Forthcoming books this year

Due to lack of money/time/shelf space (although I do buy most books on a Kindle I still buy some physical copies) I haven’t been reading quite as much as I’d like to. However, there are some very good fantasy books pencilled-in for release later this year. Here are a few that caught my eye.

Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

This book has been delayed a lot due to some personal issues for the author. His first book, The Lies of Locke Lamora, is amongst the best I’ve ever read (and that with a slightly slow start). Republic of Thieves continues the adventures of Locke and Jean, and I’m hopeful it’ll be just as spellbindingly fantastic as Mr. Lynch’s first two books.

Sworn in Steel by Douglas Hulick

This would be the second of Mr. Hulick’s books, following on from Among Thieves. To a lesser extent than Republic of Thieves its release date has also been pushed back a bit, but thanks to in-depth sleuthing [I read it on the Chrons forum] I’m quite hopeful this’ll be out in 2013. It’ll be interesting to see how Drothe’s criminal career has progressed since the last book.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

This is the second part of the Stormlight Archives (Way ofKings being the first) and will probably be just as enormous. Way of Kings was the first Sanderson book I read, and I loved the immersive world-building and mythological past. The interludes, I felt, were a bit hit and miss, but they were only a minor part of a very large book.

A Game of Battleships by Toby Frost

Ok, not fantasy, but sci-fi. Moustachioed hero of the British Space Empire, Space Captain Smith returns in his fourth adventure. Armed with a crew of misfits and lunatics, a slightly rickety spacecraft and some tea, Isambard Smith must chase down a mysterious vessel that destroyed the convoy he was meant to be guarding. The very fate of the British Space Empire hangs in the balance, and Smith will find himself visiting hellish, strange realms where nothing makes sense - such as France.

[Incidentally, a second interview with Toby Frost will be appearing on this blog around mid-July. So, stay tuned!]

The first interview with Mr. Frost is here.

Hornska by Thaddeus White

I’m hoping that the short comedy (20-40,000 words) I’m writing will be done in time for Christmas. Still no title (Hornska, The Hero of Hornska and Sir Edric and the Unholy Temple currently in mind) though. When the King’s royal seals are stolen he dispatches Sir Edric on a mission that could optimistically be described as suicidal. Accompanied by his pathologically loyal manservant Dog, the prudish elven sorceress Lysandra, and a man called Colin, Sir Edric must travel to the Unholy Temple of Despair and Certain Doom to take them back.

Thaddeus

The Last Of Us: First Impressions

I only got the game today, and have played for several hours. Obviously my views are only on the initial part of the game, and I’ll post a proper review when I’ve played rather more. I’ll keep spoilers in this post to a minimum.

Story

It’s a zombie apocalypse - with a twist. They’re not ‘zombies’ but infected, and the disease is a real thing. It’s a fungal infection, although in reality it only affects creatures such as ants. Civilisation has collapsed in the main and only a few quarantined areas remain (mostly) free of infection. However, democracy has fallen by the wayside and the military now run the show.

Joel and Tess are a pair of smugglers who get hired to take an unusual cargo, Ellie, out of the quarantine zone. But things don’t go quite to plan…

Gameplay

Joel, the player-character, will face both other humans and a range of infected. Approaches can be stealthy, Rambo-style or a combination of the two. As well as a variety of guns (and a bow, I’ve just discovered) there are shivs and Molotov Cocktails, and probably more weapons besides. Generally this works well, and the enemies can often be quite difficult.

However, I have a couple of gripes. The guns are surprisingly inaccurate. I’m not a crack shot by any means (in fact, I’m a bit shit at this sort of thing) but early on I got a headshot when the scope was pointing at my enemy’s chest. Given that the only way to take down a clicker (excepting stealth kills) is with a shot to the head, this is a strange and slightly irksome oversight.

In addition, the clickers. One hit kill enemies are not something of which I’m a fan (Bushido Blade aside). I think it’s a cheap mechanic.

The menu stays open when you’re combining items or using a medkit, and I think this works well. It adds a little bit of tension, and the system for combining items (what I’ve seen of it so far) works well.

Graphics

The graphics are excellent. Rain and water effects, wet-clothing, character animations and facial expressions, sunrises, they’re all brilliant.

