Inside GMT Playing at the World Dyson’s Dodecahedron Quest for Fun! Bruce Heard and New Stories Fantasy Cafe Lynn’s Book Blog Sitrep Hex and Violence Desperation Morale Banzai!! Dungeon Fantastic Gaming Ballistic Let’s GURPS The Collaborative GamerAlexander Key definitely has a ‘type’, and this book is straight in his favored genre. Boy’s adventure with a super-powered (generally psionic) protagonist. Here we have a post-apocalyptic setting, where destructive weapons have reshaped the earth, drowning almost all the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The C plot of an early TNG episode has Picard practicing a formal greeting for the Jarada. They’re very touchy about protocol, very insular, and this is the first chance in a while for the Federation to try negotiating with[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The third of Nick Holmes’ books on the end of the Roman Empire covers from the sacking of Rome in 410 through the death of Attila in 453, and then the end of Western Roman administration in 476. The good[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Tamora Pierce finishes off her second YA female knight series in great fashion here. There’s been a lot built up during the previous three books, and there’s a lot here. You can read this independently, but I recommend against it.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Holmes’ second book covers from the recovery of the Roman Empire from the Crisis of the Third Century to the sacking of Rome in 410. Well, mostly. While the second book in a series, it is meant to be a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The final book of the Queen’s Thief series features another change in viewpoint. This time, we get Pheris, who is new for this book, instead of a returning secondary character. Pheris is physically deformed, and is the grandson of Baron[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Nick Holmes is doing a very good job writing a clear beginning-level series on Roman history. This also has the advantage of being recent (2022), and so has access recent findings. There is one short chapter two-thirds of the way[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The Golem and the Jinni was a very good historical fantasy with a very character-driven focus. It also had a very intricate plot with a lot of moving parts that don’t come into alignment until the end. That is still[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I haven’t read Tom Holland’s Rubicon, but I also know the civil wars period better than the Julio-Claudians (I have to admit that the BBC production of I, Claudius is still the bedrock of my knowledge of the period). This[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
One of the lesser gaming hubs of early RPGs was Rockville, Maryland. Little Soldier Games started in a game store there, and Phoenix Games in a book store around the corner. Details are obscure, because there are contradictory statements, but[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…