Gary Ballard's Blog: The Bridge Chronicles by Gary A. Ballard, page 3

Does Not Compute: Square Enix Sells Millions, Fires President

Sometimes the video game industry just refuses to make any sort of goddamn sense.

Case in point: Square Enix noted “weak sales” of some of its releases for the last fiscal year as reasons for firing their president and “restructuring.” Now, normally the words “restructuring” means a lot of peons will lose their jobs for the failings of their bosses but nowhere in the story does it say they will lay people off. This happens all the time in the video game industry, especially since the global ec...

Gun Control Debate

I’ve been contemplating this post for a while, ever since the gun control debate came to the forefront of the national political conversation in the wake of the Newton school shooting. Unfortunately, I’ve been too busy to blog but now seems as good a time as any to discuss it. After all, opponents of gun control repeat the same mantra when the conversation starts in the hours and days following one of these all too frequent tragedies. It’s too soon. We can’t talk about gun control when famili...

Mitt Romney doesn’t understand government or gifts

Last week Americans voted, and I’m glad to say that at least 51% of us still had some concept of the proper role of government. There has been much hemming and hawing from the right-wing side of the country (the sore losers) and a little too much gloat-filled crowing from the left wing side of the country (everyone else). Yes, I voted for Barack Obama and almost exclusively voted against whatever Republican was on the ticket – which in my state of Mississippi is unfortunately not every office...

Vote… or shut your hole.

I’ve been off writing about politics lately, but today is Election Day. Whether you vote for Barack Obama or that lying liar of an untruthful suit puppet money bags Mitt Romney, whether you are in flyover country or the city, whether you live in a swing state or (like me) a foregone conclusion, you need to vote. By my count, the polls will be open for about three more hours, so get your ass out and vote. Or don’t, and keep your mouth shut for the next four years like a good little victim.

See,...

The Destiny Engine Book Review

When the author asked me via email to provide a cover blurb for his upcoming self-published novel, I was hesitant. For any who have read my reviews before, I am a brutally honest critic. Even when I pull punches, I have a tendency to be more brusque than many people are prepared to deal with. I knew that if I didn’t like this book, I couldn’t provide a blurb because nothing I say would put it in a favorable light. I agreed, but only with that caveat that if I didn’t like it, there would be no...

First Book Signing, Aug. 21st at Flowood Public Library

My first official in-person book signing and author appearance has been confirmed! Next week, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 6 p.m. I’ll be appearing at theG. Chastaine Flynt Memorial Library, in Flowood, MS (a suburb of the capital Jackson, MS). I’ll have a few copies of all three of my novels for sale and will gladly sign any copies purchased or brought with you. I will be discussing the formation of my main protagonist, Artemis Bridge, as well as some eerie parallels between my setting and th...

Anathem by Neal Stephenson Book Review: Bloody Maths

Anathemby Neal Stephenson is the kind of brilliant book that nevertheless frustrates the reader constantly by being so utterly unapproachable. As a big fan of Stephenson’s, I gave this book a lot more chances than I might have had I not been familiar with the author’s work. It wanders from opaque to engage then back to off-putting before wandering back into page-turning territory like a drunken mathematician spouting obscure formulas between anecdotes about his sexual exploits in Delta Phi De...

Art in Video Games: Dear Esther Review

Thanks to the glory that is the summer Steam sale, I picked up the indie “game” Dear Esther this week. I had seen trailers for it and was intrigued, but like most games, I waited to see if I could get a deal on it. Steam and its frequent sales has bloated my “To Be Played” pile of video games greatly, and for that, I have to thank Gabe Newell. For those people *COUGH*IDIOTS*COUGH* who think such deep discounts hurt the video game industry, I direct them to this image. I’m not here to discuss...

King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard: Book Review

King Solomon’s Mines is the only book of the Alan Quatermain stories that I’ve ever read, despite knowing of the character from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie and comic series. As a fan of the pulpy “Lost World” genre that this novel spawns, it’s amazing that I’ve waited this long in life to read this sort of thing.

The first thing that struck me about the novel is the blatant colonialist racism that permeates the whole work. Any modern reader who didn’t know the time period it wa...

The Ultimate Choice by Lisa Hinsley Book Review

Since I enjoyed Hinsley’s horror novel, Coombe’s Wood, I had confidence in her abilities with a science-fiction tale like The Ultimate Choice. The subject matter sounded weighty but intriguing. In a world so overpopulated that unlicensed sex is outlawed and an unsanctioned pregnancy is punishable by death, would a mother make the ultimate sacrifice on a live television spectacle? Would she give up her life, allowing her organs to be donated to willing recipients chosen by the audience?

Unfortu...