Cleared: The Hero of Ages

This was the final volume of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. It revealed all sorts of things, went back to earlier parts of the series, and tied everything up neatly. It (the series as a whole) was also probably the most incredible work of fiction I have ever read. Sanderson's talent as a world builder, a creator of characters, and simply as a writer is utterly unmatched in any other fantasy work I have ever read. I lack the verbiage to describe just how amazing this series is, especially taken as a whole. Sanderson wasted nothing, not one tiny detail throughout the entire series. I have never seen anything like it. I doubt I ever will again. You need to read this!

Cleared: Daybreakers

I just finished Daybreakers. It was an interesting, somewhat unique take on the whole modern vampire mythos. I'd probably call it a horror drama with some action elements. Anyway, it had some interesting premises in it, though the way the world was going at the end, the setting is probably headed to some sort of post-apocalyptic future. I can't say much else without spoiling the story. Worth a watch, though. That much is certain.

Addition: Chuck, Season 1

A buddy of mine from work and my friend mindtakerr (whose backlog is linked elsewhere on this page) have both recommended this show to me. So here goes! One unit of credit has been deducted from TV series.

Cleared: Vexille

I told you it wouldn't be on the backlog for long! Vexille is an excellent action/scifi anime movie that suffers from none of the things I usually find vexing in anime. The story isn't weird, it's not overwrought, and the art isn't over-stylized. The characters have some interesting depth to them, and the animation is gorgeous. Movements must be based on motion capture, because everything looks very natural. Facial animation is especially good. I also liked the very realistic and practical art design. Female characters dress just like their male counterparts and aren't anatomically exaggerated and technology looks plausible. And I cannot stress just how astonishingly good the action sequences in this movie are. People do shake off a few things that they shouldn't, but aside from characters that should be superhuman for valid story/world reasons, nobody seems over-the top, and even the people who are superhuman are within a realistic window of it. No crazy unassisted leaps 50 feet into the air, for example. And then there's Vexille herself, who is a strong, intelligent female character who is most assuredly not just there for eye candy. She's tough, smart, adaptable, and courageous without being a man-hating ice queen or sexed-up fanservice. The plot is smart and the revelations about what's really going on make for a really amazing (and creepy) reveal. And the soundtrack! Paul Oakenfold did the music for this movie, and it was a perfect choice. I cannot recommend this one highly enough. If you like action and/or science fiction, it is well worth the two hours of your time!

Addition: Vexille

I was browsing around on Netflix last night and ran across a movie called Vexille. It's a near-future animated action/sci-fi movie. Expect this one to only be on the backlog for a short time! 1 unit of credit has been subtracted from Movies.

Cleared: Overlord

I finally finished the base game of Overlord this weekend. I've been poking at this one for a while and had actually made it all the way to the end boss with one overlord, only to discover I was completely unprepared to face him. The second time around I made use of a couple of items from the Raising Hell expansion pack and it went a lot better. Overlord is a fun game; no two ways about that. Terry Pratchett's daughter, Rhianna Pratchett was the writer for the game, and apparently comedic genius runs in the family, because the game's sense of humor reminded me more than a little of the Discworld novels I've read. My biggest irritations with the game came from the AI (which was bone stupid; minions will go after breakable objects before actual threats - something which I'm convinced the designers actually exploited at least once) and the controls, which were a bit unwieldy in places. However, neither complaint was sufficient to make me not like the game. I still have the expansion on the backlog for the "second ending" but I can call the base game done. I'd also recommend this one upon finishing it. I had a lot of fun, and so did my wife, who watched me play it.

Cleared: Iron Grip: Warlord

Iron Grip warlord is a very cool little FPS/RTS hybrid multiplayer skirmish game. While there's not much in the way of story to speak of, the game is very entertaining on other merits, and would likely be great fun in a LAN party setting or even with a few friends some evening. Declaring this one cleared is kind of a misnomer; it doesn't strictly meet the qualifications of a clear-able game, but I didn't fully realize that when I put it on my list and I liked it enough to write something instead of just dumping it. The game gets bonus points in my book for being something of a mix of steampunk and WWI level tech. The styling is very cool.