Adieu: Puzzle Pieces that Complete my 2010 (part 2)

JUNE-
New academic school year opens! We still have a few hours to complete at CMFR, so half of June has already passed when we finally had our few days of "vacation" (Lyceum AY starts on July). We're finally seniors, so we promised ourselves to make the best of it this year.

JULY-
We're official fourth year students, and it's sort of scary *LOL waves off Dorian Gray syndrome-y moment*. Best way to start this school year is to be part of history: we members of the LPUCC joined the International Photo Walk.

Scott Kelby- International Photo Walk 2010 (Philippines)

L to R: Jedy, me, Debbie, Rowland, and MJ

Also this month I finally met--in person--one of my fanfic writer friends from the info superhighway, Robyn. :) Photo here is from our first day at Xocolat (omg, I really adore that pineapple necklace teehee). :D

Xocolat's very cozy. :3 During those Hedonistic Mondays, we talked about fandoms and school life (and love life..sometimes) for hours. Those are some of my favorite Mondays, break from work. :)

And then yaay! I, along with Mamu and Debbie, joined the Lyceum Independent Sentinel. I got the Literary Editor position. :) Photo above is me  inside the office during one of the closed-door meetings eatings. LOL. I've never used the free locker for the staffers, although they reserved a space for me; I'm never really comfortable in leaving my things somewhere else other than my room. :P

One of the chaotic meetings of Sentinel. I'm pretty sure this is not taken on July, but every meeting the situation's almost always the same.

For the second time we covered a commemoration of the Maguindanao Massacre. In the event I met Mrs. Lisa Brooten, professor of Media Studies from Southern Illinois University, researching about Philippine media. Our conversation went something like this:

Prof. Brooten: You're a reporter?
Me: No, ma'am. Just a journalism student covering the event for our club.
Prof:  Ah. I'm a professor from SIU, *insert discussion about her media researchers here*
Me: Oh, I see. So until now the press in Vietnam is still in peril...
Prof Brooten: Yes. The state of Philippine Press is not that good too--if I were your parents I wouldn't let you take up Journalism, judging by the circumstances here.

Oh well. Before I took this course, I already know it'll be like suicide of some sort, if I'm not careful enough. :/

AUGUST-
Birthday of our first Sentinel issue! Yay! Also, our first staff workshop was held. THIS WORKSHOP IS WORTH 35,000PHP AND IS CHARGED FROM OUR BUDGET. /capsabuse. We only found out later in the year, and this practically made us broke. :( No big launching program for our Imagi books, but we'll have at least a soft launching. :/

Senti peeps after the worshop. :D

MJ (News Editor), me, Kristine (News reporter), Karlin (Associate Editor), Armon (Features reporter), and Maggie (Features Editor)

High light: I turned nineteen on the 24th. :) Not that big of a celebration, just a little gathering with the family. :) Really old now. LOL.

SEPTEMBER-

The -ber months are here! Juggling Sentinel and academics gets a little more complicated, but we are able to manage. This is not a lucky month for me, though, because I'm hospitalized. Dang asthma. -__-

OCTOBER-

First semester ends! Farewell, minor subjects that are quite a pain in the neck. :P

QUACK DOCTORS SCIENTISTS! (Are there such things? LOL) Me, Mamu, Nile, Jedi, and Gen. Last day of wearing our lab gowns. :D


The Lyceum Independent Sentinel held a formal photoshoot; if my memory serves me right, it's for the mid-year report for the Students Affairs Office. Photo above shows me with our News Editor MJ.


Graduating Editors. Debbie (Graphics and Layout Artist), me (Literary Editor), Rowland (Managing Editor 2), and Mamu Kit (Features Editor).


THE BIGGEST SECTION IN SENTINEL. Lol. Me and Raisa, the Assistant Literary Editor.


