Here’s my Metro New columns for the week of Nov. 18th
12 Years A Slave
By Solomon Northup
Four Stars
It takes an insidious plan to kidnap an intelligent, observant man like Solomon Northup, and harrowing brutality to keep him enslaved afterwards. No wonder a movie has been made of his determined escapes from strange cruelties and stranger men. This Bybliotech edition gives better care to its illustrations and makes the 160 year-old old text easier to understand with audio narration.
Runtastic GPS: Story Running
Free/$0.99 per story
This popular GPS tracker now offers fitness audio books; tales of travel, adventure, and escape to match your pace. A bit gimmicky, their imaginative soundtracks are still a welcome change.
Cake-Boy Classics
$6.99
This outrageously styled pastry app offers flavourful cheesecakes, inventive tarts, and heartwarming dessert classics. It includes videos, timers, recipe finders, and a basics guide to help you invent your own.
Metric Synthetica
Free/$0.99 per song
Tap or swipe these eleven playful landscapes and you can remix Metric’s newest album, changing out voices and instruments while adjusting their speed. Enjoyable, thanks to perfectly matched music.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Rated: Mature 17+
4 Stars
“We take as we please and become who we like” says Edward Kenway, who is neither an Assassin nor a Templar, but pretends to be both. As a pirate in the Caribbean, he shanghaies the adventure away from skulking streets into exploring lost islands, hunting sharks, and fighting tense, ship-to-ship battles. His crew, “all smiles and no teeth”, cheer your every deed and sing shanties you’ll repeat in your sleep. The story somehow lacks the delights of its own artificial world which is full of danger, impulse, and rebellious laughter.
