Best & Hardest

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This is so true.

31 December 2019

How to kill my interest in your Kickstarter

I've backed far too many Kickstarter projects in the past. Apparently I'm a 'superbacker' according to my profile, but the last year or so I been massively selective on what I'm willing to back and hardly touched any. Partly because I've ended up with too many games that aren't getting read or played, partly because it's expensive and, most importantly for marital harmony.

Most Kickstarters get backed by me because they excite me in some way. They sound different, or fun, or unique. The creator has offered something that has caught my attention. I'm pre-disposed to like the product.

 A small number of Kickstarters have lost my interest and have ended up being sold, given away or just gathering dust. There's a common set of reasons:

1) Failure to communicate

As the Guns n Roses song 'Civil War' starts, "What we've got here is failure to communicate". If your project is running late, tell me. Tell me as much as you feel comfortable (I'm not needing a Doctor's note, I understand that stuff happens), but talk to me. Don't leave me in a void. Projects run late, I can deal with that.

2) Repeated failures to do what you say you'll do

So you've talked to me, that's good. And then the next thing happens, and the next commitment is missed. And the next. And another. Now I start to feel like you're really unlucky, or you can't meet commitments, or maybe you're making this up as you go along. Or maybe you're lying to me?

3) Your bad attitude

You don't bother to talk to me. Or you give ridiculous excuses. Or I can see that you're focussed on other commitments. You treat your backers with contempt. I'm especially thinking about James Wallis' Alas Vegas and Mark Rein-Hagen's boardgame, Democracy: Majority Rules, as I write this.

4) Your lack of commitment

So you decide to launch another Kickstarter when you're massively behind and there's no clear conclusion to one I've backed. This makes me feel like you've lost interest, or maybe you have a cash flow issue? It doesn't feel like I'm a priority, and instead you're chasing someone new.


Aside from one Kickstarter produced by a serial defaulter, they've all eventually arrived. There's only been a few that I've fallen out of love with completely. I've tended to see those, but the bad taste remains and means I'm unlikely to back another project from you.

There are a few on a cusp of falling from grace in my mind at the moment; City of Mist is just hanging on, as is Cartel.

In honesty, the former is doing better than the latter, as they're communicating and at least sharing PDFs. But they're late, and have admitted they launched their second Kickstarter to fund art for the first as well as cover the new book and reprinting of the core rules.

Anyway, that's what makes me lose interest in your Kickstarter and future projects.

31 December 2019

The Expanse Season 4 (Spoiler free)

The Expanse - now on Amazon

I've just finished watching Season 4 of The Expanse with the eldest coming along for the ride. It covers the book where the story shifts from being mainly space-based to being set mostly on a single planet. I didn't like this so much when I read it, but looking back it was a necessary step in the evolution of the story, a set up for the future.

Like the previous series, it was done really well, and I feel that it is in safer hands now with Amazon funding it rather than SyFy (who have always been fickle). This is intelligent TV, which just happens to be set in space. I'm loving the way that the various short stories and novellas are being integrated into the TV series.

If you haven't dipped into it yet, all the series are on Amazon now. The first series starts slowly (but that's all about setting the characters and plots in motion).

Good stuff.

Space Heroes at the Armouries

Space Heroes - Royal Armouries

We had a quick trip out on Saturday afternoon to the Royal Armouries in Leeds, after we'd spotted the 'Space Heroes' event going on. The youngest went full Sith Trooper, and the eldest hedged his bets by dressing like a rebel with Stormtrooper equipment.

I'm not certain that the Dalek is really a hero, but if you zoom in on the picture you may notice that the circuit board under the eye actually says 'Derek' so he at least had some personality! Doctor Who #10 was in the cafe, which seemed somewhat appropriate.

It was a fun visit and the boys enjoyed themselves, as you can see from the pictures below. If you go, I recommend getting there earlier than we did so you can do more of the events.

The various cosplayers were really gracious to the kids.

So, if you don't shoot me, you can sit in my X-Wing...

This is the droid we're looking for...

An audience with Darth Vader...

Revolutions - highly recommended

Revolutions - a podcast I'd highly recommend.

