Video Game Review: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

League of Legends is my most recent addiction. It is an online multiplayer game developed by Riot Games, free to play. If you've played Warcraft III Defense of the Ancients maps, it is similar to those, but much more awesome.

The gist of the game is that you play as a champion defending your nexus from the opposite team and trying to destroy their nexus. The two team's lanes are connected by lanes, and minions periodically spawn at the bases and fight each other down the lanes. You can push your minions forward by destroying the other team's minions.

There are about 100 champions to choose from, and each have their own special abilities and strengths. The classes are assassin, fighter, tank, mage, and support, or a combination of the above. The fun of the game is learning your particular hero and figuring out how to itemize and strategize against other heroes, as well as learning how to play as a team.

You can play either 3v3 or 5v5. You can invite friends to play with you, or the client will match you with random teammates. I find it much funner playing with friends. The downside of playing LoL on your own is that you can get stuck with teammates who are either terrible or annoying (or both). You'd be surprised how many gamers out there are whining complainers. Riot wisely installed a mute button for just this situation, however. Myself, I just like to have fun! I do not speak for everyone, of course; I have played rounds with nice people and good losers too.

Riot was really smart in how they released this game because although LoL is free to play, the free heroes change each week, and you really want to get to know a hero well to play with at first. I ended up loving the game and then spending ten bucks on riot points to unlock a couple heroes I liked. You also build up influence points as you play, and can unlock heroes and runes with those.

If you are looking for a super fun game to play with gamer friends, test this one out. Do try to get all your friends addicted at once, though, because it is hard to play with lower level friends once you reach the higher levels.

Played League of Legends? Addicted like me? What champions do you play as?

Book Review: SHADOWFELL

Author: Juliet Marillier
Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: September 11, 2012

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill—a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk—Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death—but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban’s release from Keldec’s rule.

Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Shadowfell suffers from slow start syndrome. It took me three months to finish reading it. I am disappointed it was so hard to get through, because I enjoyed the world building and the idea of magical folk lurking just beyond sight. The reason I had such trouble with it was because more than half of the story was spent following Neryn's plodding journey. It was a lot of walking and struggling over difficult terrain without much excitement. She was running from the Enforcers who are out to bring her to King Keldec and turn her into a weapon, but she never got caught and really wasn't in danger at all.

Her relationship with Flint, the stranger who rescues her and helps her on her journey, was the focus of much of the story, but I think it would have been stronger if there had been more danger and action along the journey. They did a lot of walking and talking, and Neryn did a lot of doubting his intentions, and this just didn't hold my interest.

However, at the end of the novel it does start to get interesting. A battle occurs. Neryn is put in danger. Conflicts arise. I zoomed through the last twenty percent of the story right to the end when I had given up hope of being interested. Now I think I might pick up the next book in the series with the hopes that the pace will pick up where it left off, because it does have potential. Fingers crossed for a more exciting sequel.

Why I Like Scrivener

Dear fellow writers, when I got this writing program it just made writing easier. Suddenly, I wanted to write more often. I wasn't having as many problems concentrating as before. My head was constantly in the clouds of imagination and creation, and I got so much done.

Hahaha. I can't even type that with a straight face.

No, Scrivener will not magically help you to write more or increase your desire to write. But it is a really handy program, and I will tell you why I now use it instead of Word for my works in progress.

One of the things I found annoying using Word was that I had to have separate files for my manuscript and research, so I didn't have to keep scrolling up and up and up to find my character information or my page of place names. Also, when the document gets long, it is hard to find a particular spot that you are looking for because, again, you have to scroll through many pages.

In Scrivener, you can divide your work into sections; I like to divide them into chapters. You can also have separate pages for your research and open the document in a split-screen view so you can see the chapter you are working on AND your research pages. Everything is handily located at a menu to your left for easy access. And don't worry, when you are done, Scrivener will compile all your chapters into one document.

One of my other favourite features is you can take a snapshot of a section that you want to rewrite, and then it will always be there in the file after you have made changes if you ever want to go back and look at the original version. Nothing is lost.

There are a ton of other cool things you can do with this program, from tagging sections to tell you whose point of view they are from, to marking the status as complete or in progress, to adding summaries to sections to keep yourself organized.

No, it will not make you a better writer, but it is extremely handy at keeping you organized. You can get it here or download a trial version if you want to check it out. The tutorial is helpful in learning everything it can do.

What do you use to write? A different writing program? Word? Plain old pencil and paper?

This post is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Check the link for some of the other blogs participating in this event!

Working Titles

Again I apologize for my absence in the blogosphere. It has been a crazy week, and I have now officially moved, though am still looking for a job. Huzzah!

I didn't realize that films often have working titles before they are released, whether to keep details secret from the public or because they haven't come up with a better title yet. Check out Empire Online for some fun re-imagined movie posters. Some of them are funny, some of them are just bad. My favourites are for The Avengers and Captain America.

As an avid Star Wars fan, I am ashamed I never knew about Blue Harvest. Apparently this was a pretty well known title, and there is Blue Harvest memorabilia available from who knows where. The producers even gave this so-called horror film the tagline "Horror Beyond Imagination." Lucas wanted to avoid attention while the movie was in production and also didn't want to be overcharged for company services who would probably milk everything they could get if they realized they were providing a service for a Star Wars movie.

What's your favourite working title that you've heard of?

Warehouse 13 Season 4, Episode 5: No Pain No Gain

Wow, I am getting behind in these posts. Sorry, guys! As usual, SPOILER ALERT: In these episode reviews I will be discussing what happens without being careful about what I say, so don't read on unless you have seen it or don't care about spoilers.

A lot of people are saying that Warehouse 13 is losing its magic, but I am still really enjoying it. There are mysteries developing that I am very curious about, and the characters are highly entertaining to watch, as usual. Artie is still trying to figure out how Claudia turns "evil," and the new problem has arisen of artifacts disappearing from the warehouse.

Pete "wishing" Myka pregnant was an amusing side plot (aside from the ethical issue of what happened to the baby after the artifact was bagged, but we won't go there). I was expecting Myka to be a lot more upset when she thought Pete had died. After all, they just had a very cute moment where he admitted he loved her! You could show a bit more concern, Myka.

What did you think about the unfolding events in this episode?

Book Review: DIVERGENT

Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Pub Date: April 28, 2011

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

This book is much like The Hunger Games, but I enjoyed it more. Tris is a tough, likeable character with enough spunk to go against everyone she knows and loves. She is selfish at times, makes mistakes, and is just so very human. She is a believable character, and I enjoyed reading from her perspective.

I also enjoyed reading about dystopian Chicago. I've been to Chicago once, so I actually recognized some of the landmarks mentioned, and it is always cool to see a place in writing and be able to say "Hey, I've been there!". The five factions are a fascinating idea. Each one was created to uphold a particular ideal: courage, selflessness, intelligence, honesty, and peace. It kind of reminded me of Hogwarts, how everyone gets to choose their faction and gets divided into them. 

I find dystopian fiction interesting because it explores how humans strive for perfection, but never achieve it because we are imperfect. Divergent quite obviously states that, and is fabulously written. There are also a few point where you can see the author's belief in God coming through, which I appreciated.

I love a good action story, and there was plenty of action to keep me happy here, plus some good twists and turns in the plot. I am impressed that the author was only 22 when she wrote this; I am about the same age as she is now, so it gives me hope that I can get a book published too, even though I am young! Her writing style is fabulous, and immerses you completely in the thoughts of Tris. I am looking forward to the next in the series.

Movie Review: THE BOURNE LEGACY

Great action scenes combined with stellar acting from Renner and Weisz make The Bourne Legacy a highly entertaining movie. I'd seen the first three Bourne movies and liked them a lot, though my memory was foggy on the plot details so I was a little concerned I wouldn't understand what was going on in this film. However, I needn't have worried, for though the plot draws on details from the past movies, it is easy to understand on its own.

I actually enjoyed this movie even better than the first ones (though many other reviewers say the opposite). I think it is partly because I like Jeremy Renner better than Matt Damon, and Rachel Weisz is also one of my favourite actors. The storyline intrigued me too; who can resist a plot about a government trying to create super agents?

Edward Norton did a good job of playing Byer, the guy trying to track down and kill all the agents in the program, but he has such a distinctive voice that all I could think of when I heard him was "Hey, that's Steve from The Italian Job," as that's the only other movie I've seen him in. But he does do a good "bad guy," you've gotta admit.

There are not many surprises in the story, and it relies on the great action sequences and the fantastic acting to keep you captivated, which worked for me. I was on the edge of my seat for most of this movie. I was also impressed that they developed a relationship between Renner and Weisz's characters without including a sex scene. Bravo, Universal! I would watch this movie again, for sure.