The Forgotten Legion

For my third post, I am taking the liberty to discuss one of my new favorite book trilogies. It is: The Forgotten Legion by Ben Kane. I started reading the first book, The Forgotten Legion, a couple months ago and once I started, I couldn't put it down.
The story tracks four main characters along with a series of other minor characters. The interesting part of this trilogy is that it is a well blended historical fiction, mixing true ancient Rome with fictional characters. The four main characters are all fictional but come in close contact with many big historical figures such as General Crassus, Cassius Longinus, Marcus Brutus, and most importantly, Julius Caesar.
Romulus and Fabiola are twins who are both sold into slavery; Romulus to a gladiator school (which actually existed), and Fabiola to one of the major brothels in Rome (which also existed). Brennus, a Gaulish warrior is the last of his tribe and is sent to the Ludus Magnus where he meets Romulus. Tarquinius, an Etruscan haruspex and the last of his kind, is also in Rome and joins Brennus and Romulus later on when they join General Crassus' army.
Following these events are real battles and events during Crassus' campaign told in the viewpoint by the three friends. Meanwhile in Rome, Fabiola learns the ways of seduction in order to exact revenge on not only the man who raped her mother and separated her family, but more importantly, the man who first raped her mother and created Romulus and herself.

This is their story, as they all fight for survival at almost every turn. Covering Rome to Asia minor to North Africa, the series takes the readers everywhere as they follow Romulus, Brennus, Tarquinius and Fabiola.

Deftones- White Pony

I have to admit that one of my latest obsessions has been the White Pony album by Deftones. Featuring Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, and Maynard James Keenan from Tool and A Perfect Circle, the album truly generates a dark mysterious feel that I just can't get enough of. My favorite songs are Digital Bath, Rx Queen, and Passenger. In the song "Elite" you hear the true metal nature of Deftones and then it is opposed by the softer, more melodic "Teenager".  Chino Moreno's lead vocals in Knife Party particularly are quite haunting and chilling that it gives me goosebumps when I hear it. Stephen Carpenter's guitar playing in both rhythm and lead are simple but very, very effective. The first time I heard the drums by Abe Cunningham in Rx Queen, I couldn't even understand how to do the beat, which doesn't happen often for a musician. Now that I've heard the song enough, I understand what he's doing and I love every second of it. Chi Cheng's bass is also very haunting and simple but overall a great complement to the guitar. All of it was brought together by Frank Delgado who did much of the electronics in the songs as well. The album was also said to be Deftones' "Most daring and impassioned work to date." Understandably, the album went Gold in the UK, Australia and Canada, and Platinum in the United States. 

The track list is as follows: 

1. Feticeira
2. Digital Bath
3. Elite
4. Rx Queen (Feat. Scott Weiland)
5. Street Carp
6. Teenager
7. Knife Party (Feat. Rodleen Getsic)
8. Korea
9. Passenger (Feat. Maynard James Keenan)
10. Change (In the House of Flies)
11. Pink Maggit

An interesting note in the album for me was the fact that one of my favorite singers from another band was in it. Coming from a much more complex and rhythmic band, Maynard James Keenan definitely influnced the entire album into what it became. Moreno himself asked Keenan to be a part of the studio work, which Keenan accepted. It turned out that he also wanted to be in a song (Passenger) and so he was incorporated vocally as well. Moreno has stated that he loved working with the great singer and who would blame him? Two great singers in one studio could only produce a great album such as this. 

I have definitely enjoyed this album thoroughly and will continue to do so. If you haven't had the chance, I recommend that you listen to this album. 

To start off my blogging career, I would like to talk about a movie most dear to me that has very important thematic elements. Emphasizing Family, Trust, and Loyalty I would like to review the Oscar winning "The Godfather". 

Set in New York City during the 1940s , this is a movie adaptation that came out in 1972 based on Mario Puzo's novel of the same name. Francis Ford Coppola directed the movie using his Italian lighting technique called "Chiaroscuro". This literally means "light-dark" and is usually a technique used in paintings to emphasize contrasts in themes and colors to better express emotions. Fitting the story-line, the darkness envelops the background of almost every scene, while the light is used just enough to be able to recognize the characters. A perfect example would be when the Godfather is shot and sent to the hospital somewhere in the first half of the movie. Although it is almost unnoticeable, the shadow is cast upon him and the light from a nearby lamp illuminates Michael Corleone (his son) signifying the shift of power. [To be fair, I will not spoil anything else from the movie for all of you haven't already seen it.] 

Another big element in the movie is the juxtaposition of the crime members' personalities. Although the characters are criminals, they are set in a good light, as helpful neighbors and friends who would do anything for friends and family. With this comes the issue of trust and loyalty. A soldier (lower-ranked mafia member) would kill anybody the Don (head of the crime family) wants him to, but is also sworn as the head of his own family and must meet the needs of them or else he wouldn't be considered a man. If a soldier betrays the Don, he betrays the family; and there would be no remorse in his punishment. Morality is also a key factor that influences most of the Don's decisions throughout the course of his life, and Michael's during the movie. This is a contrasting juxtaposition that actually separates average criminals from the mafia and other such organizations. All of these elements resound within each one of us which is why this dark crime drama hits us hard every time emotionally. 

The story-line thus follows the rise of Michael Corleone's rise to power and the family's dealings with the others who want to bring the Corleone family down. 

If you haven't seen this movie, I strongly recommend it.