Thursday Morning Superhero

While I am not one to normally care for the big events from Marvel or DC, there is a perfect storm of quality writing and interesting stories that has me back on the bandwagon. Secret Empire feels reflective of a lot of what is currently happening in politics and is written by Nick Spencer of Morning Glories fame. DC's Metal event is bringing back the dynamic duo of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, whose Batman run is one of the best I have ever read. I am not sure if it is the fact that these events are being led by some of my favorite talents in the industry, or if Marvel and DC are turning a page in terms of the impact of said events.  They obviously sell issues, which with the growth of smaller publishers is needed for both, but I like to think that they are trying to tell compelling stories that will bring in new readers who are getting introduced to the two through their cinematic offerings.

Pick of the Week:
Dark Knights Metal #1 - Reunited and it feels so good! Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have rejoined forces for a new DC event. The DC Universe finds itself in the Age of Metal and I feel I need a proper soundtrack to listen to as I read this book. I didn't get to make it to one of the midnight release parties, but this event is off to quite the fun start. Mongol has trapped the Justice League on his war moon and has crafted armor to limit each heroes abilities. To make things worse they are forced to battle a group of robots in a coliseum for the amusement of everyone else on the moon. Upon escaping and returning to earth, the JL is surprised to learn that a giant mountain has risen in Gotham City. Without spoiling anything, Snyder is tapping deep into the DC vaults and bringing things back from before the New 52, including a bombshell that was leaked early, but one that I won't spoil. The final reveal (you can Google it if you are curious) is one of the most jaw-dropping moments I have experienced as a casual DC reader and has me chomping at the bit to go back and read some older titles. I have read that Snyder reached out to the character's creator and has permission to bring this being into this event as a central character. One that could have a lasting impact on the DC Universe, or one that will mess with the heroes for a good story, and then return everything to the way it was. This series looks to be absolutely bonkers and a heck of a lot of fun.

The Rest:
Southern Bastards #17 - All out war has broken out in Craw County and it isn't pretty. Coach Boss opened up a can of worms when he injured a player from Locust Fork.  Jason Aaron does not pull any punches in this issue that features a car dealing, monkey owning, Burt Reynolds-esque character named Colonel Quick McKlusky. I swear this comic gets darker and more violent with each issue, but high school football in the south is no joke and Coach Boss is desperate for a win. It looks like a resolution has been reached, but it doesn't look good for the Rebs. Still enjoying this series and anxious to see what happens in the big game.


All New Guardians of the Galaxy #8 - Drax's vow of non-violence has been broken and Rocket has been poisoned.  While the Guardians were able to fight off the Shi'ar Raptors, it isn't looking good for the crew. Wielding one Nega-Band, Quill invades the Raptor ship to find the antidote and get the other Nega-Band back. Quill is able to pull a fast one on the Raptor, who knows who Star Lord is, and return with the anti-dote. While he may have sacrificed the Nega-Bands, Star Lord has no idea of the dangers that await him and his crew. The only one who does is Groot, and with Rocket on the mend, I doubt anyone else will understand what they are up against.

Star Wars #34 - It is hard to believe that is has been 34 issues since Marvel got the Star Wars license from Dark Horse. I have really enjoyed the Marvel run and this issue is up there with the best of them. We met Sana Starros, who was once rumored to be married to Han Solo, earlier in the series, but haven't been able to appreciate her properly until now. She is tangled in a smuggling operation with Lando, and it is clear why she would be associated with someone like Solo. Always two steps ahead of who she is working with Starros weaves a tangled web of deception and stolen blasters that is quite the enjoyable tale. Definitely one of the stand out issues thus far in this series.



POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Thoughts on the 2017 Hugo Awards, Part Deux

Hopefully you've all read Joe's thoughts, which posted early today. I'll be relatively brief and add a few reactions of my own. -G


1. Best Fanzine

We came in 3rd, which is pretty good for a 1st time finalist. The winners, Lady Business, were last year's runners-up. This year's runners up, Journey Planet, won in 2015. So I'm feeling pretty good about our performance. Also worth noting that our vote tally was essentially equal to SF Bluestocking, who came in 4th on the final tally but actually had more points than us in the initial count. Hopefully we will both be back next year, especially since I'll probably be able to attend.

