God Of War A New Obsession

God Of War was my birthday present to myself and has become a new form of procrastination and enjoyment. Definitely a bit of an obsession. I have actually been competing with my daughter in the morning for monologues on our latest fandoms. She has been talking about My Hero Academia on our walks to school and I have been talking about God Of War. Still not sure who can be more of a motor mouth on their topic of choice. Our conversations I am sure seem very disjointed to anyone who happens to overhear but there would be no doubt that we are both very passionate about the discussion :). 

God of War is another game which is beautiful to look at. I am not really that far into the game and I am already impressed with the graphics. There is so much detail to every scene it is one of those games that I wish you could experience in slow motion. At points during fight scenes I just want to see what else is going on instead of concentrating on the fight. This is the main reason I become enthralled in games that have a plot and beautiful scenery, still haven't found a first person shooter that grips me.

The main characters, Kratos and his son Arteus are on a quest of scattering the ashes of their wife/mother on a distant mountaintop. Of course they have lots of turmoil, conflict and adventure en route. Kratos is not a very likable character and every time he calls his son "Boy" I cringe, though when he lost his son in the fog during hunting practice he calls "Atreus" so you know he can be caring. As the plot develops we learn more about their relationship and secrets are gradually revealed, throw in Norse mythology, other realms and we have a game that has caught my attention. I am sure I will loose many hours to this game as I explore/solve every side quest, look for and kill every raven,  and add new creatures to my bestiary.

So Happy Birthday to me, last year I got Little Nightmares, this year God Of War, here's hoping next April brings me a game release I will enjoy.

March Books - A Review

"UX for Beginners" by Joel Marsh was worth the read. I presently have a variety of computer books on the go that relate to a course I am taking and O'Reily books are my first choice for coding books. This was a light read compared to most coding books. Joel Marsh has a blog where he discusses the ins and outs of UX and this is a compilation or as the title states "A Crash Course in 100 Short Lessons". He uses humour and illustrations to cover a wide range of topics and it was a great way to become more comfortable with the many types and labels of UX Design. Anyone curious about the topic would benefit from reading this book, it has definitely assisted me in understanding the more technical books I am reading.

"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline had been on my pile of books to read for a while, my husband read it to my daughter when it first came out. Of course I have been to see the movie now and I am not sure whether I should have read it just before. Both the movie and book were enjoyable but I feel I may of liked the movie better if the book wasn't so fresh in my mind. I really try not to judge movies by what was left out or neglected from the plot of a book but often it is hard to maintain that mindset :). It always becomes apparent how easy it is to pick apart a movie and how they changed continuity when the book is fresh in your mind. Should have read the book earlier.

"The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter" by Theodora Goss and "Strange Practice" by Vivian Shaw are both introductions to new series. Both involve characters which are inspired by other literary works. "The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter" starts with us meeting Mary, the daughter of Dr Jekyll who then proceeds to solve a mystery with Sherlock and Watson. This mystery involves the secret society her father belonged to and the meeting of the daughters of other mad scientists, including Mr. Hyde's(Does that make her a step sister?). It is a gothic mystery with a good mashup of some favourite literary monsters. "Strange Practice" protagonist Dr. Greta Helsing, daughter of Abraham Van Helsing, is a doctor who administers care to the many monsters of London. Both are slow paced novels and character development is the main goal of the authors, something often done in the start of a series. I will probably pick up the second book in each series to see what adventure the ladies venture on next.

"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern is another book from my "To Read " pile in my bedroom. The author does beautiful descriptive writing which adds to the story and sets the mood. It is so much more then a love story or the typical fantasy novel, it's whimsical and slightly dark. In many ways it is a modern fairytale and I have always loved fairytales. "The Book of Speculation" by  Erika Swyler also includes a circus but in a more indirect manner. This book is broken into two time lines one is from the perspective of a librarian researching a book and then his family, the other time line involves a circus which ties to the book he is researching and also his family. It involves the history of Circuses or Traveling Shows, something which I find very intriguing so it kept me reading. At times it is hard to like the main character and his manner or interaction with others but it is all part of the development of the plot. I enjoyed both of these novels for different reasons but the theme of circus performers has been strong this past month.