Empires in America

I spent so much time drafting a review of a great solitaire war game at Black Gate this morning that I don’t have time to spare for much of a blog post on my own site. If you have any interest in solitaire gaming, particularly at the strategic level, you ought to pick up Empires in America from Victory Point Games. Details are here.

I know that I promised I’d be reading some modern stuff, much of it by people I know, but on the way out the door or over breakfast I keep grabbing something from my “I should have read this sooner” pile. So I’ve recently finished de Camp’s Dragon of the Ishtar Gate and I’m most of the way through the first of Poul Anderson’s three paperbacks about the exploits of that famous Viking, Harald Hardrada.

Dragon of the Ishtar Gate ended up being a lot more fun than I expected. All of the historical details were extremely vivid, the pacing was solid, and the action scenes were strong. I wasn’t ever truly captivated, but it kept me interested throughout. I’m just a little cooler on the Poul Anderson novel, which at times feels like I’m kept a little too much at arm’s length. Still, I’ll probably finish it, and I may read the other two though not in any great hurry. I have two more of de Camp’s historicals, and I liked Dragon of the Ishtar Gate well enough that I’ll probably try more.