose  immediately becomes one of them when I started reading it. The sense of danger exuding from the pages are more real than Dan Brown's or Michael Crichton's, for what is recounted within the story is something that could happen any day, on anyone. One-liner intro:  A superbly gripping and adrenaline-pumping chronicle of how one ordinary woman faced down dangerous thugs to protect the people around her. Best part:  A fiction that is more real than most thrillers; adrenaline-pumping with a real threat of death around every corner of the story. Not-so-best part:  There were hardly any references to the title until the end, but I am not complaining; too many characters, and not everyone were given a memorable appearance or involveme...

Seems like Times bookstores are in the limelight if book fairs recently. With a recently concluded book fair in Penang Island Plaza , another one is ready to be launched in Singapore. That's right! Paragon Shopping Center will be hosting the book sales from Times in its atrium, running from 11 th (Tue) - 20 th (Thu) Sep 2012 . Image taken from Singapore Promotions .

Seems like Penang isle is invaded by scores of bookseller looking to get their stocks depleted! Barely after the International Chinese Book Exhibition was the recently ended BookXcess Largest English Bookfair in Penang Times Square . It seems that Times Bookstore had the same notion of a book fair in the region, and they had set up booth in Island Plaza before the BookXcess even move out of the isle. Times' website shared that they have a bargain corner set up within the fair where a book will be sold for RM5, and 5 books at the price of RM10. Knowing what quality these books usually end up as, book hunters are cautioned against high expectations. Still, that should not hinder any dedicated lovers from trying their luck hunting through the shelves (or baskets). Keep them in good condition if it is not the one you wanted though, it may be a treasure for the hunter next to you. Image taken from Times Book Fair Facebook page .

by James Lovegrove Continuing his unique style of fusing mythology with modernity is Lovegrove's third installation of The Pantheon  series, with the Norse gods in the limelight this time. The Age of Zeus  may have secured my unwavering attention to the series, but this next novel in the series equally ruined it. Pages upon pages of profanity served to diminish my appetite for a good plot and narrative, and with neither clever tactics nor show of godly power, my plate of stars went down with the each turning page. One-liner intro:  Profanity-filled modern  Ragnarök - intense, fast-paced and  in full military style. Best part:  Refreshing depiction of how the Norse mythology adapt to modern ways; readers familiar with Norse mythology could still surprised with the modern version of certain mythological beasts; a very interesting and surprising ending; continued use of idiomatic expressions and word play; funny monologue narrative; brush up on...