Review--A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 02:12AM After what had become for A Song of Ice and Fire fans a seemingly interminable delay, George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons was finally released on July 12, five years and eight months after the release of the previous book in the series, A Feast for Crows. In that nearly six-year absence, the series took on fans like a submarine made out of wiffle balls takes on water.
John Carter Trailer Up - and Wow!
Monday, July 18, 2011 at 10:24AM 
Finally, it's here. After decades of false starts and lost hopes. I'm speechless, truly speechless. You just got to see it to believe it. Watch here.
Dragonriders to ... well, May Soar to the Big Screen!
Sunday, July 10, 2011 at 07:13PM 
You know how you have that favorite book that you just want to see on the big screen? Well, I've been lucky I must admit. I didn't think I'd see Lord of the Rings on the big screen, but I did. I didn't think I'd ever see John Carter swashbuckling across Barsoom in the theater, but I'm gonna. Now, finally, another of my top fav fives of all time is on the verge of making it: The Dragonriders of Pern! I know, I know . . . there had been rumors and false beginnings for years - and that failed tv outing. But this looks mighty promising. Read about it here.
Now, if they'd only hurry up with Elric . . .
Anne McCaffrey, Dragonriders of Pern, Pern in Books, Movies Forlorn: Hope Review
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 02:01AM Review
Forlorn: Hope
Designed by Chris Taylor
The Spin: Low –complexity, quick-playing “game of tactical combat between a squad of human Space Marines and a nearly unlimited horde of hostile alien Xenos aboard the claustrophobic space station, Hope.”—Forlorn: Hope “box” cover
Not sure why, but I really love this cover art.
If you are a older gamer, it will be hard to read the above description without thinking about Games Workshop’s Space Hulk or possibly Steve Jackson’s Awful Green Things from Outer Space or maybe even Task Force Games’ Intruder. The good news is that while Forlorn: Hope shares elements with all of the above games, it still manages to maintain its own identity. Better yet, it turns out to be one of the better examples of the Bug Hunt sub-genre, better even in some ways than the aforementioned classics.
Forlorn: Hope’s basic “plot” is nearly identical to Space Hulk’s. Various missions give two players the opportunity to run a group of high-tech marines against a swarm of low-tech but vicious aliens in the narrow corridors of a space station. Also like Space Hulk, Forlorn: Hope has marine movement and attacks tied up in an action point system—though there is an important difference.
SDJ (Germany’s Game of the Year) Winners Announced!
Monday, June 27, 2011 at 09:05PM 
The 2011 SDJ Winner!
Susan McKinley Ross has become the first woman to win Germany’s prestigious and influential Spiel Des Jahres for a solo design with Qwirkle. Qwirkle also becomes the first pure abstract game to win the award in thirty years (since Sid Sackson, another American, won for Focus). I didn’t put the effort in to playing the nominees that I do most years and Qwirkle isn’t one that I got to the table, but after some reading I’m definitely adding it to my next board game order. It seems like it will be a great game to play with the wife and kids, which is usually all I expect from the SDJ.
Additionally, the SDJ committee began this year to present a second award, the Kennerspiel, for connoisseurs of board games (which, I suppose, just means people who are familiar with a wide variety of games). This new award was desi gned to recognize great games that might be too complex or hard to learn for the average German family. The first game to win the award is 7 Wonders, a game we at Nerdbloggers really enjoy and one that I reviewed here back in February.
Since it is one of the daughter’s favorite games, I was cheering for Forbidden Island (read William's review here) to win the SDJ, but I’m still happy to see the award go to Ross, who comes across as a extremely likable and a great representative for American game designers. So, congratulations Susan. Here’s hoping Qwirkle sales get the traditional SDJ boost and then some.