ascendancy

Ascendancy
$21.98
In another review i said i hated trivium not just their new stuff but even this.Man i was wrong trivium's first two albums are awesome,this is the closest i come to trash metal only if it's brutal,heavy and has the screams.And in this one they also used melodic death metal and sounds nothing like dumb metallica and it's just heavy,I probably started to hate trivium just cause i saw matt heafy performing with korn(which made me mad)but at least they are half rock,BUT SCREW NU METAL WHICH IS NOT EVEN METAL.And also cause they stop the screams and heavy sounds and went all trash.If you want some heavy metal and by heavy metal i mean HEAVY stuff and not trash boring stuff then you need to get this,a mix of metalcore,your trash,and melodic death metal if you say they don't have it then you're not listening well cause this is heavy and they were also influenced by the great in flames,the melodic death metal inventors.I don't care what people say about metalcore i mean why is it so bad?it's heavy and brutal just like the other great metal genre's,death,grindcore,and all that stuff.Almost every metalcore band out there where influenced by death metal and trivium is one of them even though they sound like metallica today,BUT the good news is they said they are bringing back the screams in the new album i just really hope it sounds like ascendancy and ember to infermo GOOD FOR THEM!

The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship: An Examination of Epistemic Autocracy, From the 19th to the 21st Century
$23.99
I'm hesitant to plunk down $20-something for a book when I can usually find something cheaper used. I'm glad I got it though. It's a unique and current analysis of the direction the world is heading.

Yes it's a christian perspective, if you have a problem with that then this isn't the book for you. There are a lot of books that deal with the subjects Collins analyzes, but I think that for lack of a christian perspective, they fall short in their conclusions. More and more people are beginning to notice what is going on with the world and I think a lot are afraid to include christianity in their own analyses. So if you are really committed to having an open mind, even if you aren't a christian, then you might want to read it anyway.

Look up some of his articles/essays online, as they are very close to (or practically excerpts from) the book.

http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Articles/index.php?n=16

This is not scripture, it's passionate and sincere analysis and speculation. I think I'll re-read The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Last Days after this.

I apologize that this isn't a very eloquent review, but this is an excellent, one-of-a-kind book that deserves some attention.

Ascendancy
$9.99

Ascendancy of the Last (The Lady Penitent) (Bk. 3)
$6.99
In Lisa Smedman's defense, I do not think she is a bad writer. Quite the opposite. But this closure to the "Lady Penitent" series was simply not her best work, in my opinion.

For those who are not D & D players, this series, capping off the earlier "War of the Spider Queen," focuses on setting the stage for the release of the Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition rules, I believe, with some major "pruning" of the bestiary and divinities of Faerun. And that is fine. What is not fine is the fact that Smedman's prose at points becomes turgid and difficult to follow. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with that either, this is supposed to be a fantasy pot-boiler where, one would think, the cardinal principle would be not to allow your reader to get bored. But bored I was. By the end of the book, I was just grateful for its conclusion. As a matter of fact, I found myself skipping ahead and omitting whole sections of text to get to the action and past a whole stable of unnecessary and dull characters. The main characters were also very wooden and unsympathetic, with dialogue sometimes far too stilted to be "real." The uneven plotting and improbable cliffhangers and co-incidences designed to rush the plot along also show unmistakable signs of haste and even a certain amateurishness I would never have expected from Smedman, although the twist ending did have certain satisfactions. My copy also had some uneven pages from printer's errors, which was annoying.

I also disliked the idea that the skin color of the Dark Elves was intimately tied to their wickedness. I do not think this was intentional, but I could see where that idea is one that many would find objectionable. It added an uncomfortable racial element - the literal demonization of "black" - to the story it could well have done without.

So, I would recommend the book to the hardcore D & D/Wizards of the Coast fan, but to the casual reader, I would try some of the other titles from the Forgottten Realms which are far more tightly constructed and far more entertaining. The "D'rizzt" series is especially fun.

No firm recommendation on this one, except to Forgotten Realms enthusiasts only. Otherwise, I would make another selection.