Book #23

Swords in the Mist

Fritz Leiber

So, the third book of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.  More fighting, more wizards, and more fun.

This time round, our two heroes face a cloud of hate, Fafhrd becomes a disciple of Issek of the Jug, and then quite literally becomes Issek of the Jug, After that the two swordsmen take to the sea, where they find the sea a mistress they can share, and then find a hole in the water that leads to pleasant dealings with the Sea King's concubines, followed by adventures facing the Sea King's curse, and finally, Ningauble sends them to earth, yes, our earth, where they come finally to face a great evil in the Castle Mist. 

More fun, and more quick easy reading.

...and One Week with the Hisense Sero 7 Pro

So, I did actually buy the Hisense Sero 7 Pro, and yes, I did take back the Sero 7 Lite and got a refund.  So, I got to try out the Lite for a week, as I discussed in my last post, and now I have spent a week with the Hisense Sero Pro 7.

So, after a week, and I can say it is just as good as the Sero 7 Lite, which if you will remember, or just read right below this, I liked a lot.  The screen on the Sero 7 Pro is gorgeous, though to be quite honest I cannot see what all the fuss is about.  Is the 1280 x800 screen better than the 1024x600 screen?  Yes, but I really do not see a big difference.  Is the 7 Pro faster?  Probably, but not so that I would really notice.  Is the battery life better?  To be honest, I have not really noticed, but then I have not had time this week to really put it through its paces.

What will you really notice as differences between the Lite and the Pro?  Well, there is the pebbly back on the Pro, while the Lite had a back of smooth, some would say slippery, plastic.  The pebbly back is nice and grippy, but it also makes the tablet feel a little thicker.  Overall, yes the pebbly back is better.  The other difference you will notice is that there is a cover over the SD card slot...and it does not fit perfectly.  Oh, it fits well enough, but it is not completely smooth with the top of the tablet, when there is a disk in the slot. 

Now, if you were to hold them in your hand, you would notice something else.  The Sero 7 Lite has the power and volume buttons on the left side.  The Sero 7 Pro has the two buttons on the right side.  Obviously, you won't really notice that unless you hold them both.

So, the last difference to note is the camera on the back.  I have taken only one picture, and it was okay, but I do not plan to run around and take pictures with my tablet.  I did not mind that the Lite did not have a rear facing camera.

My conclusion is that Hisense has hit a homerun on their first try at a tablet.  Both of the Hisense Sero 7s are good tablets.  One is the equivalent of the HP Slate 7 or ASUS MeMo Pad 7 but you save $50-70.  The other is the equivalent of the Nexus 7, and you save $50 there.  In both cases, you get less storage, but you have the SD card to make up for that.  I think Walmart has a winner on its hands.

Book #22

Swords Against Death

Fritz Leiber

The second book of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.  Now, the fun really starts.  In this volume we see a living house that knows how to protect itself. We learn that dead thieves can be more dangerous than living ones, and that even death himself is no match for a well placed sword. They encounter a man plagued by the ghosts of those he killed.  While trying to return home our heroes encounter a sunken city, and seven priests protecting a sleeping god.  Back in their home city of Lankhmar they look into a rash of thefts and find themselves facing off against the high priestess of a bird goddess.

Now, something new is thrown into the mix here in the second collection, as we meet wizards, Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes.  These two become the mentors of our two heroes, and in this volume.  We see them in the first story, which is more of a setup than a full story, and then the two wizards reappear in the final stories in the volume.  First, each wizard sends his hero after the Mask of Death, which leaves each sworn to kill the other to recover the mask.  Then, in the final story, the two wizards call their heroes to stop a threat to the world of Newhon.  Of course, things go wrong and it is Fafhrd who must rescue Mouser from the Bazaar of the Bizarre.

This is another fun read, lots of adventure, lots of action, and lots of fun.

One Week with the Hisense Sero 7 Lite

Walmart sold out of the Hisense Sero 7 Pro so fast that by the time payday rolled around they were sold out everywhere nearby.

Now, this leads to a quick aside, something that I find most annoying.  Walmart has a wonderful site, but they are so focused on supporting their stores, that it seems that many items cannot be purchased for shipment to your house, but are only available for ship to store delivery, which is a little annoying.  Mostly, if they do not have it in stock, some items cannot be purchased.  So it was with the Sero 7 Pro.

So, I bought one of the Lite models and hoped for the best.  Well, let me tell you, I was not disappointed.  Reviews have referred to the Sero 7 Pro as the poor man's Nexus 7, because it matches the processor, quad core Tegra 3, and the resolution, 1280x800, or the Nexus.  Well, if the Pro is the poor man's Nexus 7, then the Lite is the poor man's HP Slate 7, or Asus MeMo Pad 7.  The Lite has a dual core processor and a 1024x600 screen, to match those two tablets.

Well, having never seen or held the Nexus 7, all I can say is that the Hisense Sero 7 Lite did not disappoint.  The screen is bright, and the resolution is high enough that my old eyes did not notice a real difference.  One of my main uses for a 7 inch tablet is reading and the Kindle app looks beautiful on the Sero 7 Lite.  The performance is good, with only occasional delays, and during my week with the Sero 7 Lite, I did not have to restart it once.  It performed like a champ.  The only oddity was that the paypal app was not available for installation.

The tablet has a very nice feel in the hand, the weight is very low, but substantial enough to give you confidence in the quality of the product.  It is very thin, at least to my thinking, and it feels solid.  The back is plastic, but it is a solid piece and after a week, I have noticed only the tiniest bit of flexing in the chassis.  The back is a little slick, not enough to have it slip through your hands often, but enough to make it a little worrisome.

So, in conclusion, I feel like this is a great tablet, for $99.  I fully intended to keep it, but it looks like the Pro model has come back into stock and tomorrow I will see if I can get one of those and then return the Lite.  Walmart has a very nice 15 day return policy.

Book #21

Wild Wales, The People, Language and Scenery

George Henry Burrows

Wild Wales is the account of George Burrows' walk through Wales in 1854.  Now, we are not talking about a little walk, we are talking about months of walking across a major portion of Wales.  He starts in Chester and enters Wales traveling to Wrexham and then on to Llangollen.  He spends some time at Llangollen while he walks all over the surrounding area.  Then, a long journey takes him out as far as Holy Head on Anglesey, on a round trip that eventually totals nearly 200 miles, all on foot.
 

After covering North Wales, Burrows begins his journey through South Wales.  Now, while stationed at Llangollen, his wife and daughter came to Llangollen with with him.  They only take a couple of short walks with him, always staying behind at the house in town.  As he began his trip south, they returned to England to wait for him.
 

He started south as Fall started, crossing South Wales on foot.  He travels something over 200 miles south through Wales to Swansea and then east to Chepstow.  That is the end of his journey in Wales.

Aside from the description of the landscape, Burrows tells us much about the Welsh people that he meets.  He was a student of Welsh poetry, and many of his side trips are to visit the home or birthplace of some great Welsh poet.  He also tells us some very amusing stories about certain famous Welsh persons.  At least they were famous in the 19th Century.
 

Wild Wales is not a travel guide.  I cannot find most of the places that he mentions, so reconstructing his trip using Bing maps has been difficult.  It isn't really a travelogue either.  It could be called a travelogue, based on the descriptions of where he went, as well as the local history, but it is interspersed with tales of individuals he met along the road, and his reaction to them.
 

So, should you read it?  Probably not.  I read it in little bites over a long time, and I am not disappointed that I did, but I doubt I will ever read it again.