Percy Jackson : Heroes of Olympus. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Book: Percy Jackson Heroes of Olympus. The Lost Hero.

Author: Rick Riordan

Publisher: Puffin Books. (www.puffinbooks.com) Penguin group.

ISBN : 978 0141325491

This is the first book of the Heroes of Olympus series.

Jason got up in the back seat of a Wilderness School bus, not knowing who he is, why he is here or even where he is from.

And like a perfectly normal demigod day, he takes a dive down the Grand Canyon and fights some storm spirits. By coincidence he is rescued by Annabeth, who gets the message that Percy, who had gone missing will be there.

Getting to camp wasn’t any better. He realized that he had already been claimed and that the queen of Olympus had taken away his memories intending to use him as a ‘bridge’.

As if the day could get any more eventful, he gets a prophecy that Hera is being held hostage and that he is supposed to rescue her. Leo has another task, helping his cabin to destroy the dragon, Festus, to lift the curse from his cabin, but how can they do what nobody has done in all these years. And Leo can’t stand the thought of this beautifully crafted dragon to be destroyed, so he has to tame it, thinking that it could also help in the quest, but he has little time to do it.

The questions and possibilities are many, answers scanty…….

Will they succeed in rescuing Hera, will Jason get his memory back and  does the arrival of Jason have anything to do with the disappearance of Percy. 

Hack into your creativity by author Michael Burns

Book: Hack into your Creativity

Author: Michael Burns

Publisher: Penguin Books, Penguin Randomhouse, Penguin group.

ISBN : 978 0670090105

American Michael Burns is a university teacher, writing coach, actor, editor and storyteller. He has a BA from Georgetown University, an MS from UMass Amherst, and holds a PhD in documentary film history from the University of Birmingham in the UK. He has directed five films for international television and his work has been seen in over twenty countries. He moved to India in 2011, and founded Tall Tales, the country's longest-running, live storytelling event series. He also conducts popular writing workshops around India. 

Everyone of us has a tale, a story that only we know best and can tell it with emotions, humor, insights. And yet when we pick up the pen , our words are stymied. We are unable to put it into a coherent narrative, into a style, that tells the tale to a reader sitting far away, in a different country, in the same passion and style that we narrate it. You know this feeling well. I certainly do !!!

This book holds your hand and takes you through the initial jitters to how to get the narrative going, how to get the creative juices to flow through your pencil. How to get a story and its subplots to stick together.

This book is divided into various segments : Character building, Genre, Integration, What next , Everyday magic, and on and on. It literally teaches you how to build a story. That same story, that you know the best, all your life, and yet it is stifled inside you.

If you’re a veteran of writing prompts from the Internet or newspapers, you will find comfort in familiar formats right next to brand new ones. So challenge yourself with types of prompts that you’ve never seen before and discover writing interests and abilities that you didn’t even know you had! Whether you are a casual flash-fiction author, scriptwriter, non-fictioneer or branding executive, this book will set your creativity on fire. Be a story alchemist. Transform your writing. And above all, have fun doing it!

The biggest laurel for this book is, a young reader of 11 years of age, who helps me write the kiddy books on my blog, picked it up and read it for some minutes and said “Wow, just the way you are teaching me to blog, this book is teaching me how to write”. And that young budding author, has since then picked this book up thrice and sat down to read it !!!

Percy Jackson & Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Book: Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth.

Author: Rick Riordan

Publisher: Puffin Books. (www.puffinbooks.com) Penguin group.

ISBN : 978 0141146830

Percy Jackson and the battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth book of the Percy Jackson series.

The labyrinth was thought to be lost a millennia ago, but when they find a secret entrance right in the middle of camp, things start to go terribly wrong, and that’s just the beginning….

The Labyrinth was created by Daedalus, a maze, connected to his life force. It is a maze used to trap the Minotaur, a maze that is alive, where time and space are meaningless, keeps shifting and is full of horrors.

When a Labyrinth entrance is found in the heart of camp half blood, the enemy decides to use the Labyrinth to get inside camp. If they succeed, thousands of bloodthirsty monsters will invade camp.

But the enemy will only be able to navigate through the maze with Ariadne’s string. The string was kept with Daedalus, who was thought to be dead a million years ago, but as a demigod you can’t be sure…

Percy, Annabeth , Tyson and Grover are trying to find Daedalus before Luke can and convince him not to give Luke the string…

Percy, Annabeth, Tyson and Grover descend into darkness with the prophecy,

“You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze.

