Michael G. Munz

The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz

Archives for April 2015

Marvel Trifecta

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So guess whose laptop’s hard drive crashed and evaporated and exploded, leaving its owner kicking himself for not backing up some future blog posts and part of a chapter he’d written? If you guessed Mark Ruffalo’s, you’d be wrong. It’s me! So there may be a bit of a delay in my usual posting while I get things sorted out.

So in the meantime, have this trio of Marvel-related videos that came out this week!

The whole concept of Ant Man continues to give me trouble. I’ve never read the comic, and I’m having difficulty suspending my disbelief. I’ve got no problem with the Hulk, Groot, Rocket, etc., but even if he’s GOT super-strength when he’s that size, he’s got so little mass, it’d be like firing a bullet at a stone wall. But then I didn’t think Thor could work either, and it proved me wrong.

Hulk vs. Iron Man. This does not seem to be a good way to get Hulk to calm down, but I like it anyway!

This is, apparently Iron Man vs. Ultron, but I haven’t actually watched this one, because I don’t want to spoil the ENTIRE movie for myself.

Thanks for being patient, everyone. I hope to have everything working again soon!

Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse – Ch 3

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Forget about Annabeth! She's gone!

Forget about Annabeth! She’s gone!

Nico further endears himself, Apollo is hinted at, and Riordan makes a somewhat uncomfortable implication with regard to what must happen when girls grow up. Also, no one’s going to go look for Annabeth. All this and more in part three of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse…

Bianca di Angelo Makes a Choice

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Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

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Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Square-Enix, Eidos-Montreal)The Deus Ex franchise is back!

Or, at least, it’s coming back. Eidos-Montreal has made it official with the first game trailer (scroll down to view it), and a GameInformer exclusive: Get ready for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

I honestly didn’t think we’d be getting another game in this series. Foolish me didn’t think there was room for more to go between the ending(s) of Adam Jensen’s story in Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the story of J.C. Denton in the original, but I underestimated the influence of an interested market and the lure of additional gamer-dollars.

This is not a complaint! The original Deus Ex is one of my favorite games of all time, and Human Revolution gave us a prequel that updated the series (and gameplay) for the current generation. (We won’t speak of DX: Invisible War, the New Coke of the series.) Human Revolution didn’t quite capture the greatness of the original, yet it was still a (mostly) excellent game despite its flaws, and worth the long wait. I’m excited to see what they’ve got for Mankind Divided.

Reportedly, Mankind Divided (I’m not crazy about that name, but oh well) takes place two years following the events of Human Revolution, with the canon ending apparently being one where everyone augmented went violent and berserk. Jensen is now with an organization linked with Interpol, apparently dealing with cyborg terrorists. Will we see some of the events alluded to in Deus Ex? (Will the Statue of Liberty get its head blown off? Will UNATCO be formed? Will Bob Page return?

WILL WE GET LEMON-LIME WHEN WE WANTED ORANGE?!

WILL WE GET LEMON-LIME WHEN WE WANTED ORANGE?!

I guess we’ll find out. Eidos has apparently stated that they’ve learned from HR’s mistakes, especially with regard to boss fights. (Why they ever thought farming them out to another studio completely unrelated to the rest of the game was a good idea, perhaps we’ll never really know.) I’ll be waiting for this one, folks. Have a look at the trailer:

Geez, another upcoming game I need to play? I’m going to need more free time.

Guest Geeks: Tammy Thomas and the Ninth Doctor

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After a Norwescon-induced hiatus, the Guest Geeks feature is back! This time up, my guest is sci-fi/fantasy geek Tammy Thomas. Now, I’ve always found David Tennant to be my own personal favorite Doctor, but I have to admit that Tammy has got the best and most touching argument I’ve ever heard for why the ninth Doctor is the best doctor. Take it away, Tammy!

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Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse – Ch 2

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We all need a missile launcher, from time to time.

We all need a missile launcher, from time to time.

One of these days I should go through all of the Percy Jackson chapter titles so far and pick my top 5 favorite, because I’m pretty sure this one would be among them. That’s right, it’s time for the second chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse…

The Vice Principal Gets a Missile Launcher

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Good news! I’ve been invited to a wedding!

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Iron ThroneSorry the blog’s been a bit quiet this week, everyone. I’ve been busy at Norwescon reading from Zeus Is Dead and appearing on panels. (Sometimes I actually speak while I’m on them, even!) Also, I passed George R. R. Martin in the hallway and survived.

I hope to have something more interesting for you here soon, including the next installment of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse…