Category Archives: 2014

[From The Mancave] – Legion: Skin Deep – Brandon Sanderson (Free Audiobook)

From The Mancave is the working title tagline to connect readers to book-related swag, giveaways, and free multimedia content from me to you. Don’t judge me too harshly for the name as I too am laughing at my own sanity for being unable to think of anything else. And I don’t mean to offend anyone with the title.

From The Mancave
Legion: Skin Deep 
(Free Audiobook)

Today marks the day that Brandon Sanderson’s follow-up short story, Legion: Skin Deep, will be available for free download! Unfortunately, this freebie swag is only for those in the U.S. region (for publishing rights restrictions). This offer only lasts a month (starting Nov 24, 2014) so get on the offer while you can! You can preview the clip above or head-on over to Audible’s official site to listen to the clip and find out more on how you can get a full audiobook copy of this rad short story! [Click this link to be taken to Audible to find out more!]

Audiobooks not your thing? No problem! Get a sneak peak of Legion: Skin Deep’s early draft excerpt (subject to change) [on Brandon Sanderson’s official website by clicking here].


Audiobook Information

Book Title:                  Legion: Skin Deep (Short Story, Legion, #2)
Author:                         Brandon Sanderson
Duration:                  
  4 hrs and 23 mins
Narrator:                     Oliver Wyman
Release Date:            Nov 24, 2014

Continue reading [From The Mancave] – Legion: Skin Deep – Brandon Sanderson (Free Audiobook)

[Review] In Real Life – Lawrence Tabak

Book Title:                   In Real Life (Standalone)
Author:                           
Lawrence Tabak
Number of pages:    
288

Synopsis:

lawrence tabak - in real life (cover)While Seth mopes about his tournament results and mixed signals from Hannah, Team Anaconda, one of the leading Korean pro squads, sees something special. Before he knows it, it’s goodbye Kansas, goodbye Hannah, and hello to the strange new world of Korea. But the reality is more complicated than the fantasy, as he faces cultural shock, disgruntled teammates, and giant pots of sour-smelling kimchi.

What happens next surprises Seth. Slowly, he comes to make new friends, and discovers what might be a breakthrough, mathematical solution to the challenges of Starcraft. Delving deeper into the formulas takes him in an unexpected direction, one that might just give him a new focus—and reunite him with Hannah.

(re: Goodreads @ In Real Life by Lawrence Tabak)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr spoiler-less review:

– Presented like a character case-study on the average gamer hoping to turn a dream into reality.
– The less you know about the gaming community or the eSports industry, the more enjoyment you may find with this read.
– Protagonist is presented like a Marty Stu (the male version of a Mary Sue character; basically flawless) and there is limited consequence to his actions that propel him to achieve [almost] everything on his road map.
– Relationship with the primary love interest is fleshed out over time despite the possibility of it actually being instalove.
Discrepancy in experienced culture shock considering Seth’s willingness and assumed knowledge of the environment prior to endeavoring into the Korean environment versus a regular Westerner venturing into the unknown. Also utilizes stereotypes to sell some narrative elements without making social commentary to change the way of thinking.

Initial Thoughts

I was so stoked to read this book because of the nature of content this story delves into is near and dear to me. That being said, I’ve been sitting on writing this review for a while because the wording was difficult to get right—and I’m not even sure I even scratched the surface with some of these discussions I’ve made below (despite it being almost 3k words too long lololol).

Full disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of In Real Life through Netgalley for an honest review. I extend thanks to Tuttle Publishing for providing me the opportunity to review this book.

Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review from here onward.

Continue reading [Review] In Real Life – Lawrence Tabak

[Toronto International Book Fair] — Journal: Day 3 (Nov 16)

TIBF - Welcome Sign

And so it begins: the bittersweet Sunday and the beginning to the end of a weekend of labour and fun and books. Today was the day that I could finally enjoy being a consumer. It just didn’t help that I was stuck on commute because it didn’t occur to me to find out that it was also the Santa Clause Parade in downtown Toronto. So there were many kids and semi-agitated parents stuck in the same vehicle. I was kind of disgruntled when we were stuck in traffic for 45-minutes in a 10-meter stretch because I knew I had to get down earlier to buy a book for a signing. But I’m a pretty patient person. So even if the world went to the crapper and those on the commuter bus went manic, I’ll still be the one in the corner patiently waiting hoping for some salvation. Tangents.

Continue reading [Toronto International Book Fair] — Journal: Day 3 (Nov 16)