In which I read some, watch an old TV series and die some more

I finished Black Rain by Graham Brown. It's one part Congo, one part The Lost City of Z and a few bits of other things thrown in for good measure. It was a fun read and I'd recommend it. There's just something about those lost civilization stories that I enjoy. The letter 'r' goes for the apocalypse (and really they're good too) but I like lost cities. Especially with creepy things thrown in. This one has it's own brand of monstrosity (not super creepy but effective) to deal with. The ending is a little silly (mostly a plug for the sequel) but mostly forgivable since the rest of the story was good.

I also finished volume 7 of 20th Century Boys. Which was frustrating. Mostly because a plot element I'm really interested in was just about to be talked about and then the book ended. And given the time jump nature of the series, I can't be sure the next volume will actually answer those questions. Gaahhh! But so so good. I really like this series.

Lovely wife and I have been watching season one of The X-Files. Oddly I don't know that I ever actually saw the first season. Some of the stories seem familiar and I probably have seen them, but there are just as many that I know are new. It's really good. Too bad the rest of the series didn't live up to the first season. I like the broad paranormal aspect that they pretty much left in favor of all the alien story lines. Oh well.

I've managed to make it a little further in Shiren the Wanderer, but then I died. I think I'm going to have to spend the next few trips out building up a decent sword and possibly a shield. And maybe find some armbands. I forget exactly which critter done me in last go round, but I'm sure it was tough. Now if I can just get rid of the fluffy bunnies... (What?! They're vicious. Mostly because they keep healing the monsters you're trying to kill. And then they teleport away. Evil things I tell you!)

And that's about all the news I've got. The kids keep trying to grow up. G has been registered for Kindergarten and McK has been registered for Junior High. I'm pretty sure that makes me old. Older than I'd care to admit at any rate.