For the gaming geeks out there ...

(And yes, katlyn, I'm looking at you, especially.)

Dungeons & Dragons: Celebrating 30 Years of Very Stupid Monsters; or, Stupid Monsters Someone Was Paid to Make = the Best Job Ever.

and part two:

Dungeons & Dragons: Celebrating 30+ Years of Stupid Monsters, Part Two; or, Return to Moronic Monster Creek.

I don't know how I missed these articles the first time around, but here you go.

Warning: Do not read these articles while drinking anything. You will hurt yourself.

Also, the very scary, sad part? I've used some most all of these monsters at some point. *hangs head in shame*

(And now that you've read these articles, I have just dislodged useful information like geometric axioms from your brain and replaced them with stupid monsters. All hail me.)

Open call for your favorite books that include excellent plots with all of the following:

• relationships


• love and/or romance


• revenge


• intrigue, political and otherwise

Some that immediately come to my mind include Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber, George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and Jacqueline Carey's Terre D'Ange series, as well as The Princess Bride to some extent.

They can range the emotional gamut from happy endings to darker, but most useful to me are books that essentially read like "Macchiavelli: The Novel."

Lay it on me!

#34. Serenity: Those Left Behind

#35. Serenity: Better Days

Do you miss Serenity as much as I do? Then take a look at these graphic novels and enjoy! Those Left Behind serves as a nice bridge between the show Firefly and the events in Serenity, where old enemies and new threats emerge to challenge our big damn heroes. Better Days takes us back to an earlier untold adventure of Serenity's crew in which they finally strike it rich, and relates the consequences of this unexpected windfall.



#36. The Immortal Iron Fist, volume 3: The Book of the Iron Fist

Brubaker and Fraction et al. finish their amazing run on this comic. They managed to revitalize and reinvigorate a lost character with mystical kung fu tournaments, pulp action, secret history ... and did I mention the kung fu action? This volume relates legendary tales of previous Iron Fists, including: Wu Ao-Shi, the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay, who risks all to find her beloved; Bei Bang-Wen, who uses his Perfect Strategy Mind to foil Imperial Britain and joins with his Hindu counterpart; and Orson Randall, he who defied the violent traditions of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven and battled the Prince of Orphans.



#37. Thor, vol. 1

J. Michael Straczynski, the genius behind Babylon 5, brings an iconic Marvel character and the entire Asgardian cast back from death, beyond Ragnarok, and into their own destinies.

Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies, by Chad Underkoffler

Mr. Underkoffler utterly nails swashbuckling roleplaying with his latest effort. Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies combines:

• the simple and elegant PDQ# system


• a delightful world of floating islands, skyships, pirates, exploration, intrigue, and adventure with just enough detail to generate fun adventures and just enough empty space to allow GMs, players, and groups to personalize the setting (twin aspects of design that I've come to value greatly)


• and a comprehensive and clear communication of the tropes, style, and flavor of this dynamic genre, and how to bring it to life in a game session

If you like a system that is simple in all the best ways coupled with all the Good Parts of The Princess Bride, The Three Musketeers, and Pirates of the Caribbean, then S7S is the game for you.

#28

Green Lantern: Rebirth
While not so enamoured of Hal Jordan or his successors as individual Green Lanterns, I've always enjoyed the Green Lantern Corps, inspired as it was by E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series.

If you have to retcon something (like, say, turning your hero into an insane homicidal maniac who kills a LOT of people, then absolving him of all guilt by saying he was possessed), this is the way to do it: in, out, done.

#29

District X, vol. 1: Mr. M

#30

District X, vol. 2: Underground

District X: a ghetto of mutants patrolled by a mutant, Bishop, who comes from a future when mutants are hunted, placed in concentration camps, and exterminated. I don't think that the series lived up to its potential, both as comic book cop show and as social commentary, but I think it will be excellent inspiration for anyone wanting to run the RPG Mutant City Blues.

#31

Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow.

This week, I'll be leading a discussion about this fantastic novel with a bunch of teens at our local library. The book raises questions about freedom, safety, rebellion, and the cost of standing up for your beliefs. From the feedback I've already gotten, the teens are LOVING this book, so it's likely going to be our best discussion so far. Even better, you can download this book for free, with the author's blessing.

