Hellenic Immortal by Gene Doucette

Hellenic Immortal, written by Gene Doucette, is a sequel to Immortal. I have reviewed Immortal, with an interview with Gene Doucette here. It’s one my favorite book from last year, as you could see from the my Goodreads rating here.

About Hellenic Immortal

An oracle has predicted the sojourner’s end, which is a problem for Adam insofar as he has never encountered an oracular prediction that didn’t come true . . . and he is the sojourner. To survive, he’s going to have to figure out what a beautiful ex-government analyst, an eco-terrorist, a rogue FBI agent, and the world’s oldest religious cult all want with him, and fast.

And all he wanted when he came to Vegas was to forget about a girl. And maybe have a drink or two.

“I am probably not the best source when it comes to who invented what. For a long time I thought I invented the wheel.”

–Adam the Immortal

My Review

I am always a bit skeptical about sequels. Especially if it’s the second book. Most times, it failed my expectation by either being a preamble to the amazing conclusion for the third book, or just plain boring. I am happy to report this is definitely not the case with Hellenic Immortal.

It continues on the adventures of Adam, some years after Immortal. It follows a Greek cult and mythology background, some crazy environmentalist, packs a lot of action and a little bit of romance.

The beginning sold me right to it. Adam is as sarcastic as ever. He said the craziest things that made me laughing out loud:

“… instead I was drinking in Las Vegas and quietly wishing for a nice plague or two to make the planet a bit less crowded.”

It just shows how honest he is. He definitely says what he thinks, and when you are sixty thousand years old or something, I do believe you would have such confidence. I would be lying if I said I never had any bad thoughts crossing my mind when I came across annoying people, so I find this part very refreshing.

The story picks up nicely after that. I especially love the Greek cult background to this book. It ties the story very well and it gives a nice blend of historical and current events. It also adds a sense of realness to it, making Adam’s character felt very present. It seems like he could be the next guy you saw in a bar. (No, please don’t try to pretend you’re Adam when you met me.)

The only part I’m not too crazy about is the excerpts from Silenus the Younger. Sometimes I felt like it’s more of a distraction to the flow of the story, especially when it’s a longer text. Maybe I’m just not a fan of excerpts taken from some older text / poems in general. But at least, as I got nearer to the end of the book, I realized the importance and connection of the texts. So, if you’re like me, please bear the connection in mind, I think you would probably like it better that way.

Overall, Hellenic Immortal is a great book. I love it even more than Immortal. I don’t even think you have to read the first one to understand what’s going on in this book (although I bet you’ll be sorry if you haven’t read Immortal yet!). It is more of an action packed historical/fantasy adventure so I would recommend this book especially for guys and girls who think like guys. Hey, I don’t mean to be discriminative, but if you only like sappy romances, rainbows and unicorns, this is definitely not for you. If you like sarcastic humor, please read this book! You might find yourself wishing you’re Adam. (You’ve been warned!)

Interview with Gene Doucette

What is the inspiration behind this book, was there a certain real event or history depicting the Greek cults?

When it came time to work on a second book about Adam I decided early on to focus on the Greek sphere. It’s such an important period in the history of European culture and I tacitly avoided discussing it in detail in the first book, so it was only logical that this would be the place to go.  It also made sense to me that Adam would have spent a lot of time in that area.  As to real events, you’d be surprised how much of what shows up in Hellenic Immortal is either a true historical event or a myth retold as an historical event.  Pisistratus’s triumphant return to Athens, for instance, happened more or less as described.  As for the Mystery Cults, I stayed as true to history as I could there as well, keeping in mind that much of what went on in the ceremonies is lost to history.

I love Adam’s character. I think he is brilliantly sarcastic. Do you have a favorite part / scene / quote from him?

You know, when I re-read the books (and I’m not going to admit how often this happens, but it’s more often than it should) I always come across a stray line here or there that surprises me.  Which is a weird thing to admit from the person that penned the line in question, but there you go.  I think this week it’s this line, and only because a half hour of research went into writing it:

The Athenians defeated the Trojans, the Persians defeated the Athenians, the Persians defeated Spartans, the Athenians and the Spartans defeated the Persians, the Spartans defeated the Athenians, the Thebans defeated the Spartans, and the Macedonians defeated everybody.  So you can understand why I didn’t go out of my way to establish a firm residence anywhere in the Greek sphere; sometimes I was afraid to even sit down.

Notes:

Thank you Cindy at The Writer’s Coffee Shop, who gave me a chance to review this book and participate on the blog tour. Thank you Gene, for writing such an awesome book and answering my questions.

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Ninja Cat - a Character from Pilot Cat

If you have any idea of a cat character you’d like to see in the game, feel free to mention it in the comments .

Have a nice weekend everyone!

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It certainly helped a lot that last week we had a Pictoplasma character exhibition here in Berlin. I could definitely use a lot of inspirations from there. I’m going to show you some of my favorites from this exhibition.

Gemma Correll: I Spy with my Little Eye (http://gemmacorrell.com/)

Gemma Correll at Pictoplasma Berlin 2012

I am just a sucker for funny cat themed stuff. Her exhibition was quite simple, just drawings on the wall, but it was also the simplicity, honesty, and cheekiness that draws me to it. My absolute favorite one.

Mark Gmehling: Contemporary Drinsch (http://markgmehling.weebly.com/)

Mark Gmehling at Pictoplasma Berlin 2012

Don’t you just love the burst of candy colors there? His 3D rendering and his characters are amazing.

Post Digital Monsters (http://paris.pictoplasma.com/)

Nina Braun at Pictoplasma Berlin 2012 (http://ninabraun.net/)

There’s a lot of interesting characters on this exhibition. Nina Braun’s stood out to me because of the different texture at the burst of colors there. Looking at the website of Paris Pictoplasma, I wished I was there instead!

Bee Kingdom: Rise of the Bees (http://beekingdom.ca/)

Bee Kingdom at Pictoplasma Berlin 2012

I think the artist is Ryan Marsh Fairweather (http://www.weathermachine.ca/). It was also at last year’s Pictoplasma. I love the texture and the colors of the glass. (It’s made of glass, btw). One day, if one of my works cashed out big, I’m going to get one of Ryan’s art!

MYMO: Little Moon Monsters (http://www.mymonstersworld.com/)

MYMO at Pictoplasma Berlin 2012

This one is special because the characters are made from the waste dumps of Cape Town’s Nyanga township. I love the idea of upcycling art. Granted, not everything could be made beautiful, but finding the beauty in ugly could be a most rewarding thing. I’d also love to see such project in Indonesia, I think it’s great to make people appreciate things other just thrown out.

All in all, I must say I didn’t like this year’s Pictoplasma Berlin as much as last year’s. There were much more things on exhibition last year. I’m hoping next year it would be better!

Now, back to my own work… I’m happy if I’m just half as good as these artists. You’ll see the result when Pilot Cat is finally out!

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Well, I’m happy to report that after six months, I still love my iPhone! I almost would say: “I would not want another type/brand of phone”. Although ten years ago I don’t want to have other phone than my shock resistant – amazing storage of 100 sms – Siemens phone, so let’s see how it goes in the next couple of years .

My background: I’m quite the techie geek, I know how to code and I’m also a graphic designer so I don’t think you could get geekier than that. I’m also a writer, I love taking pictures, and I’m an avid user of social networks.

Mobile phones prior to iPhone 4S: Blackberry 8900, Nokia 6600, Siemens M45, Nokia 3210.

Alright, let’s get to it!

Best feature:

The camera. It’s even more than what I dreamed of. The main reason why bought this phone. It’s amazingly good and fast. It allows me capture quick moments, much faster than the normal camera. It’s very quick to start, just whip out the phone from my pocket, and I usually do have them handy, and take the picture! PS: I already posted a review on it here and here.

Other things I love about it:

• Speed. It makes everything a breeze, especially when you’re looking for something in the city. Map, direction, place recommendations, everything!
• Apps. There’s just seems to be an app for everything and more. And I love it!

Overrated feature:
Siri. I never use it after the first two weeks. Just maybe sometimes when I want to show off my phone to my friends.

What I wish I could change:

Capacity expansion. Due to my love of apps, my 16gb one is 85% full. The thing is, when I read people’s recommendation of the size, they always said the bigger ones isn’t necessary if you don’t have much music and movies. This is not true. Mine is full of apps and games, and pictures (must start deleting them ).

What I thought I wouldn’t like but turned out it’s okay:

• Battery life. Although it would be nice to be able to use the phone a week straight without charging, I find as long as I could spend the day comfortably, it’s really okay. I use my phone for a lot of things: playing music, facebook, checking e-mails, playing games, so it’s only normal for the battery to run out after a day. Besides, my battery seemed to run longer compared to hubs’ Samsung Galaxy S (especially after the 5.1 update)
• Touch screen for typing. It’s surprisingly not bad at all. As long as the autocorrect plays nice. I would think if one writes completely in one language, it should be very good. But as I have to write in English, Indonesian, and German, I have to remember to change the language whenever I type or the recommendation will be very weird.

Most used apps:

1. Facebook. I love the interface and the ability to easily check in, upload pictures, and tag people. It’s especially great in comparison to my old blackberry version. I could happily check Facebook on my phone instead of the web.
2. IMO & Whatsapp. Both are instant messaging apps. Neither I’m very satisfied with, but they are absolutely necessary and a cheap way to message your friends (especially if you have friends in different continents)
3. Skype. I use this mostly to call my mum in Indonesia. Absolutely love the iPhone version because I could use the hands free and then I could walk around while talking to her (you know how long it tends to take ).
4. Classic Booth. I love this one! Seriously, this app should have more buzz. It’s a fun photo booth app, where it emulates a classic photobooth. I love doing photobooth with my friends, so this app is just freakin’ awesome!
5. Instagram. So far it’s still my favorite app for sharing pictures from the iPhone. Yes, there are far better photo editing tools out there (my favorite is Camera+) but most of the times, Instagram does a good enough job. I also love seeing other people’s pictures in here. And it’s so easy to use.
6. I Can Has Cheezburger & IMDB. Both are good replacement vs browsing the website. I used to visit the website a lot, and now I prefer just doing so on my phone.
7. miCoach. I used this to track my run. It’s no frills, easy to use, and free.
8. Awesome Note & abc Notes. Both I use for jotting down ideas, making plots and characters for my novel. Awesome Note is a better version than Apple’s Notes because you can easily categorize them. Also you can add to-dos and pictures. abc Notes emulates those sticky notes, plus you can have several pages of them.
9. Kindle. Lately I’m taken to reading book on my iPhone more than paper books. It’s easy to carry around (always bring the phone anyways) which means I can read anytime anywhere. The only downside is I couldn’t buy it from the app (a feature I’m jealous of the android version).
10. Games: This is where my money goes. I buy at least a new game every month! Current favs: Angry Birds Space, Tiny Wings, Real Kakuro (not perfect, but I love playing Kakuro after Sudoku becomes boring), Spirits, Need For Speed Shift 2.

Just for fun, here’s a picture of me and hubs playing around with Classic Booth

Me and Hubs Using Classic Booth

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Click the image to see the animation!

Pilot Cat : Coming Soon

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The one movie I was really looking forward to see is “Kebun Binatang” (Postcards from the Zoo). It’s the first Indonesian movie to compete for the Berlinale award, and it made me feel somewhat proud of being Indonesian (even though I had nothing to do with the movie ).