Even though we didn't win, I'm happy. Lady Business are very deserving winners, with great content, a dedicated following and strong brand recognition among WorldCon voters. Renay has also been very kind and generous over the years to 'nerds of a feather, flock together,' as well as to me personally. Losing to your friends makes losing much easily to handle--as much as you want it, you are also rooting for them. I had them second on my ballot, with SF Bluestocking third (I had us first, duh). Yay friends!


2. Year of the Woman

Others have noted how female finalists dominated the awards this year. Women won all four of the fiction categories, which isn't really surprising to me, especially in the short fiction categories, where year in, year out, most of my favorite stories are written by women. Perhaps more surprisingly, every other category save the two dramatic performance categories* were won by women or teams that include women. Certain parties are sure to see this as evidence of something deliberate at play, and it's always possible that there's an element of residual reaction to the attempting slating of the awards by aggrieved anti-feminists in 2015 and 2016.

More likely, in my opinion, it's the result of barriers coming down, and how that affects distribution over time. On an equal playing field, assuming that men and women produce roughly the same amount of quality product over time, there will inevitably be years where there are more of one than the other. If, as I suspect, female authors are overachieving male authors in the short fiction categories, then there will also be a slight bias toward female authors in those categories, due to the larger number of "award-worthy" stories in circulation. In most of the other categories, I think it's just randomness at play--voters just happened to prefer more stuff by women this year, and may prefer more stuff by men in another. I don't have data to back this up--it's just an educated guess. If I'm correct, however, and barriers against women in the Hugos are truly gone, then all I can say is: good riddance.

[For the record, my ballot also heavily favored women--specifically, because that's who I felt did the best work among the finalists. My favorite overall entry in the fiction categories was Amal El-Mohtar's wonderful story "Seasons of Glass and Iron." If you haven't already, go find it and read it. ]

*Gender barriers are stronger and stickier in film and TV, at the creator-level, than they are in fiction.


3. Arrival was good, but...

Come on--Stranger Things was like the best thing ever!

4. San Jose: here I (hopefully) come! 

I really wanted to go to Helsinki, primarily so I could meet a lot of the people I interact with regularly on twitter. It wasn't in the cards this year, but next year seems much more plausible. Fingers crossed, and if it happens, I look forward to meeting all of you in the flesh!

Thoughts on the 2017 Hugo Awards

The winners of the 2017 Hugo Awards were announced on Friday and I would like to offer a hearty congratulations to all of the winners. I've listed them below and for those who don't quite remember who all was nominated (we were!), here is a link to the full list of nominees.

Best Novel: The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books)
Best Novella: Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing)
Best Novelette:  “The Tomato Thief”, by Ursula Vernon (Apex Magazine, January 2016)
Best Short Story: “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, by Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, Saga Press)
Best Related Work: Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
Best Graphic Story: Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening, written by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:  Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve (21 Laps Entertainment/FilmNation Entertainment/Lava Bear Films)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough (SyFy)
Best Editor, Short Form: Ellen Datlow
Best Editor, Long Form: Liz Gorinsky
Best Professional Artist: Julie Dillon
Best Semiprozine: Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, and podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Bet Fanzine: Lady Business, edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan
Best Fancast: Tea and Jeopardy, presented by Emma Newman with Peter Newman
Best Fan Writer: Abigail Nussbaum
Best Fan Artist: Elizabeth Leggett
Best Series: (Special Category) The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
The John W Campell Award for Best New Writer (Not a Hugo): Ada Palmer

This is the rocket we did not win, photo credit to Michael Lee

This is a somewhat weird and difficult essay to write. Every year I write about the Hugo Awards because I love this process and I love being a part of the conversation about the awards. The thing is, when I did this in the past I was doing so from the outside. I was writing as someone who could only dream of being a finalist for the Hugo Award, let alone a potential winner.

This year. This year Nerds of a Feather was a finalist for Best Fanzine. We said thank you when the final ballot was announced, and let me tell you, it was difficult to keep that news quiet for the few weeks between being notified and when the announcement was made public.

We would like to again thank everyone who thought well enough of us to actually put us on their nominating ballot and did so in sufficient numbers to place us on the final ballot. That is awesome, amazing, and humbling. The field is so diffuse and there are so many venues producing really great writing and commentary that it is difficult to truly come to a consensus on which blogs and websites and more traditional fanzines are the ones to stand out from the field. That Nerds of a Feather was considered to be one of them last year is a true honor. So, thank you.

