Sunday Morning Book Thread - 09-22-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: TRex)

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

In last week's Hobby Thread, TRex posted a link to a website about authors' libraries. I found this one there and thought it was kind of neat, if a bit of a monument to one's ego. Clearly Danielle Steele is fond of her own books. But then, if I had published over 160 books, I might believe myself entitled to craft a desk resembling my own best sellers. Well, if I'm being honest, I might build a house that is a monument to all of my published books--visible from space if I could manage it.

"COZY" READS

The things I learn around here. Apparently "cozy" literature is an actual subgenre of a few different kinds of literature (mystery, romance, fantasy, etc.) that is characterized by upbeat, optimistic tones, relatable and likeable characters, and straightforward plots with happy endings. Any graphic depictions of sex or violence will be offscreen if mentioned at all. "Cozy" literature has taken off in recent years because people seem to find them a good way to escape the realities of daily life and take a break from their regular stress-inducing activities. I suspect they are also a bit easier to write, because of their relatively simple structure compared to more weighty fare like literary fiction or epic fantasy.

There's no shame in enjoying a nice "cozy" mystery or two. If that's all you have time to read and it brings you pleasure, I say GO FOR IT!

I must confess to a secret shame: I am a fan of "cozy" books and series, mostly mysteries but not all. (Oddly, reading Count of Monte Cristo, which gets better and better, brought this to mind. Dumas' descriptions of locations and characters makes them feel familiar and draws in the reader.) Cozies do the same but in less horrific circumstances. They are usually fast paced, don't involve constant nastiness, have a pretty happy ending and usually have humor. They are a pleasant, relaxing time with a book.
Examples:
- Martha's Vineyard mysteries by Philip Craig. (He and his wife wrote a great cookbook as well.)
- Liturgical Mysteries by Schweizer
- Lumby Lines series by Gail Fraser
- Father brown stories
- Chet and Bernie series by Spencer Quinn
- Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters

There are others but those will give you an idea of what I mean.

Posted by: JTB at September 15, 2024 09:24 AM (zudum)

I went looking through my own library to see what books I might have that fall into the "cozy" category. Not surprisingly, I didn't find a whole lot that might fit in with the generally accepted definition of "cozy" literature. I did find a few, however:

• The Norby Chronicles by Isaac & Janet Asimov -- Silly adventures about a boy and his robot who possesses strange abilities. Written for a younger audience.


• The Lost City of Zork by Robin W. Bailey -- Based on Infocom's rather silly text-based adventure game centered around the Great Underground Empire.


• The Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison -- A master criminal is recruited to stop the *really* bad guys. Usually silly plots, very little blood or gore (though a few stories do take a dark turn here and there).


• Star Trek - How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford -- This is a deliberate farce of a story as both the Federation and Klingons "fight" over a planet containing precious dilithium. Very silly book with a light-hearted plot. Even the Klingons don't come off as joyless scolds, which is what the often appear to be on television.


• Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming by Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley -- An enjoyable comedy about the forces of darkness trying to win their millennia-old conflict against God.
  

After looking through my library, I realize that the majority of my books are very much *NOT* cozy books at all. I might need to see a therapist. Oh, wait. Never mind. I have "emotional support kitties." I'm good.

MORALLY GRAY FANTASY

NOTE: My students are tasked with writing a 1,500 - 2,000 word Blog Article as their first major project this semester. In the spirit of solidarity with my students, I present the following 1,600+ words...Feel free to skip it!

"There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."

Modern writers--such as those tasked with writing the script for Amazon's execrable Rings of Power do not understand how Chesterton's Fence works in principle, as they are determined to "reform" the Orcs in Tolkien's story so that they are not irredeemable monsters capable only of evil, but may have the capacity to do good as well, by raising children and dedicating themselves to family life.

The problem, as Sargon of Akkad points out, is that this leads to a complex moral dilemma for the reader as we are now expected to understand the Orcs' point of view within the context of a world where there are bright, clear lines between the forces of Good and Evil. Orcs are evil. Period, full stop. Their origins in Middle-Earth are murky, but by the time of Third Age, they are clearly NOT on the side of Good. It *might* be possible to find ONE single, solitary Orc that refuses to engage in Evil, but he would be an outcast. Exiled (at best) from society, assuming he's even allowed to live. His society demands his willing participation in evil acts for the sake or perpetuating that evil.

If, however, Orcs are *not* all Evil and they are just wanting to find a homeland for themselves so that they can raise their Orcish broods free from the wicked influences of Elves and Men (from their point of view), then by what right do Men and Elves have to wage war against them? Are not Men and Elves then oppressors, seeking to impose their own way of life on the Orcs or eradicate them altogether? Isn't this a form of cultural and physical genocide?

The writers of Rings of Power have no conception of the morality inherent in the genre in which they are attempting to tell THEIR story. Not the story as Tolkien would have wrote it. Instead it's a bastardized version that has the trappings of an epic fantasy story but doesn't contain the core elements necessary for the story to be considered "epic fantasy."

(SIDENOTE: To get a sense of just how bad the writing is in Season 2 of Rings of Power, Shad (of Shadiversity) has a video breaking down Episode 6.)

There are two main elements that are required for epic fantasy, at least as I see it. First, the story must have a struggle between Good and Evil as well-defined moral choices that characters must face throughout their journey. Some characters may fall under the sway of Evil while others remain true to virtues of Goodness, such as faith, love, or truth. This conflict defines the story. Second, there must be a supernatural and/or spiritual dimension to this conflict. In essence, the characters embody avatars of primordial, intangible forces of Good or Evil. Often a champion will arise to represent each side in this well-defined moral conflict.

Characters can be morally gray in their motivations, attitudes, and actions and that can lead to interesting decisions within the story as these characters struggle against their baser natures. But the END of the story must be resolved through an ultimate TRIUMPH of Good over Evil, or there is no heroic, epic fantasy. It's as simple as that. This genre convention defines the genre more than any other. All of the other trappings--medieval setting, mythology, monsters, magic, and so on--are trivial outward elements that readers expect, but are not central to the actual morality tale that we are reading.

We, as readers, are drawn to follow the hero of the story through his journey. We should see him fail numerous times during his quest, but each time we should see him learn to adapt and overcome, developing from a sheltered man (or woman) into a character of true strength of will, determination, and goodness, willing to lay it all on the line to achieve the end goal. In doing so, they also recognize that they are an instrument of powers far greater than themselves (humility), a pawn in a much grander game with much larger stakes than life or death. Epic fantasy *demands* heroes of this nature.

In the latter half of Sargon's video he reads an essay that was posted on X by Devon Erickson, where Erickson explains why George R.R. Martin, author of the popular series A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) is unable (or unwilling) to finish his story. The gist of Erickson's argument is that Martin is a socialist boomer and neither socialism nor boomerism are equipped to recognize or understand heroism these days. His boomer argument is less compelling than his socialist argument, but both have their points.

As a socialist, Martin's operating principle is envy. "Thou shalt not be better than me." This statement precludes the existence of heroes. If we believe (as Martin seems to) that mankind is irredeemably evil and that heroes do not exist because it's all a scam or a confidence game about which individual can score the most points at life, then we are unable to recognize heroes when they do appear. They are as mythical as Big Foot.

As a boomer, Martin's guiding principle (according to Devon) is "whatever makes me feel pleasure is good and whatever makes me feel bad right now is evil." I'd argue this is NOT the principle of boomerism, as there are plenty of boomers right here on this very blog that reject this premise. In the larger society we live in, however, there is no question that there are large numbers of people who subscribe to this belief.

Within A Song of Ice and Fire we see a number of characters built up so that we, the reader, believe that heroes can exist, such as Jon Snow, Eddard Stark, even Jaime Lannister. However, these characters are all brought down by their own bad choices or inner demons so that they are unable to fulfill their promise as a hero. Martin believe he's subverting the heroism found in other epic fantasy, but in truth he's displaying his own character flaws. There are no heroes in Martin's world--not the world he created nor the world in which he lives.

One of the challenges in storytelling is writing characters that are smarter than the author. A related challenge is to write characters that have higher standards of morality or ethics. If we cannot recognize that standards of morals or ethics exist, and that some people aspire to be the best they can be when compared to that standard, it's difficult to even conceive of such characters.

In fact, "moral grayness" or "moral relativism" is one of the primary ways that Evil seeks to destroy Good. Villains often like to portray themselves as the heroes of their own story, justifying all of their bad acts as necessary to achieve a greater "goodness" that only they can fully appreciate. They lie not only to themselves, but also to the hero, approaching the hero and using rhetorical arguments to sway the hero to abandon their quest, as they are not worthy enough, or strong enough, or moral enough to complete it. Or the villain may attempt to persuade the hero that the hero is no better than the villain. It's also common for the villain to attempt to sway the hero to his side, as together they can join forces to defeat an even greater villain. Saruman in Lord of the Rings attempts to do this to Gandalf as well as King Théoden. Théoden falls under Saruman's sway--at least temporarily--but Gandalf is wise enough to see the trap for what it is and rejects Saruman, naming him an agent of the true Enemy, Sauron.

Théoden is able to throw off Saruman's influence when Gandalf breaks the spell over him, and reveals the truth about Saruman's intentions for Théoden and his people.

Truth, you see, is a fundamental element of goodness. Evil thrives on lies and deception. Terry Brooks understands this intimately, which is why every single one of his stories involves characters unraveling a pack of well-told lies to uncover the truth about themselves and about their situation. Only then can they claim the righteous and moral victory over the villain in the story.

Tad Williams, P.C. Hodgell, Robert Jordan, J.K. Rowling, Lloyd Alexander...pick any writer of epic fantasy that has stood the test of time and you will discover that all of them--every single one--revolves around the conflict between moral virtue and immoral vice, where moral virtue wins the day. Every. Single. Time.

Going back to Chesterton's Fence, it's remarkable that any modern day writer would want to destroy, subvert, undermine, or vandalize the fence of moral objectivism within the epic fantasy genre. They view the ideology of Good v. Evil as self-limiting to the story they wish to tell, therefore they choose not to include it at all. In doing so, they remove the very fabric of morality within their own stories, leading to a dull, nihilistic, and ultimately destructive moral lesson for the reader: You can't win. You'll never be a hero. Don't even try.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Given the interest expressed here recently about the Russian revolution, and the uncoordinated leaders of the whites, may I present Freiherr Roman Nikolai Maxmillian von Ungern-Sternberg, one of the more unorthodox of the bunch. In his book, The Bloody White Baron, James Palmer delves into the sometimes obscure but often bloody history of this Russian nobleman who became the last Khan of Mongolia, and white commander in the eastern theater of the Russian revolution.

Ungern was a brave, perhaps foolhardy officer in the great war, but his temper got him in trouble, and Russia's war ended with him in Vladivostok. He was offered a command in independence minded Mongolia, and Ungern managed to take over their entire army, calling himself the god of war.

The baron was a notorious anti Semite, blaming the Jews for the revolution, and preferring to loot rather than buy food from possible Jews for his army. His reputation for cruelty was unmatched since Gengis Khan, whom he believed he was reincarnated from. After Mongolia, he determined to defeat the Bolsheviks from the east, but his violence finally caused his troops to revolt, and the reds caught up to him and ended his campaign.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 15, 2024 09:12 AM (BoRyq)

Comment: Vladivostok is about as far from the main centers of power in Russia as it is possible to go and still be within Russia. Trying to wage war against the Bolsheviks in Moscow from that remote locale would have been a monumentally impossible task. Sounds like a crazy, unhinged lunatic with enough charisma to gain followers, but not enough to successfully stage his own revolution and seize power.

Seaking of cozy books I'd like to again recommend the Anty Boisjoly mysteries by PJ Fitzsimmons. They are humorous locked-room mysteries inspired by Fitzsimmons's love of PJ Wodehouse. Think of what Bertie Wooster would be like if he were smart and you have a sketch of Anty.

The mysteries themselves are intentionally silly and the books are hilarious. (I got my husband hooked on them and he agrees.) The eighth book in the series, Death Reports to a Health Resort, was just released and like many of the other stories involves one of Anty's extremely eccentric relatives. You can read them in order but you don't have to to enjoy them.

One of my favorite features of the books is that each features an animal (or group of animals) as a significant factor in the story.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at September 15, 2024 09:50 AM (FEVMW)

Comment: These do sound like nice, easy, fun reads. I may have to try one.

I also read Peter Navarro's In Trump Time: A Diary of the Plague Years. If you're looking for a diary of the fight between Trump Republicans and the old guard, I highly recommend it.

Navarro does seem to believe that COVID was much more than a flu (attributing the believe that COVID was just a flu to one of Fauci's early lies); but he also highlights how standard therapeutics were vilified; and--naming names--describes how much of our response to COVID was watered down by pro-China influences in the deep state and the Trump administration.

Its portrayal of the conflict between new/old Republicans reminds me a lot of Hunter S. Thompson's portrayal of the Democrat's 1972 convention in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail.

Economic security is National Security. And if you try to sacrifice economic security on the altar of national security, as Globalists are wont to do, you wind up losing both.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 15, 2024 10:16 AM (olroh)

Comment: Yep. It's amazing how much security flows downhill when we have a functioning economy. However, start jacking around with it by deliberately destroying food, energy, labor, etc., and soon things start spiraling out of control, as we are seeing now. No one can keep all the plates spinning forever. Sooner or later one will fall, and then the rest will follow.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

I stopped by my local comic book/game store, which has a few bundles of used books from time to time that are offered for sale. It turns out they are part of a consignment of books the store owner bought from a woman who had to involuntarily commit her son. Now she's getting rid of his collection of fantasy and science fiction books. Who knows? Maybe they are cursed to drive one mad...

• The Liveship Traders Book 1 - Ship of Fools by Robin Hobb


• The Liveship Traders Book 2 - Mad Ship by Robin Hobb


• Saga of Recluce - Magi'i of Cyador by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.


• The Ringworld Throne by Larry Niven


• Book of the Gods Volume 1 - The Face of Apollo by Fred Saberhagen


• Book of the Gods Volume II - Ariadne's Web by Fred Saberhagen


• Exile's Saga Book 1 - Exile's Children by Angus Wells

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

Agent Pendergast Book 22 - Angel of Vengeance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Agent Pendergast has traveled to an alternate 1880 in order to save the life of his ward, Constance Greene, who has fallen into the clutches of the vile Dr. Enoch Leng, who makes Dr. Josef Mengele look sane and ethical.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is Dr. Leng's ultimate goals and motivations for his actions. I won't spoil it for you, but you will find it eerily familiar. Makes me wonder if these two writers are closet conservatives, or at least somewhat right-of-center...

Tick Tock by Dean Koontz

In the afterward to this novel, Koontz admits that this was attempt to mix horror in with a screwball comedy. One reason I like Koontz so much is that he is not afraid to play around with genres, mixing and matching them on a whim. This one starts out a bit slow, but by the middle of the books, it's going at full-speed ahead with ludicrous adventures as Tommy Phan and his mysterious rescuer, the lovely (and often bizarre) waitress Del, attempt to stay one step ahead of the monster chasing them until time runs out at dawn...

Sandman Slim Book 8 - The Perdition Score by Richard Kadrey

James Stark, a.k.a. "Sandman Slim" is caught up in the war between the loyalist angels and rebel angels in Heaven. He receives a mysterious package of "black milk" from a dying angel and is then recruited to track down the source of this potent angelic drug that inspires angels to berserker furies. But also kills them, of course. It's the usual mix of black comedy and light tragedy as Stark stumbles from one ludicrous scenario to another while trying to protect his friends from the consequences of his own assholishness.

Magic Kingdom of Landover Books 4/5 -- The Tangle Box / Witches' Brew by Terry Brooks

This a lighter and fluffier fantasy series compared to Terry Brooks' other series. The books are also more heavily influenced from the standard fairy tale tropes, with a supposedly wise and noble king ruling a land at peace, for the most part. Until it's time to protect his people. The main character, Ben Holiday, is a bit of a clueless idiot, as most of the books seem to kick off when he ignores the advice of his councilors. Then he has to figure out just what went wrong and try to fix it. He's from our world, so he gets a pass in the first couple of books while he's adjusting to Landover's strange rules. There's no excuse for his cluelessness by books 4 and 5. Ben is a good man, just not intellectually gifted, despite being a highly successful lawyer in our world.

