Streaming Sci-Fi Summer Camp

If there's one thing unemployment is good for, it's catching up on TV. Suffice to say that I've had the opportunity to enjoy a fair amount of sci-fi programming in the last few weeks. To make it through the thunder and lightning of evening storms, I've already begun revisiting some classics I love and some classics I always meant to love but never got around to -- and it's been AWESOME. I am leveling up in nerd-dom after the epic Doctor Who marathons I've gobbled down. Here are my suggestions to stave off the swass:


DOCTOR WHO
I've heard the phrase "You never forget your first Doctor" -- and now that I'm working backwards past the fantastic Matt Smith, I know it's true. Tennant good, but Eccleston is a bit of a let down (though I've loved him in other things -- he's the general (or whatever) in 28 Days Later, remember?). He's only one season though.

Doctor Who is a must if you like shows that are funny, smart, dumb, self-aware, fanservicing, and sometimes really quite moving. If you're new to Who, start with Series/Season 5 of the reboot with Matt Smith as The Doctor. The first two seasons of the Eleventh Doctor are on Netflix, and the third that just wrapped up is available streaming on Amazon and iTunes. For the ultra-anal, this guide is your bible.


STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
In fifth grade, I bought a TNG lunchbox at a thrift store after discovering afterschool back-to-back TNG/DS9 in syndication. It's like coming home. Jean-Luc Picard, Riker, Data, Troi, Georgi, Worf, Crusher... and Wil Wheaton. (I know this might be sacrilegious here in these hallowed internet halls of geekery, but am I the only person who wants to punch him in the face sometimes?) TNG is on Netflix and streaming on Amazon.

Yes, sometimes it's really really cheezy, but it can also be thrilling and funny. I now present: Riker Sitting Down --

Why, Riker, why??

SHERLOCK
Ok, this isn't sci-fi, but it's damn fine TV for geeks. Bilbo and the bad guy from Star Trek Into Darkness finally hit the nail on its homoerotic head and blow pretty much every other Sherlock Holmes adaptation to shame. (I feel like Tobias Bluth... "There's gotta be a better way to say that.") The fanfiction for this show must be insane.

Watson's patience and awe of Sherlock's Asperger-fueled genius fluctuates with his entirely understandable frustration. But really this is the Benedict Cumberbatch show, which is all anybody really wants it to be. The Series 2 ending made me cry and scream... my dog had no idea what was going on. But don't worry, SPOILERS, SWEETIE.

But the real answer to the question "How can I avoid going outside?" is so obvious. May 26 -- all your dreams come true: Arrested Development, Season 4, 15 episodes streaming on Netflix. Really, it's a good thing I'm unemployed or I'd have to take the day off of work.

Microreview [book]: The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham

Abraham, Daniel. The Tyrant's Law [Orbit, 2013]

The Meat

I've been on a bit of a roll with fantasy lately, going from strength to strength with Douglas Hulick's excellent Among Thieves and Elizabeth Bear's mesmerizing Range of Ghosts (review forthcoming). So I guess a little part of me expected to be disappointed by The Tyrant's Law [Orbit, 2013], book three in Daniel Abraham's epic fantasy series The Dagger & the Coin. After all, though I loved The Dragon's Path, I felt the wheels came off a bit in The King's Blood, and it wasn't clear to me whether Abraham would get the thing back on track. Fans of the series will be happy to note that The Tyrant's Law is easily the best installment in the series, and marks Abraham as an unusually daring and thought-provoking fantasy author.

(WARNING: mild spoilers follow.)

In the aftermath of Antea's victory over Asterilhold and the crushing of Dawson Kalliam's rebellion, the world has suddenly become a much creepier place. Basrahip, High Priest and advisor to Palliako, claims that Kalliam only rebelled at the behest of the chitinous-skinned Timzinae, one of the twelve additional races of humanity created by the dragons who once ruled the world, and the alleged "loyal servants of the dragons." Their supposed purpose? To stop the re-emergence of the Goddess, who the priests claim was thwarted into hiding by the "evil" dragons.

Geder Palliako's armies, aided by the priests of the Spider Goddess, have therefore set their sights on Sarakal and Ellesai, where the Timzinae predominate. Unfortunately, the race war that ensues doesn't go the Timzinae's way. Oh, and Cithrin--the young Magistra for the Medean Bank who once saved Palliako's life but then kinda freaked and hightailed it out of town when he executed someone right in front of her? She's been sent to apprentice at a bank chapter run out of a city in Antea's crosshairs. Uh-oh. And there's no Marcus Wester to keep her safe either--after all, he's gone off with ex-priest/actor Master Kit to find something to kill a big spider with.

There are two ways to read The Tyrant's Law. One is as a middle chapter in an epic adventure told through multiple character perspectives, a la George R. R. Martin. In this sense, the book largely succeeds. The characters are brilliant, the story well-paced and the writing is crisp and engaging. Cithrun, Marcus, Yardem and Kit are as likable as ever, and I'm also happy to say that the Clara chapters (which had an annoying Cataelyn Stark-goes-Downton Abbey feel to them in The King's Blood) are hugely improved. She has a more complex subjectivity now, and Abraham takes her story arc to interesting places.

That said, some of the problems endure. The world, for one, still feels a bit threadbare--characters travel across wide, featureless expanses as if by express rail or teleportation. And the thirteen races of humanity remain an interesting but underdeveloped idea (though The Tyrant's Law does more to rectify this than either previous installments in the series). Of greater concern were the occasions where I couldn't really figure out what motivated the characters (Cithrin especially) to make certain pivotal decisions. And I found myself wondering (again) if these moments are sacrifices of Abraham's prolific pace of writing. After all, managing two single-authored and one co-authored series that are being published concurrently, and yearly, is a tall order for any human being. While it's a testament to Abraham's skill as a writer that this series is as good as it is, I think it's fair to say that he might be spreading himself a bit thin.

Big Ideas

There is, of course, another way to read The Tyrant's Law--as a novel of ideas. The genre doesn't exactly produce a lot of these, but it does happen--see, for example, my reviews of Sapkowski's excellent Witcher books. As the title implies, The Tyrant's Law is a meditation on tyranny. This in and of itself isn't all that unique--gritty fantasy is already full of stand-ins for sadists like Vlad Tepes and bloodthirsty conquerors like Timur the Great. But the nature of that tyranny, and the horrors that stem from it, feel distinctly modern in this case.

Antea, after all, seeks not only to conquer the world, but to "cleanse" and remake it. And when I say "cleanse," I mean "of all those whose blood is supposedly tainted by association with the dragons" (there's an irony there, which will be evident to anyone who reads the book). That association is conceived as both collective and as an immutable consequence of birth, rather than belief, while the mission, so to speak, is to completely and utterly remove that taint in systematized fashion. This is a thoroughly modern way of thinking, and stands in stark contrast to the unsystematized, "sack-and-slaughter" violence of pre-modernity. Even the language used by the cultists to sow the seeds of distrust and enmity towards the Timzinae are familiar to students of the 20th century--"roaches" was in fact a term used by Hutu Power to dehumanize Tutsis, while accusations of collective guilt for phantom "conspiracies" were central to the experience of Jews under Hitler and Kulaks under Stalin.

The victimization of the Timzinae takes place in stages, much as Hitler's victimization of Jews began with harassment, moved on to a curtailment of rights, proceeded to ghettoization and devolved into mass slaughter. We watch, powerless, as these discourses spread across the population, infecting otherwise good people until there are very few left who do not accept them as truth.

It's true that genocide is the ultimate grimdark endgame, and those who weary of all the grim darkness may balk at reading about this kind of thing. But let me say this: Abraham takes us down this path to hell with a minimum of gore. There are no extensive flaying scenes, no graphic rapes or highly detailed descriptions of organ matter being removed from the body. The restrained approach is refreshing, and still highly effective at inducing a sense of dread.

One thing did trouble me, though. Palliako has to this point been presented as a fairly likable and relatable guy, an affable, bookish sort who gets bullied around a bit and probably reminds you of a bookish sort you know, if not yourself. We're clearly supposed to like him and sympathize with him, yet be simultaneously repulsed by what he ends up doing. I see two purposes to this approach: to suggest that "pure evil" is a fiction and to argue that we create our own monsters from decent folk.

Abraham explores this territory deftly, but I can't help but find it problematic in some respects as well. Even if we just stick to the psychological side of things (and ignore sociological, historical or economic factors), tyrants of this sort tend to come in two varieties: extreme zealots (e.g. Hitler) and paranoid sociopaths (e.g. Stalin). Geder is neither. He isn't even a sadist, the kind of who enjoys the personalized violence of rape or torture. So what, exactly, is motivating him? Abraham gives some answers (which I won't spoil for you), but I found them unsatisfying--reinforcing the general criticism of character motivation.

One Last Thing...

Leaving heavy topics like racial stigmatization and the nature of tyranny aside for the moment, I should mention that there's a scene at the end of the book that potentially changes everything. Or, at least, I think it changes everything. It's the kind of ambiguous cliffhanger you might find on a show like Twin Peaks or Lost. If I'm right about what it means (and I'm increasingly convinced that I am), then Abraham has done something extremely clever starting way back in The Dragon's Path, and done so with enough subtlety that it would be very difficult to pick up on until now. I'm chomping at the bit to see if I'm right.

The ending is, in a way, emblematic of what makes this series so good, and so addictive. Sure it has its problems, and some are fairly serious, but The Tyrant's Law has considerably more strengths than weaknesses, and gets bonus points for having something legitimate to say about human nature. That marks The Tyrant's Law as an unusually smart installment in an unusually likable fantasy series.

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for doing more than just telling a good story; +1 for OMG the ending!

Penalties: -1 for character motivation issues; -1 for the persistent lack of geography.

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10. "Well worth your time and attention."

Read about our scoring system, in which a sufficiently random sample of books would normally distribute in a bell curve around a mean of 5, here.

First Impressions: XCOM Enemy Unknown

wandering the desert

For gamers, the current months are something akin to Moses and the Israelites after their liberation from Egypt. It's slim pickings out there. Other than the fourth Borderlands add-on downloadable content in June, there's not much coming down the pike until Grand Theft Auto V in September. It's usually the time of year most of us either pull out the best games of the last year for another playthrough, or go find something to do outside. 

Much like the Hebrews, I was wandering the desert (also known as Best Buy) last weekend  looking for manna from heaven. Then I saw XCOM. My cousin had loaned me the game several weeks ago with a highly positive recommendation, but it's been a while since I played a real-time strategy and tactics type game. I'm used to squad games that use a turn-based combat system, but most of the ones I've played are Japanese. Ever since he gave me the disc, it had just been sitting on my shelf. I hadn't heard of it and the back cover copy didn't really grab me. However, I already had it so I thought I'd do some research to see if it was any good. To my shock and excitement, the only game this year with a higher rating on Metacritic.com was Bioshock Infinite. XCOM was rated a 90 while Bioshock got a 93. XCOM came out last October, but it was clearly the best option I had for playing a quality game right now. 

It was that or play the new Star Trek game, and it's getting absolutely demolished by critics. So far, I have to say I made the right choice. 

the big picture

The Earth is under alien attack. A truly original concept in gaming, I know, but the approach to the traditional theme is different than any I've seen. The game is a re-make of a 1994 Amiga game that was later converted to the original Playstation. I missed the first one, but this version is awfully fun. You are in charge of XCOM, the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. They are responsible for the protection of Earth from an increasing number of alien abductions and direct attacks. As you can see above, all the continents and many of the largest countries on the planet are counting on you. Fail to adequately protect them and they will leave your fragile alliance, preferring to be responsible for their own defense.

