Review: The Outposter by Gordon R. Dickson

This is the third novel by Gordon R. Dickson I’ve read so far. He has a very unique style of science fiction that’s easy to pick up, gets you thinking and entertains you all at the same time. His use of themes and far out ideas set him apart from the standard fare of most authors while keeping away from the hard sci-fi with its technobabble that can often be hard to follow.

There are two main reasons I picked this book up right away when I saw it in a thrift store a few days ago. For one, the author’s reputation as a great writer precedes him and I really enjoy his writing. Enough so that his name alone is enough to warrant the purchase. Secondly, the blurb written on the back cover was wildly entertaining to me and I could tell this would be a good novel based on that alone. Let me indulge you with an excerpt:

Take one high-spirited little boy.
Kill his family before his eyes.
Allow him to escape.
Give him time to grow up.
You’re in trouble.

From that I knew that the main character would be incredible even if all I got was 251 pages of him. Sure enough, I couldn’t put the novel down!

What you have here is a novel set well into the future at a time when humankind has colonized nearby planets and has had some contact with alien races. At the same time, our culture has become decadent and stale with the amount of greed, self-interest and discrimination which comes as a result of developing a caste society.

In a lot of ways the various characters have an almost old-fashioned feel about them. If you can imagine, take Victorian era “high society” and mingle it with bold, adventurous pioneers with the military straddling the middle as their roles in peace time cause them to become lax. Blur the lines that separate these segments of society and allow them to rub shoulders. What happens then if one young idealist who sees the flaws of humanity, has a plan to change all of that? You’ve got a well thought out story that’s satisfying despite it’s short length. The idea of futuristic revolution certainly isn’t new, even by the 1972 standards this book was written. What sets it apart, is that the ultimate weapon is philosophy and sociology, not lasers or plasma guns.

A fun read with an incredible main character who is almost an anti-hero of sorts before such a thing was considered “cool”. I highly recommend this one whether you’re a sci-fi fan or not because I feel it paints a picture of what our future may be like under those circumstances.

Review: Deathlands #4: Crater Lake by James Axler (Laurence James)

The fourth novel in the Deathlands series, is decidedly more science fiction oriented than the previous three. It also spends a lot more time detailing character histories and personal information. Also, more of the pre-war history just prior to the “big chill” is mentioned as are the actions of several organizations who at the time were developing new technologies.

As usual, lots of action with emphasis on weapon details and strategies. The enemies however are a bit unusual and with two distinct groups to deal with it splits the story somewhat. In a way it’s ironic because these two communities/factions/groups couldn’t be farther apart ideologically, culturally or technologically. The story that this well written and well paced action is a part of, is more dire and important to the bigger picture than that of previous novels. The stakes are higher even if the danger is somewhat less than the characters are used to.

With more character revelations, insights into pre-war society and politics as well as dramatic changes that will cause repercussions in later novels, this is one not to be missed for its page turner action and it’s importance to the overall series.

 

Review: Star Trek I.K.S. Gorkon Book Three: Enemy Territory by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Another solid novel in the ongoing Klingon series. I say solid because while I really enjoyed it (even more so than many other ST novels), it was a bit derivative of the last two in the series.

First off, it feels a bit recycled. Instead of Alien race A that was in books 1 and 2, you get Alien Race B. Both are unique and imaginative but not quite fully fleshed out so they seem a bit shallow. More or less the same sector of space, more or less the same interpersonal conflicts and more or less the same ending. Maybe I wouldn’t have noticed so much if I hadn’t read all three simultaneously in short order but there it is.

Regardless of all that, it was still well written and enjoyable. Good action sequences, lots of cultural references, character revelations and even a fair bit of humor. These Klingon characters who provide the foundation of these novels are rich in personality and individuality. To top that off, there is so much potential for this crew because of the author’s grasp of the culture and his writing style that each novel proves it’s worth to have its own series alongside other human-based ones again and again.

Despite my criticisms I still recommend this book. However, if you’ve read the first two in the series lately, take a bit of time before you dive into this one so that it’s weaknesses won’t be so apparent. All in all a good novel not to be missed by fans.

 

Review: DAC Gunmaster 35 Piece Deluxe Universal Gun Cleaning Kit

That’s quite a mouthful for a title. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a misnomer as this kit is neither “Deluxe” nor have they mastered the art of making good firearm cleaning products. To be fair however, perhaps some of their products aren’t quite as lacking as this one is because they have a huge lineup of products on the market and they can’t all be crap, can they?

This is a $35 kit from Wal-Mart that I spotted about a month or so ago. So I suppose at $1 a piece it’s actually not a bad deal. The brass rods, adapters and wire brushes are actually on par with others I’ve used from other brands though I think the larger set of rods are a bit thin for heavy use in cleaning shotguns. Fortunately I already have another set that’s more suited to the task of cleaning my 12 gauge but I figured I’d mention it anyway. The aluminum carry case isn’t too bad. It won’t take a lot of abuse and the logos were attached crooked (a sure sign I suppose!) but it does what it’s supposed to and the pieces don’t move much inside with the foam cover on the underside of the lid. They even added a silica gel pack to help with moisture which is a nice touch.

On the bad side, the cloth patches are a bit cheap and somewhat useless as they are all one size and not suitable for anything with a larger bore. The organizer tray is flimsy and the pieces can be a bit hard to remove from it. A shame too it didn’t come with gun oil but I doubt I’d want to rely on a cheap product for an important task like that anyway. If that was all I had to say on the bad side of it I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this as a cheap kit for those needing something quick or for light cleaning. However, there is a major flaw with the brushes which I’ll explain. First though, a picture of the kit:

As you can see, I’ve already used it so I’m not talking out of my ass when I review this. So far I’ve used it to clean a 12 gauge pump and a .303 Enfield.

A word of warning: Don’t rely on the marked numbers on the brushes and mops to tell you what caliber/gauge they are intended for! I know that sounds crazy but you might get something stuck that you may not be able to pull out again!

I haven’t tested each brush as I don’t own something of every caliber this kit is intended for but I’ve already ran into a few problems with some of them. See the largest mop that has a ring of gunk that doesn’t go all the way down? That’s supposedly the 12 gauge brush. It got stuck halfway in while I was trying to use it to clean my 12 gauge Mossberg 500 barrel. I even tried rolling it between my hands to narrow the mop like I was wrapping up a tight cigar but it still wouldn’t fit nor was I about to snap those thin rods trying too hard. Now see the next mop down? The totally dirty one underneath? Well that’s the 20 gauge mop I used to clean my 12 gauge with. Still a bit tight but it works. I can only assume they screwed up somewhere on the assembly line and put 10 and 12 gauge mops on 12/20 gauge handles. The 12 gauge wire brush was a bit tight as well in comparison to others I have meant for the same size.

The second major snag (oh boy 2/2!) is the wire brush for the .30 cal size. This one actually did get stuck in my .303 Enfield. The diameter of this brush is about 9mm, much too large for common calibres like 30-30, .303, .32 Special or even .308 Winchester which are all well under 8mm. Instead, more suited to something the size of say a .35 Remington or .358 Winchester. Of course you’d expect the brush to fit the smaller, more common cartridge size than the larger big game ones. I had to use the .270 Winchester sized one once I was actually able to pull the damn thing out. The .270 brush BTW, is 8mm and some change in size! Although I haven’t used the .22 cal mop yet, I can already tell that I’ll be using the .17 one instead.

In conclusion, just don’t buy this POS. If you have already, dump the pieces that are mislabeled so you don’t get them mixed with proper ones and use the rods and adapters for .30 cal centerfire and under. There’s better products out there, you just have to fork a bit more out to get them.

Review: Star Trek TNG: A Rock and a Hard Place by Peter David

Author Peter David’s second published Star Trek novel, is a two-tiered story that takes place both planet-side and on the Enterprise. Full of action, witty dialog and imaginative narrative, it’s a perfect fit for the season three era it was written in.

Now before you brush this off as another fine novel that you’ll read eventually, I’ll point out that I believe the makings of Mackenzie Calhoun started here with a character created to throw a wrench into the works in the lives of the crew. There are many similarities between Quentin Stone and Calhoun that lead me to believe Stone was, unintentionally or not, a testbed for a character Peter had in mind who would eventually become more prominent down the road. Both are mavericks, both loose cannons who shirt the edges of morality and ethics without actually crossing them. Really stubborn, tremendously entertaining anti-hero types who infuriate the other characters to no end with their behavior.

That alone makes this novel worth reading. However, even without Quentin Stone, this is a great story, especially if you’re a Riker fan. It’s one of those fast paced page turners that sucks you in and doesn’t ask you to remember a lot of technobabble or prior character history. A good quick pick up book that’s short enough to finish in one evening.

Review: Babylon 5 #1: Voices by John Vornholt

Maybe it’s the close-knit relationship B5’s creator (J. Michael Straczynski) has with the series. Or maybe the show and characters were just so well written that authors can write good stories set in the B5 universe easier than other series. Whatever it is, this novel like every other in the Babylon 5 series I’ve read so far, is as good as the show itself. Written during the show’s second season, it has the feel, the depth and the dialog you’d expect from these beloved characters.

Usually when I read a novel written during a show’s original run, it lacks many of those qualities listed above as the characters are still so new, so unexplored that writers are careful not to weave personal histories and events that may contradict later stories. In this case, it’s a self-contained story that fits in nicely while straddling the line between character development and canon.

Seeing as Garibaldi is one of the main characters here, I’ll mention how spot-on John Vornholt was in writing his dialog and behavior. The same goes for just about every other person in this book. John as a Star Trek writer is good reading but his B5 work is even better. Lots of action, behind the scenes cloak and dagger as well as lots of representation of the various themes that make the show such a classic. To top it off, it’s a great story that fits into the mythos perfectly while finding a use for great minor characters who we never got to see again.

A really good read that B5 fans should seek out. A shame there aren’t a hundred more Babylon 5 novels like this one.

Collecting Journal 2009: October 14th

It kinda really isn’t a collecting journal so much anymore. Nowadays I hardly pick anything up outside of the PS3 or DS and those hardly count as collector systems as much as current ones I buy games for, merely to enjoy. I think now it’s curiosity to see how much money I’ve blown on games. If I hadn’t sold off so many games and systems this year I’m sure it would be a lot less balanced than it is now since so much of my traded/sold funds went towards new games!

I almost picked up Uncharted 2, but I knew that Fallout 3 GOTY Edition would provide much better value for the money despite having a $10 higher pricetag. When it boils down, it’s a 10-15 hour game for $70 versus a 50-75 hour game for $80.

I also got rid of Scribblenauts and a PSP AC adapter I had lying around even though I had gotten rid of the system ages ago. Neither was worth much but it did provide me with a pre-order amount for Dragon Age: Origins Collector’s Edition on the PS3 in the small hope that Canada won’t get screwed out of the bonus as we often are.

Oct. 15th
Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition (PS3) – $69.99 new
Pre-order for Dragon Age Origins – $12.75

Traded / sold
Scribblenauts (DS)
PSP-2000 AC Adapter
= $12.75

Total spent = $79.09 taxes included.

Grand total spent to date for 2009: $1889.14 taxes included
Traded / sold total to date for 2009: $1206.75
Total games/hardware donated to charity for 2009: 92 games, 6 systems
Bought = 124 / Sold = 159 / Strategy guides / books = 2 / Hardware = 16

Review: Scribblenauts – Nintendo DS

I had really high hopes for this game. Perhaps I got swept up in the hype. Or maybe I was just dazzled by the videos and demonstrations I had seen of the tremendous possibilities this game claimed to offer. If a video game is a sum of its parts like a homemade stew, in this case the turds were hidden in the bottom of the pot underneath the succulent meaty chunks and richly spiced vegetables.

