In My Mailbox (8): Zombies and shoes

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I mean to write an In My Mailbox post last week but of course, I didn’t because I was just lazy to do so. I did buy some books last week, but I’ve been sort of good because I didn’t buy much. I did succumb to retail therapy, though, because I had a very bad Friday last week. Fridays aren’t supposed to be bad, so when you have a bad Friday, you just have to cope up, and my way of coping is of course, through books. ;) Then this week, I actually received something in my mailbox, so it’s high time to write something about it.

In My Mailbox is a weekly book meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren, where bloggers post about what books received that week, be it via  mailbox, library or store. And here we go with this week’s (and last week’s) stash!

From  bottom up:

  1. Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry (Fully Booked) – this book isn’t mine, but a birthday gift to one of the Mighty Evil Overlords. ;)  Gifts are supposed to be a surprise, but I wouldn’t want him to get the same book, so I told him not to get this one on his birthday. When I opened the book, though, I knew I’d a copy for myself eventually — the artwork inside is awesome. :)
  2. Paper Towns by John Green (Fully Booked) – I was having a bad Friday, yes? I saw this in Fully Booked and got it to appease my mood. That, and I know it’s a good book, and last because it’s hard to find this book here. :P I’ll read this soon, promise.
  3. Flight to the Stars by Samantha Mae Coyuito (National Bookstore) – I’m always on the lookout for Filipino fiction. When I spotted this at NBS, I knew I had to have it, because it’s Filipino fiction. That, and it was written by a 16 year old! Seems like an interesting book. :)
  4. Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen – my first ARC for the longest time! And the first one from a fellow blogger! I read Janice’s review of this book on her blog, and left a comment, which led to her offering to send me her extra ARC. Of course I can’t say no to that. :) And again, I am amazed at the speed of our post office here — this arrived two weeks after she sent it. It pays to have the post man know that you get packages a lot and have it delivered to your home. Thanks again, Janice! :)

That’s it for me this week. :) It’s been a very busy week, hence the lack of posts here, and the lack of books I finished reading. Work was (still is, and will be) crazy, I have to prepare for NaNoWriMo, and it was my brother’s wedding last week! Craziness, but all is still good (and that’s a good thing because if it’s bad craziness, I’m going to get wrinkles on forehead)! Because of my brother’s wedding, I decided to hold off reading The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness for a little more and pick up something romantic. I settled on re-reading Sarah Dessen’s This Lullaby and I am enjoying it a lot. :)

I must go back to reading now, and try to ignore the gloominess that’s going on outside . There’s a typhoon (Megi) heading for our country, so if you can spare a prayer or a good thought for us, please do so! In the meantime, I leave you with another photo of my stash this week, plus the shoes I wore at my brother’s wedding — just because. :P

In My Mailbox + Shoes! :)

Have a great Sunday, everyone. :) To my fellow Filipinos, stay safe!

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Torch those z’s

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Z by Michael Thomas FordZ by Michael Thomas Ford
Publisher: HarperTeen
Number of pages: 288
My copy: hardbound, bought from Fully Booked

The First Rule of Torching: Cleanse with fire.

Josh is by far the best zombie Torcher around—at least, he is in his virtual-reality zombie-hunting game. Josh has quickly risen through the player ranks, relying on the skill, cunning, and agility of a real Torcher.

The Second Rule of Torching: Save all humans.

But luckily for Josh, zombies exist only in the virtual world. The real zombie war is now more than fifteen years in the past, and the battle to defeat the deadly epidemic that devastated his family—and millions of others—is the stuff of history lessons.

The Third Rule of Torching: You can’t bring them back.

Charlie is the top-ranked player in the game. Since all the players are shrouded in anonymity, Josh never expects Charlie to be a girl—and he never expects the offer she makes him: to join the underground gaming league that takes the virtual-reality game off the screen and into the streets. Josh is thrilled. But the more involved he gets, the more he realizes that not everything is what it seems. Real blood is spilling, members of the team are disappearing, and the zombies in the game are acting strange. And then there’s the matter of a mysterious drug called Z. . . .

