Coven of the Worm

Book One: Estranged Earth

Linda Caldwell attends Putty Hill Senior High with her friends Jane and Candy, where she meets and falls in love with an intriguing young man named David Yeng-Chi.

David seems perfect for her, but he has a dark secret. His father Hamaki had trained him to use a deadly mix of martial arts and magic in the service of his god—Chai'Huon Ju, the Defiler. David is a descendent of the Worm Clan of a long forgotten prehistoric nation called Hunjan. There were other gods and different beliefs among these people, but the Worm Clan had believed in Chai'Huon Ju's legacy of evil.

As the relationship between David and Linda grows, Linda begins to have prophetic dreams warning her to stay away from him. The visions are so insistent and frightening that she surrenders to them and breaks up with David. Enraged, David resolves to have revenge by conjuring his god to Earth.

Linda has a secret too, however—one that might help to save her soul from the Defiler. Prophecy was merely the first of her abilities to develop and—she soon discovers—there were more powers to come.


Book Two: Mystic Moon (in progress)

Eric is the son of David Yeng-Chi, who had unleashed Pure Intensity and wreaked havoc on a Maryland town in 1995—all in the name of revenge. When Eric discovers his true identity, he sets out to fulfill his destiny, which is to assemble a Coven and use it to release his evil god on Earth.

Daniel is an Avatar of the gods, and only he knows how to find the others like him. It is his destiny to gather the Avatars and lead them to battle against the Defiler before he can wage war on Heaven. Together with Dawn Lu, Linda Levinston, and FBI agent Carl Timmers, Daniel searches for Eric and his coven—hoping to find them before they can succeed with their diabolical plans.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Ladies in Waiting

I suppose there aren't too many women interested in secret agent action games, because if there were I wonder how offended they'd be by Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming game for the PS3, Alpha Protocol. I found the concept rather interesting, because it isn't supposed to be an average spy game. They're making it a role playing game. The character (a man, of course) will earn skill points that can be distributed as the player wants, and his interactions with non-player characters (NPCs) will have a wide range of outcomes.

When I read about it in Game Informer magazine, of course I was interested, but I also had to laugh. In one of the little blurbs it says that players can pursue romantic interests "almost like a side quest." The magazine quotes Chris Parker, the team lead for the project, as saying this: "You will meet the women at various times, and how you interact with them will determine whether or not the romance option opens up. And there's nothing preventing you from bagging all of the chicks."

Wonderful. Funny thing, I do know a few women who like to play RPGs. I wonder if Obsidian will make another game for them?

9 comments:

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

This is the same reason I can't stomach the James Bond movies. At one level, I realize it's like romance novels are for many women-- a pleasant fantasy that isn't harmful in its proper context.

Sadly, I've met a lot of men and women who can't see past the stereotypes of what should be the grownup equivalent of watching cartoons. They end up thinking the world really is like the world if Ian Fleming or Danielle Steele.

I hope players of this new game keep it in context, but I'm sure there will be some who will only have some bad stereotypes reinforced by it. I don't favor Nerfing the world, but I do wish there were a way to help people stay a little more grounded instead of making so many fantasies so easily accessible and easy to lose oneself in.

But that's just me. I can't figure out what the deal is with romance, either. I read history books for fun. :-)

Leah J. Utas said...

If so guy wants to think he can, umm, bag all the chicks, let him thinks so.
But like Bunnygirl I do hope perspective is maintained.

I'm not sure if the equivalent for women would be as popular, but then again, I really don't know anything about it.

Michael said...

Probably not, Leah. Until recently most RPGs were either fantasy (overwhelming majority) or science fiction, and the women I know who play them are fantasy fans.

And Bunnygirl, I do hope you're both right about players maintaining perspective but, sadly, I'm betting a lot of them will be kids. Oh well, I doubt it can be anywhere near as bad as Grand Theft Auto.

Jim Melvin said...

I'm not proud of this, but I was one of the last people to get a cellphone, I still don't have high-def TV service, and I've never been interested in becoming a gamer, the latter of which probably isn't good because I might be excluding a large portion of my audience.

Heck, I hardly watch any TV anymore at all, other than glancing at the shows my kids watch like SpongeBob, etc.

Michael said...

Can't say I blame you about the TV, Jim. I sometimes turn it on but rarely pay attention to it. I do watch lots of anime, but I get my fixes for that addiction online (or DVD). There's not enough of it on TV to satisfy me.

I do like to play video RPGs, but I haven't been playing for about two months now. I don't know why; I guess I just don't feel like it. Hmm ... maybe I will play some tonight... :D

Leah J. Utas said...

Hello Michael,

Just stopped by to tell you' I've tagged you for a meme and put a link to your blog in my post for tomorrow.

David L. McAfee said...

You know, it's actually an interesting angle for a game in a strictly adolescent hormonally imbalanced teenage boy kinda way. Take this job, be a secret agent and score with a bunch of chicks.

Seriously, I can see the appeal.

Having said that...would I play it? Nope. I tend to think that things like that distract a little too much from the reality of the dating life. Sure it's an escape, but like Bunnygirl said, there are those who will play the game and think "Ah, THIS is how to act around women." And I'm betting it's gonna be waaaaaay off base on that point.

Can you picture some swaggering, amped-up high school kid walking around the campus and acting like Sean Connery in You Only Live Twice?

Somehow I don't think it'd go over well. :-)

David L. McAfee said...

BTW Mike, I finally responded to your tag...sorry it took so long. :-)

Anonymous said...

I nodded, reading Bunnygirl's comment. As a novelist, I could be considered fantasy-prone, but I don't have much patience for pie-in-the-sky stuff. That's why, though I'm a sucker for a good love story, I don't read genre romance: the requirement of a happy ending snaps my suspension of disbelief because they're often so over-the-top unrealistic. A too-sappy ending can ruin a story for me -- for me, a huge eye-roll factor. Sounds like I'm terribly cynical, but I'm not. But in real life, you have a mix of the bitter with the sweet.

Fantasies are fun when people can maintain perspective, but as Bunnygirl said, there are lots of people who want -- no, demand -- the fairy tale (whether the male or female version) and do all kinds of crazy things in their real lives, trying to live the fairy tale.

I'm not a gamer -- it's been twenty years since I played computer / video games with any regularity! LOL, I feel like a dinosaur. :)