Book Review: The Mercy Makers by Tessa Gratton

A bold, lush fantasy novel that is more a fever dream than a grounded reality, and makes it work

The Mercy Makers is the story of Iriset me Isidor. She is the daughter of the Little Cat, Isidor, a notorious criminal. She is a demure woman who isn’t all that involved in her father’s criminal activities. She is the epitome of the stereotype of the Mobster’s daughter not truly involved with her father’s criminal empire. Small, demure, quiet. Harmless.

However, Iriset is also secretly Silk. Silk can do magic and change things, and even people. She’s a prodigy and determined to explore and build her talents, even if those lean into or cross over into the heretical. She boldly walked into the Little Cat’s court in disguise and carved a place for herself to work on her designs on behalf of the Little Cat. And her masks and skills have helped the Little Cat expand his reach and power... and to eventually be noticed by the Empire.

So, when the Little Cat is captured, so is Iriset, but as Iriset, and not Silk. Iriset is eventually brought to the palace to be a handmaiden of the sister of the Emperor. Her father is still imprisoned, due to die. And no one, as far as Iriset can tell, knows that she is Silk. And of course a plan starts to hatch to use her skills to save her father. Iriset may be a handmaiden of the Emperor’s sister, but it will take her prodigal abilities as Silk if she is to save her father. Or herself.

The Mercy Makers tells Iriset/Silk’s story, from a tight third-person point of view.

I could spend the entirety of this review discussing the extremely byzantine plot of the novel. What I described brings us to the quarter turn of the novel. It is the living embodiment of the meme “And then the plot really got going.” And this happens several times in the book, when Gratton decides that the plot, always twisting and interesting, needs yet another kick. The novel as a result never flags. It has moments of quiet, of grace and beauty, but always holds the reader’s attention.

So to speak in general terms, Iriset falls deeper and deeper into the machinations and the plotting of what is ostensibly supposed to be the epitome of order and power.

And she is aware and comments on this dichotomy (especially since the Empire has apparently taken the dangerous Silk into its heart). This is an empire, and we will get into that, so the palace is supposed to be the center of order and regularity. What Iriset finds is that the palace may ostensibly be that center, but in actuality it is anything but orderly. And of course she must and will pull on those threads... and be pulled on in turn.

But there is a lot more going on to discuss, and a lot of the plot is something I’d rather have readers discover for themselves. There is a cliche or at least a guideline that sex scenes should build and develop character and plot in a SFF story. It should not be “just about the sex.” I think this is a guideline that goes back to the earlier days of SFF, which were much less interested in depicting sexual relations (and also in general the changes in literature in general). But even then, in straight up fantasy I’ve read, there is not a lot of sex that doesn’t keep at least some veils, or fade to black.

Gratton’s work is of a different caliber altogether. There is a lot of sex in the book, and explicit at that. Like in the movie Sinners, the main character does, in fact, like to have sex.¹ The main character has sex with both men and women in the course of the novel. This is perhaps the most explicit fantasy book I’ve read, and sex is portrayed in a positive light throughout the book.

And it turns out to be extremely important, plot- and characterwise (which means that skipping the scenes is a fraught activity if you don’t like explicit sex scenes). The sexual situations build the character of Iriset, and those she has sex with impinge on the plot as well as develop Iriset as a character.

And even outside of the explicit sex scenes, the book is, in a word, *charged*. For an empire and a court developed on Order, there is a heck of a lot of undercurrents going on. That runs through the entire book, and again, goes straight to character and the plot. For, you see, as much as Iriset is devoted to her plan to save her father, she winds up getting entangled, not only in the schemes of others in the courts, but emotionally as well. That entanglement complicates the plot deliciously.

So yes, in all the sex, and the complicated plot, this is a lush and rich novel, full of details, both in setting scenes and in worldbuilding. This is an intensely detailed world, on all the senses. We are engaged in how this world feels, from food and drink to decor, fashion, and setting details. The palace rooms, gardens, the cityscape all come to life. And it is a world that is both familiar and yet unearthly, and Gratton takes delight in showing it to us. This is a fantasy ’verse where a moon is perpetually bound above the caldera where the city lies. As a result, eclipses are predictable, regular, and tie into the religious beliefs, outlook, and calendar of the Empire. It’s often giddying to read passages, knowing in the back of your mind even when a conversation is relatively mundane and regular, that this very different and unique world is right outside the door—or right over their heads. It is a fever dream, or perhaps a lucid dream, of a reality for the reader to be immersed in.

And the novel has a lot to say about empire, and the whole imperial project. The Emperor is trying something new with marrying a powerful noble via alliance rather than outright trying to conquer her nation. The change in the scope and methods of the imperial project are not universally welcomed. And of course the novel has a lot to say about resisting imperial authority, the limits and problems of power, and how it influences and affects those who wield it. Iriset goes from being the daughter of a criminal mastermind resisting that power to being on the inside seeing it wielded. The internal fundamental contradictions of empire are laid bare in her story.

As a result, a lot of books and properties came to mind as touchstones for me as I read. The end of the arc has an advertisement for Antonia Hodgson’s The Raven Scholar, and that book really fits in well with this one on a lot of levels, and readers who enjoy one are going to, I think, have a likely chance of enjoying the other. I was also reminded of the roleplaying world of Glorantha, which has a moon hanging in one fixed place in the sky and unusual rituals with supernatural beings as part of the wonder of the extraordinary inside of the everyday. There are plenty of deadly courts in fantasy and I could list dozens. Most recently, Birth of a Dynasty: A Novel by Chinaza Bado once we get to the royal court, certainly has this in spades. The world of Ai Jiang’s A Palace Near the Wind is even wilder and stranger than this one, but the intrigues of its own court came to mind, especially with someone falling into a court with an agenda of her own that is thwarted by events and movements of the heart.

Given that this is a society obsessed with masks, my mind went to Jack Vance’s The Moon Moth. And of course, given Iriset is really Silk but pretends to be a hapless noble,² there is a lot of Zorro/Scarlet Pimpernel in her. The masks and the whole double life of Iriset had as Silk (and has, as she tries to cobble together things in the court) speak a lot to the novel’s theme of identity and what identity we show to others, and to ourselves. Masks and reflections, images from within and without—Gratton definitely works these themes and ideas fruitfully in Iriset’s story.

The novel ends on a phase transition, as we start to find out what is really going on and what the real central conflict of the novel is. In that way, it feels a bit like Annabeth Campbell’s The Outcast Mage, and like discussions of that book, I will avoid any revelations on that score. It does promise that the second novel is going to be rather different from the first, and given the change in the political and social landscape at the end of the novel, I am extremely intrigued to see where Gratton’s story goes next. She surprised me several times in this novel, and I very invested in continuing this ’verse.

