Sunday

[netbard]

And so the weekend ends. The weather is a lot better today than yesterday - yesterday was chilly and wet; today is warm and sunny. And breezy. The living room is livable, which is awesome. And in an hour and a half, we'll have the new Doctor Who to watch.

Yesterday we went out to the mall. Jilly picked up an outfit for the cruise. I picked up some jeans, swim trunks, sandals, and a nice work shirt. Between this week and last week I'm set - I now have infinite more pairs of shorts than before, for instance (from 0 to 5). Yaaay shorts. :)

Today was Father's Day brunch. Good company. We'll leave it at that and not discuss the food.

Which brings us to this week. To do:

write a DC report (need to just add Steve's DST awards and hit send)
plan a Forsaken game
write up a plotkit for Nick
do a mage write-up

I'll probably work on the first three items tomorrow night. I will also likely hang out on Mirc for any online RP people want - just let me know if there's a need.

Have gotten most of the way through Sharpe's Triumph. The Sharpe series is actually pretty good, following the exploits of a British Sergeant in the midst of India. Good descriptions of historical events, good action. Richard Sharpe would probably be best described as the Bruce Willis of colonial England.

Having almost finished it, though, that leaves the question as to what I read next:

• Traitor, the next in the NJO series
• Starfighters of Adumar, the last X-wing novel I didn't own until earlier this weekend.
• Arrows of the Queen, a ML novel that I purchased on northernminx's recommendation.
• The Thirteen Gun Salute, the next O'Brian novel
• Something else (suggestions welcome)

Hell, I'm about to go on a 7 day cruise, so its not like more reading ideas are unwelcome. Otherwise I'll just have to bring a bunch of computer books. :)

Comments

[hiroyuki-samson.livejournal.com]

Hell, I'm about to go on a 7 day cruise, so its not like more reading ideas are unwelcome. Otherwise I'll just have to bring a bunch of computer books. :)

I have no idea how to respond to that sentiment. I feel the need to, I dunno, ban you from taking more than 4 books. Cruise. Friends. Caribbean. Cruise. Ship. Destinations.

[netbard.livejournal.com]

Well..

You could take it in the spirit it was intended and give some book recommendations? :)

Its not like I'm going to hermit for an entire 7 day cruise. There's lots of time to hermit, and I think certain people would hurt me.

[hiroyuki-samson.livejournal.com]

Si... book recommendations..

Most of the stuff I read is stuff you recommend at this point...

Dresden? That's all I got right now.

[thehalien.livejournal.com]

I actually know Bernard Cornwell. He was very good friends with my grandparents, and when we'd come up for the summer to Cape Cod, we always went on his boat and out to eat with him and his wife. He said me and my sisters were the only children he could stand.

When I was seventeen, he tried to sleep with me. Scuz.

[netbard.livejournal.com]

...

Gah.

Definitely scuz. *hugs*

[eseme]

Well, you are up to date on both Jim Butcher series, yes? If not... his books are darn good (and the two series are very different - something some author's don't do well).

[netbard.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. He is, indeed on my list. I just keep forgetting about his presence there.

[eseme]

Oh, move them up the list.

For Urban Fantasy, his Dresden Files is some of the best out there. It is an ongoing series, 10 books so far. He's stated that he plans about 20 casefiles, and then an epic trilogy. So we're nearly at the halfway point- but the good thing is the books are rather like episodes of Buffy. While there is overarching metaplot, each casefile has its own plot which does get resolved in the individual books. Jim has unique and interesting vampires, fae that are truly scary powerhouses, and one wizard fighting to keep Chicago safe for the average human who doesn't believe in any weird stuff. The books are first person, and have a definite noir feel - Harry Dresden is a private investigator of sorts. He also has a lot of snark.

In contrast, the fantasy series is entirely third person, and jumps from viewpoint to viewpoint. The first book is decent. The rest improve vastly in quality (he gets a better handle on switching viewpoints, I feel) and by about book 3 they are simply amazing. Book 4 came out last Christmas, and damn, plot threads from the first book got resolved. The setting is vaguely that of the Roman Empire, where every citizen has elemental spirits they can control and use for magical and mundane purposes. Everyone except one lone shepherd... And the bad guys? Well there are lost of shades of grey, and then there is the inhuman menace trying to take over the world. The books have some pretty detailed worldbuilding, and the non-human races are unusual and have real depth. Plots are long-term, political, and involve the fate of the empire. Well, when they aren't short term and involve trying to live to see the next day. Lots of large battle scenes - and I actually enjoyed them which is typically not the case. The series will end in 6 books, so one more Christmas of 2008, then the final one winter of 2009.

Jim has really honed his craft, and his latest books are extremely good. Each series gets better as it goes on.

[silver-spider.livejournal.com]

I have the rest of the Arrows of the Queen series handy, along with most of the rest of the Valdemar stuff if you enjoy it.

[netbard.livejournal.com]

I will totally do that at some point.

[tianaran.livejournal.com]

I can pack the sequels to Arrows of the Queen if you want to read those on the cruise. Aaron and I also picked up a couple different card games we are bringing for nights of sitting around goofing off.

[feyfire.livejournal.com]

Uno. I demand uno.

(I stupidly love that game)

I will also pack munchkin which I know you don't personally like if I recall - but with this group could be entertaining if only to see us all wheeling and dealing.

[tianaran.livejournal.com]

We have Munchkin, and Phase 10 and Fluxx and one that is something to do with Mad scientist that looks similar to the others, all are coming with us. I do not have Uno. Sorry.

[tianaran.livejournal.com]

PS. I am okay with Munchkin as long as the people I am playing with do not get obnoxious over it. But I am that way with any game.

[netbard.livejournal.com]

Totally agree with you there - I've played Munchkin with groups that get entirely nasty about it, and I've played it with groups that don't. The latter is infinitely preferable to the former.

[agypsyshome.livejournal.com]

recallinng the individuals that used to play it around us... point taken ;)

Okay I'll get uno and I'll bring one expansion deck for the munchkin (too many cards on boat bad)

Eeeeeeeeeeee.

Now if I could just find a job!

[netbard.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Steve has them, though, so I'll likely raid his room. :)