Tyler F.M. Edwards's Blog, page 64

Retro Review: Once Upon a Time, Season Two: Episodes 13-17

I’m now nearing the end of the second season in my Once Upon a Time binge watch. Once again, expect spoilers.

“Tiny”:

Here we have another somewhat disappointing episode.

An interrogation of Hook leads to the discovery of Anton, the last surviving giant, aboard his ship — albeit somewhat shrunken. He flies into a rage at the sight of Charming, believing him to be his far less noble brother, James. With a little help from Regina, he plans to wreak some havoc.

Meanwhile, Emma, Henry, and Rumpelstiltskin travel to New York in search of Rumpel’s son.

I like Anton and the giants’ story in general. The battle with Jack wasn’t quite the mighty epic I’d initially envisioned, but it’s still a nice twist.

But I was very disappointed that all of Regina’s character development has been thrown out to turn her back into the old caricature of evil, and the ending was just a bland deus ex machina.

Also, what idiot decided to let Hook roam around without supervision? I realize these people are kind of naive, but jeez.

Overall rating: 6.4/10

“Manhattan”:

And suddenly everything is very awkward.

Emma, Henry, and Rumpel have arrived in New York, and they manage to track down down Rumpel’s son, Baelfire. But in a twist I should have seen coming, it turns out Baelfire is also Henry’s father.

Our flashbacks this time around illustrate how Rumpel came to be a cripple with a reputation for cowardice, and it puts him in a surprisingly sympathetic light while once again proving that his wife was a horrible, horrible person.

This episode neither excels nor disappoints. It’s got a lot of Robert Carlyle, which is good, but mostly all it boils down to is a lot of yelling and general awkwardness.

I really do feel bad for Rumpelstiltskin. I’m sure I shouldn’t, but I do. He may have ended up a monster, but he started out with the best of intentions. People treated him like a monster long before he became one.

Him being Henry’s grandfather could prove interesting going forward, but on the other hand, I don’t like this “the boy will be your undoing” talk.

Overall rating: 6.9/10

“The Queen Is Dead”:

This is kind of an odd episode. There’s a lot going on, but not much really happening.

In New York, Hook catches up with Rumpel but manages to serve as little more than a plot device to force him and his son together.

How much more trouble is Hook going to cause before these people realize that a more permanent a solution is necessary? I know they’re not the killing type, but they could at least lock him up and throw away the key.

Meanwhile, in Storybrook, Cora and Regina hunt for Rumpelstiltskin’s dagger so that they will be able to control him once he returns.

I have little to say about this plot beyond the fact that I remain powerfully disappointed by how all of Regina’s character development has been thrown out the window, and that Charming’s foolishness seems to be rubbing off on Snow now.

Overall rating: 6.6/10

“The Miller’s Daughter”:

Rumpelstiltskin is dying, and Cora is determined to claim his power for herself. She claims it’s to help Regina, but by now we all know how much truth there is in that.

It’s up to Emma, David, and Baelfire to protect Rumpel, despite their less than warm feelings toward him. But the battle may hinge on the actions of Snow White. Rumpel offers a way to save him and end the threat of Cora once and for all, but it goes against everything Snow believes in.

For the flashbacks, we go way far back to learn Cora’s origin story. It’s not terribly surprising — she was pretty much always awful and power hungry — and definitely the weakest part of the episode. My main takeaway was that Regina’s father used to be a Freelancer.

Also, how old is Rumpelstiltskin, anyway? He was already the Dark One long before Regina’s birth. That also begs the question of how long Hook and Baelfire have been around.

But I digress.

“The Miller’s Daughter” is slow to start, but it builds to a pretty powerful conclusion. As is often the case, much of the appeal boils down to Robert Carlyle being an amazing actor. Rumpel’s deathbed confessions to Belle and Baelfire were examples of how powerfully moving Once Upon a Time can be when it’s not being too sugary sweet. After a run of weak episodes, I remember why I’m watching this series.

The ending was great, as well. I definitely did not expect Snow to actually go through with and succeed in her plan to kill Cora. Not only is it very satisfying to see Cora finally reach her end, but it’s a nice change of pace to see Snow go a little too far — by her own standards, at least. It’s a refreshing surprise.

It also gives Regina a good reason to be pissed off for once. Maybe now her conflict with Snow won’t be so clearly black and white.

For the first twenty minutes or so, I thought this would be another mediocre episode, but I am quite happy to be wrong.

Overall rating: 8/10

“Welcome to Storybrook”:

Yet again, Regina is on the war path to end Snow White. She plans to kill Snow and use her heart to cast a spell that will place Henry in her thrall.

Meanwhile, the flashbacks this time around actually take place in Storybrook. Immediately after the town’s creation, Regina encounters an ordinary man and his son who were caught up in the curse. She proceeds to get all baby crazy and try to abduct the son, with consequences in the town’s modern day.

I found this another disappointing episode. Regina going after Snow just feels a little tired at this point, I am so not interested in this conflict they seem to be trying to set up between Storybrook and the real world, and a lot of the characters’ actions just didn’t feel right.

I don’t believe for a moment that any self-respecting child — least of all Henry — would willingly try to banish magic from the world, especially when we have plenty of examples of magic doing good in the world. The problem is obviously the people, not the magic.

Snow’s suicidal self-loathing over Cora’s death is a bit hard to swallow, too. I do understand that killing someone is not something to be taken lightly, and any decent person — especially someone as pure-hearted as Snow — will feel guilt over such an act.

But Cora was about as unambiguously evil as anyone could ever be, and there’s no doubt whatsoever the world is better without her. There are limits to how much guilt over her death can be considered reasonable.

And while it’s in Snow’s character to be very pure-hearted, it’s also in her character to be incredibly strong, to rise above all adversity, and the writers seem to have forgotten that right now.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Filed under: Retro Reviews Tagged: fantasy, Once Upon a Time, review, TV

Reviews: Defiance, “The Broken Bough” and “Dead Air” + Dark Matter, Episode Three

I’m afraid this will be a somewhat cluttered post. I do apologize, but life has been hectic as of late.

“The Broken Bough”:

Well, after a shaky start to the season, this feels more like the Defiance I know.

Datak and Stahma return to Defiance with a rousing tale of their escape from Rahm Tak… but of course it’s all lies, and it doesn’t take long for them to begin their plans of sabotage.

The Tarrs always seem to find ways to weasel out of trouble and maintain their place in Defiance, but when their collaboration (forced, to be fair) with the VC comes to light, it’s hard to imagine what could stop Amanda from skinning them alive.

We also see Stahma strike up an unlikely friendship with the Omec commander. It’s a welcome nod to Stahma’s rarely mentioned past life as a poet, but one has to wonder what her angle is.

This is Stahma. She always has an angle.

Meanwhile, Nolan and Irisa head off to scout the VC forces. But Irisa’s newfound abhorrence for violence, Nolan’s determination to strike a blow in retribution for Rafe’s death, and an encounter with Pilar McCawley quickly turn things into what the Trailer Park Boys would describe as a “horror show.”

To my surprise, I’m actually rather liking Irisa’s arc this season. While it’s obviously frustrating to see her constantly fail at the only thing she’s good at, it’s a good kind of frustration — the kind that builds drama — and it adds something akin to depth or nuance to Irisa’s character. After two seasons, she’s finally doing something other than screaming, crying, and stabbing.

Irisa has long been the weakest part of Defiance. Could that finally be changing?

“The Broken Bough” doesn’t have any shocking twists or major developments, but it moves the plot forward enough to be satisfying, and all the story arcs are tight, compelling, and well-executed.

Really my only complaint is the forced and somewhat cheesy Terminator reference.

Overall rating: 7.4/10

“Dead Air”:

That title makes me think of both a Chvrches song and a mission in The Secret World. Both good things to be reminded of.

Anyway…

Defiance needs weapons to defend against the impending Votanis Collective attack. Nolan digs up records of an Earth Military Coalition bunker that may have the munitions they need, and he and Amanda set off to plunder it.

