Evil is as evil does...
Sep. 7th, 2013 03:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearRelic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child:
I think I might be done with Lincoln Child now - I've listened to four of his supernatural thrillers now, and two of them were almost exactly the same, so the novelty has worn off a bit. Relic is the first in the Pendergast series, which confused me somewhat as Agent Pendergast is barely in it, and I think there are only a couple of scenes that are written from his point of view. Anyway, that aside, the plot was pretty much identical to Terminal Freeze. Scientists unearthed a South American (Arctic) lizard monster (cat monster) which then proceeded to rampage around the New York Natural History Museum (Arctic science station), killing them off, one by one, until our plucky hero and a few wily survivors figured out how to kill it. Not particularly original or particularly well executed, with some less than politically correct attitudes and observations thrown in for good measure. I know I like schlocky stuff to listen to on my commute from time to time, but there's plenty more out there that's better than this.
The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer:
These are still going downhill as well, unfortunately, though my dad says the next (and last) one is one of his favourites, so I'll stick it out to the end. I found the Atlantis Complex fairly tedious. There was far too much from the bad guy's point of view, and I didn't find him interesting or engaging at all. And, the sections that focused on our usual band of heroes felt pedestrian and unoriginal. Plus, Artemis wasn't really in it that much and, when he was, he was either displaying an alternate personality (who was really annoying) or suffering from severe OCD, so he didn't get to use his giant brain much at all. There wasn't much scope to the adventure, either - it felt very short and a bit rushed.
Tripwire by Lee Child:
Jack Reacher doesn't let people down, and the third in the series was just as enjoyable as the first two - hurrah! I'm a bit worried, though, since I solved the mystery about half way through and Reacher didn't even believe what had happened when someone told him straight out. Plus, the end of the novel was much happier and more settled than usual - so I'm expecting incredible doom at the start of the fourth book, since I can't imagine he remains in domestic bliss for the rest of the series.
Avalon:
Not the sort of game I'm usually any good at, or usually enjoy, but my first experience of it (last Sunday) proved spectacularly entertaining, due to my evil genius. It's the kind of game where each player is assigned either an evil or a good character, certain people know who other people are, and the two teams have to work against each other to try and get good or evil to triumph, depending on their allegiance, while the evil characters try to persuade the good players they aren't evil. If you know what I mean. Anyway, I was assigned the leader of the bad guys on my first time out, so I assumed good would win easily, as I'm generally useless at being in charge or being sneaky in any way. As it turned out, my cunning ploy of pretending not to understand the rules enabled me to provide my evil minions with very clear instructions without raising the suspicions of the good team at all, and evil won in record time, not allowing the good team to succeed at any stage! It was thoroughly enjoyable and very satisfying.
I think I might be done with Lincoln Child now - I've listened to four of his supernatural thrillers now, and two of them were almost exactly the same, so the novelty has worn off a bit. Relic is the first in the Pendergast series, which confused me somewhat as Agent Pendergast is barely in it, and I think there are only a couple of scenes that are written from his point of view. Anyway, that aside, the plot was pretty much identical to Terminal Freeze. Scientists unearthed a South American (Arctic) lizard monster (cat monster) which then proceeded to rampage around the New York Natural History Museum (Arctic science station), killing them off, one by one, until our plucky hero and a few wily survivors figured out how to kill it. Not particularly original or particularly well executed, with some less than politically correct attitudes and observations thrown in for good measure. I know I like schlocky stuff to listen to on my commute from time to time, but there's plenty more out there that's better than this.
The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer:
These are still going downhill as well, unfortunately, though my dad says the next (and last) one is one of his favourites, so I'll stick it out to the end. I found the Atlantis Complex fairly tedious. There was far too much from the bad guy's point of view, and I didn't find him interesting or engaging at all. And, the sections that focused on our usual band of heroes felt pedestrian and unoriginal. Plus, Artemis wasn't really in it that much and, when he was, he was either displaying an alternate personality (who was really annoying) or suffering from severe OCD, so he didn't get to use his giant brain much at all. There wasn't much scope to the adventure, either - it felt very short and a bit rushed.
Tripwire by Lee Child:
Jack Reacher doesn't let people down, and the third in the series was just as enjoyable as the first two - hurrah! I'm a bit worried, though, since I solved the mystery about half way through and Reacher didn't even believe what had happened when someone told him straight out. Plus, the end of the novel was much happier and more settled than usual - so I'm expecting incredible doom at the start of the fourth book, since I can't imagine he remains in domestic bliss for the rest of the series.
Avalon:
Not the sort of game I'm usually any good at, or usually enjoy, but my first experience of it (last Sunday) proved spectacularly entertaining, due to my evil genius. It's the kind of game where each player is assigned either an evil or a good character, certain people know who other people are, and the two teams have to work against each other to try and get good or evil to triumph, depending on their allegiance, while the evil characters try to persuade the good players they aren't evil. If you know what I mean. Anyway, I was assigned the leader of the bad guys on my first time out, so I assumed good would win easily, as I'm generally useless at being in charge or being sneaky in any way. As it turned out, my cunning ploy of pretending not to understand the rules enabled me to provide my evil minions with very clear instructions without raising the suspicions of the good team at all, and evil won in record time, not allowing the good team to succeed at any stage! It was thoroughly enjoyable and very satisfying.
no subject
Date: 2013-09-18 07:08 pm (UTC)I have the 'sci fi version' (The Resistance) but found the rules a bit befuddling so have never played it. I think I should be able to understand it better now.
I'm intrigued by Jack Reacher. Maybe one day soon.