Towers of Midnight Review

With the release of A Memory of Light on January 8, 2013, I decided to re-read Towers of Midnight to prepare. Towers of Midnight is the 13^th main book in the Wheel of Time Series published by Tor and written by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. For those few who don’t know, The Wheel of Time is an epic Fantasy series that will, when finished, span 14 main books and a prequel novel. Unfortunately, Mr. Jordan passed away before completing the series and Brandon Sanderson was chosen to finish it based on his notes, outlines and partially written pieces. I won’t try to bring you up to speed on the story so far or explain the series beyond that. If you want a terrific in-depth study on each book, see Leigh Butler’s re-read of the Wheel of Time at Tor.com.

Towers of Midnight (ToM) is the second book that Mr. Sanderson has completed and he does a very good job of delivering a book that is definitely part of the Wheel of Time even if some of the individual words and sections are not exactly as Robert Jordan would have written them.

When I first read ToM two years ago, I found myself impatient with some of the characters and plot lines that get a greater share of the page count. On re-reading the story, I have a better appreciation for how it all weaves together to get the characters to the right place at the right time for the final confrontation to happen. For several books leading up to book 12, The Gathering Storm, the Wheel of Time had slowed down and the story felt like it was grinding under the large weight of the scope of it all. However, within that I had the greater sense that everything was going to come to a final head well before any of the “good guys” were prepared and all of the planning and scheming they were doing was going to be for nothing.

In The Gathering Storm, all seems bleak for the forces of good and it looks like the Shadow (the forces of evil) will win. In ToM, we see that all is not lost for the Light (the good guys) and that they may actually have a shot at winning. There are a lot of great scenes in ToM, which pay off nicely on the narrative debt built up over the previous 12 books. I won’t spoil them, but many are epic, some bittersweet, a few things happen that have you wondering how they will impact the last book and as always you get a sense that the end will not be all roses for everyone. This isn’t George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice where I swear bad things will happen to everyone, but a lot of horrible things have happened over 13 books and there are bound to be more in A Memory of Light even though the events of ToM were pretty pro-good guys.

I realized the other day that I have been reading Wheel of Time books for over 20 years, longer than my daughter has been alive or I have been married. My father suggested I read Eye of the World and I didn’t recognize what he was suggesting I read until a college roommate was reading it and raving about it. For about half my life I have been reading these books and enjoying the journey. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Jordan a couple of times (4 or 5) at book signings. Most of the time I didn’t have anything to say other than thanks for the story. The last book tour I saw him at (Crossroads of Twilight) I asked two questions:

How long would it take Lan to ride to Tarwin’s Gap?

Would Mat be able to command the Deathwatch Guards?

To both questions I got the usual answer of “Read and find out”.  At the end of ToM I know the answer to one of the two, roughly. I expect the answer to number two will come in A Memory of Light.

I recommend the Wheel of Time series. It can be long and frustrating and enjoyable. ToM is a very satisfying piece in the series and rewards the readers for sticking with the story for over 10,000 pages. Towers of Midnight gets 4 Mick Happies. It isn’t the best of the series, but it is right up there and ramps things up for an epic conclusion in A Memory of Light. Hopefully Mr. Jordan would be satisfied with how it all ends.

Note: There are many websites devoted to The Wheel of Time. One of the best is Dragonmount.com. Here is a trailer that the Dragonmount folks made for Towers of Midnight:

Butter Review

Butter is a small budget film written by Jason A. Micallef and directed by Jim Field Smith. Butter is the story of a butter sculpting competition in Iowa where a young girl in foster care competes against the overly ambitious wife of a former 15-time Iowa state butter sculpting champion.

The movie has an all-star cast including Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Olivia Wilde, Ty Burrell, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Corddry and Ashley Greene. In Butter, Jennifer Garner is looking to parley her husband’s success carving butter into political success, but is derailed when her husband stops competing. Not willing to let things go, she decides to compete herself. Laura’s (Garner) dreams of the future are challenged by newcomer, Destiny; played well by Yara Shahidi, who has a talent for sculpting butter. Many of the funniest parts of the movie involve the side plots featuring a stripper played by Olivia Wilde. Silverstone and Corddry do well as Destiny’s foster parents.