Wacky much? :P

Also this October I became a godmommy for the first time. :D Here's me, Mamu, and Elai at the christening of Eiffel Paris, first baby of our friend Nile. :)

The Spanish Galleon Andalucia docked in a Manila pier. Not letting this chance pass, we went to see it (because we roll like that hahaha). We didn't expect the queue to be sooo long. We waited for almost seven hours, and were met by bad weather at the end of the day so we couldn't go onboard. It's really not our day. :P We returned the next morning since we have no other choice.

NOVEMBER-

The main high light this month is the Sentinel Team Building. I really love this family we've established at school. :')

Me and Mamu cooking up a surprise at 3am for two of our co-staffers. Okay, let's be more honest--I'm just stirring and helping with the dishes. I don't know how to cook. Haha. :P

Dinner at the long table. I have to share a plate with Jerick for the whole duration of the Team Building because he forgot to bring his own, and he didn't like to eat on disposable ones. XD

Swimming! Wading and playing in the water, in my case, because I don't know how to swim. :P

One of the best moments in the team building.

With Debbie eating cookies n' cream ice cream by the pool. A few hours before we leave the resort, we're working on the "letters to staffers" activity here, which we should've finished the night before. Procrastination for the win! :D

First day of second sem. This is our last season! Jerick, Elai *clingy mode*, me, Mamu, and Debbie.

Elai, me, and Mamu. :))

*hug*

By the way, photo shoots for the graduation pictures began this month. After trying all the costumes for the creative shoot, I ended up as one giddy Pocahontas-that-isn't:

LOL. :P I should've thought of Mrs. Lovett!

With Elai after the shoot. She's so purrdy! :)

DECEMBER-

So here we go, last month of the year. Imaginaccion competition was held, so everyone's practically busy, from logistics to production. Not a lucky month for me again in terms of health; asthma's triggered more than thrice, and it has largely affected my Imagi work.Taking a break from Imagi work for a while, I attended the Christmas party of the graduating Journ-MassCom batch:

Elai, me, Gigz, Mamu, Nicah, Eunice, Ynna, and Ayen

Later that night, we went to UST for the Paskuhan:

And as a fun final trip of the club for the year, the LPUCC went to Enchanted Kingdom. It's my first time there. Felt like a child again. ;P

argh Kianah's tarantula legs cast shadow on my faaaace haha

ELAI GNASHING HER TEETH ahahaha. :)

Mamu's shot? Purrdy lights! :)

So there you go.
For me, this is one of the best years I spent in college. I learned a lot, mostly from my mistakes. This year has contributed a lot in my growing up and in my being more responsible, especially now that I have to think of something to do with my life after I graduate. :

Cheers, 2010! You've been a little harsh, but I say I've balanced it out with all the experiences and lessons you gave. Farewell!

And hello there, 2011. Bring it on. :P

Adieu: Puzzle Pieces that Complete my 2010 (part 1)

We're a few hours away from 2011! Inspired by a post by a certain undignified writer, I'm backtracking my 2010 in two parts. :)

JANUARY:
New year, new beginning! January kicks off on the last quarter of our junior year, with midterm exams quickly approaching. We busied ourselves over schoolwork, particularly for the projects we have in Economics, Retorika, and Humanities--this month's truly exhausting, but also fun. We slowly realized that we really enjoyed being juniors, and while we're happy to move on as seniors, we are still somewhat appalled of suddenly being the "ates" and "kuyas". Time ticks fast, indeed.

Here we have already finished delivering our speeches for our Retorika project.

L to R: Paolo, me, Debbie, and Benedict.

Alas, I don't have any photo from our E-heads play, so I will at least post here a midterm project I passed.

First time sculpting with white clay since kindergarten. Made of fail, but whatever! :P

The Lyceum Camera Club (now LPUCC), together with our photography professor's class, went for a trip to Corregidor. It's my first time here, and it's quite a memorable time too. Aside from Kianah's loud description of the island's shape--"it's shaped like SPERM!"--I kept on hearing snippets of ghost stories wherever I went, and Debbie would let out occasional screams and expletives whenever she's surprised or just when a little movement in the ruins caught her attention. Fun trip. :P

I forgot what caption/title I gave this, but this is my photo that's been featured in the exhibit for the College of Arts and Sciences Week, along with the other shots from LPUCC members.

