Let's Talk Legends!

Last week, I announced the release of Failstate: Legends, the sequel to my debut novel. I also promised that I would tell some stories about the writing of this book and answer any questions that you might have. Well, a question arrived from my website's e-mail from Christina:

The question is: Zombies?
I'm not too certain about having things like that in my books.I Mean, reanimated brain-eating corpses? that is something that makes me more than a bit uncomfortable. Especially in christian fiction.
What are your thoughts on paranormal (Namely Zombies) in christian speculative fiction?

Thanks for the question, Christina!

Actually, it's funny. This wasn't my first idea for a sequel for Failstate. I tossed around a few ideas with Jeff Gerke, the phenomenal publisher of Marcher Lord Press, and Amanda Luedeke, my excellent agent. It was Amanda who first suggested the zombies and, I'll admit, I was a little hesitant. I mean, zombies are hot right now, as evidenced by the popularity of The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies (both as a book and in the recent movie that I haven't seen yet), World War Z (again, both as a book and a movie that no one has seen yet), plus video games that I've played like Plants vs. Zombies and Left 4 Dead 2. I could keep going, but you get the idea. Zombies are hot right now.

I think part of my initial hesitation on this was that I didn't want to be seen as trend-following. That's never a good idea for authors, especially since by the time most writers hop on board the bandwagon, it's moved on to something different. But the more I talked with Amanda, the more I liked the idea. I started playing with how it might all play out for Failstate and what it could mean for the series. And I came to love the idea.

But I know, Christina, that that doesn't completely answer your question. I guess my answer is, why not?

That may sound flippant, and I don't mean for it to. But Christian speculative fiction in recent years has been pushing the envelope a little in regards to the subjects that we're willing to portray and explore. For example, a few years ago, it would have been taboo to portray dragons as anything other than harbingers of evil, especially given the role a dragon plays in the book of Revelation. But then Bryan Davis and Donita K. Paul wrote books that had dragons as the heroes and it worked. The same could be said for magic. Given the hue and outcry among some circles at the Harry Potter books, you'd think that Christians should never do anything with magic. But again, some Christian authors have woven magical systems into their books and made them work well.

And really, the concept of zombies is actually pretty Biblical, if you think about it. And I'm not talking about resurrection stories, like the widow of Nain's son or the saints who were raised on Good Friday. Instead, I'm talking about the on-going zombie apocalypse that we have going on around us right now. If we take Ephesians 2:1-4 and Colossians 2:13 seriously, then those who are without Christ are dead. And yet they still get up, walk around, and go about their business like they're alive. You could say that we're surrounded by zombies in need of new life right now. Not only that, but if you take John 10:28 seriously, then that means that there are people who are physically dead and yet still alive. Both of those situations sound a little like zombies to me. All of these ideas are explored in two very excellent books, Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos and Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, and Reborn by Clay Morgan.

So ultimately, I'd say that using zombies, if done from a Biblical perspective (which I've tried to do; I leave it to my readers to tell me how well I've done), is fair game. So long as we don't compromise the message of the Gospel, that Jesus is the one who gives us true life that cannot end, we're good.

Christina also had one other question:

And when is your Failstate mini novella coming out? It will be out in paperback right?

I am still working on getting the mini-novella out. There are some final details to be hammered out, but once those are taken care of, it'll be out as an ebook via Amazon. I believe that eventually it might be available as a paperback, because I think that Amazon is doing print-on-demand for their Kindle books, but I don't know for sure.

So there we go! Next week, I'll talk about where the title came from. That is, unless someone wants to hijack the discussion with a question!

But before I go, two bits of business. First of all, I'm holding a Failstate: Legends Giveaway on Goodreads that will end on my birthday. That's right, it'll be my birthday, but you could be the one getting the present!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Failstate

by John W. Otte

Giveaway ends April 10, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Pretty good odds so far.

Also, in two weeks, I'll be having a launch party for the book. If you're in the Twin Cities area, I'd love to see you there! But even if you're not, you can participate via Ustream. We'll be broadcasting it live!

So see you all later, and happy reading!

Freaky Fun Friday

This past Tuesday, I made a promise on my Facebook author page. To wit:

Well, I kept my promise about resurrecting Wordcount Wednesdays, so now I have one more promise to keep. Welcome to Freaky Fun Friday, a miniseries that will officially start next Friday and continue until . . . well, until I run out of what I want to do with it. I have no idea how this is going to work.

Maybe I should back up and explain what I'm up to here.

When I was in college, I tried my hand at writing screenplays. I wrote a grand total of three. One was a knock off of The Boys from Brazil, where a creepy cult cloned their dead founder not once but twice (and the second time, turned her into a girl. Don't ask. It made sense at the time). The second was a mash up of "Romeo and Juliet" and Enemy Mine (out of the three, this one is the one I'm still proud of). The third was an abysmal romantic "comedy" about an angel sent to date a guy and make him more of a catch for women. Seriously.

Anyway, I eventually returned to the world of "serious literature," i.e. stories of superheroes fighting zombies, because I figured I didn't know the first thing about selling a screenplay, let alone filming one. But that doesn't mean that my brain has given up on coming up with movie ideas.

It happens every now and then. Not often, but recently, I've been beset by ideas for a new movie.

More specifically, a horror movie.

This really surprises me. I'm not a fan of horror usually. I'm a little squeamish when it comes to slasher stuff. But I do make an exception for a certain kind of horror movie: found footage movies.

I don't know why, but for some reason, I love movies that pretend to be footage from real events. My younger brother and I once had a great deal of fun dissecting a made-for-TV movie called Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County. I'm probably one of the few people who actually enjoyed The Blair Witch Project, even if the ending did make it impossible for me to enter my own basement for a week. I've watched the Paranormal Activity movies and I especially loved Trollhunter (seriously, go watch that movie now!) and Chronicle (which, granted, wasn't a horror movie).

Anyway, the point is, for the past couple of weeks, I've had the idea for a found footage horror movie rattling around in my brain. And here's the thing, folks. While I've written three screenplays, I have no idea how to write a found footage one. Even if I did, I still don't have any idea how to produce it (although I'll admit I briefly toyed with the idea of taking it to Kickstarter to see what would happen). But I can't seem to exorcise this idea.

So that's what I'm doing. Over the next few weeks, on Fridays, I'll be telling you the story of this found footage idea. A lot of it is extremely rough. Big chunks of it are completely nonexistent right now. I've got a beginning, some scraps of stuff for the middle, and an ending. But I need to share this so it'll leave me alone.

Buckle in, folks. I can't promise that it'll be scary, but I'm willing to bet it might be a little fun. See you next week for the first installment of this still untitled found footage horror film.

Wordcount Wednesday

Don't call it a comeback!

Or do, I guess. It's time to resurrect an old standard here at the Least Read Blog. It's time for me to resurrect Wordcount Wednesday, mostly because I need a good kick in my rear to keep me writing. So every week, come back here and see how far I'm making it in my current work-in-progress.

So what's that new project? Why, Failstate #3. The working title is "Failstate: Reflections," but it might change to "Failstate: Refractions" at some point. I'm still mulling that over.

As of right now, Failstate: Reflections is weighing in at 17,268 words. Hopefully that number will grow every week. If it doesn't, I hereby give you permission to yell at me.

Scarlet

So I've been wanting to read this sequel for a while now. When I read Cinder, I really enjoyed it, the odd blend of fairytales and sci fi. I knew that I had found something special in that book. So when I heard that Scarlet was coming out, I knew that I had better hop to and get it right away. Once again, I'm blown away by Marissa Meyer's creativity and craft. This was a very enjoyable book that added to the Lunar Chronicles and makes me want to learn more.

Scarlet is a young woman who lives with her grandmother on a farm in France. Well, at least, she used to. Her grandmother has disappeared. The police have pretty much given up on finding her grandmother, but Scarlet knows that something bad has happened. Grandma wouldn't just run away from home, would she? On a run into town to deliver some vegetables, she meets a young street fighter who calls himself Wolf. Soon Scarlet finds herself on a cross-country adventure as she and Wolf travel to Paris to find her grandmother.

But we haven't lost track of Linh Cinder, the fugitive cyborg who starred in the first book. Cinder has escaped from prison and is traveling with a dashing ne'er-do-well named Carswell Thorne. She's still reeling from everything she's learned about herself and her past, but she doesn't have time to really process any of it. Queen Levana of Luna is still after her and she will stop at nothing to get her hands on Cinder.

So let's talk about my one minor gripe, a trifle, a quibble. This was predictable. Again. I saw the big twist coming in Cinder, and I saw the twist coming in this one too. As a matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet that anyone reading this review can see it coming without reading the book.