<

Moonseed by Stephen Baxter

Venus explodes under mysterious circumstances, leading to devastating effects for Earth due to radiation and strange particles that eventually fall down on the planet.

The mystery deepens when a bit of moondust that escapes a lab falls on the soil in Scotland and a nanovirus that infected the moondust threatens to engulf the Earth.

Much of the early action takes place around Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thanks to Google Maps, it's possible to see what that looks like not only from the air, but from the ground as Google Street View let's you climb to the top of the hill and look around. Pretty cool. Now imagine it turning into gray goo. That's Moonseed.

It's typical Stephen Baxter fare. Lots of interesting science with very weird possibilities.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 09-15-2024 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 08:59 AM (fwDg9)

2 "Necessity" the second book in John Van Stry's "Ghost Warrior" series, is now available on Amazon.
Search for the full title: "Necessity: Ghost Warrior - Book 2" or its product ID/ASIN: B0DHJ7JJTB

I'm about a third of the way through and I'm enjoying it. No surprise, John's an accomplished story teller and knows how to entertain.

The first in this book series is titled "Serendipity".

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 22, 2024 09:00 AM (O7YUW)

3 Still just listening to audio books. It helps to distract me during this trying time.

Posted by: lin-duh at September 22, 2024 09:00 AM (VCgbV)

4 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:01 AM (yTvNw)

5
I don't get Koontz. I have read, I think, two or three of his works and ... nothing.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:03 AM (xG4kz)

6 I finished the Master of Kung Fu Marvel Epic II trade collection, which covered issues #29-53. The art improved, especially after Marvel changed inkers, but the story didn't keep up.

I've begun "Pride and Prejudice," my wife's favorite book. It's always annoyed her that I've never showed interest in it.

She's out of town this week. A perfect time to pick it up.

(My phone blocked AoS and FPM again last Thursday but straightened itself out. May that be the last time I see this glitch!)

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 22, 2024 09:04 AM (p/isN)

7 Good morning! Currently reading Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago. Even in WWII you had the deep state keeping a warrior from destroying the enemy. Just so Ike could keep the British wankers from getting butt hurt. Nothing really changes.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at September 22, 2024 09:05 AM (Aoykm)

8 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024 09:05 AM (OX9vb)

9 Still stuck on The Life of Lenin. At around page 500.

Simultaneously, I started reading a deep state book. I might finish it in 2 weeks time. Then I'll review.

Must handle the stovetop coffee!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 22, 2024 09:07 AM (3Y5XB)

10 Finished yesterday
The Murderers of Katyn
Vladimir Abarinov
Hard cover 384pgs

That Stalin ordered it, the Bolsheviks killed ver 15,000 Polish military officers, police and academics isn't the question, but why?
My opinion is Stalin even in their darkest days of early WWII still had designs on taking control of Poland. The Russians had a competition Polish government that the one in London I think shows that.

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 09:08 AM (fwDg9)

11 Good morning morons and thanks perfesser

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 22, 2024 09:08 AM (RIvkX)

12 Started Churchill, A Life by Martin Gilbert
959 pages, soft cover

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 09:09 AM (fwDg9)

13 Booken morgen horden

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 22, 2024 09:09 AM (Wx316)

14 Well he killed the cream of his officsr corps in 1937 because he was told they were plotting against him

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 22, 2024 09:10 AM (PXvVL)

15 Finished yesterday
The Murderers of Katyn
Vladimir Abarinov
Hard cover 384pgs

That Stalin ordered it, the Bolsheviks killed ver 15,000 Polish military officers, police and academics isn't the question, but why?
My opinion is Stalin even in their darkest days of early WWII still had designs on taking control of Poland. The Russians had a competition Polish government that the one in London I think shows that.

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 09:08 AM (fwDg9)

War is hell.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 09:12 AM (g8Ew8)

16 Poland and Ukraine both have been in and out of Russian domination over the centuries,

And think now am done with the Bolsheviks

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 09:12 AM (fwDg9)

17 Interesting breakdown of the Rings of Power, Perfessor.

It doesn't help, of course, that the writers are evidently obsessed with jacking the DIE agenda into the show.

Posted by: Dr. T at September 22, 2024 09:12 AM (lHPJf)

18 Welcome to the autumnal equinox and Hobbit Day. September 22 is both Bilbo's and Frodo's birthday and for some years this has been a day to celebrate the books. I don't do anything fancy but I did mark favorite scenes of LOTR to peruse today.

-Farmer Maggot
-Tom Bombadil
-"On Pipeweed" from the intro pages
-Merry and Pippen with Treebeard in Fangorn Forest
-The fight between Frodo and Gollum at the Cracks of Doom and the escape from the destruction.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:13 AM (yTvNw)

19 Good morning all and Happy Hobbit Day!

Posted by: PA Dutchman at September 22, 2024 09:14 AM (QyT5w)

20 That Danielle Steel library/office sure looks like a miniature diorama. See how weirdly thick the sheets of paper look.

Posted by: Emmie at September 22, 2024 09:14 AM (Sf2cq)

21 Good morning horde. Thanks Perfessor.

I recently read "Never Mind, We'll Do It Ourselves: The Inside Story of How a Team of Renegades Broke Rules, Shattered Barriers, and Launched a Drone Warfare Revolution." In the days just before 9/11 and then in the subsequent months, US drone capability changed. Among other things, drones acquired the ability to fire missiles, not just watch.

A small team spearheaded much of the development. The CIA was heavily involved, working closely with the Air Force. The book tells the story of working between various US govt agencies and people to make it happen. As usual, innovation happens more with small teams moving quickly than large teams with powerpoint decks.

The authors were involved and wrote the book to tell the story in depth and tell it in one place. Bits and pieces were available publicly, but the story hadn't been told in a cohesive manner. Interesting to learn the dynamics of the small group, the tech challenges, and organizational challenges of both developing and using the capability.

The book has clearly done through extensive security review, but still recommended if you're into this sort of subject.

Posted by: TRex at September 22, 2024 09:15 AM (IQ6Gq)

22 good morning Perfessor, Horde

Posted by: callsign claymore at September 22, 2024 09:15 AM (JcnCJ)

23 Sarumans adventures

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at September 22, 2024 09:15 AM (PXvVL)

24 The third book in the Chonicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny is Sign of the Unicorn. Corwin is back in Amber, nominally in charge, while two of his brothers lay dead and one is held imprisoned in a shadow world. Corwin pulls the family together to rescue brother Brand, but then learns of the factions that have formed between his brothers and sisters, seeking to control the throne, and leaving Amber in danger from a powerful external enemy.

A dark force threatens Amber, much more powerful and dangerous than any previously known. A force which seeks not control, but its destruction. Corwin must learn whom he can trust, and marshall those he believes loyal to defeat this foe.

One interesting thing about the story arc is how Corwin's inner dialogue sounds like a modern man, while his spoken word in Amber comes across like royal English, as if he were acting in a play. This tends to broaden the character. As the series progresses, the story becomes more complex, and the reader is drawn further into this mysterious world, and the acute danger that must be met and defeated.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 09:15 AM (nGcjF)

25 Morning, Horde. Between books at the moment, but expect to remedy that situation some time today. Just not sure yet which book to remedy the situation with.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 09:16 AM (q3u5l)

26 Hard to tell from the angle but the typewriter in the top photo may be a Royal KMM. That is my favorite standard (meaning huge and heavy) typewriter. My respect for Danielle Steele, about whom I know nothing, would go up if true.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:17 AM (yTvNw)

27
My reading efforts, alas, have been sporadic. I am finishing up Tolkien's "The Return of the King" and I am at the critical juncture -- "Read the Appendices or do not read them?". I think that I will.

What has struck me as I am ending my first reading of all three books of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is how spare Tolkien's prose was, and yet it was exceedingly evocative. I also was equipped to judge how much bloat was stuffed into the storyline by Peter Jackson's three movies. I recall some "sorry, not sorry" utterances in the movies' extra material because they "could not fit in 'The Scouring of the Shire'", for example, in their work. Yes, you could have. Take out the Warg riders attack on the Rohan refugees nonsense, for starters.

Anyway, I find my appreciation of the written work is greater for having seen the films and how they strained to communicate as much and as well Tolkien was able to do with mere words.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:17 AM (xG4kz)

28 Danielle Steele has a really cluttered workspace. I could not.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024 09:17 AM (OX9vb)

29 On the Kindle I read Windrush: Farewell To Afghanistan by Malcolm Archibald. This is the tenth book in the series. Windrush is promoted to Lt.-Col. and given command of the Royal Malverns, which has historic ties to his family, after his brother has a breakdown following the death of his son in combat. It is Jack's job to turn the spit-and-polish parade-ground regiment into a fighting force able to do battle and survive in Afghanistan. Once they are trained, he leads them over the Khyber Pass to help his friend Batoor become a friend of the British and keep his homeland. When they defeat Ayub Khan, Windrush marches his troops back to India where he is awarded the Victoria Cross for a previous engagement. An interesting story, exciting battlw scenes, and a dollop of history.

Posted by: Zoltan at September 22, 2024 09:18 AM (bcrtw)

30 Welcome to the autumnal equinox and Hobbit Day. September 22 is both Bilbo's and Frodo's birthday and for some years this has been a day to celebrate the books. I don't do anything fancy but I did mark favorite scenes of LOTR to peruse today.

-Farmer Maggot
-Tom Bombadil
-"On Pipeweed" from the intro pages
-Merry and Pippen with Treebeard in Fangorn Forest
-The fight between Frodo and Gollum at the Cracks of Doom and the escape from the destruction.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:13 AM (yTvNw)


I never liked Tom Bombadil. Singing and prancing around like a New York faggot.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 09:18 AM (g8Ew8)

31 What do you call a group of rabbits backing up?

A receding hare line.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 22, 2024 09:18 AM (4XwPj)

32
What has struck me as I am ending my first reading of all three books of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy ...

Not first reading ever, but first reading since having view Peter Jackson's three films.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:19 AM (xG4kz)

33 A small team spearheaded much of the development. The CIA was heavily involved, working closely with the Air Force. The book tells the story of working between various US govt agencies and people to make it happen. As usual, innovation happens more with small teams moving quickly than large teams with powerpoint decks.

Posted by: TRex at September 22, 2024 09:15 AM (IQ6Gq)
---
This is a very interesting point. In Moonseed (see above), the crisis facing Earth is so dire that a small group of astronauts are given carte blanche to develop a method to return to the Moon in *FIVE WEEKS* using off-the-shelf technology. Normally, under NASA's sclerotic bureaucracy, it would take *years* to do that.

Amazing what innovation can happen when people are told to get out of the way.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 22, 2024 09:19 AM (BpYfr)

34 Just finished reading "Kalvan, Kingmaker" Book three of the Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen series. Lots of political intrigue and intelligence gathering and light on the battle aspect.

Still a good read. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. I have book 4 on the way. "Siege of Tarr Hostigos" Should be here on Tuesday.

Only bad thing about these newer books is the price. They only come in hardback and are a bit pricey.

Posted by: I'll choose a new nick later-Certified Dangerous Radical at September 22, 2024 09:19 AM (89Sog)

35 Danielle Steele had a very stately old mansion in Presidio Heights. It was well-known enough for me to know it.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 22, 2024 09:19 AM (RIvkX)

36 I have known of Katyn since early high school, but this did show it was a big operation housing 15,000 prisoners, moving them around for some time before shipping them to Goat Mountain near Smolensk. It wasn't some small group of the NKVD

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 09:19 AM (fwDg9)

37 Sorry, not a book, butt can we liaten to some Vivaldi to mark the occasion?

http://tiny.cc/ge4nzz

Posted by: tankdemon at September 22, 2024 09:20 AM (cwxI0)

38
I never liked Tom Bombadil. Singing and prancing around like a New York faggot.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons

That's "Kansas City faggot", thank you very much!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:20 AM (xG4kz)

39 Last week at the college library, I found a series titled "A History of the American Colonies," which is exactly what it sounds like. Thirteen volumes, one for each colony.

So far, I like it. Written in the 70s and early 80s, so maybe a bit heavy on the economic determinism, but it focuses on how people actually lived and what they did, rather than all the race class gender nonsense.

Posted by: Dr. T at September 22, 2024 09:20 AM (lHPJf)

40 Autumn makes me think of cooler weather and cooking. We have approximately 9,000 pounds of cookbooks and I've been perusing a few to get ideas for the coming months. One thing I've (re)discovered is apparently carbs are where all flavor comes from. (Sigh!) But it is still fun reading.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:22 AM (yTvNw)

41 Yay book thread! Still working my way through Ernst Junger's Storm of Steel. It's now the fall of 1917, and the author is noticing that German discipline is starting to show signs of weakness. By this he means troops not showing deference to officers or obeying orders behind the front. He remarks that in combat, such things were still taken seriously.

Another insight is that despite millions of men being engaged, battles still turn on handfuls of troops at the point of decision. As much as Hollywood wants to show us massive waves of infantry surging forward, not every battle was the first day of the Somme and Junger describes almost deserted landscape torn up by shellfire scattered squads skirmish until one side quits and falls back.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 09:22 AM (llXky)

42 >>> “Vladivostok is about as far from the main centers of power.”

British imperial perspective: With the Die Hards in Siberia by John Ward published 1920

American anti-imperial: America's Siberian Adventure 1918-1920 by General William Sidney Graves and Newton D. Baker published 1931

Posted by: 13times at September 22, 2024 09:23 AM (cKEzo)

43
Frankly, you could excise the Tom Bombadil portion of Tolkien's work and drop in the Tim Benzadrine (and Hashberry) section of "Bored of the Rings" without much loss of understanding, appreciation, or continuity.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:24 AM (xG4kz)

44 I've been reading a bio of Edward Wortley Montague, by a guy named Jonathan Curling. Since Montague's mom was the inveterate letter-writer Lady Mary Montague, the author has a lot of material to work from.

Montague was an 18th century English nobleman (one of _those_ Montagues, the same family as the Earls of Sandwich, of lunch food and Hawaiian Islands fame). His parents were possibly the most dysfunctional people ever, as they barely saw each other or him after his conception.

He was a wastrel and a cad (a bigamist, among other things) but also a genuine scholar of Middle Eastern languages and culture. His family basically bought him a seat in Parliament, which was useful as MPs couldn't be imprisoned for debt. Eventually he decided, screw this, moved to Egypt, converted to Islam, and grew a beard. I'm not sure which of those things were more scandalous to English society.

Interesting guy. Kind of that friend of yours from elementary school that your Mom didn't want you to associate with, but with money and a title and some genuine ability buried deep.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 09:25 AM (78a2H)

45 This week, alas, I report what I am NOT reading. On Horde recommendations, I bought The Count of Monte Cristo, and after trying several times I am still unfortunately bored rigid. I am reminded of Dorothy Parker's comments. (In poetry, at least, "fils" is pronounced as "fees.")

Although I read and do not cease
of Dumas Pere and Dumas Fils
I find I cannot make me care
for Dumas Fils and Dumas Pere.

I then turned for solace to one of my favorite cozy authors, Josephine Tey, and began "Miss Pym Disposes" and found I was bored again.

There must be recovery groups to help me through this.

Posted by: Wenda at September 22, 2024 09:25 AM (KATV8)

46 Is Danielle Steel her real name? I'm guessing no.

Posted by: dantesed at September 22, 2024 09:26 AM (Oy/m2)

47 While traveling last month I ran across six issues of OMNI, February-April of 1980 and 1981. I’ve currently read 1980.