Postcards from the Zoo

Postcards from the Zoo tells a story about Lana (Ladya Cheryl), a young woman who spent almost all of her life in the zoo. Her father left her there when she was four, and then she was adopted by it*. The story fast forwards to the adult Lana, who becomes one with the zoo and dreams of touching the giraffe’s belly someday. She is so in tune with the animals, being friends with all the workers there, and just sort of everything doer. One day, Lana starts seeing this young cowboy (Nicolas Saputra) in the zoo.  She wonders if he was even real at all. But as her zoo life starts falling apart, she decides to go out of the zoo and follow him instead. Where would she end up? Would she be able to fulfill her dream?

*** Warning! The review may contain SPOILERS ***

This film is all about metaphors and it’s one of those that gave me a “The Emperor’s New Clothes” effect. I don’t think I get all of the metaphors, but I kept thinking whether it was just my limited imaginations, should I try harder? Or maybe I could just pretend I understand everything?

Well, I’m going to be honest, and I will tell you my thoughts about it. Whether I might or might not truly get the movie.

The good points are I appreciate its breaking out of the common norm in Indonesian movies. It’s quite bizarre in its storytelling and honest in some other parts (not trying to teach you some moral grounds or being politically correct or anything like that).

I also quite like the use of metaphors in Lana’s life as the stages of animals in the zoo: captivity, reintroducing to the natural habitat, and so on. It gives you the whole general view about what the story is all about. Lana was just like an animal there, being in captivity all of her life, she might just lose her ability to be a free person.

What I’m confused about is the many shots of the zoo. When things are told in metaphors, shouldn’t everything have a meaning? Or would it be okay for some to not make sense? I could only understand the connection with the giraffe. The tiger and hippos kind of confused me… there is some connection but it felt forced, not as well thought as the others. The rollercoaster and other attractions just seemed too random… and even though it does give some sense of ambience, I found that it felt like it’s weighing the story down.

Lana’s character is also come across as very detached. I couldn’t feel any emotional connection with her, not sympathizing with her. She seemed to be narrating her own story from the outside. Not that it’s a bad thing, it just feels weird. I’m actually hoping this is intentional, because I found Ladya Cheryl portrayed this part very well.

I felt rather disappointed with the ending, because even though it does answer some questions, it doesn’t resolve things. Although to the film’s defense, it’s a festival film, which means this kind of alternative ending is quite common.

All in all, the film gave me a strange feeling of curious confusion. Did Luna really experience all this? Were she just living a sad life and trying to escape in her imagination?

Verdict: Is it worth watching? YES. But keep an open mind. If you have a different point of view after watching this, or if you think I’m missing something, please feel free to leave a comment or contradict me.

* Yes, I meant the zoo. Everything in it, including the people, animals, and attractions.

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Go check it out at http://apstevens.com/ and let me know your thoughts

Alison's website

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Last weekend we had a perfect blue sky weather in Berlin. We went out to test the camera along side hubs’ Samsung Galaxy S and a Point-and-Shoot camera Panasonic Lumix TZ-7. We didn’t have any specific scenarios for testing, it was all basically done on a whim, but some of the pictures really showed the capabilities (and flaws) of iPhone 4S’ camera.

Berlin TV Tower and S-Bahn

This was taken with the iPhone. I love this picture. It’s Berlin. And the phone was fast enough to capture the S-Bahn as it came to view! With my other phone, the train would’ve already left .

On the next picture, one was taken with the iPhone, the other with Lumix TZ-7. Can you guess which one is which? (Note: I had to resize the pictures because of some site error)

Berliner Dom -1

Berliner Dom - 2

Picture one is taken with Lumix TZ-7, picture two is iPhone 4S. You could see the iPhone one lacks a little bit of depth due to the small lens size, but overall it’s quite impressive, eh? I will show the pictures taken in low light conditions on my next posts… so stay tuned .

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