A little late to game, I'll admit, but I got my hands on the brand new-format White Dwarf today. Just looking at it you can tell something's different; before you even take in the designs on the covers you notice it's glossy, slightly shorter than before, and heavier too. It's gone up in price by a pound, which may not sound alot, and in my opinion isn't when you consider it's 150 pages long, as opposed to the 120 page volumes of yester-edition.
Outer Design; well I've already mentioned its glossy, the image of the new chaos space marine models on the front and back shimmering reflectively as you move the issue around. This makes the centrepiece stand out, and the same goes for the headlines; they're all shiny too! Speaking of the writing, the layout has changed as befits a new edition of our monthly geek-fest. Not too much of a change, it's all still there; the headlining articles written in stark bold underneath the name of the magazine, but the differences are there. Overall thoughts so far - not to shabby.
Flick-through; There's ALOT of colour in there. Not just multi-coloured fonts and such, pictures. Hordes of them. Like an infestation. There seems to be a nice variety of things covered from the brief glance I've had, and the pictures seem good-quality and well placed. They don't seem to be present instead of text, rather alongside text, which is a plus for us - it doesn't look like we're missing out on anything in leiu of the illustrations. So far - so good still.
Opening sections; Essentially the first fifty pages is a catalogue of recent (or coming soon) releases, which is something I personally hope to see less of in coming issues. I don't mind seeing what new products are up and coming, or just released, but in essence I'm paying £5.50 for something that's already one-third sales-dedicated, all of the information of which I could have gained for free on the internet or in-store at my local GW. So long as this is a one-off or infrequent occurance (for instance only when there's a major new release like the up-and-coming Chaos Space Marine Codex), I can overlook this.
Next comes an 'army of the month' section, spread of a few double pages, complete with the glorious pictures that we find across the whole edition. I think this is a nice little piece, and hopefully a regular one - it shows a lovingly crafted army (Skaven, in this case) from a dedicated tournament player. It gives the featured army's player a chance to discuss both the tactics/playability of their army and the collecting and hobby aspect of the force. It's refreshing and nicely presented, and a thorough thumbs up from me for this bit. After a brief article from Jervis Johnson (a veteran who always offers some interesting insight into the hobby), we come to the battle report.
Now this issue contains only one report, a nice 16-pager which focuses on the primary topic from this issue - Chaos Space Marines. Ranging from the usual blurb of how each player chose their forces, through the meat and potatoes of the actual battle and an afterword both from the participants and (supposedly) unbiased observers, it does its job well. As a minor disclaimer at the start of the piece, they say they intend to look at the new Chaos model's strengths and weaknesses tactically, and thus this is how the report is directed. I think they manage to do it very well, including alot of helpful pictures, although some of them could have been closer to the subject in my opinion.
Then comes a short and new piece called "The Rivals". This basically is a debate between two players over how their army lists would fair against each other, followed by input from other people. Whilst it is interesting to a certain degree, I think it is largely irrelevant, as you never can tell what will happen on the day, and what way the dice'll roll. Though no doubt, some of you will find it very interesting!
As a large part of the recent hobby-world news, Forge World have wrought their first installment of Horus Heresy minatures. This edition of White Dwarf features a short but sweet entry on this, with a couple of lovingly-taken pictures displaying the miniatures in both painted and unpainted glory, and some brilliantly insightful articles. For instance it gives a small piece on the history of the Horus Hersey - how it has developed from a mere hearsay mention to what it is today, how the series of books started off (as a novel trilogy!!), and a great informative mini-article on how the Primarch Angron model was developed and produced. I would heartily encourage more of these sort of sections.
Blanchitsu is an extremely small piece this month, though quite interesting; as usual very thought-provoking as is its aim. Following this is a new piece, or rather a conglomeration of old pieces under a new name - the Hall of Fame. Basically a gallery of selected units/models/armies from around the world; some nice pictures but ultimately the same as the catalogue at the start - it's all stuff I could see for free on the Games Workshop flickr page. That said the final part of it, Battleground, features an awesomely-made game board, which I think is a nice broadening of what White Dwarf encompasses - including the avid scenery/board sculptor/creator.
Paint Splatter is the next piece, basically an old system (instructional painting techniques) under a new name, and focuses on the models displayed within the issue. Not bad if you see something that catches your eye/inspiration as you are perusing your new issue. After 8 futher double spread sheets of adverts and Games Workshop store/stockist addresses, we come to the last part of the magazine - the new "This Month In" section. This area is dedicated to whats happening in GW HQ this month, with mixed results in my opinion.
So there you have it; a very mixed reaction to the newest incarnation of our monthly geek-fest, but to be fair to them I think it's very good. Aside from the few speedbumps I mentioned (namely the mass of product sales pages at the beginning), I quite liked it. And as long as they keep the page count high (and drop those product pages) I'll be a happy White Dwarfer.
NB: It did seem very 40k-themed this issue. I know the Chaos Space Marine release is the "in-thing" at the moment, but it did seem very thin on the ground for anyone who plays Warhammer, and practically non-exsistant for those who play the Lord of the Rings platform.
NB2: I liked the inside-back-cover Warhammer World calender - handy.
Wednesday 26 September 2012
WIN A FREE ANGRON MINIATURE!!
That's right people, the awesome masterminis.net is giving away a FREE Angron miniature (Forge World Horus Heresy line). Amazing stuff right?
Just head on over to the link below and follow their instructions - all you need to do is spread the word! Good luck and happy sharing!
http://masterminis.blogspot.de/2012/09/win-signed-copy-of-forge-worlds-angron.html
Ooooh angry!
