This was an amusing, but silly series of books. The plot was very predictable most of the time, with the heroes being immune to anything serious. The amount by which they were overpowered by the end of the series was a little funny. I also was amused by how they made all the people and gods of greek myths silly personifications of their attributes. The split personalities was also amusing. I’d recommend it as a light read when you want something amusing and easy to read.
We went to the lost colony (Andrew’s place) and played some MTG on Saturday. Lindsay was kind enough to give me a ride, and we had a great time. In the draft I got lucky with my color choices and nearly got two colors to myself. I did some silly things in the draft, but it was pretty good despite not being on my A game. I ended up losing to Andrew and Kevin, but not by all that much. I was able to get some good combos going, but I couldn’t get a good finisher. The best cards I had would get out, and then there would be a good counter from the other side.
After MTG we started cooking for the bbq, and I cleared up the MTG. It was really good food, and some types of food that I hadn’t had before, like a grilled tofu in a tahini based sauce. It was all really tasty, especially the burger. I decided to head back with Steph instead of staying to play poker. She’d been having a rough couple days, so I thought some time with her would be good.
I don’t normally write about work, but this isn’t directly pertaining to it. Steph got the beam+ she had been promised and she let me take it to work. I put the robot in and used it the next day. It was pretty good, the robot only lasted 1.5 hours, but it was nice while it lasted. On Friday one of the founders dialed in from France, and he said he liked it. One of the designers finds it creepy, but overall it was taken well.
This was a fantastic book, with a very different view of time travel. I understand the guy’s first and second replays, as I would have done much the same. I don’t understand the later lives, as I would have seen what I could learn, and then progressed the world at a faster rate, made bigger changes, and been a powerful figure. I also found it interesting that the original timeline was the one they returned to, instead of any of the alternates they had created. I have to admit that I didn’t expect the way it ended.
We had a good time talking about Steelheart. Three or four of us had already read Firefight, but that wasn’t a big issue, since we were able to focus on the first book and how it was written. Pretty much everyone agreed that the analogies were terrible, the point of view was frustrating, and the character was way too lucky. We are also used to Sanderson world building a bit more at the start instead of keeping large parts of the lore secret. I do appreciate the slow reveals that have been going on over the course of the books, but it does get frustrating. We all talked about what powers we would have and how we would use them. The people who had read Firefight were able to talk about the weaknesses they would have, but nothing too specific or we would have revealed it to the others.
We got a bedroom door installed that has a kitty door built into it. Archer has taken to opening it no problem, but Lana doesn’t want to push it to start the process of going through. If I crack it open she will squeeze through. We tried keeping her out last night, to try to get her to force her way in, but that didn’t work. I opened the door for her when I got up so that she could snuggle with Stephanie for a bit. Archer was fine with coming in and out during the night.
We had a great time going to see Inside Out with a bunch of other people at Shoreline theater. We had Adam, Jeremy, Kevin, Lindsay, Andrew, Debby, Riley, Rong, and Brian there with us. Stephanie set up the day, and we got great seats. I really like that the seats can be reserved now, and they are plush couches that recline. The movie was fantastic, especially that most of the movie was for adults, and the subtle scientific theories thrown in. This is a movie that will hold up with time. The during credits views in other’s heads was also amazing. The short beforehand wasn’t very good though.
I really liked the story in this book, and really disliked the magic system. The magic system was so core to the concept, and so contrived feeling that I really couldn’t take it seriously. I especially thought the immunity was contrived, and in the end not all that important. Normally when there are powers like this in a book I think about what I’d do with them, but the system was contrived enough that I couldn’t think about it.
This was a great book, and the development of the characters was really nice. I did find the resentment between the two good Drow to be a bit too fabricated. I also thought that they weren’t very careful on their making up, which led to their downfall. The fixation on Drizzt by the faceless master was also odd, since it was more of an issue with the family and not with him in particular. Him stoping with knowing what family it was that did the deed struck me as odd, as I expected him to want the details and throw those in the face of the ones involved. I guess it did take him 15 years to find out which family had taken him out. It might be worth reading further in this series, and I’ll try out the next one.
It's an Exciting World 