Author: Scott

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Books

Specials by Scott Westerfield

The third book in the series, a sequel to Uglies and Pretties.

It’s a solid book, but the flashes of brilliance are harder to find this go. It’s probably because Tally’s “natural” persona is so subjugated at the beginning of the book– and partially because the Specials are annoying twits with a huge chip on their shoulder. While that makes it easy to root against them (when they’re being idiots), you do have to put up with them… and they wear on you much more quickly than the characters of the first two books.

As far as plot goes it’s a good book, and ends the trilogy with a world dramatically changed by the effects of Tally (and friends) over the trilogy. The world gets more complex in this world, and the depth makes it feel realistic, but the dramatic changes fight that complexity.

In the end, I’m probably being overly critical– it was a good book, a solid end to the trilogy– and I’ll read it after the first two when I reread the series. It might gain surprising depth on the reread.

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DnD Roleplaying

4e links

Resources and Generators: Asmor’s Generators, Book of NPCs (v2), Chatty’s Tool Roundup, Kiznit’s Combat Crib Sheet

Character sheets and cards: iplay4e, Javascript character generator, Simple play sheet(pdf), and Dragon Avenue’s collection

WotC Site: 4e Errata, Compendium, and character builder.

Fan made: Greywulf’s Character of the Day, Catfolk and Ninja, Stored Rituals

Adventures and Other Resources: P3’s Campaign Starters, Forgotten realms wiki

Five Blades of Bahamut (a great custom setting by Chris Chinn) Setting Overview, Cults of Bahamut, Cults of Tiamat, Quest Seeds, Airships, Deities, Creation Myth, and Monsters

Categories
Books

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

The second book of the series, a sequel to Uglies. Tally struggles with being a bubble headed pretty– it starts off with the terrible struggles in picking which outfit to wear, but soon Tally is engaged in far more dangerous events.

I like the continuation– Tally’s changes are meaningful, as is her struggle against the newly created limitations on her thoughts. Not everything is easy, but she manages through in the end. The book was great and was consumed in one lazy, beautiful day.

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Books

The Prize in the Game by Jo Walton

A decent book, but one I probably won’t reread. It’s set in the childhood of Elenn, and focuses on a year of her life and that of her sister and friends. It’s an interesting study, with meddling gods, thought out customs like fostering, and interesting relations.

It’s a fine adventure, in the same world as “The King’s X”, but completely disconnected from the two Sullien novels. It’s not bad, just not what I was looking for.

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Books

The King’s Name by Jo Walton

A solid successor to the King’s Peace. The book takes place over a much shorter period of time; the core of it is less than a month of action. The struggles are tough– it’s a civil war with families falling on opposite sides, all spurred by Morthu’s plotting and pride.

The overall plot is “inspired by” Arthurian myth, but there are a lot of interesting deviations that keep the book fresh. You can’t be sure how it’s going to turn out, given the number of subtle and obvious changes. She does a good job of setting up the situation and delivering an exciting story.

This is the end of the series: while there are three books in the world, The King’s Peace and The King’s Name are the two Sullien novels. The third novel, The Prize in the Game, is set elsewhere and in the recent past. [It is set in Tir Isarnagiri, in the childhood of Elenn.]

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Game Group Roleplaying

The Journal of Robert Cassidy (April 6)

Saturday, April 6, 1875; Missouri Wilds [1. This was a bad session for timing; people were late and a session break in the middle cut down on the “in world game time”.]
At breakfast, I brought up that thorny topic, the madman’s money. It was not as hard as I thought it would be; the demon dollars couldn’t grip tight on me. I told the Doc and Malachai that they were the victims of the madman’s blade, that they had more of a claim to the cash he was carrying than any other man. So I handed them the fat wad of money I’d taken from the dead man– Lucien’s wallet. They set about protesting, but could not come up with a better plan. They promised to think on a proper division during the day, and we’d talk around our fire tonight.

Continue reading “The Journal of Robert Cassidy (April 6)”
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Books

Passage by Connie Willis

Passage was an interesting medical research novel, a little outside of my normal reading. The book was from the point of view of Joanna Lander, a research psychologist, who soon partners with Dr. Wright to research near death experiences (NDEs).

This was the second book focusing on death in a row (right after Kress’s Steal Across the Sky). It was well written and didn’t suffer from the comparison at all– just a strange coincidence.

The investigation was interesting. Moving from observer to the participant made the experience different– just having the author describe the experience instead of transcribing other people’s experiences made it much more direct. I was right beside Joanna as she went deeper and deeper, trying to figure out what was going on– why the symbolism stuck, and figuring out what NDEs were for. A great novel, one I look forward to rereading in a few years.

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Books

Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress

A fascinating book that really made me think. It’s very had to explain, because so much of the explanation requires the context of the characters, and they’re a little harder to sketch than you’d think.

The Atoners are a fascinating mystery that is never quite explained– though near the end their plan becomes a little more clear. The changes that come with the gene expression in the various cultures are fascinating, and feel like reasonable offshoots or extrapolations.

In many ways, this felt very like an Ekumen novel, down to the witnessing and attempt at non-interference. It goes somewhere different than LeGuin would take it– which is good and occasionally surprising when I read. This book seems to be a stand alone– it doesn’t need another part and didn’t leave a glaring opening– but I’d be willing to read about the results of the Atoner’s actions if a sequel is in the cards.

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Books

Growing Wings by Laurel Winter

A neat coming of age book, with a special twist. It’s a very interesting way of approaching the idea of minority, fitting in, and the compromises that maturing demands.

It’s a great cross; the love of flight, the desire not to compromise, the realities of maturing in modern America. The relationships are prickly and tense, in large part due to the closed in environment and need to conceal themselves.

I liked the book– it reminded me favorably of the growing up books from my own youth, but an extra dose of the fantastic.

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Game Group Roleplaying

The Journal of Robert Cassidy (April 3 to 5)

I’ll keep it below the fold, ’cause it’s long again.

Continue reading “The Journal of Robert Cassidy (April 3 to 5)”