Next, we would like to thank everyone who then considered us for the Hugo when it came time to vote. Wherever we ranked on anyone's ballot, thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully consider our submission to the voter's pack and to then vote for us. We knew this was going to be a difficult ballot for us. Lady Business had been on the ballot last year and the editors there do fantastic work. Discussing our chances, we always figured they were the odds on favorite.

Journey Planet had been a finalist 2012-2015, finally winning in 2015. As a now five time finalist, they were always going to be a strong contender. SF Bluestocking is my personal favorite blog that isn't called Nerds of a Feather. Bridget McKinney does some of the best fan writing today. Rocket Stack Rank has a strong focus on short fiction reviews and has been an excellent resource, to the point that it is linked on the Hugo Awards website as a "third party recommendation" site.

The fact that we came in third place, behind only the winning Lady Business and the second place Journey Planet is astounding. We're grateful to everyone who ranked us so highly on their ballots (or, to be honest, included us on their ballot at all). This was a fantastic group of fanzines to share our first Hugo Award ballot with and we are honored to have had the opportunity.

The Obelisk Gate (my review) was my favorite novel of 2016 and I could not be happier that it won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. It truly is. The Broken Earth is shaping up to be one of the most spectacular fantasy series ever published and I do not intend that statement as hyperbole. This also marks the second consecutive Best Novel win for N. K. Jemisin (the first was The Fifth Season (my review) at the 2016 Hugo Awards). This isn't unheard of, but it is uncommon. Lois McMaster Bujold last pulled off the feat in 1991 / 1992 with The Vor Game and Barrayar. Before that it was Orson Scott Card for Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead (1986 / 1987). Before that, well, there is no before that. Not in consecutive years. It is an amazing accomplishment and one that is so very deserved for the excellence that is The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate.

Equally thrilling for me (and presumably for Seanan McGuire since she's the actual writer of the book) is the Best Novella win for Every Heart a Doorway (my review). It garnered an exceedingly rare 10/10 review here at Nerds of a Feather and it's one of the few books I wish I had the chance to read as a teenager. I think it would have been good for me twenty five years ago. While I hope that next year there will be a greater variety of publishers represented on the ballot, Every Heart a Doorway was one of the true standout novellas from Tor.com Publishing's year of releasing top notch novellas.

I could otherwise spend time on each category at far greater length, but I will leave that to simply say: congratulations to all of the winners.

I'm perhaps not going to as deep into this as I have in previous years, but one of my favorite things about the Awards (besides being a finalist for one, obviously) is the wonkery of digging into the statistics released after the Hugo Ceremony.

Voting Statistics from the Final Ballot
Nominating Statistics.

We can learn all sorts of interesting things from these reports. For example, The Obelisk Gate was in second place through the runoff tallying until the very last round when it finally gained enough votes to pull ahead of All the Birds in the Sky. Every Heart a Doorway had a definitive lead the entire time. Carrie Fisher almost received a posthumous Hugo for The Princess Diarist before eventually placing second behind Ursula Le Guin for Related Work.

Looking at the vote tallies for Fanzine it was very clear the race was between Lady Business and Journey Planet. Nobody else was seriously in the running. Once you get past the fight for first place, you'll see a fascinating battle for third place between Nerds of a Feather and SF Bluestocking. We were so tight during the runoff for First Place, Second Place, and for all passes for Third Place until the final one. It looks like more of the voters who preferred Rocket Stack Rank had us more consistently higher than SF Bluestocking.

The other thing I find fascinating about how runoff voting works is how Chuck Tingle had a very strong and dedicated voting base, but pretty much every other voter preferred other writers. This is how Tingle was in the lead for Fan Writer through the first four passes before Abigail Nussbaum overtook him for the win. But - despite how strong that voting base was, Tingle was not ranked high enough on other ballots to place higher than Fourth as the ranking continued.


Some changes were made to the nomination process this year. First, while voters were still able to nominate up to five works, the final ballot would now include six finalists. Second, the rule requiring a finalist to be on at least 5% of all nominating ballots was eliminated. Though this was not an issue for most categories, prior to the nonsense of the last two years, there had been several years where Short Story only had 3 or 4 finalists. The number of venues publishing short fiction were increasing beyond the ability for most readers who are not our own Charles Payseur to keep up with everything (check out his Quick Sip Reviews) and that's a lot of short fiction to build enough of a consensus to hit that 5% mark over hundreds of nominators.

The third major change is in how nominating ballots are tallied. The previous method was simple: the five or six works with the most nominations get on the final ballot, assuming eligibility. The newer method is a bit more complicated. It works on the same overall concept, but has a different mechanism for counting. It is called E Pluribus Hugo (out of many, a Hugo) and rather than my trying to come up with a better way to explain things, here is how EPH was described by the good people at Worldcon 75.

Under E Pluribus Hugo votes are tallied like this:

1. First, the total number of nominations from all ballots is
   tallied for each nominee.
2. Next, a single point is assigned to each individual voter’s
   nomination ballot. That point is divided equally among all
   nominees on that ballot. (After the first round of calculation, it
   is divided equally between remaining nominees.)
3. Next, all points from all nomination ballots are totaled for
   each nominee in that category.
4. Next, the two nominees with the lowest point totals are
   compared.
5. Whichever of those two has the fewest number of nominations is
   eliminated and removed from all subsequent calculations.
6. Back to step 1 with the remaining nominees after the elimination.

The above steps are repeated until there are only six nominees left.
Those six become the finalists.

It is about building a wider consensus while limiting the ability of groups of individuals to hijack a ballot by nominating in lockstep (as had happened in 2015 and 2016). It does, however, permit that same group to get behind a single nominee in each category and have a greater chance of getting that single nominee on the ballot. When that group is the one behind the ballot hijacking of 2015 / 2016, it comes across as a flaw, but the wider possibility is the mobilization of single issue voters having immense power to get their nominee on the ballot (for example, if just enough fans of Mur Lafferty’s excellent novel Six Wakes only nominate Six Wakes for Best Novel it would take fewer ballots for Six Wakes to make the final ballot than if those voters were diffused across other novels which also have a chance at the final ballot.)
 
This is how we see that The Obelisk Gate was on 480 nominating ballots, but only received 295.97 points. It means that The Obelisk Gate also shared ballots with some of the other finalists, thus diffusing the vote. Likewise, Nerds of a Feather was on 77 nominating ballots, but received 38.58 points in the end. It does raise a concern that individuals with a vested interest will start to nominate more strategically in order to boost the possibility their most preferred finalist makes the ballot. Will someone then only nominate two works they feel the strongest about if they think the other works they might have voted for would otherwise make the ballot? I wonder how much that could change the complexion of the ballot in the future, except there is no way to know how people would have behaved under different rules.

It used to be easy to tell how close a particular work came to making the ballot. If sixth place received 87 nominations and the next work down had 85 nominations we know it missed the ballot by 2 votes. But, if you look at the stats for Fanzine you see that Galactic Journey appears to have more total points than SF Bluestocking, but SF Bluestocking was added to the ballot when File 770 declined. The report notes, though, that Galactic Journey needed 6 more votes to push SF Bluestocking off the ballot.

The thing is that when a work is found to be ineligible after the notifications go out or when a finalist declines to accept a slot on the final ballot, the Hugo administrators do not rerun the calculations because that could actually remove one of the notified finalists and push a new one on and that would not be fair to the notified finalist. So, the last eliminated work is added to the ballot. I believe that’s the cause for the weirdness of how the tally for Fanzine looks. I do believe that the category is all the stronger because SF Bluestocking was on the ballot. I hope to see Bridget McKinney receive many more nominations both for Fanzine as well as for Fan Writer.

But look at the notes for Fan Artist. The administrators note that if Galen Dara had .33 more points, eventual winner Elizabeth Leggett would have been eliminated in an earlier round of counting. Dara probably would have made the ballot at that point, but they would have had to continue to run the numbers to confirm that. They go on to note that Ariela Housman was 1 point away from knocking Leggett off the ballot and then run different scenarios that would have also changed the finalists.

This goes to show that voting matters. Just a tiny change in voting patterns (or one more voter who preferred Galen Dara) and the winner of Fan Artist would not have made the ballot and 2013 winner Galen Dara may well be on it. Voting matters, and now how you vote makes can make a difference as well.

I'm not sure there is any specific takeaway this year, except that some really awesome stories and novels and artists and writers won Hugo Awards. Because of E Pluribus Hugo, the ballot was shenanigans-light and that is a vast improvement over the past two years. Though I am naturally disappointed that Nerds of a Feather did not win (I really, really wanted a Hugo), I am so very happy for the editors of Lady Business. I've been reading them for years and they do excellent work.

Finally, thank you again to the 77 people who thought well enough of us to nominate Nerds of a Feather to place us on the ballot and thank you for everyone who ranked us on their final ballots - especially the 148 people who ranked us first. It means more to us than we can express. It truly has been an honor to be nominated. These last four months have been surreal and weirdly stressful and hopefully we get to do it all again next year.  We'd love to all go to San Jose and meet as many of you as possible.


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Writer / Editor of the mostly defunct Adventures in Reading since 2004. Minnesotan. 

Microreview [book]: At the Table of Wolves, by Kay Kenyon

At the Table of Wolves is the fantastical, spy-thriller I didn't realize was missing from my life, and now, all I want is more!

It is the spring of 1936. Kim Tavistock, born in Yorkshire, England but raised mostly in America. She has been living with her father in England for the the past three years after a controversial article she wrote cost her her job at a Philadelphia newspaper. At thirty-three years old, Kim is uncertain of a lot of things, but especially about her Talent.

During the bloom, an onset of Talent development within random individuals of all ages but without a known origin, Kim gained the spill Talent. Rating a level 6, on a scale of 10, Kim has been working with a top-secret government run organization, Monkton Hall, researching Talents. However, Germany has been studying Talents for nearly a decade already, seeing potential for their application in war.

Kim has hated her Talent since its onset in her adolescence. The spill Talent causes people to share guarded secrets and while helpful as a journalist it often made friends fearful of being around Kim, even if they didn't understand why they were sharing too much. Her work with Monkton Hall provides a cover, that she is working on a writing assignment, and it helps give her some purpose after the scandalous dismissal in America.

Kim's case worker at Monkton Hall asks her to help uncover some evidence against a potential spy within their ranks. When her Talent produces needed intelligence beyond what even the highest levels of British Intelligence are aware of Kim finds herself swept up in trying to get answers.

The novel only takes place over the course of a couple of months, contributing to the fast-paced plot. And yet, I felt as though I'd spent years getting to know Kim, speaking to Kay Kenyon's skill and how she crafts such a real character in Kim Tavistock. Kim doesn't magically become the perfect spy, nor is her Talent a flashy one. She is anxious about life and her future, troubled at he lack of a relationship with her father, but she is still driven to do more and try for more. An animal lover, devoted friend (to the few she has), I can see myself in her.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this world are the characters and how events are happening at lower, everyday people kind of levels. This isn't top-tier, Bondesque spies reporting to a nation's leaders. This is bureaucrats and people simply doing the right thing trying to determine if their boss is a traitor to England, dealing with the frustrations inherent to dealing with a chain-of-command, trying to make the people with actual training move and take action.

It made for a really immersive read because the people felt so real. This is how things could actually happen. A slightly bumbling, well-meaning woman with a not-so-flashy Talent she can't even perform on command tries to do the right thing.

Kenyon is definitely one to watch. I was sucked into At the Table of Wolves because the book as a whole flows so perfectly.

I love everything about this book. I especially love that we might get more in this world. I want to see what Kim is capable of with proper spy training. I want to see if she can hone and control her Talent. I want to see what other Talents might exist. There is still so much to explore in Kenyon's world and I'd love a pile of Kim Tavistock books on my shelf!


The Math:
Baseline Assessment: 7/10
Bonuses: +1 non-super-spy heroine I loved, +1 stellar plot pacing Penalties:  -1 slightly lackluster villain that doesn't feel equal to our heroine
Nerd Coefficient: 8/10 - A new series perfect for the big screen and your bookshelf!

  ***
POSTED BY: Shana DuBois--extreme bibliophile and seeker of raindrops.
Reference: Kenyon, Kay. At the Table of Wolves [Saga Press, 2017] Our scoring system explained.

Nanoreviews: The Black Elfstone, Assassin's Fate, The Dispatcher

Brooks, Terry. The Black Elfstone [Del Rey, 2017]

The Black Elfstone begins the final push to the end of Shannara.  Brooks has been hit or miss since his Heritage of Shannara series published in the early 90's, but The Black Elfstone is a strong start to the final quartet of novels. We are now more a couple hundred or so years since the conclusion of Witch Wraith and I've been waiting for Grianne's story to tie back in (spoilers, I'm still waiting) - but Brooks tells a story of the Druids in chaos - led by an personally ambitious but morally feckless Ard Rhys - and a new enemy threatening the Four Lands.
Score: 6/10

Hobb, Robin. Assassin's Fate [Del Rey, 2017]

As I read the closing chapters, with water filling my eyes, I was reminded of first reading Assassin’s Apprentice curled up one of those plush and comfortable reading chairs Barnes and Noble used to put out for their customers (this was back in 2003). I did not know anything of the journey I was beginning, only that there was this boy who didn’t have all that great of a life and he was bonding with a wolf named Nighteyes and, oh, he was the bastard son of the Prince. It was a dark and dirty existence, though the title of the book suggested his what his future may hold. Maybe this will be a fun romp.

Reader, it was not a fun romp. It, and all of the subsequent novels were anything but a fun romp. They were beautiful and painful and aching and rippling with pain, but sprinkled with moments of pure grace. Assassin's Fate is a fitting, but wrenching conclusion to Fitz's story. Robin Hobb remains at the height of her powers.
Score: 9/10

Scalzi, John. The Dispatcher [Subterranean, 2017]

Here's a cool idea: die of natural causes or suicide and you're just dead. Die of murder and pop, you're back in your bed with your body reset to its condition just hours before your untimely end (999 times out of 1000, that is). There's no in story explanation for this and it's otherwise our world, just with one particular twist. Given that twist, there is no surprise that people figured out a way to monetize and legalize murder that allows a respawn. I love the silky smooth storytelling of John Scalzi. The Dispatcher is a delightful read with an imaginative conceit I'd love to see more of. 
Score: 7/10


POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 2017 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Writer / Editor of the mostly defunct Adventures in Reading since 2004. Minnesotan.

Five Games to keep an Eye on at Gen Con

This marks the first time in a number of years that I will not be in attendance at Gen Con.  With it just one week away, I have hanging my head in sorrow thinking of the games I am going to be missing. Fortunately there is an amazing Gen Can't community for those of us who can't make the trip to Indiana. There are also some great games to keep an eye on and I am sharing five games that should be well worth your time at Gen Con.

1. Wasteland Express Delivery Service by Pandasaurus Games - I have had the good fortune to have played this game a couple of times and am thrilled that it lives up to the hype.  This pick-up and deliver game is set in a Mad Max-esque wasteland. The world has burned to the ground and competing factions are vying for control. You work for the Wasteland Express Delivery Service, a brave delivery company who deliver food, water, and weapons to and from various cities and encampments. There are a lot of moving pieces to this game, from customizing your truck for battle and keeping an eye on the supply and demand of goods, but turns are lightning quick and the gameplay is extremely intuitive. Featuring some of the best art, literally the best insert you will ever see (custom Game Trayz that make setting this game up a joy), and a good mix of humor, this game will see your table frequently and provide endless hours of entertainment for your gaming group. It is also sold out at the distributor level so this is a great chance to pick up a copy and avoid waiting for the second printing.

2. Edge of Darkness by Alderac Entertainment Group - When I first learned about Mystic Vale and its card crafting, I was convinced it was merely a gimmick. After giving the game a chance, I realized that it made for a very interesting game mechanic and allowed you to craft a deck that allowed you to cycle your new abilities much quicker than a traditional deck builder.  AEG hinted at a future game that featured this mechanic, and Edge of Darkness will be at Gen Con in one form or another and I am stoked. Featuring worker placement, card crafting, and shared deck building, Edge of Darkness puts players into powerful guilds who are attempting to rule the city. It is semi-cooperative, as guilds must work together to fight the darkness, but also are working against each other for control. Not much else is known about this title. I am not sure when the official release date is, but I am guessing that will be revealed at Gen Con and I am looking forward to learning more about this title.

3. Sheriff of Nottingham: Merry Men by Arcane Wonders - I was tickled when I learned one of my favorite party games was getting an expansion. To be honest, Sheriff hasn't seen the table in my house for a while and I am hopeful that this expansion will breath new life into it.  In Sheriff of Nottingham, you attempt to bring in legal and illegal goods to Nottingham. It sounds easy, but each bag is subject to search by the Sheriff, but you are welcome to lie and bribe your way to victory. The expansion adds deputies (bumping the max players to 6), Merry Men (illegal goods that provide special abilities when smuggled in), a black market (additional bonuses for smuggling), laws (special rules that change from round to round), and special orders (bonuses for certain combos).  While none of it sounds groundbreaking, the game is good and doesn't need anything major to breath new life into what was once a stable at game night.

