The Book Thread: August 30th, 2026 [MP4]

Good morning, ‘rons and ‘ronettes. It’s time once again for the monthly MP4-hosted Sunday Book Thread. Dress for men, as always, is country club casual. Women, however, are encouraged to cater to my own particular tastes:

So ask the barman for a cocktail, covfefe or tea and let’s get started!
‘AI, ay, ay!’

A while back, an offer popped up on my Facebook feed.* It was an AI program that, if you gave it some prompts, would shoot you back a plot for a book. I was curious, so offered it a basic line of ‘what would happen if a 1915 NJ movie studio had a murder to keep it from moving to Hollywood?’

A few minutes later, the program gave me a full plotline. As one might expect from this woke age, the main character was a spunky female reporter trying to make her way in a male-dominated world. I liked what I saw, but decided that I didn’t need it and wiped it out.

But, having thought about it, I wondered why I shouldn’t use it for my next book? After all, the late Clive Cussler paid people to come up with plots for his Dirk Pitt novels. And James Patterson ‘collaborates’ with unknown authors, takes their plots, adds his ‘unique viewpoint’ and pushes them out on the marketplace.

So let’s presume I asked an AI program for a plot. Am I cheating? Suppose I didn’t follow it slavishly, but used the plot as a jumping off point for my own thoughts. Is my book compromised because I began with an AI plot?
Incidentally, the same program would, if you asked it, take the plot it generated and then spit out an entire book. But why would anyone even within whispering distance of calling themselves an author do such a thing? Oh, I know it happens (and, as I joke, because Amazon will print just about anything up to and including Bigfoot-themed erotica, ‘author’ is practically a worthless word), but beyond the lure of money and the simple ease of the shortcut, why do such a thing to yourself?

This is a subject more for the authors of the Horde, but what about you? If you knew that an author used AI to create a plot, but not the content of the book itself, would that drive you away?

*I hate Facebook. I am only there to be part of the ‘Theda Bara Fan Club.’ I hate the rest of it.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 09:00 AM (Ia/+0)

2 Yep

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 30, 2026 09:01 AM (+YoHw)

3 Nooded.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 09:01 AM (NcvvS)

4 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. Mine did and included listening, as well.

Posted by: JTB at August 30, 2026 09:02 AM (yTvNw)

5 This is a subject more for the authors of the Horde

Well, that let's me out. I'm a mere writer.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:02 AM (1Ff7Z)

6 Still slowly reading The Gathering Storm by Winston Spencer Churchill
Actually picking up a lot between the wars I didn't know

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 09:03 AM (Ia/+0)

7 G'mornin' everyone! Hey there MP4! Woohoo!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 30, 2026 09:03 AM (VyBeY)

8 Good Sunday morning, horde!

How many times have us non-writing Morons suggested plots? Would it be wrong if one of you writers took it an ran with it? I think not.

I'm kind of the same with AI. If you let AI write the book, then shame on you. But if you use it as a catalyst for your own talent, I'm ok with that.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 30, 2026 09:04 AM (h7ZuX)

9 I just read em, don't write em

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 09:04 AM (Ia/+0)

10 Morning, all.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:05 AM (qRla/)

11 Good morning, Book Folken! I'm glad to see MP4 hosting today.

I wouldn't mind taking an AI-generated plot to be the jumping-off point of a book. Plotting is always a slog for me. When a plot does come easily, I worry that I'm unconsciously ripping off someone else's work that I've read. But if I took the whole AI-generated thing, then it would not be my voice, and I would not have any fun with it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:06 AM (wzUl9)

12 I'm kind of the same with AI. If you let AI write the book, then shame on you. But if you use it as a catalyst for your own talent, I'm ok with that.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 30, 2026 09:04 AM (h7ZuX)

How do you feel about taking a plot point from some other story and writing a new story around it?

Writers steal from each other all the time. Besides, there's only seven stories anyway....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:06 AM (1Ff7Z)

13 Anything having to do with AI automatically turns me off.

I'm sure the arguments you mention have sone merit, but for me, it's a visceral reaction.

Posted by: Dr. T at August 30, 2026 09:06 AM (lHPJf)

14 I read the classic WWII novel, The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw. This was on my TBR list for years, and it didn't disappoint. Published in 1948, the book has great characters and a great story well told.

Posted by: Zoltan at August 30, 2026 09:07 AM (KUWG/)

15 Sturgeon was right. "The Pink Panther Gets Lucky," with Inspector Jacques Clouseau in Las Vegas, is crapping out.

I nearly tossed the book when Clouseau dresses in drag to infiltrate a theater by joining the audition for a nude cabaret, but that chapter was blessedly short and I powered on through.

I can guarantee that this book will not find permanent quarters in our home.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 30, 2026 09:08 AM (TvRFE)

16 Thanks MPPP

I had coffee with a 24 year old entrepreneur on Friday who told me that all of her emails, appointment scheduling, and more are all tied into AI that performs these tasks for her. She says it reads and writes about 80 emails a day for her. It makes and schedules appointments for her because the AI reads her emails first.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 09:08 AM (RIvkX)

17 Would an AI-generated plot keep me away? Possible. Hard to say, really. On one hand, I'm not sure it's all that different a thing from older books for writers like 101 Plots Used and Abused or Polti's The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. A good writer would probably play around with the skeleton he got from AI and make something decent out of it depending on his skills with handling characters.

But for me the use of AI would be a mark in the skip column. Maybe not the decisive mark, but a fairly heavy one.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:08 AM (q3u5l)

18 Good morning, Horde.

Rainy morning here, perfect for Book Threadin'.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:08 AM (kpS4V)

19 And James Patterson ‘collaborates’ with unknown authors, takes their plots, adds his ‘unique viewpoint’ and pushes them out on the marketplace.

I.e. his name on the cover in giant font.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 30, 2026 09:09 AM (vTZFs)

20 How do you feel about taking a plot point from some other story and writing a new story around it?

Writers steal from each other all the time. Besides, there's only seven stories anyway....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026

***
In one of his books about writing, Lawrence Block admitted that he'd often taken a basic plot from a TV show and given it a whole new spin and ending for his own short story.

It may have been him who said, "If you're gonna steal, steal from the best."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:09 AM (wzUl9)

21 Two thoughts:

Sara Hoyt has her "Vignettes" over the weekend, an invite to commenters to write very short stories based on a theme. 50 words max, very limited, but it's still a writing exercise. And one could flesh out a fragment into a whole expanded universe, given enough time, energy, and typewriter monkies.

Second, when another writer (Theodore Sturgeon) was having writer's block, Robert Heinlein sent a letter filled with various ideas. Plot fragments. Key pieces that could be used, or could be altered, or even ignored.

Ideas and thoughts can't exactly be copyrighted or patented. Only the actual implementation, whether as a blueprint for a device, or a story with the written word. Because those take actual effort to see through to the end.

Posted by: Another Anon at August 30, 2026 09:11 AM (4h45B)

22 How do you feel about taking a plot point from some other story and writing a new story around it?

Writers steal from each other all the time. Besides, there's only seven stories anyway....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:06 AM (1Ff7Z)

Exactly! Case in point, every thriller ever written. Same story, different setting and characters.

Speaking of which, I just read the latest Longmire, and I have thoughts. Will post them separately.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 30, 2026 09:11 AM (h7ZuX)

23 It may have been him who said, "If you're gonna steal, steal from the best."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026

***
Oops. That should be "It may have been he who said . . ."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:11 AM (wzUl9)

24 I think that if you use AI, the programmer should get a share of the royalties.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 30, 2026 09:12 AM (TvRFE)

25 Clarification on my comment at 17.

The use of AI would be a fairly heavy mark in the skip it column in the case of a writer whose work I didn't already know either directly or by reputation/word of mouth.

If Joe Doakes has a book out there that used AI, pass. If Lawrence Block or Robert Silverberg put out a novel that sprung from an AI plot, I'd give it a look anyway because those two guys don't do slipshod work.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:13 AM (q3u5l)

26 I recall my dad owning a book that was a compendium of plots that an author could use as a jumping off point for his own stories. So long as it's just a spark to jumpstart your own ideas, I see no problem.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:13 AM (kpS4V)

27 James Patterson ‘collaborates’ with unknown authors

-
Like Billy Blow Job.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 09:15 AM (ndZc7)

28 “It may have been him who said
If you’re going to steal, steal from the dead.

“But it was definitely her who thought
If you’re going to be sold, you’d better stay bought.”

Posted by: Bill Bixby at August 30, 2026 09:15 AM (kYmoU)

29 Besides, I don't even know where to find these multi-layered AIs, at least not for free. The few sites I've used to generate images all had a limit -- three or five prompts and then you had to sign up or pay, or both.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:15 AM (wzUl9)

30 John King Books in downtown Detroit:

https://tinyurl.com/5c2ewkc6

Four stories of book heaven.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:15 AM (kpS4V)

31 I've been toying around with the idea of using AI in a small manner for my next book. I have some ideas sketched out, but I like to have at least a preliminary plotline in hand before I start. Even when I use my own scene cards, I don't always follow them religiously, so using an AI program to at least get me started would be a useful shortcut.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:16 AM (qRla/)

32 In one of his books about writing, Lawrence Block admitted that he'd often taken a basic plot from a TV show and given it a whole new spin and ending for his own short story.

It may have been him who said, "If you're gonna steal, steal from the best."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:09 AM (wzUl9)

What about lifting a line from a book or video? Same idea. If the line is organic to your story, why not?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:16 AM (1Ff7Z)

33 MP4 thanks for your well written premise.
We were created by a Creator to be creative.
Our passions come to life through our creativity which invariably some form of art, be it music, drama, painting, sculpture, dance, cooking and a hundred more.
Included in that list is writing, because writing is most certainly a form of art.
The joy and satisfaction we derive from art is exercising our own creativity, and if we use Artificial Intelligence to come up with plot lines we are robbing ourselves of that pleasure.

Let's teach it how to empty the dishwasher instead.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 30, 2026 09:16 AM (2Ez/1)

34 I read the classic WWII novel, The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw. This was on my TBR list for years, and it didn't disappoint. Published in 1948, the book has great characters and a great story well told.
Posted by: Zoltan

I loved it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 09:17 AM (ndZc7)

35 The idea for a plot can come from anywhere: AI, a comment overheard in a crowd, something you read half a century ago, a news headline, a fragment from a Shakespeare play or some poem, etc. Everything after that has to come from the author otherwise the author didn't write the book. It's that simple.

Even if an annual almanac used AI to gather facts like a countries population or the rainfall of some city, the content still has to be organized and tailored for a certain audience.

PS: Don't rely on the accuracy of AI 'data' without checking.

Posted by: JTB at August 30, 2026 09:17 AM (yTvNw)

36 If memory serves one of the notions Heinlein gave Sturgeon was the launching point for his story "And Now the News." I think it was something along the lines of all neurosis being caused by wallowing in the troubles of nine billion strangers. The comment may also have found its way into the Lazarus Long notebooks, but not sure of that.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:18 AM (q3u5l)

37 As far as new books, I've bought a couple - a bio of Eddie Cantor and Hollywood's Hollywood, a book about the many movies that have used Hollywood and / or the movie business as their setting.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:18 AM (qRla/)

38 I see AI used as a sounding board or inspiration as no different than a writer's circle/workshop or, as mentioned, taking something from TV and doing it right/better/whole new angle.

But then I am not the kind of person who has books desperate to escape my fingers, I'm the kind of person who reads almost anything, and occasionally has 'what if' thoughts on plot variants.

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click) at August 30, 2026 09:18 AM (aJQbY)

39 Finished Vanity Fair. Very good, edge of great. 8.5 out of 10. Read somewhere that Thackeray was an early naturalist, but there's a lot of moralizing.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 30, 2026 09:18 AM (XvL8K)

40 Besides, I don't even know where to find these multi-layered AIs, at least not for free. The few sites I've used to generate images all had a limit -- three or five prompts and then you had to sign up or pay, or both.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:15 AM (wzUl9)

You need an email for tensor art, but it doesn't require pay. Use a throwaway.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:18 AM (1Ff7Z)

41 Just earlier this morning, somewhere, I saw a thing about Clive Cussler (?) and was reminded of the time I tried to read one of his books. Lead character was some sort of private eye or retired military? named Dick Wiggler or something equally lame. The story started out with him walking into a local police station, and the author described his appearance as a real study guy...even describing his tight shorts...ick.

By I had to quit the book when the author, when describing lead character's encounter with a criminal, and said, and this is how I remember it, "he snicked the safety off of his .357 revolver"

right.

Posted by: Bayside at August 30, 2026 09:19 AM (3ACIl)

42 I understand that Erle Stanley Gardner used a board that held several wheels that bore notations of situations, motives, methods of murder, locations, etc. Turn the wheels, and there would be an idea for his next Perry Mason mystery.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 30, 2026 09:19 AM (TvRFE)

43 What about lifting a line from a book or video? Same idea. If the line is organic to your story, why not?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026

***
In an SF story, I did that -- lifted William Munny's line from Unforgiven, 'If you kill a man, you take away all he has and all he'll ever have," and reworked it a bit into a scene where the narrator's father has had to kill potential invaders to their enclave.

One of my writing group caught it, and I grinned and said, "If you're gonna steal, steal from the best --!"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:20 AM (wzUl9)

44 Art idea. Like the Sistine Chapel but instead of God touching Adam, it'd be AI.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 09:20 AM (ndZc7)

45 What about lifting a line from a book or video? Same idea. If the line is organic to your story, why not?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:16 AM (1Ff7Z)

**smiles**

Gloria Swanson is a character in my new book. The first words out of her mouth are "You there! Why are you so late?" and when my narrator is doing her makeup, she says "The shadow over my left eye isn't balanced." Both lines are from Sunset Boulevard and I use them as a little treat for the reader.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:20 AM (qRla/)

46 I don't think I have a clearcut view of AI use, or the acceptability thereof, so I'm gonna say nothing. Time, and experience, will bring clarity.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 30, 2026 09:21 AM (VyBeY)

47 Honestly, the concept for a book seems like the easiest part of the process. Anyone should be able to brainstorm a concept or two. The real effort would go into fleshing out that outline and turning it into an actual story. If an author needs AI's help with the most basic element of story, I'm not sure I'd trust them with anything else...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:22 AM (3v7ra)

48 Checked a link for some AI plot/story generator. Fed it some prompts based on a story I'd started that bogged down on me. What came back was the summary for a novel (to get the whole novel it wanted $$$) that sounded like a ripoff of some movie whose title I forget. Threw it away. And yes, the story is still bogged down. One of these years maybe...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:23 AM (q3u5l)

49 There was a great line in a local jewelry store radio spot years ago: "Ladies and gentlemen, please keep your hands and feet inside the radio commercial at all times." I'm waiting to use that one, suitably resewn, in a murder mystery one of these days.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:23 AM (wzUl9)

50 41 - safety on a revolver is a bright line in the sand, innit?

