The official summery of Divergent is –

In a futuristic Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions. They are: Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent) each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue. To define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the order of the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

 

First I will talk about the annoying things in this book and then go to the good part – We have no idea what year it is, what led them to the way they are currently living now, what are they protecting themselves from, is there an outside world. In the dystopian world of Divergent, we are isolated to a city, Chicago, I guess and all the people are divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Now we don’t have any idea of what work they do, how they survive etc. We don’t even have much information about Candor and Amity. The story is mostly focused on Dauntless, Abnegation and a little bit Erudite.

Abnegation are sort of rulers as they have government jobs because of their selfless nature. Erudite are too smart and greedy too. They don’t like Abnegation ruling and want to be the leaders themselves. The smart guys want to take over the world. Yes, that makes sense.  At 16 years of age every child must choose a faction and their whole life is defined by the faction they choose. Beatrice Prior or Tris is the protagonist of this book. She is an Abnegation who chooses Dauntless but she is something else entirely. She is quite an interesting character – she is very brave who acts dumb and is in love with her trainer.

There is an addicting quality to this book even though I am not really sure what that is. I finished the whole thing in two days. After the events that take place in this book, I am curious to see how the story proceeds in the next book of the trilogy – Insurgent which releases on May 1. Will we get more information on what is going on around the word or is the focus going to be on Tris and her adventures, ignoring the other factions entirely? I sincerely hope this trilogy does not go downhill like The Hunger Games.

Little Brown book group has finally revealed that the title of J.K. Rowling’s next adult novel is going to be The Casual Vacancy.  The book will be published worldwide in the English language in hardback, ebook, unabridged audio download and on CD on Thursday 27th September 2012.

A short description –

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

 

The Casual Vacancy will have approximately 480 pages. The ISBN numbers and prices are given below -

ISBN  9781408704202   (hardback) price £20.00

ISBN  9781405519229   (ebook) price £11.99

ISBN  9781405519212   (audio download) £20.00

ISBN  9781405519205   (CD) price £30.00

The short description given has NOT gotten me excited.  I am eagerly waiting for more information about the book.

J.K. Rowling has also launched her new website today – http://www.jkrowling.com/

After the End of Times is one of the popular news blogs run by the protagonists of this story, Georgia Mason and her brother Shaun. The bloggers are divided into different categories – Georgia is a Newsie, who reports straightforward news; Shaun is an Irwin (named after Steve Irwin), he likes to poke and prods the zombies in front of the cameras to draw in viewers to their blog; while their third primary leader, Buffy, is a Fictional, who writes stories and poems. They are allowed to access the presidential campaign which will increase their ratings.

The zombies in this novel are similar yet different. The author has created a logical explanation for the dead walking. A scientist created a virus which would kill cancer cells thus curing cancer. Another scientist created a virus which would cure for common cold. These two virus bonded together to form a super virus, Kellis-Amberlee, which caused the dead to rise. The world created by the author in Feed is also complicated. Kellis-Amberlee is in dormant state in everyone and it just needs the slightest provocation to activate. The zombies have two agenda – infect other people and eat fresh meat. These zombies are intelligent too, well sort of, they moan to attract other zombie nearby and they know how to trap humans by surrounding them. The Kellis-Amberlee virus affects animals too which is disadvantageous. Even with zombie apocalypse, there is a government and people are living in a relatively good condition. There is CDC who is trying hard to control and find a cure for the zombie disease. They have to take blood tests everywhere, even when they get in a van. There are loads of decontamination procedures they have to go through every time they are in a hazard zone.

It is just too complicated, if there ever was a zombie apocalypse, it should be like The Walking Dead – the zombies are slow and stupid, you don’t have to worry about infection unless you are bit, no complicated decontamination procedures and no animal zombies

Feed is a science fiction/horror hybrid and it also has elements of political thriller. Zombies are not the main focus of this novel; they are just a part of it. The story is very interesting and it just forces reader to turn the page until you reach the end. Feed is the first book of the Newsflesh Trilogy.

