The Lucius Flux

Flux Reviews: The Dalek Generation by Nicholas Briggs

9:53 pm

Title: The Dalek Generation
Author: Nicholas Briggs
Publication Date: April 2 2013
Publisher: Broadway Books
Format: Paperback
Price: ₱--- (Philippines) - $7.95 (Amazon)

Plot Synopsis:

"The Sunlight Worlds Offer You A Life of Comfort and Plenty. Apply now at the Dalek Foundation."

Sunlight 349 is one of countless Dalek Foundation worlds, planets created to house billions suffering from economic hardship. The Doctor arrives at Sunlight 349, suspicious of any world where the Daleks are apparently a force for good – and determined to find out the truth. The Doctor knows they have a far more sinister plan – but how can he convince those who have lived under the benevolence of the Daleks for a generation?

But convince them he must, and soon. For on another Foundation planet, archaeologists have unearthed the most dangerous technology in the universe...

The Review

"The Sunlight Worlds Offer You A Life of Comfort and Plenty. Apply now at the Dalek Foundation."

Pffft, "life of comfort and plenty" my time-travelling arse. We all know that the only good Dalek is a dead Dalek--with the exception of Rusty, Rusty's cool. (and not even then)

Yes, from what you can see in the cover it's another fantastic adventure featuring the 11th Doctor played by Matt Smith in the BBC series! :D unfortunately/fortunately he doesn't have Amy, Rory, Lady Vastra, Clara or any of his usual companions with him, which would've been nice since that's when we usually see his funny and eccentric side. But his having a companion is a nice break from the show.

If you don't know who the Doctor is (Come onnnn, go and watch it NOOOW! :D ) He's this time-travelling sociopath-like Time Lord who travels through time and space in a big blue police box called that T.A.R.D.I.S. that's bigger on the inside than in the outside. He also likes to meddle in people's crap.

Here you'll see more of the Doctor's toned-down (yet still wacky), less hyper-y-not-really personality, there weren't a lot of his iconic weird-ass parts that you see in the show but eh, but his protective, caring side also shows as he tries to protect a bunch of children from a crashing ship and police custody which really makes you go "Awwwwwwwwww".

Certainly fast paced and you can really imagine this being an episode with David Tennant or Matt Smith during the latest seasons, would've been nice if the author added some ambiguity in describing things like the Daleks or the Doctor or the TARDIS even though we know exactly what and who they are, kind of like some kind of novelty in the writing style, eh?

A very ancient monument in a cruel planet whose use is unknown: destruction, or creation? Daleks running planets preceding to be good, and the Doctor just "happens" to land in said planet with the monument, and really? Daleks running worlds and doing good? Sorry, still can't get over that.

Plays out very well, could even be an episode in Doctor Who! The pacing and action and eccentricity is similar to the show and it shows us all the good morals in the show. Like the fact that all your liked characters die and it basically becomes an emotional roller coaster. Very Doctor Who. So Get this book while you wait for series 9 this September, because all I can say is: "You can't have too many Daleks, eh?"

The Doctor nodded. Time travel did this kind of thing to him all the time. That was the nature of it. A twisty-turning thing that would tangle your hearts in barbs if you let it.

In the control room of the ship, the Doctor was screaming. The Ship was vibrating like it was the end of the world, every circuit seems to be blowing and everything not welded to the spot was rattling, crashing and smashing to the deck.

"Geeeerrronimooooooooooo!”

My Rating:

5 out of 5 Fallen stars

#LuciusFlux

Captain's Log #7: The Doctor and the Possible Dalek Genocide Opinions

3:50 pm

WARNING!

Lots of ranting and talking and talking and digressions and throughly explained and discussed topics ahead. Do NOT read if you get bored or disinterested easily.

SPOILERS

Season 12: Genesis of the Daleks Part 6: The Doctor is faced with the decision of destroying the Dalek incubation room, by touching the two wires linked to explosives, he can prevent the Last Great Time War, the invasions and destruction of countless worlds and species. But just when he's about to commit a the deed, he is faced with a moral dilemma.

Sarah Jane Smith: Well, what are you waiting for?
Doctor Who: Just touch these two strands together and the Daleks are finished. Have I that right?
Sarah Jane Smith: To destroy the Daleks? You can't doubt it.
Doctor Who: Well, I do. You see, some things could be better with the Daleks. Many future worlds will become allies just because of their fear of the Daleks.
Sarah Jane Smith: But it isn't like that.
Doctor Who: But the final responsibility is mine, and mine alone. Listen, if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?
Sarah Jane Smith: We're talking about the Daleks, the most evil creatures ever invented, you must destroy them! You must complete your mission for the Time Lords!
Doctor Who: Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear, in peace, and never even know the word Dalek.
Sarah Jane Smith: Then why wait? If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate.
Doctor Who: But if I kill, wipe out a whole intelligent lifeform, then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks.