But you know what? I didn't care! The characters are engaging, the stakes are high, and I'm finding that Scarlet and Wolf are just as much fun to travel with as Cinder was in the first book. I really can't wait to see where the story goes from here, but from what I can see, I've got a year to wait. I'm guessing that in this case, absence really will make the heart grow fonder. I can't wait to see what Cinder and Scarlet do next, and what the next fairytale plundered will be.

Failstate: Legends is here!

I know I've gone mostly silent on my blog. For some reason, I seem to have migrated my attention over to my Facebook page. I'll still do book reviews, game reviews, and so on, but I do a lot of my ruminating over there.

But today, I'm proud to announce that my second novel, Failstate: Legends, was officially released by Marcher Lord Press. Well, it was released yesterday.

Here's the backcover copy, in case you're curious:

A young superhero.

A legend reborn.

And a whole mess of zombies.

Failstate (a.k.a., Robin Laughlin) thought his life would get easier after he’d earned his superhero license. But now a legendary superhero has returned from the dead…along with a horde of shambling horrors who want to eat his brains.

New Chayton’s other licensed heroes are indisposed, meaning that the whole weight of protecting the city has fallen on Failstate. And nobody thinks he’s up to the challenge. At least he has help from his older brother, Gauntlet, and his best friend, Veritas. Or does he?

As if the zombie apocalypse weren’t enough, complicating things are not one but two beautiful girls vying for Failstate/Robin’s affections—and his own powers are doing something…interesting.

In the superhero business, interesting is bad.

Legends walk the streets of New Chayton. If Failstate can somehow survive the next few weeks, he could become one of them.

Or, if you're more of a visual person, here's a book trailer I put together about a week ago:



As of right now, if you want a print copy of the book, you can order it direct from the publisher. You can also find the ebook on Kindle , the Nook, and the Kobo.

But let's have some fun also. Over the next few weeks, I'll be telling little stories about writing this one and I'll answer anyone's questions about this story or the series. Got a question about Failstate and his world? Ask it in the comments. Then come back next Saturday for the answer!

Confess and Believe

Does Paul give us a checklist or a way of life?

Text: Romans 10:8b-13

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Iscariot

I think I've said this before, but I love me some Tosca Lee.

. . . ahem

That sounded better in my head before I typed it out. Let me rephrase:

I am a huge fan of Tosca Lee's writings. I was mesmerized by Demon: A Memoir.I absolutely adored Havah.When she started talking about the "Big Scary" on her blog, I wondered what on earth it could be. Then she announced that she would be tackling the life of Judas Iscariot.

Holy cow!

And now we finally have the fruits of her labors. I simply devoured Iscariot: A Novel of Judas shortly after it arrived. I simply couldn't help myself.

We all know what the Bible tells us about Judas which is, basically, nothing. He's called Judas Iscariot. His dad's name was Simon. He's the treasurer of the disciples and a thief. He betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. And he later regretted his actions and killed himself.

That's not a lot to go on, but Lee did an incredible job with less when it came to Eve.

The picture she paints of Judas is one of a man consumed by his own uncleanness and insufficiency. Caught up in the revolts that took place after Herod the Great died, young Judas finds himself defiled by the actions of his family, particularly his mother. Worse, bitterness and rage consume him in his adult life, thanks to the actions of Pontius Pilate. He's a pious Jew, one who yearns for salvation for his people. More importantly, he needs that salvation for himself.

It's little wonder that he winds up gravitating toward a certain itinerant preacher from Nazareth.

In Lee's book, Judas comes to life as a man who longs for what he sees to be true, but who continually stumbles over himself. Even though we know how this story is going to end (a fact that Lee tips her hat to by starting the book with the "Epilogue"), you want Judas to find what he's looking and longing for.

But what I find truly fascinating is Lee's portrayal of Jesus.

This is always a bit of a risk, when an author tries to write for Christ. Stray from the Biblical text too much, and Jesus comes off as unrealistic. Stick to it too closely, and the reader has little reason to, well, read. But where Lee really succeeds is bringing out the nuance to what Christ was teaching. Specifically, she dwells on how the crowds would receive His ministry.

In short, this is a fantastic, stupendous book. Sure, there are some points that I'd quibble over. For example, I personally believe that Judas betrayed Jesus to "back Him into a corner" and force Him to act as the Messiah, a plan that backfired on him horribly. But those are minor, microscopic flaws in an otherwise outstanding piece of Biblical fiction.

Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, and Reborn

Lately I've had zombies on the brain. Part of that is because I've been working on the final edits for "Failstate: Legends," which has zombies in it. Maybe it's because a few weeks ago, I put "The Walking Dead" on our Netflix queue and I keep wondering if I should watch it. But in the last week, my preoccupation with the undead has been because of Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, and Reborn by Clay Morgan. It's a fast read but very worth it. I mean, how often do you find a book about zombie non-fiction.

Specifically, Clay takes a look at the numerous "zombie" stories that we find in the Bible, namely the times when people are brought back from death to life. Sure, we usually call those instances "resurrections," but the metaphor works. I mean, when I teach confirmation and I tell my students about the resurrection on the Last Day, they freak out because they think I'm saying there's going to be a zombie apocalypse. Clay looks at the stories of Elijah and Elisha, as well as the New Testament stories of the widow's son at Nain, Jairus's daughter, Lazarus, Tabitha, and Eutychus. Clay spends a few moments retelling the Biblical story and then spends the rest of the chapter teasing out spiritual truths and insights about how we are too live as reborn people of God.

I really did enjoy the book, especially the personal stories that Clay wove into the text. In many ways, this book reminds me of Matt Mikalatos's Night of the Living Dead Christian. They both cover the same territory. But both books are an excellent reminder that God calls us not to just exist as half-dead creatures, but to live as new creations. I highly recommend this book!

Iron Pillars

We may not all be called to be prophets, but we are all called to take our stand.

Text: Jeremiah 1:4-10, 17-19

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Miasmata

Where was that stupid plant? I knew I needed it to synthesize the cure for the plague running through my veins. I had followed the notes the other researchers had left scattered across Eden, updating my map as I could. I knew I had to be close. Maybe if I stopped to get my bearings again, triangulate my position from the large stone statues that dotted this island paradise? I found a good vantage point and tried to find the monuments on my map. No, no, no! I couldn't find any of them on the map! So where was I?

And then I heard it. The steady thrum of a heartbeat growing louder with each moment. The beast was coming.

I dove for the nearest tall grass, kneeling down and holding my breath as the giant cat-like creature stalked into view. If only I could stay hidden. If only I could find familiar landmarks. If only I could find that plant! Then maybe I could discover the cure and save the world.



 Every now and then, I find an awesome indie game that's quite a lot of fun. Miasmata, by IonFx, is just such a game. The premise is very simple: a plague is ravaging humankind. You play as Robert Hughes, a researcher who is slowly dying from the plague as well. You've been sent to the tropical island of Eden, a veritable treasure trove of medicinal plants. There's supposed to be a whole team of researchers working on this problem and they've even figured out how to synthesize the cure. Unfortunately, they're all dead, apparently murdered by . . . well, someone. It's your job to explore the island, find the plants you need, and create the cure the world needs. But that won't be easy, because not only are you in a weakened state, thanks to the plague, but there's a creature stalking you, ready to destroy you.

So let's talk about the good parts of this game, and there are a lot of them. First of all, it's gorgeous. The graphics are well done and there are some fun ecosystems to explore.

The fact that your character is sick can be frustrating, but in a good way. Because he's infected with the plague, there's the constant danger of running a fever (which can prove lethal if left untreated). The character is also weakened from the plague, meaning that you can't run far or for long and swimming is pretty much a no go. You can temporarily boost your strength and endurance by mixing the right medicines together and even permanently boost your abilities by creating the right drugs.

Finding the different plants is a great puzzle. Most of the plants can be used in some way, the most plentiful being used for basic medicine. But half the fun was stumbling across the rarer plants that are scattered across the island. Part of the challenge, though, is bringing the plants you find back to the various labs that are set up throughout the island. Your weakened state can make that difficult, as can the creature that pops up from time to time.

Let's talk about the creature. The first time I spotted it, I nearly jumped out of my chair. It's a nasty beasty, one that can stalk you through the tall grass. There's really no way to defeat it. You just have to hide and hope that it eventually will get bored and leave you alone.

But here's something I didn't expect: cartography! When the game starts out, your map is mostly blank. And it's a big island and very easy to get lost in. The only way to keep track of where you are is to triangulate your position. You find two landmarks that you have on your map, and boom, you know where you are. And it works in reverse as well: if there's an unfamiliar landmark in the area, if you can pinpoint your position, you can figure out where the other one is too. I often got wrapped up in plotting the location of statues, ruins, and tents on my map, partially because it was fun, but it was also a way to make sure I didn't get lost again. One time, I was so caught up in plotting the nearby statues that the creature snuck up behind me and knocked me off a cliff. Not cool, man. Not cool.