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (VyBeY)

51 On another note:

I was at a used bookstore last week and saw that they had about a dozen The Man From U.N.C.L.E. paperbacks. I know someone here collects them and I thought about taking a photo of the collection and asking if anyone wanted them.

Which led me to an idea: just as AoS has the prayer list, why not have a Sunday Book Thread Want List? Send in to one of the hosts a list of books you're looking for and, if someone else finds one, they can pipe up and say, "I have it. Where would you like me to send it?"

Thoughts?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (qRla/)

52 Morning, all.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:05 AM (qRla

Why did women wear those big hats back then? Who started that fashion craze?

Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (Oy/m2)

53 Charles Schulta used to flip through the Sears cataloge looking for inspiration for Peanuts.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (ndZc7)

54 If an author needs AI's help with the most basic element of story…

“I have no ideas, and I must write.”

A story about an AI trapped in a deep cavern with a despotic human.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (kYmoU)

55 Perhaps one useful perspective is to see it as 'training wheels'... keep you going over the tricky parts until you get your balance figured out.

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click) at August 30, 2026 09:25 AM (aJQbY)

56 So. The Brothers McKay, by Craig Johnson, came available in my library holds.

Never in my life have I so desperately wanted a character to die. This is the first Longmire I have not loved. Apparently out of ideas, Craig Johnson re-wrote The Brothers Karamazov, dropping them into the American West. I admit I haven't gotten around to reading Dostoevsky yet, and it might have made a difference for me. But probably not.

One character is an absolutely irrational imbecile who should have been left to die many times. But Longmire is always about grace and mercy, so he persists in his determination to rescue a dumbass.

Reading this spiked my blood pressure to dangerous levels.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 30, 2026 09:25 AM (h7ZuX)

57 I have several grandchildren who are beginning readers. I consider some books to be on their future mandatory reading list, even I am not living on the Earth when they reach teenage reading level.
I consider Orwell’s Animal Farm and Homage to Catalonia absolutely necessary.
I would urge all teenagers to read Lois Lowry’s “Number the Stars”, about the Dane’s efforts to save Danish Jews from the Nazis during WWII.
And, just for fun, they should read Richard Hughes “A High Wind in Jamaica”.

Posted by: Fenderbender at August 30, 2026 09:26 AM (1FEc1)

58 MP4,
Love the fashion update at the top of the thread. Talk about celebrating the female form.

When I saw the sensor light in the top photo I immediately thought "Good morning, Dave."

Posted by: JTB at August 30, 2026 09:26 AM (yTvNw)

59 For example, I have three books in the seven-book The Motion Picture Girls collection, which was a 1914 series by Laura Lee (The Bobbsey Twins) Hope.

If someone came across one that I don't have, I'd pay to have it shipped to me.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:27 AM (qRla/)

60 45, I love catching little touches like that! and I'm sure that I miss as many as I catch ...

Easter eggs, right? I've seen that phrase used.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 30, 2026 09:27 AM (VyBeY)

61 Gloria Swanson is a character in my new book. The first words out of her mouth are "You there! Why are you so late?" and when my narrator is doing her makeup, she says "The shadow over my left eye isn't balanced." Both lines are from Sunset Boulevard and I use them as a little treat for the reader.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026

***
Doing that sort of thing is part of the joy in writing!

In my Man From U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction, I will occasionally use a line from the show in another but appropriate context. I hope fans will catch it, but if not, hey, I had fun.

Speaking of using real people, in one 1966 MfU tale I had Truman Capote, Lee Radziwill, Cilla Black, and Horst Jankowski all appear at a party. The first two were described rather than named. I also slipped Ellery Queen and his father the Inspector in there too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:27 AM (wzUl9)

62 In an SF story, I did that -- lifted William Munny's line from Unforgiven, 'If you kill a man, you take away all he has and all he'll ever have," and reworked it a bit into a scene where the narrator's father has had to kill potential invaders to their enclave.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:20 AM (wzUl9)

Gloria Swanson is a character in my new book. The first words out of her mouth are "You there! Why are you so late?" and when my narrator is doing her makeup, she says "The shadow over my left eye isn't balanced." Both lines are from Sunset Boulevard and I use them as a little treat for the reader.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:20 AM (qRla/)

My direct lifts are usually from Star Trek episodes. But, I only have a character say one line. It's organic to my character and situations, so I don't think it's agin' the rules. It's an "homage" to sources I like. Though, if I decide to continue writing, I'd do less of it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:28 AM (1Ff7Z)

63 all neurosis being caused by wallowing in the troubles of nine billion strangers.

-
I didn't think there were that many Horde members.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 09:28 AM (ndZc7)

64 Morons will enjoy reading Scott Bessent's recent letter to Elizabeth Warren. P.J. O'Rourke-level sarcasm.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 09:28 AM (RIvkX)

65 Donald Westlake told of crossing a New York bridge and imagining that a man was walking across that bridge into Manhattan. Why was he walking? He's broke. Why is he broke? Somebody robbed him. Why is he going into Manhattan? To take revenge on the robber.

He spun that into "The Hunter," the first Parker potboiler, published under the name Richard Stark.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 30, 2026 09:29 AM (TvRFE)

66 Why did women wear those big hats back then? Who started that fashion craze?

Why, I do not know. The fashion didn't last long, however - it really was from the early 1900s until almost the end of WWI. I think it might have been a reflection of the general prosperity of the Edwardian world, so women felt freer to indulge in lavish costume.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:30 AM (qRla/)

67 Anonosaurus --

There are probably even more Horde members than that. They just won't admit it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:30 AM (q3u5l)

68 How does using AI for the plot compare to using a random table plot generator?

I've used an RPG random table card deck to create the denizens of my Weird West raptor town as well as nailing down the order of several plot points. Although I did come up with said plot points on my own.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 30, 2026 09:30 AM (lFFaq)

69 I was at a used bookstore last week and saw that they had about a dozen The Man From U.N.C.L.E. paperbacks. I know someone here collects them and I thought about taking a photo of the collection and asking if anyone wanted them.

Which led me to an idea: just as AoS has the prayer list, why not have a Sunday Book Thread Want List? Send in to one of the hosts a list of books you're looking for and, if someone else finds one, they can pipe up and say, "I have it. Where would you like me to send it?"

Thoughts?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026

***
Good idea!

I think I'm the U.N.C.L.E. collector, and I have the entire series of twenty-three books. The oldest are sixty years old, though; I should wrap them in plastic. How many are there in the group you saw?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:31 AM (wzUl9)

70 "Morons will enjoy reading Scott Bessent's recent letter to Elizabeth Warren. P.J. O'Rourke-level sarcasm."

Please let it be

What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Posted by: Bayside at August 30, 2026 09:31 AM (3ACIl)

71 It's …

Posted by: Dr_No at August 30, 2026 09:31 AM (ayRl+)

72 Four stories of book heaven.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:15 AM (kpS4V)

I should probably never go there. I'd never escape.

***There, book plot, no AI needed.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 30, 2026 09:32 AM (h7ZuX)

73 Thoughts?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (qRla/)

I've done the opposite, took pix of a shelf of books and asked Wolfus which ones I should get.

