Doctor Who: The New Adventures
Timewyrm: Apocalypse by Nigel Robinson
Chapters 6–7
Saturday, 14 September 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x55 Duplicity [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#103 'Well Beneath'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
2x55 Duplicity [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#103 'Well Beneath'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Only two new additions this week, and one is a DVD-to-4K upgrade at that (always feels like a fun jump, probably because I'm glad I didn't spend money on a Blu-ray that I don't seem to have watched 99% of the time). But I also took a look at the actual contents of some previous purchases (as opposed to what the listings / online info said) and reclassified some shorts as TV episodes. Not really important, just wanted to explain that change at the bottom of the list.
Number of titles in collection: 3,372 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 998 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,374 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 389 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,121 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,163 [up 1]
Number of additional cuts: 397 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,800 [up 9]
Number of short films: 1,163 [down 8]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Only two new additions this week, and one is a DVD-to-4K upgrade at that (always feels like a fun jump, probably because I'm glad I didn't spend money on a Blu-ray that I don't seem to have watched 99% of the time). But I also took a look at the actual contents of some previous purchases (as opposed to what the listings / online info said) and reclassified some shorts as TV episodes. Not really important, just wanted to explain that change at the bottom of the list.
Number of titles in collection: 3,372 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 998 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,374 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 389 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,121 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,163 [up 1]
Number of additional cuts: 397 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,800 [up 9]
Number of short films: 1,163 [down 8]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 13 September 2024
Games
Fighting Fantasy
Shadow of the Giants by Ian Livingstone
Began a second attempt. It's going a lot better so far.
If I had one criticism (and I don't know if this applies to all books in the series or just this one volume) it's that it relies too much on luck — not the luck of a dice roll (that's fine; that's games for you), but in terms of what choices you make. This is partly a limitation of the format (unless the book were huge, only so many choices can be meaningful), but there don't seem to be any overriding principles to help decisionmaking.
For example, it could be that you should always talk to people because it will always lead somewhere, or that you should never talk to people because they'll always scam you — but both of those things happen, and it's pure luck which choice will benefit you at any moment. I'd be ok with that if there was always a 'save', but quite often an incorrect choice either hobbles you or leads to permadeath.
I can see why "most people" (anecdotally) resort to marking points of divergence and going back a step or two (or three or four, maybe) if things go sour. It's no worse than saving in a computer game, really, and a lot less time consuming than starting the whole thing over because you made one wrong decision deep, deep into the story.
Shadow of the Giants by Ian Livingstone
Began a second attempt. It's going a lot better so far.
If I had one criticism (and I don't know if this applies to all books in the series or just this one volume) it's that it relies too much on luck — not the luck of a dice roll (that's fine; that's games for you), but in terms of what choices you make. This is partly a limitation of the format (unless the book were huge, only so many choices can be meaningful), but there don't seem to be any overriding principles to help decisionmaking.
For example, it could be that you should always talk to people because it will always lead somewhere, or that you should never talk to people because they'll always scam you — but both of those things happen, and it's pure luck which choice will benefit you at any moment. I'd be ok with that if there was always a 'save', but quite often an incorrect choice either hobbles you or leads to permadeath.
I can see why "most people" (anecdotally) resort to marking points of divergence and going back a step or two (or three or four, maybe) if things go sour. It's no worse than saving in a computer game, really, and a lot less time consuming than starting the whole thing over because you made one wrong decision deep, deep into the story.
Thursday, 12 September 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x54 Well Beneath [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#102 'Cornered'
Talking about the previous episode of CR, of course, but this Talks aired the day after the Kickstarter for the Vox Machina animated special launched — for those who don't know, it reached its target in the first hour and sailed past all planned stretch goal points before they even had the chance to do the launch day live Q&A that was meant to help drum up interest (with hindsight: lol; it's a great watch in itself), and went on to become the most successful film/TV Kickstarter of all time — so of course they have to talk about that too. Plus the guests are Matt and Sam, two of the best for talking about the show anyway, so it's a great episode all round. (Shame it's "not available" anymore, but I get why.)
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
2x54 Well Beneath [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#102 'Cornered'
Talking about the previous episode of CR, of course, but this Talks aired the day after the Kickstarter for the Vox Machina animated special launched — for those who don't know, it reached its target in the first hour and sailed past all planned stretch goal points before they even had the chance to do the launch day live Q&A that was meant to help drum up interest (with hindsight: lol; it's a great watch in itself), and went on to become the most successful film/TV Kickstarter of all time — so of course they have to talk about that too. Plus the guests are Matt and Sam, two of the best for talking about the show anyway, so it's a great episode all round. (Shame it's "not available" anymore, but I get why.)
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Fiction
Doctor Who: The New Adventures
Timewyrm: Apocalypse by Nigel Robinson
Prologue
Chapters 1–2
The third book in the opening tetralogy of the New Adventures — you can read my concluding thoughts on books one and two there. According to GoodReads users, this is clearly the worst of the bunch (the only one to drop below a 3.0 rating); indeed, it's considered one of the worst in the entire NA series: the retired Doctor Who Novel Rankings puts it second to last, while community reviews site The Time Scales currently has it 'beaten' by only four others from the 61-book range. But you've gotta get through this to get to book four, which some say is one of the very best, so...
Timewyrm: Apocalypse by Nigel Robinson
Prologue
Chapters 1–2
The third book in the opening tetralogy of the New Adventures — you can read my concluding thoughts on books one and two there. According to GoodReads users, this is clearly the worst of the bunch (the only one to drop below a 3.0 rating); indeed, it's considered one of the worst in the entire NA series: the retired Doctor Who Novel Rankings puts it second to last, while community reviews site The Time Scales currently has it 'beaten' by only four others from the 61-book range. But you've gotta get through this to get to book four, which some say is one of the very best, so...