Sound

The voice-acting is very good indeed. Sound effects, including the echo-location clicks of those in an advanced stage of pestilence, are also very well done. The music’s ok, although there doesn’t seem to be much of it so far.

Ellie

My biggest single worry was that Ellie’s AI would be screwed up. Escort quests aren’t exactly the favourite of most gamers, and there was the risk that Ellie would be a blundering moron who would get herself and/or Joel killed. Happily, this seems not to be the case. Ellie and Joel not only work well together in a gameplay sense (he takes the lead, she can sometimes help out) but they also have some nice moments of banter.

As an aside, this is probably the first zombie game I’ve played since Resident Evil 2, about 15 years ago.

(Preliminary) Conclusion

I’ve played twice today. The second time I forgot what time it was and ate tea later than usual, and had a crick in my neck. Can’t remember when the last time that happened was.

So, one-hit kills and dodgy aiming aside I’m really enjoying The Last Of Us. The difficulty will be finishing it without ruining my neck. When I do, I’ll post a fuller review.

Thaddeus

Dragon Age 3: spoilers and speculation

The early briefing ahead of E3 has revealed a new trailer for Dragon Age 3 (Inquisition), as well as an approximate release date of Autumn 2014. That’s a year or so later than expected, but after DA2’s clearly rushed state I think most people will be willing to wait.

It is not yet clear what platforms the game will be out for. Xbone, PS4 and PC seem very likely, although whether or not it comes out for the Xbox 360 and PS3 is less clear. I very much hope it does, as I’m really looking forward to Inquisition, but not enough to buy a PS4 for that one game alone.

After this point there are many spoilers, so if you’re deliberately avoiding them please stop reading here.

Here’s the trailer:

In it we see (and hear) a number of recurring characters. Morrigan (voiced by the delightful Claudia Black) returns, and I would guess she’s brought her baby (who has the soul of an Old God/dragon/archdemon) with her.

We also see Varric, still carrying his swanky crossbow Bianca.

I believe the lady in Seeker armour is Cassandra, which was widely expected and very welcome.

A Qunari (possibly the new Arishok, as his horns are lengthier than the usual in DA2) is present.

Near the end the sky (the Veil?) is torn open, revealing a load of demonic creatures and the dragon, which I think is probably Son of Morrigan.

Although there’s neither sight nor sound of Flemeth it would be pretty surprising if she were not present in this game. She’s been in both the previous instalments and after Morrigan attempts to kill her in Origins it’s quite possible she’ll be opposing her daughter. The other, less likely, possibility is that Flemeth *is* the dragon (she can transform into one, and does so when Morrigan sends the Warden to kill her in Origins).

Leliana also did not feature here, but was at the end of DA2 with Cassandra, which suggests she too will return.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect, characters aside, of the trailer is that it presents a war between Morrigan/magic against the forces of good and order. Whether this is simply analogous to the Templar/mage conflict we know about (with Morrigan on the mages’ side) or whether we’ve got a three way war (Morrigan, the mages and the Templars) is unclear.

It also seems to me that we’ll have a similar ally-collecting central quest, as per Origins. That worked really well in the first game, and this time it seems that siding with the ‘bad guys’ is also a possibility. 

I’m still very much looking forward to Inquisition, I just hope it comes out for the current as well as next generation of consoles. I don’t mind the extra wait, but that does make me worry that such a move diminishes the chances of it coming out for the PS3.

Thaddeus

Journey to Altmortis update and quiz

Journey to Altmortis is my second fantasy novel and, like Bane of Souls, is stand-alone. It’s gotten a couple of five star reviews on Amazon, which was a very nice surprise (Bane of Souls got 7/8 four star reviews but no five star).

In addition to Amazon and Smashwords, I’m delighted to report that Journey to Altmortis can also be bought from the following retailers:

Because the release of Journey to Altmortis was a little rushed (due to computer woe) I didn’t put up a quiz right away. However, this has been remedied and is now up at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/results?id=27595

Thaddeus

Review: By Sword and Fire: Cruelty and Atrocity in Medieval Warfare, by Sean McGlynn

I bought this book a week or two ago, because I was interested in finding out about the level of mercy and brutality that medieval warfare involved.

