“Art and Arcana offers glorious illustrations, fascinating backstories, and the occasional painful misstep of a franchise entering its 40th year.” Continue reading Dungeons & Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History, by Michael Witwer @ nyjb
I continue my essay series “On Being Human”, this week exploring the dark world of Warhammer 40K and the Space Marines. Continue reading CCLAP Fridays: On Being Human: Warhammer 40K Space Marines
My introductory essay to my series, “On Being Human” has been posted on CCLaP. Continue reading CCLaP Fridays: On Being Human: An Introduction
I will be writing reviews and themed essays at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography. Continue reading Introducing CCLaP Fridays
The Horus Heresy series continues in Graham McNeill’s epic Mechanicum. Graham McNeill is one of the Black Library’s “dream team” writers. The other members of the trio include the hyper-prolific Dan Abnett and Ben Counter. The trio wrote the first three novels of the Horus Heresy series. The first three novels functioned like a self-contained trilogy, chronicling the Warmaster Horus and his descent into heresy and madness. James Swallow’s Flight of the Eisenstein (Book 4) was a taut thriller with crisp writing and wonderfully orchestrated space battles. Since then, the Horus Heresy has had its ups (Legion by Dan Abnett) … Continue reading Mechanicum (The Horus Heresy, Book 9) by Graham McNeill
Every blog needs a large-scale project. The Art of Reviewing will explore reviewing as an art form and as a valuable element to understanding society. During this project, I will profile specific reviewers of merit. Several specific cases also explore other facets of reviewing. If you haven’t seen it already, it’s making the rounds on Ye Olde Nettertubes. It’s a twenty-minute review of James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar. Here’s the review, in two parts: *** COMMENTARY This review is a bit long and a bit cynical, but it makes a number of valid points. It is an artful combination of pop … Continue reading The Art of Reviewing Special Edition(TM): The 20 Minute “Avatar” Review
Battle for the Abyss by Ben Counter begins with the construction of the gigantic battleship, the Furious Abyss, within the hollow center of Thule, a moon of Saturn. The Mechanicum construct the ship using the ancient technologies they preserve. Unbeknownst to the Emperor, the Mechanicum build the massive warship for the Word Bearer Traitor Legion. Those familiar with the Cylon basestars of Battlestar Galactica will recognize the Furious Abyss. Heavily armed and holding a contingent of fighters, the Furious Abyss is an intimidating force. Unlike the sleek basestars, the Furious Abyss resembles a giant battlestar with Chartres Cathedral sitting on … Continue reading Battle for the Abyss (The Horus Heresy, Book 8) by Ben Counter
For Better or Worse: The Knights of Good The third episode of The Guild, the plot hinges on Codex’s inability to bring the Knights of Good back together. Codex (Felicia Day) cautiously and politely asks the Axis of Anarchy (the rival, evil group headed by Wil Wheaton), if they could get Tinkerballa (Amy Okuda) back. The Axis of Anarchy smell an intruder in their midst and then verbally assault Codex with all manner of f-bombs and snark. Wil Wheaton snarked at Codex by quoting Ayn Rand. Considering Rand’s philosophy of utopian selfishness precipitated our current economic unpleasantness, my money is … Continue reading Guild Musings: Musing #2: Chat channels and wifi
Can Dan Abnett save the franchise? After the underwhelming Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon, the Horus Heresy series is in desperate need of revival. None is better equipped to revive the flagging franchise than the prolific Dan Abnett. Abnett, author of Eisenhorn, the Ravenor series, the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and other titles for Marvel and Doctor Who, has the rare gift to write well and to write a lot. Like the space fantasy version of William T. Vollmann, he churns out full-length novels at a ridiculous rate. In Legion, Abnett throws the reader into a desert landscape, a war … Continue reading Legion (Horus Heresy, Book 7) by Dan Abnett
“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” – Gil Scott-Heron Note: To avoid confusion, italics will differentiate the Guild (show) from the Guild (group of characters). Two episodes into its third season, The Guild has become an Internet phenomenon. The show follows the comic misadventures of various gamers associated with The Knights of Good, a guild in a MMORPG [Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game]. While the game they play involves mythical creatures, fantastic quests, and cool costumes, the shows follows their day-to-day lives. In another nod to the MMORPG, the players do not address each other by their real names … Continue reading Guild Musings: Musing #1: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The Driftless Area Review 