Victor Hugo Kebbe
It's a nice book discussing the basics on religions in Okinawa. What I liked the most is how the author writes, in a very didactic way.
Such an amazing book, discussing the changes of the funeral ceremonies in Japan. I do not fully agree with this perspective of Commoditization and Mass Consumption the author brings on (with all the corollary of thinkers who emphasize this approach), but it's a beautiful ethnography, it opens your eyes to understand several key aspects of Japanese culture.
Awesome
One of the first Brazilian Science Fiction tales that we know of. It has such a good pace and rhythm!
It's a good book, especially for those who want to know more or get immersed in the fantasy world created by George R. R. Martin. The book consists of essays by various authors in various specialties, ranging from studies on mental health, history, literary criticism, RPGs, collectors and science fiction and fantasy writers. This variety of authors also makes the book an uneven work, because some articles are very superficial compared to others of the same work. I think that some essays could be deeper, considering that some of their authors write very and dominate enough expertise in their specialties. The organization of the essays is quite interesting and very appropriate, it is possible to see the progress of the discussion in a clear and pertinent way.
First of all, I bought this book because of the video game series, one of the most famous E-RPGs ever made. Despite the physical resemblance (and even in some other aspects of his personality) with Elric, Geralt is a very interesting character.
This book is actually a collection of short stories of our witcher friend, culminating in the fateful encounter with the famous (and infamous) sorceress Yennefer. This short story Edge of the World and The Last Wish are, without a doubt, the best. The pace of the narrative is quite amazing and the unfolding of the plot has lots of fun.
Definitely, it's not one of my favorites. This tale is a typical pulp magazine sci-fi short story with some of the traditional sci-fi tropes from the 1930's, which makes it somehow different from other Lovecraftian classics such as The Call of Cthulhu, Mountain of Madness, etc... Lots of tech! Too much technology and not that cosmic terror feel...
It seems this one lacks from depicting these eldritch horrors as abstract entities, a pivotal mark of the Lovecraftian cosmic horror. But it's ok, it has everything else from the author and I must point out the buzzing and creepy voice... That was really creepy...
This is such a kind little book everyone should read, especially for those who reads a lot of books in a year.
All of this has happened before and it will happen again. Someone already wrote in here: this book is amazingly uneven.
There are some AMAZING essays around here, mixed with some that does not have the same analytical sophistication.
I still do not like the introduction and the final chapter. I think if you don't like the show or, if you want to criticize this BSG in a collection of academic essays like this, you have to do a better intellectual investment than just pouring out you didn't like the show just because it ended badly.
I didn't like the end of BSG and I agree with the editors in all of their statements, but I think these articles (and that one by Ryman) are kind of out of place. But I MUST point out those essays that I did love. Here they are:
“Frak Me Reproduction, Gender, Sexuality”, by LORNA JOWETT;
“Real-imagining Terror in Battlestar Galactica Negotiating Real and Fantasy in Battlestar Galactica's Political Metaphor”, by STEVEN RAWLE;
“Butch Girls, Brittle Boys and Sexy, Sexless Cylons Some Gender Problems in Battlestar Galactica”, by MATTHEW JONES;
“Sci-Fi Ghettos Battlestar Galactica and Genre Aesthetics”, by SÉRGIO DIAS BRANCO
I believe if you like BSG and you want to read something interesting about the show, you should read this collection of essays I pointed out. It's a nice book.
Maybe this is the best part of this series. The problem is everything happens too fast and hides the full dimension of what's happening with the Andromeda Initiative. Maybe I'm giving too much credit for this comic book series, but this final installment links the amazing Mass Effect Trilogy to Andromeda in such a great way that it's better the the game itself. Unfortunately, the comic book doesn't do it right, it lacks something.