For all the great points of this game, there are some drawbacks. For one thing, the creature doesn't show up quite nearly enough for my taste. Yes, it was worrisome when it did, but I could go for long stretches without even a hint of the beast.

Second, the game seems incomplete. The mystery of the murdered researchers is never really solved. They're all dead and obviously, someone killed them, but you never learn who or why or where the murderer went. I expected to at least learn that much but I never did. Also, there are references to making anti-hallucination agents, but I never was able to and, strangely, I never had to either. Maybe in a future patch?

And third, the game is kind of buggy. There's no real way to pause the game except by bringing up the control panel, but if you do that for too long, the game crashes. There were other times when the game would just crash on me for no apparent reason, mostly when I was starting out.

But here's the thing: this entire game was programmed by two guys. Two! That alone makes this game an impresive feat. You can get the game on Steam, and I really suggest you do. It's a great puzzle and a fun time. Just watch out for the creature!

A Throne of Bones

It took me a while to get through Vox Day's latest tome, A Throne of Bones, mostly because it's about three times as long as most of the books I read and, well, Christmas was in there too. Plus, it was on my Kindle, which seems to not be handling the current Minnesota winter all that well. But I finally made it through and I'm really glad I did.

Set in the ancient world of Selenoth, A Throne of Bones weaves an epic tale of political intrigue, war, and epic confrontations of good and evil. There are the intrigues in Amorr, where the Valerian family is trying to deal with their rivalry with the Severans. One Valerian, Corvus, finds himself thrust into the political spotlight while his son, Marcus, becomes the head of a legion in a dangerous time. Not only that, but Amorr is in chaos due to the death of the Sanctiff (an analogue of the pope in the world of Selenoth). But outside Amorr, things are no better. Wolf-men are invading the land of the reavers to the north, forcing them to seek help from their former victims, the people of Savondir. And through it all, an ancient evil is stirring, one that could completely destroy all the races.

So let's get the obvious stuff out of the way. This is the first book in Marcher Lord Press's Hinterlands imprint, one designed for more mature audiences. As the bookstore website puts it:

Hinterlands books may contain vulgarity, profanity, nudity, and/or sexual content, but never for gratuitous purposes.

So going into this, I knew what I was going to find: not your typical Christian fiction content. More mature stuff. Maybe some vulgar language, some sex stuff, and I was braced and ready. Quite the controversy has started over this new imprint. Now, having finished the book, I can give an honest opinion on the whole deal.

Meh.

I honestly don't see what the big deal is. Is there some vulgar language? Yes, but not an overwhelming amount. Is there some sex in the book? Well, yeah, but between two married people and really, there wasn't much to it. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't see anything in this book to really get upset over.

So is it a good story? Yes, I think it was. It was epic in every manner of the word. Lots of characters, some rather big ideas, and big battle scenes. The characters were well crafted and interesting. Funny thing was, I kept getting the feeling that the "good guys" were all on the wrong side of the conflict. I don't know why, but that's just the feeling I got, especially with Corvus.

Now not everything is perfect with the story. While it is engaging an interesting, it didn't really seem to get out of first gear until about two-thirds of the way through. A lot of it seemed like an extensive prologue to help us understand the world and how it all was put together. It's not until Corvus starts to piece together who is doing what and why that the plot really starts to gel and pulled me along. I'm not saying that the plot elements before that were bad. Far from it. But it wasn't quite as engaging because we didn't know what the stakes were or who all the players were either.

My only other gripe relates to timeline. There were some odd chapter break choices, I thought. Without dropping any spoilers, I'd be reading . . . let's call it Storyline A. The chapter would end, Storyline B would take over and cover some time, and when we came back to Storyline A, it would pick up right where it left off. It was a little odd, but I got used to it.

So all in all, it's a good read but probably not for everyone. Personally, I'm looking forward to book #2.

Joy

We sometimes think that joy is the same as happiness, something that we have to create in ourselves. But Christianity is really about what God gives us, and that includes joy.

Text: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

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God's Gifts

How would you feel if you gave someone the perfect gift for them and all they did was whine about it or use it the wrong way?

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

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Mass Effect 3: DLC Roundup!

FAIR WARNING: If you haven't played BioWare's Mass Effect 3, you might want to skip this one. It's not going to make a whole lot of sense.

