Speed X 3D and NightSky Game Reviews

So for a change of pace this week I’m reviewing some games instead. First up is Speed X 3D on the Nintendo 3DS. This is a straight-forward racing game where you have to make it to the end of the course to progress. 

The controls are very simple, you cannot speed up or slow down, you just have to steer and avoid the polygons of doom that come your way. If you hit these it’s game over. 

You can also get shields by passing over grill-like patches but only for a short time, as well as other occasional power-ups. The stages get progressively faster, so it does become more and more difficult to avoid the cubes - or something pyramids or pillars that kill. 

This is a good mini-game to kill ten or twenty minutes but the music in the background never changes from course to course, so it does start to get annoying after a while. Also, there is not much variation between the modes. 

But all round, this is a fun little game that kind of reminds me of the very first StarFox (or Starwing game on the Super Nintendo in 1993. 

It gets 6/10.

Next up is NightSky. I also played this on the Nintendo 3DS but it is available on other platforms. Basically the idea is to get a black sphere, which you control, to the exit of each level. 

The game is of a minimalistic design, usually with the level itself all in black and with the only colour in the game coming from the background, as well as the sphere itself depending on the button you press.

Again, the levels get gradually harder and some do require a few attempts before you work them out. There are no lives though, so you can have as many goes as you want. 

My only complaint about this game is that because of the all black scenery, it is difficult sometimes to work out what the sphere can touch and what’s just in the background. But again, it’s not a bad game for playing on the bus to work or killing a few minutes.

It gets 6/10.

Water Book Review

This week I have been reading Water, a fantasy novel by Terra Harmony.  

The story centres round Kaitlyn Alder, a sarcastic, feisty loner who travels the world as a photographer. The book opens with her getting buried under an avalanche, only to survive and find herself in a strange lab in an exotic location. She tries to escape and is quickly captured. 

When she is finally released, she is taken to the centre’s leader Cato - who is in fact her long lost godfather. He explains to her that she has the power to control the elements and that she was brought to the centre to be trained in how to control them and use them for the good of nature and mankind by keeping nature in balance if they need to send her out on missions. 

Now this is the reason why I hated this book so much. All the main characters are utterly insane. And I don’t mean that they are a bit quirky, their actions have no logical reasoning behind them. I have nothing against characters that make mistakes or have issues. But characters like this just don’t work when their actions are poorly justified or they don’t redeem themselves later on in the story. The next part of the plot is a perfect example of this.

After being told she can control the elements Kaitlyn loses her temper because she realises that she may have inadvertently killed some people in avalanches, tropical storms, etc, etc, she caused in years gone by without realising. She blames Cato for this - remember her godfather - then attempts to kill him by creating a hail storm. 

Fortunately Cato is saved by Micah, who stops Kaitlyn by kissing her. Then instead of showing any regret for her actions or even asking if her godfather is ok, she goes and sleeps with Micah. So within five minutes we’ve established that the protagonist is both a psychopath and a whore. But trust me she has nothing on some of the other characters.

Moving on with the story, Micah is charged with training Katie on how to control and use her powers while keeping her safe from Shawn. Shawn is portrayed as the bad apple in this story and is out to get Katie at every turn. You find out later but you can see that plot twist coming from ten miles away.

But I digress, Micah and Katie become lovers for a time - up until the point Micah’s ‘training’ nearly gets her killed on no less several times. But that is nothing compared to what he does in one of his later training sessions. He locks Katie with him in a greenhouse where Shawn is blocking her from using her powers. The idea of the exercise if to teach her how to cope under extreme stress, defend herself and escape. 

So anyway, Micah and Katie start having a punch up…then he attempts to rape her. Fortunately Katie fights him off and escapes. I think this one scene encapsulates perfectly what my problem with the characters is.

I have no problem with controversial themes in novels but when the other characters start defending Micah’s actions because it was all in the name of ‘training’, I find myself as baffled as I am offended. She’s in a large facility, which has dozens of staff members and no-one objects to what happens or even tries to intervene? I find that highly unlikely.

Anyway, in the strange world these characters exist in, the staff behave accordingly - by leaving. Not because they fear a rapist but because they fear Katie. They clearly must have packed up logic in their suitcases when they left. And if you’re expecting some big redemption scene at the end where the characters make up for their earlier actions, you’ll be severely disappointed. 

Also you find out later that Micah’s ‘rape-training’ exercises are completely unjustified when Kaitlyn gets sent on one of her first missions. That’s because we all know that the job of saving plankton comes with the very high occupational risk of getting raped. 

I’ll make one thing clear, I don’t hate this book. I liked the plot and the narrative flowed (no puns intended) very well throughout and it was well written. But the characters just don’t make any sense.

Water had a strong plot that was unfortunately ruined by a terrible cast of characters. I’m definitely not going back for the sequels. 

Water gets 3/10

The Last Days of Disco Review

For the past few weeks I have been reading David Ross’s debut novel The Last Days of Disco. This is a nostalgic tale set in 1982 Kilmarnock in the height of the UK’s last recession and on the cusp of The Falklands War. 

Our story revolves primarily around the Cassidy family, namely Bobby and his older brother Gary. Bobby decides to set-up his own disco business to make some extra cash but his growing popularity soon draws the attention of a one Fat Franny, who holds a monopoly over the disco scene in the town. 

Inevitably Bobby and his friends have run-ins with the man - who fancies himself as some sort of DJ deck Godfather and the hilarious situations and consequences that this leads too. 

