1. bainespal says:

    I did bad at speculative fiction in 2013. I haven’t read any Christian speculative fiction since the beginning of the year. I did get through Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy. Watched Deep Space Nine and the new Battlestar Galactica, and I love both of those shows. Started watching Voyager, but I’m still in the first season and it’s pretty hard to sit through an episode at this point.

    I also began watching Doctor Who, and I can see brilliance buried beneath generous helpings of cheese. I’m in the second season. But it’s still hard to sit through an episode.

    Now I’ve got another of Sanderson’s books loaded on my Kindle and I’m hoping to get to it soon.

    Which one is that? I’ve previously read Elantris as well as the Mistborn trilogy, and I’m waiting to have time for The Way of Kings, hoping that The Stormlight Archive might be the next Wheel of Time.

    But if I was going to pick the one that surprised me the most, that has to be Miasmata, a game programmed by two brothers (I think).

    I remember your review of that one. I never got around to buying Miasmata. I did try another indie adventure game, Waking Mars, and I’m impressed with the artwork and with the 2D platform mechanics used in an adventure context. I haven’t gotten all that far into the game yet, but I can confidently recommend it.
     
    I also bought FTL: Faster Than Light based on your old review of it. Thanks for the heads-up about it, because it is totally awesome! We can re-stage all our favorite adventures from the glory days of space opera television! I think FTL is my favorite indie game that I’ve ever played so far.

    • John Otte says:

      Watched Deep Space Nine and the new Battlestar Galactica, and I love both of those shows. Started watching Voyager, but I’m still in the first season and it’s pretty hard to sit through an episode at this point.

      DS9 is under appreciated as a Star Trek series. Once the Dominion war got started, it simply blew my mind from week to week. And BSG was simply incredible too. I get what you’re saying about Voyager, but give it a little time. The one thing that seems to hold true about any of the Star Trek spinoffs is that you have to suffer through the first two seasons. They’re usually pretty bad, but by then, the writers and characters find their footing and start telling better stories.

      Which one is that?

      It’s another Jill Williamson recommendation, The Rithmatist. Something about drawing stuff with chalk and the drawings doing something…magical?

      I also bought FTL: Faster Than Light based on your old review of it. Thanks for the heads-up about it, because it is totally awesome! We can re-stage all our favorite adventures from the glory days of space opera television! I think FTL is my favorite indie game that I’ve ever played so far.

      I know! I didn’t include FTL in the list simply because I don’t think I purchased it this year. I checked my Steam account for Miasmata and realized that I last played it (when I beat it) a year ago, so I counted it. I have played a lot of great games, most of then indy games, but Miasmata is the one that I still think about from time to time.

  2. Kerry Nietz says:

    Thanks for mentioning AViS, John. You rock. 🙂

  3. Amish Vampires in Space helped make the year for me.

    The thing brazenly worked; only the title (and cover) appeared silly and satirical. I hope the novel (and any sequels?) can keep working on its own, apart from MLP …)

    I also enjoyed Nightriders by Marc Schooley, an excellent paranormal Western with much more believable genre-bending than the just-for-fun-but-still-quite-lackluster Cowboys and Aliens movie (which was announced after Schooley started his story). Schooley had way more to say, also, and the story once again proved you can go almost over the top with “agenda” — and a controversial agenda at that, in this case — and still have a fantastic story.

    In 2013 I also enjoyed Heartless and began Cast of Stones. Hurrah for free ebooks.

    By the way, John, thanks for swapping places with me this one time. And it’s good to see you all caught up on your Who, just in time for the 50th and Twelfth Doctor.

  4. Kerry Nietz says:

    Thanks to you both!
    And I absolutely agree with your sentiment on Nightriders, Stephen. (And Cowboys and Aliens, actually.) Marc Schooley is a literary treasure, and downright good human being. MLP should sign him for three more books, sight unseen. 😉

  5. Tim Frankovich says:

    Hooray for Dr. Who, Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s books, FTL, Arrow, and complicated board games! It seems John Otte’s interests are very similar to mine. No wonder I like his books so much. (Still need to get Numb.)

  6. Julie D says:

    My comments on your list.
    10. I’ve read The Empire’s Soul,  Way of Kings, and Legion. I see some fresh elements in his work that make me want to find more.
    9. Her work is amazing, isn’t it? The fairy tale elements are so strong and beautiful.
    8.  My extended family loves Qwuirkle, but I like Ticket to Ride, Cataan, and Dominion too. Though Dominion is more of a card game.
    7. Only read Cast of Stones, loved the narrative voice.
    6. Seen a few episodes, mostly because Alex Kingston appears later in the season,
    5. Wonderful story.
    4. Not really a video game player.
    3. For the first time in my memory, there’s three movies at the  theatre I’d love to see: Hobbit, Frozen, and Book Thief.  Seen Hobbit once, but wouldn’t mind going again.
    2. Congratulations! Confetti! And I’m not so much worried about Capaldi as missing Smith.
    1. I should add those to my list.

  7. LadyArin says:

    Was it only this year i started reading Brandon Sanderson’s books? I think it might have been. Definitely my favorite discovery of the year. Legion might have been my favorite, but A Way of Kings was also very good, and i hope that he makes progress in getting some of them translated to the big (or small) screen.

    • Both Mistborn: The Final Empire and Legion have been optioned by studios (for the big and small screen, respectively), so those will likely be the first of his novels to go visual.  I certainly hope Sanderson never even briefly flirts with the idea of optioning out a single installment of The Stormlight Archive, as PJ’s mangling of Tolkien’s work would pale in comparison to what a screenwriter would have to do to Roshar in order to squeeze that projected ten-thousand-page opus into the temporal parameters of a film or even a TV series.

      • LadyArin says:

        If done right, Legion would be a fantastic TV series. I think Steelheart might be a bit more straightforward choice for a movie than the Mistborn books — but i’d be satisfied with either, honestly, so long as they were done well.
        And, yeah, there’s no way to make a decent Way of Kings adaption, TV or film. 

  8. Jason Joyner says:

    Well, it looks like you keep good company. 😉
    Jill suggested Steelheart to me as well. Then when you chimed in I had to try it. Now I’ve got The Rithmatist on my desk.
    Keep it up with the games. We need new things each year at the conference (although I’m doubtful to make it this year, but you never know.)

  9. I also started reading Brandon Sanderson this year. Haven’t quite gotten to Steelheart yet, but I LOVED the Mistborn trilogy.
    I have both Heartles and Cast of Stones sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read. Sounds like I should jump into them.
    Always great to welcome a new Whovian to the party.  I loved the 50th and am looking forward to Peter Capaldi’s take on the character.

  10. DD says:

    Arrow is one the few shows I regularly watch and has really come on its own.
    As for books, the latest installments of Brian Godawa’s Nephilim series and Morgan Busse’s fantasy series were in my top 10 list.

What do you think?