Highlights:

• Sex-positive, lots of graphic sex that builds both character and plot. If that turns you off, this novel may not be for you.
• Richly detailed, lush, immersive world.
• An extremely interesting, twisty plot.
• Strong and fascinating character beats and developments in character.

Reference: Gratton, Tessa. The Mercy Makers [Orbit, 2025].

POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I'm just this guy, you know? @princejvstin

¹ The movie Sinners, unlike a lot of contemporary movies, does unapologetically have multiple characters of various types have sex on screen and those people be shown to enjoy it.

² Hapless noble, not hapless woman. To be clear, there are a lot of women in power and authority in this empire; it is extremely egalitarian in that regard. Amaranth, the Emperor’s Sister, is possibly the second most powerful person in the court and the empire, but the challenger to that position is a spoiler.

Anime Review: Lazarus

A unique, quirky, jazz-infused puzzle box series from the makers of Cowboy Bebop

What would you do if you only had 30 days to live? And, so did most of the rest of the world? For the characters in Lazarus, the answer is different from what you would think. Lazarus is a unique, retro-vibed, slow-paced, jazz-infused puzzle box anime from the makers of Cowboy Bebop. In it, a cobbled-together team of strangers is drafted to find a way to save humanity from history’s largest act of mass murder.

In a near-future version of Earth, Dr. Skinner, a gifted scientist and genuine humanitarian, develops Hapna, a revolutionary drug designed to make people feel happier by interacting with the synapses that lead to sadness. The drug is effective, accessible, and affordable, and soon becomes wildly popular and almost universally used worldwide. Three years later, the inventor reveals that the drug is actually, and intentionally, lethal, and that everyone who has used even one dose will die in the next thirty days. But Skinner is willing to release the cure if someone is able to find him despite the extraordinary lengths he has gone to stay in hiding. A government official, Hersch, assembles a team of highly talented misfits to track down the rogue scientist and save humanity in a high-stakes, reverse-heist version of Carmen Sandiego. The five recruits are coerced into participating due to each one’s legal problems, and they are forced to wear bracelets that monitor their locations, heart rates, and communications. In the search for Skinner, each episode provides another clue (or red herring) for the Lazarus team to chase after as the clock ticks down to the end of humanity.

The strength of the show lies in the likeable ensemble of the five main misfits who make up the Lazarus team. The characters are thoughtfully portrayed, but all feel slightly underdeveloped compared to other popular anime. Bold, cynical, escape expert, felon Axel is the first person we meet and by far the most interesting. His point of view is often the primary one throughout the series. Doug is a Black scientist genius whose de facto leadership and by-the-book approach clashes with Axel’s brash boldness. In an interesting moment, Doug discusses the racism he constantly faced as a student and a scientist. This is an ongoing characteristic of the series—raising powerful commentary and then moving on, back to the hide-and-seek chase plot. The rest of the team includes Leland, a sweet-natured, teenaged, billionaire playboy with a complicated past; Eleina, a quiet, top-level hacker who escaped a cult commune worshipping an AI; and Christine, a brash Russian sharpshooter with a lethal secret past. Together, the five strangers create an appealing found family who grow closer to each other and who are willing to risk everything to save each other when danger strikes. And the show provides a surprising amount of diversity with characters of color in multiple key roles.

However, despite the interesting character backgrounds and the solid onscreen chemistry of the Lazarus team, the characters often feel a bit underused and not as fully developed as they could be. It’s clear that the primary focus of the show is on the mission to hunt down clues to finding Skinner. That style of teasing a personal connection and then abandoning it keeps the show from realizing a true emotional potential and creates more of the tone of a late-night video game where the characters are clearing levels in a mystery scenario. Additionally, the overall sense of urgency in the larger society, despite facing the impending demise of humanity, is relatively laid back. Early on, passing background characters assume that the government will find a cure, or that someone is working on it, and continue their day-to-day lives while acknowledging the reality of the threat. As a result, the vibe is less like an end-of-the-world chaotic panic and more like Keep Calm and Carry On.

In some ways, Lazarus has the cynical, pragmatic problem-solving vibe of the show’s predecessor, Cowboy Bebop. Like Cowboy Bebop, the action scenes in Lazarus are underscored by sleek jazz beats and tailored, unfussy MAPPA animation. At times, the show shifts from chases, fighting, and dark humor to more intense and upsetting violence, including an episode where Christine is kidnapped and forced to face her past, and another episode where Axel is hunted by a mentally unstable assassin. These bold episodes balance out others where the red herring clues seem to lead nowhere. Lazarus gives viewers a little bit of everything, but for fans of Cowboy Bebop, this is not the same type of story or storytelling. However, like Cowboy Bebop, each episode works well for one-at-a-time late-night chill viewing rather than a stacked and binged fast-paced action indulgence or emotionally intense adventure. And the music is timeless and fantastic if you like jazz. This combination makes Lazarus a pleasant, low-stakes break in between other, more intense stories.

Nerd Coefficient: 7/10.

Highlights:

• Jazz vibes, slow paced
• Likeable but underdeveloped characters
• Relaxing, end-of-the-world clue hunting

POSTED BY: Ann Michelle Harris – Multitasking, fiction-writing Trekkie currently dreaming of her next beach vacation.

Book Review: No Such Thing As Duty by Lara Elena Donnelly

A blend of the historical and the speculative to linger on the concept of duty in a grim and everchanging world.

The viewpoint character of Lara Elena Donnelly's novella No Such Thing As Duty is William Somerset Maugham. You might have heard of him. An English writer who penned plays, short stories and novels, I certainly had, but knew very little about him beyond that briefest of bios. Nor did I until after I had finished writing my first draft of this review - a deliberate choice, wanting to preserve the experience of the story as a narrative-object, to linger in its tension and ambiguities, without collapsing them down with the intrusion of reality until I had at least captured the rough sense of my feelings in the amber of prose.

Because there are two No Such Thing As Dutys - the first is the one read by someone who knows Maugham's bibliography, the facts of his life and the reality, date and manner of his death. This is a version one must expect of any book which features historical facts, in any form. There is always someone who knows everything, especially when the subject is a famous author. The second is my experience.

At the start of the book, we meet Maugham arriving in a Romania in which he is certain he will die (and glad of it rather than being a Scottish sanatorium). He is suffering from tuberculosis, dizzy with fever and coughing up blood, but seemingly determined to do his duty before succumbing to the inevitable. Already, a branching point of the two experiences of the story. For me, this is tension - does he die in Romania? I don't know. He seems wearily certain of it, a spectre that looms over the story, that intrudes every time he coughs up blood into a handkerchief or a scarf conveniently dark to hide the stain. Arriving as a spy in wartime, he reports in to receive such mission as he might be needed for, following on from his promising activities with less promising outcomes in other fronts of the conflict. But he soon realises his mission, such as it is, seems more of a sop, a bone thrown to make him feel useful rather than something vitally necessary.