It’s such a weird combination of science, tech, and the paranormal. Like science fiction, the optimism is sad to look at forty years later. “You can almost see the high tide mark, that point where the wave finally broke, and rolled back:”

A visit to six asteroids forms the basis of the multiple-asteroid-rendezvous mission, planned for late 1988. The spacecraft will stop to explore for two months at each of six asteroids: Medusa, Nyssa, Erigone, Masallia, Mimosa, and finally Protogenia in 1999. Completion of this mission will take us into the twenty-first century, when the first manned missions to the outermost planets will begin.

The first part of this was a real planned mission. There’s a press-time addendum at the end noting that this propulsion system for it was canceled.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 22, 2024 09:26 AM (EXyHK)

48 "If, however, Orcs are *not* all Evil and they are just wanting to find a homeland for themselves so that they can raise their Orcish broods free from the wicked influences of Elves and Men (from their point of view), then by what right do Men and Elves have to wage war against them? "

If they want to feed Hobbits to their orclets, who are we to criticize their culture?

Posted by: fd at September 22, 2024 09:26 AM (vFG9F)

49 The article about author offices was cool.
There were a couple messy enough that u could see myself in them

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 22, 2024 09:27 AM (OTdqV)

50 After my 'shameful' confession about cozies last week I got out some of the Chet and Bernie short stories on Kindle. Seriously fun reading. My favorite title is "A Cat Was Involved".

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:27 AM (yTvNw)

51 46 Is Danielle Steel her real name? I'm guessing no.
Posted by: dantesed

Looked her up. It is her real name

Posted by: Tuna at September 22, 2024 09:28 AM (oaGWv)

52 His family basically bought him a seat in Parliament, which was useful as MPs couldn't be imprisoned for debt.

Posted by: Trimegistus


Plus ca change, plus ce meme chose.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 09:29 AM (nGcjF)

53 finished a couple of books (that I'll admit to): Richard Rhode's The Making of the H Bomb, his doorstopper sequel to his doorstopper The Making of the A Bomb. The first third seemed to me to be a rehash of the Soviet stealing of the secrets and how they used them, along w/some comments about dealing w/Beria, who was technically illiterate and Stalin's overseer for the project. I suppose the Soviet development of the A bomb provided the motivation for the H bomb. It was surprising to me that the actual development of the H bomb went as quickly as it did; much faster than the Soviet, who (apparently) didn't have spies in place to speed them along.

The second was "The Amerasia Case, Prelude to McCarthyism". A story of a botched investigation and prosecution of at least one wannabe spy and a bunch of frustrated FSO's in China who could tell how our policies and ambassadors in China were incompetent but couldn't change anything. And, given the coverup by the government to hide both their diplomatic blunders (in fairness, I'm not sure there was ever a possible solution) and the incompetence of the prosecution, it's easy to have some sympathy for McCarthy's claims.

Posted by: yara at September 22, 2024 09:30 AM (s8LAW)

54 I never liked Tom Bombadil. Singing and prancing around like a New York faggot.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 09:18 AM (g8Ew
---
Tom Bombadil is like Gene Kelly - song and dance guy who is seriously into chicks. Goldberry is smokeshow.

Something I think a lot of people miss about Bombadil is that there's a certain amount of danger associated with him. The description of him holding the Ring to his eye, for example is comical but deeply alarming to Frodo.

Also recall that Goldberry has to repeatedly say "be not afraid," because he and Goldberry are angelic beings and the Bible teaches us that there's something unsettling about being in their presence.

If he were truly just a comic relief character, Tolkien would not have included those reassurances.

Also note the crucial foreshadowing of Frodo's dream.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 09:31 AM (llXky)

55 The same issue of OMNI also includes a “Continuum” note about a new development for shuttle astronauts:

Now under development is a backpack space-walking device… The backpack is currently receiving added attention because of serious problems with the space shuttle, much to the embarrassment of NASA. Concern has been raised that fragile, heat-resistant tiles, permitting a safe fiery shuttle reentry could be jarred loose or be damaged during blastoff from Earth.

I couldn’t find what happened to this, although I guess it doesn’t matter if no one bothers to notice the damage until after the shuttle burns on re-entry.

There was also a cartoon about gas prices, with a gas station having hired a maitre’d. Lines and prices will soon make access to gasoline a class distinction! This is February 1980, so probably out in December 1979—a month before Reagan became president and gas prices started returning to normal.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 22, 2024 09:31 AM (EXyHK)

56 Paine: Yeah, he was basically Hunter Biden without the laptop.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 09:31 AM (78a2H)

57 Excellent breakdown of the Bones of Heroic Fantasy. Like the Orcs, and the Enemy, the pathetic "writers" of the abomination ROP, they cannot create, they can only mock and corrupt.

Posted by: Brewingfrog at September 22, 2024 09:31 AM (ELeJm)

58 What's wrong with those pants? That's the tartan of the ancient clan McFag.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 09:31 AM (0eaVi)

59 Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel

Posted by: Tuna at September 22, 2024 09:33 AM (oaGWv)

60
Sorry, not a book, but can we liaten to some Vivaldi to mark the occasion?

http://tiny.cc/ge4nzz
Posted by: tankdemon

That's nice enough, but I prefer Haydn's offering from "The Seasons"

https://youtu.be/A5RZi4x-liM

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:33 AM (xG4kz)

61 We have approximately 9,000 pounds of cookbooks and I've been perusing a few to get ideas for the coming months. One thing I've (re)discovered is apparently carbs are where all flavor comes from. (Sigh!)
Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:22 AM (yTvNw)

I've spent the last four days devouring (SWIDT) Whole 30 guides and cookbooks. Starting that business today, in an attempt to cure chronic bursitis and other inflammatory conditions.

It's a stupid time to start, though, because TXMoMe is in less than 30 days, and 30 days after that is Thanksgiving, and 30 days after that is Christmas...I am going to have to start over three times to do it right. But I'm in a lot of pain, and I don't want to wait until January to start.

Maybe this is a First World Problem.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024 09:33 AM (OX9vb)

62 Last week I went back to the well of children's literature and read "Outlaw Red" by Jim Kjelgaard. It's a sequel to "Big Red" and "Irish Red," but is radically different from the stories that came before. "Big" and Irish" were both a-boy-and-his-dog stories, and were mostly told via single-chapter vignette. (Which made the books hard to finish, since every chapter gave a sense of closure, giving me the urge to put the book down and do something else.) By contrast, "Outlaw" is a dog-in-the-wild story, (there is a boy, but he is absent for 50 pages on end) and it follows the usual novel structure. This made it really easy to read, and I finished it in three days.

Plot-wise, the story follows Sean, an Irish Setter show-dog who lives in a kennel/dog-run on a rich guy's mountain-ranch. But, one day our hero is being moved around, and his dog-crate falls off the back of a truck, and he is lost in the wilderness, a hundred miles from home. He has a rough couple of days, but very quickly his hunting instincts kick in, and he becomes almost wolf-like. But he still years for human companionship, and the story does end with his triumphant return to civilization. Hooray...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 09:34 AM (Lhaco)

63 Some Moron mentioned Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard about young Churchill's adventures so I got it. It is good. One thing I did not know is that his mother was a goer perhaps before his father died and definitely after extending even to, perhaps, one of her husband's illegitimate sons. And this in the Victorian era.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 09:35 AM (L/fGl)

64 Ellen Datlow was fiction editor of OMNI and basically made it the clubhouse for the early Cyberpunk authors. There was a lot of good fiction in that magazine. I can only imagine what she thought of her publisher and the woo he insisted on including in the magazine.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 09:35 AM (78a2H)

65 I also read Jack Carr's latest, Red Sky Mourning. James Reece has help from Alice, a quantum computer, to defeat the Chinese and a traitorous American businessman. Many thrilling scenes as always, and as always when I finish one of Carr's books I'm asking myself how much of this technology and how many of these government programs really exist?

Posted by: Zoltan at September 22, 2024 09:36 AM (bcrtw)

66 Thanks for the Book Thread, Perfessor! It's a regular part of my weekend, even if I have to enjoy it during the "off hours."

Not reading right now because the giant Sudoku book was calling my name. A little change is good!

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at September 22, 2024 09:36 AM (CiNoz)

67 Frankly, you could excise the Tom Bombadil portion of Tolkien's work and drop in the Tim Benzadrine (and Hashberry) section of "Bored of the Rings" without much loss of understanding, appreciation, or continuity.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:24 AM (xG4kz)
---
Strongly disagree. Bombadil illustrates that there are other "powers" in Middle Earth and he's clearly defending the Shire.

Old Man Willow foreshadows the Ents, and the Barrow-Wights are wonderfully terrifying, and give us insight into the Witch King later on.

The Old Forest to Bree journey serves as a bridge, easing us into the deeper fantasy. Bombadil telling the stories of the Dunedain also later validate Strider and of course that's where the hobbits get their blades of Westernesse, one of which Merry puts to good use later on.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 09:36 AM (llXky)

68 @31 --

Thanks, Madame. I have a church friend with whom I share a joke each week. This one will be it.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 22, 2024 09:36 AM (p/isN)

69 27 ... " I am finishing up Tolkien's "The Return of the King" and I am at the critical juncture -- "Read the Appendices or do not read them?". I think that I will."

I hope you do read the appendices. After the battles and emotions of the books, they provide some background and insight in a relaxed manner.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 09:36 AM (yTvNw)

70 Anon: Yes, Jennie Churchill was definitely hot to trot. That gives a wonderful subtext to the scene in "Darkest Hour" when Churchill and the King are chatting about her. They are both thinking "she was banging your grandpa King Edward four times a week and twice on Sundays" but neither will say it aloud.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 09:37 AM (78a2H)

71 I think this may be on topic- please pray for 2 Baen non-woke authors recently diagnosed with cancer:

Andrew Howard Jones (terminal stage)
Jason Cordova (going thru treatment )

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 22, 2024 09:38 AM (Wx316)

72 gas station having hired a maitre’d.

-
Leno did a bit about being offered to sniff the cork of your gas before you bought it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 09:39 AM (L/fGl)

73 Some Moron mentioned Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard about young Churchill's adventures so I got it. It is good. One thing I did not know is that his mother was a goer perhaps before his father died and definitely after extending even to, perhaps, one of her husband's illegitimate sons. And this in the Victorian era.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

Churchill's father was also a player, and had syphilis, so she more or less had to go elsewhere.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 09:40 AM (nGcjF)

74 A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is a good cozy book.

Posted by: 13times at September 22, 2024 09:40 AM (60nWs)

75 Thanks, Madame. I have a church friend with whom I share a joke each week. This one will be it.
Posted by: Weak Geek

I dropped a few more at the end of the tech thread. Enjoy!

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 22, 2024 09:41 AM (4XwPj)

76 I did have one major complaint with "Outlaw Red," but it's a problem with me, rather than the book itself. The book has a villain, a dog-coyote half-breed that really enjoys killing livestock, (which our-dog hero gets blamed for). The problem lies in this villain being named 'Slasher.' Now, personally, when I read of a dog named Slasher, my mind immediately goes to "Beyond the Black River," a Conan the Barbarian story by Robert E Howard. There's a dog named 'Slasher' in that story, but that Slasher is frontier-dog who helps Conan and a friend fight off the evil Picts. (wipes tear from eye) Slasher is the goodest of good boys, and it hurts my soul to see his good name maligned as just some sheep-killing mongrel half-breed....

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 09:42 AM (Lhaco)

77
If they want to feed Hobbits to their orclets, who are we to criticize their culture?
Posted by: fd

They're eating the Coneys!
They're eating the Hobbits!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at September 22, 2024 09:43 AM (xG4kz)

78 Comparing Tolkien with Martin is illustrative in many ways, but the Tom Bombadil discussion demonstrates one of Tolkien's least appreciated gifts: efficiency. Nothing in Lord of the Rings goes to waste. What some people regard as a throwaway sequence has huge implications down the road.

When he throws in a plot twist, it is truly surprising, but then you can go back on the mandatory second (and third, and fourth, etc.) and say "of COURSE!"

This is why people who change it inevitably create problems down the road. I hate Peter Jackson's adaptation because every change he made undermined the story, and if you look at movies as their own stories (that is, you aren't penciling in what you know actually happend), they become incoherent.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 09:43 AM (llXky)

79 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at September 22, 2024 09:47 AM (Zz0t1)

80 Merry Sunday to you all.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at September 22, 2024 09:47 AM (Zz0t1)

81 Some Moron mentioned Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard about young Churchill's adventures so I got it. It is good. One thing I did not know is that his mother was a goer perhaps before his father died and definitely after extending even to, perhaps, one of her husband's illegitimate sons. And this in the Victorian era.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice!

Millard's "River of Doubt" about Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing exploration of an Amazon tributary is worth a read.

Posted by: Tuna at September 22, 2024 09:48 AM (oaGWv)

82 Leno did a bit about being offered to sniff the cork of your gas before you bought it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 09:39 AM (L/fGl)


Give me good old fashioned leaded of the 70's.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at September 22, 2024 09:48 AM (Zz0t1)

83 65...when I finish one of Carr's books I'm asking myself how much of this technology and how many of these government programs really exist?
Posted by: Zoltan at September 22, 2024 09:36 AM (bcrtw)

And how does Jack Carr know??

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024 09:48 AM (OX9vb)

84 A great October cozy read: A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.

Posted by: 13times at September 22, 2024 09:50 AM (60nWs)

85 I'm re-reading the Empire Series by Feist. It's a tough read for me but I enjoy it. I can recommend Roger Zelazny's stand alone Lord of Light. It should make you think of Correia's Black Sword series. I also recommend Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame and another set I enjoy is Dave Duncan's Swordsmen series.

For cozy, Robert Aspirin's Myth and Phule books are great fun.

Happy Sunday to all of you there from Cebu.

Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 09:50 AM (iZ1Vx)

86 Give me good old fashioned leaded of the 70's.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at September 22, 2024 09:48 AM (Zz0t1)
---
It seems to me that leaded gas had a much stronger smell. Gas stations reeked of it. Didn't smell the like unleaded.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 09:51 AM (llXky)

87 It seems to me that leaded gas had a much stronger smell. Gas stations reeked of it. Didn't smell the like unleaded.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 09:51 AM (llXky)


Now, they put so much stuff in it, it's not worth smelling.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at September 22, 2024 09:53 AM (Zz0t1)

88 The appearance of the cozy type might go back further than thought. Friday The Rabbi Slept Late, by Harry Kemelman, was first published in 1964. It won an Edgar in 1965 for Best First Mystery. It's a little slower read, and the clues are laid out maybe a little more subtly but it fits the genre. More like the Father Brown series than some of the others.

Posted by: Lirio100 at September 22, 2024 09:53 AM (I5U35)

89 Tad Williams, P.C. Hodgell, Robert Jordan, J.K. Rowling, Lloyd Alexander...pick any writer of epic fantasy that has stood the test of time
_______
That is a bizarre understanding of standing the test of time. What, a generation or so? Look at the way some writers' reputations decline or rise a century after their deaths. That test would never detect it. (Byron and Melville, respectively are examples. The contempt which lasted centuries, for medieval writers is another.)

Posted by: Eeyore at September 22, 2024 09:53 AM (1bNHn)

90 Regarding the Perfessor's Tolkien essays, that same Twitter-X rant from Devon Eriksen was read by The Critical Drinker on the Friday Night Tights podcast two weeks ago, and it was great. Drinker gave the latter parts of the rant with all the judgement and contempt that the original writer clearly felt. I think that segment was clipped into its own video, and it was very cathartic.

...And, in its own way, is the old Martin vs Tolkien 'Epic Rap Battles' video. There are few things better than hearing Tolkien call Martin a 'myopic manatee.'

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 09:54 AM (Lhaco)

91 Gas stations no longer reek because of vacuum recovery nozzles.

Posted by: 13times at September 22, 2024 09:55 AM (60nWs)

92 I *loved* How Much For Just the Planet. Read it a couple of times.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024 09:56 AM (s9EYN)

93 Millard's "River of Doubt" about Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing exploration of an Amazon tributary is worth a read.
Posted by: Tuna

Seconded; this is quite the tale. This expedition was what shortened his life.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 09:58 AM (nGcjF)

94 ...Any graphic depictions of sex or violence will be offscreen...

***********

This raises a philosophical question.

If a body falls in the forest and nobody is there does it make a "thud"?

Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 09:59 AM (991eG)

95 Wonderful book thread (as always). Thank you!

Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" mysteries might qualify as cozy mysteries. I miss having those on my nightstand.

Posted by: Oglebay at September 22, 2024 10:00 AM (ogTiX)

96 6 I finished the Master of Kung Fu Marvel Epic II trade collection, which covered issues #29-53. The art improved, especially after Marvel changed inkers, but the story didn't keep up.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 22, 2024 09:04 AM (p/isN)

I'm still working through Omnibus 1 of the same title. Up to issue 23, and it's still mostly bland, with occasional flashed of goodness. Having already read through volume 2 (issues 38-70) the story is best when the writer ditches the costume wierdos as villains and goes full-on kung-fu or spy-story. Alas, he didn't do that often enough, as I guess it just wasn't part of the Marvel culture back in the 70's. (except for those working on Conan.)

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 10:01 AM (Lhaco)

97 I'll submit the M*A*S*H paperbacks of the '70s as comedy cozies.

I loved those books, especially the later ones when all the characters in that world had been introduced and they began to interact.

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 22, 2024 10:02 AM (p/isN)

98 It seems to me that leaded gas had a much stronger smell. Gas stations reeked of it. Didn't smell the like unleaded.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd


My 1953 jeep uses tetrahedral lead additive, and it has a memorable pungence.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 10:02 AM (nGcjF)

99 ...And, in its own way, is the old Martin vs Tolkien 'Epic Rap Battles' video. There are few things better than hearing Tolkien call Martin a 'myopic manatee.'
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 09:54 AM (Lhaco)
---
Martin is sort of the epitome of the writer who gets high on his own supply but can't actually close the deal. I think a lot of writers (including film) have this idea of creating a complex story with a huge cast of characters, competing factions, intrigue and all this detail, sudden reversals of fortune but in the end, they just can't figure out how to bring it all together.

Fun fact: Martin was bitter critic of NuBattlestar Galactica's craptastic ending.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:02 AM (llXky)

100 *from memory*

Hop a hill
Pop a pill
Drop some mescalino
Stash the hash
We're gonna crash
Cuz here comes Tom Benzedrino!

I don't think it was Tolkien's intention exactly but the main reason Tom Bombadil is such an irritating figure is that he's more or less the perfect embodiment of the Watchmaker God or maybe Pre-Revolution French Aristocracy.

Along with all his prancing and singing, Bombadil wields tremendous power. He was there at the beginning. Middle-earth is more or less at least part of his making. He could end the quest even before it begins, buuuuuut-

there's gambling about to be done, and songs to be sung, so away with you now, your little fufaraw is none of my business. It's all in your hands. Ta-ta!

Posted by: naturalfake at September 22, 2024 10:02 AM (eDfFs)

101 Morning, Book Folken! The essays by our esteemed Perfessor above are very thoughtful. I still believe in heroes, at least in my fiction and the stuff I write. I did give one set of evil characters in one novel a redeeming quality, that they are fond of their children (only their own bloodline children, that is) because (a) they had once been men and (b) I couldn't imagine how to write about characters, even non-humans, with no redeeming qualities at all. (It's been a long time since I read LOTR, so I was not aware that orcs were devoid of such qualities.) The redeeming factors are not a part of how the story plays out, though. Dunno if that was a mistake or not.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:03 AM (omVj0)

102 "Do as thou willst shall be the whole of the law" was never a Boomer anthem.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 22, 2024 10:03 AM (MpVUb)

103 Anyway, this week, I was plowing through John D. MacDonald's nonfiction account of the 1966 trial of Dr. Carl Coppolino for the murder of his wife in 1965. It's a big tome and (for JDM) kind of slow, though quite clear on the various issues that come up.

Yesterday I happened by a new-to-me branch of the public library, though, and in their adult mystery section -- in which I expected to see noting published earlier than 2000 -- I found a John Dickson Carr. From 1935. And I had never read it! It's one of the Sir Henry Merrivales, The Red Widow Murders, featuring a room with the reputation that anyone who spends more than two hours in it will die. Classic Carr stuff!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:06 AM (omVj0)

104 The Poles have apparently decided that the Russians aren't going to fuck with them anymore. They are armed to the teeth.

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at September 22, 2024 10:07 AM (gfztU)

105 Along with all his prancing and singing, Bombadil wields tremendous power. He was there at the beginning. Middle-earth is more or less at least part of his making. He could end the quest even before it begins, buuuuuut-

Posted by: naturalfake at September 22, 2024 10:02 AM (eDfFs)
---
His power is very limited. He and Goldberry belong to the Dominion/Principality orders of angels (Melian was another one). They are tied to a specific place and serve as guardians. Just as Bilbo was "meant" to find the Ring, Bombadil was "meant" to guard the Shire when Arnor collapsed, so that Bilbo could even exist.

I mean, he's also deep into the woodland folklore as well. A forest spirit that be definition has to stay in the forest.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:08 AM (llXky)

106 It's one of the Sir Henry Merrivales, The Red Widow Murders, featuring a room with the reputation that anyone who spends more than two hours in it will die. Classic Carr stuff!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius


That is on my to be read pile.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 10:08 AM (nGcjF)

107 My favorite cozy reads were the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter by Susan Wittig Albert. Can't remember how I came across them but they are absolutely charming. It seems Miss Potter has a knack for solving mysteries that pop up in her Lake District home. All the animals in the story come with their own narratives and personalities. As I said they're just charming.

Posted by: Tuna at September 22, 2024 10:10 AM (oaGWv)

108 Poland and Ukraine both have been in and out of Russian domination over the centuries,

And think now am done with the Bolsheviks
Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 09:12 AM (fwDg9)

Skip, before the West created Ukraine after the fall of USSR, and that one year+ after the revolutions of 1917, when else in history was there a sovereign country called Ukraine ?

Posted by: runner at September 22, 2024 10:10 AM (V13WU)

109 Since I am re-reading this, one of my favorite books is "In the Footsteps of Sheep" by Debbie Zawinski. She lives in England but wants to travel to the Shetland Islands. There, she plans to camp, gather fleece, spin it into yarn and knit socks. There are a number of ancient sheep breeds on those islands, even some that eat seaweed.

It's an interesting ramble. I would have liked a bit more about the spinning part. The sock patterns are light on details too. The photos are great! It's just one of those crazy schemes that works out in the end.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 22, 2024 10:11 AM (MpVUb)

110 If they want to feed Hobbits to their orclets, who are we to criticize their culture?
Posted by: fd at September 22, 2024 09:26 AM (vFG9F)

If they feed Hobbits to their oclets, we condemn them. But if they feed Harfoots to them......Well, every critic I've watched has thought that the Harfoots were monstrously evil, so I think we could loose them without shedding a tear...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 10:11 AM (Lhaco)

111 67 ... "Strongly disagree. Bombadil illustrates that there are other "powers" in Middle Earth and he's clearly defending the Shire.

Old Man Willow foreshadows the Ents, and the Barrow-Wights are wonderfully terrifying, and give us insight into the Witch King later on.

The Old Forest to Bree journey serves as a bridge, easing us into the deeper fantasy. Bombadil telling the stories of the Dunedain also later validate Strider and of course that's where the hobbits get their blades of Westernesse, one of which Merry puts to good use later on."

A H Lloyd,
THANK YOU! I'm glad someone else sees the value Bombadil and the scenes he is in to the story. When I read LOTR the first time in junior high, I thought there was meaning in his inclusion even if I couldn't define it well. CR Wiley's "In the House of Tom Bombadil" does a great job of explaining why the character is so important to Tolkien and his Middle-Earth.

I was annoyed when the Hippies of the 60s and 70s identified with Bombadil because he was no la-di-dah hippie (and neither was I).

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 10:11 AM (yTvNw)

112 In the Stormlight Chronicles Brandon Sanderson seems to be doing "Not all orcs are evil" successfully. Then again, he's a much better writer than the Rangz vandals.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024 10:11 AM (s9EYN)

113 Cozies? Most of them fall into a very predictable pattern. The Perfessor mentioned most of them, but there are three others: The lead character/amateur detective is usually a woman who owns and/or runs a small business -- frequently a bookstore; and the story takes place in a small town somewhere in the US. And invariably there is a cat on the cover, whether there is a cat in the story or not (there usually is).

The humor in the ones I've read is not very funny, and their mystery effects are poor. The reader has no chance to figure out who the killer is -- red herrings abound, but there are few real clues, and the solution is no thunderbolt of even minor cleverness.

Of course, my standards for the true mystery are Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr, with Christie and a few others right behind.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:12 AM (omVj0)

114 There is a lot of "academic" sounding garbage trying to rewrite history to advance the Uke agenda. It exited for a long time. Most of it sponsored by the usual suspects. Does not mean it has to be read. On the other hand, there is precious little about see eye ays uke project, that goes back close to 80 years.

Posted by: runner at September 22, 2024 10:14 AM (V13WU)

115 Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" mysteries might qualify as cozy mysteries. I miss having those on my nightstand.

I saw Sue Grafton speak at an author event in Austin one time. She talked about the three categories of mystery stories: cozy (e.g. Miss Marple), police procedural (think Dragnet or CSI), and hard-boiled detective. She put Kinsey Milhone in the hard-boiled category. She (Kinsey) follows the tough leads, gets beat up, and finally runs the bad guy to ground.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024 10:14 AM (/y8xj)

116 I found a John Dickson Carr. From 1935. And I had never read it! It's one of the Sir Henry Merrivales, The Red Widow Murders, featuring a room with the reputation that anyone who spends more than two hours in it will die.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:06 AM (omVj0)

What a great find!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024 10:14 AM (OX9vb)

117 Perfesser, you're so psychic!
I planned to ask if we could have a discussion on what we read for comfort, distraction, or uplift in trying times.
(We'll take Scripture and LOTR as given.)

But as for "cozy", I have some series I go back to again and again:
Angela Thirkell's Barchester Chronicles, which concern various families living in the fictional county invented by Thackery. Characters appear and reappear throughout the books and they primarily deal with the ups and downs of daily life among the middle class and county families.
Thirkell is very witty (she was a cousin of Kipling) and the novels are well-written. She herself is represented by a successful popular novelist 'whose books are all exactly the same".
They were published between the early '30s to the late '50s and can be divided into Pre-War, War and Post-war
groups.
They are probably best read in order, but it's not necessary, as she catches you up on the characters as they appear.

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 10:15 AM (f+FmA)

118 I thought "Danielle Steele" was a pen name for a bunch of writers pumping out those novels. Like the "Frank Dixon" who wrote the Hardy Boys.

Posted by: Fozzy at September 22, 2024 10:15 AM (5JK/R)

119 Sounds like a crazy, unhinged lunatic with enough charisma to gain followers, but not enough to successfully stage his own revolution and seize power.

--------

Von Ungern-Sternberg was most definitely a lunatic, no question about it. But by that time, he had largely given up on the immediate goal of taking Russia back from the Bolsheviks.

His goal at this time - and it did seem at least possible - was to carve out an independent state composed of Outer Mongolia and Siberia, and make it wholly dedicated to martial pursuits. He made a great deal of progress toward that end, and many Mongols consider this oddball one of the founders of the modern Mongolian state.

His secondary goal was to build it in strength and ferocity and, perhaps after his own lifetime, then it would hurtle westward - but, Moscow and St. Petersburg were only to be milestones in that offensive.

The final millenarian vision was to topple not just Bolshevism but all modern forms government across the Eurasian landmass, and re-establish divine right monarchies, as he believed G-d and nature intended.

An interesting character, IOW.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 22, 2024 10:16 AM (0FoWg)

120 The highest praise I can give for the Lord of the Rings story is that I own no other book that I am so eager to re-read once my memories of it have receded enough for me to enjoy the experience.

More and more, that is the measure I use to say how good a book really is.

Posted by: Splunge at September 22, 2024 10:17 AM (hmKaK)

121 I saw Sue Grafton speak at an author event in Austin one time. She talked about the three categories of mystery stories: cozy (e.g. Miss Marple), police procedural (think Dragnet or CSI), and hard-boiled detective. She put Kinsey Milhone in the hard-boiled category. She (Kinsey) follows the tough leads, gets beat up, and finally runs the bad guy to ground.
Posted by: Oddbob

I suppose cozies aren't for me. When it comes to Agatha Christie, I really enjoy Poirot, but Miss Marple leaves me cold.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 10:18 AM (nGcjF)

122 There is a lot of "academic" sounding garbage trying to rewrite history to advance the Uke agenda. It exited for a long time. Most of it sponsored by the usual suspects. Does not mean it has to be read. On the other hand, there is precious little about see eye ays uke project, that goes back close to 80 years.
Posted by: runner at September 22, 2024 10:14 AM (V13WU)
---
The CIA business after WW II is being dug up by paranoid Russians who also don't want to admit the Germans kicked their ass in 1918 and they only got to claim the W because millions of US GIs were flooding into France.

Lots of efforts were made to undermine Soviet legitimacy and fanning the flames of nationalism seemed a good idea. Like most CIA ventures, it didn't work and now looks really stupid.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:19 AM (llXky)

123 I recently read "Our Lady of the Artilects" by Andrew Gillsmith, on the recommendation of one of you 'Rons, I think. And the sequel, "A Cloud of Unknowing."

Sentient artificial people, great power politics, religion, demons, and a serious dive into what consciousness is. I highly recommend both books.

Posted by: Sharkman at September 22, 2024 10:20 AM (QVLlY)

124 In MUME, the old forest has random exits that trap the player. You can get out, but the usual way is to "Call Tom" and be lead back to Tom's house and then out to Bree through the Barrow Downs.

...

His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha — and the — atman, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god. But then, he never claimed not to be a god. --Lord of Light

Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 10:20 AM (iZ1Vx)

125 The current madness is why I'm sticking to older works. It's one thing to see an author has bias, but the current crop will flat out lie.

See also, Antony Beevor.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:21 AM (llXky)

126 Dash My Lace Wigs,

Pick up Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan. It's Whole 30 compliant and she gives you an easy way to make meals. Some pretty tasty stuff too

Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 22, 2024 10:21 AM (MpVUb)

127 Cozy mysteries - been watching Murdoch Mysteries which is based on a mere 8 book series (the tv show is up to 16 or so seasons)
I looked up the author and apparently she published the first book (her first book) at age 58.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 22, 2024 10:21 AM (Wx316)

128 Most excellent essay, Prof Squirrel.

I would say the TLR version of your essay is:

"GRRRRRRR Martin is a hack, and his writing is depressingly antihuman."

Posted by: Sharkman at September 22, 2024 10:21 AM (QVLlY)

129 Good morning all.
Been spending a lot of time on X now that we are getting close to the election and it has cut into my reading time but have managed to start a couple.
I got a copy of Karin Slaughter's new Will Trent titled This Is Why We Lied. If you like Galbraith's Strike books you will love Will Trent. Even if you're a guy. It is pretty impossible to review this without spoilers and I highly recommend you start with the first book, Tryptych. They are all great mysteries with terrific characters which get more complex as the series progresses. I spend many nights drifting off to sleep trying to figure out whodunnit.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 22, 2024 10:23 AM (t/2Uw)

130 "Do as thou willst shall be the whole of the law" was never a Boomer anthem.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 22, 2024 10:03 AM (MpVUb)
---
"If it feels good, do it" definitely was, though.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:23 AM (llXky)

131 ZOD.

Posted by: ZOD at September 22, 2024 10:24 AM (P+D4R)

132 97 ... "I'll submit the M*A*S*H paperbacks of the '70s as comedy cozies."

When I commented about cozies last week I thought about including the MASH books but they fit the cozy idea. Totally silly, but cozy.

BTW, the first two books that followed the original MASH were "MASH Goes to Maine" and "MASH Mania", by Richard Hooker before Butterworth got involved. They are worth reading. Well written with plenty of silliness but there are seriously touching moments in the vignettes. I was lucky enough to find hardcover editions.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 10:25 AM (yTvNw)

133 Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" mysteries might qualify as cozy mysteries. I miss having those on my nightstand.
Posted by: Oglebay at September 22, 2024

***
If the definition of "cozy" can expand to include professional private detectives, sure.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:26 AM (omVj0)

134 The "historical existence" of Ukraine is a bogus argument. It doesn't matter if Ukraine existed in AD400, or even AD1919. What matters is that a country called Ukraine exists _right now_ and its people seem to want to keep it that way.

Just as the Lefties are inconsistent and hypocritical in their insistence on "defending Ukraine's territorial integrity" while urging Israel to "trade land for peace," some of my fellow conservatives fall into the opposite doublethink, and it's not a pleasant thing to behold. Just because Lefties hate Vladimir Putin (for the moment) doesn't make him a good guy.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 10:26 AM (78a2H)

135 His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha — and the — atman, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god. But then, he never claimed not to be a god. --Lord of Light
Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 10:20 AM (iZ1Vx)
---
One of the ways in which the Fallen Angels "fell" was by accepting worship. Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman. In Unfinished Tales (the ultimate bedside book), the essay on the Istari says that the Blue Wizards did this as well.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:26 AM (llXky)

136 CIA's own declassified documents speak volumes. Russians, paranoid or not, have the same access and perhaps more. I can just imagine what still classified information contains.

Posted by: runner at September 22, 2024 10:26 AM (V13WU)

137 *same access as anyone

Posted by: runner at September 22, 2024 10:27 AM (V13WU)

138 30 "Do as thou willst shall be the whole of the law" was never a Boomer anthem.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 22, 2024 10:03 AM (MpVUb)
---
"If it feels good, do it" definitely was, though.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:23 AM (llXky)

For some. Definitely not a majority. Most boomers have always had a strong sense of what's right and wrong.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:27 AM (g8Ew8)

139 Skip, before the West created Ukraine after the fall of USSR, and that one year+ after the revolutions of 1917, when else in history was there a sovereign country called Ukraine ?
Posted by: runner at September 22, 2024 10:10 AM (V13WU)

Kiev was a principality (or something similar) in pre-Mongol times. But the Mongols pretty much wiped them off the map, and the Dnipper basin was pretty much a de-populated no-man's-land (a wild-east frontier) during the Cossack age (1600's) with the Russians, Poles, and Muslim Tartars contesting the land. Eventually the Russians won out, and annexed the territory.

At least, that's my very incomplete understanding of the situation. Anyone else can feel free to chime in and correct me.

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 10:27 AM (Lhaco)

140 "Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives" by Alan Bullock.

Superb, thorough examination of the tandem ascents to power of both men. I've read a great deal of that period's history, and I haven't read as informative a treatment as this. Many studies of one or both dictators re-plow familiar, turned scholarship. Not this one.

Posted by: ZOD at September 22, 2024 10:28 AM (P+D4R)

141 I suppose cozies aren't for me. When it comes to Agatha Christie, I really enjoy Poirot, but Miss Marple leaves me cold.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024

***
Christie is not one of my favorites in the field, but she is a pretty good writer and a good plotter. In one of her later stories, she had me liking a particular vivid, crusty character. I was floored when that one turned out to be the killer. Fooling the reader -- fairly -- is part of what the game is all about.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:29 AM (omVj0)

142 CIA's own declassified documents speak volumes. Russians, paranoid or not, have the same access and perhaps more. I can just imagine what still classified information contains.
Posted by: runner at September 22, 2024 10:26 AM (V13WU)
---
The Russian revisionists are full of crap. Yes, CIA tried to undermine the Soviet Union. The KGB did the same, trying to ignite a race war in the US.

The one that really hacks me off (and too many people fall for) is the one that paints the US is the primary arms manufacturer during the Cold War. Um, no. Not even close.

Again, we no longer argue policy because we can't even agree on basic facts. Everything is a moral crusade and you're not just wrong but EVIL for disagreeing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:30 AM (llXky)

143 Are not Men and Elves then oppressors, seeking to impose their own way of life on the Orcs or eradicate them altogether? Isn't this a form of cultural and physical genocide?

The rehabilitation of the Orcs is a post-modern manipulation of cultural morality. Just as the progressive movement rehabilitates most terrorist groups as anti-colonial movements, so do the creators of "The Rings Of Power."

It is not just ignorance of Tolkein; it is a concerted effort to shift the paradigm away from clear distinctions of good and evil, hoping that its audience will infer that, for instance, the Palestinians are actually good folk, and Antifa burning down buildings and rioting is actually just a reasonable expression of their yearning to be free!

It is the justification of evil.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 22, 2024 10:30 AM (d9fT1)

144 The other book I started actually last week is Lee Child's book of short stories Safe Enough. I am usually not a fan of short stories but needed a "pool book". This is a book to read while relaxing after a swim and it needs to be light in weight to fit in my backpack.
The stories are very short, easy to get into, and have a twist at the end. There is a theme in that all involve a killer sometimes good and sometimes bad. It is very entertaining like watching a 30 minute tv show.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at September 22, 2024 10:31 AM (t/2Uw)

145 Pick up Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan. It's Whole 30 compliant and she gives you an easy way to make meals. Some pretty tasty stuff too
Posted by: Notsothoreau at September 22, 2024 10:21 AM (MpVUb)

I will, thanks. I'm not a great cook (baking is another story!) and not very creative, so that sounds helpful for me.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024 10:31 AM (OX9vb)

146 197 ... "My favorite cozy reads were the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter by Susan Wittig Albert. Can't remember how I came across them but they are absolutely charming. It seems Miss Potter has a knack for solving mysteries that pop up in her Lake District home. All the animals in the story come with their own narratives and personalities. As I said they're just charming."

Tuna,
So glad you mentioned these. I probably don't fit the image of the audience the publishers imagined: big, old, male and bearded. However, the books are delightful and charming. And Beatrix Potter was a fascinating and talented woman.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 10:32 AM (yTvNw)

147 Orc Lives Matter!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 10:32 AM (L/fGl)

148 Another favorite series:

The Lucia novels of E.F. Benson. There are five and were published in an omnibus volume in the late '80s called 'Make Way for Lucia'.
Again, the daily lives of people in a pre-WWII English village are the plots. The later three are focused on the struggle for social dominance between Lucia and her nemesis, Miss Mapp. Colorful characters, hilarious dialogue.

The BBC did a wonderful adaptation of this in the late '80s- really the best treatment of loved books I've ever seen. I don't recommend the latest version, though.

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 10:32 AM (f+FmA)

149 For cozy, Robert Aspirin's Myth and Phule books are great fun.

Happy Sunday to all of you there from Cebu.
Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 09:50 AM (iZ1Vx)

Yes they are, although Asprin was trying to make the Myth books into something more serious late in the series (which didn't work at all and I have no idea why he would even try that). Did he ever finish the Myth series?

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024 10:32 AM (s9EYN)

150 I like the bunnies.

Posted by: Eromero at September 22, 2024 10:32 AM (DXbAa)

151 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 10:33 AM (u82oZ)

152 Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 10:26 AM (78a2H)

What you say is true. The only question is what to do about it.

The continued independence of the post-Soviet Ukrainian state is of neutral value, AFAIC. I couldn't care less if it answers to Kiev or Moscow. Either is fine by me. Those corrupt Slavic pisspot dictators can sort it out however they see fit

But if maintaining its independence means another DC regime puppet state, generational war, and eventual military degringolade, then fuck it, let the Russians have it. The price is too high.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 22, 2024 10:33 AM (0FoWg)

153 I found a John Dickson Carr. From 1935. And I had never read it! It's one of the Sir Henry Merrivales, The Red Widow Murders, featuring a room with the reputation that anyone who spends more than two hours in it will die.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:06 AM (omVj0)

What a great find!
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024

***
Carr's Gideon Fell stories are easier to find; the Merrivales, which he began writing as "Carter Dickson" in the early Thirties, not so much. They are supposed to be the equal of the Fells in every way.

The local big library in the suburb to my west has a few of Carrs, in fact had one (The Mad Hatter Mystery) I had never read. They have three or four Ellery Queens, too. These are all the Mysterious Press reprints from a few years ago. But by far the stacks are stuffed with more modern writers, including those cozies with cats on the covers.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:33 AM (omVj0)

154 Posted by: Lirio100 at September 22, 2024 09:53 AM (I5U35)

I enjoyed that series, although I don't remember how far I got in it.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024 10:34 AM (s9EYN)

155 ZOD

Sounds like3 an incisive book. I need to add that to my TBR mountain.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 10:34 AM (u82oZ)

156 t is not just ignorance of Tolkein; it is a concerted effort to shift the paradigm away from clear distinctions of good and evil, hoping that its audience will infer that, for instance, the Palestinians are actually good folk, and Antifa burning down buildings and rioting is actually just a reasonable expression of their yearning to be free!

It is the justification of evil.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 22, 2024 10:30 AM (d9fT1)

Isn't this philosophy called "moral relativity"?

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:34 AM (g8Ew8)

157 For some. Definitely not a majority. Most boomers have always had a strong sense of what's right and wrong.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:27 AM (g8Ew
---
Oh, I think it was applied on a sliding scale. But look at the Boomer push for gay "liberation," abortion rights, no-fault divorce and treating their parents as bigots who should be warehoused rather than kept at home.

The Boomers began taking over the commanding heights of the culture in the 1990s, and we're seeing the result.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:35 AM (llXky)

158 Been a while since I read many of them, but I'd guess that Lawrence Block's Burglar books might fit into the cozy category too?

Always preferred Block's Matthew Scudder novels, though, and those aren't cozy.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 10:35 AM (q3u5l)

159 It is not just ignorance of Tolkein; it is a concerted effort to shift the paradigm away from clear distinctions of good and evil, hoping that its audience will infer that, for instance, the Palestinians are actually good folk, and Antifa burning down buildings and rioting is actually just a reasonable expression of their yearning to be free!

It is the justification of evil.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo


I fully agree, and would add that modern treatments serve another purpose as well; to destroy the original, just like the Taliban blowing up Buddhist statues.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 10:37 AM (nGcjF)

160 Been a while since I read many of them, but I'd guess that Lawrence Block's Burglar books might fit into the cozy category too?

Always preferred Block's Matthew Scudder novels, though, and those aren't cozy.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024

***
I think you are right on both counts. And the Bernie Rhodenbarr "Burglar" stories have actual laugh-out-loud humor too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:37 AM (omVj0)

161 This woman's discussion of her appearance on Oprah is rather literary.

https://is.gd/5PsnWM

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 10:38 AM (L/fGl)

162 But if maintaining its independence means another DC regime puppet state, generational war, and eventual military degringolade, then fuck it, let the Russians have it. The price is too high.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 22, 2024 10:33 AM (0FoWg)
---
I may have to dig out Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, because while he felt the US had reached "Imperial Overstretch" in 1987, we are definitely there today.

The US military as currently configurate simply cannot sustain combat operations in Ukraine against an all-in Russia. The logistics chain is too long and too fragile.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:39 AM (llXky)

163 ...leading to a dull, nihilistic, and ultimately destructive moral lesson for the reader: You can't win. You'll never be a hero. Don't even try.


This mindset starts at the publishers (and studios) and it comes down to the writers: this is what we pay for, so if you want your work to be seen, this is what you need to write.

Perfesser discusses this in fantasy - it is everywhere, and has completely destroyed the big house science fiction genre. The pulp masters for all of their schlock wrote stories that made Americans dream of the stars. Current big house authors have to get through sensitivity readers before writing stories that make you want to reach for the soma.

Posted by: Candidus at September 22, 2024 10:39 AM (Kgr5b)

164 Finished Unicorn Variation and Other Stories , a collection of short stories by Roger Zelazny. He talks about how the story was formed, for the information of our writers group.

The Hugo winning title story was because one editor wanted a story in a bar, another editor wanted a story on unicorns, and a third editor wanted a story on chess. Zelazny included all elements in one story and sold it 3 times.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 10:39 AM (u82oZ)

165 Perfesser discusses this in fantasy - it is everywhere, and has completely destroyed the big house science fiction genre. The pulp masters for all of their schlock wrote stories that made Americans dream of the stars. Current big house authors have to get through sensitivity readers before writing stories that make you want to reach for the soma.
Posted by: Candidus at September 22, 2024 10:39 AM (Kgr5b)
---
Or Evelyn Waugh. Black Mischief has never been more relevant. Grab yourself a copy while you still can.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:41 AM (llXky)

166 Good morning Perfessor and Hordemates.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 22, 2024 10:41 AM (W/lyH)

167 Posted by: Tuna at September 22, 2024 10:10 AM (oaGWv)

I just checked and the library has a few Ebooks of those, including a couple that were immediately available, so I will be reading those this week. Thank you.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024 10:42 AM (s9EYN)

168 I fully agree, and would add that modern treatments serve another purpose as well; to destroy the original, just like the Taliban blowing up Buddhist statues.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at September 22, 2024 10:37 AM (nGcjF)
---
There's also a lot of ego combined with laziness in the current generation of writers. Guys like Tolkien, Hemingway, Lewis, etc. all lived life. They were soldiers, scholars, adventurers and this informed their writing.

The current generation live online and ALL of their stories revolve around school lunch table politics.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:42 AM (llXky)

169 Oh, I think it was applied on a sliding scale. But look at the Boomer push for gay "liberation," abortion rights, no-fault divorce and treating their parents as bigots who should be warehoused rather than kept at home.

The Boomers began taking over the commanding heights of the culture in the 1990s, and we're seeing the result.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:35 AM (llXky)

Perhaps you should sub-categorize boomers that ruined the basic principles of right and wrong to northeast and west coast boomers. They're the ones that have disfigured the basic concepts of behavior.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:43 AM (g8Ew8)

170

degringolade

You made me increase my word power.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 22, 2024 10:43 AM (63Dwl)

171 Unicorn Variation and Other Stories also contained "Home is the Hangman", another Hugo winner. Interesting story on the consequences of AI on a robot.

Overall, a good collection of stories, although not as humorous as Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming by Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 10:45 AM (u82oZ)

172 It's not every day I agree with Tampon Timmy but . . .

Tim Walz says, "We can't afford four more years of this!" ... does he know who is in charge now?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 10:46 AM (L/fGl)

173
The current generation live online and ALL of their stories revolve around school lunch table politics.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024

***
I can't tell you how many fantasy stories I've started to read where the main action takes place in a tavern, or a tavern reappears over and over again -- as if all the writers knew of life outside their own homes centered on bars. Yes, Westerns have a lot of saloons, but the best of the genre have scenes in other economic centers like stage stations, hotels, mills or abandoned mills, blacksmith shops, gunsmiths, etc. Not to mention the great outdoors.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:46 AM (omVj0)

174 The US military as currently configurate simply cannot sustain combat operations in Ukraine against an all-in Russia. The logistics chain is too long and too fragile.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:39 AM (llXky)

The US military is too gay and diverse now. Doubt it could hold it's own even in third-world shithole wars.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:47 AM (g8Ew8)

175
Reading Herbert von Karajan - A Life, by Richard Osborne, a biography of the famed Austrian conductor.

Karajan rose from the second kappelmeister of a provincial German opera house to the "General Music Director of Europe" through a combination of enormous talent, hard work, ambition and steely determination. He was one of those people who thought every second of a working day should be put to productive use.

He joined the Nazi Party - apparently twice - but was no Nazi, as Karajan's first allegiance was to Karajan. He used people and institutions to get his way and when they were of no further use to him, dropped them without a second thought. He employed a huge army of minions to make demands and fire people.

He was not, for all that, a monster, megalomaniac or sadist. But his influence was eventually a baleful one. His recordings are perfection, but one that leaves the listener cold. Only, perhaps, in his last recording (of the Bruckner Seventh) does he reveal his pain and intimations of mortality.

My own objection to him was that he became fabulously wealthy working with orchestras and opera houses funded by the public. He tried to be a superhuman and failed.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 22, 2024 10:48 AM (BkEzK)

176 degringolade

You made me increase my word power.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 22, 2024

***
I've seen the word, but am not familiar with it. From its appearance I'd guess it to be a non-alcoholic orangeade or lemonade favored by Norteamericanos when in Mexico and sneered at by the natives!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:48 AM (omVj0)

177 I've just completed the Richard Jackson Saga. An alternate history story of a kid coming of age in the late '50's - early '60's. Fun, interesting twists, and inventive. Easy reading as well.
Author Ed Nelson should be a 'ron.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 22, 2024 10:49 AM (W/lyH)

178 Orc Lives Matter!

Crunch all you want. I'll make more.

Posted by: Morgoth at September 22, 2024 10:49 AM (/y8xj)

179 @149 --

Yes, Asprin (finally) finished the first 12 books of the Myth-Adventures, and then a writing partner of his produced at least six more. I've not read those. (For that matter, I haven't finished book 11. Asprin had writer's block; is there such a thing as reader's block?)

Posted by: Weak Geek at September 22, 2024 10:49 AM (p/isN)

180 Good morning Book Lovers and thank you, Perfessor, for this marvelous Book Thread. I really appreciate the analysis of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. I've always had trouble identifying why, although the writing is, in many ways, very good, reading the stories feel like they were polluting my mind, injuring my soul. It's been hard to articulate how it feels wrong.

Never enough time for reading lately. I'm still working my way through The World Is Too Small: The Life and Times of Mother Cabrini. I knew she was beloved by Italian immigrants in the US. I had no idea that the order she founded had schools, orphanages, and at least one hospital and served in Italy, the US, and South America. She was a very busy woman!

Posted by: KatieFloyd at September 22, 2024 10:50 AM (arJAs)

181 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:12 AM (omVj0)

There is a series of needlework cozies set in the yarn shop (Lambspun) that I used to visit regularly in Ft Collins, CO. The author, Maggie Sefton, was an accountant so her sleuth is as well. A background character has my name, although that may be incidental but my name isn't a common one.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024 10:50 AM (s9EYN)

182
The US military is too gay and diverse now. Doubt it could hold it's own even in third-world shithole wars.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:47 AM (g8Ew

The US military has always had the luxury of time to sort out its problems. We may not have that luck next time.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 22, 2024 10:51 AM (BkEzK)

183 "They view the ideology of Good v. Evil as self-limiting to the story they wish to tell, therefore they choose not to include it at all. In doing so, they remove the very fabric of morality within their own stories, leading to a dull, nihilistic, and ultimately destructive moral lesson for the reader."

Just looking at my own life experiences, there are mostly "good Christian families", but also, given the opportunity, many of these same people will lie, steal, deceive, harm. And those seem to be the richest, more influential families.

Definitely the physical fence is needed in many cases, but the "all evil" versus "all good" seems to lack the necessary nuance, at least in small communities. Or maybe I just failed to see the wolves in sheep's clothing people (and their lawyers) really were/are "all evil".

I suppose in story telling though, a book has to express more basic ideas, without muddying the point with a lot of "moral grayness". We could certainly use more George Baileys, fewer Mr. Potters.

Posted by: illiniwek at September 22, 2024 10:51 AM (Cus5s)

184 Reading Herbert von Karajan - A Life, by Richard Osborne, a biography of the famed Austrian conductor.

-
Should've entitled it Karajan My Wayward Son.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 10:51 AM (L/fGl)

185 176 degringolade

You made me increase my word power.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 22, 2024
------------------------------------------

gasconade

Posted by: Braenyard at September 22, 2024 10:52 AM (fWHsP)

186 Excellent essay, Perfessor, and I'm not trying to blow sunshine. It is personally helpful for getting me out of a writing block, but on a larger scale, it demonstrates why we are drawn to stories with a clear delineation of good and evil- morally grey is confusing and unsettling- an emotional uncanny valley. Our brains and hearts were not designed to embrace that!

Posted by: Moki at September 22, 2024 10:54 AM (wLjpr)

187 There is a series of needlework cozies set in the yarn shop (Lambspun) that I used to visit regularly in Ft Collins, CO. The author, Maggie Sefton, was an accountant so her sleuth is as well. A background character has my name, although that may be incidental but my name isn't a common one.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024

***
That's a variation on the "amateur sleuthette owns a bookstore" trope, for sure.

Another thing I've noted about many cozies is that the lead character and the author have nearly identical backgrounds. There was one I heard about where the lead/detective is a caterer . . . and guess what, kids, the author had been one too! Sure, they tell you to write what you know (though Dean Koontz amplified on that to add, "or what you are prepared to learn about"). But an author should stretch a bit. How many classic mystery authors had been cops? How many SF authors had ever gone to space?

There's a thing called imagination and another called research.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:54 AM (omVj0)

188 Perhaps you should sub-categorize boomers that ruined the basic principles of right and wrong to northeast and west coast boomers. They're the ones that have disfigured the basic concepts of behavior.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:43 AM (g8Ew
---
The problem was that even the "conservative" ones were very much fine with it. "Live and let live," was their motto and you had guys like P.J. O'Rourke celebrating "Republican Party Reptiles" who wanted guns, low taxes, drugs and the ability to dump the old hag and marry someone younger and hotter. Rush Limbaugh had how many wives?

Conservative Boomers wanted it both ways: they would preserve some things, but were fine with other things (like sexual morality) going away. They're the ones who invented "this isn't the hill to die on," and declared social issues inferior to economic ones.

So yes, there are conservative Boomers (I know quite a few and hang out with them), but they're kind of dazed and confused by what happened and don't see the chain of causation the way Gen Xers do.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:55 AM (llXky)

189 degringolade
You made me increase my word power.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 22, 2024 10:43 AM (63Dwl)

I've had this on a sticky note on my office computer since the first time I saw it--also in a post by YD a couple of years ago. I've not had a chance to use it in conversation ever, but it's such a great word that it delights me just to see it.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! Catz for Trump! at September 22, 2024 10:55 AM (OX9vb)

190 Also read The Crisis of the Naval War by John Rushworth Jellicoe, (1st Earl Jellicoe).

It is a tale of how the Royal Navy Admiralty responded to unrestricted submarine warfare by Imperial Germany in 1917. Lots of statistics, but did not include 1918, as he was fired from the First Sea Lord position late in 1917.

Of interest only to navalists.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 10:55 AM (u82oZ)

191 @179 Jody Lynn Nye wrote 7 Myth books, and Baen published a collection of Asprin's shorter works, mostly set in the Myth environment, called Myth Interpretations.

Posted by: Nazdar at September 22, 2024 10:55 AM (9XWKq)

192 degringolade

You made me increase my word power.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 22, 2024
------------------------------------------

gasconade
Posted by: Braenyard at September 22, 2024 10:52 AM (fWHsP)

Never forget "cromulent ".

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:56 AM (g8Ew8)

193 Haven't read much of note this week, mostly because I've been bombing through "Star Wars: The Clone Wars". It's made me realize that I'm not tired of Star Wars, I'm tired of BAD Star Wars. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It dates from before the Dark Times; before the Woke plague was firmly entrenched. It's even cast a gleam on the prequels, which now at least seem like part of the fabric of the mythos, unlike the sequels.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 10:56 AM (kpS4V)

194 113 ... Wolfus,
I agree with you about the mystery aspects of cozies but that's not why I enjoy some of them. I prefer the ones with decent writing (not concerned with profound depths), fun characters and humorous situations. Any mystery aspect is sort of secondary which is why I don't get exasperated by the way they are handled.

If in the mood for a mystery story I pull out Ellery Queen or Nero Wolfe books.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 10:56 AM (yTvNw)

195 If anyone wants to tackle a certain literary Augean Stables, SFWA needs a new President.

Word of caution; whomever gets the job will have to deal with SJW Karens and a possible ADA violation lawsuit.

Ergo, here be dragons.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 22, 2024 10:56 AM (7rldP)

196 In Lord of Light, the tech overlords have set themselves up as gods by keeping technology from the poors. Sam's quest in the book is to bring down these false gods and return technology back down to the world.

I really enjoyed it, maybe more than Amber.

In MUME, you can become an immortal builder by crossing at Grey Havens and taking the Istari quest.

If you have some interest, you can read about the MUME here: mume.org. It's a text based, mmo, a MUD, that works hard to be as true to Tolkien as possible. It certainly isn't always, but exploring Middle Earth this way was enjoyable for me in the mid 90s. What I left the game with was how much one learns when acting on the lesson material.

Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 10:56 AM (iZ1Vx)

197 The US military is too gay and diverse now. Doubt it could hold it's own even in third-world shithole wars.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 10:47 AM (g8Ew
---
I hate to break it to you, but we did in fact lose two wars in the shithole third world. The Boomers lost only one, but that's because their commanders were Silent Generation.

We lost two because our generals were Boomers, who had to outdo their parents in everything bad.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:58 AM (llXky)

198 Would Ffahred and his buddy the Gray Mouser be considered 'cozy' stories?

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 22, 2024 10:58 AM (7rldP)

199 In about a week, the next novel in C.J. Cherryh's Hinder Stars segment of the Union-Alliance series is coming out and I am very jazzed.

I'm cherishing the novels because I think she's been rather ill in the last few years.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 10:58 AM (kpS4V)

200 I can't tell you how many fantasy stories I've started to read where the main action takes place in a tavern, or a tavern reappears over and over again -- as if all the writers knew of life outside their own homes centered on bars. Yes, Westerns have a lot of saloons, but the best of the genre have scenes in other economic centers like stage stations, hotels, mills or abandoned mills, blacksmith shops, gunsmiths, etc. Not to mention the great outdoors.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 10:46 AM (omVj0)

That could be blamed on a writer's first exposure to fantasy being from D&D or video games, where a tavern is a home base/starting point/place where you get missions.

It could also be that taverns are an easy thing to conceptualize, a place where folks gather to eat/drink, and it seems to fit into all times and settings. If an author doesn't have characters gather in a tavern, the author has to figure out where the characters should meet. And that means thinking about the setting and world-building, which seems to very hard to do. Particularly the non-story elements of world-building, like how the characters live day-to day...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 10:58 AM (Lhaco)

201 From OED

How common is the noun dégringolade?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:00 AM (991eG)

202 We lost two because our generals were Boomers, who had to outdo their parents in everything bad.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 10:58 AM (llXky)

Oh good grief.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 11:00 AM (g8Ew8)

203 There is a series of needlework cozies set in the yarn shop (Lambspun) that I used to visit regularly in Ft Collins, CO. The author, Maggie Sefton, was an accountant so her sleuth is as well. A background character has my name, although that may be incidental but my name isn't a common one.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at September 22, 2024 10:50 AM (s9EYN)

I.....may have to buy one or two of those books for my Mom. She knits, she's read mystery books in the past, and she lives in Fort Collins. Small world...

Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024 11:00 AM (Lhaco)

204
gasconade
Posted by: Braenyard at September 22, 2024 10:52 AM (fWHsP)
____________

Palimpsest

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 22, 2024 11:00 AM (BkEzK)

205 That's

...0.01 occurrences per million words

Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:01 AM (991eG)

206 Currently reading Grant, by Ronald Chernow.

Extremely illuminating and engaging! I learned a lot.

"The definitive biography, Grant is a grand synthesis of painstaking research and literary brilliance that makes sense of all sides of Grant's life, explaining how this simple Midwesterner could at once be so ordinary and so extraordinary." Amazon

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 11:01 AM (u82oZ)

207 @191 - Miscounted: Jody Lynn Nye wrote 10 Myth books; I have 8 of them.

Posted by: Nazdar at September 22, 2024 11:01 AM (9XWKq)

208 "They view the ideology of Good v. Evil as self-limiting to the story they wish to tell, therefore they choose not to include it at all. In doing so, they remove the very fabric of morality within their own stories, leading to a dull, nihilistic, and ultimately destructive moral lesson for the reader."

-
I think that when Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and offered it to Adam so that they could become like gods it is like our progressive institutions, particularly churches, ignoring the icky parts of the Book of Leviticus and other such unfortunate parts of the Bible to create their own Edens. I do believe that there is a bright line between good and evil but the human mind can't comprehend it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 11:02 AM (L/fGl)

209 Would Ffahred and his buddy the Gray Mouser be considered 'cozy' stories?
Posted by: Anna Puma at September 22, 2024

***
Good question. There is certainly an optimism, as I recall, to them -- not the dark brooding quality of so much fiction today. Much as I love Fred Saberhagen's Empire of the East, for example, that one does expose us to some human and demonic nastiness. Yet Fahfrd and the Mouser seem to enjoy their lives and adventures.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:03 AM (omVj0)

210 Muldoon

Can you write a limerick with that noun?

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 22, 2024 11:04 AM (7rldP)

211 why is it a tea "cozy", but a beer "koozie"?

Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:04 AM (991eG)

212 198 Would Ffahred and his buddy the Gray Mouser be considered 'cozy' stories?
Posted by: Anna Puma at September 22, 2024 10:58 AM (7rldP)
---

LOL, Anna, I think there's a case to be made. It's a buddy cop-in-chain-mail series set in a closed environment with a cast of eccentric characters, like an Agatha Christie mystery but with talking skeletons and rat princesses, and set in cutthroat alleys, ships, and pubs, not country manors or trains.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:04 AM (kpS4V)

213 Excellent essay, Perfessor, and I'm not trying to blow sunshine. It is personally helpful for getting me out of a writing block, but on a larger scale, it demonstrates why we are drawn to stories with a clear delineation of good and evil- morally grey is confusing and unsettling- an emotional uncanny valley. Our brains and hearts were not designed to embrace that!
Posted by: Moki at September 22, 2024 10:54 AM (wLjpr)
---
The thing is, you can have flawed characters that are still good. In fact, I think those are the most interesting to read (and the most fun to write).

I mean, if you don't have someone sin, they can't repent. Since Star Wars came up, the transformation of Han Solo from a total mercenary to a leader will to fight for the Alliance is a classic example of this.

I think what people miss is your flawed guy can still do heroic things and rise above his past and circumstances.

The difference today is that the writers have such fragile egos, they either can't or won't imagine it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:05 AM (llXky)

214 Can you write a limerick with that noun?
Posted by: Anna Puma

*******

What do I look like, a trained monkey?

Never mind. Don't answer that.

😊

Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:05 AM (991eG)

215
God to Adam and Eve: "I'm giving you Eden, but don't eat any apples." They screwed up.

God to the Israelites: "I'm giving you these codes and Law to follow." They screwed up.

God to the Christians: "I'm giving you my Beloved Son to take away your sins." We're screwing up.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 22, 2024 11:06 AM (BkEzK)

216 dégringolade
----

Is this a roux, a glaze, or a gun emplacement?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:06 AM (kpS4V)

217 Excellent essay, Perfessor, and I'm not trying to blow sunshine. It is personally helpful for getting me out of a writing block, but on a larger scale, it demonstrates why we are drawn to stories with a clear delineation of good and evil- morally grey is confusing and unsettling- an emotional uncanny valley. Our brains and hearts were not designed to embrace that!
Posted by: Moki at September 22, 2024 10:54 AM (wLjpr)

Agree, that's why I write the way I do. Have the same funk at the moment. Not writer's block - as I don't think it exists - but not sure of which direction to go, so I'm looking at some of my older works and considering rewriting them to sell.

