Shijuro's n book challenge for 2010

This was fun last year although I didn't even make it halfway to 75, but I'm hoping to do better this year.
My 2010 Reading Resolutions:
1. Keep reading some physical books. In 2008 I read ebooks almost exclusively, in 2009 I read more physical than ebooks. I think a balance between the two would suit me better.
2. Improve my mix of books. I typically juggle half a dozen books at a time, choosing which to read depending on my mood. I used to include a textbook, a classic, etc. to provide some real variety but lately it's been almost exclusively SF and historical fiction. I'd like to get back to a bit of "what's good for me" in addition to what's fun. I read and began to read several classics last year, I intend to keep it up this year and hopefully throw some non-fiction into the mix.
3. Continue to step outside the series. I enjoy several series and I have a bunch to finish, but lately I've found some new ones that I'd like to begin as well as some stand-alones that I've been meaning to read forever.




Continuing War and Peace:

Glad to see you back, Bill!

Welcome back!

Book 1: Gray Apocalypse - Intriguing, exciting adventure.

From the first few pages of the book: Since the '50's, a group within (above?) the US government has been secretly collaborating with aliens. These are not your Will Smith Men in Black, but ruthless assassins who kill anyone who might reveal their secret. Now, the aliens plan to scrub the earth by diverting an asteroid into it and eventually repopulate it with their own hybrid species. One assassin has a change of heart and races to complete the defense system constructed by a doomed resistance group of scientists.

The rest of the book is a Dan-Brown type "solve the puzzle while chased by a powerful conspiracy" story, although I enjoyed it more than most of the Dan Brown books I've read. The puzzle isn't tough and we know the answer fairly early on, but it's fun watching the various players come together and it's a pretty wild ride. I hope there's a sequel.

The book is inspired by the account of someone who claims to be an alien abductee.

I received this via the LibraryThing Member Giveaway program.

Gaming the book: There are no licensed games that I'm aware of, but the board game ETI: Estimated Time to Invasion covers desperate invention and reverse engineering alien technology to meet an imminent invasion with one player secretly collaborating with the aliens. For role-playing, Conspiracy X has books (Nemesis, AEGIS) dedicated to aliens and the Men in Black and could be used to play out scenarios from this book.

I already have that one in the BlackHole, so I do not need to add it again. I hope my library gets a copy in soon!

Hmmm. Sounds like I need to look into this one.

Book 2: The King's Commission - More exciting adventures with Alan Lewrie on land and sea.

Plenty of shipboard action at the tail end of the American war for independence spiced with some lusty action ashore (a little more steamy than the first two volumes in the series) and the politics of the gentility, followed by a dangerous covert mission to arm Native Americans in Florida. Just as the book seems to be wrapping up, there's another exciting action under a young Captain Nelson.

The book was enjoyable as all in the series have been, but my favorite part is always reading the the notes at the end on the real events that were used as the basis for the stories. The action under the soon-to-be Lord Nelson was a real event rarely mentioned by his biographers.

I can't wait for the next in the series.

Gaming the book: For roleplaying, Beat to Quarters covers a young naval officer's career with shipboard strife, ship-to-ship combat, boarding and even shore actions. Each player creates a character and between you, you create the ship you're serving on. One person then guides the game for the rest.

#7: I wish my local library had those books because it looks like a series I would really enjoy.

Book #3 - The Last Days of Atlantis (Perry Rhodan #62) - a guilty pleasure in the most successful science fiction series on Earth, Perry Rhodan.

This is number 62 out of about 150 books translated into English. As of this writing, there are 2,527 books in this series in its original German (there's been a new Perry Rhodan book every week since 1961) with most translated into several other languages, as well as several spin-off series containing another thousand books. For more info, see the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan

On the series as a whole:
These books aren't deep science fiction, but they're full of exciting space battles, aliens, mutant powers and ray guns. Perry uses clever tactics to take Earth from a barbarian backwater planet accomplishing its first moon landing into an interstellar empire spanning several galaxies. Unfortunately, the imperfect English translations contain awkward phrases and a smattering of errors that detract from each volume. Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading any that I could get my hands on as a teen (random volumes of the English translated editions, so I never had much continuity). Now, through the magic of eBay and a disposable income, I've got all of them that were translated into English and am reading the series from the beginning. Some of them are very cheesy, most are exciting and full of plot twists and daring adventures. The closest comparison I could draw would be Flash Gordon, but Flash's exploits pale in comparison to Perry.

Gaming the series:
Perry Rhodan:Cosmic Hanse is being released in English this year (2010), but really only deals with trading. It does feature ships, alien races and some technology from the series, but there are no epic space battles here.
A Collectible Card Game covers the first hundred books in the series pretty well, but is only available in German (but I'm currently translating the rules and cards into English).
A recent English language point-and-click adventure game is available for PCs called "Myth of the Illochim" a.k.a. "The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure", and can be found cheaply online.
There are, of course, other games available in German.

This book:
This is perhaps the fifth book from the viewpoint of Atlan, an immortal Arkonide commander stranded on Earth during the events recounted here. I enjoy these stories, he's Spock-like in his logical views and it's nice to see him continually impressed with us "barbarians" and what we've accomplished.

The following description doesn't spoil anything, as we already knew Atlan's situation and the title is pretty clear:
Another harrowing encounter in Druuf semi-space (an alternate dimension where we live several times as fast as the very hostile natives) triggers an episode buried in Atlan's subconscious memory, and we learn how Atlantis (Atlan's military base on ancient Earth) fell during an encounter with the Druuf thousands of years ago.

Book #4 - Doctor Who: Pest Control - a really enjoyable audiobook.

This is a great story featuring perfect characterizations of the 10th Doctor and Donna Noble, and it's read by David Tennant (who does a perfect 10th Doctor voice (as expected) but also a surprisingly good imitation of Donna's inflections). His native Scottish accent might take some getting used to, but whenever he drops into the Doctor or Donna's speech it's wonderful and he does a good job of making the other major characters recognizable by his inflections.

This is spoken word with a few minor sound effects added to the background, and the whole thing is paced very well -- I sometimes have trouble with audiobooks if they're read too slowly, my mind wanders and I constantly have to replay sections. This one was just right.

The Doctor and Donna materialize in the back of an Earth-forces military truck in the middle of a battle-zone on another planet shortly before an assault by the aliens. But something else is happening here involving miracle cures, more aliens and a giant robot.

Gaming the series:
I wouldn't really recommend most of the licensed boardgames associated with Doctor Who, but the Solitaire Story Game captures the feel of the episodes well in a choose-your-own adventure RPG-lite format. It is a well-made amateur production, available for free.
Oh, and for a full-blown Role-Playing Game, the new Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space provides a simple but complete system for adventures with a referee-controlled Doctor or even Timelord player characters.

