Book review: Artemis
Book: Artemis
Artemis was the last book from Andy Weir that I had pending to read. After enjoying both The Martian and Project Hail Mary, why not the book that was written in between?
It happens that this title is sub-par compared with the others. The setting is appealing: humanity has a big moon base, with people permanently living there; The protagonist, a young smuggler, gets into trouble; and, of course, things escalate, and the issues just keep multiplying and growing. The scientific pillar seems to be there (I'm not a scientist, but at least does not sound like pure bullshit), and I do not doubt the effort put in all of it.
But the truth is that the story is a bit silly, predictable, and very unoriginal. The smart-ass protagonist is as clever at times as apparently dumb then taking certain decisions. The events that unfold are not exciting enough to keep me awake "just for a few pages more", and most of the jokes this time land as bad. Maybe the author trying something different (female main character, Arabic, shady background instead of "a pure good guy" ...), perhaps the story was simply too normal, but it didn't hook me.
I finished the book mostly because I was already on it, and it is not bad, but ranks way lower than either of the other Andy Weir titles. There's plenty of better sci-fi literature to read instead.
PS: Long time since my last post. I have a few things stacked, so I'll now probably write a new entry every few days.
Book review: God Emperor of Dune
Book: God Emperor of Dune
How to start with this book... Well, first of all, beware the spoilers, as it is impossible to provide a review without speaking about the previous books and a bit of what happens in the current one.
So, on with it: At the end of the previous book, Leto Atreides fused with a sandworm. Thousands of years later (around 3500), he is a huge speaking worm, keeping only tiny arms and the face from his human past. He seems to have even more acute senses, be almost prescient of any future event, maybe even mind-reading, and apparently impervious to any damage (like laser weapons). He also seems to have become a despotic emperor, a strict ruler that maintains peace over the universe by fear as much as by being strategic.
Arrakis also has been terraformed, with the sandworms and thus the spice nowhere to be seen. It is now almost full of vegetation, and water is abundant, but the people seem not to be overly happy, although nobody would dare to mention it. "He who controls the spice controls the universe" (they say in the 1984's David Lynch movie adaptation), and indeed by keeping the remains hidden and deciding who gets how much, he now controls everyone: The Ixians, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and other houses (who have also become smaller and weak). Leto also has a special army of women soldiers, fanatically loyal to him. He also keeps asking for Duncan Idaho's new gholas (clones), and seems to be easily angered and dangerous when it happens.
But a descentant from the Atreides, Siona, seems not to care at all, breaking as many rules as possible to try to find a way to end the reign of this god emperor.
As you can imagine from the previous paragraphs, this book is way more into science-fiction than previous Dune titles. And similarly happens with it being "Dune"... Same as the terraformed Arrakis, at times it feels like Dune, but mostly it is vastly different from the past (books). The emperor is so powerful and capable, everything is so transformed and under control, that everything is... different, lesser than it was before. From the Fremen, to the Bene Gesserit, they all look weak and a shadow of the past. And this is my main issue, that it is a curious science ficton reading, but not a good Dune book.
While I was intrigued about how all this crazy setting would end, I don't think that it is a good Dune book. But it does make for a very different sci-fi one!
Book review: Luther: First of the Fallen
Book: Luther: First of the Fallen
Luther has been one of those mysterious secondary Dark Angel characters, mentioned frequently but without much real background. This book comes to fill that gap, although with a narrative style and content that I'm not so sure it's the best...
Luther has being held captive in some secret jail deep inside the Rock, the Dark Angels flagship, for thousands of years. With the help of the Watchers in the Dark, they keep the prisoner in stasis, only letting him out to be interrogated over and over, by different grand masters and key characters from the chapter.
I don't want to dwell into details, as that's the main point of the novel, but it is really more of a collection of small stories about Luther's past, combined with the main interrogations arc. Remembering old times and certain key points and events sounds good, but when some of them are pretty generic sci-fi small tales... not so well executed. I am happy to learn something about the character's early days, but I'm not interested in too many great beast hunts with cheap morals/lessons. I can only imagine the interrogators falling asleep while their prisoner goes on an on giving precise details of useless information, instead of answering the simple asked question of "do you repent?".
It was not boring, but it felt a bit of lure into a generic sci-fi book. It does however contain some sparks of really interesting content, which I won't detail. So, a recommended reading only if you are a Dark Angels fan.
Status Update: January 2026
RPGs
Sadly, work absorbed most of the RPG group's time and energy, so we've decided to reboot the sessions after Xmas. So many months without playing, we don't even remember where we were anyway...
Videogames - Finished
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Remastered
I finished a 54 hours playthrough, maxing out many of the guilds. Sadly I couldn't finish all of them, nor the Shivering Isles content.
There are many game-breaking bugs, including one that begins to manifest after 30h or so of gametime, and keeps getting worse: Upon changing area (entering a building or cave, fast-travelling, and the like), the game might consistently crash. At first, tweaking some graphics settings fixed it, but something is terribly wrong with the new 3D engine, because now there is no way to progress.
It is a trully amazing game, and the remaster is quite beautiful, but the issues really get in the way.
Videogames - Ongoing
Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
I haven't advanced too much. I'm still on the new playthrough, with ~45 shrines completed and not yet all the towers, so plenty of game ahead. I'm playing it slowly, enjoying again every bit of the fantastic world.
Starfield
I'm starting to play it more seriously as of late. That's why I recently created a list of my favourite mods for the game. It is giving me vibes of a flawed gem: sometimes it is incredibly immersive, beautiful and vast, like the other day when I discovered that I can spend hours decorating "my home" (not counting the ship building system), or the myriad of optional quests. But other times, it looks like a mess of half-backed features, like the space jump (so many animations to, in the end, a menu-based instant travel system) or the vehicles (such terrible controls...).
Still, I think that the game is better than the critics say. It was simply over-hyped and then did not live up to the promise, but all the systems from previous Elder Scrolls and Fallouts are there: tons of side-quests, hiden details, elaborate mechanics and sub-systems, crafting, a decent skill tree... and gorgeous science fiction visuals, way ahead than No Man's Sky or Mass Effect (the remaster). Not that graphics drive me, but at times, it looks like a modern sci-fi movie.
Crafts
During Christmas holidays, I assembled a few wooden crafts for my partner.
I built another Rowood flower:
And a bonsai:
And even a tree house (no photos yet, so using one from Rolife's website):
The tree house was a decent challenge, with hundreds of pieces, but it looks stunning and it is full of tiny details.
I also forgot to post a picture of something that I've had since a while, and that sadly now is quite hard to get, because it is so cool. Unnofficial Zelda brickheadz figures!
There were two sets, and I only picked Link's. While the pieces are clearly a LEGO copy of lesser quality (e.g. the hand has a less firm grip of items), for displaying the figures and not playing with them, does the job perfectly. I wish LEGO copied the idea and releasd official brickheadz sets...
Starfield Recommended Mods
Introduction
The first time that I play a videogame, I prefer the vanilla experience. However, at times some design decisions might not sit well with the players, or there might be some subtle bugs, or half-baked features. Starfield leans towards the first category: When you are play from a PC, certain aspects feel quite annoying. So, here is my small list of mods and tweaks that I am, at the time of writing this post, using on my first playthrought of the game.
Installation Instructions
Read carefully the instructions for each mod. Also, the ones I use do not disable achievements, but others might do!
There are two main directories files usually go:
Documents\My Games\Starfield- Your Steam game install directory: In Steam, e.g. in your Library, right click on the game ⇾ "Manage" ⇾ "Browse Local Files"
Mod Recommendations
- ArmadaUI: Evolution of StarUI Inventory (which does not seem to work after the April 2026 game update). Another must have to improve the game's inventory UI.
- BetterHUD: A more minimalistic main in-game HUD.
- Cleanfield: De-clutter the main menu.
- EXE - Effect Textures Enhanced: Vastly improved effects, from particles to blood and explosions.
- NaturaLUTs: I use the enhanced preset. This is a must have.