A Lady's Imagination: Buenos Aires, Percy Jackson Day Kit and The Warrior Heir

I have so many to say and there's been such little time! Sorry about the length of this post, really.

Wednesdat I returned from a trip to Buenos Aires, in Argentina. Me and my family stayed for only four days, but it was enough to get to know the city. Which is, by the way, really beautiful - the old buildings tried to copy Paris' style, so they are really majestic. The trip was good also for me to remember my spanish that hasn't been used for a while.

I even have a trip adventure to tell. When you go to Buenos Aires, you have to see a tango presentation. The best tango house would be open just the day we arrived, so we went even though we were tired. The place was really beautiful, with a certain The Godfather atmosphere, all made of wood and velvet. We ordered our dinner and waited. And waited. The lights began to fail, they went on and off. We were starving, but the food didn't come. After two hours of food-waiting, light-blinking boredom, our meals did come. And they looked soooo yummy. And as we grabbed our forks, the lights went out and everybody there stood up. We looked around to see if the show was about to begin or something, as I tried to cut my meat in the dark. Then someone screamed, FIRE! It was a pandemonium. Everyone ran. I grabbed my sister by the arm and went down the staircase, trying to be calm. My sister was very scared because we couldn't see our parents, who were helping my grandparents. When we reached the streets, we could see the fire. It was very high, taking over the whole side of the building. My parents found us soon, and fortunately everyone got out safely. Well, since no one got hurt, I must say it was the best of my day.

Otherwise, the trip went really well. I bought a really nice leather jacket, something I always wanted, and a red trench coat I really loved! In Argentina stuff like that is not very expensive. I also could buy some MAC makeup because of the Duty Free shop. (Here in Brazil, you just can't have MAC. It costs, considering 1 real - our currency = 1,7 dollars, the equivalent to 100 dollars a lipstick. Yeah, it's revolting).
In the airport, while waiting, I had plenty of time to read The Warrior Heir. I did like the book, though I have a few buts. Follows the plot:
Jack Swift (by the way, really like the sound of this name, so very well put togheter) is a teenager who lives in Trinity. When a newborn, he had to do a complex heart surgery, and that's why he has to take a medicine everyday. One day, late for school, he forgets it - and everything changes. He throws this guy he doesn't like to the other side of the football field during training - without laying a finger on him.
So his aunt Linda comes to town and takes Jack and his friens Will and Fitch in a search for an object burried in their great-great-great-grandmother's grave. It is a sword. They are followed, and Jack shows again uncommon powers, specially when using the sword, but their followers are very powerful too. From this point on, Linda finds herself with no option but being honest to him about his family's strange history.

It happens the world is divided between Weirs and Anaweirs - that is, magicians and non-magicians. The Weirs are divided in five classes: Enchanters, Sorcerers, Warriors, Soothsayers and Wizards (who control all the rest). When Jack was born, he should be a wizard, but he didn't have a heartstone. The surgery was made to give him one, but he was given a warrior's heartstone, to serve the interest of the surgeon, the wizard Dr. Longbranch. The warriors are very rare, because they die at early age, and very valuable, because of the Game. The Game is a tournament between the two wizard's houses: White Rose and Red Rose, to determinate which has greater power. As wizards don't want to be involved in the fight, they use the warriors, in this sanguinary, medieval system. Leander Hastings becomes Jack's master and gets him to the Game, all to fulfill an ancient vendetta.
The characters that pleased me the most were the secondary ones - Will and Fitch, aunt Linda, Hastings, Becka (Jack's mom) and Leesha. I found the very human and complete. On the other hand, I didn't like much the main ones. Jack is the best, but sometimes he shows no personality at all. The worse is his beloved one (that later in the book has a surprising role), Ellen Stephenson. I found her dull and boring. In the end she gets just a little tiny bit better. Doens't make up for before that, though.
So, I would read the sequence, but I'm not dying for it. All in all, it is a good adventure-fantasy book, but is not extraordinary.
Now I'm reading Jane Austen's Persuasion... already on chapter 4. Post about it when I'm done.

Finally I got my Percy Jackson Day kit. The Percy Jackson series of books are a very nice modern adaptation to the greek mythology stories that is being transformed into a movie (let's see how that goes). Basically focuses on the demi-god Percy (the od part coming from Poseidon) who goes to Half-Blood Camp to train to be a hero. He's set out on a quest with friends Grover (a satyr) and Annabeth (daughter of Athena) to get back Zeus' master lightening - and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods. Rick Riordan, the author, has a great writing style, agile and quite sarcastic.

The brazilian publisher made an event that was a whole day when fan-clubs competed through tasks for prizes and people could also win those kits answering correctly questions about the book on twitter. Me and my sister competed both ways and won a kit for each! It comes with a T-shirt, a page marker, five bottons, a pen (or maybe a sword?), a raincoat and two tickets! Whee!