Saturday, August 7, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Review: Throne of Lies
Previously I’ve reviewed some of the audio dramas from the Black Library’s Warhammer 40,000 line. My first experience, with Fireborn, completely changed the way I look at audiobooks – not just because it was a great story, but because of the presentation (from music to sound effects) used to such excellent effect. A couple of weeks ago, I continued with The Dark King & The Lightning Tower – which continued to prove to me what a fantastic job they’re doing in this area. Now I’ll take a look at Throne of Lies by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, the latest audio drama from the Black Library released just yesterday.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden wrote Helsreach, which was my first Warhammer 40,000 book – and one which I enjoyed immensely. Still, I was curious how his writing would translate to an audio book. I need not have worried – I found this just as engaging as my previous experience with his work, and it has in fact solidified the fact that I’m going to continue reading anything put out by this author (and would in fact like to track down his Soul Hunters, featuring the same group of characters seen in Throne of Lies.
Throne of Lies features a group of Night Lords, the First Claw (a team) led by Talos, on a mission to recover a hololithic (holographic recording) kept from them by a group of female assassins. So the Night Lords have set a trap for one of the assassins – and assuming they can catch her, the plan is to torture her until she reveals the location of that which they seek. Once the location is obtained, a massive fleet of warships, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the great crusade, will bring all of the Night Lords face to face with their destiny – but have they been led into a trap devised by the assassins?
There is much to recommend this audio drama, especially in the wake of my prior review of The Dark Tower – as Throne of Lies is about the followers of Konrad (the Night Lords) and the object they seek is a recording of his death at the hands of the assassins. There is also a fantastic action piece in the middle of the book, where the assassin is given her opportunity to remove a threat to the Imperium, only to find out she has been set up with the First Claw group rushing in to capture her. The battle as she flees them is well done, a heart-pounding affair that you know is only putting off the inevitable – and still I found myself hoping she’d get away.
The brutality of her torture at the hands of Talos is subtle – we hear what he’s going to do to her, and then we see her in the aftermath – but the change in the voice of the actress is jarring and tells everything we really need to know. I’ll mention that having an actress to play the female roles was extremely satisfying – nothing takes me out of an audiobook faster than hearing a male author trying to mimic a female voice. The actress plays a few roles, including Octavia – the navigator of the ship on which Talos and his men are stationed.
Unfortunately, this is the part of the audiobook that didn’t entirely work for me – not because I had difficulty understanding how a navigator interfaces with the machine and guides the craft through chaos space – but because I felt like I didn’t understand who these characters (Octavia and her friend in the legion) were and what purpose they had in the story. The story begins where Octavia must bring her ship out of Chaos before it can be torn apart, much to the annoyance of her Night Lord masters – but it seems to have nothing to do with Talos mission, and while these same characters give us some perspective on the massive fleet which is amassed at the end of the story – it never felt necessary to me, and it wasn’t until my second listen-through that I realized this was supposed to be Talos ship. In my opinion, these scenes could have easily been removed from the story and not taken away from the real focus (and perhaps left room in the audio drama to expand upon some other aspect of the story directly related to the main plot). I suspect that for someone who has read Soul Hunter (the book which proceeds this audio drama) this would be less of an issue, and even for me it just felt more unnecessary than confusing.
But as I said near the beginning, this audio drama also convinced me that Aaron Dembski-Bowden is an author I will continue to seek out in Warhammer 40,000 fiction. There’s something about his style of writing that appeals to me, even in audio form, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future. As to this work, I can say it is a most worthwhile experience (and well acted) but perhaps not the best place for someone to start in exploring Black Library audio dramas.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden wrote Helsreach, which was my first Warhammer 40,000 book – and one which I enjoyed immensely. Still, I was curious how his writing would translate to an audio book. I need not have worried – I found this just as engaging as my previous experience with his work, and it has in fact solidified the fact that I’m going to continue reading anything put out by this author (and would in fact like to track down his Soul Hunters, featuring the same group of characters seen in Throne of Lies.
Throne of Lies features a group of Night Lords, the First Claw (a team) led by Talos, on a mission to recover a hololithic (holographic recording) kept from them by a group of female assassins. So the Night Lords have set a trap for one of the assassins – and assuming they can catch her, the plan is to torture her until she reveals the location of that which they seek. Once the location is obtained, a massive fleet of warships, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the great crusade, will bring all of the Night Lords face to face with their destiny – but have they been led into a trap devised by the assassins?
