How I've been wasting my time
May. 3rd, 2003 02:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jtniehofI know I give the impression it's been nothing but packing, which isn't quite true. So, a few of the things I've been doing to amuse myself since Anime Boston.
Before AB actually I managed to finish playing Sakura Taisen (thanks to Konoha for getting me started on that). Oooooh....love it, love it love it. It's another incentive to learn Japanese so I don't have to rely on the translations; unfortunately that's many years out. Whatever they bring to the States, I hope it's subbed--the seiyuu are incredible. Doubt it'll happen though.
Since then gameplay time has been divided between System Shock and Ragnarok Online. I've been playing Shock for about five years now. I play for a week, get too freaked out to continue, let it slide for a few months. It's that scary. RO, of course, just came back recently, and unlike the last beta I participated in I'm having the chance to run around with people who are kindly tanking for me. So, we talk while we beat things up.
I think I'm going to finish reading Ringworld Throne approximately when hell freezes over. Haven't touched it in a month. I decided that, for Anime Boston, I didn't have room for books, so I dumped ebooks onto my Palm. Thus it was that I read most of The Man Who Was Thursday on the plane out and finished it on the subway at some point (I remember still being in the middle of it while waiting for Keys at Logan too damn early Thursday morning). Wow. Chesterton is...great. I learned about this book in the course of playing Deus Ex; Spector left quotes from all sorts of conspiracy writings throughout the game and Thursday really caught my attention. Solid, thick conspiracy-adventure with light moral at the end (if you even want to call it that).
Carpboy set me up with a bunch of manga at AB so I read Chobits 4 and 5 on the plane back; still not sure what I think. It's reasonably solid but feels like about half plot/character advancement and half wallowing in "are machines people too?" Decent question, but worth shutting up about after you've said the same things twenty times...
After I got home I started in on the other e-books: the first two books of Weber's Honor Harrington series. On Basilisk Station absolutely floored me; hard science fiction at its best. Weber meshes solid, believable tech with the type of political drama I love. Characterization's a little weak and his writing falls short of perfection (still very, very good compared to altogether too many scifi or fantasy writers) but honestly, it's not a character-heavy book. Intellectual writing rather than emotional, and that works fine for what he's doing.
Then I read Honor of the Queen. Even better. Inconsistencies in the writing clear up, political and social drama thickens, and the plot contains the single best portrayal, explanation, and subsequent deconstruction of a male chauvinist society that I have ever seen. A far cry from Jordan's clumsy handling of gender issues in Wheel of Time. I'm curious to see what any women who have read these books think of Honor in general and HotQ in particular. Unfortunately Honor herself suffers from the same shortcoming as all the characters: the book's "business focus" as it were leaves her a bit flat.
I should insert the obligatory plug for Baen Books, publisher of the series and much smarter about the electronic age than anyone else. Go to their free library and read On Basilisk Station; I suggest using a palm or similar device. I got the whole Honor Harrington series on CDROM (10 novels, 3 short story collections) in completely unfettered text formats by dropping $25 on the latest hardcover; well worth it. And now Baen's done the same with the latest John Ringo book...I'll have to check that out.
I've dabbled in e-booking before, but now I think I'm a full-fledged convert. Not that I'm getting rid of (more) of my paper, mind you!
Well, back to work.
Before AB actually I managed to finish playing Sakura Taisen (thanks to Konoha for getting me started on that). Oooooh....love it, love it love it. It's another incentive to learn Japanese so I don't have to rely on the translations; unfortunately that's many years out. Whatever they bring to the States, I hope it's subbed--the seiyuu are incredible. Doubt it'll happen though.
Since then gameplay time has been divided between System Shock and Ragnarok Online. I've been playing Shock for about five years now. I play for a week, get too freaked out to continue, let it slide for a few months. It's that scary. RO, of course, just came back recently, and unlike the last beta I participated in I'm having the chance to run around with people who are kindly tanking for me. So, we talk while we beat things up.
I think I'm going to finish reading Ringworld Throne approximately when hell freezes over. Haven't touched it in a month. I decided that, for Anime Boston, I didn't have room for books, so I dumped ebooks onto my Palm. Thus it was that I read most of The Man Who Was Thursday on the plane out and finished it on the subway at some point (I remember still being in the middle of it while waiting for Keys at Logan too damn early Thursday morning). Wow. Chesterton is...great. I learned about this book in the course of playing Deus Ex; Spector left quotes from all sorts of conspiracy writings throughout the game and Thursday really caught my attention. Solid, thick conspiracy-adventure with light moral at the end (if you even want to call it that).
Carpboy set me up with a bunch of manga at AB so I read Chobits 4 and 5 on the plane back; still not sure what I think. It's reasonably solid but feels like about half plot/character advancement and half wallowing in "are machines people too?" Decent question, but worth shutting up about after you've said the same things twenty times...
After I got home I started in on the other e-books: the first two books of Weber's Honor Harrington series. On Basilisk Station absolutely floored me; hard science fiction at its best. Weber meshes solid, believable tech with the type of political drama I love. Characterization's a little weak and his writing falls short of perfection (still very, very good compared to altogether too many scifi or fantasy writers) but honestly, it's not a character-heavy book. Intellectual writing rather than emotional, and that works fine for what he's doing.
Then I read Honor of the Queen. Even better. Inconsistencies in the writing clear up, political and social drama thickens, and the plot contains the single best portrayal, explanation, and subsequent deconstruction of a male chauvinist society that I have ever seen. A far cry from Jordan's clumsy handling of gender issues in Wheel of Time. I'm curious to see what any women who have read these books think of Honor in general and HotQ in particular. Unfortunately Honor herself suffers from the same shortcoming as all the characters: the book's "business focus" as it were leaves her a bit flat.
I should insert the obligatory plug for Baen Books, publisher of the series and much smarter about the electronic age than anyone else. Go to their free library and read On Basilisk Station; I suggest using a palm or similar device. I got the whole Honor Harrington series on CDROM (10 novels, 3 short story collections) in completely unfettered text formats by dropping $25 on the latest hardcover; well worth it. And now Baen's done the same with the latest John Ringo book...I'll have to check that out.
I've dabbled in e-booking before, but now I think I'm a full-fledged convert. Not that I'm getting rid of (more) of my paper, mind you!
Well, back to work.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
shodan wuvs you vewy much :D
Date: 2003-05-03 04:58 pm (UTC)We are the Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network. Resistance is futile, meat puppet.
Date: 2003-05-03 05:31 pm (UTC)Enjoy!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-05-04 05:14 am (UTC)damn you frode, you stole my line!
Date: 2003-05-04 05:25 am (UTC)also remember, the wild cards books are out there in ebook format!!! :)
Re: damn you frode, you stole my line!
Date: 2003-05-04 09:52 am (UTC)Yes, but what I've seen of them has been something like $10 a book for a restricted format. Not my idea of a good time :) I accept correct if I'm wrong.
I've been meaning to read the Weber since the BFL started...On Basilisk Station actually resided on my old Palm Pro for awhile, just got distracted by other things. The To Read list is huge...which reminds me, more Kerr...