Gaming the book:
The Doctor Who Miniatures Game is another free product that lets you play out scenarios like those in this audiobook (it comes with a number of pre-made scenarios from all eras of the show). It includes printable stand-up figures but the games look much nicer if you track down some of the various Doctor Who miniatures that are available (some pre-painted).

Bill, Just how many Dr. Who books are there? lol

#12: How long is a piece of string?

(edit)
A simple search here shows 2,296 Doctor Who entries, and skimming through the list most seem to actually be Doctor Who, but I have to assume there are a number of duplicates. The series has been on since 1963 (with 10 years or so off along the way), and each of the 11 Doctors has has books, comics, audiobooks, magazines, scripts, games, etc. written about him.

(Edit: Added another Doctor)

Are we talking actual pieces of string or string theory string? :)

Book #5 - Doctor Who: The Forever Trap - another great audiobook.

Another great story featuring the 10th Doctor and Donna Noble, read by comedienne Catherine Tate (who plays Donna on the telly).

The Doctor and Donna accidentally sign-up for a luxury apartment and are immediately moved in, TARDIS and all (the view from their window is volcanoes of Gallifrey towering over Chiswick). But of course something is very wrong -- the building seems to go on forever both above and below their floor, and some of the neighbors are downright warlike. Who's behind all this and why?

I'm listening to a third book in this series and so far they all have been done very well -- quality stories, top-notch characterizations, just an occasional background sound effect for flavor.

For gaming info, please see the previous book.

You have me almost convinced to try the Doctor Who audiobooks, Bill.

Book #6 - Mad Sheep Fascinating but disconcerting.

In the late 1990's, the USDA made a grand show of quarantining and condemning several flocks of sheep in Vermont, apparently to show the world how seriously they were taking BSE ("Mad Cow" disease, which doesn't actually occur in sheep) without inconveniencing the powerful beef industry.

This book deals with the USDA's attempts to destroy these sheep (who never exhibited symptoms of disease and repeatedly tested negative) and the family businesses that depended on them. Along the way we see the USDA abusing their power, misleading politicians for support and making a farce of the legal system. Perhaps worst of all, they do very bad science to rationalize their actions instead of letting the science determine them.

Meanwhile, the community of small farmers rallies together and refuses to back down.

The forward contains a warning that reading this book will make you angry, and they're right. The author was formerly a technical writer and although this is a very personal and emotional account, she documents her story clearly and in detail.

This is definitely worth a read, but it will make you angry.

No gaming recommendations for this one.

#16: That one looks interesting. I will see if I can find a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Bill.

Book #7 - Doctor Who: The Nemonite invasion - A mixed bag, but enjoyable.

The Tenth Doctor and Donna chase an alien parasite to a secret Dover naval base in 1940. The planning of Operation Dynamo (the withdrawal of over 300,000 men from Dunkirk via civilian craft) is occurring amid the beginning of an alien invasion.

Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay is portrayed compassionately, as a brave man conscious of every life lost, a brave (mostly) unsung hero behind "miracle of the little ships" at Dunkirk.

Another character, though, is written very badly -- berserk, deliberate, vehemently patriotic, traitorous, paranoid, anarchistic, delusional... acting very badly for no reason, more annoying than threatening and completely over-the-top. This character seemed poorly thought out and executed, unbelievable and ultimately unnecessary for the story. It was distracting and marred an otherwise excellent adventure.

This too was read by Catherine Tate. This storyline explored more of Donna's character, so allowing her to voice it gave it that much more impact.

So, this is a good story with a historical backdrop, wonderful characterizations (including the alien parasite) only marred by one inexplicably bad characterization.

Gaming the book: For an experience similar to this story-driven scenario, I'd recommend the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game.

(Sorry, Alcottacre, I've been doing a lot of driving this month, and the only audiobooks I have are Doctor Whos -- I'm not really trying to convert you)

#18: I'm not really trying to convert you

Not sure whether I believe that or not, Bill :)

Book #8 - Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes - Amusing and educational.

More the former than the latter. It's an interesting concept -- teaching philosophy by telling a joke then discussing the underlying implications and perceptions it illustrates.

The book does that but the philosophy is given the most superficial of explanations and often is more of a setup for the next joke than an insightful comment. I would have liked a mix of 1 part joke to 2 or 3 parts philosophy, but this book favors the humor and it's therefore tough to take the philosophy seriously.

In fact, it falls flat when they slip pedantic humor or silly puns into the "serious" text.

This shouldn't be used a textbook (but probably is, somewhere), but it's a painless and fun way to skim the concepts of philosophy.

Gaming the Book:
I can't think of a game that teaches philosophy but for jokes I'd suggest Why Did the Chicken? where one person reads a setup line and then judges the punchlines suggested by the other players. The game, like this book, is amusing enough but not as satisfying as you might expect.

#20: I think I will skip that one - and the game, too. I hope your next read is better, Bill.

Book #9 - Beginning Operations - Enjoyable start to a series, shows promise.

This book collects the first of James White's Sector General series concerning a hospital in space. Each story is a sort of mystery, where doctors are faced with ailing aliens and mysterious symptoms. White set out (and succeeded) to write tense stories set in space without directly involving warfare, although occasionally victims of such conflicts are wheeled in.

I enjoyed these stories despite my pet peeve: experts taking longer to solve a mystery than lil' ol' me. These stories are told from the viewpoint of one of the doctors so he presumably knows everything we do about the case but doesn't even consider what sometimes seems an obvious (and ultimately correct) possibility. I understand it's a fine line for a writer to walk -- they want the reader to feel like they have a chance of figuring it out themselves -- but if the reader is privy to a piece of information that the expert character isn't, it's easier to accept them not seeing it.

Aside from that, the characters are interesting (especially some of the aliens) and the stories move at a good pace. I have an omnibus edition with the first 3 books in the series (written just before I was born) and I'm looking forward to reading the next two.

Gaming the Book:
The classic Traveller roleplaying game (or any game in the Traveller family) covers all types of space travelers including medical personnel, and could easily handle alien doctors, patients and scenarios directly from the book.

A light-hearted boardgame about desperately trying to solve an alien problem through wits, trial and error is The Awful Green Things From Outer Space, where one player is the problem alien and the other tries everything onboard to subdue the creature(s) running amok on the ship. The interesting thing is, the effect of each item (fire, water, acid, stun pistol, etc.) is determined randomly for each game so this time freezing it may cause it to reproduce, or grow, or mutate, or explode, or...

