Le Me, the Mighty Cliff Climber Person!

After a morning of castle adventures we went on a "simple" walk. I put the word "simple" in quotations because, although the trail was fairly short, we had to climb all the way down and up this behemoth of a dip in the ground:

By the time we reached the top, I no longer gave a
damn about looking photogenic. Don't judge.

 See those little white things going up the hill? Those are steps. And this picture really only shows about the top half of the climb. Mind you, as I had been told this walk was only a couple miles, I hadn't bothered to put on shoes more comfortable than flip flops.

As much as I'm complaining about this, the ocean views were completely worth it.

Our main destination was this little chapel along the coast. Although it is still used for worship on occasion, the building was so old and remote that it nearly appeared abandoned. The walls were covered in carved graffiti dating from as far back as the 1600's.

Up Next: I enjoy a Devonshire cream tea and track down the Hound of the Baskervilles. 

Video Game Review: Nancy Drew: The Deadly Device

During school breaks, my sister and I have a tradition of playing games from Her Interactive's Nancy Drew series, and therefore, I've been a fan of it since childhood. So when I saw the cover of The Deadly Device, I just about died of excitement.

Further examination reveals a plot dripping with steampunkness, and, to my great joy, lots of references to Nikola Tesla. The plot begins with a modern-day scientific genius being murdered in the midst of an experiment based on Tesla's theories. A police investigation reveals nothing, so the owner of the lab takes the obvious next step: hiring a teenager, of course! (Suspension of disbelief, people. Use it.) And that's where you, playing as girl detective Nancy Drew, come in.

To begin with, I won't be able to review this without comparing it to it's many predecessors. The occasionally tedious point-and-click puzzle formula remains unchanged throughout the series, but the plot lines, remarkably, have grown less predictable in the later games. Whereas the early Nancy Drew games almost always put the most friendly and non-suspicious character in the role of perpetrator, The Deadly Device kept me guessing all the way through, and with all the suspicious characters and misleading clues, it really did feel like walking into a mystery novel.

Those who play this series for the scare factor will be disappointed. Her Interactive has indeed been flirting with the horror genre quite a bit as of late, but not once throughout the Deadly Device was I genuinely scared. This wasn't really a problem, per-se, as the mystery aspects and epic steampunk scenery were more than enough to keep me engaged, I can't help but wonder if a good scare or two might have made it more memorable.

As a side note, I originally meant to do a let's-play of this, which failed due to some technical issues. But, if at some point in the distant future, I actually find a decent screen capture program, I might go through with it. If I do, I'll put a link on this page, so feel free to check every now and then if you're interested.

Book Review: Who Could That Be at This Hour?

When I was a young cog-ling, I had a borderline-creepy-obsessive love for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. In fact, it was in withdrawal after the end of the series that I found steampunk as a whole--looking for something similar to read. Even as I outgrew the books, some repressed part of my mind has always wished that Mr. Snicket/Daniel Handler would write something for my own age group.

Why We Broke Up came out around a year ago, and I eagerly devoured the elegant, poetry-like writing, only to turn the final page with a sense of disappointment  Sure, it was a very good work of ultra-realism, but I couldn't help but wonder a few things: Where are the mysterious fires? Where are the secret organisations? Where's the freaking plot? Isn't there supposed to be something more interesting than an egotistical jock cheating on his girlfriend? And for that matter, what are hippies doing in the twenty-first century?

 Thus, when I first saw Who Could That be at This Hour? I actually passed it by, figuring I'd just wait for it to come out in libraries. Sure, it looked like it had a plot, but it also looked like a book to childish for I, a self-conscious teenager, to be purchasing in public. If not for the generosity of a friend's Christmas gifts, I wouldn't have discovered this little pile of awesomeness. I warn you now that this review will be very much biased, as I read it in a joyous state of nostalgia.

The Plot:
Lemony Snicket, a twelve year old boy in training for a rather mysterious organisation, is dispatched to a small seaside town to investigate the apparent theft of a small statue, which, by the way, is described as resembling a rather vicious seahorse. But, he soon comes to wonder, is it really a theft? If not, why would such an incident be faked, and who, in such a secretive little town, can be trusted? *cue dramatic music*

The Good Stuff:
Not only did it turn out to be a book by my favorite childhood author, but an actually prequel to my favorite childhood book series. The quirky writing and glorious historical anachronisms are indeed left in place, with the overall mood being changed to more of a film-noir-esque mystery. One will discover such small details as gramophones, typewriters, and emo librarians all in one book.

For those who where left wondering at the end of ASOUE, some of the dangling questions left over from that do seem to be moving towards answers. Even so, just about every page left me guessing about some new mystery or another. By no means was this plot even remotely predictable.

The Bad Stuff:
There wasn't really anything I found unbearably annoying about this book, but, once again, I'm most definitely biased.

The readers of this book will be required to create their own suspension of disbelief--it isn't really science fiction or fantasy, but there are plenty of outrageous and silly details that could detract from the realism, and may, to readers who are uncreative and/or not raised on Snicket's work may find them distracting.

If I may nit-pick, I will say that I would have liked to see more of the characters from A Series of Unfortunate Events. The book will stand just fine on its own, but as an avid reader of its companion series, I kept wishing more more of the old characters I know and love to come popping up, only to find, for the most part, passing mentions of a few familiar names.

On a bigger note, the ending was just plain strange. The plot built up tremendously, but, after looking forward to an epic confrontation with the mysterious villain, I found myself finishing the book without really encountering anything that seemed like a marked climax. Maybe there was one and I just didn't notice--which is entirely possible, knowing myself--but I felt a little cheated at its absence.

The Verdict:
Yes, it did, in fact, turn out to be a kids' book--but a damn good one. Reading it brought back plenty of good memories for me, but even if you haven't read ASOUE, I think it's worthwhile to give it a read, since, on the whole, it's a fun and exciting mystery story. There is, of course, a chance that the latter books of this series will eventually jump the shark into the zombie-like state of repetition that seems to happen when authors do the same thing for too long.  As of right now, however, it doesn't seem to be heading in that direction, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the sequel.

Book Review: The Agency: The Body at the Tower

Please pardon the copyright infringement, as I found it
necessary to include cover art in this review.

I picked up this book not realizing that it was somewhere (though I'm still not sure where--would it really have been too much effort for the publishers to put numbers on the damn books?) in Y.S. Lee's  The Agency series, so this review might not turn out as positive as it otherwise would, due to the fact that wasn't always sure what the heck was going on. The story centers around the life of a young detective, Mary Quinn, who works for a detective agency in Victorian London, kind of like a female Sherlock Holmes.

The Story: When a construction worker falls--or, perhaps, is pushed--from St. Steven's Tower, Mary Quinn, disguised as a laborer, is dispatched to investigate. But before long, she finds herself entangled in the mystery not only intellectually, but also personally.

The Good Stuff: The historical details. The author's descriptions are brilliant--portraying a thorough, all-senses-included view of the setting without interfering with the story itself. Reading this book is about as close to walking the streets of Victorian London as a modern person can get without a time machine.

The Bad Stuff: This didn't really feel like a mystery to me. The heroine spends more time thinking about her personal life than she does about the murder she's supposedly trying to solve, and she's never really in legitimate danger until the last ten pages or so. I also think I could have connected more with the characters. The point of view quite frequently shifted with no warning, and the supporting cast was so large that I had a hard time remembering which one was which. Keeping track of James, Jones, and Jenkins was hardly an easy task.

The Overall: In spite of how long the Bad Stuff list for this is, I rather liked it. I probably wouldn't recommend it for readers who don't have any particular interest in Victorian London, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that most of the readers of this blog do. I intend to read at least the first book in the series, once I figure out which one that is.