Just head on over to the link below and follow their instructions - all you need to do is spread the word! Good luck and happy sharing!
http://masterminis.blogspot.de/2012/09/win-signed-copy-of-forge-worlds-angron.html
Monday 24 September 2012
iJob
Today has been a day of bountiful joy...except for weather-wise, but hey-ho you can't have everything (unless you win the lottery, and here's hoping for this Friday's 80-odd Million Euro for me eh!). Katie had her first day working for the government (Service Personnel and Veterans Agency) and was reportedly sitting around do hardly anything all day (the joys of training!). Similarly, I was surprised by a morning phone call from the Card Factory in Blackpool town centre, inviting me down for an interview in the afternoon. Hungry for money, of course I accepted.
After a brief chat and a questionnaire Tracy, the sales assistant, asked me if there were any questions I had. Quick and cheeky wit as always, I answered "When can I start?". Well, she sure showed me. Originally scheduling me for training on Monday next week, she then realised that there weren't going to be enough staff to cover for a trainee on that day. So, thinking 'What the hell', I asked if there was any way to start the training today, as I had some time to kill! Lo and behold, two hours later and I've pretty much completed the health and safety training, and am due for a training shift on Friday. Quickest job turnaround ever!
That pretty much covers the latter part of the title; and the first may be pretty obvious. What with the new iPhone 5 out last week, the iPhone 4 deals have dropped significantly. Therefore, as Katie and I are both in employment (and even if not I have regular income through university for the next two years), we both treated ourselves to an iPhone 4S each. I've gone with the white version, Katie's is black (helps to differentiate). It's so snazzy, it's very difficult to put down and stop playing with.
Siri is a bit temperamental - Katie's phone doesn't seem to like performing it, and mine doesn't always do what it's told straight away, but hot-damn is it a good piece of equipment! 16GB storage space (going to be sorting out my music folders this week I tell you now!), 8mp camera (with new panorama function which is uber-coolio), a much better set of buttons on the surrounding rims and such a faster response time than the 3GS, it's budsmod (that's awesome to you common folk). Not to mention being on 3 instead of Orange, the 3G is like greased lightning!
Katie and I both went into the Samaritans this evening - we were attending a selection interview each that we missed previously due to Katie's illness (well someone had to look after her!). It was a very interesting experience, relating personal life events to strangers, but somewhat refreshing at the same time. Anyhow we both apparently did very well, and according to the ladies interviewing us we make a great couple (we both were interviewed separately)!
The, dare I mention the word, Christmas preparation is already in full swing - we've both knuckled down this year to start early and begin buying presents around now (only 92 sleeps to go!). This cuts down on panic time later in the year and eases up finances (as we won't be stuck in December with a big bill for presents as hopefully they'll have already all been bought!). I actually find myself hoping we stay here in Admiral Point past Christmas (despite being told I'll have to work either Boxing Day or New Years Day - though I suppose it'll get me out of the house for a little while and away from excitable children [Jack, Katie]), as it's a large apartment and I think it would be perfectly suited for the celebrations.
My Space Wolf characters are shaping up really well on paper - I've got some ideas that I am very happy with and can't wait to get stuck into making them. Another piece of awesomeness came our way Saturday; Dad text me letting me know there were two letters in Bretton for me from the tax office. Dreading it, I instructed him to open them. The first one was apologising for a mistake last year, and the second was a £420-odd cheque correcting the imbalance. Kerching and thankyou Tax Office...occasionally the government DOES do something right...who'd have thought! Writing-wise my good friend Abhinav was kind enough to look over the intro piece to my vastly-different-style WIP (work in progress) and gave it his stamp of approval - hopefully more coming your way soon Ab ;)
That'll be all for now, I'll do a specialist post later in the week covering something or another. I'm sure I'll think of something...after all, I have a list of blog ideas that I keep adding to for those rainy-day blog days. Till next time.
After a brief chat and a questionnaire Tracy, the sales assistant, asked me if there were any questions I had. Quick and cheeky wit as always, I answered "When can I start?". Well, she sure showed me. Originally scheduling me for training on Monday next week, she then realised that there weren't going to be enough staff to cover for a trainee on that day. So, thinking 'What the hell', I asked if there was any way to start the training today, as I had some time to kill! Lo and behold, two hours later and I've pretty much completed the health and safety training, and am due for a training shift on Friday. Quickest job turnaround ever!
That pretty much covers the latter part of the title; and the first may be pretty obvious. What with the new iPhone 5 out last week, the iPhone 4 deals have dropped significantly. Therefore, as Katie and I are both in employment (and even if not I have regular income through university for the next two years), we both treated ourselves to an iPhone 4S each. I've gone with the white version, Katie's is black (helps to differentiate). It's so snazzy, it's very difficult to put down and stop playing with.
Siri is a bit temperamental - Katie's phone doesn't seem to like performing it, and mine doesn't always do what it's told straight away, but hot-damn is it a good piece of equipment! 16GB storage space (going to be sorting out my music folders this week I tell you now!), 8mp camera (with new panorama function which is uber-coolio), a much better set of buttons on the surrounding rims and such a faster response time than the 3GS, it's budsmod (that's awesome to you common folk). Not to mention being on 3 instead of Orange, the 3G is like greased lightning!
Katie and I both went into the Samaritans this evening - we were attending a selection interview each that we missed previously due to Katie's illness (well someone had to look after her!). It was a very interesting experience, relating personal life events to strangers, but somewhat refreshing at the same time. Anyhow we both apparently did very well, and according to the ladies interviewing us we make a great couple (we both were interviewed separately)!
The, dare I mention the word, Christmas preparation is already in full swing - we've both knuckled down this year to start early and begin buying presents around now (only 92 sleeps to go!). This cuts down on panic time later in the year and eases up finances (as we won't be stuck in December with a big bill for presents as hopefully they'll have already all been bought!). I actually find myself hoping we stay here in Admiral Point past Christmas (despite being told I'll have to work either Boxing Day or New Years Day - though I suppose it'll get me out of the house for a little while and away from excitable children [Jack, Katie]), as it's a large apartment and I think it would be perfectly suited for the celebrations.
My Space Wolf characters are shaping up really well on paper - I've got some ideas that I am very happy with and can't wait to get stuck into making them. Another piece of awesomeness came our way Saturday; Dad text me letting me know there were two letters in Bretton for me from the tax office. Dreading it, I instructed him to open them. The first one was apologising for a mistake last year, and the second was a £420-odd cheque correcting the imbalance. Kerching and thankyou Tax Office...occasionally the government DOES do something right...who'd have thought! Writing-wise my good friend Abhinav was kind enough to look over the intro piece to my vastly-different-style WIP (work in progress) and gave it his stamp of approval - hopefully more coming your way soon Ab ;)
That'll be all for now, I'll do a specialist post later in the week covering something or another. I'm sure I'll think of something...after all, I have a list of blog ideas that I keep adding to for those rainy-day blog days. Till next time.
Thursday 20 September 2012
Wolftime
Any 40k fans among you will no doubt recognise the title's reference - I have settled upon an army to create; the Space Wolves! Originally, I had worked out my own colour scheme/background/chapter/the works, but I kept looking at the army list (which was nicely rounded and I felt could handle pretty much anything game-wise) and feeling uninspired. Finally, a few days ago, I put my finger on why. Despite creating characters and stories for them, I felt they lacked character. I went through a terribly long-winded dilemma phase of looking through White Dwarf magazines, the rulebook and various websites, made a list for Tau, Orks and looked over my Eldar army list (a competitive tournament army list), before finding the answer in the wolves.
I've got my list hammered out to a round 2000 points to begin with - and hope to save enough money via my essays-in-early-for-money-in-the-army-tin scheme to buy a couple of units to start me off. Now I'm onto concept and design; how will my Space Wolves differ from Joe Bloggs Space Wolves? What will make them stand out? What story will they tell? I intend to answer these questions in the coming week (/'s) and develop them into reality as and when I get the models/units in the coming months. However, all in all, I'm supremely happy with the wealth of character the Wolves have, and the amount of play they give me to use.
Reading: I've kind of stalled lately. Having read Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift, I picked up a novel called High Fidelity on an RNLI charity bookstand for 25p. All in all a refreshing read- not something I'd normally pick up but it intrigued me. Now I seem to have fizzled on the book-reading drive, though no doubt once I get around to picking up Fear To Tread from my shelf I'll remember my groove.
Writing: I've made some edits on my novel that I mentioned in a previous post, and also begun a smaller side-project to give me some contrast when I don't feel like writing crime-fantasy. It's a real-life fiction, but aside from that I'm not really sure where it's going. It's pretty much just a 'write what I feel like' so far that I started on the train home today. I've not begun any competitions yet, because I want to see how much spare time I have once I'm into full uni-work flow before getting a list of comps to enter.
Studies have begun well; my second week is just ending, and already I'm happier with what I'm doing than I was last year. Chemistry I seem to have become a magical genie of, even gaining praise from our tutor Meg (which is rarer than a blue moon/life on mars/pig flying/insert your own metaphor). Biology 2 is similarly going well (Biology 1 is what we did last year), with our coursework pretty much set out for us to start straight away. Use of Evidence is a module that we've just started for this year only - it basically involves a large case report and a load of research into a given crime case from recent history. Recent is somewhat of a lie, as it goes back to OJ Simpson and Jill Dando, but you get my meaning.
For Biology 3 we have to write a mini-dissertation of 3000 words, on a chosen subject. I narrowed it down to three areas last week, and now have it down to my question to be answered; How Does Fire Effect The Identification Of Human Remains In An Anthropological Investigation? Fancy huh? I've already got a load of articles that I'm in the middle of reading through (to decide which one's to use), and have borrowed several (heavy) books from the UCLan library to aid my studies! After we finish the essay we have to convert it into a 15 minute powerpoint presentation (I think I've mentioned this before), but I'm not worrying about that yet.
Yesterday in our biology lesson we had the fun task of whacking a sponge with a hammer. Or a two-by-four. Or a metal rod. Or a screwdriver. The sponge was soaked in fake blood and placed on a stool in front of a clothes-clad skeleton, in the middle of a ring of white sheets - the point was to see how blood spatters from blunt object trauma and the shape the blood drops make when they encounter different surfaces at different angles. It was fun! There will be photos, but I'm waiting on the technician to email them to me.
Katie's got good news - she has a start date for work! Yipee! They took their time (given that they told her she got the job mid-august), but finally she's set to head off to earn some extra pennies on Monday. Yesterday she also attended training at an old people's care home, where she'll be volunteering for the foreseeable future, in a bid to help her medical school application in a year or so's time. Busy woman that she is, she's also attending a Samaritan's selection evening on Monday in the hopes of being accepted to join their ranks to help people in need. I'm also going along to see if I can join up, as it seems like a nice thing to do and would be a unique point for my CV!
Speaking of CV, our final module is PPDP; Personal & Professional Development Programme. This is essentially a 'preparing you for the outside world' module, which is quite funny as the majority of us in the class have had jobs already, and so know what the job world is like (dry as a bone right now!). Anyway, part of this is a ten-year career plan. Ten Years. I've no idea what I'm going to do when I finish this course in 2014, let alone where I want to be in ten years time! If all goes to plan then after my exams are over I'll be heading to the Coventry area whilst Katie goes to medical school, but other than that I've no idea what I'm going to be doing!
