In The Journey of Man author Spencer Wells puts forth a description and explanation of how modern man descended from a single man located somewhere in Africa around 60,000 years ago.  In more detail Wells describes the actual migration routes over the millenniums showing how man moved from one continent to another and eventually spread to every corner of the globe.  Wells is able to come up with these astounding details through the clever use of genetics, in particular the Y chromosome, and statistical analysis. 

Unfortunately there are many many details left out and lots of gaps that make the whole premise much less solid.  As I read through the book I found myself frequently scratching my head and wondering how the conclusion could possibly follow from the facts presented.  There was also very little description or explanation of how Wells obtained the genetic data that he bases the entire premise on.  

While reading the paper today I came across an interesting quote.  I was reading the latest news concerning the Democratic primaries.  As expected, Hillary is continuing with her dreadful performance.  The article was focusing on some of the women's groups who are irritated and angry with other women for "abandoning Hillary in favor of a 'rock star' candidate".  The sentiment is that women are all leaving Hillary and jumping on the Obama bandwagon just because he's popular and all that.  Who knows, that could be the case.  If so then I can see being annoyed over that.  It never makes sense to me that people would vote for someone just because he (or she) is the most popular.  It does seem that the current election is becoming more and more like that.  But that's not my point here -- I'm getting distracted.

The Mammoth Book of Fantasy is yet another anthology that I read.  This time, I'm happy to say, there were a few stories in the collection that I thought were interesting.  Many of the stories in the book were not what I would call fantasy though.  That's probably because I have a limited or narrow definition of fantasy.  I think that I should really be looking at "heroic" or "epic" fantasy.   

The Last Unicorn is considered one of the top fantasy books in the last 100 years.  Written by Peter S. Beagle in 1963 it boasts sales of over 5 million copies and translation into 20 different languages.  At least one animated film has been made from the story and there is rumor of a live-action film in the works which has garnered a lot of excited attention from the fans.  So I'm a bit baffled that I found the book somewhat lackluster.  It was mildly interesting but not extraordinary. 

When I read anthologies, such as this one, it is my intention to get broad exposure to different authors in the genre.  I fully expect to like some and dislike some.  In fact, it seems I end up disliking more than I like.  But there is always the hope of finding at least one gem in the pile.  In all of this I assume that the genre in the title is the genre I'm looking for.  In this case, with a title like "Fantasy" I was expecting a couple dozen short stories in the fantasy genre.   Silly me. Instead I got to read two vampire stories, a couple ghost stories, several science-fiction stories, and a supernatural thriller.  Hardly what I would expect for "fantasy".

Secrets Can Kill is a fun computer game for teens and adults. It has split-second danger and lots of puzzles to solve. This is the first game in a series of stickler computer games. They are exhilarating and get your adrenaline pumping with their surprises all along the way.