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Bluee Free International Calls
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Bluee - International Calls and SMS App • Earn UNLIMITED FREE CREDITS and CALL FOR FREE (no...
Indian Railway IRCTC Train PNR & Running Status
Travel and Utilities
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“Hotfoot” is a best rated travel app that gets train running status, PNR status, Live train...
The Kid by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
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In 2017, the musical term 'electronic' is nearly obsolete given the ubiquity of computerized...
electronic
Elmo Calls
Games and Education
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This is an app full of fun phone calls from Elmo, which will help teach your child about healthy...
FINAL FANTASY VI
Games and Entertainment
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==== We have received a report that the in-game language switches to English when the device is set...
Mommy May Bloops - A Farting Tale in Rhyme (Mariana Books Rhyming #10)
8.0
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Mommy May is a perfect mom in nearly every way. She loves her kids, like every mother would. She is...
Children Humor Farting
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Highwayman in Books
May 16, 2018
It's a bit hard for me to really talk about how I felt while reading Highwayman by Craig Saunders. To some extent, I feel that I may not know as much about old lore and mythology as I thought I did - and that's definitely a possibility. The concept behind the book is intriguing, but there are many elements of Saunders story that failed to satisfy me.
In the wake of a plane crash, Karl Goodman finds himself in-between life and death - a sort of limbo that I felt was reminiscent of an episode of Supernatural where Castiel and Dean are fighting vampires in purgatory. I say this largely because of the whole Fog-World/forest atmosphere. In this surreal world, a murderer from centuries past is able to cross the lines between the worlds of the living and dead to continue visiting his reign of horror upon unsuspecting individuals. Guided by the Deans, who appear to be a set of reapers, for lack of a better term (or maybe ferrymen), and a young, comatose girl named Imke, Karl finds himself seeking out this murderous highwayman so that he can exact revenge for his daughter's death.
While I have a strong love for the supernatural and paranormal, I couldn't help but find myself confused more often than not by several aspects of the story. I am, admittedly, ignorant of the White Hart and the Green Man, but I like to think I'm a bit more versed in the many varieties of spooks. In fact, Saunders portrayal of a barrow-wight did not stray unreasonably far from its native draugr. What does baffle me though is how Saunders introduces these supernatural elements into his book. When I received Highwayman, I was expecting something dark and macabre that dealt with... well, with highwaymen. The main villain of the tale is precisely that, but the book itself is largely a ghost story. That isn't necessarily a problem, but it simply did not sit very well with me.
To further complicate the telling of the story, there are far too many differing points of view - five or six, total. (I can't remember if there was a part told from Mr. Dean's perspective.) This makes it hard to keep track of the passage of time, and whether or not that is intentional, I found it bothersome. For instance, at one point Bethany, Karl's wife, does something. Then, for several chapters, the story does not return to her. In fact, the disparity between returning to her point of view was so great that I actually thought that Saunders had forgotten about her.
One of the other issues that bothered me was the circumstances of Karl and Bethany's daughter's death. At first it is explained as a drowning, but then later we learn it was not. Apparently her murder was so horrid that Karl conveniently blocked the tragedy from his mind with a far more "rational" explanation, and to me this felt more like slapping a bandaid on a forgotten plot element than something that was done naturally.
At no point during my reading of this book did I feel any sort of emotion or attachment to any of the characters, and I found that to be extremely disappointing. The cast of Highwayman are not, in any way, extraordinary (well, not depth wise), and that made it harder for me to get into the book.
Overall, I didn't care much for Highwayman; however I will not let that discourage me from reading more of Saunders' work in the future. As part of the DarkFuse Reader's Group, I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank DarkFuse, Craig Saunders, and NetGalley for this opportunity.
In the wake of a plane crash, Karl Goodman finds himself in-between life and death - a sort of limbo that I felt was reminiscent of an episode of Supernatural where Castiel and Dean are fighting vampires in purgatory. I say this largely because of the whole Fog-World/forest atmosphere. In this surreal world, a murderer from centuries past is able to cross the lines between the worlds of the living and dead to continue visiting his reign of horror upon unsuspecting individuals. Guided by the Deans, who appear to be a set of reapers, for lack of a better term (or maybe ferrymen), and a young, comatose girl named Imke, Karl finds himself seeking out this murderous highwayman so that he can exact revenge for his daughter's death.
While I have a strong love for the supernatural and paranormal, I couldn't help but find myself confused more often than not by several aspects of the story. I am, admittedly, ignorant of the White Hart and the Green Man, but I like to think I'm a bit more versed in the many varieties of spooks. In fact, Saunders portrayal of a barrow-wight did not stray unreasonably far from its native draugr. What does baffle me though is how Saunders introduces these supernatural elements into his book. When I received Highwayman, I was expecting something dark and macabre that dealt with... well, with highwaymen. The main villain of the tale is precisely that, but the book itself is largely a ghost story. That isn't necessarily a problem, but it simply did not sit very well with me.
To further complicate the telling of the story, there are far too many differing points of view - five or six, total. (I can't remember if there was a part told from Mr. Dean's perspective.) This makes it hard to keep track of the passage of time, and whether or not that is intentional, I found it bothersome. For instance, at one point Bethany, Karl's wife, does something. Then, for several chapters, the story does not return to her. In fact, the disparity between returning to her point of view was so great that I actually thought that Saunders had forgotten about her.
One of the other issues that bothered me was the circumstances of Karl and Bethany's daughter's death. At first it is explained as a drowning, but then later we learn it was not. Apparently her murder was so horrid that Karl conveniently blocked the tragedy from his mind with a far more "rational" explanation, and to me this felt more like slapping a bandaid on a forgotten plot element than something that was done naturally.
At no point during my reading of this book did I feel any sort of emotion or attachment to any of the characters, and I found that to be extremely disappointing. The cast of Highwayman are not, in any way, extraordinary (well, not depth wise), and that made it harder for me to get into the book.
Overall, I didn't care much for Highwayman; however I will not let that discourage me from reading more of Saunders' work in the future. As part of the DarkFuse Reader's Group, I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank DarkFuse, Craig Saunders, and NetGalley for this opportunity.
Great, inspiring memoir
I'm not going to do my usual paragraph of description for Becoming, Michelle Obama's memoir, because, well, we all know who Michelle Obama is. This memoir is Mrs. Obama's reflection on her life to date, from her childhood in the South Side of Chicago, her time at Princeton, her work as a lawyer and executive, meeting Barack Obama and being introduced to politics through him, and their historic road to the White House.
"Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own."
I almost do not want to review this book, because I feel like I cannot do justice to the woman that is Michelle Obama. This is a really beautiful book, and it's also really informative. I learned so much about Mrs. Obama and her life, which I very much enjoyed.
First of all, she's a great storyteller. This is a big book, and it's a bit of an undertaking, but it's an easy read, and a really interesting one. I found myself completely immersed--I really loved learning about her childhood and her family. And, of course, it's fun to hear about how she met Barack (his marriage proposal is pretty amazing). Learning about both of their origins is fascinating, honestly. I mean, I knew that the Obamas weren't from the old-school political establishment, but it wasn't until I was reading about her life--and hearing more about the former President's--that it really hit home to me. It's amazing how much they have accomplished for our country.
Ms. Obama does a wonderful job of weaving her themes throughout her story--the power of education, of having an advocate, the importance of diversity and women's rights, and how vital children are in her life. She is honest about the realities of working motherhood: both for her life and for those of working Americans. It's also great to get little asides about her daughters (e.g., families at their schools sending in cupcakes for the Secret Service agents on birthdays); funny stories about meeting the Queen; and her mom sounds like a real trip.
"Kids made me feel like myself again. To them, I wasn't a spectacle. I was just a nice, kinda-tall lady."
She also talks about serious matters: race, education, and her reluctance about getting her family into politics. We see how importance her daughters are to her and how hard it was, knowing what they were sacrificing when her husband ran for President. We hear about her struggles being the first African American First Lady--the stings she felt from the racial insults aimed at both her and her husband, the fear she felt for her family's safety, and the attempts she made to find her place in Washington. I found myself copying quotes right and left, because she is so intelligent and profound and because, truly, as we all learned over eight years, she's such a relatable person.
"Kids wake up each day believing in the goodness of things, in the magic of what be. They're uncynical, believers at their core. We owe it to them to stay strong and keep working to create a more fair and humane world. For them, we need to remain both tough and hopeful, to acknowledge that there's more growing to be done."
Overall, this was a great memoir. It was informative, educational, and also inspiring and funny. It made me miss the Obama family all over again and appreciate so much their time in the Oval Office. It also gave me even more insight into Mrs. Obama, her life, and her feelings. I highly recommend it.
"Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own."
I almost do not want to review this book, because I feel like I cannot do justice to the woman that is Michelle Obama. This is a really beautiful book, and it's also really informative. I learned so much about Mrs. Obama and her life, which I very much enjoyed.
First of all, she's a great storyteller. This is a big book, and it's a bit of an undertaking, but it's an easy read, and a really interesting one. I found myself completely immersed--I really loved learning about her childhood and her family. And, of course, it's fun to hear about how she met Barack (his marriage proposal is pretty amazing). Learning about both of their origins is fascinating, honestly. I mean, I knew that the Obamas weren't from the old-school political establishment, but it wasn't until I was reading about her life--and hearing more about the former President's--that it really hit home to me. It's amazing how much they have accomplished for our country.
Ms. Obama does a wonderful job of weaving her themes throughout her story--the power of education, of having an advocate, the importance of diversity and women's rights, and how vital children are in her life. She is honest about the realities of working motherhood: both for her life and for those of working Americans. It's also great to get little asides about her daughters (e.g., families at their schools sending in cupcakes for the Secret Service agents on birthdays); funny stories about meeting the Queen; and her mom sounds like a real trip.
"Kids made me feel like myself again. To them, I wasn't a spectacle. I was just a nice, kinda-tall lady."
She also talks about serious matters: race, education, and her reluctance about getting her family into politics. We see how importance her daughters are to her and how hard it was, knowing what they were sacrificing when her husband ran for President. We hear about her struggles being the first African American First Lady--the stings she felt from the racial insults aimed at both her and her husband, the fear she felt for her family's safety, and the attempts she made to find her place in Washington. I found myself copying quotes right and left, because she is so intelligent and profound and because, truly, as we all learned over eight years, she's such a relatable person.
"Kids wake up each day believing in the goodness of things, in the magic of what be. They're uncynical, believers at their core. We owe it to them to stay strong and keep working to create a more fair and humane world. For them, we need to remain both tough and hopeful, to acknowledge that there's more growing to be done."
Overall, this was a great memoir. It was informative, educational, and also inspiring and funny. It made me miss the Obama family all over again and appreciate so much their time in the Oval Office. It also gave me even more insight into Mrs. Obama, her life, and her feelings. I highly recommend it.
Kevin Wilson (179 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Soma in Video Games
Jul 13, 2018
Interesting concept and story (3 more)
Good length
Creepy atmosphere
Amazing world
Bad AI (2 more)
Awkward acting and diologue
Slow parts
Great game, a few flaws
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is a great game, I loved it but there were a few flaws that knocked the rating down sadly.
First off the concept, story and world were by far the best parts of the game. It lasted me around 10 hours and I wanted to keep coming back to it.
The idea to transfer consciousness to robot has fascinated me for a long time. It's not new, it's been talked about for a long time and this game shows it in a very interesting way.
Basically you have a brain scan. Your creating a digital copy of yourself and that is being transferred into the robot. So it doesn't matter if it's 1 year or 100 years later you will have the brain scan and then wake up in a robot because this version of you is from that moment the brain scan took place (stay with me haha) which means the original "you" could have gone on to live 50 more years for all we know.
