All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein

image source

I saw the movie Predestination and most viewers compare it as Inception or Looper of 2014. Learning that it was inspired by a Robert Heinlein short story titled "All You Zombies" published in 1960, I looked for a copy online and I got lucky.

It's amazing how Robert Heinlein was able to create a very tight narrative in a world composed of one character, special thanks to H.G. Wells's invention of the time machine as a fictional device. There are actually two fictional devices here, but I leave the other for you to find out just to keep this short review spoiler-free.

The temporal agent disguised as a barkeeper wearing the Ouroboros ring is a pretty cool idea as an allusion of predestination stuff where there is no such thing as a parallel universe and one reality is created and recreated.  I think at the time this story was written, Heinlein never thought of a parallel universe as a result when you play with your past.


Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4 shots of Old Underwear drink

Tabi Po Isyu 2 ni Mervin Malonzo

Ito ay karugtong ng naunang isyu kung saan ipinakilala ang kasaysayan ni Elias bilang isang aswang (kasama ng kanyang mga kauri) noong panahon ng mga Kastila. Hindi ako nanghinayang sa pagpunta kanina sa AKLATAN (kauna-unahang "All-Filipino Book Fair" sa bansa) sa Bayanihan Center para sa ikalawang isyu na ito dahil sulit hanggang sa huling sentimo. Wala pang hassle sa pagpila sa libreng pirma at kumustahan sa may akda dahil wala naman talagang pila pero tingin ko'y ibang istorya ang magaganap bukas sa Komikon dahil siguradong dadagsain ang book signing nito.

Salamat sa may akda at sa mga tumulong sa kanya para ituloy ang kuwento. Sadyang mahusay ang pagkakagawa. Kung meron man hindi na ako makahintay sa posibleng pagkikita ni Elias kay Ibarra sa mga susunod na isyu.

Kategorya: Horror, Historical Dark Fantasy, Mature Reading, Komiks
Marka: 4.5 tasa ng mainit-init na Salabat

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

How catchy and outrageous can a title get?

More than you can imagine. On the surface, you would think that this is just one of those novels with the basic 'around-the-world-in-XX-days' premise or perhaps another adventure and romp through 'space and time.' But this one is an exemption deserving to earn the reader's attention, especially for somebody out there who loves history and travel. This is not just an adventure story of one person--a centenarian with a Masters in Explosives title in his proverbial "resume," but a story of a group--and how they were able to unite themselves like a family when only weeks ago they were perfect strangers to each other, some even wanting to kill another. What the F right?

It's so tempting to compare Allan Emmanuel Karlsson with Forrest Gump. I can see it from book reviews in Amazon, Shelfari, and Goodreads. But I refuse to compare the two even if they have something in common, and that is coming from the simple lifestyle in the suburbs. The two may be fruits, but you can't compare apples to oranges (or to lift a comparison from the book--you can't compare vodka to banana liquor). With or without being aware of it, Forrest Gump have done something for American history. But Allan Karlsson have done lots of things for World History in crazy and funny ways. If you love WWII stories, you will appreciate this book more. Allan Karlsson provided his expertise and antics in World History after meeting an all-star cast of characters like General Franco, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Soong May-ling, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Tse-tung, Kim Il Sung, the young Kim Jong Il, Lyndon Johnson, Charles De Gaulle, and Richard Nixon. And to top it all, there's an elephant, and a dog to join the party too.

As a novel I can say it's well-written by a Swedish author with a background in journalism. After Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo, the popular Nordic invasion of Western Literature rages on and it is here, surprisingly in the form of a funny story by Jonas Jonasson. It's a welcome and a cool departure too from serious themes of murder and detection by Larsson and Nesbo.

If you're a Filipino, just take it easy on the notoriety of formalin-induced Swedish meatballs made in the Philippines mentioned twice in the novel. Formaldehyde is of course, not country specific and anyone can do it anywhere but at least, it's nothing against the cardboard-filled Siopao buns made in China. Your choice--Bola-bola or Asado?


Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure & Comedy
Rating: 4.5 bags of Swedish meatballs from the Philippines

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

©Vintage Press 1994

There's always a time in your life when you hunger for freedom, without thinking of consequences that went beyond the boundary of normal foresight. All you can ask is more time, and more glory as high as the boundary of the exosphere and the earth. You're not thinking of crashing back to earth, all you want is the trip and not the destination for choosing life only to turn your back from that one final step of entering that threshold. Can't blame you. Because you've got another plan, the mothershite of all plans that will finally end the skaggin' days with the radges, with pishes and shites, leave the losers on their own, and go incognito in a new country perhaps in a new name--a new identity. That was always your strategy, to keep right on to the end of the road.

The skull-covered version by Vintage books in 1994 is way too cool than the one with a tongue-waggin pussy cat of the same publisher in 2007 so this explains my choice of book cover here. And that intro paragraph is actually my message to the main character Renton.

Written in  Scottish accent, I never imagined that this funny book deserved a sequel but Irvine Welsh did. But it has to wait. This is a highy entertaining book perfect for adult readers who can keep their morals intact but still enjoys stories playing around with morality and soceital conjectures. Imagine one dirty and wildest fantasy and it wont measure up against the stories embedded in this novel. A waitress making her revenge through her 'magical' soup and her 'special' chocklit desserts, a lout shaggin his preggo sister in law on the eve of his brother's funeral, a stoner who cant see that he's shaggin a young nymph way below her legal age. It's all too f*ckin hilarious and hysterical, only to hit a brickwall and feel pity to the characters who suffered  the disease of anti-body positive. This is actually the trait that made the book an exceptional one.

Laughter and pity--these two are part of consequences of choosing life. And I thank Mr Welsh for reminding me of that through this good read of British fiction, a good romp, a good trip. Good thing as a reader, I'm already old to know the difference.

The best line by Renton:
"Society invents a spurious convoluted logic tae absorb and change people what's behaviour is outside its mainstream. Suppose that ah knew aw the pros and cons, know that ah'm gaunnae huv a short life, am ay sound mind etcetera, etcetera,  but still want tae use smack? They won't let ye dae it. They won't let ye dae it, because it's seen as a sign ay thir ain failure. The fact that you jist simply choose tae reject whit they have tae offer. Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye've produced. Choose life.
Well, ah choose no tae choose life. If the cunts cannae handle that, it's thair fuckin problem. As Harry Lauder sais, ah jist intend tae keep right on to the end of the road..."

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4 glasses of pish-pints

Skyworld Vol. 2

In the first day, I look into a story and I declared it good. The next day the story swallowed me whole, and it was better.

The flow of this second volume in connection with the first is mesmerizing as a fresh breathe of summer. Downplaying the shitty poetry here, I never imagined that this current cliche of resurrecting the dead old mythologies will take a new breathe of life in this electronic age of FB and Barack Obama.

The creators worked their part in story and art seamlessly and telling it from the Big Bang to the Big Crunch (with apologies to Dr Stephen Hawking) along with historical figures like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio is a work just close to perfection. This graphic novel is not for the young readers though, especially when you encounter [SPOILER WARNING] that scene with the Asuang grabbing Rizal's baby boy straight from Josephine Bracken's womb. If you havent read this, better expect "graphic" scenes in this well-paced graphic novel. The artist just simply loves to decapitate both monsters and men here. The only flaw I see is Makabo's declaration of a fleshless and bloodless God only to be contradicted later about the belief that drinking the blood of the same God would give one powers terrible and unimagined.

As Joseph Campbell states in the chapter opener of his book The Power of Myth (The Journey Inward chapter); "One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light." The Skyworld story is a testament to that old idea. You may see it as a story somewhere from a parallel universe, or an imaginary Philippines but the bottom line here is still that ultimate quest for redemption that everyone is tasked to undergo.

Since the first volume, the Skyworld universe is connected with the world of Alexandra Trese and that's the reason why I highly recommend this for Trese fans out there. But apart from Trese, there are more characters joining the fight here. The story flies between history and the present, and this narrative flow is what I seriously like about it. I'm almost tempted to call this Skyworld story an Asuang Apocalypse given the sci fi elements but I better give it to more informed and mature readers to hand that verdict.

My only duty as a reader is to find out if the story is good or bad (from the original collection of 4 chapters or serialized issues in 2009) and my assessment so far is this---it's better.