And thus, the central conflict of the book. The duty he's doing - to King and Country, as he says - what kind of duty is it, if it is this pity mission? He leaves behind a daughter he cares about and a wife he'd rather avoid, coming to die far away, and if it's not for duty, then what is it for? Are they not also a duty?

But he's there, and the mission is in front of him, and he's dying, so do it he does. And through the course of it, he meets two other key figures. One a man, Walter, seemingly walled off from any sense of duty - seemingly - and another a woman, Mme. Popescu, whose husband died of a duty he didn't even need to do. Three angles on the same problem, though mired firmly in Maugham's. The glimpses of the other two do however serve to colour and explore his, through the lens of his introspection.

And this - his self-critical, thoughtful, writerly narrative voice - is one of the most successful things about a roundly successful novella. I'm not familiar with Maugham's work in reality - another branch point, does his narrative voice sound like actual Maugham's - but I found myself quickly invested in the version of him that exists in Donnelly's. There's an analytical bent to the way he talks about the people around him, a distance that he himself names as he talks to other characters, and a slight rigidity to the prose that does nod back to the time at which the story is set, without overegging the historicity. But it's not just that. He is constantly dwelling on his imminent death (ironic or simply foreshadowing?), the effect that will have on his family, whether being here is the right thing to do, and if he even truly is doing his duty at all. He also dwells on two lost loves and one growing one, because all good things come in threes.

As with the three angles on duties, the three loves all inform one another, shaping how we see Maugham as much as how he sees himself. There's Sue, the woman he wishes he'd married but whom he lost to the man who got her pregnant (and married her out of - yes, there's duty again). There's Gerald, the outgoing soldier he knew in the Pacific, whose strengths shored up Maugham's weaknesses, and whose flaws could be forgiven, and critically who knew, as Maugham knows, when and how to keep hidden from society's eyes what it doesn't want to see. And then the present one, Walter - the man who walls himself off from duty, who refuses to hide himself as Maugham knows he must.

Intersections, wherever you look. Maugham - with his stutter, his orphan status and French early years already an outcast, clinging on to rigid propriety as close as his interpretation of duty. Walter flouting both but charming him in, while also being his mission, a part of his own duty and bound up in the death of Popescu's husband.

All of which leads to wondering about the reality of Maugham's duty - the clue is, indeed, in the title - but whether it's self-imposed too. All around him, people take the rules of society less seriously than he does, whether they be his British handler, the locals, Walter or Mme. Popescu. He dwells on how it was his duty to marry Syrie, the wife he's avoiding, after he got her pregnant. But was it truly? Was it a duty he could have avoided if he wanted to? Did he want to? Will he die in service to this thing that may never even really have been asked of him at all?

That tension and uncertainty about his death is why I resolved not to find out his biographical details until I had settled my thoughts. Because the poignancy of not knowing felt so delicious, and fed in so beautifully to the ethical crisis he was suffering through, that I wanted to treasure it as a lucky gift I chanced to have in reading it.

However, around half to two thirds through the novella, Donnelly introduces a speculative element which complicates things further. Obviously, there were no vampires involved in World War I. And so, however closely the narrative up to this point may (or may not) have married up to the real history and biography, here it diverges. The two experiences of the book briefly coalesce. But only briefly.

In my opinion, vampires are at their best when they are both truly dangerous and also, despite and because of the danger, sexy. In No Such Thing as Duty, the sexiness of the vampirism (and while a little understated, by god is Donnelly's vampire sexy) is corralled in by the physical - blood and bites and hands and tongues - just as the rest of the story is wedded to Maugham's own physicality, of his breath and cough and bleeding, his fever constantly waxing and waning, the scratch of fabric on skin, his enjoyment of food and drink. Donnelly revels in the sensation of drinks particularly, the haze of brandy and heat of coffee, and temperature more broadly - feverish burns and the cool touch of snow. And again, the lingering prophecy of Maugham's death informs this. We read his body in its frailty and potential failure; the vampirism marries that imminent death up with sex but also with the potentiality of death's forestalling.

And so, the two readings once again diverge and split even further. Is the intrusion of the fantastical about to change the facts, and a reader who knows whether Maugham will die about to be surprised by a change, or have their knowledge come to fruition, but its method shifted? And then, again, me, caught up only in the tension of the story itself. Vampires throw a spanner into the works of the greatest inevitability, and so add an extra layer of narrative uncertainty.

Right up to the end, Donnelly preserves that ambiguity. The story ends with implication rather than closure, a situation that made me very glad for my lack of knowledge, but one that, precisely because of the speculative elements, likewise imposes that ambiguity even on a reader who does know, because while the question of "if" might have been settled for them, there still lives a vast expanse of "how" and "why".

And so, ultimately, it doesn't matter if you know the facts or not. The story uses vampirism to crack open the vault of possibility, and ensure that the available endings are uncertain for any reader. I looked up the facts, and learnt that not only did Maugham live into his nineties, far beyond the scope of the life he sees as doomed in the story, but that even the foundation of the story rests on a branch untaken - the Scottish sanatorium the book's Maugham is glad to avoid was the path of reality. A reader who knew his biography was already wrong-footed, because it never cleaved to that reality in the first place. That break from the known path already introduced the potential for change, and the story could become one of the doomed path the real man didn't take.

No Such Thing As Duty wields its ambiguities and potentialities like a scalpel, all the while holding them in delicious contrast to the bitter realities of the physical and the flesh. By using a real historical figure and divorcing him from his reality, Donnelly ties her story to real anchors - there are hints and nods to real, biographical facts seeded throughout - without closing off the opportunities for tension, and the scope of possible endings. The fantastical element is also the most grounding one, the sections in which Maugham is being fed on being some of the most intimately real ones, where much of the rest of the story comes filtered through his particular lens of perception, held at a distance, or made hazy by illness. Only in contact with the unreal does the story fully rear up into feeling quite present. She leaves her questions open - this is not a story with an answer to its moral questions, any more than it is one to set a firm hand on the conclusion of its plot - and the work is all the better for it. It is a beautiful, brilliant book, with exquisitely understated prose and a skilfully managed viewpoint, and one that exemplifies what a good novella can do, or be, by using all its tools, figures and ideas all intersect and coalesce into a gorgeous mess of feeling and thought.

--

The Math

Highlights: Sexy but understated but sexy vampirism, triangulating around the concept of duty, well-crafted introspective viewpoint

Nerd Coefficient: 9/10

Reference: Lara Elena Donnelly, No Such Thing As Duty [Neon Hemlock, 2025]. 

