Unboxing: Watch_Dogs Dedsec Edition

Long time no post!  It's in part due to the fact that I'm actually writing The Rose Queen—I know, me, writing; whatever is the world coming to—and partly because I am a lazy arse.  I'm pretty sure you've already noticed the latter.

I didn't feel like I was making much progress with The Rose Queen to be honest, until I actually paid attention to my total word count last night and realised it's currently at 21,000 words.  So... not a novella then.

Short update aside, that isn't what this post is about (I'll maybe do a dedicated one later on).  Nooo, this post is about the downright huge box that arrived this morning.

Meep.  AC:IV for size reference.

 I normally preorder games from Game due to things like shiny reward points and supporting British game stores, but in this case they'd actually sold out of the Xbox One version(!) so I bought it from Amazon instead.  That comes with the added advantage of coming via Amazon's delivery network, which now they've worked out the kinks is pretty good and means deliveries arrive when they're supposed to.  Anything using the Royal Mail here is at the mercy of the postman—which can mean anything from the delivery driver shoving a "You Weren't In" card through the door when I plainly was, to returning items without attempting to deliver them because they were damaged by postal staff, to outright theft.  (Yes, all three have happened to me; the first and last most recently.)

Rant aside...  I thought the size of the box would be misleading, because sometimes things are packed to the gills with paper and plastic, and the contents are tiny.

And to be fair, when I opened it, this was the first thing I saw, so you can't blame me.  So I dug in, started fishing around in the box and realised...

I hereby claim this box...

It wasn't misleading at all.  I was not expecting that.  The last special edition I ordered was DmC, which came with a hoodie, soundtrack CD and DLC, and all items were separate in the cardboard box.  To have it arrive in a nice box was... unexpected, although possibly shouldn't be because Ubisoft have a history of nice packaging.

The skinny little legs in the background belong to Q, a cat with a pathological love of boxes.  He'd perked up when I bought the box in, and now he was going to nonchalantly come and 'look'.

Once I unwrapped the packaging (so much for Amazon's eco-friendly stuff, the amount of plastic that went into covering this!), I was again surprised.

The box is nicely designed and the inside packaging is designed with a place for every piece of the special edition kit—although in my case, a lot of it had slid down during transit.  You can see the bottom of the Augmented Reality card box beneath the game box, which should have been much higher up, but all the contents were safe and undamaged.

The full extent of the contents is still surprising, considering IMO the price isn't that much higher than a standard Xbox One game.  It comes with a fairly large and very nicely detailed Aiden Pearce figure, soundtrack, AR cards, map, artbook and three badges as well as the steelcase box.  Aiden comes in his own safe packaging to protect him, so he hadn't budged in the slightest in transit.  I've yet to find a good home for him (he's bigger than Shiki and Akira on my desk, so between them doesn't work) so he's gone back into his box for now.  Everything seems nicely detailed: the artbook is hardback and filled with beautiful concept art, the cards come in a staggered file-type packaging with their own box, and the map is made of glossy, good-quality paper and fits neatly into the steelcase box for handy reference.

By this point, I'd moved the packing box and paper contents to one side; you can see Q eyeballing it.  He hopped in not long after and proceeded to traumatise the parrot, who thought a kraken had moved in under his cage...

So, that's the unboxing of the Watch_Dogs Dedsec edition.  If anyone wants closer, more detailed pictures of anything, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

I've not even had a chance to play it yet!  That's this afternoon's entertainment...

No-Nonsense Reviews - Objects in the Rearview Mirror by F. E. Feeley Jr.

Pros
+ Intriguing, moving story
+ Relatable characters
+ Emotive subject

YMMV
+/- Some references to earlier times in characters' relationship are never expanded on

Cons
- The writing reads a little oddly in places
- The last part of the epilogue felt superfluous

I remember vaguely reading an effusive comment about this book that prompted me to go and check it out on Amazon and, curious, I bought it, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

What I got was a surprisingly touching paranormal tale about a haunted house and a loving couple, and I absolutely could not stop reading it.  The characters felt real and spoke in a convincingly human way to each other and to friends in the story, and I really rooted for both their relationship and their sanities to remain intact.  The plot itself is intriguing, although very different from how I'd expected after the prologue, and although I kind of saw the end coming, I didn't expect its execution, which was pleasant.  Even the moral (there is one but it doesn't get in the way, I promise) is good—and is well worth remembering.

It's only when I added it to my Goodreads read list that I discovered that this is actually book #2 in the author's "Memoirs of the Human Wraiths" series, but it reads nicely as a standalone novel.  Although I marked the final paragraph of the epilogue as a 'con', I'm not sure if it may actually relate to the first book (which I'll very likely pick up now), or if it'll become relevant further along in the series, but as it is, it just feels a bit redundant and nonsensical.

Also, I don't often comment on covers, mostly because I barely notice them when they're Kindle novels, but the cover artwork is beautiful.

I've not seen that many new ghost stories (or maybe I'm not looking in the right place?), but it's nice to read a good (and genuinely creepy) example of the genre.  I'm really hoping that the author writes more!

• Goodreads page for Objects in the Rearview Mirror
• Objects in the Rearview Mirror at Dreamspinner Press

Footnote: while I was reading this book, we discovered that the toilet paper in the downstairs loo had decided to empty itself onto the floor for no apparent reason.

No-Nonsense Reviews - Forest of the Forsaken: The Witch's Snare by Joanne Brothwell

Pros
+ Interesting modern premise
+ Had good moments making the reader doubt themselves

YMMV
+/- The relationship between characters developed too quickly

Cons
- Disappointing ending

I picked up The Witch's Snare based on its premise as being a modern-day Grimm's Fairy Tale, which it most definitely is, but for the most part I considered it to be a 'middle of the road' kind of read.

It was well-enough written, well described with good sex scenes, but I found the development of the relationship between the two main characters too fast to be particularly believable.  Luckily it wasn't as incest-y as the description seemed to imply (I don't like incest stories, but I'll give anything a try once) and there wasn't any interaction between the characters before the plot started.  Although, considering the suspicions of both main characters, that they agreed to go along with the plot at all felt a little weird and slightly off—if I had the suspicions they did, I'd have run a mile.

The witches themselves were nicely creepy, particularly in the middle of the story, and I found myself second-guessing my theories a lot, particularly in an "is she-isn't she" kind of way which was nice, even though rationally I already knew the answer.  That's always the downside to reading a story based on an established tale.

Considering the nature of the plot I'd say there are little surprises in store, but some twists were interesting, but the ending came too abruptly and too neatly for me.  I'd have liked a little more and, although everything was explained, it somehow didn't feel explained quite enough to be fully satisfying...

• Forest of the Forsaken: The Witch's Snare on Goodreads
• Joanne Brothwell's Author Page

No-Nonsense Reviews - The Carr Family series by Susan Coolidge

Pros
+ Easy to read and hard to put down
+ Fairly short books
+ Likeable characters

YMMV
+/- Victorian novels, so heavy on the morality
+/- The fourth book moves focus to a secondary, less likeable, character

Cons
- The third book does not give a good account of Americans (particularly children) abroad

I was given the first three of these books as a child (there is a fifth, which I've not read), although I only really remembered the first two and part of the third.  When I first got my Kindle I found these free on the Amazon store, but I only remembered I had them recently and decided to re-read them.

The first three stories revolve around Katy Carr who starts out wild by Victorian standards, but with a kind heart, and follows how she is eventually 'tamed' with the aid of a sainted cousin and a life-changing event.  Even when she's bratty Katy is likeable, and she grows into a sensible young woman who still retains a little fire and temper while still being the model of Victorian womanhood.

It was obviously written as a kind of manual for how young Victorian women should be and can be pretty heavy-handed with it, but it is typical of its time, so to judge it too harshly for it or view it with modern eyes would be to do it a disservice.

The first two books aren't too bad, but the third makes American travellers to Europe seem unbearable, particularly the child, Amy, who becomes a complete and utter brat—definitely my least favourite out of the four I've read.

The fourth breaks away from following Katy to follow her younger sister Clover instead, which is an interesting change but I didn't find Clover, sweet as she is, as engaging as Katy and it doesn't hold the interest as much as the first three.

They're interesting reads for a snapshot of Victorian America, and they're apparently semi-autobiographical too, and they make an interesting change of pace, but I think it'll be another fifteen years before I feel the need to read them again.

• What Katy Did on Goodreads
• What Katy Did At School on Goodreads
• What Katy Did Next on Goodreads
• Clover on Goodreads

No-Nonsense Reviews - First There Wasn't, Then There Was by Troy Blackford

Pros
+ Brilliantly written and difficult to put down
+ Gripping story
+ Unexpectedly emotional

YMMV
+/- Near-impossible to categorise

To be honest, this is the most difficult book I've ever tried to review or describe.  It's just... so different, and that's not a bad thing.  It's just a little awkward in this situation, because many parts of it that make it so remarkable would be giving away spoilers.

It's well written and very difficult to put down once you've started it, but as it's quite short it's a two or three hour read.  The story flits from the present to the past, but the interruptions are well done and although I was a bit dubious about the modern-day office boys to begin with, they grew on me and shared my sense of "wait, I want to know what happens!"  Each chapter is masterfully finished, which only compounded the issue of "can't put it down!"

At one point, I was a bit confused to find myself crying at it.

I'm not sure whether it's a supernatural story, or a metaphysical one, or a metaphor for something and to be honest, I don't really care. (Although for me, I liked to take it at face value as a supernatural story.)

It's a bloody good read.

• First There Wasn't, Then There Was on Goodreads
• Buy First There Wasn't, Then There Was at Amazon

The Rose Queen

I used to take part in NaNoMangO, a twice-yearly comics event in the vein of NaNoWriMo, only instead of 50,000 words in a month the object was to draw 30 pages.  I very rarely finished NNMO, mind.  My best was to complete 30 pages of two projects in the month; one of my worst is probably The Rose Queen in 2010, where I managed—drumroll please—

—two pages!

The problem was, aside from the fact that I decided to not only sketch it, but line and colour it (bad idea), that beyond the faintest outline of the story I had no idea what was happening.  I knew it involved a man boarding a ship to steal the Rose Queen, and he didn't exactly know what the Rose Queen was.  It would turn out to be a woman.

That's it.  That's all I had.  The whole premise, and both characters names, was based around a newsreader's vocal stumble and something I misread.   It's no wonder I only got to two pages.

In a fit of procrastination driven by a bout of something that could be a cold, or could be 'flu (shush), I sat in the conservatory that was, for once, fairly warm, and felt sorry for myself rather than write.

The next thing I knew, the Rose Queen was a man instead of a woman.

And a whole new world of questions suddenly opened up, ones that hadn't existed four years ago, and I could (can) barely keep up with them.

There are a lot more now

This is odd for me.  Normally a story starts to grow in my head, and I ignore it until I'm ready to do something with it.  This one has crashed headlong through the ceiling and is giving me funny looks.

The oddest thing has to be the characters.  I had a vague idea about and a 3D version of Admiral Fayth, and a 3D version of the female Rose Queen that I've since lost (I think it's on another computer), but no grasp of their personalities.  Now, with RQ's sex change he's developed a personality—and a strong sense of sarcasm—and, even odder, he and Fayth are getting along so well that I've got unsolicited sex scenes floating around in my imagination.

I'm starting to think I need to imagine a bucket of cold water.

