Cower not, fierce reader! Today we take a look at the first regular issue of another pulp action magazine(there is an issue 0). We've got contributions from authors reviewed here before, so let's take a good look at what we have.
New Rules for Rocket Nauts by Michael DeCarolois- Way to open the magazine with a bang. Yes, it's a longer story, but we've got a young cast aside adventurer, mysterious aliens that nobody can communicate with, officials who too easily believe in peace without understanding, loss, and fighting to save humanity.
Retrieving Abe by Jay Barnson- This is interesting, as it's a bit slower, but filled with tension throughout. One might argue that it's a bit strong female character in nature, but I didn't find it unbelievable. There's no Mary Sue here, she pursues out of duty to her husband, not a desire to be independent. The sense of knowledge of the work from one's youth brought in helps greatly.
The Price of Hunger by Kevyn Winkless- Oh, my. A story of greed and Indian legends. And cursed gold. Yeah, this might be a good late night read.
Protector of Newington by John M. Olsen- This steampunk superhero story has a lot of fun pieces. I did say steampunk and superhero together, right? Cause that's exactly what we have. A mysterious bad guy, child slavery, and sacrifice and redemption.
Brave Day Sunk in Hideous Night- Initially I was meh. Werewolf, PI doesn't do it for me. Throw in a time criminal and law? Ok, you've added enough to the mix that this is worth reading. Especially as the werewolf has PTSD, it's a nice touch.
Taking Control by Jon Del Arroz- Well, I for one am pleased to see my friend dabbling in Weird Westerns again. This is certainly a bit lighter than the Doomtown material was on the weird factor, but that's fine. This has some nice touches of cons, holdup artistry, and magic, and there's even a hint of possible future pieces(somewhere in that writing time, maybe).
Some Things Missing from Her Profile by David Skinner- Mars. A blind date gone bad. Martians have been conquered. A woman with less past than she should have. A segregated society. And a main character with a family history of not respecting the law.
Dream Master by Gene Moyers- Woah. Um. This felt like something out of some of the old pulps. Ripped right out, even. We've a series of mysterious deaths, strange behavior beforehand, and a psychologist trying to figure out the how and why against a secretive sinister being.
Under the Gun by David J. West- Hey, I know this guy. I know Porter Rockwell. But the story doesn't follow him, for the most part. We've a weapon that urges killing, and a newly made killer. We have an old killer who has learned to stay his hand. Fire away.
Circus to Boulogne by Mike Adamson- As one who likes to occasionally visit old war comics like Enemy Ace and Sgt. Rock, this is pretty cool. I'd say it's a touch slow here and there, but then, there's plenty of tension to help balance that.
There's a lot of pulp here, from the cover to the illustrations before each story, to the little filler bits. Variety pulp, and while there aren't serials, there's plenty of argument against too many. 8 of 10 fell deeds.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Injustice Book Review: SJWs Always Double Down
Cower not, fierce reader! Today we look at the second volume on SJWs in the world. As it is, his mere existence triggers many, so let us look at the tome, and after, I'll have the results of the drawing.
First, there is a pretty good history of many incidents within the last year. I think some of the Hugo/Dragon timeline is off, but, for the unacquainted, there's good background. Unfortunately, very little of this material was new to me, and while good in detail, I had read most of it before with varying levels of detail. The previous book's history section was honestly much more useful to me, though this does provide reference for the future, and for those who join later.
This history is more focused on group actions and corporate signs and signaling than the previous one, and includes here discussions of the NFL and comics as well as some tech history.The history is spread throughout, instead of as a single portion of the book.
Somewhat more universally useful is the section on sequence of convergence and the tactics used. As with the previous volume, they are expanded on with examples. One thing we can be grateful for with English is that our language mostly denies one tactic, that of Accent, which was a problem with the Ancient Greeks, and I suspect might be with several other languages, especially Chinese, which has recently had moves to ban puns, a long tradition based on the proximity of vastly different words.