My Views On This:

I can see the Doctor's reluctance at genocide, having experienced/will have experienced it firsthand in the future, seeing millions and billions of lives destroyed and ruined, he doesn't want to stoop to the level of the bastardly, dastardly Daleks. You yourself would fear to become father who hits your own child when you received the same treatment in your early years, you would recoil and be appalled at what you did or almost did.

From what we see in the New Who-era of Eccleston, Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi, they have gone through the Time War and 'seen' Gallifrey and the Daleks 'burn', he has that in his conscience, the sheer weight of the deed and he never wants that to happen again (which he can prevent by killing all the Daleks, but more of that laterrr), he became more peace-keeping and an advocate of non-violence confrontations to a higher degree because of his experience.

The morality of killing them all, to stoop to the level of a Dalek, killing machines without remorse traveling through the cosmos killing millions of lifeforms, his most dedicated and formidable enemy, it simply won't do. He won't have him being compared to a machine devoid of emotions committing genocide even if it's for a noble cause (which is of an abstract concept depending from person to person and is relative to societies and so on and so forth, which I will explain in a later date, and not here). To the Daleks, the extermination of all life that is not Dalek is their most noble and central goal, to the Doctor the saving and preventing of deaths and all things bad is noble to him, but not to others, etc etc, it's very relative.

BUT! To the main body of this argument/opinion/thing is that if the Doctor touched the two wired and destroyed the incubating room therefore destroying the Dalek race forever, he would have saved multiple planets, billions and even trillions of lives throughout the Universe, the Last Great Time War would never have happened, Gallifrey would still be there. But as he said "You see, some things could be better with the Daleks. Many future worlds will become allies just because of their fear of the Daleks." and indeed many good things would sprout from the evil of their abominable race, alliances formed, friendships strengthened, technology developed for the greater good etc etc, which is all very similar to the famous argument "What would happen if WWII didn't happen?". He does not want to change the future for fear of fucking it up in the process, things could very well change, the Daleks could be replaced with an even more bastardly race of super Nazis. It is possible that he wants this timeline/Universe to stay as it is because he knows what the future is, what kind of destruction it will bring and there's a kind of certainty, like would you rather have a toy that you're absolutely sure will be like the toy you want, or would you rather have a Kinder Surprise and a random toy, you won't know if it will be shit or if it will be good. You obviously play safe and pick the badass 11th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver and not the blind-bag pack.

Aaaand, he could see a spark, perhaps a vision of them doing good, he's giving them a second chance, he doesn't want to kill them all and then it turns out "Whoops! Turns out in the 420th century they help the Humans in their habitation problems blah blah blah" He wants to know if there is a possibility of them being nice (Which, if you've watched enough Who you'd know is complete bullocks).

In my honest opinion, he should've killed all these buggers, would've saved him lotsa time and effort, lotsa lives and planets and collateral damage and emotional trauma. It would've been a better world without them but the same could also be said of humans being gone from the 21st century, with all our pollution and making animals extinct and all.

"The end justifies the means." Says Niccolo Machiavelli, which in this case is peace throughout the Universe. If you have a strong sense of conviction or an ideology that is not confined to that of society, then this action could've been carried out smoothly.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

Genocide or GeNOcide?

COMMENT DOWN BELOW :)

#LuciusFlux

Flux Reviews: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

5:11 pm

Title: The House of Silk
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Publication Date: October 2 2012
Publisher: Mulholland
Format: Paperback pocketbook
Price: ₱315 (Philippines) - $10.17 (Amazon)

Plot Synopsis:

London, 1890. 221B Baker St. A fine art dealer named Edmund Carstairs visits Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson to beg for their help. He is being menaced by a strange man in a flat cap - a wanted criminal who seems to have followed him all the way from America. In the days that follow, his home is robbed, his family is threatened. And then the first murder takes place.

THE HOUSE OF SILK bring Sherlock Holmes back with all the nuance, pacing, and almost superhuman powers of analysis and deduction that made him the world's greatest detective, in a case depicting events too shocking, too monstrous to ever appear in print....until now.

The Review

“We’re all on the road to ruin but some are further ahead than others.”

This is certainly one of the most known and well recommended Sherlock Holmes pastiche (An artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.) book that I know of, the others are the Sherlockian and the Papers of Sherlock Holmes Vol 1 and 2 (I have both of them at hand, yissss). When I came across this book in an airport bookstore in South Korea, I instantly grabbed it!

Following the adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in 1890 London, Watson tells of two fantastic and singular cases that are so closely intertwined that he cannot tell the one without the other. Starting rather normally with your everyday crime of having a train car being blown apart with dynamite and valuable paintings being destroyed, a stalker with a flat cap staring into the house, and then it goes down hill with a major conspiracy and a dastardly bastardly organization. After this story I don't know why don't they just give it all up? Sooooo much shit and then more, and then more, and so much drama.

The House of Silk was certainly one of the most baffling and intriguing Sherlock Holmes stories I have read beyond the Conan Doyle Canon, quite fascinating. The Watsonian Voice was very much real here, you might sometimes forget that this wasn't written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself! Their adventure and personalities here spoke Victorian England and Jeremy Brett and David Burke from the Granada series Sherlock Holmes. The action was fast paced, gun fights, dog cart chases, being suddenly stabbed, and almost dying! And the deductions and mysteries are more impossible then ever with them in the prime of their careers and a mysterious organization called the House of Silk, even the name doesn't give you much.

Although some parts might be a bit too adventurous or too BBC, like too many dramatic encounters and gun shooting, but it all blends nicely to the writing style, it makes you sit on the edge of your seat and read this until the morning (Trust me, this has happened before XD)! It's just over 300 pages which is a lot for a case or even two, but it's done so well and seamlessly that it works!

Let me tell you here, the Johnlock in this book is sky high! You'd be like "Are you sure John's not gay?" Watson's writing this down years and years after the event, wanting to write it down before he forgets and because he deems that the public is now ready and needs to know it more than ever. Not really a spoiler or that important to the plot so, yeah. Just so you know, Johnlock peeps. (Unfortunately, no Irene Adler scenes here)

There werrrrrre some interesting af plot twists that made me go "WHAT! Wait what?!" and I've seen mind-blowing plot-twists so that's really something, makes Holmes's skills at deductions even more wizard-like and incredible.

And get this: WATSON'S NOT JUST SAYING "How the deuce did you deduce that, Holmes? *wide eyed stare* " HE GOES AND HELPS HOLMES AND IS VERY ESSENTIAL FOR THE PLOT!

This is a definite must have for any Sherlockian and Holmesian in their Consulting Detective library! Sit back, relax, and put on your deerstalker and get your pipe: The game is afoot!

“For all men are equal at the moment of death and who are we to judge them when a much greater judge awaits?”

“There are, I think, occasions when you know that you have arrived at the end of a long journey, when, even though your destination is still concealed from sight, you are somehow aware that when you turn the corner that lies just ahead of you, there it will be.”

My Rating:

5 out of 5 Fallen stars

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Flux Reviews: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

10:21 pm

Title: The Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Publication Date: 1986
Publisher: Del Rey
Format: Paperback pocketbook
Price: ₱315 (Philippines) - $8.54 (Amazon)

Plot Synopsis:

The Fellowship is scattered. Some are bracing hopelessly for war against the ancient evil of Sauron. Some are contending with the treachery of the wizard Saruman. Only Frodo and Sam are left to take the accursed Ring of Power to be destroyed in Mordor--the dark Kingdom where Sauron is supreme. Their guide is Gollum, deceitful and lust-filled, slave to the corruption of the Ring.

The Review

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Above is the full poem, because you've probably heard of the "One Ring to rule them all . . ." line, which is engraved on the One Ring of Power and a variation of the first four lines are said by Lady Galadhriel in the Fellowship movie.

The second volume to J.R.R. Tolkien's larger book Lord of the Rings, it follows where the Fellowship of the Ring left off:

The Fellowship is separated, some go to the North-East, towards Mordor, a few follow a trail to Gondor, towards the South-East, yet there are those who are lost in a forest dark and full of walking trees and ancient Ents. And one, one fell to the darkness.

And who they thought was a powerful ally, is not who he seems. An army is gathering that to rival the Orcs of Mordor but not to oppose it. Together, with the might of Sauron and this betrayer of Middle-Earth, none can stop them.

Mr. Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee of the Shire must brave the wilderness a La Bear Grylls-but-not-really-Bear Grylls because-they-won't-eat-Honey Badger-intestines-or-drink-their-own-piss kinda crap, step by step, dreading their final destination, and behind their backs lurks the pitiable creature Gollum, who desires to take the Ring no matter what.

