Third Sentence Thursday #8

"This statement requires elucidation." (Armageddon - 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan)

Well I suppose that this statement may indeed need elucidation. Elucidation means to make something clear. That takes care of the meaning of the above sentence. In context of the story it is Anthony Rogers attempt to clarify his unique position in history. Being a man born in the 19th century, fighting in the Great War in the 20th and finally coming out of suspended animation in the 25th century.

This book is the original story that started the future 'Buck' Rogers; the source of all future Buck Rogers stories and inspiration for other characters like Flash Gordon.


Here's how Third Sentence Thursday works:

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence to Sniffly Kitty's Third Sentence Post for this week.

2011 Book Reading Challenge Update

We are quickly approaching the middle of the year. At this point I've finished reading 27 books out of 100 for the year.... falling a bit behind schedule on that challenge.

The new MP-3 player I have is helping me get through a few extra audio books, which for the 'reading' challenge count towards the total (Heck, even 'graphic novels' count). Unfortunately magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals don't count. I don't want to neglect the various magazines and journals I read just to get a couple of extra novels finished.

Still, there is a chance I'll reach 100 at this point. The summer should be good to get in some extra reading and get some more miles logged on my out-of-date e-book.

I would do some reading at the gym, but the new machines they've installed have limited room for books now that they have put in shelves and ports and crap for peoples' Ipods. I have to bring shorter books (by height, not page count) so they will fit in the reduced area. I would bring my MP-3 player and listen to more audio books, but I know it will be too noisy in the gym and I'd have to crank up the volume, which is something I don't want to do. I've been two machines down from people where I can hear the music coming from their little head phones over the sound of our machines. That's got to be murder on the ears.

Are any of you participating in any book reading challenges? If so how are you doing now that we are reaching mid-year?

Third Sentence Thursday #7

"For us in England it came too late." (The Battle of Dorking by G.T. Chesney)

Something for the people in England came too late. Dorking is a city in southern England. The warning must be of foreign invasion. Question is wether it is the French, Russians, Germans, or Martians that are invading.

This story has been collected with other examples of 'Invasion Literature' in a book called Before Armageddon.

Here's how Third Sentence Thursday works:

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence to Sniffly Kitty's Third Sentence Post for this week.

Review – The Wind Whales of Ishmael

Here we have a sequel to Moby Dick. Now I have to admit I never read Moby Dick. I carried it around in my backpack for a few weeks during high school but could never read very much of it. It seemed long and boring, and I'm sure now that I'm older I might appreciate it more. All I knew about Ishmael was the “Call me Ishmael” line.

Philip Josė Farmer wrote a very different story as the 'sequel.' Ishmael is the lone survivor of the sinking Pequod. He is rescued by another ship. Not long after that the rescue ship slips through reality. It arrives in a possible distant future of Earth, long after the oceans have mostly evaporated away. The rescue ship falls thousands of feet to the slimy salt below destroying a sky ship in the process. Ishmael manages to be the only survivor of this second disaster.

The rest of the book is about Ishmael's explorations of his new world and learning to deal with the strange creatures and natives. He uses his now unique knowledge to help the native tribe that adopts him. The whole story has the feel of something written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (including a beautiful high priestess).

Format:
The format of the book is unusual in that it is not broken up into chapters. It is one long non-stop adventures without and breaks. It is also much shorter than Moby Dick, making it a very quick read.

Cools Stuff:
Strange creatures inhabiting the sea of air. Trap filled dungeons. Airships. Pulpy goodness.

Final Analysis:
If you are a fan of Burroughs you'll probably like this book. If you loved Moby Dick you might not, but then again it is a quick read and might end up surprising you.

City of Heroes Underworld

Paragon City can be really strange at times. Mutants, wizards, mad scientists, aliens, and other bizarre types can be found wandering its streets and rooftops. Large walls and force fields protect the city and thousands of heroes hold back the tide of evil. However things are not always as they seem as was learned by the not-so-altruistic hero Captain Cash.

Despite his rather low security clearance level Captain Cash made his way to take a day job at Portal Corp. After three weeks he quit and made his way back to the mainland. Instead of taking the ferry he decided to just swim to Talos Island. At one point during the trip the world gave way and he found himself not on the surface of the water, but instead falling through a blue void.

He landed on a flat blue surface that matched the sky in color. It was a very disorienting experience. Not knowing where the heck he was he began to look around for any sign of the world. Sure enough floating high in the sky were what resembled the protective walls of Talos Island.

Using his rocket pack Captain Cash flew up to examine the strange objects that were floating in the sky. Perhaps they were a link to home. He had to escape this strange realm. As he reached the upper range of his rocket pack he noticed doors on a floating object. He had to discover what those were.

Luckily his cell phone was still getting a signal in this other-worldly nowhere. He called a heroine calling herself Sister Blister to fly up to examine the doors. She arrived and had no trouble reaching the strange sets of doors. Unfortunately they would not open for her and no force could break them.