* * *

One of our favorite past times/stress busters at work is zombie killing. No, seriously. Whenever we (namely Grace and I) find ourselves extremely stressed at work, and we have some money left, we’d troop over to Timezone (the nearest arcade at work) and start hogging the House of the Dead 4 machine and start blasting zombies away. There’s something really therapeutic about gunning down zombies and killing monsters, even if we never get past the third level.

Z by Michael Thomas Ford reminds me exactly of House of the Dead 4. Not with the story, but with how the book has a general zombie video game feel. Z immediately drops us into action as we follow Josh go through what seemed to be an abandoned hospital, looking for z’s to torch and humans to rescue. It seems very realistic at first, but we are surprised later by an interruption, where we find out that Josh is really just playing a video game, and one he wasn’t supposed to play.

But of course, Josh keeps on playing, and his skills were noticed by Charlie, one of the best players in the game. Josh gets invited to a secret gaming community that brings zombie torching into another level: a face to face game with real torches with seemingly real zombies and seemingly real blood. Josh is both horrified and fascinated, but since it’s not real, there’s no harm in playing, right?

Z has a pretty interesting take into zombies, different from what I have read so far. Zombies, according to Josh’s world, are not reanimated dead but people who contracted a mutant flu strain that enlarges the R-complex, or the reptilian part of the brain, removing all sentient thoughts of the person. This virus reduced the person’s ability to feel pain and thickened the blood, making the zombies hard to kill save for setting them on fire. The human being doesn’t exactly die but their humanity does, making them pretty much dead, anyway. It’s an interesting idea that doesn’t really lessens the horror of zombies. In fact, it may make things even scarier, since the virus takes living people and turns them into the undead right in front of you.

I like how the author managed to put in the game feel in the story. The descriptions were sharp and vivid, and the zombie hunting scene carried enough tension to make me gasp in surprise whenever some z’s show up. The author was able to put some kind of “face” for the zombies by their little gory descriptions — hair and scalp pulled out, milky eyes, rotting mouth, etc. The zombies here are not just one mob of undead shuffling towards the living but individual horrifying people that used to be the characters’ friends. This is the very strong point of Z in my opinion, and it gives the book an overall gaming feel, a-la Resident Evil or House of the Dead.

However, that’s where the strength ends. I felt the plot of the book a bit lacking. While there was an element of surprise in the zombie hunts, the overall story arc is pretty typical as far as zombie novels are concerned. It’s pretty straightforward, really, and while there was one twist that was kind of unexpected, the rest were pretty predictable. I feel like there’s really nothing new that Z could offer as far as zombie stories are concerned. It’s not shallow, but it just doesn’t have the depth that other zombie novels managed to capture.

I would recommend Z as a sort of fluffy reading for zombie aficionados and gamers (be it PS3, PSP or even a wii — are there zombie games on Wii’s?). Like with other reviewers, I think this book is written more for the younger audiences, particularly boys. It’s fun, it’s gory, but it’s not really the zombie novel that changed my life.

Rating: [rating=3]

Other reviews:
Jawas Read, Too!

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Real or not real?

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Mockingjay by Suzanne CollinsMockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic, 390 pages

“My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.”

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans — except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay — no matter what the personal cost.

Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay was probably the most anticipated release of 2010. Tens of thousands of fans all over the world eagerly awaited the conclusion of the bestselling Hunger Games series, a wait made that much more breathless after the cliffhanger ending of Catching Fire. The hype that surrounded this release was almost as if an eighth Harry Potter book had been released, with blog tours, interviews, predictions, midnight release parties and book launches happening across the world as the August 24 release date approached.

I was one of those excited fans. I remember feeling anxious as the week of the release arrived, exchanging predictions with other fans and jointly planning “Mockingjay Leaves” (the book release was on a weekday). I squealed with delight when I saw that the Kindle edition was available the day before the hardcover was released here, downloading the sample and devouring it so I could have an idea how the end would begin. When I finally received my copy I reserved the next few days to reading only Mockingjay.

If you haven’t read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire, the spoiler warning starts here.

