[Blog Entry] Chickens Fight Back, Out of the Loop, Reunions

Chickens Fight Back

Along EDSA is a gas station with a KFC branch beside it. Of course several days ago, behind it was a huge KFC Cruelty billboard. It’s taken down now, but it was funny to see a small, KFC store with a big, looming anti-KFC propaganda behind it.

Out of the Loop

I used to attend every anime/manga/gaming-related convention, as long as ROTC didn’t interfere with it (thank God I don’t have ROTC anymore). For the past year, perhaps because of my job, I haven’t been able to really attend such events as much as I want to (take the last Animax convention, which was on a Friday).

Fortunately I was able to attend the U Got Game Pro con yesterday. But I honestly feel out of the loop. I mean it’s not like I cosplay. And others seem to have moved along with their lives. I was able to say hello to some old friends but aside from that, there wasn’t much we could really talk about.

Reunions

Strangely enough, this week has been a reunion of sorts for me. For one thing, I met a batchmate who works in the same building as I do. What was surprising was the fact that he owns his own company.

Then my friend from the US came back. He’s our Dungeon Master. I guess that’s three months of gaming for us until he leaves. Lots of catching up to do.

And at the U Got Game Con yesterday, I did meet some old acquaintances. Found out another friend from high school who’s a fellow gamer is now working for Level Up Games. Then there’s this friend from college, and I’m glad I got to talk to her before she leaves on June for Japan (gambatte!). And finally met Clair, an online acquaintance and elder sister to one of my stalkers.

What's most important to you: your past, present, or future?

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[Book Review] The Crimson Talisman by Adrian Cole (2005)

A Long and Winding Road

The Crimson Talisman is the first book in Eberron’s War-Torn series. The concept is pretty simple: the story must be self-contained and deals with the character. Wizards of the Coast even held a contest last year, the winner of which gets to write in this series. Me being a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, this was one of the books I anticipated, at the very least to see what kind of writing Wizards of the Coast was interested in seeing.

Since I was used to the presence of an appendix from the previous two Eberron novels released this year, it was a big surprise for me to find out that this one didn’t have one. At least it had a map. Oh well, if anything’s going to satisfy me with this book, it has to do it with the writing. Which unfortunately was very mundane. It was more or less easy reading, but Cole’s writing style has no real strengths. Everything was pretty much average, whether it’s attention to detail, characterization, or dialogue. So I guess all that’s left is plot.

The story is pretty okay, and it would have been satisfactory, if it weren’t for the fact that the book is really a series of short adventures. It follows a certain formula: protagonist is pursued by undead villains, are outmatched, hence protagonist flees to another country. Repeat. There’s a variation to the formula near the end though as this time, it’s the good guys that do the chasing. Honestly, rather than being an action-adventure novel, this is more like Eberron: A Geographic Tour. I can’t help but feel that the writer is prolonging the story just to fill the minimum-words quota.

That’s not to say that the book doesn’t have its good points. There is intrigue from the very start of the novel, as the main protagonist doesn’t know who to trust. That’s augmented midway through the novel as we sense that more than one villainous force is after the heroes, hence causing a three-way conflict. There’s also one character in the novel that I’ve grown fond of, but there are times where his supposed slyness just doesn’t come into play. A failure of the novel for me though was the cheesy love interest, whom the character falls for at first sight. And it probably won’t be any surprise if I told you they ended up together at the end.

Despite all my criticisms, I actually enjoyed the book. Not as much as I’d wanted, but it’s better than reading other horrible drabble. An objective analysis though will tell you that even for a Dungeons & Dragons book, this is at the lower end of the spectrum. There are probably other, more exciting novels out there and the only ones I can honestly recommend this book to would be the Eberron fans (or would be Eberron fans). If you really want to get a feel of Eberron, get the other two novels, Marked for Death and The City of Towers. The only advantage of this book over those is that it ‘s self-contained and probably the fact that it has a pretty cover.

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[Book Review] Barnacle Bill the Spacer and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard (1997)

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Title

Honestly speaking, the title grabbed my attention but for all the wrong reasons. Barnacle Bill the Spacer and Other Stories sounds more like the tagline of a pop comic serial rather than that of a respectable science-fiction novel. Thankfully, I’ve heard praises for the author, Lucius Shepard, so I gave the book a shot despite my apprehensions at the anthology’s name.

Thankfully, the anthology doesn’t disappoint. Interestingly enough, the mood of the book is a complete opposite of what you’d expect from the title. It’s really a good collection of short stories from a talented writer. The pilot story from which the book is named after is actually the most moving story I’ve read in this collection. Barnacle Bill isn’t the narrator of the story nor even the protagonist but he is definitely one of the main characters. Shepard’s tone is serious, consistent, and uses sophisticated words and sentences but remains understandable and readable. It’s also not every day that you read a story about a retarded child, and has a darker feel compared to Flowers for Algernon. Another thing that impressed me was Shepard’s ability to capture various accents through the text, yet remains readable and doesn’t jar you from the text.

A Little Night Music is the second story in the anthology. It’s short yet the message is haunting. While other writers might have used more descriptions to illustrate the effects of music, Shepard does it with sheer emotion and depth, which actually fits the mood of the story. Human History is long and here we catch a glimpse of Shepard’s talent in creating multi-layered characters; protagonists that have their own strengths and weaknesses, flaws and virtues that you both love and hate. As can be expected with the theme of this book, Human History isn’t the prettiest tale, although it’s cathartic and leaves us a message of hope in the end.

Sports in America starts off with a dialogue between two Irish Americans in the modern day world. It’s interesting to see how the story flows into its eventual climax, and at the interesting turn of events. It’s not exactly a story you’d categorize as science-fiction, but it’s enjoyable and solid. On the other hand, as much as I love The Sun Spider, it betrays an inherent weakness in Shepard’s writing. While Shepard has mastered the art of capturing various accents and speech patterns and injecting it into the characters, his narrative style remains much less the same. This story is told from the point of view of two characters. Unfortunately, unless I really pay attention to the chapter headings, I couldn’t really differentiate one character from another, which is saying a lot considering the two characters are of the opposite gender and have distinct personalities from each other. Other than that, it’s a good sci-fi story with intriguing repercussions.

The last two stories, All the Perfumes of Araby and Beasts of the Heartland, are set in modern times yet there’s a fantastical feel to them coupled with superior writing. The former, for example, deals with the psychological journey of the main character, while the latter is an exciting boxing match told from the perspective of the underdog. Despite the leap in topic of both stories, I was really drawn to it and impressed at Shepard’s repertoire.

Barnacle Bill the Spacer and Other Stories is a small collection of stories by Lucius Shepard but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. Yet Shepard writes in a certain way and those who are looking for something light and fun will be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for depth, substance, and complexity, this book might appeal to you, irregardless if you’re a fan of science-fiction or not.

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