But when they get there, they find that it has been taken over by a familiar face: Niles Pottinger. The months of isolation have stripped away whatever little sanity Pottinger ever laid claim to, and he’s become some bizarre melding of a Bond villain and Marlin Brando’s character from Apocalypse Now.

Somewhat to my own surprise, I was rather glad to see Pottinger show up again. I mean, he’s vile, and I hate his guts, but he does make for an interesting story.

And that definitely holds true here. As weird and creepy as “Dead Air” is, it’s also a thoroughly compelling story, and it provides much needed closure to one of the second season’s biggest loose ends.

The other plots were less compelling, but still enjoyable.

Stahma is ordered to assassinate the Omec leader by Rahm Tak, but of course killing a flesh-eating evil space god is not really that easy.

I’m starting to think Datak is just straight up screwed at this point. When the people of Defiance find out what he and Stahma have done, they’re going to want to string both of them up, but Stahma might at least be saved by the Omec. Datak? Datak’s boned.

We also see that Nolan and Irisa seem to be suffering some nasty side-effect of their time in the Kaziri‘s stasis pod. I’m guessing it’s something that manifests from them being too far apart. That would be a good source of drama considering that Irisa’s newfound nonviolence makes her a liability in a lot of situations.

Overall rating: 7.9/10

Dark Matter, episode three:

Well, it didn’t take them long to recover from that weak second episode.

Two is able to determine that Five’s strange visions are likely because her mind contains the memories of the entire crew, buried in her subconscious.

Soon after, the Raza‘s engines fail, putting the entire crew in danger as the ship is bombarded by lethal radiation. As the crew’s suspicions boil over, threatening to tear them apart, it’s up to the android to venture outside the ship and conduct emergency repairs.

This is a return to everything that made the pilot so entertaining: mystery, intrigue, and strong characterization.

I think what stood out the most in this episode was the dialogue. It was all very snappy and clever, and I often found myself laughing out loud.

“This is gonna skew the test.”

Fasntastic.

I recall funny one-liners were another strength of the Stargate shows, and I kind of want to rewatch Atlantis now.

Also, Five continues to be awesome.

My guess is that Two erased their memories. Three and Four are too obvious, Five has already been ruled out, and there’s no evidence that it was One or Six. Two is too eager to convince people to drop the subject, and wasn’t she telling the android* to keep something secret?

*(I do wish they’d give her a name.)

Of course, that twist at the end — which was another great one — throws everything into question. Are these even the people we think they are?

My only complaint is the continued romantic/sexual tension between One and Two. It feels forced — as these things often do — and it probably doesn’t help that they are the show’s two least interesting characters at the moment. At least the android has some value as comedy relief.

That minor issue aside, this was a thoroughly entertaining episode.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: Dark Matter, Defiance, review, sci-fi, TV

World Spectrum: Birthday Presents, Hobbit-Style

In The Lord of the Rings, the Hobbits have an interesting take on birthday presents. Rather than giving presents to the birthday boy/girl, the person whose birthday it is will shower presents on their loved ones. It shows both the good nature of the Hobbits, and their practical — this results in everyone getting more presents over the course of a year.

I like the idea, so I’ve decided to partake of it myself. My birthday is in a few days, and through then, I will be holding a sale on my trilogy of science fantasy epics, the World Spectrum.

Book one, Rage of the Old Gods, will be free, while Children of the Gods and Human Again will each be 50% off, meaning you’ll be able to get the full trilogy for about the price of a cup of coffee.

* * *

Humanity was not born free.

Long ago, humans were slaves to the Old Gods. They rebelled, overthrowing the Gods and establishing their own societies, but peace did not last. Humanity slaughters itself in petty wars.

Now, an army of war Automatons threatens to destroy the land of Eastenhold. To save her people, a young woman named Leha travels to the to the lost worlds of Tyzu and Sy’om, whose alien powers defeated the Old Gods in ancient times.

But there is worse to come. The wars of humankind only hasten the Old Gods’ return, and even Leha’s newfound powers may not be enough to save her people from the Gods’ fury, or from the hatred in their own hearts.

* * *

If you’ve been enjoying my free chapters of Rage of the Old Gods, now is the perfect time to buy the full book and save yourself waiting for the next chapter.

Here’s how it works:

Copy the appropriate coupon code below, click the buy link on the book’s Smashwords page (accessed via the links below), and input the code when prompted to receive the discount.

Rage of the Old Gods code (free!):

MW79R

Children of the Gods code (50% off):

YW87N

Human Again code (50%):

MV87U

Codes are not case sensitive.

Please note that these discounts only apply to purchases through Smashwords. You will not receive any discount on purchases made through other retailers. But do keep in mind that Smashwords provides ebooks in all major formats, so you should be able to enjoy my books regardless of your preferred reading device.

Also note that these codes will cease to function on July 6th, so make sure to take advantage now.

If you’d like to learn more about the series before you buy, check out the official site for oodles of back information, reviews, author interviews, and bonus material.

Enjoy!

Filed under: My writing, World Spectrum Tagged: books, fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, The World Spectrum, writing

Cheating on WoW: Skyforge Beta

As regular readers may recall, Skyforge is a game I’ve been curious about for some time, though I also have serious reservations. Thanks to our friends at Massively Overpowered, I managed to snag a key for the latest closed beta test, though due to the hectic circumstances of my life as of late, I only managed to play for the last two days of the test.

Even after playing the game, I remain somewhat on the fence about Skyforge.

A class act:

There are two main things that I very much enjoy about Skyforge. Well, more like three, but I’m going to lump classes and combat together.

As one would expect from an action combat game, Skyforge’s battles are quite visceral and enjoyable. It does lack the hilarious rag doll physics of Neverwinter and doesn’t have quite the visceral punch of TERA and Dragon’s Prophet, but it’s still pretty good.

Like TERA, Skyforge gives each class a surprisingly large number of skills for an action combat game, in stark contrast to the very limited action bars of games like Neverwinter or The Secret World.

And here’s where it gets really interesting, because I found Skyforge’s classes to be surprisingly complex. There’s a strong emphasis on combos — especially for melee classes — and unusual or inventive ability interactions.

I spent much of the weekend playing the alchemist class,* and I could get different results by combining chemicals on enemies in different orders. One combination creates an AoE explosion, another does massive single target damage.

*(A thoroughly enjoyable class that nails the mad scientist feel excellently. I spent much of the weekend giggling maniacally and randomly shouting “BLINDED WITH SCIENCE!”)

Which brings me to the next point: Skyforge has some really excellent class design. The game is launching with a whopping twelve classes, and thanks to a training room that you lets you try them all on for size (something every RPG should have), I found that each has a pretty distinct feel and their own interesting mechanics.

The classes are a good mix of traditional archetypes — archer, cryomancer, paladin, etc. — and some far more unusual concepts, such as the aforementioned alchemist and the kinetic, which manipulates gravity and magnetism to hurl boulders and generally impose its will on enemies.

And of course, you can swap between any classes you’ve unlocked easily at any time, granting a tremendous amount of versatility and doing a lot to help stave off boredom. Starting to feel the grind? Swap classes for a few fights and have a totally different experience.

Thanks to a speedy and efficient group-finder, I also found that Skyforge is a bit like Neverwinter in that it does have the trinity of group roles — sort of; supports don’t have direct healing, and tanks don’t seem to have any taunts or special threat-building abilities — but isn’t too serious about it. Only once did I have a group with all three roles represented, but less balanced compositions didn’t cause any problems.

This also feels like a good time to mention that many dungeons can be done either solo or in a group. Aside from being a great way to cater to different playstyles, this allows players to learn the mechanics before joining a group, which should cut down on drama.

Speaking of lacking drama, Skyforge doesn’t have any loot competition, either. Drops seem to be unique to each player — as in Diablo III — and the open world areas feature open-tapping, creating a wonderfully chaotic slaughterfest such as you’d see in Guild Wars 2.

But I’m getting sidetracked. There is one glaring flaw with the class system: You can’t pick any class out of the gate. In fact, at launch, people will only be able to start out as a lightbinder, paladin, or cryomancer — three classes I found to be among the least interesting.

I never understand what goes through the minds of developers when they intentionally hobble a core selling feature of their game. Is this a ploy to sell more XP boosters? A misguided attempt to avoid overwhelming newbies? I don’t know, but it does the game no favours.

I didn’t play long enough to get a clear idea of how long it would take to unlock another class, but the impression I got was that it’s not an enormous grind, but not trivial either. Long enough to be unpleasant if you don’t like your starting classes, I think.

The world of Aelion:

The other thing that grabbed me about Skyforge was its setting, a very unique blending of sci-fi and fantasy elements. It’s a bit reminiscent of Star Wars, but also has a lot of its own personality.

The environments are stunningly beautiful and often wonderfully alien. Too often, MMOs worlds are an endless procession of generic high fantasy realms, but Aelion is a place that instantly strikes you with its own distinct personality. That counts for a lot with someone like me.

On a related note, I was pleased to discover that Skyforge is like The Secret World in that your stats gear and the clothes your character wears are totally unconnected, though the options aren’t as robust as in TSW. And while the game does have a significant case of “female armour,” there are several options for more practical gear on female avatars, as well.

A stellar soundtrack also helps fill the world with feeling. When it comes to aesthetics, Skyforge is a complete home run.

On the downside, the world is heavily instanced and lobby-based, so you don’t get to explore much of this world. Open world zones are few and far between, and those that do exist are still fairly small.

The story is a bit of a mixed bag.

The tutorial/intro sequence was of a surprisingly high quality — aside from the distracting fact that your character is assumed to be male until you get to character creation, which only occurs after you achieve immortality. It features some excellently choreographed cutscenes that do a great job of providing your character with a strong origin story.

The tutorial shows an attention to detail most MMOs lack. For instance, after rescuing a group of civilians, I noticed one of them ran up to embrace one of my NPC comrades, showing some sort of relationship between them. Makes the world feel alive.

But after exiting the tutorial and creating your character, the story becomes much more of a mixed bag.

On the one hand, they do deserve credit for creating an over-arching storyline as opposed to the scattershot randomness you see in a lot of MMOs. The voice acting isn’t terrible — though the dialogue is a bit stilted, likely due to being originally written in Russian — and I’ve certainly seen far worse attempts at story in MMOs.

But it’s not terribly compelling, either. It is a bit rambly, there’s not a lot of emotional investment, and there’s almost no attempt to explain any history or backstory.

Aelion is such a strange and unique setting. I want to learn everything there is to know about it, but the game doesn’t afford that opportunity. I don’t even know how or why my character became immortal.

Something else worrisome is that it seems the story tends to send you back to the same dungeons and regions repeatedly, which is generally viewed as a cardinal sin of MMO quest design.

I like revisiting old regions if it involves new encounters or otherwise refreshed content, but in this case it’s just doing the same exact thing over again. Not a good sign.

Is it worth it?

If you enjoy lobby-based grinders like Vindictus or Neverwinter, I’d definitely check out Skyforge. If you’d like a world with more depth or a game that isn’t quite so transparent in its grinding, I’d move on.

Before I go, I should also mention that it doesn’t look like Skyforge is going to be a particularly good example of free to play. The monetization systems aren’t fully implemented yet, but I did notice that you get reduced rewards for everything if you’re not a premium member — a la SW:TOR — and the game constantly reminds you of the fact. Again, this is not encouraging.

Myself, I’m still not sure. There’s a lot I like about Skyforge, but I fear it may struggle to hold my interest long term, as Neverwinter did. I mostly enjoyed my time in the beta, but at no point was I blown away.

Filed under: Games Tagged: fantasy, sci-fi, Skyforge

Review: Ancient Space

One day while browsing Steam, I encountered a game called Ancient Space that sold itself as an RTS focused on a story-driven single-player campaign.

I pretty much started manically smashing the “buy” button.

And I’m not sorry I did. Ancient Space is not without flaws, but overall I found it a solid and enjoyable experience.

The story for Ancient Space focuses on an enigmatic region of space known as the Black Zone, so called because of anomalies and rifts in space that block communication and sensor signals, rendering ships within it deaf and blind. The Black Zone is home to a race of hostile aliens called the Scythe, and rumours swirl of vast alien beings known as Balaethans lurking in the cold voids.

Worse still, the Black Zone is expanding, swallowing entire star systems as it encroaches on human space. Years ago, the human government dispatched the starship Ulysses to find the source of the expansion.

It was never heard from again.

Ancient Space follows passionate scientist Dr. Willow Burke as she commands a new expedition into the Black Zone aboard the Ulysses II to uncover the truth of what happened to her predecessors, unlock the mysteries of the Black Zone, and halt its expansion.

The story is pretty strong, with good pacing and plenty of alien mysteries, political intrigue, and twists. It does suffer a little bit due to the technical limitations of the game — all story is delivered through in-mission dialogue, short mission briefings, or sparse flavour text — but considering that, the writers do an admirable job of working with what they’re given.

Something that appealed to me is that this game seems to have been designed as an homage to Star Trek: Enterprise. The Black Zone is eerily reminiscent of the Delphic Expanse from season three, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that one of the main characters is voiced by John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), especially considering he even references one of Phlox’s more famous lines at one point.

The story of Ancient Space is helped along by a strong sense of ambiance enforced by the game’s graphics and audio.

The soundtrack for Ancient Space is one of the best I’ve heard in a video game. Seeming like a combination of Mass Effect and Battlestar Galactica’s soundtracks, it’s an eclectic mix of synth sounds, orchestras, and exotic instruments. The action tracks are thrilling, and the more ambient songs fill one with a sense of mystery — and maybe a little dread — reinforcing the alien nature of the Black Zone.

Unfortunately, the sound effects are not of such a high quality. Weapon hits and explosions are almost inaudible, which tends to make the battles feel rather sterile.

While not quite top of the line, the visuals in Ancient Space are quite impressive, depicting a variety of surreal and hauntingly alien deep space environments.

My one complaint about the graphics is that the units are incredibly tiny and covered by obnoxious icons. Try as I might, I could not find a way to turn these off.

On the plus side, the miniscule units are another thing that hammers home the feeling of isolation that runs throughout Ancient Space. Ambiance is not an easy thing to create in an RTS, but Ancient Space does a very good job of communicating the feeling of being lost and alone in a vast and often hostile universe.

When it comes to gameplay, Ancient Space is for the most part a very traditional RTS. I found it reminiscent of old school games like the Dune series and the original StarCraft.

It doesn’t cling to the past too much, though. While it’s not wildly innovative, it has enough modern ideas to feel somewhat fresh. There are between mission progression systems that allow you to upgrade your units and customize the capabilities of the Ulysses II. Your choice of senior officers for each mission grants you access to a variety of powerful (if fairly uncreative) abilities similar to the god powers in Age of Mythology. While the mission design isn’t as wildly creative as in StarCraft II, it’s got enough variety to stay interesting.

However, the one major issue with Ancient Space’s gameplay — and my biggest complaint with the game — is that it is quite hard. Even playing on the lowest difficulty setting, I often found it challenging to the point of frustration, and more than once, I found myself having to restart a mission because I got slaughtered.

And I’m an experienced RTS player who’s beaten StarCraft II on brutal. Someone without a lot of skill and experience in the genre would probably have a miserable time.

However, if you’re already an RTS fan, then I definitely recommend Ancient Space.

Overall rating: 7.5/10 I’m hoping for a sequel.

