C.T. Phipps's Blog, page 10

Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw review

    HAMMERS ON BONE by Cassandra Khaw is a rare gem in what I’ve always felt should have been a larger genre: the Cthulhu Mythos detective novel. I’ve played a few video games with the premise like Dark Corners of the Earth, The Sinking City, and Call of Cthulhu (2018) but I feel like it’s something that should have been as popular a genre in paperback fiction as the Dungeons and Dragons novel was in the Nineties. I feel like Chaosium and other parties could have made some serious bank on th...

Fallout: A Tale of Mutation review

    FALLOUT: A TALE OF MUTATION by Erwan Lafleuriel is a book available on Kindle Unlimited that details the creation of the first four Fallout games (no real information on Fallout 76 or the series, which is a shame). This is basically a book discussing how each game came to be and some general discussion about their themes as well as world-building. It's nothing that hardcore fans wouldn't already be familiar with.

    The premise of the book is that it details the origins of Fallout as a propo...

Ten Recommended New Cthulhu Mythos novels II

Howard Phillips Lovecraft remains one of the more controversial yet influential genre writers of the early 20th century. A man like his friend and contemporary, Robert E. Howard, who has stood the test of time. His creations in the Great Old Ones, Necronomicon, Nyarlathotep, and Deep Ones have resonated with generations of readers.

Perhaps his most admirable quality as a writer was the fact that he was never afraid to let anyone play with his toys. An early advocate of what we’d now call “open so...

The Guy in the Corgi Shirt 1#: Fallout the Series

 

Exactly what the title says. I really enjoyed Fallout: The Series and here's a video where I discuss it with fellow post-apocalypse author Eric Malikyte. I think the two of us provide a pretty unique perspective on the show from people who make these kind of stories for a living. As a note, "The Guy in the Corgi Shirt" is my Youtube persona.

The Division 2 review

    The Division 2 has been out since 2019, so this review is a bit late but it’s an interesting time to take stock of a game at the end of its game life rather than the beginning. Ubisoft have been keeping The Division 2 steadily updated after a meager opening and the final results are very different from the beginning ones. With the announced multiplayer free-to-play sequel, The Division: Heartland, in the works, it also feels like a good time to go back and review what worked as well as...

The Division: Recruited by Thomas Parrott review

    THE DIVISION: RECRUITED is an expanded universe novel set in the universe of TOM CLANCY’S THE DIVISION by Ubisoft. The premise is the United States (and probably world) has been devastated by a plague called the Green Poison. With the majority of the human race dead, the survivors attempt to eke out an existence in the aftermath with various lawless factions rising to compete for limited resources. Standing in the way of utter chaos is the Division, a secret agency of disaster respond...

Review - Silo: Season One

    SILO is based on the similarly titled book series by Hugh Howey. After finishing FALLOUT, I was still in a post-apocalypse mood and didn’t want to deal with zombies, so I decided to check out this series on Apple TV that I’d seen advertised at my local comic book store.

    I'm a fan of Rebecca Ferguson from her work in the Mission Impossible movies so I figured it would certainly be up my alley. I have to admit that it was the look of the show that sold me on it and the idea of living...

Will Leave the Galaxy for Good by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw review

    WILL LEAVE THE GALAXY FOR GOOD by Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw is the third and final installment of the Jack McKeown series. The series is about an out of work star pilot and his feud with the seemingly fictional Jack McKeown, a author of rugged stories about star pilots who has actually rewritten the adventures of both the protagaonist as well as his many friends. Due to complicated stories, the protagonist is also forced to adopt the identity of Jack McKeown on multiple occassions. Sometim...

Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw

    WILL DESTROY THE GALAXY FOR CASH by Ben “Yahtzee” Crowshaw is the scond book in the Jacques McKeown series. The series is about a washed up space hero who lost his job after teleportation (quan-tunneling) wiped out the necessity for spaceships. The first book was an absolute treat and I immediately picked up the second one in the series. This is one of those series that is best listened to in audiobook form because Ben Croshaw’s voice is so distinctive as well as so much of his humor ...

Writing Update - April 24, 2024

Hey folks,

I thought I would give a wonderful update about what's going on with my current projects because what is the point of this if not to keep my fans updated with what's in the works? This has been a very busy April and the news is both good, bad, and in-between.

* The Supervillainy Saga: The next book, THE RISE OF SUPERVILLAINY, is presently slated to be the finale of the series. It's lasted ten books but sales are a bit down and Gary has achieved a lot of what I've wanted to tell so putt...