Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week - our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books! I am still cross-referencing my way through Blood Meridian, both incredibly vivid prose-poetic alchemy of the profound and harrowingly mundane, and also a bit like if a bible ate a pulp paperback then shat out a second, stupider bible with at least twice the people getting severed dicks shoved in their mouths. I love literature so much.

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Sundays are for doing all the errands and prep you won't have time for in the week because it's half-term. But we can also sneak in some downtime for reading and watching fine video games writing.

Criticism is cruelty, writes game developer Oma Keeling. This isn't an argument against criticism, but a plea for a more honest embrace of why we write and enjoy writing critically. As someone who, through The Sunday Papers, seems to forever be arguing for a more ruthless games press, I appreciated this.

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It is said that all people of culture spice the nectar of their leisure by seeking out peculiar and invigorating company, that they may burgeon and prosper from their example. I, on the other hand, like to start my days off by soliciting opinions from some total barmpots to remind me that I'm pretty normal, actually. On which note, it's time to talk about our weekend gaming activities.

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Memorial Day weekend is here and the sales seem to be spilling out even for PC gamers. To be fair, these sales are typically a great time to find a reasonable discount on the latest gaming PCs, laptops, and everything else. While it’s not as dramatic as, say, Black Friday or Prime Day, there are still some proper savings to be had if you know where to look.

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Lugging a gaming PC around isn’t exactly practical, and handhelds like the Steam Deck or ROG Ally are fun, but not exactly built for heavy lifting. If you want something that’s actually powerful and still portable, a gaming laptop’s where you'll probably end up.

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I've been poking around for some new PC games and stumbled across Fanatical’s May Madness sale, and it's kinda good? It's not exactly Steam Summer Sale levels of "How the hell is it that cheap?">, but there's still plenty of cool stuff on sale.

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Have you seen Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream knocking about? I can't seem to find it. It's an upcoming adventure game about some sneaky urchins from a fictional Scandilike country in the 1900s. We've previously described it as "a bit Dunwall and a bit Desperadoes". I got to play a short preview build, and being offered its toylike city from a top-down perspective made me eager to explore and find its many collectible artworks. It's a lavishly animated and handsomely modeled piece of work. But, well, its approach to stealth veers bland and predictable. I don't know if sunkissed tiles and cobblestone alleyways are enough to forgive what so far appears to be an entire game based on the derided "instafail stealth section". But sit down, we can talk about it.

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Sending my trading vessel to sail the seas of Anno 117: Pax Romana offers up a cornucopia of dangers and discoveries. Dastardly pirates. Lush islands. New leaders to barter and play diplomacy with. Most of all though, it allows me to discover hitherto unknown depths of petty jealously, as I realise how much nicer everyone else's city layout is compared to mine. Time to go demolish several family's houses and rearrange them in a slightly more aesthetically pleasing manner it is, then.

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