The rules have been... ... changed.

I just finished the book Insurgent. The odd part is that the actual title is only brought up once during the book, and towards the end at that. Overall, I liked the story a lot, and if you haven't read the series yet, I recommend that you read it, because I guarantee that if you read it and don't like it, you will not have wasted your time.

Many many posts ago, I talked about unexpected twists and turns in plot, right? I would now like to bring that back to the surface with this book. If you have read Divergent, you know that the giant simulation at the end of the story is a plot twist. Its sequel therefore, could be compared to a winding path, in which you are shrouded in darkness. There are so many places that something expected is left out, or something unexpected just pops up out of nowhere in Insurgent. Here are a few examples:

1. "'Who told me what three factions you had an aptitude for, and what our best chance was to get you to come here, and to but your mother in the last simulation to make it more effective.' She looks through the doorway... and through the haze of drugs, I see him. Caleb." (Roth 357)
2. "...because I just remembered something: Maybe I can't hold a gun. But I have a knife in my back pocket."
3. "'I have a message for the Divergent... This is not a negotiation. It is a warning... Every two days until one of you delivers yourself to the Erudite headquarters, this will happen again.' This.

There is one more potent example of this that will be revealed in the <<<<SPOILER ALERT>>>> at the end of the page. With just these few examples, I doubt that I have given away anything to valuable. If you have read this book, you may know exactly what I mean. If you haven't, read the series... NOW! Otherwise, keep reading, until next time.

<<<<SPOILER ALERT>>>>

Here is the last quote that I would like to share with you. It is housed at the very end of the book. I mean really the very total and complete last page of the book end. Do not read this if you have not read the book, unless you aren't planning to, because I don't want to ruin it for you.

"My name will be Edith Prior," she says. "And there is much I am happy to forget."

If you have read the book, you know the impact of this quote. And I will leave you with that.

A decieving bug...

I know that I have been posting about Behemoth recently, but I kind of finished another book, so that is what I'll post about. The book is called The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson.

 First some explaining. This book is about a girl named Piper, who lives in Scrap town 16, in the meteor fields of Solace. Here is a map depicting solace, and I will reference it along the summary, and recommendation.

Piper, a young girl, has to make a living of of what she finds in the meteor fields. Unfortunately, so does every other "scrapper" as they are called. The meteors often have things in them, which can be put back together. Piper has a special gift, that is later revealed as something much more promising. During one of the meteor storms, Piper leaves the safe zone to find Micah, who is a smaller boy, and snuck out before the storm started. The real trouble happens afterward. Piper finds a girl who survived the meteor storm, but was badly hurt. Somehow she revives the girl (although the dust form the meteors is poisonous, and the girl was out in it probably too long), and finds the mark of the dragonfly. In the book, it says, "The dragonfly tattoos were only given to two groups of people: Aron's advisory council... and those who were under the king's protection." (Johnson 46) This must make the girl very important...

That is only the beginning of the book. If I summarized the entire thing, we would likely have three pages worth of writing, and not a word about my recommendation.

I really liked this book, even though it isn't my typical science fiction type. There was a lot of fast paced action, and much of the book took place on a train, of all places. The lives of the characters are woven together (literally) in a way that I have never seen in any book before. The literally has no meaning until you reach the end of the book, but there are hints dropped earlier, that are hard to pick up on. From the mysterious man, that the girl called "the wolf", to the crew of the 401 (a train running along the track above), this books fast pace, and excellent storyline make for a good read indeed.

Keep reading.

P.S. This is the one and only post on this book. Don't expect anything more on it, unless you want to read it yourself.

It came back!

Last time, I talked about something the two german ships with a certian weapon called a tesla cannon. Well, now our good friends on the leviathan have reached Constantinope, otherwise known as Istanbul. I really would like to post a video, but it has no relevence whatsoever, so I am going to add it as a link at the end of the post.