It's intriguing but also a scary thought because it does beg the question, is this version actually you? It's a copy so surely it's not you conscious?
So obviously we meet our protagonist, Simon who is suffering a brain injury and goes for a brain scan. He doesnt know what the brain scan is intended for so he is immediately woken up in the far future and feeling very confused and this could have been a very interesting story about him descending into madness and insanity as he begins to realise what he has now become. However this falls flat and when he does find out the truth he is quickly accepting and calm about it all. It wasn't very believable and could have done so much more with it.
There is a 2nd character you meet, Catherine who turns out to be a machine who then gets transfer into your omnitool so you assume will be a constant companion and will talk to you constantly as you walk about. However this is not the case as she only talks when plugged into a console which was too few for my liking. Her acting and diologue also felt too emotionless and wooden which could have been intentional and gradually made her out to be obsessive and manipulative and this would have further showed that if they had her talking as you walked about. But again this was not the case, the game is predictable which was disappointing. The ending was predictable despite a few twists but I still liked it.
The AI was very confusing. I didn't understand what the rules were. Was it attracted to light, movement or sound? It was very unpredictable but thankfully the developer updated the game to add a safe mode which keeps everything the same, and still keeps the creepiness but removes the ability for enemies to harm you which did make the game more enjoyable. Plus trophies still unlock on that mode for those completionests.
Overall game was too good to not play thanks to story and the concept behind it. I loved learning about the world through recordings and terminal. I'd love to learn more in a sequel or prequel but with different characters and location. The atmosphere felt creepy and clostophobic at times. But gameplay was generic. Walk to here, open this door, use this terminal.
I do recommend anyone playing it but the lack of collectibles and multiple endings doesn't give good replayability.
First off the concept, story and world were by far the best parts of the game. It lasted me around 10 hours and I wanted to keep coming back to it.
The idea to transfer consciousness to robot has fascinated me for a long time. It's not new, it's been talked about for a long time and this game shows it in a very interesting way.
Basically you have a brain scan. Your creating a digital copy of yourself and that is being transferred into the robot. So it doesn't matter if it's 1 year or 100 years later you will have the brain scan and then wake up in a robot because this version of you is from that moment the brain scan took place (stay with me haha) which means the original "you" could have gone on to live 50 more years for all we know.
It's intriguing but also a scary thought because it does beg the question, is this version actually you? It's a copy so surely it's not you conscious?
So obviously we meet our protagonist, Simon who is suffering a brain injury and goes for a brain scan. He doesnt know what the brain scan is intended for so he is immediately woken up in the far future and feeling very confused and this could have been a very interesting story about him descending into madness and insanity as he begins to realise what he has now become. However this falls flat and when he does find out the truth he is quickly accepting and calm about it all. It wasn't very believable and could have done so much more with it.
There is a 2nd character you meet, Catherine who turns out to be a machine who then gets transfer into your omnitool so you assume will be a constant companion and will talk to you constantly as you walk about. However this is not the case as she only talks when plugged into a console which was too few for my liking. Her acting and diologue also felt too emotionless and wooden which could have been intentional and gradually made her out to be obsessive and manipulative and this would have further showed that if they had her talking as you walked about. But again this was not the case, the game is predictable which was disappointing. The ending was predictable despite a few twists but I still liked it.
The AI was very confusing. I didn't understand what the rules were. Was it attracted to light, movement or sound? It was very unpredictable but thankfully the developer updated the game to add a safe mode which keeps everything the same, and still keeps the creepiness but removes the ability for enemies to harm you which did make the game more enjoyable. Plus trophies still unlock on that mode for those completionests.
Overall game was too good to not play thanks to story and the concept behind it. I loved learning about the world through recordings and terminal. I'd love to learn more in a sequel or prequel but with different characters and location. The atmosphere felt creepy and clostophobic at times. But gameplay was generic. Walk to here, open this door, use this terminal.
I do recommend anyone playing it but the lack of collectibles and multiple endings doesn't give good replayability.