The game itself has a fun, ageless presentation about it that can appeal to anyone. As an adult, you may find it a bit childish until you get to the later levels and realize how vague the clues are and how challenging the puzzles can actually get. Then it becomes a battle of wits that will either make you it’s bitch or bow to your ingenuity. There are hundreds of puzzles that steep in difficulty as you progress and loosely follow a theme based on what part of the “world” your in. Having unlockables and a shop to spend your hard earned “ollars” is a nice touch too, especially the avatars as they can reduce the child-like quality a bit. Imagine solving puzzles not as a kid, but as a ninja! As far as avatars in games go it doesn’t get much better than that does it? You receive merit badges based on performance but it’s more of a novelty than anything else as only the “ollars” earned mean anything. You can unlock title screen levels by summoning new objects. This is neat in that it’s the game’s equivalent of “freeplay”. No puzzles or enemies, just a blank tapestry set to an environmental theme that lets you experiment with items and words. Once you start struggling with time based puzzles that can end in less than half a minute, you’ll be grateful for it.

The game boasts tens of thousands of words which will summon objects. Now on paper this sounds fantastic but in practice, at least as far as this game, it’s deceiving. See the game embraces what’s known as “emergent gameplay”. Simple interaction between objects which changes the game as you play it. For example, one of the developer videos shows an item at the top of the tree which the player is expected to reach. How you reach it is up to you. You can summon a lumberjack, give him a tool and he can chop it down for you. Or you can do it yourself. Or, you can fly up and get it. The game leaves that up to your imagination and for that this is a groundbreaking game for sure. As you play more and more of the game, you’ll find that the novelty wears off as you’re doing the same thing, only with slightly different items.

What it boils down to, is a well thought out game with loads of features and content, but with ultimately shallow gameplay. The objectives are always fetch/give/escort/save over and over again. One level you have to reunite a lost sheep with its flock, another a lost penguin. Avoid/confront the wasp to dig treasure in one, avoid/confront the wasp to gather flowers in another. You can see where I’m going with this. While the list of items “seems” endless, they are more or less variations on each other. Winged sandals and wings and a rocket pack are basically the same thing. A gun, a shotgun, a rifle, same thing. So while the novelty of finding new items is there, the purpose of each is exactly the same. There’s no advantage of using an apple versus an orange, or a shotgun versus a rifle, or a plane versus a UFO.

While it’s not necessarily a fault of the developer, the controls in this game can be frustrating at times. Fighting the camera, imprecise control or objects so small they are hard to manipulate, sometimes makes this game harder than it should be. Don’t even bother with the handwriting function, stick to the keyboard trust me.

All in all this is an OK game if you can find it dirt cheap. It could be fun for a few laughs over an evening or two. Unfortunately, I think few people will actually have the patience to beat the mass of only slightly varied levels and certainly even fewer will find replay value, even in the level editor. While I encourage everyone to try the game, I don’t recommend actually buying it. Wait ’til it hits the bins when value for your money isn’t measured in new game prices.

7.0/10

Review: Star Trek I.K.S. Gorkon Book Two: Honor Bound by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Aside from the fact this is the second in the Gorkon series, it’s actually part two of the Children of San-Tarah storyline. Captain Klag, despite the promise he made in the first book, has to return to the planet. This time, his enemies are of a far more personal nature and the story is split between landfall and what takes place in orbit. It builds both on the end of Deep Space Nine’s conclusion and the excellent Left Hand of Destiny series.

Once again, we have well written characters whose personal histories are explored in even greater detail. By the end of the novel you have the Klingon equivalent of the Enterprise in that each officer and crew member with significance to the story is well developed and three dimensional. The author also has an excellent grasp of space combat in that everything makes sense and is quite exciting.

I’ve always found that the most interesting things about an alien species in science fiction are found in books not shows. On television, Klingons are expected to be brutish, uncouth and violent. Yet books like this, stare past those stereotypes and find the vibrant culture and unique peoples that any civilization, real or not, is capable of. Keith DeCandido is one of the best and as far as Klingons are concerned, second to none. Highly recommended.

Review: Ravenloft: Spectre of the Black Rose by James Lowder and Voronica Whitney-Robinson

This novel, the sequel to Knight of the Black Rose, picks up the story a few decades later. We see the transformation of Lord Soth, the land he’s in and the story is joined by many new characters with differing agendas that culminates in a huge confrontation that will shape the future of the realm. At the same time it eases you into the story so if you missed the first one you won’t feel confused.

