Legion

Legion (Horus Heresy #7)
Author: Dan Abnett
Genre: Science Fiction | Warhammer 40k
Release Date: March 2008
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Legion is without a doubt, the best book in the Warhammer 40k universe. The story is told from the viewpoints of mere mortals; primarily that of the genetically modified soldiers of the Geno Five-Two Chiliad, who are deep in the middle of a war with the human Nurthene. Little do they know that their struggles are being subtly manipulated by shadowy forces waging a proxy war involving powers beyond their knowledge and comprehension.

Most of the story details the struggle of the Cabal, a conglomerate of xeno races including remnants of the Eldar and other unknown species, in order to get a hold of a Space Marine Legion to sway to their cause to overcome Chaos. After hundreds of years of failures, during which their human spies were killed or captured, they're finally at the end of the line because if this last gamble with the newest and latest space marine chapter to be formed, the Alpha Legion, doesn't succeed then all the sentient species in the Galaxy are doomed. Mankind holds the key to their collective fates. In order to do this, they've employed their last human agent, John Grammaticus; a powerful human psyker who has been alive (reincarnated by the xeno-tech of the Cabal) for over a thousand years, to seek out the Primarch Alpharius to convince him to make the right choice...even if it goes against everything the Imperium stands for.

Unlike most other Horus Heresy novels, the main underlying theme behind the story is espionage, especially that of the secretive Alpha Legion who operate as superhuman spies rather than battlefield combatants like their other Astartes brethren. Everything they do has a clandestine purpose beyond the knowledge or comprehension of mere humans. You never see the Alpha Legion engaging in massive conventional combat because to do so would mean that they have failed their mission to manipulate events through more covert means. The Alpha Legion does not fight in the open. Instead they use others to do it for them so that they don't have to get their hands dirty. When they have to fight, they're always prepared to show up in overwhelming force when their opponents least expect it and instantly control the situation so that it ends so fast, the other side never knows what hit them.

The Alpha Legion gave me the image of a bunch of superhuman CIA agents running around in the background, subtly manipulating events and people to get the information and outcome they desire. Obviously a bunch of giants waltzing around in power armor stick out like sore thumbs so instead they act as spymasters and intermediates for specialist human agents who do their dirty work for them. Legion reads more like a military/spy thriller than a typical Warhammer 40k novel. Prior to reading this book, I used to think that Mankind had a chance but now I've realized how deluded that wishful thinking was. The small flickering light of hope for the future was engulfed and snuffed out by the overbearing darkness and despair of the revelations at the end.

Scores:
Cover: 5
Characters: 9
Story: 9

Overall:  9/10 (5 Stars)

This Book is Full of Spiders

This Book is Full of Spiders (John Dies at the End #2)
Author: David Wong
Genre: Fantasy | Comedy | Science-Fiction
Release Date: March 13th, 2012
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First of all, I wanted to say that I should have known that it was too good to last. The spontaneity and insane plot twists that were prevalent in the first book is glaringly absent in its sequel. I'm not saying it's really bad. I'm just saying it's not anywhere near as good as the first book.

The first book; John Dies at the End (JDate), wasn't written with any fixed plots in line. Reading it felt like the author was just winging it as he went, with random turns and swerving in the storyline that made you wonder where it was all going. That came out very well and made you feel invigorated albeit bewildered at times, to read this fine piece of random chaotic plots. If you're looking for a great break-down of JDate, just check out the great Stephen's review of it here.

In comparison TBiFoS is subjected to a more rigid and conventional plot. You know where it's going, and how it's going to end but you don't know what will happen in between. That's the ugly bit. It's nearly predictable (but not quite!). The one thing that made it uberly awesome in JDate was almost removed entirely from TBiFoS.

Now back to the book itself. TBiFoS is about a supernatural critter that looks like a spider, but it invisible to most people with the exception of "Them", David and John. Oh and they also take over people's bodies by burrowing into their mouths and brains, ripping apart their soft tissues while doing so, creating the physical semblance of a nearly unstoppable Zombie. The spiders appeared out of nowhere and were nesting in David's bed for some weird reason (never stated), and apparently those two doofuses thought that the best way to handle the situation is not by trying to quarantine the outbreak in their house, but rather by burning the house down. Which inevitable leads to their escape into the wild and subsequent mind control of the entire town of [Undisclosed]. Fortunately the military responded in time and blockaded the entire town before it really got out of hand. Unfortunately they're also going to raze the entire town with thousands of pounds of explosives with the duo still inside.