The weather has gotten colder over the past week or two - it's super windy and nasty nasty here now! Anyway, to end the post on a light note, here's an awesome dog that I want SO much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU9RSNXaElw&feature=share
I've got my list hammered out to a round 2000 points to begin with - and hope to save enough money via my essays-in-early-for-money-in-the-army-tin scheme to buy a couple of units to start me off. Now I'm onto concept and design; how will my Space Wolves differ from Joe Bloggs Space Wolves? What will make them stand out? What story will they tell? I intend to answer these questions in the coming week (/'s) and develop them into reality as and when I get the models/units in the coming months. However, all in all, I'm supremely happy with the wealth of character the Wolves have, and the amount of play they give me to use.
Reading: I've kind of stalled lately. Having read Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift, I picked up a novel called High Fidelity on an RNLI charity bookstand for 25p. All in all a refreshing read- not something I'd normally pick up but it intrigued me. Now I seem to have fizzled on the book-reading drive, though no doubt once I get around to picking up Fear To Tread from my shelf I'll remember my groove.
Writing: I've made some edits on my novel that I mentioned in a previous post, and also begun a smaller side-project to give me some contrast when I don't feel like writing crime-fantasy. It's a real-life fiction, but aside from that I'm not really sure where it's going. It's pretty much just a 'write what I feel like' so far that I started on the train home today. I've not begun any competitions yet, because I want to see how much spare time I have once I'm into full uni-work flow before getting a list of comps to enter.
Studies have begun well; my second week is just ending, and already I'm happier with what I'm doing than I was last year. Chemistry I seem to have become a magical genie of, even gaining praise from our tutor Meg (which is rarer than a blue moon/life on mars/pig flying/insert your own metaphor). Biology 2 is similarly going well (Biology 1 is what we did last year), with our coursework pretty much set out for us to start straight away. Use of Evidence is a module that we've just started for this year only - it basically involves a large case report and a load of research into a given crime case from recent history. Recent is somewhat of a lie, as it goes back to OJ Simpson and Jill Dando, but you get my meaning.
For Biology 3 we have to write a mini-dissertation of 3000 words, on a chosen subject. I narrowed it down to three areas last week, and now have it down to my question to be answered; How Does Fire Effect The Identification Of Human Remains In An Anthropological Investigation? Fancy huh? I've already got a load of articles that I'm in the middle of reading through (to decide which one's to use), and have borrowed several (heavy) books from the UCLan library to aid my studies! After we finish the essay we have to convert it into a 15 minute powerpoint presentation (I think I've mentioned this before), but I'm not worrying about that yet.
Yesterday in our biology lesson we had the fun task of whacking a sponge with a hammer. Or a two-by-four. Or a metal rod. Or a screwdriver. The sponge was soaked in fake blood and placed on a stool in front of a clothes-clad skeleton, in the middle of a ring of white sheets - the point was to see how blood spatters from blunt object trauma and the shape the blood drops make when they encounter different surfaces at different angles. It was fun! There will be photos, but I'm waiting on the technician to email them to me.
Katie's got good news - she has a start date for work! Yipee! They took their time (given that they told her she got the job mid-august), but finally she's set to head off to earn some extra pennies on Monday. Yesterday she also attended training at an old people's care home, where she'll be volunteering for the foreseeable future, in a bid to help her medical school application in a year or so's time. Busy woman that she is, she's also attending a Samaritan's selection evening on Monday in the hopes of being accepted to join their ranks to help people in need. I'm also going along to see if I can join up, as it seems like a nice thing to do and would be a unique point for my CV!
Speaking of CV, our final module is PPDP; Personal & Professional Development Programme. This is essentially a 'preparing you for the outside world' module, which is quite funny as the majority of us in the class have had jobs already, and so know what the job world is like (dry as a bone right now!). Anyway, part of this is a ten-year career plan. Ten Years. I've no idea what I'm going to do when I finish this course in 2014, let alone where I want to be in ten years time! If all goes to plan then after my exams are over I'll be heading to the Coventry area whilst Katie goes to medical school, but other than that I've no idea what I'm going to be doing!
The weather has gotten colder over the past week or two - it's super windy and nasty nasty here now! Anyway, to end the post on a light note, here's an awesome dog that I want SO much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU9RSNXaElw&feature=share
Thursday 13 September 2012
The Emperor's Gift Review
So last week I picked up Aaron Dembski-Bowden's latest novel, The Emperor's Gift. Before even opening the book, it exudes awesomeness. The artwork on the front cover depicts Hyperion, the foremost main character contained within, is a brilliantly wrought masterpiece, displaying the Grey Knight in glorious action firing his wrist-mounted storm bolter at the enemies of mankind. Physically, the book itself is pleasing; a smooth hardback style that is a pleasure to touch, and weighs in comfortably in my hand.
"The Grey Knights are all that stands between mankind and the ravages of Chaos. Since their secretive beginnings during the Horus Heresy, these legendary Space Marine daemon hunters have journeyed into the dark realms of the warp – and beyond – in pursuit of their supernatural enemies. Through an intensive regime of psychic training, new recruits are brought to the clandestine fortress of Titan to join the hallowed and vaunted ranks of the 666th Chapter. More than ever, these legendary battle-brothers must be vigilant and ever ready to defend the Imperium for the forces of Chaos are never truly defeated, and Armageddon beckons" - Black Library
The novel inside begins by peeling back a little of the mystery surrounding Grey Knight Supplicant's induction into the order, and continues dropping information on the 666th Chapter throughout - any lore-lover's dream. Scene's are conveyed, as always with Aaron's work, in a fashion that describes the immediate areas relevant to the story, leaving enough license for the reader to complete the picture with their own imagination. You won't find the over-crowding flood of description that some other writers favour in his books, and in my opinion raises his work up above them because of it.
