I remember when I got my first Kindle way back in 2008, it was a clunky wedge-shaped device, but I was excited to get my hands on my very first e-reader. Though by no stretch of the imagination was the Kindle the first e-reader, at the time the devices were an extremely niche and expensive. In fact, shortly before the launch of the product, I remember listening to a technology podcast, and one of the hosts was talking about the sheer uselessness of e-readers in general. He thought that the Kindle would come and go amounting to nothing but a footnote in history. Well the Kindle did a little bit better than what that particular host thought it would, a lot better...

At the close of Monster Hunter International, the Monster Control Bureau (MCB) launched a nuke at the climax in an effort to neutralize the situation. However, the nuke went into the Old One’s dimension and hit one of them injuring it, and it placed a bounty upon the person who hurt it. Unfortunately for our hero from Monster Hunter International, Owen Zastava Pitt was named as the one who launched the device. Though he doesn’t know that. All he knows is that he is at the top of his game. He works for the best monster hunting company, and in fact, he is a member of the flagship team of hunters, Earl Harbinger’s team. While they are on a job in Mexico without Earl, since the job is happening during a full moon, a shadowy man seeking to collect Owen for the rewards promised by the Old Ones...

Going through my Audible library I saw a series that I enjoyed, Monster Hunter, and I saw that there was a new entry Monster Hunter Siege. I quickly added the new book to my library, but I did not want to start it right away since it had been so long since I had read any of the books. So now that I held a new entry in the series, I went to the Audible app on my phone and downloaded Monster Hunter International so I could once more begin my journey in the Monster Hunter series...

White Sand Vol.1 was the first installment of Brandon Sanderson’s first foray into graphic novels, and it blew me away; from the story to the artwork it was a stunning beginning to a truly epic tale. The second installment begins right where the first one left off with Kenton flying away from Duchess Khrissalla, so he could try and wrap his head around the fate of his diem. Of course, the Duchess is furious with the young leader of the Sand Masters because he hid who he was from them...

Sorry for the rant, but I spent a fair amount of the day reminiscing about significant events in my life, and one of the ones that my mind spent some time on recently was my daughter’s kindergarten graduation, and play. I don’t remember all of the details of the play but a strong memory was that it was adorable and that my daughter did an excellent job with her lines. After everything that was done, we spent the rest of the day together just having a good time. One of the places we went to was a local park that was built back in the… well, it was around back when I was her age, and my daughter loves it, especially the tire swing. I remember as we came close to the park I asked her if she knew where we were, and as soon as she could see the tops of the playground’s structures the joy in her voice was evident as she cried out, “We’re at the tire wheel park.”..

Ever since Iron Man came to the big screen in 2008, Marvel Studios has been building to Avengers Infinity Wars and its next installment Avengers 4. This past weekend I left the theater, and I was blown away by the breadth of the film. Given that I didn’t see the movie on opening weekend, I was thankful that I had managed to not hear anything about the movie before I walked into the theater. That said, I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen, the web is always flooded with various rumors about upcoming movies it especially seems that Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) rumors are particularly rampant...

After reading the rest of the Pillars of Creation series, I picked up the last installment with great eagerness. From Mage Alain’s vision in the first book to the Master Mechanic Marie’s dread of her ultimate destination throughout the series to the end of the Servants of the Storm, I had a rough idea of what the story was going to be. As I read each page my hope that I would get a satisfying conclusion to the series grew and grew, and while the series was ended with a satisfactory completion, it did create another new thread that would be continued in another series, The Legacy Of Dragons...

The most important thing when I think about a story is the quality of the story itself, it doesn’t matter what form the story is told in. If the story is not solid, then it will not hold my interest. Now Marvel Studios has been putting out multiple movies every year ever since Iron Man back in 2008 and they have been building up to Avengers Infinity War with the characters they have the rights to use. One of the newer characters added to the stable of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is Black Panther. The role was introduced to the MCU in Captain America Civil War with the death of his father centering around his revenge...

When I cracked open the fifth installment of the Pillars of Reality series I was hoping to get a satisfying conclusion that The Pirates of Pacta Servanda did not give me. Hiwever I did not get that satisfying conclusion I had been looking for with the fourth installment. Knowing that there was one more book in the series, I’m hopful that he wrapps up all of the loose threads, but that will be addressed once I complete the last beek in the series...

When I have some free time, and I want to explore Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe, I will visit The Coppermind to explore the universe these stories are crafting. Long before White Sand Vol. 1 was released I read an article that talked about its placement in the cosmere timeline. Given the fact that this story takes place so early on in the cosmere’s history, I’m hoping to get some history of this wondrous universe. Though I was very eager to delve into this new story and see how it would stand on its own...

Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda is a show that premiered on October 2nd, 2000. It stars Kevin Sorbo of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys fame, as Dylan Hunt a High Guard Captain who becomes lost in time after a surprise attack when his ship, the Andromeda Ascendant, enters a black hole in the hope to survive that attack. As soon as his Andromeda escapes from the black hole that held them he meets the people who will ultimately form his new crew. The show follows Dylan Hunt and his new crew as they strive to resurrect the fallen Systems Commonwealth, the republic Dylan served when he entered the black hole...

Once I finished The Assassins of Altis, I pulled out the fourth book in The Pillars of Reality series by Jack Campell. I was eager to discover how The Daughter, Master Mechanic Mari, would proceed after having just managing to escape from the perils of the previous installment. Having decided to travel to the broken country of Tiae...

When someone talks about a story, what is the first thing that pops into your mind? I would wager that for most people in this day and age the answer would be either television or movies. For a select few it might be a good book or even a play. Now while all of these things have storylines, an avenue for storytellers that is rapidly growing is video game stories...

Sorry for the rant. But I was looking around my office, and I see a fair amount of my Magic the Gathering collection. Looking at the collection in my office makes me think of a time when I was back when I was in high school gathering around my collection searching for just the right card trying to build the best deck I can. Though as high school went on, I eventually put my collection aside and went on to other things. Years after putting my collection aside a good friend of mine got pulled back into the game, and he started telling me about all the ways the game has changed and adapted since we last played. Despite my friend trying to pull me back into the game, I didn’t have the time or money for it...

I was very intregued by the first two installments of The Pillars of Reality series, with them Jack Campbell has painted a wonderful tapestry of the world of Dematr. He has woven the lives of Master Mechanic Mari and Mage Alain into the very tapestry of the world each giving strength to each other and to the world at large...