TBiFoS' plot is furthered by a series of  foolish decisions made by the duo, which serve to screw things up even more and some really, really bad moves by Amy (which by the way made me want to throw the book at the wall, that's how stupid it -no she- was.) If it wasn't for her, it wouldn't have gotten this bad and a major character wouldn't have gotten knocked off. But then there wouldn't have been a story. But honestly I would have preferred one without her.

JDate was awesome, the epitome of comedic storytelling in a modern supernatural setting. TBiFoS felt like the author was trying too hard to replicate the soaring success of his previous book but crashed and burned, taking down everything that made the first book so damn good. TBiFoS was nowhere near JDate on the awesomeness scale. You'd be better off relishing the good memories and laughs you got out of the first book than sully it by reading this.

Scores:
Cover: 5
Characters: 5
Story: 6

Overall:  5.5/10 (3 Stars)

Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries

Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre:  Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: August 14th, 2012
GoodReads

If you're a fan of the Heroes of the Olympus you'll love this book. It's great, fun and entertaining. It's written in the classic Riordan style with witty jokes here and there. But I guess I must be growing a bit too old for this series since I no longer found them as funny as I used to. The Demigod Diaries is written around 3 main short stories; The Diary of Luke Castellan, Percy Jackson and the Staff of Hermes, Leo Valdez and the Quest for Buford as well as the short story penned by Riordan's son, The Son of Magic.


The Diary of Luke Castellan takes place during the time Thalia and Luke were still living on their own, prior to meeting up with Annabelle. They get into a scrape when they follow a holy goat into an  abandoned house and become trapped there with a bunch of nasty leucrota, which by the way have got to be the weirdest monsters yet. The Diary tells how Thalia got her Aegis shield chains, and how Luke and Thalia met up with Annabelle after learning about their destiny.

Percy Jackson and the Staff of Hermes takes place shortly after the events in the last Percy Jackson book but before he disappeared. Hermes, God of Thieves, somehow managed to lose his staff to a thieving giant and now wants Percy to get it back. The thing is, it's Percy's one month anniversary as Annabeth's boyfriend and she's not too pleased about it (or the fact that he forgot/wasn't aware that he had to do something special, girls!)

The third short story by Rick Riordan is called Leo Valdez and the Quest for Buford. It's about a runaway magic table that has the components that make up the Argo II (the magic flying ship from Son of Neptune This one takes place after the events in the Lost Hero. During the search they come across some nasty party animals; the Maenads.

The Son of Magic is written by Haley Riordan. In my opinion he's got a great style and I found his take on the Percy Jackson universe to be unique and very interesting. It's got a darker, more serious kind of atmosphere, but suitably so considering what the story is about. In fact, I'd say his story is the best in the entire book. I found Rick's stories to be a bit annoying to read but Haley's story balances them out. I can't wait to see what else he ends up writing in the future. That kid has genuine talent!

However, I didn't really feel like this was his greatest possible work since the humor fell flat on me for the most part. With the exception of his son's story, the rest of the compilation didn't really stand out and wow me. So aside from the excellent The Son of Magic, the rest of stories combined would only give it an average score of 4/10 or 2 stars.

Overall scores:

Rick Riordan: 2 Stars

Haley Riordan: 4 Stars

Kindle Paperwhite vs Kindle Touch: A Review

So I just got the new Kindle Paperwhite yesterday and there are some things I thought I'd point out and highlight. First of all there are no audio jacks or speakers, meaning no audio support or read to me features at all. The second and possibly most important addition is the built in front light which is nearly perfect but does come with slight flaws. Amazon addresses this here. Oh and, you'll need to connect to a wifi network when you first turn on the Paperwhite in order to set it up. I'm not sure if there's a way to bypass that since I had a connection on hand so that might be an issue for some people.

Paperwhite Box.

This is the box that the Paperwhite came in. Unlike the standard brown boxes used for the previous generation, the box is black to match the new kindles.

Inside you'll find the usual usb cable for charging and transferring content to the Kindle. The standard packaging does not include a wall charger or adapter, that's an extra that you'll have to purchase in case you don't have a pc or laptop around. I've found that I've never really needed it since on long trips I've always had my laptop with me and it's quite hard to run out of battery even if I do spend an entire week reading. If the battery life is anything like the original Touch, you'll get at least 30 hours of reading out of it before it drops dead.

Now here's the most coveted feature of the Paperwhite, the front-lit screen. As you can see the light is fairly even with the exception of the bottom-most area which has some dark spots, even on the highest illumination setting. This problem is noted on the Amazon Kindle page, and it's a minor flaw of the lighting. However it's still more even than the lighting of the Nook Glow despite its shortcomings and the light is white, and not the blueish-white of the Nook Glow. Ironically, it's only because of the light that the screen is even white (giving it its name), otherwise I think it'd be slightly brownish like my original impression when I first got it.

Unlike the Kindle Touch, the Paperwhite's back is a rubbery matte build that is surprisingly easy to grip and hold without any slipping. There is also a slight chemical smell that is most likely due to the material used. The smell isn't quite so strong after more than a day so it'll probably fade over time. No biggie there but it was worrying when I first took it out of the sealed plastic.Due to the material, the Amazon logo along with all the symbols and writing on the back is impossible to make out. Unfortunately now that I've looked closer, it seems that the material seems to be very oil-friendly since I can find my fingerprints all over it. The Touch does not have this problem though upon closer review it could also be due to the color which hides oil traces very well. Despite a year of handling I can barely see any fingerprints.

The bottom only has a slot for the micro-usb cable and the power button. From the indentation in the middle, you can tell where the original earphone slot used to be. I have no idea why there's a small hole at all there. The lack of speakers on the back and no earphone slot means that there is no audio support for the Paperwhite. If you're looking for those features you should check out the Touch instead.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the two, my Touch has a screen-protector on it so it's a bit glossy and reflective...and it's a virtual fingerprint magnet. As you can see the Paperwhite is slightly smaller, and it's thinner too. The front bezels are built from a glossy material whereas the Touch is pretty uniform on all sides. What I love the most about the screen is that it seems to be more resistant to fingerprints compared to the Touch. The screen also has a rough texture (you gotta feel to know it) that is just amazing to swipe. I actually swiped it a couple of times just because of how awesome it feels. It's not too smooth or rough, it's just right.

Another highlight of the Paperwhite is the higher text contrast, which for the life of me I can't tell. I'll just take Amazon's word for it since I can't tell the difference even with the Touch and Paperwhite being compared side by side, with the same page of the same book opened. The screen does look better but that's probably because of the always on light, which gives it its white color, and not due to an upgrade in the literal screen build.

New Cover Menu

Second Page of Cover Menu

Traditional List View

You can choose between the new cover view or the older list view from the Touch. For some weird reason half my books don't have covers...

My meager listing of Amazon books, mostly freebies

One thing worth noting is the lack of a home screen hardware button. The Paperwhite has relegated that function to a software one, which you can access by tapping the top of the screen. It takes two steps rather than one and some getting used to for previous Touch owners.

There's also the nifty "reading speed" detector that lets you know how long it'll take you to finish a chapter or a book. I read about 100 real pages per hour so that estimation there is a bit off due to long lengths of time spent staring at a page or leaving it on while I do other things. 

One of the few major issues I have with the Paperwhite is the fact that like the light, the wifi is perpetually on unless you turn the Airplane mode ON. This is rather annoying because of how fast the wifi drains the battery  (it reduces battery life by nearly half) and having it on by default is not the right way to go about things. Hopefully that'll be fixed in the next software update.The following are the pros and cons of the Paperwhite compared to the Touch.

Pros:

• Awesome built-in light that is mostly even. You don't have to spend an additional $20 on an awkward-looking book light. Money saved that could be spent on more books!
• Native Cloud storage support to purchased Kindle Content.
• Better User Interface (UI)
• Snappy software responses that is way faster than the Touch and nearly instantaneous. 
• Rubbery Matte Finish that is easier to grip one-handed
• Better text contrast (according to Amazon)
• Double the battery life (equivalent to Touch's, with light on at level 10 for a total of 28 hours of reading time)
• More Text Options (Fonts, Margins & Line Spacing)

Cons:

• Smaller internal support of 2GB total, 1348MB usable. That could fill about 1000+ ebooks (assuming 1MB each but most ebooks are actually smaller)
• No audio-support. Text to Speech (TTS) is no longer possible. 
• Strange chemical smell at first.
• Ease at which fingerprints appear on the back (not an issue with the Touch).
• Requires Wifi-activation on first use.
• Lack of a hardware button for the Home screen.