Mike Duncan's podcast, Revolutions, has given me a lot of pleasure and education over the last two-and-a-half years. I'd previously come across his work in The History of Rome, a podcast spanning some 170 episodes taking the span of Romes transition to major power and the subsequent decline.

The podcast looks at pivotal revolutions across history:

1. The English Civil Wars
2. The American War of Independence
3. The French Revolution
4. The Haitian Revolution
5. The Spanish-American Wars of Independence (Bolivar)
6. The Revolution of 1830 (France)
7. The Revolutions of 1848
8. The Paris Commune
9. The Mexican Revolution
10. The Russian Revolution(s) - current series

There's a lot of content there, perfect for a commute. I've learned a huge amount listening to it, and really miss the weeks when it isn't scheduled. Highly recommnended.

26 December 2019

Merry Christmas

Merry Sithmas!

Happy Christmas to you all! We hope you have a lovely time, no matter what your beliefs are.

On his bike...

We had a quiet Christmas Day at home, and an even quieter Boxing Day. As I write this, the rest of the family are out on their bikes (unfortunately, we can't find the Schraeder adaptor for mine and one of the tyres is flat), led by the eldest. There's been a lot of reading, watching, playing and eating, and a lovely Christmas Service.

The only downside has been that my mother has been ill and unable to enjoy the day; fortunately, the call out Doctor has diagnosed an infection, dispensed anti-biotics and she's much more with it today.  

Season's Greetings, All!

26th December 2019

Blog Maintenance Update

I've changed the name of the blog slightly as I realised that I was subconsciously channelling Graham's blog 'Messages From The Far Havens' in the title. So 'Signals from Delta Pavonis' is the new name.

Some great blogs

I've also added a short blog roll of the blogs I read pretty regularly and would recommend. It's on the bottom right of the navigation. 

My Feedly web home; structured RSS feeds

If you do like to read a lot of blogs, I recommend looking at feedly.com, which is an RSS feed aggregator (translation: you can give it a link to blogs that are updated and it will pull them all together into an organised feed you can skim quickly) which has a great web interface and solid Android and iOS apps. It's the place I went after Google Reader was killed off.

23 December 2019

Rise of Skywalker (Spoiler Free)

After the show.

We went to see Rise of Skywalker last night at the local cinema in Wetherby with some of our friends and kept up our somewhat mad tradition of dressing up to do this. We had a good mix of the Dark and Light sides of the Force present.

Jedi parents with young Rebel Pilot

The youngster looked at me and said: "I'm surprised that your costume still fits you, Daddy". It wasn't quite as cheeky as I thought as he later explained he thought that you kept growing very slowly as a grown-up (I guess that's true!).

We enjoyed the film; it did feel like there was enough material for two films and there was a lot packed in. The story felt like it was on fast forward the whole time. I've only spotted one small plot hole so far, and it's trivial compared to the whole motion of the picture.

Recommended; Rogue One it isn't, but still a fun film. The opening credits took me back to being seven years old as ever...

Flickr needs you!

The refreshed Flickr app

Those of you who remember a time before Instagram will remember Flickr, a fantastic photo platform that was purchased by Yahoo!  That meant the usual - the platform stagnated.

Anyway, it was bought by Smugmug (another photo company). They’ve done a huge amount of refurbishment and updating. Unlike instagram, Facebook isn’t involved in grabbing all your data. 

Anyway, they’re on a push to get more Pro members as they aren’t using adverts to drive and fund the platform. At the moment there’s a 25% discount on Pro if you use the code: 25in2019

It’s still an awesome photo platform and getting better. I’ve used it since 2006, and you can see my photo stream here; https://www.flickr.com/cybergoths

Curse of Strahd - S1E03: "We're not in Faerun anymore..."

SPOILERS BELOW for The Beast of Graenseskov

The party, newly minted at Level 2. 

Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good.

Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good.

Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.

At the end of the last session, the party found themselves emerging travelling to the west despite having entered the woods going east. The weather was colder and there were patches of snow around, and the mist and overcast weather was persistent. The Squire, Dusan (or Jason as they insist in calling him), took them into Volchykrov Manor's main hall to introduce them to his master and the Boyar.

2nd November?

On entering the hall, they met a tall, blonde warrior in his late 20s, who Dusan immediately went up to and was beaten. Outraged, they challenged who and why he did that after 'the child had been saved from wolves'. The response was that the child was at fault and had Dusan not lost the shield then his life would not have been in danger. This was the way of things; the pact meant that safety was found in the settlements, not the deeper woods. The man was Ser Cedomir, eldest son of the Boyar. He soon remembered his hospitality as he realised that he had a party of monster hunters on his hands. Ale was offered in the same wooden flagons that Cedomir and his Knights, the Hounds of the Borderwood, were drinking from. They sized each other up, and the party found themselves formally invited to a meal that evening. They realised it was mid-afternoon, later than they had expected.

Excusing themselves, several of the party, notably Roscoe and Ser Adon, went to the Chapel carved into the rock face to pray. There they met a dwarven priest, Father Fiofan Kolotov, who recounted the tale of the Beast that was haunting these lands of the Graenseskov. It had appeared three days after a Hag had been executed on the Boyar's orders, and had progressively become more dangerous and vicious. The Graenseskov were the borderlands to Barovia proper, ruled by the von Zarovich's. The party also looked at a map of the Sword Coast left with the priest a few weeks before by a Monster Hunter who had subsequently disappeared. They said it was contemporary and yet it was at least a hundred and fifty years out of date.

The curse: "You who’ve raised hand against my sister, I curse you to reveal your true self, turning against kith and kin. I curse you to show your monstrous self under the sign of the soul’s true form"

Back at the Manor, Ser Cedomir recounted the tale of how the Pact between Wolves and the Volchykrov family had came to be with the actions of the first Boyar, Sordje, to a Dire Wolf cub. It was clear that Cedomir did not respect his father, and there was mention of the death of his brother at the hands of 'the Devil Strahd' as being the Boyar's fault.

The rest of the party arrived back in time for the meal; they met the Boyar and nearly immediately volunteered to assist ridding the Graenseskov of this beast. The Boyar subtly established they were lycanthropes by giving them drinks in silver flagons. Impressing the Boyar, they were immediately introduced to his daughter, Cvetlana, who he doted on and who was clearly a spoiled brat and had her father wrapped around her little finger. She was engaged to be married to Ismark the Lesser, the son of the Burgomeister in Barovia. They met Aco Koslov, a tall, gangly, coffee and spice merchant who used the Vistani to go through the mists and get himself stock. He wore small, round glasses. The also met Krabka, a mongrel-folk, who acted a bit like a jester yet was chained up at night. Father Fiofan was also present and getting very drunk.

Much information was learnt about the Beast and the death of the Hag.

• The Hag was one of three, and executed by a cold iron axe (on the wall in the hall) wielded by Cedomir. Another fled into the mists, and a third, Pretty Kolchya, who cursed her sister's killers  had not been seen since. Ruzina the blacksmith's daughter forged the axe, and Father Fiofan blessed it and gave last rites to the Hag. The Boyar ordered her death having destroyed the coven's tower.
• At least 40 people had died and many animals had been slaughtered over the last year. The attacks were getting closer to the Manor, with the last killing three days before when Jovich, one of the Knights, was killed close to the Manor at a small lake as he went fishing. 
• Ser Branimara, the Boyar's bodyguard, recounted how she was scarred by the Beast, which was 'as large as a horse'. She also clearly was attracted to Cedomir.
• The previous attack was on Lubomir, a servant, who was bringing two Oxen home when the Beast attacked, two weeks earlier. He was bitten badly and was held in the infirmary under the observation of the Halan Witches in case he was infected with lycanthropy. 

A fight broke out between Ser Alys and one of the Hounds who jested she had 'a touch of the Goblin' about her. She won convincingly and secured an apology.

Roscoe learned that the druid Merje, who runs the Infirmary with the Halan Witches, had betrayed the location of the Grey Sister's Tower when the Boyar started burning the woods to drive them out.

Roscoe also found out that Boyar Borje had attempted to hold back taxes from Strahd von Zarovich. His middle child, Pyotr, had been taken by Strahd as a punishment and had not been seen since. There were mutterings about Dark Powers and the Devil Strahd, and everyone assumed that Pyotr was dead. Cedomir's falling out with his father dates from this.