What’s really interesting is that you can clearly read the contribution by James Lowder’s partner Voronica Whitney-Robinson. She adds a whole new level of depth and lore that builds both on the first novel and the rest of the Ravenloft series as a whole. It’s much more involved, more character driven and has a better story now that there is established history to draw from. It also takes its fantasy horror label a bit more seriously, depicting a much darker, dreary and forlorn world with more violence and macabre overtones.

I’ve always wondered why the sequel came out eight or nine years after the first one. While common for some authors, book series like this tend to shoot them out every year or two. Perhaps in this case that extra time span was beneficial as I believe it to be one of Ravenloft’s best offerings. Odd that for nearly ten years it was also the last in the series. In any case, this is a fantastic novel for fantasy and horror fans alike and sits neatly in the middle enjoying the virtues of both. Highly recommended.

Review: Earth Blood #3: Aurora Quest by James Axler (Laurence James)

Hey, I said I’d start the book immediately didn’t I? Well four hours has passed since I blogged my “review” of number two of the series and I just finished the third. Fantastic book, best of the three!

As things came to a head in the story, the action got bigger, the players more bold and all of the pieces of the story fit snugly into place. The fact that I pounded back 346 pages in one evening should indicate how riveting and entertaining this book, nay the whole series, was!

Laurence James was an action story genius as far as I’m concerned. Not only are the weapons, vehicles and the geography well researched and used to good effect, but the strategies, realistic behavior and reactions from the characters dead on. No Hollywood movie crap here. Just gritty kill or be killed primal survival. He also has a way of writing antagonists that doesn’t spill unnecessary detail but yet makes them interesting. Instead, spending that character growth effort making the main characters at the center of the story more real and the sole focus of development as the story progresses. I really like that and I wish more authors would follow suit. The “villain” is merely an obstacle in the way of the main character’s goals. Who cares if they had abandonment issues that turned them evil or a motivation that spills onto a worldwide scale? They are bad, we want them killed and let’s get to it! This makes it a fun novel in that those details don’t need to gloss over the story, fill gaps or chop up an otherwise excellent pace. Kudos to the author I say!

Another note about the geography usage. I find that the story can be mapped out chapter by chapter where the groups/factions/people all head to the point of final confrontation in a manner where you can imagine the lines of travel like those old WWII flicks where the arrow represent different forces converging on a battleground. It’s great as it keeps you informed on a regular basis and the description of the land as they travel it makes it easy to imagine.

Lastly, I really appreciated how well thought out the smaller details were. Things like the improvised equipment and gear they salvaged, what houses and building would look like, what they would contain, hygiene, resource allotment as well as personality quirks. Everyone has a different reaction to stress and disaster and just about every form of dementia, courage and pluck was explored in great detail.

Few books, movies or shows in the post-apocalyptic genre can stand up to the quality and scope of story presented here. Even fewer have the ability to be read again in such a short time frame because of their depth. The author also had the good sense to create an extremely satisfying conclusion without making it a “happy ending” per se. That would have negated the entire premise of survival and struggle this story represents. Instead it offers the reader enough material to sate their imagination as to the future of these people.

Excellent trilogy, among the finest I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. True brain candy for the gun connoisseur, outdoor enthusiast or military science fiction buff. Just awesome.

Review: Earth Blood #2: Deep Trek by James Axler (Laurence James)

Another book I’ve long sought, this one took nearly a year to find. A shame too because that means others have probably been denied finding this excellent series as well. Laurence, who carried the Deathlands banner for many years, took a small detour to offer this trilogy of post-apocalyptic action which has many similarities but many more differences from his best known works.

Continuing shortly after the events in the first novel, the team is still trying to find the group who has been leaving messages for them while experiencing more of the world which had been devastated since they returned from their deep space assignment. If you’ve read James’ books before, you know the drill. Lots of guns, suspense, death and destruction written in a chilling way which makes it seem like something that could happen to us. These books however, fracture at a point where the group splits up to find info, find their families and try to make it back in one piece. That almost makes three different stories with three groups of adventurers that tie into the bigger picture. Building on that, are the makings of a few powerful factions hoping to control what they believe to be the future of the new world as they know it. Of course in the midst of these factions, is our merry little band of astronauts.