It is, without a doubt, an excellent start. Conan's first tales that appear on Savage Tales are pretty cool, especially Red Nails (1973) and The Lurker From the Catacombs (1974), but I confess that I don't like Barry Windsor Smith's art. I understand that it was an editorial decision to take forward the Conan publishing project on Marvel Comics, but Smith's style annoys me a lot. In this sense, it is a volume of very uneven quality, in my opinion, with excellent stories alongside poor ones, accompanied by an artistic quality that is sometimes exquisite (Gil Kane's art is awesome) and those by Barry Smith, Jim Starling and Al Milgrom, which are not my favorite at all. In my opinion, The Secret of Skull River (1974) is the worst story in this collection.
To much action, you don't know what's really happening. Well, that was my first impression. I'll keep reading the series to see if it gets better.
It's not that well written. In fact, the adventure structure is a little bit confusing, demanding some preparation for the DM who wants to run it.
Very, very nice. It made me feel back in time watching random episodes of the Ray Bradbury Theatre...
If you like the political intrigue from Star Wars episodes I-II-III this book is for you. It tells how Palpatine ascended to power in detail and it's quite great to know how he became a Sith Lord. He is not a mastermind alone: he's following his Master's steps, Darth Plagueis. The book is well written and it feels you're seeing the prequel trilogy from behind the scenes. Several important questions are answered in this installment. Darth Plagueis is a great character in this grand scheme of the Revenge of the Sith, although the book is misleading. Although the book is called Darth Plagueis, the character is practically secondary to his apprentice, Darth Sidious.
My problem with this title is that it's quite exemplary of how bad old SW Expanded Universe has become in its final days (I'm not saying that the Disney Cannon is better either; I still prefer the old EU). It shows this unnecessary (and quite annoying) urge to connect all the dots between movies, previous books, videogames and comic books as well. I was constantly thinking about the huge library research Luceno did to “fill all the gaps” just to fulfill the LucasBooks Licensing editorial demands. Sometimes it seems it was more important to know when and where this or that came from than the story itself (ie. if you want to know why Count Dooku uses his well tailored cape, you will find the answer here; what that matters to the main plot Is the big question).
What do Dooku, Tatooine, Kamino, Jabba, the Hutt and those beautiful chrome-nosed Nubian starfighters of Naboo have in common? Apparently everything, and that is the problem. I have this feeling that Star Wars galaxy is amazingly small because everyone knows everyone and everyone lives and/or goes to the same places because of this unjustified need to connect all previous publications. I still don't understand why they have to be at Tatooine all the time (I don't know what's so appealing with that huge dust ball) or even to meet Jabba the Hutt just because he's an iconic character.
Anyway, if you're looking to take a different look at what happened before the prequel trilogy and you really dig the political schemes from episodes I-II-III, it's a must read.
The pace is still amazingly fast and the art definitely is not that great.
It's not the best comics I've ever read (and it really is difficult to read this one, focused on the mainstream market, after reading some Sci Fi gems such as Descender).
It's too soon to say, but maybe I found my favorite RPG System. It's fast, easy and very streamlined.
It's an interesting story that unites the Next Generation crew with Spock, Scotty and McCoy. What hooked me was the plot continuation for the Unification episodes. I was anxious to see what happened after those two episodes which introduced Spock as the leader of Unification group in Romulus. His attempt to reunite Vulcans and Romulans is interesting and I believe that in this book, his ideas is better developed. It's not the best Star Trek book I've ever read, but it has its virtues. It was great to revisit the Next Generation again.
I read this book 15 years ago and it is still good. It was great to return and spend a few nights at that Castle again...
This is a must have module for Numenera GMs. It ads all the flavor you need to run a Numeneresque adventure. It complements or even replaces the Numenera Card Decks.
Such a nice book... Ewalt's journey rekindled my desire to return to play Dungeons & Dragons.
Don't know what to think yet. It's compelling, somehow, but the plot development is a little bit slow.
It was a very interesting journey. For fans of Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Dark Ages, this is a novel that brings some very cool things, such as the crusade of Latins and Franks who invade Constantinople in the 13th century and end up putting several wheels of fate in motion (This is Medieval History, not spoilers).
I can't say it's a great work of fiction and fantasy, but it's engaging. I feel that those who do not know the aforementioned RPGs will not be able to fully understand everything that is happening in this novel (which is a flaw, in my opinion).