Audiobook Review + Xiran Jay Zhao
Iron Widow is the first part of a duology / trilogy / series (?) with the same name. It describes Wu Zetian's rise through the ranks, in a Chinese inspired scifi / fantasy setting featuring a mystical 'spirit power' (a kind of paranormal energy source) and very large mecha-like creatures called 'Chrysalis'.
But nope. It's a trilogy. (And there's nothing wrong with that.) Perhaps I'm over-conditioned by those endless multi-volume series. I think Hackwith could have gotten away with it, but she chose not to.
Take some dark, gothic fantasy elements, combine it with a family drama and a self-apreciating voice, and tell a tale that moves towards and touches upon horror territory.
Four different wallpapers, all based on Sigil's Lady of Pain.
If you haven't played D&D, you haven't lived. If you haven't played Planescape, you haven't died and gone to the great wheel 🤔 Yet 😁
RPG Book Review + Books + Dutch
Na al het uitzoeken en voorbereiden is het tijd om het resultaat te laten zien: The Lazy Anthology. Oftewel... drie de boeken tesamen in een enkele, full color hardcover.
(I have some mixed feelings on 5e5 AKA 5e24, the 2024 incarnation of the ruleset. Note that these Basic Rules are based on the 2014 set of rules.)
Once you have a Rakuten Kobo Plus subscription you're going to try to maximize its usage. Let's read / listen to tons of free books - as long as the subscription lasts - right? On top of that, I was investigating the typical romantasy concepts. Free and with a purpose, right?
Well... yeah. Right. Unfortunately, lots of the better stuff isn't free, and lots of the stuff included in Kobo Plus isn't very good... Will Viola Grace change my opinion?
This is a well known series, in which the last of the Antari (dimension hopping mages) discovers his ancestry, and fights an all consuming magic evil.
It's pretty good, but I didn't find it as exceptional as it is often made out to be. Still good though.
Dabbling in romantasy lately, are we?
Well. It's only for scientific purposes. And if the story is half-decent, then why not? I can always skip the random porn inserts that seem to haunt modern day fantasy novels...
I've only read this one a few weeks ago, and I'm already forgetting about this one. I guess that means it did not leave that much of an impression behind.
Alright... this post is going to be a weird one.
I was pointed toward this video by another nettizen (does anyone still use that word?) / Discord user / writer, and the video is quite interesting.
So let's split this post up in two parts: writing related, and a short review of the book itself.
TSR, the (in)famous creators of the AD&D role playing game (then boutght by WOTC, Hasbro, and becoming perhaps even more (in)famous for their poor handling of the OGL) also publish books based on their games. One of those is Elfshadow by Elaine Cunningham. It's set in the Forgotten Realms, but no prior knowledge is required.
The Verdict: It's not bad. Expect regular 'sword and sorcery'.
Dapper / TellTales! #6
First you see a dragon. Then you're watching some royal intrigues for 35 minutes, and only then the action starts.
Which doesn't make Damsel a complete disaster, but it helps to know what to expect.
Short story that got expanded into three short novels, about a girl who lost her memory and starts living on a cemetery.
It's an easy read - nothing too exceptional - with perhaps a somewhat unexpected plot twist near the end, where the whole story adopts a supernatural element.
The verdict: a decent, entertaining read.
I had high hopes for season 2 of Arcane... Season 1 was brilliant, an emotional roller coaster, great animation, and a good story to carry it all. How could season 2 be any less?
Well... it turned out it could be. Worse, that is.
You may have noticed that a large part of this blog consists of nothing but SciFi and Fantasy book reviews. I'm 58 now, and I've done nothing but reading SF and Fantasy over the last 40 odd years. There has been the occaisional side trip into other genres, but in the end I always return to my roots 😇 So, what are the best books I've ever read?
I never heard of either the author, nor the Joseph Bridgeman series, but apparently the latter is popular enough to have made it into 4 books by know, published in 2021 and 2022 (according to Goodreads).
And Then She Vanished is time travel, but a bit different, with some genetically defined time travel superpower thrown in. Kinda.
Last year I was (trying to) do a review per week, and haven't kept to my schedule when 2024 started... So, let's use a week or two to catch up. First target: Casey White.
Casey White is an independent self publishing author, with a number of novels to her name. I can't figure out how many, as there are multiple authors with the same name / alias 😎
My old Secomber maps were scanned 20 years ago, using a handscanner. It was about time I rescanned them, especially after finding other Secomber maps.
Click on any of these images for a larger version.
20+ years ago I created some maps for Secomber, a small town in the Forgotten Realms. I didn't pick the place at random. I selected it because it is known but not well documented thus allowing the DM lots of freedom. It's also close to a lot of interesting places.
I'm planning to revisit the old document and expand on it, so in preparation I googled a bit...
