We resume on Friday, the 9th. Does anyone have a problem making it? We’ll need to figure out schedules and possibilities, and make sure that Fridays are still available for everyone given the new semester.
Does anyone remember where we left off? You just defeated the remainder of the elite guard, in the snow, a day and a half’s march from the great volcano. Any thoughts on your upcoming actions so I can prep appropriately?
A solid book, SF according to the subtitle, but as easily classified as a suspenseful thriller. Very enjoyable and a quick read.
There are three POV characters (not including the -logues), but it’s the two men whose eyes we look out most of the time. They’re smart and driven, each with interesting limitations and blinders. Constance is a very engaging woman– scientist and outdoors woman, with a perfected retreat towards domesticity that comes out a couple of times. The author sells the relationship between the characters; the marriage and unspoken communication are conveyed well.
I’ll probably pick up more of her books at the library soon. (On reading her Wikipedia page, it appears that there are several novels featuring Constance and Charlie– this is the second written.) I also remember her book Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, an interesting twist on a calm end of the world.
Game Night is a fun book by Johnny Nexus. The core concept is very familiar– a dysfunctional RPG night and pokes fun at the problems common to RPG groups (much like the movie, The Gamers). Time starts and stops, rewinds, and one character just stands around because its player is asleep all the time.
A conceit of the book is that the players are gods guiding their mortals, not strictly roleplayers. The book’s humor runs well throughout, even as he needles our foibles.
If you’re interested in giving it a try, the author just released a free novella length prequel as a teaser. It’s called Saving Stone.
Things We Think About Games is an exceptionally quick read, fun and thought provoking. Much of the book is a collection of short, sharp sayings. Much of the work is in the interpretation– sometimes that author takes up the challenge, writing up to a page of discussion– and sometimes the analysis is up to you, only a quickly sentence is provided.
It’s a fast read that might shake loose some dangling thoughts. It’s probably more useful to designers, to make sure they’re not falling into traps, but there’s a little something here for everyone. I’ll happily lend it to locals if they want to look it over.
Clearly the first book in a trilogy, The Black Company is about a bunch of mercenaries who leave a depressing garrison job to go fight in the north. It feels relatively gritty, with a lot less common magic than most fantasy novels these days. Magic is still mysterious and often grim.
The book was marred by a bad back cover that emphasizes The White Rose, who doesn’t play much of a role in this book at all. The back cover applies to the trilogy– but doesn’t get at the core of this book.
The forces of the Lady and her dark servants (the ten) are appropriately dark, though there is more complexity than I feared. The opposition, fighting under the circle, is well written as grubby and desperate, even if their cause is nominally better.
In the end, as a book it’s interesting but unsatisfying. As book one of a trilogy it does its job– the characters are strong enough that I’d like to read more about them. Even if this book feels adrift, mostly valuable as a signpost to the rest of the series.
The Well of Ascension is the second book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy. It’s very much an Empire Strikes Back type middle book. There are still lots of interesting things going on but the conflicts are muddier and the opposition is suffocating (rather than more viscerally scary).
After the good accomplished by the heroes in the first book, everything seems ready to fall apart. The book begins a year after book one, with Elend ruling a shaky kingdom centered on Luthadiel.
If I had to quickly summarize the difference between this book and its predecessor, I’d say this book is like the first, minus the “planning the overthrow of the Last Empire” crime caper style collaboration and adding an extensive “politics and ruling” subplot. This was still a great book and has me eagerly awaiting book 3 (The Hero of Ages).
One of the biggest changes is spoilery, so I’ll put it below the fold.
Enjoy Christmas and Boxing Day (the 26th). Friday, January 2nd is looking unlikely– Jennifer’s Mom is due in from Salt Lake around then. If they run behind schedule, I’ll call around and try to schedule a last minute game. Otherwise, we’re looking at the following Friday, January 9th. How does that work for you?
A great exchange (though long) about how and when you can/should apply location aspects. (From the FATE mailing list.) The following is my nickle summation, though the whole dialogue is an excellent one.
Here’s the thread. Lenny is responding to a general question about scene aspects and difficulties:
As a player or GM, you can tag a scene aspect to give yourself a bonus or to compel for effect. On one level, that’s mainly about simplicity; SotC has a fair amount of crunch to it already if you use every rule in the book. So “penalties” are always positively facing; they’re bonuses for the person who’s going to roll against you or for the obstacle that you face. Ultimately, if there’s no resistance, then failure isn’t particularly interesting, and hence it doesn’t matter.
Cyteen is a long book with a lot of depth, which makes for a slower read but a thorough look at the world. It’s a story about the Union during twenty five years or so of turmoil in her Alliance/Union universe. The focus is on Ari Emory and Justin Warrick, with several other characters.
Resune, where most of the book is set, is a fascinating place, filled with hard working scientists. Cyteen is a rough world, less terraformed and bland than many science fiction worlds– still a work in progress. Science gets a lot of attention, given Resune’s control of the science seat, and the two POV character’s training in science. The science that’s most prevalent in the series is genetics and cloning, with psychology making a strong appearance.
I enjoyed it quite a bit; as mentioned at the beginning it’s long and feels long, but that fits the story pretty well. One difficult part is that Ari is a child for a good chunk of the book, and it’s not an annoying POV. Which was unexpectedly nice to see.
Brad DeLong writes a thorough overview of the current financial crisis and highlights some very strange numbers. What don’t we understand is huge. His post is Liquidity, default, risk