Dave Higgins's Blog, page 31

Haunting in Fettig by Jordan Elizabeth

Elizabeth blends a classic ghost story with the Covid pandemic and a teenage protagonist, creating a tale that has all the supernatural tension without any dry archaism. When a freak combination of her father’s mistake and snap pandemic restrictions leave Portia stranded at her grandmother’s farm without a change of clothes or the internet, she … Continue reading Haunting in Fettig by Jordan Elizabeth

From That Angle

I recently started playing Pine, which the developers describe as an “open-world action adventure game set in a simulated world that does not belong to humans”. What they don’t describe it is a “third-person adventure game with a lot of platform jumping puzzles”. Which stoked my pondering of what people choose to prioritise, both when … Continue reading From That Angle

Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense, Volume 2 #11, ed. P. Alexander

Alexander offers another collection of modern speculative fiction, united it its echoing of the pulp sensibilities of moral clarity and action over introspection. This magazine contains five short stories, a novelette, and three reasonably sized extracts from longer works, spread across a variety of genres but each firmly echoing the style and substance of classic … Continue reading Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense, Volume 2 #11, ed. P. Alexander

Happy Burpday.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service was launched seventy-four years ago tomorrow. Nearly three-quarters of a century of free-at-point-of-service healthcare. Which is something worth celebrating. I have many reasons to be grateful to the NHS. But rather than talk about their excellent endeavours to fix things that had gone wrong, I decided to celebrate them … Continue reading Happy Burpday.

Whispering the Darkness

As perspicacious readers might have inferred despite my reticence in openly discussing the matter, I am not unfond of Lovecraft’s work and cosmic dread in general. So, I was most joyous to discover Matt Hundley’s film-length adaptation of The Whisperer in Darkness; while it is not perfect, it inclines strongly toward my preferred approach in … Continue reading Whispering the Darkness

End of Watch by Baileigh Higgins

Higgins blends the horror of a zombie plague with a positive view of human nature, creating an apocalypse story that is centred in cooperation and the drive to serve society. Note: while the author is blessed with a spiffing surname we are unrelated by blood or marriage. This novel is the second in Higgins’ Heroes … Continue reading End of Watch by Baileigh Higgins

Boke Pays for Noodles

During my ongoing research for my Legend of the Five Rings game, I recently discovered the Japanese art of rakugo, a form of humorous storytelling where the performer remains seated but acts out parts of the story using a fan and a small cloth. As part of last week’s session, my character tried to distract … Continue reading Boke Pays for Noodles

Demonic Crisis Management for the Modern Vampire by Matthew S. Cox

Cox blends a youthful viewpoint with a complex universe, creating another modern vampire tale that is fast-paced and deep. This novel is the sixteenth volume of Cox’s Vampire Innocent series. Spoilers for previous volumes might cross your path ahead. After two years as a vampire, Sarah Wright’s plan to remain with her family continues to … Continue reading Demonic Crisis Management for the Modern Vampire by Matthew S. Cox

Pause to Reload

The gaming community (both roleplaying and otherwise) are divided on what makes a good or bad game. Having started playing Wolfenstein: The New Order a couple of days ago, I was reminded that perhaps the most important criteria for me is a subjective rather than objective one: context. Wolfenstein is first-person-shooter franchise set in a … Continue reading Pause to Reload

Treasured Trouble: A Collection of Short Stories from the Treasure Chronicles by Jordan Elizabeth

Elizabeth builds a series of short stories around the characters and histories of the protagonists rather than new aspects of the world, creating a collection that offers depth rather than event-of-the-week style diffusion. This short story collection includes eight stories set in the world of Elizabeth’s Treasure Chronicles, all but one occurring prior to the … Continue reading Treasured Trouble: A Collection of Short Stories from the Treasure Chronicles by Jordan Elizabeth