Ed Bilodeau

This weblog had moved: http://www.coolweblog.com/bilodeau/

# Notice (Oct 19/05): So ends my stay here on Blogger. This morning Google implemented an anti-spam 'feature' that forces me to answer a challenge phrase when I want to post to my own blog. No notice of the change, nothing. Worse is that it doesn't even work! I type the phrase, submit, "An error occured", post deleted. Damn you, Google. Chances are I will revive my blog somewhere else, sometime soon. I'll post the new coordinates here as soon as they become available. (BTW, I'm unable to post anything to my RSS stream, so I'd appreciate it if readers could spread the word and ask people to take a look at this notice)

Update (Oct 19/05, ~noon): After a frustrating few hours (and not just trying out alternatives to Blogger), I've decided that this is a good time to take a break from all this. A day? A week? Who knows. But I need to step away from it before I pass a heavy magnet over the whole mess.

Update 2: According to this post, the reason I'm seeing the CAPTCHA (challenge phrase) is that Blogger has classified my blog as spam. Thanks. User for five years and now I'm spam. I searched the Blogger site, but there is no mention of how to get the spam flag turned off. There is also no way of contacting anyone at Blogger. Wow. Spam they say I am, so spam I must be. Maybe it is time to take a break.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

# Malazan Book of the Fallen : A week or so I went by the public library to find a good fantasy series to dig into. The library doesn't have many, but I decided Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series another go. I had read Wizard's First Rule a while back, but couldn't remember it, so I took it out again.

A few chapters in, and I had to abandon it. The story and dialog was too bland for me. (The great wizard is missing. He left our land a long time ago and came here. Let's go talk to your friend the old wise man who lives in the woods to see if he can help us...) After reading George R. R. Martin, I just couldn't go back. Save me.

Yesterday, I decided to head over to the bookstore to see if there was anything interesting. I noticed that Glen Cook has a new book out (The Tyranny of the Night). Not a Black Company novel, but definitely a must buy. Not yet, though: I'll wait for the softcover (easier to carry on the bus).

I decided upon Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon. It looked good, and there seemed to be a number of books in the series already out (I hate waiting). At 13$ for a softcover, it was a risk, but in the end, more then worth it. The book is great. Reminds me of Cook's Black Company in a few ways, but not enough to even be derivative. Its one of those dangerous "just one more chapter" kinds of book. HIGHLY recommended.

Comments:

definately good reads. i have been reading it since our friend the book reviewer told me it was my kind of book: kinda D&Dish, very brutal in it's portrayal of war and so jam packed with ideas, histories and characters that you could write 50 books on the subject matter instead of the intended 10.

# posted by

Toasty : 5:56 PM