Blogs

The King of Plagues is the third novel in the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry and the audiobook is narrated by Ray Porter. The continuing adventures of Joe Ledger… More of the same shoot-em-up goodness full of bio-tech threats and mysterious bad guys in the shadows. From the publisher: Saturday, 0911 hours — A blast rocks a London hospital and thousands are dead or injured. 1009 hours — Joe Ledger arrives on scene to investigate. The horror is unlike anything he has ever seen. Compelled by grief and rage, Ledger rejoins the Department of Military Sciences, and within hours he’s attacked by a hit team of assassins and sent on a suicide mission into a viral hot zone during an Ebola outbreak. Soon Ledger and the DMS begin tearing down the veils of deception to uncover a vast and powerful secret society using weaponized versions of the Ten Plagues of Egypt to destabilize world economies and profit from the resulting chaos. Millions will die unless Ledger meets this powerful new enemy on its own terms as he fights terror with terror. Take another thrill ride with Joe Ledger. ©2011 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc. ...

DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS VERSION OF NEVERWHERE! I love Neil Gaiman’s writing, and I have loved every Neil Gaiman audiobook and dramatic performance I have heard until this one. This version of Neverwhere is overproduced with sound effects and over acting that make following the story almost impossible. I am shocked by the positive ratings it has received on Audible, so apparently someone likes it. Read or listen to the unabridged story first then maybe give this one a try, I got it as a special offer on Audible for $1.95 but even at that price I feel like I was ripped off. ...

In Fool Christopher Moore takes on William Shakespeare’s King Lear with his usual flair and heavy use of foul language. It is a retelling that only Christopher Moore would do. I thoroughly enjoyed the sense of humor, lots of dry British-esque wit and sarcasm, with a pace that really kept the story moving along. Euan Morton narrates with a fast paced English accent that I really enjoyed. I am looking forward to listening to more books read by Mr. Morton. ...

As a volunteer at DragonCon one of my current responsibilities is getting the computers setup for use by the photographers and the librarians. This year I had to re-learn a lot of what worked so well last year as my notes were not complete, so I decided to write them up more thoroughly this year and post them hear so that I will not loose them. At the 2014 DragonCon we used a total of 5 computers, 3 for the photographers to drop off photographs at and 2 for the librarians to use for key wording. The computers were running Windows 7 and required a lot of Windows updates and video driver updates before they were ready to use, luckily the internet connection at the show was fairly fast on Thursday afternoon when I was setting them up. ...

Joe Ledger at it again, kicking butt, taking names, and saving the world from bad guys. The Dragon Factory is the second book in the Joe Ledger series and picks up a short time after Patient Zero https://davenelson.com/patient-zero-by-jonathan-maberry/ ended. I am enjoying these stories and Ray Porter is doing a fantastic job narrating them. From the publisher: Ex-Baltimore cop turned special-ops shooter Joe Ledger is back in action. In The Dragon Factory, Ledger and his team from the Department of Military Sciences square off against two separate groups of corrupt scientists. The beautiful but twisted Jakoby Twins are creating transgenic monsters and genetically enhanced mercenaries for sale to the highest bidder. Their father, who takes evil to an entirely new level, is using cutting-edge science to complete the Nazi master-race program. Joe must elude the NSA who are gunning for him, fight his way past rogue Spetsnaz teams, and stop these madmen before the Extinction Clock runs out. And when the bloodbath claims one of his own, Joe Ledger declares total war on those people who would burn down the world in order to reshape it in their own dark image. Take another thrill ride with Joe Ledger. ©2010 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc. ...

We had a great time at DragonCon this year. The costumes were amazing, the photography staff did a great job capturing the event, and we actually got some sleep. Our son Eli stayed with the grandparents where he got to run wild and play with new toys. My favorite costumes were How to Train Your Dragon, the Music Box Dolls from Chitty Bang Bang, and The Dreamer. [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-w6CtMvx) [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-Rp4Fdrh) Bobbie made a great costume from a lost episode of [Doctor Who named "The Celestial Toymaker"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celestial_Toymaker). [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-RwbJvgZ) [](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p0122z2l) My favorite panels were Colin Baker, [Ron Glass](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-zPHCpsX), [Jeri Ryan](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-zHs3Q82), [Terri Gilliam](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-B5Kn4d4), [Evanna Lynch](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-PhcGgxm), and [Sparkfun](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-CqQCkVD). [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-zPHCpsX) [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-zHs3Q82) [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-B5Kn4d4) [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-PhcGgxm) [](http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2014/i-CqQCkVD)

In Gormenghast, book 2 in the series, we get to dive deeper into the characters that live in and around the castle. Titus really comes into his own and Fuchsia becomes a woman all the while our knowledge of the castle grows. I really don’t like the comparison of these novels with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. They are so very different that it is not fair to either of them. I have enjoyed reading LotR but I find much of the writing to be tedious but the language used in the Gormenghast novels makes me smile and laugh out loud. ...

I needed a break from the science fiction and action/spy books I had been listening to so I decided to through in something completely different and you can get much more different that Titus Groan. Titus Groan is the first book in the Gromenghast series of book written by Mervyn Peake who was an amazing illustrator and writer. The Wikipedia article on Mr. Peake is full of really interesting information about his life and works. ...

I burnt myself out trying to learn to many JavaScript frameworks, build tools, unit testing, Debian eccentricities and BeagleBone Black programming so I decided to take a break and play a video game. Steam was having their summer sale and Skyrim happened to be a great deal. I bought “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Legendary Edition” and have been playing it for a couple weeks now. Back in 2011 when The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released I remember reading and hearing from a lot of friends, acquaintances, and internet personalities who played it and talked about it for weeks on end. So my interest was peeked, but I didn’t have time or the desire to play it then. ...

I do not like Zombie books or movies, I have read some of the more mainstream books and have seen all of the mainstream zombie movies, but in general, I do not like them. Although I make an exception for The Walking Dead comic book series which unlike the TV show continues to be amazingly fantastic (the TV show is merely good). ...