First Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

Having being recommended Brandon Sanderson, I read his first Mistborn trilogy.

I enjoyed it. It was engrossing and I wanted to know what would happen next. I liked the characters - particularly the leads (Vin, Kelsier and Elend) and I was also fond of TenSoon and Breeze.

With the first book - I really liked the set-up and magic system, they were nicely thought out. I found the gang rather numerous and many of them unmemorable (and wondered if the author killed some of them as the series progressed because he did too) and was not impressed that Vin was the only woman of note. Sanderson corrects this a bit as he goes along, so I hope it is less of an issue in his later works. I did like the ending though - I was pleased that one part of their aims was complete.

The second book had some interesting new characters in Allrianne, TenSoon and Zane. It also developed the magic system, shone a spotlight on leadership traits and had several rather excellent twists. I particularly liked the one around engravings.

The third book managed further world development and system development that was consistent and made sense. However, I felt the question that has been hanging from the first book and gets answered here – was hanging for too long. I like mysteries that appear early to be solved early and for later books to deal with new mysteries arising from the conclusion of earlier plot lines. The overall ending was good though, and the resolution of what roles everyone had.

So – I will be looking out for more.

Telling Lies

GameFAQs have just posted my review of Telling Lies.

Short version: Like Her Story (and from the same creator), this is a movie story in bits. The main mechanic is a word-search to play video clips that tell a story. The game has lovely acting (particularly from Logan Marshall-Green who does an excellent job of giving protagonist David the necessary charisma and Angela Sarafyan's excellent portrayal of the sex worker with a complex, smart character whilst avoiding stereotyping) and it is the characters who make this. However, some of the gameplay is unintuitive and I found it slow to get into (managing mostly because I was a fan of Her Story).