Koslov the merchant and Gaddock retired early and chatted on the way back to the Weary Horse Inn. Gaddock declined a nightcap. He noted that Koslov was preternaturally silent once he went into his adjoining room.

Ser Alys and Ser Adon returned to their room; both woke up the next morning in Ser Adon's bed. They have no recollection of what happened and are convinced that they just played chess and drank. The retainers probably know exactly what happened.

Later, Kel and Roscoe returned to the Inn. Kel had been quietly fixing things in the manor house with his mend cantrip as it bother him that the place was falling apart. Kel noticed that something gangly and dark was climbing Gustav's Turret where the Manor's ballista was kept.

3rd November?

Gaddock rose early; he had breakfast with Koslow and noticed blood on the merchant's collar. Aco tried to laugh it off as a shaving injury, but there was no wound. Gaddock suspects Koslov is a vampire.

Gaddock went to the blacksmith's forge and found himself flirting and being flirted with by Ruzina Nostrova. He bought charcoal, having secured incense the day before. He left the forge, and drew a magic circle in the yard, summoning an Owl to be his familiar in an hour long ritual. The locals didn't like this but he managed to talk them down.

Kel and Ser Alys searched the Monster Hunter Radke Iliev's former room, finding a silver dagger and some notes including the question 'Can I trust the Boyar?' in them.

The whole party went to the Infirmary. They were met by Merje the Seeker and Erelda the Herbalist. They agreed to let the group see the victim, Lubomir. Ser Adon drew upon his faith and laid on hands to purge any disease and heal the rest of the wound. There was clearly a tension between Erelda and Lubomir; Ser Alys established that this was because Ludomir had attacked Erelda for being a 'witch' several weeks before and was in danger until Merje intervened.

Gaddock sent his Owl to scout out where Jovich had been killed. Then they all climbed Gustav's Tower. They realised the ballista had been disabled. There was no sign of the creature, but they could see the tree near where Jovich died, some Barrows on a hill to the north and a Graveyard in the forest to the west. Detect Evil by Sir Adon showed nothing within 60 ft.

Next session, they hope get silvered or cold iron weapons from the forge, and talk to Merje about the Grey Sister's Tower. Clue lines (1) Jovich, (2) Lubomir, (3) Grey Sister's Tower. The party already suspect either Ruzina, Cedomir, Fiofan or Merje is the Beast, based on the curse. They've kind of ruled out Boyar Borje.

DM Notes:

It started to get more complicated this week; I couldn't avoid some info dumps. However, this was setting the breadcrumbs and path going forward. I enjoyed this but the scenario is pretty badly organised to reference quickly, so I may have to do something about that over the holidays.

The Curse of Strahd will return in January 2020.

17 December 2019

In a Star Wars Universe

The Rebel Alliance has been crushed by the Sith and their lackeys. Order 66 was executed and once loyal strongholds destroyed after the poor leadership and dithering of the Jedi Council was exposed, and the people seduced by promises of an end to the conflict and a better life. 

Meanwhile, the Dark Side’s plans to shake the democracy at the heart of the Old Republic apart and focus power with the High Chancellor have already been published. 

A band of survivors lick their wounds and thoughts turn to a Resistance.

#InaStarWarsUniverse

Mince Pies

Mince Pies - must be nearly Christmas

Baking off these beauties from work to ignore the General Election.

I've voted, I just don't want to watch this unfold.

Yorkshire Champions

Yorkshire Youth Fencing Champions 2019

I forgot to post this here when the two lads won their respective fencing competitions (U10 and U12 Foil) for the year in the Yorkshire Youth League at the end of November. Pictured here with a very proud Mum.

New York Subway Map - animated exploration of the design

If you like maps and design, this is worth a look

Fantastic article on the NY Subway map in the New Yorker, animated exploration of the design decisions taken when making the map. 

7th December 2019

Fallen Order - a bit of a puzzler

Fallen Order - more than just a first person slasher game.

After they both won their age groups for the year in the Yorkshire Fencing Competition, my parents wanted to give our lads a present. They suggested a computer game each, which ended up being half share in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for their XBox One.

They've both started to get into it, with the eldest blazing the way, and the somewhat more careful and methodical youngster finding the things that his brother's missed. Very popular present, this.