It is almost 2 years since their last album – A Thousand Suns which was quite different from anything they had done before. On an interview for Kerrang! magazine Chester Bennington stated that the band has returned to more ‘familiar’ territory on their new record and that it would be more familiar to people than ‘A Thousand Suns’ was. The lyrics of this new album are going to be personal and not political.

Even though I liked A Thousand Suns – this is awesome news as I like the new album to be somewhere along the lines of Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Are you as excited as I am about the new album?

[UPDATE]  - April 16, 2012

1. Mike Shinoda announced via his website that Living Things would be the title of Linkin Park’s fifth album and it is releasing on 26 June 2012.

2. The  pre-release sale of Living Things will start on the April 16. [Today]

3.  Living Things’ first single – Burn It Down is now live on the official linkin Park website.

[UPDATE] April 17, 2012

Tracklist -

TRACKLIST:
1. LOST IN THE ECHO
2. IN MY REMAINS
3. BURN IT DOWN
4. LIES GREED MISERY
5. I’LL BE GONE
6. CASTLE OF GLASS
7. VICTIMIZED
8. ROADS UNTRAVELED
9. SKIN TO BONE
10. UNTIL IT BREAKS
11. TINFOIL
12. POWERLESS

Now as per the rules, I have to make two separate posts. Post 2 of the giveaway –

 TAKE GEORGE CLOONEY HOME

IN ONE OF THE YEAR’S MOST CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FILMS

Experience the Heartbreak and Humor When the

 Academy Award® and Golden Globe® Winner

Comes to Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD March 13

THE DESCENDANTS Blu-ray Features:

·         Deleted Scenes with introductions by the director

·         Everybody Loves George

·         Working with Alexander

·         The Real Descendants

·         Hawaiian Style

·         Casting

·         Working with Water

·         Music Videos

o   “Will I Ever See You Again”

o   Postcards from Paradise

o   “Honolulu’s Whisper

·         Waiting for the Light

·         The World Parade – Hawaii (Silent Film)

·         A Conversation with George Clooney and Alexander Payne

·         Digital Copy of the Film

THE DESCENDANTS DVD Features:

• Everybody Loves George
• Working with Alexander
• Hawaiian Style

Just drop in a comment below for a chance to win The Descendants DVD.

To download some exclusive stills from the movie and some The Descendants related documents – http://goo.gl/e2Xom

 [Update 1]

The Fox marketing team had mailed me to remind that the giveaway is limited to US and Canada only. :\

[Update 2]

The winner has been chosen and this lucky person will be getting The Descendants novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings and DVD of the movie Thd Descendants. Congrats.

Now as per the rules, I have to make two separate posts.

Now, I have a task for you – I hope everyone reading this has watched The Descendants staring George Clooney. If you haven’t, go watch it immediately. Next read the book The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings… yeah I know it is backwards but as I said in the review of the book – you get to put George Clooney’s face to the character which I think compensates.

Now Enjoy — The Descendants Book to Film Study Guide

Got questions/doubts — Kaui Hart Hemmings, the author of The Descendants is on Goodreads. You can clear your doubts here.

First watch the movie, then read the book. I know it is backwards but you get to put George Clooney’s face to the character which I think compensates.

The book is narrated by Matt King, who is the protagonist of this novel. He is a royal descendant and one of the state’s largest landowner. His wife is in a permanent coma after a boating accident. He has two daughters, Alex and Scottie. Scottie is a smart-ass and craves for attention. Alex is a former model and a recovering drug addict. Matt has never actively managed or involved with his daughters and he doesn’t know how to. He learns from his older daughter that his wife was cheating on him. This book is about how he embraces his role as a single father, how he gets close to his daughter. How he deals with the betrayal and death of his wife.

Reading this book, you get a first-hand experience of the emotions that Matt King experience. Even in the heartache there is humour. The characters even though eccentric are endearing. This is quite different from what I usually read, there is no mystery, no suspense and no crime… you know what is happening and what is going to happen.  The whole setting of the book – cool blue sea, white-sand beaches, swaying palm trees – is somehow peaceful. Yes. That is the same feeling I got after watching the movie with its excellent acting, beautiful settings and Hawaiian music.

A must read book.

