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Books

Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy

After a few “take it or leave it” encounters with Heinlein, I decided to give him another chance. This book was pointed to as written for teens and a good introduction to the universe. I’m glad I gave him another chance– the book was a very quick read and fun. Near the end, as the protagonist ages a bit beyond the intended readers it gets a little vague… but it’s hard to make business as exciting as exploring the universe.

Thorby’s primary interactions are great; we come to see his owner, Baslim, as a real father figure and intriguing mystery. The book really changes in the middle, kicking Thorby out of his pattern and thrusting him into a series of strange situations that he takes well– but struggles with appropriately.

The ending is the weakest part of the book; instead of a crisp or decisive point, Thorby is drawn into the tedium and unmapped horizons of professional adulthood. A good ending for this hero’s experience.

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Books

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

I read Mistborn almost compulsively over Thanksgiving. It was responsible for a couple of short nights– up too late reading.

Mistborn is almost a crime / revolutionaries blend, set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. It’s a fascinating setting, with an underworld that feels appropriately gritty and deceptive. The two primary characters shine and the rest of the cast does well.

I loved Vin; she felt real and reliable even as she changed dramatically over the course of the book. Kelsier is interesting– the book really focuses on him, but most of our view of him comes through Vin’s eyes. The way he changes and pushes what’s possible time and again made it a joy to watch him in action.

The world is fascinating; bleak, with ash steadily falling for the last thousand years. The skaa; peasants and serfs, beaten down and beyond the possibility of revolt… almost. The magic system is interesting– balanced, logical, and simple in concept. The greater metals and lesser, mistings versus mistborn, and the like all combine to make the world feel like it’s had these concepts for a long time. Security takes appropriate precautions versus the metals, but has to balance the few metal wielding magicians against the bulk of the peasantry.

I can’t say enough good things about it– except that I was unaware that its sequels are already out. They’ve already been requested from the library, so I hope to leap into the sequels soon.

Categories
Game Group

Next Game: It’s a tricky season

UPDATE 2: At the moment, it looks like we’re on for tomorrow night, though Ben has a challenging day and Jennifer’s traveling back from Modesto.

At the moment, December looks like a tricky month for scheduling. Despite that, let’s see if we can make anything work. Update: This weekend (12,13,14) is out due to work scheduling [Kev] and other commitments [Jennifer and Dad]. How does Friday the 19th work for you?

This weekend [December 5, 6, 7] is out; Ben is studying for finals. I suspect Kev’s coming up on finals of his own. Instead of scheduling a game, let’s all make flashcards and quiz them!

Next weekend, Jennifer’s having a work party on Friday night (the 12th). The rest of the weekend might be possible– are you available Saturday or Sunday? Let us know in comments.

If the above doesn’t work, we can talk about arranging the next weekend [December 19, 20, 21]. Hopefully we’ll be able to discuss it in person at the end of a session next weekend– but if not, start thinking about it now.

Happy holidays everyone!

Categories
Game Group

Next Game: Friday November 21st?

Can everyone make Friday night this week? Please let me know if you’ll have any problem making it. Otherwise, you’ll continue your predawn raid on the dwarven king’s guard.

Categories
Books

Millennium by Ben Bova

A fun book that manages to build a horrible distopia and a great future for humanity in space by 8 years ago. Several things bugged me– probably in part because of the election just a couple of weeks ago– but overall it’s a light fun book at how we could have had a great space program and still had everything go wrong by 1999.

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Books

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

A fun book that shares the world (but few of the characters) of American Gods. It is mostly told from Fat Charlies’s point of view.

Fat Charlie is an interesting and sympathetic character who has gotten into a rut and lives a blah life. His life is shaken up when his father dies and he’s told about a brother he doesn’t remember, Spider. He invites Spider into his life, which gets complicated quickly…

It’s nice to see Charlie and Spider grow and change as the book progresses; much like Charlie, I was upset with Spider for much of the book, but came to appreciate him by the end. A couple of other characters are also developed over the course of the book (particularly Rosie and Daisy), while others stay relatively flat.

A fun book, with less of a sense of revelation– though whether that’s due to being book two, or the lower key plot is hard to tell.

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Gift Coordination

Christmas 2008

Jennifer and Eric are on top of things, already looking for Christmas lists. This seems like a good place to gather them.

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Books

The Iron Cage by Rashid Khalidi

The book provides a solid history of Palestine from 1920 through 2000, skipping over the best known events [the wars] as sufficiently covered elsewhere. The history leading up to the 1920s is covered more lightly, with little detail prior to 1900.

Khalidi writes relatively evenhandedly, though mostly from a Palestinian perspective. (As he points out, that’s somewhat difficult to do, given the lack of a “national archive” or anything similar.) His “just the facts” presentation, particularly for the British Mandate period, proves persuasive. There’s a lot of interesting detail about internal power struggles and illuminating comparisons to the other Arab states of the period.

While it’s not a weighty tome, repetition makes the book drag. The book sounds like a lecture transcribed– many things are repeated two or three times in a few pages, without a lot of variation in presentation. I strongly suspect it’s better written than academic papers on the subject, but it doesn’t rise to the level of charmingly told history.

Categories
Game Group

Next Game: Friday November 14th

Continuing your fight against the rampaging dwarves and saving the gnomish expeditionary force will resume on Friday, unless that doesn’t fit your schedule. Let us know if Friday’s any problem– it sounded like it would be OK last week, but I’d like to make sure.

Categories
Books

By Schism Rent Asunder

The second book in the series… and from what it opened up and what remains to be solved, this looks like a VLFN, with several books to come. It’s a good book, a worthy sequel to Off Armageddon Reef, though not as dynamic. This felt like a good “middle book”, but there’s nothing like the excitement of meeting the new characters and the battles on Armageddon Reef.

Chris’s review touches on other concerns that I agree with, like the limited time frame apparently precluding a gbabba rematch later, and a cliffhanger ending.

Despite that, the shortcomings are mostly of an “I want more” kind… which is an awfully good problem to have.