In order to learn about alien attacks, you must scan the planet looking for activity. You begin the game with one satellite. As you progress, you build and deploy more satellites over different countries. They are used to catch incoming alien ships before they get to the planet's surface. If an incoming ship is identified, you can scramble Interceptors to take them down. If you are able to destroy the alien warship, you then send your squad of soldiers to the crash site to wipe out any survivors and recover alien technology that survived the impact.

strategy and tactics

A large part of the game involves your team of researchers and scientists. The researchers take alien technology your squad recovered from alien abduction attempts or crashed UFOs and use it to upgrade your own weaponry and technology. The picture above is the XCOM headquarters, also know as the Ant Farm. It contains your Engineering and Research divisions, as well as a barracks for your troops, the Situation Room that tracks worldwide panic levels, a hangar to house satellite-protecting Interceptors, and Mission Control from which you launch attacks on enemy incursions.

You can expand your "Ant Farm" by building new facilities such as Power Plants, Thermo Generators, Foundries, and Satellite Uplinks. You must have satellite uplinks to control and monitor the various satellites you've put into orbit. The foundry allows you to develop upgrades for your existing weapons, armor, and vehicles. Power plants and thermo generators merely improve the speed and skill with which you create new items and facilities. The depth and detail involved in simply learning all the aspects of this game was astounding. It made the upgrade system in other RPGs like Skyrim look simplistic in comparison. I'm some 15+ hours in and I still feel I've only scratched the surface. While I have a general understanding of the game at this point, I still feel there's a lot more to discover before I've finished it all.

squad combat

Before leaving on any combat missions, you must outfit your squad. You begin the game with four members, but can expand it to six as you gain experience and cash by completing early missions. The soldiers come in several types including Assault, Support, Heavy, and Sniper. Each one has upgradable skills that are added to their arsenal of moves as they are promoted up the chain of command. Snipers gain a headshot. Heavies can fire a rocket launcher. Assault troops gain the ability to fire after moving or get off two shots per turn instead of the normal one. Support can use multiple medpacks to heal other squad members during battle. 

The combat in XCOM is turn-based, which is unusual in Western games, in my experience. I've played several turn-based games this generation including Lost Odyssey, Star Ocean, and Tales of Vesparia, but they were all Japanese. This is the first American game of its type that I've experienced. XCOM was made by Firaxis, the company headed by Sid Meier, the famous creator of the Civilization series. For the uninitiated, turn-based combat is kind of like playing a board game or Dungeons & Dragons. Each character, including the enemies, gets one turn to make a move. After that, the game moves on to the next character and allows them to make a single move. 

While some Call of Duty fans might find this style of combat slow and tedious, it adds considerably to the strategic aspect of the gaming mechanic. You must use competent squad-based tactics if you want to keep all of your soldiers alive throughout the mission. The quickest way to kill off a character is to send them charging off by themselves, Rambo-style. I learned the hard way that lone soldiers are quickly ganged up on and wiped out by groups of enemies beyond their ability to withstand. 

the breakdown

Although this is considerably different than any of my recent gaming experiences, I've been enjoying it immensely. I wish I'd had time to finish the game this week, but it requires 30+ hours of gameplay to complete and I simply didn't have the time to finish it in five days. That said, if I had to rate this game today I would give it an 8 or a 9. Although the game has tons of moving parts and keeping track of them all seems daunting at first, once you've grasped the various responsibilities you have as the leader of XCOM, the smoothness with which they work in tandem is nothing short of amazing. 

If, like me, you're looking for a quality game during this down-time in big name releases, give XCOM a look. It isn't for everybody. If you're a fan of the Call of Duty series or other shooters like Halo, this one may not be for you as the action isn't as fast-paced or intense as those blockbusters. On the other hand, if you enjoy a game with depth that requires thought and planning in order to succeed, XCOM is right up your alley. It is very similar to Sid Meier's Civilization series, but set in a completely different universe. If you are a fan of his previous games, I believe you will enjoy this title just as much if not more. Good luck and happy gaming!

