Nemesis

Greetings, bookworms of the council of SON.
We have many matters to discuss in the council today (the grand total of two), so I would ask you to bear with me as I outline the subjects of discussion, then you may contribute (in other words, comment).
Firstly, we come to the matter of the Harry Potter review. To begin, I would like to say to Nerd Till the Very End not to worry about causing me trouble in their request, as I it is a topic I can rant on about when before I had nothing to talk about. As I see it, I now have two options:

1. I can get someone I know to do a Harry Potter review for me
2. I can get Nerd Till the Very End to do the review, if they would like to (all in favour of this comment 'I' at the end of the post).

I don't mind if people are biased towards the book more than the movie, I mean, you have to be biased to write an opinionated review. So if anyone out there is busting to write a review of a book-to-movie, just ask me! I would prefer it if you wrote it according to this site's structure (i.e. Overall position of the film, plot, characters, themes, messages, props/scenery, Special FX, music, things you didn't like, things you did like, altogether), but if I think it is good enough without that structure, you may find yourself lucky. ;) Of course, your review would have to go past me first, just so I can check it's appropriate.
Now that I've got that off my chest, on to the second topic of our discussion. There is an amazing series of books all bookworms need to know about, and it is called Nemesis. I picked up the first book, Into the Shadows, at random from the local library, and almost didn't read it because the blurb made it sound really dark and morbid. However, as I could find nothing else that looked decent, I borrowed it and began to read.
The first thing I noticed was that I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't nearly as dark as the blurb made it seem. The second thing I noticed was that the book was completely addictive.
The story is told by a boy, who I assume is between the ages of twelve and fifteen (I think it's twelve, but he acts older than that throughout the series) who one morning wakes up in a derelict stairwell with no memory whatsoever, apart from cryptic dreams he can't make head or tail of. He can't even remember his name, but the word 'Ram' comes to mind.
When he finds a dying man in a lift and is seen next to him, Ram is a murder suspect and goes into hiding.
Why can't Ram remember anything? Who is tracking him down? What can the cryptic last words of the dying man in the elevator possibly mean? These are some of the mysteries that keep you on the edge of your seat when reading this fantastic book.
As I am a person who really enjoys the 'character' aspect of books, I really loved this. The characters were so believable, yet so loyal and steadfast, a rare occurrence in teen novels today. Their desire to stick to what they knew was right restored my faith in books for young adults not to shy down from condoning what is right. Ram was a character who especially stood out to me for his high moral standards. There were so many instances throughout every book where it would have been so much easier for Ram to ignore someone in danger, or to let someone chasing him die, yet he would always do whatever he could to help someone in trouble, even if it meant putting himself in an unsafe situation. For some reason that is not apparent until the last (fourth) book, Ram's motto is "No-one's expendable." To this hero, everyone matters.
Going off on a tangent here, I'm a person who can't get into a book if I don't like the characters. At the moment I'm reading 'The Bourne Identity', by Robert Ludlum, and I admit I'm struggling a bit to get into it. Anyone who has seen the movie (which is absolutely edge-of-your-seat awesomeness, I highly recommend it) would know that in the film, Jason Bourne is someone who does not like to cause innocent people harm. Unfortunately, in the book, he is far more self-centred, and will hurt, even kill, innocent people if it means he will survive. From what it's looking like so far, I'd just say watch the movie.
Anyway, that's another comparative analysis review to look forward to in the future.
Back to Nemesis now. As I was saying, Ram is awesome. On top of this, all the mysteries, chases, escapes, fights, friendships and most of all, nail-biting suspense make it a series you'd be crazy not to read. I posted a review of Conspiracy 365 a while ago (see review here). This is ten times better than that (apart from the fact there is only four books - I want more!). Oh, and by the way, you should definitely borrow all the books at once if you get the chance. They are so suspenseful that they put you in agony if you can't get the next one soon enough! It will surprise you how fast you'll get through them- they're about 250-300 pages long (from memory, correct me if I'm wrong), and I finished each one in about two days, even though I had classes.
In conclusion, in case you didn't get the vibe of what I was saying, READ NEMESIS! (By Catherine MacPhail) You won't regret it!

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 :)