On my continual reading quest of the year I completed my ninth book, Fool’s Errand. It is the first in the third trilogy of books set in Robin Hob’s realm of the Elderling’s, and while it started off slow , the ending was well worth the time spent. Of course like each of the previous Hobb books I am left wanting to know more; about the characters, the world, the politics, the magic, the history. Guess I need to read the next book 🙂

I also needed to mention a few games I have been playing. First, with my parade of MMOs. I am currently now subscribed to City of Heroes, but after about three weeks I am now finding myself bored again. Its strongest part was always the creation of new characters then taking those characters out with friends and beating up bad guys until you get your travel power. Then the repetitive, nature of the game outshines the cool factor. This was made worse this time since I was soloing it. I do need to make note that a bunch of the additions (auction house, crafting, new power sets, and character creation options) and are great and if I had friends actively playing it I think I would continue my subscription.

Next up, Titan Quest. With the I picking up the expansion pack for TQ for cheap I dove back into the game. I created a new character and started over from the beginning , and I am impressed. The addition of the caravan, new mini boss monsters, artifacts, power set, and chapter of campaign, along with some bug fixes, really makes this game shine even more. I really enjoy the almost brainless clicking to kill monsters, pick up loot, and sell items that this game offers. This time I plan to finish the campaign at least once before putting it back on the shelf.

Now on to some quick hits.

• Sins of the Solar Empire: Played a bit of it and its good but I am really not a big fan of RTSs and so for now I am waiting before buying.
• GalCiv2: Pulled this out again and had a blast playing a few games. I really should try and work my way through the campaign, but I will probably hold out for the next expansion then dive in.
• Civ4: Picked on the Beyond the sword expansion and loaded up the newest release of Fall from heaven 2. I am so ready to give this game a bunch more time, after titan quest.
• Spectromancer: Its only in beta, but oh my goodness. It is almost as though Richard Garefield was reading my mind and finally decided to make a game for me. This is a computer card game, with online as well as single player components, and (the best part) it is not a collectible game. No buying booster after booster of cards hoping to get the ones you need. Nope, instead you buy the game and get all the cards. When an expansion is released, buy it and you get all the cards. And get this, its easy to learn and fun, at least for me. This game will be bought by me.