Eliza and I resting inside a museum in Corregidor. Dang, I miss those braids. Haha.

Photo Walk at the Manila Bay after our Corregidor trip. Er, more precisely, after we ate at Teriyaki Boy, where our purses have been drained by the not-so-cheap meals. Apparently, they're blaming me because it was me who suggested we eat in a Japanese restaurant because I'm so, SO craving for California Maki that day. I enjoyed them so much that I didn't notice I've spent more than half of my remaining cash. We went home throwing unheard profanities at the restaurant--they directed some at me, to which I just chuckle--but everybody knew it has been a great day.

Also this January, I've been given an award in the literary contest of the school (Imaginaccion). Never did I think I'll be the one giving this contest during the new school year. :P Anyways, former Imaginaccion EIC (now Sentinel EIC) Kat Manapat said it's Ophelia Dimalanta who made me win the prize--she's an erotic writer after all, and she liked the erotic piece I've submitted. Ms. Dimalanta passed away this year, just before we can send her a letter to be a judge for the thirteenth Imaginaccion competition. T__T May your soul rest in peace, ma'am.

So that's pretty much what happened in January. I can't forget Eliza's birthday though (I'm just to lazy to go and browse my folders for the photos). After all that happened this year, I'll say that Eliza's truly become a lady (though sometimes, there's still moments of temper tantrums haha). *hint hint*

FEBRUARY-

Nothing much happened this month, aside from the mountains of school work that we need to finish as finals loom in our academic horizon. We don't forget to take a break though, and coincidentally, Rowland's birthday falls on one of those times (actually, no--we've been readying for this day so we can force him to have some sort of "celebration" haha!)

STARBUCKS BIRTHDAY! Debbie, Eliza, Jedy, Mamu, me, Rowland, and Yanna.

MARCH-

Finals month! We presented an Eraserheads-themed (sorta) musical play for our project for Humanities, which is pretty disastrous and at the same time hilarious. Sir Jet's been a cool teacher so we'll never forget him. I can't find photos for this though. :'( Anyway, we started hunting for OJT sites, and we've been through a lot of applications but ended up (fortunately) with our classmates at Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).

APRIL-

Start of internship at the CMFR! I was assigned to assist Ma'am Kat to organize the list for the JVO awarding as my first task. Experience here is really journalism training, though not the conventional way--we are monitoring what the journalists are saying, so basically we are watchdogs of watchdogs. Friends from other schools are made of awesome too. :)

MAY-

Still completing the 200-hour requirement for the internship. Me, Debbie, and Jen covered the sixth month commemoration of the Maguindanao massacre. Going back to this is somewhat painful, knowing that 2010 passed with the relatives of the victims still seeking for justice. Well that's the Filipina Lady Justice for you: blindfold disheveled, one eye flipped open, scales manipulated depending on which side has more influence and money. *sigh*

Debbie and Jen writing on the "Dear Noynoy" wall, asking for justice for the victims of the Maguindanao Massacre.

ABS-CBN reporter Gretchen Malalad lighting the candle of "Press Freedom" at the commemoration.

(to be continued...)

Review: Behemoth

Re-imagined stories have always arrested my attention—a bunch of retold fairytales, revamped legends, or alternate histories have become surprisingly refreshing all because modern authors discovered new formulas to put a wild spin on them. In my book, writers who can create new masterpieces with just the use of old material and excellent storytelling strategies receive two thumbs up. Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan takes the cake in my list of alternate histories, and so when I got my hands on its sequel, Behemoth, I’m really hoping that it will meet my high expectations set by Leviathan. And it did.

Behemoth picks up where Leviathan left off: World War I is brewing, and the Darwinist airship Leviathan is heading towards Constantinople (Istanbul) to finally deliver Dr. Nora Barlow’s cargo to the Sultan. Our main characters still struggle to protect their own identities from the world: Deryn/Dylan Sharp, a young and courageous girl posing as a boy in the British Air Force, tries hard to keep her male façade, which is slowly disintegrating; Aleksandar Ferdinand, son of the assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Princess Sophie Chotek, poses as a commoner as he is still on the run from the Germans who want to kill him. When the ship’s peacekeeping mission goes awry, Deryn takes a perilous mission to bring the Behemoth— the newest kraken-like beastie that the Darwinists created to bring triumph to the British camp—through the Dardanelles strait. Alek, meanwhile, escapes the airship after knowing that he and his men will be treated as prisoners of war after proven worthless. In Istanbul he bumps into and joins a paramilitary group with an aim to overthrow the incumbent Sultan. Deryn and Alek reunite in the City, and together they try to bring the war to a halt.

Once again, I’d like to commend Westerfeld’s skill in world-building. From a plunge into the Dardanelles to a frolic around the lively streets of Istanbul, Westerfeld effortlessly creates an intricate world that the readers can readily be drawn into. His descriptive prose is never flowery, but a concrete image of the setting would pop out immediately after you’ve read the words. Istanbul comes alive before your eyes, vividly festooned with a hodgepodge of different cultures and carefully strewn with new interesting characters.  The steampunk technologies and Darwinist creations introduced are pretty awe-inspiring too: the elephantine Dauntless, the turtle-legged Clanker bed, the goddess walker Sahmeran, the fearsome barnacles, the cute and shrewd Bovril, and of course, the enormous Behemoth. Like in Leviathan, you flip through a few pages of this and you’ll finally feel like you belong in this history.

As for the characters, there is a lot of growing up that happened. Deryn proves to be worthy of the trophy as my favorite character, with all her flaws finally becoming clearer—a remarkable percentage of it caused by her hormones alone. For a very tomboyish lassie she seems to be a little too girly when it comes to her puppy love sort of feelings for Alek, which has developed after an awkard, brotherly hug back in Leviathan. Be that as it may, she’s still the tough girl that we see in the prequel. Alek on the other hand doesn’t think about his love life at all; he is set to bring peace to Europe and Asia as soon as possible. I like Alek’s new attitude—it’s like he’s writing his own bildungsroman, and he knows it. What I’m a little peeved and amused about is Alek’s blind faith in the Providence. I hope this--and something more about religion--will be addressed further in the third installment. All in all, both the characters are slowly being emotionally attaching to the readers, though more fleshing out (at least in Alek's case) wouldn't hurt.

The pace is as always fast and action-filled, though I think people who don’t like anything much about mechas (of the steampunk sort especially) would find the action scenes a little dragging. I’ve read about them before so I enjoyed every battle scene—my favorite would have to be when the Committee and our duo try to bring down the gigantic Tesla cannon that’s about to annihilate the Leviathan. Everything is just made of awesome. :3 (Whoops, I fell in a fangirly pit! Sorry!)

I’d be patiently waiting for the third installment, Goliath.

PS: How could I forget the cool illustrations of Keith Thompson? They are as beautiful and intricate as the ones in Leviathan, and they make me more engaged in reading. :3

Review: Zombies Vs. Unicorns (Round One)

ZOMBIES VS. UNICORNS ROUND ONE!
Story Reviews for Nix and Johnson
from Zombies Vs. Unicorns Anthology 

___

The Highest Justice
by Garth Nix  


Flipping the first pages of this anthology brought nostalgia in the air—Garth Nix, one of my favorite fantasy writers, is the first to tell a story supposedly for Holly Black’s side. But I refuse to consider “The Highest Justice” defending Team Unicorns since it contains both a unicorn and a zombie, which in my opinion breaks the rules. Anyway, I think this is an enthralling opener for the collection and I instantly felt the same magic Nix’s pen always does in world-building—I felt like being transported back to his other worlds, particularly the medieval-esque Old Kingdom (which kind of made me miss the early 20th century Ancelstierre, the city that is put in juxtaposition with it). There’s some sort of unconventional necromancy involved so it isn’t that hard to connect it to Sabriel.

“The Highest Justice” is the story of a grief-stricken princess who brings her dead Queen mother back to life—zombify is the correct term—with an aid of a unicorn. She seeks for justice, knowing that her mother is poisoned by the latest mistress of her womanizing father.

This is a rather old tale, at least something with an ending that you would’ve expected from the start. Be that as it may, I liked it because it felt so…inspired, and is utterly poignant. There’s also this little trick that Nix always used, one that I personally call the “teensy jot of romance”. Nix writes YA, but he doesn’t bask entirely in romance; he provides little teasing bits of it, and he would let the readers decide if there’s going to happen to that little spark or it will simply die out in the end. A definitely good read!
____

Love Will Tear Us Apart
by Alaya Dawn Johnson 


I know that gushing is not appropriate here unless I want to make this a faux review, but whatever! I loved this story so much it isn’t even funny. I was a bit unconvinced that this zombie story will click with my taste when I read the introductory post—Justine Larbalestier said bluntly that this is unique, because the next author had created a breed of zombies that can fall in love. After that, I was like rolling my eyes and shrugging, muttering something about the insane idea of brainless shambling creatures having emotions--but I want to go on with it anyway because it has been ages since I read a proper zombie tale. And you know what? I read the first paragraph and knew in an instant that I’m a goner.

Initially, I was fairly astonished. From Garth Nix’s familiarly tranquil flow of storytelling, I was catapulted—without any warning—into a crassly comedic writing of Alaya Dawn Johnson…and I liked it. It’s so contrasting, how they treat both their stories, and it almost felt I was trying a couple of gourmet dishes from different countries.

Speaking of food analogies, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is chock-full of them. The story is told from the point of view of Grayson, a homosexual boy infected with ZSE (Zombie Spongiform Encephalopathy), a rare disease akin to MCD that makes him want to eat humans. I got excited when I read that part—Larbalestier wasn’t kidding when she said this isn’t about the voudin-possessed or the Romero flick zombies! It's refreshing to know that there’s a science fiction-ish element being involved, making Grayson more like a half-zombie of some sort.

Grayson is extremely fond of the sexually (and gustatorily) attractive lacrosse player and son of ex-CIA agent, Jack. The rather complicated harmony of their friendship is sent haywire when Jack sets off reluctantly to kill Grayson. This is a rollercoaster ride of sarcasm, love, hatred and lust, accompanied by a head-bopping soundtrack that you’d truly appreciate if you’re a music lover.

The story felt like a novella for me, and it helps that it is actually divided into mini-chapters—some of which contains Grayson’s flashbacks or just some funny asides. Admittedly, some of these felt like commercials, killing the build-up of the story for a while and then throwing you back to it without any caution (a zombifying technique of storytelling, anyone?). Nevertheless, the story is still amazing for me. Johnson managed to create characters that the readers would care about in just a few pages.

An amazing read! :D
____

MY VERDICT:
Team Unicorns- 0
Team Zombies- 1

Note: because, again, I don't consider Nix's story to be defending Team Unicorns, and the Queen zombie in his tale is creepily remarkable too. :) I love both the stories above. :P
SEE YOU IN ROUND TWO!

I am not Peter Pan

That's what I have to tell myself repeatedly. I grow up, and so does everyone.

I'm not the only one who felt this way when the Christmas season tumbled on our busy paths, dropping there like a small blockade to make us stop--to make the whirlwinds of activities that make us forget stop--and to make us ponder. We're old now, and the simplest things that used to paint smile on our faces when we were just wee things can't do their magic anymore. These are the thoughts that I ploughed out of my in-denial-brain after reading this post by a friend.

I took walks when I'm upset or when I need to think, usually during the early evening. Once, during one of these walks, I watched lively little children singing their hearts out in front of a small house, clanging their bottle cap-tambourines and hitting their spoons and forks together. Through their out-of-tune carols and unintelligible lyrics, you will see in their smiles that they're happy. Just a couple of coins, just a single toy or candy can make them giggle. You'll see it in their eyes. You'll see in them who you once were several years ago, where all the works and all the burdens you are bearing on your shoulders right now are non-existent.

And then I shook my head and chided myself: what the heck am I thinking? That I wish I'm in some kind of Neverland, that I wish I'm a kin of Peter Pan and I'll stay young forever? Screw this Dorian Gray Syndrome-y moment. I don't need this.

Not when I have a lot of responsibilities to perform, not when my to-do list is mile-long. Actually, not ever.

It's okay to reminisce the Christmases we spent as children, and I think so does wishing to be a kid again. After all, what we want is a few minutes of escape from the tedious and tiring world of adulthood. Away from the editing stuff, away from the unfinished thesis, away from all the brain-cracking problems that surround us when we wake up and go on with our lives.

But then we  resurface to our Now, and just chuckle and shake our heads because daydreaming time is over, and we had our share of escape already by just thinking about it.

When I was a kid I didn't believe that Christmas is just for children. Now that I'm a grown up, I still don't think Christmas is just for children.

Sure, we are not as easily pleased as before, but that doesn't mean we cannot enjoy our Christmases too. Today--wait, it's the twenty-sixth already--so yesterday, I found myself smiling at my throng of noisy nephews and nieces as they receive their aguinaldos and gifts from their godmoms and goddads. I found myself smiling at the complete home I have, with everyone inside busy preparing the food on the table. I found myself smiling because after all the toilsome months, here we are still, celebrating a special day together.

Christmas isn't just for kids--it's for everyone, and it's especially for Jesus Christ. Here's what I believe, in the words of Eric Sevareid: "Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.”

No time for dilly-dallying

Unlike my Christmas vacations for the past few years, this year's wouldn't be much of a time for rest and dilly-dallying. We've got the Imaginaccion literary folio to work on, a few projects and assignments to finish (i.e. the miniature stage and love story scripts for our drama elective, reports in our minors JPL and Rizal, etc), and a bunch of books to read. Just thinking about the works to be done makes me feel the vacation is way too short. Classes will resume on January 3, which is made of fail if you think about it--so early! :( But we have no choice. Double time! }:(

I'm still not done with my Imaginaccion contributions, yet I dedicated this day to a lot of rest and sleep. I desperately needed to have a few hours in dreamland to restore the energy I've lost during the final Hell week for prelims. I'm feel a bit recharged now. Work work work!

The photo above describes my life for a string of sleepless nights after the literary contest. The illustrations are  supposed to be for the inside cover of the Imaginaccion, but I have to repeat them because our graphics and layout artist had a new idea. :/ Anyway, having books near me like Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld is totally inspiring me, though sometimes they act like some sort of a double-edged sword. Sometimes I pick them up while I'm working, studying the illustrations....then after a few minutes I'll find myself continuing the novel. The work? Forever unfinished. Hahaha!

Oh well. I have to finish them by Monday because our G&L artist is going to lay out everything by then. I hope everything goes well. We're considering transferring from our current publishing house to Sir Eros Atalia's, which seems to be made of awesome. :D

Review: Leviathan

The Great War of 1914: Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Princess Sophie Chotek were assassinated in Sarajevo, throwing the world in chaos—Austria-Hungary declared war against Serbia. But don’t yawn yet—this isn’t the same ho-hum story we students are required to read in our history books. Science fiction author Scott Westerfeld took this little chunk of World War I, threw it in a cauldron with juicy tidbits of steampunk, fantasy, and young adult literature, and let it bubble until the magic that was the Leviathan was born.

Leviathan kicks off at the cusp of the war between the Clankers (Central Powers), countries that use monstrous steam-powered machineries in battle; and the Darwinists (Entente Powers), countries that use creatures genetically engineered for combat. The main story revolves around two teenagers. Aleksandar Ferdinand runs away from the Germans who killed his parents, leaving Hapsburg with nothing but a battered Stormwalker and a crew of loyal men. Deryn Sharp, a Scottish girl, disguises as a boy to be accepted in the British Air Force. After a series of mishaps and misadventures, they cross paths and set off in a bigger voyage aboard the airship Leviathan, changing both their lives forever.

One thing that’s hard not to notice about Westerfeld is that he’s an amazing world-builder. In his Uglies series, the readers are taken into a post-scarcity dystopian realm and are introduced to wondrous technologies, i.e. the techno-version of Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak (the sneak suits) or the floating skateboards we’ve loved from the Back to Future flicks (the hoverboards). Now, in Leviathan, he takes the readers to a breathtaking ride to a believable setting in the past, where eight-legged frigates and traveling ecosystems are part of the norm. The world just unfolds magically under his pen—everything is alive! That’s plus points in my book.

Leviathan is more plot-driven than character-driven, what with the historical bits that served as its main backbone. Its fast pace will keep you turning pages, and you’ll hunger for more development about the characters and their relationships. The characters need more fleshing out, but I think that’ll be left to the sequels; this is, after all, the “launching” point of the whole trilogy so the stage must be set properly before the actors can get in fully. Anyway, Deryn/Dylan is a rather likable heroine—she’s Mulan-ish, considering her daddy issues and her boy-disguise story—and she’s so far my favorite. About Prince Aleksandar, let’s see what he’ll be in the sequels. I can’t feel him that much, and that’s saying something because I’m supposed to at least empathize with him, being orphaned and all.

This is an astonishingly cool read. I half-expected it to be boring, since Uglies has its own dry moments and this book has historical basis. Westerfeld proved me wrong. XD I’m engrossed from the very first page. As I’ve said in my previous posts, I recommend this to people who don’t mind reading YA novels with small romance—anyone out there whose cup of tea is historical fiction will enjoy this. Anyway, for consolation, I’m seeing lots of puppy love hints in the sequel Behemoth, which I’ve started a couple of days ago. You romantic bookworms might enjoy this after all, but don’t expect too much.

PS: The story is enhanced by the Victorian manga-style illustrations of Keith Thompson. You wouldn’t regret buying this book for those precious pages—they make the reading experience more enjoyable!

The few words that made my day..or WEEK. :)

Keith Thompson, artist of all the wonderful sketches in Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan and Behemoth, replied to my email and said he loves my blog (this tumblelog—which is full of childish doodles, hundred thousand notches below the caliber of his drawings).

LOL, I emailed while I was in a fangirl frenzy after leafing through his illustrations in Behemoth, and I didn’t expect him to answer or anything. It seems like not a very big deal, but I sort of need inspiration now—have to make illustrations for our literary folio. THIS is indeed an inspiration.

Victorian Manga: K.Thompson's Masterpieces

Traipsing around sci-fi author Scott Westerfeld's head is already a fun roller coaster ride in itself--the only requirement is good, wide imagination to bring his marvelous worlds to life. His groundbreaking Uglies series worked for me that way. Now, I was catapulted from the post-scarcity dystopian world of Uglies into the steampunk world of Leviathan in 1914, just on the cusp of World War I. I know that Leviathan can work like how the Uglies worked for me...my passport to new pretty town, after all, is just my creativity. But then there appeared several charcoal sketches as I go on with the novel, and I thought excitedly: "a boon for the hungry eyes and the tired mind! Just exactly what I need!"

They're very awe-inspiring, so intricate and yet so clean. I read somewhere before that Thompson's style is called "victorian manga". I think it's a perfect term for the illustrations: there's the blending of the old fashioned victorian style and that of modern Japanese anime drawings (minus the big puppy eyes and all)--very much like the concept of a steampunk story--blending the future and the past. Sometimes I study the illustrations, imagining how carefully Thompson must have been. Most of the time, though, I find myself stuck, not turning the pages and adoring the creative outputs as long as possible.

And because I consider myself one of Thompson's fangirls now, there's no harm in giving him a space in my blog. Here are some of his works from the books Leviathan and Behemoth:

I'll be rewarded with more Thompson drawings when the third book in the series, Goliath, is released. Can't wait!