I love the Ryū ga Gotoku/Yakuza games, though I’ve always found them more Yakuza-adjacent than actually playing a character that’s in a yakuza family. They often have great plotlines, highly compelling characters, absurdist yet fun side stories, and a massive amount of detail that make it clear that the games were lovingly made by people …
Happy New Year! Can’t believe the year’s rolled over and it’s now 2023. Pleased to report that Singapore doesn’t seem to have changed all that much on my trip back, though maybe it does feel a little more crowded than before. Japan remains beautiful. Visited Miyajima Island for the first time as well, over near …
I originally tried getting published for two (likely) shallow reasons: to make a little extra money to offset my elderly cat Russ’ increasing medical expenses, and in the hopes of someday being able to personally see one of my books on a bookstore shelf. Several years later, while what I do make from publishing short …
We’re nearly one month on from ION CURTAIN’s book birthday! Check out my interview about it over on Clarkesworld, my AMA over on r/Fantasy, and a list of inspirations on SciFiNow. If you’re looking for a fun summer space opera read (or winter, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere like me), I hope you’d consider …
My space opera, ION CURTAIN, is nearly here! Out on 19th July 2022. Check it out if space operas, intergalactic espionage, and rogue AIs are your thing. The lead up to a book launch is always scary as hell to me, especially once promo starts rolling along and I start second-guessing everything I’ve ever done, …
Happy New Year! Hope everyone reading this had a great holiday season, and best wishes for the year ahead. May it be less hectic than the last two years have been. I feel like 2021 passed in no time at all. Was it really one year ago that there was an insurrection and a weird …
Melbourne is back from its latest lockdown at 90+% vaccination, which means activities have returned – within COVID-safe guidelines. A recent one is Scott Pickett’s Higher Order, an immersive, futuristic dining experience looking at what dining might be like in the (near? far?) future: sustainable, ritualistic, and perhaps, given the portion size, minimal and expensive. …
My 13+ year old cat Russ is a fan of films. He hardly ever will watch an entire movie through – notable exceptions are the Cats film and Hamilton – and I can’t always tell what he likes. He seems to enjoy films with a certain colour grading, like the soft grey and sand of …
I don’t have any interest in modern war films. I’ve never watched Saving Private Ryan, or Dunkirk, or most of the World War I / II / Vietnam war etc films. The only ones I’ve enjoyed watching that I can recall offhand are fantasy-esque ones like Captain America and Wonder Woman. Growing up, I’ve never …
Damn, I’ve missed this game. Still one of the most cinematic, visually beautiful games I’ve ever played – Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island expansion came out in August. Finished it over the weekend. It was, sadly (or not?) pretty much a five hour exploration of (even more) of Sakai Jin’s deep-seated daddy issues. Dad Sakai …
