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Gormenghast
It's been a while since I read the Gormenghast books. They're often referred to as a trilogy but Mervyn Peake intended to write a five book sequence. Unfortunately he developed dementia with Lewy bodies so we have to be satisfied with the three he managed to finish: Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Alone. I remember something Lin Carter wrote about another author, instead of bemoaning the books he didn't write we should be grateful for the ones we have.
The books are labeled as fantasy although the only fantastic thing about them is the setting. In a desolate corner of the world Gormenghast Castle exists, the hereditary seat of the Groans. The castle is huge with four wings jutting from a central mass. And those four wings are gigantic, each one over a mile in length. The castle is half in ruins, its pulse are the rituals whose meanings have long since been forgotten, and it's isolated from the rest of the world. Some of the characters seem to think that there is no rest of the world. There is, of course. Aside from things like tobacco, tea and coffee that are not capable of growing in Gormenghast's climate, one character from Titus Groan left Gormenghast for a bit and worked as a shepherd for a, and did a stint on a barge with a woman who swam at night and mewed like an otter. As Peake put it, she moved from province to province.
There's a literary genre called new weird that better defines the Gormenghast books. It didn't exist when Peake started writing the books in the 1940s but it's a much better label for the books then fantasy.
Obviously Tolkien was important to me influenced a lot of authors, Peake influenced writers like Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison.
So, if you've ever wondered what Charles Dickens would have written if he was an opium addict, check out Titus Groan.
October 5,2026
Meanwhile in Russia
October 5,2026
Random Access
For most of September I was replaying Control in preparation for the sequel Control Resonant. Hell, I even let my reading slack off while I replayed the game. I pretty much wasted my time, Control was a third person shooter, Control Resonant features third person melee combat, I'm not good at that but then again I never tried to get good at it, although I did alright in the Diablo games.
In the first game you play as Jesse Faden, who survived (along with her brother Dylan) an altered world event. Dylan and Jesse both gained psychic power after the event. Dylan was captured by the Federal Bureau of Control with an eye to making him the director once he'd been trained to use his powers (Dylan was 10 and Jesse was 11). Jesse escaped and years later tracks down the Bureau with an eye to finding out what they've been doing with her brother. At that point the Hiss arrive and start taking over FBC personnel, they also take over Dylan. Dylan's powers do a lot of damage but fortunately Jesse defeats the Hiss and removes Dylan from their control. Dylan goes into a coma, Jesse runs the FBC and seven years later things get a lot worse. Jesse has gone on some quest but Dylan comes out of his coma and had wants payback for what the Hiss did to him.
And that's where we're at. So far the combat is doable for me and the game thoughtfully has difficulty sliders if things get too hairy. And for what it's worth, I recommend first game if you've never played it. You can find Control on GOG for $5.99 right now.
September 27,2026
Divinity Original Sin
Rolf and I finished Divinity Original Sin the other day and Rolf thoughtfully sent over a couple of pictures of our fight with the big bad of the game, the Void Dragon.
The game was developed by Larian Studios, who make old school role playing games. While I'm not really fond of their games I hope the studio lasts for a long, long time. Too many studios have been gobbled up my companies lie EA and Microsoft and stripped for parts, so the more healthy independent studios there are the better it is for the rest of us. And their games aren't bad, I just had my fill of old school, turn based RPGs in the 80s and 90s (damn I'm old).
Young Kevin prepares to play a turn based CRPG.
September 18,2026
Newton Turns 13!
This is Newton's Birthday present and to my surprise he kind of likes it, a first. Oh, by the way, I was not able to finish Mouse PI, although I did give it the old college try. It just goes to show, you win some and you loose some.
September 17,2026
Mouse PI
Once the jumping stuff came up I was worried about a late game sequence involving jumping from plane to plane. Apparently a lot of people can't get through it. So I watched casual noobie's video ands figured I wouldn't get through it either. Now, I don't know how long it too cn to get through this but it took me four hours. But the bottom line is that I did get through it, with Newton kind of watching me in his meatloaf position. This leaves just one more sequence to get through. I'm giving myself a day or two to decompress before I tackle it.
September 12, 2026
Mouse PI
I probably wouldn't have bought Mouse PI if I had known how much jumping and parkour was involved along with the shooting. I generally get my game reviews from PC Gamer and they didn't mention it. Neither did the other reviews I looked at. I'm guessing that for most people that's not a problem. It is for me but having purchased the game I got about half way through, took a break, and came back to it a week or two ago. Some of the platform sequences took me over an hour to get through but I did it.