Cities of old, ruins, deep forests, beautiful caverns will our adventurers discover, bromances will grow, and we'll finally know what the hell happened at the end of the Fellowship of the Ring, because J.R.R. Tolkien left out an an important part (it was in the Fellowship of the Ring movie) from that book, and it feels like multiple arrows in us. *badum tss*.

As much as I liked the previous book, this one to me was slightly better. Not saying that the series has this first place, second place, third place-thing, not really, because the books were written very solidly and with consistently being amazing in all three books. But here we see our characters develop more and more, the timid becomes brave, the gardener shows signs of becoming an amateur poet, resolves strengthen, new friends are met and new foes are fought, and we get to see more background information on the Fellowship's members, more history, we find out what Rohan (land of the horse-lords) and Gondor looks like, and more AWESOMENESS!

Bunch of guys kicking ass

Here you see some relationships forming and growing *cough* Legolas and Gimli's bromance *cough*, since the first book was more chill than this one, here our characters will be tested and here we'll find out their mettle.

This is the book where more of the action kicks off, battles here and there, foul orcs ravaging villages and homesteads, mounted Rohirrim charging disorganized lines of enemies, and a friend who was thought to be dead is back again, for now he is still needed by the hobbits, and others of the Company. The first part revolves around the rest of the fellowship, while the latter part focuses more on Frodo and Sam's journey into Mordor.

Tolkien weaves us a tapestry of a fair land torn by war, of the destruction of the orcs, the richly beautiful land of Middle-Earth, the people, and of his legendarium (which is what this whole quadruple rainbow of a background to his Lord of the Rings!)

Times are dire as their time runs out, can Frodo reach Mt. Doom in Mordor and end this journey? Will the Fellowship unite again? And might the elves and dwarfs and humans once again forge an alliance like that of old, for the sake of their freedom? I dunno about you, but why the hell would there be a third volume in the book when all seems bleak? I dunno, I'm not Tolkien. *shrugs shoulders*

“Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one, of course, but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring!" And they will say: "Yes, that's one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn't he, dad?" "Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that's saying a lot."'It's saying a lot too much,' said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. 'Why, Sam,' he said, 'to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. "I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, would he, dad?"''Now, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'you shouldn't make fun. I was serious.''So was I,' said Frodo, 'and so I am.”

“Don't go where I can't follow!”

My Rating:

4 out of 5 Fallen stars

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Flux Reviews: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

5:46 am

Title: Asylum
Author: Madeleine Roux
Publication Date: August 26 2014
Publisher: Harper
Format: Paperback
Price: ₱359 (Philippines) - $5.23 (Amazon)

Plot Synopsis:

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, the New Hampshire College Prep program is the chance of a lifetime. Except that when Dan arrives, he finds that the usual summer housing has been closed, forcing students to stay in the crumbling Brookline Dorm—formerly a psychiatric hospital. As Dan and his new friends Abby and Jordan start exploring Brookline's twisty halls and hidden basement, they uncover disturbing secrets about what really went on here . . . secrets that link Dan and his friends to the asylum's dark past. Because Brookline was no ordinary mental hospital, and there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

The Review

“It was a house for those who could not take care of themselves, for those who heard voices, who had strange thoughts and did strange things. The house was meant to keep them in. Once they came, they never left.”

I actually bought this a couple of months ago, lent it to my friend Godwin from Machinations of My Muddled Mind (Thanks again! :D ) to get signed, and i just got it back this week! XD I've been meaning to read this for a while, some people say it's a good series to start reading after Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and it look creepy and interesting as hell, and I have it now, so why not? (Also, two words: BOOK. SLUMP.)

This is the first book in Madeleine Roux's Asylum trilogy, with Sanctum as it's sequel, and the upcoming Catacombs coming out this September!

It follows the POV of Daniel Crawford who's going to summer school at NHCP, and his guess where his dorm room is or what it was? You guessed it, an asylum! Because it's always a good idea to put college dudes in a building that used to perform lobotomy and experiments on insane or disabled patients! :D Did I mention that it used to house a serial killer?

What I like a lot about this book is that it has pictures from asylums, people getting experimented on, abandoned rooms, and all that creepy crap! It's like Miss Peregrine's except there aren't any young kids there with superpowers like going through walls or controlling bees that come from inside you!

