http://entil2001.com/blog14 Books, Music, and Video Games Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:31:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This is the first book in the Psi Corps trilogy, and one of the first B5 books to be written based on an outline by JMS.  I still have my first-edition paperback copy of the book, and it was definitely interesting to go back for a re-read after so many ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/04/19/babylon-5-dark-genesis-the-birth-of-the-psi-corps-by-j-gregory-keyes/ This is the third novel in the soon-to-be-completed “Wheel of Time” series.  Much like the first two books in the series, the narrative is extremely detailed, almost to the point of being overly so.  Jordan writes from the perspective that almost every single possible moment of a character’s life should ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/04/05/the-dragon-reborn-by-robert-jordan/ Considering how long the editors for the Trek book line planned out the arc that culminated in the “Destiny” trilogy, a rather ambitious “reboot” of the novel version of the Trek continuity, it’s good to see that the very next book managed to set the stage for the next big ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/04/05/star-trek-a-singular-destiny-by-keith-r-a-decandido/ This is the first novel in a quartet set during the timeline of the original series, rather than the previous prequels and sequels.  On the one hand, this approach grounds the story in more familiar waters.  On the other hand, this serves to highlight the glaring differences between the Frank ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/03/14/paul-of-dune-by-brian-herbert-and-kevin-j-anderson/ The previous two albums by U2, as well as the “best of” compilations in the post-“Pop” era, have represented something of a return to a more straightforward rock approach.  Both albums are an amalgam of “War”, “Joshua Tree”, and “Achtung Baby”, and as such, they touch on all the things ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/03/12/no-line-on-the-horizon-by-u2/ Morrissey was one of my favorite artists in my college years, and I associate his music very strongly with a certain old friend from that time of my life.  I was always sorry to see the Moz drop off the map, and was thrilled with “You Are the Quarry” when ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/03/02/years-of-refusal-by-morrissey/ When I returned to “Interview With the Vampire” quite some time after first reading it, I was shocked to discover how poorly it held up.  The writing was horribly pretentious, the novel aspects of the story seemed to be missing, and it was hard to reconcile my fond memories of ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/02/22/the-vampire-lestat-by-anne-rice/ When I began reading this trilogy, I considered tackling each volume individually.  I discovered, soon enough, that it would be a mistake to see this as anything other than one massive tale.  This is more than just the culmination of the recent Next Generation relaunch; this is the culmination of ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/02/09/star-trek-destiny-by-david-mack/ I’m relatively new to the Harry Potter fandom; it’s only been about a year since I first picked up one of the books, let alone finished reading the series.  So much of what is described in this memoir is enlightening to me.  I heard of some of it from friends ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/02/09/harry-a-history-by-melissa-anelli/ The previous album by Keane, “Under the Iron Sea”, was an eclectic mix of different sounds, even as it was an evolution from the relatively simple songwriting of their debut.  I was left wondering, as the release of this album began creeping up, if Keane would continue along the more ... http://entil2001.com/blog14/2009/02/01/keane-perfect-symmetry/