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Archives for October, 2015
Bloodline Feud by Charles Stross [Book Review]
The Bloodline Feud by Charles Stross My rating: 5 of 5 stars Bloodline Feud is a reworking of the first two books in the Merchant Princes series. Charlie Stross explained why he'd rewritten them on his blog. Basically he'd written them this way and was asked by the publisher to split them into smaller books because the fantasy doorstop wasn't in fashion. The Bloodline Feud I'd already read the entire series so I was wary of buying the Bloodline Feud. The only reason I did was because it was on special offer from Amazon for 99p. At that price almost anything is worth trying. Bloodline Feud is mostly the same story, but it is better than I remember either of the two books being. Also the combining them into one volume works very well. The story has a better pace…
Milmud – Guest Post today about 1689 Highland Battles
Today's blog post is a guest post on Military Muddling, AKA Milmud. Milmud is the blog and club newsletter for Chestnut Lodge Wargames Group (CLWG). CLWG are a group of activist game designers. Most of the Megagame Makers designers belong to CLWG, including Jim Wallman who brought us the Universe roleplaying games and Watch the Skies. I'm a member of CLWG and have been for about 20 years. At the 2015 CLWG conference I ran a session on the Highland Battles of 1689. This is going to form part of a 1689 Megagame planned for late 2017. You can read more about my game design efforts over on Hot Blood and Cold Steel. Link to Milmud Here's the post on milmud Highland Battles 1689 - onside report. I found the session very useful and I learnt a lot from it.…
E.Q. Librium by Yvette Bethel [Book Review]
Librium Unleash the Power of Your Emotional Intelligence: A Proven Path to Career Success by Yvette Bethel My rating: 4 of 5 stars Librium Librium is a very useful reference work aimed at helping people understand their emotions and interactions with others better. Primarily aimed at people working in office environments, especially managers and those hoping to become managers. The book is laid out in two parts. The first part of Librium explains emotional intelligence in easy to read language yet without being dumbed down. As well as explaining the concepts there are case studies and it's also referenced to an academic standard, so if anything piques your interest then you can follow the references to as much detail as you can handle. Librium also draws the links between good emotional intelligence and business success. English: Robert Plutchik's Wheel of…
A Wilderness of Sin by M J Logue [Book Review]
A Wilderness of Sin by Logue My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Wilderness of Sin Two years have passed since Command the Raven. Hollie Babbitt is now a Colonel of Horse in the New Model Army and a father. A Wilderness of Sin picks up in the aftermath of the Battle of Naseby. Thankful Russell has been blinded by a shot to the head and Luce Pettitt is in love. English: Battle of Naseby, by an unknown artist. The victory of the Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, over the Royalist army, commanded by Prince Rupert, at the Battle of Naseby (June 14, 1645) marked the decisive turning point in the English Civil War. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) As with the previous two in the series these are social histories. A Wilderness of Sin features birth,…
Lessons in Leadership from Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss being interviewed 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I was lucky enough to hear Andrew Strauss speak about the lessons in leadership he has learnt as a cricket captain and then as Director of Cricket England. Andrew Strauss has led the England cricket team to win the ashes three times. Twice as Captain and once as the Director. Andrew Strauss's lessons in leadership chimed enough with me to make notes. I think everyone could benefit from them. Here is my summary of those lessons in leadership, minus the cricketing examples. Lessons in Leadership People are the most important thing, and you need to focus on them don't let other people do the dirty work, if you are giving bad news then you need to look people in the eye when you do. Everyone has their own perspective, and they all take…