“I had to follow him. From that moment we travelled… east. Always… into the east.” -Marius, Diablo 2

Act 2 takes place in Lut Gholein. Wait, what? Didn’t we do this before? Oh, it’s called Caldeum now. Got it.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m asking for too much, but can’t we try a little harder to not have Diablo 3 flow like its predecessor? Diablo 2 goes from Tristram, to the desert in the East, to the jungle, to Hell, and finally to Mount Arreat. Diablo 3 goes from Tristram, to the desert in the East (and the adjoining jungle), to a Hell–ish Arreat, and lastly the High Heavens.

With the exception of the final act, the environments and the path in which we encounter them just feels annoyingly repetitive. I’m not looking for Demons in Space, mind you. I get the feeling that this chain of scenery was very intentional. While also a continuation of a story, Diablo 3 feels like a retelling of a story for the current generation of gamer. Given the much larger and broader player base for the game, I understand why they would feel the need to tell the story this way. It’s just a personal annoyance.

Act 2 begins with seeking revenge on Maghda, the architect of Deckard Cain’s demise. The chase isn’t woven with any real twists or turns. Just… lots of hidden footprints.

So then we get to fight Maghda and end her reign of evil. Fight begins. Fight ends. Butterfly lady is toast. That’s it kids. Nothing else to see here. Deckard Cain is avenged… I guess.

Something about the chase, the buildup, and the defeat of Maghda doesn’t feel great. This part of Act 2 felt too flat. What I think might have been missing here is some more interaction between Leah and Maghda prior to her demise. Planting seeds of the fate to come for Leah… or perhaps more exposition about where Adria has been before we actually encounter here. This is an awkward part of the story because there’s just not a lot of story presented in the early chapters of the act.

Things get far more interesting after the first encounter with the child Emperor followed by the discovery and rescue of Adria. What’s great about Adria is you can discover she’s probably not all you think she is if you engage in some extra conversation with her. The Templar certainly doesn’t trust her. I feel that there should have been a bit more tension shown between the player character and Adria though. Here we are allying ourselves with a witch, and not one of the butterfly kind either. Not everything here adds up, and that’s apparent from fairly early on…

… just like it’s apparent that the child emperor is Belial.

This is the Lord of Lies? I mean, was anyone… anyone surpised that the Emperor was Belial? The player character wasn’t, and neither was I. I’m pretty sure you weren’t either.

Then there’s Zoltun Kulle. A dark Horadric mage gone wrong, brought back to life by our exploits, only to be killed again a few minutes after rebirth. Um… okay. So, here was yet another potential spot to introduce an adversary for later in the story and the book is closed on him before you can get the echo of his incessant laughter out of your ears. As annoying as his laugh was, Kulle was a far more interesting character than Maghda, and deserved more exposure and development in the story. After all, he was the creator of the Black Soulstone itself. He showed that there existed a darker side to the arts of the Horadrim, and this had so much potential and room to be explored.

Nah, let’s just kick him to the side and move on to the next loot pinata, good Ol’ Honest Belial.

I can’t take credit for this next bit. I read a forum thread several weeks ago about how the plot of Diablo 3 could have been improved. One poster suggested that Belial’s illusions of the child Emperor could have been just as cheesy and transparent… leading the player character to the inevitable confrontation at the palace. However, when the player character kills Belial, it would then be revealed that the past few minutes had been an illusion… a hallucination of sorts, and now the dead body of the young, very mortal, Emperor lies at the player character’s feet. Belial succeeds in learning about the Black Soulstone, and has turned a nation of Sanctuary against the player character in the process. The actual confrontation with Belial could then be saved for later in the game, or even the expansion.

That would have been a very intriguing twist and one I wished had been canon. Like it or not though, Belial is just a very bad liar in Diablo 3. I’ve been told both Belial and Azmodan are nothing like the way they’re portrayed in the novel “The Order,” and I really need to get my hands on that book sometime soon.

The three primary adversaries in Act 2 were as shallow as the desert wastes of the east that we travelled through. Yet, there could have been so much more done with Maghda, Kulle, and Belial. Had either of these three been given more time, development, and care in Act 2 they could have been great villains. Instead, they’re just boxes we’ve checked off as we make our way to Arreat Crater, and the forces of the Lord of Sin.

What do you think? Leave a comment here or email me at RhoWoW@gmail.com. Thanks for reading and keep your eyes on the blog next week for more.

http://www.themillions.com/2012/01/a-journey-to-planet-x-margaret-atwoods-in-other-worlds.html

The following blog articles over the next couple of weeks contain my opinion and commentary on the plot of the storyline. Feel free to disagree. In fact, any comments you have are more than appreciated. You might be able to shed some light on something I’m not seeing from my point of view.

So in the words of Deckard Cain (1996-2012) … stay a while, and listen.

The opening cinematic is a feast for the eyes and sets the stage well. In retrospect, Deckard Cain’s survivability in the face of certain doom seems amazing at the very start of the game. Something large and fiery falls from the heavens and leaps a gaping hole of flame and rubble in its wake, descending into depth of the old cathedral. Leah, who was right next to Cain, survives. Cain’s whereabouts are unknown…

Wait, unknown? I’m sorry, if I turned around and saw a huge fiery pit of doom that was left behind by a freaking meteor, I would naturally think Cain didn’t survive. Leah tells your player that Cain was blasted into the depths of the cathedral.

Now, I understand that rescuing Deckard Cain is motivation for questing forward, but each of the heroes came to Tristram to investigate the falling star to begin with. I would argue that it wasn’t even necessary to put Cain in jeopardy at this part of the story, especially when you contrast it to his eventual demise.

Leah is an interesting character, and I find she is interpreted a dozen ways when people critique the story. Some people seem to think she flip-flops, or changes her attitude and opinion on the dark times before them too quickly. Let’s be clear about something. Leah believes in skeletons. She believes in zombies. She even believes in demons from the very get go. What confuses people is that she simply refuses to believe that the “end days” are upon the world, based on the fact that horrific things have occurred before and the people of Sanctuary have endured. The failing in the story here is that I think this point isn’t made clear enough for people to understand.

I do think that having Leah talk about opening an inn someday was… way off topic. I’ll chalk it up to her trying to distract herself from the gloom and doom of her journey.

The Stranger’s identity wasn’t much of a mystery to me from the moment I discovered him, but that’s simply because I caught the hint from the opening cinematic. “Justice shall fall from the heavens.” I thought this was actually rather clever to plant that hint so early.

The leader of the Coven, Maghda, was one of the first elements of the story that really didn’t sit right with me. This is a witch in the world of Sanctuary? Someone dressed up in purple and green, looking like the cousin of insert Disney villain here? The Dark Faerie Queen of the Butterflies is not the kind of image I envision when thinking of a witch in Sanctuary. Compare Maghda to Adria later in the story and you see two entirely different interpretations of a Sanctuary witch. If there had been some more lore or background on Maghda that explained her rise to power, her magics, her ties to Belial, and more then I think I would have a different opinion of her. As it is, she’s an overly colorful yet generic villain that gets way too much screen time in the story.

Moving on… we’re about to recover the third shard of the Stranger’s sword when all of a sudden… wait, what the heck just happened here?

So Maghda and some of her cronies magically travelled to New Tristram without being spotted by the guards or anyone else. They had a way to teleport directly into Deckard Cain’s house and lucked out that both Cain and the Stranger were there. Leah getting trapped herself isn’t as big a deal. New Tristram is not in flames or under siege. Everyone outside is clueless of the coven’s presence in the dead center of the town. Mind you, this is a town that has fended off hundreds of walking dead from within and without for weeks. Meh…

If you’ve followed my advice, from Twitter or earlier posts you may have checked out the most recent episode of Shattered Soulstone. At the end, the hosts go over an email I sent them regarding several points in the story, including the death of Deckard Cain. Nevik made an interesting point that it may have not been Maghda’s magic that killed Cain, but rather the power that surged from Leah in her outburst. That’s a fair point I hadn’t considered. Maghda wanted Cain to reforge the sword, and she wouldn’t have tried to kill him before that act was done. Once Maghda and those left in the room have taken the fury of Leah’s chaotic power, she concedes Cain and decides to take the Stranger with her by dragging him down some dark portal.

Here’s where I’m lost though. If Maghda has this amazing teleport and portal magic that could let her cronies get where they need to go… why did she not take Cain and the Stranger with her before Leah even showed up. Heck, why not send Leah somewhere else where she can be held captive and the potential for her unleashed rage can be kept in check far away from Maghda and her current plans?

In my opinion, Cain’s death was executed poorly. It does drive the plot further. It gives a reason for the hero to continue on into Act 2 beyond just fighting the forces of Belial. But shouldn’t fighting the forces of Belial be enough?

The beginning and the end of Act 1 uses Deckard Cain as motivation when it wasn’t necessary. Cain’s end was at hand. I knew this would likely happen when I first started playing Diablo 3. I just feel that it came too soon in the story, and at a time where its impact is not needed to push the forces of light further into their conflict with the last lords of the Burning Hells.

What do you think? Leave a comment here or email me at RhoWoW@gmail.com. Thanks for reading and keep your eyes on the blog for the next article on Act 2′s story woes.

For the past several weeks I’ve been lost in the realm of Sanctuary, hunting demons with a bow and arrow. With the help of my bat companion and the strong will of Kormac the Templar, I’ve defeated the forces of the Burning Hells multiple times. I’ve encountered treasure unimaginable, a whimsical land of ponies and rainbows, and creatures with abilities and powers that made the Lord of Terror seem like child’s play.

It’s been mostly fun. Mostly. It’s almost time to move on though, and it’s bittersweet. I thought I would be playing this game for much, much longer than I’ll end up playing it. Am I rage quitting due to all the changes from the last patch? Not really. I’ve just reached that point where I’m ready to move on. Diablo 3 did not ensnare me like its predecessor did so many years ago. I’m older, maybe a bit more mature (big maybe), and my taste in gaming I think has evolved more than I realized. But it’s not only that. Diablo 3 is both everything and nothing like the legendary game before it.

I’ve had fun playing the game, there’s no doubt about it. It’s been a nice change of pace from other games.

The always online bit didn’t sit well with me for one reason only; hardcore mode. With gameplay being subject to possible lag spikes at any corner it becomes entirely undesirable to play Hardcore mode. You can’t kill what you can’t see. In a game where fast reactions can make the difference between life and death you just can not have lag spikes added to the mix. With Hardcore items and economy being entirely separate from the normal mode economy I have to wonder why they couldn’t just make Hardcore an offline only mode.

Oh, right. The hardcore auction house.

The skill system in Diablo 3 is at first glance rich and diverse. You could go with “optimal” builds or if you’re feeling up to something a little crazy you could go with an aberrant build. For instance, I went through a good part of the game without using a ranged weapon on my Demon Hunter. I wanted her to be more a master of traps and devices, and there were skills and runes that made it work. My demon hunter played through all of Hell throwing grenades while setting down spike traps and caltrops. Should I get cornered, my Grenadier ability let me go out with a satisfying bang that took out my foes with them. My aberrant build was full of finesse, flavor, and fun…

…until Inferno.

Inferno punishes aberrant builds harshly, and that was disappointing. I found that if I didn’t have Smoke Screen available I wouldn’t have a chance. Not only that… sometimes two or three smoke screens in a row weren’t enough. That led to me using Preparation to get more discipline. Goodbye caltrops, goodbye Sentry. My crafty trapper had to take up a bow and arrow and kite her way to victory.

I was still failing hard in my first few days in Inferno. I spent about a week farming Act 3 & 4 in Hell difficulty only to find upgrades were practically nowhere to be found. It was frustrating. What was I going to do?

Oh, right. The auction house.

With the help of the auction house I got the gear needed to kill them before they killed me. I didn’t stack attack speed like most demon hunters did, and I’m glad I didn’t. To me it was as simple as this; would I rather kill things in two to three fast shots or one stronger shot? I guess that’s why the IAS nerf didn’t bother me too much.

Speaking of which, 1.03 didn’t bother me as much as it did the majority of the community. Did I die a lot? Sure. Did I lose dps? Some, but not a ton. Did the higher repair costs bug me? A little, but I had some luck on my side by finding a few legendary pieces of gear which sold altogether for about seven million gold…

… on the auction house.

Do you kind of see where I’m going here? Diablo 3 is everything and nothing like Diablo 2 because of the existence of the auction house. I’m not even talking about the real money one. The auction house has had a more profound impact on the game than any other element.

Did I use crafters much? Nope. The auction house had items that were effective and cheaper than random gambles made at the blacksmith. Gems were cheaper to buy than they were to make all the way up to Inferno, and the only way to progress beyond Star quality gems was to be extremely lucky or use the Auction House to buy the expensive gem pattern you wanted.

Gearing up my character was not a slow, steady climb like it was in Diablo 2. The auction house gave me access to instant upgrades in the stats I specifically sought after. While I needed that gear to do as well as I did in Inferno, I have to admit that the access to instant upgrades like that is a huge factor in why I feel like I’ve played enough of the game for now. My progression has stopped at Act 2, and I’ll tell you what… it’s not due to gear. Inferno Act 2 requires skill and reflexes that I don’t think I have… and the repair costs in the land of 1.03 don’t do anything to encourage me to work harder on it.

I would have reached this point eventually… but without the auction house I think it would have taken much longer to reach this point.

We were told not too long ago that you would have the same chance to find a legendary item in a barrel or on a monster. The devs felt this was important to the experience, and they’re right.

So, 1.03 happened and all of those words got stepped on and covered in dirt. Chests don’t get the benefits of magic find? Really? I understand barrels, pots, logs and such… but treasure chests? Why is this happening? It’s happening because everyone has quick and easy access to magic find gear sets that would have taken much longer to put together had the auction house not existed. We are creatures of habit, and one of our greatest habits is to find the path of least resistance. If someone can use the Auction House to stack their magic find to improve their chances to find treasures on objects that won’t kill them, then they’ll do it.

As a result, the 1.03 changes to finding loot off of objects kills one of the fundamental parts of this style of game. Why take the time to explore every nook and cranny when there’s far less incentive to?

You know what though? All said, I still had fun playing this game, and I imagine I’ll revisit it every now and then to see if the iteration from the devs has done anything to improve the experience. I thought I would stay in Sanctuary longer but it’s not the end of the world. I see Mists of Pandaria raid testing is coming up after all.

Diablo 3 was worth every penny I paid for it. Yep. Every penny. Zero. By enrolling in the WoW Annual Pass program I got Diablo 3 for free. In retrospect I’m glad it worked out that way. I think I’d be a bit more irritated with the game if I paid sixty dollars for it. As a “free” game I don’t feel too angry or betrayed by how the gameplay turned out far different from my expectations.

If there’s anything I’m angry about in regards to Diablo 3 it’s not the auction house. It’s the… topic of the email I’m about to write to a certain dazed and confused wizard.

In the wake of patch 1.03 to Diablo 3, the host of the Shattered Soulstone podcast posted a blog on his personal experiences in Inferno. Check out his blog at neviksnotebook.com. Be sure to check out the Shattered Soulstone podcast also on iTunes or shatteredsoulstone.com. Who knows, in a future podcast you may even find out what I hated most about Diablo 3. If the email doesn’t pop up there you’ll get to see it here soon. What I hate most about Diablo 3 really deserves its own post.

When asked what Catholics are going to do if the government won’t listen to their grievances, the Archbishop responded, “Civil disobedience. If necessary, we are going to tell Catholics they must stop driving cars and use bikes.”

by Drue Zonk

“We have had ample evidence that Obama is a witch,” Zulu claims. “Just today a giant pimple appeared on my face. A giant pimple! It looks like I’ve been hexed.”