Conclusion:

Overall the Paperwhite is a great device if you're looking to save money by getting a light and a kindle bundled together. If you're looking for audio-support and a larger storage (2GB total on Paperwhite, 1348MB usable), look elsewhere. There is no micro-sd slot either so you won't be able to add on any external storage. For those who are invested into the Amazon ecosystem and don't care about audio-support, the Paperwhite is a great device. In fact, I'd say it's the best e-reader device out there.

We Are Anonymous

We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency
Author: Parmy Olson
Genre: Non-Fiction | Technology | Hackers
Release Date: June 5th, 2012
GoodReads

So this is partly about random members of Anonymous, and those who eventually came together to form the elite crew Lulzsec. It's a delightful insight into the world of internet activism, however misguided the intentions behind it may be. When read from this book's perspective, you can't help but to sympathize or feel sorry for individuals involved in these so called hacking incidents. They're not as cool as they seem from their perceived online personas. Lulzsec when cut and dried, aren't really noteworthy individuals aside from the fact that they're highly skilled at computers, or skilled in just propagating online propaganda. Topiary comes to mind as an online persona that is bubbly, peppy and very charismatic even though in real life he's really an introvert. It just goes to show how contradictory people are online and offline.

If you're a fan of Lulzsec back in the day when they were at large and breaking into servers everywhere, you'll love this book because it lays to bare everything and puts it into perspective with all the insider info the author managed to compile. It includes viewpoints taken directly from the Lulzsec crew themselves, namely Topiary, and provides insight into their activities and how they eventually got caught. You're given the play by play of how it all went down, based on the irc chat logs and interviews. I felt like I was there among the elite hackers as they went through it all.

I've always wondered if the methods they were using at the time was infallible (VPNs) seeing as how they were rampaging around for a long time before the authorities finally clamped down on their operation. Now I know how unreliable VPN providers really are, especially when served with subpoenas on customer details, which most of them log to begin with, eliminating the so called "anonymity" that VPNs claim to provide in the first place. So it really brings to mind the fact that hackers will always get caught, at least until a better method is found. Or maybe you could just work for the Chinese or Russian Governments for total hacker immunity and protection.

The fact that most Hackers can't be trusted is drilled in even deeper with the revelations in this book. Even the Great Kevin Mitnick himself was taken down with the help/betrayal of other hackers (read:  Ghost in the Wires). Most hackers are like thieves, as in they're not the most honorable of people. They'll bail on their fellow hackers if they feel even remotely threatened in real life.

Overall 3.5 Stars. Great read. Recommended for those who love hacking, technology and the internet.

I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59

I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59
Author: Douglas Edwards
Genre: Business | Memoir | Non-fiction | Technology
Release Date: January 1st, 2011
GoodReads

I'm Feeling Lucky' is the story of the marketing director who led the charge to humanize what was otherwise a faceless search company that eventually grew to become the foremost industry leader.  Google as perceived by the public, with its oft-repeated mantra; 'Don't Be Evil' was due to the effort of one man, who strived to shape user perception through sheer word of mouth, partly because the Google Founders Larry and Sergey were too cheap to spend millions on marketing firms and partly to legitimize the public perception of Google as a "good" company who genuinely cares about its users. What better way to help spread that "natural branding" than through crowd sourcing and word of mouth?

I'm Feeling Lucky' starts from Douglas Edwards' experience joining Google in 1999 and ends when he finally leaves shortly after Google's IPO, when he finds that the company he helped shape no longer needed him. It's a truly profound and insightful look into the journey of the Search Giant from its early days cobbling together hundreds of cheap, disposable servers to power its search, to its eventual dominance because of its superior search algorithms that actually helped the user find what they were looking for, instead of trying to jack up advertisers' paid ads into the results like Overture (formerly known as GoTo) and Inktomi were doing. In fact, those two former juggernauts were eventually driven extinct because they could not compete with Google which continuously strived to bring relevant results to its search.  Larry and Sergey fought the entire time against paid ads, which they saw as being "evil" due to its misleading nature. They believed that if not done right, it could lead to Google selling out their soul and becoming "evil". They did not want to create another Microsoft.

