Category Archives: review

What I’m Excited About: Coal Belly

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Hey folks, time to take a break from writing and discussing RPG games (and how I like them as creative tools for writers).

Now I’m going to talk about reading.

I try to broaden my reading horizons from time to time. Try is the operative word. When I had an opportunity to read some books indie-published by an author in my writing group that was firmly outside my usual reading coterie, I welcomed the opportunity with perhaps some minor trepidation.

K.M. Alexander’s weird fiction series, The Bell Forging Cycle, has three books so far. I didn’t relish telling a growing friend who gave great writing advice his style of writing wasn’t for me. What if I couldn’t bring myself to read book two (Old Broken Road)? Also, I’ll admit I wasn’t very excited about reading something “self-published”.  All I knew about self-pubs at the time was the worst FUD distributed by two types of sources. Traditional publishers and reviewers with obvious skin in the game continue to rail against self-pubs even today. Also, multiple people I know have read and reacted poorly to something written and published by a person (often their neighbor or family member) who clearly had no understanding of what is actually involved in the publishing process or frequently even the writing process.

It turns out, there was absolutely no cause for concern. I finished The Stars Were Right rarely putting it down over a single weekend. I’ve since read the rest of The Bell Forging Cycle, and I can’t imagine a sci-fi/fantasy fan who wouldn’t enjoy following along with Waldo Bell’s trials and triumphs in the strange yet familiar multi-tiered city of Lovat. It’s such a rich and intriguing world. I could imagine myself visiting Lovat, and I sure wish I could.

The Point–

K.M. has just finished a zero-draft version of Coal Belly, and I’ll be gnashing my teeth and wailing until I can get my hands on it. Coal Belly isn’t a new installment in The Bell Forging Cycle, it’s a new novel with a whole world of fascinating characters, stories, and ideas behind it.

Mr. Alexander can surely explain it better than I:

–REBLOGGED–

Last weekend, after a year and eight months, I finally hit print on the final chapter of my latest novel, Coal Belly. The first of what I hope to be a trilogy. Right now, it weighs in at 190k words, and I expect it to grow. Long time readers know this isn’t the first time I’ve written […]

via So, Coal Belly is Done… Sorta — I Make Stories

RPG Review: Tiny Frontiers

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WILL RAMBLES

I’m not really in the business of reviewing role-playing games. Granted, I’ve been playing them off and on for 28 or so years. My generation lived in the time when this sort of make believe was frowned on. A time when the most parentally appropriate handling of RPGs was to sell them, throw them out, or burn them.

At any rate, now I play RPGs with my kids. Take that, irony! It’s a nice way to bond, have a good time, and do something intellectually stimulating. I also find it helps exercise the creative muscle in my brain that I use for writing. Playing sci-fi RPGs helps me think through scenarios in The Galaxy and All Her Charms.

THE REVIEW

Fair warning: I play RPGs with the author of Tiny Frontiers on a fairly regular basis. I might not me the most unbiased person to write a review of Tiny Frontiers, but I’m going to do my best.

Today I’m reviewing Tiny Frontiers by Alan Bahr of Gallant Knight Games.

tinyFrontiers

It’s a minimalist sci-fi RPG system, designed to play on the run, with new players, with kids, or just with your normal group when you are between campaigns.

1.) Size and Production Quality 

The Tiny Frontiers book isn’t huge. It clocks in at 136 pages in with black-and-white illustrations and layout. The sidebars contain call-outs. It’s well organized and easy to read. My only complaint is the binding on the standard Kickstarter edition. It’s not the best and I think eventually it will fail. However, if you can get your hands on a Deluxe hardbound edition (good luck) it’s binding is perfection and has a handy bookmark ribbon to boot.

At any rate, the standard book is priced at $15 and the PDF on DriveThruRPG is only $5 at the moment. For my money, a huge bargain.

8/10

2.) Art

The art is quite decent for a first Kickstarter. It evokes the sci-fi setting effectively and there is quite a bit of it spread throughout the book. It feels very thematic to the game and true to the original fantasy setting, Tiny Dungeon.