Book #10 - Encyclopedia of Immaturity - Fun book for kids (regardless of chronological age)

This is a eclectic bunch of articles that explain (quite well) how to "walk the dog" with a yo-yo, how to perform some magic tricks, how to ollie a skateboard, how to say "poop" in a dozen foreign languages, etc. These are the best parts of the book, the how-to on all kinds of random subjects. The book also contains a number of "filler" articles, collections of really juvenile jokes, connect-the-dot puzzles, practical jokes and mildly humorous "facts".

This covers a much larger ground than, say, The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science, but it is quite random and a little more crude. While the gross-outs and naughty bits aren't really very naughty, this would be better for your child to discover on their own so you can feign disapproval.

Gaming the book: Just do some of the activities right out of the book.

#22: Do those books need to be read in order, Bill? My local library has some but not all of the series.

The Awful Green Things from Outer Space looks fun!

The Sector General stories have a continuity to them. Within a book, most stories end with a brief lead-in to the next. Across books, the same characters are introduced then develop.

It might be more enjoyable to watch the characters develop, but not necessary. Many of these stories were published individually in magazines so they can certainly stand alone. I don't think leaping into the middle would give anything away, but you won't understand references to previous cases other than the brief mention in whichever book you're reading.

Book #11 - Alice, the iPad edition - Cute, but holds the promise of much more.

This is an abridged version of 8288::Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, enhanced for the iPad with original illustrations made interactive. The white rabbit's watch is hanging from a chain, and if you tilt the iPad it swings back and forth in front of the text. Various characters seem to be mounted on springs and shake back and forth with any motion as you hold the book. Alice telescopes down, she grows large, the Cheshire Cat fades out leaving nothing but his smile, cards fly out all over Alice, etc. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gew68Qj5kxw for a glimpse.

Publishers currently have a problem with eBooks.

Readers know that while an ebook edition involves the same royalties and editing as any physical edition (or should, but they usually have an appalling amount of proofreading errors), they don't have printing, storage, distribution or return costs. Ebooks are often secure (requiring the purchasing credit card number to unlock them) therefore generally can't be loaned to a friend and cannot be resold after reading, which effectively makes them more expensive for those people who can bear to part with a book once owned (I am not among them). The public therefore expects ebooks to cost less than paperbacks.

Publishers are afraid that discounting ebooks will result in acceptance that a "book" is worth less, making it harder to charge 15-30 dollars for a new hardback. This has kept ebook prices high and been an obstacle to widespread public acceptance. So, if publishers don't want the price to fall but it's obvious to everyone that ebooks are much cheaper to sell, they need to provide something extra. Publishers are currently experimenting with author interviews, film clips (for film tie-ins), and similar uses of the media capability of some ereaders to provide added value.

Alice is an early example of what can be done. I can envision the collected works of 3053532::Edgar Allen Poe with an optional stormy night soundtrack. Or 29374::Robinson Crusoe with a soft ocean soundtrack and plain black-and-white line drawings of the beach with animated waves, or trees occasionally stirred by a breeze, or character sketches that occasionally blink or shift about uncomfortably like the portraits in 3577382::Harry Potter. Perhaps they could incorporate the audiobook in the ebook so children can follow along as the book reads itself, or adults caught up in a particularly good book can switch to audio while driving? We can finally have portable, truly hyperlinked stories, where something like 1116874::Angels and Demons or 3123767::The Da Vinci Code is linked to images of the places and artworks he's describing - touch the name of an artwork to see a thumbnail, or touch that to see a high resolution image of it before resuming your story.

This version of Alice is a novelty item and it really just hints at what can be done with the new generation of ebook readers. I can't wait to see what's next!

EDIT: As of mid-August 2010, this contains both the above-mentioned Abridged version and the unabridged texts. At the title page you select which you want. The Abridged is nearly all enhanced animations and art; the unabridged has them at the appropriate points with stylized pages of text between. Another advantage of eBooks -- it updated itself for free and my book "magically" contains much more than it did when I purchased it.

Book #12 - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Delightful, beginning to end.

The first adventure of Flavia de Luce, a brilliant 11-year-old chemist with an unhealthy fascination with poisons. When a body turns up in their garden, she takes it upon herself to discover what happened.

The mystery was satisfactory although I'd figured out many of the particulars long in advance of our heroine, but it didn't detract from watching her make her way through the case. The way Flavia's mind works is just a pleasure to experience. The characters are rich and appear deeper than we get to see (as opposed to most books where the characters appear 1- or 2- dimensional). I'm anxious to read the next book in the series soon, lest too much happen in these tiny English villages meanwhile and I miss out.

I see trouble coming in a couple weeks when I've read The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag and have to wait for the next adventure to be written.

Note: This was my first Kindle book (on the iPad) and I was disappointed that there's no built-in dictionary like every other ereader I've used -- Flavia's vocabulary occasionally exceeded my own and I had to pop out to a dictionary app to look a few words up. It also lacks a search function which is handy to "flip-back" to re-read something. I don't foresee buying many more Kindle ebooks until their software catches up with the industry.

#26: Thanks for the video, Bill. That was kind of cool. Not that I am buying an Ipad or any other kind of e-reader any time soon :)

#27: I am going to get around to reading that one soon. I think it is at the top of the stack of summer reads!

What no game recommendations? You are slipping!

#28: I did try to come up with game recommendations, but it didn't really seem to fit the Alice thing and I couldn't come up with a game that would allow you to play an 11 year old girl solving crime on a bicycle. I'll try to come up with some recommendations next time :-)

LOL!

Book #13 - Beggars in Spain - intriguing and exciting.

In the near future, genetic engineering allows you to choose characteristics for your children (as long as you can afford it). But what about improvements? A simple thing like designing out the need for sleep... what effect would 30% more time to every day mean? What unforeseen effects would it have? How would the "normal" human race view people with these improvements?

This was written in the early 1990's but feels quite contemporary. It reminds me in many ways of a (later) book by Greg Bear, Darwin's Radio (and its sequel, Darwin's Children), also dealing with an evolutionary advancement in the human race and the inevitable resentment, fear, and violent xenophobia it would most likely lead to.

I'm afraid I can't come up with any games for this book either. I'll make it up with a book I'm almost finished, I've got 3-4 already lined up for that one :-)

#31: OK, I guess I will forgive the last few books with no games attached in view of the promise of 3-4 suggestions for the next one!

# 32: That's fortunate, because just one more comment and I was going to read more Doctor Who. I'm not bluffing. I've got the books and I know how to use them. :-)

Oh, no! Not that - anything but that!

Book #14 - Essential Iron Man, Vol 1 - The first 34 Iron Man comics, complete.

This graphic novel presents Tales of Suspense #39-72 from the early 1960's, chronicling the beginning of Iron Man, his developing relationship with Pepper and the triangle between them and his "bodyguard"/chauffeur Happy. It describes the origins of many recurring enemies, his participation in the Avengers, and introduces Hawkeye (initially a thwarted-hero-turned-villain who would later join the Avengers himself).

The stories seem simple and formulaic now, with "transistors" used as a magic word -- "transistorized jets", "transistor-powered flashlight", "transistorized roller-skates", etc. and they overdo the must-recharge, seconds-left-to-live thing, but they're amusing enough adventures with well drawn artwork. A few of the storylines break the formula, spanning two or three issues and developing a more interesting arc.

Most of all, reading through these gave me more of an appreciation for the Iron Man film, as they kept all the salient points of his origin but fleshed it out and updated it very well. One major difference from the film is that Tony Stark keeps Iron Man's real identity secret from everyone including Pepper and Happy (although Happy seems to suspect).

Gaming the book:
1. In the boardgame Marvel Heroes, each player controls a group of 4 related comic heroes (e.g., Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor) and the super-villain nemesis of one of the other player's group (e.g., Magneto). They investigate crimes on a map of Manhattan while all of the other players play villains to oppose them, the most dangerous being their own nemesis. Some characters (like Spiderman) have an advantage in investigation (possibly resolving an encounter without combat), whereas few can match the clobberin' strength of Fantastic Four's Thing once punches start flying. Some are better at supporting other's efforts than taking lead themselves and there's a chance to outwit your opponent between each round of combat. Characters can level up during the game to become more powerful. Many other heroes and minor villains appear on limited-use cards. The choice of scenario at the beginning of each game provides additional replay value. Plus, the 20 pre-painted plastic miniatures are fun to use. This game may be too abstract for smaller children, but for fans of Marvel comics there are plenty of recognizable faces with their abilities suitably expressed in the game mechanics.

2. The role-playing game Mutants & Masterminds allows you to role-play being any hero or villain. You can create most any super and be as original or derivative as you like. You may then play through available series of adventures or create your own. Requires one player to act as "referee" while the others play their heroes and villains.

3. Online, City of Heroes gives players a chance to construct their own superheroes in a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game (MMO RPG). While exact copycats are frowned upon (they've already been sued by Marvel for allowing players to duplicate their copyrighted characters) you can create a reasonably invulnerable Ferrous Man complete with Force Repulsion powers and perform missions, form supergroups like the Avengers (complete with secret headquarters you can design yourself), spar with other heroes or visit special Player vs Player areas to fight people from the sister game City of Villains. If you just have a few minutes you can pop in and patrol the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop or flying along looking for thugs accosting citizens or drug deals going down in the streets below. Free trials are available. I'm on the Victory server.

Book #15 - The Lightning Thief - Funny, but predictable.

A young boy is inducted into a hidden world of magic when he goes to a secret training camp for demigods and learns that magical creatures are all around. Discovering he's something of a celebrity in these circles, he sets off with his gangly best friend and a brainy, studious girl to beat a big bad guy whose name the others fear to speak.

Despite the above description, the first Percy Jackson novel is somewhat less like the Harry Potter books than it sounds and has some funny, unique touches as Greek myths are blended with a contemporary adventure.

My pet peeve ("genius who repeatedly misses the obvious") is present throughout the book. For example, Annabeth is the daughter of Athena and a studious little bookworm who has been at the training camp for 5 years. She has reason to believe that Percy is the son of either Zeus or Poseidon, but when she witnesses his magical control over water still can't guess who his father might be. Several times in their adventures they bump into contemporary manifestations of Greek myths without recognizing the situation (e.g., a garden center with life-sized stone statues run by "Antie Em", wearing a hissing turban -- the kids don't suspect a thing, even when they recognize one of the statues). I understand the target audience of the book may be children, but a young reader of average intelligence will still see that one coming long before the myth-steeped heroes do.

The overall adventure has some twists but nearly everything could be predicted a quarter of the way in -- partly because of an oracle that spells it out without any clever wording that might require decoding after the fact.

Percy's character is a likeable, funny guy which makes this formulaic and predictable story palatable.

I haven't decided if I'll bother to read the next in the series.

If you did enjoy this one, I'd recommend the Harry Potter books or Amber series by Zelazny (also about a god-like family in contemporary settings).

Gaming the book:
In Age of Mythology (a boardgame based on the popular computer game), each player pits heroes and mythical creatures from ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology against one another while scrambling to build up an empire.

The Amber Diceless Roleplaying System allows you to create god-like characters and embark on quests across versions of reality, fighting mythical creatures and other demigods from your family. You could easily use this system to roleplay characters and situations similar to Percy Jackson and friends.

NOTE: Another complaint about the Kindle system: As I was reading this, I came upon some sections underlined. When I hovered over them, a pop-up told me things like "4 other readers highlighted this section". First, it made me feel like I had a used book, like those second-hand textbooks with someone else's idea of what is important highlighted. Second, I had been highlighting the moments in the story that tipped off what was going on -- I had no idea I might be spoiling the book for other purchasers by drawing attention to some of the heavier-handed foreshadowing. The alerts about other's highlighting can be turned off, but the default is "on". I see no way to prevent Amazon from watching and publishing my highlights and I don't want to have to go back and erase them afterward because Amazon wants to distribute them without my permission. I'm quickly growing to dislike Kindle.

#36: Bill, IMHO the first book in the Percy Jackson series is the weakest. I would say give book 2 a go and then if you do not like it any better, abandon the series.

I am glad to see so many game recommendations. I will definitely be checking them out!

Book #16 - Star Surgeon - Medical mysteries in spaaaace!

The second collection of Sector General stories hangs together a little better than the first, James White has hit his stride and I'm looking forward to the next volume.

This time around, there are several short stories that (re-)introduce the staff and several new problematic patients, followed by a novel that approaches space opera. A former patient (from the short stories) is attempting to help a planet besieged by world-wide pandemics and requests his former doctor's assistance. When he returns to Sector General, the surgeon must cope with a number of disasters including the failure of the translating computer that all the various species of doctors, nurses and patients use to communicate. He must find a way to continue delicate, complex surgical procedures with only the most fundamental communications. And what about that hot nurse he can't get out of his mind? Will they become more than friends?

Gaming the book:
1. The cooperative boardgame Pandemic allows the players to join forces against the game itself, attempting to cure several diseases spreading across different areas of the earth. Along the way they drive or jet between locations, establishing temporary labs and treating the infected, trying to prevent outbreaks that can quickly grow out of control. The cases of disease are represented by colored cubes, and if you ever have to add a cube to a location with 3 already, an outbreak occurs and each neighboring location receives a cube (it helps to imagine that each cube represents a zero at the end of the number of cases -- 1 representing up to 10 cases, 2 up to 100 and 3 up to 1000, so once you're about to add another you have a real problem). It's a very clever system and every game I've played has been a real nail-biter (if we weren't wearing surgical gloves).

