Disney+ Star Wars stuff

Late to the party, I've finally seen "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" in their entirety.

I have to agree with the general sense that "The Mandalorian" is brilliant and the sort of Star Wars that fans deserve, rather than the incoherent, mishmashed, drivel that was the last three films. And yet, I have questions.

First of all, does every desert planet have Jawas? Did they just migrate from Tatooine or did they migrate to Tatooine at some point?

What the hell is up with Tatooine anyway? For a planet that's furthest from the bright center to the universe, it seems like everyone and their cousins heads out there for this or that.

Is it a requirement for someone in Mandalorian armor to learn to speak Tusken? Or are Mando and Boba Fett just special?

Tatooine is a desert planet, right? I mean, I've seen no bodies of water and "moisture farming" is a thing. So... where the hell are people getting the wood for planks and the Tusken stick weapons?

So Boba Fett. Wow. He's a crime lord who doesn't do crime anymore? How does that work, exactly? Though that's the sort of logic I'd expect from a dude who got punk-smacked by Han Solo and wound up in a Sarlacc pit.

So Luke is not the last Jedi and that's kind of an established thing when he's starting up his Jedi school, before he starts going into attempted nephew-murder and drinking blue milk from the source. So... huh. That kind of makes Rian Johnson's movie even more bullshit, doesn't it?

Review: The Broken Room by Peter Clines

I periodically search to see if Peter Clines has come out with any new books. I loved "14" more than words can say. I enjoyed "The Fold" and managed to read "Terminus" finally. "The Broken Room" is not exactly set in the same world, but... well...

"The Broken Room" is a story of Hector, a top government operative who is beyond badass, and of Natalie, a young orphan who has escaped The Project with the assistance of a dead agent to whom Hector owes a debt.

Natalie tracks down Hector and asks for his help, then things get crazy.

"The Broken Room" has a very Stephen King-vibe to it. There's flavors of "Firestarter" and "The Institute" in the tale, but Clines does not go down Stephen King's roads. No, Clines makes Natalie's and Hector's stories real in very different ways, while tossing the occasional Easter egg to fans of "14" in very clever ways.

I burned through the book in two days and was unable to put it down. Both Hector's and Natalie's stories, and characters, had me completely hooked. I loved this story tremendously. It's not set up for any kind of sequel, but that's fine. It's a brilliant story and I highly recommend it.

Review (okay, reaction): Quillifer series by Walter Jon Williams

Every now and again, Amazon's recommendations are actually not all that bad.

I came across "Quillifer" by Walter Jon Williams and read the synopsis. It sounded intriguing, so I got it for my Kindle and gave it a read. I wasn't past the third chapter when I ordered the next two books in the series. I've just finished the third book and have been giving my brain a chance to catch up.

In summary, the series is about Quillifer, the humble son of a butcher and an apprentice lawyer. When his home city gets attacked by raiders, his life takes some dramatic turns in some seriously weird directions. One of those directions has Quillifer, a lover of the ladies, manage to piss off a goddess-like water spirit who decides she's going to amuse herself by throwing all kinds of torments in Quillifer's way.

Despite this divine interference, Quillifer's fortunes rise. He winds up lover of many ladies and a reluctant soldier as well as... well, why spoil too much?

Williams has an incredibly engaging protagonist in Quillifer, as well as an entertaining and unusual narrative style. The books are all narrated in the first person and written as though they're being told to an audience of a specific character that differs in each book. It's quite fascinating, really. Quillifer's fortunes vary quite a lot and I have to admit I'm finding myself sympathetic to the fellow.

I gather that Williams has six books planned in all. There are three out at the moment: "Quillifer", "Quillifer the Knight", and "Lord Quillifer". I can't wait to see where things go in the next three. It's looking like Williams will actually make headway in the series, unlike past favorite authors of mine like Patrick Rothfuss and George R.R. Martin.

The Madness that is March

Blink and I just let a few months fly by.

I guess that's 2022 in a nutshell.

Fucking hell what a year.

So long 2021

Another year bites the dust.

I can't say 2021 was all that terribly bad for me. All of my family stayed out of the hospital for the year, which was a nice change of pace. Got vaccinated to the gills. No Covid. Hell, aside from seasonal allergies, I've not really been sick in a couple of years now.

Got a new, better, job. Like the people I work with.

All told, I really can't complain too much about 2021. The isolation bit has sort of sucked, but it's not been as intense as 2020. The hints of politics for 2022 and 2024 are a source of the odd sleepless night, but I can't do anything about that.

See ya 2021. I won't say you've been a bucket of fun, but you've not given me too much grief. Here's hoping 2022 isn't a dumpster fire.

Review: "Leviathan Falls" by James S.A. Corey (Expanse finale)

I finished "Leviathan Falls" the other day and have been processing since then.

The last book in the Expanse series by the two authors who write under the pseudonym of James S.A. Corey is up to the usual sweeping standard of epic crazy. Multiple views across worlds as the fall of the Laconian Empire shakes out, some of the mysteries of the protomolecule builders come to light, and there's a final-ish showdown with the dark things beyond the rings.

I don't want to drop spoilers in, but I found the overall story to be quite satisfying. I found the conclusions for most of the main characters to be pretty good. I think one character got a raw deal, but such is the way of things. There was one new POV character introduced who bugged the shit out of me, but it's a moot point now. And the epilogue was perfect!

Sigh. Now I need a new series to read.

Daniel Black series by E. William Brown

A friend pushed me to read "Perilous Waif" by E. William Brown some time past. I enjoyed it and have been eagerly awaiting the sequel. In the meantime, I finally broke down and replaced by long-dead Kobo with a Kindle. I decided to fill it up with a few books and got Brown's "Daniel Black" series (only available in eBook).

There's four books in the series so far: Fimbulwinter, Black Coven, Extermination, and Thrall. Rather than go into them in detail, I'll just give my overall impressions as I binge-read them.

The Daniel Black series is about Daniel Black, a software engineer of 21st century Earth who has a spectacularly-bad run of luck. He's recruited by the goddess Hectate to journey to an alternate Earth to save the last of Hectate's worshippers, a sexy murder witch and her equally-sexy hearth witch lover.

As part of the bargain, Daniel is dragged through a stream of chaos that lets him pick up sorcerous powers. Daniel, a former devotee of roleplaying games and video games, munchkins the unholy hell out of this offer, picking up magics around earth, force, flesh, and even mana (the stuff of magic itself). Armed with 21st century knowledge and arcane power, Daniel then proceeds to kick ass in an alternate Earth version of Skandinavia where Ragnarok is starting.

Brown has a gift for really fun narrative. He keeps the story moving and writes entertainingly-intelligent characters. He likes to surround Daniel with a wide variety of sexy and deadly women. Many of them are barely-legal, but his narrative is quick to point out that's relative given the setting. There's lots of polyamourous sex, gratuitous sex, and just... uh... sex. There's also tons of the old ultraviolence mixed in for fun.

Daniel Black's 21st Century American morals and views are tackled in an interesting way through Brown's filter of this alternate Earth. You almost have to pity the first monster that comes across his magical flamethrower. Oops. Spoiler.

The series is a really fun read overall. I have to say, I can't wait for book five in the series. Brown has gone dark since the pandemic, by all accounts. I hope he's okay and hunkered down to crank out more books.