POWER POLL: The 6 Most Haunting Sci-Fi Films of All-Time

Welcome to our first-ever nerds of a feather Power Poll! We asked each of our regular contributors, as well as monthly columnist Dean, to compile a list of the 6 Most Haunting Sci-Fi Films of All-Time. The criteria for "most haunting" were simple: the films that get into your head and under you skin; the ones whose images stick with you long after the credits roll. We then apportioned points to each film based upon their position on the list--6 for being #1, 5 for being #2 and so on. With so many great films out there to choose from, it will come as little surprise that there was a whole lot of variance from list to list. There was enough agreement, however, to put this list together...

Honorable Mention: Sunshine (dir. Danny Boyle, 2007)

Zhaoyun: (Recommended soundtrack for this micro-microreview: Further, by VNV Nation.) What if the sun stopped shining? If there was a time before the sun existed, it stands to reason there’ll be a time after it flares out and dies...but what if that time was, not in five billion years or whatever, but in five? That’s the question this imperfect but haunting film asks. We see a world leached of its vitality, washed out, pale in the dying sunlight, and we watch as a group of eggheads tries to do some vaguely scientific CPR on the sun (it’s not as lame as it sounds, I assure you). Plus, the Cheshire Cat-like eyes of Cillian Murphy are an automatic +5 on the hauntingness scale!

6. District 9 (dir. Neill Blomkamp, 2009)

Mike: Drawing inspiration from South Africa's experience under Apartheid, Neill Blomkamp dazzles his audience as a modern-day Johannesburg has segregated an influx of an alien race in a shanty-town labeled District 9. The transformation of Wikus, a human charged with evicting the "Prawns" of District 9, and the overt portrayal of racism and paranoia pulls the wizard's curtain back on our own society's shortcomings. Sharlto Copley delivers a stunning performance and the mockumentary style provides this story with a sense of realism that is often missed in the sci-fi genre. Sprinkle in plenty of gore and a pinch of emotional trauma (Wikus’ transformation into a “Prawn”) and you are left with a sci-fi movie that will haunt you for quite some time.

5. Event Horizon (dir. Paul W. S. Anderson, 1997)

Molly: I almost left this movie off my list for a narrower definition of “science fiction” -- the wormhole/inter-dimensional travel to Hell leans just a little too far into horror fantasy. But really, that’s the charm of this movie: it feels like a good sci-fi film until it slaps you in the face with “INFINITE TERROR.” I’d consider it the quintessential “space horror” film. It’s haunting because it will burn certain scary images into your mind and give you that clench-your-buttcheeks feeling for the rest of the night. Psychological torment, mutilation and vivisection, fake-out happy ending... plus seeing Sam Neill all scary will upset all the fuzzy-wuzzies you feel for him as the beloved Dr. Grant (like when 
you realized the clown in It was Tim Curry).

4. Solyaris (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)

The G: Sure it’s slow, overlong and sports the special effects wizardry of Tom Baker-era Dr. Who, but Solyaris may well be the most haunting science fiction film ever made. Why? Because it’s a film about a planet that gets into your head and makes that haunt you into reality, that’s why. And what does poor Chris Kelvin get haunted by? Oh, just the ghost of his beloved wife, who committed suicide some time past. The cramped quarters of the space station add a claustrophobic element to a story that’s already utterly unnerving, getting under your skin until you’re desperate for Kelvin to just crawl out and space himself out of an airlock. It’s exquisitely shot too, alternating color and black and white for effect, and sends a message to those commercial sellouts Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa that, when it comes to mesmerizing-yet-impenetrable meditations on the dark recesses of mind and soul, Tarkovsky is the fucking man.

