Reviews
All the books, games, and papers I've reviewed.
Misfits Worth Hanging On To
reviewJ. Zachary Pike's Son of a Liche picks up a year after Orconomics and gives every member of Gorm Ingerson's party of misfits room to grow.
Pigments, Pots, and Process
reviewCaitlin ffrench's Gathering Colour has good instruction on paint and natural dye, but more ritual than I wanted. Worth it if you craft your own supplies.
Worlds Worth More Than Their Stories
reviewBrandon Sanderson's three Cosmere Secret Projects build strange worlds worth exploring, then tell bland stories in them.
Keeping Arth's Economy Running
reviewJ. Zachary Pike's Orconomics turns fantasy adventuring into a financial industry and follows a disgraced dwarf who still has a sense of honour.
Carried by Its Giants
reviewSenua's Saga: Hellblade II is as well made as the first game, and its giants are excellent, though the ending hits less hard.
Nobody Explains the Bathtub
reviewAtomfall has no quest markers and an inventory too small for the zone. I came away thinking both are why it works.
The Cloud Over Roke
reviewThe school on Roke was founded largely by women, then closed against them. What reaches its wizards isn't that history but the songs.
Whichever Comes Second
reviewLem's The Invincible works as a game and it works as a novel. It doesn't work as both, and whichever you come to second is the one that pays.
Told Without Telling
reviewKeeper tells its story the way Inside and the Souls games do, with the history in the world rather than in dialogue—and none of the adrenaline.
The Man in the Middle
reviewPuzo's The Sicilian sets a bandit's belief against the law of the Mafia, with Michael Corleone caught in the middle.
