Sunday Morning Book Thread - 7-20-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(Click for larger image)

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...(you know Ace lounges around in these on Sunday mornings...)

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

This is a shelf of books in he dictionary section of the library in which I work (but do not work for). If you click on the image to enlarge it, you can see some interesting books, such as the Code Names Dictionary, The Dictionary of Cofusable Words, and Origin of the Term Shyster, written by an etymologist it's been my pleasure to work with over the years in my professional capacity as an instructional designer. Also my German professor. I don't remember anything I learned in three semesters of German, though.

ON THE PASSAGE OF TIME

I am fascinated by the passing of time in a story. We may not consciously realize it, but understanding how the events unfold over time can lead to a deeper appreciation of the story. Or, if the author is terrible about tracking time, it can also lead to a break in immersion, causing us to go, "WTF? How and when did that happen?"

Consider the murder mystery plot. Establishing a time of death of the victim is an important component in unraveling the mystery. Once that time of death has been determined, the investigator(s) can backtrack through the timeline to see which of the possible suspects had the greatest possibility to be in the vicinity of the crime when it took place.

In an action thriller or spy story, we may have a "ticking timebomb" scenario which limits the actions of the protagonist as they are forced to deal with a situation that will rapidly become unpleasant at a well-defined point in the future. Prophecies in fantasy stories can also work this way sometimes, as characters may be destined to fulfill the prophecy during a cosmic alignment.

Here on Earth, we have a time system that's relatively easy to understand. 24-hour days, 7-days a week, 28-31 days per month, and 365 days per year. The world is divided into time zones, but not all time zones are equal, so that can complicate things in a story. We also have several different calendars in use, depending on culture and society. And in a story set in a culture/society before regular clocks were discovered, people largely moved around the hours of daylight and responded to the rhythms of the seasons. All of these need to be factored into quality storytelling.

Once you leave planet Earth and move out into the solar system, things get stranger. We are used to our 24-hour days here on Earth, but in space, that's irrelevant other than as a useful tool for maintaining humanity's natural circadian rhythms. On Mars, days are slightly longer (24.6 hours), so humans can adjust to that easily, but the period of revolution around the sun is much longer (687 Earth days). As humanity achieves greater and greaters speeds for traveling, a necessity due to the vast distances between planets, moons, and asteroids, relatavistic effects will begin piling up, as characters start aging at different rates relative to their frames of reference.

Now leave the solar system and explore the galaxy. How do you track days, weeks, months, or years? What standard do you use for time? Most science fiction stories seem to use a "local time" and a "galactic standard time" that's set by the central government of the galactic civilization, though alien civilizations will have their own methods of tracking time. For instance in the Star Wars universe, the galactic standard time is based on Coruscant, the seat of power for for the Republic. However, the Chiss, who are not part of the Galatic Republic no doubt use their own clocks (they are also highly xenophobic).

Finally, things get truly bizarre when we leave our little corner of the cosmos and explore the multiverse, either in planes of existence in fantasy, or in alternate dimensions in science fiction. In those stories, you may as well throw out any of the rulebooks regarding time. In The Chronicles of Narnia, for instance, where characters travel back and forth between our world and Narnia, it's well-established as early as the first book that Narnian time moves to the beat of a different drummer. The Pevensie children grow up to become young adults in Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe but return to their childhood ages when they cross back into our world. In Prince Caspian, over a thousand years have passed in Narnia when they cross back over, while only a few months or so has passed in our world.

It's fun to play around with time in stories, though you do have to watch out for some gotchas. In Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn series, for instance, it's clear that the story takes place over several months. Two female characters become pregnant early in the story (from the same man--it's complicated), yet neither character shows any progress in their pregnancy during that time. Confederacy medical technology is incredibly advanced, but they don't seem to have the ability to hide pregnancies for nine months. It's a weird little detail that bugged me during the otherise enjoyable story.

++++++++++

(HT: Pete Zah)

(Runner-up HT: CBD)

++++++++++

CHANGING TASTES IN READING

As I've reached the ripe and dignified age of 29+, I've noticed that my tastes in reading have shifted. Oh, I still love my fantasy and science fiction stories, of course, but I don't seek out NEW authors anymore. I did a brief look back through the books I've purchased over the past several years based on their publication dates. They basically fall into the following categories:

Books written by authors I already know.

Reprints of books that may have been written decades ago.

Moron Recommendations.

I only have FOUR books published in 2025, and all of them fall into the categories above. I only purchased ELEVEN books that were published in 2024, and again they all fall into these categories.

Does this make me an old fogey? I dunno. I just know that I am not at all interested in the hot new thing among fantasy and science fiction writers, preferring to read the many, many books that exist in the past. Far too many for me to read in one lifetime. I'll continuing reading new books from authors I enjoy, like Larry Correia or Robert Jackson Bennett, but I've given up on a few authors like Raymond E. Feist and Terry Brooks who have basically ended their long-running series and therefore I don't feel to compelled to keep buying their books.

Has this happened to you?

RESPONDING TO MORON COMMENTS

Thanks to one of my other gigs, helping out at church on Sundays, I don't get to respond to the comments as much as I might like. Usually, I have about an hour or so on Sundays to read the comments before I go to church. But when I am "working" on the tech team, I have to get there early, so I post the Sunday Morning Book Thread and hurry on down there to get things set up for worship. I then come home and read the comments after church.

Perfesser, top pic should be titled
Feline dreams of android mice
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 13, 2025 09:06 AM (sT/8C)

Definitely my favorite comment from last week!

One of the Weinsteins (Bret?) has been deriding physics as having become constipated by its obsession with string theory. He speaks of that often when he appears on podcasts.
Apologies, it is Eric Weinstein.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) Point&Laugh! Point&Laugh! Point&Laugh![ at July 13, 2025 09:01 AM (Tv15w)

Physicist Lee Smolin wrote an entire book on the subject of string theory in physics and how it has held back advancements in scientific inquiry: Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next (2006). It's an untested and untestable theory (with current technology), but for at least a couple decades it's been the "hot new thing" as physicists everywhere pursued it to find a "theory of everything." Like climate change, it was a sure way to secure funding for various projects that *might* lead to breakthroughs. Although the mathematics behind it are interesting, I don't think string theory has yet yielded any tangible results.

What book have you read that you want it to be made into a movie?
I would really like them to make Armor into a movie. I understand that it has a Shamalamadingdong twist but I think some innovative screenwriter can make it work.
Posted by: polynikes at July 13, 2025 10:10 AM (VofaG)

I would not trust anyone in Hollywood to make a movie about *any* of my favorite books. They've already butchered one of my favorites (The Wheel of Time) beyond recognition. They did the same to the Shannara series. I turned that show off after less than five minutes.

Some of Clifford Simak's books could make for interesting movies, though. He wrote amazing Western stories. Every time I read one of Simak's Western short stories, they feel very cinematic. You could take a few of those, rewrite them to have the same protagonist, and stitch them into a pretty good Western movie.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Witness by Sandra Brown is a thrilling tale of mystery, lies, intrigue, and a secret conspiracy too horrible to contemplate. The story begins with a horrible auto accident in the rain, a series of escapes to avoid not only the evil doers but those on the side of law and order who seek only justice, and one main character's amnesia from the wreck. Great character development and a twisting, tangled plot that unravels slowly and with surprises around each bend. Secrets are kept until the last page and then - ta da! - still not revealed. Brown writes great tales of thrills and suspense that keep you hanging on to the end. Recommended.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at July 13, 2025 10:10 AM (kB9dk)

Comment: Sounds intriguing. I may have to read this. I like a good story that winds around itself, revealing just enough to give you a hint that something larger is afoot, but also tantalizing you with darker secrets within secrets until you aren't quite sure who the good guys are, though in the end it should be obvious who the main antagonist is so that you can root for justice to be served. Unless it's part of a series with a much larger metaplot that keeps you coming back for more.

+++++

Comment:

MORE MORON RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: AoSHQ - Book Thread Recommendations

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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.

Bobby Dollar Trilogy Book 2 - Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams

In the previous book, angel Bobby "Doloriel" Dollar found himself enmeshed in a weird conspiracy between an angel and a demon that sought to create a "Third Way" between Heaven and Hell for the souls of the departed. Along the way, Bobby fell in love with a demoness, a strict no-no among the Heavenly choirs. Now he's pledged to rescue her from Hell, as she's now the plaything of Eligor the Horseman, Duke of Hell.

This book is full of dark and twisted humor as Bobby navigates the intricacies of the infernal plane of Hell. Some truly gruesome stuff.

Also, and I don't understand this, Williams inserts a gratuitous swipe at Donald Trump. He does it again in the next book (see below). This series was written long before Donald Trump announced he was even running for President the first time. But I guess he was a public celebrity figure and so authors like Tad Williams and Richard Kadrey (who also frequently swipes at Trump) feel like a rich NYC real-estate developer is an acceptable target. Fortunately, Williams only does it a couple of times and doesn't derail the story with long tirades against Trumpism.

Bobby Dollar Trilogy Book 3 - Sleeping Late on Judgement Day by Tad Williams

Minor spoiler: Bobby Dollar failed in his quest to rescue his ladylove. Returned to Earth, he's still embroiled in a new conflict between Heaven and Hell that threatens to undo the delicate balance between the two forces that has led to an unpleasant, but workable system. He now knows which angelic Power is after him. It's up to Bobby and his allies to unmask the Power so that Heaven's justice can be applied where it belongs.

Although I like Tad Williams writing and I enjoy his other series quite a bit. The Bobby Dollar trilogy is his weakest work in my opinion. Think of it as a combination of Dresden Files meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Supernatural. That about sums up this series.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

The Bobby Dollar Trilogy is pretty dark and depressing, so I thought I'd try for a lighter, more enjoyable read. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood lives up to the title. The words "merry" and "marry" are sprinkled liberally throughout every story. Like The Sword in the Stone, it's a very silly book, full of light-hearted adventures of the titular Robin Hood and his Merry Men. According to this book, Robin became an outlaw after killing a man in self-defense (though Robin did just shoot a King's deer right before that, which is also a capital offense). He swore after that he would never take another life. Though he's quite fond of thumping his enemies with a quarter-staff.

The stories get a bit repetitive after a while, as many of them can be summed up as follows:

Robin or one of his Merry Men set out on a quest (such as going to buy Lincoln green wool for new outfits).

They meet someone coming the other way. A non-lethal fight ensues, usually involving quarterstaffs.

Either Robin (or his Merry Man) wins the fight or Robin loses. Regardless of the outcome, Robin recruits his opponent to join the Merry Men.

The man accepts the invitation without hesitation, throwing away his old life and relationships immediately.

Other stories involve Robin or his Merry Men playing tricks on the Sheriff of Nottingham or local rich bishops and lords that Robin wants to steal from.

The dialog is all written in Ye Olde English, which takes a while to get used to with all of the "thees" and "thous" and "wots." Still enjoyable for the most part once you can decipher the dialect.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 7-13-2025 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

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

"There is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it."

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Never accept a dinner invitation from a man dressed in a Lincoln green outfit.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Bought a book last week, but haven't started reading it yet.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 08:59 AM (0eaVi)

2 NOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 20, 2025 09:00 AM (UelxP)

3 First?

Posted by: Nazdar at July 20, 2025 09:00 AM (NcvvS)

4 Nope.

Posted by: Nazdar at July 20, 2025 09:00 AM (NcvvS)

5 NOING! BOING!

I'm tired.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 20, 2025 09:01 AM (UelxP)

6 I quit!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 20, 2025 09:02 AM (UelxP)

7 I only purchased ELEVEN books that were published in 2024, and again they all fall into these categories.

You like fantasy, so, don't you mean you bought Elven books, Perfessor?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 09:04 AM (0eaVi)

8 There's a whole book on the origin of the word "dude?" Huh.

Good Sunday morning, horde.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at July 20, 2025 09:04 AM (h7ZuX)

9 somebody mentioned Doorways last week. So, I bought it. You know, support a moron author, etc, etc. What did I know?

Easily one of the best books I've read this year. It's probably dangerous to summarize a theme in the presence of the author, but as a discussion of the perils, pleasures, pains and seductiveness of nostalgia within the context of a "Twilight-Zone-like" world, it was a fascinating look at the world. It should go without saying that I found the writing good: fluid, without any sense of awkwardness or with people put in unrealistic positions.

oh, and an amusing (ironic?) way to time travel.

Posted by: yara in Katy at July 20, 2025 09:06 AM (EbWSH)

10 Morning, Perfessor.

Howdy, Horde.

Not a lot of reading this week, but did finish Peter Straub's Mr. X. Wrapped up well enough, I thought, but I really think the book could have been shorter. Prefer Straub's earlier work to some of the later.

Hoping this week to finally get to Oedipus at Colonus, and dip into a book of essays on Dana Gioia's work. Somewhere in the distance, Nabokov beckons. I don't do systematic reading.

Now for the content.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 09:06 AM (q3u5l)

11 Unless an author I already know and like puts out a new book, I don't buy books hot off of the presses. Too much dreck out there.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at July 20, 2025 09:07 AM (Vfq+S)

12 I've given a lot of thought to the concept of the passage of time.

Posted by: Old Lady Emhoff at July 20, 2025 09:08 AM (XQo4F)

13 Yay book thread! Working my way through Our Man in Havana. It is very much of the Waugh style of starting out with a plausible premise and then piling absurdity upon absurdity on top of it.

I also bought the film starring Alec Guinness for viewing when I am done.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:09 AM (ZOv7s)

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

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 09:10 AM (yTvNw)

15 I hit a pothole with "The Little Sister." Marlowe mentions a name to somebody, adding that the other person gave the name. I've reread every conversation between Marlowe and the other person several times, and I don't see that introductory mention.

This book seems slightly disconnected. The individual scenes hold interest, but the overall story is like riding on a ridged road.

I think Chandler put it best: "I won't say the pieces were beginning to fall into place, but at least they were getting to look like parts of the same puzzle."

Posted by: Weak Geek at July 20, 2025 09:10 AM (p/isN)

16 I've given a lot of thought to the concept of the passage of time.

Posted by: Old Lady Emhoff at July 20, 2025 09:08 AM (XQo4F)

That's all well and good, but have you given any thought to the significance of the concept of the passage of time?

Posted by: naturalfake at July 20, 2025 09:11 AM (iJfKG)

17 In 1980, presaging the idea of ecoterrorism, Alistair MacLean wrote Athabasca, a tale of potential sabotage of the Alaska pipeline. George Dermott and Donald MacKenzie work on a small team that specializes in industrial security, and they have been sent to Prudhoe Bay after a letter was sent to the pipeline manager, informing him that "you will be incurring a slight spillage of oil in the near future."

The job at hand for Dermott and MacKenzie is to determine the veracity and probability that the letter is not a hoax, and review the security procedures to ensure that the pipeline is not sabotaged. As they search for clues, suddenly people working along the line are turning up missing or dead. It is now a race against time to prevent a massive oil spill and the shut down of a ten billion dollar pipeline.

Having worked in the industry and spending time on the pipeline, it is obvious that MacLean did his homework before writing this novel. The remoteness, the cold, and the feeling that help is very far away is present throughout the story. MacLean is known for novels that grab the reader right away and never let up until the final chapter, and this story is no different.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at July 20, 2025 09:11 AM (Vfq+S)

18 Bobby Dollar wasn't so great.
Did he ever have a radio show?
Back in my day you weren't great unless you have a radio show.

Posted by: Yours truly, Johnny Dollar at July 20, 2025 09:11 AM (XQo4F)

19 Although I like Tad Williams writing and I enjoy his other series quite a bit. The Bobby Dollar trilogy is his weakest work in my opinion. Think of it as a combination of Dresden Files meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Supernatural. That about sums up this series.
---
I liked Tailchaser's Song, but not enough to dig into his other works. There is a whole genre on angels vs devils and I think it's more about the authors offering judgement on God than anything else.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:12 AM (ZOv7s)

20 Sounds like the faulkner script for the big sleep

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:13 AM (bXbFr)

21 Much like our photogenic squirrel at the bottom of the post, I too am still working my way through Don Quixote. I'm at about the 1/3 mark where Cervantes takes a break from having Don Quixote and Sancho Panza getting their asses kicked every other page to insert a completely different love-triangle story.

Posted by: PabloD at July 20, 2025 09:13 AM (Yyg09)

22 Bobby Dollar wasn't so great.
Did he ever have a radio show?
Back in my day you weren't great unless you have a radio show.
Posted by: Yours truly, Johnny Dollar at July 20, 2025 09:11 AM (XQo4F)

Probably wasn't on a bubble gum card either.

Posted by: Lucy Van Pelt at July 20, 2025 09:13 AM (0eaVi)

23 My retirement pursuits are interfering with my book reading. I'm watching a few episodes of The Librarian again and that's the closest I've gotten to anything related to books.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at July 20, 2025 09:13 AM (2NHgQ)

24 Booken morgen horden

*Also, and I don't understand this, Williams inserts a gratuitous swipe at Donald Trump. *

Book meets wall for me

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 09:14 AM (Wx316)

25 Good morning, Book Nerdz.

I recently discovered that Erich Maria Remarque, author of "All Quiet on the Western Front", eventually fled Hitler's Germany and lived in LA, where, whilst spending his free time tapping various starlets and partying with the Hollywood set, he also wrote a bunch of follow-up novels to his most famous one. So, I've started reading his "The Road Back," which takes up the story of the survivors of AQotWF as they travel back to Germany after the Armistice. Not far enough along in it yet to give an impression. He has a total of 14 novels, so if this one is good, I may have to binge read him.

Also this week I read "Omega Force: Hunted", which is book 17 in Joshua Dalzelle's Omega Force series, about a disparate group of aliens who join up with an earth man who has been kidnapped into space, where they form a mercenary team, which gets into much intergalactic hijinks. The books are less than 300 pages each and are all fun reads.

Dalzelle has a spinoff series featuring the son of the human mercenary leader which has 7 books so far (the Terran Scout Force series), the latest of which I also read: "Ghost". Great series so far.

Posted by: Sharkman at July 20, 2025 09:16 AM (/RHNq)

26 Whoever recommended The Assistant in the discussion about Bernard Malamud last week was right. I'm getting near the end and it has been one of the best books I've read in may months. I also stsrted The Last Policeman (also, probably a moron recommendation) and it's great , too. I don't read many mysteries butthis might change my mind.

Posted by: who knew at July 20, 2025 09:16 AM (+ViXu)

27 *Also, and I don't understand this, Williams inserts a gratuitous swipe at Donald Trump. *

Book meets wall for me
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 09:14 AM (Wx316)
---
The author is insecure and overestimates the power of his persuasion/character assassination. Trump seems to provoke his enemies into self-destructive acts of performative hatred.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:16 AM (ZOv7s)

28 Looking qt the top photo - your library uses Library of Congress call numbers. Is that typical of academic libraries?

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 09:17 AM (Wx316)

29 "There is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it."

* whistles nonchalantly *

Posted by: Zombie Karl M. at July 20, 2025 09:18 AM (/y8xj)

30 Perfessor, your comment re: changed reading and book-buying habits applies in my case, and has for years. I stopped looking for new writers many moons ago -- I still stumble across some from time to time, but I'm not looking to discover exciting new voices any more. The books I buy are generally by (or sometimes about) writers already known to me, reprints of older titles, or recommended by trusted sources.

And where possible, they're ebooks. I commented to the extraordinarily nifty Mrs Some Guy yesterday that I seem to be trying to replace as ebooks the collections of titles I had starting back in high school. Scary thought, because I'm nowhere close and wouldn't have enough time left above ground to revisit all that stuff anyway. Not that it seems to be stopping me.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 09:18 AM (q3u5l)

31 Inconsistencies in time within a story are one of the things that really bug me. I just reread Count of Monte Cristo, and though I've always enjoyed it, I was also reminded that Dumas repeatedly fudges the month and year, and exactly how much time has passed between events, so that if you're trying to keep track of things, you have to pick one version and ignore contrary evidence.

It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I wish authors would be more careful about it.

Posted by: Dr. T at July 20, 2025 09:18 AM (PzgiC)

32 I write some science fiction and it is VERY VERY HARD to use time measurements other than the familiar ones. Vernor Vinge uses "kiloseconds" and "megaseconds" in some of his books, but that means the reader has to stop and do math to figure out how much time has passed. Some fantasy novels get by with terms like "tenday" or whatever, because it's self-explanatory. But try doing a story in a place with a day that's different from ours (like, say, just about any other planet in the Universe). You have to keep reminding the reader that a day is 30 hours, or only 9, or whatever.

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 09:19 AM (78a2H)

33 I should add that none of my fictional books have characters based or aimed at celebrities, just personal acquaintances.

A former boss of mine turns up in multiple books and terrible things happen to him.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:19 AM (ZOv7s)

34 Orange man drove many to madness take Robert gleason a mild mannered book editor who went bananas the trump figure is called towers subtle and the hero is a female saudi terrorist that has an indian name (no research there) but there is a bill maher type

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:21 AM (bXbFr)

35
g'mornin' again, 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at July 20, 2025 09:21 AM (tljrc)

36 “I remember when the librarian was a much older woman: Kindly, discreet, unattractive. We didn't know anything about her private life. We didn't WANT to know anything about her private life. She didn't HAVE a private life.”

Posted by: Lieutenant Bookman, the Library Cop at July 20, 2025 09:22 AM (XQo4F)

37 It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I wish authors would be more careful about it.
Posted by: Dr. T at July 20, 2025 09:18 AM (PzgiC)

Blame the editors. Yeah, that's it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 09:22 AM (0eaVi)

38 Finally finished James Rollins' "A Dragon of Black Glass", book three in his Moonfall series.

*leaps, stuffs basketball, dances jig of completion*

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at July 20, 2025 09:23 AM (kpS4V)

39 Morning, book people,

I've been trying Robert Crais's Elvis Cole private eye stories. The first two were published in the late '80s, so no Internet or cell phones yet; Elvis uses pay phones all the time. He's sort of a Robert Parker Spenser-lite: He narrates in much the same breezy first-person style, has an even tougher business partner, though not as yet a regular lady friend. The main difference is that Elvis lives and works in then-contemporary L.A., not Boston. Fun reads, so far.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 09:23 AM (omVj0)

40 I write some science fiction and it is VERY VERY HARD to use time measurements other than the familiar ones.
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 09:19 AM (78a2H)
---
Man of Destiny was written with a cinematic feel in mind, so time doesn't pass per se but the scenes shift to keep the plot moving.

Battle Officer Wolf takes place in a fixed location to time passes normally there.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:24 AM (ZOv7s)

41 @Thomas Paine, MacLean wrote a couple of other books set in Arctic condition, Ice Station Zebra & Night Without End - read them in junior high and still remember bits of them.

Posted by: Nazdar at July 20, 2025 09:24 AM (NcvvS)

42 Tolle Lege
Didn't get much further on Rick Atkinson's The Day of the Battle, but saw he has another book on American Revolution, I think titled The British are Coming

Posted by: Skip at July 20, 2025 09:25 AM (iF+iG)

43 I write some science fiction and it is VERY VERY HARD to use time measurements other than the familiar ones. Vernor Vinge uses "kiloseconds" and "megaseconds" in some of his books, but that means the reader has to stop and do math to figure out how much time has passed. Some fantasy novels get by with terms like "tenday" or whatever, because it's self-explanatory. But try doing a story in a place with a day that's different from ours (like, say, just about any other planet in the Universe). You have to keep reminding the reader that a day is 30 hours, or only 9, or whatever.
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 09:19 AM (78a2H)

I had a beta reader start reading Star Searcher Hope, and told me they had to put it down and quit reading because I made up my own time system.

Yeah. Non-humans in another galaxy are going to use earth time. Even though the story takes place in space.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 09:25 AM (0eaVi)

44 A former boss of mine turns up in multiple books and terrible things happen to him.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:19 AM (ZOv7s)

Do you have the disclaimer at the beginning that characters are fictional, and resemblance to persons dead or alive is purely "coincidental"?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at July 20, 2025 09:25 AM (h7ZuX)

45 I got the idea of using my writing to punish people who piss me off from Evelyn Waugh's decades-long persecution of the don who sent him down from Oxford, Cruttwell.

The vendetta has now passed to the third generation.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:26 AM (ZOv7s)

46 Also just started Yuval Kordov's "Orders of Magnitude," which has a team of Catholic warriors confronting something evil on an abandoned lunar colony. Kordov has a trilogy called "Dark Legacies" that is a spinoff of a game he created. The novels in this series, "Hand of God," "All of Our Sins," and "The World to Come" are outstanding post-Apocalyptic science fiction that portray an Earth that has destroyed its civilization with nukes, and then had God condemn the world to suffer under a demonic onslaught that the survivors can barely contend with.

Kordov writes existential dread better than anyone I've ever read.

Also finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Alien Clay," which is an excellent first contact novel with a very interesting, and dangerous, alien.

Finally! Also reading "The Immortal Mind" by Michael Egnor and Denyse O'Leary. Egnor is a neurosurgeon who believes the mind is not simply an artifact of the brain, and he seeks to prove this in this book. Just started it, so not sure if he will succeed (though I do agree with his hypothesis).

Whew! That's a lotta books!

Posted by: Sharkman at July 20, 2025 09:26 AM (/RHNq)

47 "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

Posted by: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at July 20, 2025 09:26 AM (XQo4F)

48 13 Yay book thread! Working my way through Our Man in Havana. It is very much of the Waugh style of starting out with a plausible premise and then piling absurdity upon absurdity on top of it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:09 AM

I just put that book on my TBR list the other day. I think someone had mentioned Graham Greene on the book thread last week. I don't believe I've ever read any of his work so I went through my local library catalog to see what was available. That one really sounds interesting. I'm encouraged by your comparison of it to Waugh's style.

Posted by: Moonbeam at July 20, 2025 09:27 AM (rbKZ6)

49 I've also read two more in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, books eleven and twelve, I think. Bad Luck and Trouble puts him together with members of his old Army MP investigation unit, while Nothing to Lose has him alone except for a smart female cop in two small towns on the Colorado plains. Again, quite readable.

Both of these are told in third person, unlike the first and at least one other earlier novel. I wonder why Child bounces around like that. The third person omniscient narrator does make it possible to show what the bad guys are doing, something Reacher cannot know.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 09:28 AM (omVj0)

50 As I go through my books to thin out the herd I realize my tastes have changed with age. Except for the Isaac Bell series, I don't get any of the Clive Cussler books anymore and I used to get each one as it came out. Science fiction is now down to a few Heinlein books and the E.E. Doc Smith Lensman and Skylark series. The only recent sci-fi I read these days is from Sabrina Chase and Sarah Hoyt. Action and adventure books are likely to have been written in the 19th century: Haggard, Verne, and the later writers they influenced such as Burroughs and Howard. Also, literature adjacent books dealing with Shakespeare's life (which is mostly conjecture) and similar can go. They aren't bad per se but aren't worth rereading. Better to send my time with the actual works.

To be continued ...

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 09:28 AM (yTvNw)

51 I've been trying Robert Crais's Elvis Cole private eye stories. The first two were published in the late '80s, so no Internet or cell phones yet; Elvis uses pay phones all the time.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 09:23 AM (omVj0)

That's one reason "The Shadow Stalker Murders" we're writing on A Literary Horde is set in 1950. With today's technology, there's no reason for any detective to even leave his brownstone to solve a crime, is there?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 09:29 AM (0eaVi)

52 Do you have the disclaimer at the beginning that characters are fictional, and resemblance to persons dead or alive is purely "coincidental"?
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at July 20, 2025 09:25 AM (h7ZuX)
---
Generally no, because it's self-evident that stories set in outer space are beyond that.