But Zulu says he is willing to forgo all this secondary evidence and establish once and for all if Obama is a witch. But Obama won’t cooperate.

“It’s an easy test called dunking,” Zulu said. “Once we do it, we will know whether or not he is a witch. But Obama has declined all dunking requests. What is he trying to hide?”

In the meantime, I’ve been dabbling in other games. Three were mentioned a few days ago. Here’s the rest of the bunch:

World of Warcraft : Mists of Pandaria

I’ve been fairly selective in what parts of the Beta I’m testing. Right now I’m going to stay focused on warlock gameplay and the Pet Battle System.

Plenty of other people are doing the level grind and reporting bugs for quests. Personally I’d like to witness the quests firsthand spoiler-free once the expansion goes live.

The Demonology changes in MoP are extreme and the spec feels entirely different from the Cataclysm iteration. This is not only a good thing, but a marvelous thing. Right now I think the primary “complaint” I have is that a lot of the new abilities and talents feel very situational. This isn’t a bad thing mind you, but I feel like I’d be pressing more of these abilities if the spec had to do something crazy like… I don’t know… tank. Warlock tanking? I must be nuts.

Starcraft II : Wings of Liberty

I love Warcraft and Starcraft. Funny thing is I don’t play much beyond the single player campaign. I probably watch eSports coverage of Starcraft 2 matches twenty times more than I actually participate in matches. Competitive play is a bit intimidating. It seems like you need very quick reflexes, not to mention the ability to multi-task and plan ahead.

One can only play the single player campaign so many times though. I may start playing against other players soon. I’m just hoping I’m not part of the 1% that gets absolutely steamrolled before I even launch my first attack.

Final Fantasy XIII-2

I’ve played every Final Fantasy game ever made thus far except for Theatrhythm (don’t even ask what that is, you don’t want to know.) I’ve even played Mystic Quest, much to my regret.

I think I’m one of a minority that actually liked FF XIII. Yes, it was absurdly linear. Yes, the lack of optional content outside of monster hunting was lazy on Square Enix’s part. Yes, I too hated the voice of Vanille. Overall though, I enjoyed the story and my time spent playing the game. It was a no-brainer for me to pick up this direct sequel to the game.

Right now I’m working on side quests and optional content, trying to collect all the fragments that I can. I’ve seen the main ending, and without spoiling too much I have to say I’m not too upset about how it ended. Strange. I was furious about how Mass Effect 3 ended. This game? Not so much.

I’m looking forward to May 15th when Diablo 3 consumes my soul for the next couple of months. By the time I’ve crawled out of that fiery pit of dungeon crawling I’m sure Pandaria will await.

Is there an RPG I haven’t mentioned that you think I should give a shot? Leave a comment here or on Twitter @RhoWoW. You can also email me at RhoWoW@gmail.com.

Instead, I figured I would write about something that interests and excites me right now. Rather than level an alt, I find other games are drawing my attention even long after their release. Each game does it’s own share of things right and wrong. One of these games is still a month away from actual release if we’re to believe the official announcement.

In no particular order here’s what I’m also playing right now in the aftermath of Cataclysm.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Voted Game of the Year in 2011 and I couldn’t agree more. What I love the most about this game is that each player’s personal journey through Skyrim is unique. Most of us who have played have retrieved the Golden Claw, climbed the 7,000 Steps, and yelled at the screen as our companions don’t get the hint that we want them to move out of the way. However, it’s those random moments where you’re in the right place at the right time to witness or create something special that really makes the game.

This game made me feel nostalgic for Ultima VII (both parts). The environment, the ability to interact with the environment, and the sheer scale of the game won me over. Mind you, I hadn’t played an Elder Scrolls game until Skyrim.

I play Skyrim probably twice a week now. I’ve completed the main questline and right now I’m just enjoying exploring every square mile of the land. I’ve been surprised more times than I can count by what I would stumble upon by chance. I’ll save my favorite Skyrim adventure for another time.

Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning

A number of my friends often make comparisons to God of War and Fable when I bring up this game. I haven’t played any of the God of War series. I can sort of see some of the Fable parallels. Moreover, I look at this game as part Skyrim, part Diablo, part arcade scrolling fighting game, and 100% fun.

While there definitely are Skyrim-esque elements to the game throughout, I would have to say these two games are entirely different beasts. For me, comparing Skyrim to Reckoning is like comparing my favorite Chinese food dine-in restauraunt to my favorite fast food chain. Both places serve delicious food, but there’s a time and place for each.

What I like the most about Reckoning though to date is the DLC. Legend of Dead Kel gives more bang for your buck than most DLC out there for other games. The games next DLC, Teeth of Naros, aims to please in a similar way.

I just wish they’d raise the level cap.

Diablo 3 Beta

The past couple of days I finally got to taste test one of the most anticipated games of the year. I’ve been waiting a long, long time for this one. So far, I’m loving every bit of the opening experience. Graphics are crisp, gameplay is familiar and innovative at the same time, and the game excels at bringing the atmosphere of Sanctuary to life.

After playing Monk, Wizard, and Demon Hunter I find myself most fond of the latter. I find myself gravitating toward “darker” heroes and heroines of late when there’s a choice. I’m happy to see that you don’t need an expensive gaming rig to get decent frames per second out of the game too.

One more month, friends. One more month.

Later this week I’ll talk about three other games I’m dabbling in to pass the time away, including the Mists of Pandaria Beta.

In Other Worlds: Science Fiction and the

Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood:

review

Margaret Atwood’s essays on the origins of science fiction show she is as much a keen reader as she is a creator, says Kevin Barry

There is something other-worldly about Margaret Atwood – an elfin gleam, a cryogenic iciness. So it’s apt that for decades she has been tiptoeing from the lamplit den of high literature to the ravaged wastelands of speculative fiction. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake and, most recently, The Year of the Flood, she has done more than any writer – apart, perhaps, from JG Ballard – to show us that the real invention in contemporary literature is found not with the rainy realists but in the wild terrain of the genres.

Join us Thursday, December 8 at noon for a special event brought to you by McClelland & Stewart and the National Post.

Matt Hartley, editor of FP Tech Desk, will be in conversation with Margaret Atwood (In Other Worlds) and Janice Gross Stein (Diplomacy in the Digital Age)

Join us for a live-stream of the event, which is taking place at the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.

The bad news, by the way, is that the Seminar is totally, completely, utterly and without hope sold out. There are something like 400 people on the waiting list. So there’s no buying a ticket at this point. But there is the Sunday afternoon session, free and open to the public. I imagine the line for this one might start forming on New Year’s Day.

Margaret Atwood, conveniently, has just written a book that is one of my absolute favorite kind of books — literary criticism, or analysis, or description for the non-academic. Rescuing the examination of literature from the academy! God bless her! So anyway, In Other Worlds is my Tuesday Teaser this week, just under the wire since I started reading it on my lunch hour. The rules, as always, are to take two sentences from anywhere, then post the link in the comments section on the Should Be Reading blog.

“My field of specialization was the nineteenth century, and I was busying myself with Victorian quasi-goddesses; and no one could accuse [Rider] Haggard of not being Victorian. Like his age, which practically invented archaeology, he was an amatuer of vanished civilizations; also like his age, he was fascinated by the exploration of unmapped territories and encourters with ‘undiscovered’ native peoples.” — p. 109

Writing in the National Post, Zsuzsi Gartner called the book “a kind of encyclopedia: a quirky and admittedly personal primer on ‘imaginative writing.’” Read Gartner’s review of the book here.

Click here to read more about the book.

And click here for details on how to win the complete Signal Books library and a chance to see Atwood live in Toronto.

