STG's

Impulse is the third book in the Jumper series, by Steven Gould. The story takes place many years after the events in Reflex. Davy and Millie had a kid, Cent, who is now 16 and completely isolated. But now she learned she can jump... This one is not as god as reflex overall, and it is much more of a Young Adult book. It is still fun, and I liked the new twists they added to extra Jumper powers, as well as the focus on Davy and Millie's projects helping around the world.

Towers of Guns is an interesting rogue-like FPS, where you enter rooms with random enemies and traps. Also like most rogue-likes, if you die, you die. No save games, no second chances. The pace can be pretty hectic, as you dodge cannon balls, bombs, flying saws, etc.  It feels very old school in that regard. There are a few guns you can get  (unfortunately, I have just unlocked the easier few) and several weird items, such as extra weapons, teleporter belts, etc. You can also upgrade a ton of stats, including damage, speed, jump - either by drops or by buying them around with coins found around the levels. My biggest is complain is that after the initial spawn, enemies will still spawn from nowhere, specially on boss rooms. I find that quite annoying, as I am always suddenly getting hurt while I was focusing on the boss (and extra health is really hard to find). There is a back story, but it consists of some text and an icon at the beginning of each level. Cute, but ...

Reflex is the second book in the Jumper series, by Steven Gould. This was a great sequel to Jumper. We learn a lot more about how Jumping works - and how someone can learn to teleport. I also really liked the mechanism the author created to lock up a jumper while still using him as an agent, and how Millie goes on to rescue him. Very much recommended if you liked the first book.

Jumper is an SF Book by Steven Gould, that was later adapted into a very different movie. The main topic here is the protagonist Davy and his teleportation power. The events on the start of the book that start him teleporting are quite a little nastier than the movie, and some of the teleportation rules are different. From the middle to the end things go completely different. I am being as generic as I can to avoid spoilers... There are groups chasing him on both cases, but completely different ones. And instead of just trying to stay alive, Davy's activities on the book are quite different. Overall, recommended. There are also sequels to this book, which I look forward to read.

Honor Among Thieves: Star Wars (Empire and Rebellion) is a book by James S.A. Corey on the Star Wars universe. The book takes place just after the Star Wars was destroyed, and is mostly from Han's point of view of a mission involving an ancient alien superweapon (which seems to be James SA Corey's specialty). Overall, I liked it. I never read any of the Star Wars novel, and it is fun to see into the space between the movies with characters I know well.

Influent is an interesting edutainment title for learning languages. The basic principle is that you walk around an apartment, clicking on items to add them to your vocabulary list. Then at every ten items, you get quizzed on them, and have to find them and click on them (or on the flight mode, shoot them). The idea is that this works as a more fun version of SRS (Spaced Repetition System) to learn words. And I'd say it probably works, although you do have to remember two things in the game - what the word means and where you can find it at the apartment! There is more to the game than that - there are also adjectives, alternate and verbs associated with objects. You can choose from a few languages (the UI is just in English and Japonese, though), but only the first comes with the purchase of the game - all others must be bought as DLC. Overall, the graphics, sound and music are adequate, and I believe that the learning works well, although of course the words are limi...

I just finished Influx, by Daniel Suarez. A scientist discovers how to make gravity mirrors, but then a secret government agency that supresses disruptive advanced technology - and they make him disappear. But he is going to fight back. This was pretty good. I have liked other Daniel Suarez books - such as Daemon and the sequel Freedom , and while this one doesn't really reach their levels (the tech in Daemon seems so very feasible!), I really enjoyed the tech he made up for the book and the final battle. Some bits in the middle were a bit too tense for me, and the dystopic torture was particularly nasty, though. Overall, very much recommended.