Mysteries begin to pile up, ghost emails, pictures popping up with grotesque images of doctors and nurses restraining patients, almost-normal-pictures but with scratched out eyes and contorted nurse-necks. The old office still containing phones, files, and pictures, as if the people there left in a hurry, strange eerie notes, is this just them getting hallucinations and nightmares about gurneys and being operated on? And when a student get's murdered in the dorm, it raises the question: Is the serial killer still alive? Every chapter gives you more questions to ask and less time to figure them out.

But he has the help of Abby Valdez (Not related to Leo Valdez, unfortunately) and the kind-of-an-asshole-but-not-really Jordan, who are really cool and they just seem like a good trio!

Finished it in a day and a half, that's how intriguing the story is! With so many riddles and puzzles you'll feel the need to read all of it. I definitely recommend this to someone who's read Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrines, or for anyone who wants a YA about an asylum turned into a school! Word of advice though, try not to read this at night, all alone with your back to the rest of your room. Trust me, your non-peripheral vision will play tricks with you. Out of the corner of your eye . . .

“Sometimes, Dan, friends have to take a stand and say:Hey, idiot, we’re here for you no matter what. We’re notgoing to disappear when you get grumpy or angry, we’re inthis for the long haul. We’re in this for each other.”

Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage.

My Rating:

4 out of 5 Fallen stars

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Flux Reviews: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

6:01 am

Title: The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Publication Date: August 12 1986
Publisher: Del Rey
Format: Paperback pocketbook
Price: ₱315 (Philippines) - $8.99 (Amazon)

Plot Synopsis:

The dark, fearsome Ringwraiths are searching for a Hobbit. Frodo Baggins knows that they are seeking him and the Ring he bears—the Ring of Power that will enable evil Sauron to destroy all that is good in Middle-earth. Now it is up to Frodo and his faithful servant, Sam, with a small band of companions, to carry the Ring to the one place it can be destroyed: Mount Doom, in the very center of Sauron’s realm.

The Review

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is definitely one of the most famous Fantasy/High Fantasy book ever published, It's also one of the most well known and best-selling novel ever written (Or at least, Smeagol/Gollum is, with his raspy/creepy/rapey voice saying "My precioussssssss") It is safe to say that J.R.R. Tolkien not only created an instant classic that has (and will) persist years and years, but that he influenced many great writers and stories.

This is, of course, the continuation to the Hobbit (and the Silmarillion, if you want to read up on the beginning of it all, literally the beginning of it all), the tale of Bilbo Baggins (Frodo's uncle) thirteen dwarfs, the wizard Gandalf the Grey, their trip to the Lonely Mountain and their quaint tea party with the vicious fire-breathing dragon Smaug. But that's a book review for a later time. (The ordering of my releasing these reviews is fucked up, I know, I apologize XD).

A new shadow is growing in the east in the dark land of Mordor where the Dark Lord Sauron is gathering his forces to cover the world in shadow. The quaint Shire is an unlikely start to an epic adventure, but the hobbits Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee must--alongside a strange assortment of companions--must bring the ring to the very heart of the enemy's land to destroy it and rid Middle-Earth of Sauron's black malice and evil. The time for peace and biscuits is past, the War of the Rings, has begun.

Their traveling brings them into contact with both strange creatures and conflicts, High Elves wandering in the forests, menacing riders in black, a ranger, dwarfs (Or dwarves, or dwarrows), the Dark Lord, Gollum, orcs, a nameless fear. The world of Middle-Earth is full of strange creatures beyond count, some are good, some are evil, and there are those in between.

Early on in the book, Frodo Baggins get's a heavy burden, one that literally decide the destiny of thousand, and even millions of creatures and the fate of Middle-Earth itself. Jeez, classes haven't even gotten serious and I'm already under pressure--and that's only for my future!

Although throughout the course of the book (and the books to come) Frodo Baggins is tempted multiple times to use the One Ring, he hardily fought against it (well, sorta XD), and he alongside his companions trekked the wilderness and endured countless hardships, that shows dedication and their belief that they can do it, and for Gandalf the Grey, the leader of their Fellowship, I guess.

A map in the book by Stephen Raw featuring Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor.
There are maps like these in the first and last pages of the books.

J.R.R. Tolkien has created a universe full to brimming of their own trifling histories and stories, details and immersive descriptions of far-away lands like the beautiful Rivendell, the Shire, Mordor, Gondor, and many others. It's like he was asked to make a history book that compiles and is about folktales, legends, myths, and after a while he was like, " *Takes pipe out of his mouth* Y'know what? Screw it. I'll make my own legends and histories, and put it in a book. Because this is boring af.". His story is so convincing, that it made the Shire a second home to me, bringing a sense of nostalgia, homesickness, and calm all at once whenever I watch or read about those rolling hills, the little rivers, the merry pipe-smoking hobbits.

