Not Cranking Out the Same Old Thing – Is That Good?
After some quite excellent fantasy novels, Lois McMaster Bujold goes for (mostly) romance: “But with this one, she’s just gone the Lifetime Channel route.”
“This Book is Too Long!”
I know of many fantasy readers (myself sometimes included) who pick what book to read next based on how long it is – for epic fantasies, the longer the better. Books like this are a huge commitment though, and so for a lot of people, the fact that […]
Click. Kill. Reward.
The mob of deranged and frothy beasts approaches quickly, my tower shield and fearsome-looking warhammer doing nothing to slow their approach. Blood is spilled as I dispatch the group quickly, their remains forming a pile at my feet. I loot the corpses, ignoring the broken weapons that were […]
Too Many Dragons
Fantasy fiction is overrun by dragons. The fiery beasts have become a way to spice up an otherwise standard book — just add dragons. When I first heard about Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series — the Napoleonic Wars, a la Hornblower, except with dragons — I sighed to myself: […]
Moving Pictures
Summers in Toronto can be apocalyptic. If it isn’t the plague of aphids infesting our air supply, it’s the flood of crap at the multiplex.
Scott Adams is a Hydra
This interview with Scott Adams, the text adventure pioneer, has him talking about how he uses several keyboards to set up a Hydra in the multiplayer online world of Everquest II. It’s refreshing to hear oldschool game makers talk about their current game obsessions rather than moan about […]
The Cultural Gutter 