But yes, in the introduction to Three Weeks with the Coasties, I do remark that it is a work of fiction and that none of the characters are real people in disguise. I made a point of giving the characters surnames taken from local geography and assigned at random, and deliberately changed physical descriptions.

Well, except for my ex-boss. I rather wanted him to file a defamation suit claiming that a character I described as a "malignant gnome" was obviously a reference to him. I don't think he was even aware of the book.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:30 AM (ZOv7s)

53 Here's a little tidbit for those here who, Venn diagram-wise, are in the intersection of literary and grammar lovers:

The past tense of William Shakespeare is Wouldiwas Shookspearede.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at July 20, 2025 09:31 AM (0sNs1)

54 Oh, and in honor of the 56th anniversary of the moon landing, I highly recommend that everyone check out the greatest website in existence:

Www.apolloinrealtime.org/11

Upon which every single video, photo, audio file and written transcript of the entire Apollo 11 mission can be accessed in real time as it occurred. You can lose yourself for a solid 10 straight days on this site. They also have Apollo 13 and 17 in the same format.

Astronaut Michael Collins' autobiography "Carrying the Fire" is an excellent, timely read.

Posted by: Sharkman at July 20, 2025 09:31 AM (/RHNq)

55 I think the timescale thing was one of the reasons I drifted away from sci-fi stories. Without some sort of faster-than-light travel, it's hard to have some start-spanning epic without massive time jumps...So, it's hard to have both character interactions and a realistic epic scale. Well, maybe. I'm sure a lot of authors do pull it off. But I ran into enough books that...had a weird mood...detached and dealing with unfathomable lengths of time...that it put me off the genre.

Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 09:31 AM (Lhaco)

56 Didn't get much further on Rick Atkinson's The Day of the Battle, but saw he has another book on American Revolution, I think titled The British are Coming
Posted by: Skip at July 20, 2025 09:25 AM (iF+iG)

A few years ago I was reading books and biographies on the Revolution. All the time, all the effort, all the expenditures by the Patriots, and look what we have today. If they knew, would they have risked it?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 09:31 AM (0eaVi)

57 I was also reminded that Dumas repeatedly fudges the month and year,

I run a game of Kolchak: The Night Stalker every year at the North Texas RPG Con, so when I watch a Kolchak movie or episode one of the lesser things I take notes on are the dates in his voiceovers. “Thursday, April 15th, 1:25 AM. The dressing room in Omar’s Tent. Charisma Beauty was plain old Gladys Weems again.”

It becomes obvious that (a) they did pay attention to the accuracy, but (b) not much. The above movie, for example, was obviously written for 1972, and then hastily changed to 1973 because… it aired in January 1973? Thus setting it in the future? Why?

And the robot story, “Mr. R.I.N.G.” is obviously in 1972, before Kolchak even moved to Chicago. Why that level of detail, and then mess up that very technical aspect of it?

My theory is that Kolchak was disguising when these things took place, but in a very lazy manner.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:32 AM (t4pCP)

58 I write some science fiction and it is VERY VERY HARD to use time measurements other than the familiar ones. Vernor Vinge uses "kiloseconds" and "megaseconds" in some of his books, but that means the reader has to stop and do math to figure out how much time has passed. Some fantasy novels get by with terms like "tenday" or whatever, because it's self-explanatory. But try doing a story in a place with a day that's different from ours (like, say, just about any other planet in the Universe). You have to keep reminding the reader that a day is 30 hours, or only 9, or whatever.
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025

***
In my fantasy stuff, I chose "sev'night" for my designation of a week, and (my own spelling) "fourt'night" for a two-week span. My writing group people kept saying, "It's 'fortnight,' and I would say, 'I know; where do you think the term came from?'"

Seems to me I've seen "sennight" to indicate a week somewhere, so somebody else had the same idea.

Naming the days of the week and the months of whatever year is another challenge, if you want to take it up.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 09:32 AM (omVj0)

59 I just put that book on my TBR list the other day. I think someone had mentioned Graham Greene on the book thread last week. I don't believe I've ever read any of his work so I went through my local library catalog to see what was available. That one really sounds interesting. I'm encouraged by your comparison of it to Waugh's style.
Posted by: Moonbeam at July 20, 2025 09:27 AM (rbKZ6)
---
It could have been me. I've been diving into Greene's work for months. He and Waugh corresponded often. Both were Catholic converts and wove their faith into the stories they told, though never in a preachy way. In fact, they often poked fun at various aspects of the Church and noted how strange she appears to outsiders.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:33 AM (ZOv7s)

60 Re: Trump, he's mentioned as an avatar of businessman/billionaire in Crais's second Elvis Cole novel from 1988 or so.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 09:36 AM (omVj0)

61 a character I described as a "malignant gnome" was obviously a reference to him. I don't think he was even aware of the book.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:30 AM (ZOv7s)

A shame, that. He probably wouldn't recognize it as himself, even if he read it. That's how these things go.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at July 20, 2025 09:36 AM (h7ZuX)

62 Also, literature adjacent books dealing with Shakespeare's life (which is mostly conjecture) and similar can go.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 09:28 AM (yTvNw)

Where do you stand on the "Shakespeare was a hack who didn't write his plays but stole from other writers?"

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 09:36 AM (0eaVi)

63 Today is Moon Day, everyone! Time to re-read Michael Collins's _Carrying the Fire_.

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 09:36 AM (78a2H)

64 Based on a recommendation by Archimedes a while back, I've started reading "The Habsburgs: To Rule the World" by Martyn Rady. I've learned some interesting things already!

Posted by: Moonbeam at July 20, 2025 09:37 AM (rbKZ6)

65 53 Here's a little tidbit for those here who, Venn diagram-wise, are in the intersection of literary and grammar lovers:

The past tense of William Shakespeare is Wouldiwas Shookspearede.
Posted by: Duncanthrax at July 20, 2025 09:31 AM

###

I, too, have given a great deal of thought to the subject of Venn diagrams.

Posted by: Old Lady Emhoff at July 20, 2025 09:37 AM (XQo4F)

66 The original "Battlestar: Galactica" used made-up names for different segments of time. I knew the characters were not from Earth, but I found those terms hokey.

Posted by: Weak Geek at July 20, 2025 09:37 AM (p/isN)

67 Naming the days of the week and the months of whatever year is another challenge, if you want to take it up.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 09:32 AM (omVj0)
---
Sci-fi and fantasy are two genres where world-building can come to eclipse the story altogether. I think Dune does this - the plot and pacing aren't great, with significant events taking place off camera, but the crazy setting with human computers, and the Spacing Guild make up for all that.

I mean, people here will say "Not the best story, but I liked how they handled this aspect of space travel."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:37 AM (ZOv7s)

68 Kilo second is just and odd unit of measurement

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:38 AM (bXbFr)

69 The original "Battlestar: Galactica" used made-up names for different segments of time. I knew the characters were not from Earth, but I found those terms hokey.
Posted by: Weak Geek at July 20, 2025 09:37 AM (p/isN)
---
It was time on the metric system. Peak Carter era.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:38 AM (ZOv7s)

70 somebody mentioned Doorways last week. So, I bought it. You know, support a moron author, etc, etc. What did I know?

Easily one of the best books I've read this year. It's probably dangerous to summarize a theme in the presence of the author, but as a discussion of the perils, pleasures, pains and seductiveness of nostalgia within the context of a "Twilight-Zone-like" world, it was a fascinating look at the world. It should go without saying that I found the writing good: fluid, without any sense of awkwardness or with people put in unrealistic positions.

oh, and an amusing (ironic?) way to time travel.
Posted by: yara in Katy at July 20, 2025

***
I've got a tab open to it on Amz and intend to buy the paperback soon.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 09:38 AM (omVj0)

71 That was a peculiar thing for glen larson to do

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:39 AM (bXbFr)

72 "Battlestar Galactica" also reinforced George Lucas' idea that there are no bras in space.

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase that it "holds up rather well."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:40 AM (ZOv7s)

73 As per doorways.....doorways become time warps of space as you grow older.
As you step into the doorway with a perfect knowledge of that snack in the refrigerator, an entirely different vista of this new space is clocked into the Dewey decimal system of ancient gears, dials, knobs, tubes and alleyways of your brain. Effectively dropping the old punch card of idea or thought into the ever increasing dross of forgotten thoughts.
Now, what was I just looking for?

Posted by: Elrond Hubbard at July 20, 2025 09:40 AM (P0m9n)

74 That was a peculiar thing for glen larson to do

Felgercarb.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:40 AM (t4pCP)

75 That was a peculiar thing for glen larson to do
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:39 AM (bXbFr)
---
Right, because Space Mormons was totally normal. I think he was following Star Trek with the stardate thingy.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:41 AM (ZOv7s)

76 I understand the feeling of avoiding new writers/writings. Many of the modern tropes are so unpleasant to read that its worth going to any lengths to avoid them. I don't buy new stuff unless I'm reasonably sure it won't be 'modern,' and I'm quick to abandon things that start to show signs.

Usually. I'm reading a comic (Spider-Girl. Spider-Man finally got his happily-ever-after, settled down and had a daughter, but then she became a super-hero.) It's from the late 90's, and is mostly good, but as it moves on (into the 2000's) some modern-tisms are starting to creep in. The writer just turned an established character gay for no reason. They were subtle about it, but they still did it. But they didn't go full-modern-tism, because they had the character's daughter get really pissed off about what happened to her 'family.' I'm still reading the comic, but I've lost some of my respect for it.

Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 09:41 AM (Lhaco)

77 *Kilo second is just and odd unit of measurement.*
---
"Think metric!"

Posted by: Bumper sticker in the Smithsonian at July 20, 2025 09:41 AM (XQo4F)

78 Lt. Bookman said " “I remember when the librarian was a much older woman: Kindly, discreet, unattractive. We didn't know anything about her private life. We didn't WANT to know anything about her private life. She didn't HAVE a private life.”
Until she took her glasses off and let down her hair, then ,,,VA VA VOOM!

Posted by: who knew at July 20, 2025 09:41 AM (+ViXu)

79 Things you notice later the galactic president who is duped by baltar played by lew ayres a fool like carter

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:42 AM (bXbFr)

80 Mentioned this quite some time ago here: In late high school years I enjoyed reading several of Kenneth Roberts historical novels. I specifically remember reading Arundel and Northwest Passage.

I found his books' stories and style very enjoyable.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 20, 2025 09:42 AM (VFv8R)

81 Today is Moon Day, everyone!

Crap! Am I supposed to be at work right now?

Posted by: Oddbob at July 20, 2025 09:43 AM (/y8xj)

82 Yes i wasnt as familiar with mormons there

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:43 AM (bXbFr)

83 Mormons then, although the place names caprica were all of roman derivation

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:44 AM (bXbFr)

84 continued from comment 50 ...

I have a lot of history books that I will never read again: books about WW II battles, Viet Nam, and most anything that would be considered current or political. History books I will keep are the Landmark series of classic writers like Herodotus. Even books I once treasured, like the Woodwright's Shop books, will find their way to a younger audience where the information is new to them.

But I will be keeping some books that I consider casual and pleasant reading, just not profound. The Matt Helm books, the Liturgical Mystery series, the Martha Vineyard mysteries, Nero Wolfe stories, even the MASH Goes To X books. And I treasure my hardcover Complete Chronicles of Conan.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 09:44 AM (yTvNw)

85 Things you notice later the galactic president who is duped by baltar played by lew ayres a fool like carter
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:42 AM (bXbFr)
---
Well, in 1978, Pearl Harbor was much closer and time and had a strong pull on the popular culture. Plus, the Cold War, so it very much had a "unilateral disarmament is stupid" vibe to it. Adama as Reagan.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:45 AM (ZOv7s)

86 Morning book folks.

Went to see my mom at the local Library secondhand store last week. She does 2 days a week there and I wanted to check out what was new. Not much.
I find it disturbing that the for sale WW2 section dwarfs the actual WW2 section in the Library, by a lot.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 09:45 AM (sjorS)

87 "Think metric!"
Posted by: Bumper sticker in the Smithsonian

Do they provide the dimensions of the sticker for you? Would be funny if it's some integral number of inches.

Posted by: Oddbob at July 20, 2025 09:46 AM (/y8xj)

88 Mormons then, although the place names caprica were all of roman derivation

The weird mish-mash of ancient cultures—Latin words, Egyptian and South American iconography, combined with the completely made-up modern words shouldn’t really work, but for me it still holds up well even today when rewatching.

To borrow another term from the day, it’s practically gonzo.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:47 AM (t4pCP)

89 One Fish Two Fish
Fox In Socks
My First 100 Words
NOT An Egg!

Guess whose reading list is now dominated by a baby?

Posted by: pookysgirl, doing tricks with chicks and bricks at July 20, 2025 09:47 AM (Wt5PA)

90 Good morning dear morons and thanks Perfessor.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at July 20, 2025 09:47 AM (JvZF+)

91 Since we're human writers writing for human readers and our experience of time's passage is so integral to us, can we ever do more than just suggest differences between species operating under separate time scales? Is it even possible to actually get it right as far as day-to-day experience goes?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 09:48 AM (q3u5l)

92 I have a lot of history books that I will never read again: books about WW II battles, Viet Nam, and most anything that would be considered current or political.
Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 09:44 AM (yTvNw)
---
A few years ago I launched a major purge of books centering on history, warfare and firearms because I had come to realize that most of them were garbage. Essentially works of fiction.

You get authors who crib from other authors, who crib from older authors, and none of them has any first-hand knowledge of the topic, they're just regurgitating false information. This is particularly true with firearms guides or weapons (think tanks and aircraft) where no one has even so much as touched the actual thing, being content with just repeating numbers. Whole shelves got cleared to make way for accurate information.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:50 AM (ZOv7s)

93 Scored a copy of the first Man-Kzin Wars anthology at a used bookstore. Three stories in it: "The Warriors" by Niven, the story that introduced the Kzinti to the universe; "Iron" by Poul Anderson; and "Cathouse" by Dean Ing. Both the Anderson and Ing stories are pretty long, almost short novels.