So now my question is: wait until I know what's going on, or start writing and pray it comes to me?  And more to the point, will these boys actually let me wait?

As a bonus, here is RQ dressed up... or down? for Easter.  He wasn't particularly amused about it.

Who says procrastination is always a bad thing?

Craft Sunday: The Nekkid Box

I say 'Craft Sunday', but it's only going to be an occasional thing.

I bought this box online a few days ago, because I need somewhere to put the necklaces I keep buying and not wearing.  It's just a cheap balsa-wood thing and the corner decoration is glued on rather than properly secured, but I'm (hopefully) intending to decorate it up and make it suitably steampunky.

I'm not wholly sure how to yet though!

One thing I'd definitely like to do is get some material (possibly felt?) and line the inside, padding it a little with cotton wool to protect the contents, although I'm not quite sure what colour yet, and it all kinda depends on what I can find.  I'm hoping for some kind of deep orange-brown, rich red or coppery.  Here's hoping that I can find something particularly steampunk, but I'm not holding my breath for that.

For the box itself, I'm not sure (big surprise), but I was considering staining the box in two different colours, a light one for a suitable pattern—I'll probably be generic and work out a cog design—and a dark one for the rest of the box, but I'm always open to suggestions.

As to the corners, I'm not quite sure what to do about them.  Glue isn't exactly anachronistic, but it doesn't really fit the style of the box/project.  I don't know whether to try to remove the corners entirely and screw them in instead, sand down the glue and somehow fake a screw head, or leave them be.

So, this is my 'nekkid box', a bare canvas for ideas... when I have some.  It's likely to be the start of next month when I actually try to work on it, since that's when I'll be heading into Nottingham to meet up with friends/writers, but there'll be photos of anything fun I can find and when I actually get cracking.

I don't know whether I'm looking forward to it or dreading it...

No-Nonsense Reviews - Nothing Save The Bones Inside Her by Clayton Lindemuth

Pros
+ Well written and immediately attention-catching
+ Impressive sense of foreboding
+ Very, very difficult to put down

YMMV
+/- Some sections possibly not for the squeamish
+/- Moral is a little heavy-handed near the end

Cons
- "Aughhhh noooo" (that was actually in my notes)

I have to start this by saying that if I'd known that this was a Christian novel, I probably wouldn't have bought it.  That says a lot more about me than it does about the book, which I could not put down to save my life.

The author describes it as "rural noir", which seems a more suitable category as one thing it is, is most definitely dark.  It grabbed me as soon as I started reading and refused to let go despite the feeling of doom that started very soon.  That's not to say it smacked me over the head with the foreboding; instead it builds gradually, until I realised that yes, things really were going to get that bad.

The characters were either likeable, in their own ways, or were well-written enough that I didn't mind that they were loathsome (and some really are), and yes, my note really does say "aughhhh noooo" in near-incoherent scribble, which was jotted down around the halfway mark and which I can't say any more about for fear of spoiling it.  I'll just say that later on in the book, I realised that the main character's path was going to be just a little different from what I'd expected...  The moral did become a little heavy-handed later, but it was only for one section and by then I was so hooked it didn't really matter.

It's probably not a book for the squeamish.  It starts out violently enough and while it's neither sustained or gets particularly worse, the times it does appear made even me go "huh..."

If you're not a fan of 'Christian fiction' (and this isn't like others I've read, believe me), call this one "supernatural" instead, it's equally fitting, but give it a try nonetheless.

• Author page for Nothing Save The Bones Inside Her
• Goodreads page for Nothing Save The Bones Inside Her

Collecting Pen-Based Addictions

(Oh look, I'm remembering to post on the right day!)

Like a lot of writers, I'm a bit of a stationery nut.  My favourite places in Nottingham involve either books or stationery (and the best kinds of places contain both), but until recently I mostly contained it to notebooks.