Investigating further, Sister Blister continued to fly up and hit the upper limit of the seemingly endless blueness. Part of her body passed through the strange barrier. Eventually she is able to make her way through the barrier and back to 'reality.' Captain Cash is still trapped.

His trillions of dollars unable to help him in this strange un-universe, Captain Cash calls out to whatever powers may be able to help him. “/stuck” his calls and his call is answered. He is spirited away, his senses tell him back up, but where he ends up is a place few heroes have returned from. The Captain found himself in a vast circular room filled with doors. A fountain of information spewing out the stuff of artificial life. Captain Cash believed he had found the source of the universe!

After spending a long period of time exploring this strange chamber and its unworkable doors Captain Cash came to a sudden realization. He checked his cell phone's GPS and discovered he was just inside the Talos Island Arena. He now attempting to come up with ways to gain influence with his incredible discovery..... so far other heroes don't seem to care....

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(interesting glitches in MMOs can sometimes distract me)

Third Sentence Thrusday #6

"Corn cakes, fried ham and eggs were heaped on plates before them." (Squadron of the Scorpion by Robert J. Hogan)

Breakfast time for G-8 & his men. Looks like they'll have a little time to socialize before the next fiendish plot is unleashed by the Kaiser's scientists.

(image from www.vintagelibrary.com)


Here's how Third Sentence Thursday works:

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence to Sniffly Kitty's Third Sentence Post for this week.

Planning a Supers-Steampunk game

Now that I have a bit more free time I can now start some new projects. One of them is preparing for a one-shot role-playing game in about two-and-a-half weeks. A friend from out-of-town wants to game again and I'll be piecing together the game.

So, I asked him what he wanted to play and the two things that came up were Steampunk and a supers game. Well, why not combine them. I'm still deciding on the system (it will probably end up being GURPS) and I have to make sure everyone has characters made up before game day (don't want to burn game time making characters, especially for what may only be a one-shot). Oh, and then I have to design the adventure.

All I've determined right now is that the campaign setting will be May 1881. Right now I'm going through my notes on that period and designing the setting. There are going to be some divergence from real history thanks to the introduction of super powers and steam-tech. I'm going to get the basics of a world set up and then we can decide where the heroes are based. Then I get to design the wicked villains.

Since over the last few years I've been reading a lot of sci-fi and adventure stories written in that general era I may have quite a bit of material to draw from. It has been months since I've been a gamemaster, so this little project has been a great outlet for some pent-up creative energy.

Who knows, It might end up being good enough to become more than a one-shot and might be the genesis of another one of my multi-year campaigns (and if not I'll be able to then channel some creative energy into creating that world too!).

Now if you'll excuse me I have some research to do and some notes to take :)

Third Sentence Thursday #5

"He stood before what appeared to be the station's sole permanent building - a weathered structure that presumably at some dim time had served as a railroad storehouse" (The Blue Max by Jack D. Hunter)

'He' is Bruno Stachel, a German aviator arriving at his first assignment. The station has one permanent building which means there are numerous temporary structures scattered about the area. While the area may have once been a bustling railway station it now serves a much different purpose.

I just finished up this book last night. I really liked it. While very different from the movie there were eerie similarities. While I still like the film the novel is much better (which I suppose is nearly always the case).



Here's how Third Sentence Thursday works:

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence to Sniffly Kitty's Third Sentence Post for this week.

Invasion Literature

Now that work has slowed down and I have some more free time I plan to get back to reading and writing some more. One genre I plan to focus on this summer is Invasion Literature. Basically those are stories about the home country being invaded by some outside force or nation. H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds is an example, but I plan to focus on stories involving fictional wars between real nations. No aliens for me this time around.

I also want to read more than just the short list for the genre on Wikipedia, sometimes there is some good material in overlooked novels. The problem is where to get titles & author names for my search.

Luckily I stumbled onto the Tea and Tiffin blog where KapitanMors wrote a nice introduction to the genre and listed a few good starting places for continued reading.

It will hopefully be an interesting journey and a nice break from all of the World War I history books I've been reading.

Does anyone have a suggestion of any good books of this genre, particilarly ones that were written before 1914?

Third Sentence Thursday #4

It's Thursday! That meens it's time for:




Here is the third sentence from a book I read a couple of months ago. My current book reading speed will still be a little slow for the next couple of weeks.

“Robert Wolff knew that there could be no horn or man blowing upon it behind the sliding doors.” (The Maker of Universes by Philip José Farmer)

Wolff hears something that can’t possibly be real in a confined space behind some sliding doors. What is the true source of the sound and will Wolff open the doors to find out?

Of course he does open the doors and his life will change forever as a result. This is where the whole World of Tiers series began. I’m so far into it I’ve nearly forgotten about Robert Wolf, the character Kickaha becomes the primary protagonist by the third book. In fact Kickaha steals the show in the scenes he has in The Maker of Universes.

Here's how Third Sentence Thursday works:

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence to Sniffly Kitty's Third Sentence Post for this week.