#32

Dreams Underfoot, by Charles de Lint

This Wednesday, June 3, Destination Wonder is discussing Dreams Underfoot, an important, foundational work in the urban fantasy subgenre. While I find de Lint's writing sentimental, I also think that it's genuinely hopeful; sometimes, the Newford stories almost disarm my own cynicism long enough for my romantic idealism to peek forth.

Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte is perhaps best known for his mysteries, but I really enjoy his series featuring Seventeenth century adventurer and soldier Captain Alatriste, told from the perspective of Alatriste's young ward Íñigo Balboa. Funnily enough, the action is subdued just enough that I would hesitate to call them "swashbuckling"; perhaps "gritty swashbuckling" would be more appropriate, for while the swordplay is quick as Spanish temper and the blades as blazing as the noonday Madrid sun, the author also emphasizes the patched clothing and poverty, the sometime futility and ever-present fatalism of the era. But it is this very grounding in place and time and, perhaps most importantly, culture that I respond to.

The Sun Over Breda follows Alatriste and Balboa into the mud and blood of the siege of Breda and the war against Dutch rebels, a departure from the mystery and intrigue of the two earlier series books, Captain Alatriste and Purity of Blood. Nonetheless, I was entranced by the author's ability to paint a fascinating picture of history with moments of nobility and honor that shone through the misery and grit and death of war.

War for the Oaks is one of Emma Bull's better-known works, and one of the key novels that helped popularize the urban fantasy subgenre.

I've read it twice, and each time I never felt as affected by the book as it's fans, though I can certainly appreciate its importance. I've always been interested in reading the "originals," as I like to call them, books that helped launch entire genres and subgenres, and War for the Oaks definitely fits that description.

Destination Wonder, DeKalb's speculative fiction book discussion group, will be jawing over War for the Oaks on May 6 at 7:00 p.m., and as always I look forward to the meeting.

Last year, the reviewers and critics made a big noise over Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I tend to like my crime and mystery novels to be both thoughtful and vicious, so I decided to try the novel.

The original title translates to Men Who Hate Women, and while a major theme of the novel involved violent crimes against women, I suppose English-language publishers were leery of trying to sell the novel without giving it a surface makeover, especially given the major advertising push they made.

Ultimately, Larsson was rather restrained with his prose, though he certainly managed to get his message across clearly, and one of the protagonists, Lisbeth Salander, was certainly sharp and hard enough to hold her own and hold my interest, so I'm glad to know she'll be in the second novel.

Wasteland, Book 01: Cities in Dust


Wasteland, Book 02: Shades of God


Wasteland, Book 03: Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

This series by Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten is a perfect hit of post-apocalyptic goodness.

Lone wolf hero relearning empathy? Check.
Scavenging ruins for pre-fall technology? Check.
Bizarre cults, post-fall religions, revived mysticism, and f'd-up mythology? Check.
Vicious despot ruling over post-fall city that reminds me of primitive civilizations, complete with slavery? Check.
Empty shells of pre-fall cities packed with cannibal mutants? Check.

This comic makes me want to get up and run an old-school Gamma World game.

Go ahead and check out the Wasteland website. They even have a soundtrack for the comic that they made themselves--how cool is that?!

"Dice and maps and figures and complicated rule books are a crutch. The game doesn't need them — but the market does," Arneson said in 1992.

(First noticed at Grognardia.)

Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (a.k.a. Tiger! Tiger!) is one of the most brilliant gems SF has to offer. It features Gully Foyle, a man obsessed with revenge. No crime is too great, no evil too monstrous, so long as it brings him a step closer to vengeance.

And if they adapt the novel to a film in the near future, they should tap Mike Chiklis to play Gully Foyle.




Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
The stars my destination

James Turner has been reading my diaries.

I know this because his fantastic comic, Rex Libris, is a thinly disguised account of my adventures fighting evil and kicking ass across space and time, recovering valuable materials that robotic conquerors, demonic warlords, undead sorcerers, space gods, and other such miscreants refuse to return on time.

I oughta' get royalties, I tell ya'.

If you want to know what us librarians really spend our time doing, then check out Rex Libris, vol. 1: I, Librarian.

SAPERE AUDE!

Got my 4-day badge bought.

Got my hotel room booked.

Got my event tickets bought.

