Book Review: The Hero of Downways by Michael G Coney
Published in 1974 by Daw Books
Cover illustration by Josh Kirby
Welcome to Downways where the Trukids live and go to school, the Oddlies lurk around the cavern and tunnel corners, maggots recycle waste food and the blackfurs are raised and herded for their fur.
This is the strange world of Trukid Shirl, who meets with John-A a Vatkid and together they battle the fierce Daggertooth, relative to the Blackfurs, a near unstoppable killer to the dwellers of Downways. Only once before has someone defeated, killed, a Daggertooth, and that hero is long dead.
John-A is a Vatkid, the only one in the novel, made from a sliver of flesh from The Hero. He enters into a world unsuited to heroes, danger, or change. Still without his assistance the Trufolk are in danger. Shirl, a Trukid cursed with curiosity or perhaps blessed, has seen the Oddlies moving on the outskirts of the tunnels where she lives at. During the long hibes (periods when either they sleep or are awake) she either sleeps and is plagued with strange dreams or wanders searching for answers. She finds some, along with many more questions along the way. One question she has deals with the reason the Trufolk can see into the Infrared when the older humans could not. Also an illustration of a blackfur, titled a dormouse, sparks her wondering as to the relative scale of things.
Touching on the themes of acceptance, evolution and change, danger and enclosed in communities, The Hero of Downways is a superb story with a decent setting and some distinct characters. The actual setting along with the reasons for their living underground differed from what this reviewer thought was going to be answer up until the end portion of the novel.
There are few novels this reviewer has read in the years since 1974 when he started seriously reading, that are set in an underground situation. The only other one that comes to mind immediately is The Sunset Warrior by Eric Van Lustbader.
Links related to Michael G Conley and The Hero of Downways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_G._Coney
http://members.shaw.ca/mconey/
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Book Review: Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams
Book Review: Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams
Published in 2009 by Night Shade Books
Cover illustration by Dan dos Santos
Walter Jon Williams is one of the foremost writers of Cyberpunk and related fiction living today. His novel Hardwired, is a classic in the CP genre, with Voice of the Whirlwind paving ground and expanding his repetoir.
His novel Angel Station is a CP (almost BioPunk) novel dealing with a pair of genetically engineered siblings fighting to save their father’s merchant spaceship, along with making a living and staving off larger more commercial shippers. It carried the CP envelope into the deep portions of space and the details of pharmaceutical use as well as planetary descriptions should be de rigueur required reading for the enthusiast.
From there comes the novel Aristoi, toeing the line between Cyberpunk Fiction and what would come to be called Singularity Fiction a few years after its first publication. This is an excellent read with some incredible concepts, several of which I really wish I had come up with, or were available in the Here and Now (Daemons mostly).
Now comes Implied Spaces. This novel came to the reviewers attention as a feature on the Science Fiction Book Club website (of which the reviewer has been a member of the SFBC since somewhere in the late 70s when it was all hardbacks and via the postal service), where it was spotted. Not until a copy was found in paperback at a Mass Market Bookseller was it picked up.
The novel is blazoned as A Novel of the Singularity and it fulfills this statement. There are AIs galore, wormholes as an everyday tool of civilization, uploading and downloading of personalities, and memes everywhere. It is a decent read, as the story progressed it felt more and more like a rehash or a reworking of the basic plot to Aristoi, which as the ending approached the 374 total pages, it really did remind me, the antagonist motives, etc, it really felt like a weaker version of Aristoi.
That said the ending was poignant and sweet, and while it is in this reviewer’s opinion the weakest of the five of his novels read so far, it is still worth picking up and giving it a chance. There are some superb concepts, especially the idea of The Implied Spaces (which bears investigation and elaboration) and the overall end ideas relating to the antagonist as well. Those are almost worth the price of admission by themselves.
Where to find him on the Internet:
Walter Jon Williams Website
Also a Gallery of Artwork for Dan DosSantos on Tor Books
Published in 2009 by Night Shade Books
Cover illustration by Dan dos Santos
Walter Jon Williams is one of the foremost writers of Cyberpunk and related fiction living today. His novel Hardwired, is a classic in the CP genre, with Voice of the Whirlwind paving ground and expanding his repetoir.
His novel Angel Station is a CP (almost BioPunk) novel dealing with a pair of genetically engineered siblings fighting to save their father’s merchant spaceship, along with making a living and staving off larger more commercial shippers. It carried the CP envelope into the deep portions of space and the details of pharmaceutical use as well as planetary descriptions should be de rigueur required reading for the enthusiast.
From there comes the novel Aristoi, toeing the line between Cyberpunk Fiction and what would come to be called Singularity Fiction a few years after its first publication. This is an excellent read with some incredible concepts, several of which I really wish I had come up with, or were available in the Here and Now (Daemons mostly).
Now comes Implied Spaces. This novel came to the reviewers attention as a feature on the Science Fiction Book Club website (of which the reviewer has been a member of the SFBC since somewhere in the late 70s when it was all hardbacks and via the postal service), where it was spotted. Not until a copy was found in paperback at a Mass Market Bookseller was it picked up.
The novel is blazoned as A Novel of the Singularity and it fulfills this statement. There are AIs galore, wormholes as an everyday tool of civilization, uploading and downloading of personalities, and memes everywhere. It is a decent read, as the story progressed it felt more and more like a rehash or a reworking of the basic plot to Aristoi, which as the ending approached the 374 total pages, it really did remind me, the antagonist motives, etc, it really felt like a weaker version of Aristoi.
That said the ending was poignant and sweet, and while it is in this reviewer’s opinion the weakest of the five of his novels read so far, it is still worth picking up and giving it a chance. There are some superb concepts, especially the idea of The Implied Spaces (which bears investigation and elaboration) and the overall end ideas relating to the antagonist as well. Those are almost worth the price of admission by themselves.
Where to find him on the Internet:
Walter Jon Williams Website
Also a Gallery of Artwork for Dan DosSantos on Tor Books
Monday, October 4, 2010
Book Review: Dune by Frank Herbert
Book Review: Dune by Frank Herbert
Originally Published in 1965
Dune is the story of a family, a family caught up in plots and machinations older than they are.
Dune is the story of Paul Atreides, heir to Duke Leto Atreides, son of the Duke and Jessica of the Bene Gesserit. He is trained in the subtle arts needed to rule in his time, by the Mentat Assasin Thufir Hawat, Master Swordsmen Duncan Idado and . His mother, the Lady Jessica, has broken with the traditions of her guild, the Bene Gesserit, and also trained him in the ways of her kind, how to read people, manipulate them with voice and body language, as well as opening his mind to deeper possibilities.
With the Guild of Navigators on one side with CHOAM and the Imperial House, and their mortal foes House Harkonnene on the other, the story of Dune is the story of how House Atredies, in the shape of Paul, will rise up to challenge their universe.
This is one of the great classics of Science Fiction. It is a political commentary, an ecological treatise, a study in manipulation along with warnings on eugenics and the pitfalls of politics. It is as well a coming of age story for the young Paul Atredies, as events beyond control conspire against him and his family.
The Dune Series originally consisted of the Dune Trilogy
Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
The 4th book was God Emperor of Dune, taking place thousands of years after the end of Children of Dune.
The reviewer is not enamored of any books published past God Emperor of Dune, and admits to a bias against them. The original book has been adapted to the big screen, the tv, a role playing game and collectible card game, along with fanfic and prequels and sequels written by members of the Herbert household and licensed others.
It is one of the great novels in Science Fiction, and in this reviewers opinion deserves a place in the annals of great literature, where it should be required reading in high schools at least.
The first movie adaptation, while lush in the sets and a wonderful portrayal of St Alia of the Knife and the Reverend Mother and the Gom Jabbar, the rest of it could be edited out.
The TV miniseries for the SciFi channel is a stronger, more accurate depiction of the novel than the movie was. This reviewer has not had a chance to get the Roleplaying Game book yet, and the Collectible Card Game version attempts to straddle the book and the first movie in look and feel.
Dune should be read by everyone. There is something there for all readers.
http://www.dunenovels.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28novel%29
Originally Published in 1965
Dune is the story of a family, a family caught up in plots and machinations older than they are.
Dune is the story of Paul Atreides, heir to Duke Leto Atreides, son of the Duke and Jessica of the Bene Gesserit. He is trained in the subtle arts needed to rule in his time, by the Mentat Assasin Thufir Hawat, Master Swordsmen Duncan Idado and . His mother, the Lady Jessica, has broken with the traditions of her guild, the Bene Gesserit, and also trained him in the ways of her kind, how to read people, manipulate them with voice and body language, as well as opening his mind to deeper possibilities.
With the Guild of Navigators on one side with CHOAM and the Imperial House, and their mortal foes House Harkonnene on the other, the story of Dune is the story of how House Atredies, in the shape of Paul, will rise up to challenge their universe.
This is one of the great classics of Science Fiction. It is a political commentary, an ecological treatise, a study in manipulation along with warnings on eugenics and the pitfalls of politics. It is as well a coming of age story for the young Paul Atredies, as events beyond control conspire against him and his family.
The Dune Series originally consisted of the Dune Trilogy
Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
The 4th book was God Emperor of Dune, taking place thousands of years after the end of Children of Dune.
The reviewer is not enamored of any books published past God Emperor of Dune, and admits to a bias against them. The original book has been adapted to the big screen, the tv, a role playing game and collectible card game, along with fanfic and prequels and sequels written by members of the Herbert household and licensed others.
It is one of the great novels in Science Fiction, and in this reviewers opinion deserves a place in the annals of great literature, where it should be required reading in high schools at least.
The first movie adaptation, while lush in the sets and a wonderful portrayal of St Alia of the Knife and the Reverend Mother and the Gom Jabbar, the rest of it could be edited out.
The TV miniseries for the SciFi channel is a stronger, more accurate depiction of the novel than the movie was. This reviewer has not had a chance to get the Roleplaying Game book yet, and the Collectible Card Game version attempts to straddle the book and the first movie in look and feel.
Dune should be read by everyone. There is something there for all readers.
http://www.dunenovels.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28novel%29
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Book Review: Starrigger by John DeChanc
Book Review: Starrigger by John DeChancie
Originally published in 1983 by Ace Science Fiction with cover art by James Gurney
Starrigger is the first in the Skyway Trilogy. The entire series consists of the following three novels
Starrigger
Red Limit Freeway
Paradox Alley
Starrigger opens up with Jake McGraw and his rig, complete with the impressed personality and memories of his deceased father controlling it, picking up a hitchhiker on their way to Mach City. Darla, it turns out, knows them, while they do not know her.
The adventure continues on from that point, rarely letting up across the 264 pages of tight furious reading filled with aliens, crooked law enforcement, monstrous floating aliens used as ships, as well as more and more characters pulled into the hunt for Jake and what he supposedly has found, a map to the entire Skyway, the endless black road that spans worlds linked by portals called tollbooths.
Driving from one world to another, Jake McGraw is the president of the Starriggers Guild, a very small independent truckers group working to make it in a tale of truckers between worlds. The Skyway predates human kind by millenniums, it runs from one world to another, and in driving along it, a person (or alien) can travel from one world to another. The Colonial Assembly strives to keep peace and maintain civil order in what is known as The Terran Maze, those worlds easiest to reach via the Skyway from The Sol System.
With over 60 alien races in all the Mazes (those sections of the Skyway clustered around particular areas), Humanity is not the oldest, nor the youngest, just one of the newer ones plying the road between the stars.
As Jake and Darla cruise towards Mach City on the world called Hothouse (covered with massive jungles where the anti-aging drugs are harvested, they are waylaid early on by his main business competitor, Corey Wilkes owner of Tatoo, a rival shipping concern. The laser beams fly early and mayhem ensues almost from the beginning as Jake and his father Sam (killed and subsequently with his personality and memories implanted into the rig that Jake drives) work to understand the rumors suddenly circulating about them and what they might have access too. Which is supposedly a map to the entire Skyway, showing in theory where the Roadbuilders could be found at, and unknown scientific discoveries.
This all unfolds across the entire novel as Jake’s sense of goodwill leads him into helping more and more travelers, bringing them into his fold.
At the heart of it this is a story of meaning, about discovering essential truths about reality and who and what we truly are. All wrapped up in a rollicking great read filled with aliens, characters with personality, near noir excitement and a truly one of a kind original setting.
Originally the reviewer picked the book up new, traded or lent that first copy away, bought several other copies over the years new and used, always sharing this book with any that might like it as well. This particular book was bought used somewhere, years ago back up in Iowa or perhaps Virginia.
This is one of those SF novels that is just begging to be read over and over. It cries out to be adapted to the RPG field; it demands wider circulation as a superb piece of writing. This is an awesome novel. The depth of the setting comes out as the pages unfold, drawing the reader into a believable world filled with the spectacular.
Reviews of Red Limit Freeway and Paradox Alley forthcoming once they are located again in the reviewers library so he can read them once again.
The author's official website
Originally published in 1983 by Ace Science Fiction with cover art by James Gurney
Starrigger is the first in the Skyway Trilogy. The entire series consists of the following three novels
Starrigger
Red Limit Freeway
Paradox Alley
Starrigger opens up with Jake McGraw and his rig, complete with the impressed personality and memories of his deceased father controlling it, picking up a hitchhiker on their way to Mach City. Darla, it turns out, knows them, while they do not know her.
The adventure continues on from that point, rarely letting up across the 264 pages of tight furious reading filled with aliens, crooked law enforcement, monstrous floating aliens used as ships, as well as more and more characters pulled into the hunt for Jake and what he supposedly has found, a map to the entire Skyway, the endless black road that spans worlds linked by portals called tollbooths.
Driving from one world to another, Jake McGraw is the president of the Starriggers Guild, a very small independent truckers group working to make it in a tale of truckers between worlds. The Skyway predates human kind by millenniums, it runs from one world to another, and in driving along it, a person (or alien) can travel from one world to another. The Colonial Assembly strives to keep peace and maintain civil order in what is known as The Terran Maze, those worlds easiest to reach via the Skyway from The Sol System.
With over 60 alien races in all the Mazes (those sections of the Skyway clustered around particular areas), Humanity is not the oldest, nor the youngest, just one of the newer ones plying the road between the stars.
As Jake and Darla cruise towards Mach City on the world called Hothouse (covered with massive jungles where the anti-aging drugs are harvested, they are waylaid early on by his main business competitor, Corey Wilkes owner of Tatoo, a rival shipping concern. The laser beams fly early and mayhem ensues almost from the beginning as Jake and his father Sam (killed and subsequently with his personality and memories implanted into the rig that Jake drives) work to understand the rumors suddenly circulating about them and what they might have access too. Which is supposedly a map to the entire Skyway, showing in theory where the Roadbuilders could be found at, and unknown scientific discoveries.
This all unfolds across the entire novel as Jake’s sense of goodwill leads him into helping more and more travelers, bringing them into his fold.
At the heart of it this is a story of meaning, about discovering essential truths about reality and who and what we truly are. All wrapped up in a rollicking great read filled with aliens, characters with personality, near noir excitement and a truly one of a kind original setting.
Originally the reviewer picked the book up new, traded or lent that first copy away, bought several other copies over the years new and used, always sharing this book with any that might like it as well. This particular book was bought used somewhere, years ago back up in Iowa or perhaps Virginia.
This is one of those SF novels that is just begging to be read over and over. It cries out to be adapted to the RPG field; it demands wider circulation as a superb piece of writing. This is an awesome novel. The depth of the setting comes out as the pages unfold, drawing the reader into a believable world filled with the spectacular.
Reviews of Red Limit Freeway and Paradox Alley forthcoming once they are located again in the reviewers library so he can read them once again.
The author's official website
Friday, October 1, 2010
Book Review: The Runestaff by Michael Moorcock
Book Review: The Runestaff by Michael Moorcock
Published 1969/1977 Revised Edition 1977
Cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey
Map by John Collier
The Runestaff The Fourth and Final Volume in the History of the Runestaff
In the final Volume of the History of The Runestaff, the fate of the Kamarg and all of the world rests on the shoulders of Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Koln, Servant of the Runestaff and a Manifestation of the Eternal Champion. Without his effortst the Dark Empire of Granbretan will conquer and consume the entire globe.
It opens with Hawkmoon and Huilliam D’Averc bound for Europe on the boat provided to them from the grateful inhabitants of the city of Nawleeen. On board the vessel, the two heroes were thought to be bound to that city at the behest of the Runestaff.
Events prevent their direct return to Europe, instead ending up at D'Nark and once more fulfilling the plans of the Runestaff as well as thwarting further Dark Empire Machinations. The Runestaff is revealed and more mysteries are indicated as well.
However our heroes do return to The Kamarg and preparatiosn are made for the return to Europe potentially in force to aid in battling the Granbretan advance, when the dark science of Baron Taragorm wrested them from the alternate world and back into the one they had fled from. The final battle with Granbretan would ensue, and not all the heroes would survive.
As the final novel in the History of the Runestaff it brings the short series to a conclusion. As with other Eternal Champion novels not all the companions make it. Life is dangerous being a companion to a manifestation of the Eternal Champion. Still in the case of Hawkmoon, it is a bit less dangerous than for others, such as Elric or Erekose. Still for the length of the novels, there is a wealth of superb ideas to dig into.
It is recommended for any steampunk fan as well.
RPG Note:
If someone is interested Mongoose Publishing has created the Hawkmoon Roleplaying Game. It is no longer in production per Sales at Mongoose Publishing. The author has not had a chance to pick up a copy so no impressions are available. There was another one based on the Runequest game system, which I had seen once many years ago. There are no RPGs currently in production covering this manifestation of The Eternal Champion.
Also is a revised Elric oriented RPG from Mongoose Publishing as well, for the updated Runequest II game system.
Links Section:
Michael Moorcock Online
http://www.multiverse.org/
Published 1969/1977 Revised Edition 1977
Cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey
Map by John Collier
The Runestaff The Fourth and Final Volume in the History of the Runestaff
In the final Volume of the History of The Runestaff, the fate of the Kamarg and all of the world rests on the shoulders of Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Koln, Servant of the Runestaff and a Manifestation of the Eternal Champion. Without his effortst the Dark Empire of Granbretan will conquer and consume the entire globe.
It opens with Hawkmoon and Huilliam D’Averc bound for Europe on the boat provided to them from the grateful inhabitants of the city of Nawleeen. On board the vessel, the two heroes were thought to be bound to that city at the behest of the Runestaff.
Events prevent their direct return to Europe, instead ending up at D'Nark and once more fulfilling the plans of the Runestaff as well as thwarting further Dark Empire Machinations. The Runestaff is revealed and more mysteries are indicated as well.
However our heroes do return to The Kamarg and preparatiosn are made for the return to Europe potentially in force to aid in battling the Granbretan advance, when the dark science of Baron Taragorm wrested them from the alternate world and back into the one they had fled from. The final battle with Granbretan would ensue, and not all the heroes would survive.
As the final novel in the History of the Runestaff it brings the short series to a conclusion. As with other Eternal Champion novels not all the companions make it. Life is dangerous being a companion to a manifestation of the Eternal Champion. Still in the case of Hawkmoon, it is a bit less dangerous than for others, such as Elric or Erekose. Still for the length of the novels, there is a wealth of superb ideas to dig into.
It is recommended for any steampunk fan as well.
RPG Note:
If someone is interested Mongoose Publishing has created the Hawkmoon Roleplaying Game. It is no longer in production per Sales at Mongoose Publishing. The author has not had a chance to pick up a copy so no impressions are available. There was another one based on the Runequest game system, which I had seen once many years ago. There are no RPGs currently in production covering this manifestation of The Eternal Champion.
Also is a revised Elric oriented RPG from Mongoose Publishing as well, for the updated Runequest II game system.
Links Section:
Michael Moorcock Online
http://www.multiverse.org/
Book Review: Innocence Proves Nothing by Sandy Mitchell
Book Review: Innocence Proves Nothing by Sandy Mitchell
Published in 2009 by The Black Library
Innocence Proves Nothing is a sequel to Scourge The Heretic, the second in the novels set in the Calixis Sector, in the Imperium of Man in the 41st Century. As can be ascertained, it is one of the Warhammer 40K novels, focused on The Inquisition.
This novel has a very RPG/Gaming/Campaign feeling to it. There are two separate groups of Acolytes (the term used in the Dark Heresy RPG for all Player Characters, used here to mean those people with talents and skills that have been chosen by faith or acts to aid an Inquisitor in their duties), working on separate lines of inquiry that eventually in the last portions of the book intersect.
The first team consists of characters introduced in Scourge The Heretic. Former Guardsmen Drake returns, along with the Assassin Keira and member of the Adeptus Mechanicus Vex with the team leader Mordecai Horst. They are aided on and off by other lesser supporting characters. The psyker Elyra is accompanied by former Guardsman Vos Kyrlock both also present in the book and following other leads on their own from the main group. The second team is affiliated with a different Inquisitor and the majority of them die in the first encounter they have, which comes about two thirds the way through the novel. Only two of those characters survive and join the main characters right before the puzzle pieces start to fall together.
It is suspected those two characters will play larger roles in the next novel, the ending ties up none of the plot threads and it is obvious this cannot be the end of the story. Where the different plot threads will end up can be guessed at, but it is not certain at all. With their inclusion it makes for about 7 core characters to be accounted for in the opening of the next, and presumed, novel.
There is a definite different feel to this novel compared to other WD/BL novels. This is due, it is believed, to the very strong influence of the Dark Heresy RPG on the composition. The worlds, the planets visited, the foes faced, are drawn from the RPG corebook. As the novel progressed it could be imagined that it was several game session to get to the action. The fights felt like encounters, well gauged to be a challenge, with little chance of failure. Each character has a chance to shine, in and out of combat, again making it a great resource for pacing and plotting tips to writers and gamers alike. It would be easy to make the novels characters for gaming purposes easily. This could add to a gaming session bringing in more flavor and intrigue. However nothing official could
The look and feel of the WH40k setting comes through fine, some new terms, very few flavor text terms from previous works and novels arrive. One welcome change from most WH40k novels is the inclusion of a Librarian of the Space Marines. Rarely are these characters included in novels, the Soul Drinkers novels by Ben Carpenter are a notable exception. The novels from fifteen some years ago (along with the army lists and wargear cards) featured the psychic powers of Librarians more. More recent novels seem to have moved away from this aspect.
This novel while having multiple psyker characters in it, does not feature or make them very prominent. This is a quibble from a long time reader (over twenty years) of materials in this setting. Other minor quirks are the prevalence of Bolt Weapons compared to the core setting philosophy. This trend does seem to have started about 8 or 9 years ago. These are just minor inconsistencies, which are easily explained away in light of the age and size of the setting, making local differences all too common.
Another glossed over element is the level of character information into what have been previously mysteries of the setting. Elements such and the Powers in the Warp, the role Horus played, mentioning Abbadon, how prevalent warp beings are in the novel, all run somewhat counter to past writings. It is very open feel to this novel, and the full on fanaticism prevalent in the overall setting is diminished to an extent in this reviewer’s opinion.
Overall it is a definite read for fans of the Warhammer 40K setting. For gamers playing Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Combination of the two, or a homebrew, it is an excellent source on pacing and decent flavor text. Especially for someone new to the overall setting, that desires to have a low key introduction to the War Torn Future.
Published in 2009 by The Black Library
Innocence Proves Nothing is a sequel to Scourge The Heretic, the second in the novels set in the Calixis Sector, in the Imperium of Man in the 41st Century. As can be ascertained, it is one of the Warhammer 40K novels, focused on The Inquisition.
This novel has a very RPG/Gaming/Campaign feeling to it. There are two separate groups of Acolytes (the term used in the Dark Heresy RPG for all Player Characters, used here to mean those people with talents and skills that have been chosen by faith or acts to aid an Inquisitor in their duties), working on separate lines of inquiry that eventually in the last portions of the book intersect.
The first team consists of characters introduced in Scourge The Heretic. Former Guardsmen Drake returns, along with the Assassin Keira and member of the Adeptus Mechanicus Vex with the team leader Mordecai Horst. They are aided on and off by other lesser supporting characters. The psyker Elyra is accompanied by former Guardsman Vos Kyrlock both also present in the book and following other leads on their own from the main group. The second team is affiliated with a different Inquisitor and the majority of them die in the first encounter they have, which comes about two thirds the way through the novel. Only two of those characters survive and join the main characters right before the puzzle pieces start to fall together.
It is suspected those two characters will play larger roles in the next novel, the ending ties up none of the plot threads and it is obvious this cannot be the end of the story. Where the different plot threads will end up can be guessed at, but it is not certain at all. With their inclusion it makes for about 7 core characters to be accounted for in the opening of the next, and presumed, novel.
There is a definite different feel to this novel compared to other WD/BL novels. This is due, it is believed, to the very strong influence of the Dark Heresy RPG on the composition. The worlds, the planets visited, the foes faced, are drawn from the RPG corebook. As the novel progressed it could be imagined that it was several game session to get to the action. The fights felt like encounters, well gauged to be a challenge, with little chance of failure. Each character has a chance to shine, in and out of combat, again making it a great resource for pacing and plotting tips to writers and gamers alike. It would be easy to make the novels characters for gaming purposes easily. This could add to a gaming session bringing in more flavor and intrigue. However nothing official could
The look and feel of the WH40k setting comes through fine, some new terms, very few flavor text terms from previous works and novels arrive. One welcome change from most WH40k novels is the inclusion of a Librarian of the Space Marines. Rarely are these characters included in novels, the Soul Drinkers novels by Ben Carpenter are a notable exception. The novels from fifteen some years ago (along with the army lists and wargear cards) featured the psychic powers of Librarians more. More recent novels seem to have moved away from this aspect.
This novel while having multiple psyker characters in it, does not feature or make them very prominent. This is a quibble from a long time reader (over twenty years) of materials in this setting. Other minor quirks are the prevalence of Bolt Weapons compared to the core setting philosophy. This trend does seem to have started about 8 or 9 years ago. These are just minor inconsistencies, which are easily explained away in light of the age and size of the setting, making local differences all too common.
Another glossed over element is the level of character information into what have been previously mysteries of the setting. Elements such and the Powers in the Warp, the role Horus played, mentioning Abbadon, how prevalent warp beings are in the novel, all run somewhat counter to past writings. It is very open feel to this novel, and the full on fanaticism prevalent in the overall setting is diminished to an extent in this reviewer’s opinion.