Sounds like a good idea. Maybe Perf can post it like he does the recommended list?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:32 AM (1Ff7Z)

74 'Honestly, the concept for a book seems like the easiest part of the process. Anyone should be able to brainstorm a concept or two. The real effort would go into fleshing out that outline and turning it into an actual story."
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:22 AM

1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 30, 2026 09:32 AM (2Ez/1)

75 I finished reading another comic book omnibus this week; it was relatively short, but indy/self-published, so it was no less an impressive book. It was "The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West," written by Tom Hutchison and drawn by Alisson Borges and Carlos Reno. A wizard of Oz retelling, but with an action-girl and a cowboy/gunslinger flair. I normally avoid re-tellings of established stories, but the cover art and concept made me give this one a shot. It didn't quite live up to the cover (the sequential art wasn't bad, but also wasn't as good as I'd hoped), but you'll never discover a hidden gem if you never take a chance...

Ah, well, I had more fun reading this adaptation than I would have had reading/watching/listening to Wicked.

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:33 AM (3v7ra)

76 Because that's where the money is.

Posted by: The ghost of Willie Sutton at August 30, 2026 09:33 AM (2Ez/1)

77 >>And, just for fun, they should read Richard Hughes “A High Wind in Jamaica”.

Read that as an HS senior. The ending was appalling.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 09:33 AM (NcvvS)

78 Harlan Ellison during some gathering heard one of the guests say something that he said had to be "Jeff is fine. He's always fine." But Harlan heard it as "Jeff is five. He's always five." From a misheard comment he got "Jeffty Is Five," one of his best stories.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:33 AM (q3u5l)

79 The 2027 Old Farmer's Almanac came out last week and it is an annual pleasure. Something I can thumb through at leisure. Excellent bathroom reading. BTW, I find the OFA weather predictions are as good as the various government agency statements, maybe better.

Posted by: JTB at August 30, 2026 09:33 AM (yTvNw)

80 So, I am going to read "Trinity" by Leon Uris, which apparently is a story about Catholic and Protestant families in Ireland. My son picked it up as a discard from the library of the local YMCA..

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 30, 2026 09:33 AM (JrHfD)

81 I assume the pic is AI generated?

About the AI plotline q, I think just plug in real person in place of AI. If a real person gave you the whole plot, would you write the book without crediting the person somehow?

Great Book Thread topic, MP4!

Posted by: vmom deport deport stab deport at August 30, 2026 09:34 AM (Ydd86)

82 I think I'm the U.N.C.L.E. collector, and I have the entire series of twenty-three books. The oldest are sixty years old, though; I should wrap them in plastic. How many are there in the group you saw?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:31 AM (wzUl9)

About a dozen. And I think two of them were story collections from an U.N.C.L.E. magazine, but don't quote me. I'll probably be down there next week, so I will take a pic and send it your way.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:34 AM (qRla/)

83 What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Posted by: Bayside at August 30, 2026 09:31 AM (3ACIl)
===

Let's just say I learned a new word today.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 09:35 AM (RIvkX)

84 Come to think of it, some of my Signet James Bond paperbacks were bought by my mother some six decades ago. The back cover has come off of my copy of From Russia With Love; I use it as a bookmark in that volume.

The front covers of the Signets have "IAN FLEMING," the title, and "A JAMES BOND THRILLER" on them with a small color painting often illustrating a scene from the novel. The back features a compelling blurb designed to get you to buy it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:36 AM (wzUl9)

85 On a related topic, here is a vid of a professional portrait photographer talking about how because AI image generators were trained on high quality images, now high quality images "look" AI and it's causing a preference trend toward less "perfect" images. Food for thought.

https://youtu.be/zkdO-q9zJec

Posted by: Oddbob at August 30, 2026 09:36 AM (vTZFs)

86 It is 1944, and Albert Campion has gotten a few days leave, so he travels home to a bombed out London. He plans to quickly clean up at his flat and catch a train to the country to relax, but unfortunately there is a body of a woman in his bedroom. In Pearls Before Swine, Margery Allingham presents a puzzling mystery that entwines Campion in more ways than one.

It seems that Campion's neighbor, the dowager Lady Cavados, in trying to protect her son Johnny, has conspired to move the body from where it was found in Johnny's bedroom to Campion's, and thus complicates the entire matter. The gentry still have a way of being above normal police investigation, so Campion is called upon to assist.

Johnny is supposed to have been married the next day, and the body is not that of his betrothed, but he does know her. The situation becomes even more complicated after Campion is briefly kidnapped, and then a few bottles of impossibly rare burgundy show up, at which point the case takes a completely different turn. Are these coincidences of timing, or are they all related? Campion has to use his intuition and his understanding of the upper classes to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 30, 2026 09:37 AM (0U5gm)

87 And then the murders began...

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 09:37 AM (RIvkX)

88 Posted by: vmom deport deport stab deport at August 30, 2026 09:34 AM (Ydd86)

The opening picture is the HAL computer from 2001.

The ladies are from a date I don't remember, but they are wearing and advertising a new dress form, one that clings close to the body and eschews the use of corset stays. Very daring for the time.

But, my word, they are luscious. I wish I had a lady like that.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:39 AM (qRla/)

89 About a dozen. And I think two of them were story collections from an U.N.C.L.E. magazine, but don't quote me. I'll probably be down there next week, so I will take a pic and send it your way.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026

***
Please do. I have nearly all the magazines. They have a significant place in the history of the fandom. Several of the Solo & Illya novelettes were written by authors who went on to greater fame under their own names, like John Jakes and Dennis Lynds. And a number of issues featured "The Department of Lost Stories," reprinting fantasy classics from Heinlein, Sturgeon, and Robert Bloch.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:39 AM (wzUl9)

90 Grok, make me a picture of ladies at an early Kentucky Derby.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 30, 2026 09:40 AM (2Ez/1)

91 I finished The Professor and the Madman, which lived up to it's reputation. An excellent book that makes dictionaries interesting and a really sad story, too. And I read Garibaldi and the Making of Italy and that was a great book. I knew almost nothing about the risorgimento and the various political and military machinations of the era. I learned a lot and gained a great appreciation of Garibaldi as a man, a political leader, and a general. Before this, he was a just a name I had heard and nothing more. It also shed more light on a character in Joseph Conrad's Nostromo who is an old and disillusioned Garibaldini.

Posted by: Who Knew at August 30, 2026 09:40 AM (+ViXu)

92 Hijacking ideas is commonplace. I think Robert Heinlein had one of his characters comment when another mentioned that the idea had been done, admitted to it and said something along the lines of "I just file the serial numbers off it and make it mine." Might've been Jubal Harshaw in Stranger In A Strange Land.

An time I run across a great line of dialogue I stash it in a clip file. Latest favorite: "Yeah, I'm okay. Breathing is highly overrated. Who needs it."

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:40 AM (NtoJk)

93 I haven't read many of Allingham's Campion stories. A few where I've found them, but Pearls Before Swine is not one I know.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:41 AM (wzUl9)

94 A few additional thoughts on "The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West." This sort of story relies on the gimmick of seeing how the author chooses to adapted established characters. In this version, Dorothy was aged-up into a gunslinging cowgirl, and Toto was her horse. The Tin Man was human-looking lawman; similar to what was done in an old sci-fi-channel mini-series. The Scarecrow was re-imagined as a mute straw-filled Indian girl; I have no idea what prompted this change, but she worked as an original character. The Cowardly Lion was an actual lion, but with a powdered face and a tiara; I don't know why the author did this, but I hated it...

More interesting were the characters from the later Oz stories. We have Gener Jinger; and a femme fatale is always welcome in a comic. The Wheelers had maxim guns built into their arms. Tippetarius looked like one of Peter Pan's Lost Boys; the story didn't reach the point where his big secret is revealed, and I shudder to think of how a current-year author will handle that twist...

(Gah! The comment box cut me off! continued...)

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:41 AM (3v7ra)

95 Had all those Signet Ian Flemings when I was in high school. Is it me, or were the general run-of-the-mill paperbacks just cooler looking then than they are now?

Polliwog at 68. I'm not sure there's really much of a difference at all.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:41 AM (q3u5l)

96 Why did women wear those big hats back then? Who started that fashion craze?
Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (Oy/m2)

If only that trend would come back and replace the current craze of sleeve tattoos and inverted nose rings.

Posted by: Dr. T at August 30, 2026 09:42 AM (lHPJf)

97 How does using AI for the plot compare to using a random table plot generator?

I've used an RPG random table card deck to create the denizens of my Weird West raptor town as well as nailing down the order of several plot points. Although I did come up with said plot points on my own.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 30, 2026 09:30 AM (lFFaq)

The source of ideas shouldn't matter. If you completely use someone else's work to write yours, it matters. I'm not going ape over AI used in writing unless it does the complete work. Could AI write a better story than me? Don't know. If it's something someone likes, then who am I to say thou shalt not read it!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:42 AM (1Ff7Z)

98 How does using AI for the plot compare to using a random table plot generator?

I've used an RPG random table card deck to create the denizens of my Weird West raptor town as well as nailing down the order of several plot points. Although I did come up with said plot points on my own.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 30, 2026 09:30 AM (lFFaq)
---
It's the exact same thing. I've been saying this for a while: AI is just charts and tables scaled up. Using AI to create is just randomly mining other people's work.

AI's true use is that you can sift data with incredible speed, but this relies on the integrity of the data because it cannot evaluate it. But if (for example) you feed it bomb damage assessments and give it the right parameters, you can develop target packages much faster than by using human analysts.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 30, 2026 09:42 AM (ZOv7s)

99 It's not just literary practice, either. When I'm stuck for artistic inspiration, I stroll around the painting class to look at what others are doing. Occasionally making a note of "Ooh, I wanna paint that!" and sometimes requesting a copy of an inspirational photo from a classmate. Or sharing some of my own.

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:42 AM (NtoJk)

100 Hijacking ideas is commonplace. I think Robert Heinlein had one of his characters comment when another mentioned that the idea had been done, admitted to it and said something along the lines of "I just file the serial numbers off it and make it mine." Might've been Jubal Harshaw in Stranger In A Strange Land.

An time I run across a great line of dialogue I stash it in a clip file. Latest favorite: "Yeah, I'm okay. Breathing is highly overrated. Who needs it."
Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026

***
Some of RAH's early magazine stories were SF variants on classics like Uncle Tom's Cabin (= slavery on Venus) and The Man Without a Country. Nobody in the SF field had done that before -- or if someone had, it wasn't very well done and isn't remembered.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:43 AM (wzUl9)

101 I can see taking the germ of an idea for a plot from an AI suggestion - but definitely not every beat, and most definitely not having AI write the whole darned thing.
On the other hand - there are only so many original plot concepts existing in the world; it's what the writer does to flesh them out which is (with luck, skill and creativity) original.
And every good plot out to be taken out for a romp in every setting which allows room for adventure. I did a version of Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be king" set on the southwest American frontier with a mysterious and isolated Indian tribe living on top of a remote mesa. (It's in one of my Lone Star story collections, and also in Tales Told Around the Supper Table II. I intended it as a romp and an homage, but one reviewer for the latter was indignant and termed it a "rip-off.")

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at August 30, 2026 09:43 AM (Ew3fm)

102 Women wore hats to keep the sun off their faces. It grew outrageous from there.

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:43 AM (NtoJk)

103 Final thoughts of the "Legend of Oz: The Wicked West" comic.

The best re-imagined character was Jack the Pumpkin head. He was a normal person, dressed as a cowboy. But he had a horribly scarred face, which he hid behind an orange bandanna. And that bandanna had a jack-o-lantern grin printed on it. The design make for a really cool (and very intimidating) visual.

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:44 AM (3v7ra)

104 I once had an opportunity to speak with an editorial cartoonist.
During the brief conversation I mentioned I had some ideas for cartoons. He politely demurred.
Lawyers and all.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 30, 2026 09:44 AM (2Ez/1)

105 Gonna tackle Anna Karenina next. Read War and Peace years ago, and swore I'd never read any more Tolstoy. But I hear it's much better.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 30, 2026 09:45 AM (XvL8K)

106 I started reading Augustine's Confessions, so I finally understand the meaning of Skip's weekly "tolle lege" post. I'm covering one chapter per week as part of a discussion with another church member.

I'm also still crawling through "Dungeon Crawler Carl." Fortunately, it's not the sort of book where you have to re-read the previous few pages if you haven't picked it up for a few days. Sometimes the brain likes cotton candy.

Posted by: PabloD at August 30, 2026 09:45 AM (6oTRF)

107 Book heaven.

Not *quite* the same thing, but Barry Malzberg did four short stories set in Writer's Heaven. All four can be found in his collection The Man Who Loved the Midnight Lady and all, especially the closing paragraphs of the 4th, highly recommended.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:45 AM (q3u5l)

108 Frankly, I wish I wrote better dialogue. Nate van Coops and Sam Sisavath excel at it. Makes me smile. But I'm working on it! And if you're gonna steal, steal from the best. (And file off the serial numbers.)

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:45 AM (NtoJk)

109 Felt nostalgic so I thumbed through the Star Trek Concordance (1976) by the indefatigable Bjo Trimble and a host of trek nerds. This is a bound library copy; mine, somewhere in the bowels of my basement, is the old three hole punch paperback fastened with brads.

Here's Bjo talking about the elder days:

https://tinyurl.com/espmydmm

This and the novelizations were all we had in the Intertrek Years. You kids just wouldn't understand.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:46 AM (kpS4V)

110 Had all those Signet Ian Flemings when I was in high school. Is it me, or were the general run-of-the-mill paperbacks just cooler looking then than they are now?

Polliwog at 68. I'm not sure there's really much of a difference at all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026

***
They *were* cooler-looking. Paintings of beautiful sexy girls, or of Bond in tuxedo at Casino Royale, or Goldfinger's golden Rolls-Royce humming along a road. The paperback industry lost a lot when they began to use photographs instead of paintings (as did advertising).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:46 AM (wzUl9)

111 I started Sone's Fall by Iain Pears that I assume was recommended by one of the horde, since most of my reading seems to come to me that way. I'm about a third of the way in and so so good.
One of the oddball channels on my TV shows Perry Mason reruns and I got curious if the original novels were as courtroom focused as the TV show so I bought a cheap collection of three of them for my kindle to find out. It will probably be months before I get around to reading them, though.

Posted by: Who Knew at August 30, 2026 09:46 AM (+ViXu)

112 My credit card company likes to give me double or triple points at various online retailers, to encourage me to spend more. Occasionally, they even go higher. Recently they went to 5x points on e-bay. Well, jokes on them, I had books to buy, and I was going to spend that money anyways! Thanks for the extra point...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:46 AM (3v7ra)

113 Ah, well, I had more fun reading this adaptation than I would have had reading/watching/listening to Wicked.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:33 AM (3v7ra)

Kid 2 is around the age for that. Glad she's never said anything about it. Wicked is only an attempt to put evil in a good light.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:46 AM (1Ff7Z)

114 What are you doing, Dave?

Posted by: HAL 9000 at August 30, 2026 09:47 AM (ZOv7s)

115 Felt nostalgic so I thumbed through the Star Trek Concordance (1976) by the indefatigable Bjo Trimble and a host of trek nerds. This is a bound library copy; mine, somewhere in the bowels of my basement, is the old three hole punch paperback fastened with brads.

I've got my tix for the Star Trek movies event this weekend. I'm wondering how many people will show up in costume.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (qRla/)

116 Am I the only one who has never read anything by Tolstoy?

Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (Oy/m2)

117 Tip's secret... would be so weird. Would they use the same person to do the acting? Would they use fraternal twins?

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click) at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (aJQbY)

118 About the AI plotline q, I think just plug in real person in place of AI. If a real person gave you the whole plot, would you write the book without crediting the person somehow?

Posted by: vmom deport deport stab deport at August 30, 2026 09:34 AM (Ydd86)

In the Acknowledgements section.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (1Ff7Z)

119 I started Stone's Fall by Iain Pears that I assume was recommended by one of the horde, since most of my reading seems to come to me that way. I'm about a third of the way in and so so good.

Posted by: Who Knew

Probably me. It is one of my favorite books. The method that Pears uses to work backwards through a story within a story within a story is really clever.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (0U5gm)

120 Felt nostalgic so I thumbed through the Star Trek Concordance (1976) by the indefatigable Bjo Trimble and a host of trek nerds. This is a bound library copy; mine, somewhere in the bowels of my basement, is the old three hole punch paperback fastened with brads.

Here's Bjo talking about the elder days:

https://tinyurl.com/espmydmm

This and the novelizations were all we had in the Intertrek Years. You kids just wouldn't understand.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026

***
Same with U.N.C.L.E. -- except that we had almost twenty years between the last episode and the reruns on CBN, another twenty until the DVDs came out, and another seven or eight until the 2015 movie. The original novels and the movies showing erratically on TV were pretty much it for the fans.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:49 AM (wzUl9)

121 Currently reading the first in a short series by Susan Stoker. Military romance. And yes, they're formulaic but her characters are interesting. I enjoy the "slow burn" buildup of attraction between her leads and would love to work some of that into my own writing. And I'm not talking about steamy sex scenes, but the gradual accumulation of all the small things which make two people fall in love with each other. Although steamy sex scenes can be good, too, when they're well-written.

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:49 AM (NtoJk)

122 I've mentioned Malcolm Guite's epic poem about King Arthur often enough. He read it as well for an Audible download but it wasn't offered on a CD. That changed recently. Apparently, I'm not the only old fashioned curmudgeon who wants to OWN the media, not just rent it and be at the mercy of technical gods/gremlins. I've already preordered the book and CD for the next volume coming in November. His reading is a pleasure to listen to.

Guite is one of those people who can read anything and make it lively or profound, as needed, and brings out the joy of the writing. He is always asked if he would do a reading of the complete LOTR and Hobbit. I have two versions of them but would happily pay for Guite's.

Posted by: JTB at August 30, 2026 09:50 AM (yTvNw)

123 Am I the only one who has never read anything by Tolstoy?
Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (Oy/m2)

I haven't, either.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:50 AM (qRla/)

124 There is a French musical tradition (I'm not aware of it in any other culture), the tombeau. "Tombeau" means "tombstone" and the tradition is to compose an homage to a deceased musician referencing his style. If this were France, we'd be composing Tombeau de Dolly.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 09:50 AM (ndZc7)

125 I've got my tix for the Star Trek movies event this weekend. I'm wondering how many people will show up in costume.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026

***
Hey, in 2015 I went to see the U.N.C.L.E. movie (with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer) wearing a suit and tie, and with my triangular HQ badge clipped to one lapel.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:51 AM (wzUl9)

126 Tolstoy - me neither, but maybe someday. But there's so much to read out there!

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click) at August 30, 2026 09:51 AM (aJQbY)

127 I like the idea of the Book Thread Want List! For one thing, some of us trying to slim down the library want our darlings to go to good homes. Maybe that home is with a fellow Moron! We could also post Free To Good Home lists

As it happens, the topic for my next Book Thread (already written!) is about how writers get ideas. MP4, you aren't supposed to use the All-Seeing Eye to peek ahead!

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at August 30, 2026 09:51 AM (tY90Q)

128 safety on a revolver is a bright line in the sand, innit?
Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 30, 2026 09:24 AM (VyBeY)

Unless it is a Reichsrevolver, a Hong Kong Police Enfield revolver in .360 with the cross-bolt safety, or one of the various Euro "military" revolvers that had a safety because reasons.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 30, 2026 09:51 AM (rbvCR)

129 Ian Fleming's Femme Fatale , Melons McGee.

Posted by: polynikes at August 30, 2026 09:52 AM (KC5Lt)

130 I've got my tix for the Star Trek movies event this weekend. I'm wondering how many people will show up in costume.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (qRla/)
----

What event is this?

I went to a "Sit Long and Prosper" movie marathon eons ago.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:52 AM (kpS4V)

131 Am I the only one who has never read anything by Tolstoy?
Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026

***
Same here. I was so bored at one point during the Sniffle Scare that I read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Exciting until the murder actually occurs; a slog after that.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:53 AM (wzUl9)

132 Polliwog at 68. I'm not sure there's really much of a difference at all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:41 AM (q3u5l)

I'm not sure there is either. With the random tables one needs to interpret a couple of adjectives into a personality or complete appearance, and AI would probably provide that detail. Interpretation may be the difference.

My story is a mystery and I didn't know which of the townsfolk would be the murderer until I did my card draws. I had a few basic traits I wanted him to have and used the character whose results were the closest to those traits.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 30, 2026 09:53 AM (lFFaq)

133 I started reading Augustine's Confessions, so I finally understand the meaning of Skip's weekly "tolle lege" post. I'm covering one chapter per week as part of a discussion with another church member.

Posted by: PabloD at August 30, 2026 09:45 AM (6oTRF)
---
I really enjoyed it. City of God is not what I expected. Much more involved, I'm crawling through it, but it's really good. It was written to explain Christianity to a pagan, and Augustine starts by examining paganism in autistic detail, citing sources we no longer have, and then working through how paganism is basically built around the fallen angels, a funhouse mirror version of Christianity where vices become virtues.

It's timeless, of course, but I see so much of what he is talking about in our current society where killing infants is "stunning and brave" and sexual depravity is valorized. I mean, nothing is new but wow, we've really regressed.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 30, 2026 09:53 AM (ZOv7s)

134 Tolstoy... all Russian writing is dense. The only thing worse is Soviet writing, which is not only dense but so full of Marxist dialectic it's boringly impenetrable. Had to take a class in it along with my Russian language classes to have it for a minor and it was excruciating. Can't recommend any of it and I'm a Russophile.