I was watching them play tonight, and initially wrote the game off as a first person slasher with a Star Wars theme. Kind of Battlefront revisited. And then I realised that it was also a very clever 3D-platform puzzler which had threads of strategy weaved in.

As a result, I've had an evening where - although I doubt I have the physical dexterity to play the game well - I've been sitting there in a support role, helping them solve the puzzles. I'm deliberately not giving the answer, more a hint on how they could unlock it. Some of the challenges are really quite fiendish.

I think I'll enjoy watching the story unfold as they solve this.

7th December 2019

Curse of Strahd - S1E02: Into the Mists

Our second session kicked off with a full complement of players, and more, as Dr Mitch could join us. His character, Sir Adon of House Starbright brings with him a retinue of three; a squire, a cook and a messenger.

The party, still Level 1. 

Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good.

Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good.

Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.

If you recall the earlier post, we left the party in the early hours of the morning when Ser Alys saw four wolf sized shapes passing through the mist towards the village of Forest Gables.

2nd November 

Battle was swiftly joined; initially Roscoe and Gaddock were suffering due to their lack of dark vision, but the party engaged with fire bolt cantrips from Kel and Gaddock, followed by crossbow shots from Roscoe. Ser Alys engaged with her battle axe, which is what she does best. Although the first wolf went down swiftly, burning, the others proved more troublesome and forced both the spell casters to unleash their first level spells. Kel witch-bolted the larger wolf, and Gaddock cast sleep but to less effect than before as only one wolf fell asleep. Startled by the swift attack, the larger wolf turned to flee, only to be cut down. Two trees were set on fire (accidentally) providing more than adequate lighting. Ser Adon had been following the party's path, and hearing combat managed to arrive part way through the battle, tipping the balance conclusively. Not a wolf survived and the party escaped unscathed. Ser Adon planted his javelin, which casts a ward around it if anything comes close bearing ill-intent.

[DM note: the wolves never got to their most advantageous as they never closed enough to gain their benefit from being a pack. That changes...]

The rest of the night passed undisturbed, and the spellcasters recovered their spells. Roscoe found the trial, and after some breakfast where Ser Adon introduced himself properly and caught up with his cousin Alys, they set off into the increasingly misty forest edge following the wolf tracks coming from the east.

The mists drew in, and travel was difficult. The pack animals needed to be lead on foot as the fallen branches, treacherous moss and rocks made going difficult. Soon all sense of direction was being lost by the brave adventurers. Eventually, they stumbled upon a red tassel tied to a tree. They soon realised that there were a set of tassels forming a trail. In the eerie stillness of the mists, cold, damp, wet, they spotted three lights which moved just off the trail, eventually swapping to both sides of their path. The decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and not to investigate these. Sir Adon lit the way with light from his javelin.

As they passed through the mists, Ser Alys heard a scream from a child, and wolves snarling. She ran ahead, outpacing the others and saw a young human child up a try, clutching a shield that was far too big for it as four wolves menaced the boy and tried to leap up the trunk. Sir Alys charged in, and killed a wolf in a blow, but was soon beset by three others. They leapt on her savagely and she soon went down, unconscious. Ser Adon charged in to help; Roscoe blessed Gaddock and Kel, and battle was joined. The tension rose as Ser Alys was bleeding out [Death Saves] and through a combination of fire bolts, silvered steel and crossbow bolts, the wolves were dispatched.

[DM note: I made sure that the wolves were working together this time, which makes their attacks have advantage. This escalated rapidly and I feared Ser Alys' days were numbered.]

Kel talked the child down; he identified himself as Dusan, squire to Sir Cedomir Volchykrov, leader of the Hounds of the Borderlands, a group of knights who protected the Graenseskov. Sir Cedomir was the heir to Boyar Borje Volchykrov, Master of the Graenseskov. Dusan had been on his own as he had fallen asleep over lunch and managed to leave his master's shield at the campsite. He had gone to collect it lest he risk a beating.

He showed the party the way through the forests, and out into a low pass, at the head of which was Volchykrov Manor, an old fortified manor house with walls that block the pass and the route of the Old Svalich Road. What was disturbing was that they emerged travelling westward but they had been moving eastward. It was clear they weren't in Faerun anymore.

