Red Sand

So I watched Red Sand today and I have to say, I enjoyed it. Wish it had been longer. Just when i was hooked...the end...
I admit that Mark Meer isn't what I would picture Grissom to look like based on the novels but, he made it work. Also...is it just me or does he look like David Tennant? Yummy x2 :P

For a fan made film it was pretty damn good if too short. Beats the end result of the 5 yrs I waited for that awful LoZ fan movie...what was it called? Hero of Time I think.

Anyways...
Check it out, its good stuff.

New loot!

Mass Effect 3

I know I have been quiet for a time. I've been caught up in gaming ,and chatting with friends and dealing with day to day life and it seems writing has taken a bit of a backseat. I'm not giving up on this blog, I'm taking a slight sabbatical. Writing is still important to me and I still have so much I want to say and share. I know that a lot more people started reading this blog in the past few months and I thank you and apologize for it slowly flatlining. I will get it back in line, I'm thinking (fingers crossed) that I'll be able to dedicate some time to this place once the kids have spring break.
I want to say first that I appreciate all the really kind words and encouragement I've received from all of you about this blog.  So virtual hugs all 'round to start with! (((((HUGS)))))

Second, I've started considering seriously a suggestion some of you had to do vlog entries once in while just so I can get my thoughts out more often and you can all make fun of my Popeye voice and the fact my conversations splinter off on bizarre tangents like ALL the time :P Of course that means, I'd have to comb my hair and wear something other than pajamas once in a while hehe.

So now, to the actual reason for this post. I wrote this over on playfire but I felt I wanted to share it here as well....
Mass Effect 3 has been causing waves all over the place it seems and I'd like to chime in on that:

So I'm nowhere close to finishing this, someone spoiled the ending, but then I was told that wasnt exactly the true ending. and then I went to the guide and read their incredibly vague ending info because I'm just tired of hearing crap about how bad the ending is. From the super vague 1 sentence "spoilers" in the guide. I don't get what all the drama is about the ending. Some of it seemed a bit stupid but not utterly unexpected. 

I almost quit playin when it was spoiled and now, I think, I just don't care anymore. good or bad, I'm gonna finish it so, should I just read what all the drama is about?

I mean, I've heard of people not liking a game or moving ending but never all the damn drama this is causing, lawsuits, petitions, Amazon giving full refunds to people who hated it..that's ridiculous. How bad can it possibly be?

And, if games are art, and I do believe they are whether I like some of them or not, then, who are we to question an artist's vision? Would people have rioted in the streets for Mozart to re-write the second movement of the Magic Flute cause they didnt care for that one little arpeggio? 

At the end of the day, Mass Effect is Bioware's IP and artistic creation. We can be disappointed it didn't end how we wanted it to, but we have no right to impose our will on the creator. 


I just feel, this whole fiasco is setting a really bad precedent and gamers have an over-inlalted sense of entitlement. 

I'm a stay at home mom, been one for many years now, but before that I worked many different jobs, in many different situations and I have to say that "the customer is always right" is not the case. There are times the customer is decidedly wrong. 

I also think that Bioware should stick to their guns. there's that saying "you can't please everybody all of the time" 

due to this ME3 mess they've decided to ask gamers what they want from Dragon Age 3...this to me is a wrong decision. If Dragon Age 2 was a weak succesor to Dragon Age Origins, letting the gamers chime in on what they want and then trying to implement these ideas in DA3 will be an utter disaster. hundreds of people, all with their own idea/vision, demanding the game cater to them...how would this not end up an utter failure? 


As the conversation progresses on playfire, and as other things pop into my head, I'll probably come back here and post more about it, if you'd like to see what others are saying on that thread I'll include the link:   https://www.playfire.com/SihayatheFremen/updates/1100883

Update 1:

many people have pointed out that the ME series is more about the journey than the destination. its about the character interactions and reactions. One big thing I worry about as I navigate this spoiler filled ME3 drama is not so much of the ending is bad or good, or one I will hate or like. IS it true to the characters, the situation. because I think my biggest disappointment would be to get to the ending and then feel like "That character would NEVER do that" Spending so much time with these characters, doing loyalty missions, listening to their hopes and fears, walking around and watching not only my character bond with them but all the squad mates bonding with each other, sharing jokes, etc. you "know" them, and with that comes that thought that in X situation you know or think you know how they would react. 

