Book Review: Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Without a doubt my favorite one of the Halo series. Coming from the best author in the series, Eric Nylund who started the novels, I feel more comfortable in his story structure than others. Contact Harvest, The Flood and the Cole Protocol are written by other authors. 

Ghosts of Onyx centers around a unique spartan apart from the others we already know named Kurt, Kurt is noted by Master Chief to "spend alot of time making friends". Or basically to be the humanitarian coach to the Spartan-III, the next generation of Spartans he is in charge of.

Eric Nylund also has exclusive storylines around Dr. Catherine Halsey, the brains behind the Spartan Program. I happen to like this character because she is a mother to the spartans, but in a surrogate angle where she is comfortable company to the Spartans unlike the intense reactions from everyone else in the UNSC.

It was interesting to see the creation of Spartan-III's, and it was also good to get a storyline on the Covenant side. Nylund started this after William Dietz did in The Flood, Nylund started this in First Strike. The story of the elites banding together in light of the prophet's betrayal seemed like a glorious moment in the book, and then it went downward in so many areas I really got eager to flip page after page to learn fates of the characters. 

This, to me, is the best Halo novel and I recommend you read it. Even if you don't like to read. 

The Best Harry Potter Movie to Come?

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Trailer

^click before you read, please. =)

This movie is very significant, book wise many things get resolved or answered as to what will come of the wizarding world.

But behind Warner Brothers there are many things about this movie looking very good. Consider that the first two were charming and stylized nicely by Chris Columbus but had a general family friendliness. We never expected it'd go beyond that, but it did with the third movie which ended being the worst of the series. The fourth movie took on a more serious tone and allowed some maturity in the content, and we got to see one of the greatest nemesises called Lord Voldemort.

The fifth movie brought the final director to the franchise, David Yates, who did a good job considering the movie was more talk than action, and was also able to make the characters stronger. Steve Kloves who had written the first four screenplays could not fit in the fifth movie screenplay at the time, he is back now, and likely will put the series back in a comfort zone. So the movies have gotten better over time.

Warner Brothers had also delayed this movie from November to July so they could make more money, which really annoyed me. But considering WB doesn't ruin movies like Fox does, and they've been on a roll lately with the careful attention to production and proper utilization of time, i'll let it slide. Plus they answered the call, as seen in the trailer, for more quidditch :P

The Trailer looks fantastic, and that doesn't hurt either ;)

Release Date is July 17th 2009

Book Review: The House of the Scorpion

Yes, book reading is a volunteer effort. Some don't want to, some do. But there are books that work on many levels to speak to the reader while pushing points across. House of the Scorpion is one of those books.

House of the Scorpion is written by Nancy Farmer, and is about a boy who is treated differently for what he is: a clone. Matteo Alacran becomes the subject for debates about clones and their equality when compared to humans. It also explores the need for immortality through unethical means and even explores elements of how the United States and Mexico have progressed in the future from a SCI-FI perspective. 

I've read this book soo much its that good. It's interesting how Farmer develops Matt's life as a child with obvious religious questions regarding a clone. Matt is religious, but we've never had the circumstance of whether a clone is welcomed in the house of god. The relationship between Matt and El' Patron, the man who he is a clone of is heartwarming in how kind he seems. And yet, El' Patron is loved out of fear by everyone around him, highlighting the idea that money drives people to swallow pride and is constantly remarked for his powerful legacy he created.

This is a book people must read, because I cannot tell you everything or else there is nothing worth learning on your own. But I highly recommend reading it, its a wonderful story. 

I give it a 4 out of 5