Conn Iggulden

Recently I have read Conn Iggulden’s Wolf of the Plains, his novel about Genghis Khan. I really enjoyed it and I think it’s partially due to my lack of knowledge on the area. I knew very little about Genghis Khan’s story before starting the book so it seemed more like a fictional novel rather that a story based on fact. Iggulden does concede that he altered some details to make it more novel-like, but these are not major things. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone looking for a nice read. I must admit, sometimes the way Iggulden phrases things makes the sentence seem rather confusing, but it does not detract from the story. I have just started Lords of the Bow, the sequel to Wolf of the Plains and it too is most excellent. Once this is done I shall either move onto Iggulden’s Emperor series, about Julius Caesar or start the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Just a start on my 15 books sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

Oh and any DragonLance fans that might read this, do not read Kendermore, no matter how much you love Tas. The story is the kind of story that may be written by a 12 year-old, jumping from event to event with no real depth and each event is started and ended in the same chapter pretty much. It was a horrible read.

Generic Ramble

The summer break continues on and I’ve come to realise that working one day a week is horribly boring. Next year I will definitely make sure I have another job to pass the time, even if it is just going back to horrible retail. I have been trying to be more constructive with my time the last few days, looking into Python (though not getting very far as of yet), looking back over various first year notes and exams, seeing how much I have forgotten since last year (thankfully not a lot, although not a lot was covered). I have also been reading a fair bit more, currently reading Kendermore and my love for the DragonLance series is returning. I just love the detail that has been put into the series and how everything seems so well planned out (even though there are various contradictions from time to time, but that happens with multiple Authors). I am particularly looking forward to reading The Lost Chronicles (or at least the first two novels in it, the third to come later).

I have been thinking of taking up some classes for either French or Astronomy to pass the time, though I am not sure of any quality places or if I will have enough time before university goes back. But if anyone knows of some quality places, please let me know. Also, if anyone knows any good books to learn either, again, please let me know, although please not that wikipedia is not a book.

Take that Mr. Thompson!

Video Games save lives!

In other news I went to see a Wildcats’ Game on Saturday. I can safely say that the best part of it was getting a free shirt, even if it is an RAC shirt. I was a little shocked on how the announcer encouraged the crowd to act, cheering when the home team scored yet almost utter silence when the other team scored. I also attended my first cricket match last week, seeing Day 3 of India v Australia and was pleasantly surprised about how well behaved the majority of the crowd was. Also, I will say that Australia, unfortunately did not deserve to win the 17th Test, their performance was frankly below average and the Indian bowling was superb.

Finally, I have been looking around for a new monitor to replace my old 19″ CRT. I’ve been trying to find a nice, reasonably priced 24″ one, however I may end up having to settle for a 20″ if I fail in this quest. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Prime Time of my Life

Daft Punk was fantastic. I am glad I am tall though, I imagine it would have sucked to be unable to watch the whole thing. I think my life reached its peak when Daft Punk came back on with the red outlines, it was truly an awesome show. Was particularly pleased with The Presets performance also, while not the most visual stimulating show their music is great. I was a tad disappointed with the amount of smokers at the event, my eyes and throat were both saw this morning but the throat my just be a lack of water. Overall a great show though!

For those TF2 Fans

Not sure how how long it’s been out but Valve has released some statistics on Team Fortress 2. Call me strange, but the best part of any activity is statistics. Why the hell else would people watch Cricket? Also loving the map “hot spots” at the bottom of the statistics page! Personally I am amazed that Engineers are the only class to have an average life time of over a minute, I would have thought people live a lot longer than that in game, I know I certainly do and I’m not the greatest player in the world.

In other news, Daft Punk tomorrow, expect planet to be covered with Daft Punk news by Monday.