Looking good. Crossing fingers and toes.

"Online censorship? Amazon strips ranking of Gay and Lesbian books."

"Amazon under fire for perceived anti-gay policy."

Discrimination due to content of books while still selling same books seems, at the least, both bad for business and hypocritical. In addition, Amazon.com seems to have broken faith with many customers by this action, as discrimination is not something a well-known, influential book seller online retailer should aspire to. I certainly hope to see the policy rescinded, as well as a public apology, in the near future.

Edit #1: Just to be clear, the above headlines aren't my creations. Also, I must admit that I am very curious as to the source of the pressure that led Amazon.com to this action.

Edit #2: And no, it isn't censorship. Amazon.com is not the government, it is not prohibiting publishing or sale of GLBT or sexually explicit material. Hell, it's still selling said material. (More on that in a moment--see below.) Amazon.com is a company, and can institute the policy if it chooses. And its customers, or former customers, can choose to buy from Amazon.com or not.

As for me, I'll give them a little time to see if they gain some sense and reverse this rather boneheaded move.

Oh ... and one more thing: the Realistic White Boy Vibrating Dildo ... still ranked.

Just sayin'.

Richard Morgan is swiftly becoming one of my favorite authors. SF+gritty noir cannot be beat.



Thirteen, originally titled Black Man in the U.K. (I suppose the U.S. publisher, Del Rey, thought that the original title might be too controversial in the States) considers just how much of who we are is due to our genes, and spotlights our species's persistent need for an object of fear and hate.

Great stuff.

And, just sayin', as I read, the image of the protagonist, Carl Marsalis, that kept popping up in my mind was this one:



... just in different clothing.

Just a quick reminder that tonight the Destination Wonder book club will host author E.E. Knight (eeknight) as we discuss his novel Choice of the Cat. We'll be meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the following location:


Pizza Villa
824 West Lincoln Highway
DeKalb, IL
60115
Ph.: 815.758.8116


Hope to see you there!

Unlike many SF fans, I don't view the term "sci-fi" as perjorative, dismissing, or demeaning. Times change and so do the meanings of words. Just like "space opera" became a much-beloved term applied to a particular kind of fiction, I see "sci-fi" as simply another such appellation, one that usually refers to entertainment that provides pulpy action, adventure, and a bit of humor.

2000 AD has been delighting fans for decades with exactly these kinds of stories in the format of a weekly comics anthology. Strontium Dog is a classic comic strip that connects to the Judge Dredd universe, and features another iconic British comics character, Johnny Alpha, a hard-bitten mutant bounty hunter who pursues criminals across the stars.

Here's a little more about the premise and the book from the website:

Following the Atomic Wars in the 22nd century, many of the survivors were mutated by the Strontium 90 fallout. Unable to get regular jobs, forced into ghettoes and considered an underclass by the 'norms', the only work open to them was bounty hunting. These Search Destroy Agents — or Strontium Dogs — hunt the criminals too dangerous for the Galactic Crime Commission. One such S/D Agent is Johnny Alpha, whose eyes enable him to see through solid objects. This collection is the first in a series of volumes that will reprint all of Alpha's adventures from Starlord and 2000 AD - in order and uncut.


While 2000 AD was never intended to be literary fare, the creators weave some interesting themes and sly satire through these entertaining tales.

This is one hefty collection, weighing in at 336 black and white pages. The individual installments are about 5-6 pages, perfect for quick reading while on break.

So yeah, gimme' my sci-fi, dammit! I'm off to find some more to read!

The January Dancer is a magnificent MacGuffin hunt story. In this case, the MacGuffin in question is a prehuman artifact, a brick that shifts and twists in shape when you're not looking at it directly, and gives the item's bearer the ability to control others by vocal command. It also provides a marvelous look at a multicultural humanity scattered amongst the stars, and communicates the flavor of the setting through the delightful blends of languages and customs that provide glimpses of an Earth left behind.

More books like this, please.

To be blunt, I'm tired of the Singularity/post-Singularity fiction. Have we squeezed the last drops of the religious instinct from nerd rapture SF yet? Seriously, enough.

I'm curious--in the wake of the rapture, what new SF have you seen?

I have to say, I'm enjoying the hell out of The January Dancer by Michael Flynn.