There is much to recommend this audio drama, especially in the wake of my prior review of The Dark Tower – as Throne of Lies is about the followers of Konrad (the Night Lords) and the object they seek is a recording of his death at the hands of the assassins. There is also a fantastic action piece in the middle of the book, where the assassin is given her opportunity to remove a threat to the Imperium, only to find out she has been set up with the First Claw group rushing in to capture her. The battle as she flees them is well done, a heart-pounding affair that you know is only putting off the inevitable – and still I found myself hoping she’d get away.
The brutality of her torture at the hands of Talos is subtle – we hear what he’s going to do to her, and then we see her in the aftermath – but the change in the voice of the actress is jarring and tells everything we really need to know. I’ll mention that having an actress to play the female roles was extremely satisfying – nothing takes me out of an audiobook faster than hearing a male author trying to mimic a female voice. The actress plays a few roles, including Octavia – the navigator of the ship on which Talos and his men are stationed.
Unfortunately, this is the part of the audiobook that didn’t entirely work for me – not because I had difficulty understanding how a navigator interfaces with the machine and guides the craft through chaos space – but because I felt like I didn’t understand who these characters (Octavia and her friend in the legion) were and what purpose they had in the story. The story begins where Octavia must bring her ship out of Chaos before it can be torn apart, much to the annoyance of her Night Lord masters – but it seems to have nothing to do with Talos mission, and while these same characters give us some perspective on the massive fleet which is amassed at the end of the story – it never felt necessary to me, and it wasn’t until my second listen-through that I realized this was supposed to be Talos ship. In my opinion, these scenes could have easily been removed from the story and not taken away from the real focus (and perhaps left room in the audio drama to expand upon some other aspect of the story directly related to the main plot). I suspect that for someone who has read Soul Hunter (the book which proceeds this audio drama) this would be less of an issue, and even for me it just felt more unnecessary than confusing.
But as I said near the beginning, this audio drama also convinced me that Aaron Dembski-Bowden is an author I will continue to seek out in Warhammer 40,000 fiction. There’s something about his style of writing that appeals to me, even in audio form, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future. As to this work, I can say it is a most worthwhile experience (and well acted) but perhaps not the best place for someone to start in exploring Black Library audio dramas.
Winners!
I'm sorry for being so late (again!) in getting the winners announced for the contests I've had up. I've had a busier month than usual and, since I'm already easily distracted, I've been struggling to keep up my normal blogging. The good news is that school starts in less than two weeks (though my kids would call that bad news) so I should be able to get back on track soon. I am prompt with mailing off prizes though, so the winners should expect to receive their books as soon as media mail can get it to them!
So here are the winners of the contests that have recently ended.
"Countdown" and "Final Crisis" by Greg Cox--
Shannon YonerKnysh; Canada
"The King's Bastard" by Rowena Cory Daniells--
Doreen Riopel; Canada
"Omnitopia Dawn" by Diane Duane--
Kerry Dustin; New Zealand
"Tracking the Tempest" by Nicole Peeler--
Jo White; Las Cruces, NM
"Labyrinth" by Kat Richardson--
Anita Yancey; Barnesville, GA
Congrats everyone! The books are on their way.
So here are the winners of the contests that have recently ended.
"Countdown" and "Final Crisis" by Greg Cox--
Shannon YonerKnysh; Canada
"The King's Bastard" by Rowena Cory Daniells--
Doreen Riopel; Canada
"Omnitopia Dawn" by Diane Duane--
Kerry Dustin; New Zealand
"Tracking the Tempest" by Nicole Peeler--
Jo White; Las Cruces, NM
"Labyrinth" by Kat Richardson--
Anita Yancey; Barnesville, GA
Congrats everyone! The books are on their way.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Rollphone, the smallest phone to run on an AA battery
In now, we will have not seen the change of all gadgets get often be like cellphone. Which, there is the development or new idea comes out clearly, from design long figure to custom wireless handset to a hi-tech touchscreen mobile phone. It today has the idea designs special new again
The "Rollphone" is compact cellphone as depicted by its name is a rollable handset with a flexible display that rolls into smaller size to slip neatly into your pocket. Claimed to be the shortest cellphone ever, the Rollphone looks like a camera film that you may either put in your pocket or hang it on your wrist/belt like a key ring.
Moreover, users can enlarge the screen, from 45 mm to 75 mm, to see a video clearly on a big screen. The Rollphone use the power resource from a custom AA battery to make you can chat by continual, do not worry
Designer: Tao Ma
The "Rollphone" is compact cellphone as depicted by its name is a rollable handset with a flexible display that rolls into smaller size to slip neatly into your pocket. Claimed to be the shortest cellphone ever, the Rollphone looks like a camera film that you may either put in your pocket or hang it on your wrist/belt like a key ring.
