Tonight on GeekNights, we consider handicapping as applied to games, and wonder at how rarely it's used outside of sport. But before that, in the news, we consider the nuances of a fartwarning versus a fartwatch, Ion Hazzikostas will give the PAX West Keynote, PAX South will be January 18-20, we have a first impression of Yellow & Yangtze (the noble successor to Tigris & Euphrates, which we reviewed back in 2005), Fantasy Flight has some new printing process allowing for Keyforge and Discover Lands Unknown to be made, and we will be presenting The 40 Tabletop Games You Must Play at PAX West!

Many people read The Odyssey in high school, but rarely does it truly resonate. It's read for class, it's read for analysis, but often its nuance, humor, and drama are lost in translation. If you've never read it, or read it but don't remember much, there is a truly novel translation recently available from Emily Wilson. To quote the Amazon page:

"In this fresh, authoritative version―the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman―this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, this engrossing translation matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer’s sprightly pace and singing with a voice that echoes Homer’s music.

Wilson’s Odyssey captures the beauty and enchantment of this ancient poem as well as the suspense and drama of its narrative. Its characters are unforgettable, from the cunning goddess Athena, whose interventions guide and protect the hero, to the awkward teenage son, Telemachus, who struggles to achieve adulthood and find his father; from the cautious, clever, and miserable Penelope, who somehow keeps clamoring suitors at bay during her husband’s long absence, to the “complicated” hero himself, a man of many disguises, many tricks, and many moods, who emerges in this translation as a more fully rounded human being than ever before."