Now I'm in the endgame. I'm hoping I can finish it but if I can't I did my best.
September 11, 2026
Mouse PI Puzzle
I haven't played Mose PI in months so I had forgotten the mechanics of charging wires and had to figure it out anew. It took me a long time because I'm not good with puzzles, even simple ones, so having gotten it without going to YouTube made me happy.
September 4, 2026
Miscellaneous
I finished the Sprawl Trilogy by William Gibson. Mona Lisa Overdrive's plot is incredibly convoluted. But one of Gibson's influences was Raymond Chandler and his plots were convoluted too. In the meantime, the trilogy is worth reading for its writing. Just don't expect a lot of insights into technology
***
And now I'm reading Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's a Dying Earth book, the genre, not the series by Jack Vance. For some reason I enjoy the books about the end times of Earth. I've read the Jack Vance books, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun, Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars and the ancestor of them all The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson. Of them all, only Tchaikovsky's book is set in a period when the Sun is beginning its expansion to a red giant. Vance ignores it, Wolfe's Sun is red but that's due to a small black hole in its center, Clarke's book is set in the far future but the Sun is still middle aged and Hodgson's book was set in a time where the Sun was a cinder (the Sun was rather poorly understood in 1912). At least Cage of Souls has a plot I can follow.
***
And I decided I won't be buying Control's sequel. But I did decide to put Mouse P.I. for Hire back on Kosh after a five month break. I'm about half way through the game but that's not a guarantee that I'll finish.
September 3, 2026
Google Maps
This summer I started weaning myself from Google. I ditched Chrome for Firefox and replaced Google with DuckDuckGo (No AI). I've used AI myself from time to time but I don't want its insights in my searches or showing up in my browser. Today I pulled the plug on Google Maps.
Trump signed an executive order last week changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Google Maps dutifully changed the name of the lake on their app, explaining that they get their data from the U.S. Geographic Names Information System and that that. I gave them a pass on the Gulf of America shit, assuming it was a one off thing. But this was too much. Mike Elgan has a good write up on this.
The reason GNIS was such a great resource is that it was both open (the public could make suggestions, for example), and also curated by members of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and its Domestic Names Committee (DNC), a committee of knowledgable professionals who base their decisions on clear, non-partisan criteria. Committee members are career federal employees appointed by their respective federal agencies (Departments of Interior, Commerce, Agriculture, Defense, Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Service, Government Publishing Office, and Library of Congress) to serve as that agency's representative, with appointments approved by the Secretary of the Interior for two-year terms.
In short, Google is pulling its data from a compromised source. So I replaced Google Maps with Mapquest. And now I'll be wrapping myself in the armor of self-righteousness for a day or so.
August 30, 2026
More Quake
Well then, I finished Quake and beat the game. I didn't remember much of it but I'm fairly certain I beat the final boss back in 1996. I don't remember the game being this hard, back in the 90s I would play games on Normal as a point of pride. This time it was a struggle getting through it playing on Easy.
But finish it I did. I'm moving on to a replay of Control. There's a sequel coming out and I want to see if I have any kind of chance at being able to play the thing. Here's a tip, my money is on fuck no, but you never know.
August 29, 2026
Newton
I spent some time in New York and once again Donna lobbied for Newton to be able to sleep with me at night. Being a light sleeper, none of my cats got that privilege, but Newton is the only one who'd come to the door howling. So when I got back I thought it over, Newton is 12 and will probably be my last cat. And so for the last three days the bedroom door has been left open and Newton now sleeps with me. He seems to love it and (so far) I can tolerate it. And how does Newton spend his time after I get up and shower?
August 23, 2026
Quake
August 6 was Quake's 30th anniversary. I tend to think of Quake as one of the games of my youth but I was 40 when it came out. I bought it on Steam several years ago and I started playing it a few days ago. I just finished the fight with Chthon, the first boss of the game but I didn't record it. So here's a video of someone else fighting him.
It took me far to long to figure out (or perhaps remember) that lobbing rockets at him wouldn't work. I'm certain that Zdenda1990 was a lot quicker then I was. But I can tell you that 70 year old Kevin is going through the levels (at least the first set) faster then 40 year old Kevin, for whatever that's worth.
I will be bitterly ashamed of myself if I can't finish this one.
August 10, 2026
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