Cheap shots
I just finished Timothy Zahns "The Third Lynx" the second book in his Quadrail trilogy. Mr. Zahn has to be one of my Favorite writers. But I have never been a fan of the plot device of "Body snatchers" where an enemy or alien takes control of someone else. Which in the series an alien species does nothing but do body snatching. The enemy is called "The Mohdri" and it is a single colony mind that comes from a special coral polyp. When a peice of coral comes into contact with a being The mohdri can just be deep undercover, and communicate it's experiences passively to other polyps. Use "Eyes" which are beings that can be giving suggestions, or temporarily cause memory loss and control. Or use "Arms" which are beings it has taken complete control over. lastly it can implant a thought virus in close companions to suggest something.
The main protagonist at least can easily spot or figure out which people are controlled. But also Zahn tends to take some "Ass Pull" type tropeswhere the Protagonist does double switches or plans things that you read about, and only find out about what he did 3 chapters later when it is revealed. "The artifact you thought was in this bag, it is inside the weapon barrel of that person we met 4 chapters ago and havn't talked to since then... as far as you know.
Just give me a good Cobra Warrior that can shoot down spaceships with their anti-armor leg lasers and i am a happy fan. LOL
At least it isn't like some current mysteries that are being written where the "investigator" spots some key clue that allows him to solve the case, but the writer never lets the reader know about the clue until it is all revealed. I really HATE that, and i think it is a gimmick a writer uses because they don't know how to be subtle enough.
The other bit of news is that I have about $4000 in a 401k from my previous job that I need to roll into an IRA. I don't know much about investing or where to find an IRA to roll it into. I wouldn't mind getting a new comp since it seems the Hard Drive in my laptop took a crap, but my wife told me to roll it over.
The main protagonist at least can easily spot or figure out which people are controlled. But also Zahn tends to take some "Ass Pull" type tropeswhere the Protagonist does double switches or plans things that you read about, and only find out about what he did 3 chapters later when it is revealed. "The artifact you thought was in this bag, it is inside the weapon barrel of that person we met 4 chapters ago and havn't talked to since then... as far as you know.
Just give me a good Cobra Warrior that can shoot down spaceships with their anti-armor leg lasers and i am a happy fan. LOL
At least it isn't like some current mysteries that are being written where the "investigator" spots some key clue that allows him to solve the case, but the writer never lets the reader know about the clue until it is all revealed. I really HATE that, and i think it is a gimmick a writer uses because they don't know how to be subtle enough.
The other bit of news is that I have about $4000 in a 401k from my previous job that I need to roll into an IRA. I don't know much about investing or where to find an IRA to roll it into. I wouldn't mind getting a new comp since it seems the Hard Drive in my laptop took a crap, but my wife told me to roll it over.