Conspiracy 365

Greetings, any bookworms who have not completely lost faith in me!

Yes, there is a new post on my blog. You are not hallucinating. Please, try to refrain you fainting at least until you have read my post and COMMENTED.

I suppose I owe my faithful bookworms an apology and an excuse. I am sorry, really I am. You actually wouldn't believe how much I have wanted to have enough time to spend on my blog. Unfortunately, the holidays are over, and the term has begun. Ah, the joys of being a student! Classes to bore you in the day, homework to bore you at night.
Anyway, to give you a rough idea of where my reviews are:

• Lord of the Rings: I know that a while ago I estimated my FotR review would be finished by the end of January. You may have noticed that hasn't exactly happened. I still need to carry out research and catch up with a few people to discuss themes, characters, etc. I really don't want to rush this one, because I really want to respect Tolkien's work in my review, and make it the best it can be. To be realistic, I would predict about June for this one.
• Chronicles of Narnia- LWW (Walden): I can pretty much write this review any time I want, I have read it and seen it so many times! However, I figure it's a great excuse to watch the movie and read the book again. Maybe I'll be finished in about a month?
• Fantastic Mr. Fox: The review is half written but I have barely any motivation to continue. It'll be out sometime, maybe in the next two weeks, though please don't quote me on that.
• A Christmas Carol: I have all the information I need to write the review, I just need to get the time to write it. Expect it in maybe a month.
• Chronicles of Narnia- LWW (BBC): I found the DVD in the local library, which means that I don't wait 6 months until our family decides to venture into the DVD rental store again to write my review! (For the record, we ended up handing in Inkheart about a week late, hence the ban) I might release this one after the review of Walden's adaptation.

 Now, bookworms, let me introduce you to the way my mind procrastinating mind works: nagging = me working quicker. You have the right to nag me as much as you like, any of you, to see the review you want! Let me explain it in a chemical formula: Nagging + procrastination = motivation + results. And just like a balanced chemical formula, the more nagging you put in, the more motivation and results you get (the nagging can't just disappear into thin air, now can it? I didn't think so). Don't worry about hurting my feelings or anything... I'll be very happy if somebody nags me, because it shows that they are interested. =D

Okay, now into the action. I have come across an awesome series of books called 'Conspiracy 365', thanks to Barbara and Sir Lipine's recommendations. To all the girls reading the blog, don't be turned off by the fact they were written for boys. Who says girls should all have to read corny romantic novels with titles such as 'Toxic Bachelor'? Not I.

These books are really interesting and right from the start they draw you straight in. From the first page I was swept off my feet (metaphorically speaking, I should hope) into the life of Callum Ormond, a normal teen whose life suddenly goes in a downward spiral after he is told on New Year's Eve by a raving stranger that he has to survive the next 365 days. Danger and mystery follow as his ordinary life is thrown into disarray and he has to live as a hunted fugitive, trying desperately to survive what each day throws at him.

The characters are all utterly believable, from Cal who just wants to go back to his normal life to Boges, Cal's best mate, who has to deal with his best friend becoming a fugitive (on top of being awesome, which seems to be Boges' job throughout the series), to Gabbi, Cal's sister, who just wants her brother back. The good guys don't always do and say the 'right thing', like any human, but they're willing to fight for justice, and that's what I like in main characters.

I also like the setting, which sticks mainly to the city of Melbourne, Australia. That's because all the places Cal wanders are actually real, and brings a sense of reality into the books.

Even the formatting for the books is clever. In keeping with the 365 day countdown theme, there is one book for each month of the year, starting with January and ending with December (12 books in total). Each chapter is a day (although not every single day is written about), and at the beginning of each chapter there is a countdown on how many days left until December 31st. And get this: the page numbers count DOWN instead of UP. How cool is that? Well, I think it's cool, anyway.
Overall, I am highly recommending this series. They're awesome, and keep you right on the edge of your seat. I just have a couple of warnings:

1. DO NOT finish one of these novels just before you go to bed. Trust me, I know from experience that you will be up all night.
2. DO NOT finish one of these novels before you have the next one handy. Because if there's one thing that's more annoying than staying up all night wondering what's going to happen next, it's staying up all night, all week, wondering what's going to happen next and when your library will hurry up and get the next book.

That's pretty much all I have to say. I'd love to say more, but I'm right in the middle of December, and Cal is in a rather life-threatening fix... gotta go!

~SON

P.S. Please comment, nag, come to my house with torches and pitchforks, whatever takes your fancy. Suggestions are also welcome :)