Butter shows you several amazing sculptures made out of butter (my drawing above recreates on of the funniest, “the Scarlet Letter”).  The scene that I liked the best from the film is when Rob Corddry is sitting in the parking lot about to send Destiny in to sign up for a butter competition. They get into a fantastic conversation about how to deal with being nervous by imaging what is the worst thing that could happen when Destiny walks through that door (great parenting in my book).

Be warned, this movie is R rated – mainly for what the characters say and a couple of adult situations. It is worth your time and is available on DVD (I saw it on DVD from Netflix). Definitely worth spending 90 minutes to see – especially if you like the actors listed above. I give Butter three and a half Mick Happies. Here is the trailer for you to enjoy – it will give you a good sense of how the movie goes:

Games That Should Be Remade

Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition was released this week for the PC. I don’t have the remake of Baldur’s Gate yet, but I can’t wait to be “Butt-kicking for Goodness!” on iPad soon. Looking at what Overhaul Games has done with Baldur’s Gate just makes you dream of other games that could have new life in our digital age. Here are some of my suggestions for remakes someone should get started on right now:

Diablo for Xbox (or Playstation if you prefer).  As we saw with the release of Torchlight for XBLA, the action RPG is fits perfectly into the console environment. Additionally, there is a huge market opportunity here. I imagine there are about a million people who would like up to have a re-mastered, updated and accessible Diablo on their console (and big screen tv). Until it happens, I will have to settle for Torchlight, Sacred 2 and other aRPGs that are available for Xbox.

How about releasing some of the old Strategic Simluation Inc. Gold Box D&D games? I know Baldur’s Gate was way ahead of any of the Gold box games (Pool of Radiance anyone?), but c’mon, these would be fun to have on iPad or any tablet. (Yes, I know I can get Bard’s Tale, but it would be nice to have some of the other games I played in my youth.)

More board games on iPad (or other tablets). Games like the original Dungeon! or Electronic Detective or Dark Tower would definitely be fun to have at my fingertips in a nice digital version. While we’re at it, why not more strategy war games on the iPad? Speaking of SSI, why not some of their war games like Red Lightning or Panzer General?

Last I will leave you with the idea of Railroad Tycoon 3 (or any of the Railroad Tycoon series) on your tablet with new touch interface and updated graphics. That would suck away more than a few of my hours.

Maybe I am just nostalgic for games that aren’t as good as I remember them, but I don’t think so.  Remaking classic games with updated graphics, interface, controls and in some cases sounds/music would be a win for everyone. Now if only someone would get the rights and get on it.

On a related note, I can’t wait for the release of M.U.L.E. returns and Wasteland 2.

Just saying…

Fall 2012 TV Review

My family and I don’t have regular TV in our house. We watch all of our TV online, through Netflix (DVDs or on-demand) or by purchasing the shows through iTunes. Surprisingly, that doesn’t keep us from missing out too much on what comes out each year. We have also found it cheaper to buy Season Passes than to have cable TV for more than a year now. What it does make us do is choose what we want to watch more carefully and not waste our time on crappy shows just because they are on. In this post, I will cover all of the shows we are watching and those that we have stopped.

Go On – This NBC comedy starring Matthew Perry as Ryan King is one of our favorite new shows and about the only comedy we are still watching besides the Big Bang Theory. I have watched a lot of failed Matthew Perry shows since Friends and this one finally seems to get it right. We get a sarcastic and self-centered character for Perry to play. We also get an ensemble cast of likeable weird people who are part of the grief support group that Ryan King joins when dealing with the loss of his wife. There is some out there quirkiness going on in the show, but it is consistently fun and funny. Four Mick Happies.

Elementary – The Sherlock Holmes in New York with a lady Watson show. This new procedural drama has the right mix of smart insight by Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), banter with Dr. Watson (Lucy Liu) and everything is wrapped up in ~42 minutes. I am a big fan of the BBC Sherlock show and this is not it and is good all on its own. There is definitely room in my viewing world for both. Besides, Elementary’s Holmes seems way more edgy and at risk of drug relapse (and associated problems) than the BBC version Holmes. If you want to buy it like we do, iTunes has the Season Pass in SD for only $24.99 (about a dollar an episode). Also Four Mick Happies.