Where Deathlands represents the world as it is 100 years after the crisis, Earth Blood is only three years after. Two and a half in which the group were still in space unaware of the goings-on back home. So their reactions are vastly different coming from highly educated people who left a stable society and returned to chaos. Their hesitation and fear of the casual brutality of those who have survived in this new world and how they try to cope with it is very believable and well written. There’s an air of quiet desperation about these people because the shock of what has happened still hasn’t quite settled in yet. So well written you grow to really like them even though you know the author isn’t one to shy away from offing an important character to mix things up.

I guess in many ways I like this series, short as it is, even more so than Deathlands. It has a more down to earth feel about it with less sci-fi and more humanity. Even as I write this, I’m already preparing to sit down and absorb the third novel as I can’t wait a minute longer to find out what’s happening. Highly recommended!

Review: Deathlands #3: Neutron Solstice by James Axler (Laurence James)

Another crazy romp through post-apocalyptic America, another fun, action packed read. The main theme as always, is survival in a devastated world. This time we head down to the Bayou for some muties and Gumbo!

There was a bit more cultural exploration in this one as Ryan Cawdor and his comrades find some nearly untouched pieces of the past. It provides a little humor from time to time in this very dark novel. Combine that with the camaraderie gained from shared struggles and plenty of gallows humor, it strikes a nice balance with the horrors witnessed almost every single day.

I have to admit though, I’m a bit tired of the rather graphic and usually lewd sexual references here. OK sure, sex and barbarism go hand in hand. Take an undisciplined and brutal society, remove law and order and you have lots of it. Like an old cadence I once heard, “rape, kill, pillage and burn….” its sprinkled throughout the story often like a bad weed in a rock garden. Out-of-place and not particularly entertaining. Fortunately it’s balanced with some good gun porn. The type of stuff that calls out specs, performance and throws in a bit of history. Like every weapon has a personality and each personality is different. I’m curious as to whether the novels written much later on by others continue either of these trends.

We also get a new character for the next novel that should prove interesting. I envision a point where I can take a map and start placing pins on places where events happen and people are met. It’s like the most dangerous cross country tour you can ever imagine. Excellent book despite my criticisms.

Collecting Journal 2009: October 9th

Seeing as my wife already has Wii Fit, I convinced her to pick up Wii Fit Plus while we were at the supermarket. Video games at the supermarket in a section bigger than most Circuit City’s, go figure! Besides being a superior program to the original, it gives me those last 40 Nintendo Points I needed to score myself a copy of Game & Watch Collection Volume 1.

Then when I got home I found out they were sold out of that prize after months and months of seeing it there. *sigh*

The trip wasn’t a total loss, I picked up a copy of Scribblenauts. Looking forward to coming up with zany ways to solve the puzzles that will no doubt provide hours of entertainment.

Oct. 9th
Scribblenauts (DS) – $34.99 new
Wii Fit Plus (Wii) – $24.99 new

Total for October 9th = $67.78 taxes included.

Grand total spent to date for 2009: $1810.05 taxes included
Traded / sold total to date for 2009: $1194.00
Total games/hardware donated to charity for 2009: 92 games, 6 systems
Bought = 122 / Sold = 158 / Strategy guides / books = 2 / Hardware = 16

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 – November 17th!

WOW! Listened to a couple tunes from the new Rob Zombie album that’s coming next month. Kick ass! In fact I’ve been playing them over and over constantly. November 17th will be a fun day to be sure with both Dragon Age Origins and Hellbilly Deluxe 2 coming out at the same time.

Brutal Legend? Bah! I’ll take a sword and sorcery BioWare RPG, music muted, with a side order of HD2 playing in the background please. Now that’s a good R&R/gaming cocktail.

Collecting Journal 2009: October 6th

Now that game collecting is winding down and the last pieces I need are being acquired, they become more important than just merely “another good game to play”.

In this case, I’ve completed an Xbox console bundle. A Canadian exclusive one at that! Quite some time ago I bought an Xbox Holiday 2004 bundle which is the system with the games Top Spin and Amped 2. For you Americans who are reading this, it’s the equivalent of the Top Spin/NCAA Football 2005 bundle you got that year. Unfortunately, the bundle didn’t have those two games with it. To my collector sensibilities it was aggravating to say the least and until last night, continued to bother me every time I analyzed my collection.