4. Whistle Stop by Bezier Games - I am surprised to put another pick-up and deliver title on my list, but I have heard a lot of hype about this game and am very curious to get it to the table. Featuring tile laying and pick-up and deliver, players in Whistle Stop are working their way west, building routes and a network in order to be the most profitable railway in the US. Players are faced with choices that include delivering goods farther for a greater reward, and choosing to optimize their route or block a competitor. Trains are a tried a true gaming theme and this looks like a good game for those looking to ride the rails in a game that is heavier than Ticket to Ride.

5. Indulgence by Restoration Games - A restoration of the Milton Bradley game Dragonmaster, Indulgence is a trick taking game for 3-4 players in which players attempt to violate edicts that are established for each hand. This "sinning" allows a player to seek an indulgence to relieve their sins.  A Catholic re-skinning of a dragon themed game seems extremely odd to me, but the nuances of trying to commit the right "sin" during gameplay sounds like it could be a lot of fun.  Definitely a title I want to check out to see if it is a good fit for a lighter gaming crowd.

POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Thursday Morning Superhero

As I write this week's post I am distracted by the thoughts of playing games, running demos, and playing more games. Gen Con is only one week away and this is the first time in a while that I won't experience the four greatest days of gaming. At least I have my weekly comics and the new Duck Tales premieres this weekend.

Pick of the Week:

Baby Teeth #3 - Now that Sadie has discovered that her baby has retractable fangs and is interested in blood, she has a bit of predicament on her hands. She figures out that she can't provide the blood herself and needs to find someone willing to help. We meet her aunt, Heather, who has a checkered past. Heather actually proves to be someone that Sadie can confide in, but we learn that the child is picky about what blood he drinks. Who would have imagined that the Antichrist would be so picky. What I love about this book is that it is a horror story, but one that doesn't take itself too serious and one that has heart. I feel that Sadie is going to be a great character and one that will grow tremendously from the scared 16 year old who we have met in these first three issues.


The Rest:
Gravity Falls Shorts #3 - While I would love to see Gravity Falls comics that explore stories that weren't part of the phenomenal television show, I enjoy seeing Gravity Falls comics on the shelf and welcome anything that can bring in new fans. This book features three of the shorts that Disney aired on Youtube between seasons. Featuring Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained #54: The Mailbox, Mable's Guide to Fashion, and Public Access Television, this cinetory comic is a recreation of the hilarious shorts that I watch with my kids on a weekly basis.



Captain America #25 - Nick Spence encouraged me to pick up this issue due to its Secret Empire tie- in via a persuasive tweet. I will note, as it says in this book, make sure you read this prior to reading Secret Empire #8.  Things are not looking good in the attempt to take down Captain America's Hydra.  He is only missing a few of the cosmic cube fragments, but there is hope and Namor has a secret plan.  I won't spoil the big reveal, but I am glad that Spencer convinced me to pick this title up this week.

Secret Empire #8 - Through the help of a time capsule and the last remaining cosmic cube fragment, the Avengers have a plan to bring down the shield surrounding the earth. Sam's attempt to get the fragment to the shield didn't work, but with the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy the shield is finally taken down and the heroes have one last shred of hope. This, thrown in with Namor's secret weapon that was reveled in Captain America #25, make up the combo that will take down Hydra and restore the Marvel Universe to what it was with no lasting ramifications.  While it is typical of most major comic book events, Secret Empire is one of the stronger events of recent memory and one worth your time.

Doctor Aphra #11 - Aphra, now in control of the Rur crystal, was forced to demonstrate that it really did possess the former Jedi Rur in its core. Her demonstration led to Rur possessing a droid and bringing complete and utter chaos. Triple-0, the rogue 3-P0 style droid, beckons Aphra to work out some sort of deal. It isn't clear what Triple-0 wants, but based on the information that he provides her, she will want to start spilling the beans. Otherwise she might end up back with Vader, who she betrayed prior to getting her own series. I really like how they are bringing these series back together.





POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.