3. Alien (dir. Ridley Scott, 1979)

Brad: When you’re discussing the most haunting science fiction films ever made, Alien absolutely must be a part of the conversation. Ridley Scott’s oft-copied classic hits many of our natural human fears with pinpoint accuracy. The most obvious of these is the fear of being killed by a monster that wouldn’t have much trouble dispatching the velociraptors from Jurassic Park, nevermind us soft, slow-moving skin-sacks. However, if that was all it had going for it, Alien might have faded quietly into the plethora of monster movies that none of us really remember a week after viewing. Luckily for all of us, that was only the beginning. I don’t know about you, but the thought of having a parasite living inside of me gives me the heeby-jeebies. Oh, and don't forget that Isolation is enough to drive many people insane, and the crew of the Nostromo is in deep space, which is about as isolated as one can get. Finally there is the android Ash, played to perfection by Ian Holm. From B-movie cult classics like Maximum Overdrive to quality films like Terminator and 2001 we are simultaneously fascinated and terrified by the specter of our technology turning on us with deadly repercussions. Alien seamlessly combines this multitude of natural, deep-seated human fears into one of the most memorably haunting films of all time.

2. Blade Runner (dir. Ridley Scott, 1982)

Vance: I have to admit that I don't find Blade Runner to be a great movie. I think I've seen all of the versions out there, and while some are definitely better than others they all feel like a collection of great scenes in search of the right wrapper. That said, the best few of these versions improve upon the Philip K. Dick source material, and so many of the scenes stand alone as utterly unforgettable. The greatest of these is Roy Batty's rooftop speech, "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain." These are the moments that linger, much more so to me than any esoteric debates about whether or not Deckard is a replicant. And man, do they linger.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

The G: A good portion of 2001’s power comes from the fact that it asks a lot of questions, but doesn’t provide a lot of definitive answers. What are the monoliths? Are they sentient or devices? If the latter, who made them and for what purpose? Do they make HAL go crazy so that Dave can sublimate into a giant space fetus? I’ve seen the film more than a dozen times and I still don’t know (though I have some defensible theories). Besides, virtually any scene from this freakadalic masterpiece can lodge in your brain for weeks, like Frank Poole’s death, HAL’s termination or just that big-ass monolith floating in space with Ligeti’s Atmospheres playing ominously in the background. Oh, and did I mention there’s no sound in space? Score one for physics.

Tales from a Board Gaming Convention: Geekway to the West

This past weekend I had the pleasure to attend Geekway to the West, a board gaming convention in St. Louis.  These past few years I have found myself attending more and more conventions, but I have yet to attend a gaming specific convention.  A couple of my friends tweeted about attending Geekway and I decided that sounded like a fun idea.  I must say that I am very happy I gave it a go.

I made the three hour drive from my home to St. Louis on Friday and arrived at the convention 5 hours before my friends would make an appearance and did not no a single soul at the convention.  I nervously picked up my badge and was given the basic info on how to check out games, win prizes, various tournaments that were taking place, and a schedule of events.

After cruising the library of over 800 titles to select from, I decided to cruise the main ballroom to find a flag for a group of gamers looking for additional players.  Oddly enough the first group I joined was playing a homemade game (although very well made).  They informed me that other players had sat down only to leave, but I was intrigued.  It was a board game in which you laid down tiles, creating a different board in each play, collected various items to solve a cure (or be cursed), and either solve the curse or kill the remaining players.  The game was actually quite fun and it was very educational to see the process that went into creating a homemade board game that you hope to one day publish.  The couple who made the game were very nice and we all had a nice time playing the game.

The zombies won quite easily

After playing other games with groups my friends finally arrived and following that evening's raffle, we sat down to play Last Night on Earth.  As newbies to the game we brought a "Players Wanted" flag with us to see if anyone wanted to join us as we played as either zombies or humans on the last night on earth.  Since we had not played the game we decided to play with the beginners rules to get the basics of the game.  Lucky for us one of the Geekway volunteers, Tim, joined us and was able to run the game with the advance rules.  The game was loads of fun and felt like a B movie.  

The rest of the weekend was filled with similar experiences.  It struck me at one point in the convention that I had not seen one person look or sound upset.  In gaming at home and with friends (or especially with my 5-year old son) I am used to someone being upset at losing or when someone plays a card or takes an action that adversely affects another player.  The magic of this gaming convention was that we were all amongst friends, we were all playing games, and we were all having fun.  Add to the fact that Miniature Market gave away free gifts for attending, had games on sale 4 for $20, and allowed Geekway attendees to shop directly from their warehouse, we were in board gaming heaven.  Geekway featured card games, dexterity games, kids games, strategy games, card games, dice games, role playing games, and more. 