Filed under: Games, Reviews Tagged: Ancient Space, review, sci-fi

Reviews: Defiance, “The World We Seize/The Last Unicorns” + Dark Matter, Episode Two

Defiance Season Premiere:

Suddenly they’ve decided to go full Battlestar Galactica dark. I normally try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there will be some this time. It just can’t be avoided.

The confusingly titled first episode of Defiance’s third season is billed as two episodes but is really just a single, two-hour episode. It takes place seven months after the destruction of the Kaziri and Defiance is once again a very changed place.

The gulanite mine has collapsed, crippling the town’s economy. As a result, the Earth Republic has abandoned the town, and Amanda is mayor once again.

This surprises me. After all the development given to the E-Rep and Pottinger, it’s a bit jarring to have them just gone. On the other hand, I never really liked Pottinger or his ilk. Would have been nice to see them violently ejected rather than just gone, though.

Things get going again with the arrival of the last two survivors of a heretofore unknown Votan race known as the Omec, a word is synonymous for “devil” in Casti. True to their nightmarish reputation, the Omec are a violent and predatory people who see other races as little more than food sources.

They’ve come for the gulanite, and their technology can get the mines running again, but Defiance’s Votan residents are incensed by this deal with the devil, and with good cause.

I question the wisdom of adding yet another alien race to the mix, especially since most of the current races are still underdeveloped. Two seasons in, we still know next to nothing about the Sensoth, the Liberata, the Gulanee, or the Volge. The Volge, in particular, already fill the niche of evil conqueror race, and are one of Defiance’s bigger mysteries.

Along the way, the Omec survivors also free Nolan and Irisa from their stasis pod, and it soon becomes clear Irisa has greatly changed. Her killer instinct is gone, and she’s become downright pacisfistic. The world’s view of her has also changed greatly. To many, she’s a celebrity, a folk hero. Berlin, however, is less welcoming.

I am rather surprised Berlin stuck around when the E-Rep left. I suppose events at the end of last season must have dampened her patriotism, but she doesn’t have any particular ties to Defiance, either. If nothing else, I would have liked to have seen her disillusionment play out firsthand.

Meanwhile, the Tarrs and Rafe McCawley continue their pursuit of Pilar and the kids. Along the way, they encounter a band of Votanis Collective soldiers led by a Castithan general named Rahm Tak. Their goal is to destroy Defiance, and it’s here the episode gets really crazy Dark, as Tak is sufficiently ruthless and sadistic to make Datak and Stahma look positively saintly by comparison.

Hell, I think even Nim Shondu would be like, “Whoa, slow your roll, dude.”

Putting the Votanis Collective in the spotlight is something I’ve wanted for ages, but I was hoping for insights into Votan culture and intricate politics. A band of sadistic war criminals isn’t as interesting. Perhaps the insights will come later.

I’m also not sure why they’re after Defiance. With the mine collapsed, the Kaziri gone, and the E-Rep departed, the town has no strategic value that I’m aware of.

But the most memorable part of the episode — and that’s not a compliment — is undoubtedly the near total extinction of the McCawley clan.

Quentin and Christie are no great loss, but it’s hard to imagine the show will ever be the same without Rafe.

Rafe was always one of the highlights of the series, but perhaps the greatest loss is his relationships with other characters, especially Datak. The rivalry and then grudging friendship between those two was one of the great joys of Defiance. You just can’t have Datak without Rafe. It’s like the Road Runner without the Coyote, Homer without Marge, Starbuxk without Apollo.

The show is less without Rafe, and worst of all, his death doesn’t serve any purpose that wasn’t already accomplished by the deaths of his children.

Later story developments may redeem this episode, but right now, this is an uninspiring start to the season.

Overall rating: 6.8/10

Dark Matter, episode two:

My experience has been that the second episode of a series is almost always a bit weak, and this is no exception.

Mostly this episode deals with the crew’s attempts to defend the mining colony from corporate forces. Which isn’t bad; it’s just not especially memorable.

What made the first episode interesting was learning about the characters and the mystery of what happened to them. There’s not much of that this time. We get a little bit of the characters dealing with the revelation of their true identities — or the continued lack of an identity in Five’s case — but it feels like an afterthought.

We do once again have hints that Five has some kind of psychic powers, but her revelation that the crew is dangerous is a bit redundant given what we already know.

There were also some fairly cliche bits. Obligatory antihero torture scene. Obligatory breathless girl begs dashing space hero to stay with her scene.

Again, not a bad episode. Just a forgettable one.

Overall rating: 6.9/10

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: Dark Matter, Defiance, review, sci-fi, TV

Review: The Lotus War, Book Two: Kinslayer

For the last little while, life has been too hectic to afford me much time to read. Now, I’ve finally managed to get into some books again, and the first one I dove into was the second book of Jay Kristoff’s Lotus War series, which I had been looking forward to since I finished the slightly flawed but mostly impressive first book.

It wasn’t worth the wait.

Kinslayer wastes no time in establishing a new set of problems for the heroes to deal with. Still consumed with grief from the loss of her father, Yukiko finds the Kenning, her ability to telepathically commune with animals, is growing agonizingly strong, her mind and body breaking under the strain, and she and the gryphon Buruu fly far into the north in search of a cure.

Bereft of Yukiko’s protection, the renegade Lotus Guildsman Kin finds himself increasingly unwelcome among Shima’s rebels, and when another Guild renegade joins their cause, bloodshed is inevitable.

Meanwhile, the Tiger Clan and the Lotus Guild scramble to prevent civil war following the shogun’s assassination by Yukiko. They settle on Hiro, Yukiko’s treacherous former lover, as a replacement ruler, having brought him back from the brink of death with the aid of Guild machinery.

I noticed almost immediately that the author seemed to be trying too hard to be dark and gritty. The constant and often overwrought descriptions of Yukiko’s endless physical and emotional torment quickly became wearing. And that was just the beginning.

Book one wasn’t exactly cheery. This is a dystopia, after all. But it still had some moments of levity and humour, and some very endearing characters.

Kinslayer has largely lost that. It’s just an unrelenting spree of pain and misery from beginning to end, and it is equal parts depressing and repetitive. You can only cram so much rape, torture, and tragedy into a single book before it stops being entertainment and becomes an endurance test.

Kinslayer also leaves one with few people to root for, few characters to pin their hopes to. It is made abundantly clear that the rebels Yukiko has signed on with are not in any way better than the corrupt culture they seek to bring down.

I appreciate a story where the line between the good guys and the bad guys is blurry, but there’s a difference between some moral ambiguity and just not caring about anyone, hoping that they all just kill each other. Stormdancer stayed on the good side of that line, but Kinslayer most definitely does not.

Even on the level of individual characters, there’s little to inspire. Yukiko devolves into a ball of anger, bitterness, and pain, only overcoming this very late in the book and with no real explanation given as to how or why. Kin is twisted from an idealist to a cold-blooded killer, though at least in his case it’s hard to blame him. Buruu remains likable, but is given a disappointingly small role.

Overall rating: 4.7/10 Rarely have I seen a series go from so promising to so disappointing so quickly.

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: books, fantasy, review, sci-fi, steampunk, The Lotus War

Review: Dark Matter, Episode One

Being a fan of the Stargate television shows, I was curious about Dark Matter, the new sci-fi series from producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, and I made sure to give the first episode a try.

This proved to be a wise decision.

Dark Matter opens with a group of six individuals awakening from cryogenic sleep aboard a badly damaged starship. They have no memory of who they are or how they got there, but they do retain skills that let them operate the ship. This causes the drama and friction one would expect, but they’re forced to work together as they soon find themselves under attack by a hostile security android, and then an enemy starship.

From there, the mission is to determine who they are and what has happened to them. Early indications have them as some sort of freedom fighters, and there are hints of some sort of Continuum-esque corporate dictatorship.

The crew’s amnesia makes for an interesting experiment in characterization as their identities must be established without any back story. It’s the ultimate example of show, don’t tell, and it works pretty well. After just an hour, I already have a pretty strong impression of the personalities of most of the characters and opinions of them all — I am reminded that the characters were always a strong suit of the Stargate shows.

