Just another reason why I wouldn’t choose immortality …

Like any avid reader, I frequent goodreads.com. One of the only authors I follow on Goodreads is Cinda Williams Chima, author of The Heir Trilogy (soon to be a saga or series or whatever more than three books/anything is called) and The Seven Realms series. Anyway, being that I follow her, her activity uploads to my feed. One book she suggested or had read herself was The Taker by Alma Katsu. I thought The Taker was just a single book, but it turns out, it is part of a trilogy. I actually finished reading the second book, The Reckoning, but the third book does not come out until 2014, so says Goodreads.

Anyway, these books follow the lives of a few characters, mainly Luke Findley, Lanore (Lanny) McIlvrae, and Adair (I’m pretty sure his last name was never mentioned. The minor characters consist of Jonathan St. Andrew, Alejandro, Jude, Tilde, and Donatello, who typically goes by Dona.

The books are categorized as historical fiction, more fiction than historical. Historical in the sense that the story, at least in the first book, is chronological, as Lanny tells her story. The second book is set more in the present, but it tends to go back and forth between past and present as the characters, mainly Lanny and Adair recount their past experiences.

As you may have surmised from the title of this post, there is some immortality in this book. All the characters mentioned above are immortal except for Luke. Adair was the very first to become immortal having been fed an elixir of life. As the years have gone by, Adair has “collected” those who he feels will be beneficial in his conquest for power. In acquiring his companions/minions, Adair sought out people who were capable of being ruthless. As far as the audience knows, Tilde killed her husband and children in order to be with another richer man and Alejandro having sacrificed his sister in order to save his own life. I don’t believe Dona’s story has been told.

In this universe, when each person becomes immortal by drinking the elixir, whoever feeds the person the elixir is the only person who can harm the recipient. For example, Adair was the only person who physically harm and kill Lanny, Jude, Alej, Tilde, Dona, and all the others he turned. And Adair was a tyrant. He took pleasure in harming those he so-called for, but Alej, Tilde, and Dona had been with Adair for so long, they seemed to have forgotten any other way of life. Lanny on the other hand, wasn’t going to endure Adair’s tyrannical ship anymore. She launched a plan to imprison Adair since he couldn’t be killed.

Two centuries passed before Adair was released from his prison into modern day 2010, and you could imagine, he was vengeful. Using something similar to an empathy link, Adair finds Jude in modern day Boston, and is eager to find Lanny. However, he has to spend a considerable amount of time getting acquainted to everything that is modern day 21st century: cars, cell phones, computers, etc.

In the meantime, during the two hundred years that Adair is imprisoned and shortly he is freed, Lanny is constantly on the run. Every day she is constantly wary that Adair will be freed from his prison and come after her, and after he is released, she panics and flees her newly comfortable life with Luke. There’s more to that story and the book, but I’m not gonna talk anymore about the plot. Now on to the point of this post:

Even in this reality, immortality still sucks. When you became immortal, you couldn’t starve to death, drown, you didn’t technically need to sleep; you were never sick, couldn’t even feel pain unless inflicted upon you by the person who fed you the elixir. If you were harmed by someone other than your ‘creator’, you healed almost instantaneously  no matter what you infliction may be. (The book didn’t mention things like being blown up or being decapitated.) I think it sucks more than being a vampire or a warlock (Mortal Instruments). At least as a vampire, you can kill yourself: burn up in the daylight, stab yourself with a wooden stake, maybe rip out your own heart. Warlocks and other immortal creatures are killed in the Mortal Instruments series when they’ve gone wayward, but here, once you drink the elixir of life, only one person can kill you, can harm you. That may be a relief, but what would happen if the only person who wanted to kill you was killed by the person who ‘created’ them? For example, Savva was another one of Adair’s minions, but he was released when Adair had no more further use for him. Lanore comes across Savva soon after she imprisoned Adair, and they traveled together throughout developing northern Africa. After Adair is released, Lanny seeks out help from Savva who asks Lanny upon her departure that if she ever has the ill fortune to run into Adair again to ask Adair to end Savva’s life.

Also, in the second book, the reader was able to view the story from Adair’s point-of-view, and he told the story of how he threw a man in a ‘hole’ where no one would ever find him, to be buried alive for the rest of eternity. When I read that, I inwardly cringed. Talk about Hell on earth.