Genre: Dark Fantasy, Urban Horror, Philippine Mythology
Rating 4.5 bags of rock salt out of 5

David Gemmell's LEGEND

Heroic fantasy has never been this good. This novel currently earns the 4.5/5 (132 reviewers) rating of approval from Amazon and Shelfari readers and 4.18/5 (3580 reviewers) from folks at Goodreads. Originally published in 1984, this first published book of the Drenai series is actually the final story for Druss the Legend. Just like the lead character Paul Atreides in Frank Herbert's DUNE, Druss owns a lot of monicker to his friends and enemies.  In Ventria he is known as Druss the Sender and in Vagria he is known as the Axman. To the Nadir he is Deathwalker while in Lentria he is the Silver Slayer. As a living hero of his land, his reputation as Captain of the Ax precedes him to any place or territory of operation. He is the thinking man's version of Conan and King Leonidas. It is important to know that this hero already accomplished a lot in his adventures and this book---the final story will also be his final adventure.

There is complexity and realism with the story, and the main plot here about defending a fortress from a military siege can easily compete against any memorable siege story like Battle for Helm's Deep or Battle for Minas Tirith from Tolkien's ultra popular Lord of the Rings trilogy. The forces of Dros Delnoch will recieve reinforcements but still the enemies greatly outnumber the defensive ranks. Druss the Legend will need everything to lift the morale of the defense by inspiration and strategy. The Battle for Dros Delnoch lasted for months (3 months at least) and if you're a military historian, this novel might remind you of the 13-day Battle of the Alamo, or more recently World War II's Siege of Leningrad that lasted 872 days.

It is a fantasy given the magical elements of dream visions, mind reading, mystic skirmishes and rituals, the resurrection, but it has also some scientific and real life elements like cancer, poisons, gangrene, military strategy, spies, and war casualties. David Gemmell never overused the fantastic elements and like Tao or the "force" for Jedi Knights, the mystic group of Serbitar believed in the eternal Source. I already stated about Conan and King Leonidas before and additionally I also saw characters resembling King Arthur, Robin Hood, Lady Marian, and King Xerxes including their background stories. The notoriety of Druss' equally legendary ax--the Snaga is also one of the highlights in the novel. The gritty realism of war is the novel's rallying point, you will feel the chill of unexpected decapitations and the anticipation of when will they happen next. Just like GRR Martin's Song of Ice & Fire series, look out for betrayals, assassinations, and coup. A lot of characters and people were involved but its good to see that most of the characters grew up with the story. One of the main characters dying from a disease before the great siege also adds up to realism and shock value.

Gemmell's multi-perspective narrative is also helpful in this novel. There is no black & white in this book. As a common reader who encounters any heroic fantasy or epic fantasy, I assumed that this novel would be all about Druss and what makes him a Legend. But I was completely wrong. The legend here does not belong to one man. The legend belongs to all men and women who served, fought, and died defending the six walls of Dros Delnoch. David Gemmell admits of growing up hearing idealized stories of heroes that never lied, evil never triumphed, and love as always true and it's here in this novel that we would see these undying themes without boredom.

All in all, it was a frikkin good trip. Listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, it is highly recommended for lovers of epic and heroic fantasy before they die.


Category: Genre, Epic, Fantasy, Mature Reading
Rating: 4.5 bronze armors out of 5

Treat Yourself This Xmas for 1000+ TNL Points

FOR MATURE READING ONLY

Lone Wolf and Cub Vol. 1

Published by Dark Horse Comics

Titled in Japanese as Kozure Okami, Lone Wolf and Cub is a manga series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima originally published in 1970. Republished in the west by Dark Horse comics, Frank Miller and Lynn Varley paired for the cover art. The series that culminates in the 28th volume  became an influential read as it tells the story of a timeless and epic samurai adventure. This first volume The Assassin's Road gives us a glimpse of the classically themed father-and-son tandem carving a road of revenge in the Japanese Era of the Shogunate while serving as assassins for hire to earn a living.

This first volume is composed of 9 parts. The first part begins in the middle of the story until reaching the final part where it all began. You will see why the two chose to walk the most dangerous and treacherous path to clear the name of an executioner and avenge the demise of a clan. The era of the Tokugawa Shogunate was one of the momentous period in the history of Japanese Monarchy since it was during these times when majority of the order of samurai (Bushi) became renegades (Ronin) due to their lord's eventual demise (Daimyo). The Shogun controled the Daimyo lords with an iron fist, but not for long when some of them resisted. When an executioner failed to perform his duty to kill a Daimyo for the Shogun, he was ordered to sacrifice his life, or be killed. The samurai executioner chose to live, and swore to clear his name and avenge the extinction of his Ogami Clan. His name is Ogami Itto.

But Ogami Itto cannot leave his son alone, given that his wife was already killed with his clan. The young Daigoro must choose to be with his mother's side, or be with his father taking the road to "hell." Daigoro chooses to be with his father. How Ogami Itto allow his son to choose between a sword and a ball is a very memorable scene of the whole book.

page 186, bottom panel

I give the story 4 stars and the illustration 3.5 stars to earn the overall (rounded off) rating of 4 stars out of five. This whole series is actually an inspiration of various forms of visual storytelling since a film adaptation was already made (and remade) in Japan years ago including the Hollywood film Road To Perdition starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig. It was arguably Tom Hank's darkest role to date.

page 66

One of the early Japanese film adaptations

Hollywood version starring Tom Hanks & Paul Newman

Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4 packs of wolves out of 5

Mervin Malonzo's TABI PO

Philippine Lower Mythology is never complete without the fabled class of monsters that look to humans as their primary diet---the Aswang. As Filipinos, we know them intimately as main representative of evil (along with Maligno, Manananggal, Mangkukulam, Kapre, Tikbalang etc.) special thanks to our parents and grandparents (or yaya for some) in trying to teach us to stick with rules of the house or else, the Aswang will eat us alive. But contrary to popular belief, Aswang is not a local version of Vampire. Aswang belonged to a different man-eating monster class or species. Unlike Vampires who drink human blood to live, Aswangs devour everything to satisfy their hunger. They can also change their human physical form into an animal like a wild boar, a lizard, bat, or a raven to hide from their enemies. I know this 'coz I grew up in a province called Aklan where every Aswang tale is a staple story in the dining table.

Anyway, enough of this mythology background.

Considering the trend in the horror fiction genre today and the past and recent success of Philippine Lower Mythology in the field of comics, what makes this one different and distinct is the main character himself Elias. He's an Aswang. He is the enemy, the Anti Hero.

We commend the author Mervin Malonzo for his "loose" and "easy" penciling and the "light" mixture of colors rendered digitally that gave life to the whole Tabi Po story. The colored images are raw, reminding us readers to focus more on the story. Thankfully, we readers don't need to differentiate blood from shadows like we used to in a black n white comics. The web comic was launched under Flipside Komix during summer last year, originally narrated in Filipino and also translated in English by Adam David available online for free. We can only say good luck to Mervin and we hope to see more of Elias' story soon.

all images © Mervin Malonzo and Flipside Komix

Genre: Dark Fantasy, Philippine Mythology, Mature Reading
Rating: 4 Balete Trees out of 5

Book Review Rule # 1

Stop whining, bourgeois reader!

Finish the book first, and stop whining.

A book review is not a book review if you can't read through the whole book. If you want to write a review, make sure you read the book from cover to cover and go through the whole reading experience. If you don't like the experience and cant finish it, better not make a review and give the book to somebody else. The point in writing a review is you must finish the book first to prevent prejudgements and observe protocol to give the author the benefit of the doubt. Who knows if it turns out good in the end, or the hardship is intentional until you reach a certain revelation point---an "Aha!" moment? It's as important as studying first before taking an exam; if you failed the test 'coz you cant read through the book, it's your fault. You can't blame Shakespeare, or Newton.

I have often seen a lot of book reviewers endlessly complaining and whining like "This book sucks 'coz I can only read the first five pages!" or "I cant finish this book for the author's weird, political, and misogynistic foreword. Ergo, I rate this book one star! Blah blah blah" Partial reading leads to an incomplete and incompetent judgement. What they are doing is not a book review but only a book warning. As self-confessed bookworms and avid readers, they just displayed their laziness and stupidity in choosing the wrong book.