By the way, you can still vote for my story, The Waystation Incident on Frontier Tales website.

https://tinyurl.com/3d3vfp7m

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:07 AM (0eaVi)

218 Yikes. Thank you Pixy.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 11:08 AM (u82oZ)

219 If an author doesn't have characters gather in a tavern, the author has to figure out where the characters should meet. And that means thinking about the setting and world-building, which seems to very hard to do. Particularly the non-story elements of world-building, like how the characters live day-to day...
Posted by: Castle Guy at September 22, 2024

***
When I was building a city for a fantasy novel, I found a book on daily life in ancient Rome. It took the angle that, if you were to be transported back to 100 AD in Rome, what would you see and hear (and even smell) in day-to-day life. It helped enormously and allowed me to come up with variations on apartment buildings, the boys who gathered urine from the local latrines to sell to merchants for the ammonia they would use to clean clothing, and more.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:09 AM (omVj0)

220 195 If anyone wants to tackle a certain literary Augean Stables, SFWA needs a new President.

Word of caution; whomever gets the job will have to deal with SJW Karens and a possible ADA violation lawsuit.

Ergo, here be dragons.
Posted by: Anna Puma at September 22, 2024 10:56 AM (7rldP)

I nominate Sarah Hoyt.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at September 22, 2024 11:10 AM (PiwSw)

221 I liked Genndy Tartakovsky's 5 minute short Clone Wars series which appeared on the Cartoon Network in the early 2Ks. He also did Samurai Jack, who was sometimes a mostly naked man, and Dial M for Monkey which appeared in Dexter's Laboratory and also created by Tartakovsky.

I realized just after I posted that I spelled Asprin's name incorrectly.

Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 11:11 AM (iZ1Vx)

222 OE- I voted.
Where's my sticker?

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 11:11 AM (f+FmA)

223 Oh good grief.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 11:00 AM (g8Ew
---
Has any Boomer general resigned in protest over anything? Did any of them dig in on women in combat units, "don't ask don't tell" or the trannies?

The one guy who spoke up about Afghanistan and was forced out was Gen X and they were the ones who quit rather than take the jab because no one in the chain dared stand up and say: "These orders are illegal. They violate DoD rules, the Constitution and established medical practice."? Nope.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:11 AM (llXky)

224 "Perfessor" Squirrel

The analysis of The Song of Ice and Fire finally explains to me why I hated those books. Thank you.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 22, 2024 11:11 AM (u82oZ)

225 When I was building a city for a fantasy novel, I found a book on daily life in ancient Rome. It took the angle that, if you were to be transported back to 100 AD in Rome, what would you see and hear (and even smell) in day-to-day life. It helped enormously and allowed me to come up with variations on apartment buildings, the boys who gathered urine from the local latrines to sell to merchants for the ammonia they would use to clean clothing, and more.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:09 AM (omVj0)
---
Colleen McCullough's Rome series has that granular kind of detail. I liked First Man in Rome, but the minutae became too much and I quit after The Grass Crown.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:12 AM (llXky)

226 That's

...0.01 occurrences per million words
Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:01 AM (991eG)

Sounds like a few posters here. One in a million... or so.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:14 AM (0eaVi)

227 In a tavern, in a canyon
Serving beer 'til closing time
Drank a boomer, twenty-niner
And his daughter, Clementine

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 11:15 AM (L/fGl)

228 why is it a tea "cozy", but a beer "koozie"?
Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:04 AM (991eG)

Slurring?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:16 AM (0eaVi)

229 I see there is a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser omnibus; I must get this from the library. I'm sure I've missed stories because I mostly stumbled across them in fantasy short story collections.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:17 AM (kpS4V)

230 I have never read Tolkien.
Not a fan of space fiction either. Although I liked the first 6 Star Wars movies (first trilogy and prequels) I've never seen any of the others.
I like Harry Potter books and movies also.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 22, 2024 11:18 AM (4XwPj)

231 One thing about the tavern story is that the setting brings together people who might never meet anywhere else -- useful for getting a story started.

And sure, you could probably count Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser in the cozy column.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 11:18 AM (q3u5l)

232 Only reason I'd say Fafhrd and Mouser don't qualify as "cozy" is that there's a fair amount of on-screen violence, and (in the later books) some rather kinky sex as well.

Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 11:20 AM (78a2H)

233 Thank you for such an excellent book thread. And especially the cozy book recommendations. I am also a fan. I immediately checked them out, and purchased several of the first books in the series.

I recommend the Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters. You won’t be disappointed. They are set in the first half of the Twelfth century at Shrewsbury Abbey during the Anarchy period.

Posted by: Menagerie at September 22, 2024 11:20 AM (n/MLA)

234 I nominate Sarah Hoyt.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at September 22, 2024 11:10 AM (PiwSw)

I was thinking of saying that. Pretty sure she wouldn't want the job. Even though I'm not a member, maybe it should be destroyed and a new one be formed.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:20 AM (0eaVi)

235 This discussion reminds me of a post I wrote a while ago: The God of the Two-car Garage."

https://tinyurl.com/2p8x8npj

Though he was something of a one-note obnoxious hack, Hunter S. Thompson was somewhat obsessed with what he considered the excesses of consumer culture. He was a War Baby, so maybe that gave him an outsider's perspective.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:22 AM (llXky)

236 Colleen McCullough's Rome series has that granular kind of detail. I liked First Man in Rome, but the minutae became too much and I quit after The Grass Crown.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:12 AM (llXky

There's a fine line between setting the scene and just showing off your research.
Over the last several decades there has been a trend towards counting every rat in the street and every black tooth in a character's head to stress that old times were "Bad. Very Bad".

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 11:22 AM (f+FmA)

237 Has any Boomer general resigned in protest over anything? Did any of them dig in on women in combat units, "don't ask don't tell" or the trannies?

The one guy who spoke up about Afghanistan and was forced out was Gen X and they were the ones who quit rather than take the jab because no one in the chain dared stand up and say: "These orders are illegal. They violate DoD rules, the Constitution and established medical practice."? Nope.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:11 AM (llXky)

Most of the boomer brass has retired or been purged. Most of the trouble started during Vietnam when the civilian politicians decided to take over the military. Blame the dem party for a substandard military, not the generations who served.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (g8Ew8)

238 Only reason I'd say Fafhrd and Mouser don't qualify as "cozy" is that there's a fair amount of on-screen violence, and (in the later books) some rather kinky sex as well.
Posted by: Trimegistus at September 22, 2024 11:20 AM (78a2H)
---

But see, to a barbarian those are as cozy and familiar as a cup of tea and a pussycat.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (kpS4V)

239
How common is the noun dégringolade?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English
Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024

***
Perhaps this could be a topic for a future Book Thread. When it is it a good idea to use a less-common word, in fiction, say, when there is a common English version available that most of your readers will get? It never hurts to increase a reader's word power, but is there a line you don't want to cross?

One of my former writing group's members, the annoying one who thought he knew it all, objected to my use of "repair" (as in "I repaired to the kitchen to start dinner"), meaning "to go to a specific place for a specific purpose." He thought it meant "return." So I was using it in its precise meaning instead of writing "I headed into the kitchen to start dinner." Where do we draw the line as to when to use an familiar word or not?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (omVj0)

240 I have never read Tolkien.
Posted by: Madamemayhem

***********

Blasphemer!!

Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (991eG)

241 Not much to say, as for reading. Finishing up Kevin Williamson's "That Was Then, This is Now". Not getting so much out of it as the first book in the series. The last 90% are kind of dragging.
For the WIP (which is a YA-Teen/Tween adventure about the California trail in 1846) re-reading George R. Stewart's account of the Donner party. The WIP is not about the Donner party, though - but another wagon company on the trail and well-ahead of them. The viewpoint character is a friend of Virginia Reed and concerned about her, now and again.
I should have the initial draft done in another week or so, and am looking for volunteers to beta read. If interested, email me at clyahayes-at-gee-mail-dot-com.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at September 22, 2024 11:24 AM (Ew3fm)

242 Most of the boomer brass has retired or been purged. Most of the trouble started during Vietnam when the civilian politicians decided to take over the military. Blame the dem party for a substandard military, not the generations who served.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (g8Ew
---
The GOP fund-raised off of it but did nothing to stop it. Not the right hill to die on. Lots of those hills.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:24 AM (llXky)

243 OE- I voted.
Where's my sticker?
Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 11:11 AM (f+FmA)

Thanks for voting!


They're stuck on a container ship that ran aground on that plastic garbage island in the Pacific..

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:24 AM (0eaVi)

244 Colleen McCullough's Rome series has that granular kind of detail. I liked First Man in Rome, but the minutae became too much and I quit after The Grass Crown.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024

***
Same here. In my case I don't think I went down to the cellular level, so to speak.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:25 AM (omVj0)

245 I think space is a fun setting for stories, but hard science fiction when it's just technology speculation leaves me dry.

Firefly was an enjoyable space western. I have recently discovered that I can watch Cowboy Bebop animation in original Japanese with English subtitles. When it's English dubbed, I can't watch it at all.

I think what is over the top emotional to a Japanese must be barely anything to an American, so the dubbing goes so over the top I can't stand it.

Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 11:26 AM (iZ1Vx)

246 One of my former writing group's members, the annoying one who thought he knew it all, objected to my use of "repair" (as in "I repaired to the kitchen to start dinner"), meaning "to go to a specific place for a specific purpose." He thought it meant "return." So I was using it in its precise meaning instead of writing "I headed into the kitchen to start dinner." Where do we draw the line as to when to use an familiar word or not?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (omVj0)

That's a very cromulent question.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at September 22, 2024 11:26 AM (g8Ew8)

247 I recommend the Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters.

Now that you mention it, the Cadfael stories combine elements of all three categories. A cozy for the abbey setting and incidental characters, a procedural for Cadfael's pharmacology, and a hard-boiled when Cadfael goes hands-on with the bad guys (toned down in the TV series).

Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024 11:26 AM (/y8xj)

248 Cozy mysteries - been watching Murdoch Mysteries which is based on a mere 8 book series (the tv show is up to 16 or so seasons)
=====

Midsomer Murders

Posted by: mustbequantum at September 22, 2024 11:27 AM (RxnYx)

249 Same here. In my case I don't think I went down to the cellular level, so to speak.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:25 AM (omVj0)
---
Her painstakingly detailed account of troop movements during the Social War was so tedious that even I had to tap out. When you make me quit Roman military history...

She really needed a better editor.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:28 AM (llXky)

250 I have never read Tolkien.
Not a fan of space fiction either. Although I liked the first 6 Star Wars movies (first trilogy and prequels) I've never seen any of the others.
I like Harry Potter books and movies also.
Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at September 22, 2024 11:18 AM (4XwPj)

I wonder how many denizens of the Book Thread have read no Tolkien or watched any Star Wars incarnations? Besides me, that is.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:28 AM (0eaVi)

251 Firefly was an enjoyable space western. I have recently discovered that I can watch Cowboy Bebop animation in original Japanese with English subtitles. When it's English dubbed, I can't watch it at all.

I think what is over the top emotional to a Japanese must be barely anything to an American, so the dubbing goes so over the top I can't stand it.
Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 11:26 AM (iZ1Vx)
---
I have both shows on DVD. Love them. A friend of mine is collecting all the firearms used by major characters on Cowboy Bebop. It's rare for animated work to be so detailed.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:29 AM (llXky)

252 I have never read Tolkien.
Posted by: Madamemayhem

But my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and my daddy died young
Workin' through the whole tome.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 11:30 AM (L/fGl)

253 Firefly was an enjoyable space western.

-
Head 'em off at the nebula!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 11:32 AM (L/fGl)

254 One of my former writing group's members, the annoying one who thought he knew it all, objected to my use of "repair" (as in "I repaired to the kitchen to start dinner"), meaning "to go to a specific place for a specific purpose." He thought it meant "return." So I was using it in its precise meaning instead of writing "I headed into the kitchen to start dinner." Where do we draw the line as to when to use an familiar word or not?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (omVj0)

Depends on how obscure the word is, maybe? If it's not in general use, you don't want someone to feel they have to stop and look up the word and get them out of the story.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:32 AM (0eaVi)

255 I finished LOTR, but it took 50 years.
I understand the purists' hate on Jackson, but
knowing that there would be exciting and interesting events, once they got past walking and walking and walking gave me the impetus to finally power through them.
And I enjoyed that the reading filled in the gaps.

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (f+FmA)

256 I read Tolkien back in '73 or '74, Hobbit first and then the trilogy. And I have only seen the first three Star Wars films when they were new. People say so many good things about Tolkien's trilogy that I know I need to read it again.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (omVj0)

257 Read Tolkien in high school (the unauthorized Ace editions), when a lot of it almost certainly went right by me. The frequent mentions here are almost enough to make me want to revisit, but not quite yet.

Star Wars -- saw the first 3 movies in the theaters, and nearly fell asleep during Return of the Jedi. Didn't bother with any of the later flicks or tv series, and haven't watched the originals in years.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (q3u5l)

258 I have never read Tolkien.
Posted by: Madamemayhem
=====

Me neither.

Posted by: mustbequantum at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (RxnYx)

259 I wonder how many denizens of the Book Thread have read no Tolkien or watched any Star Wars incarnations? Besides me, that is.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:28 AM (0eaVi)
----

But they don't dare admit it! Like a bodice ripper collection behind your shelf of military biographies.

The book thread does seem to lean toward SF and Fantasy (I know I do) but we nerds do have a "type".

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (kpS4V)

260
Depends on how obscure the word is, maybe? If it's not in general use, you don't want someone to feel they have to stop and look up the word and get them out of the story.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024

***
True. "Repair" in that sense is a little old-fashioned, but not really uncommon; whereas "degringolade" is very much so. We have the English equivalent, "downfall," ready to hand anytime.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:34 AM (omVj0)

261 Now that you mention it, the Cadfael stories combine elements of all three categories. A cozy for the abbey setting and incidental characters, a procedural for Cadfael's pharmacology, and a hard-boiled when Cadfael goes hands-on with the bad guys (toned down in the TV series).
Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024 11:26 AM (/y8xj)

Derek Jacobi doesn't seem like the rough and tough type.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:35 AM (0eaVi)

262 Where do we draw the line as to when to use an familiar word or not?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:23 AM (omVj0)
---
The standard reason is to avoid repetition.

Tone and character are the other reasons. Using archaic or formal language can make the story more consistent with its setting. An easy way to mark a character as smart is big words.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:35 AM (llXky)

263 One of my former writing group's members, the annoying one who thought he knew it all, objected to my use of "repair"... Where do we draw the line as to when to use an familiar word or not?

You have to admit that it's not a very common usage in American English. I'd say that if it's true to the way your character thinks and speaks, then it adds to the reader's grasp of the character so use it.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024 11:35 AM (/y8xj)

264 But they don't dare admit it! Like a bodice ripper collection behind your shelf of military biographies.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (kpS4V)
---
I think the reverse would more surprising - military biographies hidden behind bodice-rippers.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:37 AM (llXky)

265 Oh, I had forgotten that the blog was a fan of Jayne Cobb. Does anyone remember when ace used to do themed word posts like geography words? I liked those. I also like the old astronomy threads. I used the dark sky recommendation from one those to visit Hubbard Texas. Of course, to me the very best, when the sports was not overtly political were the elbow threads.

I will repair to my bunk.

Posted by: meh at September 22, 2024 11:37 AM (iZ1Vx)

266 Simultaneously, I started reading a deep state book. I might finish it in 2 weeks time. Then I'll review.

Must handle the stovetop coffee!
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 22, 2024 09:07 AM (3Y5XB)


Deep state of which country?

Also, stovetop coffee>stovetop stuffing, at least in the morning!

Posted by: haffhowershower at September 22, 2024 11:38 AM (NMT5x)

267 I read Tolkien back in '73 or '74, Hobbit first and then the trilogy. And I have only seen the first three Star Wars films when they were new. People say so many good things about Tolkien's trilogy that I know I need to read it again.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (omVj0)

Don't miss Nimoy's take on the Hobbit!!

https://tinyurl.com/5yfkuxap

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:38 AM (0eaVi)

268 One of my former writing group's members, the annoying one who thought he knew it all, objected to my use of "repair"... Where do we draw the line as to when to use an familiar word or not?
*
You have to admit that it's not a very common usage in American English. I'd say that if it's true to the way your character thinks and speaks, then it adds to the reader's grasp of the character so use it.
Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024

***
The term in that sense is a little old-fashioned, I'll admit. The narrator in my case is a college professor, so it matches up with his speech and thought patterns. I wouldn't have a high school dropout use it unless I then show that he is self-taught and well-read.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:39 AM (omVj0)

269 Derek Jacobi doesn't seem like the rough and tough type.

In the books, former Centurion Cadfael rather enjoys getting down in the dirt and then Brother Cadfael feels guilty about it afterwards.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024 11:40 AM (/y8xj)

270 Can you write a limerick with that noun?
Posted by: Anna Puma

*******

What do I look like, a trained monkey?