The expansion Pandemic: On the Brink provides some optional elements to shake up the game, including one that feels close to the scenario in Star Surgeon. It also includes plastic Petri dishes to store all the "disease" cubes.

2. In the light roleplaying game OG you play cavemen who must complete tasks such as relocating to another cave when yours floods or procuring food for the group, with a nearly non-existent vocabulary -- each player can only learn as many different words as their intelligence rating, chosen from a list of only 18. The humor comes from trying to communicate "Throw the spear NOW!!!" when you don't know the words "throw" or "spear", and there IS no word for "now". Players leap around trying to pantomime, hooting to attract attention. It's so easy a caveman could do it.

#38: The Pandemic game looks good. I am going to have to check that one out too. Unfortunately, unless a game can be played solitaire these days, I am out of luck. No one here seems interested in board games any more. *sigh*

#39: Pandemic can be easily played solitaire. Because it's a pure cooperative game (all players are on the same side) you just run the character(s) by yourself. You can play a single character, but use one less Epidemic card than usual (with only one pawn in play you'll have to do a lot more travelling). It's pretty easy to play two at once, though, just keep their hands separate. I'd recommend a solitaire game before you try to teach it to anyone anyway, it's the best way to grok the rules (and it's fun).

#40: Good to know. Thanks for letting me know, Bill.

Book #17 - Storm Front - another paranormal hero

This is the first book in The Dresden Files series. I first learned of the Dresden Files via the TV show (which I enjoyed) and I kept hearing about how much better the original novels were than the show. I haven't seen a big difference between this first book and the TV, and enjoyed this as much as the show. I also didn't recognize the plot from TV, so I'm hoping that the show had original plots and I won't be reading re-runs. These are entertaining stories of a modern day wizard using his abilities for good, helping people and consulting with the police on the most oddball crimes.

This is a different sub-genre from the supernatural romances, like teen series Twilight, Dark Guardian, Wolves of Mercy Falls, etc., or the adult vampire romances by Anne Rice, Linda Lael Miller, Barbara Hambly, Kim Newman, etc.

There are a number of book series involving a paranormal vigilante holding back the hidden hordes of the night from the normal folk. Sonja Blue is a vampire with a soul who hunts the other bad vampires (like the Blade movies). Rachel Morgan is a witch, fighting with and for demons, vampires, werewolves, fae and other supernatural complications, although in her world the mundane population is aware of their existence. Buffy the Vampire Slayer fights all manner of supernatural foes, and somehow the common folk never really notice what's happening all around Sunnydale. Witchblade features a policewoman with a magic bracelet that transforms into a weapon with a mind of its own, encasing her in armor so she can fight magical foes.

Harry Dresden is one of the better efforts in this sub-genre. He's an interesting character with a complicated background and some depth to the worlds he juggles. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Gaming the book:
The best way to play scenarios from this or any of the Dresden files books is The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game (as of this writing a free preview is available). It uses the FATE roleplaying system, which I'll be covering in more depth shortly.

EDIT: The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game is available now. Many bookstores and game stores provide a code that allows you to obtain the PDFs for free. Having a PDF copy is handy for printing forms, maps, etc. out of them as well as searching the text (and carrying around your entire library of PDFs on an iPad or iPhone is handy).

For a board game that touches on the Dresden files experience, Betrayal at the House on the Hill captures part of it. Players cooperatively explore a "haunted house", building the map as they place semi-random tiles each time they step through a new door. They find magic artifacts and witness strange events until suddenly, the Betrayal occurs. It is triggered by a discovered item and a die roll (which gets easier as the game progresses) and indicates which of the players is actually behind the supernatural goings-on. That player is directed to a page in the Traitor's Tome which fully describes their scheme and how they can win, while the other players read a passage in another book that explains what they've deduced and how they can win. The endgame is a fast-paced battle between the two teams (sometimes the Traitor can subvert players one by one to their side). The game comes with 50 different "haunts", featuring vampires, zombies, ghosts, cursed artifacts, etc.

#42: I have Storm Front hanging around my house somewhere to read. I really must get to it one of these days!

Thanks for the link to the RPG of the books. I will take a look.

Book #18 - Doctor Who: The Last Voyage - Companionless Doctor, but same mayhem

This audiobook has the Doctor sans companions in the far future, appearing on the maiden voyage of an Interstitial Transposition Vehicle ("NOT a 'ship'!"), an invention which will revolutionize the Great Human Empire. Unfortunately, the Doctor recognizes that humanity shouldn't understand the technology involved for centuries yet. How then has this happened and why? When nearly everyone onboard vanishes shortly before arriving at their destination, the Doctor has several mysteries to solve and very little time to do it.

An enjoyable story with great characterizations, read by David Tennant in his "natural" voice (except of course when he's speaking as the Doctor). He has great enthusiasm for the material and the reading is only marred by his female voices -- one of the main characters in this is a woman with an American accent, and David sounds like a bad drag queen every time she speaks. It's unfortunate as it's distracting and the character is very likable otherwise.

Still, this is one of the best Doctor Who audiobooks I've listened to.

Gaming the book:
The Doctor Who Solitaire Story Game is great for having the solo Doctor experience, meeting temporary allies, deciding if you want to invite them to continue on as companions or just go on your way.

#44: Really? Him again? Torture, sheer torture :)

Book #19 - The Tigris Leaps - Action packed space adventures

This volume brings me back to why I loved Perry Rhodan (PR) as a teen. The translation is sometimes awkward, making the dialog stilted or absurd at times, but the action and the concepts are a lot of fun.

In the volumes so far, Perry led the first manned mission to the moon and discovered a crashed alien spaceship. He strives to learn alien technologies and build them on Earth, frantically trying to raise a defensive fleet before Earth is rediscovered and annexed by a more powerful race. Along the way he negotiates, outsmarts and sometimes steals technology to increase Earth's chances and builds an elite squad of mutants with powers of telepathy, teleportation, suggestion and other odd abilities. He becomes semi-immortal (he has to undergo cell regeneration every 62 years) and over a hundred years is positioning the Earth as heirs to the largest interstellar empire. He tangles with the cybernetic emperor, at various times convincing it that Earth is a much smaller threat, or that he and Earth's fleet have been destroyed, or that he can cooperate with the Emperor to defeat an inter-dimensional threat.

