Platypotamus

In a thread over on NeoGaf, I got linked to a blog called the Unamommer (awesome name, btw).  The thread in question was discussing the recently released Elemental: War of Magic, from Stardock entertainment.  The nerdier parts of the gaming Internet have been abuzz about some controversy about the game's release, but I don't really have anything meaningful to add to that particular discussion, so I'm mostly going to leave it alone.  Elemental could use a little more polish, certainly, but it'll come.

Instead, I want to talk about the Unamommer blog, and particularly her take on Elemental: Destiny's Embers.  Destiny's Embers is a novel accompanying the War of Magic game, set in the world of the campaign, and presumably crossing over at some point.   If you're like me, you have already instantly written it off as terrible by virtue of it being a game-related novel.  This is where the Unamommer comes in.

The Important link gets it's own line:

Unamommer » Blog Archive » Elemental: Destiny’s Embers

From perusing her site a bit, it seems like the Unamommer's M.O. is to read bad books, and then write snarky reviews about them.  Some choice quotes from her review of Destiny's Embers:

In my last review I drew a distinction between fun bad and facepalm bad.  Fun bad books may have terrible plots or characters but there’s a baseline level of competency that keeps the book readable.  Sentences may be simple, but they are still constructed in a way that generally makes sense and the writing itself fades to the background, leaving you focused on what the actual story is trying to tell you.  Elemental is not one of those books.

Her favorite Character in the book?  I'm glad you asked:

The dress is actually my favorite character in the book. A few short pages later she is accosted by bad guys and they have a conversation about the dress. Her thoughts reveal to us the backstory and political importance of the dress. After she is rescued from the bad guys by the clever orphan boy she has a crush on and a handsome knight, she flings herself into her father’s arms while sobbing and he stops to notice the dress before noticing the knife wound on her neck.

Sounds like that character had a lot of competition though:

So anyway, the story follows a couple of difference people around. There’s the Clever Orphan and the Magical Princess who are off to find some sort of magical artifact that is a circlet that is also an orb. Along the way they pick up The Bad Guy’s Henchman Who Is Not Half As Clever As He Thinks He Is, a golem, and a Thief With A Heart Of Gold who has been cursed to be unnoticeable to everyone except the orphan because the orphan is, obviously, special.

I highly recommend heading over there and reading the rest of the review.  It's fantastic.  Anyway, Mrs. Unamommer, I have subscribed to your blog, and hope others do as well.  I look forward to the next review!