Skylark by Meagan Spooner

Title: Skylark	Loved it	Graded
Author: Meagan Spooner
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Elements: Dystopian, post-apocalyptic world
Series: Book 1 in the Skylark series

Sixteen-year-old Lark Ainsley has never seen the sky.

Her world ends at the edge of the vast domed barrier of energy enclosing all that’s left of humanity. For two hundred years the city has sustained this barrier by harvesting its children's innate magical energy when they reach adolescence. When it’s Lark’s turn to be harvested, she finds herself trapped in a nightmarish web of experiments and learns she is something out of legend itself: a Renewable, able to regenerate her own power after it’s been stripped.

Forced to flee the only home she knows to avoid life as a human battery, Lark must fight her way through the terrible wilderness beyond the edge of the world. With the city’s clockwork creations close on her heels and a strange wild boy stalking her in the countryside, she must move quickly if she is to have any hope of survival. She’s heard the stories that somewhere to the west are others like her, hidden in secret—but can she stay alive long enough to find them?

2012 has been a great year for the mishmash of post-apocalyptic, dystopian and science fiction books. Or maybe it's just me who isn't able to differentiate between their focus most of the time. Rest assured, there have been some gems among the selection out there.

Skylark is one of those gems. A book that I've read months ago, it has striking, memorable characters and some vivid settings that have stayed in my mind even while reading other, similar books. It's not an unwelcome memory, though the fact that I enjoyed it so much does seem to detract from my enjoyment of the current book, you know?

Now, I did dismiss it as just another book, and I was wrong! I seriously did not expect the story and characters to stay with me this long, and reading the sequel has only added to my love for the series.

Let's start with the pacing. They say that a good pacing of a story isn't noticeable, and this is true in Skylark's case. What I did notice was non-stop heightened tension once Lark was out of the Wall, and whoa! It's something to write about, the seriously nail-biting, hand-wringing, foot-jittering kind of tension.

From there, we delve into different worlds and different cities, and I loved the lush descriptions that only someone who's lived within an actual dome would describe the natural world. The characters were so distinct, and their developments grew over the course of the book. I found myself warming to them sooner rather than later, and their interactions soothed away this jaded self into accepting the finely crafted relationships.

What I appreciated most was that Lark was not the cookie-cutter, I-just-ventured-out-into-the-world-but-really-I'm-awesome-at-everything sort of protagonist. That type of protagonist grate (gently) on my nerves, having miraculously found a world where they effortlessly navigate through hurdles and social customs. What's the point of introducing new settings, new characters, new tribes if you're not going to have them clash once or twice with the protagonist?

That's who and what Lark is. She's both ordinary and extraordinary; when presented with a challenge, which is pretty much everything, she makes believable mistakes and falters in her attempts to reconcile herself with her new surroundings.

I, for one, couldn't wait to read the sequel, SHADOWLARK. Now that's another delectable treat I sank my teeth into, and that review is one for another day.

[Media Invite] The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring Movie Concert

Title: The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring Movie Concert	Loved it	Graded
Composer: Howard Shore
Musicians: Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, the International Festival Chorus and The Young Voices of Vocal Associates
Conductor: Justin Freer
Soloists: Kaitlyn Lusk, Samuel Yuen
Location: The Star Theatre

Don’t miss this chance to experience the highly-acclaimed and unique concert presentation of The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring, which sees Howard Shore's iconic Academy and Grammy Award-winning soundtrack score performed live on-stage by 250 musicians comprising the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, the International Festival Chorus and The Young Voices of Vocal Associates, while the groundbreaking first installment of Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning film trilogy, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved novels, is projected in its entirety on a giant cinematic screen above the performers.

The Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring movie concert is finally on Singaporean shores! I've been a fan of the LoTR movies since it first showed in theatres here, and when the announcement of this event came, I grabbed the chance to experience it. Forget about 3D, this here is a whole new way to enjoy the movie. It's been touted as 'bringing the highbrow events to the mainstream,' and I sort of agree with this since it's not always the general public gets to enjoy a live orchestra. On the other hand, it's the LoTR movies, which is accessible to everyone.

Anyway, it's not all movies that get such a treatment. During the press conference, the panel members went into detail about why the LoTR movies were chosen for the live concert treatment, the main reason being the phenomenal OST, which stands on its own even without the movie and dialogue thrown in.

There was a great balance between the live orchestra and the movie shown on the screen. The strains of the music veered at times from the noteworthy LoTR OST, and it only added to the experience of actually knowing that the music we were hearing came from the people and instruments right in front of us.

Grabbed from the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra's Facebook page.

The FoTR movie is a very all encompassing movie, and it's all due to the skillful orchestra that I could forget all about the construction of the music and fall into the breathtaking cinematography, scenic locations (New Zealand, ey?) and gorgeous costumes. The choir and soloists shone in the Rivendell scenes. The choir's voices blended beautifully in harmony, while Samuel Yuen's and Kaitlyn Lusk's sharp sopranos pierced through the theatre and made the Rivendell scenes even more ethereal. Their voices were hauntingly beautiful. Backs strained against their seats as everyone tried to get a clear view of their performances.

The music is an integral part of the movie, and seeing the orchestra perform Howard Shore's notable soundtrack was a fantastic new way to enjoy the movie, especially in the huge 5000-seater Star Theatre. I'm not sure if the screen was big enough such that those way at the back could full enjoy the experience, though I'm sure the acoustics of the theatre more than made up for it, as it was specially chosen by the technical director. The stage itself is a work of art, with 250 musicians on the stage throughout the three-hour epic.

The Lord of the Rings movies fall into a class all of its own. And when the movie experience is coupled with a live orchestra and choir concert, it's not hard to see why this is a once in a lifetime experience that one should have. There are plans to bring the other two movie concerts in the trilogy to Singaporean shores, though sadly for hardcore LoTR fans, I really doubt it's possible to have a marathon of the three live concert orchestras in one day. Plus, with the release of the Hobbit movie trilogy comes a chance to develop that for the live movie concert experience.

Tickets are still available for tonight and tomorrow night's events. (Grab 'em now!)

Mini Reviews: Shady Corporations

Hey everyone! I've dwelled for a while on the merits of writing mini reviews, and ultimately came to the conclusion that I can do a book justice without going on and on at length about its merits (or lack of).

This first edition of mini-reviews will cover some of the books sent for review the past few months. These books have one other thing in common: they all have seemingly perfect corporations with shady reputations. Is it just a premise or the shaky backbone of the story? Find out below.

Alternity by Mari Mancusi

Title: Alternity (Synopsis) Loved it Graded Author: Mari Mancusi Genre: Science fiction Publisher: NLA Elements: Alternate universe Series: Stand alone

Mari Mancusi is the YA voice of gaming, and she has written many books relating to video games. Reading this was not unlike playing one of the video games I have in my collection: a flashy premise, gorgeous characters and a steadily moving plot. What ALTERNITY lacked was a depth to the characters' development, and their interactions left me frustrated, and not in a good way.

Solid by Shelly Workinger

Title: Solid (Synopsis) Loved it Graded Author: Shelley Workinger Genre: Science fiction Elements: Boarding school Series: Book 1 of the Solid series

You know I love myself a good boarding school for super people stories. I enjoyed this a great lot, though there was a repetition of scenes that didn't move the plot or character development forward. The antagonists and twists could be clearly seen from chapters before, though this didn't detract from my enjoyment. What works for SOLID is a strong foundation and solid relationships between the characters. They might be cast to type, but I believed in them and their friendships, and that's all that SOLID needed to win me over.

The Program by Suzanne Young

Title: The Program (Synopsis) Loved it Graded Author: Suzanne Young Genre: Science fiction Publisher: Simon Pulse Elements: Suicide Series: Book 1 of the Program series

Don't trust a corporation that boasts a hundred percent success rate. So goes The Program, a program implemented in several US states, aimed to curb the 'epidemic' of teenage suicide. I highly anticipated the scenes during the implementation of the Program itself, only to be sorely disappointed with dragged out scenes where nothing truly chilling happens. Yes, a couple of horrible things occurred, but I only recognized them in principle and there was no visceral impact. Combined with a somewhat strong beginning and ending, I'm looking forward to the sequel, though it remains to be seen if I'll actively seek it out.

Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) 2013

This year marks the fourth annual AFCC convention, and it also marks the first year that I attended, both as a participant and as a visitor. I attended for only one day--the day of the blogging seminars--and this post will cover that.

When May 27th came, I was a huge bundle of nerves. This was the day that the blogging seminars would happen--the seminars that Tarie and I had pitched and planned to the Singapore Book Council.

I set off early in the morning to moderate the keynote speech, with invited guest and blogger extraordinaire, Steph Su of Steph Su Reads. Now, this may seem like an exaggeration, but meeting Steph was such an honour. Here was one of the most talented book bloggers in the industry, a blogger whose views I respected, and all I did was get down to business.

Steph being all knowledgeable and badass.

Steph, on the other hand, was fantastic. Her speech was knowledgeable, insightful and inspiring; there was not a moment where someone wasn't taking notes in that roomful of industry professionals, authors, illustrators, educators and bloggers.

I know.

Her hour-long speech covered how to get the most out of blogging, both personally and professionally. She gave some great advice about giving the blog room to breathe and grow. I hope that Steph would post some parts of her speech, because that speech was ace and everyone should hear it.

The audience busy taking notes. Tarie, third from left.

We were off to a good start. Next up was the panel on fostering relationships within the community, of which I managed to catch only the last few minutes. It was warmly received by the audience, and there was a good Q&A session where tips were traded back and forth.