Never mind. Don't answer that.

😊
Posted by: Muldoon at September 22, 2024 11:05 AM (991eG)
***

Oh look! AP has an organ that she's playing.
Dance monkey, dance!!!

Posted by: Diogenes at September 22, 2024 11:41 AM (W/lyH)

271
I wonder how many denizens of the Book Thread have read no Tolkien or watched any Star Wars incarnations? Besides me, that is.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:28 AM

Me either, no interest in sci-fy.

Different topic but short enjoyable clip:

https://is.gd/EykLYC

Posted by: Divide by Zero at September 22, 2024 11:41 AM (RKVpM)

272 >>>not the generations who served.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons
----------------------------

This is the first era in the US where we've experienced such generational envy.

Posted by: Braenyard at September 22, 2024 11:42 AM (fWHsP)

273 But they don't dare admit it! Like a bodice ripper collection behind your shelf of military biographies.

The book thread does seem to lean toward SF and Fantasy (I know I do) but we nerds do have a "type".
Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:33 AM (kpS4V)

So, I'm stunning and brave for admitting it!!!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:42 AM (0eaVi)

274

I ran across a story "Backdoor Bao Buns" that was very cozy indeed...

Posted by: Ped Xing at September 22, 2024 11:44 AM (00IUw)

275 True. "Repair" in that sense is a little old-fashioned, but not really uncommon; whereas "degringolade" is very much so. We have the English equivalent, "downfall," ready to hand anytime.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:34 AM (omVj0)

Right, but people seem to know what you mean when you say you're repairing to....


BTW, are you in on the Epistolary?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:44 AM (0eaVi)

276 Ellis Peters also wrote a contemporary detective series, set in Wales, I believe. Don't know whether as Ellis Peters or Edith Pargeter. As Edith Pargeter she also wrote historical romance probably considered young adult.

I had trouble with Derek Jacoby as Brother Cadfael. In the books he seemed much more of an ex-warrior. Sean Connery, if you will.

Posted by: Wenda at September 22, 2024 11:45 AM (KATV8)

277 Instead of using "repair" how about using "ambulate"?

Posted by: pawn at September 22, 2024 11:46 AM (QB+5g)

278 Cozy? -- there's a comment by Cyril Connolly quoted in the intro to the Everyman's Library collection of Maugham's stories. Speaks of Maugham's world as a place 'which we enter, as we do that of Conan Doyle's Baker Street, with a sense of happy and eternal homecoming.'

You couldn't call the 87th Precinct books or MacDonald's Travis McGees or Block's Scudders cozy by the tighter definitions, but when I open them there's a sense of homecoming. YMMV.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 11:46 AM (q3u5l)

279 Different topic but short enjoyable clip:

https://is.gd/EykLYC
Posted by: Divide by Zero

Environmental activism is not pretty.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 22, 2024 11:47 AM (L/fGl)

280 The term in that sense is a little old-fashioned, I'll admit. The narrator in my case is a college professor, so it matches up with his speech and thought patterns. I wouldn't have a high school dropout use it unless I then show that he is self-taught and well-read.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:39 AM (omVj0)
---
It's kind of like how Pope Benedict XVI had the English version of the Mass updated. It was minor, but necessary because language had moved on an a more literal terminology was need.

The part before the Eucharist used to read "I'm not worthy to receive you," which was formulated when "receiving" someone meant that they came to your home. But it can also mean accept, which is obviously wrong.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:48 AM (llXky)

281 I've been tempted out of my lurking lair to recommend Lilian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who" series for cozy reading. There is a cat who is instrumental in solving the mystery yet he never does anything that is beyond the possible for any normal cat. I have read and re-read all of them except the last one, which was not completed by Jackson Braun and readers vehemently rejected.

Would Charles Dickens sit comfortably among the offerings on the cozy shelf? Knowing that there would be a day of reckoning for the evil characters was a great motivator for me to finish every novel and to re-read (some several times) many of his works.

Posted by: PennaLady at September 22, 2024 11:50 AM (QWHhD)

282 This is the first era in the US where we've experienced such generational envy.
Posted by: Braenyard at September 22, 2024 11:42 AM (fWHsP)
---
The other day I had to enter my birthdate on a website and it has the scroller method, with the default being 2024 and you just slide it back to the correct year.

As I did so, I realized that EVERY year I passed was better than this one.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:50 AM (llXky)

283 Can't recall the English versions, but even though I'm a long-lapsed Catholic, I can remember some of the Latin:
Domine, non sum dignus
Ut intres sub tectum meum.
Sed tantum dic verbo...

Etc.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 11:52 AM (q3u5l)

284 Time is running short. Thanks again, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:52 AM (llXky)

285 BTW, are you in on the Epistolary?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024

***
I hadn't looked in on it yet, OE. I was waiting to see if Raconteur Press would take my story for their Wyrd West collection. (Answer: negative.) I'll have a look this week.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:52 AM (omVj0)

286 PennaLady
Mrs D introduced me to the Cat Who series years ago. Very enjoyable. Haven't read one in years.
Thanxs for the reminder.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 22, 2024 11:53 AM (W/lyH)

287 Well, guess I'll go act like I'm doing something constructive.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 11:53 AM (q3u5l)

288 I had trouble with Derek Jacoby as Brother Cadfael. In the books he seemed much more of an ex-warrior. Sean Connery, if you will.
Posted by: Wenda at September 22, 2024 11:45 AM (KATV

Yes. He didn't strike me as an old Crusader.

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 11:54 AM (f+FmA)

289 Madamemayhem you should try The Hobbit, it's a stand alone story.

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 11:54 AM (fwDg9)

290 "Absquatulate" is my favorite Americanism.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:54 AM (kpS4V)

291 Madamemayhem you should try The Hobbit, it's a stand alone story.
Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 11:54 AM (fwDg9)
---
Would The Hobbit qualify as cozy? I think so.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at September 22, 2024 11:55 AM (llXky)

292 Cozy? -- there's a comment by Cyril Connolly quoted in the intro to the Everyman's Library collection of Maugham's stories. Speaks of Maugham's world as a place 'which we enter, as we do that of Conan Doyle's Baker Street, with a sense of happy and eternal homecoming.'

You couldn't call the 87th Precinct books or MacDonald's Travis McGees or Block's Scudders cozy by the tighter definitions, but when I open them there's a sense of homecoming. YMMV.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024

***
True; also with Stout's Nero Wolfes.

Maugham I like in great part because his language was rather clear and simple for his times, and for that "snug homecoming" sense as well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:55 AM (omVj0)

293 Sed tantum dic verbo...
Etc.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024 11:52 AM (q3u5l)

et sanabitur animam meam.

Thirty years a Trad...

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 11:56 AM (f+FmA)

294 Instead of using "repair" how about using "ambulate"?
Posted by: pawn at September 22, 2024

***
"Ambulate" is kind of self-conscious sounding, to me anyway. But "amble" would work: "I ambled into the kitchen looking for a snack."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:57 AM (omVj0)

295 Tolkien and Lewis revel in mouthwatering descriptions of meals, which as a gourmand I appreciate.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 11:58 AM (kpS4V)

296 A fine Book Thread as always, Perfessor and contributors!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 22, 2024 11:59 AM (omVj0)

297 Gotta shake my head here. The Book Thread passes so quickly, but bad administrations take forever to leave.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 22, 2024 11:59 AM (0eaVi)

298 "Thomas knew it was best to absquatulate from the house before his mother realized her father’s urn was missing."

Ugh...

Posted by: pawn at September 22, 2024 11:59 AM (QB+5g)

299 You couldn't call the 87th Precinct books or MacDonald's Travis McGees or Block's Scudders cozy by the tighter definitions, but when I open them there's a sense of homecoming. YMMV.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 22, 2024

Excellent world building, I think, is what does it.
My Thirkell cosies upthread have this in spades.

Posted by: sal at September 22, 2024 11:59 AM (f+FmA)

300 Aww, it's time to absquatulate, don pants, and get to gettin'.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at September 22, 2024 12:00 PM (kpS4V)

301 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2024 12:01 PM (fwDg9)

302 Firefly was an enjoyable space western.

Very hard to believe that a dedicated woke socialist like Joss Whedon could write:

As sure as I know anything, I know this: They will try again. Maybe on another world. Maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, 10, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people...better. And I do not hold to that.

So no more runnin'.

I aim to misbehave.

Making us better is the entire socialist raison d'etre.

And I do not hold to that.

Posted by: Candidus at September 22, 2024 12:02 PM (Kgr5b)

303 Repairing to the kitchen is something a snooty Englishman would do.

Posted by: Braenyard at September 22, 2024 12:06 PM (fWHsP)

304 To tie together two themes from the comments above: Historical detail and the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. One of the very first of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories was "Adept's Gambit". Which is unique in the series by being set in our history. Leiber originally set the story during the Roman Empire. He sent an early draft of this to none other than H. P. Lovecraft. Who wrote back to Fritz Leiber praising the story enthusiastically. Lovecraft, among his many obsessions, was a Roman history buff. He included in his letter a three page long list of sources and history books for Leiber to consult so he could be sure of getting his historical details correct. Fritz Leiber was dismayed at the prospect of doing all this historical research for a fantasy novella. So he shifted the setting back a few centuries to the Hellenistic era (the period between the death of Alexander the Great and the death of Cleopatra) on the grounds that this era was much less well known so any mistakes would be less likely to be noticed. The story (which I think is one of the best of the series) can be found in the collection "Swords in the Mist".

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at September 22, 2024 12:08 PM (aYnHS)

305 "Ambulate" is kind of self-conscious sounding, to me anyway. But "amble" would work: "I ambled into the kitchen looking for a snack."

I would guess that "perambulate" is more commonly used than "ambulate." I think the "per" is the same root as in "perimeter" so it literally means "to walk around." But most people will take to to mean "to walk about," i.e. wander.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024 12:10 PM (/y8xj)

306 I would guess that "perambulate" is more commonly used than "ambulate." I think the "per" is the same root as in "perimeter" so it literally means "to walk around." But most people will take to to mean "to walk about," i.e. wander.
Posted by: Oddbob at September 22, 2024 12:10 PM (/y8xj)

I know I did.

Posted by: The Perambulating Pumpkin at September 22, 2024 12:14 PM (0eaVi)

307 256 ... "read Tolkien back in '73 or '74, Hobbit first and then the trilogy. And I have only seen the first three Star Wars films when they were new. People say so many good things about Tolkien's trilogy that I know I need to read it again."

Wolfus,
Definitely reread LOTR. Your appreciation of the books will likely be much more than when you were younger. I first read it circa 1965 and every reread has revealed new matters and a greater appreciation for what Tolkien was able to accomplish. And have some good pipe tobacco at hand when your read LOTR. I keep one of the MacQueen churchwarden pipes handy for the occasion.

As much as I enjoyed the first three Star Wars movies, I never got into the follow on films or the books derived from the movies.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2024 12:34 PM (yTvNw)

308 To tie together two themes from the comments above: Historical detail and the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. One of the very first of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories was "Adept's Gambit".
----------------------------------------------------

First Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser story written (1936) by Fritz Leiber, but not published until 1947 in a revised version, after five F&tGM stories had been published. Also one of the few bad F&tGM stories.

Posted by: My Ridiculously Circuitous Plan at September 22, 2024 12:37 PM (N+vIE)

309 In before the Tolkien geeks cock up the thread?

Damn it!

Posted by: Dr. Bone at September 22, 2024 12:53 PM (nDTFN)

310 Very hard to believe that a dedicated woke socialist like Joss Whedon could write:

Aye. Another dedicated socialist is Charles Stross, yet he can also write superbly. His Laundry Files series are an excellent mix of James Bond-type Cold War spy genre with H.P. Lovecraftian fantasy horror. But when he lets his anti-Americanism in, with extra helpings of bitchiness and snide, he can get pretty bad. Fortunately, there's not much of that in any of the Laundry Files series, except scenes in a couple of books that are set in America. Even then, there are good Americans, and then there's the government and a horrible 'evangelical' money cult, which we learn in later books has been nearly completely subverted and taken over by the Black Chamber (originally secretly set up to fight evil from the outer darkness during WWI, but have been possessed by the horrors they tried to control and use). It's all too believable after the last decade or more. But Stross knows good from evil, and that makes them extremely readable. In one of his other series, I threw the 5th or 6th book against the wall in disgust when he let his prejudices run wild and ruin the story.

Posted by: Larry at September 22, 2024 01:03 PM (JpKqi)

311 For the third or fourth time, I am listening to the audio version of Rhys Bowen's 'Her Royal Spyness" series. Set in 1930s London, Lady Georgiana is the penniless 34th-in-line for the throne, who takes on various tasks for HM Queen Mary. The writing is delightful, and I love the detail, and the good humor. There are 19 volumes in the series so far. The very best were read by Katherine Kellgren, who, alas, passed away mid-series. Quite a bit of the plot has to do with an assessment of Georgiana's cousin David's attachment to the American Mrs. Simpson, and the catty exchanges between Mrs. Simpson and Georgiana's former actress mother. It's quite a fun read, and just what I need in case our little community gets rocket alerts, or worse.
I much admire prolific authors. My own novel proceeds at a snail's pace of a couple of pages a day, perhaps because it involves a lot of research... oh well.

Posted by: Alifa Saadya at September 22, 2024 01:09 PM (Qtq4y)

312 If you like books by L E Modesitt JR, you should try the Corean Chronicles, however, I'd read them in chronological order instead of published date order. Start with Alector's Choice, Cadmian's Choice, and Soarer's Choice. Then Lord Protector's Daughter and Lady-Protector. Finally I'd hit the first three books written, Legacies, Darknesses, and Scepters. The books hold an interesting debate on how life itself can keep running down unless force is used to maintain a better quality. It also mentions the philosophy about why people run around looking to make golds in order to make their lives more comfortable. I was struck by the needs of the alectors to control everything via climate measures, merely to provide more energy for themselves (think breeding humans and expanding stock) which in essence is the same as the people running around aquiring gold, just a different product for the necessity of more comfortable sustainable lives, and the derision that they look at the humans (who they call steers). It's not preachy about it so the story actually drives the books. Anyway, I highly recommend them.

Posted by: myoda176 at September 22, 2024 01:09 PM (EGCm2)

313 Forgot to mention, I hit up a library book sale a couple of weeks ago. It was the last day, so it was $5 for all you could fit in a bag. $10 and 22 books. It was a good day. Except that I found Book 2 in the Wm Mark Simmons Half Life Chronicles. Now I'm on a quest to find the rest of the series. Found Book 1 and 4 in Half Price Books. I can get Books 3 and 5 on Amazon, but where's the fun in that? Picked up a couple of Leo Frankowski Conrad Stargard books. Time travel science fiction if you haven't read them. Cozy reads if you have

Posted by: Stacy0311 at September 22, 2024 01:55 PM (BYDrn)

314 re My Ridiculously Circuitous Plan @308, thank you for the additional detail on the history of "Adept's Gambit". I see our opinions of the story are diametrically opposed. However, rather than engage in a mostly likely pointless argument, I simply say "There is no arguing with taste". Also "To each his own."

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at September 22, 2024 02:25 PM (aYnHS)

315 @312: (late, as usual) I agree w/the recommendation on the Corean Chronicles. I will say, though, that Modesitt's grasp of economics never impressed me much and in almost all his books he talks about the evil of greed to the point of almost being preachy.

Posted by: yara at September 22, 2024 02:27 PM (s8LAW)

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