6/10

3.) Content and Rules

 

For me, there are two areas where Tiny Frontiers really shines. This is one of them. The original TD rules are a great minimalist take with only 3d6 required to play. The statistical curves are good and the simplicity lends itself to easy understanding for new players and kids. Take those original rules and add brilliant adaptations for alien species, cybernetics, space ships, and mecha. Now you have yourself a sci-fi bonanza!

9/10

4.) Game Master Section

For a minimalist RPG, the GM section is pretty short and sweet. Some decent guidance and nifty tables for random generation of everything from planets to enemies.

7/10

5.) Pre-made Adventure

There isn’t exactly a pre-made adventure in Tiny Frontiers. Instead, Gallant Knight Games gives us something I really love: MICRO SETTINGS. Part of the stretch goals for the Kickstarter were micro settings written by sci-fi authors, rpg luminaries, and generally talented folk. People like Steve Diamond, Ryan Schoon, Marie Brennan, and Dan Wells to name a few.

Micro settings are an amazing way to wrap your head around a quick idea for a universe of gameplay and include several adventure hooks to get the story jumpstarted.

I love them.

10/10

Total Score: 40/50

So, I’ve never done this, but I think 40 is a pretty dang good score.

I’d purchase this game again. In fact, I’m backing a follow-up Kickstarter right now: Tiny Frontiers – Mecha & Monsters! The new game stands alone, but can be used in conjunction with the original. It also has full-color art! This is a great chance to get one of those deluxe copies, and Alan has told me he’s going with a better binding on the standard version as well.

You can read my review of the completed Tiny Frontiers: Mecha and Monsters here.

I’ll tease you with the cover art:

tf_mecha

I’ve Seen Stranger Things

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I thought I’d take a minute to give you all some likely redundant thoughts on the Netflix original series, Stranger Things. Yep. I’m probably the five-billionth person to write a review with this exact same title. At least I’m still ahead of 1/3 of humanity.

stranger things titles

Unless you’ve been living under a rock on a planet in a different galaxy where they don’t get Netflix, or Internet service for that matter, you’ve probably heard of Stranger Things. You’ve probably also heard or read people gushing with praise for the series. I’ll be honest… I kind of brushed off the first couple of people who told me about it.

“I’m already in the middle of a Downton Abbey binge with my wife,” I said. Yes, I realize I’m a bit behind on that one. It’s a fantastic series for me right now because I have some scenes in The Galaxy and All Her Charms (keep an eye out for chapter one HERE very soon) taking place in a wealthy Arabritish family’s estate, and they share a few similarities. Enough to justify watching a fun series with a fun lady, at any rate.

So, I had what I felt was an iron-clad excuse to avoid getting caught up in another series. Until some of my more musically-inclined friend started in on me. As readers of the blog will know, I have a thing for music. Where is that understatement emoji? The music in Stranger Things has two things I love: moody, atmospheric, retro electronica, and dark, delightful 80’s pop/rock tunes. Needless to say, I caved, and I took Meri and her sister (who was visiting for a couple of days) with me.

To the meat of the review then.

strangerThingsWidePoster

How to do this without spoilers– I’ll start with the same comparisons I’ve heard from at least a dozen other people:

The Goonies
Stand By Me
E.T.
X-Files
Any good 80’s teen flick
Silent Hill (not the dumb movie– the excellent and suspenseful video game)

The visuals and cinematography are high quality while maintaining the feel of the period. Tension is managed well with the periodical release and build cycles that continue to ratchet higher as the show moves toward the eighth episode finale. Yes, there are eight one-hour episodes, so we have time to see real character development, and the writers don’t let us down.

Finally, the music. Well– you can see some of it for yourself if you have Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/netflixmusic/playlist/2X6z5kU0wMnKoar8i1RN6B

Unfortunately, the score is only on iTunes for now. Check it out there if you like, but really just go watch the show.

Now the shameless plug. If you like Stranger Things, you might enjoy my little piece I wrote recently called Clah and the Ship: a Bedtime Story. It has an element of the fantastic, with some creepiness, and hopefully a similar sense of wonder. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Also, I’d love you hear what you love about Stranger Things. Or where my review went wrong. Hit me up on Twitter.