The Thirteenth Reality ~ Mystery letters of riddles

Title: The 13th Relity: The Journal of Curious Letters

Author: James Dashner

Illustrator: Bryan Beus

ISBN: 1416991522

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

I needed a new book to read. I was looking for a book from a series that I've never heard before; something other than Harry Potter, Septimus Heap, Bobby Pendragon, Artemis Fowl or even Arthur Penhaligon. Those characters are from series that I know, that I've read. I want something new.

The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters was the book that I picked. The reason I chose it is because I was interested about the story regarding alternate realities. It's a cool theme. So let's start my review with the plot. The story revolves around Tick @ Atticus Higginbottom who received letters with riddles he need to solve if he decide to be on an adventure to save many, many lives. If he wasn't interested, then he can just burn the letters and everything will go back to normal. But of course he'll be interested in the letters, if not this book wouldn't exist.

The main attraction of the book are the riddles in which our main character received in 12 letters. In fact, almost 3/4 of the book involve the riddles, and lucky for us the riddles are quite fun. Readers can actually participate in order to solve the mysteries of the letters. Of course there are several other chapters in between it that involve things other than the riddles but I don't mind if the author completely cover 3/4 of the book with the riddles, like I said they were fun.

The last 1/4 of the book covers their adventures (their as in Tick and his friends) into other realities. To be honest, I was quite dissapointed when Tick finally solved the mystery letters as I was certain the rest of the pages (1/4 of the book that is) wouldn't be much interesting without the riddles. Now I'm glad to say that I was wrong, the last quarter of the book was packed with adventure and action, and clearly was the climax of the story. The author not only can come up with interesting riddles, but he can also write good action stuff too.

Now we move on to the characters. Sadly I think the main character, Atticus Higginbottom, was not as strong a character as some of the main stars that I've read from different series before (a lot of them I had mentioned above). In fact the author tried too hard to make him a good role model that at times he seemed fake. One example of this is when Tick's father constantly remind readers how glad he was to have a good son like Tick.

The other characters doesn't fair well too. Master George was annoying for me instead of funny (funny was what he intended to be). Sofia was a great character but sadly a bit underdeveloped. Paul and Sato were also underdeveloped; but I think Sato will make his presence felt in the future due to his mysterious background. Mothball and Rutger were quite interesting characters but not much were told about them which made readers quite hard to love them. The only character that I think had been developed well was Mistress Jane, the villain of the book. She's a powerful character that shines in every chapter she's in. Although her apperance in the book was not much, the author manage to make her a promising villain.

Although this book was not as great as I had hoped it to be, it was still a fun read largely thanks to the fun-filled and mysterious riddles that out main character needed to solve. The high-action plot near the end of the book was also entertaining and had nicely set up the plot for the next book in the series. I am looking forward to read the 2nd book in the series and judging by the interesting ending and powerful villain, I'm hoping it will be a great sequel to the first book.

Image courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

My top 10 movies of 2010

Everyone has their own list of favourite movies that they had watched over the year, and this is my list. For some strange reason, I listed all the movies that I had watched in 2010, and surprisingly I watched ONLY 19 movies, not a great number for someone who claimed to be a fan of movies. Getting the best 10 out of 19 was, as anyone would have guessed it, quite easy. So here are my 10 best movies in no particular order;

1. Avatar

It opened in cinemas in December 2009 but it had a long run. I watched it in January 2010 so the movie made the list. Not to put the movie in the list would be stupid, as it was one of the best movie that I had watched in the cinema. Good story, good visuals, good acting; what not to like about Avatar?



2. Toy Story 3

Definitely the best movie out of the series, and the most funny (with laugh-out-loud scenes like the one with Spanish-talking Buzz Lightyear) and emotional as well. The last scene where Andy finally decided to part with his toys (especially Woody) was one of the best goodbye scene I watched in an animation. Great job Pixar, great job indeed.

3. Inception

Seriously, it was kind of confusing and complex to follow but it was also engaging and keeps the audience thinking all the time. The visuals were awesome and the story was good too but for me the best part about the movie was the concept. A dream within a dream? I love it! Oh, and great ending too.



4. Resident Evil: Afterlife

I know many Resident Evil video game fans hate the movie series. But I like the video games, and I like the movies too. Although I think I like Apocalypse and Extinction more, but Afterlife does has it own strengths. The feel of the movie was slightly different than it predecessors and I kind of like the changes. Love the settings too; high-tech underground facility, maximum security prison, seemingly-abandon ship. Great opening (Tokyo!) and good ending. But best of all; the return of Jill Valentine! Yes, it was just a cameo but it was worth it. Hopefully we get to see her more in the sequel. Oh, and I LOVE Milla Jovovich too.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I like Narnia movie series, it kind of sad though to see it struggle in the market. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a movie with a simple plot but heavy dose of fantasy and high moral values made it a great movie. Not to forget the good acting from the young stars of the movie. Hopefully the studio will continue making movies from the series because it will be a waste if they don't.

6. RED

A surprise entry in the list. RED, the movie starring Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren (with guns!), is a great and fun movie. The plot seemed heavy but it was just a light movie about retired agents running around. It was fun. I like it. End of story.



7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

What can I say? Everyone already knows it's a great franchise. What I like most about this movie is that it is emotionally-charged. They were sad, angry, alone, scared and there were a lot of pain. Quite dramatic if you asked me but that's why I love it. Can't wait for the movie that will end it all.



8. Devil

Another surprise entry. Didn't know anything about the movie before I watched it and now I can't wait for the second movie in the series. It's serious drama in an odd place. I mean, in an elevator? That's kind of cool.

9. How to Train Your Dragon

I can't believe how much I'm in love with this movie. It's very heart-warming to see the bond formed between the boy and the dragon, and the plot was great with a slight twist in the end. I personally think this movie give Toy Story 3 a run for its money for best animation of 2010. I love it, I love it, I love it. Did I tell you that I love this movie?



10. Clash of the Titans

I heard (or read I think) that many critics hate this movie. It does look kind of foolish with the facial hair and glittering custom but the overall story was great. And it has mythical creatures in it. What not to like about that? Well, I do have a weakness when it comes to Greek mythology (God of War comes to mind), maybe that's why I like it so much. Not to mention Sam Worthington was in it. He's such a good actor. I'm crossing my fingers that they will make a sequel for this movie. Hopefully they will.


And there you have it. My top 10 movies of 2010. Some are highly-rated while others were condemned by the critics. I do have a complex taste in movies don't you think?

All images courtesy of Wikipedia.

Good news from the Silent Hill franchise

I LOVE Silent Hill video games. And I love the movie too. So here the good news. A new game called Silent Hill: Downpour (finally we got a title for this game) is coming this year while a sequel to the first movie called Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is finally in the making. Yeay! Double dose of good news.

I posted about Silent Hill: Downpour before so I think I will just write something about Silent Hill: Revelation 3D. It will follow the story from the 3rd game in the series. For those who don't know, the game is about Heather Mason who was drawn to Silent Hill and its sordid past. I played the game and it was one of the best. It was creepy and the story is good. Hopefully the movie could live up to the awesome game, or at least reach the same level of the first movie.

The movie will be directed by Michael J. Bassett who had directed Deathwatch and Solomon Kane before. The film is currently in pre-production and there is no release date yet.

I'm hoping Silent Hill: Revelation 3D will be a great movie. Fingers cross!