POSTED BY: Roseanna Pendlebury, the humble servant of a very loud cat. @chloroformtea.bsky.social

Book Review: Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth H. Bonesteel

When we fly through the galaxies, will our worst side come with us?

As human civilization broke apart in vaguely defined wars, scattered groups tried to preserve what they could of human history and culture in colony ships sent in all directions, without means to communicate with one another or any coordinated plan. As far as each group knows, they're all that's left from Earth. One of those ships, the Arkhangelsk, found a barely inhabitable planet where a new beginning could be attempted. The colonists have to live underground, though, because the surface is lethally cold, lethally irradiated, and lethally low in oxygen. Those who need to briefly walk outside for work reasons must wear thick protective suits and carry their own oxygen. After a couple of centuries, they've made their little society work, even if they're dangerously short on genetic diversity and their rusty machinery is held together with bubblegum and prayers. This community has sworn off the petty divisions that tore apart humans on Earth, and is committed to a nonviolent approach to law. Life is rough and precarious, but it still goes on. Even as they face one impossible challenge after another, they're proud of the fragile survival they've managed to snatch from the hostile conditions of their new home.

So it's understandable that their entire conception of their place in the universe goes out the window when another colony ship comes knocking at the door.

The new ship left Earth much later, after the wars ran out of steam and civilization had a chance to restart. The crew didn't even know that the Arkhangelsk had succeeded at colonizing a planet; the reason they arrived there was to build a relay antenna. Like the members of the first trip, they carry their own cultural memory of what Earth is like and what the lessons of history are. When they make contact, purely by blind luck, with the descendants of the Arkhangelsk, the first point of conflict, albeit implicit, is about their differing views on the true character of the human species. Those who arrived first believe that they need to constantly watch out for the worst impulses of the human heart; those who arrived later believe that humans have demonstrated the capacity to drag themselves up from rock bottom. There we have a microcosm of every point of inflection in human history: two cultures with incompatible principles, trying to interact and understand each other. Is mutual destruction a natural tendency or a choice that can be avoided?

We follow two narrators through the novel: Anya, an officer of the peace in the underground colony; and Maddie, the former doctor and now emergency captain of the newcome ship. Both carry the weight of tragic losses that have come to define them until the moment they meet each other. Amid the unforgiving hardships necessary to keep the colony functioning, Anya's little daughter was the only bright spot in a dull, directionless life. After losing her to one of the diseases typical of a population going through a genetic bottleneck in a radioactive planet, Anya has been merely going through the motions of a job that gives her no satisfaction and that her neighbors resent her for. Currently she's investigating a row of disappearances that most witnesses suspect to be suicides; the tacit consensus is that, although the colony strives hard to stay alive, there's very little to live for. So whenever there's news that another inhabitant has walked out and vanished in the snowy wasteland, the prevailing attitude that Anya finds is that no one blames them. Meanwhile, reluctant captain Maddie has been struggling to complete her mission after a navigation accident pulverized half her ship and most of her crewmates. Thrown by circumstance into a position of leadership she's still quite unprepared for, she now has to convince the Arkhangelsk colonists that her team comes with peaceful intentions, even as her mission is to help Earth send many more ships their way.

The most enjoyable part of reading this novel is the complicated interplay between two factions that are sincerely trying to present themselves as friendly yet keep giving each other the wrong impression. From the colonists' perspective, the visitors could be carrying all the evil ideas the Arkhangelsk ran away from when they left Earth, but also a potential solution to their genetic bottleneck. From the visitors' perspective, the colonists have cultivated exactly the kind of close-mindedness that doomed Earth in the past, but also valuable metallurgic expertise that could help repair their ship. As both groups proceed with as much mutual fear as mutual need, the slow-motion trainwreck of their diplomatic efforts raises questions that go deeper than culture shock and point at humanity's stubborn failure to learn from history. Will the world wars that ended civilization erupt anew in this remote settlement? Is survival the highest imperative, for the sake of which the rest of our common interests must be surrendered?

This novel has answers, but they're by no means final. The cosmic irony of the human condition isn't that life stops right at the moment when we think we've got it figured out; it's the much more unnerving fact that, when we think we've got it figured out, it keeps going.

Reference: Bonesteel, Elizabeth H. Arkhangelsk [House Panther, 2022].

Nerd Coefficient: 7/10.

POSTED BY: Arturo Serrano, multiclass Trekkie/Whovian/Moonie/Miraculer, accumulating experience points for still more obsessions.

Book Review: A Song of Legends Lost by M. H. Ayinde

A twisty, kaleidoscope of a science fantasy novel with a set of interesting characters in a world they do not realize they don't understand as well as they think.

I’ve mentioned science fantasy a lot in these reviews, since it is one of the main chords of my SFF upbringing and development. We’ve seen books in this space where the science fantasy was anything but simply fantasy without even a hint of anything beyond that. Other novels have not mentioned explicitly they were science fantasy at all, but in the final analysis, clearly are.

For me, science fantasy works best and makes me happiest when it is essential that the two genres work and mix together. Science fantasy stories that are more than, oh look there is a raygun in this fantasy world. Or, oh look, in this science fictional world, there is the barest hint of something supernatural. But when the story surely can’t work without both elements, where the story feeds on being in this borderland, that’s when science fantasy works the best for me.¹

And so we come to A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde, first in a prospective trilogy.

A Song of Legends Lost is set in a secondary fantasy world that is under constant threat from creatures called greybloods, scavengers and dangerous leftovers from a previous fallen civilization. The society and world of Ayinde’s book respond to this threat by having certain individuals call upon the spirits of their ancestors, being able to manifest them from the beyond, to help fight these threats. One of our main characters, Jinao at the beginning of the book, has tried for years in vain to be chosen to do this, to be allowed and able to invoke one of the warlord ancestors that protect the Nine Lands, his ancestor, Mizito. 

So far, so good. Straight up fantasy. Spirit magic. Invokers. Threats from beyond. But we dig a little deeper. Another major POV character, the first we meet, Temi, brings in the science part of this equation. Her family are bakers, and also have a side business using old “techwork” to make water votives (purifiers) and other small bits of what are at best questionable and otherwise illegal uses of ancient and forbidden technology. So Temi is hip deep in old technology from a lost age that many (and rightly as it turns out in the course of the book) consider hideously dangerous, even as she is trying to help her family scratch out a living at the bottom of society (far different than the noble born Jinao).

What’s more, it quickly becomes clear, although Temi is driven to distraction, that some sort of ancestor spirit has attached themselves to Temi. Just what this spirit is, and why it has done so, and what its own plans and goals are the major throughline and mystery of the book. But the result is that Temi embodies the science fantasy nature of Ayinde’s novel better than any other character. Jinao is all about the ancestor spirit of Mizito and where that leads him (mainly down a road of confrontations with a ferocious greyblooded adversary called the Bearnator). Other POV characters we get are all about the techwork and ancient forbidden technology and only latterly wind up having to deal with spirits themselves.

But Temi? Temi is in these two worlds from the start, and it is her story that embodies the twin science fiction and fantasy narratives that infuse this book. She has to deal with the consequences of her techwork, and also with the spirit attached to her. Add this from a lower-class perspective and you can see why she is the focus, primary protagonist for the novel. She's the anchor everything and everyone else comes around.

The book is also about legacy, and history, and how a society, or a government (very appropriate and timely in our era) shapes the narrative of the past to its own ends. Sometimes, as this book shows, it’s not even done consciously. But the throughline of A Song of Legends Lost shows that a perception, a worldview, a conception of how the world works that is far out of line of reality can stand for a long time, but it cannot stand forever, and when reality finally bites, it can bite rather hard. The people of the Nine Lands think they know their origins, their history, their heritage, their duty. 

It turns out that, in truth, they are wrong about all four. And soon learn that the price of their misconceptions (and outright being lied to) is going to be very high indeed.

So this makes the book a painful (for the protagonists and their society) slow revelation and education as to the true state of affairs. What the greybloods are, where and what the ancestor spirits are, the nature of techwork, and even the fundamentals of the governing society. We the reader (in a excellent use of perspective and information control) learn more and faster than any individual protagonist about what is really going on, but it is an unlocking series of revelations. 

Along the way we get some vivid action sequences. A book where spirits of the ancestors are invoked to face hordes of smaller or sometimes a few large opponents, with named and diverse weapons and skills makes those sequences some of the highlight of the book. Jinao is not prepared for all this and he takes a beating again and again as he tries to learn better against his mysterious opponent. But we also get a city invasion, stand-offs between various factions, and even spirit on spirit combat. The book is rich on the details of the kinetics of these sequences and it is a good testament to the author’s writing skills.

We also get some carefully constructed character arcs (poor, poor Jinao, I really felt for him this entire book in a way even more than Temi, who ostensibly is the more primary protagonist), and a slow unfurling of the true state of the world, and what is going on. The variety of characters we get from all levels of society provides an well considered set of characters from various walks of life as we see them respond to the fractures in society that occur as the novel unfolds. 

I am reminded of Erin Evans’ Empire of Exiles, where the fugitives of a once continent spanning set of cultures are bottlenecked into a small peninsula, the threat of the force that occupies the rest of the land a supposedly containable force outside the peninsula, or is it, really? Intrigue, and adventure inside the lands of the Salt Wall, but the menace of what is lurking outside the Salt Wall threatens everyone and everything.² There are some very hard truths the characters in the duology come to learn about their world, much like the characters in Ayinde’s novel. 

For those particularly interested in such matters, there is some queer representation here, one of the warlord ancestors, for instance, uses nonbinary pronouns. Queerness is not a focus of the book, but it is present. More prominent, and subtler, is the multicultural nature of the Nine Lands society, with names, concepts and even weapons which invoke places from Mesoamerica to regions of Africa to regions of Asia such as China and Japan. This feels like a book that the author decided to entirely take her worldbuilding inspirations outside of the Great Wall of Europe.

This is the first in a trilogy and there really isn’t an off-ramp here. And I get the sense that (like many trilogies) now that some of (but not all, clearly) the blinders are off, the real story of the series can begin. The writing is solid, I love the science fantasy world Ayinde has created, and I am invested in the characters as they face a threat, and really a world they did not grow up to expect. 

--

Highlights:

• Science fantasy goodness
• Layers of misinformation peeled away, showing the dangers of deceiving an entire society and oneself
• Excellent action sequences

Reference: Ayinde, M.H., A Song of Legends Lost [Saga Press, 2025]

¹ So the elephant in the room is Star Wars. And when Star Wars is NOT obsessively interested in the “Skywalker Saga”, and has the Force be much wider (potentially) than just a bloodline, this is when the science fantasy works the best. Episode IV and V (until the Vader revelation). Episode VII and especially VIII (with its subsequently wasted ending). When there is a sense that yes, there is all this high technology, but there is Something Else, and that is important too, even if you don’t believe in it.

² Side note, really but has to be mentioned. Relics of Ruin, the second book in the series, not only has a summary of the first book but it has it in character as a document/missive from a character telling you the events from their perspective. This is one of the best uses of form I’ve ever seen and Evans deserves praise for it. 

POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvstin.

TV Review: Phineas and Ferb, 2025

Still funny after all of these years, using the fantastical to poke fun at the everyday ridiculousness of life.

 

One of the best gifts you can give to parents of young children is kid friendly programming that somehow also manages to include sassy, cynical, funny content aimed at adults. Over the years, there have been a few shows that have done a good job of this combo technique, giving us a break from bland kids content. For years, Phineas and Ferb was such a show, one filled with bright animation, humorously designed characters, and lots of silly songs but, at the same time, highly entertaining for grown-ups due to its funny social commentary tucked into its fantastical premises. It’s been ten years since the last adventures of the two very clever step-brothers and their bossy big sister. But now Disney has revived this gem and brought it back for a new decade of viewers. How does it compare to the original? Weirdly, the transition feels seamless, despite the years that have passed since the last episode aired. Phineas and Ferb is still funny after all of these years, perfectly using the fantastical to poke fun at the everyday ridiculousness we must all face.

The series follows the adventures of small town grade schooler Phineas Flynn, a fearless inventor with genius level engineering skills, and his equally talented, but quieter, British step-brother Ferb Fletcher, as they find outrageous ways to entertain themselves during the “104 days” of summer break from school. The boys’ daily creations are always NASA-level outlandish to the irritation of Phineas’s teenaged sister Candace who is obsessed with revealing her brothers’ antics to her mom. The large cast includes Phineas and Ferb’s grade school classmates: sweet and charming Isabella, nerdy and sarcastic Baljeet, and tough, loud mouthed Buford, all of whom help with the brothers’ inventions. A regular subplot involves their pet platypus Perry who is secretly a highly athletic super-spy who regularly battles the town’s philosophizing and bumbling evil genius Dr. Doofenshmirtz. In addition to these primary characters who appear in almost all episodes, there are minor characters who appear periodically and many of them get a chance to shine in the new season, including Candace’s bestie Stacy; Doofenshmirtz’s cynical teen daughter Vanessa; and the five other girls in Isabella’s campfire scout troop who sometimes assist with the daily inventions. Each episode traditionally follows a repeating structure: 1) the brothers get inspiration for a complicated project to entertain themselves; 2) after starting they passingly notice that Perry has disappeared; 3)Perry gets assigned to thwart Doof’s next plan and 4) Doof has an ill-fated plan to take over the tri-state area; 5) Candace tries in vain to convey her brothers’ antics to her mom; Doof’s and the brothers’ unrelated inventions collide in a way that cancels them out without each inventor realizing why.

