Various Thoughts

Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series (Slave to Sensation, Visions of Heat, Caressed by Ice, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Branded by Fire, & Blaze of Memory) is something of a combination of Larissa Ione’s Demonica series and Eileen Wilks’ World of the Lupi.

All the novels’ relationships play out, essentially, exactly the same and there is very little variety in Singh’s character archetypes. And yet… I find myself liking the series anyway. Perhaps it’s because, even though ‘light’ pretty much always wins where it matters, there is plenty of ‘dark’ laced throughout. The overarching storyline of a society going to hell taking place in the background also serves as an interesting and ever-changing counter point to the predictable male/female dynamic.

I’ll probably continue to follow the series until the (nearly identical) relationship dynamics completely crowd out the insurrectionist backstory. Sort of like how I approached Keri Arthur’s Riley Jenson books.

The former is by James P. Davis and happens to be the latest in the Ed Greenwood presents Waterdeep series. While not bad exactly, it for some reason never rose above ‘words on a page’ status. I think the problem is a lack of believability… both in the character design and overall plot. At least it’s better than City of the Dead.

The latter is the fourth of Devon Monk‘s Allie Beckstrom novels. I’m still not quite sure why I continue reading the series when there’s such a distinct sense of wrongness permeating it. The setting itself feels constructed and far from natural, and the dialog seems to be riddled with inauthenticity. I still can’t understand how she managed to use ‘Get Mugged’ (the name of a coffee shop) roughly ten times on a single page; it’s quite obvious what building she’s talking about and there’s no need to re-name it each sentence.

Bioware’s most recent Dragon Age DLC offering appears to be blatantly ripping off Fergus Macpherson’s Emissary Mod.

The Good:

• It’s somewhat refreshing to be able to play things from the antagonist side.
• The interactive ’arson spots’ in the Alienage indicate greatness could be on the way.
• The enthrall system is sort-of fun.
• Fairly difficult on Nightmare Mode (although that’s because there’s little healing available).

The Bad:

• No character customization.
• Next to no new locations/models/textures.
• Extremely linear.
• Essentially one extended battle; there’s no dialog and you do nothing but continuously fight.
• Effectively no replay value.

All things considered, if you want to try playing as a darkspawn you’re probably better off just trying out that Emissary Mod for free than actually spending money on Bioware’s version. Perhaps even donating a couple dollars to Macpherson to encourage expanding it.

City of the Dead is the fourth book in the Ed Greenwood presents Waterdeep series, which I had initially skipped over and only learned about via its mention in The God Catcher. It would seem that was meant to be a sign. This is easily the worst book in the series. Both the storyline and the entire cast of characters are fairly terrible.

Avenger marks the conclusion of Richard Baker‘s Blades of the Moonsea trilogy. It’s not all that bad at all, but I’m struck by the complete about-face the series took in regards to magic. The first book was filled with townsfolk highly suspicious of Geran’s Bladesinger magic, while in this one the town is ruled by a mage and policed by golems with not a single derisive comment about magic in evidence.

The finale to Kelley Armstrong‘s The Darkest Powers trilogy makes it clear that the series takes place in her Women of the Otherworld series. Perhaps I should have seen the connection sooner, and in retrospect there were various hints scattered around, but what finally bridged the gap was the mention of the Nast cabal. Other than sharing the same universe however, one series bares little resemblance to the other. The narrative dynamic and character behavior/reactions are completely different. I can’t say that I really liked the series all that much all things considered. I may actually like it less now that I see the connection and can draw appropriate parallels.

I decided to watch this series on a whim after seeing some artwork related to it elsewhere. Surprisingly enough… it’s quite engaging.

The storyline and universe are fairly ridiculous, making the characters the main draw. The main premise reminds me of Kaze no Stigma, while the various character designs are reminiscent of numerous other series. There are resemblances to Kyosuke from SoulTaker, Seras from Hellsing, Kotarou Fuuma from Nabari no Ou, Zangetsu and Kenpachi from Bleach, and Lockon from Gundam 00. I think a lot of the fun was seeing all these basically cross-over characters interact with one another.

The first three books in Rob Thurman‘s Cal Leandros series are somewhat similar to Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series. Mainly in the way they start off so-so with questionably likable characters and grow on you over time.

The best part of the first book is Darkling. By far. Niko is a health nut, Cal is an angsty frat-boy wannabe, and their running from the Auphe seems more like a plot device than a believable part of the background universe. The second gets a bit better with the focus being more on the werewolves and Flay than the brothers, neither of whose personalities get any more relatable. Goodfellow and Promise become the high points of the series here as well. The third manages to get quite a bit better. Mainly thanks to Cal being less broody/bitchy and gaining full control over the extremely useful ability he began using at the end of the second book.

Hopefully the next two books in the series will continue Cal’s development into a likable character.