Five is definitely my favourite right now by a significant margin, though I grant this is likely not entirely down to her character. I always did like girls with oddly coloured hair.

On the downside, a lot of the characters do seem fairly cliche just now, but perhaps they will evolve in time.

On the whole, Dark Matter’s pilot is surprisingly smart and engaging. It manages to provide a fast-paced and exciting experience without resorting to gratuitous sex and violence or forced drama as sci-fi pilots so often do.

And the twist at the end was great. Didn’t see that coming at all.

One other note is that I find the cast’s eclectic pedigree somewhat interesting. Roger Cross (Six) I know from Continuum, and it’s nice to see him in a very different role. He’s actually pretty charismatic when he’s not playing a psycho. Good range.

Jodelle Ferland (Five) voiced the Little Sisters in BioShock 2, which is some serious nerd cred.

And holy crap, Melissa O’Neil (Two) has really grown up. I saw her name in the credits, and I still didn’t recognize her at all.

Yes, I used to teach Canadian Idol. Don’t judge me.

Overall rating: 7.7/10 Lacking most of the opening jitters most sci-fi shows suffer from, it’s a strong start.

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: Dark Matter, review, sci-fi, TV

Rage of the Old Gods, Chapter Seventeen: For Every Action

After a bit of a break, the serial continues with the seventeenth chapter of Rage of the Old Gods, the first book of my epic science fantasy trilogy the World Spectrum. In the coming weeks, I will be posting the entire book for free on this blog. If you’re just joining us, you can get caught up with the previous chapters now.

Humanity has taken the fight to the enemy, and won. But those who sow the thunder reap the whirlwind, and the Gods’ retribution will be terrible.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

———————

Chapter Seventeen: For Every Action

The humans were arrogant, the Automaton Lord thought, its gargantuan feet leaving dents in the earth with each loping stride it took. They refused to acknowledge that their fate was sealed, that it had been for more than a year.

Their attack on the ziggurat had come as a surprise. For a brief time, it had even been a source of concern. But the Machine King had realized that this would not hurt its people in the long run. That ziggurat could be rebuilt, and there were still many others. The human army had lost soldiers in the battle, and they had divided their forces. They had created a situation that the Machine King could turn to its advantage.

No, it thought, this was not a bad thing. It focused its hateful gaze forward, on its target. On the north.

* * *

For nearly two hours, Leha and her army celebrated their accomplishment. The Lost One villages and the Clanspeople sent them whiskey and fejo through the jumping points; there wasn’t enough for every fighter, but those that had to didn’t seem to mind going without. Leha received congratulatory messages from the north, the east, Sy’om, and Tyzu. At times, the moment turned bittersweet as wounded soldiers succumbed or fighters discovered that their friends had not survived. But the losses seemed to only intensify the need to enjoy the moment. It seemed to give more meaning to what they had done.

For the first time in months, Leha saw hope in her people. The dead sorrow had, at least for the moment, vanished from their eyes. Once again, they looked upon her with reverence and pride.

Eventually, things wound down, and they turned to more serious matters. They had no intention of holding the ziggurat for a prolonged period, but Leha wanted to take some time to study the fallen Automatons and their city. Drogin sent out teams to destroy every machine’s artificial mind and to salvage whatever they could from the wrecks of the Automatons. Even a few Automatons’ worth of metal could greatly boost the human stores. The flashes of activated jumping points soon winked across the ziggurat as the pieces were sent to the north and the east.

At this point, Leha had little to contribute, but it didn’t feel right for her to leave, so she wandered the ziggurat, studying it. She supposed that the ziggurats in the time of the Liberation and before had probably not been much different from this one – machines were not known for embracing change. The thought triggered a hint of interest within her, but the memory of all those that had died in the war tempered her historical curiosity.

As the sun worked its way across the dirty sky, she mulled over the consequences of what they had done this day. At times, she wondered if it meant little in the long run. There were many more ziggurats and hundreds more Automatons. But at other moments, she thought it might prove to be very significant. They had struck a blow at the very foundation of the machine empire. It would have strong psychological repercussions on both sides. It could even prove to be a major turning point in the war.

She tried not to let herself become too hopeful – the war was far from over – but despite her best efforts, she found herself turning to thoughts of an Automaton defeat, thoughts of a world after the war – something she hadn’t done in nearly a year. At first, it seemed a wonderful idea, almost too much to hope for. But as time went on, unease crept into her. She remembered the way things had been before the Automaton rebellion: the wars, the distrust, the fracturing of nations.

The history of humanity on Barria was stained with blood, greed, and betrayal. The need to survive had brought the splintered peoples back together, but would it all fall apart again if their lives were no longer threatened?

Leha paced the edges of the ziggurat, sweating in the Urannan heat and trying not to let her people see her frown as her worries for the future grew.

Sometime later, she came across Natoma sitting upon a rectangular piece of machinery bolted to the ziggurat floor. Leha asked if she could join her, and Natoma gestured for her to sit. Leha took her place on the metallic block. She noticed the gap the Worker-Automaton had burned in Natoma’s breastplate. The skin underneath had a slight reddish tinge, but it looked otherwise healthy. Leha shook her head. She had trouble believing Yarnig had done it.

She looked across the barren fields surrounding the ziggurat. She could still see a few machines moving out there, but she didn’t think they were a cause for concern. None of them had done anything threatening yet. The chemical-laced air stung her nostrils, and the heat beat down on her. She loosened the collar of her leather armor and fanned herself with one hand.

She turned to Natoma and started to say something, but then she noticed the other woman’s expression. Natoma’s eyes stared out onto the plain around the city, but they seemed to be seeing something else, something far away. Her mouth was set into a tight line, and a deep, pure sorrow filled her face.

Leha scolded herself. This was Natoma’s homeland; she should have remembered that before now. Natoma had not been in her country for months, and now she was confronted with this machine-made abomination.

Leha flushed, cursing her foolishness.

“I wish I could have seen it before,” Leha said.

“So do I,” Natoma said, her eyes still focused on something Leha couldn’t see. She sighed. “My people used to have a saying: Uranna halwa gorna. It means, ‘Uranna is a garden.’ Before the war, this was a land of orchards and fields. Every springtime, the fruit trees would fill the air with perfume for weeks.” She clutched the edge of the machine they sat on. A trace of accent had returned to her voice.

Leha looked at her feet. “For whatever it’s worth, I understand. Three Gates was never as grand as any city in Uranna, or Pira, or even Tor Som. But I spent my entire life there; it was home.” Her head drooped as she remembered her old shop and the homeland she had lost.

“Much has been lost,” Natoma said distantly. She paused. “All my life, I’ve tried never to dwell on the past, or the future. I’ve always thought that now is the only time that matters. But it’s hard when now means this,” she said, pointing at the desolation created by the Automatons.

She shifted her gaze downward, blinking her eyes as if to clear them of something. Memories, perhaps, Leha thought.

Leha gave Natoma’s metal-plated arm a gentle squeeze. The Urannan smiled at her weakly.

They stayed silent as they sat together. The sounds of the work crews – banging metal, shouting, the hissing of magical cutting flames – came from somewhere distant. Leha’s thoughts kept turning to the future, to what would happen if humanity regained control of this world.

“Natoma,” she said after a few minutes.

Natoma turned her head to face her. She still seemed pained, but her expression was not so stricken now.

Leha hesitated. She didn’t want to seem callous by changing the subject. “Do you ever think about the future? After we defeat the Automatons – if we do? I know it isn’t ‘now,’ but – things will be pretty different then, won’t they?”

Natoma thought. “I suppose they would,” she said softly, her eyes drifting back to the wasteland outside the city.

It was Leha’s turn to look at something distant and invisible. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. And I’m starting to worry that they might not be different enough.”

Natoma refocused on her.

