Reus

Oh, boy, it has been a while since I've been on here, hasn't it? I've let a lot of stuff slide (sorry, Freaky Fun Friday readers! I promise, the last installment was not the end of that series!).

I blame Reus.

Okay, so it's really my fault. I'm not good at keeping myself motivated, especially when there's a video game to distract me. And Reus (don't ask me how to pronounce it) is an incredible distraction.

The premise is simple: you're a living planet. You are in direct control of four giants (Ocean, Forest, Rock, and Swamp). You use them to create different biomes and place resources (animal, plant, and mineral).

But the giants aren't alone on the planet. There are these pesky things called "humans," and they have a mind of their own. They'll settle anywhere they can find resources and start building special projects. It's up to you to provide the humans what they need so they can build those projects. But at the same time, you also have to keep them in line because, if you don't, they'll turn on you and attack the giants. And you only have 30, 60, or 120 minutes to get as much done as you can.

I've found Reus to be mind-bogglingly addictive, and part of the reason why is the nature of the game. It's a stripped down god-game (think old school Populous) with heavy puzzle elements. Every resource you can place can interact with the stuff next to it. For example, if you place certain animals near minerals, they'll provide more food. Or if you put certain minerals next to plants, those minerals will provide more gold. Part of the challenge is to find the best interaction to help bolster what the humans are up to. And you want the humans to build those projects. Pretty much every time they do, they provide your giants with an "ambassador" that unlocks special powers, allowing the giants to upgrade the resources, leading to more and better interactions that allow the humans to build more and more impressive projects.

Ah, those humans. Love 'em and hate 'em in this game. There literally is no good way to control them (aside from being really careful where you place the resources). They'll sometimes pick odd projects (one of my swamp villages kept trying to build a "Geologist" project, which requires mountains. They were nowhere near a mountain. I finally had to have my Rock Giant destroy the village). And if you give them too many resources too quickly, they'll get greedy. Greed is bad. Greed leads to the villages attacking each other and eventually, the giants.

Not only that, but the game sets unofficial "goals" for each playthrough. For example, one of the goals I'm trying to meet right now is to create a game where all of the villages create 2,000 food together. Meeting those goals unlocks more resources to use in the game (something you also receive the first time the humans build a particular type of project).

Not everything is hunky-dory with this game, however. Figuring everything out is kind of tricky. The game links to a wiki that I've found really helpful, but a lot of what a player does is trial-and-error. That's not necessarily bad, but you have to be careful not to lock yourself into one way of playing.

Also, there are stability issues that have been maddening for me. A few times, my giants have frozen in place and won't take orders. I found an easy fix for that one, but the most recent has really upset me. The game will randomly crash at the same point, over and over. For example, last night, I finally managed to complete some projects that had been eluding me. I had only 15 minutes left in my game. And then it all crashed. I tried reloading from the auto-save, only to have it crash again. And again. And again. Needless to say, I had some unpleasant thoughts about the game.

But that shouldn't stop you from checking out this great game. It's available from a variety of sources and it's only about ten bucks. Well worth the money, believe me!

Star Trek Into Darkness

Hoo boy. Here we go. Earlier today, I sat down to watch Star Trek Into Darkness, and now I'm trying to process exactly what it is I saw.

Let's start with the plot. Captain James Kirk and company are back. Kirk is hoping that he'll be selected to head up a certain five year mission, one that will take him into deep space and go where no one has ever gone before. Only there's a problem. Actually, more than one. At first, the fly in the ointment is Kirk himself. He still hasn't learned how to follow the rules, much to the chagrin of his first officer, Mr. Spock. An adventure on a primitive planet threatens to derail Kirk's dreams.

But then things really go awry when a man named John Harrison attacks a Starfleet archive. But then he makes things personal for Kirk when he attacks Starfleet's leadership directly. Kirk volunteers to go after Harrison. But that's a problem. Harrison should be far out of their reach. By going after him, Kirk is committing his crew to delve into darkness and they'll all be fortunate to emerge unscathed.

I had a really fun time watching this movie. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto embody their characters to the fullest (Quinto especially; it's eerie). Those two are definitely the heart and soul of the movie and they are more than capable of carrying the franchise forward. The action sequences were great, the plot had plenty of twists and turns, and there were more than a few subtle nods inserted for the fans (I caught two in quick succession that made me smile, two shout outs to DS9 and Enterprise).

But as much as I enjoyed this movie, I'm still a little frustrated by it, but before I get into why, I need to trot out my old friend again...

Okay. I've seen this particular plot point spoiled in numerous places (I'm looking at you, imdb and Entertainment Weekly), but let's talk about who John Harrison really is. Yes, it's a front and yes, if you're a Trekkie, you're going to know who this guy is. When I heard who Benedict Cumberbatch was really playing, I about went through the roof.

My first objection had to do with the continuity of the larger Star Trek universe. Yes, I know these movies are set in an alternate reality, but even still, I had a hard time wrapping my mind about how Harrison could really be . . . him. I'm sorry, even with Godzilla warning people off, I'm still not going to say the name. Thankfully, this objection was answered somewhat handily. They came up with a good "in story" reason and I accept their little tweak to the storyline. It works.

But my larger objection is that, in some ways, this is a retread. By resurrecting a classic Trek villain, we're just covering old ground again. Now, in some ways, I get it. This new movie series is a reboot and that makes everything fair game. But at the same time, I kind of wish we could have seen something a little newer. That's all.

Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what's coming next.

Son of Truth

Rowen Mar and Caleb Tala are back in Son of Truth by Morgan Busse, a book that helps set up what can only be an epic confrontation in the final chapters.

When we last left them, Rowen had wiped out the invading Temanin army, thus saving the White City from destruction. But she also confronted and awakened something in the Temanin assassin, Caleb Tala.

Now both Rowen and Caleb have new challenges to face. Rowen, for example, has received a call for help from the distant city of Thyra. In the last book, an evil called the Shadonae has overrun the city and its Monastery, sending the soon-to-be scribe named Nierne to seek help from the Eldarans. Since Rowen is the last living Eldaran (that she knows of), she agrees to go with Nierne and fight this force of evil, even if it does mean leaving the rugged Lore Palancar behind. But the journey is not easy and takes and unexpected turn. Rowen must sacrifice something great to save her companions, something that might change her life forever.

Caleb, in the meantime, must come to grips with the fact that he's a changed man. He's no longer the ruthless assassin he once was. His experience with Rowen has revealed a completely different world to him, one that he barely understands. Maybe Nierne could help him understand his role, but Nierne is a constant reminder of the man he used to be, one that he's not comfortable remembering.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it's little surprise that Morgan is a 2013 Christy finalist for Daughter of Light. She is an extremely skilled writer and I loved losing myself in this world once again. Morgan has created some fantastic characters and concepts.

My one gripe (and it's a small one!) is that this book is more of a bridge than a complete tale in itself. It's obvious that there's another story to come. That's not a problem per se, but I wished that the book had it's own self-contained tale.

That didn't truly diminish my enjoyment, though. I can't wait to see how this epic tale concludes!

Iron Man 3

In The Avengers, Captain America insulted Tony Stark by calling him a "big man in a suit of armor." Then he asked, "Take that away---what are you?" Tony replies that he's a billionaire playboy philanthropist. I could argue that this one exchange is a sort of outline for Iron Man 3. And it turns out that Tony is so much more than that.

Thanks to my wonderful wife (who spotted a free preview on Facebook), I got to see the latest Marvel movie on Tuesday. And now that I've had a few days to mull things over, I have to say . . . I'm still not sure what I think.

The story starts with a flashback to Geneva, where Tony Stark is the old Tony Stark, the weapons dealing ladies' man. There he encounters a sexy biologist, a severely crippled researcher, and an exploding ficus. All of these will come back to haunt him. Then, several months after the attack on New York by Loki's forces. Tony Stark has tried to deal with his harsh memories by building new sets of armor. The latest is a prototype that can be summoned to him at a thought. Tony's trying desperately to hide the fact that his little trip through the wormhole has rattled him badly.

But he's about to be drawn into a massive plot involving the uber-terrorist the Mandarin. The Mandarin is trying to teach the President of the United States a lesson of some sort. When Happy, Tony Stark's bodyguard, is injured in one of those "lessons," Tony takes it personally and issues an open challenge to the Mandarin.

The Mandarin responds (and if you've seen the trailer, you know what he did). As a result, Tony is ripped from his world and is forced to improvise. Can he foil the Mandarin's plot? And how does Aldrich Killian fit into all of this?

Well, it was a fun ride. I was surprised at the amount of humor that was woven into the story. Parts of it were genuinely hilarious. And the plot was . . . interesting. At one point, I wondered how it all would tie together. Toward the end, it all became clear. Sort of. I think they skipped over some of the connecting tissue, so to speak.

But it was definitely a fun movie to watch. Ben Kingsley, especially, is awesome. And Robert Downey, Jr., is fantastic as Tony Stark. I keep wondering how much of these movies are made up on the spot. Downey's performance is spot on and excellent.

What's holding me up is more of a meta concern. Where are they going to go from here? In many ways, this movie seems like a dead end. But given how awesome Marvel's movies have been, I can't wait to see what Tony Stark does next.

Darth Plagueis

I'm a sucker for Star Wars books, especially when they branch out into the ancillary characters and plots. For example, tonight I spotted a book called Into the Void, a book about the first Jedi and I immediately sat up and decided I had to read it someday. So when I saw a book called Darth Plagueis, which tells the story of Darth Sidious's master. I figured there'd be a good chance that we'd finally learn the story of Palpatine himself., something that I've been curious about for a while. I actually had an idea about that a few years back. So how did James Luceno do?

Well, it was okay.

The story picks up as Darth Plagueis kills his master, Darth Tenebrous. By doing so, he becomes the Sith Master in need of an apprentice. After all, a thousand years before the original Star Wars trilogy, the Sith Lord Darth Bane crafted his Rule of Two: there will only be two Sith, one to embody the power, the other to crave it. Plagueis finally settles on a young noble from Naboo named Palpatine. He is surprised at how powerful Palpatine is in the Force.

Plagueis realizes that Palpatine can help him achieve his fondest wish: Palpatine will be the one to control the Galactic Republic, and he will be the power behind the throne once he has figured out how to achieve immortality through the dark side. And so we go on a journey through darkness as Plagueis and Sidious position themselves and their forces to topple the Jedi and bring about the rule of the Sith.

On paper, this should be a fun story. And, in some ways, it is. Luceno dangles some interesting tidbits about what the Sith have done to prepare for their revenge. And it was interesting to watch as Plagueis teaches Sidious the secrets of the dark side. But in the end, this book dragged a bit. Plagueis is a little too fond of long speeches. And what seems to be the most important event in the story is glossed over in its entirety. Kind of disappointing.

The one positive I'll say is that this book does help unpack some of the dense and strange backstory of Episode I. I can honestly say I understand it a little better now. And that's not too bad.

Organ Trail

Every now and then, I find an interesting video game on Steam. Usually it's an indie game and I love buying those games, if for no other reason than to encourage the indies to keep working.

Well, the other day, I got excited, because I thought that I spotted an old favorite on Steam: Oregon Trail. Who here remembers Oregon Trail? When I was in elementary school, I remember how excited I got plopping down in front of the Apple II and trying to get my little band of pioneers from Independence, MO, to the promised land of Oregon. Yeah, I usually wound up wiping out due to dysentery or the final trek down the river, but it was a lot of fun!

You can imagine my surprise when I thought I spotted Oregon Trail on Steam. It even looked the same as the Oregon Trail I used to play. So I clicked on over and then stopped.

Organ Trail? What on Earth?

As it turns out, I had stumbled on a silly little indie game in which a group of survivors have to travel from Washington, D.C., to a promised land on the west coast. Load up a station wagon, gather your provisions, and head on out. Just hope that nobody gets bit by a zombie or you might have to put them down.

So let's talk about what the game gets right. First of all, it's got the feel of the original 8-bit version of Oregon Trail, down to the awful graphics. You have to buy your original supplies, like food, ammo, med kits, and spare tires and mufflers and batteries for your car. You can set your pace and your rationing and hope for the best.

Just like in the original game, you can stop from time to time to scavenge for more supplies, just like how you had to hunt for game in the original. Only this time, you're scooping up magically appearing wallets and grocery bags and using your trusty rifle to shoot the shuffling zombies that come after you. Plus there's plenty of silly humor in the game, some nods to the original that had me smiling.

But not everything is kosher in this game. The combat system is a major disappointment.

Look, I get it. The game developers didn't want this one to get too easy. But using the mouse to aim the gun is too much of a hit-or-miss proposition, and usually, it's a miss. Instead of putting the cursor between the zombie and myself, to aim, I have to put the cursor behind my avatar. The only way I could reasonably aim my gun was to draw a line from the zombie target to myself, but there were still times when my hand would twitch and suddenly, my character would turn 270-degrees and I'd be facing the wrong way, unable to turn around quick enough to shoot the zombie. Because of this glitch, I haven't even come close to reaching the end of the game. And all of this is on easy! I shudder to think what would happen on the harder difficulties.

So do I regret getting this game? Not at all. It is fun. I just wish I had a better shot at beating it.

Rapture

If you've been around my blog long enough, you've discovered that I have a thing for video games. That's especially true for games that come with a good story. And if you're looking for some great stories in video games, you don't have to look any further than Bioshock (and in this case, I'm referring to the first two in the franchise; I haven't finished playing Biohosck: Infinite just yet, but I think I might be close).

Part of what makes the Bioshock franchise so engaging is the setting and the larger-than-life characters the player encounters throughout the games. I still remember the first moment I saw the underwater city of Rapture looming up on the bottom of the ocean floor in the first game. I still remember the shock I felt at The Twist in the middle of the first game (and no, I'm not dropping any spoilers here). I still remember how excited I was to go back for the second game.

So when I saw that a man named John Shirley was tasked in creating a book about Rapture and its denizens, I wanted to see what he put together. I got a copy of BioShock: Rapture and finally got around to reading it.

The book is pretty much what it advertises. We get to go along as industrialist Andrew Ryan envisions his objectivist utopia and builds it on the floor of the North Atlantic. We get to watch as all the characters we meet in the games come to live in Rapture. And then we get to watch as it all falls apart: as war breaks out between Ryan's forces and an upstart who wants to rip it all away, as Dr. Sofia Lamb tries her best to create a collective out of what should have been competition, as so many little girls are turned into Little Sisters, paired with the hulking Big Daddies.

I really wanted to like this book. I mean, I really loved the games. The first one, especially, kept me up late one night wrestling with philosophical questions of how much free will a person really has (and really, isn't that what a good story is supposed to do?). I guess those high expectations translated over to the book.

Don't get me wrong. Shirley does an admirable job weaving a very convoluted timeline into a whole (I've often gotten confused about how all the events of the two games fit together). And I think he does a pretty good job capturing the personalities of the games.

But after reading it all, I think I know what it was missing: a true through-line. We needed a main character to follow and care about. There are a lot of people that I felt sorry for while reading the book. But we pop around Rapture so much throughout the book that it was hard to really care about any of them. Shirley almost does that with Bill McDonagh, but we don't spend nearly enough time with him to really come to care.

So this was an admirable try, but it fell short of the greatness of the games.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find out what happens in the flying city of Columbia. Ah, Bioshock, you're so much fun!

Captives

Back a few weeks ago, at the release party for Failstate: Legends, I was asked who my favorite authors were. And I said that one of them was Jill Williamson. Granted, Jill is a friend of mine, so I might be a little biased, but when I read books like her latest, Captives, I am forced to conclude that no, I'm not being biased in the slightest.

In the not-too-distant future, society has broken down due to a plague. A lot of folks have grouped together in what was once known as Colorado, in a major city called "The Safe Lands." In the Safe Lands, everyone is permitted to pursue pleasure. As a matter of fact, that's what's expected of everyone. Live for today, focus only on yourself and what you want, and hope that it all works out.

Only it's not working out too well. Everyone is infected with something called the "thin plague." Worse, it's a disease that is passed on to any children born in the Safe Land. Thanks to the plague, that isn't many. The Safe Lands desperately needs an infusion of new citizens, uninfected citizens, who might be able to produce a new generation of citizens.

Enter Glenrock, a tiny village not too far from the Safe Lands itself. A few dozen people live a relatively simple life there, having rejected the Safe Lands and their decadent lifestyle. That's not to say that it's perfect. A young man named Mason, for example, is being forced into a loveless marriage by his father. Mason's younger brother Omar is constantly bullied by their father and the others of the village for being artistic rather than a hunter. So it's little wonder when Omar strikes a deal with the Safe Lands: he's willing to voluntarily join their society and he'll try to convince the others to come with.

Only the Safe Landers don't want to risk it. Enforcers enter Glenrock and kidnap most of the women and bring them into the city, along with Mason and Omar. Soon the people of Glenrock find themselves trapped inside the walls of the Safe Lands, unable to leave.

Will they be able to survive and escape? Or will the seductive call of the Safe Lands condemn them all?

This was a great book. In the interest of fairness, I did see an early copy of the manuscript, so I kind of knew where the story was going. But it was great to come back to the story now and see how Jill put it all together. I absolutely loved Mason. He's by far my favorite character and I'm rooting for him in future books. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but the good news is, that's easy to do.

But what was really fascinating was the Safe Lands and the way Jill described it. She created a vibrant if crumbling culture, one that leaps off the page and gets stuck in your mind. It's easy to see why it would be so appealing, but it's also easy to see why it would also be dangerous for a person of faith.

All in all, this is an excellent YA book and should definitely be picked up by everyone. Simply put, Jill did it again.

Across the Universe

So I've had an interesting time with this book.

A few months back, I had this great idea for a book. At least, I thought it was a great idea. Granted, it wasn't much of an idea right now. Just a few snippets of character ideas, an idea about the setting, and that's about it. I've started with less in the past. I figured it might be worth pursuing.

Then I saw a copy of Across the Universe on the shelf of a Barnes and Noble. For some reason, I felt compelled to pick it up and read the back cover copy. And almost immediately, my heart fell into my shoes.

It was my idea. Published a year earlier than I had it.

Okay, maybe I didn't have a reason to panic. There are lots of instances where multiple books are published with similar plots. But the back cover copy for this one was so similar to my initial glimmerings of an idea, I had to check it out. I bought it but then left it on my to-be-read pile, mostly because I didn't want to see if it was the same.

I finally screwed on my courage and pulled it down this week to read it. And, for the most part, I'm glad I did.

This book is the story of a girl named Amy. She and her parents have signed on to be cryo frozen and then put on a generation ship, one that will travel through space to a new planet, one that they will colonize.

Fast forward to several centuries later. A young man known as Elder is studying under a man called Eldest. Eldest is the leader of Godspeed, the generation ship. Elder is supposed to be learning how to someday take up the mantle of leadership from Eldest, but it isn't easy. Eldest doesn't seem to like him that much.

But then, a surprising thing happens. Amy thaws out early. That wasn't part of the plan, especially not Eldest's plans. Amy is an intrusion into his carefully ordered world and he's worried that Amy could destabilize everything.

Elder isn't so sure. Amy is unlike any girl he's ever seen. For one thing, she's his age. He's the youngest person on Godspeed by design. And she has some unusual ideas about how life is supposed to work.

But that's not the only problem on Godspeed. Someone is killing the frozen passengers. And Elder is beginning to realize how much of his home is founded and run on lies.

Okay, so now that I've read the book, let's see what I think:

For the most part, the book is fascinating. In many ways, what Beth Revis has written is a dystopian novel, one with a science fiction veneer to it. The whole relationship between Elder and Eldest is interesting, even though Eldest seems more of a caricature than a real person. The society in Godspeed is interesting as well.

But here are the problems:

1) I saw the ending coming. It's telegraphed pretty badly.

2) There was a lot of graphic content in here. Now, I get why. I do. The way the society is engineered, it makes sense. But I'm not sure that Revis had to be as graphic as she was. It's a personal thing, though.

But there's one big thing that has me upset about this book. And before I explain why, I need to bring back an old friend to my blog.

Godzilla, take it away:

I'll try to keep them to a minimum, but be forewarned.

3) Like I said in my little recap, Godspeed is a ship of lies, a lot of which unravel as Elder and Amy work together. Eventually, Eldest reveals part of the truth to Elder. When he did, I wound up groaning.

It's clear to me that Beth Revis doesn't have a working knowledge of physics. At least, not to how it might apply to interstellar travel aboard a generation ship. There's this little thing called momentum that would play a big part of that journey. That's all I'm going to say. If you've read the book, hopefully you know what I'm talking about.

The thing is, what she did could have worked in a slightly different way. But sadly, there's an oops here and it's pretty significant.

That said, I came to the following conclusion:

1) I'd like to read the rest of these books. I'm curious to see where Revis goes from here and what will eventually happen to the people on Godspeed.

2) My idea might work after all. We'll see.

DLC Quest

If you're a gamer, you're probably painfully aware of the fact that the video game industry has adopted the practice of overusing DLC, which is short for downloadable content. You buy the base game, and then, either on the day the game releases, or scattered throughout the following months, the developers add content to the game, allowing you to run new missions or get new weapons or stuff like that. For example, in Mass Effect 3, we have the following DLC packs that have been released (some for free, some for up to $15 a pop):

• Alternate Appearance Pack 1
• Leviathan
• Extended Cut
• Reckoning
• Citadel
• Groundside Resistance Pack
• Omega
• Firefight Pack
• Retaliation
• Earth
• Rebellion
• Resurgence
• From Ashes

Somehow, typing that list out made me more depressed, although to be fair, the vast majority are free multiplayer upgrades.

Regardless,  the inclusion of DLC has a lot of players steamed. And where there's anger, comedy quickly follows. Enter Going Loud Studios' DLC Quest where everything is DLC.

You start as an 8-bit character. You have no animation, no sound, and you can only move to the right. As you move, you collect coins in the game and meet up with a shopkeeper, one who will sell you the DLC necessary to rescue a kidnapped princess. So you buy the ability to move in every direction. You buy the ability to double-jump. You buy everything you need to actually play the game as microtransactions. And along the way, there are ridiculous jokes about current gaming trends, other popular game titles (such as my beloved Mass Effect games), and even more DLC.

When I bought the game on Steam, it also came with an expansion called "Live Freemium or Die." All told, playing the whole game took me about two hours. It's not a lot of time, but I was laughing out loud through most of it.

If you're a gamer and you're not happy with the current trajectory of gaming when it comes to DLC, this is a good game to check out. And hey, it's only like three bucks. Not a bad deal!

Insurgent

It had been a while since I've been to the dystopian future that Veronica Roth created in Divergent, but I finally got a copy of Insurgent for my Kindle for Christmas. I finally managed to eke out some time to actually read it to find out what happened to Tris and Tobias.

In some ways, the hiatus left me a little confused. I could barely remember where I had left off. I vaguely remembered something about Tris switching factions to become Dauntless. I knew something bad happened toward the end of the first book. So when I was dumped back into futuristic Chicago with very little by way of introduction, I'll admit that I floundered.

But it's a testament to Veronica Roth's abilities that I didn't care. Once again, the characters came to life and drew me into their story as the Dauntless tried to take on the Erudite. Tris learns more about Tobias's family and about herself, leading up to a dramatic conclusion that left me ready for the last book.

I know that I'm a little late to the game and I also know that YA dystopian books are all the rage. But Veronica Roth's are the best of the best. You would do well to check them out.

The Extroverted Writer

In the interest of fairness, I'll just get this out of the way up front. Amanda Luedeke is my literary agent. She's a big part of the reason that I'm published and she's great at what she does. What makes her unique is that before she became a literary agent, she was a marketer, a subject that usually gets most authors tied up in knots. For a while now, Amanda has been doing regular posts on marketing at Chip MacGregor's blog. Well, now she's gathered all of that advice together in one easy-to-read place: The Extroverted Writer: An Author's Guide to Marketing and Building a Platform. It's a short book, easy to read, and easy to digest.

Amanda covers a diverse range of topics, like how to use Facebook or Twitter efficiently, what you should blog about, and what should be on a website. Unlike a lot of marketing books, this isn't just empty cheerleading, she gives practical advice with good suggestions on what to do.

If you're an author, either published or not-quite-there-yet, this is a good resource for you to have. I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it. Although you may not have the experience of hearing Amanda's voice in your head while you're reading it. LOL!

Angel Eyes

So I'd been hearing a lot of buzz about Shannon Dittemore's Angel Eyes. The Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour, of which I used to be a member, did this book recently. So I decided I should check this one out and see what it's all about.

The story is about Brielle Matthews, a young woman who has been pretty much forced to move back home to the small town of Stratus. Brielle had left town to be a dancer and a model, but a tragedy around her best friend Ali has forced her to return home. She's haunted by the guilt of Ali's death and, as a result, feels perpetually cold.

But then she meets Jake Shield, the new kid in town. Jake practically radiates heat. At first, Brielle doesn't want anything to do with him . . . or anyone else, for that matter. But Jake is persistent. He's always around, offering his heat and maybe more.

Pretty soon, in spite of herself, Brielle finds herself warming to the mysterious Jake. And a good thing too. Because without realizing it, Brielle has stumbled into a dangerous situation, one that stretches from this world into one that can only be seen by angel eyes.

Okay, I'll say this up front. I thought the chapters told from Brielle's perspective were really great. The prose was almost poetic. And the dialogue was great also. Dittemore was extremely creative in the way that she put this story together and the way she portrayed spiritual warfare.

And yet . . .

And yet this is another spiritual warfare book, angels taking on demons in unseen realms. It's ground that's been covered before. Yes, Dittemore adds some interesting twists to it, but it didn't really make me sit up and take notice.

There were also some sections of very lengthy dialogue (more like monologues) that kind of threw me. And this may sound harsh, but Brielle as a character kind of bugged me. It's almost like she was just a whisker shy of crossing over the border into being conceited. Or not. I'm not sure what it was about her, but I had a hard time relating to her.

This isn't to say that it's a bad book. Not at all. A lot of people have read it and really enjoyed it. Perhaps I'm too old and the wrong gender. Whatever the case, it was good, but I'm not lining up to purchase the next book in the series. Maybe some day, but not when I've got somewhere around 50+ books in my to-be-read pile and waiting on my Kindle.

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.

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!

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.