The book is divided into several sections, which include placing brutality in warfare in context by explaining how pervasive violence in was in medieval peacetime, battles and sieges. The first chapter on violence during peacetime is deliberately concise, but does a very good job of providing a useful background for the warfare sections.

In addition, it was fascinating to read about the medieval perspective that a strong king, unafraid to be brutal, was actually a good thing, as viewed by those who lived under his reign. This was because the law and state was weak and violence commonplace, and it was felt that only by extreme measures could deterrence prove effective.

Even more intriguing were the competing powers of mercy and brutality. Both are shown to be successful or not at different times. For example, slaughtering the garrison of a castle that doesn’t surrender can prompt others to simply give up. On the other hand, sparing men could mean that behaviour being returned by the enemy, whereas killing prisoners could demoralise the army as they knew they’d likely face the same if they’re ever captured.

The focus in the book is England and France, although there are forays into the Holy Land, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This is partly because England and France were more cohesive and centralised nations than their rivals at the time, emphasising the authority and approval of kings when it came to atrocity. Perhaps surprisingly the bits I found most extreme were in the initial peacetime section.

There are three maps, all at the start. For this sort of book I view maps as a nice extra rather than something essential, but it’s still useful to include them, particularly for the Holy Land.

The writing style is clear and easy to understand, and good use is made of sources. The author has his own views regarding traditional and revisionist schools of thought (about King John, for example) and is quite open about it, which I like. He also explains why Philip Augustus, despite being hugely successful, isn’t nearly as celebrated as Richard the Lionheart or Saladin.

I don’t have much bad to say about this book. I’m not too fond of pointing ahead to future chapters/atrocity examples (I’d rather just read as it comes). That’s about it, to be honest. The book’s interesting, easy to read, explains why brutality was so commonplace and the balance between brutality and mercy. It more than met my expectations.

Thaddeus

Dragon Age 3 speculation

Remember Dragon Age? The first game, Origins, was very rapidly followed by Dragon Age 2, but the third instalment (sub-titled Inquisition) has yet to emerge despite a lengthy wait.

Origins was widely praised and DA2 was less well-received. Thankfully, many of the problems with 2 (repetitive rooms being a big one) were clearly due to not having enough time. Given DA3 has had loads of time (it’s due out late this year, perhaps early next) this bodes well.

Before I get onto my own speculation, here’s a great video which runs down, concisely, what we know and probably know already. Some of it I was aware of it, other bits I was not (obviously the video and my own musings below will have some light spoilers):

I’d like to add a spot of speculation regarding companions. Now, Cassandra (inquisitor in DA2) was rumoured a while ago to be one. I’ve not heard anything since, but that’s a possibility, and I’d be very pleased were it to be the case. Leliana will almost certainly appear in the game (if you killed her in Origins it turns out her decapitation was merely a setback) but I personally doubt that she’ll be a companion.

It’s near certain that we’ll have party members who are elves/dwarves, and I hope we get a Qunari/Tal-Vashoth as well. The elves are going to be halfway between the humans with pointy ears of Origins and the, um, distinctive appearance they had in DA2 (just about all of them except Fenris and Merrill were ugly). Given the nature of the story (Chantry falling to bits, Templars and mages at one another’s throats and, I would guess, the Inquisition attempting to put everything back together) it seems probably that we’ll get a Templar party member (we’re near certain to have a couple of mages).

I’m not a fan of day one DLC, but I’d also suppose that Dragon Age will continue to have an extra party member as DLC (included as a pre-order bonus, as per Origins and DA2).

It’ll be interesting to see if we get a Mabari war hound as a full-blown companion, as a limited extra helper or not at all. I think it could work as a proper companion, but would need a far more substantial skill tree than in Origins.

I’m very pleased to hear about each piece of armour being personalised for each party member, allowing a persistent sense of identity/style without compromising customisation.

With all the news about the PS4 and the Xbox One EA has stated it’ll continue to support the Xbox 360 and PS3 for the next few years. This is good news, as we still don’t know what platforms DA3 will be released on. A dual generation release (PS3/Xbox 360 and PS4/Xbox One) seems entirely possible.

Excepting The Last Of Us, out in a little over a fortnight, there aren’t any other games that really have my interest at this stage. Hopefully DA3 will be out later this year.