Leha’s face grew hard. “I meant what I said at the meeting, when we decided to launch this attack. This – ” she pointed at the desolation “ – is not the fault of the machines. We were the ones who resurrected them. We were the ones so blinded by greed and anger that we refined them until they could destroy us. All the people who were killed, all the things that were lost, are on our heads. We’re to blame.” She took a breath to calm herself. “If we win this war, what’s to stop us from doing it all again? What’s to stop us from going back to war with each other? What’s to stop us from resurrecting the machines again or finding some other way to destroy ourselves?”

She hung her head.

Natoma peered at the sky, thinking. “I don’t think I could go back to thinking of humans in terms of ‘Urannan,’ or ‘Karkaran,’ or ‘Eastenholder,’” she said, turning her face back to Leha. “But maybe others could.” She shrugged. “It’s hard to say.”

Leha pursed her lips. “The Lost Ones managed to stay mostly united, but there aren’t very many of them, and they live on a world that will kill you as soon as you stop making use of every possible advantage and ally.”

“Do you ever wonder if Tyzu has physically changed the way they think of humans, that they have a stronger instinct for unity than we do?” Her accent had begun to slip away again.

Leha shrugged. “Sometimes. But even if they did, it’s not like I can hunt down every human on Barria and make them into a Lost One. People won’t want to change what they are.” She glanced at her claws, remembering.

Natoma blinked. “Leha, are you trying to make sure we stay unified?”

The question surprised Leha, but she realized that, without thinking about it, she had made that her goal.

“Yes. And why not? Whether I like it or not, people have entrusted me with saving the human race. What’s the point of that if we just find some new way to destroy ourselves in a few hundred years?”

Admiration shone in Natoma’s eyes. “That may be the noblest goal I have ever heard.” She shook her head. “I could never attempt such a thing.” Leha met her gaze, and Natoma touched her on the shoulder. “But I think that, if anyone can do this, it’s you.”

Leha stared at her. She blinked at her several times. “I’ve – I’ve never thought of myself as the best person for the job,” she said quietly. “Just the only one.”

Natoma spread her hands. “Look at what you have done. You have brought together the nations of humanity. You have united the peoples of three worlds. You have fought the Old Gods themselves.”

Leha lowered her head. “I didn’t do those things alone. The things people have given me credit for were the work of all of us.”

“Then perhaps that gives hope for your goal,” Natoma said. “At the least, you have a few friends who can help you.”

Leha smiled at her. At that moment, seeing the kindness in Natoma’s eyes, she thought that she might have a chance at succeeding in her goal.

She felt a tickle at the edge of her mind, and the voice of an ice creature tore through her thoughts. Leha, the north is under attack.

Her insides turned to ice. Before she knew it, she was on her feet and moving.

* * *

The sun hung low over the Gormorra Range as Leha strode through the camp, shouting instructions to the soldiers buzzing around her. Her army had returned here to restock and drop off the wounded before going to reinforce the north.

“Don’t overburden yourselves. You need to be able to fight the moment we jump there,” she commanded. The ice creatures were just beginning to reestablish the link through the army, and she had to give many orders vocally.

She surveyed her people as they scurried about. She tried to look confident. She ran over the situation in her mind in an attempt to stay calm; a massive force of Automatons had launched itself at the northern front and taken advantage of the division of forces the attack on Tallatzan had created. Reports said that the Automaton Lord had joined the attack. In many places, the human forces were already on the brink of defeat, and Eranna and Doga feared that the entire line might break.

Leha and her people planned to split into groups and jump in at several locations behind the machine lines. Hopefully, the pressure of both sides would force the Automatons to abandon the attack. Once they lost their taste for battle, Leha would likely let them retreat. She didn’t think she had the forces to defeat them in a toe-to-toe battle.

Her survey of the camp had brought her close to the Clan hall. From here, she could see through her window. A bit of afternoon sunlight glinted off something blue on the sill: the crystal from beneath the mountain.

She felt a chill. She remembered her feelings that the creator race outpost held some key to fighting the machines, she remembered her hours of studying the crystal and sensing the power it held, and she walked towards it. She paid no attention to the sensible voice in her mind telling her that she had no idea how to use the thing, and in moments, the crystal rested in her belt, pulsing hot and cold.

Her mind tickled and then expanded, encompassing the other leaders under her command as the telepathic link came together.

Everything’s ready, Natoma sent.

The others echoed her.

Leha jogged for the nearest jumping point. Let’s go.

* * *

A wave of screeching sound met Yarnig’s ears as he arrived at the northern front. He drew his sword, activated its magic, and charged. Erik ran at his side, their thoughts joined closer than any others in their section of the link.

A squad of battle wizards had been the first ones through the jumping point, and they had erected a huge shield to protect the soldiers as they arrived. The blanket of magic flickered above them, bulging and rippling under each new attack by the Wizard-Automatons. Yarnig and Erik pounded out from underneath its protection and sought the nearest enemy target.

They were at the northern edge of the forests separating Tor Som from the territory of the Clans. Large sections of the trees had been burnt, torn down, or trampled in the Automaton charge and the ensuing battle. Columns of smoke dotted the sky in a line from east to west, and flashes and booms from the horizon gave further evidence of the battles being fought elsewhere. The smells of smoke and blood washed through the air in waves, and a cool northerly wind blew across their faces.

Leha had imbued them with the power of Tyzu, and Erik and Yarnig’s feet ate up the ground in great leaping strides. They closed in on a Urannan Automaton wielding an enormous axe. Natoma and a few others had already begun to attack it. Natoma leapt past it, and as she passed its left knee, she swung backwards with her sword. The gleaming blade bit into the machinery at the back of the knee, and the Automaton stumbled. Leha hadn’t yet slowed it with Sy’om’s energy, and it swung its axe in a backwards attack on Natoma – it didn’t seem to be able to turn easily now. Natoma ducked and rolled under the axe as she hit the ground.

Yarnig raised his hand, and Erik’s staff glowed. Once again, he painted with his mind, but this time, he painted not health, but destruction. Green-white fire raced along the seams of the machine, starting at its right foot and moving upward.

The Automaton’s leg collapsed, and it fell forward, crashing against the earth and broken trees. The magical fire continued to spread up its chest and into the seams of its neck and shoulders. Its arms detached from its torso, and a moment later, its head toppled off.

Yarnig lowered his hand. Beside him, Erik puffed and supported himself with his staff, having forgotten his shield in Tallatzan. Yarnig panted in telepathic sympathy.

A series of thunderous footsteps shook the ground beneath them, and they turned to see a Wizard-Automaton making for them. It raised an arm, and a blinding bolt of energy leapt towards them.

Erik’s instincts as a wizard took over, and he summoned a shield around them. The machine’s spell met it a moment later, and the protective magic bent and warped under the strain, constricting until it barely covered the two of them. The grass around them burned. The heat stung Yarnig’s skin, and he had to close his eyes against the blinding light of the magic. A deafening hiss rang through his ears.

He forced himself to ignore his own pain and fear. In Erik’s mind’s eye, he studied the stream of magic the Wizard-Automaton had directed against them. He experimented with redirecting small parts of the stream, sending them back against other parts. The shield wobbled dangerously as he drew more power from Erik, but the Automaton’s spell also weakened. Yarnig continued with his work, twisting the magic against itself in small pieces until it became a knot, harmlessly sparking and lashing against itself.

Erik seized the opportunity to shove the machine’s spell away. While the Wizard-Automaton struggled to regain control of its magic, Yarnig opened his eyes and hurled thin blades of magic against its wrists. The silver burned, cracked, and then shattered, robbing the Automaton of its magic. The machine’s azure eyes glared at him.

Yarnig closed his eyes again and focused on the energy all around them, blending it together with his mental brush. He created two tiny but powerful darts of pure energy. He launched them at the machine, and its eyes glared no longer.

He opened his in time to see the Wizard-Automaton’s dead hulk thud into the soil. He took a deep breath, feeling Erik’s exhaustion as his own.

