Reviews to date

Since i have nothing better to say I thought I'd be a little self centred and post the reviews I've got of Exile to date. I've only had reviews in the UK and USA (as far as I know) so I'll post them.

Currently I'm at 4.7 stars out of 5 on Amazon.co.uk with the following reviews:

Bungy:
5 Star"very good book enjoyed every second of my read ended to soon would look for this auther again hope next book would be longer"

Paul Carrott:
5 Star
"This was one of the most captivating reads I have had in a long time time.

You feel part of this rather gripping story, one of the characters almost. The story itself is fun, bouncy, captivating and at times could be described as quite emotional. A very cleverly written and highly imaginative piece that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good mesmerising read and an escape to another galaxy!

Unfortunately I do have one complaint... It is a short story and I was left wanting more!

I hope this author has plenty more up his sleeve and I truly hope others get the chance to experience this fresh new writer. I will be recommending to others. Well worth buying!"

Chris Armstrong:
4 Star
"I really enjoyed reading this short story, but the problem was it was too short. There are so many different parts to this story still to be explored. But, it left me wanting more an you can't say fairer than that!"

I have a 3.7 star rating on Amazon.com

Liz
5 Star
"Not usually my sort of short story, but this one drew me in. The characters are believable and identifiable. The story is gripping and full of emotion and excitement. I fully recommend this amazing read!"

Wilson Kellie
4 Star
"All in all, I found this to be a good story and I enjoyed it up to the end. I had a bit of trouble in the beginning getting into the story because it seemed to jump around quite a bit. The formatting could have been a bit better and there were some spelling and grammar errors though nothing major enough to interfere with the understanding of the story. The plot twist I suspected by about halfway through the story but I was still pleasantly surprised with how it worked out by the end of the story.

Though it took some time to get a feel for the separate characters it was a good science fiction read. By the end I was well invested in the main character as well as curious about the setting which displayed a nice depth despite the short length of the story."

Dieter Rudolph
2 Star
"Not being a Star Wars fan in any way or shape, this is not a book for me. However, it will appeal to may people."

Other than that last review I'm quite pleased with the responses, and my problem with the last isn't that its a low star review its the reason for it. If I'd misrepresented the story or they thought it was poorly writen or something I wouldn't have cared, but they just dont like sci fi, so they're marking down a science fiction story... makes little sense to me.

Zero-Tube-Punctuation
- James

I'm not a programmer

So I'm not a programmer, and yet of the two people in Black Serenity Studios I'm the one learning to program and set up the game. We've been looking at Unity and Game Salad, and I'm still not sure. Game Salad definately seems the less difficult of the two, however it also doesnt appear to be able to do a lot of things I'd like to be able to do (you know, like all of it). Could be I just havent looked at it enough or learned enough about it, but I know that Unity can do a lot more, what with the fact that the game we use at work and the game thats being built is on Unity, and I'm fairly certain that amongst them they use everything I want to.
Of course Unity is ridiculopusly more difficult. Mostly just because it requires programming skills, where Game Salad uses a more visual thing, putting pre-made blocks of code into apropriate paterns. I've installed Unity to start learning, but I don't know how well that'll go, it would seem that Kit Ironsmith will be a slow project... unless I can grab a winning lottery ticket, wish me luck on that front.

In other news I'm almost finished with writing Hunter book 1; On the Hunt.

I'll have to go back through and edit after, ofc, but I'm almost done.
The Hunter books are about a magically impotent P.I. in a world where 50% of the population have elemental magic powers. Not only that, but he deals almost exclusively with the magically charged where even the police have no idea what to do.
Hunter is the foremost expert on Elemental powers, despite not having any.

If you want to read the prologue and the first two chapters head over to http://www.minority-opinions.com/2012/08/hunting-elements.html and enjoy.

Tubage
- James

Thirty-Five of Fifty-Two

So we have a little bit of a problem brewing this week; no podcast.
Due to unforeseeable circumstances this week there will be no podcast and no- wait, no, its just the podcast thats missing. I'll still be blogging, just no podding.

So...

Comics

Knights of the Old Republic

The Knights of the Old Republic comics are set during the Mandalorian war that Revan came to power in. It's set before the KOTOR games (by Bioware) and is a really nice piece of history to show how Reven and Malak were before the darkness of the Sith turned them against those they swore to protect.

The story does not follow Revan or Malak, however. It follows the adventures of failed padawan and outlaw Zayne Carrick as he runs from his former masters who framed him for the murder of his fellow padawans after they had a shared vision that vaguely indicated that one of the padawans might be the next dark lord.
While the vision was vague (and ultimately wasn't even related to their padawans, other than that Zayne meets the new sith in Malak) the masters of the order killed their padawans and, when Zayne arrived late, attempted to kill him. Zayne, however, accidentally escaped, falling and tumbling his way to the undercity with a criminal named Marn that he had recently arrested. They meet a pair of arkanians as the authorities closed in and fled the planet.
Over the course of the series Zayne tries to clear his name and get his vengeance, ultimately accidentally aiding Revan and Malak to their darkness. Creating the Dark Lords his masters had tried to avoid.

Its a really interesting story about visions. Try to avoid them and you risk creating them.

Tubage
- James

Wolf Pack

So me and a couple of buddies are running the three Peaks Challenge in 82 days and we need you to help us raise money for the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is the charity that saves lives at sea. The RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crews rescue an average of 22 people every day around the coasts and waterways of Britain and Ireland. From 235 lifeboat stations, they are well trained and equipped to put to sea in the most fearsome conditions when the call comes. RNLI lifeguards patrol more than 140 beaches in England and Wales.
                               
As well as rescuing people from the water, they are also on hand for first aid and safety advice, making sure everyone can make the most of their day at the beach. Are you passionate about the water? Do you want to be part of a lifesaving team? Whatever the reason for your interest in our work, we’d love to have you onboard. The RNLI is an independent charity and receives no government funding. We rely on public support.

 To give to this great charity please go to this page:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/thewolfpack4 

and press Donate Now.

When you do donate make sure to set the
"Which member of the fundraising team would you like to allocate your donation to?"
section to either the group as a whole or James Varma.

It might be charity but I still need to win >.>

Ok, thanks guys,

V-for-youtube

- James