WoW Zombie!

It took me two years and all the willpower I could mustster to avoid buying and playing World of Warcraft, arguably the best MMO out their. Well sad to say, I finally succumbed to it's seductions and charms. Now I am a living zombie who sits in front of the monitor "Grinding" away to reach that next level, or to accomplish that next quest, or to gather that last item, or aargh it endless! Now I know what the curse of undeath is, even in my sleep I am restless... In the few hours I manage to rest after a nightfull of WoW adventuring I still find my dreams haunted by the images of that accursed game. I don't doubt that I probably mime swinging a sword while fast asleep, and drooling in my bed. The worst part is that I'm only in the early stages of the game, and only now am I realizing how BIG the friggin' game is. It's gonna' be the death of my social life that's for sure. From someone who came from pen and paper RPGs the opportunity to group with other players is really cool! In the first few hours of exploring Azeroth, I was invited to group with a Druid, and a Warrior, and it was fun knowing that a real person was looking after your back during battles, healing you, or helping you pummel a common enemy. I was even recruited to join a Guild, and I was only a measly level 4 Nightelf Hunter armed with nothing more than a cheap dagger, and a flimsy bow! Bet you can't do that on friendster. Well I got a long way to go and very little time to do it. And for those who are foolishly thinking of getting into the vice, let this be a warning lest you become a WoW zombie yourself... Run!

Bookworms

Ahh nothing is more depressing than staring out the window and waiting for the rain to stop. When you've consumed all those DVDs, and played all the latest console games, and nothing is on the tube, what's a person to do? Well what do we have here? It seems to be a pile of papers bounded neatly, with a pretty nifty cardboard cover. Inside are hundreds of pages of words, and no illustration in sight! What the!? Might as well read it. And so after a few months here are some of the books I've read so far this year. First of is Raising Atlantis, a standard adventure/thriller in the same vain as Dan Brown's earlier works such as Deception Point. It asks the old legendary question, what if Atlantis was real? It's got good pacing, and interesting characters, but I wish some of them were explored with more depth. It becomes silly as it nears the end, but what do you expect from a book about Atlantis? Anyway it was a good read, and well worth my time. Next is the Last Templar, again an adventure/thriller. It is kinda' like The Da Vinci Code, where it delves into the mysteries and history of the Templar Knights, and their so-called great treasure, which could be... the Holy Grail. Starts with a bang, but fizzles in the end. Still a good read. Next up is the Bronze Canticle series. I was really missing reading fantasy books, and Dragonlance happens to be one of my favorite novels. Well one of its creators Tracy Hickman along with wifey Laura (who has also written a plethora of fantasy books along with hubby) has created a new series of books focusing on Mystics, Faeries, and Goblins, and no they don't belong in one world, but they do share visions in a Dreamland kind of place. It's quite complicated, and confusing at times, but it all comes together eventually. I've only read Mystic Warrior, and Mystic Quest, and both exhibit a fine degree of epic proportions. Unfortunately, alternating between the other races does confuse the reader, and the story itself seems kind of rushed due to lack of space. It could have been better, and I'm still waiting on reading the final installment called Mystic Empire. Last but certainly not least is the Christ Clone Trilogy, composed of In His Image, Birth of an Age, and Acts of God. Well like the title suggests it's about Christopher Goodman, a man cloned from the live cells found in the Shroud of Turin. Weird? You have no idea, because as the story progress man, and the world are plunged into chaos, plagues, and disasaters, all of which comes from the prophecies in the Bible. It's one of the more plausible and engaging End of the World kind of stories, and mixes a lot of science along with bible passages. It's pretty good and intriguing, but gets kinda' preachy and predictable by the third book. Still it is a must read!