He considered the smoldering rubble that had been the Urannan machine and the Wizard-Automaton. He considered Natoma fighting as if she had never been wounded at all. He had done these things. He had made a difference. It was a strange feeling, but he liked it.

Sensing his thoughts, Erik gave him a tired a smile. Yarnig smiled back.

A group of Clanspeople, under attack by Automatons, cried out for help across the link. Yarnig and Erik took off in their direction, summoning their magic once again.

* * *

Leha stabbed at the supports connecting the back of the Automaton’s head to its neck, trying to sever them. Hot sparks and stinging smoke sprayed forth with each new jab of her blade.

Someone screamed out a warning in her mind via the link. She turned her head around in time to see a mechanical fist fly towards her. She summoned Sy’om’s energy, but too late. The fist of the second Automaton slammed into her and dislodged her from the first machine. She soared through the air, retracting her blade so she wouldn’t impale herself, and hit the ground hard. Pain burst through her right shoulder, and she rolled across the grass. She slowed herself with Sy’om’s energy moments before she collided with the trunk of a thin spruce, sending needles rustling down around her.

Groaning, she returned to a Barrian energy level and hauled herself to a sitting position. She looked back at the way she had come from. The machine she had been attacking had been toppled by Clanspeople ropes and was now being torn apart, but the other advanced on her.

The energy of Sy’om slowed it, and a group of battle wizards and soldiers armed with crossbows engaged it. One of the crossbow bolts shattered a lead plate on its chest, and a wizard took the advantage, striking with a globe of crackling magic. The magic penetrated the machine’s chest, and it fell.

Leha sighed in relief and sent her soldiers a psychic message of gratitude.

She picked herself up, brushing evergreen needles from her armor and trying to calm the buzzing in her head. Battles were being fought from the Gormorra Mountains to the Mannall Range. It was a lot to keep track of.

She started out of the woods, many of her people following, and crested a small, grassy rise. Her heart sank.

Doga and Eranna’s main camp – a small town of tents, temporary structures, and Clan halls – lay below. What appeared to be about three-dozen Automatons had penetrated its defenses and begun laying waste to the settlement. Leha could see the defenders trying to beat them back, but they were losing ground by the moment. Countless thin fingers of smoke reached for the sky.

And standing above everything, its massive shadow staining the landscape, was the Automaton Lord.

Leha searched for some way to gain the advantage, and her mind turned to the crystal in her belt. She remembered Drogin’s concerns that the machines might sense its energy, that it might bring them down upon the camp. She remembered her conviction that it had some role to play.

She pulled the crystal from her belt and raised it above her head. Many minds throughout the link muttered with doubt, her own included, but she ignored them. She locked her eyes upon its ever-changing depths and focused her whole consciousness upon it. She tried to forget her fear of the Machine King and her worries about the outcome of the battle. She forgot the pain in her shoulder and the screeching and violence all around her.

The light within the crystal swirled and twisted around itself. It pulsed brighter and brighter, and each change from hot to cold became wilder. The crystal began to emit a high-pitched whine. Her soldiers stepped back nervously.

A wave of sapphire energy burst from the crystal and spread outward, tingling across Leha’s skin. Tendrils of blue light twisted through the air like serpents before fading away.

The Automaton Lord jerked as if struck. It spun about and charged for Leha with terrifying speed. A moment later, the other Automatons broke away from the attack and followed their leader. The hill shook beneath Leha’s feet.

She commanded those with her to make ready, and they settled into a defensive formation. She stayed a few feet ahead of them; her style of fighting did not benefit from formations. Putting the crystal back into her belt, she activated her blade and hoped her heart would not burst through her ribcage. She felt her fear reflected in the minds of the soldiers behind her.

The Automaton Lord’s strides ate up the ground. Within seconds, it had closed nearly half the distance to Leha. She peaked behind the advancing wall of Automatons and saw the camp defenders rush forward in pursuit of them. With any luck, the machines would be too distracted by what was in front of them to notice the attack coming from behind.

The ice creatures in her group reached out to the fighters from the camp and expanded the link to include them. Leha felt the presence of Doga and Eranna in her mind.

They peppered her with wordless questions, and she sent them her memories of the past few hours and her plans for the next few minutes. She felt Doga frown in concern at the thought of her facing the Automaton Lord and its forces, but she pushed aside his worries, saying, Just get here as quickly as you can. Between our two forces, we might be able to trap them.

The Tor woman and the Lost One nodded grimly.

Leha refocused her attention on the task at hand as the Machine King made the last few steps toward her. She prepared to summon Sy’om’s energy, but before she could, it raised one massive hand, and brilliant light and heat erupted around her. She screamed and shielded her eyes.

A great roaring filled her ears, and heat, like that from a huge bonfire, bombarded her skin. She opened her eyes, blinking against the brightness, and saw that she had been trapped in a whirlwind of magical energy. If she moved more than an inch or two in any direction, she would be burned by the green-white tornado.

In front of her, a part of the whirlwind weakened slightly. It was enough for her to vaguely glimpse the Machine King towering over her.

In her mind, she saw her people engage the machines. Their hopes fell as knowledge of her imprisonment spread through the ranks, but she admonished them to stay strong. She forced herself to maintain her courage so her people’s morale would not break.

She tilted her head up and met the icy gaze of the Automaton Lord. Her blood chilled at its immense size, but she kept her back straight and her bearing proud.

Its voice tore through her mind. You bear a crystal of the First Ones. How? Why?

Leha stood her ground. She felt a trace of a smirk touch her lips; there was an opportunity here. “We have discovered their last outpost. Our people have already begun to decipher their secrets. Soon, we’ll have gained enough information to destroy your kind for good.” She felt pleased that her voice didn’t shake.

The Automaton Lord raised its hands, and the whirlwind began to constrict, the gap it had opened already closing. At that moment, Leha lashed out with a wave of Sy’om’s energy. The whirlwind weakened, and she shot through the narrowing gap, the magic stinging her skin. Tyzuan energy and her own enhanced muscles carried her dozens of feet into the air, and she slammed into the lower torso of the Machine King. She dug into the gaps in its armor with her claws and scurried higher, reaching the midpoint of its chest. Her injured shoulder ached under the strain.

She chose a seam between two huge plates of lead and cut into it with her blade. She squinted to shield her eyes from the sparks. Bolts of magic leapt from the Machine King’s silver-plated wrists and dove for her, but they struck the chest’s lead plates. The spells shattered into a thousand tiny sparks and fingers. Small shards of magic stung Leha’s exposed skin, leaving welts and minor burns.

All around her, her people were locked in combat with the other Automatons. Every moment, she felt more minds disappear from the link. But minute by minute, they gained momentum. Moments before, Doga and Eranna’s forces had come up from behind, and now Automatons toppled and fell. Narviks and swords tore into those that survived their falls, crossbow bolts shattered armor and crippled joints, and the humans came closer to prevailing.

Soldiers began to attack the Automaton Lord with magic, crossbows, and other weapons, though their efforts made little impact. It lashed back at them with its weakened magic.

Leha gave the order to retract her blade – she ignored Drogin’s protestations against her taking on the Machine King – and dug the claws of both hands into the gap she had created. She pulled back with all strength until her muscles burned and her joints ached, but the plate barely creaked. It was too thick.

She gave up and leaned in closer, panting. She swore. How do I bring you down?

The other machines had been all but crushed between the two forces, and fighters swarmed at the Automaton Lord. But even weakened by Leha, it was a formidable opponent. Beams of magic tore through the humans, sometimes killing dozens in a single sweep, and those that avoided death made little progress against its almost impenetrable armor. The stink of burnt flesh and the screams of the wounded flowed up from below.

Leha tried widening the gap with her claws and venom, but she made no headway. She swore again. The Machine King unleashed another barrage of magic against her. She flattened herself against its chest in an attempt to avoid the renegade waves of power.