Last night I finished another play-through of Mass Effect 3 (my third), and I realized that it had been a while since I mentioned something about the game here. That surprised me, seeing as they've released four DLC packs for the single player game, the most recent being released a few weeks ago. Well, more than four if you count the alternate appearance DLC and weapons. So let's talk about the four packs that somehow alter the single player campaign's story:

From Ashes - This was the first DLC to be released and boy howdy, did it cause a lot of frustration for players. A lot of people threw a fit because it was released the same day as the game itself. They didn't like the idea of having to pay money for something that's supposed to be on the game disc itself. Not only that, but everyone knew that this somehow involved the Protheans, the extinct race that's rested at the heart of the franchise for the previous two games. Given the fact that the Catalyst is supposedly a Prothean invention, the Prothean in this DLC obviously has something to do with this, right?

Well, no, actually. Javik, the last Prothean left, knows nothing of the Catalyst. As a matter of fact, Javik adds very little the game. Sure, he's a useful extra squad member, but that's about it. He's a surly, mean-spirited individual that I've wanted to kick on more than one occasion. About the only time I like having Javik in the game is during the Thessia mission. If you've played the game, you know why.

So basically, this DLC rates a lukewarm "meh" from me. Not worth the stink it caused, that's for sure.

Extended Cut DLC- Out of all the DLC, this one was the most necessary. The original ending of Mass Effect 3 was, in a word, awful. So much so that I actually took the time to share my feelings in a YouTube video. Yeah, I know. I'm a nerd. That's not news to me.

The stink over this one grew so large that the folks at BioWare acted and fixed this and they did a pretty good job. Originally, the game shoe-horned the player into one of three barely explained choices and then bang, the game just ended. There was no closure to . . . well, anything. Saved the krogan from the genophage? You won't know how that turned out. Picked the quarian over the geth? No clue what happened after that. All you were left with was a strange coda that was poorly voiced by Buzz Aldrin. Seriously.

So they went back in and they added in some extra dialogue to help us understand what was happening in the final moments. And they added a epilogue that helped give closure to the entire franchise, showing us through bits of video and pictures how everything turned out. I shared my favorite. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the krogan.

Overall, this one was a great addition to the game because it fixed a major defect in the game. In its original form, I didn't really want to replay Mass Effect 3. With the Extended Cut, I want to go back and see how my decisions change the ending. So this is definitely worth it.

Leviathan - There's something lurking in the darkness, a powerful force that once took out a Reaper. Commander Shepard and his team have to race against the Reaper forces to locate the Leviathan and convince it to join their war against the Reapers. But Leviathan does not want to be found. Not by Shepard, not by the Reapers, not by anyone. The darkness must not be breached.

I loved this one! While it didn't add any new enemies or any new squad mates, it added a lot to the Mass Effect mythos, further explaining the Reapers' goals and motivations. I wouldn't normally have thought that's a good thing (something that I explain in this post over at Speculative Faith), but in this case, it helped. I got chills when Shepard finally found Leviathan. It was a great addition to the game.

But I do have one gripe with it. The developers didn't do a good job of integrating the Leviathan missions with the rest of the game. Once the DLC missions become available, you can basically play through all of them in one long burst, which means that you can wind up facing Reaper forces you haven't encountered in the main game yet. For example, at one point, the Reapers unleash banshees after Shepard's squad, and one of the squadmates correctly identifies them. That's even though the player hasn't gone to the ardat-yakshi monastery yet. I would think it would have been easy to stagger the Leviathan missions so that you can't complete them until you've reached certain parts of the game (i.e. you can't play the mission with the banshees until after the ardat-yakshi monastery).

But that's a minor quibble and not that big of a deal. This one was great and helped make the game even more complete, so far as I'm concerned.

Omega - So in Mass Effect 2, Commander Shepard visits a mining outpost called Omega, one run by a ruthless asari named Aria T'loak. Well, in the chaos of the Reaper invasion, the human terrorist organization called Cerberus has invaded Omega and taken it from Aria. Now Aria wants Shephard's help to reclaim it once and for all. Shepard leaves his team behind to join Aria in a desperate fight to retake Omega.

There's a lot going for this DLC pack. For starters, there's one of the squad mates you gain for these missions, namely Nyreen Kandros, a female turian (something heretofore unseen in the Mass Effect franchise). Nyreen is a noble individual, an interesting counterpoint to the very cynical and cruel Aria. And your Cerberus opponent, General Petrovsky, was a fascinating individual. Then there's the bonus powers that Shepard gains access to once the Omega missions are completed. I switched from warp ammo to Aria's flare power and never looked back. As a matter of fact, I have a feeling that flare is a bit overpowered; it allowed me to slice through enemy forces through the rest of the game with a little too much ease.