What's the point of "reviewing" if you never made the "viewing" first? As the saying goes, "Learn to ride the bicycle BEFORE you drive the motorcycle." Don't try to put the cart before the horse.

Immortals: Gods & Heroes

Last September 28 was the release date of a movie tie-in graphic novel that showcased a Filipino-born talent in comic book illustration. His name is Rafael Kayanan. Though he's now an American citizen, insiders know there's more to his name than being just a master illustrator using pen and pencils. A master of the Philippine martial art Sayoc Kali, Kayanan was a fight instructor for the movie The Hunted  starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro.

This graphic novel by the way spins from the upcoming epic 3D film Immortals by Tarsem Singh to be shown in November 11 this year.

The Lineup:
Writers: Brian Clevinger, F.J. DeSanto, David Gallaher, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, Jock, Ron Marz, Jim McCann, Ben McCool, Jeff Parker and Paul Tobin
Illustrators: Dennis Calero, Kevin Colden, Steve Ellis, Trevor Hairsine, Scott Hampton, Phil Hester, Jock, Rafael Kayanan, Patrick Scherberger and Ben Templesmith
Cover Artist: David Mack

Sample page © Rafael Kayanan

"Spinning from the upcoming epic 3-D film Immortals from visionary director Tarsem Singh (The Fall, The Cell) and starring Mickey Rourke and Henry Cavill comes Immortals: Gods and Heroes, a stunning hardcover featuring ALL-NEW tales of Greek myths as you’ve never seen them before! Featuring incredible untold tales by Brian Clevinger (Atomic Robo), Dennis Calero (X-Men Noir), Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (Jonah Hex), Jock (Detective Comics, The Losers), Ben McCool (Captain America, Memoir), Ron Marz (Witchblade, Green Lantern), Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night) and more!"

Alan Navarra's DUMOT

Shepherds, farmers, fishermen, and other members of the self-employed profession have the best reason to be happy. They don't need to deal with an Evil Boss. They don't need to hold that anger or contain that aggression against this evil puppeteer and manipulative hog who remains a constant source of pain in the urban, corporate world.

This book by Alan Navarra is about anger and hate. I bought this one on the eve of TRESE 4's launching as a companion read to that good comic book. Another reason is the title---it caught my attention because I know what the word means due to my West Visayan roots.

Though the main character's (Michael Perez) vindictiveness against his superior is a natural reaction, me as a reader feel no sympathy nor allegiance to this corporate worker who shares the same "hole" with the boss. Considering that Michael can easily puke at the mere sight of his superior (nandidiri), I think that it's stupid to bang your boss's wife. Wala syang pinagkaiba sa boss nya.

No matter how funny and clever the writer's choice of cuss/curse words and phrases and no matter how experimental and postmodern the writer's technique here, he who paints his character as an eternal victim that whined every second and badmouths everything, unknowingly paints Michael Perez as the character who failed to differentiate the pussy from the weiner and also metaphorically becoming both. It's like an attempt to spit on God's face and realizing that your spit fell back flatly in your own face, special thanks to gravity.

By the way, I think the "crab mentality mindset" is a redundant term. Redundant as a "crisis situation scenario" or "difficult dilemma." But I'm not an English teacher nor a communications expert, I'm just a common, pedestrian reader who just inserted his 200 pesos worth of money to the writer's pocket. Once again, just a reader.

Luckily, this Visayan reader appreciates a good art when he sees one. Alan Navarra's style (ala Robert Crumb) of organic art  transmuting into different forms and symbols of Michael's own version of the alphabet as they complement acronyms of the shitty business and corporate terms became a redeeming point. Design saved the day for Navarra, prompting me to give his book a passing mark. This one is a very angry design book and it's better to view it more as a design book than as a book of complaints but at least, the aggression here is entertaining.

I'm sure Alan Navarra knows another Hiligaynon term like YAWA and if he attempts to write a book about it, I will surely look forward to read it.

ART SAVES THE AUTHOR

Genre: Postmodernist Literature, Visual Book, Mature Reading
Rating: 3 enchantments of YAWA out of 5

Design Faults of Human Nature

This collection of short stories published in 2005 by Penguin marks the 70th anniversary of Pocket Penguin line of books---"intelligent books at low price" as the founder Allen Lane described it. This book by Will Self (Penguin sees him as the bad boy of English literature) is one of the 70 books highlighting the best of the short story genre since 1935.