Great stuff. Brave and resourceful humans thwarting Kzinti schemes, vile traitors collaborating, mysterious alien structures, and some nice science puzzles. Recommended!

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 09:50 AM (78a2H)

94 Would be funny if it's some integral number of inches.

I’ve probably told this story here before, but in my investigation of vintage cooking I ran across a cookbook by a maker of golden syrup; and there are only one or two companies that still make it, both in the UK (there is something called golden syrup here in the South but it is completely different from the product in question). It comes in 454 gram cans.

What an odd number…

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:50 AM (t4pCP)

95 Pouring one out for Martin Cruz Smith.
As a sad coincidence I’ve been re-reading the Renko books and have been looking through thrift shops for the last two on my list “Tatiana” and “Independence Square”. The last Renko to be published, a week before his passing, “Hotel Ukraine” is now also on my list.

Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger at July 20, 2025 09:51 AM (RKVk8)

96 72 "Battlestar Galactica" also reinforced George Lucas' idea that there are no bras in space.

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase that it "holds up rather well."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:40 AM (ZOv7s)

One would think that some group avanced enough to explore space would have defeated the dreaded sagging boob/bra thing looong before they reached their first off world planet.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 09:52 AM (sjorS)

97 The weird mish-mash of ancient cultures—Latin words, Egyptian and South American iconography, combined with the completely made-up modern words shouldn’t really work, but for me it still holds up well even today when rewatching.

To borrow another term from the day, it’s practically gonzo.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:47 AM (t4pCP)
---
The flight helmets being based on Egyptian art was awesome.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:53 AM (ZOv7s)

98 Using Earth's measurement of a second, a kilosecond from now advances the Stardate by 115.07.

It's simple really.

Posted by: Wesley Crusher at July 20, 2025 09:54 AM (0sNs1)

99 With jane seymour and maren jansen in the cast did it matter (the latter was killed off two soon)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:55 AM (bXbFr)

100 One would think that some group avanced enough to explore space would have defeated the dreaded sagging boob/bra thing looong before they reached their first off world planet.
Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 09:52 AM (sjorS)
---
They certainly had them contained during the show. One of the fun things about going back and re-watching stuff I saw as a kid is that there was a lot of adult stuff that I missed.

For example: Erin Grey was an absolute smoke show. Guest spot on Magnum wearing a biki was epic.

Why don't we have actresses like that anymore? They were everywhere.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:55 AM (ZOv7s)

101 The flight helmets being based on Egyptian art was awesome.

Incredibly cool.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:55 AM (t4pCP)

102 One would think that some group avanced enough to explore space would have defeated

We, for two, hope that groups advanced enough to explore space will suprafeet, not defeet.

Posted by: Quentin T. and Rex R. at July 20, 2025 09:56 AM (0sNs1)

103 And later on the fall guy god she was hawt

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:57 AM (bXbFr)

104 This past week I finally finished reading Peter Watson's "The Great Divide," which discussed how new world cultures developed differently than old world cultures. The book jumped around between a lot of different topics, but the author consistently came back to (among other things) two very interesting hot-take theories.

Hot take number 1: the new world has a lot more hallucinogens than the old world. We think that ice-age culture revolved around shamans who would go into trances and see visions...and if you couple that with a hallucinogens, then shamanism in the new world would be much more vivid and real than old world shamanism, and thus stuck around a lot longer. Even at the time of contact, new world religion still relied heavily on drugs and trances.

Conversely, the old world relied on milder intoxicants, partly because they had to, and partly because those are more 'social' and because they are safer around domesticated plants/animals. It's risky to go on a drug-trip around the pull pen, far riskier than just getting a little bit drunk around the same...

Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 09:58 AM (Lhaco)

105 With jane seymour and maren jansen in the cast did it matter (the latter was killed off two soon)
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:55 AM (bXbFr)
---
The show got out of hand. Started as a made for TV movie, got expanded to miniseries, and then blew out into weekly show. Seymour had other work, so they killed her off. Lots of bit part players because of the ad lib nature of the production.

Fred Astaire signed on because his grandkids loved the show so he did an episode. Supposedly he did an epic improvised tap routine on the set while they were trying to synch the guns on the viper set.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:58 AM (ZOv7s)

106 Almost every guest gal on buck rogers same production staff

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 09:59 AM (bXbFr)

107 It's risky to go on a drug-trip around the pull pen, far riskier than just getting a little bit drunk around the same...
Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 09:58 AM

True.

Posted by: Actresses invited to Harvey's place at July 20, 2025 10:00 AM (0sNs1)

108 Getting back to books, I have the Battlestar Galactica Photo-book of the first episode which was later cut as a movie.

For those who don't know, it's a glossy paperback filled with production photos laid out like a comic book with dialogue boxes. I also had the comic book adaptation for that and Empire Strikes Back, but both were lost to the ravages to time.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:01 AM (ZOv7s)

109 Scored a copy of the first Man-Kzin Wars anthology at a used bookstore. Three stories in it: "The Warriors" by Niven, the story that introduced the Kzinti to the universe; "Iron" by Poul Anderson; and "Cathouse" by Dean Ing. Both the Anderson and Ing stories are pretty long, almost short novels.

Great stuff. Brave and resourceful humans thwarting Kzinti schemes, vile traitors collaborating, mysterious alien structures, and some nice science puzzles. Recommended!
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025

***
"Cathouse" in particular was great. We'd had passing references to kzinti females before, that they were not sentient. This story showed us female kzinti from before that breeding program that turned them into simple creatures. Good fight scenes too!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 10:02 AM (omVj0)

110 The lawsuit with george lucas took a lot of the production

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:03 AM (bXbFr)

111 I also read "The Wager" this week. It was recommended to me by a friend and I had high hopes for it It was a disappointment, but I'm not sure why I mean, how can you go wrong with a cruise to hijack Spanish treasure, but a shipwreck with a Scottish captain, doughty sailors, Lord Bryon's (the poet) grandfather, heroic voyages, miraculous rescues, accusations of mutiny, ...

But I thought the background was too involved and for some reason never really cared about the characters

Posted by: yara in Katy at July 20, 2025 10:03 AM (EbWSH)

112 ASS: I just looked it up. Pam Bondi wasn't AG in FL until after the Epstein case there. You are either lying or ignorant. Which is it?

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:04 AM (78a2H)

113 It was some good world building

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:05 AM (bXbFr)

114 I am trying to read 2 nonfiction books right now - Andrew Klavan's People of Darkness and Neal Lozano's Unbound

I am hoping by bouncing from one to the other I get past the dnf habit

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 10:05 AM (cSByu)

115 62 ... "Where do you stand on the "Shakespeare was a hack who didn't write his plays but stole from other writers?"

Shakespeare took known stories or topics from history, mythology and other cultures, but he made them his own as plays and with his words. If someone else wrote the plays, why did the first folios have Shakespeare's name? He was already dead. I've never heard of a convincing alternative for who wrote the Sonnets. I believe the 'someone else wrote Shakespeare' speculation (and that's all it is) comes from smug, self-styled intellectuals who won't believe that somebody with little formal education, their only way to measure importance, could be a genius.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (yTvNw)

116 Yara in Katy at #9

Thank ya kindly -- glad you liked it. That basic notion of traveling in time is a pretty clear lift from Matheson and Jack Finney -- the rest of the book is mine.

(And if you've never checked out Jack Finney's time travel stuff, grab a copy of his collection About Time; there are some great stories in it.)

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (q3u5l)

117 The lawsuit with george lucas took a lot of the production
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:03 AM (bXbFr)
---
Lots of factors killed it off, the most important being the budget. There was also infighting at the network, and with the benefit of hindsight, it was a huge error because during the summer they could have put together some less expensive plots, consolidated production elements and of course soaked up all that toy revenue.

A second season would have brought home big time bank. Ah, for what might have been.

Plus, don't forget the box office they made on the movie, which I saw with a pretty big crowd.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (ZOv7s)

118 I missed that comment last week about Shamalamadingdong. That's EXACTLY how my daughters refer to him after how he DESTROYED "Avatar: The last Air Bender".

The girls are all in the 30's now, but watching the cartoon version of Last Air Bender together with them when they were younger was one of my (our) guilty pleasures.

Now, we all AVOID any movies made by Shamalamadingdong (smirk)!

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (e/Osv)

119 “ Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.”

Psalm 27:7

Posted by: Marcus T at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (PR+PB)

120 Hot take number 2 from "The Great Divide": Early old world religious practices were mostly centered around fertility; making sure your crop grow and your herds multiply. Particularly in the face of a weakening monsoon cycle and a slow drying of the Asian continent. (Climate Change(tm)! no doubt caused by the reckless proliferation of all those sport-utility-sheep!) In this context, it is possible for religion to 'work.' Develop a learned priest-hood who can watch the seasons and predict the proper time to plant and harvest...maybe have a religious directive to let the fields lie fallow on the seventh year...Things can go right more often than not.

Conversely, in the new world, most religions were centered around making bad things (volcanoes and hurricanes in Meso-America, increasingly-frequent civilization-killing el-ninos in South America...Apparently those used to be once-a-century. Climate Change(tm) strikes again!) Alas, there are no rituals that will 'work' in preventing volcanoes. So these religions tended to go a bit extreme. Especially with the human sacrifice...

Not sure these hot takes are completely justified, but they are fascinating to think about.

Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (Lhaco)

121 59-It could have been me. I've been diving into Greene's work for months. He and Waugh corresponded often. Both were Catholic converts and wove their faith into the stories they told, though never in a preachy way. In fact, they often poked fun at various aspects of the Church and noted how strange she appears to outsiders.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:33 AM

There are three others available: "The Heart of the Matter", "Travels with my Aunt" and "The End of the Affair". Any thoughts on those?

Also, there's a biography: "The Unquiet Englishman: a life of Graham Greene" by Richard Greene that I think might be worth my time.

Posted by: Moonbeam at July 20, 2025 10:07 AM (rbKZ6)

122 95 Pouring one out for Martin Cruz Smith.

Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger at July 20, 2025 09:51 AM (RKVk

*raises glass

*well, raises coffee cup

I hadn't seen the news that he passed, so thanks for the notice. I really liked the earlier books in the series, and read Hotel Ukraine a couple of months ago. Overall a really good series, and I wish I could get my milennial offspring to read Gorky Park to get an idea what communism is like.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at July 20, 2025 10:08 AM (h7ZuX)

123 Thank you Perfessor for another, always excellent, Sunday Morning Book Thread. I am about 45 mins away from finishing the audio book of Chris Nashawaty*s “The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982” I don*t want the book to end; I have enjoyed it beyond words. The book covers the stories and backstories of 8 towering Sci-Fi-Fantasy movies, released over 8 weeks in the summer of 1982. Three of the eight, Road Warrior, JC*s The Thing, and Blade Runner are on my personal Top Ten Favorites List. I have been a complete kid in a candy store for the entire book. The author obviously LOVES movies and the book dishes loads of behind the scenes stories. Nashawaty writes with a great sense of humor and love for his subject matter. Just a super super fun read!

Posted by: SuperExMayorSuperRonNirenberg-Calculating My Next Political Move, Still Very Very Buff at July 20, 2025 10:08 AM (ZIL3Q)

124 I'm watching a few episodes of The Librarian again and that's the closest I've gotten to anything related to books.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine

We love that franchise!
There is a new spinoff but alas, we only have access to the first episode.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 10:10 AM (0JWOm)

125 Oh, nope...it was Independence Square that I read, not Hotel Ukraine. Adding Hotel Ukraine to the list,

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at July 20, 2025 10:10 AM (h7ZuX)

126 I also had the comic book adaptation for that and Empire Strikes Back, but both were lost to the ravages to time.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:01 AM (ZOv7s)

I have that as well. Well worn. We probably thumbed through that book a thousand times. Also disected every picture. Played it out with figures. I hate that they ruined that franchise. I look back at a significant part of my early childhood and think what a waste. I should have been playing with chemestry kits and Radio Shack stuff with that weird kid down the road who now owns a yaht. Not fanticising about some long time ago in a galaxy far far away that went so stupid I couldn't even bring myself to watch the second of the prequil.. or whatever.. I can't stand star wars now.

Rant off.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 10:10 AM (sjorS)

127 Shakespeare took known stories or topics from history, mythology and other cultures, but he made them his own as plays and with his words.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (yTvNw)
---
All art is in some way derivative, even the most "original" stuff, because we can only go off of what we know.

The biggest obstacle I had to overcome as an author was the realization that even iconic ground-breaking stuff came from other, earlier stuff.

And yes, a lot of "modern scholarship" is just angry tenured radicals trying to cut down people with far more talent than they have.

"Biblical scholars" are the worst in this regard. Very few have any interest in the topic other than crapping on Christianity.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:10 AM (ZOv7s)

128 Just a friendly reminder:

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS!

We don't normally get trolls on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, but when they do show up, please do not respond to them. They feed on our hatred and disgust.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at July 20, 2025 10:11 AM (n/UDa)

129 "They did the same to the Shannara series. I turned that show off after less than five minutes."

Oh jeez, I'd forgotten they'd done that series also. Thanks for the reminder, ugh.

I'd always thought a Wheel of Time adaptation wouldn't be doable. I just didn't realize how badly they would butcher it. Couldn't really predict how stupidly woke Hollywood would get back in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025 10:12 AM (yqgaV)

130 Star wars only exists in the extended universe after 1983

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:12 AM (bXbFr)

131 From the interesting but unnecessarily pedantic and academic* "Picnics and Porcupines: Eating in the Wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula" by Candice Goucher comes this excerpt from Beeton's Book of Household Management listing recommended provisions for an English picnic for forty persons: a joint of cold roast beef, a joint of cold boiled beef, 2 ribs of lamb, 2 shoulders of lamb, 4 roast fowls, 2 roast ducks, 1 ham, 1 tongue, 2 veal and ham pies, 2 pigeon pies, 6 medium lobsters, 1 piece of collared calf's head, 18 lettuces, 6 baskets of salad, 6 cucumbers", and a team of sherpas to carry it. Okay not that last one.