Hyperion, the young Grey Knight warrior from whose point of view the story is told, is only just starting out his life as one of the Emperor's Chosen, and reflects all the doubts and flaws that one would expect from someone in his position. This creates a brilliantly focused narrative, keeping the account entertaining and interesting throughout (not to mention occasionally humourous). Aaron hits the nail bang on the head with regards to the Space Marine's removal from humanity, keeping the characters aloof from their mortal kin whilst managing to maintain ghosts and echoes of their once-mortal feelings that give the entirety an air of truth and believability that lends itself to the narrative.
Squad Castian, the group of Knights that Hyperion belongs to, continues the believability with each character, keeping each Space Marine similar, but still widely different. I realise that's a contradiction, but its the truth. Aaron follows the flow of his other books, introducing new concepts and ideas that I hadn't even thought of before, and keeping you guessing what's about to happen. Another tool he brings forth from a recent book (Void Stalker) is a collection of smaller pieces within a chapter, describing individuals and actions across a broad range of areas, giving a wide view of the story and keeping intrigue at a premium.
A must-have for any Dembski-Bowden fan, The Emperor's Gift is a wonderful conglomeration of lore, epic story and enrapturing description. The flow carries you through the book with relentless interest and keeps you reading on and on until the well-wrapped-up end. All-in-all, more than worth the £17.99 for this veritable tome and, as usual, Aaron continues to outdo expectations. A powerful five out of five stars for this, and it would have triple that if I could break the scale. Thankyou for yet another great read ADB!
"The Grey Knights are all that stands between mankind and the ravages of Chaos. Since their secretive beginnings during the Horus Heresy, these legendary Space Marine daemon hunters have journeyed into the dark realms of the warp – and beyond – in pursuit of their supernatural enemies. Through an intensive regime of psychic training, new recruits are brought to the clandestine fortress of Titan to join the hallowed and vaunted ranks of the 666th Chapter. More than ever, these legendary battle-brothers must be vigilant and ever ready to defend the Imperium for the forces of Chaos are never truly defeated, and Armageddon beckons" - Black Library
The novel inside begins by peeling back a little of the mystery surrounding Grey Knight Supplicant's induction into the order, and continues dropping information on the 666th Chapter throughout - any lore-lover's dream. Scene's are conveyed, as always with Aaron's work, in a fashion that describes the immediate areas relevant to the story, leaving enough license for the reader to complete the picture with their own imagination. You won't find the over-crowding flood of description that some other writers favour in his books, and in my opinion raises his work up above them because of it.
Hyperion, the young Grey Knight warrior from whose point of view the story is told, is only just starting out his life as one of the Emperor's Chosen, and reflects all the doubts and flaws that one would expect from someone in his position. This creates a brilliantly focused narrative, keeping the account entertaining and interesting throughout (not to mention occasionally humourous). Aaron hits the nail bang on the head with regards to the Space Marine's removal from humanity, keeping the characters aloof from their mortal kin whilst managing to maintain ghosts and echoes of their once-mortal feelings that give the entirety an air of truth and believability that lends itself to the narrative.
Squad Castian, the group of Knights that Hyperion belongs to, continues the believability with each character, keeping each Space Marine similar, but still widely different. I realise that's a contradiction, but its the truth. Aaron follows the flow of his other books, introducing new concepts and ideas that I hadn't even thought of before, and keeping you guessing what's about to happen. Another tool he brings forth from a recent book (Void Stalker) is a collection of smaller pieces within a chapter, describing individuals and actions across a broad range of areas, giving a wide view of the story and keeping intrigue at a premium.
A must-have for any Dembski-Bowden fan, The Emperor's Gift is a wonderful conglomeration of lore, epic story and enrapturing description. The flow carries you through the book with relentless interest and keeps you reading on and on until the well-wrapped-up end. All-in-all, more than worth the £17.99 for this veritable tome and, as usual, Aaron continues to outdo expectations. A powerful five out of five stars for this, and it would have triple that if I could break the scale. Thankyou for yet another great read ADB!
Wednesday 12 September 2012
Forensics: Coursework!
Righty then, with my first week of second year over, I can report the following:
Last year, our miniature dissertation was a 2000 word essay on a subject of our choice, which was then reverted into a 900 word poster, that was then presented to judges and fellow forensic students. This year, we have what they are terming a 'half-dissertation'; 3000 words, to then be condensed into a fifteen minute powerpoint presentation. Admittedly I quite enjoyed the poster aspect of our dissertation last year, and so am also looking forward to this years powerpoint version, but due to my new-found commitment to getting stuff done early, I'm also quite looking forward to the research/essay part of the work.
Basically all we did in the class today was get introduced into the structure of the module; how it spreads across the year, what we need to include in the discussion of our chosen topic, and had a little one-on-one chat each with our new lecturer about what subject we'd like to do, and whether or not it would be viable. Having been told a little earlier on in the class that the subject had to be related to Forensic Biology (who'd have thought that you have to do something about biology in a forensic biology module!?), I grabbed the nearest laptop and had a skim of the sub-fields that Forensic Biology covers, noting those I found of interest.
Forensic Limnology - Unfortunately, I thought that I had stumbled upon a little-known forensic gem when I saw this title over the summer holidays. Little did I know that our biology modules now include a short area on this very thing. Still, the broader subject of Underwater Investigation interest me, not just the matching of diatom counts between a corpse/victim and the body of water it was thought to have come from (diatoms are types of algae).
Fire Investigation relating to Entomology or Anthropology - This wasn't a field I saw online, rather a twist of two specialties together that I thought up myself. Fire Investigation was the subject of my poster presentation and essay last year, and has always interested me, but as you can't repeat the same exact topic as before, I figured throwing something interesting like fire's effect on anthropological investigation or the effect it has on insect's and their relation to an investigation.
Wildlife Forensic Science - A particularly obscure field that caught my eye online, this covers a broad range of investigative areas, from illegal import and export of animal hides, tusks, trophies etc and illicit fisheries. It also includes rogue timber-felling, animal cruelty and the analysis of non-human trace evidence in other crimes. I'm not sure on the viability of using this subject, as I'm not sure how available material is for referencing involving wildlife, but I'll have a root around the internet over the next few days for reference material for all three and come up with some title-questions that I could base my essays on. Organised!
Another happy piece of this hyper-organisation is that I get to comply with my university resolution and add some money to my army fund pot for getting my work in early; Yay! I started reading Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift last night, and am already over halfway through - expect a review tomorrow! Suffice to say for now that already I have an urge to collect Grey Knights, and mould a squad around the main characters in his novel.
As the last piece of random information here in todays blog, Katie has been suffering with a super-sore throat and a cold the past few days, and is beginning to recover. Unfortunately for me, I seem to be developing a sore throat myself - hopefully not the precursor to the same as she had!
- Second year topics look SO much more interesting
- Assessments this year are looking fewer, but larger which, in my opinion, is better!
- And finally, I am on top of my assignments
Last year, our miniature dissertation was a 2000 word essay on a subject of our choice, which was then reverted into a 900 word poster, that was then presented to judges and fellow forensic students. This year, we have what they are terming a 'half-dissertation'; 3000 words, to then be condensed into a fifteen minute powerpoint presentation. Admittedly I quite enjoyed the poster aspect of our dissertation last year, and so am also looking forward to this years powerpoint version, but due to my new-found commitment to getting stuff done early, I'm also quite looking forward to the research/essay part of the work.
Basically all we did in the class today was get introduced into the structure of the module; how it spreads across the year, what we need to include in the discussion of our chosen topic, and had a little one-on-one chat each with our new lecturer about what subject we'd like to do, and whether or not it would be viable. Having been told a little earlier on in the class that the subject had to be related to Forensic Biology (who'd have thought that you have to do something about biology in a forensic biology module!?), I grabbed the nearest laptop and had a skim of the sub-fields that Forensic Biology covers, noting those I found of interest.
Forensic Limnology - Unfortunately, I thought that I had stumbled upon a little-known forensic gem when I saw this title over the summer holidays. Little did I know that our biology modules now include a short area on this very thing. Still, the broader subject of Underwater Investigation interest me, not just the matching of diatom counts between a corpse/victim and the body of water it was thought to have come from (diatoms are types of algae).
Fire Investigation relating to Entomology or Anthropology - This wasn't a field I saw online, rather a twist of two specialties together that I thought up myself. Fire Investigation was the subject of my poster presentation and essay last year, and has always interested me, but as you can't repeat the same exact topic as before, I figured throwing something interesting like fire's effect on anthropological investigation or the effect it has on insect's and their relation to an investigation.
Wildlife Forensic Science - A particularly obscure field that caught my eye online, this covers a broad range of investigative areas, from illegal import and export of animal hides, tusks, trophies etc and illicit fisheries. It also includes rogue timber-felling, animal cruelty and the analysis of non-human trace evidence in other crimes. I'm not sure on the viability of using this subject, as I'm not sure how available material is for referencing involving wildlife, but I'll have a root around the internet over the next few days for reference material for all three and come up with some title-questions that I could base my essays on. Organised!
Another happy piece of this hyper-organisation is that I get to comply with my university resolution and add some money to my army fund pot for getting my work in early; Yay! I started reading Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift last night, and am already over halfway through - expect a review tomorrow! Suffice to say for now that already I have an urge to collect Grey Knights, and mould a squad around the main characters in his novel.
As the last piece of random information here in todays blog, Katie has been suffering with a super-sore throat and a cold the past few days, and is beginning to recover. Unfortunately for me, I seem to be developing a sore throat myself - hopefully not the precursor to the same as she had!
Monday 10 September 2012
Revamp!
A couple of things falling under the title this time; first off, I intend to start giving my blog posts a little extra pazaz by finishing them off with a short sentence or two of interest. Secondly, I attended my second year induction today at college, and was excited to peruse the topics in each module - they look alot more interesting than last years A Level recaps (which is essentially what they were). Finally, given some down-time on the train into Preston this morning, and with nothing but my laptop in the way of entertainment (which I was loathe to go through the hassle of fishing out of my bag), I turned to my mind for entertainment.
With several regular topics at my disposal, not least of all Warhammer 40k, Black Library books (both coming soon and past) and writing in general, I settled on writing. Now last night I got back into the jibe of searching for writing competitions to enter - mainly free ones, and mainly short stories with a theme (I write better with an idea to hit me off) - so I started thinking about writing. My intent is to continue to enter competitions in the near future, and attempt to gain entrance into the "Black Library Authors" club through their open submissions window each year (which I stupidly forgot about the end of and missed this season). But I wondered to myself, how else could I get my foot in the door?
One way I've constantly heard about is to be published. Every time I've attended a 'Writing For Black Library' seminar or seen people ask the editors questions, the answer has been the same - if you've had work published anywhere else in the world (and that is officially published; it's been submitted and looked over by an editor or editorial team before publication) you can contact the Black Library office with a pitch (or several). I know it's a whole different world going from writing a short story for a competition with a theme to base it on and writing a short sample piece for a submissions window set in a pre-described universe to writing a whole novel by yourself, but the trick is, I've already started it.
