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Showing posts from October, 2015

REVIEW: DAY OF THE FISH-ZOMBIES

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INTRODUCTION I've always been a fan of interactive fiction in terms of how it relates to video games. There are some that allow you to make a choice right at the end that deliver different outcomes such as Star Wars The Force Unleashed . There are some that have different endings depending on your actions during the game as with Bioshock . Then there are those that allow players to shape the story to their liking through a series of smaller decision points that help make the overall experience feel more personal - just about any Bioware game ever is a good example of this. One thing that I've yet to really get into however is interactive fiction within the context of literature. I've heard of and even played text adventures in the past and I am familiar with the concept of a choose-your-own-adventure book, but would definitely not call myself an expert in that genre. When offered a free advanced review copy (ARC) of DAY OF THE FISH-ZOMBIES by the author, Tom Shutt, I

REVIEW: BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN

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INTRODUCTION  As part of my Batman Day eComic haul , I picked up BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN . I knew going into it that it was an older work and definitely looked the part, but I also know it's quite famous. I've heard it referenced by a number of people who are more up on the comic world than I am and I have played Batman video games where there are alternate costumes based off of this graphic work. Most notably was Rocksteady's ARKHAM CITY where players who have the Catwoman pack can play as her using the bright pinkish costume which she sports in this comic. Other than the visual side of things, I really didn't know much about the story at all, other than that it's famous so I figured I'd give it a shot. HOW I RATED IT  4/5 There are some things that definitely make this a little rough around the edges, but overall, it is one of the most compelling and engaging graphic works that I have read to date. I had a really good time with this and definitely

UPDATE: BOOK HAUL(S) - 10/5/2015

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Normally I buy books 1 or 2 at a time and only do so right before I want to read them. I do own a couple that I have yet to get to, but I'm not typically one for "hauls." Recently I had two smaller ones, but these have added up a pretty decent amount of books (for me at least).  BATMAN DAY eCOMIC HAUL The 26th of September was National Batman Day (maybe international, who knows). I know this because I got an email saying so. In said email was mention of some contests one could enter for free, but also that a whole bunch of comics and graphic novels were heavily discounted, so I trucked it over to Amazon and these are the results. Batman The Long Halloween  (Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale) I'd heard a lot about this one, but really had no idea what I was getting into other than the fact that it is an older and highly beloved work. I've actually already read this one and the review for it will be going up shortly. Batman Arkham Asylum (Grant

REVIEW: UNSTABLE PROTOTYPES (Big Sigma Book 2)

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INTRODUCTION Sequels can be risky business no matter the medium. Sequels are inspired by various motivations. The FAST AND FURIOUS franchise continues to live on because people consistently pay to see the ludicrous stunts and zany criminal story lines that the movies provide. The Marvel comic and movie universes are going strong because there are so many wild adventures to be had and so many characters to get to know (not to mention all the money they make from them). Then there are some concepts that are simply planned to go on for a finite amount of time like THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy which is most definitely meant to be a three-book series. Any more than that and the story might be stretched a bit thin and any less would rob readers of some crucial details and moments. In all of these cases, one thing that remains constant is that there is an unspoken expectation that the next installment in a series will be better than it's last. The fact of the matter is though, that seque