At the end of the 2015 season, Doofenshmirtz decides to take a break from being “evil” but in the reborn 2025 season, he decides to go back to his evil ways but on a smaller scale. As a result, Perry returns to duty as his super-spy nemesis. So, despite the storyline shifts in the original series finale, the new season has reset itself back to the plot rhythms of the original show. The 2025 revival continues the theme of using outrageous scientific inventions, along with humor and sarcasm, to discuss small funny elements or relatable irritations in the drudgery of life including topics such as the ridiculously long wait windows for repair or delivery appointments or the annoyance of having a long awaited television episode ruined by a co-worker’s spoiler comment. Another hallmark of the show’s humor is the way it interiorly breaks the fourth wall. The opening song always ends with Candace complaining to her mom that Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence. The boys often reference the scientific improbability of some of their escapades. In episode 3 they create an infinite ice luge track that runs amok in the town. When Candace ends up accidentally covered in clothes from a boutique while chasing her brothers, the store clerk wants to charge her but gives her a break because he notices that she’s in a song sequence. In episode 4, the kids design the world‘s largest zoetrope using the campfire girl scouts as models, and this leads Isabella to note that animation is so easy. And one episode comments on the formulaic elements of the episodes. The revival also has lots of celebrities, including Michael Bublé playing himself and belting out a zoetrope ballad in the zoetrope episode.

In addition to the self-aware humor, the most fun thing about the new season is seeing the stock characters continuing to take on complexities and contradicting their stereotypes, including Isabella becoming a bold leader, Buford engaging in literary analysis, and Baljeet discovering his fierce side. If you have never watched the show, it’s best to flip through a few early episodes from prior seasons to catch the rhythm of the repeated plot set up and the side character arcs. Much of the show is laugh-out-loud funny but not all of the episodes land with the same top level humor and a few are a little slow. And the ongoing gag of Candace trying to convince her mom of the boys’ inventions does start to wear thin as you wonder why there’s never just a photo taken. But, for parents with younger kids or for grown-ups who just need a break, the return of Phineas and Ferb is a much needed respite of humor, sarcasm, and tight social commentary packaged in a range of subtle to over the top humor.

--

The Math

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10

Highlights:

• Still funny after all these years
• Self-aware commentary and storytelling
• Using the outrageous to tell stories of ordinary life

POSTED BY: Ann Michelle Harris – Multitasking, fiction-writing Trekkie currently dreaming of her next beach vacation.

Film Review: Predator: Killer of Killers

 All Killer, No Filler

Predator is one of my favorite franchises out there, possibly even rivalling my rabid Star Wars fandom. One of the things I love about the growing Predi-verse is that it is simply unapologetically what it is. The first two are tight, tense affairs, with a few hints at a larger universe and timeline. The years that followed brought some fun comics and video games, before the tepid AVP movie threatened to derail the whole endeavor. Then came the vastly underrated Predators, then Prey, and now the lid is off with Killer of Killers. It doesn't concern itself with silly frivolities like a super deep story, historical accuracy, subtlety or nuance. It gives us what we came for - scenery chewing hunters, wrecking everything around them and slaughtering redshirts in brutal and hilarious ways. 

Split into three(ish) parts, across the Viking era, feudal Japan and WWII in the Pacific, a different Predator (the species we now know to be called 'Yautja'), with different weapons, takes on a different warrior from each timeline. The extremely simple review is: It's really good. Like I said - it's exactly what it is. Each Yautja is unique, with badass weapons that slaughter everyone except their target in creative ways. Each target is likewise unique, a badass (with Torres, the American, playing a little too much into the aw-shucks-underdog American fantasy a little too much), that overcomes their pursuer with ingenuity and determination.

Thank god I'm safe, unless there is a drinking-game-driven Predator

This exposes the inherent flaw in the Predi-verse: They are presented as the ultimate hunter, killer of killers, etc, and yet... they always lose. Sure, they kill the NPCs with reckless abandon, but the main character always wins in the end, and sure, we see those people get picked up by squads of Predators, but the title card fight always ends with the humans on top. It was one of the things that drove me nuts about AVP - the tagline was "whoever wins, we lose", and yet, humans were the ones standing at the end. 

Perhaps the upcoming Badlands fixes this, but at a certain point, it takes the punch out of Predators treating Earth like a hunting preserve, but getting their asses kicked every time (that we see). To be honest - it's a fairly small complaint, and each one of the movies, including this one, is extremely entertaining in its own right. But like so many other cinematic universes, as it grows, it opens itself up to more and more scrutiny, especially of its own in-universe rules and composition. 

All that being said, since Disney owns the rights to Predator and nearly every other IP in the known universe, and we are clearly trying to visit every era of human history with Predators, I am available to write any of the following movies for a modest fee:

• Predator vs Stitch - Stitch is ultimately accepted by the Yautja as one of their own; Lilo disembowels her bullying classmates. Post-credit scene teases Predator vs Toothless.
• Predator vs Terminator - Dutch is brought out of stasis to fight the OG terminator; this confuses the Yautja greatly.
• Predator vs the Sith - just two hours of lightsabers and Yautja weapons
• Predor vs Ewoks - Just two hours of Predators slaughtering Ewoks
• Predator in the era of the Aztecs. Two movies - in the first, a Predator defeats an Aztec warrior, immediately before the Spanish arrive. Post-credit scene shows them taking the Aztec gold, with the Yautja watching. They become the curse of the Aztec gold, slaughtering any who possess it for taking it dishonorably. 

--

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 9/10

Bonuses: None, but worth mentioning the score above includes points for not trying to hard, and just focusing on the basics. 

Penalties: -1 for the humans winning.

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10 - well worth your time and attention
See more about our scoring system here.

-DESR

Nanoreviews: Demon Daughter. Installment Immortality, Overcaptain

Demon Daughter, by Lois McMaster Bujold

A very gentle story, one of my favorites of the series. In Demon Daughter a young girl, Atta, is washed ashore following a shipwreck and for reasons ends up in the care of Penric, who (if you haven’t been keeping up with this series) is basically a semi itinerant priest who deals with cases of demon possession.

Demon Daughter ends up a combination of a small domestic drama and a question of the nature of demon possession in this universe and it is small and it is quiet, but it is deeply powerful. Atta is possessed by a very young demon and that allows for the perspective of Desdemona to come very much to the forefront of this novella.

This is the twelfth novella in the Penric and Desdemona series and for a reader who has been along for the ride since the first volume, Demon Daughter is deeply satisfying.

Installment Immortality, by Seanan McGuire

I have to wonder how close we are getting to an end point with the Incryptid series. That’s not a statement of exhaustion, but an observation of the stories McGuire is telling at this point. Spoilers will likely abound - but the previous book, Aftermarket Afterlife, had the Covenant (if you know you know) launching major attacks against the Price-Healy family and our heroes hitting back with a counter attack utilizing the ghostly skills of Mary Dunlavy to hit the Covenant at their main chapterhouse. Installment Immortality sort of deals with the consequence of that, in that it is focused on what happens to a ghost who blows everything up and can’t quite get away from the bomb and also gives an update on the state of the Covenant following that attack.

On the assumption Seanan McGuire isn’t just getting starting fifteen books into the series, It seems like we’re getting close to a potential end game for Incryptid (this is also notable after reading the description for next year’s book Butterfly Effects).

That’s neither here nor there when thinking about Installment Immortality, but the future of the series was weighing on my mind when reading it.

What Installment Immortality does well is tell what is functionally a side story from the main Price family action. Still a ghost getting to do ghost things Mary Dunlavy is put on a quest to put a stop to Covenant agents attacking the ghosts of America - and through this examines the consequences of several books ago regarding cousin Arthur (again, this will make sense if you know the series - I don’t know that I’d recommend jumping in here even though it’s a new narrator and those are typically jump in spots).

As a general rule I love this series. Seanan McGuire has done a fantastic job making Incryptid feel very lived in. We’ve been on a *journey* with this family and everything is familiar even with McGuire is doing new things, shifting perspectives, and making things generally uncomfortable for her characters. It’s impossible to read Installment Immortality in a vacuum. It’s the fifteenth book in a series that I’ve been reading for many years after diving headfirst into Discount Armageddon.

If Installment Immortality isn’t one of my favorite books of the series, and it’s not, it is still an overall satisfying read but I think primarily for those who have been along for the ride and it doesn’t hit some of the highs of earlier books in the series.

Overcaptain, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr

Alyiakal returns in Overcaptain, the latest entry in L.E. Modesitt’s long running Saga of Recluce. Following the events of From the Forest, success comes with a price and Alyiakal has been promoted, assigned to close a military post that has been a hot mess, and further assigned to be deputy Commander to an officer who doesn’t want the help.

There’s a trend in the Recluce series of extremely competent men who don’t fit the perfect political mold of those in power but who do their jobs so well their advancement cannot be denied but are given continually impossible tasks that are designed to either fail or kill them (or both). If you’re down for that, along with the understanding that Recluce novels live in the mundanity of their protagonists day to day lives that hint and build towards a much greater conflict.

Modesitt’s prose is smooth and Overcaptain is languorous easy reading. I continually describe Recluce as comfort reading, which isn’t to say that the action itself is comfort but Overcaptain (and the rest of the series) is a book to sink in and just live in this world for as long as it takes to make it to the end. The journey is the point of Recluce, much less so than the destination - but the destination always includes some fireworks.

Overcaptain is another solid entry in the Saga of Recluce.


PUBLISHED BY: Joe Sherry - Senior Editor of Nerds of a Feather. Hugo and Ignyte Winner. Minnesotan.

Video Game Review: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered by Bethesda Game Studios and Virtuos

By the Nine Divines, the rumors were real!

Back in April, the rumor making its way around the games industry was that there was to be a remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and further, that it would be shadow dropped (released at the time of, or soon after the announcement). A few weeks went by in this fashion, and all the internet faithful who fondly remembered their adventures in Cyrodil twenty years past began to doubt the authenticity of all the claims. And then it happened. A dream comes true, a rumor becomes real. Microsoft, Bethesda, and Virtuos announced a complete remake (that for some stupid reason, they decided to call a remaster) and that it would launch that very day. Praise the Nine! If there was one game I could have had remade from the ground up, this was it. So, as someone who played the original Oblivion for over a thousand hours, how does the remake stack up?

To reiterate, this is not a remastered version of the game from 2006, this is a full-on, soup-to-nuts remake of the old Oblivion and its Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles expansions. The game is faithful in every way that I can remember, with some slight adjustments being made to better enhance gameplay/gameplay experience. They removed some exploits (like easy sneak leveling) while leaving some classic ones that are always fun to exploit in subsequent play-throughs (Boots of Springheel Jak can still be plastered onto your feet while you wear another set of boots, thank Akatosh--though I didn't use the exploit this time around). These details prove that Virtuos and Bethesda took care in ensuring that the spirit of the game remained while addressing things that could break other aspects of the experience, especially for new players. For instance, using that previously mentioned sneak exploit early in the game would affect how strong enemies become, making the player character unequipped to handle them. For those of you who may have found more errors than I, I must apologize. It has been almost twenty years since I last played. But for what it’s worth, to me, everything that made the game memorable is still here.

The Elder Scrolls isn't quite as household a name as the subtitle for the fifth game; Skyrim. Those who know the name Skyrim will know what Oblivion is about. For those who don’t, the Elder Scrolls series casts the player into a sprawling open world with vast choices in character build, stories to uncover, guilds to join, dungeons to explore, and glitches to exploit. You begin Oblivion in a prison cell, looking through the bars while a dark elf across the way uses the race you’ve chosen to taunt you with racist remarks. Ah, how art imitates life. If you choose the same race (dunmer/dark elf), he’ll threaten to sleep with your wife (if male), or he'll threaten to sleep with you (should you choose a female character). Don't worry, you can deal with him later. The choice of race has its repercussions in the early game, with some people disliking you from the outset. Raising your personality and speech craft will allow you to smooth-talk anyone into being your friend though. It can be tough going at first, but it helps create an immersive atmosphere.

Speaking of, Oblivion is an easy game to get lost in. It’s one of those games where you could wander, find a random dungeon, complete it, find another one close by, complete that, too. Realize that you had a mission, but instead, you’ve spent the last two hours doing nothing whatsoever to do with whatever you had planned in the first place, and yet, you still feel satisfied. You’re an adventurer inhabiting a magical foreign world, and Oblivion’s idiosyncrasies are a wonderful catalyst to help the player immerse themselves further. Listening to the soundtrack as I skimmed the chiming nirnroot from the edge of a body of water was a soothing experience that brought me back nearly twenty years. Happy to say, the game still has that effect on me.

One of the best aspects of this remake is the high-quality upgrade of all the models. Everything looks gorgeous, the world, the characters, the armor, and the weaponry. Sure, there are things that popup here and there, and performance is at times suboptimal (and this from someone playing on a PS5 Pro, so be warned standard console and non beefed-up PC users), but the game doesn't just copy old character models over, they are remade, some looking completely different from the original, but all in a way to enhance the experience. While the original had a certain charm, it could sometimes be alarming to see just how hideous some of those old models were. From the sky to the oceans, to the flora and fauna, the remake is remarkable and precisely what I wanted out of the long-rumored game.

