Introduction

Before you begin reading, I have just a few words to say.

Firstly, this blog far from represents the entirety of the material that I have read this year, as I'm sure is the case with many of these blogs; I merely selected the best literary works of my reading year to review and display here. All of the entries on this blog are posted on books, which naturally rules out all of the fanfiction, webcomic, magazine and article material I've read; it is not even a comprehensive list of all the books. Just a friendly disclaimer.
Secondly, the entries' dates bear very little relation to the actual date of borrowing or completion. Being the lazy student I am, I often put off writing entries for months after finishing a book. Please disregard the dates as largely irrelevant. It will spare you some puzzling.
And thirdly, as blogs tend to work, the oldest entries are at the bottom, and because my entry count seems to be unfortunate in this way, there is exactly one entry on the second page. Just to ensure that you don't miss it. I recommend you begin reading from the oldest entries up, to gain a more accurate perspective of my year in books; after all, they always say one must put themselves in someone else's shoes to truly understand that someone's experiences.
Finally, this div, the one containing the posts, happened to block my artist's signature, but for future reference, the art on the right is mine, and I reserve the rights to it. It's getting kind of old now, that particular piece of art, seeing as I drew it sometime at the beginning of the year, but it's worth a mention nevertheless. Just so you know I'm not violating copyright laws.
Thank you for reading, and enjoy.

Thursday 4 July 2013

Deception Point | Dan Brown

In my opinion, this one is a far cry better than the Da Vinci Code, and probably deserved the hype more. I've always had a soft spot for science fiction, and the blend of that genre with underhanded politics in this book makes it quite riveting.

Deception Point begins with a nearing presidential election, set in the USA; the main female protagonist, Rachel Sexton, is the daughter of the favoured narcissistic challenger to the incumbent President, Senator Sedgewick Sexton. With the tip-off of his pretty advisor and mistress Gabrielle Ashe, Senator Sexton gains popularity through focusing his campaign on NASA's failures as an example of government overspending. Unknown to him, though, NASA's new Polar Orbiting Density Scanner has supposedly uncovered a meteorite bearing insect fossils, proving the existence of extraterrestial life, a discovery that could unravel his entire campaign- that is, if the entire thing isn't a fraud.

The book weaves manipulation, romance, science, politics and scandal intricately into a masterful plotline; particularly the science, being the person I am. Rachel Sexton, Gabrielle Ashe, Mike Tolland, Corky Marlinson, William Pickering and Sedgewick Sexton are all very interesting characters in their own respects, the protagonists characteristically irresistible if a little unusual, with Rachel's clever and witty beauty, Mike's endearing charm and Corky's perpetual awkwardness, the clown personality. And, after all, we all like to see the antagonist get their thorough and unmitigated comeuppance in the end; it's a satisfaction like no other, which Deception Point certainly provides.

I found it a wonderful read. It was a little simplistic, in retrospect, and lacked a more profound thematic undercurrent despite all the plotwork on the surface, but the mash of genres, coupled with the adventure-thriller storytelling, made it a very satisfying book indeed for me.

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