Avatar: The Last Airbender Re-Watch!

This lazy Saturday morning I was looking at Tor.com for inspiration on blog posts, and discovered that they are halfway through an Avatar: The Last Airbender re-watch.
Now, to some people, this might not be a call to action - but clearly they are not Avatar fans!
Avatar: The Last Airbender (link to Wiki) is an Emmy award-winning animated TV series, with much critical and fan acclaim. Every episode has been carefully drawn and is an emotional and fun journey - while the first few episodes are more whacky and young, we get to meet and grow with the characters.
Aang, the last Airbender, might be the only one left who can battle the vicious Firebender army that wants to conquer the world.

He has help, of course: The Waterbender Katara and her brother Sokka who discover Aang and his flying pet bison.
What is awesome about all the fighting in this anime, is that each technique has roots in actual Chinese Martial Arts, with different styles embodied in different techniques in the anime.
I'm going to re-watch this series, and you should watch the episodes too!
More info from Tor.com here: Link to re-watch page
Please note that I am only referring to the anime TV series in this post, not the ghastly movie.

Blogger Hop #25 - After one month

It's time for another Book Blogger Hop, courtesy of Crazy for Books!

“What's the One genre that you wish you could get into, but can't?"
Poetry maybe? There really isn't much I don't read - but super serious "Literature" like Salman Rushdie, The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy) have been hard to get into. I never did finish any of those books.

So Poetry, some Literature, that sort of thing.

New to E-Volving Books? I'm on the cusp of 300 followers, and I will follow back! Be my 300th :)
I love to read, review, write about news in Speculative Fiction - YA or epic fantasy, typically. I have a Kindle, though I still read paper books for variety!
I'm currently looking for a blogger who wants to do a post exchange (your choice of topic)

News: Ebook covers for the Wheel of Time

The artist for the Final Wheel of Time ebook has been announced! It is Michael Whelan who will be bringing life to the cover of A Memory of Light. (Tor.com)
I got carried away with the awesomeness of the previous covers: You can see the stories and the making of the cover videos here:
http://www.tor.com/features/series/wheel-of-time-master-index#ebooks

Finally, the brilliance of the Towers of Midnight ebook cover in all its glory shows the scene above where Perrin is crafting The Hammer (a fitting name I just made up). The image shows the exact moment when Perrin is done creating this masterpiece, and his eyes seem aflame. You can see the wolf emerging out of the hammer - like Perrin's soul has just united and accepted his wolf. The banner behind him and the war camp scene sets the background part of the image.
My favorite of all the WoT ebook covers so far - this is the perfect scene from the book, at the best angle, with such intense strength in Perrin's eyes.

New to the series? Read my review of the entire series here.

The Crippled God - The Malazan Book of the Fallen

I've been making my way through the epic to end all epics: The Malazan Book of the Fallen.
This is the final tome, #10, in Steven Erikson's award-winning series. I'm in the last stretch, with maybe 50 pages to go.

Page 75 (of 928 pages) 

'If it weren't for me you'd still be clinging halfway up that cliff, a clutch of bones with birds nesting in your hair and spiders in your eye sockets.' 

'If it weren't for you I'd never have tried climbing it.'

'Yes you would' 

'Why do you say that?'                                    

'Because, Stormy, you never think.'

Mini Review:

The Malazan series is for a reader with stamina and patience. The books are long-winded, and span millenia, numerous races, Gods and more.  

(This is my excuse for having a longer than 2 sentence teaser). In the end, it is all worth it!

I'd recommend this series to fans of fantasy, Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, war stories.

Do read a recent post, perhaps a review of the latest Buffy graphic novel by Joss Whedon.

***

To join into the TT fun, visit the link below!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

New look - Book Re-design

There is a new look coming to Evolving Books! I'm backing stuff up, but I need help finding a good template to use.
The colours should be cleaner, with a white background and orange (or pink) highlights.
Where do you suggest I start looking?

Review: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Really brilliant! Quite innovative, and I love the artistic, music-oriented vibe that flows in this book.
Have enjoyed re-reading War for the Oaks a couple of times too.
I want more Eddi, and the band! Her personality, her passion for music and the sheer enthusiasm she brings to this book is refreshing.
While this book was written in 1987, it stands true even today, while still encapsulating the sheer rock and roll era of the 80's.
This is fantasy, with a fae twist, and set in a modern world. If you like music, rock, dancing, this book is for you.


View all my reviews

Kindle purchase questions you may have: A play by play

A friend of mine was wondering whether to buy a Kindle or some ebook device, this mail conversation is what followed: (reproduced with permission)
My friend: "You have a Kindle, right?
Would you recommend I buy it? My main concerns are: it should be userfriendly (not too complicated) and it should be easy on the eyes - I am short sighted and my eyes strain when I read from a backlit screen.
One other factor is that I should be able to read non-purchased/downloaded books on it."
My reply: Long time no hearing from you - so glad you mailed me.
Let's get this out of the way : I *heart* my kindle. (that's why my blog is mostly dedicated to it and ebooks :D)

We should take this up point by point -
1. User friendly - really simple, too simple sometimes :)
Just drag and drop book from laptop to device, read book.
You can also check out Calibre: Paen to Kindle and Calibre

2. Backlit - The Kindle does not have a backlit screen.
Good points: Easy on the eyes, and very clear writing, just like on a page. No touchscreen means that the ink contrasts better with the white background.
Flipside: You need an extra light if it is dark (bedside one, or you can buy a cover from Amazon with a small light)

3. Non-purchased books - Of course you can! You download as usual, use Calibre as your library so it converts all formats (pdf, rtf, html etc) to mobi (Kindle format) so you can shift to the Kindle, reading the same book.

Follow-up Mail/Question from my friend: 
"I'm definitely getting it. Somehow I don't trust Infibeam's Pi, given that my priority is to make sure my eyes do't have additional strain. Did you buy the cover from amazon too, 'coz their covers cost half as much as the kindle itself! Was just wondering if there are cheaper options available."

(Deepali's note: You can read my post here for alternate covers - Skins for your ebook reader - Style over Substance)
Yes, I got the cover from Amazon - those are sturdy leather covers.
It was pretty expensive!! Try other options too...but make sure you plan for lights of some sort.
A bedside lamp, or a clip-on light of some kind is essential :)

*** 

That's All, Folks!

My word-for-word reply to questions you probably have too.

Review: From Here to Absurdity

From Here to Absurdity: Pink Flamingos, Vibrators, and other Comical Events by David Hunter

Pages: 307

Genre: Non-Fiction/bio. 

Grade: A

Why I picked it up: The Galley was sent to me for review by the publisher, and I enjoyed the short blurb that was sent as a teaser.

Even though I RARELY read non-fiction, these stories were funny, thought-provoking and completely held my attention.

The Story: Written in a series of short stories, each based around a facet of the author's life.

His military basic training sojourn was described realistically, and thoroughly entertained.

Then I saw he took Ben Franklin and examined his human side, his foibles, his indulgences, and described a well-researched idea.

Some excellent historical research is a hallmark of this book, and made me think. Assumptions I'd had around Thomas Edison, the Pope, and legends that surround some people were questioned and firmly thrown out. The author talks about the Church, red states, the thin line walked by cops, tidbits from his experience as an officer and cop, surgery, love/hate campaigns, and the secret of writing!

This is no cookie-cutter "It" book - there is completely original writing, and great reading material to be had!

I'd recommend this to: Readers bored of run-of-the-mill books and want something fresh and thought-provoking.
Meet the author at:  "David Hunter in his Own Write"  http://radicalorthodox.blogspot.com/

Teaser Tuesday #40 - Ciji Ware's A Race to Splendor

This is one of those books that got onto my reading list from someone's Teaser!
 Chapter 9, Line 1:

"The following day, Thursday, hundreds of individual fires across some five hundred city blocks converged into one monstrous inferno fed by super-heated winds. By Friday evening, both the sun and the moon glowed a malignant blood red."

Mini Review:
Has a strong woman protagonist, fighting to prove herself as a female engineer  & architect in a man's world (early 1900's). The background of the 1906 California fire is central to the theme of the story.
Very true to form in describing the San Francisco of the early 20th Century. Loved the historical facts and well-researched story line. Less romance than expected, which is pretty good for a change. I woudn't classify this as your typical historical romance, this is heavy on the character building and low on the romance :D What fun!
Do read my previous post, a review of the latest Buffy graphic novel by Joss Whedon.

***
To join into the TT fun, visit the link below!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!