A Nitrous Crouton

I’m so tempted to order one of these.

This morning I finally got around to snagging a copy of Sneak King from my local Burger King. I don’t know what temporary loss of reason resulted in the creation of said game, but I love it. The King is more terrifying than anything from any horror movie in the past decade.

And now, for a mini-review round up:

Casino Royale (4.0 out of 5.0 croutons)

I’ve never been a big fan of Bond films. That I went to go see Casino Royale is a testament to the power of a very solid trailer. I do indeed approve of Daniel Craig’s portrayal of Bond. The goofier, smirking, tongue-in-cheek aspects of the franchise are one of the things that leave me cool. As a genre contrast, I loved The Bourne Identity. My main quibbles with Casino Royale are that the movie did run a bit long, and while the Bond portrayal has improved, the Bond plotting structure hasn’t, you really don’t want to think about the plot too much. But, even in the parts where it dragged a bit, it was still pleasant to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed the action sequences.

Glasshouse (4.5 out of 5.0 croutons)

Stross has rapidly become one of my favorite sci-fi authors. It seems appropriate to mention Glasshouse in the same company as a Bond movie. Glasshouse could be considered a thriller/espionage tale, only set in a future where consciousness can be effectively abstracted from the physical body, or even physical reality for that matter. The pleasure of Glasshouse was Stross’s effective wielding of his far-flung concepts, giving the plot and world solid rules, limitations and an air of plausibility. I enjoyed the intellectual playground of the universe, and following along with the main character in trying to piece together just what was going on, a task made rather difficult due to the history of the book’s universe.

The Jennifer Morgue (4.5 out of 5.0 croutons)

This book is a sequel to “The Atrocity Archives”, one of Stross’s early books, which despite some flaws, was one of my most enjoyable fiction reads ever. To sum up the world of “The Atrocity Archives” and “The Jennifer Morgue”, as trite as it may seem, the best summary I could give would be to take HP Lovecraft, Neal Stephenson, Douglas Coupland and Scott Adams (Dilbert), mix them all up and pour them into an occult/techno-thriller. In a world where expression of certain mathematical equations can facilitate information transfer between parallel universes, and such knowledge is guarded and policed by secret bureaucracies you have a rich fountain of potential. And it is well realized, I think what I enjoyed most about both books is some of the little concepts or ideas that are thrown in as side details that are just so, well, deliciously tasty. I love this book’s universe and it’s going to be a long wait for the next book.

And now, I really need to get some Actual Progamming done.