Ranger's Apprentice

Set in a medieval kingdom, the story follows an orphan with dreams of becoming a knight for the local Baron.  Theres only one problem though:  He's too small.  However, it's this very trait that qualifies him for another life in service to his country.  The Rangers.  Believed by many to practice black magic and possess inhuman powers, they are the elite of the King's army.  But the orphan, Will, soon discovers that this is not the case.  Instead of practicing dark arts, he soon finds himself practicing archery, a skill only used for hunting.  Will soon learns that what most people think of as magic is simply unorthodox skills put to good use.

Such as archery.  Mostly used for hunting, many people believe the arrow to be useless against armor.  Except when a Ranger puts an arrow through the one-inch-square eyehole on a helmet.  The Rangers are also the first to fully exploit camouflage, wearing mottled green and grey cloaks which often look stupid, but enhance their trained ability to blend in with the terrain and shadows, making it seem as though they can walk straight through walls and rise from the ground at a whim.  They also carry two knives of uncommon shape, making them rather unwieldy for the common person, but a skilled Ranger can defeat the greatest swordsman with these knives.  They're also perfect for throwing.

I'd rate this series with an 9/10, the only problem being that it's kept in the children's section of my local bookstore.

Throwing Knives

Well, I finally did it.  I've gotten the rotation distance down for both of my throwing knives.  This has been rather a challenge for me, as they had different throwing styles and distances for the longest time.  But the wooden handle recently fell off the smaller one, changing it's balance (all important here).  Now they're both the same rotation distance and throwing technique.  All I have to do now is work on my aim.

Unstoppable Horde of Reavers vs. Immovable Psychic Warrior

Awesome show I've become a fan of recently, called Firefly.  Kinda a space-steampunk-cowboy-swashbuckling-pirate-rebel bundle of awesomeness.  It's only fourteen episodes long, ending with the fifteenth segment as a full-length movie titled Serenity.  The pro's and cons are that it has a decisive ending, but the story is over rather quick.  Quite funny, with a good bit of action, drama, and intrigue to balance things out.  

The story is set in the future, where the Earth's resources have been used up, forcing the Human race offworld.  We discovered a new Solar System, with dozens of planets, and hundreds of moons.  They terraformed most of these worlds, and spread across the whole system.  The central planets, those with the most sophisticated technologies, formed a systemwide Alliance, and warred to bring everyone under their rule.  A few governments and militias disagreed, and fought to remain independent.  They were inevitably crushed.  The series starts approximately six years later, following a former militia sergeant, now the captain of a Firefly class transport christened Serenity.  He picks up a rather ragtag group of misfits for a crew, and runs jobs for people needing a ship.  He doesn't much care about the nature of the work, as long as it pays well, and doesn't overly endanger his crew.

And that's just the intro they play before the theme song.

As for the title of this post, you'll have to either watch the show, or look it up on Wikipedia and read the ending.  I'm not gonna post any spoilers.  Ha ha ha.......