So now that we are set in the Ottoman Empire, we have found out that the Germans have already basically taken over. We also find out what was in one of the infamous eggs, that have been on the ship since the beginning of the story. The "perspicacious loris" as it is called hatched for Alek (Westerfeld 177). It apparently is very helpful to those who listen, but I can't tell why yet.

Remember those ships I mentioned earlier, they are here too. In fact, they offered themselves as a gift from the Germans to the sultan. This will be hard to beat, but something odd happens at the end of one of the chapters, giveing a very distinct twits to the end...

Will post again soon.

P.S. One of the ironclads is named the Goben. The other remains unnamed.

Tesla^2 Coil^2

I find it funny and ironic using math symbols on an English blog, but that's not important right now. What is important is what has just happened in Behemoth. The Leviathan (whale airship) began the book heading toward the Ottoman Empire, and was over the Mediterranean Sea when two ironclad German ships appeared. And one had a new weapon. The Tesla Cannon.

Many of us know that with a Tesla Coil, it is possible to create lighting without the help of Mother Nature. (Go mankind!) A Tesla Coil may look like this:

The Tesla cannon is displayed in this picture from the book:

 

The result is produced as a Tesla Coil cubed, and made into a devastating weapon. Especially for the WWI time period.

But Marcel, they didn't have this technology at this point in time.

Point taken, but this is steam-punk, a genre that melds futuristic technology with the past. This is only the beginning of the book however, and i think that it is going to become much more intense as the technology becomes better, and we reach Constantinople.

Until then, Keep reading.

Periodic Post of what is going to be Newness

I keep having to adjust the name of this post to accommodate for reasons like not having a book... or the apparent topic of the book. Well, back to the point. The next book that I am going to read is hopefully Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld.

Who knew... another mythical creature is the title of this book. Lets just start with the definition. The dictionary defines 'Behemoth' as "a huge or monstrous creature".

That definition makes this creature in effect, a Behemoth. However, the bible references both the leviathan (sea creature from a couple of posts ago) and the Behemoth, within the same book. I have noticed however, that the Leviathan has a much more solid definition, as it is a sea monster. The Behemoth lies in ambiguity, somewhere between an elephant, and a sauropod. This could have to do with what was going on it the last book, and even what secrets are being spilled


Until next time, I hope to keep reading, and series on!
P.S. Steam-punk is the genre of this book. The melding of the past with the future.

Why do good books always end this way?

Have you ever noticed that good books tend to end with cliff hangers? I mean, not that they are bad, but a cliff hanger kind of forces you to read the next book. There are two types of cliff hangers. Those that say the story could go on in your head, and those who say that there is another book coming out, read it to! Why might I be opening with such a statement? Because that is exactly how the book Leviathan ends; a cliff hanger.

Throughout the course of the book, I was wondering: where is the climax? I finally found it near the end of the book. Not much room for an ending, right? Well, at the beginning of the story, the leviathan (whale airship) had set out for the Ottoman Empire. They still haven't gotten there and there is another book: Behemoth (who knew; another mythical creature).

I really would like to read this next book, and see how it turns out.

Until then, keep reading.

P.S. I may not read this book next. I have other things to do.

It is Done.

Hello everybody. I have just finished Fahrenheit 451 (it actually wasn't a very bad ending), and frankly, there is a lot to say about it. So if you don't min, I will talk about how Montag changed throughout the story, and trust me, we all know that he has changed a lot.

As I was reading the end of the book today, I was reflecting on how Montag was at the beginning of the book, and how he turned out at the end. So I hereby do post the official list of the ways that Montag changed throughout the book (and quotes to support this).

Since all things need a place to start, lets start at the very beginning (a very good place to start for those who get the reference...). "It was a pleasure to burn." (Bradbury, 1) is the first line of the book, and probably as concrete as one can get for Montag's personality at the beginning of the book. It shows that he was into his job, and liked to burn books (and didn't know anything else was going to happen).

Next thing you know, Clarisse McCellan is introduced, and she asked him ,"Are you happy?" which caused the chain of events that would drive most of Montag's change throughout the story. At the old lady's house, he realizes even further what he has done, and actually steals a book... and the woman doesn't leave the house. This is a disturbing prospect, and I think this propelled his decisions even further.

The part where I think Montag really changes for the better (or the worse depending upon how one looks at it) is when he actually starts reading the books (I can still hear Mildred screaming). "He caught her shreiking. He held her, and she tried to fight away from him, scratching." (Bradbury, 63). Note: this is when Montag reveals that he has been stealing books for a long time, and now wants to take them out and read them. Mildred, I believe, had the right idea (for this society... HELLO HE IS GOING INSANE she thinks...) but he played the guilt card (well played Montag!) and thus begins the second part of the book.

During the second part of the book, Montag is coming out of his metaphoric chrysalis, but is still changing at a fast rate. At this point, he is trying to memorize the bible, because he feels that it is a very important book. During this time, we meet the "Denim's Dentriface" commercial, which is always blaring, and was probably very annoying. He has also met up with a retired professor, which is a complete U-turn from the beginning, and is how he pretty much turns out for the remainder of the book.

So long, and hope to post again soon.
-Lord Voldemort (for those who get the reference)
-Marcel Goodwin (for those who don't)

An Unlikely Solution...

Solutions see to come at the oddest times. (I know this from experience). And the solution in Leviathan (that is still in progress) has been set off by a series of coincidences that lead to two separate stories to intertwine into a single plot, though I personally do not think that the climax has been reached yet.
Plot update time:

In this book, recently, the leviathan (giant whale airship) fell in the Swiss alps, where Prince Aleksander of Austria-Hungary is staying with a small group of loyal followers. The professor who was aboard the leviathan  is gathering food so that the ship can heal itself, and Count Volgar is trying to eavesdrop on the British who are aboard the ship... (can you see how the plot is coming together?) The professor, Dr. Barlow, also appears to be doing this (which is very coincidental...) and overall, everything is coming together. The book doesn't have too much left in it to reach a truly major point, but I am sure all of the action will come to a point soon. In the mean time, keep those eggs warm Deryn, and hope that the leviathan gets off of the ground.

There really isn't much more to say other than this mountain plot is rather steep, and rather high, and I would bet that the drop is going to be a plummet.

See you at the end!

Secret Secrets are no Fun

Some say that secret secrets are no fun (unless you share with everyone). And in Leviathan, everyone has a secret, at least when it comes to the main characters. The best part is that only you know the secrets of the main characters, aside from themselves. This drives the plot forward, and makes this book a great read.

But now: a blast from the past...

Last post, I was just starting the book, and did not have much information on the plot. So this will just be a quick update on where I am in the book. If you don't want to know, or are reading this book now, please skip to the:       Let the Secrets Begin.

At this point in the book, I have found out that the leviathan is

                               and not

This however is pitted against to the stormwalkers, and other machine dreadnoughts that the Germans, and Austro-Hungarians have come up with to counter the Darwinist's living creations which will be pictured later when I talk about Alek's secret








Some of the dreadnoughts look like this:

The S.M.S. befulf

These super dreadnoughts have been passed, and all of the main characters are now in Switzerland, where the secrets I predict, will begin to spill.










Let the Secrets Begin.

I will give the secrets that have been spilled already first. (Evil Laugh)
The first one is that of Count Volger (Alek's fencing tutor). He told Alek that his dad had already been planning this escape from Austria for some time now, (since his father had married a commoner) and that he didn't expect to make it to Switzerland.
Now for Dr. Barlow's Secret. She is housing some sort of egg, that will help in the war, but we don't know what kind of fabricated and bizarre beast will hatch. She always replies to the effect of, "that is classified information." I am really itching to figure out what these eggs are...
Now for the secret secrets.
Deryn Sharp, (whom is going by "Dylan" for the service) is a girl in disguise as a boy in the military. If this follows the pattern that many books do, I believe that she will be discovered, and thrown out of the airship, and even killed because of this. (note to self, this is a world war 1 book).
Alek's secret is case sensitive, because it is only relevant around the British. He is actually the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. This will probably be revealed in a few chapters.