So last night we did our rounds for books which included a stop by a thrift store that in the past has been very good to both of us (my wife and I). As we were swinging back towards the checkout, I spotted what looked to be an Xbox demo disc. One of those square cardboard sleeve jobs. As I looked closer, I noticed it had Top Spin on one side and Amped 2 on the other. Having seen bundled Xbox games before I knew that they usually came in the green Amaray cases with two front covers. For only $5.99, I figured I’d risk it being a demo and take it home on the chance it may be that lost bundle item I’ve been searching for.

Getting it home, my suspicions were proven correct. It had the part number to match the bundle as well as the SKU number. Score! Even better and unbeknownst to me upon purchase, was that it was still sealed! Some employee, probably thought it a demo (as the games in the Amaray cases are $10-20), shoved a generic game price on it and put it in a plastic hang bag.

Even though it’s been a slow year with much clearing out and reduction of my collection, its times like this where the footwork involved in the hunt pays off big time!

October 6th
Top Spin / Amped 2 (Xbox) – $5.99

Total for October 6th = $6.77 taxes included

Grand total spent to date for 2009: $1742.27 taxes included
Traded / sold total to date for 2009: $1194.00
Total games/hardware donated to charity for 2009: 92 games, 6 systems
Bought = 120 / Sold = 158 / Strategy guides / books = 2 / Hardware = 16

Review: Ravenloft: Knight of the Black Rose by James Lowder

Back in 1991, I was well into my passion for Dragonlance novels and at that time, had a considerable collection of them for a young reader not quite thirteen years old. One of the more fascinating characters from that series was Lord Soth. An unpredictable death knight with enormous powers who was almost too dangerous to be set loose on Krynn. I don’t know how I found about it (advert in a DL novel perhaps?) but when I had heard that he would be crossing over into the new Ravenloft series of novels I was very excited. The idea of a major character crossover in a book was new to me. Comics did it all the time but books of this nature, not so much. In this case, a character left their realm and travelled to an all new realm all together that had no real connection to the one the character was from.

Besides the fact that this is a great novel, the most prevalent thing about it is how Lord Soth suits this genre and setting more so than Dragonlance. In Ravenloft, he’s a powerful being who has equals. In Dragonlance, he’s almost too dangerous to use extensively. Therefore the story is much more satisfying when he’s introduced to the unknown elements and powers that he can’t easily best. Also of note is how the author explored Soth’s past. Odd that it took a Ravenloft novel to fill in the gaps of one of Dragonlance’s best written villains but regardless of that it was well written and detailed.

This is one D&D novel not to be missed. The story, the pacing, the characters are all top notch and eighteen years later I enjoy it now as I did then, maybe even more so. If you can imagine how great a confrontation between Ravenloft’s most powerful characters and that of Dragonlance would be like, then don’t hesitate to find a copy of this book and it’s sequel. Highly recommended.

Review: Star Trek Voyager: Unworthy by Kirsten Beyer

After charting a “new” course for the direction of the Voyager crew in her last novel, the author begins to explore the possibilities of Voyager’s next assignment while outlining the differences this series will take. I believe having a unique angle for this series will keep it fresh and the one that has been chosen will have a degree of familiarity as well.

As mainly a character driven novel, the action takes a bit of a back seat while things are put in order so this series of novels can move forward without loose ends and with a solid foundation. This is good because it lets the pieces fall into place as far as the crew while addressing any lingering after effects of the Star Trek Destiny trilogy. While it was good to explore the bond that is being created between the various crews and characters both new and familiar, sometimes I felt it was stretching a bit to take every single guy and find a single girl right off the bat. I half-joked to my wife while I was reading this it seemed a bit like one of those teenage girl paperbacks from the 80’s to which she replied “the Sweet Valley High books?” While relationships and sex are a part of every genre and I accept that, it was laid on a bit thick at times. Enough that I felt it had as much motivation for character decisions as the science fiction circumstances and red alerts that peppered this novel. Hopefully this will be reined in a bit so it doesn’t turn into a soap opera.

Still, the story was good for an in-between novel that bridges the gap between the past and the future. Some aspects were very predictable. As surplus characters who would fill important roles had to placed somewhere and where was very obvious. A bit of the science seemed hokey, even for sci-fi but the exploration and military organization feel was solid. The author has done a great job in keeping the characters true to form, especially Tom Paris who is one of my favorites. Other new characters seem interesting enough that they’ll probably last a lot longer than most of the Enterprise’s senior officers have been lately!

All in all a solid novel. I’d be lying if I wasn’t a bit disappointed considering how great the last novel (Full Circle) was. It’s a bit too much like the previous Voyager author and I hope Kirsten Beyer goes back to the formula which worked so well last time. Still, its worth a read given the important details and events that will shape the future of the series. With some reservations I’ll recommend this novel to Trek fans for its importance to the bigger picture.

Review: Deathlands #2: Red Holocaust by James Axler (Laurence James)

The best thing about these Deathlands novels is their consistency. Having read several from the “Axlerverse” as the various series are called collectively (James Axler), I’ve found that you always know what you’ll get when you crack the first page. Lots of gun play with great detail about each weapon, wilderness survival in an unforgiving land and a smattering of awesome post-apocalyptic science fiction. All contained within a medium length novel which doesn’t necessarily need to be read in any particular order.

In a way it fills a great gap in my reading because when I need a change of pace from my usual genres and subgenres, a Deathlands/Outlanders novel fits in nicely. Every book in these series are like a Mad Max/Jeremiah movie that to a gun nut/outdoors enthusiast like myself, is teeming with lead spraying goodness and the taming of the great outdoors.

There’s a curious feeling I get when I read these books that I call “brand new familiarity”. You take the world as we know it today, put it through the wringer and everything familiar has a new ring of discovery about it. Lands change, language changes and the discovery of items we take for granted as being every day things become treasures and wonders for those who have grown up in a darker time of upheaval. You gasp with wonder and appreciation at the detail the author(s) add to take something we know and change it to suit a new story setting.

The other reason it fills a gap is because it’s very much an adult reading experience. While most of my regular reading series try to walk the line between mature readers and readers of all ages, Deathlands is pure adult science fiction. That means there is brutality, barbarism, language and sometimes sex mixed with heaps of outright bloody violence. Unlike what is found in other media like shows, movies or games, these books don’t tame anything for the sake of censorship. In a way it makes it more real as reactions, dialog and events play out more realistically when they are written without restraint.

Another awesome Axlerverse novel and a great followup to the start of one of my favorite series. Highly recommended.

Review: Star Trek I.K.S. Gorkon Book One: A Good Day To Die by Keith R. A. DeCandido

It took me a long time to find a brand new copy of this book but it was well worth the wait. Few Star Trek authors truly understand how to write Klingons like Keith R. A.  DeCandido can. Having enjoyed his previous Klingon based novels Diplomatic Implausibility and A Burning House, it was a no-brainer that the I.K.S. Gorkon trilogy was a must-read series even if I didn’t read it in chronological order with the others.

The key to his success in my opinion, is that he writes Klingon stories as a Klingon would. The code of honor, the unflinching attitude about warfare and the cocksure swagger all fill these novels. Like I said in a previous review, it’s like an extension of the “Soldiers of the Empire” episode of DS9. No human morals, plenty of split second decisions and a code of conduct that doesn’t always jive with the laws of society. It makes for entertaining and unpredictable action as well as a deeper level of camaraderie between the characters.

Most importantly, it clears up a lot of confusion and adds greater detail to the culture of one of the Federation’s most stalwart allies. After all, they aren’t just violent, frequently drunk warriors with bad manners. They are in fact, a warrior race with a strong sense of tradition, passionate and as different from each other individually as anyone other race. This story, more than any other before it, shows the Klingons as a people who cherish their ideals and can respect them in others.

While this novel draws heavily from established book and screen material and the “new” alien race at the center is similar to that of a previous novel (Diplomatic Implausibility), this is an entertaining story that shouldn’t be missed by fans for its excellent action, well written characters and cultural insights.