Malibu Country – Reba McEntire’s new comedy about a recently divorced woman making it on her own with her kids. We gave this one two episodes and stopped in the middle of the second. It isn’t as good and the cast isn’t as interesting as her former Reba show. Lily Tomlin is good as her mother, but that isn’t enough to carry any show or we wouldn’t be waiting for The New Normal to come out on DVD (Ellen Barkin ruled that show in the pilot). Malibu Country gets two Mick Happies.

Suburgatory – This little comedic look at up-scale suburban living us by surprise last year and we really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the delay between seasons has left us feeling that the best was behind for this show. The jokes seem the same, the characters also seem the same, but it just wasn’t as funny this time around in the first two episodes we watched. Don’t think we will be giving Suburgatory a full season pick up in our house. Two to three Mick Happies.

Revolution – The post-apocalyptic show from Eric Kripke on NBC. The show is set in a future where all forms of electricity have stopped and looks at how things might be eleven years after that event. Some of this show really scratches my dystopian future genre itch and the writers are trying to have reason behind how it happened and (if) it can be fixed, but the stories and situations are pretty far fetched. I have been watching this online from NBC.com and will probably keep watching though I find I have to really work up to finding the 45 minutes to tune in. At best three Mick Happies.

Big Bang Theory – The king of all comedies right now. We have all of the seasons on DVD or in iTunes and have been watching this one as a family. It is too bad that this season seems to be going downhill for us. We are not as amused by the typical jokes. My wife and I discussed it and where the show is losing us is:

·      Leonard and Penny – these two need to break up.

·      Penny – she needs something other than drinking and back and forth relationship with Leonard.

·      Howard – needs to grow up a bit. C’mon, man, you’re married to Bernadette (one of the more interesting characters on the show).

One of the few bright points, besides Sheldon (as always), has been the budding “bromance” between Stuart and Raj. The other is Alex, Sheldon’s new assistant. More of that, less of the 3 bullets above please. We are still watching, but just less amused. Three Mick Happies.

Grimm – This is one of our favorite shows right now. It is based on the premise that all of the Fairy Tales creatures are real and hiding amongst us. The Grimm are people who are descended from the Brothers Grimm who can see the creatures for what the really are and have traditionally hunted them. Grimm is a procedural cop show with a supernatural element and season one was good and season two (this year) is as well. We are about eight episodes in (out of 12 aired to date) and liking it. The only nit to pick here is the storyline about Juliette’s memory – if you are watching you know how annoying it is. This show has supplanted Supernatural as our supernatural weekly fix – Four Mick Happies.

Other mentions of shows we liked but aren’t watching this year:

Supernatural – The wife has seen everything up to the end of last season and I have watched most of them as well. The end of last season was a let down with where the characters ended up. Felt too much like that time when Dean went to Hell and Sam was left on Earth. Maybe we will catch this season when it hits Netflix next fall. Certainly didn’t seem worth us paying to see the week they air – we can wait if we watch at all.

Raising Hope – We have been big fans of Raising Hope since it started, but gave up after last season when they killed the pig (the new version of Jump the Shark) and brought back Hope’s mom. Haven’t watched and probably won’t until a far future date when it is the only thing available on Netflix on demand.

10000000 Review

My name is Mick Happy and for the last few weeks I have had a problem. The problem is I spend most nights (right before bed) running down the battery on my iPod playing 10000000 by Eightyeight Games. It is easy to play and frustratingly difficult to win.

The game is about you being locked in a castle and trying to get out by running through a hallway filled with doors, chests and monsters. To get past the said obstacles, you try to match 3 or more items in a typical match 3 game played on the bottom part of the screen. You can match keys, wands, stone, wood, packs or swords. Match swords and wands to damage monsters, keys to open doors/chests, wood and stone for resources and packs for special items.

Sounds easy right. Sure it is. For every obstacle you overcome you get gold or score points. Get to 10000000 score and you get your freedom. As you match items in the matching game and beat monsters, you move a little farther to the right on the screen (safety) as you get hit by monsters or take too long to make a match, you move to the left (running out of time). When you go off the screen to the left your run ends. You can then either run again or go home. Once home, you can spend your gold, stone and wood to upgrade your castle and “level up” your skills (making your matches more effective.