Thaddeus

Console Wars: and the loser is…

A new console generation is more or less upon us. Ho hum.

Here’s a quick rundown of the state of play, which is mostly a list of console-makers getting things wrong:

Nintendo

The Wii-U has been out for a while, but has several issues. Firstly, the marketing was rubbish and almost nobody realises it’s actually a new console, not just a Wii with an extra letter at the end.

Perhaps because nobody noticed it (and it has correspondingly poor sales) fewer developers are making games for it, which has the obvious knock-on effect of making people less likely to buy it. EA did say, a year or two ago, that they would have an unprecedented approach to making games for the Wii-U, although at present ‘unprecedented’ appears to mean they’re not making any.

Sony

The PS4 is out later this year, probably, and Sony has probably cocked up the least of the consoles. Yes, there’s a stupid ‘share’ button because firms seem to think that everybody both has Facebook/Twitter and wants to share their experiences of gaming on such social media, but that’s mostly it.

There’s no backwards compatibility, which is rubbish, and also perplexing. If consoles were consistently backwards compatible it would really help Sony or Microsoft to keep people hooked into their systems, because you’d have a massive back catalogue of games and you’d be able to play them on a new console, preventing the ridiculous situation of either throwing out your old consoles/games or having an ever-increasing number of consoles.

This isn’t a Sony-only problem, but it is the biggest mistake they’ve made. (So far. They haven’t revealed the console itself, but it’d be surprising if it were wildly different in size than recent consoles).

Xbox

They’ve made some very brave decisions. First off, no backwards compatibility. This is rubbish, but as the PS4 is the same that’s not going to shift or shed sales either way.

The name Xbox One is stupid. How do you go from Xbox to Xbox 360 to Xbox One? Not serious, just innumerate.

Then there’s the always-online rumour. That turned out to be false, but only just. Xbox One as a console won’t need to be constantly online to function, but games-makers can make their individual games work that way. Depressingly, Microsoft has stated it will ‘encourage’ them to do so. Apparently the firm thinks many users actually want this. It would be fascinating to know if this is plain old bullshit or whether the upper echelons of the organisation are so far removed from reality they actually think that’s the case.

So, some games will need a constant internet connection, and some won’t. It’s hard to see how the percentages will stack up either way, but it’s immensely stupid and counter-productive. If you live somewhere with an imperfect internet connection this can and will bugger up your games, if you’re a big Xbox fan. If you live somewhere with no internet connection (*gasp!*) you might as well not bother. You can either play on Xbox with a limited range of games, or play on the PS4.

Bad news, poor people. Lots of people, realising that certain games are destined for massive sales and a fairly rapid price drop, deliberately avoid buying them at release. They then wait a few months, maybe a year, and buy the same game for half the price. It’s a clever and simple strategy if you’re a gamer but not a very wealthy one. This hasn’t been completely confirmed, but the rumour mill is now suggesting that there could be a fee for pre-owned games.

The story is this: games can be run without a disc by installing the whole game to the hard drive. Except, this means individuals could band together, have one member buy a given game, and then share it around so everyone can install it. (Of course, you could stick to the old system whereby you need a disc to play the game… but never mind). So, they’ll tie each individual game to each individual console/hard drive.

If the disc is attempted to be used on a different account (NB in the same console as the first or a different one) then a fee may be charged. Obviously, clarity on this issue is needed, but the very fact fees for pre-owned games are being discussed is not good publicity for Microsoft. “Too poor to spend £40 at release? Then we’ll charge you a fee for buying a cheap pre-owned game! Mwahahaha!”

Oh, and apparently the Kinect camera will always be on.

Now, the Xbox One will apparently have some new options regarding TV-streaming or the like. But guess what? I don’t need that. I already have a television. The ability to watch TV on my TV is not something I need a console for.

Maybe that would appeal to people who are very casual gamers and like integrated systems, but given the intensely stupid game-related decisions I think the people happiest with this reveal will be Sony. By dint of only making one idiotic choice (no backwards compatibility) the PS4 is already well ahead of the Xbox One.

And here’s a telling piece of info. Since the Xbox reveal Microsoft’s share price was down half a percent. Sony’s was up 9%.

Thaddeus