I think, between here and Twitter, I've documented fairly well my love of all things gel pen, particularly of the novelty kind, and my undying adoration for the Copic atyouSpica glitter pens (also known as my preciousssss).  But recently, my pen-based addiction has taken a darker, more sinister turn...

Lamy fountain pens.

(Did you think I meant sniffing permanent markers?)

My friends Claire and Danni are big, big stationery fans (I am but an apprentice in the art) and one of the things that they both mention, now and again, are Lamy pens.  They come in different varieties: not only fountain, but ballpoint and pencil too, and in various different styles and themes and, in the end, my curiosity won out.

I've not used a fountain pen in... well, over a decade, not since I was 14 or so, and I've never bought any of my own, so when I became curious I turned to them for advice and in the end bought a Lamy Nexx (the grey one) and a Safari (the blue).  I have suitable ink cartridges to go with them, and a couple of converters that allow me to use bottled inks—one of which I wrote The Fair Automaton with, and covered myself with it in the process—and, to my surprise, I've been getting on really well with them.

Recently Lamy brought out a new special edition AL-star pen in a particularly violent shade of coral.  Pink isn't really my colour, but while I was looking at it my eye was caught by the beautiful colour of the bluegreen AL-star and... well, let's just say that as you can see, my tiny pen family has grown, and my non-too-fondness of pink didn't stop me from buying two sets of limited-edition coral cartridges either.  And, of course, where there's a pen order there's other stuff too, and I seem to have found myself the owner of three Rhodia notebooks I didn't quite intend to buy (they leapt into the cart themselves, honest!) and a pretty nifty mechanical pencil that rotates itself every time you use it.

So it looks like I've picked up another addiction, to go with my sparkle-pen one and my gel pen habit...  because where there's fountain pens, there has to be a healthy range of inks to go with it!  And on the up side, at least it means I'm physically writing a lot more now, even if none of it seems to be related to what I'm supposed to be finishing this month (sorry, all two readers of Three Graces, it's not the sequel yet).

I'd say I think the guilty parties responsible for this particular addiction know what they've done, but I also think they're both quite gleeful about it really...

No-Nonsense Reviews - The Phoenix Conspiracy by Richard L. Sanders

Pros
+ Technically well written, for the most part
+ Nice cover

Cons
- Drags on too long
- Generally unlikeable characters
- Plodding pacing that never changes
- A prime example of telling, not showing
- I might as well have played Mass Effect and had fun

As part of my intention of making a dent in my unread Kindle books, I started reading this one because the cover looked interesting.

I wish I'd chosen something else instead.

While technically well written--up until the last quarter of the book, anyway--the interest piqued by the opening chapter soon goes out the window.  Calvin Cross is, it seems, intended to be a quirky and intelligent character but instead comes across as arrogant and stupid, doing things for no real reason.  Not enough time is spent with his crew, ostensibly his friends, to give you any real reason to care about them, and the love interest Summers Presley is a downright unpleasant woman.

Plot points are introduced that go nowhere and serve little purpose other than to give the main character a free source of information; I presume they're intended to be elaborated on later in the series.  At one point a minor character is revealed to speak an alien language, which is promptly disregarded a couple of pages later when they meet a friendly alien and never mentioned again.  I was actively hoping for some characters to get killed.

The main issue is that the whole novel felt like an overlong Mass Effect fanfic with the names changed.  Well, some names: I assume the passing reference to an "Alenko" was intended to be humour, but combined with some others I can link to the game series, I'm not sure.

The writing started out well, insofar as sentences were structured well and contained correct punctuation, but the pacing never changed.  There was an attempt to punch-up some sentences in the last quarter but they seemed to mostly consist of putting full stops in the middle of a sentence. And then carrying on like nothing had happened.

I really wanted to like it.  On the surface it has everything I love in a sci-fi novel, but on the whole I wish I'd just dusted off Mass Effect again.

• Goodreads page for The Phoenix Conspiracy
• Richard L. Sanders' store page for The Phoenix Conspiracy