Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Novels and Nonsense Riddles and Nathan Drake

Quick Update on books and video games

I finally finished The Historian, after approximately 4 years and 3 stabs at it, but I finally did it and I'm so glad I did. The ending (even if Dracula only pops up for about 50 pages in a 675 page book) was totally worth it. All the reveals and reunions and the stunningly described imagery of EVERYTHING made this totally worth the effort, the wait and the stress involved in reading it. Do as I say, not as I do. The book is worth reading, even if my actions made it seem like it wasn't.

After finishing The Historian, I immediately picked up a trashy gay mystery novel (First You Fall by Scott Sherman) to pass the time and finished it in a day and a half. Such is the extent of my ADD brain when it comes to books. The novels I feel I should read and truly want to read take me a lifetime. Those that are twee and flights of fancy between my more serious reads take complete control of my spare time until I'm finished with them. Ah well. In the end, the book wasn't as trashy as I expected it to be, and since it's part of an ongoing series, I can't wait for the second title to come out!

I also completed Batman: Arkham Asylum, which I believe is probably the best that Batman has been put to the video game screen, ever. Both dark and humorous, with tons of awesome visuals and a maddeningly satisfying Riddler sidequest make for great gaming experience. Also, it has one of my favorite characterizations of (and a leading villain role) for my favorite of the Rogues Gallery, Miss Pamela Lillian Isely...Poison Ivy if you're nasty. Again, with the ADD. It took me three to four months to finish Silent Hill: Homecoming, and only about a week to finish this game. Again, I say ah well.

Started playing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves last night, something to keep me busy between now and next week when Assassin's Creed II comes out, of which I plan to play the hell through. I must say, Nathan Drake is probably one of the cutest video game protagonists I've played as. One could even call him smokin' hot, if those terms apply to VG characters. (sidenote: I thought (and Ben doesn't agree) that he looks strikingly similar to Alex Shephard from Silent Hill: Homecoming, a character I thought was kind of odd looking, but that could be because he was programmed that way (lame Jessica Rabbit reference))

Still waiting to be finished? Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story on my DS. I need to get back to it, but lately my lunch breaks at Starbucks have involved reading, so there hasn't been a good opportunity to sit down with it for any period of time. Eventually, though.