As I mentioned in my previous post about immortality, if it could be a reality, it could be awesome if you made it so. There’s so much you could do and see, so much good that you could offer to the world with acquired knowledge over centuries, but there’s also the fact that everyone you would care for would grow old and pass away. Because honestly, if you truly loved someone, even if you wanted to be with them for all time, subjecting them to the possibility of an eternity of Hell.

Lanny had said something about how the elixir made your body impervious to harm but not your mind.

So once again, if it was ever possible, say no to immortality.

My Book List (2013)

This is more for me than for anyone else . . . Back in May 2011, I started keeping the dates and times in which I started and finished a book. One of my friends said that she liked keeping records of things, and I asked her why. She said she likes knowing when she did thing and wonders that if she revisited the date in mind would she would be able to remember it (or something like that). That’s not why I started keeping track of the dates and times, but now that I have, it’s more to see how far I’ve come.

1. Positively: Courtney Sheinmel
Started: May 24, 2011 12:47 am
Finished: May 25, 2011 9:04 pm

2. The Other Side of Dark: Sara Smith
Started: May 25, 2011 10:55 pm
Finished: May 29, 2011 2:58 am

3. The Sky is Everywhere: Jandy Nelson
Started: May 30, 2011 10:03 pm
Finished: June 01, 2011 11:21 pm

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: J. K. Rowling
Started: June 02, 2011 1:11 am
Finished: June 06, 2011 1:06 pm

5. Vanished: Kate Brian
Started: June 06, 2011 7:17 pm
Finished: June 07, 2011 7:54 pm

6. Ominous: Kate Brian
Started: June 07, 2011 11:48 pm
Finished: June 09, 2011 10:48 pm

7. Sing You Home: Jodi Picoult
Started: June 10, 2011 11:21 am
Finshed: June 15, 2011 6:36 pm

8. Bumped: Megan McCafferty
Started: June 19, 2011 1:00 am
Finished: June 25, 2011 2:44 pm

9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: J. K. Rowling
Started: July 1, 2011 6:17 pm
Finished: July 17, 2011 1:03 pm

10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: J. K. Rowling
Started: July 17, 2011 8:30 pm
Finished: July 31, 2011 2:19 pm

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: J. K. Rowling
Started: July 31, 2011 2:50 pm
Finished: August 8, 2011 11:14 pm

12. Twisted: Sara Shepard
Started: August 9, 2011 1:55 am
Finished: August 11, 2011 1:00 pm

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: J. K. Rowling
Started: August 11, 2011 6:45 pm
Finished: August 19, 2011 12:21 am

14. One Day: David Nicholls
Started: August 21, 2011 12:45 am
Finished: September 5, 2011 11:30 am

15. The Power of Six: Pittacus Lore
Started: September 5, 2011 1:50 pm
Finished: September 15, 2011 1:27 pm

16. Abandon: Meg Cabot 
Started: September 16, 2011 6:30 pm
Finished: September 22, 2011 7:17 pm

17. It’s Kind of a Funny Story: Ned Vizzini
Started: September 23, 2011 12:00 pm
Finished: September 27, 2011 2:41 pm

18. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: J. K. Rowling
Started: October, 2011 12:30 am
Finished: October 14, 2011 1:08 pm