Periodic Post of Scary Newness

I am now reading the book: Leviathan

by Scott Westerfield

I have high hopes for this book. Very high. So high in fact, that I decided to do extra research on the leviathan.

A leviathan was originally defined as a giant sea monster, in which was probaby very scary, and if you encountered one, you would most certainly die. Judging by the cover of the book , and the front inside cover (I have nothing else to call whatever it is), this is probably not so.

Here is a picture of the mythical leviathan. As you can see: it is a giant dragon, which lives in the sea (or ocean, or water if you will). If this creature doesn't scare you, it should. I mean it from the deepest darkest, and most utterly black parts of my heart. If it does scare you, you are probably a mortal human being. If you want to meet this sea monster in real life, then I pray that you change your mind before it is too late (though it might already be too late...).

According to the front inside cover (i still don't have a name for it), the darwinists created a giant whale airship in which they lovingly call leviathan (giving you our book title). The two main characters are the prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and a woman disguised as a man, whom is a brilliant airman.
Once again, I have quite high hopes for this book. Until then, keep reading.

P.S. I don't want those who have read to spoil the book for me. If you do I will find you...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (yes, it does exist)

I haven't posted anything in a while, so I hope that this nice post warms you up a little bit this cold day.  My first words to you are:


Figure 1: Marvin the Parinoid Andriod (maybe I'll tell you more later...)

The story is on where "don't panic" comes from, and what it has to do with anything. Over the break, I got the book: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, which is a collection of 5 books + 1 bonus story. The collection of books are all part of the 'Hitchhiker Series' as I'll call it. Right now, I am on book three, Life, the Universe, and Everything, meaning that I have finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. There are still three more books to read, housing the titles: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Mostly Harmless, and the bonus story: Young Zaphod Plays it Safe. If the titles lose you, then please stop reading before I bore you to death. If you have already read the series, and I say something wrong, please feel free to correct.

The first book in which i have already given the title for introduces you to Arthur Dent, and his companion, Ford Prefect, who works a a researcher for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The first words one would see when they look at the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are "Don't Panic". Also, according to the guide to the guide at the beginning of the book, Ford's name was meant to be a joke, but flew over most of the audience's heads. Ford saves Arthur when Earth is destroyed by Vogons to make a hyperspace bypass. They end up trapped on one of the Vogon ships, and the captain comes, and reads them poetry. During the book there are many points at which the main story-line is interrupted by a bit of text from The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, which is always represented in italics. These bits of text often seem unneeded, but they help you understand what is going on, so, read them. It states that the Vogons' poetry is the third worst in the galaxy, and gives info on the second worst, and the worst poet in the galaxy. The book continues, and is quite funny. As Dent. and Ford are about to die after being tossed into space, they are picked up by the Heart Of Gold, which is a star-ship powered by the infinite improbability drive, which is described later by the guide. Here, the other characters are introduced. They are: Zaphod Breeblebrox, the cousin of Ford, another Human from Earth, and Marvin, the depressed robot pictured in figure 1 for a movie. 

The next part of the book is very interesting. It tells about the answer to life the universe and everything. Since it is hard to describe, I will tell the summery via story. the Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy discloses that Humans are only the third most intelligent beings on Earth. They are second to dolphins, who managed to leave Earth right before it was destroyed, and some small white creature that we all know... Our characters land on the legendary planet of Magrathea. The people here custom built planets for those who could afford. One man tells of a computer called Deep Thought, which gave hyper-intellegent para dimentional beings (mice) the answer to life the universe, and everything,

and the design for the computer which will give the question to the answer. (Earth). This is only a fraction of what the book can tell however, and I will gladly tell more if asked, but for now, I am done.