The party reached the gates of the manor just before sundown, and the squire took them in to see the Boyar. Just before the party reached the gates, the boy let slip that they had been beset by a vicious wolf-like beast for the last year, since the Hag was executed...

Our adventure continues on the 17 December 2019
---
At the end of this session, the characters levelled up to Level 2, removing some of the fragility.

I'm grateful to have two players who know D&D 5e really well, so it means I rarely have to reference the rules. I'm still some way from being entirely comfortable with them, but it works well and Roll 20 is good. We did have some connectivity problems tonight, but muddled through.

They have now entered the adventure proper... the mists are the boundaries of Barovia and the Graenseskov is a border region through which the Vistani often pass to trade.

First Impressions - The Tomb of Black Sand [minimal spoilers]

[The text and references below are all taken from the webpage for the product and reveal very little about the heart of the scenario, so no real spoilers.]

The Tomb of Black Sand.

This is the latest book from Jacob Hurst, of Swordfish Island's fame. It was kickstarted earlier in the year but I didn't back it because I'm mostly on a break from the platform at the moment. These notes are from the PDF version rather than the print. I've no doubt that the hardcover book will look glorious and be excellent quality based on my experience of the past releases. However, nearly £50 including shipping to the UK is a bit too steep for me.

The set up is as follows:

Deep in the forest plants and animals twist and crack and seem to fill with stars before they vanish, screaming into nothing. A tomb has appeared, and lumberjacks argue about its origin over drinks at the Red Squirrel Inn. Some say it's new, like a freshly grown cancerous lump; others say the twisting earth revealed an ancient trove of bone and unimaginable treasure. No one can agree, but townsfolk have begun to go missing, riders in black have been seen on the roads, and some say the candles are singing.

There are hooks to insert this into a normal campaign and some options for running at a convention. The book is written for Fifth Edition D&D but has the feel of an AD&D era module. Target is three to four characters of fourth level.

The players stumble into the middle of a ritual as they enter the tomb, and need to be very careful how they approach things else they will very rapidly find themselves in a situation escalating out of control. It is more akin to a sandbox, like Curse of Strahd, than the carefully escalating and crafted path that is more common in Pathfinder and D&D 5e. Attacking every foe will get you killed. Clever, sneaky play may mean you live. The scenario is not built around the players; the NPCs and monsters have a purpose of their own.

Gorgeous layout.

The layout is clear and easy to parse, and the evocative black and white art takes me back to the early days of Fighting Fantasy. It is definitely focused upon making life easy for the GM to use through clear layout and focused writing. However, I'd have liked to see a map keyed with NPCs and traps in there as a fast reference. I'll just end up doing it myself.

Overall, it's a scenario that makes me want to run it, perhaps at a convention. Recommended.

Available from Swordfish Islands directly or DriveThruRPG.

1 December 2019

His Dark Materials

Captivating viewing - His Dark Materials.

Every Sunday at 8pm the family is sat down in the living room, waiting for the latest instalment of His Dark Materials to start on BBC1. It's all very old school; we're tied to a channel and a time and the youngest (8) just can't get his head around why we can't binge-watch the series!

It may come of a surprise to you, but I've never read the books. Blame it on Harry Potter. When the Philosopher's Stone was released, I had so many of my friends telling me that it was brilliant and the next best thing after Tolkien. I excitedly read the book and was disappointed. I've no doubt that the series gets better (having watched the films, I imagine it's the case), but I lost the enthusiasm to go on.

Jill picked up the original trilogy quite quickly and told me it was good, but she'd liked Harry Potter a lot too and I couldn't bring myself to read it.

The Golden Compass - more of a miss than a hit?

I watched - and quite enjoyed - the film version despite its flaws, but it was not enough to make me want to read the book with any sense of urgency. So I failed to get excited about the new BBC series, and how wrong I was!

A great cast.

I'm really enjoying the series; the subtlties and complexities of the world reach out in a way the film never did. I really want to read the books now, but I'm waiting until the series finishes. I don't want spoilers and I don't want to mix my media. Visual arts are different to the written form, and there are always differences.

So far, I highly recommend this.

1 December 2019