Now, however, the empire has developed technology that will enable it to detect all transitions to/from subspace (which makes interstellar travel possible) in an effort to locate Earth. Perry has days to concoct a scheme involving an "accidental" misjump of a trading ship containing a doctored computer that will lead the Empire to the wrong part of the galaxy. This is to delay and confuse the Emperor while Earth manufactures and distributes devices to cloak their ships from the new detector. Things don't go quite according to plan (the cybernetic Emperor is very clever and efficient) and an elaborate rescue mission must be improvised without revealing Perry's deception. Can he pull it off or will Earth fall to the cybernetic brain? (spoiler alert: There are 2500 more books in the series; he probably scrapes through somehow)

A couple science-fiction short stories and articles (from the mid-1970's) on conventions and PR fandom finish out this volume.

Gaming the book:
The Traveller family of roleplaying games ("classic" is my favorite) can handle ships and plots like those in this book. It also contains rules for "Psionics" that will allow players to be part of Perry's mutant commandos.

#46: 2500 books in the series? Wow! And my local library does not have a single one of them.

#47: As mentioned in my description of Book #3 The Last Days of Atlantis, only 150 have been translated into English as a semi-professional translation done in the mid-1970s. There have since been several attempts to get the series going in America (the most successful spawned 4 issues in 1998 before shutting down) but the German edition is currently on issue 2544, and there over a thousand more among several spin-off series over the years. There's a (German language) app for the iPhone just for reading Perry's adventures on it.

I tried to collect these for years when I was younger, scouring flea markets and garage sales, obtaining a few scattered books. Then a few years ago I snagged the entire set on eBay and have been slowly making my way through them.

That's one of the great things I have found about eBay - book lots. I got 37 of Agatha Christie's that way.

Book #20 - The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag - An excellent follow-up, even better than the first.

Flavia is back, the mystery is more fun (and deeper, this one kept me guessing up to the end, and the resolution was satisfying).

A puppeteer comes to town and is persuaded to perform at the vicarage. It's not long before there's a mystery and Flavia is immersed in it all, pedaling around town to piece together what happened and why.

I love this setting, I love these characters (even Flavia's dreaded older sisters) and we learn a bit more about Flavia's mother, the adventuress who died much too young.

This book was even better than I'd hoped it would be. I can't wait until the next book is written.

Sorry, again I can't think of any games that fit these books.

#50: *sigh* I still need to read the first one!

Book #21 - The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights - A huge collection of interesting and sometimes fun fantasy.

There are a number of other translations of these stories, with varying amounts of liberties taken with the content (western-isms introduced, raunchier parts bowdlerized, stories condensed or omitted completely, etc.). I had this edition recommended to me as the definitive version. I'm glad I read it with the stories in the proper cultural context, but it certainly would have been easier going to read a more abridged version that was perhaps less true to the original Arabic.

Richard Burton (not the actor) includes extensive footnotes comprising nearly a quarter the length of the stories themselves, some running on for several pages apiece. These footnotes explain metaphors, context, the translators own experiences in the East, etc. The best of these footnotes were illuminating and informative and really added to the experience; the worst seem like catty criticisms on errors made by previous translators. At first I read them thoroughly, but halfway through I took to skimming the portion of them that were going on at length about precise derivations of the original Arabic words.

Note: A couple vague spoilers follow.

The stories ranged from the fantastic to the meandering. The book starts off strong, with a racy story about how the King and his brother got into the whole marry-for-a-night, kill-her-in-the-morning thing, and how Shahrazade and her sister decided to risk their lives to stop the King through quality storytelling.

She then launches into stories, many of which contain other stories (which occasionally contain OTHER stories) in a web of narration with each tale leaping into the next. Sometimes the flow is natural, such as "which reminds me of the tale of..." (a story related in theme) but other times it's a blatant non-sequitur, such as "They also tell of..." (completely non-related tale).

Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is here, complete with the "Open Sesame" treasure cave. It's a longer, more violent story than the way it's typically depicted in cartoons, but held my interest. Similarly, Alaeddin and his wonderful lamp is a longer, more complex story but had a satisfying conclusion.

However, Sindbad was nothing like the adventure movies I grew up with. In fact, the seven voyages all boil down to the following formula: "Sindbad decides to sail somewhere, gathers a crew (who somehow don't know that he gets shipwrecked by the second paragraph each trip), is the sole survivor of a shipwreck (told you so), encounters something amazing and through unlikely coincidences rebuilds his fortune, then returns home vowing never to sail again". Curiously, the better stories are the first voyages so, rather than building to a climax, the stories seem to go on way too long. And really, after the second or third trip, he was just being an ass.

A couple tales I had heard of before but only as vague references were the City of Brass and the Ebony Horse. They were enjoyable fantasy stories.

One bizarre story was about a man named Abu Hasan who once publicly broke wind and how it changed his life. Really.

Note: A pretty specific spoiler about one tale follows:

The Three Apples is about a man who, when his wife became ill and craved apples (not native to the area) took great pains to obtain three for her. Later that day, he observes a slave eating an apple and when asked, the slave says that his lover's cuckold husband had bought the apple and a couple others. The man goes home and finds his wife with two apples so he stabs her to death, dismembers her body, stows it in a trunk and throws it in the river. He then learns that the slave was just kidding. Oops. Too bad, really, that's probably the kind of jape his wife would have appreciated if he hadn't just horribly murdered her.

One of the longest and most pointless stories with the riveting title "Tale of Nur Al-Din and His Son Badr Al-Din Hasan" begins when two close brothers get to talking one night about how great it would be if they both met great women, got married and had children of the opposite sexes at about the same time so that one day their children could marry (relationships between first cousins are acceptable there). They then argued so severely about how much the hypothetical dowry would be that they vowed never again to speak to each other and one brother went into exile. Coincidentally, although no longer in contact, they both get married and have children of the opposite sexes at exactly the same time. Even more coincidentally, both children grow up to be the most attractive in the land. Ridiculously coincidental events have two djinn arguing about who is fairest and get the young couple together briefly, where they fall instantly in love and spend many pages barely missing each other in a series of misunderstandings that would have Jack Tripper saying "Oh, that's just stupid!", before their fates again become intertwined and the story goes on and on. If there's a moral or a point, I missed it entirely. If it's intended as comedy, then "Three's Company" would be an epic masterpiece.

To sum up, this is a fascinating work. Some stories are epic adventures, some are the basis for famous stories we all know, and some go on and on and on for no reason whatsoever. I would recommend "Arabian Nights", but suggest anyone who doesn't have a particular interest in Arabic culture go for a more accessible abridged edition instead.

Gaming the book:
Tales of the Arabian Nights is a storytelling boardgame, a cross between a Choose-Your-Own Adventure book and The Game of Life. Each player moves around a map of the middle East, encountering Djinn, sorcerers, slaves, magical items like rings, lamps and carpets, and enchanted places like the City of Brass. The characters, places and situations are straight out of the 1001 Nights. Players encounter people, places and situations that are resolved by reading indexed paragraphs of text from a book. Players then select their reactions from a list, and a result paragraph is read to them. Effects may increase their wealth, move them to another location, imprison them, change their sex or species, marry them, curse them, or perhaps just give them a good story to tell later. Who wins isn't as memorable as that time you went insane, wandered in the desert, then found a magic lamp and became Sultan; or that time you married a sorceress, got changed into a woman, then changed into a goat and were made Vizier.

An early expansion for Dungeons and Dragons was the Arabian Adventures, allowing players to roleplay stories right out of the Arabian Nights or their own tales of magic light fixtures and mighty genies (who appear to be routinely tricked and trapped in jewelry). Nowadays, there's an entire sub-genre dedicated to the fantasy settings and trappings of the Arabian Nights, as well as A Thousand and One Nights: A Game of Enticing Stories.

I bought the board game for my family last Christmas. I love it. I appreciate your recommendation of it, Bill.

I have a copy I bought last year of The Arabian Nights translate by Husain Haddawy--one of my projects for retirement!

#54: That's supposed to be one of the best versions, based on some of the oldest surviving texts. Enjoy!

Book #22 - Sharpe's Tiger - Entertaining historical novel set in India.

This is the first book chronologically in the revered Sharpe series, and was an excellent and exciting read. Sharpe is a foot soldier in the British Army serving in India during the siege of Seringapatam. He's a rascal, but discovers to his surprise that he might just be a good soldier. Espionage, combat, adventure... I've heard about this series for decades and it's about time I finally read them. It's nice to discover they're every bit as good as I've heard.

Much of the novel is based upon actual events which I always find a plus (I can pretend that I'm learning history, not just reading escapist adventure novels).

Gaming the book:
The Sharpe novels are popular enough to have spawned a couple games based directly upon the character, including a Sharpe-themed version of Stratego and a free set of skirmish rules for miniatures.
John Company and the Conquest of India is a miniatures wargame covering combat in this era and locale, although the scenarios begin with the battle of Assaye (the topic of the second book in the series, Sharpe's Triumph).
Stronghold is a game released in 2009 where one player lays siege to the other, which was the focus of much of the plot of Sharpe's Tiger. This is a medium-heavy wargame and not for casual gamers.

I need to get back to the Sharpe series one of these days!

Book #23 - The Rising Night - Scary medieval fun.

A Doctor Who audiobook featuring the 10th Doctor travelling solo. It is read by Michelle Ryan, who appeared as a one-off ally of the 10th Doctor when he was travelling solo, so I was hoping this meant her character would appear in the story. Alas, she doesn't. But Michelle does a fine job differentiating the characters through changes of inflection and captures the Doctor's accent quite well.

The story involves an apparently supernatural being that isolates a small medieval town. The Doctor is found nearby, suffering briefly from amnesia, and has to convince the locals that he can help them.

The story and characterizations are good, there are a few chills -- a good Halloween story.

Gaming the book:
A Touch of Evil is a spooky boardgame where the player is trying to defeat an unknown supernatural opponent in a small medieval village. Many of the town elders have secrets, some are benign (secretly practices witchcraft, or embezzles) but some are in league with the Big Bad. Players explore the town, round up allies, learn about the elders and eventually confront the evil that has beset the town.

Book #24 - Dracula - Surprisingly contemporary horror tale.

I'd never read the original before, although I've seen countless Hollywood (and Mexican, and Italian...) versions of the vampire story. I was surprised to find the style seemed contemporary, jumping between various diaries, logbooks, newspaper clippings, etc. Stoker also incorporated some then state-of-the-art items like electric lamps, phonographs, Winchesters, etc. that make a nice contrast to the eerie Romanian superstitions.

The story, in case you haven't heard about it, is that a vampire comes to London. Several people become aware of what he is and scramble to stop him before he grows too powerful.

I enjoyed this immensely.

Gaming the book:
I strongly recommend The Fury of Dracula if you want to experience the second half of the book. Although the game is set 8 years after the events in the book, it is effectively chapter 23 through the end of the book in a boardgame format. One player is Dracula, attempting to evade pursuit long enough to build up his strength and powers. The others play any of the other 4 main characters (Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Lord Godalming and poor Mina Harker who begins the game bitten). Dracula plays a trail of location cards across Europe, or risks sea movement (which costs him blood while onboard). The others fan out and search for signs of his presence. When they reach a location in his trail, he must reveal it so they can see how many days behind him they are and try to guess where he's headed. But he can also leave traps for the hunters (e.g., pack of rats), assume wolf form, and feed to gain strength. He can sometimes gain information from, or even briefly control a hunter that he's bitten, but there's a cost -- they can be hypnotized to reveal his current location. The game is very true to its source material and makes for a thrilling experience. Again, I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the book.

Book #25 - Stealers of Dreams - A fascinating Doctor Who adventure.

The 9th Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack Harkness find a colony world where progress has stagnated and untruths of any form (lying, storytelling, and even dreaming) is illegal. The residents are terrified of going "fantasy crazy" (being unable to discern reality) and the TARDIS crew soon learn why -- Rose catches it. Captain Jack is sent to an asylum for exaggerating and it's up to the Doctor to solve it all.

This was a wonderful concept and parts of it read like a Philip K. Dick novel. Characterizations were good, Captain Jack always spices things up some, and the "guest" characters were nicely rounded.

This is one of the best Doctor Who novelizations I've read so far.

Gaming the book:
See my previous Doctor Who suggestions for playing a Doctor and companions.

An inexpensive interactive fiction game called A Penny for My Thoughts might be a good one for some of the concepts explored in this book. In it, players are undergoing therapy to retrieve some repressed memories and determine which of several possible events were real. Each has a small pile of pennies and take turns telling their stories. At important parts (or if they get stuck), they ask the other players what happened then, offering a penny for the person who supplies the best response. The pennies pace the game and help encourage players to offer interesting bits. This is a unique role-playing game, as your character isn't decided at the beginning but takes shape along the way as the narrative is built by the group. The mechanics are simple and straightfoward, and built upon improv theater techniques.

Welcome back after a long absence!

Thanks, I hate it when I get too busy to read.

Yeah, me too! Although that doesn't happen as much anymore since I retired in June. ;-)

Still on the Doctor Who kick I see, Bill :)

Glad to know you liked Dracula. I am reading it this month as well.

Book #26 - The Demon Princes: The Star King - A great start to a series!

This is the first novel in a 5-book series by Jack Vance, one of my favorite authors. The set tells the story of a space-faring young man who, as a child, watched the destruction of his village and the enslavement of his people at the hands of 5 pirate kings known as "The Demon Princes". He has been trained since that day for one goal: To end their lives, for several reasons including justice and vengeance. Each book appears to detail his encounter with one of the Demon Princes, and along the way he questions what he's become.