The compilation itself is composed of two independent stories but tackles the same theme or topic. Though initial phase of reading wont show it, you have to finish the whole book first but don't worry, the book is just 55 pages in total. The first story (the title carrier of the book) is titled "Design Faults in the Volvo 760 Turbo: A Manual" and the second is titled "A Story of Europe."

Both stories are complete on their own and the plots are well-executed, hinting some snippets of postmodern technique in literature. Present day readers will surely find this book relevant since it showcases the present sport in the popular media---"snogging," as the first story's main character Bill Bywater proudly calls it. Adulterous activities depicted were highlighted by Will Self's usage of industrial/political puns and erotic  word plays like "Park up a Volvo--and grab a vulva," "Serena used to be an 'it' girl--now she's 'that' woman," and "A socialite - she went to a finishing school in Switzerland where they taught her to fellate." What's not to like? You can ask Cornholio for he's the only one who knows how to properly use the TP!

The second story is an interesting depiction on how nature defeats man through age, and how the youthful stage is the best stage in life. I thought I saw magic, but later I could only sense minute traces of surrealism and now it's better to identify them wholly as pure irony and sarcasm instead. Maybe, there really is no magic in this book, only basic techniques of postmodern narrative but you cannot blame the author, not even human nature for we are all designed with unavoidable faults.


Genre: Postmodern Fiction, Short Fiction
Rating: 3 cathartic orgasms out of 5  

Supernatural

First, let me share you a piece of personal history.

During my younger years my family looked to the radio as one of the primary source of home entertainment next to the black-n-white TV. I grew up in the late 80's (up to mid-90's) watching Knight Rider, Macgyver and Air Wolf, reading my older sister's monthly issues of National Geographic Magazine (she earned her subscription via my father's work) and the locally-published comics like Funny Komiks and Ninja Comix, and last but not the least---listen to the radio. We've had a daily dose of music via FM but my family bonded well by listening to late Kuya Ernie Baron's Knowledge Power via the AM station DZMM. Aside from that, my father and I loved to listen to radio coverage of PBA games (local basketball games can only be viewed via cable tv in the Visayas area, and we could not afford it being below the middle class) and DZRH's Gabi ng Lagim horror fest series, aired weeknights at 8:00 pm. In the province, our childhood fantasies and nightmares were heavily influenced by fantastic tales of the supernatural as told by our grand folks and the popular media (I came from the oldest province in the country, a ride away from Capiz and stories of aswangs, duwendes, and manananggals are staple stories in the dining table). And when it came to the unexplained stories (real or imagined) nothing beats the feeling of supernatural experience by listening to Jaime Licauco's Inner Mind on Radio segment via DZMM.

This early fascination with Jaime Licauco and his field of the supernatural proved useful when I encountered his book "From Profound to the Profane" originally published in 2009. Even if I don't believe in everything he writes and preaches (like the idea of Reincarnation and past lives), he remains the most sensible and entertaining expert when it comes to the realm of the unseen and the unexplained.

And this caution is probably the best that I can give to the uninitiated reader attempting to read his books. No doubt his articles are very entertaining streamlined with the popular media as his topics ranges from the controversial Gnostic Gospels of Mary Magdalene and Judas Iscariot; the past lives of Jesus Christ; Spirit Guides and physical encounters with other spirits like succubus and incubus; Residual energy of a dead person and the spiritual signature left in an ukay-ukay shirt (a cautionary topic for lovers of ukay-ukay goods); the stuff common Sci Fi readers love like telekinesis, bilocation, teleportation and its irrevocable connection with Quantum Mechanics; Aliens among us; Karma and old/rehashed ideas of the popular book The Secret; Carl Jung's Synchronicity Theory (this topic is my favorite!); every woman's source of romantic fantasy---Soulmates; and every man's source of sexual fantasy---the exact location of the Graffenberg Spot (G-Spot). If you don't find any of these topics entertaining then you belonged in a different planet.

But then again, I saw these topics mainly as source of entertainment and looking to open my mind and challenge my beliefs are just secondary. The former reason is how i would like to recommend this book. It entertains.



Genre: Supernatural, Parapsychology, Alternative Science 
Rating: 3.5 Spirit Guides out of 5

Nostalgia Trip

I chanced to see again this memorable comic book team up and crossover (DC and Image) of the late '90s---The Dark Knight and Hell Spawn. And of course these heroes will never be complete without their arch nemesis--- The Joker and Clown (Violator). Drawn by my favorite tandem Greg Capullo on pencils, and Todd MacFarlane on inks. This art by the way, is something from the botched 2006 re-team up project.

'Nuff Said!

A Ball-busting Detour on August 19

Strictly for mature readers only!
PUP Sta Mesa - August 19, 2011

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This novel by Stieg Larsson deserved to be adapted into film regardless of what's going to happen with the Hollywood version this year. Stieg Larsson's style of writing wont disappoint any hardcore reader of the murder & mystery genre. And since it's a murder & mystery novel for mature readers, do not expect any fairy tale beginning and ending for this one. As a reader, I carefully followed the plot twists and the complex web of deceit but still, I wasn't really prepared for Blomkvist's solution and Lisbeth's final hack act, but both of them entertained me a lot.

I just joined the legion of Lisbeth fanatics since November last year, and we proudly declare that we "heart" Lisbeth. Complex characters may be overused in any thriller novel but in this case, it's forgivable and you can make it an exception. Because Lisbeth Salander's paradox and complexity of a character is actually her own best weapon against men who hate women and as I read the preview for the second book, Lisbeth is now enjoying the fruits of her 'hacking' labor (nerds rule the world, but hackers make the rules) and she is actually on her way for another hunting season. Smart chick.

Now, I'm on the prowl for the next book.

Genre: Murder & Mystery, Adult Thriller
Rating: 4 Kronor

Book Fetish # 4 : Library Chicks

LIBRARY : THE BEST PLACE TO STUDY

Dianna Agron need not feel bad about her photo shoot with fellow Glee cast for GQ Magazine especially when doing it in the library. We book freaks and book retards just plainly love it!

The First Sorrowful Mystery

The story is not that original as what I wanted to expect from Neil Gaiman and I believe that P. Craig Russell should also take the credit for his artwork in this graphic novel edition.

Traditionally, we know that Angels represent the higher level of existence and divinity (compared to man) being tasked as messengers of God and servants of His will. For some readers, seeing the Angels descend the hierarchy of celestial beings to decadence and  become like mere mortals under the influence of Eros may be a great picture, but it didn't work that much for me.

Still, I give both Gaiman and Russell 3 stars for the gutsy adaptation of a short story (written by Gaiman himself) into the form of graphical fiction.

This is my first official Book Rev over this group.


Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3 droplets of Lucifer's tears out of 5

Between Limbo and Libido

There is a place for everyone of us.

Even for the departed Porn Stars.

In this graphic fiction released last year by the creative tandem of Gerry Alanguilan and Arlan Esmeña (both from San Pablo City), the spirits of the departed Bold Stars of the 80's Bomba and ST films frolic in a fantasy land serving as their sanctuary. No matter how tragic, sad, or stupid those beloved stars' lives may have ended, the object of every man's carnal lust/love reside somewhere in a paradise-like realm of the sublime. And they live there as long as they exist in every man's wet dreams.

Feminists may say that this is a clear expression of man's chauvinistic behaviour by treating the woman (or the body of a woman) as an object, but the story itself (the life of a lonely man infatuated by the memory of a beautiful woman) shows that men do not completely lust for women. We just simply love them. It's only that this form of expression for this kind of "love" (given that it's not destructive) is different for every individual. And for the story's protagonist, that expression is less Platonic and highly Utilitarian.

From a classic western definition, they say that there are three kinds of Love-- Eros, Amor, and Agape. In this book, it's obvious that Dan's kind of love for Anna is not Amor nor Agape. Still, it's perfectly human.

Men love watching at the naked female body. We also love porn. But still, we love women more even if sometimes we find ourselves hopeless, being victimized by them. Like a gravitational attraction, we are constantly captured by their irresistible beauty, and forever haunted by their memory.

And because of that, the departed "loved ones" will always be remembered.


Rating: 4 centerfolds out of 5
Genre: Modern Fiction/Fantasy