The Nerd's Agenda

Howdy folks. Haven't had too much to write about, so haven't written!

My comic book backlog is fairly long right now. I've only bothered to keep current with Saga and Hawkeye, everything else is in a "to read" pile. I've been focusing more on my gaming than comics, however.

I have been reading The Erevis Cale Trilogy, which is a very decent Forgotten Realms set of novels about an interesting group of characters (the title character is interesting for the number of changes he goes through, which is reflective of how often players change their characters over the course of a campaign, by either adding templates or changing classes, etc..). I also picked up Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett, and a collection of short stories known as Wild Cards, edited by George R. R. Martin. I'm pretty excited to start reading those, especially the Pratchett novel -- my experience with Discworld has been focused on Going Postal and Making Money, the former being on of my all-time favorite novels.

On the gaming front, I've still been trying to beat Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, but have gotten side tracked with Dragon Age: Origins, which I've played before but never on PC and never with all the DLC. I picked it up during the Steam Summer Sale, along with Mount and Blade: Warband (never played but am very excited to), Endless Space (a decent 4x, but I've not played enough to know how I'd rate it), and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (because I'm almost done with the first).

Just taking over the universe, don't mind me...

Beyond that, I've been working on a new project that will hopefully be unveiled soon. You can actually watch us streaming it Mondays at 8:00pm here, but I'm hoping to also eventually turn it into an edited podcast... More on that soon.

For movies and TV, I've been watching Bones with the wife and really enjoying it, and I'm rewatching Season 1 of Arrow, hoping season 2 will magically be on there when I'm done (it won't be, I've only got two episodes left). I'm eagerly anticipating Guardians of the Galaxy, but may have to put that on hold because I'm expected a daughter two days before it comes out! Gah!

Keep busy without getting much done, that's my motto!

Day 14: Now Reading

A personal favorite I suggest for all Fiction fans.

Been awhile since I updated on what I was actually reading:

The Anubis Gates

I've almost finished re-reading this book by Tim Powers. It involves time travel, an interesting view of magic, and all the antics that come from combining the two. Brendan Doyle is from the present (well, the 1980s) and winds up in 1810 due to a completely logical foray into the past by a wealthy and intellectual man. From there, nothing goes quite right and the story is an interesting view on alternate history, destiny, and keeping readers on their toes. Even when you think you've got a handle on it, it adds a new twist and turn.

I'll be drawing on this book a lot for inspiration with my Steampunk-Detective novel that I'd like to work on after I finish my current project. That, the Cthulhu mythos, and the movie Chinatown. For starters.

Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt Part II: Exile

I like fantasy. I like older fantasy, and D&D stories, and the like. I've never really gotten into Forgotten Realms, though. I finished the first Drizzt book awhile back and found the second one at a used book shop, so have been paging through it. To be completely honest, it holds almost no interest to me other than the later (MUCH LATER) stories seem as if they're so interesting, I just can't imagine skipping so far ahead.

It'd be like reading current Dragonlance without ever reading about the War of the Lance! Blasphemy!

Fables: Sons of Empire

Solid entry, though not especially plot heavy.

I've just finished the 9th TPB of Fables. Without fail, the series is still going strong at this point, and this had a nice juxtaposition of what's going on in the Homelands with the Adversary and his gang as well as some of the less severe adventures of the Fables on Earth. This issue is notable for finally bringing Bigby together with his pops, though it is by no means climactic.

The Pull List

Yeah, so, folks may have noticed I haven't followed up on this lately. The reason is that my Pull List was reduced dramatically after moving back to MA, and I find reading 2-3 single issues a week fairly frustrating. I'm keeping current on my favorites, namely Saga, but otherwise am waiting until I have a few issues lined up to sustain a lengthier reading cycle. For now, Pull List Reviews will be put on hold and I'll do some "state of affairs" posts for the series that I'm enjoying down the line. Until then, however, I'm always happy to take suggestions -- as long as you know I won't jump in the middle of a series, I've got to start at the beginning.

I'm also trying to hunt down some Cthulhu related comics but have been unsuccessful at this time.

... That's about it. I am adding liberal amounts of Lovecraft since I've been in the mood lately, but I'm eyeing some other Mythos related authors more so. Just gotta find 'em.