Larry and Sergey were major topics in the book, not only because of their brilliance and farsighted vision of the future (so much so that they pretty much rejected any suggestion that went against their vision, and which later circumstances and success verified the validity of their foresight) but due to the fact that they rejected much of our narrator, Douglas Edwards' suggestions on how to shape the public image of Google. Douglas came from a creative background, a rare individual in a company full of technical engineers. He was also a lot older than the engineers in their twenties that populated the company, who had never worked a day in their life prior to joining the startup. This, along with their brilliance (most of them were Stanford Graduates) was what led them to consider new and untested ideas that made industry veterans like Douglas cringe and cry, "But it's too risky! It goes against everything we've been taught". This built-in mentality through decades of work experience was not an asset, rather than a detriment for a Googler. Douglas had to relearn everything just to fit in at the company and the early pages of the book were full of his complaints that nobody was doing or following his suggestions, and in fact they usually did the opposite. He eventually got over that phase once he learned to move at their speed rather than the old outdated mode of thinking that he brought from his old job. Larry and Sergey, along with their engineer cohorts were naive visionaries. They had no concept of failure or of something being out of bounds for not conforming to the tried-and-tested norm. They dared to dream, and dream big. Even though the Search Market was cornered by Inktomi at the time, they believed that their budding search engine had what it took to beat out the rest. They believed in helping users find information. They believed that everything should be done as efficiently as possible and that Search would help bring about that ideal.

"Efficiency, Frugality, Integrity. I would suppose if you had stitched that onto a flag, most Googlers would have saluted."

That phrase pretty much sums it all up. That's what they stood for in the early days when Douglas was still at the company. It's what made them so successful early on, that, and the tenacity to keep churning out great products that actually had value and were useful instead of the crap you see nowadays with purely intangible e-products that are time-wasters instead of efficiency-boosters.  It's why their stock value jumped into the hundreds instead of plummeting to the ground after the IPO like a certain social media giant with all its hype and no substance.

I can't recall how many times I use Google a day, but it's probably the most visited and by far the most useful site on the internet. It's where I go to find stuff I need, articles to read up on and answers to my questions when I need them and nobody else around can give me the info I need. My email goes through Gmail, I write up essays and articles just like this one every day on Google Docs or host them there as backups on Google Drive. Aside from Microsoft, Google is most useful to me for boosting productivity and getting things done.

Facebook, Twitter, Zynga and all that lame crap?  They're black holes of productivity. It's gotten to a point where their founders and chief engineers have gotten together to discuss the negative effects of spending so much time using their products. Yes, you've read that right. After making billions off of their users, they've finally decided to slow down and look at the bad, bad things they've done to millions of people who are addicted to their products. They've got money in the bank so maybe it's time to reflect? Naaah. It's probably just a PR stunt. They're still evil.

If you're looking for an amazing insider's view of how Google came to be, including all the ups and downs and the pressure of working inside one of the world's top companies, while still being accessible to the masses, this is the book for you. It's an incredible insight on how dreaming big, incredible planning and vision can help bring about the rise of one of a Giant.

Scores:
Overall: 9/10 (5 Stars)

In the Mail: Beyond The Wall Exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire

Woot woot it's finally here!

The other day I entered a contest that Ned Vizzini (author of Be More Chill, and It's Kind of a Funny Story) was hosting on his blog. He wanted us to put a little banner on our sites promoting his new book The Other Normals, and whoever did that would qualify to win a free signed copy of Beyond the Wall. I was fortunate enough to win one of the books! He shipped it out last week and it finally arrived in my mailbox all the way over here in Malaysia from the US. That was wicked fast. In fact with Eid happening tomorrow I was surprised at the timing because I was expecting it to arrive next month. Epic Duit Raya haha.

Beyond the Wall is an anthology of essays relating to G.R.R.M's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The authors contributing to the book include the Fantasy heavyweights R.A. Salvatore, Daniel Abraham and James Lowder, and the extremely talented Ned Vizzini who specializes in Young Adult Fiction. Did I mention that he has a new book coming out?

Here's the front cover with that cute lil' Direwolf.

Autograph by Nick Vizzini. "Climb that Wall!" 

Yes that's my real name. I have a real facebook account and tried to use Nouda but Facebook wouldn't let me so I tried a fake name instead for my secondary account.

Stylishly simple back cover. 

I'm not sure if this is reviewable material. I haven't done more than skim the contents but it seems like a collection of literary criticism essays of G.R.R.M.'s work by other authors aka book reviews by other great authors. I'll post little snippets later after each essay I read. I can't wait to start! For more info you can check out the Goodreads entry by clicking here.

To the Muslim readers of this blog, have a great Eid Mubarak tomorrow!