But, if one has read the previous volume, much of this can be extrapolated from those premises, even if one does not have the exact vocabulary. Sad to say, in this regard there is little to surprise his experienced readers. This is no insult, merely that one's mileage will vary based on experience, perspective, and observation. That said, some are more fortunate in their life dealings and locations, and have less opportunity to witness, to say nothing of the younger generation.
The next section, of individual tactics, is in many ways more useful than the overall tactics. While the information is far from new, it does serve as a potent reminder of the specific attacks, especially if one has only witnessed a few. Again, the vocabulary is possibly more useful at a universal level.
We have following this a section on SJW mindset and psychology. This section is actually very good, as to most readers it will be like a foreign language, even after experiencing attacks. A general explanation of r/k theory is here, and makes one wonder if our abundance is not indeed a hindrance to proper society. To complement this, Vox also includes a detailed list of his socio-sexual hierarchy. While I'd read a good bit of it before, here it is laid out in a detailed manner, with relation to SJW psychology.
Vox also presents a chapter on building SJW proof institutions, based on his experience with Castalia House and now Infogalactic. These processes are informative, and in some ways might be worth the price of admission alone.
Three Appendices are included, one is an interview on SJWs in Open Source software communities, and the other a section on identifying Gamma Males. Both of these are good, and the final, a draft of the Code of Merit for software projects will prove helpful to that front.
I do not put any blame on Vox for this book being less unique; I'm not sure it was intended there be more than one initially. There are many that have written him already for the help the book has been to them, and I hope it isn't for me. 7 of 10 fell deeds.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Now for the drawing, a day late, but here it is. The winner of the Max Allan Collins Crime and Comics trilogy is....
Dominika Lein! I'll be sending those off soon after contacting you.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
First, there is a pretty good history of many incidents within the last year. I think some of the Hugo/Dragon timeline is off, but, for the unacquainted, there's good background. Unfortunately, very little of this material was new to me, and while good in detail, I had read most of it before with varying levels of detail. The previous book's history section was honestly much more useful to me, though this does provide reference for the future, and for those who join later.
This history is more focused on group actions and corporate signs and signaling than the previous one, and includes here discussions of the NFL and comics as well as some tech history.The history is spread throughout, instead of as a single portion of the book.
Somewhat more universally useful is the section on sequence of convergence and the tactics used. As with the previous volume, they are expanded on with examples. One thing we can be grateful for with English is that our language mostly denies one tactic, that of Accent, which was a problem with the Ancient Greeks, and I suspect might be with several other languages, especially Chinese, which has recently had moves to ban puns, a long tradition based on the proximity of vastly different words.
But, if one has read the previous volume, much of this can be extrapolated from those premises, even if one does not have the exact vocabulary. Sad to say, in this regard there is little to surprise his experienced readers. This is no insult, merely that one's mileage will vary based on experience, perspective, and observation. That said, some are more fortunate in their life dealings and locations, and have less opportunity to witness, to say nothing of the younger generation.
The next section, of individual tactics, is in many ways more useful than the overall tactics. While the information is far from new, it does serve as a potent reminder of the specific attacks, especially if one has only witnessed a few. Again, the vocabulary is possibly more useful at a universal level.
We have following this a section on SJW mindset and psychology. This section is actually very good, as to most readers it will be like a foreign language, even after experiencing attacks. A general explanation of r/k theory is here, and makes one wonder if our abundance is not indeed a hindrance to proper society. To complement this, Vox also includes a detailed list of his socio-sexual hierarchy. While I'd read a good bit of it before, here it is laid out in a detailed manner, with relation to SJW psychology.
Vox also presents a chapter on building SJW proof institutions, based on his experience with Castalia House and now Infogalactic. These processes are informative, and in some ways might be worth the price of admission alone.