Moreover, users can enlarge the screen, from 45 mm to 75 mm, to see a video clearly on a big screen. The Rollphone use the power resource from a custom AA battery to make you can chat by continual, do not worry
Designer: Tao Ma
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Making the Rounds..Was "Inception" Inspired by Scrooge McDuck?
I saw this over at the NY Post (who got it from www.wwtdd.com) If you look closely at the 2002 cartoon, you'll see criminals breaking into Scrooge McDuck's dream to steal the combination to his vault.
Very very interesting.
(Click on image to view larger)
Very very interesting.
"Chapit" a robot remembers the speech
A robot communicates "Chapit" of RayTron is a household robot that develop to upward for controlling home appliances by chapit that has voice-recognition technology allowing it to respond to spoken phrases and commands, allowing it to serve as a voice-activated universal remote in your living room.
Chapit's name be from three words: chat+pico (small)+robot and develop from concept idea that friendliness, simplicity, and convenience.
Chapit's name be from three words: chat+pico (small)+robot and develop from concept idea that friendliness, simplicity, and convenience.
Its head of chapit that can nod and tilt and its feet can move independently from the body, which can swivel in place. The eyes and mouth shapes are built up of several LEDs that can display a small selection of states, like opening and closing. It has will large ears at is the microphones for pick up voice commands (around 1000 words) and its embedded speaker and speech synthesis function allow it to respond using a database of associated words and phrases.
Besides controlling home appliances, Chapit can update its data through mobile phones with infrared capability, or through wireless internet connection. An optional feature currently under development is a camera which can send images to the user’s cellphone, PDA, or laptop.
Designed: RayTron
Designed: RayTron
If you liked this robot, you would also be interested in:www.plasticpal.com
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
some cool mini laptop pictures
some cool mini laptops 
some cool mini laptops 
some cool mini laptops 
some cool mini laptops 
some cool mini laptops
"If 'Twilight' Was 10 Times Shorter And 100 Times More Honest"
This is over at Cracked.com.I laughed my a** off reading this. (No, I'm not biased. Why do you ask?)
Rod Hilton, creator of The-Editing-Room.com brings you an abridged version of the screenplay for Twilight, the movie based on Stephanie Meyer's novel.
FADE IN:
EXT. WASHINGTON
KRISTEN STEWART goes to FORKS, WASHINGTON.
KRISTEN STEWART (V.O.)
Once upon a time, there lived an enchanting girl named Stephanie Meyer, er I mean Kristen Stewart. She was so awesome that her awesomeness couldn't be contained in Arizona, so she moved to Washington to stay with her father, who was totally lame and not cool.
BILLY BURKE
Hey honey. I'm super lame. I got you a car, but it's totally uncool because I'm totally uncool.
KRISTEN STEWART
Thanks Dad, or whatever. Time for my first day at a new school. Since every coming-of-age story requires the main character be a social outcast, I suppose I'll have to endure being the unpopular new girl until I do something that proves my worth.
KRISTEN goes to school and is INSTANTLY POPULAR AND BELOVED.
ANNA KENDRICK
Oh my God I love your hair you're so pretty will you be my new best friend?
GREGORY TYREE BOYCE
Can I take you out sometime since you're so awesome?
MICHAEL WELCH
No way you asshole, I saw her first!
KRISTEN STEWART
I'd rather watch "The Messengers" than date either of you. Why don't you go ask Anna instead?
ANNA KENDRICK
Ohmigod I'm getting Kristen's rejects, that's so awesome!
KRISTEN STEWART
Wow. I guess this is what it looks like when the unpopular fat girl's pathetic daydreams get written down and published into a bestselling book. Aren't well-written characters supposed to have flaws?
ANNA KENDRICK
Flaws? Oh, well, um, I suppose you could argue that you're a little TOO perfect and amazing. But I don't think so. Let's make out.
Suddenly, ROBERT PATTINSON enters. The paleness of him and his family members reach blinding levels while the squeals in the movie theater reach deafening levels.
KRISTEN STEWART
Who's the albino Wolverine?
ANNA KENDRICK
Oh, him? That's Robert. He's universally acknowledged as the hottest boy in school but he doesn't date anyone because no girl is good enough for him.
KRISTEN STEWART
No girl is good enough for him? Man, the excuses closested homosexuals come up with these days...
KRISTEN sits next to ROBERT, who nearly vomits in his mouth and leaves school for a week. Eventually, he returns.
KRISTEN STEWART
Hey, where did you go? Because you are exceedingly mean to me, I find myself attracted to you.
ROBERT PATTINSON
Sounds like textbook daddy issues, you fat cow.
KRISTEN STEWART
(swoon)
ROBERT PATTINSON
You have a bright career as a stripper ahead of you.
Read more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