19. The Warrior Heir: Cinda Williams Chima
Started: October 15, 2011 1:22 am
Finished: October 22, 2011 2:24 pm

20. The Wizard Heir: Cinda Williams Chima
Started: October 23, 2011 1:53 am
Finished: October 28, 2011 1:08 am

21. The Dragon Heir: Cinda Williams Chima
Started: October 29, 2011 9:26 am
Finished: November 7, 2011 7:28 pm

22. Matched: Ally Condie
Started: November 10, 2011 8:04 pm
Finished: November 16, 2011 11:22 pm

23. The Demon King: Cinda Williams Chima
Started: November 16, 2011 11:41 pm
Finished: November 27, 2011 1:03 pm

24. The Queen Exiled: Cinda Williams Chima
Started: November 27, 2011 2:52 pm
Finished: December 10, 2011 10:01 pm

25. The Gray Wolf Throne: Cinda Williams Chima
Started: December 11, 2011 6:17 pm
Finished: December 18, 2011 6:42 pm

26. Awaken: Katie Kacvinsky
Started: December 18, 2011 7:04 pm
Finished: December 20, 2011 7:30 pm

27. The Mark: Jen Nadol
Started: December 20, 2011 9:44 pm
Finished: December 21, 2011 6:36 pm

28. The Vision: Jen Nadol
Started: December 21, 2011 7:38 pm
Finished: December 23, 2011 12:59 am

29. Ruby Red: Kerstin Gier
Started: December 24, 2011 11:38 am
Finished: December 27, 2011 12:11 am

30. Cycler: Lauren McLaughlin
Started: December 27, 2011 
Finished: December 29, 2011 12:28 pm

31. Recycler: Lauren McLaughlin
Started: December 31, 2011
Finished: January 3, 2012 2:39 pm

32. My Name is Memory: Ann Brashares
Started: January 3, 2012 2:48 pm
Finished: January 4, 2012 9:07 pm

33. Destined: P.C and Kristin Cast
Started: January 5, 2012 12:45 am
Finished: January 10, 2012 1:35 am

34. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: Ransom Riggs
Started: January 12, 2012 ??
Finished: January 31, 2012 11:59 pm

35. Hush, Hush: Becca Fitzgerald
Started: February 4, 2012 12:06 pm
Finished: February 8, 2012 6:46 pm

36. Crescendo: Becca Fitzpatrick
Started: February 9, 2012 12:39 am
Finished: March 8, 2012 10:06 pm

37. Silence: Becca Fitzpatrick
Started: March 10, 2012 4:53 pm
Finished: March 12, 2012 9:54 pm

38. Tangled: Carolyn Mackler
Started: March 9, 2012 c. 3:54 pm
Finished: July 14, 2012 3:33 pm

39. Songs of the Humpback Whale: Jodi Picoult
Started: April 3, 2012 11:15 pm
Finished: April 16, 2012 5:35 pm

40. The Lucky One: Nicholas Sparks
Started: April 17, 2012 10:53 am
Finished: April 20. 2012 11:23 am

41. Clockwork Angel: Cassandra Clare
Started: April 21, 2012 12:15 am
Finished: May 1, 2012 4:15 pm

42. Clockwork Prince: Cassandra Clare
Started: May 2, 2012 1:00 am
Finished: May 6, 2012 10:04 pm

43. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight: Jennifer Smith
Started: May 7, 2012 12:35 pm
Finished: May 10, 2012 2:59 pm

44. Tempest: Julie Crosss
Started: May 11, 2012 12:35 pm
Finished: May 14, 2012 1:07 am

45. Will Grayson, Will Grayson: John Green & David Levithan
Started: May 14, 2012 7:07 p.m.
Finished: May 21, 2012 9:06 am