Three Appendices are included, one is an interview on SJWs in Open Source software communities, and the other a section on identifying Gamma Males. Both of these are good, and the final, a draft of the Code of Merit for software projects will prove helpful to that front.
I do not put any blame on Vox for this book being less unique; I'm not sure it was intended there be more than one initially. There are many that have written him already for the help the book has been to them, and I hope it isn't for me. 7 of 10 fell deeds.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Now for the drawing, a day late, but here it is. The winner of the Max Allan Collins Crime and Comics trilogy is....
Dominika Lein! I'll be sending those off soon after contacting you.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Bad Movie adaptations: Screamers: The Hunting
Well, I took one for the sake of research. That and love of the story Second Variety by Philip K. Dick. I found a copy of this film at a local used movie shop running a buy 5 get 5 free sale. This made the second time I'd seen a copy, and there was enough other stuff around to let me go for it. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
Now, the original story is honestly creepier than either film. This is because the movies have robot hunters for the most of their length. In the story, they're not clear robots, they look like people, and there are three VARIETIES of android. One's a child, another's an injured soldier, and then there's the second variety: a woman.
We actually see that at least in the first movie, Screamers. We have a lead actor that should have been an A lister in Peter Weller. (It's hard to say how much was hindered by Buckaroo Banzai and how much his love of painting, which he teaches). There's some scenery chewing, and quotable bad dialog. Intentionally bad dialog. At least I hope it was.
The second movie has some really big inconsistencies from the first film. While both take place on the same planet, the first one has a great feel of not being on Earth. There's no cohesion in the squad movement and tactics, not to mention a lack of willingness to follow the chain of command. There's a spot where some people are chained in place. Bad decisions are made.
Some of the actors from the second move have gone to have pretty decent careers, or had them already. A paycheck is a paycheck. And you can laugh at an early Stephen Amell(Green Arrow) performance, as well as a lot of predictable moments.
At any rate, if you like the occasional bad movie, or PKD adaptations, or both(especially both), go ahead. watch them.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Now, the original story is honestly creepier than either film. This is because the movies have robot hunters for the most of their length. In the story, they're not clear robots, they look like people, and there are three VARIETIES of android. One's a child, another's an injured soldier, and then there's the second variety: a woman.
We actually see that at least in the first movie, Screamers. We have a lead actor that should have been an A lister in Peter Weller. (It's hard to say how much was hindered by Buckaroo Banzai and how much his love of painting, which he teaches). There's some scenery chewing, and quotable bad dialog. Intentionally bad dialog. At least I hope it was.
The second movie has some really big inconsistencies from the first film. While both take place on the same planet, the first one has a great feel of not being on Earth. There's no cohesion in the squad movement and tactics, not to mention a lack of willingness to follow the chain of command. There's a spot where some people are chained in place. Bad decisions are made.
Some of the actors from the second move have gone to have pretty decent careers, or had them already. A paycheck is a paycheck. And you can laugh at an early Stephen Amell(Green Arrow) performance, as well as a lot of predictable moments.
At any rate, if you like the occasional bad movie, or PKD adaptations, or both(especially both), go ahead. watch them.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Injustice Book Review: Space Princess by Jon Mollison
Cower not, fierce reader! This fine day we have a tale that is BOUND to trigger any elements of SocJus that encounter it. There's plenty here to like, and they have possibly more to shriek about. Let's get to the charges!
Firstly, this book is most definitely Christian. Catholic, even. This is the first revisitation of the idea of Crusades in SPAAACE(Poul Anderson's The High Crusade being the first I know of) in recent years, with most of the intervening ones taking a low view of Christianity and its defensive wars.
With this expansion, we have the Faith expanded to aliens of every sort imaginable, from insect like, to blobs, to, hive-minds, to robots. Mr. Mollison even comments on the documents that would exist regarding artificial life and their souls(given the premise of his setting).
Second, this book focuses very heavily on family. And not a broken or "blended" family, but a very much proper traditional family. Mild spoiler(it happens so early, I don't mind): the father, our narrator, finds three children in need of help. And takes them home.
Now, there's also a presentation of an older view of marriage, that is, one that is less focused on partnership. But, the discussion is rather brief, and little in the way of contrast is mentioned, though some is shown.
Third, there is what some might consider an analog to the jihadi nations. Now, as to their faith, I can say there is no presentation of that, though they do come from desert planets. They also are making war against Christian worlds, and some believe they can be reasoned with.
Ah, nuts. Look, this book is a lot of fun, and if you've read his past work, you won't be disappointed, though your expectations might be slightly off. Yes, there's action aplentty. But there's also a good number of tender family moments, and chunks of political intrigue in the mix.
Let me tell you about this cover: EVERYTHING there? It's in the book. Robot bishop, family, space battles. Another quick note: I mentioned a large number of typos in Adventure Constant(when I read it), but there were very few I spotted here. 9 of 10 fell deeds.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Firstly, this book is most definitely Christian. Catholic, even. This is the first revisitation of the idea of Crusades in SPAAACE(Poul Anderson's The High Crusade being the first I know of) in recent years, with most of the intervening ones taking a low view of Christianity and its defensive wars.
With this expansion, we have the Faith expanded to aliens of every sort imaginable, from insect like, to blobs, to, hive-minds, to robots. Mr. Mollison even comments on the documents that would exist regarding artificial life and their souls(given the premise of his setting).
Second, this book focuses very heavily on family. And not a broken or "blended" family, but a very much proper traditional family. Mild spoiler(it happens so early, I don't mind): the father, our narrator, finds three children in need of help. And takes them home.
Now, there's also a presentation of an older view of marriage, that is, one that is less focused on partnership. But, the discussion is rather brief, and little in the way of contrast is mentioned, though some is shown.
Third, there is what some might consider an analog to the jihadi nations. Now, as to their faith, I can say there is no presentation of that, though they do come from desert planets. They also are making war against Christian worlds, and some believe they can be reasoned with.
Ah, nuts. Look, this book is a lot of fun, and if you've read his past work, you won't be disappointed, though your expectations might be slightly off. Yes, there's action aplentty. But there's also a good number of tender family moments, and chunks of political intrigue in the mix.
Let me tell you about this cover: EVERYTHING there? It's in the book. Robot bishop, family, space battles. Another quick note: I mentioned a large number of typos in Adventure Constant(when I read it), but there were very few I spotted here. 9 of 10 fell deeds.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Couple of comics I'm dropping, and why
Well, I tried to see how these would work. One, the first arc was entertaining, and it's the second arc that has gone all radical feminism. The other was a new book with a cool concept, only it decided to be degenerate from the start.
Codename: Babushka by Anthony Johnstone is the book in the second arc. It follows a former Russian crime boss turned to a US government pawn. The first arc was pretty good, but I should have seen the warning signs over in his book The Fuse. That one went from cool sf police procedural(lived in sf) to tossing in "this character's gay!" out of NOWHERE. No sign of it in the first two stories.
Well, he pulled that here, plus in the back he has feminist essays (including lesbian and transgender agenda pushing). This new arc has been less fun each issue, really. Oh, the art is a bit different than the first arc, not bad, but it is lessor. But the agenda is HUGE here. I'm surprised he hasn't gone and made the bad guys a conspiracy of Catholic and Orthodox priests working together.
The other was Made Men, which just had its second issue come out. The premise is honestly cool. A cop and her team(yes, another female led thing, I was willing to try) get ambushed and all killed. She's of the Frankenstein line, and comes back due to family serum she's been pumped with. She goes to get revenge and gets tied to a crime lord. Cool premise, I think. But they go and push activist lesbianism in the second issue, and there's also the playing with combining two people together(neither had enough to be brought back), and combining a human body with a lion's head.
There's no sign of consequence to actions in sight. And while the concept is decent, the whole point of Frankenstein was the need for looking at consequences. The creators apparently wanted to do an agenda driven horror/crime comic. Sure it's early, but if there are no signs of real consequences now, I think they'll take too long to show. 100 Bullets had consequences all along the way, with the knowledge that there was a price.
More independent books would be worthwhile if they didn't focus on being degenerate, but telling a story.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Codename: Babushka by Anthony Johnstone is the book in the second arc. It follows a former Russian crime boss turned to a US government pawn. The first arc was pretty good, but I should have seen the warning signs over in his book The Fuse. That one went from cool sf police procedural(lived in sf) to tossing in "this character's gay!" out of NOWHERE. No sign of it in the first two stories.
Well, he pulled that here, plus in the back he has feminist essays (including lesbian and transgender agenda pushing). This new arc has been less fun each issue, really. Oh, the art is a bit different than the first arc, not bad, but it is lessor. But the agenda is HUGE here. I'm surprised he hasn't gone and made the bad guys a conspiracy of Catholic and Orthodox priests working together.
The other was Made Men, which just had its second issue come out. The premise is honestly cool. A cop and her team(yes, another female led thing, I was willing to try) get ambushed and all killed. She's of the Frankenstein line, and comes back due to family serum she's been pumped with. She goes to get revenge and gets tied to a crime lord. Cool premise, I think. But they go and push activist lesbianism in the second issue, and there's also the playing with combining two people together(neither had enough to be brought back), and combining a human body with a lion's head.
There's no sign of consequence to actions in sight. And while the concept is decent, the whole point of Frankenstein was the need for looking at consequences. The creators apparently wanted to do an agenda driven horror/crime comic. Sure it's early, but if there are no signs of real consequences now, I think they'll take too long to show. 100 Bullets had consequences all along the way, with the knowledge that there was a price.
More independent books would be worthwhile if they didn't focus on being degenerate, but telling a story.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
On Marketing Authors, Worlds, and what people want
Earlier today, Brian Niemeier posted some musings in response to comments from Nathan Housey on marketing. Now, there are some very good points in here, from both, don't get me wrong.
But in the instance of WoW, I have to wonder how much of it was pure marketing. How much instead was building a platform that was capable of popularity with gamers of different preferences? And I don't just mean raiders vs PVP lovers. There's people that hate raids that love the game. There's some that have been fans of Blizzard stuff since before Warcraft(yes, it has been around that long). There's room for casuals in the game. They made WoW a big brand, Blizzard is a brand that owns that brand. How much is simply going for the popular product?
Brian and Nathan both bring up Sanderson, and Brian noted that despite the success of his Cosmere, the marketing is about him, not the universe/multiverse. Brian mentioned that Tor markets likewise. Well, my response is as much as Tor markets anyone not Scalzi. Which isn't much. They push Scalzi more than Orson Scott Card. Now, they did push for a display of their last Sanderson book in B&N. Which was a waste of paper, as it was all reprints of novellas and shorts his real fans had in other volumes, with two maybe three exceptions. I wasn't dropping cash for that, even if I weren't already boycotting Tor.
Brian brings up Galaxy's Edge, which is an interesting study as it's by Nick Cole and Jason Anspach, two authors I've reviewed apart from each other as well. They're both really good. I want more 'Til Death, Jason. But, the brand here is not either author, but both. I don't think either could put out as good a work in the world alone. This is far from an insult, it's a compliment to how well they work together. It's a really good riff on Star Wars. I know of at least one more coming up.
There's a rather good one from Robert Kroese, which started off as a Star Wars riff, but has moved more to SF in general: Rex Nihilio of Starship Grifters. The brand? Kroese, hitting on notes from around sf culture.
One somewhat similar setting that was missed was Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy's Horsemen universe. The books are solo pieces so far(there's an announced shared novel). And only a few of the short stories have been cowritten. Here, the strength belongs more to the universe. Yes, it was established by two authors, but others are playing in it, and why is it working? Well, Mechwarrior and Robotech aren't doing the job, and I don't see any dominant anime now. Once again, we hit familiar notes.
So where's the alternate Trek(outside of Orville)? There's Starfleet Universe, but the publisher has done very little with it of late. A smart publisher/investor would buy those rights and do EVERYTHING they can. I don't know all the details of those rights, they may exclude film and tv. If not, Axanar should have bought them. But video and boardgames and rpgs there? They could move, and Nick Cole used Starfleet U in his Ctrl Alt Revolt!, not Trek. Galaxy Quest did its thing(the best trek film), had some mildly amusing comics, and disappeared.
Which brings us to Brian. He claims that the level of originality has hurt him via the Amazon algorithms. I don't doubt that's somewhat true. But he's also not hitting a single familiar note with fans, either. His work is usually described with combinations of others, and that likely narrows his appeal to many. While I really dig what he's done here, to most people it will be like Beethoven's 9th was when it premiered: they didn't get it.
A lot of people want the familiar. They don't seek new music, they turn on the radio. They don't dig for old or unusual shows, they turn on the TV, and stick to a show or few.
So what am I going to do? I'm going to play with some old notes in a new way. We'll see if it works, I'm barely started, but I'm having fun so far. Maybe others will get it, maybe not. Guessing I might make some folks mad.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
But in the instance of WoW, I have to wonder how much of it was pure marketing. How much instead was building a platform that was capable of popularity with gamers of different preferences? And I don't just mean raiders vs PVP lovers. There's people that hate raids that love the game. There's some that have been fans of Blizzard stuff since before Warcraft(yes, it has been around that long). There's room for casuals in the game. They made WoW a big brand, Blizzard is a brand that owns that brand. How much is simply going for the popular product?
Brian and Nathan both bring up Sanderson, and Brian noted that despite the success of his Cosmere, the marketing is about him, not the universe/multiverse. Brian mentioned that Tor markets likewise. Well, my response is as much as Tor markets anyone not Scalzi. Which isn't much. They push Scalzi more than Orson Scott Card. Now, they did push for a display of their last Sanderson book in B&N. Which was a waste of paper, as it was all reprints of novellas and shorts his real fans had in other volumes, with two maybe three exceptions. I wasn't dropping cash for that, even if I weren't already boycotting Tor.
Brian brings up Galaxy's Edge, which is an interesting study as it's by Nick Cole and Jason Anspach, two authors I've reviewed apart from each other as well. They're both really good. I want more 'Til Death, Jason. But, the brand here is not either author, but both. I don't think either could put out as good a work in the world alone. This is far from an insult, it's a compliment to how well they work together. It's a really good riff on Star Wars. I know of at least one more coming up.
There's a rather good one from Robert Kroese, which started off as a Star Wars riff, but has moved more to SF in general: Rex Nihilio of Starship Grifters. The brand? Kroese, hitting on notes from around sf culture.
One somewhat similar setting that was missed was Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy's Horsemen universe. The books are solo pieces so far(there's an announced shared novel). And only a few of the short stories have been cowritten. Here, the strength belongs more to the universe. Yes, it was established by two authors, but others are playing in it, and why is it working? Well, Mechwarrior and Robotech aren't doing the job, and I don't see any dominant anime now. Once again, we hit familiar notes.
So where's the alternate Trek(outside of Orville)? There's Starfleet Universe, but the publisher has done very little with it of late. A smart publisher/investor would buy those rights and do EVERYTHING they can. I don't know all the details of those rights, they may exclude film and tv. If not, Axanar should have bought them. But video and boardgames and rpgs there? They could move, and Nick Cole used Starfleet U in his Ctrl Alt Revolt!, not Trek. Galaxy Quest did its thing(the best trek film), had some mildly amusing comics, and disappeared.
Which brings us to Brian. He claims that the level of originality has hurt him via the Amazon algorithms. I don't doubt that's somewhat true. But he's also not hitting a single familiar note with fans, either. His work is usually described with combinations of others, and that likely narrows his appeal to many. While I really dig what he's done here, to most people it will be like Beethoven's 9th was when it premiered: they didn't get it.
A lot of people want the familiar. They don't seek new music, they turn on the radio. They don't dig for old or unusual shows, they turn on the TV, and stick to a show or few.
So what am I going to do? I'm going to play with some old notes in a new way. We'll see if it works, I'm barely started, but I'm having fun so far. Maybe others will get it, maybe not. Guessing I might make some folks mad.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Injustice Book Review: A Place Called Hope by Daniel Humphreys. Oh, and another giveaway
Cower not, fierce reader! This day is the day you can return to Z-Day. Now, I can't say for certain, but I suspect one need not read the previous book to follow this one. But, we have a new volume of survivors and Zed(walkers, zyborgs, whatever).
First, this book has a lot more tragedy in it. While the first one had plenty of bad things happen, a lot of them happened to people working against the society they were part of. That's not the case here. Here, we have good men sacrifice for a mission, so rebuilding can continue.
Second, we've got a new perspective, and I won't spoil it. Suffice to say there's a transition from mere survival to a pursuit of redemption. This happens in flashbacks, and meets up with our main story at the end. I look forward to how that plays out in the next book.
There's of course a lot of action, and it's written with enough detail to be visceral, but not too much that it bogs down for noncoms. We have some gruesome deaths, including that of a fictional version of our friend Jon Del Arroz(It's already been on twitter, I don't feel bad).
We see further development of the real threat the virus/program is and will be. This is interesting, in that the characters never give up, we have some sacrifices because the threat is that big, and the knowledge of the changes that important. There is not despair, but there is a grave shock at how badly things are headed.
This book plays with readers emotions. There were a couple of points this book made me mad. Because Humphreys had to kill good characters. There's even references with some of the conversations on twitter about Hanson and Taylor Swift. This roller coaster is definitely a worthy successor to A Place Outside the Wild. 9 of 10 fell deeds.
---------
Now, about that giveaway. I just thrifted copies of Max Allan Collins' Comics and Crime trilogy. (Strip for Murder, A Killing in Comics, and Seduction of the Innocent). Same rules as last time: comment below if you want to be eligible, and I'll draw for it in a week.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
First, this book has a lot more tragedy in it. While the first one had plenty of bad things happen, a lot of them happened to people working against the society they were part of. That's not the case here. Here, we have good men sacrifice for a mission, so rebuilding can continue.
Second, we've got a new perspective, and I won't spoil it. Suffice to say there's a transition from mere survival to a pursuit of redemption. This happens in flashbacks, and meets up with our main story at the end. I look forward to how that plays out in the next book.
There's of course a lot of action, and it's written with enough detail to be visceral, but not too much that it bogs down for noncoms. We have some gruesome deaths, including that of a fictional version of our friend Jon Del Arroz(It's already been on twitter, I don't feel bad).
We see further development of the real threat the virus/program is and will be. This is interesting, in that the characters never give up, we have some sacrifices because the threat is that big, and the knowledge of the changes that important. There is not despair, but there is a grave shock at how badly things are headed.
This book plays with readers emotions. There were a couple of points this book made me mad. Because Humphreys had to kill good characters. There's even references with some of the conversations on twitter about Hanson and Taylor Swift. This roller coaster is definitely a worthy successor to A Place Outside the Wild. 9 of 10 fell deeds.
---------
Now, about that giveaway. I just thrifted copies of Max Allan Collins' Comics and Crime trilogy. (Strip for Murder, A Killing in Comics, and Seduction of the Innocent). Same rules as last time: comment below if you want to be eligible, and I'll draw for it in a week.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
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