I mean, it's a nice start.

*Racism, imperialism, rampant capitalism, and climate change/ environmental impact run riot through these pages

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at July 20, 2025 10:12 AM (kpS4V)

132 There are three others available: "The Heart of the Matter", "Travels with my Aunt" and "The End of the Affair". Any thoughts on those?

Also, there's a biography: "The Unquiet Englishman: a life of Graham Greene" by Richard Greene that I think might be worth my time.
Posted by: Moonbeam at July 20, 2025 10:07 AM (rbKZ6)
---
I have at least two of those on the TBR shelf. Have not read his bio, but he also wrote about himself. Lots of Greene's stuff ahead of me, which is a good excuse to avoid contemporary material.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:13 AM (ZOv7s)

133 Heir to the empire has been done in digital for instsnce

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:13 AM (bXbFr)

134 these pants...(you know Ace lounges around in these on Sunday mornings...)

Those are some sort of Endorian heat-mapping pants, where the redder it is, the higher the temperature, right?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at July 20, 2025 10:14 AM (0sNs1)

135 When Battlestar Galactica first came out, I thought it would turn out that these were like the "Chariots of the Gods", that the entire series was set in ancient times, and they would finally find refuge on the primitive earth.

Posted by: Toad-0 at July 20, 2025 10:14 AM (leMim)

136 Seems to me I've seen "sennight" to indicate a week somewhere, so somebody else had the same idea.

--
A medieval word for a week

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 10:15 AM (0JWOm)

137 92 ... "You get authors who crib from other authors, who crib from older authors, and none of them has any first-hand knowledge of the topic, they're just regurgitating false information. This is particularly true with firearms guides or weapons"

Oh yes! You were referring to artillery but the same applies to civilian weapons. My books related to firearms are ones written by the people who did the development of a gun, a process or ammunition. John Taffin, Mike Venturino, Elmer Keith, Ned Roberts, etc. Except for Muzzleloader magazine, I've discontinued all the other gun magazines I used to get. Too much repetition and too many old wives tales that were debunked decades ago.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 10:15 AM (yTvNw)

138 125 I'm watching a few episodes of The Librarian again and that's the closest I've gotten to anything related to books.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine

We love that franchise!
There is a new spinoff but alas, we only have access to the first episode.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 10:10 AM (0JWOm)

I used to watch the first series of that. Partly because I was impressed that silly little tv movie on a cable channel could turn into a full series, and partly because of Rebecca Romijn. (hmmm....) But I drifted away after a while. I don't remember if the series went bad, or if I just got bored...

Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 10:17 AM (Lhaco)

139 I should have been playing with chemestry kits and Radio Shack stuff with that weird kid down the road who now owns a yaht. Not fanticising about some long time ago in a galaxy far far away that went so stupid I couldn't even bring myself to watch the second of the prequil.. or whatever.. I can't stand star wars now.

Rant off.
Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 10:10 AM (sjorS)
---
I still have a bunch of figures, including a very beaten up Millennium Falcon. Have you read the Man of Destiny series? That's where I "fix" the prequels.

My wife and I met in a Star Wars chatroom in 1999, so I regret nothing. I was kidnapped into watching Episode VII but was so conspicuously checking my watch that no one asked me to go to the later ones.

It's dead to me now, but I am showing the grandkids the OTR versions of the originals on DVD as they get old enough.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)

140 Shakespeare took known stories or topics from history, mythology and other cultures, but he made them his own as plays and with his words. If someone else wrote the plays, why did the first folios have Shakespeare's name? He was already dead. I've never heard of a convincing alternative for who wrote the Sonnets. I believe the 'someone else wrote Shakespeare' speculation (and that's all it is) comes from smug, self-styled intellectuals who won't believe that somebody with little formal education, their only way to measure importance, could be a genius.
Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 10:06 AM (yTvNw)

I feel the same way. I've just noticed more people are climbing on the Shakesfraud bandwagon. This Vox Day fellow seems to have a hard on against Billy. The usual high-born person really wrote them. He uses a poem by Jonson on the First Folio to say that Jonson was exposing Shakespeare as a fraud.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 10:17 AM (0eaVi)

141 DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS

That’s why I’ve avoided the Battlestar Galactica convo. Why bother raising anyone’s ire by posting any dismissive takes on that waste of time.
Dang. I’ve done it now haven’t I?

Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger at July 20, 2025 10:18 AM (RKVk8)

142 I was prime viewing age for the original Galactica and I could see the episodes decline in quality week by week. The writing was unimaginative -- I don't think the scriptwriters ever really understood what they were supposed to be doing. In retrospect, I also wonder if they couldn't make up their minds who the audience was supposed to be, either.

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:18 AM (78a2H)

143 Oh yes! You were referring to artillery but the same applies to civilian weapons. My books related to firearms are ones written by the people who did the development of a gun, a process or ammunition. John Taffin, Mike Venturino, Elmer Keith, Ned Roberts, etc. Except for Muzzleloader magazine, I've discontinued all the other gun magazines I used to get. Too much repetition and too many old wives tales that were debunked decades ago.
Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 10:15 AM (yTvNw)
---
I did retain one book because it has lots of pictures for reference. But the text is hot garbage, utterly false over and over again. Who could ever claim that 9mm Luger is *more powerful* than 7.63mm Mauser?! I had a couple of books claiming it because the brain-dead authors thought: "Bigger caliber always = bigger boom."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:20 AM (ZOv7s)

144 93 Scored a copy of the first Man-Kzin Wars anthology at a used bookstore. Three stories in it: "The Warriors" by Niven, the story that introduced the Kzinti to the universe; "Iron" by Poul Anderson; and "Cathouse" by Dean Ing. Both the Anderson and Ing stories are pretty long, almost short novels.

Great stuff. Brave and resourceful humans thwarting Kzinti schemes, vile traitors collaborating, mysterious alien structures, and some nice science puzzles. Recommended!

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 09:50 AM (78a2H)

Is that the one that has the tale of humanity's first encounter withe Kzin. That was a funny one, read it in my teens. The Kzin thought the human ship was unarmed. They failed to take into account the ship's engine :p

Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025 10:20 AM (yqgaV)

145 I've seen comments from several writers that nothing brings in mail faster than an error about firearms.

Every now and then I'll run across something that jumps out even at me, and I know almost nothing about guns. I may be remembering wrong, but think I saw something in one of Barry Malzberg's Lone Wolf books from the 70s about a safety on a revolver.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 10:21 AM (q3u5l)

146 The Shakespeare-didn't-write-Shakespeare crowd are so tiresome. Marlowe? Read _The Jew of Malta_ and _Merchant of Venice_ and tell me the same man wrote them. Also, why would a man fake his death and then hide out among the people most likely to recognize him, doing the same job as before?

The Earl of Oxford? If he was pretending to be Shakespeare because it was unseemly for an Earl to write plays, why did he write plays under his own name? And why did he only publish the good ones under the Shakespeare alias?

Bacon? When the hell did he have time to write plays?

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:22 AM (78a2H)

147 I contend the authors of Stargate basically plagiarized Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars.

Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 10:23 AM (VofaG)

148 I was prime viewing age for the original Galactica and I could see the episodes decline in quality week by week. The writing was unimaginative -- I don't think the scriptwriters ever really understood what they were supposed to be doing. In retrospect, I also wonder if they couldn't make up their minds who the audience was supposed to be, either.
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:18 AM (78a2H)
---
I own the series on DVD and have gone through it a couple of times. The arc is a little different than you remember. The opening miniseries was impressive, but momentum soon crashed out as they had to scramble to write scripts, build sets, etc.

Things pick up a bit, but then there's another lull as they sort things out but the show ended pretty strong once they sorting things out. Some great individual episodes in there, and if the writers had the summer hiatus to sort things out more, it could have been epic.

Remember that most shows do not find their stride until the second season, sometimes even later.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:23 AM (ZOv7s)

149 147 The Shakespeare-didn't-write-Shakespeare crowd are so tiresome.

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:22 AM (78a2H)

Deconstruction of historical figures has been a thing for a long time. If you can't create, destroy.

Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025 10:24 AM (yqgaV)

150 Last week someone mentioned that they were reading "Frankenstein". I seemed to remember that I had already read it, but then I realized that what I actually read was the Classics Comic book version.

Posted by: Toad-0 at July 20, 2025 10:24 AM (leMim)

151 I dunno. From what I remember, the producers decided in the second season that what would save Galactica was MOTORCYCLES!

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:25 AM (78a2H)

152 There's a delightfully crude limerick in Ken Kolb's novel Getting Straight (and I think it made it into the Elliot Gould movie) that spins off from the who really wrote Shakespeare question. Can quote it here if anyone's interested.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 10:25 AM (q3u5l)

153 How could battlestar trigger that buck rogers had a similar problem because of the writers strike in 1980

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:25 AM (bXbFr)

154 The second season nevarr happened

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:26 AM (bXbFr)

155 good morning Perfessor, Horde

Posted by: callsign claymore at July 20, 2025 10:26 AM (PClog)

156 Have too say I'm not a fan of Shakespeare in its original form.

I do like the story structures though from what I understand were around long before Shakespeare.

Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 10:27 AM (VofaG)

157 Sure. Always up for a good limerick.

Posted by: Muldoon fanboi at July 20, 2025 10:27 AM (XQo4F)

158 That’s why I’ve avoided the Battlestar Galactica convo. Why bother raising anyone’s ire by posting any dismissive takes on that waste of time.
Dang. I’ve done it now haven’t I?
Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger at July 20, 2025 10:18 AM (RKVk

---
Some years ago I wrote about how awful the remake of the show was and it uncorked a ferocious response that has yet to be equaled. I actually created a compilation post on my blog for easy reference.

Funny how little people care about that train wreck today.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:27 AM (ZOv7s)

159 Chronological chaos is best exemplified by the Battle of Midway.

US forces used either local or Zulu time. The Japanese used Tokyo time.

To complicate things further, the battle straddled the International Date Line.

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 20, 2025 10:28 AM (HANLD)

160 Is that the one that has the tale of humanity's first encounter withe Kzin. That was a funny one, read it in my teens. The Kzin thought the human ship was unarmed. They failed to take into account the ship's engine :p
Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025

***
The short story by Niven himself, "The Warriors," yes. Their telepaths had reported that this species (humans) were not fighters or predators, because of the brainwashing humans had been put through for the last couple of centuries on Earth. When it came time to fight, though, the humans proved they still had what it took!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 10:28 AM (omVj0)

161 I dunno. From what I remember, the producers decided in the second season that what would save Galactica was MOTORCYCLES!
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:25 AM (78a2H)
---
Galactica 1980 is an urban legend. It does not actually exist.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:28 AM (ZOv7s)

162 All space TV shows pale in comparison to Farscape.

Only IMO of course

Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 10:29 AM (VofaG)

163 Ron Moore's Battlestar was such a stupid contrived train wreck.

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 20, 2025 10:29 AM (HANLD)

164 It's dead to me now, but I am showing the grandkids the OTR versions of the originals on DVD as they get old enough.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)

We try and keep the grands away from the TV. One is interested in guns and one is interested in drums and quite good for a five year old. I am doing a birthday party for the younger one this afternoon. Older one reads like it is nothing. He doesn't even remember learning how. We are struggling to get the younger one into it. He won't sit still long enough.

Off topic I picked up a Tippmann A5 paintball gun at a garage sale yesterday for $10. They go for $250+ on Ebay.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 10:30 AM (sjorS)

165 Pouring one out for Martin Cruz Smith.
As a sad coincidence I’ve been re-reading the Renko books and have been looking through thrift shops for the last two on my list “Tatiana” and “Independence Square”. The last Renko to be published, a week before his passing, “Hotel Ukraine” is now also on my list.

Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger

I didn't know that he just died. I have read most of the Renko books, I will do some reviews in coming weeks. I just finished Tatiana on my vacation in June.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at July 20, 2025 10:30 AM (Vfq+S)

166 All space TV shows pale in comparison to Farscape.

Only IMO of course
Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 10:29 AM (VofaG)
---
It was pretty good. Babylon 5 is better. (Just ignore season 5, which didn't happen.)

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:30 AM (ZOv7s)

167 Okay, Muldoon fanboi, here ya go.

A bawd in a brothel did waken
To find all her sex organs achin'.
She said 'twasn't Will's doing,
All that rough screwing
Was authored by Sir Francis Bacon.

Don't blame me -- it's Ken Kolb's. Unless he heard it somewhere else before putting it in his book.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 10:30 AM (q3u5l)

168 Humans vs Kzin first contact.

Scream&leap met a comm laser.

Dang monkeys...

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 20, 2025 10:31 AM (HANLD)

169 Ron Moore's Battlestar was such a stupid contrived train wreck.
Posted by: Anna Puma at July 20, 2025 10:29 AM (HANLD)
---
John Colicos' Baltar was one of the best villains ever put on screen. Fight me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:32 AM (ZOv7s)

170 Today is Moon Day, everyone! Time to re-read Michael Collins's _Carrying the Fire_.

Posted by: Trimegistus

And to visit Www.apolloinrealtime.org/11

Posted by: Sharkman at July 20, 2025 10:32 AM (/RHNq)

171 That does seem to be a perennial problem with TV doing science fiction: most people good at SF are not good at TV, and most people good at TV are not good at SF. So for every legendary show like Firefly or Babylon 5 or Star Trek, we get failures like The Starlost or Quark or Earth 2 or Space Precinct. Or just quietly forgettable shows like Andromeda. There seems to be a sweet spot where the show is successful enough to keep going, but not too successful lest it get handed to some "real TV" people who don't understand it.

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:32 AM (78a2H)

172 I said that

Yes farscape was an inspired bit of world building

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:32 AM (bXbFr)

173 ASS: I just looked it up. Pam Bondi wasn't AG in FL until after the Epstein case there. You are either lying or ignorant. Which is it?
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:04 AM (78a2H)

It's a troll that eats its own turds.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at July 20, 2025 10:33 AM (qLXme)

174 Colicos had a meaty role there and chewed the scenery with glee.

Moore's Balthar was such a David French in comparison.

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 20, 2025 10:34 AM (HANLD)

175 You dont like quark (dodges chair) there was some hallucinogen in the writers room)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:34 AM (bXbFr)

176 It was pretty good. Babylon 5 is better. (Just ignore season 5, which didn't happen.)
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:30 AM (ZOv7s)

I bought the B5 box-set DVDs, back when those were a new thing, and the boxes were 1 1/2 inches thick... I have seasons 1-4, and have never felt the urge to get number 5. I don't hate it, I just see no need to revisit it.

It's sort of the inverse of my Star Trek Enterprise. I have the final season (season 4) and nothing else.

Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 10:35 AM (Lhaco)

177 There are some excellent videos on YT involving literature and books in general. But I'm seeing more and more that leave me cold. Topics like 'I read tons of books last month' or huge books worth your time or not worth your time. The ones that are most annoying are the ones dealing with Tolkien and CS Lewis writings that are pure speculation and based on nothing from the actual books. They are relying on the subject to get hits but aren't presenting anything more than fanfic. (I think that's the term.)

The channels I've found to be most useful are from Malcolm Guite (always) and Dr. Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 10:35 AM (yTvNw)

178 @Nazdar I read all of Alistair Maclean's books when I was in high school. I particularly remember how well Night Without End conveyed the feeling of being bitterly, hopelessly cold. A sentence fragment that's always stuck with me from near the climax when they finally get picked up by a rescue vehicle: "the incredible warmth and comfort of the superbly equipped and insulated cabin."

His first novel, HMS Ulysses, also really conveyed the brutal physical discomforts of convoys on the Murmansk run.

Posted by: Disillusionist at July 20, 2025 10:35 AM (lw7se)

179 I never watched Lesbian Battlestar Gallactica.

Posted by: Boss Moss at July 20, 2025 10:35 AM (WlViI)

180 Gotta go, but there are some exceptional episodes to BSG that show what it might have been. "Fire in Space" is great (though high def TV lets you see the wires.

The miniseries with the Pegasus ("The Living Legend") is solid and "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero" is great - a nice sendup but also a fun take on cloning.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:36 AM (ZOv7s)

181

Earth: Final Conflict

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at July 20, 2025 10:36 AM (63Dwl)

182 The Galactica reboot had tremendous promise but squandered it by a combination of producer politics and lack of planning.

I remember seeing an episode of that without knowing what it was. I had heard a Galactica reboot was in the works but didn't know it was on the air. Watched it in a hotel room while on the road. It was the episode where they attack a Cylon fuel station and Baltar doesn't know if the information he has provided is good or false. Great show. I looked up what I'd been watching and was astounded.

Then the producers got Bush Derangement Syndrome and were too busy indulging their "what if WE are really the bad guys?" fetish to think of a proper ending to the series.

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:37 AM (78a2H)

183 What Moore and the writers did to Caine is a masterclass in screwed up writing.

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 20, 2025 10:37 AM (HANLD)

184 Those were some of the best 'fire in space' had the irwin allen feel

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:37 AM (bXbFr)

185 Galactica 1980 is an urban legend. It does not actually exist.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:28 AM (ZOv7s)

Yes it does! I saw it with my own two eyes! Ok I only saw one or two episodes and never watched it again.

Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025 10:38 AM (yqgaV)

186 When Battlestar Galactica first came out, I thought it would turn out that these were like the "Chariots of the Gods", that the entire series was set in ancient times, and they would finally find refuge on the primitive earth.

Posted by: Toad-0

You nailed it.

Posted by: Sharkman at July 20, 2025 10:39 AM (/RHNq)

187 I'd love to see another decent sf anthology series, but these days they'd even manage to screw that up. I may revisit Amazon's Philip K. Dick adaptations just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, but it seemed to me that the people doing the scripts thought they knew how Dick's stories should have gone better than Dick himself and created a bunch of train wrecks.

Kinda like the Fugitive movie -- without the performance of Tommy Lee Jones, would that flick really be all that watchable? Especially when compared to the David Janssen series in the 60s?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 10:39 AM (q3u5l)

188 No you need the neuralizer to forget

Like airworlf after jan michael vincent bowed out

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:39 AM (bXbFr)

189 im going to try and give Conn Iggulden another chance and start his book Conqueror -A novel of Kublai Khan.

His Julius Casear book didn't grab my attention at all and just put it down less than halfway through and never picked it back up.

Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 10:39 AM (VofaG)

190
Then the producers got Bush Derangement Syndrome and were too busy indulging their "what if WE are really the bad guys?" fetish to think of a proper ending to the series.

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:37 AM (78a2H)

Yeah the entire New Caprica arc was big turn off for me because of this. The ending of the arc was awesome, though. The Adama maneuver, hah.

Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025 10:41 AM (yqgaV)

191 Wasn't a young Sinbad in Galactica 1980? I could swear I have a VHS copy of that somewhere....

Posted by: PabloD at July 20, 2025 10:41 AM (HoiAv)

192 As a yoot i couldnt quite put my finger on why ot was so bad except everything well perhaps richard lynch as the villain

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:41 AM (bXbFr)

193 My only firearms experience has been at MoMes, so I am at a loss when I come across gunshot scenes in books.

For example, Donald Hamilton (through Matt Helm) says, "No pistol has the knockdown power of a good rifle." In other books, a pistol shot blows a man through a wall.

I rely on Hamilton because I read him first, but lately I've read remarks that Hamilton erred on some details. So whom to believe?

Posted by: Weak Geek at July 20, 2025 10:41 AM (p/isN)

194 Listened to Magpie Murders. Premise is very interesting and was executed well. Overall, I enjoyed it but was glad I got it from the library instead of buying it. There did seem to be some continuity errors (someone officially divorced, another person remarried, both of which are contradicted by the characters in question), but I suppose that could have been the character being mistaken.

Wasn't surprised to learn the author also wrote for Foyle's War and Midsommer Murders as the tone is very similar. Was amused that the premise let him bring up Midsommer Murders a couple of times.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at July 20, 2025 10:41 AM (lFFaq)

195 Thanks!
Every thread is improved by the occasional limerick.

Posted by: Muldoon fanboi at July 20, 2025 10:41 AM (XQo4F)

196 Moron Mike Hammer very generously gave me a book, entitled "Until The Sea Shall Free Them" by Robert Frump. It is an account of the Marine Electric disaster in 1983. I am now 3/4 of the way through, and it is fascinating.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at July 20, 2025 10:42 AM (eaycV)

197 Well, off to pull some weeds before it starts raining. Happy Moon Day -- enjoy some Tang and a Moon Pie!

Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:44 AM (78a2H)

198 54: awesome website indeed.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 10:44 AM (vm8sq)

199 @Disillusionist Think I read about half of his books. What struck me and always stayed with me in Night Without End was the perfect end of the villain.

Posted by: Nazdar at July 20, 2025 10:45 AM (NcvvS)

200 197 Well, off to pull some weeds before it starts raining. Happy Moon Day -- enjoy some Tang and a Moon Pie!
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:44 AM (78a2H)

I highly suggest "Stars Die" and "Moonloop" by Porcupine Tree.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 10:45 AM (vm8sq)

201 Just started Doorways by a Hordeling that was mentioned last week. I'm interested to see where the story goes.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at July 20, 2025 10:45 AM (lFFaq)

202 Good morning book threadies. Here's a news:

The enemies of books are many. Water. Fire. Book-banners. Drugstore beetles…

Thousands of historic books are in jeopardy over a massive bug infestation that could annihilate centuries-long of historical records.

The Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary is a Benedictine monastery that is working to save books from drugstore beetles, according to The Associated Press (AP).…

The beetles were found in a section of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that houses 400,000 volumes – which makes up a quarter of the books in the library.

Fox News link
https://bit.ly/book-bugs

Posted by: mindful webworker - pro logue at July 20, 2025 10:46 AM (RviYc)

203 While flying over the Atlantic a couple of weeks ago to the Land of Large Teutonic Bosoms,

I plowed through Philip K Dick's novel, "Now Wait For Last Year".

As usual PKD gives good value for money, the story involves a sort of alien invasion story involving a artificial organ surgeon with a failed marriage trying to keep the President alive, when the President's plan to rid Earth of the aliens involves him getting sick and dying...multiple times. Wrapped around all this is a highly addictive, deadly hallucinogenic drug, JJ-180 developed as a weapon used by both sides which has the unfortunate side effect of throwing those who take it through time or to an alternate version of their world.

Whew! The thing is that that PKD handles all of this masterfully and clearly, even as he makes you go "What the...?" to turn in a story that not only answers all questions regarding the aliens and their invasion but actually turns out to be a novel about how and why the surgeon becomes a better man.

Not considered one of PKD's classics, yet an excellent novel none the less.

Another masterclass in the writing of ideas as action while smashing SF concept in your face. Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 20, 2025 10:46 AM (iJfKG)

204 You people keep calling this "Moon Day" when it should be recognized by its proper name: "PabloD's birthday."

Posted by: PabloD at July 20, 2025 10:48 AM (Yyg09)

205 It was pretty good. Babylon 5 is better. (Just ignore season 5, which didn't happen.)
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:30 AM (ZOv7s)

This is what I say about Space: 1999 Season 2. Doesn't exist.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 10:48 AM (vm8sq)

206 So for every legendary show like Firefly or Babylon 5 or Star Trek, we get failures like The Starlost or Quark or Earth 2 or Space Precinct.
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 20, 2025 10:32 AM (78a2H)

Quark wasn't SF, it was comedy in a SF setting.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 10:49 AM (0eaVi)

207 @Disillusionist Think I read about half of his books. What struck me and always stayed with me in Night Without End was the perfect end of the villain.
Posted by: Nazdar at July 20, 2025

***
I read a lot of Alastair Maclean when I was a teen, starting with Guns of Navarone and When Eight Bells Toll. Recently I found a library copy of Ice Station Zebra, which I'd never read, and found it had all of his strengths (twisty plotting) and his weaknesses (long sentences, not much characterization that matters).

Still, I have to admit: He sold a lot of thrillers and had a lot of them turned into decent-to-good movies. Pretty darn successful fellow.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 10:50 AM (omVj0)

208 I used to watch the first series of that. Partly because I was impressed that silly little tv movie on a cable channel could turn into a full series, and partly because of Rebecca Romijn. (hmmm....) But I drifted away after a while. I don't remember if the series went bad, or if I just got bored...
Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 10:17 AM (Lhaco)

"The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice" FTW.

Why? Stana Katic. That's all.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 10:51 AM (vm8sq)

209
Quark wasn't SF, it was comedy in a SF setting.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025

***
Sort of like Get Smart in Space!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 10:51 AM (omVj0)

210 Yes but then they killed her off

Why else did i watch castle not for the plots

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:53 AM (bXbFr)

211 I rely on Hamilton because I read him first, but lately I've read remarks that Hamilton erred on some details. So whom to believe?
Posted by: Weak Geek at July 20, 2025 10:41 AM (p/isN)

Go by the ABW rule.*

Always Believe Weasel

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 10:54 AM (0eaVi)

212 Quark wasn't SF, it was comedy in a SF setting.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025

***
Sort of like Get Smart in Space!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025

***
And -- I thought I remembered this, and checked it -- Buck Henry created Quark as well as co-creating Get Smart w/ Mel Brooks.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 10:55 AM (omVj0)

213 But a drug can only alter perception not create another universe

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:55 AM (bXbFr)

214 For those who don't know, it's a glossy paperback filled with production photos laid out like a comic book with dialogue boxes. I also had the comic book adaptation for that and Empire Strikes Back, but both were lost to the ravages to time.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 10:01 AM (ZOv7s)

In kindergarten the day care I went to that taught Grade K had an Empire Strikes Back storybook with a record that had the sounds/dialogue from the movie. We five year olds became quite good at dropping the needle at the beginning point of the light saber duel between Luke and Darth Vader, then acting it out.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 10:56 AM (vm8sq)

215 The beetles were found in a section of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that houses 400,000 volumes – which makes up a quarter of the books in the library.

Posted by: mindful webworker - pro logue at July 20, 2025 10:46 AM (RviYc)

UNESCO, huh? Odds they were planted by UN workers to destroy books?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 10:56 AM (0eaVi)

216 210 Yes but then they killed her off

Why else did i watch castle not for the plots
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:53 AM (bXbFr)

You HAD to remind me of that bit. Killjoy.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 10:57 AM (vm8sq)

217 183 What Moore and the writers did to Caine is a masterclass in screwed up writing.

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 20, 2025 10:37 AM (HANLD)

Iknowright? So much potential and they made her a monstrous martinet. They couldn't keep her in the picture for obvious reasons but they could have just did what they did with the original Admiral Caine (or something similar) rather than just having her assassinated.

Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025 10:57 AM (yqgaV)

218 Turned on the anime "Deathnote" in the background. It's no "Cowboy Bebop" but we'll see if it gets better in the next few episodes.

Posted by: Oddbob at July 20, 2025 10:57 AM (/y8xj)

219 The problem with bsg is they made the people as amoral as the cylons lloyd bridges cain might have been mad but he had a purpose

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:59 AM (bXbFr)

220 Sort of like Get Smart in Space!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 10:51 AM (omVj0)

Cancelled too soon. Like Police Squad!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 10:59 AM (0eaVi)

221 I finished Bleak House and found it very effecting.
I'm on to 'The Old Curiosity Shoppe' next.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at July 20, 2025 11:00 AM (xcxpd)

222 OT a bit but I just googled Winner of British Open and their AI had a full description of Scheffler winning and his final score and who finished second etc.

From what I understand from checking the updates from different sources Scheffler is only on #6 .

WTF ?

Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 11:00 AM (VofaG)

223 And with Death Note, watch season 1 and stop there. It's a complete story more or less. The sequels are disappoint.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at July 20, 2025 11:01 AM (xcxpd)

224 But a drug can only alter perception not create another universe
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:55 AM (bXbFr)

Well, that is one of the complications. What exactly is happening?

But, you're not thinking science-fictiony enough. In the NWFLY, the drug, JJ-180, appears to have the ability to cause the taker to temporarily physically leave our time or access an alternate timeline.

It's not creating a world.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 20, 2025 11:01 AM (iJfKG)

225 There are hobsons choices that are made in the course of a war but moore made the humans and the adversaries the same or virtually

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:02 AM (bXbFr)

226 And with Death Note, watch season 1 and stop there. It's a complete story more or less. The sequels are disappoint.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at July 20, 2025 11:01 AM (xcxpd)

Man. is that the truth.

The return for time invested declines precipitously.

But....YMMV.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 20, 2025 11:03 AM (iJfKG)

227 But a drug can only alter perception not create another universe
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:55 AM (bXbFr)

Like the Matrix

Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 11:03 AM (VofaG)

228 The missing book in the picture at the top is “The Right Word” by Wiiliam F. Buckley.

Posted by: Kenneth King Neil at July 20, 2025 11:04 AM (/g9JB)

229 MAE at 221--

Congrats on finishing Bleak House; I've washed out twice on that book (no idea why), but plan to take another run at it some time before the end of the year.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:04 AM (q3u5l)

230 It's shaping up to be a mass battle for 2nd place at The Open.
Nobody's catching Scheffler, but the chase is interesting.

Posted by: From about That Time at July 20, 2025 11:05 AM (n4GiU)

231 225 There are hobsons choices that are made in the course of a war but moore made the humans and the adversaries the same or virtually

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:02 AM (bXbFr)

I think that was the point and the major source of friction on the skinjob side. Their creators made them too like humans. The "leader" played by Dean Stockwell (great choice btw) says as much in an episode.

Posted by: Farquad at July 20, 2025 11:06 AM (yqgaV)

232 So the matrix was always happening a hundred years in the future and were locked in this moebius loop

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:06 AM (bXbFr)

233 Congrats on finishing Bleak House; I've washed out twice on that book (no idea why), but plan to take another run at it some time before the end of the year.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:04 AM (q3u5l)

Once you get on his wavelength and accept the long sentences, it's pretty good stuff. More death than I expected from Dickens and more happiness than I expected from a book called 'Bleak House'.

He's a little indirect but he knows good guys from bad guys and calls them as he sees them.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at July 20, 2025 11:06 AM (xcxpd)

234 Yes he was a good choice made michael hogan look small by comparison but its as if starwars made the empire and the rebels the same thats what irks about the cities bespite all the digital gewgaws its ultimately hollow

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:08 AM (bXbFr)

235 Battlestar had heart the colonials were perhaps a little naive the cylons rurhless killers with only destruction on their mind

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:10 AM (bXbFr)

236 Think I've mentioned before an overnight layover years ago in the Joplin Greyhound terminal -- read Great Expectations that night, and the hours just flew by. A good read indeed; Dickens knew how to cook.

This is not an opinion universally shared by the Horde.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:11 AM (q3u5l)

237 235 Battlestar had heart the colonials were perhaps a little naive the cylons rurhless killers with only destruction on their mind
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:10 AM (bXbFr)

The opening credits assured the viewer that "The Cylons have a plan..."

WHAT WAS THE PLAN???

Give me BSG 1978 any day.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 11:12 AM (vm8sq)

238 I still have Robert Parker's family saga, All Our Yesterdays, on my TBR pile. Wish I could find his YA book, Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel, again.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 11:13 AM (omVj0)

239 236 Think I've mentioned before an overnight layover years ago in the Joplin Greyhound terminal -- read Great Expectations that night, and the hours just flew by. A good read indeed; Dickens knew how to cook.

This is not an opinion universally shared by the Horde.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:11 AM (q3u5l)

Great Expectations should be printed on perforated sheets, on a roll. What a POS novel. Yeah, I know Dickens viewed Americans with contempt but at least those who he sneered at knew what a fucking PLOT was.

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 11:14 AM (vm8sq)

240 "There is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it."

-----

Yeah, Mr. Squirrell? If you wanna toss around that kind of bald assertion, then I'm assigning you to read "Not That Kind of Girl," by Lena Dunham, and attempt to substantiate it.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at July 20, 2025 11:14 AM (BI5O2)

241 Start reading the necronimocon why dont you what could go wrong?

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:15 AM (bXbFr)

242 My first run through the Dungeon Crawler Carl books, I was sort of dragged against my will, compelled to keep reading by wanting to know what was going to happen to these characters, but somehow not willing to acknowledge that I was hooked by a series of books that does not seem like my type of thing (A giant rolling ball of trapped players with a floppy god penis sticking out of it? Really?).

Just wrapped up a second reading, and I have to admit, these books are really well done. The characters are very distinct and interesting, and the story just pulls you along. I can see why it is always at the top of the "Best LitRPG" lists. Hard act to follow.

As a reference point in a similar genre, I made it about halfway through Ready Player One before I got bored and abandoned it.

Posted by: Splunge at July 20, 2025 11:16 AM (N3mKE)

243 Battle Officer Wolf takes place in a fixed location to time passes normally there.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at July 20, 2025 09:24 AM (ZOv7s)

Battle Office Wolf was excellent. Highly recommended.

Also, Mark Steyn has a regular feature on his blog entitled "A Se'nnight of Steyn."

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at July 20, 2025 11:16 AM (PiwSw)

244 193 ... Weak Geek,

Donald Hamilton knew weapons, what they could do and what was the appropriate gun for a situation. I don't recall a passage where a handgun blew somebody through a wall. He did deride the bad guys using too much gun, like a 44 magnum, when a 38 special would have been enough. And he sometimes had Helm noting how uncomfortable the recoil on high powered rifles could be even when the events called for one.

Hamilton's writing about guns and boats was based on personal experience which made his fiction so plausible.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 11:17 AM (yTvNw)

245 Dickens was quite the storyteller, and he was one of the best ever at naming characters to suggest their personalities: Sarey Gamp, Scrooge, Inspector Bucket, Micawber, Dedlock, Tulkinghorn, Skimpole, etc.

That said, I have only read "A Christmas Carol" and A Tale of Two Cities.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 11:17 AM (omVj0)

246 Pouring one out for Martin Cruz Smith.

-
According to Wiki, he was born in Reading PA. Seems appropriate.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Lying Dogface Pony Soldier at July 20, 2025 11:18 AM (L/fGl)

247 I cannot manage Dickens. I can see that he's good, but his pompousness and cringeworthy sentimentality just put me off.

Posted by: Splunge at July 20, 2025 11:19 AM (N3mKE)

248 I was born in '56 and today it's been 56 years sine the moon landing! MY favorite book is Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. I remember watching men walk on the moon; I wish we were going there again.

Like the Perfessor, my reading does fall into those same three categories. And I'm forever indebted to the Moron recommendations, which have turned me on to some exciting, great books and new (to me) authors! (Especially Sam Sisavath and Nathan van Coops.)

Love me some good time travel and just recently stumbled across writer B.W. Haggart, who wrote three "Romancing Time" novels, all of which are good but the third one, "Saving Time" is fantastic as an Army Ranger captain training Spanish troops on a joint exercise finds himself dumped smack into the middle of the Napoleonic Wars.

Posted by: tankascribe at July 20, 2025 11:20 AM (NtoJk)

249 This is not an opinion universally shared by the Horde.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:11 AM (q3u5l)

It is by me.

Check for your upgrade to tinfoil membership in the next mailing.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 20, 2025 11:22 AM (JwJND)

250 Hollywood of course turned on of Dickens book into a DEI project.

The Personal History of David Copperfield.

It wasn't a bad movie but the DEI just takes you out of it.

Posted by: polynikes at July 20, 2025 11:23 AM (VofaG)

251 Donald Hamilton knew weapons, what they could do and what was the appropriate gun for a situation. I don't recall a passage where a handgun blew somebody through a wall. He did deride the bad guys using too much gun, like a 44 magnum, when a 38 special would have been enough. And he sometimes had Helm noting how uncomfortable the recoil on high powered rifles could be even when the events called for one.

Hamilton's writing about guns and boats was based on personal experience which made his fiction so plausible.
Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025

***
JTB, I don't recall a pistol shot blowing anybody through a wall either in a Matt Helm, or any of Hamilton's other novels. (They are hard to find.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 11:23 AM (omVj0)

252 Good morning Perfessor, Hordemates.

Posted by: Diogenes at July 20, 2025 11:24 AM (W/lyH)

253 241 Start reading the necronimocon why dont you what could go wrong?
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:15 AM (bXbFr)

Weirdest thing. Somebody gave me one of those about 30 years ago. I'm like whatever. Book, set it there. Picked it up and started it. Got 3 pages in and threw it away. Complete shit.
About a month later I see it in my bookshelf. I think huh. I thought I threw this away. Throw it away again.
Then...

I don't even want to finish the story. I wound up burning it and haven't looked to see if it is on the particular shelf where I kept finding it. It made 4 moves.
Now that I'm thinking about it. If the wife wasn't asleep between me ant that shelf I would check. Will do later.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 11:25 AM (sjorS)

254 I read most of Alistair MacClean in younger days and still have a hardcover of Ice Station Zebra with diagrams of the sub on the end papers. It's still a fine read. I liked the movie as well even though they played with a lot of the story details that made the book so effective. But Patrick Mcgoohan, especially, and Ernest Borgnine made the movie for me.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 11:26 AM (yTvNw)

255 I cannot manage Dickens. I can see that he's good, but his pompousness and cringeworthy sentimentality just put me off.
Posted by: Splunge at July 20, 2025

***
His longish involved sentences are part of my problem. I might have swallowed all that when I was a kid, but I was more into action-adventure stories, and by the time I hit adulthood I had been "trained" by writers with sparer styles.

I can imagine reading Bleak House knowing what a great story-skeleton lies below the surface of the words -- maybe if I were confined to bed in a hospital or something.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 11:27 AM (omVj0)

256 I got a collection of Alistair MacLean stories I have yet to read

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 11:28 AM (vm8sq)

257 Tinfoil membership?

Thanks, CBD!

But there are still a lot of aspects of Horde life I'm not really up on, so I have to ask -- What precisely is that? Is there a badge and decoder ring that goes with it? Will I have to drink more Ovaltine? And what effect is membership likely to have on my French toast preferences? Any info appreciated.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:29 AM (q3u5l)

258 Wife woke up. I looked. It's not thankfully not there.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 11:34 AM (sjorS)

259 Its a moebius loop i meant about lena dunham you might tear a hole in space time

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:35 AM (bXbFr)

260 It's not thankfully not there.
Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 11:34 AM (sjorS)

Errr.. Thankfully not there.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2025 11:35 AM (sjorS)

261 Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:29 AM (q3u5l)

Nope. The badge and decoder ring come with the used brick membership level.

And since this is a zero-sum system, Splunge will be losing his tinfoil membership and getting your wet cardboard membership.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 20, 2025 11:36 AM (nlz/9)

262 251 ... Wolfus,

If you can find Donald Hamilton's westerns, they are worth the effort. The movie The Big Country was based on one of his westerns. The others: Texas Fever, Mad River, Smoky Valley, and The Two Shoot Gun are good.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025 11:38 AM (yTvNw)

263 Wolfus at 255 -

Trained by writers with sparer styles.

Boy, ain't that the truth? When I was a kid (upper grades, early high school), I read books by Dumas, Dickens, Verne -- length didn't seem so imposing. When I discovered paperback sf and anthologies like the Hitchcock paperbacks, I immersed myself in those and almost nothing else for a good 10-15 years. In reading for pleasure I have for decades expected the lean prose of a Westlake or Heinlein, and novel length to generally run between Ace Double (about 40K words) to about 60K. Makes it more difficult to pick up a Dickens or a Henry James than it should be; of the Russians we will not speak.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:38 AM (q3u5l)

264 Chronological chaos is best exemplified by the Battle of Midway.

US forces used either local or Zulu time. The Japanese used Tokyo time.

-
Out: Living On Tulsa Time

In: Dying on Tokyo Time

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Lying Dogface Pony Soldier at July 20, 2025 11:38 AM (L/fGl)

265 But a drug can only alter perception not create another universe
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 10:55 AM (bXbFr)

Do not use Ubik except as directed. Unapproved use can lead to side effects. There is no listed off-label use for Ubik.

Posted by: Kindltot at July 20, 2025 11:39 AM (D7oie)

266 *But there are still a lot of aspects of Horde life I'm not really up on, so I have to ask -- What precisely is that? Is there a badge and decoder ring that goes with it? Will I have to drink more Ovaltine? And what effect is membership likely to have on my French toast preferences? Any info appreciated.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:29 AM*
+++

There's a secret handshake.
But you have to show up at a MoMe to learn it.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at July 20, 2025 11:39 AM (XQo4F)

267 Makes it more difficult to pick up a Dickens or a Henry James than it should be; of the Russians we will not speak.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:38 AM (q3u5l)

Try the Russian short stories!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 20, 2025 11:40 AM (nlz/9)

268 They really effed up Terry Brooks with that tv show.

Posted by: Boss Moss at July 20, 2025 11:41 AM (WlViI)

269 Shannara in the oc

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at July 20, 2025 11:43 AM (bXbFr)

270
Try the Russian short stories!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 20, 2025 11:40 AM (nlz/9)

Oxymoron

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 11:43 AM (vm8sq)

271 My poster child for the opposite of spare writing is Les Miserables. I read it once, a long time ago, and have no plans to re-read, but I recall that at one point there was a 30 page digression about a battle that had apparently nothing to do with the main story until you reached the very end of the digression and there was finally a short something important to the plot.

Some of that meandering tendency is also in one of the Sherlock Holmes novels, The Valley of Fear.

Posted by: Splunge at July 20, 2025 11:44 AM (N3mKE)

272 Unfortunately I'm not likely to turn up at a MoMe, delightful though they sound -- I don't drive, and believe thee me we're all better off for that.

Splunge, hope a wet cardboard membership isn't too traumatic. Don't imagine it is, though -- apparently I had one without realizing it and it doesn't seem to have damaged me any, I don't think. Unless it's a stealth effect thing...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:45 AM (q3u5l)

273 261 And since this is a zero-sum system, Splunge will be losing his tinfoil membership and getting your wet cardboard membership.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 20, 2025 11:36 AM (nlz/9)

Sad!

Posted by: Splunge at July 20, 2025 11:46 AM (N3mKE)

274 If you can find Donald Hamilton's westerns, they are worth the effort. The movie The Big Country was based on one of his westerns. The others: Texas Fever, Mad River, Smoky Valley, and The Two Shoot Gun are good.
Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2025

***
AbeBooks might have some of them!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 11:46 AM (omVj0)

275 Wet cardboard membership? Luxury! Why, we had the East German Toilet Paper membership, and were glad of it!

Posted by: The Four Yorkshiremen at July 20, 2025 11:48 AM (PiwSw)

276 >>> 94 Would be funny if it's some integral number of inches.
==
I’ve probably told this story here before, but in my investigation of vintage cooking I ran across a cookbook by a maker of golden syrup; and there are only one or two companies that still make it, both in the UK (there is something called golden syrup here in the South but it is completely different from the product in question). It comes in 454 gram cans.

What an odd number…
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:50 AM (t4pCP)

It's one pound. But then why don't they just label it as such for the US market? Do they sell that exact size in the UK?

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at July 20, 2025 11:48 AM (ULPxl)

277 Russian short stories --

Have done some of Chekhov's, Tolstoy's 'Death of Ivan Ilich' and a couple of others. Did get through War and Peace a couple of years ago, but found it awfully rough going at times and I chalk that up to the sort of 'training' noted by Wolfus in his post. Some of Henry James' short fiction is fine by me, but I have a hard time so far with the novels. Same reason, I think.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:50 AM (q3u5l)

278
This discussion of Dickens readability kinda remands me of TJM's discussion last night of Ozu's "watchability".

If you can catch their vibes, slow down and let yourself sink into their worlds, you'll have a great time.

OTOH, if James Patterson is the snizz-nizzle for you, you're unlikely to enjoy and be entertained by Dickens.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 20, 2025 11:50 AM (iJfKG)

279 Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was a tedious read. He kept going off on tangents of the different types of fish he saw.
I get the feeling he had a bet with someone about naming every species of fish in a book and passing it off as an adventure.

Moby Dick was another tedious read.

Now these were books I read on my own many years after I had finished school. They were not required readings.

Required readings that I felt should be expunged from any school are Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace. Garbage both of them

Posted by: Scuba_Dude at July 20, 2025 11:54 AM (Jm6kM)

280 Before the thread closes, I'd like to again thank everyone who picked up Doorways over the last week.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:54 AM (q3u5l)

281 Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at July 20, 2025 09:50 AM (t4pCP)

My favorite sticky toffee pudding recipe requires golden syrup!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at July 20, 2025 11:57 AM (nlz/9)

282 Moby Dick was one I read during the late 70s, after college, while riding the L between Rogers Park and the job at Kroch's & Brentano's bookstore downtown Chicago. The only tedious parts for me was when he took umpteen pages to describe breaking down the whale carcasses. Otherwise seemed to move okay. Haven't revisited it since then.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:57 AM (q3u5l)

283 149
'Deconstruction of historical figures has been a thing for a long time. If you can't create, destroy.'

There is a role for literary and film critics but most of them seem to miss.
I've always felt that role was to explain the reasons for popularity rather than analyze art. If you can't understand the appeal of the work well enough to explain it to someone else without draining that appeal, you aren't a very good critic.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at July 20, 2025 11:57 AM (3wi/L)

284 OTOH, if James Patterson is the snizz-nizzle for you, you're unlikely to enjoy and be entertained by Dickens.
Posted by: naturalfake at July 20, 2025

***
I'd hope I'm not that bad! During the Sniffle Scare I read Doyle's The Valley of Fear for the first time. I knew the mystery element part, having had it spoiled at some point, so I simply enjoyed it as a learning tool of how you can bamboozle a reader. But! I also enjoyed his third-person, non-Watson background story (similar to the back story in A Study in Scarlet), written in a more ornate style than Watson's narration. Still not Dickens or Dostoyevsky, but not Raymond Chandler either. Still, it was fascinating reading.

I have to admit Doyle was pretty fast-moving and modern, though. His technique of using dialog to imply action ("Watson, pray hand me down the Bradshaw. Thank you. I see there is a 4:52 from Paddington tomorrow. Be sure to pack your revolver") works beautifully.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 11:58 AM (omVj0)

285 Well, time I went back to the so-called real world for a while. Maybe accomplish something in meat-space. Maybe. (But I doubt it.)

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 11:59 AM (q3u5l)

286 Just Some Guy, think I've told this before, but when I worked in Streeterville during the '80s, I'd hit the K&B on Wabash about once a month and buy 6-7 books. Mostly SF & Fantasy, but some history and Penguin Classic paperbacks. Not impossible that you sold me some books, back in the day.

Posted by: Nazdar at July 20, 2025 12:00 PM (NcvvS)

287 It's not every day you see employees asking for a pay cut.

Aaron Torres@Aaron_Torres
WNBA players, currently in the middle of CBA negotiations, wore "pay us what you owe us" t-shirts for warm ups at the All-Star game.
There is no group of more delusional people on planet Earth, than WNBA players

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Lying Dogface Pony Soldier at July 20, 2025 12:01 PM (L/fGl)

288 Before bailing completely -- Nazdar, possible. I worked the paperback sales floor at Wabash from early 77 until Sept 85.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at July 20, 2025 12:01 PM (q3u5l)

289 Wet cardboard membership? Luxury! Why, we had the East German Toilet Paper membership, and were glad of it!
Posted by: The Four Yorkshiremen at July 20, 2025 11:48 AM (PiwSw)

East German TP. You hoity-toity folk.
My membership was just a random setting of sea shells...until the tide came in.

Posted by: Diogenes at July 20, 2025 12:03 PM (W/lyH)

290 Sniffle Scare

-
Trump's fault!

https://is.gd/YHOImG

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Lying Dogface Pony Soldier at July 20, 2025 12:03 PM (L/fGl)

291 We had an earlier church service- at 10:00 -so I am able to participate in the book thread. Yay!

I have been re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series. The first time I actually read them I was not a young teen but in my twenties. Some of the earlier ones are at other district libraries so I started with "Anne of the Island" when Anne is at college. It's such a pleasure to re-read- such wonderful characters and beautiful descriptions of friendship and loss and love and nature. Nice humor and no sex and violence and people actually go to church in the books. It's also nice to hear the word " gay" and it means lighthearted and happy and not LGBT stuff. These books were written before the First World War or slightly thereafter and I heartily recommend them for young or older women.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 20, 2025 12:07 PM (2GCMq)

292 Book into movie?
I'd like to see WEB Griffin's books done into a series.
The Lieutenants, The Captains, etc.

Posted by: Diogenes at July 20, 2025 12:07 PM (W/lyH)

293 >>> 266

+++

There's a secret handshake.
But you have to show up at a MoMe to learn it.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at July 20, 2025 11:39 AM (XQo4F)

You all know that this year's TX MoMee will be the *tenth*, don't you???

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at July 20, 2025 12:09 PM (ULPxl)

294 Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 20, 2025 12:07 PM (2GCMq)

Thread ended seven minutes before you arrived. There's always stragglers though.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at July 20, 2025 12:12 PM (0eaVi)

295 'Bout time for chores. Thanks to all for the highlight of the week, another fascinating Book Thread!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 12:13 PM (omVj0)

296 Nood

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 20, 2025 12:15 PM (omVj0)

297 Aaron Torres@Aaron_Torres
WNBA players, currently in the middle of CBA negotiations, wore "pay us what you owe us" t-shirts for warm ups at the All-Star game.
There is no group of more delusional people on planet Earth, than WNBA players

If by "owe" they mean contractural obligation, then sure, they should be paid that. If (as I suspect) they mean "what we think we're worth" then they're delusional. If they mean "what we're actually worth" then they're asking for scut work wages. Except for Clark who has drawn near-NBA-sized crowds.

Posted by: Oddbob at July 20, 2025 12:16 PM (/y8xj)

298 297 Aaron Torres@Aaron_Torres
WNBA players, currently in the middle of CBA negotiations, wore "pay us what you owe us" t-shirts for warm ups at the All-Star game.
There is no group of more delusional people on planet Earth, than WNBA players

If by "owe" they mean contractural obligation, then sure, they should be paid that. If (as I suspect) they mean "what we think we're worth" then they're delusional. If they mean "what we're actually worth" then they're asking for scut work wages. Except for Clark who has drawn near-NBA-sized crowds.
Posted by: Oddbob at July 20, 2025 12:16 PM (/y8xj)

Res tantum valet quantum vendi potest.

(That needs to be on all our bills and coinage.)

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 12:27 PM (vm8sq)

299 Required readings that I felt should be expunged from any school are Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace. Garbage both of them

Posted by: Scuba_Dude at July 20, 2025 11:54 AM (Jm6kM)

Can't speak to Catcher in the Rye. A Separate Peace was...aight. It was OK. But thinking about it brings me back to my sophomore English teacher's questions on a test covering the book: "What did such and such character use as a belt?" "What color was such and such character's tie?"

Posted by: Cow Demon at July 20, 2025 12:30 PM (vm8sq)

300 Just jumping in mid-stream to answer the question regarding what I am currently reading: The Red Thumb-Mark by R.A. Freeman. This is the first John Thorndyke novel, published in 1907.

I am reading it out loud to Wifey. This is a tradition we have observed for--(how long? )--maybe a decade. We loop through Freeman, Biggers, Chandler and a few Hammetts. Our first order of business at close of day is for me to read out loud for a while. Then we move on to otra dinga.

I've tried to read her Charteris, but other than The Saint in New York, she doesn't dig him as a writer. As a screenwriter, she does.

Posted by: Otis Criblecoblis at July 20, 2025 01:05 PM (9oKVr)

301 162 All space TV shows pale in comparison to Farscape.

---

TRUTH

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at July 20, 2025 02:03 PM (J5RCE)

302 This past week I finally finished reading Peter Watson's "The Great Divide," which discussed how new world cultures developed differently than old world cultures.
Posted by: Castle Guy at July 20, 2025 09:58 AM (Lhaco)

Watson also makes the argument that pre-industrial technology moved much easier East-West as compared to North-South. This is because the weather is roughly the same along the same latitudes.

While he goes into a lot of the nauseating details about the Meso-American religions, he's looking for a materialistic explanation from why they were so blood-thirsty. It's not like human sacrifice was unknown in the Old World.

He acknowledges that the spread of Christianity was instrumental in ending human sacrifice. But he doesn't seem to understand Christianity. He definitely ignores the possibility that evil spiritual beings exist.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at July 20, 2025 02:37 PM (pJWtt)

303 @244 --

It wasn't a Helm book in which a gunshot blew a guy through a wall. Maybe a Death Merchant book?

Posted by: Weak Geek at July 20, 2025 02:45 PM (p/isN)

304 Delurking to recommend "John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs" by Ian Leslie, very recently published. I was able to borrow it through my Cloud Library account, which I appreciated because I wanted to read it but had no desire to purchase it. Biographies are usually one-and-done for me.

For anyone who grew up listening to, and obsessing over, the Beatles, this is a fun book that narrates the history, not just of the group, but of the relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, up to and continuing after John's assassination in 1980. Each chapter is focused on a song, so intimate familiarity with the Beatles' catalog is integral to your enjoyment of the book. I can't imagine trying to read this *without* knowing the songs, since so much of the text describes how the music reflects the relationship between the two men.

One of the best aspects of the book is Leslie confronts the currently popular idea that all close relationships must be sexual. John and Paul were arguably more closely connected than many married couples, but their relationship was a creative collaboration above all else. An interesting, easy read for Beatles fans.

Posted by: quietI at July 20, 2025 04:26 PM (fCSlY)

305 Want a book with a difficult time line to follow? Try the Bible. Jumps all over the place; spends chapters for a single afternoon, and then jumps 40 years or more; a key event dashed off with scarcely a pause. Tough to keep track of who / what / and where on any given timeline.

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at July 20, 2025 04:30 PM (bufu1)

306 Weak Geek, a bit late but I hope you get this...

The problem you found with "The Little Sister," might be a result of the way Chandler wrote it. Like most pulp writers, he started out as a story writer and the novels came later. In writing his novels, he sometimes cannibalized (his term) his stories for parts of his novels-I think "The Little Sister" was one of his novels that included parts of some of his stories. His novel "Lady in the Lake," has some of the most obvious examples of this process; it contains big chunks of his stories "Lady in the Lake" and "No Crime in the Mountains," and short bits from two or three more. Chandler felt, or so I recall reading, that using parts of some stories for his novels somehow tainted the stories he used, and so he blocked them from being republished during his lifetime. IIRC, most or all of those stories, and the explanation of his use of them, are found in his collection, "Killer in the Rain." FWIW, I prefer Chandler's stories, particularly his early ones, to his novels.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at July 20, 2025 04:37 PM (yl1YV)

307 "a safety on a revolver."

Although unusual, some revolvers did come with a manual safety. The examples I've seen or read about were British revolvers manufactured for SE Asian PDs from the 1930s on, and were mostly Webley Mark IVs in .38/200. I think some Webley-Fosbery Automatic revolvers may also have had manual safeties.

So unusual but not impossible; if I included one in a story I'd be sure to explain why the shooter had and was using an unusual specimen. On the other hand, cowboy movies and TV shows of my youth generally had their heroes and villains armed with generic metallic cartridge revolvers and lever-action rifles no mater what time period was the setting for the story, and even today I'm not bothered by that if rewatching one of the old shows. I did appreciate it, though, when Sam Peckinpah or the props guy armed the Hammond brothers with a variety of different rifles for their showdowns with Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott in "Ride the High Country."

Posted by: Pope John 20th at July 20, 2025 05:12 PM (yl1YV)

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