Overall it is a definite read for fans of the Warhammer 40K setting. For gamers playing Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Combination of the two, or a homebrew, it is an excellent source on pacing and decent flavor text. Especially for someone new to the overall setting, that desires to have a low key introduction to the War Torn Future.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Book review: Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
Book review: Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
Nova Swing by M. John Harrison is a surreal follow on to his award winning novel Light. Set in the same universe, dominated by the Kefahuchi Tract, a near limitless expanse of stars and systems linked economically and socially to one and another, as his novel Light, it showcases the travails of Vic Serotonnin, a travel guide into a spatial anomoly called The Saudade Event Site, where time, distance, and bodies are warped.
Vic is a travel agent, one of a few people that are willing to risk their lives, minds, and bodies by travelling inside the Site, as it is known. Landmarks are useless in the Site, the ground changes and shifts, and what seems like hours inside, days or weeks can pass outside of the Site.
Compounding these issues is the local law enforcement efforts to prevent these tours as the dangers are deemed too difficult to asses completely, so it has been declared illegal to enter or bring anything out of the Site, which is the main income of the Travel Guides. Carrying out artefacts found inside and selling them to collectors.
There are a variety of relationships the protagonist copes with, from fellow travel guides and their family entities to local gansters and other unsavory types. These all complicate Vic Serotonnin’s life, as strange new artefacts, that appear to be people come to life, begin to emerge from the site.
These separate events all lead to betrayals and loss of innocence as well as life. There are strange alterations brought on by the artefacts, police investigations, as well as snippets of the lives lived in this odd and still familiar setting. With concepts like gun-punk chic and Radio Retro as well as scenes of hordes of cats running into and out of the event site, it leads the reader into a world similar, with similar concepts and ideals to the modern world, with surreal twists scattered throughout as well.
In much the same feel as the previous novel Light, M. John Harrison introduces us the readers into a world very different than where we live, yet still recognizable. Filled with addicts, people working to make a living, alcohol and space travel, dreams are one thing the human spirit has not lost, and Mr. Harrison demonstrates that in the pages of his novel.
While not the easiest novel to pigeonhole into a particular category, this reviewer feels it belongs best in the emerging sub-genre of Singularity Fiction, along with such authors as Cory Doctorow, Iain Banks, Charles Stoss, and Sean Williams. A definite one to read.
Nova Swing by M. John Harrison is a surreal follow on to his award winning novel Light. Set in the same universe, dominated by the Kefahuchi Tract, a near limitless expanse of stars and systems linked economically and socially to one and another, as his novel Light, it showcases the travails of Vic Serotonnin, a travel guide into a spatial anomoly called The Saudade Event Site, where time, distance, and bodies are warped.
Vic is a travel agent, one of a few people that are willing to risk their lives, minds, and bodies by travelling inside the Site, as it is known. Landmarks are useless in the Site, the ground changes and shifts, and what seems like hours inside, days or weeks can pass outside of the Site.
Compounding these issues is the local law enforcement efforts to prevent these tours as the dangers are deemed too difficult to asses completely, so it has been declared illegal to enter or bring anything out of the Site, which is the main income of the Travel Guides. Carrying out artefacts found inside and selling them to collectors.
There are a variety of relationships the protagonist copes with, from fellow travel guides and their family entities to local gansters and other unsavory types. These all complicate Vic Serotonnin’s life, as strange new artefacts, that appear to be people come to life, begin to emerge from the site.
These separate events all lead to betrayals and loss of innocence as well as life. There are strange alterations brought on by the artefacts, police investigations, as well as snippets of the lives lived in this odd and still familiar setting. With concepts like gun-punk chic and Radio Retro as well as scenes of hordes of cats running into and out of the event site, it leads the reader into a world similar, with similar concepts and ideals to the modern world, with surreal twists scattered throughout as well.
In much the same feel as the previous novel Light, M. John Harrison introduces us the readers into a world very different than where we live, yet still recognizable. Filled with addicts, people working to make a living, alcohol and space travel, dreams are one thing the human spirit has not lost, and Mr. Harrison demonstrates that in the pages of his novel.
While not the easiest novel to pigeonhole into a particular category, this reviewer feels it belongs best in the emerging sub-genre of Singularity Fiction, along with such authors as Cory Doctorow, Iain Banks, Charles Stoss, and Sean Williams. A definite one to read.
Book Review: Von Neumann’s War by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor
Book Review: Von Neumann’s War by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor
Published in 2006 by Baen
John Ringo on Baen Books
Cover art by Kurt Miller
Something or someone is changing the albedo of Mars, and they are heading towards The Earth once they are done.
The premise of the novel lies in Von Neumann robots, self-directing and self-replicating robots, making them essentially self-sufficient. This is one proposed method for a species to colonize another world, send small probes or robots to go, gather raw resources, reproduce themselves, the to continue onward. This is the core idea in the novel, where self-replicating robots come from somewhere else and start to terraform (to their specifications) the entire Solar System, starting with the larger gas giants and moving inward towards The Planet Earth.
The novel opens up with a military operation in Iraq involving what would become two of the main characters. Moving from an insurgent firefight the novel paces into Defense Contractors discussing work flow and then increasing Astronomical Reports of the change in appearance (Albedo or the amount of light reflected from an object. When the surface changes on something, it reflects or absorbs more or less light, which is in very simplified terms the Albedo of the object) of celestial bodies in the Solar System.
As the book progresses more evidence is found to support the knowledge of an incoming alien invasion. The military and defense contractors work together to attempt to devise means to combat the encroaching menace. The book showcases the awesome ideas postulated, along with scientific details that bring out the depth of research the author took in writing it. From sniper work to project management discussions to fringe inventors, Von Neumann’s War never fails to deliver on each page.
Clocking in at 519 pages, Von Neumann’s War is pure Military SF reading pleasure. Go get a copy and discover the great writing that John Ringo does. It used to be available at the Lakeland Books A Million, go try to find it there. This copy purchased at a bookstore sometime a few years ago.
Published in 2006 by Baen
John Ringo on Baen Books
Cover art by Kurt Miller
Something or someone is changing the albedo of Mars, and they are heading towards The Earth once they are done.
The premise of the novel lies in Von Neumann robots, self-directing and self-replicating robots, making them essentially self-sufficient. This is one proposed method for a species to colonize another world, send small probes or robots to go, gather raw resources, reproduce themselves, the to continue onward. This is the core idea in the novel, where self-replicating robots come from somewhere else and start to terraform (to their specifications) the entire Solar System, starting with the larger gas giants and moving inward towards The Planet Earth.
The novel opens up with a military operation in Iraq involving what would become two of the main characters. Moving from an insurgent firefight the novel paces into Defense Contractors discussing work flow and then increasing Astronomical Reports of the change in appearance (Albedo or the amount of light reflected from an object. When the surface changes on something, it reflects or absorbs more or less light, which is in very simplified terms the Albedo of the object) of celestial bodies in the Solar System.
As the book progresses more evidence is found to support the knowledge of an incoming alien invasion. The military and defense contractors work together to attempt to devise means to combat the encroaching menace. The book showcases the awesome ideas postulated, along with scientific details that bring out the depth of research the author took in writing it. From sniper work to project management discussions to fringe inventors, Von Neumann’s War never fails to deliver on each page.
Clocking in at 519 pages, Von Neumann’s War is pure Military SF reading pleasure. Go get a copy and discover the great writing that John Ringo does. It used to be available at the Lakeland Books A Million, go try to find it there. This copy purchased at a bookstore sometime a few years ago.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Book Review: Black Steel by Steve Perry
Book Review: Black Steel by Steve Perry
The Matador Books all By Steve Perry
This is a series of books all interrelated in plot, setting, characters, and themes. They are in order of printing, The Man Who Never Missed, Matadora, The Machiavelli Interface, The 97th Step, The Albino Knife, Black Steel, Brother Death, and The Musashi Flex. They form an intense over reaching whole, telling the story of the rise and fall of a near dictatorship and the democracy that replaces it from the perspective of the trained killers that orchestrate the majority of the overthrow.
So Black Steel follows The Albino Knife, about one year after the end of that novel, and concerns its self with Sleel, the ultimately self-assured Matador from the first trilogy. This is the second stand alone novel set after the main series of novels, and in my opinion, it perhaps Steve Perry’s strongest novel written.
After the end of The Albino Knife, Sleel seems to have taken several small contracts, and at the start of Black Steel, he is contacted by Jersey Reason, the ex-thief us readers met in The Albino Knife. Seems Mr. Reason is being attacked by sword wielding types and wishes to employ Sleel in his capacity as a Matador, one of the preeminent bodyguards in the setting of these novels.
What follows on from this is the Journey of The Shaman, from life, to death, to rebirth, to a new life, embracing a new way of looking at the world and the greater view of creation, as well as encountering and taking on the aspect of his totem.
During this journey Sleel attempts to reconnect with his parents, major details about his life prior to the novels are revealed, showing depth to the character that never has come out in prior novels save in one or two snippets recognizable after the fact. He demonstrates a sense of caring and determination that is near suprahuman, much as all the Matadors do throughout the novels, and is gravely injured.
During his convalescence he comes into his second life, his rebirth, when he holds a sword in his hand for the first time. Here is where the novel takes off and heads into great territory. Up to this point Sleel has been almost a throwaway character, with very programmed and stereotypical reactions. Once his rebirth comes about he becomes much more than words on the page, but becomes an actual character that can be cared about, and that transformation brings empathy to the character and his plight and nascent love for the sister of Mayli Wu, a dead Matador from the first three novels. With a blade at his side, he calls in his extended Matador family to rescue his new love from an egotistical swordsman that kidnapped her for personal reasons.
The ending is pure Steve Perry Matador writing, fast paced, clipped, to the point and the good guys run all over the bad guys, just how it is supposed to be in these books.
This is perhaps the best novel Mr Perry has written to date. Of the Matador novels it is by far the best one in this reviewers opinion, mostly due to the evolution of the main character and while the outcome is never in doubt, still growth is achieved.
Notes on the series in general:
The rest of the novels expand a different character from the initial three novels. Pen is showcased in The 97th Step, Sleel in Black Steel, Bork in Brother Death, and the group as a whole in The Albino Knife. The different novels all flesh out the wonderful setting. The various planets are all rich in depth and the action is intense. Each plot item moves the metastory as a whole along.
This is one of the best Cyberpunk/Near Ribofunk series produced. The elements of Viral technology, information usage, computer interrelationships, and how technology impacts on the common folks all bring to life a galaxy oppressed struggling for a better life with no hope except that suddenly provided by Khadaji and his followers.
As a Science Fiction, Cyberpunk genre series it is highly recommended. These books are full of characters, fights, eastern beliefs, situations and a cohesive societal structure that is eminently plausible. While not the stylistically perfect novels, such as Dune by Frank Herbert or the Amber Novels by Roger Zelazny, the Matador Series books have the power to hold and draw the reader deeper into their world. Once there the reader will cheer their successes and mourn their losses.
The chronological order of the series is:
The Musashi Flex
The 97th Step
The Man Who Never Missed
Matadora
The Machiavelli Interface
The Albino Knife
Black Steel
Brother Death
The novel Omega Cage by Steve Perry and is set in the same universe and while not a part of the Matador series, it bears a relation to it. It falls as the second novel, preceding The 97th Step, in terms of the chronology. The book The Mushashi Flex showcases the origins of the fighting style Sumito as well as the Brotherhood of the Shroud.
Link:
Steve Perry’s Blogsite
http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/
The Matador Books all By Steve Perry
This is a series of books all interrelated in plot, setting, characters, and themes. They are in order of printing, The Man Who Never Missed, Matadora, The Machiavelli Interface, The 97th Step, The Albino Knife, Black Steel, Brother Death, and The Musashi Flex. They form an intense over reaching whole, telling the story of the rise and fall of a near dictatorship and the democracy that replaces it from the perspective of the trained killers that orchestrate the majority of the overthrow.
So Black Steel follows The Albino Knife, about one year after the end of that novel, and concerns its self with Sleel, the ultimately self-assured Matador from the first trilogy. This is the second stand alone novel set after the main series of novels, and in my opinion, it perhaps Steve Perry’s strongest novel written.
After the end of The Albino Knife, Sleel seems to have taken several small contracts, and at the start of Black Steel, he is contacted by Jersey Reason, the ex-thief us readers met in The Albino Knife. Seems Mr. Reason is being attacked by sword wielding types and wishes to employ Sleel in his capacity as a Matador, one of the preeminent bodyguards in the setting of these novels.
What follows on from this is the Journey of The Shaman, from life, to death, to rebirth, to a new life, embracing a new way of looking at the world and the greater view of creation, as well as encountering and taking on the aspect of his totem.
During this journey Sleel attempts to reconnect with his parents, major details about his life prior to the novels are revealed, showing depth to the character that never has come out in prior novels save in one or two snippets recognizable after the fact. He demonstrates a sense of caring and determination that is near suprahuman, much as all the Matadors do throughout the novels, and is gravely injured.
During his convalescence he comes into his second life, his rebirth, when he holds a sword in his hand for the first time. Here is where the novel takes off and heads into great territory. Up to this point Sleel has been almost a throwaway character, with very programmed and stereotypical reactions. Once his rebirth comes about he becomes much more than words on the page, but becomes an actual character that can be cared about, and that transformation brings empathy to the character and his plight and nascent love for the sister of Mayli Wu, a dead Matador from the first three novels. With a blade at his side, he calls in his extended Matador family to rescue his new love from an egotistical swordsman that kidnapped her for personal reasons.
The ending is pure Steve Perry Matador writing, fast paced, clipped, to the point and the good guys run all over the bad guys, just how it is supposed to be in these books.
This is perhaps the best novel Mr Perry has written to date. Of the Matador novels it is by far the best one in this reviewers opinion, mostly due to the evolution of the main character and while the outcome is never in doubt, still growth is achieved.
Notes on the series in general:
The rest of the novels expand a different character from the initial three novels. Pen is showcased in The 97th Step, Sleel in Black Steel, Bork in Brother Death, and the group as a whole in The Albino Knife. The different novels all flesh out the wonderful setting. The various planets are all rich in depth and the action is intense. Each plot item moves the metastory as a whole along.
This is one of the best Cyberpunk/Near Ribofunk series produced. The elements of Viral technology, information usage, computer interrelationships, and how technology impacts on the common folks all bring to life a galaxy oppressed struggling for a better life with no hope except that suddenly provided by Khadaji and his followers.
As a Science Fiction, Cyberpunk genre series it is highly recommended. These books are full of characters, fights, eastern beliefs, situations and a cohesive societal structure that is eminently plausible. While not the stylistically perfect novels, such as Dune by Frank Herbert or the Amber Novels by Roger Zelazny, the Matador Series books have the power to hold and draw the reader deeper into their world. Once there the reader will cheer their successes and mourn their losses.
The chronological order of the series is:
The Musashi Flex
The 97th Step
The Man Who Never Missed
Matadora
The Machiavelli Interface
The Albino Knife
Black Steel
Brother Death
The novel Omega Cage by Steve Perry and is set in the same universe and while not a part of the Matador series, it bears a relation to it. It falls as the second novel, preceding The 97th Step, in terms of the chronology. The book The Mushashi Flex showcases the origins of the fighting style Sumito as well as the Brotherhood of the Shroud.
Link:
Steve Perry’s Blogsite
http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/
Book Review: The Sword of the Dawn by Michael Moorcock
Book Review: The Sword of the Dawn by Michael Moorcock
Published in 1977 by Daw Books
Cover Art by Richard Clifton-Dey
Book Review: The Sword of The Dawn by Michael Moorcock
Published in 1967, 1977 The edition owned is the 1977 Edition Daw SF
Cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey
Cover image courtesy T Kelson, a photograph of his copy of the novel
From the book
“Then the Earth grew old, its landscapes mellowing and showing signs of age, its ways becoming whimsical and strange in the manner of a man in his last years…
-The high History of The Runestaff
Duke Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Koln, Sometimes willing servant of The Runestaff, his adventures continue in the third volume in The HIstory of The Runestaff which is titled, The Sword oF THe Dawn.
The novel opens with the warlords of Granbretan surveying the destruction they had wrought on a city, the last in Europe they claim, to fall to their forces. The might of the Dark Empire of Granbretan has swept the lands of Europe and most of the Middle East as well at this point. Their forces are seemingly unstoppable in their relentless pursuit of decadent destruction and devastation.
Meanwhile in the alternate Kamarg where the machine of the Crystal Folk of Soryandum had sent the heros and their land too, boredom has set in for the warriors there. Dorian, Count Brass, Oladahn and Huilliam are all growing tired of the peace and worry about what is happening back in their home dimension mounts. When a poet from Granbretan is captured, fears rise that if he could make it there, then military forcer from Granbretan could also. From there Dorian and Hulliam travel back to the Dark Empire to seek out a mystic and to ascertain what the Scientists of Granbretan do or do not know.
The rest of the novel consists of their adventures in Granbretan, further ruminations and machinations of the nobles of that island as well as the tasking from the Runestaff as transmitted through The Warrior in Jet and Gold. Along the way more of the island is explored, Baron Meliadus is encountered and foiled and travel is found to the fabled land of Amarehk, where a civilization is destroyed, river pirates foiled, loyal friends perish and the next item Dorian needs to defeat the Dark Empire, the Sword of The Dawn, is wrested from the group that had possession of it, and into the hands of the Duke, where the power to summon the Legion of The Dawn is revealed in a most fortuitous time.
The battles are non-stop, the complaining of Hawkmoon continues, and the real hero of Hulliam carries the day once again. Once the quest is complete, Dorian and Huilliam seek to return to Europe in order to return to The Kamarg and to see once again their friends and loved ones.
This third novel is only slightly longer than the previous two, coming in at 173 pages in the edition I own. It has the same pacing and narrative feel as the other novels, slightly more compressed and short in depth in comparison to the novels dealing with Elric or Corum in comparison.
Hawkmoon as a character is not my favorite Eternal Champion Manifestation. He seems the least powerful of them all (With the most items to help him against mortal foes of all the champions as well as a plethora of companions). Still his is one of the more interesting settings, and if you have Granbretan as a power but not a superpower it is probably the most interesting of the core settings to this reader and reviewer. The technology as magic works wonderful here vice in the first three Corum novels. The mood is strong and evocative and, since it is an alternate future, seems much more plausible to me. This is what makes the world of Hawkmoon the most accessible to Roleplaying Games as well, compared to either the Elric or Corum novels (which are the only other ones that have been ported to RPGs).
RPG Note:
If someone is interested Mongoose Publishing has created the Hawkmoon Roleplaying Game. It is no longer in production per Sales at Mongoose Publishing. The author has not had a chance to pick up a copy so no impressions are available. There was another one based on the Runequest game system, which I had seen once many years ago. There are no RPGs currently in production covering this manifestation of The Eternal Champion.
Links Section:
Michael Moorcock Online
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Magazine Review: Protodimension Magazine Issue #4 Gaming Support for the Horror Gamer
Protodimension Magazine Issue #4 Gaming Support for the Horror Gamer In review
It is primarily devoted to support for Role Playing Games. However there is a strong fiction and poetry component to the magazine, and that is the portion to be discussed here in this review. The full review is available on my Tabletop Roleplaying Games Resource Examiner Page
So Protodmension Issue #4 was released in May of 2010 by Kinstaff Media
The Editors are
Norm Fenlason
Lee Williams
Tad Kelson
77 pages of Free Gaming Material accompanied by artwork and did I mention Free to download in pdf format.
Protodimension Magazine is a direct descendant of the Demonground Magazine from a few years before. Two of the three editors on PDM also worked on DG. PDM, as Protodimension Magazine is referred to, is devoted to Horror, Conspiracy, Surreal, and Modern Gaming genres as support for those that run and for those that play these games.
Protodimension Magazine is a quarterly publication, much like the rest of the gaming industry publications of the last few years. This allows time for contributors to send in articles and artwork and time for the three editors to process and work with the authors to make it the best it can be. Submittables are wide open, from Fiction to Poetry to Real World examples and How to Articles along with Creatures and NPC writeups as well as Adventures (So far). The creators are not limiting the scope of what is acceptable (except for really gratuitous violence or those things not really socially acceptable in an online format), so the field is wide enough for most anyone.
In each issue there are only two recurring features. There is the Lead In Editorial appropriately titled From The Shadows. These are penned by the lead editor for that issue. The second feature is the Under The Floorboards Column which is written by the Chief Editor Lee Williams. The focus of Under The Floorboards is in offering ideas and advice to the gamer.
The rest of this short review is only discussing the Fiction and Poetry
• Silence, Poetry by music-freak101
• Market Direct, An Interview with Literature Innovator Jess Hartley
• Report on the Viability of, A Short Story, by CW Kelson III (Tad)
• Staring, A Poem, by music-freak101
• Memories Of A Killer, Fiction by Peyton Bisaillon
• The Big Long Wait, A Short Story by Tim Bisaillon
• Mechanisms, Fiction by CW Kelson III (Tad)
Looking over the table of contents the fare runs from poetry to gun write ups to off color comics and GM support, making for a wide gamut of materials. Now for a little bit about each piece in order, or so, as it appears in the issue.
There are two poems from a newcomer to the magazine, Silence and Staring both short and both from music-freak101 from his dA page.
Then there are some fiction from the Bisalions, Tim and his daughter Peyton. One is in a serial killer vein, the other a vignette related to a cycle of gaming and music that Mr Bisallion has created and still does so. These are two entries that are full of flavor related to the genres covered in the magazine.
There is more fiction from Editor Tad Kelson. A longer piece titled Mechanisms and a shorter piece that was submitted to the Ceramic DM contest on Enworld a few years ago titled, A Report On The Viability of. What are the aliens up to in both is left to the reader to wonder.
The last fiction related piece is an interview with RPG and Fiction Writer Jess Hartley, discussing her work and her Patron Project Shattered Glass.
Overall, this is an excellent support medium for the selected genres. It is of little to no use for those who only play Fantasy RPGs, where all others can draw inspiration from it.
Previous issues have included more fiction from Tad Kelson, Peyton Bisallion and poetry from Lester Smith.
PDM is located at http://www.protodimension.com/
The download page is conveniently linked off the main page leading to here http://www.protodimension.com/zine/?page_id=101
Note: I am one of the editors of this online free gaming magazine. I am not paid for the work, and the issues are free.
It is primarily devoted to support for Role Playing Games. However there is a strong fiction and poetry component to the magazine, and that is the portion to be discussed here in this review. The full review is available on my Tabletop Roleplaying Games Resource Examiner Page
So Protodmension Issue #4 was released in May of 2010 by Kinstaff Media
The Editors are
Norm Fenlason
Lee Williams
Tad Kelson
77 pages of Free Gaming Material accompanied by artwork and did I mention Free to download in pdf format.
Protodimension Magazine is a direct descendant of the Demonground Magazine from a few years before. Two of the three editors on PDM also worked on DG. PDM, as Protodimension Magazine is referred to, is devoted to Horror, Conspiracy, Surreal, and Modern Gaming genres as support for those that run and for those that play these games.
Protodimension Magazine is a quarterly publication, much like the rest of the gaming industry publications of the last few years. This allows time for contributors to send in articles and artwork and time for the three editors to process and work with the authors to make it the best it can be. Submittables are wide open, from Fiction to Poetry to Real World examples and How to Articles along with Creatures and NPC writeups as well as Adventures (So far). The creators are not limiting the scope of what is acceptable (except for really gratuitous violence or those things not really socially acceptable in an online format), so the field is wide enough for most anyone.
In each issue there are only two recurring features. There is the Lead In Editorial appropriately titled From The Shadows. These are penned by the lead editor for that issue. The second feature is the Under The Floorboards Column which is written by the Chief Editor Lee Williams. The focus of Under The Floorboards is in offering ideas and advice to the gamer.
The rest of this short review is only discussing the Fiction and Poetry
• Silence, Poetry by music-freak101
• Market Direct, An Interview with Literature Innovator Jess Hartley
• Report on the Viability of, A Short Story, by CW Kelson III (Tad)
• Staring, A Poem, by music-freak101
• Memories Of A Killer, Fiction by Peyton Bisaillon
• The Big Long Wait, A Short Story by Tim Bisaillon
• Mechanisms, Fiction by CW Kelson III (Tad)
Looking over the table of contents the fare runs from poetry to gun write ups to off color comics and GM support, making for a wide gamut of materials. Now for a little bit about each piece in order, or so, as it appears in the issue.
There are two poems from a newcomer to the magazine, Silence and Staring both short and both from music-freak101 from his dA page.
Then there are some fiction from the Bisalions, Tim and his daughter Peyton. One is in a serial killer vein, the other a vignette related to a cycle of gaming and music that Mr Bisallion has created and still does so. These are two entries that are full of flavor related to the genres covered in the magazine.
There is more fiction from Editor Tad Kelson. A longer piece titled Mechanisms and a shorter piece that was submitted to the Ceramic DM contest on Enworld a few years ago titled, A Report On The Viability of. What are the aliens up to in both is left to the reader to wonder.
The last fiction related piece is an interview with RPG and Fiction Writer Jess Hartley, discussing her work and her Patron Project Shattered Glass.
Overall, this is an excellent support medium for the selected genres. It is of little to no use for those who only play Fantasy RPGs, where all others can draw inspiration from it.
Previous issues have included more fiction from Tad Kelson, Peyton Bisallion and poetry from Lester Smith.
PDM is located at http://www.protodimension.com/
The download page is conveniently linked off the main page leading to here http://www.protodimension.com/zine/?page_id=101
Note: I am one of the editors of this online free gaming magazine. I am not paid for the work, and the issues are free.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Book Review: The Jewel In The Skull by Michael Moorcock
Book Review: The Jewel In The Skull by Michael Moorcock
Published in 1967, 1977 The edition owned is the revised 1977 Edition Daw Fantasy
Cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey
From the book
“Then the Earth grew old, its landscapes mellowing and showing signs of age, its ways becoming whimsical and strange in the manner of a man in his last years…"
-The high History of The Runestaff
The Jewel In The Skull if the first book dealing with the Incarnation of The Eternal Champion known as Dorian Hawkmoon, Last Duke of Koln and bearer of the Black Jewel.
With the opening lines pulled from the novel, it drew me in that first time back when it was published new and I was just discovering another Incarnation, Elric of Melnibone.
It was so reminiscent of the Kane novels by Karl Edward Wagner and The Pastel City by M. John Harrison, that I remember I scoured the newsstand store and stationary store back in Sioux City IA looking for the others in the series. The opening line drew me in and like with Elric or Corum (who I discovered after Hawkmoon but before Erlic Skarsol or Erekose) I was hooked from the opening lines.
Dorian Hawkmoon lives in a post-apocalyptic Europe ravaged and fragmented by war with the Empire of Granbretan. The Dark Empire, as it is known, is seeking to subjugate the entire continent and then onward to the distant lands of Asia Communista and far off Amarehk. Their goal is total world control and domination under the Empire of the Mask, as all inhabitants of the island of Granbretan wear a mask of the Order they belong to. They live their lives under these masks rarely removing them even among themselves.
The Dark Empire has conqurred the lands of Koln and taken the rule, Duke Dorian Hawkmoon captive and in a scheme to undermine and conquer the lands of The Kamarg, ruled by Count Brass, implant a Black Jewel (Of the title to the book) that is linked by both sorcery and technology to a machine in the capital city of Londra. With the jewel they can see what the Duke sees and along with mental conditioning they send him as a secret turncoat agent to kidnap the daughter of Count Brass, Yisselda, and to bring her as a hostage to the Dark Empire.
The rest of the book relates how Dorian Hawkmoon falls into love, is released from the Black Jewel’s power, and aids in setting the machinations of The Dark Empire back.
The Jewel in The Skull is an excellent example of Michael Moorcock’s writing style and a great introduction to some of the core concepts of his Multiverse Stories. There is a total of 4 novels in the History of the Runestaff as well as 3 follow on novels dealing with Count Brass and more with Dorian Hawkmoon.
If someone is interested Mongoose Publishing has created the Hawkmoon Roleplaying Game. It is no longer in production per Sales at Mongoose Publishing. The author has not had a chance to pick up a copy so no impressions are available. There was another one based on the Runequest game system, which I had seen once many years ago.
Links Section:
The Jewel In The Skull online
Michael Moorcock Online
M. John Harrison
Karl Edward Wagner
Published in 1967, 1977 The edition owned is the revised 1977 Edition Daw Fantasy
Cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey
From the book
“Then the Earth grew old, its landscapes mellowing and showing signs of age, its ways becoming whimsical and strange in the manner of a man in his last years…"
-The high History of The Runestaff
The Jewel In The Skull if the first book dealing with the Incarnation of The Eternal Champion known as Dorian Hawkmoon, Last Duke of Koln and bearer of the Black Jewel.
With the opening lines pulled from the novel, it drew me in that first time back when it was published new and I was just discovering another Incarnation, Elric of Melnibone.
It was so reminiscent of the Kane novels by Karl Edward Wagner and The Pastel City by M. John Harrison, that I remember I scoured the newsstand store and stationary store back in Sioux City IA looking for the others in the series. The opening line drew me in and like with Elric or Corum (who I discovered after Hawkmoon but before Erlic Skarsol or Erekose) I was hooked from the opening lines.
Dorian Hawkmoon lives in a post-apocalyptic Europe ravaged and fragmented by war with the Empire of Granbretan. The Dark Empire, as it is known, is seeking to subjugate the entire continent and then onward to the distant lands of Asia Communista and far off Amarehk. Their goal is total world control and domination under the Empire of the Mask, as all inhabitants of the island of Granbretan wear a mask of the Order they belong to. They live their lives under these masks rarely removing them even among themselves.
The Dark Empire has conqurred the lands of Koln and taken the rule, Duke Dorian Hawkmoon captive and in a scheme to undermine and conquer the lands of The Kamarg, ruled by Count Brass, implant a Black Jewel (Of the title to the book) that is linked by both sorcery and technology to a machine in the capital city of Londra. With the jewel they can see what the Duke sees and along with mental conditioning they send him as a secret turncoat agent to kidnap the daughter of Count Brass, Yisselda, and to bring her as a hostage to the Dark Empire.
The rest of the book relates how Dorian Hawkmoon falls into love, is released from the Black Jewel’s power, and aids in setting the machinations of The Dark Empire back.
The Jewel in The Skull is an excellent example of Michael Moorcock’s writing style and a great introduction to some of the core concepts of his Multiverse Stories. There is a total of 4 novels in the History of the Runestaff as well as 3 follow on novels dealing with Count Brass and more with Dorian Hawkmoon.
If someone is interested Mongoose Publishing has created the Hawkmoon Roleplaying Game. It is no longer in production per Sales at Mongoose Publishing. The author has not had a chance to pick up a copy so no impressions are available. There was another one based on the Runequest game system, which I had seen once many years ago.
Links Section:
The Jewel In The Skull online
Michael Moorcock Online
M. John Harrison
Karl Edward Wagner
Friday, September 17, 2010
Book review: Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
Taya is an Icarus, a courier that soars above the mountain side city of Ondinium, the city named after the lighter than air metal that allows her to soar using wings made of this metal.
The novel opens up with her performing a daring midair rescue after a wireferry (aerial cable car) has an accident and only her quick thinking and skills allow her to rescue a mother and child that are in danger.
This act brings her to the attention of the Exalted Caste, of which the mother and son belong to. The tale continues on with danger, guns, muggings, extravagant dinner parties as well as several budding romances.
The world of Ondinium is a varied and multifaceted one. Multiple other nations are mentioned, and the core elements of the city are brought forth in the novel. The city is broken into three main sectors, Primus, Secundus, Tertius, roughly correlating to the various castes that are prevalent in the Ondinium society.
The different castes are
Exalted
Icarii
Cardinals
Plebians
With differences in each caste such as in the Icarus caste there are the Diplomats, Military, and Courier (Such as Taya is). There are a ton of different locations mentioned in the book, lending a sense of reality and truth to the setting and worldscape.
Eexalted Cristof is one of the ruling class, the Exalted, and the only one to have voluntarily left his caste in order to work with Clocks and to avoid the constraints and confines of his caste.
His brother Alister, is one of the Decatur, a programmer working with the Great Engine, an Analytical Engine that runs punch card programs that aid in the governing of the city state of Ondinium. These two along with Taya Icarus (as she is known to other castes due to her status) are the three main characters to the novel.
The title of the novel refers to a program written by Alister to aid in, well, romance. For more on The Clockwork Heart you will have to read the novel.
The book pulls in multiple Steampunk/Clockpunk staples including Analytical Engines, Caste Systems, aerial combats and intrigue. It has a greatly developed landscape along with interesting and engaging characters, that do not feel YA (Young Adult) instead this reader was not aware it is considered YA at all.
Heartily recommend this novel for a great, engaging read for fans of Steampunk, Clockpunk, or light hear romantic Science Fiction.
One fascinating item about this novel is pulled from the author's site, is that the core novel was written during NaNoWriMo 2004 (National Novel Writing Month) making it a winner in more than one sense.
Various Links
Cover Art to Clockwork Heart by Timothy Lanz
http://www.stygiandarkness.com/
Clockwork Heart page
http://drupagliassotti.com/clockwork-heart/
Dru Pagliassotti Author's Page
http://drupagliassotti.com
Taya is an Icarus, a courier that soars above the mountain side city of Ondinium, the city named after the lighter than air metal that allows her to soar using wings made of this metal.
The novel opens up with her performing a daring midair rescue after a wireferry (aerial cable car) has an accident and only her quick thinking and skills allow her to rescue a mother and child that are in danger.
This act brings her to the attention of the Exalted Caste, of which the mother and son belong to. The tale continues on with danger, guns, muggings, extravagant dinner parties as well as several budding romances.
The world of Ondinium is a varied and multifaceted one. Multiple other nations are mentioned, and the core elements of the city are brought forth in the novel. The city is broken into three main sectors, Primus, Secundus, Tertius, roughly correlating to the various castes that are prevalent in the Ondinium society.
The different castes are
Exalted
Icarii
Cardinals
Plebians
With differences in each caste such as in the Icarus caste there are the Diplomats, Military, and Courier (Such as Taya is). There are a ton of different locations mentioned in the book, lending a sense of reality and truth to the setting and worldscape.
Eexalted Cristof is one of the ruling class, the Exalted, and the only one to have voluntarily left his caste in order to work with Clocks and to avoid the constraints and confines of his caste.
His brother Alister, is one of the Decatur, a programmer working with the Great Engine, an Analytical Engine that runs punch card programs that aid in the governing of the city state of Ondinium. These two along with Taya Icarus (as she is known to other castes due to her status) are the three main characters to the novel.
The title of the novel refers to a program written by Alister to aid in, well, romance. For more on The Clockwork Heart you will have to read the novel.
The book pulls in multiple Steampunk/Clockpunk staples including Analytical Engines, Caste Systems, aerial combats and intrigue. It has a greatly developed landscape along with interesting and engaging characters, that do not feel YA (Young Adult) instead this reader was not aware it is considered YA at all.
Heartily recommend this novel for a great, engaging read for fans of Steampunk, Clockpunk, or light hear romantic Science Fiction.
One fascinating item about this novel is pulled from the author's site, is that the core novel was written during NaNoWriMo 2004 (National Novel Writing Month) making it a winner in more than one sense.
Various Links
Cover Art to Clockwork Heart by Timothy Lanz
http://www.stygiandarkness.com/
Clockwork Heart page
http://drupagliassotti.com/clockwork-heart/
Dru Pagliassotti Author's Page
http://drupagliassotti.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Book Review: Emperor's Mercy by Henry Zou
Book Review: Emperor's Mercy by Henry Zou
Emperor's Mercy is the latest novel dealing with the Inquisition and its efforts to stem the forces that threaten the stability of The Empire of Man in the Warhammer 40,000 Game / World Setting
Subtitled a Bastions War novel, the cover art is also used in the latest release for The Dark Heresy RPG, Dark Heresy: Ascension the artwork is by Raymond Swanland
This is a story of Inquisitor Obodiah Roth of the Ordo Hereticus and his main acolyte Bastiel Silverstein, who is a Hunter / Marksman extraordinaire. They are members of the Inquisition working to safeguard the Imperium of Man.
The novel open up with Chaos Raiders hammering an Imperial world over running it within a short span of time. This is a great opening to a WH40K novel and raised high hopes for the rest of the novel. Then the newest member of the Inquisition is introduced and compared to most Inquisitors introduced till this point, is a bit of a fop. Seemingly more interested in his fighting gear and its appearance than in prepping for an insertion into a Chaos Invaded Imperial World, he seems more generic than of Ordo Hereticus.
The book cuts to their arrival on the world of Cantica and the follow on investigations and deductions of the inquest Inquisitor Roth conducts there and on several follow on worlds.
There are some decent fight scenes, some good new wargear pieces that a writer or gamer in the overall WH40K setting could pull from, but the main character could have died about half way through and then his hunter could have taken over and made a difference and it would have improved the novel.
I recommend it for RPG players for data and ideas to source from. The opening portion where he gets a handwritten note via clockwork pigeon sent via courier ship showcases some of the ideas Henry Zou comes up with. I just do not care for Obodiah Roth the same way I do about Gregor Eisenhorn or Gideon Ravenor elicits in me.
In Final Opinion:
It reads a lot like a series of game sessions. The main character could be pulled from Dark Heresy and this is a series of 1-1 gaming sessions, with the NPC of the hunter being a sidetrek. For that a GM could pull data from the novel and make a decent solo series of adventures. Take it for its worth.
I have been reading WH40K fiction since Ian Watson first published Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor (1990 I got the book new then) and this is not there yet, but the author holds great promise and I plan to read his follow on novels.
Links:
Henry Zou's website
Emperor's Mercy on The Black Library
Ian Watson
Dark Heresy RPG by Fantasy Flight Games
Note: This book was purchased at Haslam's Bookstore in St Petersburg FL
Emperor's Mercy is the latest novel dealing with the Inquisition and its efforts to stem the forces that threaten the stability of The Empire of Man in the Warhammer 40,000 Game / World Setting
Subtitled a Bastions War novel, the cover art is also used in the latest release for The Dark Heresy RPG, Dark Heresy: Ascension the artwork is by Raymond Swanland
This is a story of Inquisitor Obodiah Roth of the Ordo Hereticus and his main acolyte Bastiel Silverstein, who is a Hunter / Marksman extraordinaire. They are members of the Inquisition working to safeguard the Imperium of Man.
The novel open up with Chaos Raiders hammering an Imperial world over running it within a short span of time. This is a great opening to a WH40K novel and raised high hopes for the rest of the novel. Then the newest member of the Inquisition is introduced and compared to most Inquisitors introduced till this point, is a bit of a fop. Seemingly more interested in his fighting gear and its appearance than in prepping for an insertion into a Chaos Invaded Imperial World, he seems more generic than of Ordo Hereticus.
The book cuts to their arrival on the world of Cantica and the follow on investigations and deductions of the inquest Inquisitor Roth conducts there and on several follow on worlds.
There are some decent fight scenes, some good new wargear pieces that a writer or gamer in the overall WH40K setting could pull from, but the main character could have died about half way through and then his hunter could have taken over and made a difference and it would have improved the novel.
I recommend it for RPG players for data and ideas to source from. The opening portion where he gets a handwritten note via clockwork pigeon sent via courier ship showcases some of the ideas Henry Zou comes up with. I just do not care for Obodiah Roth the same way I do about Gregor Eisenhorn or Gideon Ravenor elicits in me.
In Final Opinion:
It reads a lot like a series of game sessions. The main character could be pulled from Dark Heresy and this is a series of 1-1 gaming sessions, with the NPC of the hunter being a sidetrek. For that a GM could pull data from the novel and make a decent solo series of adventures. Take it for its worth.
I have been reading WH40K fiction since Ian Watson first published Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor (1990 I got the book new then) and this is not there yet, but the author holds great promise and I plan to read his follow on novels.
Links:
Henry Zou's website
Emperor's Mercy on The Black Library
Ian Watson
Dark Heresy RPG by Fantasy Flight Games
Note: This book was purchased at Haslam's Bookstore in St Petersburg FL
Book Review: Mechanicum by Graham McNeill
Book Review: Mechanicum by Graham McNeill
Published in 2008 A Black Library Publication
Cover art by Neil Roberts
The ongoing tale of the Horus Heresy continues in Mechanicum penned by Veteran WH49K Author Graham McNeill. The tale recounts the bravery of the forces loyal to The Emperor at the start of the Heresy and of the Civil War that engulfed Mars as the Heresy spread across the Imperium.
This is perhaps the best book in The Horus Heresy Series so far. It captures, for this reviewer, the spirit of the great wars that raged when The Warmaster betrayed the Emperor, and mighty conflicts engulfed the fledgeling Imperium, as showcased in the earlier GW products such as Adeptus Titanicus and Epic 40,000.
While it still at points stray from the look and feel of the other novels in The Horus Heresy series, it really feels the closest to the intent and flavor of the original source materials, Rogue Trader and the first novels relating to Warhammer 40,000.
The story is concerned with two main plot threads. The first is the coming of the heresy to Mars and how portions of The Mechanicum fell under the sway of Chaos and chose to follow The Warmaster into conflict with Terra and the Loyalists. The other main plot point deals with a young scribe, named Dalia Cythera, from the Librarium Technologica, a part of the Imperial Palace on Terra, who is sentenced for death for enhancing the interior workings of her cogitator station, making it more efficient and effective for the work she was performing. Her sentence is denied by the actions of an Adept of Mars, High Adept Koriel Zeth, The Mistress of Magma City.
The two threads come together towards the end of the novel, when the forces of The Dark Mechanicum move against those loyal to The Emperor and open battle breaks out across the face of Mars. Dalia and other servants of the Mechanicum worked together to create new devices and machines at the behest of the High Adept Zeth, while the Dark Mechanicum in a parody of this, create Chaos based servitors and war machines to aid in conquering Mars for the Ruinous Powers.
This book has the curious odd mixture of WH40K sensibilities and feeling with a looseness and different, more ‘Modern’ feel, with primitive natures and blind religious dogma coming into play and repression, with the search for the past with the intent to hide it away from sight. This book really captures the start of the standard Imperium to this reader, much more so than the other books There are a few almost discordant elements to it, how the Adepts function and work feels very different than the other Horus Heresy novels seemed to portray, while the Titans and Knights are almost exactly how they were depicted and portrayed in early WH40K sources and accounts.
It is an excellent WH40K novel, one diehard fans should enjoy.
Links Section:
Graham McNeill
Neil Roberts Cover Artist
The Black Library Publishing Site
Black Library on Twitter
This is the main Games Workshop website
Specialist Games section where Adeptus Titanicus and other specialist titles live on at
Important Note:
This used copy was purchased at The Book Bazaar in Lakeland, FL. Support Used and New Book stores, buy paper not just electrons.
Published in 2008 A Black Library Publication
Cover art by Neil Roberts
The ongoing tale of the Horus Heresy continues in Mechanicum penned by Veteran WH49K Author Graham McNeill. The tale recounts the bravery of the forces loyal to The Emperor at the start of the Heresy and of the Civil War that engulfed Mars as the Heresy spread across the Imperium.
This is perhaps the best book in The Horus Heresy Series so far. It captures, for this reviewer, the spirit of the great wars that raged when The Warmaster betrayed the Emperor, and mighty conflicts engulfed the fledgeling Imperium, as showcased in the earlier GW products such as Adeptus Titanicus and Epic 40,000.
While it still at points stray from the look and feel of the other novels in The Horus Heresy series, it really feels the closest to the intent and flavor of the original source materials, Rogue Trader and the first novels relating to Warhammer 40,000.
The story is concerned with two main plot threads. The first is the coming of the heresy to Mars and how portions of The Mechanicum fell under the sway of Chaos and chose to follow The Warmaster into conflict with Terra and the Loyalists. The other main plot point deals with a young scribe, named Dalia Cythera, from the Librarium Technologica, a part of the Imperial Palace on Terra, who is sentenced for death for enhancing the interior workings of her cogitator station, making it more efficient and effective for the work she was performing. Her sentence is denied by the actions of an Adept of Mars, High Adept Koriel Zeth, The Mistress of Magma City.
The two threads come together towards the end of the novel, when the forces of The Dark Mechanicum move against those loyal to The Emperor and open battle breaks out across the face of Mars. Dalia and other servants of the Mechanicum worked together to create new devices and machines at the behest of the High Adept Zeth, while the Dark Mechanicum in a parody of this, create Chaos based servitors and war machines to aid in conquering Mars for the Ruinous Powers.
This book has the curious odd mixture of WH40K sensibilities and feeling with a looseness and different, more ‘Modern’ feel, with primitive natures and blind religious dogma coming into play and repression, with the search for the past with the intent to hide it away from sight. This book really captures the start of the standard Imperium to this reader, much more so than the other books There are a few almost discordant elements to it, how the Adepts function and work feels very different than the other Horus Heresy novels seemed to portray, while the Titans and Knights are almost exactly how they were depicted and portrayed in early WH40K sources and accounts.
It is an excellent WH40K novel, one diehard fans should enjoy.
Links Section:
Graham McNeill
Neil Roberts Cover Artist
The Black Library Publishing Site
Black Library on Twitter
This is the main Games Workshop website
Specialist Games section where Adeptus Titanicus and other specialist titles live on at
Important Note:
This used copy was purchased at The Book Bazaar in Lakeland, FL. Support Used and New Book stores, buy paper not just electrons.
Book Review: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 from Brady Games
Book Review: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 from Brady Games Guide
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most successful FPS (First Person Shooters) to date. Combining the processing power of the XBox 360 with their game engine and a continuation of the hit storyline from the previous games, along with a built in multiplayer mode, COD MW2 has shown with sales, it is a winner.
This reviewer has been playing for several months now the XBox 360 version almost exclusively in Multiplayer mode. There is a world of depth to the game in the Story and Special Ops modes as well, which this reviewer is slowly starting to indulge in. However, Hardcore Team Deathmatch is the preferred game mode and the entire reason I picked up the Brady Book Guide, for the maps and other data that is in table format in the later portion of the $19.99 US I spent at the Barnes and Nobles in Wesley Chapel, FL. (which was the first store I found it in, and so the one which received my money).
The book is organized into 3 large scale areas
Campaign
Special Ops
Multiplayer
Within each section is a walk through of the various maps and game play modes (especially for Special Ops and Multiplayer including Search and Destroy and Headquarters for instance) with the requisite Brady Games maps and illustrations.
When I begin the campaign mode, I will have this book open next to me, as it gives tips on when and where the opposition will arrive at as well as tips to accomplish each task as efficiently as possible.
What prompted the purchase however were the maps and charts in the back of the book. Even after several months of game play the book comes in handy on the stock battles such as Estate and Scrapyard.
Those along with the Intel Charts (listing the various weapons, perks, killstreaks, accomplishments, etc.) are the real meat to the book for this player.
Along in the maps section for multiplayer are suggested classes (weapon, specials, perks, kill and deathstreaks) that the authors recommend for each map, various play styles and game modes to make it easier for the new player to get started enjoying themselves (perhaps more than I did as I played nothing but free for all for about the first 30 levels and did quite a bit of damage to the KDR which stands for Kill Death Ratio (one statistic the game via XBox Live tracks comparing total kills to total deaths as a ratio. As of the time of writing this article mine was up to .62, not a good showing. 15k some kills to 25k some deaths so far. But it is improving with game play skills, accuracy, and knowing limitations.
With that said, as with all Brady Games Guides, it is full of useful information. Unlike most of them, there are no lists of creatures, mostly due to the lack in the game. With good reference charts, solid advice and maps for the new comer, it is a recommended purchase for those that want a leg up playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on the XBox 360.
Note:
The book precedes the release of the two ( as of writing) map pack expansions, so it is not much direct use for maps such as Salvage, Overgrown, or Vacant.
Some Links
Infinty Ward's Main Website
Bradygames Guides Main Web Site
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Page on Bradygames Guides Site
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most successful FPS (First Person Shooters) to date. Combining the processing power of the XBox 360 with their game engine and a continuation of the hit storyline from the previous games, along with a built in multiplayer mode, COD MW2 has shown with sales, it is a winner.
This reviewer has been playing for several months now the XBox 360 version almost exclusively in Multiplayer mode. There is a world of depth to the game in the Story and Special Ops modes as well, which this reviewer is slowly starting to indulge in. However, Hardcore Team Deathmatch is the preferred game mode and the entire reason I picked up the Brady Book Guide, for the maps and other data that is in table format in the later portion of the $19.99 US I spent at the Barnes and Nobles in Wesley Chapel, FL. (which was the first store I found it in, and so the one which received my money).
The book is organized into 3 large scale areas
Campaign
Special Ops
Multiplayer
Within each section is a walk through of the various maps and game play modes (especially for Special Ops and Multiplayer including Search and Destroy and Headquarters for instance) with the requisite Brady Games maps and illustrations.
When I begin the campaign mode, I will have this book open next to me, as it gives tips on when and where the opposition will arrive at as well as tips to accomplish each task as efficiently as possible.
What prompted the purchase however were the maps and charts in the back of the book. Even after several months of game play the book comes in handy on the stock battles such as Estate and Scrapyard.
Those along with the Intel Charts (listing the various weapons, perks, killstreaks, accomplishments, etc.) are the real meat to the book for this player.
Along in the maps section for multiplayer are suggested classes (weapon, specials, perks, kill and deathstreaks) that the authors recommend for each map, various play styles and game modes to make it easier for the new player to get started enjoying themselves (perhaps more than I did as I played nothing but free for all for about the first 30 levels and did quite a bit of damage to the KDR which stands for Kill Death Ratio (one statistic the game via XBox Live tracks comparing total kills to total deaths as a ratio. As of the time of writing this article mine was up to .62, not a good showing. 15k some kills to 25k some deaths so far. But it is improving with game play skills, accuracy, and knowing limitations.
With that said, as with all Brady Games Guides, it is full of useful information. Unlike most of them, there are no lists of creatures, mostly due to the lack in the game. With good reference charts, solid advice and maps for the new comer, it is a recommended purchase for those that want a leg up playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on the XBox 360.
Note:
The book precedes the release of the two ( as of writing) map pack expansions, so it is not much direct use for maps such as Salvage, Overgrown, or Vacant.
Some Links
Infinty Ward's Main Website
Bradygames Guides Main Web Site
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Page on Bradygames Guides Site
Book Review: Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny
Book Review: Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny
"I am Jack of Shadows!" he cried out. "Lord of Shadowguard! I am Shadowjack the thief who walks in silence and in shadows!..." pg 85 First Signet Printing August 1972
This is the story of one of the powers of Darkside. Sometime in the future the world has stopped spinning. The Darkside has magic and power and the Shield Compact to hold off the icy cold from space. The Lightside has technology and forcefields to hold the eternally shining Sun at bay. Both parts of the world are separated by Twilight, an in-between section of the world where both sets of rules work on an intermittent or slow basis.
This is the story of Jack of Shadows. He was beheaded when he was caught observing the singular Hellflame. Being a Power of the Twilight, he arose and strode across the lands seeking vengeance on those that caused his untimely death.
This is the story of possession, either of others or avarice in material items. It is also a story of friendship and devotion as well as to inevitable change coming to a static society, with lies and politics involved.
This is one of the finest of Roger Zelazny's novels. While short at 142 pages, it is one of this reviewers most frequently re-read novels.
The story is, in this writer's mind, intricately caught up with the song Moonshadow by Cat Stevens and the Eerie Magazine, especially the issues with Moonshadow (an assassin in a dark magical land as far as I can recall that far back 30 plus years).
In reading on the old series, it perhaps was more in memory than in actuality. However it is still linked in my mind to this novel.
No more spoilers in this review save to state, this is one of the most endearing and enduring novels in Mr Zelazny's epic writing career. A shame there were are not more stories of Jack of Shadows, Shadowjack the Thief, Lord of Shadowguard.
This novel Jack of Shadows, Isle of the Dead, Donnerjack, and Lord of Light are perhaps my favorites of his, beating out the Enduring Amber Novels for my personal reading pleasure. They do all have some shared characteristics, mixture of fantasy and sf, which has carried on to this day in a strong overall reading preference of this reviewer.
A superb novel.
Links:
Jack of Shadows on Wikipedia
Moonshadow the song by Cat Stevens on Wikipedia
Eerie Magazine on Wikipedia
A superb blog covering Eerie and other Warren Comics of the time period
A note I recall owning this particular issue based on the cover art Eerie 92
Note:
The cover illustrator is not noted in the frontispiece of the novel. The art chosen is for the edition I own purchased sometime in High School, when it was newly published.
"I am Jack of Shadows!" he cried out. "Lord of Shadowguard! I am Shadowjack the thief who walks in silence and in shadows!..." pg 85 First Signet Printing August 1972
This is the story of one of the powers of Darkside. Sometime in the future the world has stopped spinning. The Darkside has magic and power and the Shield Compact to hold off the icy cold from space. The Lightside has technology and forcefields to hold the eternally shining Sun at bay. Both parts of the world are separated by Twilight, an in-between section of the world where both sets of rules work on an intermittent or slow basis.
This is the story of Jack of Shadows. He was beheaded when he was caught observing the singular Hellflame. Being a Power of the Twilight, he arose and strode across the lands seeking vengeance on those that caused his untimely death.
This is the story of possession, either of others or avarice in material items. It is also a story of friendship and devotion as well as to inevitable change coming to a static society, with lies and politics involved.
This is one of the finest of Roger Zelazny's novels. While short at 142 pages, it is one of this reviewers most frequently re-read novels.
The story is, in this writer's mind, intricately caught up with the song Moonshadow by Cat Stevens and the Eerie Magazine, especially the issues with Moonshadow (an assassin in a dark magical land as far as I can recall that far back 30 plus years).
In reading on the old series, it perhaps was more in memory than in actuality. However it is still linked in my mind to this novel.
No more spoilers in this review save to state, this is one of the most endearing and enduring novels in Mr Zelazny's epic writing career. A shame there were are not more stories of Jack of Shadows, Shadowjack the Thief, Lord of Shadowguard.
This novel Jack of Shadows, Isle of the Dead, Donnerjack, and Lord of Light are perhaps my favorites of his, beating out the Enduring Amber Novels for my personal reading pleasure. They do all have some shared characteristics, mixture of fantasy and sf, which has carried on to this day in a strong overall reading preference of this reviewer.
A superb novel.
Links:
Jack of Shadows on Wikipedia
Moonshadow the song by Cat Stevens on Wikipedia
Eerie Magazine on Wikipedia
A superb blog covering Eerie and other Warren Comics of the time period
A note I recall owning this particular issue based on the cover art Eerie 92
Note:
The cover illustrator is not noted in the frontispiece of the novel. The art chosen is for the edition I own purchased sometime in High School, when it was newly published.
Book Review: Blue War by Jeffrey Thomas
Book Review: Blue War by Jeffrey Thomas
A Punktown Novel
Published by Solaris Books in 2008
Cover Artist not indicated, book forward thanks Stephen Martiniere for his stunning artwork.
This is the second Punktown novel I have read and reviewed. The previous novel read and reviewed was Deadstock.
So Welcome to the City of Paxton on the world called Oasis, or as the locals and residents call it, Punktown. This is the nickname of the main city on the colony world called Oasis. It is a sprawling metropolis stretching into the sky and in the ground (called Subtown) which is filled with humans, mutants, denizens from other dimensions as well as a multitude of alien races.
Blue War starts off on the world of Sinan, the location of the so called Blue War that took place between the Earth Colonial Forces and the local Jin Haa won a treaty against the Ha Jiin nation. It is a very thinly veiled reference to the Vietnam War, with similar terrain, ideals, conflict, etc. Even so it is a well imagined conflict, that is rarely recounted in flashback scenes and recollections of the main character of Jeremy Stake, Mutant Private Investigator in love with an enemy alien woman he met during the conflict. That meeting is told in the other Punktown novel Deadstock.
This novel is primarily set on the alien planet reached via dimensional travel, where a strange completely blue replica of the entire city of Punktown is being recreated deep in the forest and neutral lands between the two nations there.
This city is causing conflict to escalate between the two nations, as well as destroying jungle and threatening the supply of a gas, the control of was the root cause of the war a decade before the novel takes place.
The novel then follows the investigations into the origin of Blue Town (as it is dubbed) and the efforts of Jeremy Stake to find the woman he loved ten years before and somehow come to grips with the war, his actions, and his feelings for the Ha Jiin woman he fell for.
I found it just as good as Deadstock with more backstory being filled in on the main character and the conflict and how it affected the lives of those it touched. There are some good elements to it, and it is a worthy read. The only downside is the preoccupation with the war that is over, but that is a minor quibble for a novel that is well written, easy to read, good characters, and clocking in at 407 pages with decent loose ends tying up ending.
Go read the Punktown Novels if you like War stories, good science fiction, or just an almost Noir or Cyberpunk feeling novel without the setting.
For SF gamers this is a good book in a great setting to pull ideas from for your gaming. It would fit in best in a game using a system like Classic Traveller or the GDW House System (As used in Dark Conspiracy, Twilight 2000, or Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) with a high degree of grit and realism to them.
This copy of the book was purchased at a used book store at the same time as Deadstock. This store was in Carrollwood Florida and is no longer open. Those interested can check The Book Bazaar in Lakeland Florida located on Combee Road to see if they can get a copy there, otherwise online ordering would be necessary.
More on the author at his site Jeffrey Thomas Author Website
Book Review of Monstrocity written by Michael Tresca
A Roleplaying Game edition of the setting is in production and set to be available sometime in 2013 from Miskatonic River Press.
A Punktown Novel
Published by Solaris Books in 2008
Cover Artist not indicated, book forward thanks Stephen Martiniere for his stunning artwork.
This is the second Punktown novel I have read and reviewed. The previous novel read and reviewed was Deadstock.
So Welcome to the City of Paxton on the world called Oasis, or as the locals and residents call it, Punktown. This is the nickname of the main city on the colony world called Oasis. It is a sprawling metropolis stretching into the sky and in the ground (called Subtown) which is filled with humans, mutants, denizens from other dimensions as well as a multitude of alien races.
Blue War starts off on the world of Sinan, the location of the so called Blue War that took place between the Earth Colonial Forces and the local Jin Haa won a treaty against the Ha Jiin nation. It is a very thinly veiled reference to the Vietnam War, with similar terrain, ideals, conflict, etc. Even so it is a well imagined conflict, that is rarely recounted in flashback scenes and recollections of the main character of Jeremy Stake, Mutant Private Investigator in love with an enemy alien woman he met during the conflict. That meeting is told in the other Punktown novel Deadstock.
This novel is primarily set on the alien planet reached via dimensional travel, where a strange completely blue replica of the entire city of Punktown is being recreated deep in the forest and neutral lands between the two nations there.
This city is causing conflict to escalate between the two nations, as well as destroying jungle and threatening the supply of a gas, the control of was the root cause of the war a decade before the novel takes place.
The novel then follows the investigations into the origin of Blue Town (as it is dubbed) and the efforts of Jeremy Stake to find the woman he loved ten years before and somehow come to grips with the war, his actions, and his feelings for the Ha Jiin woman he fell for.
I found it just as good as Deadstock with more backstory being filled in on the main character and the conflict and how it affected the lives of those it touched. There are some good elements to it, and it is a worthy read. The only downside is the preoccupation with the war that is over, but that is a minor quibble for a novel that is well written, easy to read, good characters, and clocking in at 407 pages with decent loose ends tying up ending.
Go read the Punktown Novels if you like War stories, good science fiction, or just an almost Noir or Cyberpunk feeling novel without the setting.
For SF gamers this is a good book in a great setting to pull ideas from for your gaming. It would fit in best in a game using a system like Classic Traveller or the GDW House System (As used in Dark Conspiracy, Twilight 2000, or Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) with a high degree of grit and realism to them.
This copy of the book was purchased at a used book store at the same time as Deadstock. This store was in Carrollwood Florida and is no longer open. Those interested can check The Book Bazaar in Lakeland Florida located on Combee Road to see if they can get a copy there, otherwise online ordering would be necessary.
More on the author at his site Jeffrey Thomas Author Website
Book Review of Monstrocity written by Michael Tresca
A Roleplaying Game edition of the setting is in production and set to be available sometime in 2013 from Miskatonic River Press.
Book Review: Escapement by Jay Lake
Book Review: Escapement by Jay Lake
Published in 2009 Tor Books
Cover art by Stephan Martinieri
Escapement by JayLake
Escapement is the sequel to Mainspring, JayLake's superb novel of the Brassclockwork World divided into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere divided by The Wall. Miles and miles of Wall that stretches up into the sky that encircles the world and has the brass teeth at the top that carries the world on the Gears of Heaven. The medieval orrey made manifest in the setting, where the world does turn on gears and spins about the sun in a perfect pattern carried. Where the Brass Christ died on the horofix and where evidence of Divine Power can be visibly seen every day.
Escapement takes place about 5 years after the end of the events in Mainspring. It has three (3) main plots, with a main character for each one. As the book progresses, two of the plots and characters work within each others tale, while at the end all three come together.
It opens with Paolina, a young girl of Portuguese descent who lives in a subsistence level colony of shipwreck survivors along The Wall, A Muralha as they call it there. She chafes under the very patronizing masculine oriented society she has lived her life in. Then a stranger comes to the village and opens her mind and eyes to the outer world and the adventure, for her, begins then and there.
The second character comes to the tale from Mainspring. Threadgill Angus al-Wazir (one of the great names in fiction I have seen in the 35 some years I have been an active reader) former sailor in the Royal Navy, surface and air, that was introduced in Mainspring. Since the adventures in that novel his fortunes and career have waned and now an opportunity to return to The Wall where the ship he had flown on and served aboard had been lost, now he has a chance to return there on an expedition, allowing for a sense, perhaps, of redemption or at least validation, as well as work.
The third character is the Librarian Emily McHenry Childress, of New England in the British Colonies. A member of one of the two main secret societies that are striving one against the other to shape and mold The Northern Hemisphere (for remember The Wall encircles the Equator). Summoned, essentially kidnapped, by her secret employers, circumstances related to Mainspring make her a focal point of intrigue which later intersects with the other two characters as all three strive to survive in difficult times far outside their comfort zones.
This novel is a good chunk of creativity. Weighing in at 457 pages, with no extraneous material in this reviewers opinion. The pacing is kept up and at no time does it seem the characters are not being themselves. At times Paolina seems a little one track, a little locked into her mindset, yet all the main and supporting characters grow and remain true to their selves within the novel.
I had purchased it at the Barnes and Nobles in Sioux City, IA June of 2009 and it had disappeared into my bookcases until heading back there this summer for vacation. Taking it along for the plane flights and travel time was an excellent move. It held my attention and was compelling. The characters are people, more realistic than most are in novels, with a clear sense of Victorian Like sensibilities and mores. The depictions of shipboard and aerial ship life, in this opinion, as in the first novel Mainspring, accurate enough for this 20 year US Navy Veteran to not wince with inaccuracies and make me nod my head along with dialogue and occurrences, as they could happen that way. Unlike many SF or Fantasy novels and their depiction of shipboard or related (spaceship) life, that is patently implausible. These were not; they are plausible given the context and environment.
I did lose track a few times when the novel intersected with the events in Mainspring. This is solely due to a lack of remembering the first novel well enough when I read it when it first came out in 2007. However Mainspring has been moved up in the queue of books to re-read for a proper reviewing.
Buy Mainspring, then buy Escapement, then get Pinion and enjoy the Brass Gears World of The Wall.
Links:
Jay Lake's website
Cover artist Stephan Martinire
His work for this book from his site
Published in 2009 Tor Books
Cover art by Stephan Martinieri
Escapement by JayLake
Escapement is the sequel to Mainspring, JayLake's superb novel of the Brassclockwork World divided into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere divided by The Wall. Miles and miles of Wall that stretches up into the sky that encircles the world and has the brass teeth at the top that carries the world on the Gears of Heaven. The medieval orrey made manifest in the setting, where the world does turn on gears and spins about the sun in a perfect pattern carried. Where the Brass Christ died on the horofix and where evidence of Divine Power can be visibly seen every day.
Escapement takes place about 5 years after the end of the events in Mainspring. It has three (3) main plots, with a main character for each one. As the book progresses, two of the plots and characters work within each others tale, while at the end all three come together.
It opens with Paolina, a young girl of Portuguese descent who lives in a subsistence level colony of shipwreck survivors along The Wall, A Muralha as they call it there. She chafes under the very patronizing masculine oriented society she has lived her life in. Then a stranger comes to the village and opens her mind and eyes to the outer world and the adventure, for her, begins then and there.
The second character comes to the tale from Mainspring. Threadgill Angus al-Wazir (one of the great names in fiction I have seen in the 35 some years I have been an active reader) former sailor in the Royal Navy, surface and air, that was introduced in Mainspring. Since the adventures in that novel his fortunes and career have waned and now an opportunity to return to The Wall where the ship he had flown on and served aboard had been lost, now he has a chance to return there on an expedition, allowing for a sense, perhaps, of redemption or at least validation, as well as work.
The third character is the Librarian Emily McHenry Childress, of New England in the British Colonies. A member of one of the two main secret societies that are striving one against the other to shape and mold The Northern Hemisphere (for remember The Wall encircles the Equator). Summoned, essentially kidnapped, by her secret employers, circumstances related to Mainspring make her a focal point of intrigue which later intersects with the other two characters as all three strive to survive in difficult times far outside their comfort zones.
This novel is a good chunk of creativity. Weighing in at 457 pages, with no extraneous material in this reviewers opinion. The pacing is kept up and at no time does it seem the characters are not being themselves. At times Paolina seems a little one track, a little locked into her mindset, yet all the main and supporting characters grow and remain true to their selves within the novel.
I had purchased it at the Barnes and Nobles in Sioux City, IA June of 2009 and it had disappeared into my bookcases until heading back there this summer for vacation. Taking it along for the plane flights and travel time was an excellent move. It held my attention and was compelling. The characters are people, more realistic than most are in novels, with a clear sense of Victorian Like sensibilities and mores. The depictions of shipboard and aerial ship life, in this opinion, as in the first novel Mainspring, accurate enough for this 20 year US Navy Veteran to not wince with inaccuracies and make me nod my head along with dialogue and occurrences, as they could happen that way. Unlike many SF or Fantasy novels and their depiction of shipboard or related (spaceship) life, that is patently implausible. These were not; they are plausible given the context and environment.
I did lose track a few times when the novel intersected with the events in Mainspring. This is solely due to a lack of remembering the first novel well enough when I read it when it first came out in 2007. However Mainspring has been moved up in the queue of books to re-read for a proper reviewing.
Buy Mainspring, then buy Escapement, then get Pinion and enjoy the Brass Gears World of The Wall.
Links:
Jay Lake's website
Cover artist Stephan Martinire
His work for this book from his site
Book Review: The Albino Knife by Steve Perry
Book Review: The Albino Knife by Steve Perry
The Albino Knife continues the exploits of Emile Antoon Khadaji and the group he founded called The Matadors. Set about 5 years past the end of the Revolution he engineered to overthrow The Confederation Government, Khadaji comes face to face (literally) with his past.
A daughter that he never knew he had comes to him seeking assistance in locating her kidnapped mother, his only love in his life the Albino Exotic Juete. His daughters asks him for his aid in locating her, which he gives of course. His involvement helps to showcase a larger conspiracy that is going on behind the scenes as Khadaji and the inner group of Matadors all work together, around attacks on themselves and others close to them.
The novel is divided into three portions, call them extended chapters, with the intertwining plot elements moving together towards the conclusion.
This book is a straight on sequel in effect to the main trilogy
There are two ways to look at the novels and timelines. There is the what happened when, chronological, and when the books were written and published. This was the 5th book, I believe, written in the setting, while it falls in as the 7th in the chronology of the books I know about.
Having recently re-read Matadora and The Machievellie Interface and reviewing them here, The Albino Knife falls a little flat. It is the longest of Steve Perry's novels page count wise (The Omega Cage might come close would need to verify that) but it does not have the same depth for me as his other works.
The only character that gets developed in the course of the story is of course Veate, the daughter. Little is added to the other main characters besides getting older and slower. A few hints about Sleel are dropped (that will come out in his own standalone novel Black Steel on my list to re-read and review as well), while there are two good scenes with Dirish and Geneva, the set up for the Saval Bork / Veate matchup just feels dropped in.
The ending was so anticlimactic for myself. It could have ended 10 pages sooner, or added on another 15 pages, either way would have worked better for my own enjoyment.
However, as a novel to read, even with the flaws, it fits in so nicely with the overall scheme of the setting. I find the depiction of the technologies, the fighting styles (would like to know the genesis of New Nordic Footfighting though, just enough Tae Kwon Do training to find it interesting the two sentence description of it buried about page 115), and how the entire setting working together, showcases superb world building skills of Steve Perry.
This is one setting I would love to read a lot more about, or fanfic in, or just have adapted to a Role Playing Game and explore it on my own. This opinion has not changed nor wavered since I first read The Mane Who Never Missed almost 20 years now ago I believe.
Note:
Two stories from Steve Perry appear in the Harriers Anthologies, which deal with a military organization called Le Petite Harriers. While not connected to his Confed setting at all, Mr Perry does reuse some of his tech in the stories, which is a nice familiar touch. The Harriers anthologies are excellent Military SF as well.
On his site as of the writing of this review, is a teaser for an upcoming story or novel set in the same setting as The Albino Knife.
Links:
Steve Perry Website resides at
http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/
Covert art by Royo, image sourced at Amazon
The Albino Knife continues the exploits of Emile Antoon Khadaji and the group he founded called The Matadors. Set about 5 years past the end of the Revolution he engineered to overthrow The Confederation Government, Khadaji comes face to face (literally) with his past.
A daughter that he never knew he had comes to him seeking assistance in locating her kidnapped mother, his only love in his life the Albino Exotic Juete. His daughters asks him for his aid in locating her, which he gives of course. His involvement helps to showcase a larger conspiracy that is going on behind the scenes as Khadaji and the inner group of Matadors all work together, around attacks on themselves and others close to them.
The novel is divided into three portions, call them extended chapters, with the intertwining plot elements moving together towards the conclusion.
This book is a straight on sequel in effect to the main trilogy
There are two ways to look at the novels and timelines. There is the what happened when, chronological, and when the books were written and published. This was the 5th book, I believe, written in the setting, while it falls in as the 7th in the chronology of the books I know about.
Having recently re-read Matadora and The Machievellie Interface and reviewing them here, The Albino Knife falls a little flat. It is the longest of Steve Perry's novels page count wise (The Omega Cage might come close would need to verify that) but it does not have the same depth for me as his other works.
The only character that gets developed in the course of the story is of course Veate, the daughter. Little is added to the other main characters besides getting older and slower. A few hints about Sleel are dropped (that will come out in his own standalone novel Black Steel on my list to re-read and review as well), while there are two good scenes with Dirish and Geneva, the set up for the Saval Bork / Veate matchup just feels dropped in.
The ending was so anticlimactic for myself. It could have ended 10 pages sooner, or added on another 15 pages, either way would have worked better for my own enjoyment.
However, as a novel to read, even with the flaws, it fits in so nicely with the overall scheme of the setting. I find the depiction of the technologies, the fighting styles (would like to know the genesis of New Nordic Footfighting though, just enough Tae Kwon Do training to find it interesting the two sentence description of it buried about page 115), and how the entire setting working together, showcases superb world building skills of Steve Perry.
This is one setting I would love to read a lot more about, or fanfic in, or just have adapted to a Role Playing Game and explore it on my own. This opinion has not changed nor wavered since I first read The Mane Who Never Missed almost 20 years now ago I believe.
Note:
Two stories from Steve Perry appear in the Harriers Anthologies, which deal with a military organization called Le Petite Harriers. While not connected to his Confed setting at all, Mr Perry does reuse some of his tech in the stories, which is a nice familiar touch. The Harriers anthologies are excellent Military SF as well.
On his site as of the writing of this review, is a teaser for an upcoming story or novel set in the same setting as The Albino Knife.
Links:
Steve Perry Website resides at
http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/
Covert art by Royo, image sourced at Amazon
Book Review: The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcook
Book Review: The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcook
Copyright 1968, 1977
Published 1977 by DAW SF
Cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey
The Mad God's Amulet is the second volume in the History of the Runestaff. It picks up immediately where The Jewel In The Skull left off at. The Duke of Koln has succeeded in freeing himself from the Black Jewel and the threat it gave to his life when it was implanted by the Scientists of Granbretan.
Now firmly allied with Count Brass and the tiny nation of Kamarg, Duke Dorian Hawkmoon continues the battle against the Granbretans as they continue their mad quest to place the entire Earth under their dominion.
The book opens with Hawkmoon and his new companion, Oladahn, find themselves in a deserted city named Soryandum. Having escaped the Dark Empire's forces, the two seek shelter in the city only to find more danger, in the form of Granbretan soldiers led by the Frenchman, Sir Huilliam d"Averc a former painter and architect, who is leading a squad of men from The Order of The Boar.
After several other run ins and encounters in the city, Dorian and Oladahn help out the Wraith Folk of the city of Soryandum and they obtain a crystal machine that will aid them, they are assured, in helping out the Kamarg. Many more adventures ensure from that point on, including an encounter with a plate armored fighter that goes by the name of The Warrior in Jet and Gold. Following the urgings from the Warrior Dorian and Oladahn eventually confront The Mad God of the title, in reality a man driven insane by the influence of the Amulet he has been wearing around his neck, one that Hawkmoon is to take up as the servant of the Runestaff. Reluctantly he does so and with its aid defeats his foes once again.
More adventures ensure leading him back to his beloved Yisselda, who had been in peril for most of the novel.
It is a worthwhile addition to the Hawkmoon series, carrying the plot along at a headlong pace. Allegedly Mr Moorcock wrote the entire series of books in the span of a few days. As the second novel comes in at 160 pages, and the other four are comparable in duration, it is a plausible scenario.
One thing I that I do dislike about the Hawkmoon novels is the pacing. I would rather a bit longer of a book, but the setting more than makes up for this. Besides the distant future of Corum, the setting of the Hawkmoon novels are my favorite of Michael Moorcock's worlds.
One puzzling thing about the Runestaff Earth is how Law and Chaos are presented. There is very little that represents Law, in the sense of the overall Eternal Champion Novels, and the stereotypical depictions of Chaos are also absent. While there is sorcery and near sorcery in the setting, it is more fantastical technology. The Granbretans give a sense of Law at times, iron rule and conquering all, while their methods are very Chaos oriented. Another interesting facet is the Masks they wear. The Granbretan culture is made up of different Orders named after beasts. So there is the Order of the Wolf, The Boar, The Mantis, The Vulture, to name just a few of the hundreds purported to be in the setting. This corresponds nicely to the effect Chaos has in a more Fantasy setting, where in the Corum Novels such as The Queen of Swords, devotees to Chaos can devolve into Beasts and or Half-Men Half-Beast Hybrids. The use of Masks and a Culture in the Hawkmoon Novels is a superb twist to the idea, and one that makes a clear tie to Chaos being the dominant force in the Granbretanian mindset. Besides that there are no overt references to the Struggle. In the later novels the implications are that the Runestaff and it's influence is a force for Balance rather than for either side in an overt fashion.
Note: This used copy was picked up at The Book Bazaar in Lakeland, FL. I have owned multiple copies of all my Michael Moorcock novels, purchased in multiple states, different covers, different editions.
If someone is interested Mongoose Publishing has created the Hawkmoon Roleplaying Game. It is no longer in production per Sales at Mongoose Publishing. The author has not had a chance to pick up a copy so no impressions are available. There was another one based on the Runequest game system, which I had seen once many years ago.
The Runestaff Novels are being re-released with new cover art and are available in bookstores and online.
Links Section:
The Mad God's Amulet online
Michael Moorcock Online
Copyright 1968, 1977
Published 1977 by DAW SF
Cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey
The Mad God's Amulet is the second volume in the History of the Runestaff. It picks up immediately where The Jewel In The Skull left off at. The Duke of Koln has succeeded in freeing himself from the Black Jewel and the threat it gave to his life when it was implanted by the Scientists of Granbretan.
Now firmly allied with Count Brass and the tiny nation of Kamarg, Duke Dorian Hawkmoon continues the battle against the Granbretans as they continue their mad quest to place the entire Earth under their dominion.
The book opens with Hawkmoon and his new companion, Oladahn, find themselves in a deserted city named Soryandum. Having escaped the Dark Empire's forces, the two seek shelter in the city only to find more danger, in the form of Granbretan soldiers led by the Frenchman, Sir Huilliam d"Averc a former painter and architect, who is leading a squad of men from The Order of The Boar.
After several other run ins and encounters in the city, Dorian and Oladahn help out the Wraith Folk of the city of Soryandum and they obtain a crystal machine that will aid them, they are assured, in helping out the Kamarg. Many more adventures ensure from that point on, including an encounter with a plate armored fighter that goes by the name of The Warrior in Jet and Gold. Following the urgings from the Warrior Dorian and Oladahn eventually confront The Mad God of the title, in reality a man driven insane by the influence of the Amulet he has been wearing around his neck, one that Hawkmoon is to take up as the servant of the Runestaff. Reluctantly he does so and with its aid defeats his foes once again.
More adventures ensure leading him back to his beloved Yisselda, who had been in peril for most of the novel.
It is a worthwhile addition to the Hawkmoon series, carrying the plot along at a headlong pace. Allegedly Mr Moorcock wrote the entire series of books in the span of a few days. As the second novel comes in at 160 pages, and the other four are comparable in duration, it is a plausible scenario.
One thing I that I do dislike about the Hawkmoon novels is the pacing. I would rather a bit longer of a book, but the setting more than makes up for this. Besides the distant future of Corum, the setting of the Hawkmoon novels are my favorite of Michael Moorcock's worlds.
One puzzling thing about the Runestaff Earth is how Law and Chaos are presented. There is very little that represents Law, in the sense of the overall Eternal Champion Novels, and the stereotypical depictions of Chaos are also absent. While there is sorcery and near sorcery in the setting, it is more fantastical technology. The Granbretans give a sense of Law at times, iron rule and conquering all, while their methods are very Chaos oriented. Another interesting facet is the Masks they wear. The Granbretan culture is made up of different Orders named after beasts. So there is the Order of the Wolf, The Boar, The Mantis, The Vulture, to name just a few of the hundreds purported to be in the setting. This corresponds nicely to the effect Chaos has in a more Fantasy setting, where in the Corum Novels such as The Queen of Swords, devotees to Chaos can devolve into Beasts and or Half-Men Half-Beast Hybrids. The use of Masks and a Culture in the Hawkmoon Novels is a superb twist to the idea, and one that makes a clear tie to Chaos being the dominant force in the Granbretanian mindset. Besides that there are no overt references to the Struggle. In the later novels the implications are that the Runestaff and it's influence is a force for Balance rather than for either side in an overt fashion.
Note: This used copy was picked up at The Book Bazaar in Lakeland, FL. I have owned multiple copies of all my Michael Moorcock novels, purchased in multiple states, different covers, different editions.
If someone is interested Mongoose Publishing has created the Hawkmoon Roleplaying Game. It is no longer in production per Sales at Mongoose Publishing. The author has not had a chance to pick up a copy so no impressions are available. There was another one based on the Runequest game system, which I had seen once many years ago.
The Runestaff Novels are being re-released with new cover art and are available in bookstores and online.
Links Section:
The Mad God's Amulet online
Michael Moorcock Online
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