Our next game is on Friday the 13th; your reconnaissance has gone well and you’re preparing for the assault. You mentioned trying to plan a bit before next week– use email and comments to work it out. If you have questions, just let me know!
Pizza continues to suffer from overuse, so we’ll each grab food on the way this week. Hopefully a couple of weeks of enjoying something different will restore out pizza loving taste buds.
This is an interesting science fictional take on the Ina, Butler’s vampires. We learn about the Ina and their society from the viewpoint of Shori. The Ina are a fascinating group, with a culture and history that we learn alongside Shori.
Rather than the comfortable norm for vampires, Shori looks very young (which brings up Lolita like concerns), is small, and black. Her control of her victims is due to a venom which has several interesting side effects. It’s interesting looking at these near traditional vampires through a more scientific lense. Similarly, the social groups they build feel realistic, and in context their withdrawal from society makes perfect sense.
Interestingly, as the book goes on, we begin to transition from traditional vampire (and sympathetic vampire) books and start getting involved in genetic engineering ethics and race. It makes sense in the book, despite the shaking your head you’re probably doing.
In the end, it’s an interesting and fun book with deeper overtones, if you’re looking for them.
A dense and confusing book about the end of the world, done very well. The confusion comes honestly– while everything is well described (and often vivid), the characters are pawns that everyone keeps in the dark while the rules are rewritten.
The heroes of the book are a pair of mirror twins– much like identical twins, but more so. They are the lynchpin of the world’s invasion/destruction– so when one dies, this world and the next get drawn closer together. That leaves each twin exploring a bizarre realm undergoing massive change. Each is clueless and in the hand of great powers that guide and manipulate them.
It was enjoyable but thick– in the afterward, I read that it’s kind of a prequel to another trilogy: The Books of the Change. I’ll probably check those out next, rather than continuing with the rest of this trilogy.
We’re on track to game Friday night, February 7th. It looks like we’ll have a short night, with Mike and Kev needing to call it quits early (due to an early start Friday for Kev and Saturday for Mike). You’re currently in the hastily converted barracks along the river, about 3 miles upstream of Viffil. During the night you fought off a probe by a pack of demon dogs and a demonic archer; we’ll pick up the next morning.