Last was a panel on the current and future state of blogging. Moderated by Tarie, and consisting of Steph and Candy Gourlay, this panel was the highlight of the whole event. Candy and Steph's banter was hilarious as they debated what worked--and didn't work--in the current scope of blogging, and what they hoped to see in the community in the future. There was a rousing round of applause when it ended.

Candy Gourlay, Steph Su, Tarie Sabido

And that was the end of the blogging seminars. There were some things that worked out great, and others that could be improved upon, but overall? I hope that these seminars would continue to be part of the AFCC; it was great to have a session where audience members and panelists could interact informally, trade advice and network.

As the blogging seminars were ongoing, there was also several events dedicated to YA that I was extremely excited to attend. Unfortunately, I was not able to make a single one of them. I know. Bummer. However, with the increasing relevance of YA literature in both the publishing and entertainment industries, I hope that there will be several panels dedicated to the topic.

Overall impression of the AFCC

I'm impressed by the broad scope of the literature covered during AFCC. Despite its name and its focus on all things Asian (authors, literature, illustrators, novel protagonists, etc), AFCC does invite many notable industry professionals from all over the world to contribute their views on the current state of literature.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the warm, informal ambiance in all of the panels and workshops that I attended was not it. Everyone was so welcoming, and there was a real sense of community that permeated the convention. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, and newbies such as myself were quickly welcomed into the fold. This could be in part due to the repeat attendees and speakers who were already comfortable in such an environment, but it could also be due to the fact that people there were simply thriving in their element.

That said, I'm looking forward to attending AFCC for many more years to come. Once again, a huge thank you to the Singapore Book Council for being so welcoming. They have a great vision, and I'm thankful that they allowed me to share my vision with them, and for making it happen. Here's to bringing the literary arts scene back in the spotlight.

AFCC: Exploring YA Fiction, Book Reviewing and Blogging to Connect

Remember that sekrit project I was hinting about a few months ago? Well, the time has come to unveil it.

I'm proud to present to you the AFCC 2013 Seminars!

The AFCC Seminars offer specialised sessions that focus on specific aspects of the literary community. This year’s Seminars will cover Young Adult literature, translation of children’s books, and blogging.

- AFCC website

How did this come about?

If there's one thing I've learned since joining the book blogging community, it's that blogging plays a huge part in real, offline, life: internships, job opportunities and blogger meet ups. The community has grown to encompass other players in the publishing and literary industries, and this is most apparent during industry events such as BEA and ALA.

Being an undergraduate with student loans, and not being in the USA where the such events were mostly held, it wasn't probable for me to attend them. Such events also highlighted the geographical gap that the internet has managed to narrow.

This was not a unique situation. There were other bloggers in similar situations: those who wanted to, but couldn't, go to industry events such as BEA and mingle with other bloggers, publishers, authors and more.

And I thought, why not plan a bloggers conference here in Singapore? While I couldn't reach out to the rest of the world, it could be an alternative for bloggers in Asia who wanted a similar experience.

I approached Tarie, a Filipino YA and children's book blogger who's been to the past few AFCC, and broached the subject. We came up with a rough draft of the conference and sent a formal proposal to the Singapore Book Council, the organizers of the AFCC. They were very welcoming, and coincidentally was planning to focus on Young Adult literature for the upcoming 2013 festival. After months of discussions, here we are!

Why the AFCC?

The AFCC is primarily known as an industry event, one that is very supportive of Asian and Southeast Asian literature. Aside from industry professionals, there are several Asian book bloggers who have attended the event for years in a row.

The AFCC has also just introduced an all new track focused purely on Young Adult, which is happening on the same day of the Seminars (27 May 2013), which is great because that means you can just get a one-day pass for both tracks! Aside from that, they've also planned a great lineup of conferences, workshops, masterclasses and seminars for this year, reaching out to teachers, parents, writers, illustrators and more.

Why should I go to the AFCC?

Aside from the fact that there's a seminar or conference for anyone and everyone who's interested in getting to know more about the publishing industry?

Intriguing seminars and conferences such as

• Editing Stories in Translation,
• Asian Spice, Hot Genres: Writing and Marketing New YA Fiction,
• The Page on Stage: Writing Plays for Teens,
• The Present and Future for Multicultural Graphic Novels,
• Novels Set in Asia: Selling Them Overseas, and
• How Creators Can Leverage on the Skills of the Literary Agent.

The diverse range of speakers! Examples would be: (all around fabulous) blogger Steph Su, reviewer Marjorie Coughlan, authors Ken Spillman, Holly Thompson, Adeline Foo, Candy Gourlay. Check out the full line-up here.

How about the fact that there's a whole segment dedicated for bloggers (and potential bloggers) to mingle? It won't just be a group of people listening to a panel of speaker; it'll be a group of people discussing all things blogging.

I'll be there, and I hope to see you there! Tickets are on sale now. Prices may be steep for the full five day pass; luckily you can choose to buy a full day or half day event pass. Early bird prices last until 31 March 2013.