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:53 AM (NtoJk)

135 As it happens, the topic for my next Book Thread (already written!) is about how writers get ideas. MP4, you aren't supposed to use the All-Seeing Eye to peek ahead!
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at August 30, 2026 09:51 AM (tY90Q)

My next topic is about writers who 'carry on' or 're-imagine' already-existing properties. So Castle Guy's "Legend of Oz" posts are prophetic.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:54 AM (qRla/)

136 Am I the only one who has never read anything by Tolstoy?
Posted by: dantesed
_______
Based on War and Peace alone, Dostoyevsky is far, far superior. I reread The Possessed (Constance Garnett translation title instead of Demons) every few years. And the Rebellion chapter in Bros. K, which contains the Grand Inquisitor.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 30, 2026 09:54 AM (XvL8K)

137 How much of the hostility toward AI is based on the assumption not that AI was used in plotting but that the book was entirely AI written? Use in plotting isn't that different from mining the old books of plots used and abused or throwing darts at the plot points board, is it?. But having AI do the writing itself? Uh-uh.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 09:54 AM (q3u5l)

138 Morons will enjoy reading Scott Bessent's recent letter to Elizabeth Warren. P.J. O'Rourke-level sarcasm."

I read that . I am glad I don't run in DC political circles, and am unlikely to get on Scott Bessent's bad side, because he is much brighter and more articulate than I am, and I would not want to be the recipient of his withering sarcasm.

He actually one of my favorite members of this administration.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (JrHfD)

139 It seems that Campion's neighbor, the dowager Lady Cavados, in trying to protect her son Johnny, has conspired to move the body from where it was found in Johnny's bedroom to Campion's, and thus complicates the entire matter. The gentry still have a way of being above normal police investigation, so Campion is called upon to assist.

And it ends in Campion discovering the dowager Lady Cavados has been bootlegging her homemade gooseberry wine!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (1Ff7Z)

140 A published author friend of mine - who actually consulted with me once about a scene involving firearms - wrote a passage in another book about someone "flipping the safety off his Glock." Picard_facepalm.exe

Posted by: PabloD at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (6oTRF)

141
Am I the only one who has never read anything by Tolstoy?
Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM

Here's all you need to know:

https://youtu.be/qqS1Ty79mOE

Posted by: Elaine Benes at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (2Ez/1)

142 Just Some Guy - my perspective precisely.

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click) at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (aJQbY)

143 Waded through "Witches" by Steven Veerapen. To the church, a witch was a heretic: a Waldensian, a Cathar, a member of the Knights Templar, committing blasphemy (plus the inevitable midnight orgies and kissing the devil's bum). This was mostly on the continent, with England and Scotland untouched by the Inquisition, until King James wrote "Daemonologie". Then it was all "She turned me into a newt!" or "She made my willie disappear!" Protestants and Catholics slugging it out to prove who was more hardcore. Lots of politics and religion behind it. My eyes crossed with all the exhaustive detail. Sorry I can't remember more to discuss.

Thank God for the Enlightenment.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (kpS4V)

144 AI image generators were trained on high quality images, now high quality images "look" AI and it's causing a preference trend toward less "perfect" images. Food for thought.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 30, 2026 09:36 AM (vTZFs)

It's the same for writing. I see ads on Instagram frequently for exciting mystery or thriller series and the like. They're typically free with kindle unlimited, so I gave one a whirl. It was technically fine, but so lacking in soul and human voice, that I was certain it was AI written. Only fell for that once.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (h7ZuX)

145 Unless it is a Reichsrevolver, a Hong Kong Police Enfield revolver in .360 with the cross-bolt safety, or one of the various Euro "military" revolvers that had a safety because reasons.
Posted by: Kindltot at August 30, 2026 09:51 AM (rbvCR)
---
Heritage Rough Rider revolvers have a hammer block safety.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (ZOv7s)

146 I have never had a problem coming up with plots for stories, my problem is never finding the time to write the ideas down, or, you know, actually writing a story.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 30, 2026 09:56 AM (0U5gm)

147 As a reader, my view of AI is: If I can detect its influences, its style of writing or “thinking,” I am out. However, I have no stake in what artists take as input to create art. It doesn’t matter to me. All I care about is consuming the final product.

Posted by: Splunge at August 30, 2026 09:56 AM (JpUeg)

148 Thank God for the Enlightenment.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (kpS4V)
---
I mean the French Revolution was such an improvement...

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 30, 2026 09:57 AM (ZOv7s)

149 What event is this?

I went to a "Sit Long and Prosper" movie marathon eons ago.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:52 AM (kpS4V)

This coming Thursday through Saturday across the country, various theaters are showing movies 1-4 (one each day) along with an appropriate TOS episode.

The Motion Picture is paired with "The Changeling," Wrath of Khan with "Space Seed," The Search for Spock with "Amok Time" and The Voyage Home with "The City on the Edge of Forever."

Check online to see if they're playing near you.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 09:57 AM (qRla/)

150 That's a great idea, pairing the movies with the episodes that begat them!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (kpS4V)

151 61
In my Man From U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction, I will occasionally use a line from the show in another but appropriate context. I hope fans will catch it, but if not, hey, I had fun.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:27 AM (wzUl9)

Back in my fanfiction writing days (have I admitted to that before?) I would structure entire scenes to let characters use cool lines from other shows. Probably my favorite was when I got to repurpose a character shouting "Hold the line; no one gets through!" originally spoken by a young Captain Sinclair from Babylon 5. I doubt anyone who read my story recognized the reference, but it made me smile.

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (3v7ra)

152 I have never had a problem coming up with plots for stories, my problem is never finding the time to write the ideas down, or, you know, actually writing a story.

Keep a notepad w/pencil/pen handy and jot down the idea or a phrase or a sentence. The key to writing is to get it out of your head and onto a readable medium (used to say onto paper but not anymore). Don't think about plot or structure or grammar or how good/bad it is or anything like that. Just get it barfed up out of your head. All else flows from there.

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (NtoJk)

153 Thank God for the Enlightenment.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:55 AM (kpS4V)
---
I mean the French Revolution was such an improvement...
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
________

Agreed. Western Civ has been in a slow, steady decline ever since the French Revolution.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (XvL8K)

154
My story is a mystery and I didn't know which of the townsfolk would be the murderer until I did my card draws. I had a few basic traits I wanted him to have and used the character whose results were the closest to those traits.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 30, 2026

***
I almost always know who the murderer is as I begin. Otherwise I can't conceal him properly, plant the clues fairly, or know how the detective will reason it out.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (wzUl9)

155 Only thing you have to worry about with a revolver is to have a proper grip to avoid a cylinder gap injury. Nasty.

Posted by: polynikes at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (KC5Lt)

156 This and the novelizations were all we had in the Intertrek Years. You kids just wouldn't understand.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 09:46 AM (kpS4V)
=====

Intertrek Years. UFO and then Space:1999 and then that tripe from George Lucas.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 10:00 AM (RIvkX)

157 AI image generators were trained on high quality images, now high quality images "look" AI and it's causing a preference trend toward less "perfect" images. Food for thought.

Posted by: Oddbob

A similar trend is happening in music. There is so much computer manipulation of instruments and voices now that people are looking for actual human made music, and there is also a resurgence in bands putting out music on LPs instead of digital.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 30, 2026 10:00 AM (0U5gm)

158 Polynikes,

"Ian Fleming's Femme Fatale , Melons McGee."

One of the more fortunate name changes for an adaptation was in Jacques Tourneur's movie Out of the Past, the classic noir with Mitchum and Jane Greer as femme fatale Kathy Moffatt.

Her name in the source novel, Build My Gallows High? It was, God help us, Mumsie McGonigle.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 10:00 AM (q3u5l)

159 Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026

Read War and Peace years ago.

Never finished reading any book written by James Joyce. Never got past page 1 of Finnegan's Wake. Dubliners? Gag. Ulysses? Gag.

Posted by: 13times at August 30, 2026 10:01 AM (fnZRl)

160 Skip the odd number Star Trek movies is the rule of thumb.

Posted by: polynikes at August 30, 2026 10:01 AM (KC5Lt)

161 I almost always know who the murderer is as I begin. Otherwise I can't conceal him properly, plant the clues fairly, or know how the detective will reason it out.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (wzUl9)

I didn't know who was the killer in my current book until I was nearly finished. Part of my editing now is dropping hints as to his identity.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 10:01 AM (qRla/)

162 Intertrek Years. UFO and then Space:1999 and then that tripe from George Lucas.

Anything space/science fiction was like rain in the desert back then. Was so excited to go see Alien[i/]. Had no idea it was a horror film; I nearly had to run out of the theater after that chest-burster scene. What a shock! And a big disappointment as I was expecting straight-up SF.

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 10:02 AM (NtoJk)

163 I liked "Dubliners" because it was just short stories. Never read anything else by Joyce.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 30, 2026 10:02 AM (JrHfD)

164 Oops. Sorry about the italics, guys.

Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 10:03 AM (NtoJk)

165 Well, this topic turned out better than I thought it would.

It's a sunny day and the remainder of the week is supposed to be rainy, so I will crank up the tunes and hit the road.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 30, 2026 10:03 AM (qRla/)

166 Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 10:00 AM (q3u5l

That is an unfortunate name lol. But to be clear I just made my name up to match my painting.

Posted by: polynikes at August 30, 2026 10:04 AM (KC5Lt)

167 Can't recommend any of it and I'm a Russophile.
Posted by: tankascribe at August 30, 2026 09:53 AM (NtoJk)
=====

What about Soviet cinema?

Москва Cлезам не Bерит one of my favorite films.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 10:06 AM (RIvkX)

168 A similar trend is happening in music. There is so much computer manipulation of instruments and voices now that people are looking for actual human made music, and there is also a resurgence in bands putting out music on LPs instead of digital.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 30, 2026 10:00 AM
+++

Just yesterday I was in a drug store and heard Sweet Home Alabama playing over the PA. Now believe me, I have no dislike for the song, having spent my formative years in The Heart of Dixie.
But we're still listening to fifty year old recordings?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 30, 2026 10:06 AM (2Ez/1)

169 Read War and Peace twice in my life, not read anything else of Tolstoy.

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 10:06 AM (Ia/+0)

170 I liked "Dubliners" because it was just short stories. Never read anything else by Joyce.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 30, 2026

***
I had to read it in an AP English class in college. Maybe I should try it again now; I might better appreciate the portraits of the human condition. But his use of dashes instead of quotation marks annoyed me and made me feel claustrophobic.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 10:06 AM (wzUl9)

171 There is so much computer manipulation of instruments and voices now that people are looking for actual human made music

I was about to say that with music at least you could go in person and see it being made in front of you but that's not really always true. Or maybe even ever in the most popular genres.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 30, 2026 10:07 AM (vTZFs)

172 Intertrek Years. UFO and then Space:1999 and then that tripe from George Lucas.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 10:00 AM (RIvkX)
---
Battlestar Galactica actually holds up quite well. I've watched the whole series several times and just started watching it with the grandkids on Sunday night, the way God intended. They love it!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 30, 2026 10:08 AM (ZOv7s)

173 Skip the odd number Star Trek movies is the rule of thumb.
Posted by: polynikes at August 30, 2026 10:01 AM (KC5Lt)
=====

Excluding the first one of course. What a travesty.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 30, 2026 10:08 AM (RIvkX)

174 It's a sunny day and the remainder of the week is supposed to be rainy, so I will crank up the tunes and hit the road.

Hope you all have a lovely day.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing
__________

Top driving tunes:

The hated Springsteen, Thunder Road.

Widespread Panic, Driving Song.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 30, 2026 10:08 AM (XvL8K)

175 John Ringo had a long post on his X page about how woke writers make crap characters because they don't know anything, never met anyone who knew anything, and never did anything worth writing about, so the characters are cheap, pointless and shallow.
He pointed out that his best characters were based on people he knew and respected, even the ones that weren't very respectable, but that experience in life and how people get along goes further to make a compelling story than all the orthodox thought in the world.

AI adds to this, it risks pointless characters or NPC characters that have no basis of their own and only serve to push the narrative forward. That is not compelling storytelling

Posted by: Kindltot at August 30, 2026 10:09 AM (rbvCR)

176 Am I the only one who has never read anything by Tolstoy?
Posted by: dantesed at August 30, 2026 09:48 AM (Oy/m2)

I haven't, either.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression)

I knew the basic plot of War and Peace but was quite surprised when I read the book. For example, I knew Prince Andrei, mortally wounded at Borodino, forgive Countess Natalya on his deathbed for cheating on him. I figured he'd been wounded leading a charge into Napoleon's lines or something equally dramatic. But no, he was waiting on the reverse slope of a hill with his command when a stray artillery explodes beside him. Much of the book concerns the internal thoughts of the characters which, like our own, are often bordering on the ridiculous. I did, however, finally understand Norman Mailer's comment explaining The Naked and the Dead saying he'd been reading a lot of Tolstoy given that TNATD also contains much internal dialogue.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 10:09 AM (ndZc7)

177 There are just a few books I've not been able to finish. The two that come to mind are Lucifer's Hammer and Confederacy of Dunces.

Posted by: polynikes at August 30, 2026 10:09 AM (KC5Lt)

178 Brutal polls out in MI,ME and TX.
Blue tsunami incoming.
Useless wars aren’t popular.

Sad!

Posted by: Lake Ontario at August 30, 2026 10:09 AM (2ZcOM)

179 Read War and Peace twice in my life, not read anything else of Tolstoy.
Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 10:06 AM (Ia/+0)
---
In the late 90s I had a job answering phones, and it was hit or miss, and so during the lulls I would surf the incipient web. Then I came up with the idea of reading a book online, but couldn't find War and Peace (I thought it would be fun to say I read War and Peace at work). But I did find Anna Karenina, so I read that. It was okay.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 30, 2026 10:09 AM (ZOv7s)

180 >>But we're still listening to fifty year old recordings?

At the gym, their piped-in tunes range in age from recent (which is utterly unfamiliar) back to the '60s. Oddly, been hearing a lot less rap of late.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 10:09 AM (NcvvS)

181 I almost always know who the murderer is as I begin. Otherwise I can't conceal him properly, plant the clues fairly, or know how the detective will reason it out.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 30, 2026 09:59 AM (wzUl9)

Exactly. I couldn't progress until I knew who the killer was. Although, I'm pretty sure it will be a short story so I'm not as worried about strict fair play regarding the clues.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 30, 2026 10:10 AM (lFFaq)

182 Never read Joyce except for some of the short stories in Dubliners. Novel length, nope. And I took one look at the first page of Finnegans Wake and decided life was just too bloody short to even consider it. I think Joseph Epstein remarked in his essay on cutting his library down to size that he kept Finnegans Wake because there should be at least one book on the shelves you know you'll never get around to reading.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 10:10 AM (q3u5l)

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