And yet . . . and yet there are problems. Once again, we have the same problems as in Leviathan. I was fighting Cerberus phantoms before encountering them in the main game. Not such a big deal this time around, I guess. But what did bother me is how underdeveloped the story on this one seemed. While Petrovsky was a cool opponent, the final showdown with him seemed anticlimactic. And the adjutants, while creepy, didn't seem to add much to the story either. So while this was an interesting addition to the game, once I finished it, I felt very underwhelmed.

THE VERDICT:  So how to sum all this up? The Extended Cut DLC was a must because the game is incomplete without it. Leviathan makes the game that much cooler. Omega is okay, I guess. And as far as I'm concerned, Javik can go crawl back into stasis.

Broken

I'm not much a non-fiction type of guy. I usually wind up skimming a non-fiction book, even if it's one that I really, really want to read. Give me fiction any day! But I had been seeing a lot of posts about Broken: 7 ''Christian'' Rules That Every Christian Ought to Break as Often as Possible by Jonathan Fisk on Facebook from friends and colleagues lately, and so I thought I'd see what all the hub bub was about.

Basically, Pastor Fisk outlines seven "lies" that can infect modern Christianity and shows how, when left out of control, those lies can basically leave a person's faith broken. I won't do any spoilers here, but I will say that I've caught myself falling for some of these lies on more than one occasion.

In terms of substance, I can't fault Pastor Fisk for much. He and I are both pastors in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and while we may not agree on some matters of adiaphora, I found myself agreeing with almost all of what he had to say. I think this is a book that my non-Lutheran friends should take a look at, if for no other reason than to get an outsider's opinion on current trends in Evangelical Christianity. Fisk has some very potent criticisms for some trends that I think would help be a good balance to some excesses that are emerging.

My only complaint is that every now and then, Fisk really pours on the flowery rhetoric. He engages in some metaphorical storytelling that usually went over the top. It seemed to be too much of that.

But all in all, this is a thought-provoking book, one that has left me with a lot to mull over.

The Hobbit

I know, I know, I know. Bad geek! Bad! I had wanted to see The Hobbit the moment it came out. I was hoping that I could even score free tickets to an advance screening (like I have for other movies lately). Sadly, the free tickets were not to be. The one screening my wonderful wife found were gone in 15 seconds and I couldn't have gone anyway. And Friday, well, Friday I had an eye doctor appointment and then we went to see Santa as a family. Weekends are bad, too, so I had to wait until a Monday. A Monday! I know, I need to turn in my geek card now.

But the time finally came and I settled in. After twenty minutes of previews (and I'm still wondering why they thought that fans of J.R.R. Tolkien would be interested in Stephanie Meyer's alien movie thing), the epic tale of Bilbo Baggins unfolded before me. And it was good.

For the most part.

So let's start with the caveats and the words of warning. I wasn't totally sold on the idea of splitting the story into two parts, let alone three. The Hobbit is a much shorter book than The Lord of the Rings, so it seemed a little odd to me that Peter Jackson would divvy up the film, regardless of if he brought in extra material or not. But it's Peter Jackson, for crying out loud. I trust him with Middle Earth, so I was willing to let go of my minor misgivings.

But what format to see it in? I could have gone to see it in IMAX 3D at the Minnesota Zoo, but the last movie I saw like that (Tron: Revolutions, or whatever that train wreck was called) left me feeling a bit dizzy. So should I try for 3D? Or track down the nearest theater that would show it in 48fps 3D? I finally decided on just plain old vanilla 2D.

And it was great to be back in Middle Earth again! It was fantastic to see Gandalf and Bilbo again. I was ready to stand up and cheer the first time I heard a whispered voice in a dark cave. And it was a fun movie, with lots of adventure, some silliness, and that spectacular New Zealand scenery.

And yet . . .

And yet there were some minor details, things that bothered me. I "saw the seams" on some of the visual effects, particularly when Gandalf and the dwarfs were trying to escape from the goblins. I could tell when the CGI folks took over, which I don't remember happening in the Lord of the Rings movies.

But most of all, there was disconnect for me, and I think it's the fact that the source material was slightly incompatible with Peter Jackson's vision.