46. Thirteen Reasons Why: Jay Asher
Started: May 17, 2012 c. 8:10 am
Finished: May 18, 2012 10:16 am

47. The Fault in Our Stars: John Green
Started: May 21, 2012 12:48 pm
Finished: May 24, 2012 9:06 am

48. Across the Universe: Beth Revis
Started: May 29, 2012 7:40 pm
Finished: June 1, 2012 9:41 am

49. A Million Suns: Beth Revis
Started: June 1, 2012 10:50 am
Finished: June 5, 2012 4:37 pm

50. City of Lost Souls: Cassandra Clare
Started: June 7, 2012 2:00 pm
Finished: June 11, 2012 3:22 pm

51. Eon: Alison Goodman
Started:
Finished:

52. Trafficked: Kim Purcell
Started: June 19, 2012 6:54 pm
Finished: June 22, 2012 9:38 am

53. Cinder: Marissa Meyer
Started: June 22, 2012 10:06 am
Finished: June 24, 2012 11:13 am

54. Shattered Souls: Mary Lindsey
Started: June 26, 2012 10:22 am
Finished: June 27, 2012 1:39 pm

55. Hate List: Jennifer Brown
Started: June 27, 2012 11:11 pm
Finished: July 2, 2012 3:39 pm

56. Cruel Love: Kate Brian
Started: July 1, 2012 3:08 am
Finished: July 3, 2012 8:18 am

57. Legend: Marie Lu
Started: July 9, 2012 7:47 am
Finished: July 10, 2012 9:25 am

58. The Time Traveler’s Wife: Audrey Niffenegger
Started: July 10, 2012 1:18 pm
Finished: July 13, 2012 2:40 pm

59. Daughter of Smoke & Bones: Laini Taylor
Started: July 14, 2012 6:23 pm
Finished: ??

60. The Letter Q: Sarah Moon
Started: July 19, 2012
Finished:

61. Fifty Shades of Grey: E. L. James
Started: July 22, 2012 10:52 am
Finished: July 24, 2012 4:23 pm

62. Fifty Shades Darker: E. L. James
Started: July 25, 2012 8:21 am
Finished: July 29, 2012 3:31 pm

63. Fifty Shades Freed: E. L. James
Started: July 29, 2012 11:21 pm
Finished: August 7, 2012 11:48 pm

64. The Rise of Nine: Pittacus Lore
Started: August 23, 2012 1:00 am
Finished: August 27, 2012

65. The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Stephen Chbosky
Started: August 28, 2012 8:00 am
Finished: September 1, 2012 1:03 pm

66. The Night Circus: Erin Morgenstern
Started: September 2, 2012 3:33 am
Finished: September 12, 2012 6:52 pm

67. City of Bones: Cassandra Clare
Started: September 30, 2012 10:40 am
Finished: October 19, 2012 1:50 am

68. Vengeance: Kate Brian
Started: October 5, 2012 6:08 pm
Finished:

69. The Crimson Crown: Cinda Williams Chima
Started: November 4, 2012 1:30 am 
Finished: November 12, 2012 10:14 pm

70. Days of Blood & Starlight: Laini Taylor
Started: November 6, 2012 10:20 am
Finished: December 6, 2012 12:38 am

71. Beautiful Disaster: Jamie McGuire
Started: December 12, 2012 12:48 pm
Finished: December 14, 2012 1:46 am

72. Thumped: Megan McCafferty
Started: December 15, 2012 11:01 pm
Finished: December 16, 2012 9:33 pm

73. Captive in the Dark: CJ Roberts
Started: December 14, 2012 4:55 pm
Finished: December 17, 2012 6:36 pm

74. Seduced in the Dark: CJ Roberts
Started: December 17, 2012 10:33 pm
Finished:December 21, 2012 1:32 am

75. What’s Left of Me: Kat Zhang
Started: December 21, 2012 4:15 pm
Finished: December 28, 2012 12:34 am

76. City of Ashes: Cassandra Clare
Started: c. December 23, 2012
Finished: December 15, 2012 6:42 pm

77. Looking for Alaska: John Green
Started: December 28, 2012 2:05 am
Finished: January 01, 2013 7:55 pm

78. City of Glass: Cassandra Clare
Started: January 01, 2013 11:56 pm
Finished: January 04, 2013 3:47 am

79. City of Fallen Angels: Cassandra Clare
Started: January 04, 2013 2:19 pm
Finished: January 16, 2013 8:21 pm

80. Stolen: Lucy Christopher
Started: January 18, 2013 12:21 am
Finished: January 24, 2013 8:05 pm

81. Finale: Becca Fitzpatrick
Started: January 26, 2013 12:46 am
Finished: January 30, 2013 4:56 pm

82. Consequences: Aleatha Romig (This book took me longer than usual to get through because of school, but also because I was just trying to get to the end. I bought the book because it was $1.03, and it also had a 4 – 4.5 – 5 star ratings with reviews saying, “OMG!! THE END OF THIS BOOK WAS JUST (insert words)!” Which I agree. The way that Romig built the book up to the conclusion, you probably wouldn’t have been able to guess how it was gonna end. I surely couldn’t, but the build up to the end was, for lack of a better word, tedious. I understand why she did, but if I had just bought this book without knowing that the end was gonna be like BAM! I probably would have not finished it.)
Started: February 01, 2013 12:05 pm
Finished: February 22, 2013 2:25 pm

