STG's

Forts is a nice RTS, where you make forts to destroy other forts. You build the whole structure, then add stuff like mines for metal, and wind turbines for power (the only resources). Then you add weapons (such as mortar, machines guns, cannons, missiles and lasers) and upgrade these while shooting at your enemy and doing repairs. Overall, it is fun. Took me 6 hours to finish the campaign, but there are many more maps.

A Better World, by Marcus Sakey, is the sequel to Brilliance. Cooper got away with the murder in the first book, but now brilliant terrorist are attacking and crippling several cities' infrastructure. It seems that everyone wants to go to war... Pretty good, too. Not sure how much I liked the portrayal of the speed brilliant. He can't watch movies and hates music because they are too slow... So, he and Smith could not figure out how to play music or movies 11 times faster, even with plenty of super advanced tech? It is not that hard... Specially when you consider that his power is not unique, just more powerful than the others. Even regular DVDs and DVRs could be used with subtitles on... Yes, that is a silly thing to nitpick on but for some reason it bothered me.

I had actually bought Brilliance, from Marcus Sakey, in 2013. As so often happens something more interesting came up and I completely forgot about it. Then Amazon suggested it to me, and when checking it out they showed I already had it. I decided to try it out. (why a supposedly data driven company which is a pioneer in advanced suggestions showed me a book they knew I had, isa mystery...) It is pretty good. The base idea is not new at all - in the 80s, people started getting born with powers. They are called brilliants.  Mostly these are the reasonable-I-could-see-this-working kind - better pattern recognition, for strategy, lie detection, financial markets, fighting, etc. As also very tradicional, the people without powers and the ones with them are being mistreated and exploited (there are probably olders ones, but the X-Men come to mind). The main protagonist is Nick Copper, which has powers and works in an agency dedicated to arresting misbehaving brilliants, and ki...

After finishing Seeker  Amazon suggested I read Mindwar, also by Douglas E. Richards. Since I had already read the first two volumes of the series, I decided to read this next. I can't review it without spoilers for the first two volumes, so stop reading now if you didn't read them. Nick Hall was kidnapped back in volume 1, and put through experiments, which got him a mental implant that can access the internet (and is a supercomputer), and also mind reading powers. As in the last volume, there is a major terrorist attack that he has to stop. Then a series of events that obviously will end in a fight between mind readers (that would be a spoiler, but I am pretty sure anyone who read the title will already have guessed it. Overall, pretty good, and recommended for fans of the series. While the author says that the book is self contained, I'd really recommend reading the first two volumes first.

Seeker, by Douglas E. Richards, is an SF novel about an alien vessel that lands on Earth and the rush to get to it. I have read a few books by the author, and like all of them, this was pretty fun. The characters feel a little phony at times, but the story flows well, is entertaining, and I liked that it didn't go the more predictable, boring way and ended in an interesting way. I don't usually feel his books are particularly memorable, but this one is definitely a cooler/not as common concept and had a better conclusion. I also really like that there is a section discussing the tech in the book and some insight on the writing.

I have been watching Lucifer, I believe since last year (for whatever reason, they only decided to show it now here in Brazil, and played all 3 season nearly continuously). It is nice, but not great (in particular they drop almost all the supernatural to make it a police procedural - which I am told is Fox's fault, which is good news since season 4 will be Netflix) - but I really like it. So after the whole near cancellation debacle, I was thinking that since I like Neil Gaiman, I really should check the comic books out. So I read Lucifer Book One  (affiliate link - there is no point with my traffic numbers, but why not?). I liked it. The beginning is sometimes too weird - I guess I am used to having some set of marginal rules instead of powers and concepts coming out of nowhere - but by the end I was truly engrossed. It is pretty much completely unrelated to the TV series, though, and I imagine many who like the series would not like the comics. Already got the next on...

The Soldier, by Neal Asher, is an SF novel that takes place on the Polity. Many old favorite characters are back, and this time the main focus is a ring of old Jain tech, carefully guarded by Orlandine, one of the Dragon spheres, and many AIs. As usual, bad tech gets loose, and large scale battles occur. I like the new scope that this trilogy format allows. The wait between volumes, though, is brutal. Overall, strongly recommended for fans of the Polity series.