[npscribble id=33868]

Click to view on Amazon

In Other Worlds:
SF and the Human Imagination

by Margaret Atwood

Nonfiction — Personal Exploration of SF
Nan A. Talese, October 2011
Hardcover
272 pages

In Other Worlds is a collection of essays about the Science Fiction genre, its history, and Margaret Atwood’s relationship to the genre. In her own words:

In Other Worlds is not a catalogue of science fiction, a grand theory about it, or a literary history of it. It is not a treatise, it is not definitive, it is not exhaustive, it is not canonical. It is not the work of a practising academic or an official guardian of a body of knowledge. Rather it is an exploration of my own lifelong relationship with a literary form, or forms, or subforms, both as reader and as writer.

Atwood’s desire to write this book stemmed from a book review that was written for two of her books: Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. In the review written for the Guardian in 2009, Ursula K. Le Guin–a well-established author of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres who has won numerous awards for her work–brought up the fact that Atwood doesn’t want any of her work to be called science fiction. She disagreed with Atwood’s definition of what science fiction is, and accused Atwood of sloughing off the category in order to protect herself from a genre “still shunned by hidebound readers, reviewers and prize-awarders.” To the contrary, this is not at all the reason why Atwood doesn’t categorize The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake, or The Year of the Flood as science fiction. Atwood realized that the definition of “science fiction” is very fluid, and means different things for different people. Writing In Other Worlds was a way for her to take a closer look at the genre and how it has changed over the many decades that it has been a part of her life.

The book is broken up into three sections. The first section, titled “In Other Worlds,” is Atwood’s personal history with science fiction, and the section’s three chapters originated from the Ellman Lectures Atwood gave at Emory University in 2010. The second section, “Other Deliberations,” is a collection of ten essays that Atwood wrote over a span of years about specific works of SF, including such titles as Bill McKibben’s Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age, H.G. Well’s The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This was by far my favorite part of the book. The last section, titled “Five Tributes,” is a group of Atwood’s own mini-SF pieces, which includes the story of “The Peach Women of Aa’A” from The Blind Assassin.

I have never been disappointed by anything Atwood has written, and In Other Worlds is no exception. I enjoy every bit of her thought processes, her writing, and her candor. Although the whole book was very good, I did have my favorite pieces: “Dire Cartographies,” which discusses utopias and dystopias; her reviews of McKibben’s Enough, Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go; and “Of the Madness of Mad Scientists,” in which Atwood talks about where the figure of the mad scientist in SF originated. The mad scientist essay was particularly interesting to me. So much goes into the history of SF, though, that anyone with an interest in the genre will find something that they like and can relate to in the book.

If you’re a fan of SF, or if you’re interested in finding out more about the history of the genre, I highly recommend In Other Worlds. If you aren’t familiar with the SF genre and you’re wondering what it’s all about, read this book. It’s very well written, it has a relaxed, personal feel to it, and it’s full of interesting ideas and information.

(Note: There were two quotes that I found particularly relevant and that made me nod vigorously in agreement. They were a little too long to include in this review, but I posted both on my Tumblr. You can find them here and here. Read them. They’re good.)

********************

(To learn more about Margaret Atwood, please visit her official website.)

**If you choose to purchase this title using the links below, I will receive a small percentage of the sale (to be used toward site maintenance and buying more books).

Amazon | Powell’s Books | IndieBound

This week, Lindesay Irvine of The Guardian describes how the first 300 copies of Margaret Atwood’s newest book are being printed on a new type of paper, made completely of recycled paper and straw (read article here).

Given her enormous influence in the literary world, it is heartening that Atwood chose this type of paper for this limited-edition run; with the growing popularity of e-book technology, one would think that paper-related technology would be at a standstill.  With this new breed of paper, we capture the feeling of the book in our hands, but halve the environmental impact.  If the price of this paper can be reduced to the price of traditional paper, we may have a revolution on our hands.

Anyone who has read Atwood’s many novels knows that she sits comfortably at the intersection of “literary” fiction and science fiction, and is a master of merging the best of history with what has yet to come. For those who still want to feel pages between their fingers – this may be the next big thing.