83. Pantomime: Laura Lam
Started: February 24, 2013 5:44 pm
Finished: March 10, 2013 2:50 pm

84. Scarlet: Marissa Meyer
Started: March 11, 2013 2:21 pm
Finished: March 17, 2013 10:48 am

85. Clockwork Princess: Cassandra Clare
Started: March 19, 2013 7:45 pm
Finished: March 28, 2013 7:08 pm

86. Walking Disaster: Jamie McGuire
Started: April 02, 2013 12:57 am
Finished: April 05, 2013 7:29 pm

87. The Lightning Thief: Rick Riordan
Started: April 07, 2013 12:51 am
Finished: April 16, 2013 12:30 am

88. The Sea of Monsters: Rick Riordan
Started: April 17, 2013 1:16 pm
Finished: April 20, 2013 9:04 pm

89. The Titan’s Curse: Rick Riordan
Started: April 23, 2013 1:07 am
Finished: April 27, 2013 8:18 pm

90. The Battle of the Labyrinth: Rick Riordan
Started: April 28, 2013 3:08 am
Finished:

91. The Last Olympian: Rick Riordan
Started: May 03, 2013 12:54 pm
Finished: May 06, 2013 11:12 pm

92. Feed: M. T. Anderson
Started: May 08, 2013 11:29 pm
Finished: May 16, 2013 11:14 am

93. The Lost Hero: Rick Riordan
Started: May 11, 2013 2:32 am
Finished: May 16, 2013 4:25 pm

94. The Taker: Alma Katsu
Started: May 16, 2013 12:20pm
Finished: May 19, 2013 2:09 am
One of the reviews on the cover of this book was “Readers won’t be able to take their eyes away from Katsu’s mesmerizing tale” and how very true that was (for me at least) … I read the majority of this book in about a day and a half, most of that reading which I did while at work, but that’s not relevant.
This book was described as historical fiction (historical in the sense that it was chronological over the course of two centuries) … Pretty much, this book was unlike many books in the sense that it didn’t really have a rising conflict, a climax, and falling action. It was just kind of a story, 400 pages worth of story; it was being narrated that way too: first person account for most of the book. I’m not being very articulate, but it was just one of those books that once you start, you HAVE to finish. Not because you have to find out what happened in the end (the whole plot is practically revealed in the blurb), but because you want to find out what transpired in between. I give it two thumbs up.

95. The Reckoning: Alma Katsu
Started: May 19, 2013 c. 11:00 am
Finished: May 22, 2013 11:42 pm

96. The Son of Neptune: Rick Riordan
Started: May 22, 2013 2:48 pm
Finished: May 27, 2013 10:06 pm
ALL I’M SAYING is that I was reading to the end because I was hoping to get a little Percabeth before the book ended, but NO. I can’t imagine how those who have kept up with the series felt because I don’t have to wait for The Mark of Athena. I can buy it right now. However, I think I am gonna wait since The House of Hades doesn’t come out until October. I know my self-constraint isn’t gonna last long, but I’m gonna try my hardest.

97. Every Day: David Levithan
Started: May 22, 2013 8:27 pm
Finished: May 24, 2013 9:26 am

98. The Mark of Athena: Rick Riordan
Started: May 30, 2013 11:57 am
Finished: June 9, 2013 1:38 pm

99. Wake: Abria Mattina
Started: June 12, 2013 6:58 pm
Finished: June 22, 2013 4:23 am

100. Little Bee: Chris Cleave
Started: June 17, 2013 12:44 am
Finished: June 29, 2013 4:41 pm

101. Eragon: Christopher Paolini
Started: June 23, 2013 3:56 am
Finished: July 15, 2023 2:00 am

102. Eleanor & Park: Rainbow Rowell
Started: July 1, 2013
Finished: July 4, 2013 3:50 am

103. The Promise of Stardust: Priscille Sibley
Started: July 10, 2013
Finished: July 27, 2013 5:09 pm

104. Eldest: Christopher Paolini
Started: July 27, 2013
Finished:

105: I Am Number Four: Pittacus Lore
Started: July 31, 2013
Finished:

106: The Power of Six: Pittacus Lore
Started: August 15, 2013 2:30 pm
Finished: August 24, 2013 1:36 pm

107. The Rise of Nine: Pittacus Lore
Started: August 29, 2013 8:53 pm
Finished: September 03, 2013 8:10 pm

108. The Fall of Five: Pittacus Lore
Started: September 04, 2013 1:08 am
Finished: September 08, 2013 8:46 pm

109. Orphan Train: Christina Klein
Started: September 2013
Finished: October 04, 2013 8:30 pm

110.
Started:
Finished: