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Cosmic Run: Regeneration
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Tabletop Game
The year is 2123 and the planet earth is becoming uninhabitable. New powers of interstellar travel...
tarabu42 (7 KP) rated The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Brutal World of Victorian Medicine in Books
Oct 29, 2017 (Updated Nov 2, 2017)
The Butchering Art (2017)
Another reviewer said of Dr. Fitzharris' work that its one failure was its accessible style. As far as I am concerned, that is only a fault in a work if its author wants to keep it out of the eyes, hands, and minds of the general public. Like some of the best historians and investigative journalists of decades gone by, Dr. Fitzharris approaches her subject with an open candor, accepting him warts and all, and laying out his life as it happened, her only agenda being the service of history.
This book will make every reader grateful for the medicine of the modern age and will make you pause as you remember the lives of those passed before us who made the accomplishments from which we benefit possible.
This book will make every reader grateful for the medicine of the modern age and will make you pause as you remember the lives of those passed before us who made the accomplishments from which we benefit possible.
SummerLGrant (185 KP) rated Sense8 - Season 2 in TV
Aug 11, 2017
A deeper exploration of the world (2 more)
Character development for those neglected in the first series
Hugely addictive
A decent follow up but doesn't match the first series
This is a decent follow up to the first season but it just doesn't quite match up. The story is still great and so are the characters but there was something missing from this season. It's great to get resolution to some stories carried over from season 1 and there's more questions thrown up by the introduction of other Sense8s, which creates a much deeper world that's begging to be explored.
While it might not be up to the standards of the first season there was no reason for Netflix not to renew the contract, I'm pretty sure a third season would've been able to wrap up everything nicely and satisfyingly. Thankfully, the fans came out in force and Netflix and the Wachowski's have managed to negotiate a feature length episode to finish the story. Hopefully it'll be the story Sense8 deserves
While it might not be up to the standards of the first season there was no reason for Netflix not to renew the contract, I'm pretty sure a third season would've been able to wrap up everything nicely and satisfyingly. Thankfully, the fans came out in force and Netflix and the Wachowski's have managed to negotiate a feature length episode to finish the story. Hopefully it'll be the story Sense8 deserves
Awix (3310 KP) rated Inquest of Pilot Pirx (Test Pilota Pirxa) (1979) in Movies
May 4, 2019 (Updated May 4, 2019)
Soviet sci-fi movie explores much of the same territory as western films from around the same time like Alien and Blade Runner: androids who are virtually indistinguishable from human beings are on the verge of mass production, but can they be relied upon? It's hardly a spoiler to say the answer is 'not entirely'.
The first half of the film is a rather drab earthbound thriller as various corporate interests try to dissuade the title character from taking command of the crucial mission that will assess whether the androids have a future in space exploration; the second half is proper sci-fi. Some interesting, if slightly underpowered discussion of what the difference really is between organic and synthetic people, but the story is slow and talky and never manages to bring its ideas to life. The special effects and sets are a bit reminiscent of Blake's 7, which wasn't a problem for me but may well be for other people. Watchable if you're interested in the development of sci-fi.
The first half of the film is a rather drab earthbound thriller as various corporate interests try to dissuade the title character from taking command of the crucial mission that will assess whether the androids have a future in space exploration; the second half is proper sci-fi. Some interesting, if slightly underpowered discussion of what the difference really is between organic and synthetic people, but the story is slow and talky and never manages to bring its ideas to life. The special effects and sets are a bit reminiscent of Blake's 7, which wasn't a problem for me but may well be for other people. Watchable if you're interested in the development of sci-fi.
Yet another of [author:Michael Crichton|5194]'s science-thriller turned-into-a-movie novel, in which the movie bears only the slightest resemblance to the source material.
While the basic outline of the plot is the same in both - discovery of the lost city of Zinj in the Congo, expedition to said city that includes a Gorilla taught American Sign Langauge - the particulars of both are different, with the movie (form what I remember - it's been a decade or so since I last saw it) making far more of the exploration of Zinj and the fact that it is guarded by a new breed of vicious gorillas specially bred for the purpose by the original inhabitants than the novel does.
