The Cold Forge is a deep space research facility focused on deadly corporate research. Set in the Alien universe, the black site is funded by long-time corporate villains Weyland-Yutani. Along with ethically questionable bioweapons and a destructive AI, the Cold Forge is home to a cache of xenomorph eggs from … somewhere. Lead researcher Blue Marsalis is … Read more
Murder follows Mallory Viridian. Elementary school, college, day jobs, parties: If she’s there, someone is likely to die. And if they die, she’ll be uncannily drawn to the mystery of who did it, much to the ire and skepticism of law enforcement. She wanted to get away from the death, so she became one of … Read more
Consider Phlebas is a sometimes thrilling, often meandering, always morally gray novel about people caught up in a galactic war. It’s antihero is Horza, a human shape changer working for the Iridans, an alien civilization of religious zealots hell bent on breaking the galactic strength of The Culture, humanity’s own star-faring civilization.
Star Wars: The Essential Atlas is the best source book never released for any edition of the Star Wars RPG. While Del Rey is publishing the Atlas as a general interest reference book, it’s beautiful maps, graphical timelines, and planetary write-ups make the book an excellent for gamers, regardless of whether they’re playing d6, Saga … Read more
Star Wars Omnibus: Tales of the Jedi, Vol. 1 reprints Dark Horse Comics’ Knights of the Old Republic era comic books printed back in the early to mid 1990s. It consists of the first three such stories — The Golden Age of the Sith, Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon, and The Saga … Read more
It’s been too long between podcasts — thanks to a nasty cold that hit back at the beginning of May — but with Radio Active #7, we’re back on track. The podcast opens up with some updates about the show itself, and my plans for the future. I then go into a bit of a … Read more
Radio Active #4 reviews Stephen King’s alien invasion novel Dreamcatcher and the movie adaptation, discusses the new essay collection Finding Serenity, about Joss Whedon’s Firefly series, talks about Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine #100. finally offers some thoughts on gaming when you’re a geek dad. Getting the Podcast You can get the podcast in two … Read more
Radio Active #2 includes an comparison between the upcoming (and sure to be awful XXX2 and the possibly hilarious movie The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s also got my thoughts on the Nintendo DS, including why I bought it, and why I prefer it to the Play Station Portable, and a review of Robert … Read more
The first edition of Nuketown Radio Active, the ol’thermonuclear’s podcast, is available for download. The podcast includes a review of Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, speculations on the need for Marvel’s 10th anniversary Age of Apocalypse mini-series, thoughts on Elements of Style applied to e-mail, and a quick review of The Incredibles movie and … Read more
Between finishing Halo and the release of Halo 2, I got the itch to return to the original ringworld crafted by Larry Niven. It had been years — probably more than 10 — since I last strolled the imagined, curving plains of the Ringworld. For those unfamiliar with the concept, imagine a wedding ring scaled … Read more