Let's remember, The Hobbit started life as a story for children. So while there is danger and adventure, none of it is quite as life-and-death as in LotR. And in some ways, Jackson remained true to the source material, by including the "Blunt the Knives" musical number and the goblin's torture song (!) in the movie. Radagast too seemed particularly suited for a kids' story.

But then there are the parts where Jackson was clearly trying to hearken back to the style and vision of Lord of the Rings, and it caused a little bit of cognitive dissonance in me. It didn't feel right.

Not only that, but I think the film suffered a little bit because the story of The Hobbit doesn't strike me as being quite as epic as Lord of the Rings. Yes, taking on Smaug will be awesome and yes, the journey is important for the dwarfs, but the movie seemed to lack a "Big Bad." Because of that, the movie didn't feel quite as big. And yes, I know who the Necromancer is.

Now that may sound like I didn't enjoy it. I did. And I'm looking forward to the next leg of the journey.

Crosswind

I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm something of a steampunk neophyte. I've seen bits and pieces here and there, read a few books and short stories, and admired some cool fashions. But I suspect that this is one speculative fiction sub-genre I'll never really get all that into. That's not a judgment on the idea as a whole. It's just not for me.

In spite of that, though, I really enjoyed Steve Rzasa's latest book, Crosswind. This is the tale of the Sark brothers, inhabitants of a town called Perch. Perch sounds like a frontier town, a sort of alternate version of a Wild West metropolis, where aeroplanes are the order of the day and the inhabitants aren't too keen on their neighbors to the south, the city of Trestleway. Trestleway is all about the railroad, you see. More than that, they want everyone to be a stop on their lines, whether they want to be or not. Winch Sark is a newspaper reporter, while his brother, Cope, is a daredevil pilot. Neither are all that political, but when the Mayor-General's nephew crashes while bearing an important message to his uncle, Winch and Cope investigate. This pulls them into a winding intrigue between Perch and Trestleway, but more than that, because dark forces are at work to not only destroy Perch, but the faithful who live within its borders.

Like I said, while steampunk isn't my thing, I really enjoyed this story. The setting is vibrant and alive, and Steve did a great job of creating what felt like an "old world," one with its own unique history and geography. The best part is, he doesn't slather on loads of unnecessary backstory. Instead, he just teases us with a little bit of, "Hey, there's more to this than meets the eye." In short, it tantalizes instead of bogs down, which is great. Winch and Cope are fun to go on an adventure with, and I particularly liked Winch's spiritual journey. There's a great deal to be gleaned from this book about the interaction between faith and fear, and I really found it fascinating how Steve set the theology in the days of the early church. The Christ event analogue for this world occurred just a decade earlier.

I don't know what a hardcore steampunk fan would make of this book, but I enjoyed it, and I suspect that if you're like me, you will too. Be sure to check it out today.

O Come, Let Us Do Laundry

It may sound like an odd Christmas greeting, but God invites all people to come and do laundry with Him.

Text: Malachi 3:1-7b

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Weird Al: The Book

I don't think it should come as a surprise to anyone that I'm a fan of Weird Al Yankovic, right? I mean, several years ago, I did spend a few hours writing an outline for a Weird Al themed musical. I own just about every song he's ever written. My poor family has had to suffer through me playing his music often enough that it's enough to send my six year old son screaming from the room. On my Facebook profile, I've listed three people as being influential in my life: St. Paul, Martin Luther, and Weird Al. So when I saw that a book dedicated to Al had been published, you can bet that I put Weird Al: The Book on my Christmas list right away. Since my side of the family did Christmas already, I got my copy and devoured it in about a day.

Now some of the stories that I read in here, I knew already, such as how Weird Al and his drummer, Bermuda Schwartz, met before Al performed Another One Rides the Bus on the Dr. Demento Show. I've seen the video of Al performing on Tom Snyder's The Tomorrow Show:



But there was a lot I didn't know. Like how Madonna apparently came up with the idea for Like a Surgeon (!!!), or the problems Al had with TV executives for his kids' show, or how, after UHF bombed, Al almost wrote another Michael Jackson parody. This was a great read for me to find out more about one of my favorite musicians. And the fact that this book is filled with lots of pictures from Al's life and career makes it all the better.

So if you're a Weird Al fan, you owe it to yourself to get this book. And if you're not his fan . . . well, then, what's wrong with you?

I leave you now with a picture of the Weird One that I took myself when he was performing at the Minnesota State Fair two years ago:

Sheer genius.

The Branch

Do you put your trust in hollow trees?

Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16

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