Each run you have a few objectives you can try (get 800 wood, defeat X monsters, etc.), which if you achieve them you get a gold or experience bonus and achieve all of them on a level and you will level up your explorer status. (The higher explorer level the more score bonus you get). Whew…that’s a lot to remember, except you don’t have to remember it as all you have to do is start a run and then match tiles as quickly as you can by moving a column up or down or a row side to side. One unique feature of 10000000 is that the screen wraps so if you need something moved you move it as far as you need to up/down or side/side none of this just swap with the tile next to it stuff here.

As you maybe can tell, I like this game. At first it was a bit maddening and a little too frenetic for me, but once I got over trying to get 10000000 each run, it became fun trying to get the little goals each run or raising my score a bit more each time. Now I have nearly maxed out everything I can in my castle and I still only have a high score of 3800000…so much farther to go. But you can bet I will still be running to get there. 10000000 is a 4 Mick Happy game. I was able to pick it up on sale through iTunes for $0.99. It is currently listed at $1.99 and would have been worth it at that price. Here is a trailer from the developer to help you decide:

Midst Toil and Tribulation Review

Midst Toil and Tribulation is the sixth and latest book in the Safehold series by David Weber. Last year I reviewed How Firm a Foundation (book five) and noted how much I have enjoyed this series so far. The new book continues the struggles of the Empire of Charis against the forces of the Church of God Awaiting on the world of Safehold.

Unlike the previous books, this books deals with the war moving toward a ground conflict on the main continent of the world. The novel deals with the difficulties of logistics and the rapid spread of technology across the world and the devastating effects of that technology when applied to war. Interspersed are some touching moments of self-realization for some of the characters and a couple of twists (one very unexpected but enjoyable).

All of the Safehold books have been heavy on the military, religious and political conflicts of the world they are set in. This book is no different. However, the pace of the series seems to bog down in Midst Toil and Tribulation and that may be a parallel for how the conflicts are changing as well. Not everything is going the main character’s way, there is less forward movement toward the ultimate goal and the numbers of characters to remember continue to grow.

Midst Toil and Tribulation is a good book and well written. You will feel for the characters in no-win situations that do their best for king and country. However, the book covers much less ground and will feel like a much smaller step than previous books in the series toward the ultimate resolution of the conflict on Safehold. Happy I read the novel, but have to give it no more than 3 Mick Happies. If you haven’t started the Safehold series yet, you may want to take them all back to back after a couple more are completed – it will be easier to keep the characters straight in the long run.

Quick Updates - Grimm Season 1 and Fun Size

Just some quick comments about what I have been watching lately.

Around my house we have really been enjoying Grimm. I had an interest in the show when I first heard about it last year, but we waited until the Season 1 DVDs came out on Netflix to start watching. Has a real Season 1 and 2 of Supernatural feel with a good mythology so far and some comic relief (mainly in the form of Monroe played by Silas Weir Mitchell). If you don't know about the show, check into it. The main character, Nick, is a cop in Portland, OR. He is also the blood descendant of the original Brothers Grimm. This allows him to see the supernatural creatures from the fairy tales hiding beneath the skin of seemingly everyday people. Good premise with witty and interesting characters. Definitely 4 Mick Happies so far (16 episodes in). Wanted to let you know as Season 1 is on sale at iTunes for $19.99 not sure for how long tough. I just purchased the whole season (about $15 cheaper than Best Buy or Amazon for the DVDs). Check it out.

Yesterday the daughter and I went to see Fun Size. I have seen almost every high school movie since the 1980s and this hits all of the cliches - teens having to solve a problem, check. Things going horribly wrong, check? High school crush finally showing an interest in you, check. Overlooked boy or girl you really love, check. What it does right is have a non-speaking 8 year-old (Albert played well by Jackson Nicoll) on the loose who hooks up with a struggling to get his life together store clerk. The movie also doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't go in for gross-out comedy. Only a few (non-F-bomb) swearing. Definitely family friendly. Not great, but definitely gives off a few laughs. Jane Levy has one line in the movie that you will remember for a long time after the movie ends. Also liked Galaxy Scout's (Riki Lindhome) part - hey I like happy endings. Three Mick Happies for this one. The trailer below gives you many of the best bits (but not all) - catch it on video.

