Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1928 – 1982) was first translated into Finnish in 1989 by Kari Nenonen in the wake of Blade Runner (1982), the film that is based on the novel. The translation got titled Palkkionmetsästäjä ("bounty hunter") and also had 'Blade Runner' on the cover like many later English printings of the novel -- impossible to make the connection between the book and the film just on their names. A couple of years ago, in 2022, there was a second Finnish translation by J. Pekka Mäkelä, instead titled after the original novel name: Uneksivatko androidit sähkölampaista?

Terminal World

Terminal World is one of Alastair Reynolds's standalone novels. Its Finnish title, Pääteasema, discarded the world part and is instead the (compound) word for terminal station. It gives off a somewhat different meaning but I suppose it can be interpreted in a more figurative way that aligns with the original too. But I definitely took it in the former and I think that threw me off a bit.

Elysium Fire & Machine Vendetta

Elysium Fire continues Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies in Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space setting -- and Machine Vendetta ends them, for the time being, at least. The expected Melding Plague didn't show up yet so I'm thinking Reynolds might still visit the Panoply's continuing duty to defend democracy in the Glitter Band, even if Tom Dreyfus was implied to have exited stage left. But who knows.

Thymesia

Thymesia is one of the now-many third person soulslike action RPGs. It's from a small Taiwanese developer OverBorder Studio and turned out to have even lower production values than I had expected -- the game features no voiced dialogue in any language. However, even if modest in its scope, Thymesia was reasonably entertaining, its gameplay feel solid enough for a good time.

Eversion

For whatever reason, Eversion by Alastair Reynolds was shelved among thriller/suspense books instead of the usual scifi I'd expect the author's novels to be found at. I'd say scifi section would've been perfectly fine in this case too.

Lichdom: Battlemage

Every now and then, some company makes one of these spell shooters. I reckon they were more common back in the simpler days, someone taking one of the shooter game engines and going: "What if instead of guns, you'd have magic?" The Wheel of Time (1999) coming up eventually on my backlog is perhaps one of such, although it used an existing IP. A more recent example would be Immortals of Aveum (2023). This post's topic, Lichdom: Battlemage by Xaviant Games, is from 2014.

Poseidon's Wake

Poseidon's Wake is the third and (currently) the final volume in Alastair Reynolds's Poseidon's Children series. There's another time skip forward, different members of the Akinya family taking the spotlight. The novel has interesting details and numerous story points to continue from but the plot drags in parts, the ending is unnecessary and forced, and character relations are painful to witness -- the book reminded me a lot of the author's 10 years older novel, Pushing Ice.

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition is largely just a bundling of the base game and its two story DLCs -- for which I bought it -- by the game's publisher, Private Division. The original developer, Obsidian Entertainment, had very little to do with it; the extra work there is, was done by Virtuous Games instead.

Everreach: Project Eden

Everreach: Project Eden definitely wasn't the most glorious start for this year's gaming -- and to be my 100th perfect game on Steam. Wishlisting and buying a title just because I saw a youtuber make a funny video about it, is probably not the wisest course of action, especially considering that Oboeshoesgames tends to play games of wildly varying quality. At least this one was really cheap, but even so, it is absolutely not worth one's time.

On the Steel Breeze

On the Steel Breeze is the second novel in the Poseidon's Children trilogy (series?) by Alastair Reynolds. The Akinya family's still in the protagonist role but the series didn't turn out to be the kind of family saga I was expecting -- hoping, even. I don't know how the Akinyas managed to squander their riches but they did have the time: this novel takes place a couple of centuries later. Only a single human generation has passed, though: aging having been defeated once again.