7 years of Harry Potter

This is one the very few times I actually checked out the hype. I guess in a way it was worth if for nothing else than to connect with those who talk about the characters and plot.

Overall, I was not very impressed. The combination of trying to reach the younger generation with kid protagonists and goofy names, while trying to simultaneously appeal to the older crowd with darker thematic elements (not to mention somewhat gory and chilling) just did not mix well. I think the series started off well aiming at the teens, but when Voldemort is reincarnated, it just goes downhill. There is nothing to connect with. The bad guys are too bad, the wizened old wizard is too smart (and too lenient), and the hero is too powerful. You get the sense that Harry is more terrified of his adoptive relatives than the Lord V.

There were some elements I did like. For instance, the owls. I kinda like how they are kinda watching over their charges, even though they have no real powers outside of normal owls. I liked Fred & George Weasley; forget the stupid things the author stuck them with, I like how they turned magic to their mischievous will. I like the background of Tom Riddle. And I think Snape was done up well as the double-double-double-double crossing bad guy who is a good guy who is a bad guy; plus he was cast quite well in the movies.

I like how the last book answered a lot of questions, answers that were long in the coming. We learned a lot more about Dumbledore and Potter, Snape and Riddle. I appreciate that the last book was the last book. Finally! =)

But there was so much to hate. The names of things are just dumb. Ok, I get that the author wants to appeal to children, but when you start having a Dark Wizard who imbibes blood and goes around killing folks just because, you kinda discriminate against the parents of the children. Spells especially are ridiculous. There are perhaps a few that seem original and in good taste. While the idea of the art of wandmaking is rather interesting, the theory that wands are merely instruments for a well-learned wizard (and not, alledgely, the source of the magic in the first place) falls on its face when the Big Bad Guy is so intent on getting the biggest and baddest wand. Yes, the famed wandmakers did try to warn Mr. V that he just didn't get it, and we the reader are supposed to understand that Riddle was so consumed that he was blinded. But even Dumbledore had to use a wand, not to mention all the other power players. Both the books and movies place way too much emphasis on the wands. Perhaps another throwback to children?

I did not like how our young heroes were always so much better than their elders. How is it they they excel so much where their mentors fall short? I even felt at times that the children were more mature than the adults.

I really did not connect with these stories at all. I think they make for interesting conversation. And the fact that there is so much hype about them easily lends itself to the impression, the false sense of some level of "good quality", that people will actually have intelligent discussions about the ideas and concepts put forth in those pages. I think that is more to the credit of the critics and fans than the author herself.

The Sleeping God: A Novel of Dhulyn and Parno by Violette Malan

I liked the way this novel started, but was not very thrilled with the ending. The whole thing with the "Green Shadow" is just too cheesy, almost like a bad mash-up of the "Green Hornet" and "The Shadow" from 1960's talk radio. If Malan's other novels have nothing to do with this mysterious cartoon character of NOT, I may take another chance with them.

I like the main characters, Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane. They are members of the Mercenary Guild, and like all Mercenaries, are experts in swordsmanship, fieldcraft and full of common sense. Almost too much so. And they all have these funny adopted last names to reflect that, when they join the Guild, they loose their past.

There are also the Marked, those with special abilities that most everyone benefits from. You have your Healers, Menders and Finders. You would never guess what they do. =) Malan weaves an interesting theology together, showing how all these special abilities can join up with the more rare of the Marked, the Seers and the Lens. Together, they can form the Sleeping God when the time is ripe. By the end of the book, images from my childhood days of watching Voltron were coming to mind.

I like the little details, and most of the story. As you can tell from what I said above, some of the more abstract concepts did not pull me into the story, but instead distanced me.

More on EVE

I am still reminiscing about EVE Online. I have never felt such a pull, and such a revulsion, for a game. Gamespot has a review of the game that, for once, strikes a strong vibe with me. EVE is heavily PVP, so like one reviewer said, if you are not in it for PVP, don't waste your time.

I have been looking for something that is non-PVP EVE. Or at least, something that has a rich, rewarding PVE side to it. I tried out the demos for X3 and the Tarr Chronicles, Starlancer and Freelancer; all of which are quite interesting and even kinda fun, but I am not exactly interested in the first-person experience. Especially with no joystick. I want something like Homeworld, but something current. I briefly looked at Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, but the graphics are horrid, and the game is a bit old. And slow. There are a slew of other games recommended by Amazon, but they are all older. I browsed stargamer.net, which looked like my kind of place, but that is even old. What's up with that!! I briefly read about the Battlestar Gallatica and Star Trek games, but I have never been impressed with the games-from-movies projects (including Star Wars). Maybe I need to give them another chance. Maybe.

Is this genre dying out?!?

At least the bevy of fantasy RPGs are seemingly unending. I won't have to worry about spell-casting, sword-weilding games running out any time soon.