A bright bead of energy skipped off the leaden surface and collided with the back of her left hand. Pain exploded through the appendage, and she lost her grip. She cried out.

When the pain had subsided slightly, she looked at her hand. The skin had been charred and twisted, and the blackened flash smoked and steamed, emitting a smell like overcooked bacon. Leha’s stomach churned in revulsion. Her fingers hung uselessly; she hoped it would only be temporary.

She glared up at the face of the Machine King. It glared back.

She swore at it vehemently, and released its chest with her good hand, pushing off and somersaulting backward. It blasted at her with several bursts of magic, but the battle wizards below deflected them.

Sy’om’s energy cushioned her landing, and then she returned to a Tyzuan level of power. Soldiers rushed in to usher her away from the battle, protecting her with lead shields and their bodies. They worried over her wounded hand, but she brushed off their ministrations for the moment.

She turned back to survey the field of battle. Aside from the Machine King, every Automaton in the area had been destroyed – the machines had attacked the northern front with huge numbers, but those numbers had been spread over many miles, and here, at least, the humans had been able to overwhelm them. The Automaton Lord had begun to ponderously turn to its right, and it had focused all its attack on the soldiers in that direction. She shuddered as more and more minds vanished from the link.

It’s trying to retreat, Leha realized. Break off the attack; let it go, she sent.

A shimmer of doubt passed through her people, but they backed off, allowing the Automaton Lord to move away. Once the machine had gone a little distance, she returned it to Barria’s energy level, and its enormous legs carried it across the grassy fields and away from the field of battle. Leha cursed silently; it went north. It had breached the front.

She knelt on the tufted grass. Field medics bandaged her throbbing hand as she telepathically explained that they could not have been successful against the Automaton Lord, that they couldn’t have made any headway.

She watched the dark blob of the Machine King grow closer to the horizon. She hoped her lie about the knowledge of the First Ones, as it had called them, would serve to intimidate the machines and not drive them to greater aggression. It occurred to her to wonder if Automatons could read minds and tell fact from fiction – they were telepaths – but she supposed that the tricks and tactics employed by her people since the beginning of the war would not have been effective if the machines had been able to do that. Perhaps mechanical and biological minds were not compatible.

Gritting her teeth against the pain in her hand and shoulder, she closed her eyes and listened to the cacophony of the dozens of battles still being waged across the north. In some places, the humans were gaining victory. In others, the Automatons prevailed. In still others, the outcome remained uncertain. Dozens of machines and hundreds of humans continued to fall.

She did what she could to aid her people, giving instructions when she could and channeling the energies of the other worlds. It had been hard to do when she had been fighting, and it was not much easier now.

When the medics finished, she forced herself to her feet. Her body ached from fatigue and numerous injuries. She spurred her legs into action and led her people west, to the nearest battle, leaving behind a handful to guard the camp. Doga and Eranna came to the fore, running on either side of her. Leha smiled at Doga and nodded to Eranna.

Their path cut through a finger of forest, and their feet pattered and rustled across the needle-strewn, underbrush-covered earth, releasing the earthy scents of pine resin and new growth. Through gaps in the sparse canopy, Leha saw columns of smoke rising from the westward battle. There would be no rest today. Maybe, if they fought long enough and hard enough, they would still be able to make something good come of this dark day.

———————

Enjoying the story so far? The next chapter will be posted soon, but if you can’t wait, you also have the opportunity buy the full ebook now!

Filed under: My writing, World Spectrum Tagged: books, fantasy, Rage of the Old Gods free chapters, sci-fi, steampunk, The World Spectrum, writing

Superior Realities Top Ten Posts

Four years ago today, I launched Superior Realities as a way to show off my writing and share my love of all things nerdy. Since then, it’s been a fixture of my life, and while coming up with a new post every third day sometimes feels like a bit of a chore, I find it’s an experience that I have enjoyed on the whole, and I am surprised by how much I miss blogging when real life prevents me from posting.

Rather than a traditional anniversary post, I’ve decided to do a top ten list of the blog’s most popular posts over the last few years. This is based on the traffic stats WordPress provides.

10: Transmog Addiction, the Dire State of Raiding, and Becoming a Real Writer

From what I’ve seen, most of this post’s popularity can be attributed to people looking up inspiration for transmog sets. I don’t really consider this a particularly memorable post myself.

9: TSW Solo Tips: Crafting Is Your Friend

You’ll soon notice a pattern in this list: My guides for the Secret World consistently rank among my most popular posts.

I am a little surprised this one doesn’t rank higher, as I think this is one of my better and more comprehensive guides, but I suppose crafting is a pretty small part of the game, so probably not too many people are looking for info on it.

8: The Secret World: Scenario Survival Guide + New Article

And again.

7: Review: “Sanctuary for None, Part Two” (Season Finale) + New Writing

This is one post whose popularity I really don’t understand. It’s finally dropped off in the last year or so, but for most of my blog’s history, it’s been one of my top-performing posts almost every single day.

But I don’t know why. Sanctuary was never a very popular show — hence why this turned out to be its last ever episode — and I’m sure there are bigger sites doing reviews of it. Maybe I just accidentally hit on some perfect SEO formula?

It’s a mystery.

6: Blizzard 2011 Writing Contest Finalist: The Future of Lordaeron

Long time readers of this blog may remember that I was one of the runner up prize winners in what turned out to be Blizzard’s last fan fiction contest.

If I may toot my own horn for a moment (get your mind out of the gutter), my story wound up getting far more attention than the actual winner — at least from what I saw. Certainly it got a lot more attention on the official forums, and I know my story went somewhat viral across the Warcraft community for a while.

This was not entirely happenstance. I deliberately chose a controversial topic — Sylvanas — and while most of the feedback was positive, I did succeed in badly upsetting a few fanatical Alliance fans, and I had no issues debating them endlessly to keep my story in the public eye.

I am an attention whore, and I feel no shame.

5: Is World of Warcraft Going Buy to Play?

This one’s popularity is mostly just down to good luck. I found it odd there was little discussion over this rather intriguing rumour (which turned out to not really be true, but it was fun while it lasted), so I sent Massively-that-was a tip about it, and they did an article on the topic with this post listed as a source.

Not sure why they bothered. MMO-Champion was the one who initially reported it.

But regardless, I’m glad they did, as their article — including the link to my post — went majorly viral, and I had the biggest traffic spike in this blog’s history. At the peak, I was getting nearly two thousand hits per day.

4: Review: The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey

This is another one whose popularity I can’t explain. Obviously it was a very big movie, but I’m sure there are thousands of reviews on it across the web, many of them on better known sites than mine. Again, maybe I just hit on some magic formula of SEO without realizing it.

3: Female Armour: Just Say No to the Platekini (+ New Writing)

I’d like to think this post’s popularity is due to a groundswell of feminist ideals and support for the dignity of female characters, but based on my analytics, most of its hits seem to come from people looking for pictures of scantily clad Blood Elves.

I don’t know why they don’t just go to a Rule 34 site like a normal person.

2: The Secret World: Solo Tips and Ugly Vampires

And once again, we see the popularity of my TSW guides. My theory is that this is because TSW is just popular enough for there to be a lot of people looking for guides, but not a lot of places offering guides. It’s an under-served niche.

1: TSW Solo Tips: My Builds + New Article

It’s a bit of a shame that this is my all-time most popular post. Even among my various TSW guides, I think this is probably my least useful. Still has some value, of course, but my builds likely aren’t the best of the best, and even if they were, it would only be a drop in the bucket of what the game’s ability wheel can offer.

Also, I really need to get around to updating my Templar’s build in that post. She doesn’t even use hammers anymore.

* * *

Here’s to four more years of ranting about Warcraft and reviewing obscure sci-fi shows.

Filed under: Misc. Tagged: fan fic, fantasy, movies, Sanctuary, sci-fi, The Hobbit, The Secret World, TV, video games, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, writing