Mass Effect 2--mixed feelings.

So, I've been trying to actually PLAY some of the games I own and what do you know...if you actually stick to a game, you'll eventually finish it! I had no idea.

I think that writing out my unfinished game lists really made me realize that, damn I buy way too many games and they are really good games and I have no life whatsoever, no job, I dont do housework...so why the hell do I never finish games?

What did I finish?
Mass Effect 2 and the DLC for Dungeon Siege 3.

So lets go with ME2 first...

I've talked about my initial dislike of ME2 before. Its not that it doesnt have a great story, or great characters its that they took an RPG and made it a third person shooter with some RPG elements tacked on. Yeah, I said it, I do not worship at the altar of ME2. I do worship at the Altar of Shepard and Garrus (insane crush on the freaky alien dude!).

I recognize that Mass Effect was a little... clunky and awkward in parts, but, I didnt mind a lot of the things people complained about.
For example, elevators. So many complaints about the long elevator rides masking loading time. I actually rather enjoyed the News Updates while you rode the elevator, they were informative and sometimes amusing, I kind of miss that. I don't know, I have nowhere to be so I dont mind load times, not to mention that being an RPG player I'm used to the dramatic pause and switch to battle screens and the post victory, dance, pose thing. Loading times, they are just part of the package.

Second, while the inventory could be a little cumbersome, I LIKED choosing my weapons and what power ups I would add to each. I liked shopping for new gear and I liked turning the crappy stuff into Omni-Gel. The whole streamed down, no more shopping, finding upgrades scattered around the world thing just didnt do it for me. Also.. WHY THE HELL DO I NO LONGER HAVE GRENADES!!!!!!!!!! I want my damn grenades back! I like throwing a grenade out and watching a whole lot of dudes ragdoll.

Also, I don't appreciate losing half my characters' powers. I playas a Vanguard. Its the space equivalent of Battle Mage and I like being a battle mage, I really liked being a space battle-mage, but now, 2 of my powers are gone and instead I have special ammo...wth?

I hate the "streamlined" upgrade screen, I have less choices, less powers and less control over character development. I don't consider this progress. (I feel the same way about the fact that I can't change anyone's outfit in Dragon Age 2...I liked laughing my ass off at the hideous mismatched armour I'd put on my characters and the ridiculous hats, but that's a rant for another day, like when i finish Dragon Age 2)


One thing I never thought I'd say after playing Mass Effect is... I miss the Mako. The Hammerhead controls like retarded ass. Yes, I know the Mako wasn't exactly the pinnacle of precision, but once I got the hang of it, it was kinda fun I especially liked climbing mountains with it, trying hard to flip it over and having it always land on its wheels, like a cat...also, I could run over stuff. Using the Hammerhead made me rethink how "cool" hovercraft would be.

Now, that I've bitched about the game, let me say that I did really like it, a lot. I mean it was REALLY good. Not he shooting bits that much, or the planet scanning bits, or the boring ass-Citadel parts but...wow..yeah.. man, I sound so negative don't I?
I assure you though, I loved the game. Or more accurately, I loved the story. The gameplay put me off but the story kept me going. Sure its got its share of cliches but what doesnt these days, its like originality is becoming extinct.

Picking up all the different members of your team, getting to know them, doing their loyalty missions, it was fabulous.  I found myself wasting time running around the Normandy talking to everyone often, personal favorites were talking to Zaeed, Kasumi and Joker.

Zaaed's Mercenary stories were a trip. Interesting, sometimes hilarious, usually really fucked up..good stuff.
Kasumi, she was just..so damn cute. I love the way she talks, I would have pegged her for a silent bitchy type but she's so bubbly.
And Joker, well its Seth Green, I love me some Seth Green. Every time I took a different team out on a mission I would come back and ask him about it because he always had something hilarious to say.

