Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly

I was really looking forward to this book because the prospect of reading about imminent catastrophic solar event linked to the Seven Ancient Wonders is really small. Not many authors dare to thread this line and fictionally link all these SAWs together. Perhaps except Matthew Reilly.

I’ve read 1/3 of the book and truth to be told………..

It is an utter disaster of catastrophic proportion!

The more I read, the more my brain tried to link between the sequences in the book with Mario Bros/Bomberman/Donkey Kong video games! I’m not joking or under influence of alcohol when I wrote those statements. Read more of the review before you decide to jump the gun.

From what I read so far (Note: The following summary is based on 1/3 of the story), the book is about a group of ultra-super-duper commandos from the most elite commando team in the world; the cream of the crop, best of the best, cream of society, cream of the cream, crème de la crème, pick of the litter, privileged class, smart set, the elite, the finest, the privileged, upper class, upper crust; converge to find seven pieces of ancient artifacts and piece them together before the solar event which will spell the end of the world.

Not only that, this team of the “creamiest of the creamiest” had to forge ahead and compete with 2 other groups of national representatives from USA (who else) and European Union; who coincidentally are represented by their own set of “creamiest of the creamiest” as well. So, the question now is who is more “creamy” and would first get their hands on the coveted SAWs?

I’m under no pretense to praise this book but this is a really good RPG/GAME BOOK! It shouldn’t be in the THRILLER SECTION at all..!! Beats me on why Borders decided to stick the “Mystery/Thriller” tag at the back page. It is really misleading. They should have sold this book at Toy”R”Us as it’ll fit just right in.

Read at your own peril because it is too “game-ish” with multiple levels, traps and enemies to overcome before they can succeed. The best part is; the book comes with illustration for each level... (It’s true... I’m not making this up); just in case the reader cannot comprehend the level of difficulties/traps faced by our ultra-super-duper gang.

Sigh… why o’ why I bought this book in the first place :-( I’ve wasted my hard earned money on yet another truly painful book to read and I’m wondering if I should slog on to finish it.. Sigh sigh sigh :-(

Personal rating: 2 out of 10 (for the effort and writing the book in the first place)

Cons:
1) Please refer to the review

Pros:
1) Please refer to the review

Tamas by Bhisham Sahni

This book called Tamas (Darkness) by Bhisham Sahni is labeled as modern classic. Truth to be told, the first word that crossed my mind when I see that word “classic” is “boring”. So in mathematical term (at least in my mind); classic = boring :-). But this isn’t the case for Tamas and it has changed my perception forever after I read this beautiful book written by one of the most prolific writer from India. It is considered classic for its no-nonsense description of religious brutality inflicted on everyone prior to the partitioning of India and Pakistan.

In this novel; which started from the point of the killing of a pig by Nanthu for supposedly clinical examination though unbeknownst to him, there are ulterior motives behind the big reward for his “hard work”. The slain pig was found thrown on the steps of a village mosque and thus started the chain reaction of unforeseen proportion. Neighbours who have lived in the same village for decades suddenly found themselves alienated and lines were drawn between the religious borderline.

In-fighting were rapt and killings were initiated and carried out based on rumour and hearsay. War-mongering personnel worked behind the line and tip-toed from one village to the other whispering discontent to pricked ears. Families were shattered, lives were lost. Discontent grew into pure hatred and old flames of religious fervor turned into pure action.

However, Bhisham also managed to capture the very sentiment of human relationship when those from different religions stopped as they face with the impossibility of murdering someone whom they’ve known or contacted throughout their lives as neighbours. There were also a group of good natured Congress members who tried to mend the ways before, during and after the breakout with members slain and sacrificed in the name of peace.

British influences were minimal to quell the fire though in the end, the fighting was stopped just by an act of flying an airplane over the villages and imposing curfews on the fighting-torn villages. End chapters depict the path of recovery where neighbours no longer trust each other and subjugated civilians looked to their British masters as savior amongst the ruin.

This is a book where stark realities of depressed religious fervor are very much alive in each and every one of us. As one stand-up comedian once said (I forgot which stand-up comedian said it though); “religious wars are fought to determine who has the best invisible friend”. I truly believe that every religion preaches only peace and love among us. I guess this is what Bhisham Sahni wanted to convey in this novel. A truly recommended read and a true classic indeed.

Personal rating: 10 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) A classic book that everyone should read and savour first-hand. Period.

Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan

It is not easy for me to admit this but philosophical/drama kinds of books are never my top choice when it comes to book selection. I was "deeply traumatised" by the book entitled The Known World by Edward P. Jones (multiple award winner mind you :-))... the book was so boring and so slow moving that it has sat UNREAD on my reading table for more than 3years (I bought the book in 25 July 2006) and I doubt I will pick it up anytime soon with the other unread books lying around the vicinity :-P

Anyway, that is another matter altogether... surprisingly, I bought this book without even reading thru its first few pages and truth to be told; I am really pleased with my impromptu decision. The writing style of this book is so abstractly different than the multitude of books I’ve read so far. It goes back and forth, left to right, up and down, across the decades and definitely across boundaries.

This book revolves around the Rajasekharan's family and the way everything revolves around them. Each and every one of the family members are involved in one way or the other and closely interlinked whether they realised it or not. Reminds me of the movie “Babel” starred by Brad Pitt.

There is no main character in this family drama though the characters often in the spotlight would be the family itself... so, to save the mind boggling read, here are the main casts:

Paati:
Role: The Grandma. Dead during the start of the novel. However, she came back to life in the middle part of the novel and dead for good after she fell while taking her bath. She was supposedly "murdered" by Uma and consistently tortured by Amma. But it was Chellam who was blamed by the finger-pointing Aasha (who wanted to protect Uma and get into Uma's good book again). Loved and protected Uma when Uma was young only to be deserted by Uma when she was an old lady.

Appa:
Role: The Dad. Fiery politician before the 1969 Malaysia's racial riot. Then he turned into a consummate lover, lawyer and two-timer dad who had extra-marital affair with a Chinese char koay teow seller. He also inadvertently fondled Uma's pubescent body on one eventful night and blamed everyone except himself for it.

Amma:
Role: The Mom. A quiet illiterate girl who stole Appa's heart and lived a lavish life playing the role of “tai-tai”. She literally fought with Uma for Appa's attention and jealous of Uma for being the smart one in the family. A lady who wanted everything for herself and being pretentious while exerting her territorial home ground over Paati.

Uma:
Role: The Eldest Daughter. Smartest and pride of the family. Appa's favourite daughter until the eventful night when Appa took it all away with her bare hands. In this novel, Uma became the quiet one who looked forward for her one way ticket trip to USA to further her studies in one of the Ivy League universities. Her main goal however is to escape the trappings of the family. Close to Paati and Aasha once but drifted apart after the incident with Appa.

Suresh:
Role: The Son. Born on the night of 13 May 1969; The Malaysian racial riot. The joker in the family who looked things on different perspective. Protective over her youngest sister, Aasha. Often bantering her for being too preoccupied in trying to win over Uma's love.

Aasha:
Role: The Youngest Daughter. Inadvertently broke news on Uma's intention to move to USA to get married with Appa's brother (which wasn't true). Saw the real incident of Paati's death behind the green PVC settee but concealed the truth and blamed Chellam instead. Desperately wanted Uma to stay back and cancel her intention to move out of the house. She has ability to see dead people and talks to them all the time.

Chellam:
Role: The Servant. The unfortunate addition to the family. Originally hired to take care of Paati 100% of her time. Soon, she was blamed for all the wreck up of the family (including the nonsensical affair with Appa's brother) but the last straw was being blamed for Paati's death. She has a drunkard good-for-nothing father and not surprisingly, she committed suicide in the end.

Told you the story is complicated :-) but reading it is like peeling an onion. It comes off layer by layer and by the end of the book; you'll feel really contented and pleased with the outcome. A real good book and praise to the author for writing such a compelling story.

Personal rating: 10 out of 10

Cons:
1) Rather confusing during the beginning but it is OK after you’ve grasp the flow of the story.

Pros:
1) Daring venture from a new author especially because it touches on the 13 May 1969 Malaysia racial riot issue.
2) Book is written in a different paradigm which Malaysians can truly understand.
3) Informative book on the growth, politic & society linkage of a country called Malaysia.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

“That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.”

Who would have thought that such words would be uttered by one of the most brilliant mind in the world? The person who wrote a book so thick and so well defined that few could ever understand it. The person is none other than the creator of E=mc2. The great Albert Einstein himself.

In this latest book by Dan Brown, the plot is again focused on the hero Robert Langdon and his escapades filled with symbols, interpretation and lots of historical facts/fiction (depending on which sides you're taking :-P).

Robert Langdon was tricked into this by the baddie, Mal’akh and thus began his quest of deciphering the symbols strewn along the way. Of course our hero will always be assisted by a genius lady; in this case, the lady is Katherine Solomon. The person in much distress this time is Peter Solomon (notice the similar surname?)

The enigmatic Mason society has been breached at the highest order (Mason's Thirty-Third Degree) by a person who called himself Mal'akh. A person who sets his mind on learning the great secret and Ancient Mysteries held by the Masons by planning his eventual transcendence as THE ULTIMATE EVIL; which involves killing the Solomon family, one-by-one, and those who stood in his evil path.

However, in the end, our anti-hero didn’t manage to achieve his goal as his ultimate victory was spoilt by his father... none other than Peter Solomon himself..!! What a bummer, a dad who doesn’t recognize his own son..!! No wonder the wasted kid turned into Mal’akh after his escape from Turkish prison. Peter Solomon, despite being an overtly rich person, decided to teach his only son; Zachary a lesson or two in being a righteous person by denying the guard some “coffee money” in exchange for the early release of the kid. No wonder Zachary aka Andros aka Mal’akh is pissed.

Robert Langdon fumbled quite a lot in this novel and if not for handy-man or assistance he received along the way, he wouldn’t be able to decipher the multi-layered Masonic symbols and interpretations hidden even among the venerable Thirty-Third Degree Brotherhood.

The ending part of the book explained on the Ancient Mysteries in which the summary would be discouraging literal interpretation of great books such as Bible, Quran, Torah and such. New field such as Noetic Science (try googling this out :-)) is one of the mainstream subjects in this novel. We also found out that the founders of USA did leave a lot of Mason landmarks during the early years of the country’s birth. You’ll have to read thru the book to find out more about that though :-)

In my opinion, this book fell into the same trap as what I pointed out for The Tower by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. It seems to me that Dan wrote this book to be adapted into silver screen and not to be read. To me, the plots are rather weak and the writing style of the novel remains the same as previous 2 books. The ending part of the book is rather confusing because Dan tried to explain and summarize the gist of the novel into the last 3 chapters.

Personal rating: 6 out of 10

Cons:
1) Closure of the novel is rather confusing. I had to read and digest it slowly before I can really grasp the overall idea.
2) Plot of the book is too cheesy. To me, it looks as if the book is written solely for silver screen.
3) Writing style is the same as 2 previous books. No change in the modus operandi.
4) To sum it all up, I am very disappointed with the book despite the initial euphoria.

Pros:
1) Fast moving storyline and ample cliffhangers along the chapters.
2) Interesting little known facts about the Masons and the early founders of USA. I did write down those itsy-bitsy of info and googled it after I’ve finished the book.