Michael
Tad Williams takes the reader on a great modern paranormal adventure with some innovative takes on Noir in a Modern context. The main character is well portrayed; as a flawed angel, tasked with advocating for the souls of the dead, Bobby Dollar is both real and supernal.
In Noir fashion, our hero is dropped in the thick of the Cold War between Heaven and Hell when a soul disappears on his watch. What follows is a ride that takes Bobby D through the righteous underbelly of San Judas (Santa Clara), California, angering Angels and Demons alike.
While the mystery is solved by the end of the book, it leaves many questions unanswered and I eagerly anticipate the next volume of the Bobby Dollar series.
I listened to the audio book version, and I was a fine listen. It might have needed another editing pass; having read other Dave Gross books I felt this was sub par. the audio version did a fair amount to make this an enjoyable jaunt in the Iron Kingdoms.
I really enjoyed this work. I didn't read cover to cover, but cherry picked the chapters that interested me the most. and that's very refreshing.
An excellent premier for novice and developing GM's. Even for the advanced GM, there are nuggets of wisdom that can be found by reviewing the fundamentals of the craft.
After digging into the 3rd Edition book, I think I'm a fan.
Combat resolution is interesting and more straightforward (mostly). Requires two dice rolls to resolve most actions, but the Initiative Dueling system feels like it will be good at the table.
They take enough queues from Chronicles of Darkness to make advancement much less agonizing. The fact that every 50 XP characters just get more Essence is a huge improvement, and points costs look like they will grant satisfying advancement. They make specific call outs to how merits should be handled in play, and which ones are the purview of the GM to administer and which ones characters are responsible for acquiring.
Their social system is way easier to understand than the social combat from the previous edition, also likely taking some inspiration from Chronicles of Darkness' Social Maneuvering System. Reducing intimacies to simple ratings makes that system feel a lot more manageable.
In general, I like the updates and expansion they have made to the setting; in particular, I like the Exigents and Liminal Exalted types.
I really like how they have updated Sorcery. That was always one of the cool promises of the Exalted setting that never lived up in practice.
The stunt system feels easier to grasp and the mechanical rewards feel more substantial.
Now, to wait for more material for the updated system...
A fantastic adaptation of the Eclipse Phase system and setting into Fate Core. Can't wait to play it!
This book covers a lot and is full of critical and foundational information for role players of all types and experience levels.
A lot of things I read here have been covered in other disparate places, however, it is compiled and condensed into this one very functional book.
I encourage anyone who loves role-playing to read this book. I will be gifting this to many folks I know.
As someone who played a lot of WoD in Highschool and Collage, and finds a pool of d10's a comforting and familiar mechanic, I really dig the Story path system. A nice blend of their pool system with a lot of good modern design sensibilities.
Also, I like where they are going with the underlying lore for the Trinity universe.
The pros are a bit dated for me, but after the first couple of stories, I got into it.
I can now say definitively, I'm a fan of Dying Earth Fantasy.
This is one of the best RP based novel that I have read in a long time. The first 2 chapters are tedious to work through, but once you make it past that threshold the book quickly turns into a read that can't be put down.
An excellent addition the the series, and I love the change if POV to Harbinger. MHI's werewolf mythology is fascinating.
An excellent addition to the series. The second one adds more geo-political “what-if's” to the alternate history. The story starts to go a little too over the top at points, but comes down almost as fast making for pulpy adventure fun.
Excellent modern paranormal with a British twist.
I enjoy the pace of the story, the characters, and the mysteries surrounding the paranormal in this setting.
Excellent book as always. Not my favorite Vimes novel of the series. More review to come.
My favorite thing about this novel: It's vampire fiction that does not focus on sex. Sexuality is involved, but it highlights the story rather than taking center stage.
What you get instead is Vampire spy/caper and action. Great read.
I really enjoy where they are taking the story within this arc. There are time I wish they would focus more on one aspect of the mixed story rather than stringing them all together.
I am really engaged in the political subplot with the Imperial Remnant and the Galactic Alliance, and want additional books devoted to it.
One of the best Nero Wolfe Stories I have read yet. Very Different in tone, but fascinating.
This novel was okay, but I was expecting more of a paranormal focus on this novel. I enjoyed the themes, but this was just more thriller than modern fantasy.