July 2013 The Leisure Diaries

Monday, 29 July 2013

When we wake by Karen Healey: Book Review

I can't believe this is the author's first sci-fi novel and apart from the fact that I don't like The Beatles as much as the protagonist does I found the book really entertaining.

The story of Teegan Oglietti, a soulless living dead girl in a not so distant future, is not only about a dystopian society but also about many other topics which aren' usually mentioned in this genre, at least all at the same time: gay people, religion, environmental issues, racism,diseases,media exposure,slavery,meat-lovers,waste management and some more I may have forgotten.Karen Healy does a brilliant job in keeping readers turning pages and giving them food for thought.

The author also makes up technological advances such as computers that are like plastic sheets that you can crumple into your pocket and earrings that work just like phones.New slang is an amusing part of the book as well, even if I found it hard to remember the meaning of some of the cool words teenagers in the future will use.

Romance is good enough, not too much and not too little either.Abdi , the boy (there is always a boy), is mysterious, good-looking and talented ,almost perfect and there is nothing wrong with that ,Teegan needed a break after having been shot , frozen for a hundred years and then coming back to life .

If Karen Healy keeps on writing this way I will certainly keep on reading her books.

Comic Con 2013 : The Mortal Instruments

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Bangkok: Floating Market

Near Bangkok there are many riverside and floating markets where locals buy and tourists take pictures of this incredible way of shopping.

By Tuk Tuk

Monday, 15 July 2013

Summer Garden

Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan Review

Human kind in two nutshells, The New Horizon and The Empyrean on a quest to find New Earth. The good, the bad , the worst and hopefully the best of all of humankind is on board.

On the second book of The Sky Chasers Trilogy the chances of completing their mission are slim since both crews have decided to act out of revenge and thirst for power. If the cattle and forests on board both ships were controlled by brainless robots they would probably make it to New Earth on time.Unfortunately the children and teenagers are paying for the sins of their parents and becoming like them in many ways as well.
To make matters worse both ship leaders use the word of their god to keep people content and justify their actions, and it seems to work well, at least for a while.

The author depicts a society which is not very different from the one they left of Earth and even it feels like history is repeating itself I think there is some hope . The characters are evolving towards understanding the importance of the mission and I hope that good will triumph over evil in the end.

I can't wait to read the third book.