Back in April I had the itch to write something different. I set about first chatting with one of my best friends over an extended Facebook conversation about what type of book I would like to write and, out of this list, ideas I had as to what to write about. Long story shorter, we hammered out a generic idea and from this I began to form a plot line. Further ideas shaped from brainstorming and some inspiration coalesced into a whole novel concept. Suffice to say I began writing it, got almost to the 5k mark and hated what I'd done so far. For me the flow was out, the story lacking the depth it needed to set the mood, and the character lacking just that. I dropped it, completely disheartened, and there it has lain, on my desktop, since.
So I'm sat on the train to Preston, idly staring out of the window as my mind turns to the story I had left behind. I turned it over this way and that, examining what I could remember having written and the plot shape from my plans all those months ago. Before I knew it, further ideas were forming, coming to me out of nowhere; characters I could adjust, scenes that could be added, details slotted in and several key points that would make the whole concept gel just so. It seems simple and obvious now, considering these points in my mind, what needed to be done to correct the story, and I fully intend to revisit and edit what I have so far to better reflect the ideas I had at the start and hopefully, if I can keep on-track and keep adjusting whenever I get bogged down again, I can complete a full novel!
First piece of pazaz in an attempt to end on an interesting note; I forgot what I originally was going to put here, so here's a less interesting one - the nickname/callsign I use, Phoenix, was the first ever Warhammer 40k character I wrote a prolonged piece of prose about. I've no recollection of where his first name, Corrigan, came from, nor have I heard of it since.
With several regular topics at my disposal, not least of all Warhammer 40k, Black Library books (both coming soon and past) and writing in general, I settled on writing. Now last night I got back into the jibe of searching for writing competitions to enter - mainly free ones, and mainly short stories with a theme (I write better with an idea to hit me off) - so I started thinking about writing. My intent is to continue to enter competitions in the near future, and attempt to gain entrance into the "Black Library Authors" club through their open submissions window each year (which I stupidly forgot about the end of and missed this season). But I wondered to myself, how else could I get my foot in the door?
One way I've constantly heard about is to be published. Every time I've attended a 'Writing For Black Library' seminar or seen people ask the editors questions, the answer has been the same - if you've had work published anywhere else in the world (and that is officially published; it's been submitted and looked over by an editor or editorial team before publication) you can contact the Black Library office with a pitch (or several). I know it's a whole different world going from writing a short story for a competition with a theme to base it on and writing a short sample piece for a submissions window set in a pre-described universe to writing a whole novel by yourself, but the trick is, I've already started it.
Back in April I had the itch to write something different. I set about first chatting with one of my best friends over an extended Facebook conversation about what type of book I would like to write and, out of this list, ideas I had as to what to write about. Long story shorter, we hammered out a generic idea and from this I began to form a plot line. Further ideas shaped from brainstorming and some inspiration coalesced into a whole novel concept. Suffice to say I began writing it, got almost to the 5k mark and hated what I'd done so far. For me the flow was out, the story lacking the depth it needed to set the mood, and the character lacking just that. I dropped it, completely disheartened, and there it has lain, on my desktop, since.
So I'm sat on the train to Preston, idly staring out of the window as my mind turns to the story I had left behind. I turned it over this way and that, examining what I could remember having written and the plot shape from my plans all those months ago. Before I knew it, further ideas were forming, coming to me out of nowhere; characters I could adjust, scenes that could be added, details slotted in and several key points that would make the whole concept gel just so. It seems simple and obvious now, considering these points in my mind, what needed to be done to correct the story, and I fully intend to revisit and edit what I have so far to better reflect the ideas I had at the start and hopefully, if I can keep on-track and keep adjusting whenever I get bogged down again, I can complete a full novel!
First piece of pazaz in an attempt to end on an interesting note; I forgot what I originally was going to put here, so here's a less interesting one - the nickname/callsign I use, Phoenix, was the first ever Warhammer 40k character I wrote a prolonged piece of prose about. I've no recollection of where his first name, Corrigan, came from, nor have I heard of it since.
Monday 3 September 2012
Stand together, Brothers!
People continue to astound me; and those of us of the minority that possess kindness and compassion must stand together as brothers, lest we be swept away. Let me explain...
It's almost been a month here in the new Blackpool flat, and it certainly just peaked in its bid for worlds most stressful apartments! First off, let me give you the scoop - when Mum and Ian first moved in (actually a month ago now), there was a list of things that they provided the landlords with that needed sorting out.
The curtains in the bedrooms don't pull properly - after the handyman looked at it, he determined that the tops of the poles that the curtain loops run on was rusted, which is why they wouldn't pull. So, instead of turning the poles one-eighty and applying some WD40 (as the undersides of the poles aren't rusted at all), he disappeared saying they'll get new curtain poles and return which, of course, they haven't.
We moved the sofas around to better see the TV from both, and found a pile of dirt and rubbish under each! Whilst this was cleaned up by the cleaning team, the alcove that leads from the living room into the kitchen was covered in damp marks, where water has leaked in. Instead of professionally righting the damp and the upholstery, the handyman (actually the handyman's partner this time) sanded down the wall so you could barely see the damp (which you can clearly see once more, now). She put one sheet down to collect the dust, on the floor, and in this case, one sheet was not plenty. The kitchen surfaces and table were covered in dust; along with both sofas in the living room. Once more, we got the cleaners called out, but still that was a few days we couldn't use the kitchen.
The toilet seat in "the kids bathroom" (i.e. the bathroom that Katie, Jack and I use - Mum and Ian have their own), was broken - the seat and lid wouldn't stay up unless you held it, and shifted about when you moved your weight even the tiniest bit when sat on it. Not ideal! But, once more, the handyman came out and fixed it. Huzzah!