Tuesday, 10 September 2024
Fiction
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
The Sword in the Stone Chapters 19–24
That's the end of The Sword in the Stone, though far from the end of The Once and Future King — four more books to go (though I think Sword is the longest part).
I must say, it's been a bit of a slog at times (there's a reason it's taken me four months to get through this relatively slim section, and it's not just "been busy with other things" (which, of course, I have to some extent)), but there are also some fantastic passages, not least in this final stretch. So, though it's somewhat frustrating as a book unto itself, I'm hoping it will ultimately sit better as the opening salvo in a grander story. Indeed, I enjoyed this final stretch enough that I considered going straight on to the second part, but my plan all along has been to take a break after each volume* to read something else (or maybe a couple of somethings, we'll see) before I continue.
* I am very, very bad at reading long books, but pretty successful at reading short ones; so five books averaging under 200 pages each seems much, much more achievable than an 844-page epic.
The Sword in the Stone Chapters 19–24
That's the end of The Sword in the Stone, though far from the end of The Once and Future King — four more books to go (though I think Sword is the longest part).
I must say, it's been a bit of a slog at times (there's a reason it's taken me four months to get through this relatively slim section, and it's not just "been busy with other things" (which, of course, I have to some extent)), but there are also some fantastic passages, not least in this final stretch. So, though it's somewhat frustrating as a book unto itself, I'm hoping it will ultimately sit better as the opening salvo in a grander story. Indeed, I enjoyed this final stretch enough that I considered going straight on to the second part, but my plan all along has been to take a break after each volume* to read something else (or maybe a couple of somethings, we'll see) before I continue.
* I am very, very bad at reading long books, but pretty successful at reading short ones; so five books averaging under 200 pages each seems much, much more achievable than an 844-page epic.
Games
Fighting Fantasy
Shadow of the Giants by Ian Livingstone
Er, does this belong in Games or Books? Because it's a book, but, like, it's a game book... I've gone with Games because, really, it's a game in book form: it requires a pencil (to keep track of your stats, etc) and a pair of dice (though it has a clever alternative if you don't have any to hand), and you jump around as you make decisions rather than progressing in a linear fashion like a novel — I wouldn't be able to cite a chapter or page count for where I'm up to, for example (I suppose I could count how many pages I'd read along the way, but that would be a bit sad — and if the guy who runs this blog thinks that would be sad...)
Anyway, I played for about an hour, and made a right hash of it: I died twice, without feeling like I’d got very far into the narrative (whether I had or not, it's hard to tell with all the flipping back and forth). The first time I made a bad choice so just went back a step, like reloading a save game; the second time, the sum of my poor decisions caused me to lose an (apparently) unavoidable combat. At that point, it only made sense to start over. But I know a bunch of pitfalls to avoid next time! And there will be a next time, because I did enjoy it. I would’ve enjoyed it more if I’d done better at it, but that’s sort of on me, isn’t it?
Shadow of the Giants by Ian Livingstone
Er, does this belong in Games or Books? Because it's a book, but, like, it's a game book... I've gone with Games because, really, it's a game in book form: it requires a pencil (to keep track of your stats, etc) and a pair of dice (though it has a clever alternative if you don't have any to hand), and you jump around as you make decisions rather than progressing in a linear fashion like a novel — I wouldn't be able to cite a chapter or page count for where I'm up to, for example (I suppose I could count how many pages I'd read along the way, but that would be a bit sad — and if the guy who runs this blog thinks that would be sad...)
Anyway, I played for about an hour, and made a right hash of it: I died twice, without feeling like I’d got very far into the narrative (whether I had or not, it's hard to tell with all the flipping back and forth). The first time I made a bad choice so just went back a step, like reloading a save game; the second time, the sum of my poor decisions caused me to lose an (apparently) unavoidable combat. At that point, it only made sense to start over. But I know a bunch of pitfalls to avoid next time! And there will be a next time, because I did enjoy it. I would’ve enjoyed it more if I’d done better at it, but that’s sort of on me, isn’t it?
Videos
Critical Role
2x53 Cornered [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or Twitch, or Beacon.]
I've decided to remove the Games tag from all previous and future Critical Role posts (unless I'm actually playing a Critical Role game (which do exist, but I don't own any (yet))). This is because I recently tried to look up some previous posts for when I had actually played games and had to wade through hundreds of CR posts, which seemed counterproductive. The Games tag does sort of make sense (these aren't 'just' Videos, they're Videos of Games) but, in practice, it gets in the way of what the Games tag is supposed to be for (i.e. when I play games). I doubt this actually affects anyone (because I presume no one actually reads this blog), but I mention it just in case.
2x53 Cornered [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or Twitch, or Beacon.]
I've decided to remove the Games tag from all previous and future Critical Role posts (unless I'm actually playing a Critical Role game (which do exist, but I don't own any (yet))). This is because I recently tried to look up some previous posts for when I had actually played games and had to wade through hundreds of CR posts, which seemed counterproductive. The Games tag does sort of make sense (these aren't 'just' Videos, they're Videos of Games) but, in practice, it gets in the way of what the Games tag is supposed to be for (i.e. when I play games). I doubt this actually affects anyone (because I presume no one actually reads this blog), but I mention it just in case.
Monday, 9 September 2024
Films
Incendies (2010)
[#68 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #8
[#68 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #8
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