Long Week

Long week. Not a bad week, but oi was it ever long. So glad to have reached the weekend in one piece (though I still have upgrades at oh-my-God-o'clock tomorrow morning).

So as of a couple of weeks ago, I'm now officially out of QA. :-/ This wasn't a huge surprise... I knew I was QAing on borrowed time (that's going to be the first line in a book one day); but the writing on the wall finally became large print, impossible to ignore. If I'd stayed in Quality Assurance, I would have had to make a job move that was unappealing to me, so I picked the better of two somewhat crummy options and I'll live with it.

To try to fill the gap, I'm turning back to one of my other passions: Agile methodology. I've been serving as Scrum master on various projects for a few years and I've wanted to expand this aspect of my job. So this year's Work Goals all centre around becoming a better communicator and getting in some more training. I already have my Scrum Master certification, so it might be time to work towards getting a Scrum Professional certification... which takes a whole lot of time and effort; but has the bright side of making you very, very employable in Silicon Valley.

I've been feeling better about life lately. I'm still my own worst enemy when it comes to self-doubt and second-guessing my every move; but I've been digging my way out of some of the holes I've put myself into. You know the sort: where you don't believe you're good at anything, don't have anything to offer anyone (in work or in life) and don't feel like anything you say or do makes a damned bit of difference. The cats are helping with that effort; as those who care for the elderly have known for a long time, having something that depends on you can be really good for people who are feeling isolated or worthless. They're living proof that even if I'm completely useless to all of humanity, at least there are two furry little things that are alive and happy thanks to me.

I have a ways still to go. But it's nice to feel like I can see the progress. Peace out.

Strangers In The Land

I just finished Stant Litore's Strangers in the Land, which is the first book of his The Zombie Bible series. I was a little bit uncertain about how well it would click with me at first: zombies? In Biblical times? Madness! But after it sat in my Kindle library for a few months, my curiosity overtook my caution; and I am so glad for that overhaul, because this was one of the best books I've read in 2014.

The conceit in this book is simple: in ancient Israel, the Jewish people keep God's Law and try to live righteous lives. Devora, the protagonist of the book, is Navi of her people - the apex of the Law, and both gifted and cursed by visions from God - and she foresees a great tragedy approaching. One of the Laws that the People keep is to bury the bodies of the dead under rock cairns... and in this story, the consequences of not doing so involve the dead rising up and feasting on the living, so disobedience of the Law exacts a very potent price indeed. Devora sees a time when the dead cover the lands of Israel and crowd out the living, devouring whomever they come across. The rest of the book revolves around Devora's attempts to right the wrongs of her People and keep Covenant with God so he does not turn his back upon them.

There are several things that really make this book work. First, the zombies are not a superfluous hook to get people to read the books. They're woven in quite tightly with Jewish understandings of the Law and with various rituals and observances; for instance, the ritual uncleanness that one suffers when one touches the dead is a measure decreed to keep the infected away from the camp, where they might infect everyone around them should they turn. The Law in this book is a wee bit Zombie-heavy at times; but considering how focused and tightly plotted the book tries to be, that can be forgiven as a concession to writing about what's important to the story in question.

Second, Litore (didn't he fight Superman at one point? Is that a different Litore?) has really done his research. I don't know how historically accurate his portrayal of ancient Israel is -- or should I say 'historically accurate while accounting for the presence of the ravening dead' -- but the picture that he paints upon his canvas is sweeping and epic. He brings his vision of the ancient Tribes to life, crafting from it a world that feels stark, harsh, forbidding and terribly beautiful and a People to match.

And lastly, the characters. Ah, the characters. Just as he breathes life into his setting, so too does Litore bring his protagonists to full and realised life. He invites the reader to become invested in all of his main characters and, if you're like me, you will become so. There was not a single character whom I didn't want to know better by the end of the book; but by the end of the book, all of their stories were told so I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not journeying onward with them.

If there's one problem that I had with the book -- and this is not a problem that I expected to have -- it's that there were many points at which I wished the freaking zombies would go away, so that I could enjoy more of this fascinating land and its fascinating People! I'd say that it's the mark of an excellent writer when a horror maven like me actually wants less horror and plot getting in the way of the worldbuilding.

There are several more volumes in the Zombie Bible series. I think I may check out more of them sometime, just to see if lightning will strike more than once for me. If you want to get lost in a period piece (with zombies!), I can highly recommend Strangers in the Land.

A Bird Story

To The Moon http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/ is one of the least RPG-like RPGs that I've ever played. In it, you have very limited agency, you only fight one battle, and you spend a lot of your time watching the characters act rather than guiding them to do so.

It's also one of the best RPGs I've ever played; and one of the very few video games that was able to make me cry. If you feel like playing through a bittersweet story that might well emotionally deconstruct you, I can't think of a better game to play than To The Moon.

That's why, when Freebird Games relesed A Bird Story as a side-story, I really couldn't keep from playing it as soon as possible. I've just finished the game (it took less than an hour) and while it wasn't as deeply moving as To The Moon, it was a beautiful, surreal, thoughtful experience.

A Bird Story gives you even less agency than To The Moon. This fits well with the character whom you control, a young boy with very little agency of his own. His world is a lonely one and the game immerses the player deeply into the child's experience.

It's a very odd game. There's no dialogue; not a scrap. That doesn't stop the character from speaking loudly to the player. It's a dream, except when it isn't. Simple things like paper bear enormous metaphorical weight. Music weaves itself into and out of the experience of playing the game, acting as a sort of quiet narrator for you the player to pick up your cues.

And it's absolutely beautiful.

Given the backstory of To The Moon, the whole game could be quite literal. I don't know. I expect we'll find out more when Finding Paradise (the next game in the series) comes out; as this game explicitly ties into that one. I'll be first in line to play that one when it comes out.

Play To The Moon first. Savour that experience. Then come back and play A Bird's Story. There's no save feature so you need to play the game in one sitting. That's fine; that's the way it should be experienced. That's how I experienced To The Moon, though in that case I did so because I couldn't leave the world until I'd seen it through to its conclusion.