Quote for the Day

Quote for the Day;

And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains.

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Self . . .

There was never a reason;
only purpose seeks itself;
brimming with dreams;
despite the cold truth

still counting days;
without knowing when to stop;
fear always here;
events to unfold

i said to myself;
"be better";
but blinded still;
with steps tracing backwards

memory teaches;
instinct leads;
judgment was clouded;
then it rains emotion

down to earth;
back to the beginning;
still cycled;
only when time is

see what to believe;
hear only delights;
smell of comfort;
yet taste was never

listens to voices sometimes;
my own perhaps;
tears and joy;
life flashes

never again;
i swore;
yet again;
i did

lost the little child;
amongst the woods;
choir of glory;
sang to please

proud i am;
of what i am;
of whom becoming;
wonders

afraid i am;
of what i am;
of whom becoming;
wonders

Dragon and Fantasy | The Dragon Keeper

     Actually, I have been searching for a few other fantasy novels, but to no avail. Then, I found a book with a blue dragon as its cover. Well, I thought that it could not hurt to try a new author. So, I ended up buying it for the sake of an adventure.

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The Dragon Keeper

     The book was written by Robin Hobb under The Rain Wild Chronicles. This is the first volume of the series. The plot was interesting because it does not focus upon one protagonist, but a separate individuals along a single storyline. Their interrelation with each other is what fueled the air of the novel. Thymara is a Rainwilder born with scales and claws; trying to find herself a purpose and hope for a place in the world. Leftrin, who is a captain of a liveship called 'Tarman' and has interest in money and dragon hatchlings; while Alise Finbok, a newlywed who self-acclaimed as a dragon scholars from Bingtown and trying to quench her thirst upon dragonology. Finally, Sintara, a blue queen dragon who was hatched but deformed and misshapen. Together, they embarked upon a journey to return the dragon to a forgotten city, Kelsingra.

     The existence of Kelsingra was doubted; however the promise of relics and artifacts drove the Rainwilder council to fund the expedition while trying to get rid of the hungry dragons at their doorstep. They had chosen the misfits such as Thymara as dragon keeper in order to feed and taking care of the dragons as the dragons are weak and unable to feed themselves. Tarman under the command of Capt Leftrin would acts as the mother ship for the expedition; while Alise is to study the dragons and their long lost knowledge.

     In my opinion, the book was organized quite interestingly. The relation between each character was properly presented and their emotion was beautifully woven. However, the author tends to over-expressed the emotion and the surrounding of the book. She took 1 page just to explain the feeling of walking over mud and dense forest. In addition, only after 200 pages I found the story to be adventurous or even interesting at all. Then, it took another 200 pages for the adventure to actually began. Now, that have had taken two third of the book. So, I am left with the final one third of the book that I hope would not disappoint me.

     Truth be told, I found it hard to read through the first 200 pages without getting sleepy. The author needs to seriously reconsider her way of story telling. Too much reminiscence would not do her work any good and she needs to make each pages are worth to flip about. Please do not take it too hard; it is just an opinion of a reader who wished for adventures and dragons. The story she presented was intriguing; its just the presentation tends to be a bit lengthy and suffocating. I cannot wait to read the next one; while silently hope for a better experience.

Secret among secrets | The Lost Symbol

     There are several authors that I respect, and one of them is Dan Brown. I had read all of his works, from the Digital Fortress to The Lost Symbol. By reading all of his works, I could not help but see the patterns in the story plot. The protagonist wakes up early in the morning in a hotel by a mysterious call, then one thing leads to another, he or she got entangled up in a conspiracy that could have cost his or her life. 

     However, even though the pattern is recognizable, the content is what matters most. In each book, he managed to keep me mesmerized by the beauty of the puzzle amidst the action. One could almost feel the reality among the fiction in his works. In 2009, he made a comeback with a new novel entitled 'The Lost Symbol'. This is the novel that leaved the most impact to me aside from The Da Vinci Code.

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The Lost Symbol

     This book is also revolved around Robert Langdon, the previous protagonist form The Da Vince Code and Angles & Demons. This time he uncovers the puzzle behind the most secret society, Freemason. Truth be told, I do not really remember any of it because it was such along time ago and I only have read it once. You could always google it anyway =).

     On the other hand, my reason of posting this is to share my opinion on his works. Well, first of all, its not like I hate it. However, I could see that he, Dan Brown, is continuously promoting the secret society. He repeatedly wrote his amazement to this secret society and saying that it was them who uphold the foundation of the states.

     Furthermore, one could see his fascination and attraction to the Freemasonry. It made me think that he is a member of the organization itself. Now, the reason why I personally disapproved of such fascination is because of the secret itself. Please correct me if I am wrong, but based upon my understanding Freemasonry and Illuminati shares the same pattern of secrecy. A member will be 'illuminated' by raising levels in the pyramid. In other words, a new secret will be revealed as you ascend higher in the Freemasonry rankings.

     If the organization is doing thing for the benefits of its member or for the states, why should it be kept as a secret. From my standpoint, if you kept a secret then that means that you have done something wrong or you do not want people to know what you had done. Thus, secrecy does not reflect a good intention. How can an organization be trusted if they do not even trust their own members.

    It all leads to one conclusion. Freemason is wrong. It is not an organization that was established for the people, but for the sake of the ruling Elite. It is a system where the lower ranks lived to serve the top of the pyramid. There is no good is any secret society; does not matter who their leader is or what is the agenda. As a matter of fact, you would not even know who is at the top since everything is a secret.

     I really respect Dan Brown, however with The Lost Symbol, I had to think twice before digesting his words. Its not like I lost my respect to him, but one had to be careful when dealing with author with appreciation of secret society.