Tl;dr: 4 stars. There's a lot of things Domino Finn does that are very interesting and unique in this book. However, the first part is antithetical to the character developed in the first book. The "turn" from the first part of the book is easy to spot, and it does lose some of its feel… Continue reading Domino Finn: Afterlife, Black Hat
Why Hollywood Can’t Write Women: Wonder Woman, Force Awakens, and The Last Jedi
I've often criticized books for overpowered protagonists, failure to follow Sanderson's laws of magic, (which I will revise to Sanderson's laws of special powers), use of plot coupons, subversion without a cause, and conflicts between text and subtext. In order to further flesh that out, I will analyze three movies that illustrate this problem, as… Continue reading Why Hollywood Can’t Write Women: Wonder Woman, Force Awakens, and The Last Jedi
The art of the edit
This one is really fun to see, at least for me. For most Star Wars fans, there's a huge question. The original trilogy of Star Wars films are classics. Yes, the third one has lots of rough parts in it, but it's still an enjoyable movie overall. But the prequels are a disaster. I've read the original… Continue reading The art of the edit
Stephen Morse on professionalism
Here's the link, h/t Matthew Sylvester for telling me WordPress didn't do a great job showing this. Authors, Internet Drama, and Public Image Snippet: Authors, Internet Drama, and Public Image Written 12/02/2016 This is not my November status update. Everything regarding ongoing projects, where I’m at, and future directions shall be shoveled into another post somewhere. Maybe… Continue reading Stephen Morse on professionalism
Featured non-LitRPG author: Glynn Stewart and two very quick reviews
People are doing sell-someone-else's-stuff Saturday. So my pick today, (better late than never), is Glynn Stewart Author. I've gone through most of his books and if you like M.R. Forbes, you will probably find yourself a fan of Glynn Stewart. Very quick informal reviews: Lion Quest by Michael-Scott Earle. Book 1 is the most problematic, because there's an… Continue reading Featured non-LitRPG author: Glynn Stewart and two very quick reviews
GameLit Review: Everybody Loves Large Chests
Tl;dr: Not my cup of tea in general, but it's also not a harbinger of the end of times or remotely the worst LitRPG that I've read. Most of my criticisms are the general criticisms of Dungeon-Core books in general. As a first impression, it's a 3.5 stars. I was asked to review this book,… Continue reading GameLit Review: Everybody Loves Large Chests
Expansion packs in GameLit?
Original article: https://www.hybridnationrevolution.com/single-post/2017/11/21/What-is-an-Expansion-Pack Tl;dr: Adding in expansion packs to GameLits can bolster sales. My reaction: This could work, if only because it solves one problem that occurs in games all the time. The first problem is currency inflation. In any MMO, the amount of money being added to the economy is inflationary. It's why I often… Continue reading Expansion packs in GameLit?
Why every machine learning algorithm used by big companies sucked in the past, sucks now, and will continue to suck.
Editing to update: Google has actually taken the proposals I made seriously (though it's not me personally, but critics like me in general). It's not publically available yet, but they are trying to make a real tool. https://conversationai.github.io/ And, oh my God, they even admit the problems I talk about in this article: We do… Continue reading Why every machine learning algorithm used by big companies sucked in the past, sucks now, and will continue to suck.
Amazon’s Hall of Spinning Knives
I've written before about Amazon's automated algorithms being "not very good", here it is again.
Advice to new writers: Don’t plagiarize. Just don’t.
Update: Yes, the book was a plagiary. Amazon removed it from the ebook format and reviewers have already noted that it's a ripoff. Strangely, not a word-for-word ripoff, but every major plot point and event was exactly the same. She also took down her website, I'm guessing because it's monumentally stupid to try to take… Continue reading Advice to new writers: Don’t plagiarize. Just don’t.
GameLit reviews 