Garrus is my game crush so of course, anytime I got to talk to him, do his mission, whatever was just great to me.
Jacob was a little dry but after getting to know him, he grew on me. His loyalty mission was also incredibly interesting.
I was really surprised by how much I liked Mordin. His mission had some really deep, interesting conversation that made you think, and his Salarian hyperness was amusing...also..Him singing...AWESOME



Grunt was...very Krogan and I think his Loyalty mission gave me the most trouble aside from Thane's.
Thane, he was fascinating. Seriously. History, Theology, The Drell in general, I ended up romancing him and Garrus (I'm such a two timer) and while Garrus's romance was very touching, Thane's was by far the most emotional and insightful of the two, not to mention tragic (I might be biased because he started calling my character Siha and that's close to my name, Sihaya...but even without that, he was just awesome.)

Finally Legion. I found him fascinating and was a little dissapointed that there wasn't more there. I mean, after spending the whole first game and most of the second one fighting the Geth, getting to talk to him and learn more about them and what exactly the situation is and the effects of the events of the first game, so much to learn, so much to ask...and he can hack turrets, always a win in my book.

Those were the characters I liked...the dislike column is almost as long.

First of all I must bitch about the fact that useless wench Yeoman Chambers let my damn fish die! TWICE!!! Man she's useless.
Following the useless chick who's sole purpose seemed to be a breathing equivalent of the AOL "You've got mail!" voice would be Samara.
I dont have anything against her particularly, she's an interesting character but, I was just put off by the utter black & whiteness of the Justicar creed. I dont deal in absolutes.

following my mild distaste for Samara is a three way of hatorade.
Jack, Tali and Miranda. I can't begin to express my hatred, my unbridled hatred for these 3 bitches.

Jack is an insane, vulgar, foul-mouthed sociopath that was frankly unnecessary and didnt belong anywhere near this game. I only took her on her loyalty mission because I had to, aside from that I avoided her like the plague. Now, i'm not saying I'm not slightly psychotic or curse like a sailor, But good lord there was truly NOTHING appealing about her character. From her shaved head, all over tattoos and half-nakedness to her snotty attitude and vitriol, I thoroughly hated her. I couldnt even stand looking at her in the character lineup. Best $2 I ever spent were on the Alternate Appearance DLC so she'd put some damn clothes on!

Miranda...oh lord how I despised her superior bitch attitude and her ugly ass mannish face...Also..Why the hell did her already inappropriate outfit become downright ho-ish after her loyalty mission? Seriously, she went from the skin-tight constant focus on her ass white catsuit to a black pleather one with cutouts on her hips and thighs..WTF? Cause that's useful and appropriate in a fire-fight. Again..Alternate Appearance pack is my friend, I loved fugly-ing her up even more (not that that ugly face needed much help) in the DLC jumpsuit with the hideous sunglasses. She's another character I only took out on her Loyalty mission because I had no choice.
I will give Jack one up on her because she kept calling her "cheerleader"  and wanted to kick her ass. Her whole "I was bio-engineered to be perfect, I am so fucking awesome, stand in awe of me and Cerberus is great and the Illusive man is GOD" shtick got on my nerves. I took great pleasure in going against all of her opinions in the end game.
Then there's Tali..I begrudgingly admit that she was useful in a few fights towards the end of the game, but that's as much as you'll get out of me that is positive. Honestly, I've disliked not only this character but her entire race since the first game. If you ask me, the Quarians get what they deserve and I got tired of hearing her whining bullshit about how they are stuck in their stupid suits, on their stupid ships, in their damn migrant fleet and the bad bad icky Geth stole their planet. Fuck the Quarians! Truth of the matter is they were lazy assholes who created robots to use as slave labor so they could dick around. The Geth somehow evolved and became sentient and the Quarians reaction to the Geth wanting to live and not be slaves was to try and exterminate them. I would happily help the Geth blow up the migrant fleet if I could. bunch of self centered douchebags.

And for the record...Screw you too Illusive man also, you look stupid when you smoke!