But to say that the book is merely a comedy would do it unfair justice as The Last Days of Disco is as haunting as it is funny. Gary Cassidy’s story is also told in tandem with his brother’s, from his army training in Wales to his deployment to The Falklands. 

Author David Ross doesn’t shy away from the gritty reality of a war that many thought at the time would last so long. The war unfolds through radio, TV and newspaper excerpts of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and journalists at the beginning of the middle and later chapters, adding a strong degree of realism to the story. This is mirrored by the tension in the Cassidy household as they watch the war on TV from their living room on the other side of the world. 

The book is a bit hard to get into when you first pick it up but it gets easier if you stick with it. The dialogue is written almost entirely in Scots (or slang). I’ve lived in Scotland for more than twenty years and I’ll admit, even I seriously struggled at first with picking up the dialogue but it does get easier to read if you give it a chance. My only concern is that if I was having a lot of trouble, I can’t imagine what an international audience would go through. 

Maybe if a second edition was ever produced, I would recommend toning down the use of Scots or just have the dialogue in plain English (we all know this boosts sales *cough*). 

Also, staying with an international theme, most readers aboard probably do not know where Kilmarnock is…it’s near Glasgow.

Anyway, I’m going to go off topic here a bit. One of my complaints about some other e-books and paperbacks I have read is that they do not describe their settings very well. This is especially true of some American authors where locations are named but no further detail is given. I think some authors assume that everyone lives in the US (no we don’t) or have at least been on holiday there (too poor). 

But this exclusion of detail often makes international readers feel left out because they have no idea where the author is talking about or the atmosphere connected to the place. David Ross however, is not one of these authors. 1980s Kilmarnock is set-up well and the attitudes of the local populace are well reflected through the characters. 

 The Last Days of Disco gets 9/10. 

It is available on here.

An Interview with Author Kevin Parrett

Hi everyone! We are taking a break from reviews once again this week. But don’t worry instead we are pulling up a chair and cup of coffee with author Kevin Parrett to have a chat about his first book and how he got into writing. 

Can you start by telling readers a little about yourself?  

I am a father of two and I’ve been happily married for 14 years. I am a technology executive in my day job but I enjoy writing, golf, and reading in my spare time.

Can you tell us how you got into writing?

I actually challenged my kids to help me write a book over the summer. I wanted to help them improve their writing skills but they ended up helping me discover my passion for writing.

Can you tell us about your first novel, The Wolf’s Curse, for those who have not read it? What is it about?  

The Wolf’s Curse is a tale of a young boy who saves the life of a leprechaun. Prior to this event, Franky was regularly bullied and generally had a tough life. The leprechaun encounter gave Franky confidence and allowed him to confront many of the fears in his life. The story is full of humour, drama and life lessons.

What inspired you to write a fantasy tale like this? What influenced the characters? Are they based on anyone you know?

 

My kids inspired me. We wanted to write something unique. We love fantasy books but there are too many about wizards and dragons. In researching various magical creatures we found very little about leprechauns. This allowed us the creative licence to create their history.  As for specific characters, I didn’t model the characters after anyone but I did utilise many of my own life experiences to build many of the scenes.

Is there anything that you are working on at the moment and can you tell us a little bit about it? 

I am working on the sequel to The Wolf’s Curse. Franky and Nicole become the first humans to ever enter a leprechaun city. It will be a magical journey.

The Wolf's Curse is available here for Kindle and here in paperback.

Jungleland Review

Have you ever looked back at your life and wished you could go back and change some of the things you did? Well that is exactly the concept that Alton Bock entertains in his novel, Jungleland. 

Jungleland is a heart warming drama about thirty-four-year Danny who gets the chance to do just that. With a broken marriage and a baby on the way he gets the opportunity to relive a week of his life from 1995, when he was 18. 

Danny’s adventure starts when he goes to a Bruce Springsteen alone after falling out (even more so) with his estranged wife. There he meets the mysterious Becky, who tells him to close his eyes and focus on the words of Springsteen’s music. He then wakes up to discover he’s gone back in time. Danny resolves to spend his time chasing the girl of his dreams, who he met on vacation that very week but allowed to slip away, believing that getting together with her will alter his future to a better one when he returns. 

I like the concept of time travel but it is one that has been done so many times before in other books, in film and TV that if you are going to do it, you really need to bring something new to the table, which sadly, Jungleland does not. 

How Danny actually ends up in the past is different though, I’ll grant that - I never knew Springsteen’s music was so powerful! He and his millions of fans have certainly kept that one quiet. Or is it just people from New Jersey who are good at keeping secrets? 

But I digress. I liked the characters and I did like the setting for the story but I also felt that it did not go far enough with some of its ethical questions. 

For example, Danny’s sister died in 9/11 and he only tries once to try and change her fate. I understand no-one would have believed him if he told them what was going to happen in 2001 but Danny seems more interested in chasing girls and changing his own selfish future rather than trying to save the life of his sister. Who would do that? 

I appreciate 9/11 is a sensitive subject but I feel this part of the story was a missed opportunity to explore the emotions and strife of those - in this case Danny - affected by the event.

However, I did like the ending (which I will not spoil) when Danny faces up to his responsibilities.

Jungleland has a lot of good characters and some great, heart-warming moments. It’s a gentle story with a safe plot.  

It gets 6/10. 

Jungleland is available here.