The reading nook

What I've recently finished reading:

Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson, and thus finishes the Fractured Europe Sequence. I enjoyed it a lot, though sometimes it made me feel as though I just wasn't smart enough for it; there are a lot of chapters which begin so completely in medias res that you just have to soldier on until you hit the background/flashback that explains what is going on. Although the last book ties up some of the loose ends, they are only loosely tied, so to speak, and it feels very open-ended. (To be fair, there was no overarching action plot here, just generally tying up ends and solving mysteries. Also I didn't realize for far too long that some of the POV chapters were actually in the past relative to present action (or rather, took place at the same time that some of the events in other books took place; time has passed.)

What I've recently finished listening to:

The Strange Case of Starship Iris wrapped up its final season a few weeks ago. I liked it overall, though I definitely preferred the political action/adventure parts more than the personal relationships parts, other than the general bonding of the crew as a unit. I also found it rather on the nose with respect to Current Political Events, but hey, it's not Jessica Best's fault that she wrote an SF podcast about freedom-fighting rebels up against a juggernaut of an iron-fisted government just when, you know. waves hand around helplessly

What I've recently finished playing:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard! I enjoyed playing but I was ready for it to be over. I (female Qunari mage) romanced Harding, but the romance content is -->.<-- (Though admittedly there was some nice emotional content relative to the romance near the end.) On the one hand, the fact that most of the decisions about what to do and say don't seem to have much effect on things made it feel less fraught and scary, like - I often look up spoilers for major decisions because I don't replay games and so I want to make sure I don't end up with some horrible ending. On the other hand, it probably contributed to me feeling less involved with the game on an emotional level.

I didn't like that the choice of race and faction didn't have a whole lot to do with anything. I mean, I had extra Shadow Dragons dialogue, but mostly I didn't know anything extra about Minrathous. And I was Qunari - but an adopted war orphan with zero connection to anything remotely Qun, so I felt really dumb talking to Taash (and especially Shathann) about Qunari customs.

I did really love the graphics, and all the very interesting landscapes, the different cities and landscapes (the Ossuary!!!) and especially the Crossroads. The companion banter is super fun and I sort of wanted to set them all up with each other! I especially loved Taash and Lucanis talking about capes, hee. I did everybody's quests, of course, and got everyone to Hero status, and all my factions to three stars.

I did the Regrets of the Dread Wolf questline and met Mythal, and...I really tried to give good answers, but every time I failed, to the point where I figured there was no way of avoiding the fight. So I ended up having to fight her and hoo boy that was tough. And then! I looked at an "endings" walkthrough and it said I had to have resolved the quest peacefully to get the best ending, so I resigned myself to having screwed up, but haha it turns out they recommended that only because that is such a tough fight, yay, I got the best ending.

(I did not look up spoilers for the rest of the endgame, but fortunately I managed to not get my sweetheart killed.)

Anyway, it was fun, but when I finished I didn't want to jump into another epic right away, so I started playing Monument Valley, which several of you had recommended to me - and that was delightful! It's like, what if M. C. Escher had designed a puzzle game? I finished the first game and am now doing the "appendices". I also have the second game, so that's probably next.

B is playing Horizon Forbidden West, and I can't resist looking over his shoulder every once in a while. The Horizon games are still my favorites! (He's still in early days, not yet to the Embassy, just doing stuff in Chainscrape.)