Hey, hey!

We all need refreshers from time to time in the media we consume.

Alamo Drafthouse often does that during its kitchy pre-show videos for various super hero movies.  Streamers will do that for new seasons of their shows with a "Previously in..." preview.

So I shall do the same for the Players of the Game (POTG) saga.

I cannot claim full credit for this idea.  A beta reader friend (Hey, Abe!) recently told me it would be really helpful to include such a wiki-style recap of the events of the prior POTG books.  Just to refresh the reader's memory of the characters and the overall plot.

So as we edge closer to the release of both the Repenter Ebook Collection and Players of the Game Book 4: The Breakers later this year, I've made a new tab on my stelfire.com website.

Recaps.

The Quick Recap list option has a few paragraphs where Corsis recounts the events of the last three books.  I'll also be including it in the front matter of The Breakers and make updates to it with each subsequent book in the series.

The Detailed Recaps list options have each book with in-depth bullet points that go into greater detail with the plot and character developments.

Warning: Spoilers Abound in this new section.

This is a great resource for returning readers to brush up on the saga with either a quick refresher or a more involved return to the series.  It'll also help folks that just want to start with the newer books, and read the earlier entries later.  And for people who don't mind spoiling the plot before they read a book. 

I know a few loved ones who read the last few pages of a book first to see if they'll like it, so this helps that type of reader too.  Even if I philosophically and respectfully disagree with that story-consuming practice.

This new section will serve all my readers before, during, and after they read any books of the POTG saga.

Again, with spoiler alerts blaring in full, check out my website's new recaps tab with the button below.

Vick Burnhelt solves problems.

He's a mechmancer who melds both ethereal arts and bleeding edge technology in his wares.  Be it his multi-functional pistol, his modular Battle Engine aircraft, the blood-stained power armor he can't bear to don, or even the vast wall encircling the island of New Grelland that shields his homeland from the unnatural inferno of the Fire Well.

Bennet Burnhelt, his father, may lead the Grells.  But Vick's many designs give the nation its edge.

But some problems are more intractable than others.

The Game ruined the world, and Vick does everything he can to keep it from getting worse, knowing it's not enough.  It's why he and his wife imbued their sons, Ed and Matt, with hyper powers.  Hoping that the next generation can help forge a better future.

Corsis has other designs. 

The Master of the Game has a vendetta against the Burnhelts.  He does whatever he can to ensure the women of the family meet terrible ends.  Vick's wife died protecting Ed and Matt.  Vick keeps his long simmering romance with Een under wraps out of fear that Corsis might harm her too.

Vick also works with others outside of New Grelland and the realm of Trojis itself.  He becomes a covert ally of Ashe Stelfire, Avril Enzali, and their allies.

He has minor appearances in both Repenter and The Brigands.  His presence then expands in The New Players.  

Read more about him throughout the POTG saga.

This month's writing production of Secret Fronts' first draft lands at page 304 with 86,300 words.  That breaks down to 47 pages with 13,600 words.

That's a pretty good chunk of wordage.  The key will be keeping up the output to get this draft done sometime this year.

That's one of my three big writing goals for 2025.  Releasing The Repenter E Book Collection and The Breakers are the other two. 

Assuming no curve balls, I'm think I'm on track for all three.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

Ed:  “Where do you want these, Cassandra?”

Cassandra:  “I hate it when you don’t call me Cassie.”

Ed:  “You hate it when I do call you Cassie.”

Cassandra: “Don’t call me that!”

Live Suit by James SA Corey

This was a quick novella read in the Captives War series.  And it presented a different galactic civilization of humanity.  One that didn't get steamrolled by the aliens like the characters in the first book.

It focuses on a former paramedic who volunteers to be one of the Live Suit soldiers.  The armor is never removed, functioning as a second skin with a helmet that hides the user's face.  It repairs all harm inflicted on its wearer.

However, its effects on the wearers' sense of reality soon show themselves.  Forgetting little moments with loved ones.  The fanatical resolve to beat the aliens at any cost.

And the war is so vast that the soldiers fighting it have no clue if they're winning or losing.

It's a cool glimpse into the bigger conflict of the series.  And while the story is bleak for its characters, it shows that the aliens still have a long way to go before their ultimate victory.

Jefferson Mays does a great job as usual with the audio narration.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

This is a bit softer of a recommendation, but the characters were compelling enough to make me listen through large chunks at one go.  So the author was doing something right with this yarn.

It takes place in a world where people with superpowers are urban legends who hide on the fringes.  Extra Ordinaries.  EOs.

It focuses on two former friends who hate each other.  Victor Vale and Eli Ever.  They have a tragic origin that's gradually revealed in flashbacks as they amass allies in secret to combat each other.

Neither are heroes, though one professes to be one.  Even as he becomes a serial killer of other innocent EOs.

They are both flawed and damaged people.  Victor is the book's protagonist.  He is cruel and self-centered, but also quite compelling in his quest for vengeance against Eli.

And nothing will stop him from getting it.

That's all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim