Smorgasbord Fantasia

Another post-apocalyptic novel on survival and the all American theme of “discovering oneself”. I got this one about two months ago, after having heard rave reviews on the net and from friends (Hell, they even got a movie out on this!!), but never got around to reading it until now. A relatively slim book, this was a pretty fast read. It tells the tale of survival, of a young girl fighting for her life, in the distant future dystopian state where the government rule is oppressive and totalitarian. In the aftermath of some huge environmental chaos, thirteen districts arise, all governed by the central Capitol, known as Panem, the seat of the government. Set in an unspecified future, a bleak and dark one at that, every year the government organizes games, known as the “hunger games” where as a symbol of their total oppressive regime, the Capitol demands a “tribute” in the form of a young boy and girl, aged 12 to 18, to participate. There are no rules in the game. Except one. Winner...

Today I bought my first official book from the Amazon Kindle store and am soooo thrilled !! Go ahead - Feast yourself on some blood and gore and fine piece of Fantasy writing by one of my newest hot favorites : Heroes by Joe Abercrombie Ah well, here's the KICKER - all for $1.99 :D Now I see your face light up, huh ? I accept your heartfelt undying gratitude. Go for Guts. Go for Glory. Peace!!!

I should generally have clung onto my resolve never to read conventional best-sellers in India. But no! I had to give into the hype and get sucked into the general euphoric whirlpool that surrounds me.  “Immortals of Meluha” was one such book. It’s an accomplishment. Understatement. Accomplishment would be de-meaning to say the least. It would have been an accomplishment if you’d told me that the author was perhaps, ten years old. Staggering for a ten-year old. But heck, no, it has been penned down by a management grad who’s also a part-time i-banker now. ( Part-time, as of now because the books been on the best-seller stands for quite some time and every bookstore promptly/proudly displays the book on its glass-shelved windows! Oh beg pardon, last I heard he’s actually QUIT! ) Anyways coming back to the book – the protagonist is Shiva, a stoned Tibetan who loves his marijuana and makes outrageously bad jokes ( that even makes the P in PJ’s cringe)who decides to move his tri...

Some three months ago, NPR published what is known as the Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books - voted by close to 60,000 people. Well, I sure wasn't one of them, but it's a pretty solid list. even though it be missing a few good books that has come out in the recent past, ( am a sucker for discovering kick-ass debuts, especially fantasy!) I still respect the list. Here goes - I am highlighting the ones I read, not too many from the looks :( 1.   The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy , by J.R.R. Tolkien 2.   The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy , by Douglas Adams 3.   Ender's Game , by Orson Scott Card 4.   The Dune Chronicles , by Frank Herbert 5.   A Song Of Ice And Fire Series , by George R. R. Martin 6.   1984 , by George Orwell 7.   Fahrenheit 451 , by Ray Bradbury 8.   The Foundation Trilogy , by Isaac Asimov 9.   Brave New World , by Aldous Huxley 10.   American Gods , by Neil Gaiman 11.   The Princess Bride , by William Gold...

It has been a long time since a horror book scared me. I found this gem of a book, the debut of Joe Hill, son of one of my all-time favorite authors Stephen King, in a run-down second-hand bookstore in my wife's home-town. "Gem" would pretty much be the perfect adjective for this hard bound copy. I got hooked right away from page one. I actually found another one as well - "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke; a hefty tome of a book which I saved for another rainy day to tackle. Coming back to Joe's debut horror story. The book is about a retired rock-star, Jude Coyne who has a fetish to collect weird (bizzarre/gothic/pretty much disgusting) stuff and is renowned for this motley collection as well. He cannot resist when some stranger puts their father's ghost up for sale on an auction site. and thus begins his troubles. the ghost is really a ghost (duh! and not just inside his head!!) and it haunts Jude's life and hangs around h...