The characters in the novel are also less sympathetic than those in the movie - it's hard to take Tim Curry seriously as a hardened mercenary - while it has, also, aged somewhat due to the reliance on (then) state of the art electronics explained therein - a computer has a whole 256k of memory! Wow!!
While the basic outline of the plot is the same in both - discovery of the lost city of Zinj in the Congo, expedition to said city that includes a Gorilla taught American Sign Langauge - the particulars of both are different, with the movie (form what I remember - it's been a decade or so since I last saw it) making far more of the exploration of Zinj and the fact that it is guarded by a new breed of vicious gorillas specially bred for the purpose by the original inhabitants than the novel does.
The characters in the novel are also less sympathetic than those in the movie - it's hard to take Tim Curry seriously as a hardened mercenary - while it has, also, aged somewhat due to the reliance on (then) state of the art electronics explained therein - a computer has a whole 256k of memory! Wow!!
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Mort in Books
Nov 20, 2019
In lots of ways Mort is the first book which feels like a 'proper' Discworld novel, fusing the fantasy setting, humour and allegorical commentary together into a delightful, coherent whole.
The story itself is a good one: Death takes on Mort as an apprentice so he can take a break. When Mort breaks the rules he causes a wound in space/time that needs to be healed. And the more Mort does the job of Death the more the job begins to take its toll on him.
There is so much to like about this book. The humour is spot-on with some great one-liners, characters and footnotes. The exploration of the mechanics of how Death really operates on the Discworld fits perfectly with the logic of how the rather unique world operates and is the first glimpse into just how complex and rich the series of books could be.
The Discworld was still evolving rapidly at this point and Mort represents a real statement of intent for the future.
The story itself is a good one: Death takes on Mort as an apprentice so he can take a break. When Mort breaks the rules he causes a wound in space/time that needs to be healed. And the more Mort does the job of Death the more the job begins to take its toll on him.
There is so much to like about this book. The humour is spot-on with some great one-liners, characters and footnotes. The exploration of the mechanics of how Death really operates on the Discworld fits perfectly with the logic of how the rather unique world operates and is the first glimpse into just how complex and rich the series of books could be.
The Discworld was still evolving rapidly at this point and Mort represents a real statement of intent for the future.
Mothergamer (1595 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Forager in Video Games
Mar 16, 2020
I played the game on PS4, but it's available on the Nintendo Switch and PC too. Forager is an idle game that does a great mix of crafting, exploration, and adventure. Automation is the biggest factor in the game as it encourages you to always have things crafting on your machines while foraging for more resources and adventuring. There are dungeons to explore where you can solve puzzles and fight monsters which reward you with special weapons and items that you can use on your adventure. You can play as little or as much as you want. Forager gives you a lot of freedom to craft, build, farm, and forage. There are mini quests you can do and islands you can buy and unlock adding more areas for you to explore. It is a bit of a grind, but you don't really notice because the game is so much fun to play. It's a laid back relaxing game that gives you a lot of freedom to explore, craft, and build.
lurkykitty (3 KP) rated The Only Good Indians in Books
Mar 25, 2020 (Updated Mar 25, 2020)
A well written and superbly crafted horror story
The Only Good Indians is a well written and superbly crafted horror story which takes place in the northwestern US and has characters from the Blackfeet and Crow tribes. Four young Blackfeet men embark on a badly planned and illegal elk hunt which results in a violation of tribal values and the desecration of nature. Ten years later, an entity exacts her revenge in a chilling, suspenseful and brutal fashion. The characters are incredibly well developed given the length of the novel, and the reader develops sympathy for them. The reader also empathizes with the perspective of the entity who pursues the four men. This story has great depth in its exploration of themes of cultural identity, tradition, social justice, revenge and respect for the natural world. Horror readers will love this, but I would also recommend this book for readers of fiction in general. I can see why this The Only Good Indians is receiving so much critical acclaim.
The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book That Inspired the Dig
8.0
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Book
The Last Days of Richard III contains a new and uniquely detailed exploration of Richard's last 150...
A Political Economy of the Middle East
Melani Cammett, Ishac Diwan, Alan Richards and John Waterbury
Book
A Political Economy of the Middle East is the most comprehensive analysis of developments in the...