  The dead, the traitor and lost one raise,

  You shall rise or fall by the ghost’s king hand,

  The child of Athena’s final stand.”

Will they accomplish their mission of will they end up with something else inside the Labyrinth………

The Sacred Sword by Hindol Sengupta

Book: THE SACRED SWORD.

Author: Hindol Sengupta

Publisher: Penguin Random House Pvt Ltd.

Code : ISBN 9780143440192

Let me say it very clearly, this is a book that I picked up with the most anticipation and excitement.

It is a story of the Religious leader of one of the most brave, jubiliant, warm and welcoming sects of India, the Sikhs.

It is also a story of a warrior, religious head.

That means it has all the ingredients to make it an instant hit.

It is set in ancient India. It is set against the backdrop of barbarity of the Mughals. It traces the story of Guru Gobind Singh.

But frankly this book to me read like a documentary. 
I was left with a wish to taste more. I would have wished for this book to be a series of 3 books and detailed stories. Or atleast this book to be 1000 pages and allow more detailed introspection into the life of Guru Gobind Singh.

It doesn’t. 
It left me dissatisfied.

To be honest, the author has an awesome story telling style. Beautifully builds up the scenes, tension and drama. But I would have wished for more depth.

Also the author wasted a lot of pages and my attention in meaningless word breakup of war cries or the Sikh salutation.

Having said that, I loved that someone wrote this book. A book on one of the favourite religious leaders of India. I would request the author to write a longer, detailed, in depth book.

A definite must read. This could even be made into a movie.

  

In The Name of God by author Ravi Subramanian

Book: IN THE NAME OF GOD.

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Publisher: Penguin Random House Pvt Ltd.

Code : ISBN 97801432425731

I have read other books by Ravi Subramanian.

Personally I feel this is his best book yet.

If you remember some years ago their were whispers going around about how the wealth of some temple in Kerala has been disturbed and presence of an Italian Ship off the Kerala coast.

This book very deftly weaves those rumours into a story.

Many temples all across India have ancient wealth stored in vaults or on the deity itself.

Here the author weaves a story around an ancient wealth with modern context and all modern technology and gadgetry weaved in.

The safety of the wealth of a temple in Kerala is challenged in the courts of modern India by a custodian. The Court recognizes the need for safety and valuation of the wealth and appoints a team. This ruffles many feathers. And yet law is upheld.

The author now weaves a web of mystery, intrigue, politics, royalty and deceit around this premise.

There are murders. But the author manages to grip your attention and adds elements of surprise into the story.

Plus the author very precisely weaves the usage of modern technology by the Indian Police to solve crimes. Attention to detail is commendable.

A definite must read.

On Cars by author Jeremy Clarkson

Book: On Cars

Author: Jeremy Clarkson

Publisher: Penguin Books (www.penguin.com )

ISBN 978-0-141-01788-4

Jeremy Clarkson, the author, has written for many newspapers in his career and has had the time to pen down around 10 books. He is also host of the popular automobile show Top Gear on BBC TV.  Jeremy Clarkson has a very unique style of sardonic humor, where he is quick on the uptake to pick out nuances of humor in everyday life situation and politics.  Personally I, thebooksurgeon.blogspot.in , am an avid fan of humor in any form of media. For me I rate Jeremy Clarkson amongst the best humorists. I have bought each and every book written by Jeremy and for me they are ROFLMAO.

On Cars by Jeremy  Clarkson, is a book about Classic machines. The Classic cars stretching back to mid 1980 and all cars and car columns mentioning his name have been referenced. And his views are not just ranting and sarcasm, they are well researched and yet his point is put forward very humorously.

And along the way he talks about: Perils of bicycle ownership, why Australians require bull bars, Why Jesus’s dad would have owned a Nissan Bluebird.

Plus keep in mind that Jeremy is host of show “Top Gear”. His writings are interspersed with comments on Cars, their strong points, their weaknesses and their effect on transport as a whole.

I shall not go on trying to “explain” and review the humor of Jeremy Clarkson for that would kill the joke. All I am going to say is: Buy the Book: On Cars by author Jeremy Clarkson and chuckle every time that you read and re-read this book.