Game of Thrones is the best? Eragon's da bomb? Wheel of Time? BWAHAHAHAHHAHA Please, bow down to the reason why these exist today XD (Even though I love all of those mentioned! hehehehe)

This is something I'd definitely recommend to someone who likes fantasy, high fantasy, adventure, goblins, wizards, dwarfs, elves and some deep in-story background on the side! Just plop down a chair and prepare to read this book, because reading the whole thing will take you some time LOL.

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

My Rating:

5 out of 5 Fallen stars

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Flux Reviews: Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes

1:26 am

Title: Look Who's Back

Author: Timur Vernes

Publication Date: March 10, 2014

Publisher: MacLehose Press

Format: Paperback

Price: ₱899 (Philippines) - $11.72 (Amazon)

Plot Synopsis:

HE'S BACK
Berlin, summer 2011. Adolf hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed--no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler's barely recognizes his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman.

HE'S FÜHRIOUS
People certainly recognize him, albeit as a flawed impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable happens, the ranting Hitler goes viral, becoming a YouTube star, gets his own T.V. show, and people begin to listen. But the Führer has another programme with even greater ambition--to set the country he finds in shambles back to rights.

LOOK WHO'S BACK
stunned and then thrilled 1.5 million German readers with its fearless approach to the most taboo of subjects. Naive yet insightful, repellent yet sympathetic, the revived hitler unquestionably has a spring in his step.

The Review

So the most hated and infamous characters in history wakes up in the middle of Berlin, completely healthy and fine, not a day older, whether the Illuminati aliens put him there, some kind of Back to the Future-esque shit or something, the point is: the Führer is loose in the 21st century. He's Seig Heil-ing advertising fascism around kids' playground and Starbucks as if it's 1945. Yeaaaaaah this is gonna be good.

It's like that movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home where Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock has to go back in time to 21st Century San Francisco and they don't know how money works and how and why people move and act the way they do, basically they're almost completely clueless about that time period's culture. It's kinda like this, except with your favorite German dictator.
Or like your grandpa who's just been introduced to the iPad, or him going to Japan for the first time, really.

The novel opens up with Adolf Hitler waking up in 2011 Berlin, he's completely weirded out by almost everything he sees, he has no passport, no ID, he really doesn't know anything about 21st century culture and it's many alienating points, like that first time you had an iPhone or just a phone in general, or having a pair of Google glass when in comparison, you had this heavy-ass, literally brick-shaped "mobile phone" that had a backpack-mounted battery, all of which weighed about 10 pounds.

I can now totally see him doing this after a few years

One of the lighter "What if?" books about history, most specifically about the possibility of Hitler in our modern world, the author showed us how Hitler would've reacted in our technological world quite well, with a bit of British Humor for good measure. Things like Herr Hitler figuring out how to use an iPhone, a Computer, and people thinking he's just a dressed-up comedian. And don't forget the fact that he's with his personality and the fact weird fact that most of the Germans in this book's pretty cool with someone who did some bad stuff in WWII, it's not unlikely that he could get some modern street-credz.

And weirdly enough, there are some parts in this book where you can't help but sympathize with him, having no family, being alone on Christmas and him thinking it's all right, that's some weird feels man.

Halfway in you'll be asking yourself "Is Hitler really a bad guy as a person?" and But the real questions in our minds are: "Will he get arrested/executed? How will the rest of the world react to his presence? How the hell did he get to 2011?", "How will he react to 'swag'?" and most importantly: "Is he still alive today and walking about?"
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Featuring some pretty cool and tasteful mix of Mein Kampf, Terry Pratchett-esque dry humor (meaning it isn't like obvious gags and American jokes), and some parts of a YA novel, a somewhat controversial book since this does deal with Adolf Hitler, and practically anything to do with him is taboo. This was a pretty good read (this is also a satire on modern media and Germany's current status :) ) and I suggest you guys read it :)

"What kinds of truths were being hidden? Were there lying turnips? Were there lying leeks?”

“It came as no surprise to learn of the success the Swede has recently enjoyed with his furniture. In that rotten state of his the Swede is permanently on the lookout for firewood, so it is no wonder that from time to time this might result in the odd table or chair.”

My Rating: