Fairy Tale Spotlight: Deathless [Video Game Review]

"Deathless" is a video game released in 2018. It is a full map pack for original Doom, created by James Paddock.

I keep running into these wonderful Doom map packs that continue to surprise and entertain me. "Deathless" is a four episode map pack that replaces the campaign from original Doom. It contains no weapons or enemies from Doom II. It also takes the plot from the original game too. All that's different here are the maps themselves.

The name of the game here is small maps. Every map in "Deathless" are very small, compact, and have usually an enemy count from about 6 to 40. Although the maps are small, they are still a lot of fun to explore. They don't take a whole lot of smarts to unravel them, and that was the idea. It's like playing the entire original campaign in bite-sized chunks.

As I said, there are four episodes like the original game had. In this version, they are called respectively "Lifeless", "Ruthless", "Deathless", and "Griefless." Each episode has one secret level which usually are smaller compact versions of famous levels from both Doom and Doom II. The designs of each map are very good. They all feel like small facilities being guarded by a realistic number of sentries. All the enemies are organically placed, making everything feel like it is supposed to be that way.

Another thing that is very notable about "Deathless" is just how accessible it is to anybody. For new gamers, this is an easy map pack to start out with. And if it gets too easy, the difficulty setting will help up the enemy count. Everything about this game is very satisfying. Just keep in mind that if you prefer the huge sprawling maps from the original games, you will not find them here. All these maps are small and wonderfully tight. Some of the best design I have ever encountered in Doom history.

I do recommend "Deathless" especially to people who are interested in a change of pace. Doom is known for their huge and complicated missions. It's good to change things up once in a while. This map set is available as a Featured Mod in the excellent "Doom+Doom II Remastered" put out by NightDive Studios. Give it a try!

This blog was written on January 27, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Beware of the Mouse [Book Review]

"Beware of the Mouse" is a novel written by Leaonard Wibberley. It is the fifth and final book of the Grand Fenwick series. It is also my favorite. The book was published in 1958, making it the second book released, but it seems to be the suggestion of the author that it be read last.

"Beware of the Mouse" actually takes place in the Middle Ages and goes into more of a history tale of the world's smallest fictional country. What's interesting about setting the story so far back in time is that very little has even changed. Even in the modern era, Grand Fenwick still lived as if they were in the Middle Ages. They even used the long bow, which is their weapon of choice.

The plot of this one has to do with a serious threat from France after the rival country begins deploying a new weapon called the cannon. It is a terrifying weapon that threatens to destroy anybody who has to content with it. France hates Grand Fenwick and wants to claim them for themselves. The issue is that Grand Fenwick knows nothing of gunpowder and cannons and worries that their mastery of the long bow will fail under such a frightening new weapon.

As usual in this series, it is up to Grand Fenwick to act as the underdog while dealing with overwhelming forces going against them. In this case, the forces coming outnumber them 40 to 1. I don't want to spoil how it goes, but it was wonderfully told.

All the characters in this book are charming an wonderful. The knight known as Sir Dermot, an Irishman, steals the show by being both the bravest and the most cowardly all at the same time. His duality is hilarious, and I loved every single scene with him in it. Much of the story is about him trying to determine his destiny, not only as a knight, but as a man.

This story also is a great way to learn about how people lived in the Middle Ages. It all seemed very accurate to the era, which actually helped sell some of the more humorous moments. Nothing here is sensationalized. If something was awkward, then the author gives us the truth.

I think the best part of this book was that you don't need to read any of the other ones to get into it. It is entirely not dependent on the modern stories. I love this because it really ended up being, not only my favorite in the series, but just such a damn fine Middle Ages book in general. I'll even go so far as to say that, if you only read one, read "Beware the Mouse." It's really that good!

All in all, I loved this series. I am so happy they exist and are now apart of my imagination. Thank you, Leonard Wibberley, for these wonderful stories. I will always have a special place in my heart for the tiny country of Grand Fenwick.

This blog was written on January 26, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Thing [Video Game Review]

"The Thing" is a video game developed by Computer Artworks and published by Black Label Games. It was released in 2002, and the remaster was recently released by Nightdive Studios in 2024. It is considered the canon sequel to the 1982 film of the same name. Yes, it is canon. That was entirely confirmed.

I played this game on console back when it originally came out. I was fascinated by the concept, but found the game to be very glitchy and unpolished. Apparently the PC version was better, but I never knew that. Because of all the problems I had, I never bothered to finish it.

The remaster has given this game a new life, and it is yet another reason to love and adore Nightdive Studios for all that they do for us. This review is mainly for the remastered PC version.

Taking place mere moments after the original movie (and having nothing to do with the prequel that came later), this game follows the story of Blake, an American soldier investigating the site where the movie took place. Along the way, you encounter other people at the site, and they may or may not be the thing. Once again, we are in a situation where we have to be suspicious of everyone.

Or do we?

Honestly, one of my biggest complaints was how the game tries to implement the paranoia aspect from the movie. Without going too much into it... they sort of failed. I never actually cared if anyone with me was the thing; I was just happy to have someone to help shoot the creatures coming at me for as long as they were willing. If they changed along the journey, they were honestly easy to kill. The blood test from the movie was in the game, but it was not always accurate, and because of the reason I gave above, I never really was interested in forcing the thing to come out. So this was a fail.

The story, however, was very interesting. The game actually does make for a good sequel. It does involve a bit of stretching though. Like... it is about a secret military base that was examining the thing as possible weapons/immunity research. It doesn't make much sense, but the game still makes it interesting enough. I liked it.

The gameplay is fun and engaging, and the combat is exciting and thrilling throughout. Although sometimes the game forces you to leave people behind for absolutely no good reason. It baffled me whenever this happened. All I am saying is don't get used to anyone with you. Just be happy you're staying alive.

"The Thing" is a very flawed game in almost every aspect of itself, but the good news is that it is fun. It's a fun game, and that's all we can ask from something like this, I suppose. I do recommend it, although you really should get the remastered version. It is much better and even closer to being canon-accurate.

This blog was written on January 1, 2025. Happy New Year!

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Going Down [Video Game Review]

Do any of you know a guy named Cyriak? His full name is Cyriak Harris, and he has been making music videos on YouTube for a very long time. These videos are very creepy and strange and often feature themes of cyclical repetition, fractal patterns, and mutations. They are intensely creepy and weird. He takes one theme or video and completely turns it into a terrifying nightmare set to some very discordant music that he makes himself. They are also often very humorous which contrasts pleasantly with the fact that they are terrifying. I have been a huge fan of his stuff for over a decade, and I always look forward to his new videos.

Well, recently I found a new Doom game called "Going Down" (released in 2014) that I downloaded completely at random. Honestly I was looking for a new game to blow off some steam on. I wasn't even going to finish it. The first thing I noticed was that I hated the music. It was discordant and silly and did not really sound like any music I had ever heard in the Doom games. I actually said to myself out loud, "This kind of sounds like Cyriak's stuff."

But then I had a sudden feeling of dread wash over me. I turned the game off and began searching information on the "Going Down" map pack. It was created by a user known only as "mouldy." And when I dug just a teeny bit deeper, I found out that the true name of mouldy was none other than Cyriak Harris. Well, I'll be damned. Cyriak made a Doom game.

And I figured he might have done a great job too since he was listed in the "featured mods" section of the Doom+DoomII Remaster. Anything in that category means that it is not just any Doom mod... it's considered one of the all time greats. And I then decided to play the whole thing through (all 32 maps) and see how much they stack up to Cyriak's body of work.

The whole concept of "Going Down" has to do with traveling from the top of a building and working your way down, killing everything you see along the way. This ultimately leads down into the basement areas... and eventually something that greatly resembles Hell.

Cyriak has perfected the concept of the "monster closet" by very strategically making a very empty room turn into a room full of enemies in seconds flat. One thing that is very particular to this map set is that, when enemies suddenly appear in front of you, they very often appear behind you as well. Cyriak loves trapping the player in between enemies very quickly. He's using a lot Doom voodoo to make it happen too. I have rarely seen so many tricks pulled in Doom in one map pack.

The map author also uses his sheer mastery of map editing to create situations where you can only use one weapon in a map, by either making all the other weapons less useful or just somehow taking the other weapons away. One mission had me only using the chainsaw and another just my fists. No matter what you are forced to use, a ton of enemies will be appearing regardless of if you feel it is fair or not... so just deal with it!

The main thing that happens so often in this map pack is that you can go from zero enemies to an absurd amount very quickly. I think this is his way to falling back to his music videos. In a strange way, it does sometimes feel like the monsters are repeating out in some absurd version of macro cellular mitosis.

There was also some witchcraft created by Cyriak that rather boggled my mind. In one situation, you are in an elevator, and when you take a few steps forward, the light go out and then, when they come back on, the whole room is covered in blood. That is not easy to accomplish in the classic Doom engine. He had to pull some very silly tricks to make that happen. He had to, in some crazy way, transfer the player seamlessly from one elevator to another just to make that happen.

The intermission scenes are silly. They have Doom Guy taking phone calls from his mother and mentioning that he is busy killing demons and such. His speech is very British. This is a bit off-putting, but it happened because Cyriak happens to be British.

The map pack had two secret levels which were very enjoyable and easy to find. The final mission had an original boss in it, and it was a very epic battle. It was followed by a epilogue mission where you are attacked in your own apartment complex. Very cool.

Without a doubt, I recommend "Going Down" as an absolutely must-play Doom map pack. If you have the Doom+DoomII Remastered available, it is free to download. Also check out Cyriak's music videos on YouTube! They are super creepy and fun to watch.

This blog was written on January 15, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Harmony [Video Game Review]

"Harmony" is a video game created by one man named Thomas van der Velden. It was released in 2009 for PC. It was entirely made on the classic Doom engine.

Back in my old video game days, I used to play a lot of "Star Wars Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight." While playing this game, I soon found out that there was a huge modding community for it online. A lot of them just reused assets from the original game to make new Star Wars games for me to play, but some of them did what was, at the time, called Total Transformations or TTs for short. These TTs replaced all the assets of the game but kept the engine. In this way, the game could look entirely different and even represent source material for other universes such as the Alien franchise or even *gasp!* Star Trek!

"Harmony" is one of these Total Transformations but for classic Doom. Although, today they seem to prefer the term Total Conversion. Even though you are actually playing Doom, you don't see anything that resembles Doom at all except for the movement controls. Everything else is completely different from the scenery, the enemies, the weapons, and even the sound effects. But don't be fooled. You are actually playing Doom; it just feels like an entirely different game.

The ascetics of "Harmony" feel like they are ripped out of a cheesy 1980s scifi flick. It's actually based on a comic book written and drawn by the author of the game. I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of his art, but the overall design of his universe is amazing.

As far as the story of the game, I'll just copy and paste it to you since Doom games are reliant on text to explain anything:

In the near future: Led by greed and hatred mankind drove itself into another world war. The forces of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere attacked each other with everything their destructive arsenal had to offer. Nuclear, chemical and biological weapons wiped out entire countries. The combined effect of the weapons resulted in an unforeseen side effect; a supervirus emerged that mutated all the men on Earth. For unknown reasons the women were unaffected. But they weren't safe either...

The mutated men, though intelligent, lost touch with reality. From their corrupted minds a new order was formed; 'the Pax Pox'. Its first priority is to rid the world of the "impure".

The women who survived the war united to form an army against the mutant aggressors and called themselves "the Amazons".

Today one of the Amazon outposts is attacked and their leader; Amira is taken captured. Her last hope is her loyal friend; Harmony.

Will Harmony be able to rescue her friend and the rest of the human race?

That's all you really need to know to get into the game. The rest of it is pure action scifi video game. The monsters are all very unique and interesting. The 13 maps have a really nice scifi design to them, and often really feel like real places. I really enjoyed exploring them and fighting off all the various enemies and mutants that it had to offer.

My only big complaint came in the form of the second level. It was really long and tired me out. I almost quit. I kept working on it though and found the rest of the game to be much more engaging. I am glad I kept with it. The sheer love that went into making these strange maps really shows.

If you are interested in playing this game, which I totally recommend, you can find it in the Featured Mods in the excellent "Doom+DoomII Remaster" recently put out by NightDive Studios. It's free and worth the playthrough. It will honestly just feel like you are playing an entirely different game, and that is incredibly cool in and of itself.

This blog was written on January 24, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Mouse that Saved the West [Book Review]

[I spoil the main plot of this book.]

"The Mouse that Saved the West" is a novel written by Leonard Wibberley. It is the forth book in the Grand Fenwick book series. It was published in 1981.

I just wanna say that I have really been enjoying this series. I love the whole concept of it. It's all very cute. I am going to read the rest of it right away.

This one has to do with the energy crisis which is not something I remember too well. I was just being born when this book came out. From what I understand, OPEC was being stingy with its oil prices, and it was making everyone sweat bullets because they didn't wanna pay the asking price. It's a bit confusing to me, since all you have to do is just drill your own damn oil, but it was what it was, I guess.

As usual in the series, Grand Fenwick, the smallest fictional country in the world, gets involved in a scheme to solve the world's problems. The idea they come up with is to fake Grand Fenwick as a producer of oil and then sell the barrels at cost. Hilariously though they end up striking oil for real.

I don't want to say more than that, but I do want to say that the character Mountjoy is someone who I generally see as very intelligent and reasonable, but I don't think he was as on the mark in this one. I think he bit off more than he could chew and made some bad decisions. Even so, he was still very cool. He is probably my favorite character in the series.

I do recommend this one. I didn't like it as much as the other ones, but it was good enough for a single read.

This blog was written on December 30, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Wurst Seller [Book Review]

[I spoil one of the comics inside the book.]

"Wurst Seller" is an adult picture and comic book made by Wallace Tripp. It was published in 1981. It is really weird. It was so weird that I put off reading it for like three years. I finally did it though. I went through it in one sitting.

I was actually gifted this book by my editor, which means I am a terrible friend to take so long to go through it. Really, I just have a hard time with bad jokes. This book is full of them. Some of them are extremely hard to understand. They just baffled me and hurt my head.

Make no mistake, this book is pain. Some of the jokes are genuinely funny, but the majority of them are jokes that will just make you groan really hard. I mean groan so hard that it hurts your chest. That was clearly the idea. The writer/artist wanted to hurt his reader. It is safe to say he succeeded.

I do want to point out that this book may look like it is for children, but it really isn't. Ignore all the cute, cuddly little animals. This entire thing was intended to hurt adults. I don't think it would be particularly damaging to kids, but they probably would not understand 75% of what's inside. It really takes an intelligent adult mind to comprehend most of this, which is ironic. He actually turns people's intelligence against themselves. That's insane.

My favorite part of the book was a single-page comic called "Little Bunny Wuffy and Tee Wee." It is about an extremely adorable bunny and a bird who goes around trying to cheer up other animals who are having remarkably terrible days. (I mean REALLY terrible. The worst kind of soul crushing days that can lead to suicidal thoughts or worse. I'm not joking.)

The problem with Little Bunny Wuffy is that when people have days like this, they don't want to see smiles and laughter. They want to be hugged and possibly helped. All Little Bunny Wuffy does is just spout off silly poetry about how they should just smile and get over it. Hilariously, the bunny gets eaten by a wolf at the end which nobody mourns.

One last thing about the Little Bunny Wuffy comic! There may possibly be a "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" reference. The bunny comes across a mother mouse who had her house destroyed and her children eaten up by rats. This is possibly the worst outcome of that story, and the bunny just teases her that she'll easily be able to make more children since mice are so prolific. Yeah, it was probably good that Little Bunny Wuffy got eaten. That was incredibly cruel.

That's all I want to say. I guess I will recommend the book purely on the grounds that it entirely accomplished what it set out to do. The art is good, and the man behind it is clearly insane. If you are a masochist who wants to destroy your brain, buy this book.

This blog was written on December 25, 2024. Merry Christmas!

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Oz Gazette #20 [Review]

"The Oz Gazette #20" is the Autumn 2024 edition of the possibly canon mini newspaper published by the International Wizard of Oz Club. I never can pass up reviewing these because they seem to be the only link to Oz I have left after reading all the books.

This edition is a mixed bag, but none of it is bad. They stick with what seems to be an ongoing canon related by these little issues. This one calls back to the time where the Nome King took over Oz and was saved by the Cowardly Lion. They are still worried he might come back and try again. This issue is all about raising security in the Emerald City in case that happens.

One funny thing is that they use the Gump's Head as an alarm system. It's not a very good one. All he says is "Awooga!" if he sees something wrong. But if my knowledge of the canon is accurate, this is more than he was allowed to say before. As I remember it, Princess Ozma told him to be quiet, which always made me sad. I also did not understand why she would do that.

Also this issue makes interesting references to the excellent Disney movie "Return to Oz." In several places, you can see the faces of some of the Nome goblins talking to each other like they did in the movie. Remember how their faces would appear in the rocks? That's how it works here, although they seems to be materializing directly into the pages of this newspaper. And at the same time, Bungle the glass cat is also in the newspaper watching them do this.

Think this doesn't make any sense? Well, it actually does! Remember that Oz is a magical country where crazy stuff like this happens all the time. If you were living in Oz, you might actually see stuff like this in the local newspaper. This addition is incredibly clever, and I really loved it.

The issue also recommends a few books. One of them was a new interpretation of the original "Wizard of Oz." Actually doesn't look that bad. I might take them up on that someday. There was also a recommendation to read Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen." That's actually not a bad one! Much of his stuff is really depressing. This one is too, but it's really better than most of his stuff.

All in all, this was a solid 4-page read. I'd recommend it, but these require a membership to the International Wizard of Oz Club. Gotta get one of those to see these. Worth it though, especially if you are a die hard Oz fan!

This blog was written on December 25, 2024. Merry Christmas!

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Crenshaw [Book Review]

"Crenshaw" is a book written by Katherine Applegate. It was published in 2015. It is intended as children's literature, but it's a completely safe book for adults as well. I think part of the reason for this is because it sounds like the voice of the main character is an adult telling the story of what it was like to be a child.

The story here centers around a boy named Franklin whose family is going through a heck of a lot of financial difficulties. He even has to be homeless for a little bit. The main tug of the book comes from the fact that he has an imaginary friend named Crenshaw, who is an oversized cat. Franklin is actually a very logical thinking boy who wants to be a scientist someday, but he is somehow seeing this walking talking cat that should not exist. That was really interesting to me.

Despite the story being about a boy who is trying to figure out if his imaginary friend is real or not, the bulk of the story is about his family's financial woes. There are actually not a lot of scenes with Crenshaw in it, which I found rather surprising. It's always lingering, but it just doesn't get addressed that often.

What this story mainly focuses on is the very realistic portrayal of what it is like to be a homeless child still living with your family. It's pretty rough and it never sugar coats anything. I admit to getting slightly depressed over this one.

I'm not really complaining though, because I actually think this is a good book. It just isn't what I expected. There is something so amazingly sincere about this book. It feels real. Apparently the author talked to a lot of homeless children while doing research for this book. By the way, I am going to recommend this, but I still want to mention a few things I thought were interesting.

For one, the father's name was Thomas Wade. Guess what?! That's my name! It was so weird seeing my name pop up in the story. It was surreal. I double-taked. The author only mentioned this once. In fact, the author tends to be a little shy about what information she actually releases as the story goes on. It's like she doesn't want to over describe anything. She just sort of sprinkles things in as the story goes with very few redundancies if any at all.

For example, I was wondering where this story was set. In one part, they mentioned the Golden Gate Bridge, and that cleared a lot of things up. San Francisco in 2015. This makes so much sense all of the sudden. Once again, I'm not really complaining. I will say, however, that this family could have really done themselves good by just leaving their state. Heck, they could have left their city and things might have improved.

All personal opinions aside, this is a good book. I did enjoy it. Once again, I do recommend it. It is a very sweet story about a family that just won't call it quits no matter what comes their way. I found it to be quite touching and brimming with sincerity. (But seriously, kid, get the heck out of there!)

This blog was written on December 24, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Mouse on Wall Street [Book Review]

"The Mouse on Wall Street" is a novel written by Leonard Wibberley. It is the second book in the Grand Fenwick series. It was published in 1969.

This was very interesting. The tiniest fictional country in the world, Grand Fenwick, receives a huge windfall from a business they owned in the US, and it nearly cripples their economy. People suddenly have so much money that they become complacent and end up just racking up insane debt while losing interest in working for a living. Imagine your country being so rich that it actually messes everything up!

In order to get rid of all the excess money, the Duchess tries to dump it all on a bad investment in the US Stock Market, but as these books usually play out, things always work out in wondrous ways in the favor of the smallest country in the world. I don't want to say more than that though. The book is very good and not the sort I want to spoil.

I will say that I went into this book not really understanding much about the US Stock Exchange. I am happy to say that Wibberley really tries very hard to explain how it all works to the layman. There were times where I did get a little overwhelmed, but not enough to turn me off to the book. I give him a 6/10 for effort.

The thing that really made me appreciate this story was that it exposed how money actually functions in the world at large. It's really a lot crazier than you might imagine. I was very much entertained by this one, and it was rather eye-opening to see the reasons why Grand Fenwick was falling on bad times while simultaneously raking in millions and millions of dollars. I do recommend this book. It is a good read and a great addition to the series.

This blog was written on December 1, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Dark Portal [Book Review]

"The Dark Portal" is a fantasy novel written by Robin Jarvis. It is the first book in "The Deptford Mice" trilogy. It was published in 1989.

An absolutely wonderful and dark book about mice, rats, bats, and the occult. It is most definitely an adult book, but I think there are some children out there who could handle this sort of stuff. It isn't for the faint of heart though.

The story here is that there are some nature loving mice who live above the sewers where the rats live. The rats are absolutely horrible and even eat the mice if they can (but not before peeling their skin off!). The rats serve an evil rat god named Jupiter who nobody has ever seen, but they do hear his voice. Jupiter is a very powerful occult figure who really does have great power. He is not to be trifled with.

The magic in this book is real. Some characters have great power and they are willing to use it. And do not think for even a moment that any of the mice are safe. Seriously, the danger in this story is extreme, and the author never holds back. Honestly, the book is better for it. We need more stories that expose the world to what evil is out there. Just know that the mice may be cute and sweet, but they are all mortal. Even the children are placed into extreme danger.

Did you know that this book was almost turned into a Jim Henson dark fantasy movie in the mid 90's? I am genuinely sad that it got canceled. This would have gone toe-to-toe with "The Dark Crystal." It has a very similar vibe to it. I'm mainly sad because that movie would have made this book more visible to the world, rather than being more of a UK thing. It's really too bad.

It's the peaceful mice versus a tyrant occult rat with terrifying Satanic powers. It's got action, suspense, and edge-of-your-seat moments that rival many of the movies I have seen. It's like "Secret of NIMH" but 100 times more dark. It will keep you guessing right up until the last page and then hit it home with a brilliant and satisfying ending. I cannot recommend "The Dark Portal" enough. Read this book!

This blog was written on November 28, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Mouse on the Moon [Book Review]

"The Mouse on the Moon" is a novel written by Leonard Wibberley. It was published in 1962. It is the second book in the Grand Fenwick series, the previous book being "The Mouse That Roared." It was also made into a movie in 1963.

The story here is a little bit like the first one, but it goes in a different direction. Instead of Grand Fenwick winning a war against the US, it is about them winning the space race to the moon. Once again, as the formula dictates, it all happens due to a series of misunderstandings and coincidences.

The idea of the smallest country in the world even having a space race is a fun, little idea. I couldn't help but cheer them on, but honestly the reason it happened at all was because nobody was taking them seriously. In fact, the US was kind of to blame for giving them the money and resources.

A lot of the enjoyment comes from seeing the bigger countries get confused by what's happening. And as usual Grand Fenwick remains very humble and, dare I say, cute. I love them.

I would also easily call this story a science fiction. The writer did not know what walking on the moon was like. He had to make a lot of it up, and that is always fun. It reminded me a little of Jules Verne's "First Men in the Moon." I really liked his concept for what was up there.

Also, if you can believe it, they used their precious wine as rocket fuel. It was done better than in the movie. The difference between both movies and books is that the book is less of a comedy and written more seriously. It's all speculative fiction at the end of the day.

If you like underdog stories or science fictions in general, this book is strongly recommended. But honestly, I just read these for Grand Fenwick. They are so precious.

This blog was written on November 7, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Do Unto Others [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of this story.]

"Do Unto Others" is a short science fiction story written by Mark Clifton. It was published in 1958. This one is a little tough since it may have some anti-Christian vibes. It basically takes common concepts off of Christian ethics and tried to turn them around into a science fiction horror. Let me explain.

There is a group that goes out to different planet, trying to help make the primitive alien lifeforms more civilized. They give them clothing and teach them ethics which seem generally pulled from common Christian beliefs such as the title hints at.

What was crazy about this was that the aliens in question were like lazy octopusses with like five tentacles. They lived in a world of salt where nothing could grow. The group actually makes clothing for these things, which made me raise my eyebrow. What an odd thing to do with a creature like that! Can you imagine an octopus wearing a sweater?

Well, the problem here is that once they "civilize" these aliens, the aliens come back to Earth in order to return the favor. They find the Earth is covered in green grass and trees, which horrify them. So somehow they replace everything with salt in order to make us happy.

The idea here is that since the group taught them to do under others (and so forth), they were in horror that we lived in a place that would make them miserable. So they ruin our planet to make it nice for us. And that is basically the horror aspect of the story... a horror realized through the application of assumed Christian ethics.

This sounds a little much like the author's previous story "We're Civilized!". I feel like Mark Clifton has a beef with Christians (and any sort of imperialist behaviors in general) and wanted to go a little overboard in how he portrayed them. I can guarantee everybody that no Christian in any way would make a sweater for an alien that looked like an octopus. But if you can believe that they would than this story might make sense to you. But from a sane perspective, the characters in this story were absolutely stark raving mad.

I don't really recommend this story. You could certainly do worse. After all, the characters were well represented and I still got entertainment out of it, but a lot of that entertainment came to me from it being a rather absurd premise. I basically spent most of my time laughing at it.

This blog was written on November 6, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: A Woman's Place [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of this story.]

"A Woman's Place" is a short science fiction story written by Mark Clifton. It was published in 1955. The title here probably will raise a few eyebrows in modern times. Both sides of the argument are probably wondering if this story gets it right. I certainly felt that going into this one, but let me just tell you what the darn thing is about.

The story begins on an outer space lifeboat heading to Earth. Their ship met with a dangerous space warp that led to the destruction of the vessel and the loss of all lives except for two men and one woman. When they reenter Earth's atmosphere, they quickly realize that something is wrong. There does not seem to be any civilization down there. In fact, they are the only humans there at all.

As it turns out, that space warp sent them into a parallel reality where humans never happened on Earth. Now they are stuck there and expected to survive. The two men are trying to still figure out if there is a way to get back to their Earth. They do, after all, have their own wives to return to. The woman however is trying to be a realist about it. She thinks that the situation is hopeless, and it is time for them to decide amongst themselves who should be her suitor. After all, they will need to begin populating that planet.

It's a horrible thing to ask of these two guys, but I have to admit, I was on her side. It really did not seem like they were in a situation where they would actually be able to return to their Earth. Being faithful in that situation is just not realistic. They had to survive. But I had two main problems with her actions here:

1. She did seem like she jumped the gun a bit much. Although she did wait a while, it could have been a while more.

2. She was sort of being a bit too dramatic about it... with herself. She was over dramatizing the situation too much, and at it was not making things any better. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say she was being a little bit narcissistic too.

The crazy truth was that the two men actually did know what they were doing. They did make contact with Earth. And they were ultimately rescued, leaving the woman feeling somewhat ridiculous for how she acted.

Although this is the climax of the story, the resolution was a bit weird. The whole thing really messed with her mind. She was actually considering going back with some other guy and starting a new life there. Talk about obsessive.

This is actually not a bad story. I did enjoy reading it, and I do recommend it. They have an interesting take on how a woman deals with her place in the world. It may not line up with what people think in the modern day, but don't toss this one out too quickly. It is a fascinating read.

This blog was written on October 28, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Mouse That Roared [Book Review]

"The Mouse That Roared" is a novel written by Leonard Wibberley. It was published in 1955. I found this book through the movie of the same name which came out in 1959.

The idea here is very simple: Grand Fenwick is the smallest country in the world. Their only export is wine. A company in America is faking their wine and stealing their business. Grand Fenwick comes up with a scheme to declare war on the US (and lose) in order to have these problems rectified. Grand Fenwick sends a tiny army to the US and through an amazing series of events (that I will not spoil) they win the war.

The whole idea here has to do with the tiny underdog somehow coming out on top. It's incredibly satisfying to read. This isn't even the type of book I normally get into. Politics and diplomacy are not my thing. But the situation in this book is so much fun, I just could not help but eat it all up.

Also, I am often fascinated by the small and humble anyhow. I think the Father likes that sort of thing as well. As big as the US is, it is far more open to corruption than the tiny and humble countries that nobody ever talks about. That said, this book does not show the US in a bad light at all. It actually shows us as having a lot of compassion. It was the very reason they declared war on us to begin with.

If you have seen the movie (which is very good), the book is a bit different. The character of Tully, who led the army into the US, is a completely different sort of person. He is a very strong-willed person, which contrasts the film heavily. The book was also much more serious than the movie, although it is still a humorous read.

I think this book deserves a read whether or not you've seen the movie. I recommend it. I also plan to read the entire Grand Fenwick series. I'll review them as I go.

This blog was written on October 17, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Foursite [Video Game Review]

"Foursite" is a single map for classic Doom II. It was released in 2016, and developed by someone calling himself Bauul. It apparently took 13 months to make. That is a very, VERY long time to make one single Doom map.

The reason it took so long is probably because this one single map is almost as long as a whole map pack. It is an absolutely huge map, and it is very well made. Shockingly well made. In fact, it looks better than most official maps I have played developed by Id. To give you an idea how absolutely huge this map is, it took me 117 Minutes to finish it. No joke. And it was not boring either. This map is just that long.

The story for this one can be found in the accompanying text file: "The Foursite military base lies abandoned. You’ve heard rumors of a secret backdoor entrance: find the entrance, explore the four quadrants of the base, reach the heart, and escape alive." It gets the job done. The real experience comes from exploring this massive and ambient facility.

From the beginning, this map treats you to a shockingly realistic setting. There was a desert. A path leads to an entryway. A long elevator. And then from there, you make your way into the guts of the most intricate underground facilities you will ever see in a classic Doom game.

The building has nearly a thousand enemies but they are all spread out throughout this huge place. It never really feels like a "slaughter map." It just feels like a regular Doom II map that's just way bigger than a normal one. Half the fun was just exploring it. There were just so many little nooks and crannies to poke around in, and I was never not enjoying myself. On top of all that, the map was designed to look fairly like actual places. It all felt very real even for the old doom tech being used. The ambience was extremely solid.

There was such a huge build up to the ending, and I just had a really good feeling that there was going to be a boss fight at the end. I was right. It was a surprisingly intricate boss fight with a Spider Mastermind where you had to avoid its guns while trying to quickly hit a bunch of switches. Somehow the author made it so the Spider Mastermind would never stop shooting at you, preventing you from being able to just attack it directly. I loved this fight, and I am amazed he was able to make this on the Classic Doom platform.

Without a doubt, I recommend you play this one, but be warned! It is a very long map. It will take you a long time to beat, but the atmosphere of the place was beyond well done. This map deserves a place in the Doom hall of fame!

This blog was written on October 17, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp [Book Review]

"The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp" is a novel written by Kathi Appelt. It was published in 2013. This is like a long children's book intended for 8 to 12 years, but I think it works fine for adults honestly. I do agree with that age range, and this would be a good book to really get the reading gears turning.

I admit that when I first began this book I did not really enjoy it very much. It looked like it was just going to be a glorified "save the environment" book, but this book really just sort of meanders about its own things and doesn't really ever sound preachy. And that's good. Look, I think the environment should be looked after, but I am here to read a work of fiction, not be preached to.

The story is about a number of things. It is about a swamp. It is about two raccoons that live in an old car in that swamp. It is about a boy who runs a pie shop with his mother in yet the same swamp. It is about two rich jerks who want to turn that same swamp into a theme park. (That's the eco-friendly message part.) There is also this book's version of Big Foot which in this case is called the Sugar Man. He also lives in the swamp.

The raccoons consider themselves scouts. Whenever lightning strikes near the old car, it briefly turns on and they hear the radio for a few seconds, enough to get what they think is a secret message for a mission they should be on. Very cute. I liked everything about that. But this aspect of the story is mixed with a lot of other things. On top of the swamp soon to be bulldozed over by rich people, there are some hogs that are coming from somewhere with the intent to smash everything up.

Honestly, I don't want to get into every single plot point this book has. The thing I do want you to understand that once all the points of this story have been stated, they get recycled rather redundantly over and over again until the end of the story. A kid might enjoy that, but I began to groan after the 20th or 40th time. It's not bad, but it did grate on me a bit.

The whole book is really just about trying to save the swamp from a number of things, and humans, animals, and the Sugar Man have to work together to make that happen. Really, it's not bad. I'm serious. I know it sounds bad. Just trust me. It's a children's book that is just trying to have fun. Relax.

The book does employ a lot of colloquialisms. I mean a lot! Holy crap. It doesn't ever stop. It's written like some guy with a banjo is trying to tell me a story. Once again, it does sometimes get on my nerves. I just want the story. I don't need to be addressed as "sports fans" every few paragraphs. (It really wasn't that bad. I promise. I'm a grumpy, old malcontent.)

I think the point I am trying to make here is that the book is good enough to read. The author tells a down-to-earth story that was fun and interesting. It does make rich people look like total dick-weeds. I feel like those villains were pulled directly out of 90's children's movies. Anyways, I recommend the book. It wasn't that bad. Give it a shot if you like raccoons, or Big Foot, or pies. There are a lot of pies in this book.

This blog was written on October 14, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Sense From Thought Divide [Short Story Review]

"Sense From Thought Divide" is a short science fiction story written by Mark Clifton. It was published in 1955. I really hate the title of this one. I was pretty much never able to remember it. I only now have to go look it up just to write this blog.

The story itself was very hard to get into. I was a little confused about what was even happening, but I did eventually pick it up... and it's not too bad. It's about a government agency trying to figure out a way to utilize the supernatural to develop technology, mainly the production of self-hovering objects. This is done by passively absorbing psychic energy used by someone doing some sort of psychic phenomenon such as performing a séance.

I find it interesting that a military agency so openly believes in the supernatural. They usually don't present themselves that way, even in fiction. Even "The X-Files" did not really do that. Fox Mulder was sort of a black sheep character. I like the premise, although the presentation is really difficult to get into at first. I struggled with this one.

All in all, I don't think it's a bad story. It's certainly a curiosity out of most of the stories I have been reading lately. I recommend it.

This blog was written on October 13, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Final Doom [Video Game Review]

"Final Doom" is a video game released in 1996. It is the sequel to Doom II and runs on the same engine.

"Final Doom has two 32-map episodes: "TNT Evilution" and "The Plutonia Experiment." I'll be reviewing them both in this one blog.

"TNT Evilution" has a really cool story that unfortunately has no cutscenes to show it. The disastrous UAC sets up base on one of the moons of Jupiter. They are continuing their teleportation research there. A huge ship approaches the base which ends up being a giant demon spaceship on the offensive. Doom Guy is forced to fight off another attack. Wouldn't you have liked to see that ship? It's too bad we only get to see these stories in text. (The introductory stories are always in the manual and not in the games themselves.)

Story aside, this map set is notoriously more difficult than Doom II, but it is really there to train you up for the next episode. I'll get into that in a bit. I was able to play these maps on the middling difficulty (Hurt Me Plenty) with only minor problems. It was certainly challenging.

But are the maps any good?

Some of them are. Some are them are trash. "TNT Evilution" actually has a map most consider to be the worst official map in Doom history, that being "Habitat." And you know what? I agree. I think it really is kind of stupid. It feels like it was unfinished. You can actually just skip everything in the map and run directly to the end. Seems like a huge oversight. And on top of that, it's pretty ugly.

The other maps look really good, but the problem that I ran into a lot was just a lot of running back and forth. They would often give you a keycard for a door that was clear on the other side of a really huge map. This often left me feeling frustrated and bored. They are not all like this, but a lot of them, especially towards the end, pulled this on me.

Also... do you like Revenants? This episode has plenty of Revenants! I actually think Revenants are a good way to make things tense cheaply. They actually are not that bad to deal with, but if you are on edge, a bunch of Revenants will make you feel like things are worse than they really are.

The secret levels were pretty good! I especially liked Pharaoh which did a really good job at making a map look like an Egyptian Pyramid. I'm not joking! It looked really good! It was hard too, but the atmosphere of it all was worth the trouble.

The whole map-pack ends with an instant-death puzzle of all things. There are these colored torches at the beginning and they are telling you the order of these platforms you have to jump to. If you jump to them in the wrong order, you'll die instantly. By the way, the "voodoo" it took to make that work is really interesting. The game does not actually have an instant death feature. They had to actually place a voodoo doll of yourself in a separate area that would get crushed if you went to the wrong platform. Anything done to that doll happens to you. Talk about clever map design!

The final fight is another Icon of Sin fight. It was a lot easier than in Doom II (thank goodness). I liked it, but I consider the entire episode to be a mixed bag. I liked the design of everything, but some of it could just be frustrating and boring. I think at the end of the day it was a decent episode, and I do recommend it.

"The Plutonia Experiment" is where the difficulty ramps up considerably. In fact, I had to play this on "Hey, not too rough" in order to actually barely make it through the campaign. From the very first maps you are dealing with high level monsters... even Arch-viles. In fact, a common tactic the game will use is to place hidden Arch-viles behind Chaingunners so that when you kill the Chaingunners, they seem to revive on their own. That's great map design... while also being incredibly sadistic.

The story here is that the UAC finally gives on up trying to control Hell and decided to use a number of quantum accelerators to close all the portals to Hell. It almost works, but the demons overrun the facility. The UAC is worried that the demons will use the quantum accelerators to their own ends, so Doom Guy is once more dispatched to stop them before they can do that.

Like I said, these missions are hard, but most of them are well made. They are fun to explore, and I really appreciated them for their interesting design. It seems to be a tradition in these missions to throw a lot of Arch-viles at you right near the map's exit. I saw this happen so many times. It can make the last moments in a map a major butt clencher.

Another thing that is absolutely bizarre about this map set is that you never actually know what floors will hurt you or not. Sometimes slime and lava are perfectly okay to walk on, and sometimes, even in the same map, they end up hurting you. And then there is that one weird moment where water actually hurt you. It's all very inconsistent, but it never actually bothered me. I thought it was funny.

The two secret maps are a doozy. Usually in a Doom II map pack there are two secrets. You find the first one in one map, and then the second secret map is hidden within the first secret map. "The Pluntonia Experiment" does not do this. Once you find the first secret map, you are committed to do both.

The first secret map is no big deal. You have to fight five Cyberdemons, but one at a time. Easy. The real problem for me was the second map called "Go 2 It." This is an infamously difficult map with more enemies in it than it really should have. To most people, it might not even seem possible. People these days refer to this one as the very first "slaughter map." Slaughter maps toss a ton of enemies at you, usually more than seems killable. The trick is to get them to infight, but that is easier said than done, especially when these enemies have Arch-viles sprinkled about them. Truth was that I actually barely made it through this one. I stopped fighting them at some point and tried to make a mad dash to just get out of the map. It was hell, and I am not sure I really enjoyed it. I feel bad for people who found the secrets and realized they could not complete the episode because it was too hard.

The ending was yet another Icon of Sin fight. This was harder than the one in "TNT Evilution" but easier than the one in "Doom II." You still have to ride up a pillar to shoot a timed rocket into the brain of the Icon, but it is a lot faster to set up and you don't have to walk around in lava while you do it. I liked it, and I really do recommend this episode. It was very enjoyable, although I was not really having any fun with "Go 2 It." Seriously watch a video of someone playing that mission. It's insane.

With that, I am happy to say that I do recommend "Final Doom" as a whole unit. It has its ups and downs, but the whole package makes it worth it. Just know that you are in for a very difficult time. This is one of the hardest Doom titles ever released.

This blog was written on October 7, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: We're Civilized! [Short Story Review]

"We're Civilized!" is a short science fiction story written by Mark Clifton and Alex Apostolides. It was published in 1953. I don't know who that other guy is. I came here for Mark Clifton and got a duo somehow. Whatever the case, this story wasn't very good.

The problem that sometimes happens with these scifi short stories is that the science often crosses paths with politics. Whenever it does, there is a good chance that the story written is only good for tossing in the waste basket. "We're Civilized!" us just such a story.

Humans are finally landing on/conquering Mars. There is an alien race there that looks primitive, but they aren't. We take their land because they seem primitive and different than us. It's basically the whole thing with the Indians all over again. It's dumb and not all that interesting.

The sad thing here is there is a very real concept for being advanced while looking primitive. I have seen it done well a few times before. My author friend Shawn O' Toole did it, and Stargate SG-1 did it pretty well too. But this entire story is entirely unimaginative because the whole point of it is to make us feel bad for what we did to the Indians. That's all.

I do not recommend this story. I hope the next ones by this guy are a lot better.

This blog was written on September 27, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Land of Oz [Amusement Park Review]

I feel like this blog was in the making for my whole life, or at least most of it. I have heard about this place since I was very young, and I never really thought I was ever going to actually go there. But the truth is that after reading all of the canon Oz books, it would be really good to top it off with this one final special visit.

"Land of Oz" is an amusement park found on top of Beech Mountain in North Carolina. It was established in 1970. It is almost entirely based on "The Wizard of Oz" movie from 1939. It has very few references to the books, but it does make a few of them here and there. It may actually be one of the most inconvenient parks to get to in the world. The amount of driving and bus-taking we had to endure to get to the very top of a mountain was crazy. I did it though. It was pretty much the only thing on my bucket list.

The beginning of the park does not drop you in Oz. It starts you off in Kansas. What was really genius about this section is that they leave you on a Kansas farm for quite a lot of time... enough time to get used to it. You almost forget about Oz entirely, even though you know you are there to see it. Actors portraying the characters from the sepia section of the film's beginning put on a show for you roughly more or less like what is seen in the film. They do take a few liberties.

After the storm begins (on a perfectly sunny day, I might add), we all went into Dorothy's house which was such a delight. It felt like I was in a perfectly kept house from the early 20th century. Aunt Em guides you into the basement to get away from the tornado. The area downstairs simulate the dream sequence when Dorothy was passed out on the bed. When you come back up, it seems like the exact same house, but everything is torn up and the floor is tilted in such a way that it is hard to walk. This was a strange illusion because it felt like you were going back into the same nice and clean house but after a tornado had dropped it down somewhere. Really cool.

The scene where Dorothy goes out of the door into Munchkin Land happens to you. You walk out into the light, and you're in Oz. Although the witch was right at the door to say mean things to us. And I want to mention her. She was so cool. The actress who played her was probably having a blast. She was literally there to be horrible to everyone. She would often try and jump-scare people with a puff of smoke. One child actually broke out into tears and wept, and the witch laughed at him and said, "Music to my ears!" Heck, she was there to play the witch, and there was no breaking that character.

The next section was a little hit and miss for me, but it was not the park's fault. My dad, who was with us on the trip, had a minor medical emergency. He was still going along with us as we saw Dorothy meet the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, but I was distracted by what was happening to him. I still say that they did reprise the songs really well. The actor who played the Lion was probably the best I had ever seen. His voice matched the one from the movie flawlessly. He even likewise used his tail as a security blanket.

The other character who looked and sounded near flawless to the film was the Emerald City gatekeeper. Now, this character was actually played by more than one person, but the one we got was perfect. I loved him so much.

After you make it to the Emerald City, you have one final show to go to which is a recreation of the final scene of the film, meeting the wizard and all that. You can go to this final show whenever you like, but before you do there was a really nice food court. We ate and talked there for a while. It also gave us a chance to help my dad out. He needed to eat. The final show was great. They even used a projector to show the giant face of Oz before the real wizard was revealed.

The only downside to leaving Oz is that you have to go back down the mountain. That means a long bus ride that curves back and forth down a bumpy road. It was kind of crazy, but it was all worth it.

"Land of Oz" is not what it used to be. It isn't just a park where you can go wherever you want anymore. You have to get a reservation in September, and you have to show up on time. Once you are in you have a long time to explore before you have to leave. It's still great and worth the trip. Everyone there was so nice. When my dad started to have issues, both the tourists and the people working there all tried to help him. Everything was so happy and wonderful. Although you cannot be fully immersed into a theme park, there was a certain happy spirit to it all that still made it feel like we really had, in some strange way, made it to Oz. And as inconvenient as the journey there might be, I still wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone of any age.

This blog was written on September 21, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Possum That Didn't [Book Review]

"The Possum That Didn't" is a short children's book written and illustrated by Frank Tashlin. It was published in 1950. It is kind of a sequel to "The Bear That Wasn't." I actually stumbled over this one. I didn't know there was another book like that, and as soon as I realized it existed... I bought and read it.

Honestly, I think Frank Tashlin may be my favorite young children's author. I was mystified at how well "The Bear That Wasn't" was able to communicate certain problems with humanity to both children and adults. I really hoped that its successor would be more of the same.

It was.

"The Possum That Didn't" is built upon a very simple visual illusion or gag. It is the perception that a smile turned upside down looks more like a frown. The possum of this story likes to smile, but he also likes to hang upside down by his tail. When humans find him hanging there, they are flabbergasted that the poor creature is frowning. When the possum tries to explain to these random people that he is actually smiling, they call him stupid and relentlessly uproot his life in order to try and force a smile out of him.

Without going into further spoilers, the story was written to point out how many people can be busy bodies. They tend to obsessively try and fix other people as if they have the right or necessity to do so. And it's never about the person they are trying to help; it's more about building themselves up artificially as a ethical and moral animal. I know firsthand how this works, because I've caught myself doing the same thing. It sucks.

I'm just going to say this: This book is every bit as good as "The Bear That Wasn't." It really is. I loved it about equally as much, because it dealt with a different human problem in a new and clever way. It was both similar and fresh at the same time. Brilliant.

This book is easy to find, and it is also very cheap. I recommend it. I should also say that his illustrations in this one were very good, as good as the ones in the former book. The only downside is that there is one more of these books called "The World That Isn't," and it is horribly out of print and unfindable for a reasonable amount of money. If I can get my hands on it, I will read and review it. I am now entirely interested in reading this man's entire body of literature (which is only three books.)

This blog was written on September 21, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Day of the Dissonance [Book Review]

[I do spoil some major things in this book, but I don't reveal the ending.]

"The Day of the Dissonance" is a book written by Alan Dean Foster. It was published in 1984. It is the third book in Foster's "Spellsinger" series. I already reviewed the last two books which were "Spellsinger" and "The Hour of the Gate." My main complaint of those books were they they were presented much too slowly which made them feel like they would stall out. The second book's main issue was that it was much too serious, after the first book was mostly comedy and fun. So how did book #3 turn out?

"The Day of the Dissonance" is still very slow. I suppose they all must be like that. But in this case, I didn't mind. The story is so relaxed and adventurous, I was always entertained and looked forward to see what happened next. Sure it stalls out a lot, but the scenes where it does stall out were genuinely fun and interesting.

The story here is that Clothahump the wizard has fallen ill, and he sends Jon-Tom on a long journey to find a fabled town with an even more fabled shop that will have his cure. Along the way, he joins back up with Mudge the otter and a few more new characters which included a an old ferret, an Amazonian tiger woman with a southern accident, and a unicorn... a gay unicorn.

The gay unicorn was named Drom, and telling you he was gay was a major spoiler. I just could not help doing it since it was one of the best characters in the story, and the fact that he is gay is actually really fun and hilarious. I won't go into how him being gay actually factors in, but it does, and it is handed really well.

The characters get into some of the most dangerous situations in the story yet. Cutthroat pirates, vicious bandits, overweight fairies. They also face off with a magician who was quite a devilish antagonist. All this just to get some medicine!

You know what? I think this book redeems the series so far. I had a lot of problems with the first two, but I really liked this one. It doesn't rely too much on the first two. It recaps you enough so that you can pick it up. I do recommend it, and I may read more of them later on. I am going to take a break from the series though. They are huge commitments and I like to keep up the variety. I am very happy to see one make me so happy though. I am hopeful that the series keeps this up for its remainder.

This blog was written on September 21, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Kenzie Report [Short Story Review]

[This blog contains spoilers.]

"The Kenzie Report" is a short science fiction story written by Mark Clifton. It was published in 1953. So far, Mark has done good by me. I've been enjoying his work.

This is an amusing "at the office" story about a man named Kenzie and an associate who are so obsessed with ants that they will not stop talking about them. Have you ever had a fellow employee that is so obsessed over one thing that you just begin to get annoyed whenever they go on their usual rants about said subject? Kenzie is one such person. He believes that ants are more intelligent than they seem, and he thinks that communicating with them is an important step in science.

Kenzie works on some sort of gadget that is ultimately able to do just that. He communicates with the ants but accidently uncovers that the ants are actually alien creatures that just colonize planets across the galaxy. I know that seems kind of silly, but I just found this story very endearing and entertaining.

It is rubbish, but imagine if it wasn't. Ants do control a considerable portion of our planet after all. They are everywhere, and we can't actually get rid of them. The story is a bit more nuanced on the matter, but I just think the whole ant/alien angle is super fun.

I do recommend this story. I have enjoyed the first two Mark Clifton stories. Will they stay good? I sure hope so! At least I'm not reading Harlan Ellison stories anymore!

This blog was written on September 18, 2024.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Anomaly Report [Video Game Review]

"Anomaly Report" is an unofficial map pack for Doom II. It was released in 2022. It has 32 maps in it, the same as Doom II. It is not canon, but I had a blast with it.

The story here is honestly the same as Doom II. Even the text scrolls are the same in between episodes. This is sort of an alternative Doom II. A what-if. All the maps are different and the music is brand new. It's all very solid and fun and feels official.

On the music, I really was impressed with the new tunes this one had. A lot of it was very creative. There was one called "Mummy Rags" that ended up being my favorite. It made really interesting use of the harpsichord. I ended up looking it up on YouTube, and I occasionally listen to it just for fun.

The map design and enemy placement were superb. One thing that I really appreciate is that all enemies are facing away from you when the mission starts. I wish this was a rule for the official missions. I never did like starting a map only to suddenly find myself under attack.

Just like in official Doom II there are three main episodes and two secret missions. I could not find a walkthrough for where the secret missions were, BUT I blundered into both of them by chance. The secrets were not as cool as they were in Doom II (being that you ended up going back to Wolfenstein in that one) but they were good enough! I had fun.

The final mission was... interesting. It was kind of easy once you figured out what you were supposed to do. They basically have you fight the Icon of Sin again, which is actually a way a lot of map packs for Doom II end. Surprisingly very common. But I guess I can't complain since the original fight with this glorified wall texture was kind of stupid. I liked it.

If you happen to have the new Doom+Doom II Remaster, you will be doing yourself a disservice if you avoid downloading and playing "Anomaly Report." I do recommend it. Don't worry about it not being canon; it was made extremely professionally. You will feel like you are playing a licensed Id product from beginning to end.

This blog was written on September 13, 2024.

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