All of the windows in the flat have two panes; not double glazed, I hasten to add, but double paned. All the outer panes, which are old-style windows, have mould around the wood, and the inner pane in our room squeals like a stuck pig when you move it either up or down - needless to say it stays up for ease on our ears now. Another minor problem that was sorted fairly well was the front door - the hallway carpet was too high for it, and meant you had to shoulder-barge the heavy door to open it as you came in. Luckily the handyman sanded the bottom (once more without sheets) and it now opens and closes smoothly.
More than a week ago, the shower in Mum and Ian's bathroom packed up, water leaking from the control unit knobs instead of coursing up through the spout and pipes. Only today has a plumber called to organise when to come round; tomorrow, I believe. Finally.
And now onto the main point of order - the oven. Our first few attempts at using it resulted in uncooked or overcooked mess' - the temperature didn't raise to anywhere near what it was set to most of the time, and the few times it did raise, it shot up and scorched the food. So, an electrician was sent out and replaced the oven; excellent! But ah, no, it started doing the same no more than a few days afterwards. Friday evening, when entertaining Ian's cousins, the oven turned itself off mid-cook, forcing us to go out and buy fish and chips for all.
Mum rang the landlords for a good twenty minutes with no answer before heading off to get the food, and the oven continued to play up - turning itself off and on every fifteen minutes or so. We found out the controls at the front of the unit were overheating; somehow the heat was leaking from the oven up into the controls of the oven and tripping some heat cut-off. This morning, when Mum rang, the landlord flatly refused to pay expenses for the fish and chips we were forced to buy, not to mention the food that was ruined by the faulty oven, and was extremely rude to boot, denying that we rang on Friday and insisting that we must have got the wrong number. Essentially, the gist of the conversation was "I'm not going to pay for the food, I'll just release you from your contract, How soon can you move out?"
The audacity of some people is amazing, and it makes me all the gladder to be part of the "Games Workshop Geeks" community, as I have evidential proof that there remains some decent people in the world still. But unfortunately that number is dwindling, and we must strive to keep at bay the tidal wave of idiocy and rudeness that is threatening to overwhelm us all. Keep fighting, friends!
It's almost been a month here in the new Blackpool flat, and it certainly just peaked in its bid for worlds most stressful apartments! First off, let me give you the scoop - when Mum and Ian first moved in (actually a month ago now), there was a list of things that they provided the landlords with that needed sorting out.
The curtains in the bedrooms don't pull properly - after the handyman looked at it, he determined that the tops of the poles that the curtain loops run on was rusted, which is why they wouldn't pull. So, instead of turning the poles one-eighty and applying some WD40 (as the undersides of the poles aren't rusted at all), he disappeared saying they'll get new curtain poles and return which, of course, they haven't.
We moved the sofas around to better see the TV from both, and found a pile of dirt and rubbish under each! Whilst this was cleaned up by the cleaning team, the alcove that leads from the living room into the kitchen was covered in damp marks, where water has leaked in. Instead of professionally righting the damp and the upholstery, the handyman (actually the handyman's partner this time) sanded down the wall so you could barely see the damp (which you can clearly see once more, now). She put one sheet down to collect the dust, on the floor, and in this case, one sheet was not plenty. The kitchen surfaces and table were covered in dust; along with both sofas in the living room. Once more, we got the cleaners called out, but still that was a few days we couldn't use the kitchen.
The toilet seat in "the kids bathroom" (i.e. the bathroom that Katie, Jack and I use - Mum and Ian have their own), was broken - the seat and lid wouldn't stay up unless you held it, and shifted about when you moved your weight even the tiniest bit when sat on it. Not ideal! But, once more, the handyman came out and fixed it. Huzzah!
All of the windows in the flat have two panes; not double glazed, I hasten to add, but double paned. All the outer panes, which are old-style windows, have mould around the wood, and the inner pane in our room squeals like a stuck pig when you move it either up or down - needless to say it stays up for ease on our ears now. Another minor problem that was sorted fairly well was the front door - the hallway carpet was too high for it, and meant you had to shoulder-barge the heavy door to open it as you came in. Luckily the handyman sanded the bottom (once more without sheets) and it now opens and closes smoothly.
More than a week ago, the shower in Mum and Ian's bathroom packed up, water leaking from the control unit knobs instead of coursing up through the spout and pipes. Only today has a plumber called to organise when to come round; tomorrow, I believe. Finally.
And now onto the main point of order - the oven. Our first few attempts at using it resulted in uncooked or overcooked mess' - the temperature didn't raise to anywhere near what it was set to most of the time, and the few times it did raise, it shot up and scorched the food. So, an electrician was sent out and replaced the oven; excellent! But ah, no, it started doing the same no more than a few days afterwards. Friday evening, when entertaining Ian's cousins, the oven turned itself off mid-cook, forcing us to go out and buy fish and chips for all.
Mum rang the landlords for a good twenty minutes with no answer before heading off to get the food, and the oven continued to play up - turning itself off and on every fifteen minutes or so. We found out the controls at the front of the unit were overheating; somehow the heat was leaking from the oven up into the controls of the oven and tripping some heat cut-off. This morning, when Mum rang, the landlord flatly refused to pay expenses for the fish and chips we were forced to buy, not to mention the food that was ruined by the faulty oven, and was extremely rude to boot, denying that we rang on Friday and insisting that we must have got the wrong number. Essentially, the gist of the conversation was "I'm not going to pay for the food, I'll just release you from your contract, How soon can you move out?"
The audacity of some people is amazing, and it makes me all the gladder to be part of the "Games Workshop Geeks" community, as I have evidential proof that there remains some decent people in the world still. But unfortunately that number is dwindling, and we must strive to keep at bay the tidal wave of idiocy and rudeness that is threatening to overwhelm us all. Keep fighting, friends!
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