Stuff From My Folks’ Basement, Episode Two

Here we go again, everyone. I’ve brought back another batch of goodies from my folks’ place. For those of you joining us for the first time, and wondering if you’ve stumbled across the blog of a lunatic, check out the previous part to this little series of posts to get caught up.

Backstory: When my wife and I got married and moved to our new place, I left behind a lot of stuff stored away in my parents’ basement. My wife was, for some odd reason, a little hesitant about having her semi-packrat husband bring all that stuff over to her nice, new clean basement. (Un?)Fortunately, my parents want their basement back. So, I’ve managed to sell her on the idea that this can be a fun series of blog posts for you guys and gals to enjoy. Wish me luck.

The Main Course: Again, I’ve tried to focus on somewhat less wacky stuff such as books to avoid gaining the ire of my wife. (Don’t worry though, the really weird/fun stuff’s coming down the pipeline soon enough.)

Terry Brooks’ Shannara series. Or, rather, the first two books from it. Brooks was the second ‘real’ fantasy author I ever read waaay back in high school. I remember these being a fun read, thought the world did seem a bit bleak at times. Not a criticism, but a personal preference for me. Now, I know I’ve got some more of these Shannara books tucked away somewhere else. Expect them to show up in a future episode (barring my wife putting a stop to this, of course).

The Darksword Trilogy. Wow. I barely even remembered that I had this, and I think I only read the first half of book one before I got distracted by something shiny. If I recall correctly, the story revolved around a young man with no aptitude for magic (who lived in a world full of magicians) and his magic-devouring sword. If I actually get some free time to finish this, I’ll let you folks know how it went. However, it’s Weis and Hickman, so I wouldn’t worry about being too disappointed.

Klingon Academy. Obviously, not a book. This is a PC game from about a decade ago (probably more). I remember this game having a pretty decent storyline, as well as addictive gameplay. However, I am a bit biased toward space sims, so your mileage may vary. The premise of the game is pretty simple. You play the part of a Klingon Captain fresh out of the Klingon Aeronautics and Space Agency, and make your way through a campaign punctuated by lots of full motion video cutscenes. I think the bald Klingon guy from that last [original series] Star Trek movie was in it, as well as grumpy ol’ Worf from TNG. All in all, not a bad game.

One recoloured and dusty Vash the Stampede from the animated show Trigun, albeit with a missing gun. And, no, I have no idea why he’s rocking that chain thing. I think I bought this thing from EB Games about twelve years ago when they were clearing them out.

One vintage Optimus Prime with a sort-of transformable trailer. Hands missing. Think I got this thing from a garage sale, though not exactly sure.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Again, not a book. I absolutely loved the predecessor to this game, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The depth of story involved in this series was something very rare to find in a video game. However, I will admit this. You see, Soul Reaver had a tendency to overuse the mechanic known as block puzzles. This led to a lot of frustration as you could waste hours just trying to get the darn blocks to align themselves properly without falling off a ledge, or while avoiding a nearby horde of enemies. In the end, I ended up just looking for the transcribed script for the game and reading that. And, as soon as they invented Youtube, I took a look at what I missed. (I did manage to finish all the other games in the series, though.)

Ah, a scale model Serpent Custom from the animated OVA Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. I’ll admit it. I used to really be into these scale models until real life reared its ugly head. Unfortunately, these things just took waaay too much time to put together and paint, and it seems that the older you get, the less free time you have. Still, I have a few unopened kits due to make an appearance in a later blog post. Maybe I’ll be able to put them together someday.

More stuff from Terry Brooks. The Magic Kingdom of Landover series, to be precise. I read this series in high school after I had read Brooks’ Shannara series, and preferred this one by far. This series involves a rich guy from Earth finding his way to a magical land where he befriends a number of strange characters. You know, that description also reminds me of some other book series, but I can’t recall what it is. Oh well, I’m sure it’ll come to me eventually.

Summary: That’s it for now, folks. Don’t worry, there’s still a lot of stuff left.

Wife’s Anger Level: Still stable. Let’s see how long it holds out.