Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Book Review: City of Heavenly Fire

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On January 26, 2015

In Book Review, Fantasy

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6)City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

My Rating: [rating=4]
(See this review on Goodreads)

This is probably more of my review of the series than it is this book specifically. The end of a series is always a little bittersweet. You’re exhilarated to see the conflict end for the characters you have grown to love, but you are saddened all the same because the story is over. It’s how I felt at the end of Harry Potter, Eragon and this series.

The good news is, Clare has set the groundwork for an additional series (rumored to take place a few years later but following the adventures of other characters). She has also managed to create intrigue for the prequel series (The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel; Clockwork Prince; Clockwork Princess) which I intend to begin reading soon.

Another technique I noticed Clare seemed to use pretty well was splitting the gender appeal quite well. Since that sounds a little esoteric, let me elaborate. I think she does a great job appealing to both male and female readers. Generally speaking, there is a great balance of the star-crossed romance that often appeal to the ladies and the classic battle of good vs evil for the men. Clare wraps up the story quite nicely and I especially ***SPOILER*** liked Jonathan/Sebastian’s final moments – what a great way to bring an end to his conflict. Simon’s fate was an unexpected twist but it was best for his character, Isabelle and their relationship.

I do have to admit, Clary had this Luke Skywalker destiny laid out for her but I felt like we never really got to see her real potential. We knew she could create new runes and she has the genes of some powerful Shadowhunters, but we never really got to see her fully utilize that potential. I would have liked to have seen more of Clary kicking some demon ass.

Be that as it may, if you are a fan of the supernatural set in the modern world I think you will really enjoy these books.

View all my reviews

WoW: Garrisons [Revisited]

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On January 12, 2015

In Gaming, World of Warcraft

pax_east_garrison_580I am way behind the curve as I haven’t been able to start playing the expansion upon its release. In fact I’ve probably only been at it for a few weeks with only brief moments to play in the evenings. I have finally hit 100 (on my main toon) just prior to Christmas and so far, I have to say, I’m Addicted to My Garrison! I have already brought two other alts up just far enough to unlock their garrison just so I can check out the different profession buildings. I have been researching guides on how to acquire additional followers or unlock other special easter eggs to make my garrison more unique.

I can’t help but think that Blizzard took a few notes from the companion system in SWTOR, which doesn’t really irritate me as the companions in SWTOR is one of my favorite mechanics of SWTOR. I’m still discovering new hidden treasures of garrisons but here are a few of my favorites:

Follower Missions

Sometimes I log in just to complete missions and send my followers back out on new missions. I have followers on one alt who are almost level 100 but my toon is only a level 93. I’m excited to be able to send my followers on Highmaul missions which has the chance to reward Highmaul gear. It is a little disconcerting that my followers are starting to have a higher iLevel then my main toon but the trade off will be that I can acquire gear without the repair bill. I really don’t like the fact that you can only have 20-25 active followers because I like all my followers. How can I be expected to play favorites and “deactivate” someone??!

Another item on my “follower wish list” is to see visible changes in my follower as I upgrade their gear. A follower with a gear score of 600 should not look exactly the same when their gear score has been boosted up to 645.

The Mine and Herb Garden

This particular mechanic is kind of a double edged sword for me. Every garrison will get a Mine and an Herb Garden, regardless of whether your toon has mining and herbalism. So that means all your toons will have access to their own person stash of herbs and ore; no need to worry about those annoying ninja’s that pilfer your node or herb while you are fighting the nearby mob. You do not need the mining or herbalism skill to harvest herbs from the herb garden and ore from the mine, however you will still need those skills to harvest them outside your garrison. Obviously this marginalizes the mining and herbalism skills; especially if you have sufficient cash to be able to purchase the needed materials to level a crafting skill that would require mining or herbalism.

Stables

This building allows you to “tame mounts” and as an avid mount collector you can imagine my excitement. Granted I have not yet constructed this building as my need for raid gear supersedes my desire for more mounts, however I am currently leveling an alt that will have this building (since mounts are account bound). Based on some of my research it looks like you are limited to specific species and a specific number of mounts but I think it might be a good start to getting some cool mounts.

I’ve been sitting on this post for a while because I keep thinking there is more I want to say about garrisons. I really do enjoy this feature of the game. I almost wish they had more to customize, like the homesteads in SWTOR. I also wonder if this swell of excitement will ebb as the expansion moves on and I level more and more alts to unlock their level 3 garrisons. In the meantime I will continue to bask in the glory of my garrison.