This book contains the signature Vance touches as the protagonist encounters unique cultures, fashions and beliefs. Technology is both wondrous and taken for granted -- no jarring techno-babble, just common names for devices without unnecessary explanations for how they work. Much as people today talk of television shows without pausing to consider how a television functions, the devices in Vance (technology in his SF, magic in his fantasy, both indistinguishably in The Dying Earth) are simply mentioned in passing with sufficient context to allow the reader to infer the function.

A particular culture may merit a single paragraph in the narrative, but you're always left with the sense that each is a fully developed concept, and hope that we may encounter them again to learn more.

Although I usually alternate books rather than read a particular series back-to-back, I think I'm going to have to read volume 2 very soon.

Gaming the book:
For roleplaying the exploration of new worlds and shuttling between them in small craft at faster-than-light speeds, I'd recommend the reprint of classic Traveller. It has a character generation system that plays like a game itself, many hundreds of pre-made ships available and a fun and flexible ship construction system to design your own. Vancian planets and cultures can be quickly recreated as a setting for your own roleplaying adventures.

A boardgame that gives players a taste of the roleplaying but in a simpler, quicker format is Battlestations. Players take on the role of pilot, science officer, marine, engineer, etc. on a small ship built from tiles (e.g., bridge, engineering, sickbay) and run around the ship to deal with various situations and emergencies (sabotage, malfunctions, negotiations, etc.).

I just got a book of Vance's in a couple of weeks ago (Tales of the Dying Earth), but it is not in that series. I will look for the book you mentioned if I like the one of his I already have. Thanks for the recommendation, Bill.

I will look for the games too :)

I reviewed Star King on my blog a while age - see here. It's pretty typical Vance. Fun, but he has written better.

There's also a RPG based on one of Vance's universes, Planet of Adventure, published by Steve Jackson Games. Not sure if it's still available, though.

And, of course, the Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, which rather like the sun in the Vance novels flickered, faded, then sputtered back into existence and is currently in print.

Book #27 - Psych: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read - A good filler

A story that teams Shawn and Gus (on foot, the "blueberry" is impounded) with a sexy psychopath and a multi-billionaire in solving several seemingly unrelated murders.

The author has written episodes of the TV series (and several other books set in the Psych world) and had assistance from some of the show's staff in getting the characterizations right. They were good, although Shawn comes off as a little more of a jerk but I think it's basically the way he is on TV; you don't notice as much because of the acting and the pace. I felt I got some real insight into Gus' character and it makes some of his on-screen behavior more understandable. Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara aren't handled as skillfully, though, and are flat extras on the periphery of this story.

The humor was pretty good with several laugh-out-loud moments, witty dialog and improbable situations.

The mystery, though, was a little all over the place. I spotted some of the important bits along the way, but in the end they were assembled with tenuous and unlikely coincidences that was unsatisfying. Even for Shawn, he was taking some wild guesses and assumptions to pull it together.

And I didn't notice a pineapple.

I'll try another of his Psych books, if only for the characters and to tide me over until the series starts up again.

Gaming the book:
For a good deductive game (albeit without the humor of Psych), 221b Baker Street lets you play Sherlock Holmes and run around London trying to gather clues and solve crimes before the other players.

Note: We play with a house rule that if you roll a "1" for movement, you have flagged down a cab and can ride to any external destination. This speeds up the game considerably without throwing anything out of balance.

#69: I like your 'house rule' for 221B Baker Street, a game I really like. I will have to remember it for the next time we play!

Edited for typo

Well, I fell behind not only in reading but in updating this.
I managed to get in 2 more Perry Rhodans and a Doctor Who audiobook before the year ended, but haven't had a chance to write up little reviews or game recommendations.

Bill! There you are! I hope you had a Happy New Year!

The 2011 group is up and running strong: http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin20111#forums

Come on over and join us!

Book #28 - Perry Rhodan #64 The Ambassadors from Aurigel - mediocre entry in the series.

In an earlier book in the series, some malcontents were allowed to escape to another planet to form an independent colony, and were then quickly enslaved by an alien race (the Whistlers) who happened upon them. Perry had some agents watching them and surreptitiously sabotaged the alien ship. In this episode, some of the colonists travel to the Whistler's home world posing as ambassadors from a powerful empire, hoping to give them something more to worry about then carrying out reprisals against the rebellious colony.

The plan itself seems a bit iffy and quickly goes off the tracks, providing some unpredictable fun where they attempt to stir up the local rebellion but it all ends with a twist that comes out of nowhere and kind of makes everything they've done meaningless.

So, some fun in the middle but ultimately unsatisfying entry in the series.

Gaming the book:
This would make a good playset for Fiasco, a game about "powerful ambition and poor impulse control" where you can play out any ill-fated schemes (e.g., Fargo, A Simple Plan, Burn After Reading, etc.). They release free scenarios monthly, but it wouldn't take much to construct tables out of the elements in this story -- a desperate attempt to head off reprisals by a bold impersonation, with conspirators, traitors, agents, etc. Once you have the basic lists built, you play the game by choosing items and relationships from the tables via die rolls and player choices, then roleplayed out to a spectacularly cataclysmic finish.

Book #29 - Perry Rhodan #65 Renegades of the Future - More fun than the previous entry.

Several of the hard-core malcontents from the previous story have stolen one of Perry's ships and is attempting to sell the position of Earth to the Robot Overlord who has been trying to track them down for decades. In the process, they've kidnapped one of Perry's pilots who is struggling to stay useful to the traitors while tipping off Perry and company about their location, knowing full well that the probably outcome will be the destruction of their ship and all on board to protect the secret.

Exciting, one-off entry in the series that advances the overall plot somewhat.

Gaming the book:
Any of the Traveller versions could be used to play out the intrigue and combat from this story.

Book #30 - Doctor Who: The Day of the Troll - a mediocre audio adventure.

Another in the series, with the tenth incarnation of the Doctor going it alone. He encounters a village beset by supernatural seeming problems, although unsurprisingly there is an alien behind it all.

Mostly forgettable characters with a villain who, as happens in several of the Who novelizations and audiobooks that have been cranked out, acts against his own interest for no apparent reason except to throw in one final hurdle to overcome.

Gaming the book:
For a village facing a real supernatural threat, you could use the Grimm roleplaying game to set up various situations like the ones in this audiobook and let the players work out what is behind it all. This is better suited for combatting actual supernatural threats, however, not alien entities.

Whew. Finally finished off 2010, JUST before 2011 ended. Now I merely have to add ALL the entries that I haven't had time to make to 2011's list.