After spending over 24 hours over a three day period playing board games I can only look back and smile and rank the top 5 games I played over the weekend.

1. Zombicide - We were only able to play 2 games of Zombicide due to its popularity at the convention. Zombicide is a game in which you assume the role of a survivor attempting to survive the zombie apocalypse.  What I enjoy about Zombicide is how the game increases its intensity as the game progresses.   As soon as one player in your group levels up, each zombie spawn is more terrifying, and each objective harder to obtain.  We were unsuccessful in our Zombicide attempt, but had an absolute blast attempting it.

2. Flash Point - As someone with a very competitive wife, I am always on the lookout for cooperative games.  Flash Point is a cooperative game in which you assume the role of a fire fighter attempting to keep a fire at bay and rescue survivors.  The fire can get out of hand quick so it is imperative that you work well with your team in order to be successful.  Tim once again joined us for this game and I am happy to report that we were able to save all seven victims before the structure collapsed.

3. Space Alert - In what was the most unique game I played over the weekend, Space Alert is a real-time, cooperative game in which you assume the role of a crewman of a spaceship stranded in an asteroid field.  As a team you work together through a series of rounds as dictated by a CD that takes you through a 10 minute senario.  During these frantic 10 minutes, the players all play their actions face down and communicate to one another what steps they are taking.  Whether you are giggling the mouse to keep the computer from falling asleep to firing lasers at a target you hope is in range, you won't know if you were successful until you resolve everything upon completion of the CD.   Despite not quite saving our spaceship, this was an intriguing game that I hope to pick up soon.

Gearbox for Formula D

4. Formula D - With time to kill prior to the Saturday night raffle I was allowed to make our game selection.  Despite being a proud owner of the game, I encouraged my friends to join me for a round of Formula D and we were all quite pleased.  Formula D is a car racing game in which you attempt to navigate a course and take the checkered flag.  With each gear you shift you role a different die, you are required to slow down and make numerous stops in turns, and each character has a unique ability that will hopefully allow you to win.  Despite overshooting some turns and taking damage to my tires, I was able to secure the checkered flag and take home victory!

This was all that was left standing,
but that is enough.

5. Castle Panic - My final choice for top games of the weekend is a castle defense, cooperative game that leaves you and your group trying to defend your towers from an oncoming attack of goblins, orcs and more!  Utilizing cards and the luck of the die, each player attempts to slow the various minions that seek to destroy all six of your castle towers.  Unsuccessful in our first attempt, our second attempt was barely successful.  What I loved about Castle Panic is that it is a game I can imagine playing with either my son or my friends who are serious gamers.  It was fun, quick, and easy to play.

Thursday Morning Superhero

Thursday is upon us so it is time for the latest installment of Thursday Morning Superhero.  This week felt a little slow in terms of titles that caught my eye, but the books I purchased from my LCS were definitely above par.  The twists and turns of Age of Ultron have impressed me thus far.  I am not usually one for big comic events, but have enjoyed this ride and don't know how they are going to write themselves out of the situation Wolverine and the Invisible Woman are in.  Dynamite launched a new Battlestar Galactica title based on the 70's television show that was a good read, Helheim may be my favorite new title, and The Dream Merchant from Image Comics had one of the best #1 issues of recent memories.  On to the comics!

Pick of the Week:
Helheim #3 - For me Helheim secured itself as another runaway hit from Cullen Bunn this week.  While I thoroughly enjoyed issue 1 (which just sold out its second printing) and 2, the growth that the pieced together hero Rikard showed in this issue took it to another level.  Bera raised Rikard from the dead and turned him into a Draugr, a raised from the dead killing machine.  He was supposed to kill the other witch, Groa, and anyone who sides with her.  Rikard, however, has no desire to kill any women or children and believes he was raised to protect his people.  Throw in the fact that his father does not like the abomination his son has become and wants to give him a proper death and the unlikely partner, the orphaned Kadlin, that Rikard has found, and you have a series that should provide interesting twists and turns in the upcoming issues.  Bunn has a knack for the supernatural and is displaying it in full force with Helheim.