Pitch Perfect Review

Last weekend, the daughter and I caught Pitch Perfect at a Cinepolis Luxury Cinema (more on them later). Pitch Perfect, directed by Jason Moore, was written by Kay Cannon based on the book of the same name by Mickey Rapkin. The movie stars Anna Kendrick, as Beca, who joins an all girls a cappella singing group: the Barden Bellas.

The movie is mixture of college coming of age story, musical and a little bit gross-out comedy. One of the reasons my daughter wanted to see it was for Rebel Wilson (who she has liked in other films), who plays Fat Amy an outspoken member of the Bellas. In the film, the Bellas are being rebuilt in the film after an unfortunate incident the prior year at the National a cappella singing competition and fighting hard to compete with their on campus rivals: the Treblemakers.

Part of the fun of the movie is the quirky characters on the Bellas from their driven leader Aubrey (played by Anna Camp) to her more spirited right-hand, Chloe (played well by Brittany Snow). One of the show stealers in the movie is Lilly, a very soft-spoken girl who says off the wall things – if you can hear what she is saying (Hana Mae Lee plays her very well).

What we liked about Pitch Perfect was the music and fun interaction of the cast.  The singing is also good as shown well in the Riff Off scene is great where the singing groups at the college all musically duel with each other. Probably the best, though, is an incredibly awkward (and pretty much kid friendly) shower scene with Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow. Additionally, Anna Kendrick is very believable as a focused music lover whose character has a lot of growth from her reluctant audition for the Bellas to the end of the movie.

There were a couple of gross-out scenes that were a little over the top (and not necessarily needed) and some of the dialogue is a little awkward at times, but overall Pitch Perfect is fun with good music to go with it. Definitely worth seeing even if you don’t put down the $19.50 for a comfy seat like one of these:

Overall 3.5 Mick Happies for Pitch Perfect. Now if only they would have put all of the music in the soundtrack, I would be listening to it right now.

Quick Reviews

Just got done seeing Hotel Transylvania, the latest Sony Pictures Animation film featuring the voices of Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Ceelo Green, Steve Buscemi and others. The daughter and I had a fun time. It is light, family entertainment and I found the suffering father werewolf with about 15 kids to be my favorite. There was a scene of he and wife in bed with all of the kids laying on him that hit home for me since my dogs were laying on me this morning. I give this one 3.5 Mick Happies.

Last night we watched Battleship, directed by Peter Berg. Yes, I know it was panned and it is based on a board game. We actually enjoyed the movie. Once you get past the premise and what is based on, it really is just a fun popcorn action flick. It is too bad that Alexander Skarsgård wasn’t on screen for longer (for my wife and her cousin who really like him), but things blow up and the good guys win (oops spoiler – like you didn’t see that coming). Again, 3.5 Mick Happies here – just don’t look for depth or realism I mean they made it all the way here you would think they could beat 3 destroyers and a battleship.

I know, right, we were surprised too!

Finally, I have been spending too many hours late at night trying to stop my own alien invasion in X-COM: Enemy Unknown on the Xbox 360. The game is great and I am still just in the beginning of it (about to restart for the third time). All I can say is you really don’t want me as your Commander as I have lost my squad at least 3 times in the last game though in my defense I had the Med Kit and just couldn’t get it to show up in my Support Class Sergeant’s action list. The tutorial is helpful and gets you started quickly. One drawback is that there is no detailed manual in the box so you will have to go get it if you get stuck like me (and it wouldn’t download on my iPod Touch). Four Mick Happies so far here. Hopefully I can keep my men and women alive on the next go – can’t wait to see how it all ends.

Bill Engvall: Here's Your Sign Show Review

Last night the family and I went to Mystic Lake Casino in Minnesota to see Bill Engvall’s Here’s Your Sign show.  For those who don’t know, Bill Engvall is a comedian and entertainer who helped found the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, has been in several comedy specials and had his own TV show. He is currently touring with Gary Brightwell as his opening act. Gary and Bill have a radio show on Sirius XM together.

The show last night was in the Mystic Showroom (see images below) and for $55 a person we had fairly good seats. The show was all ages, so our teenage daughter was able to join us (part of the reason we chose this show). We have enjoyed Mr. Engvall’s comedy in the past and his sarcastic wit always brings a laugh. Many of his standup specials can be streamed off Netflix.

The opening act was Gary Brightwell, who started a little slow but was funny and entertaining for his ~20 minute set. After Gary, Bill Engvall came on stage and his show lasted about an hour and 15 minutes or so. At least half of the material Bill performed was from previous standup routines he has done, but he delivers them well and we all laughed again. The new material was very funny and we all had a good time.

The Mystic Showroom was also a good venue: easy to get to and the valet parking was great. The only downside is walking past the casino you will get quite a bit of smoke smell, which if you aren’t used to it can be a little overwhelming. Another big plus of the Showroom was the concession prices which were incredibly reasonable – drinks for $1 - $3.

The view from our seats 

The rest of the showroom audience

We had a fun night out. If you like the Blue Collar Comedy stuff, you will really enjoy the show. Could make a really nice family night out as the comedy is pretty much PG-13, though may be a little pricey for some. A four Mick Happy outing for sure. Here’s your sign:

FTL: Faster Than Light Review

FTL: Faster Than Light is a space simulator where you and your crew are piloting a ship trying to run from a Rebel fleet bent on stopping you from delivering key data to the Federation. FTL was developed by Subset Games (Matthew Davis and Justin Ma) and partially funded through a Kickstarter campaign. The game is available (Mac, PC, Linux) via the FTL website or through Steam.

I first heard about FTL from listing to the Major Nelson podcast where E mentioned that he was playing the game. From there I searched for the game and found the FTL website. There wasn’t much detail there, so I happened to come across this YouTube video of a play-through that gave a really good overview of the game:

FTL has minimalistic top-down graphics and real-time combat. You control all aspects of your ship from how much power you put into various ship systems to where you station your crew (they add bonuses as they become more proficient at a job – faster weapon power up, etc.) and how you upgrade your ship. The items you most have to manage are fuel, missiles, drone parts and scrap - the currency of the future. The controls are point and click and easy to learn and you can pause when necessary – which it is if your ship has been boarded, has a hull breach and is on fire – to help you think about where to move crew or what part of an enemy ship to target.

The basic elements of the game have you jumping (using FTL drives) to various spots in a given star sector. At each stop you may run into hostile ships, potential quests, black market stores or other challenges or dangers. At each you will have a series of choices to make that may help or hurt your overall goal to escape the Rebel fleet and reach the Federation. With each jump you make in a sector, it will (hopefully) take you closer to the exit point (where you can jump to the next sector) and away from the Rebel fleet (shown on the jump screen as a growing danger area you want to avoid – read you fight enemy ships every jump).

FTL doesn’t waste much energy on the graphics, but the sound is great and the game play is really engaging. It is similar to rogue-like games (Rogue, NetHack, etc.) in that death of your ship and crew is permanent. I found that it made me think fondly of NetTrek and similar minimal graphics starship games of the past. There are also Stats and Achievements to help you track how well you have done on each game. There are also multiple ship designs that can be unlocked by various achievements. I have played six games so far and unlocked one new ship design and haven’t come close to winning the game on normal, succumbing to a different death each time.

FTL is hard, fun and re-playable and at $10, you should go out and get it. If you wonder if FTL is right for you, watch the video above for a little while to get a feel for how it works and how quickly things can go from great to running at the edge of your seat. FTL gets 4 Mick Happies. Safe travels in the darkness of space.

Revolution Pilot Review

Revolution is a new drama series on NBC created by Eric Kripke (known for creating the television show Supernatural). The show is set fifteen years after an event where all electricity (including batteries) stopped working and hasn’t come back on. No cars, planes, lights, etc. As you might expect, the world has broken down and most of the population has died off in the fifteen years since the event.

Revolution, at least in the first episode directed by Jon Favreau, focuses on the Matheson family as “Charlie” Matheson (played by Tracy Spiridakos) searches for help from her uncle Miles (played by Billy Burke). During the episode we get a glimpse at what the world of Revolution is like. Things look a lot like the History channel show, Life After People. There are a lot of gangs and people to avoid, even the authorities of the area Charlie and her companions are travelling through, the Monroe Republic.

Being a big fan of the Emberverse (or Change) novels by S.M. Stirling (the first is Dies the Fire), I was really looking forward to watching the pilot of Revolution. I was able to catch it for free before airing on NBC.com (and later able to download it off iTunes for free). I am happy to say that I enjoyed the pilot. There were the nods to all of the usual post-apocalyptic clichés such as giving all of your cash for some toilet paper. Speaking of which, the Target toilet paper ad during the airing of the show online was inspired and very funny.

I was also pleasantly surprised that Revolution is something different than the Emberverse novels. Guns work along with some other things I won’t mention. It all leaves you wondering if the event may not be permanent for the world of Revolution. I hope that the answers won’t be long in coming and other questions will be posed to replace those that are answers.

I am looking forward to the second episode and learning more about the Matheson family. I will have to see if I can watch them online or if I will need to buy them off iTunes. Either way, I will be watching. Revolution (pilot) gets four Mick Happies. Now I am off to plan my apocalypse stash of ammunition, water and toilet paper. (It’s something my family and I discuss fairly regularly while going through the grocery store or Target).

In Her Name Review

Sometimes I come across things to try in strange ways. My wife has a number of independent authors who she has followed on twitter and suggested I check them out. One of them is Michael R. Hicks and he has published several books in a Science Fiction series called In Her Name. The books are broken into three trilogies, one still being written, and the first books in the released trilogies are available for free as e-books.

Not one to pass up on free books, I downloaded In Her Name: First Contact and In Her Name: Empire through iBooks. I started reading the series with In Her Name: First Contact, which tells the story of what happens when mankind accidentally discovers a technologically superior and vastly older warlike alien race, the Kreelans. The Kreelans make it a habit of going to war with any alien race they discover.

In First Contact, we learn that the Kreelans are an ancient race that is connected spiritually by a connection they call the Bloodsong that shares their emotions and passions and the will of their Empress to all Kreelans. The Kreelan race is slowly dying out and they have a prophecy that someday an alien will be found whose blood can sing and this will be the Kreelan’s salvation. After contact with humans, the Kreelans go to war to test mankind to determine if their souls can sing.

The rest of the first trilogy (chronologically) of the In Her Name series is continued in the books Legend of the Sword and Dead Soul (or collected in a single volume called In Her Name: The Last War). After reading In Her Name: First Contact, I bought The Last War as an e-book through Amazon for less than $5 (it is not available on iBooks). The Last War is a good military Science Fiction story with man fighting to survive against aliens they don’t understand and against their own nature (politics, pettiness and greed).

I have also read In Her Name: Empire, the first book of the second trilogy. Empire is set about a hundred years later during the conflict between the Kreelans and the human Confederation. Empire is the story of Reza Gard, a young boy who loses his parents, is put in a labor camp for orphans and later is captured by the Kreelans and trained in the Kreelan culture. I felt that Empire (which was written before The Last War) was more Space Opera in nature and deals with the details of Reza and is life and what he learns as a Kreelan prisoner than the greater war between man and Kreelans.

I liked these books and will be buying the second trilogy collection, In Her Name: Redemption to see how the conflict between the Kreelans and man ends. It was refreshing in The Last War to have a story where not everyone lives through the massive conflict that the book describes. There are characters that do extraordinary things, but many of them do not cheat death repeatedly. I also liked the unique culture of the alien race and how it was described.

You should download the free e-books In Her Name: First Contact and In Her Name: Empire. If you like Science Fiction, you will enjoy them and want to get the rest of the story. Here are my ratings for the books in the series I have read so far:

In Her Name: First Contact – 4 Mick Happies.

In Her Name: The Last War – 3 and a half Mick Happies.

In Her Name: Empire – 3 Mick Happies.

After reading these books, let’s hope when we do finally travel among the stars that any alien races we encounter are peaceful.