Not being a bitch, ok, i can't say that with a straight face...Not being THAT big a bitch, I'm not gonna write spoilers, but I will say that the ending was incredibly interesting. I was glad they at least somewhat explained why the hell all this shit is going on. oh and final fight...Cake walk...getting there...not so much. Not hard per se but if you are going for the whole no one dies achievement, think carefully on each decision oh and when Joker asks you if you are ready to go at the Omega-4 relay...SAY YES! DO NOT WAIT

After all that (which was much longer than I was planning) I'll say that, I enjoyed the story and I've already pre-ordered the Collector's Edition of ME3. So, obviously, I've gotten over my nitpicks and character hate lol

I had planned on also writing about the Dungeon Siege DLC but, I need a little Break, I didnt expect this to be so long.

To quote Kasumi-- Come back later. I'm sure I'll have more to talk about.

What the hell am I reading?

Long before I became an obsessive gamer, I was an obsessive reader. As a kid I rarely played video games, preferring to read and to this day I still treasure the very first book I remember reading often during my childhood, Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses.
Since you aren't my therapist we won't discuss my life growing up but I will say that books got me through most of it with most of my sanity intact. A book, any reading material really, was never far from my hand and to this day when I'm eating my Lucky Charms I'll read the box if I don't have a book handy.

Where the hell is this going?
I'm getting there and it is related to games. I swear. You know me, I take the meandering path anywhere.

When I was younger I mostly focused on classics. In my late teens I added more modern fare to my list. In between this I did my random studying, i'd pick a topic and research it for fun, Metallurgy, Arthurian Legend, Mythology, History...Yes, I've always been a giant nerd.

A few years back I discovered the Vampire Hunter D series and started reading and collecting both the novels and the manga as they are released. I also started reading more manga, Trinity Blood, Naruto, Inuyasha, Hikaru no Go to name a few.

What didn't interest me at all? Game novels. Pprobably because I didnt care for the games that were getting novelized. I admit it...Xbox fangirl that I am, I have never cared for or about Halo, any Halo game. I played a bit of the first one, it was ok, but it wasn't anything extraordinary.
That all changed when I read The Last Wish by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. If the name doesn't sound familiar, perhaps this one will, The Witcher.
The Witcher is based on Sapkowski's series of books.  Sadly only 2 have been translated to English, The Last Wish and Blood of Elves with a third one, Times of Contempt being planned for release next year.

Around the same time I played a lot of Dynasty Warriors 6 with my husband and like many other gamers it piqued my interest in the Three Kingdoms Period of Chinese History and I ended up ordering and reading the massive 4 book spanning Three Kingdoms by Guanzhong Luo, (BTW, I really recommend it, it was really amazing)

After reading these books I got curious about what other novels based on games I play might be out there, that maybe weren't exactly showcased at the local Borders.  Look and ye shall find....Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Dead Space and others. So I went on a shopping spree.

I don't know what I expected, but whatever it was, it wasn't what I got.

I read the Dragon Age books and  found myself wishing there were more than just 2 novels. I also found a lot of understanding and compassion for Teryn Loghain.

I bought all 3 Mass Effect novels, though I've only read 2 because the last one takes place after ME2 and I didnt want any spoilers however slight, and discovered they were deep, fascinating glimpses into both the world and some of the characters I had met in Mass Effect. Anderson was utterly badass in his youth.

One series I approached with low expectations was Gears of War. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Gears 1 and 2, Pre-ordered the Epic edition of Gears 3 and am trying to decide the best place to build my shrine to the Marcus Fenix statue it comes with. But, while I love Gears and find the story interesting and well written for the purposes of the games, I wasnt sure if it would be deep enough to make a good read. I couldn't have been more wrong. I just finished reading Coalition's End a few nights ago and I think I spent most of the book turning the pages breathlessly, wanting to see what happened next.
Not only were they great reads, the last 2 books did the impossible...they made me like Baird. THAT is one thing I didn't expect from the Gears books.

After reading a few of those books and admitting that perhaps I shouldnt have assumed all game novels would suck I bought 2 more game novels. One with high hopes and one with mild curiosity. Dead Space and The Elder Scrolls.

Well, the gravy train of awesome had to end sometime, right?

I started with Dead Space, didnt get too far in before asking myself  "wtf is going on and why the hell do I care? But I tried to keep going, eventually I got sidetracked by rereading The Great Book of Amber for the 27th time and so my husband read Dead Space. Upon completion he told me that it was really good and that I really should give it another go, if I got past the horrid beginning, it had a great payoff later on. So I went back to it and he was right. Don't worry, no spoilers or anything, but...wow, that didnt end the way I thought it would...at all.

Now I confess this incredibly long and non-funny...post...entry....whatever, has been leading up to this: The Infernal City, an Elder Scrolls  novel because I FINALLY finished it last night.
I was instantly interested when it was announced, I mean, I love me some Morrowind and Oblivion, even tried to get some of the older games to run on my pc...no go :( i guess I should have kept my old POS for old games. So I went into this with high expectations of high fantasy.

I can read a standard 500 page novel in a night if motivated. I've been reading the 285pg  Infernal City for months. I want my time AND my money back.
I finished the book with the same question I started it with... What the hell am I reading?
No really, what the hell was that? Cause I have no clue. The premise seemed promising, a floating city that turns people into zombies as it passes over them..hmm, I can dig that.
I'm not sure how long it takes the book to actually get to the floating city because those  285pages made War and Peace feel like a comic book.
I can't pronounce half the names I'm reading, the story jumps to a few different people out of the blue without much explanation and I can't say I found myself giving a damn about ANYTHING or ANYONE in the damn thing. Not to mention the wasted opportunity. Again, I promise, no spoilers in case you actually want to read this disaster...But, personally, If I were going to write about a mysterious floating city that turns people into zombies I'd find a really kick ass reason for it, no I dont know what exactly, but, that isnt important right now, I'm not a writer, well I am, sort of, just not a novelist...the point is, you know how I said in Dungeon Siege 3 I felt like every boss was just misunderstood and everything could have been solved if they talked instead of going straight to fighting? Pedestrian bosses with pedestrian problems do not epic stories make...
...
...
I admit it..I had a point, this was going somewhere, especially the Dungeon Siege thing (I swear it wasnt just a plot to get you to click on another page of my blog for the pageviews, hehe.) but, the book is so horrifically awful that it actually turned ME into a mindless zombie mid-blog post. The thought has utterly gone, dammit I hate it when that happens.

So yeah...forget whatever i was saying, it'll come to me eventually I'm sure, like at 3am, in the middle of a dream about shoe sales (don't laugh, thats what I was dreaming about this morning. Ok, laugh, its kinda pathetic)

Back to Umbriel, the floating city over Tamriel...

The Product Description on Amazon says:

Four decades after the Oblivion Crisis, Tamriel is threatened anew by an ancient and all-consuming evil. It is Umbriel, a floating city that casts a terrifying shadow–for wherever it falls, people die and rise again.

And it is in Umbriel’s shadow that a great adventure begins, and a group of unlikely heroes meet. A legendary prince with a secret. A spy on the trail of a vast conspiracy. A mage obsessed with his desire for revenge. And Annaig, a young girl in whose hands the fate of Tamriel may rest . . . .

Based on the award-winning The Elder Scrolls, The Infernal City is the first of two exhilarating novels following events that continue the story from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, named 2006 Game of the Year.

Wow, that sounds so cool and interesting. Spys and undead and a dashing Prince! Sign me up!
What I got instead was a disjointed, poorly written fan-fic that happened to take place in Tamriel. I realize that there is a sequel planned but really, there are cliffhangers and then there's the place where the author just stops writing...

Its hard to not just give up the whole stupid plot here because without actually giving you spoilers you can't comprehend why I loathed this book so much.  Tell ya what, i'm gonna write  the whole ugly thing below and you highlight it if you wanna  read it, will that work for you?

Ok so you read that little blurb about the story above, well lets go ahead and give you the REAL story.

No one MEETS anyone else. Annaig has an Argonian friend named Glim and they start off hanging out, get separated and then meet up again. 
Annaig talks to the prince through a magical locket and mechanical bird (nowhere near as cool as the owl in Clash of the Titans)
The Spy never meets either annaig, Glim, The Prince or anyone else for that matter besides an old buddy that has zero to do with the plot. 
Wait, I take all that back, the Prince meets the "mage bent on revenge"
Ok so 2 people actually physically "meet"


The "great adventure" 


Annaig is a nerdy wannabe mage and Glim is her somewhat boring Argonian buddy. Shit's going down in Black Marsh and her dad wants to send her away to Cyyrodil. Annaig jumps ship meets up with Glim sees the floating city and drinks a potion she's cooked up so they can fly up there. 
The place is weird and kinda pretty, Everyone in Black Marsh dies and becomes zombies. 
Annaig and Glim get captured and she's made a cook in the kitchens and he's sent to "the sump" a lake? River? Some sort of watery area where they collect seafood for the kitchens. Its also the place dead bodies get dumped and new "people" are born. Yes the Island is like ultimate friggin reincarnation, people die, they get dumped in the water, the fishies eat them, then they are reborn fully grown out of sacks underwater to hatch and carry on til they die again. WTF???


Annaig has heard about the epic exploits of the prince and sends her magic bird to find him so she can tell him about the floating island and have him come to her rescue. This plan does succeed, well, the finding the prince part.
Turns out our Legendary Prince's deep dark secret is..he's a loser. But he doesn't know it. Every  badass thing he's ever done, every battle he's fought in, they've been rigged by his daddy. All of his guards know about it, they all laugh behind his back, but he really thinks he's the man. 
So the prince sets out with his guard to rescue Annaig, against his daddy's orders, because daddy knows "Treb" will get his ass handed to him on a platter in a real fight. Shortly after setting out on his quest the new hot chick he had recruited into his guard beats the tar out of him while her friends come down and incinerate or shoot everyone else. See, she was hired to kill his dumb ass, but instead decides she can make a lot of coin by selling him. She tells loser boy all about his fake exploits and he whines about it being lies, while she kicks his ass again. 
This is where angry mage makes his appearance. He takes her out and most of her band and rescues prince whiny. He tells the prince that everything bitch said was true and he's a pathetic excuse for a man, this makes the prince cry and feel hopeless because now he isnt man enough to rescue Annaig. Angry Mage tells him to suck it up.
Annaig....
Mean while Annaig is kicking ass at making strange dishes in the kitchen while trying to figure out how to vacate Dodge and not get whacked for bad food. Another Kitchen invades the one she works at and kills everyone in order to take the talented cook Annaig for their own. (these are not metaphors people, this is really about kitchen staff making food for the inhabitants of the floating island) The head chef of the new kitchen "Lord something-or-other" not only wants Annaig to make good food he's hoping to steam it up in the bedroom too but she wont go for it. She's busy waiting for Prince charming to save her. 


And the Spy, what about the spy...yeah, he's actually a noob inspector on his 3rd case, he  thinks the prince is still alive and is trying to figure out who set up the prince, but, it never really leads anywhere of great import really...the butler did it..well the prime minister which is just as generic (I'm assuming it was the prime minister because every time he's mentioned everyone gets the "EUREEKA!!I've found it thing).
That's it, thats the deep intrigue with the spy. It goes no further.


Surly mage and prince make cat friends (Khajit), prince tries to recruit a friend and gets him killed, surly mage decides to take a shortcut to the next location of the floating city, through Oblivion, where they are chased by Hircine, all kitties die. 


Annaig meanwhile survives an assassination attempt by a jealous cook, finds her missing stinky black liquid so she can make a flying potion and reunites with Glim.


and NOW the deep dark reason behind the floating city....


So yeah, in Morrowind there was some floating Ministry thing over the main city. (you know, I could look up the names of all this stuff but I'm too lazy) Well apparently it was magically stopped there from crashing into the ground by the god Vivec, he must not be a very good god if he could manage to stop it but not keep it there or send it away or something. So the Dunmer made a cool machine thing to keep the Ministry up in the air, one little snag...it needed souls to power the machine and keep it up there. They couldnt keep killing people so surly mage and his buddy figured out a way to tap into living people's souls and suck them out slowly, allowing them to maximize their soul usage. All was dandy til Surly Mage's buddy took his girlfriend to use as a battery. Surly mage ran to her rescue, fought with his now ex-buddy and they broke the machine sending the ministry crashing down on the city killing everyone.Way to go dudes!


Surly and his friend make a break from the firey crash into Oblivion where they both end up trapped by Umbra, who kicked Clavicus Vile's ass and then chucked the sword also named Umbra out the Oblivion gate before it closed. Surly gets away eventually, and decides to find the sword and then find his ex-friend and kill him.
His buddy uses his dark arts to screw over Umbra and Vile, he cant get out of Oblivion but he warps time and space and the land and whatever else he can and it becomes this floating island, powered by souls. This would be why wherever the city passes people become zombies, it sucks their souls out. OOH he's definitely a bad guy now.


Surly cant' find the sword and him and the prince are about to bite it when something happens (I fell asleep) and they end up confronting Surly's buddy on his floatie Island of doom. 


So what does Surly's friend REALLY want? 
He wants the white-gold tower in the middle of the Imperial City
For what nefarious purpose? 
So he can break out of Oblivion, see, no one can leave the island, they become incorporeal if they try to leave, because its still tied to Oblivion. 
What havoc will he wreak when he gets out of Oblivion?
None, seriously. He literally wants to park the Island somewhere and chill. Yeah, all that drama and buildup..guy wants to park his ride and relax.


Surly and the Prince say hell no, dude gives a big ole speech, Surly attacks, gets killed, Prince is still alive and presumably still useless.


Annaig and Glim take her nasty potion and make a break for it, but oh snap! they start fading away. Yeah, they can't leave. 

The end.
No, really, the end.
That's where the book ends.

No sequel can save this turd.
I will commend the book for one thing. Its exactly what I once thought game novels would be like.

Luckily, its the first one I've read that is truly horrid with nothing to redeem it. Of course, I haven't gotten around to God of War novel yet....
-----

Sihaya asked me to post my thoughts about the book after we ate lunch. I'm her husband, hater of all things Lucas Montbarron and newfound convert to DJ Hero II. Anyways, it seems like a really wasted opportunity, we're talking about the minds behind the Oblivion and Morrowind stories and a gazillion (re: Borderlands!) side stories actually approving this book to print and a sequel after that. Given the rich stories behind them both, (full disclaimer: I haven't, and after talking to Sihaya, there's no way in hell I will ever read this book) the only way I can sum up the author's work is this video which YouTube will not allow anyone to embed. It's the question we all should be asking.

Darkspore and other things

   I've been so quiet haven't I? What have I been doing? Not a whole lot.
   I've been spending most of my time playing Pokemon Black. Pokemon is one of those games that I play for hours and hours on end and when i finally stop I look up and wonder "Why the hell did i just blow all those hours on this?"
   I do feel victorious because I FINALLY...FINALLY finished Mass Effect the other night. YAY ME!! I started Mass Effect 2 now along with Gears of War (yes, I've had Gears 1 and 2 for ages and i had yet to seriously play Gears).
   I've picked up a huge list of games...not that I ever play them. You know me, I love collecting games. I dont think I could even begin to list all the games I've gotten. So, I'll mention some of the BIG titles I've bought or pre-ordered.
  Little Big Planet 2....maybe one of these days I'll get around to playing the first one.
  Dragon Age 2....maybe I'll get around to finishing the first one and all the DLC and the expansion.
  Witcher 2...maybe I'll finish the first one...
I'm sensing a trend here....

   Now, I just made an unscheduled Pre-order a couple days ago. I played the demo to Bulletstorm and damn that was awesome! I had to immediately hit Amazon to pre-order. Cannot WAIT to play that. it might replace Borderlands as my go to game when I just wanna shoot things.

   So I guess I should get to the Title of this post...Darkspore. I got into the Beta and started playing today. I didnt get very far, just the second world or whatever. I'm a little disappointed...I didnt find much substance to this game and the customization is limited and awkward. I'm really not feeling it at all. I didnt play online, just did the single player so maybe its more fun with others but from what I've seen so far..if this is all the game is, its a big disappointment.