“There is no District 12.” These were Gale’s last words in Catching Fire, which left readers wondering what exactly happened to Katniss’ home town. Mockingjay opens with Katniss staring at the ashes of her district, a month after she has been taken out of the arena and had been living in District 13. The rebellion against the Capitol has begun, but cannot go full scale because it’s missing one last ingredient: they need Katniss to be the Mockingjay, the symbol of the movement. Katniss, reluctant at first, eventually agrees. She finds herself smack in the center of a dangerous power play between her enemies and her so-called “allies,” most especially District 13’s President Coin. While she tries to fulfill her role as the Mockingjay, Katniss starts to question the motivations of the people around her – and her own motives as well – finding herself a pawn in a web of manipulation that could cost her life and the lives of the people she cares for.

Mockingjay takes its cue from its predecessors and comes out as another adrenaline pumping read. Collins’ writing is captivating from the start, sucking the readers deep into the even bleaker world that Panem has become, fleshing out the mysterious District 13. Mockingjay’s pacing leaves readers breathless at the end of each chapter as the author dishes out one cliffhanger after another. LA Times compared the action scenes to “a battlefield akin to Iraq” – even the innocent aren’t spared from the carnage and the brutality of war. Click here to read the rest of the review.

* * *

This is a pretty late review, but better late than never. It’s pretty formal since I wrote it for The POC, so more opinions/comments and such right after the cut. Spoiler warning!

Continue Reading →

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Hope in the New World

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The New World by Patrick Ness
Chaos Walking # 0
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Number of pages: 24
My copy: ebook

In this dramatic prequel to the award-winning Chaos Walking Trilogy, author Patrick Ness gives us the story of Viola’s journey to the New World. Whether you’re new to Chaos Walking or an established fan, this prequel serves as a fascinating introduction to the series that Publishers Weekly called “one of the most important works of young adult science fiction in recent years.”

* * *

When Aaron tweeted about this book novella, I squealed inside the office. No joke. I immediately called my friend Jana from her workstation, who squealed too, and once again with me, when we found out it was free. This book was one of the reasons we disrupted the peace and quiet at the office that Friday afternoon.

It’s no secret that I loved Patrick Ness’ The Knife of Never Letting Go, and I was really looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy, especially since Monsters of Men came out in paperback last week. Although I haven’t read the second and third books yet, my friends have told me so much about it that I know I would probably like it as well. When you like a book/series this much and you haven’t even read it all yet, any companion novel is bound to make you excited. At least, that’s how I see it.

The New World is a 23-page novella that tells us how Viola landed in the New World (aka Todd’s world) and glimpses of her life before she reached the planet. Here, we meet her parents, as well as some of her friends and we get to know about her, most especially her survival skills. The prose is sharp and the action flows smoothly through flashbacks and the present time. It’s not as raw or awkward as Todd’s point of view was, but I think Viola’s voice was very accurate to how I knew her from the first book.

This was a very quick read, and I was kind of hoping to read a bit of a crossover with the story in Knife in Viola’s POV, but there was none. However, I agree that this novella can be read even if you have read the three books already or if you are new to the trilogy — it really doesn’t matter. It may seem to be a bit spoilery for some events in Knife, but it’s not really a big deal, IMHO. If you’re kind of daunted by the title or the thickness or the story in the first book of the Chaos Walking series, then The New World is definitely a good place to start in this awesome series. :)

Rating: [rating=4]

Cover & Blurb: Goodreads

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When one falls, everybody falls

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The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Chaos Walking # 1
Publisher: Walker Books
Number of pages: 479
My copy: US paperback, bought from Fully Booked

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown.

But Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets.

Or are there?

Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence.

Which is impossible.

Prentisstown has been lying to him.

And now he’s going to have to run…

* * *

I’ve heard a lot of good reviews for this book from various book blogs and book friends, but I never picked it up because I wasn’t into dystopia back then. In fact, I saw a copy of this book a couple of times in Fully Booked but I always ignored it. No time to read it, I always think.

After some really strong recommendations, I finally got a sample from Amazon and read the first few pages, thinking that if I really want it, I can always get the Kindle edition. But as I read on, I knew only one thing: I MUST HAVE THIS BOOK. Not the ebook, but the actual print book, because there are parts of the book that just looks better in print. Unfortunately, on the day I decided I wanted the book, the only copy in the Fully Booked branch nearest my office was gone. :( My friend Jana, who also wanted the book, got to the last copy first, so I would have to wait. *grumble* Thanks to the wonderful people of Fully Booked, though, for transferring a copy to Eastwood a week after I inquired to them about it. Of course, I wasn’t able to read this immediately, and it wasn’t until about a month from when I got this that I got to read it.

You can never go wrong with a book that starts with a talking dog, especially one that says, “Poo, poo.” The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness starts this way:

The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say. About anything.

“Need a poo, Todd.”

I must do a Russell from Up impression here: “BUT IT’S A TALKING DOG!” :) From that moment on, I knew that even if I didn’t like the book in the end, I’d still be fond of the talking dog.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect as I read this book because I stayed away from as many spoilers as possible, so I plunged into the book knowing only the basic stuff: Todd is the last boy in Prentisstown, where only men live and everyone can hear the other person’s thoughts. Then he discovers a “hole” in the noise, complete silence that is impossible in the world he grew up in. Todd is then made to run far, far away from Prentisstown for reasons he couldn’t understand, which leads to a chase to a world outside he thought never existed.

It took me a while to really get into the book, despite the talking dog, because of the way Todd talks. The Knife of Never Letting Go is written in Todd’s point of view, and growing up in the New World has given Todd a different way of talking, which may be because of the deterioration of education in Prentisstown since the boys don’t go to school nor read. Most of narration becomes Todd’s actual thoughts, most of which spill over each other and sometimes goes on and on without periods that I ran out of breath while reading it even if I was doing so silently. The language is reminiscent of The Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski, but more rough and raw as I wasn’t just seeing things happen, but feeling them since I had access to Todd’s thoughts (and whoever’s Noise he can hear).  It took me a while to get the hang of it, but when I did, the book gripped me and refused to let go.

Patrick Ness is one heck of a writer, and I admire him for never being afraid of hurting his characters. As a (wannabe) novelist, I always have problems with hurting my characters because they’ve grown close to my heart as I write them, and hurting them feels like I’m hurting myself. If you’re that type of reader who grows attached to characters they read and hate it when they get hurt…well, be prepared because Ness can be pretty ruthless. I always get a sense of dread whenever Todd would end up content and somewhat happy in one place because I know the author is just preparing to bring out another big gun that would send Todd and his companions running. It’s not bad, of course, but rather very effective because it kept me reading, rooting for Todd and wanting him to win it in the very end. The action scenes were satisfying, the running and the panic felt very real, and Ness kept the mystery of Todd’s history kept very well up until the revelation point, and he didn’t reveal everything so much that all questions were answered.

It’s not just senseless action or violence, either. Every action and everything that Todd does has a bearing in the end, one that helped him grow as needed at the climax of the novel. Todd’s realizations is not only applicable in his world, but also in our world and in how we strive to get something we want or to be someone we want to be. I find this quote from the book very true (emphasis mine, and don’t worry, no spoilers):

“Here’s what I think,” I say and my voice is stronger and thoughts are coming, thoughts that trickle into my noise like whispers of truth.

“I think maybe everybody falls,” I say. “I think maybe we all do. And I don’t think that’s the asking…I think the asking is whether we get back up again.“

The Knife of Never Letting Go truly lives up to its hype. I’m lucky that I read this now because I don’t think I could have waited so long to read the next book because the ending is just…well, I’d leave it to you to find out. And I must warn you as well: there may be a part when you’d want to stop reading the book and mull over what happened a bit, and maybe even shed a few tears. I did that. :P

I can’t wait to start reading the next book, The Ask and the Answer, which I am reserving for the YA-D2 reading challenge. The Knife of Never Letting Go is a dark, fast-paced and action-packed dystopian novel that will surely have you at the edge of your seat. If you see this in the bookstore, don’t think twice: just get it and read. I promise you won’t regret it.

Rating: [rating=5]

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