Rating – 5/5

I finally finished the third instalment of A Song of Ice and Fire series – A Storm of Swords. It is a huge book; it has a total of 1,216 pages (US Paperback). It is so long that in UK it was split in half and in France it was cut into four separate editions.

The opening of this book slightly overlaps with the ending of the previous book. The seven kingdoms are still in the grip of war. The players for the Iron Throne have reduced. The war is mainly between House Lannister, Stannis Baratheon and Robb Stark. Daenerys Targaryen is still in the free cities, gathering strength to take over the Iron throne. Meanwhile at the wall and beyond, things are not going so well. Black Castle is not as strong as it once was, Lord Commander along with most of the able brothers have gone to investigate the disappearance of Benjen Stark and the increasing threat from wildings. Jon Snow is now a double agent. We also get to witness the cold undead “Others”.

In this book Jaime Lannister becomes a POV character, which would mean he is no longer a bad character. His parts are interesting, we get to know Jaime Lannister and understand why he does the things that he does. I think Devos was the most uninteresting bit even though he gave a view into Stannis Baratheon . Catelyn’s moping was also a bit excessive; it could have been trimmed down. There is hardly any progress in Bran’s case, I was expecting something major happening to him. Tyrion still continues to be the most interesting character. The Wall and Jon Snow is the second most interesting bit.

I am trying to keep this review spoiler free, George R.R. Martin is undoubtedly a fantastic storyteller. Most of the characters, both heroes and villains, straddle the line between good and evil, and come out as grey. I hope we still are hoping for a House Stark win, but chances seem slim. Martin surely likes to kill of characters, first there was Eddard Stark, there is some unexpected, surprising killings in this book. The Red Wedding especially is haunting. Even though this book is lengthy, the pace is good most of the time and things remain interesting. There are some major events in this book and some surprises towards the ending.

I am not going to pick up the next book – A Feast for Crows any time soon because I there are lots of other book in my reading list.

On related news, one of the major reasons for starting A Song of Ice and Fire series was the HBO show The Game of Thrones. The second season of Game of Thrones is going to air on April 1 and it is based on the second book – A Clash of Kings.  Checkout the awesome trailer below -

J.K. Rowling finished writing the final book in the Harry Potter fantasy franchise on January 11, 2007 and marked the occasion by leaving graffiti in a Scottish hotel. Eagle-eyed guests at the five-star Balmoral Hotel spotted a line from the best-selling author scrawled in black pen on the back of a marble bust in a room Rowling occupied. She wrote, “J.K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on Jan 11th 2007.”

After almost five years J.K. Rowling has finally announced that she is releasing a new novel. There is no info on her official site but The Blair Partnership which is J.K. Rowling’s new agency has made this announcement.

We are pleased to announce that our client, J.K. Rowling, will be releasing a new novel for adults. Further details will be announced later in the year.

This is very exciting news. Many of us had started to wonder why there hasn’t been any news of new novel from J.K. Rowling even though her twitter status has been –

You won’t be hearing from me often I’m afraid, as pen and paper are STILL my priority at the moment.

 

What do you think the book is going to be about? Will it be similar to Harry Potter? Will there be magical elements? I guess we can be sure of one thing. The book is going to be awesome.

I really shouldn’t be watching The Walking Dead or even thinking about it before going to sleep. I get nightmares and they are particularly nasty.

A brief summary of my nightmare -

Last night I was in a Zombie infested place. After hiding and fighting them for a bit we were overwhelmed by their sheer number so my brilliant plan was to get into a train. This “Survivor Train” would keep us away from zombies till we are prepared to take them on.  The majority of zombies were behind us so we did not expect to find big groups at the place we were going. We had a warning system which warned us if the zombies got too close to our Survivor Train. The train was guarded with snipers and machine guns. We had few brush with death but miraculously escaped. We got some heavy firepower at place similar to Fort Knox and then we went to take on the zombies when I was rudely awakened by my alarm clock.

Now this was not to tell you about my dream but to tell you how the brain presented the series of thoughts, images, and sensations in an intricate way. The chaos was real, the zombies were scary, and the panic was painful. Everything was detailed; I even remember the make of the crossbow I was using. Not something you get to experience watching a movie.

Dream per se is a Grand entertainment system.