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

An Involuntary, Temporary Hiatus

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On January 4, 2015

In General Cogitation

Greetings, a belated MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We had a lot going on over the past 2 months. We had to prepare the house for guests as we were getting our daughter baptized. As you know from a previous post, I did not enjoy most of the preparation but I’m glad its done now! The rooms look great, just a few blemishes to patch up in a few inconspicuous spots. The down side of all the work we did, we had worn ourselves out so much we made ourselves vulnerable to all the fun cold and stomach viruses prevalent at this time of year. So the weeks following the baptism we were all sick with various cold, cough and stomach bugs.

Then Christmas came and we all went out to my in-laws in Connecticut and that’s when we all caught that nasty respiratory flu that has been going around. BTW, when I say “we all caught it”, I’m not being dramatic. Every person in the house caught it, even poor little Evie. We are all still fighting off the remnants.

So I guess 2014 ended poorly in that we were all sick, but 2015 is starting out pretty good since we are all in recovery. I didn’t make a New Years Resolution because I don’t make New Years Resolutions, I don’t see the point.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

DIAF Drywall!

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On November 24, 2014

In Fulmination, General Cogitation

I have been MIA from my blog and other online activities for the past couple of weeks primarily because of all the renovation we had to complete before this past weekend. In just three short weeks we had to sand, paint and rip up carpeting in the last of our bedrooms (to convert it to an office) and then we had to tear down two walls, re-frame part of a soffet, hang drywall, mud, sand, paint and carpet the entire basement (which is where we keep the entertainment center and our computers). While the result of our intense labors will be enjoyed for many years, I NEVER WANT TO HANG DRYWALL AGAIN!!!

I’m not a renovation DIY’er. I hate every aspect of hanging drywall, especially the mess. Mud, dust, more dust … MORE DUST!!! OMFG, THE DUST!!!

If another opportunity to hang drywall should come up … I would rather be water-boarded and stretched on the rack!

/wrists

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

Inundated with Wearable Tech

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On October 31, 2014

In Technology

WearableFitTech2Microsoft actually got ahead of the competition (for the first time in about 15 years) and released a competing product for Fitbit‘s and Apple’s not-here-soon-enough watch. In fact they even beat Fitbit to the punch despite their recent announcement of new products (Charge, Charge HR and Surge). It just takes Apple or Microsoft to get involved and now the market is already starting to saturate with wearable fitness tech. Prior to this tech craze the only wearable fitness tech anyone really knew about were Fitbit, Nike Fuelband and Bodymedia Fit.

Now that Microsoft and Apple have entered the market we should all prepate to become inundated with hundreds of wearable tech options. The flame wars will begin soon. Google will probably have one out by the end of the next quarter and all of us will be taking cheap shots at the short comings of the others tech because, lets be honest, we all like to exploit the inadequacies of the competitor (I am definitely guilty of it).

I have had my Fitbit for nearly two years and I’m not really in the market to replace it. If, hypothetically, I were in the market for an updated fitness device, I wouldn’t be looking at Microsoft or Apple purely based on the cost. Anything above $130 is just a little above my price range for something that just needs to measure my steps and activity levels; however I am not a fitness nut. I don’t jog/run, I don’t lift weights with any regularity, so perhaps I’m not the target market for these expensive wearable tech devices – which is entirely possible, after all I didn’t do the market research for these guys. Be that as it may, my hypothesis is still that these companies are taking advantage of a popular trend right now, which does make business sense, but doesn’t always render quality products.

Regardless of which of those theories is correct, its actually an encouraging trend. Perhaps it will be the motivation people need to live healthier lives; the Fitbit has certainly helped me to lose weight and keep it off. I’m certainly a fan of people making the effort to become more fit instead of mandates and soda bans coming down from the government.

Btw, if you hadn’t heard about Microsoft’s latest gadget, its the Microsoft Band. It does actually look pretty neat but I’m not excited about that price tag.

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

The MMO Times: Keep Calm and Game On

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On October 30, 2014

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Happy Halloween!!Issue 111: In the previous issue, if you were paying close attention, you may have noticed the letters “KCGO”. If you paid even closer attention you noticed the footnote that explained what those letters mean – Keep Calm and Game On. It’s a new tag I am trying out for my gaming posts, because if gaming is done right, its calming and everything is about “Keeping Calm” these days.It’s Halloween this week, so if you happen to have little gamers-in-the-making (aka kids) you are probably going out to trick-or-treat which has its own loot rewards. If you don’t have kids, and you’re not out participating in some wild Monster Mash, then you’re probably gaming (because … why not). In any event, I hope all of you have a safe and enjoyable Halloween, and perhaps the following news tidbits will enhance said enjoyment.

World of Speed (a racing game currently in beta) has given us all a glimpse at a car none of us will ever own, but it might make you drool. There is also expansion news for TERA, a milestone for Marvel Heroes and some more Warlords of Draenor expansion tidbits to satiate your WoD yearnings. I’ve also found a couple of non-PC related (and even something non-MMO) posts but they are, nonetheless, just as interesting. KCGO!

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