The Rest:
The Dream Merchant #1 - This is a book that you should keep your eye on. Winslow is currently in a mental ward due to his dream that has been recurring every night since he was a child.  He is flying through a different world with an alien landscape and does not know the meaning.  In the action packed debut, Winslow is pursued by wraith-like beings and learns that he is the last human carrying the memory of how the world once was.  Very enjoyable title that is well written and easy on the eyes.

Age of Ultron #8 - Wolverine and the Invisible Woman are further investigated by the Defends led by Tony Stark.  Things are disrupted when Morgan Le Fay and her alien force invades and brings total havoc to the Defenders, putting them in a situation that is eerily similar to the fate Ultron had brought to Earth.  Once again the superheros are in a situation that seems impossible to navigate away from.  Should be interesting to see what happens next.

Battlestar Galactica #1 - This new Battlestar Galactica title, based on the 70's television series, was easy to get into, a fun read, and provided a nice twist to bring readers back.  Nothing terribly original or fascinating happened in this one, but I may be back for more depending on what I read.  Best part about the issue was the stunning variant cover from Chris Eliopoulous. 

AiIP: Proper Author Care

The huge increase in ease of self-publishing- and decrease in cost- has led to a shift, not just in the way books are read and sold, but in the way they are discovered, marketed and promoted. Gone are the days where a select few reviews in periodicals had the power to make a book (although those entities still exist and have power), replaced by a multitude of sites such as this one, and GoodReads, where readers exert tremendous cumulative influence via their own ratings, reviews and promotion.

The Care and Feeding of an Author on Amazon, by Sherry Snider

This, for the record, is a good thing- mostly. It is, of course, open to abuse, but so were the old systems. Many people have no rating system between five stars and one, and will give a two-star review because their devise froze up while they were reading a given book. In the aggregate, though, it's a good thing to see the audience at large being able to sound off on and share books easily.

Which leads to that list to the right, which has made the rounds a couple times in the past months. Some authors love it (most notably those who aren't particularly noteworthy) while others decry it.

So, to be brutally honest with y'all and myself, I am soundly in the 'not noteworthy' camp of author (so far), but I don't agree with the sentiment that anything is owed to the person you just shelled out a few bucks to. If you buy my book (and I most certainly hope you do), here's what I ask from you:

Enjoy it.

If you want to do the rest of the things on that list, I will appreciate it. A lot. Because it will likely lead to more sales, which in turn lead to me writing more, which in turn means I hopefully will be able to write more for you to enjoy. Now, you might not enjoy my book. That's your right, as it would be your right to give it a horrid rating and review. But all I can ask, as an author, is for you to enjoy my book.

However, the people who really benefit from you rating and reviewing it (honestly) is the community at large. With the proliferation of indie works out there of varying quality, reader reviews will serve to guide others to quality work and make that stand out from the static.

It's about more than the care and feeding of an author, but about the literary community as a whole- authors and readers.

Hot Off the Presses

If you've been reading this column for a while, a while back I interviewed SC Harrison, who had a pretty rad fantasy novel out. Well, she's grown up into horror and her first horror release, Planks comes out next month. I will have a review shortly, but holy cow you guys it's so good. So stay tuned for that.

It's already way over-funded, but there is a Kickstarter for The Very Hungry Cthulupillar which I can confidentiality say is the greatest thing ever.

Rolling with Kickstarter, Walk the Fire is a promising SciFi anthology with just a few days and several bucks to go.

Moving across the pond, SciFind is launching a monthly short SF/F/H magazine, or attempting to, and there will be a story from yours truly in it if it gets funded. So not only do you get really good fiction, you get to support my alcoholism writing career.

One last bit of blatant self-promotion, but I have a few bookmarks to give away. I'll be doing a new run before too long, with different art, so if you want the really early stuff, this is pretty much the last chance to get it.