The gameplay is first person, though it can be played in third, and has been improved upon thank goodness. You have access to a variety of play styles and can eventually branch out and make your character a jack of all trades if you so desire (like I did, I like to feel like a god toward the end of my RPGs). Whether you choose to be a blade/blunt in one hand with a shield in the other, a two-handed blade or blunt weapon, a pugilist master, or an archer, the options are pretty similar throughout. The same button is used to fire an arrow as it is to swing a blade. Blocking incoming attacks with your shield, shield bashing an enemy, then getting a few quick swings in with your blade is satisfying. The gameplay isn't revolutionary, it is a nearly twenty-year-old game after all. But I must admit it is satisfying, after having played Skyrim all these years, to have the ability to always have a magic spell on hand without having to save a hand slot for it. A character that levels up in magic has all sorts of abilities at their disposal. Some to enhance, some to deceive, some to destroy, some are a mix. How you play your character, and the spells you can eventually create (in combination with the armor that you magically enhance) are entirely up to you and the play style you prefer.

My favorite things about Oblivion? The guild quests and overall quest variety. I was pumped to run through them all again, and they’re just as I remembered. Thieves Guild, Mages Guild, and oh, that Dark Brotherhood quest line. So satisfying. I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone, but one of my favorite quests—in any game—is in that Dark Brotherhood quest line (Whodunnit?). Outside of the guilds, some other quirky quests make the world that much more endearing. Ever rescue someone trapped in their own painting before?

Compounded with some of the glitches/bugs/features, some not-so-memorable quests can easily become something to remember. For example, I had helped defend a castle at one point in the game, a random side quest. One of the knights comes out to assist me, and he thanks me for my help. Cool. You’re welcome, guy. I go into the castle, take a nap, come back out, and there’s that knight again, standing by a corpse that he helped me kill. He gasps first, then, in a genuinely devastated voice says something like, “He’s dead. There’s a murderer around.” If that isn’t comedy gold, I don't know what is.

My primary issue with any quest-related writing has to do with the main story. It’s always been serviceable, but not quite on par with the guilds. The final battle is a bit underwhelming, but the ending cutscene is appropriately climactic. Though I would think the main story would be a bigger part of the experience, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is so vast that it doesn't get weighed down too much by the inferiority in comparison to its main guild quests. Still, it could be better. I could take or leave the Oblivion gates. Fun challenge at times, but they all feel a bit similar.

I’m going to use this big paragraph to compare Oblivion to Skyrim a bit more, so bear with me. For those of you who’ve played Skyrim (and let’s be real, who hasn't by this point?), you’ll find a familiarity with Oblivion. This is its predecessor, so that's to be expected. What you may not expect, however, is just how much was taken away from the fifth entry in the Elder Scrolls (and, from what I understand, some was lost between Morrowind and Oblivion as well, but that's a conversation for another time). The athletics and acrobatics skills are completely removed, two skills that have profound effects on your vertical movement as well as your traversal speed. Playing your Oblivion character, then moving over to Skyrim feels a bit like you dipped your character’s feet in molasses. Other things were also removed, but nothing quite so inhibitive. Skyrim streamlines more, has better gameplay and animations in some regards (but this remaster fixes a bunch of old Oblivion issues). The world here is much more varied, which is to be expected when compared with the cold Northern Skyrim, but still something worth noting. The music, of course, a subjective thing, is much more my speed and memorable, transportive. I listen to it while I write. The quest writing is much better. I can't tell you how disappointed I was playing through Skyrim the first time. I enjoyed Skyrim’s Thieves Guild line, but that was it. In Oblivion, I wanted to be part of these guilds, work my way up, find out what was happening and why. When it comes to dungeon crawling, the dungeons in Skyrim are better crafted. Though there are plenty in Oblivion that are exciting to explore, many dungeons lack that unique hand-crafted feel that you find in Skyrim. Both games are great, however, and I would happily play through either.

Also, sorry to inform you, but there are no dragons in Oblivion.

In other sad news, the game does have performance issues. I think it was a great idea to keep some of the exploits for players who liked to mess around with their builds and create god-like characters. It’s a single-player game and isn't harming anyone else’s experience. To keep game crashes and severe frame rate drops? Not a great idea. My friend put the game down early, resolved to wait for a patch. I believe patches are currently being worked on to address some of these issues, but as of my playthrough, the game has some issues. When too many models are on the screen, you get some slowdown. The game occasionally crashes (thankfully the autosave is forgiving). The most horrendous issue I had occurred at the very end of the Shivering Isles quest line. I had to look up a crazy workaround to be able to complete it (and mind you I was near the end of my playthrough, only needing to finish the main quest afterward). I thought I had lost my hundred-plus-hour save. Thanks to the kings and queens of Reddit who helped me figure that one out. These frustrations, though irritating in the moment they occurred, are but a drop in the hundred hours I sunk into the game. I hope it won't let it deter someone completely from buying the game. If anything, wait for a patch.

A few small things got on my nerves, things that I must have forgotten over the last two decades. For instance, enchanted weapon charging. Some weapons need to be constantly charged if you want their magical effects. After a few enemies, you have to go into the menu again just to recharge. The same goes for repairing weapons and armor. Why is there no repair all button once you’ve become a repair master? I also preferred the old-style UI for items, which had more character. That said, these are minor gripes that, as I mentioned, don't etch themselves into my memory when I look back. Still worth noting.

From the moment the emperor enters your prison cell and sets you free on a journey to do whatever the heck you want, when that fresh Cyrodil air hits your face and that atmospheric music stirs in the air, promising adventure, you know this is a place you could stay for a while. I’m so glad that this game got remade. It was truly a memorable day for me when they made that announcement. Despite some issues that pop up, I have to say that I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a fantasy setting in an immersive, moving world. For those who've played other games in the series, I do believe it is possible that whichever Elder Scrolls game you play first has a strong chance to always be your frontrunner of the series, but objectively, I think Oblivion has the best balance of accessibility and role-playing elements in the series thus far. You’d be remiss to skip out on it just because it’s a remake of an old game. It feels like it could have been made today, it’s still that good. After so many hours of playing the original, I still found new quests to do, characters to meet, and people to exploit. Oblivion Remastered is bursting with content, and, returning player or new, Cyrodil’s more beautiful than it’s ever been.

--

The Math

Objective Assessment: 9/10

Bonus: +2 for guild quests. +1 for visual overhaul. +1 for atmosphere and immersion.

Penalties: -3 for crashes and performance issues. -1 for genie glitches and bugs. -.5 for inventory/recharging annoyances.

Nerd Coefficient: 8.5/10

Posted by: Joe DelFranco - Fiction writer and lover of most things video games. On most days you can find him writing at his favorite spot in the little state of Rhode Island.