Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-01-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: California Girl NOT CaliGirl)

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 (extra guffaws not included). 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...(a Thanksgiving feast on the go!)

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

As I mentioned last week, I am very grateful to all of your support for my meager contributions to AoSHQ. I believe I'm merely the curator of this space while y'all are the CREATORS of the Sunday Morning Book Thread with your own comments and contributions. As a matter of fact, nearly all of the content this week is from YOU...Thank you!

P.S. Thanks to TRex for a great Hobby Thread yesterday!

PIC NOTE

This picture was sent to me by "California Girl" who should NOT be confused with CaliGirl. Both are 'Ettes from California, I take it, though apparently different nics. "California Girl" is a lurker who rarely comments. This is a repeat, I think, from a bookstore in Portugal, but it fits the theme of today's Sunday Morning Book Thread where most of the content is supplied by YOU, the 'rons and 'ettes that keep this place interesting.

WRITING HACK FOR A FIRST DRAFT

(HT: OrangeEnt

OrangeEnt sent me a link to the video above. In case you don't want to watch the video, here's the main point: writers can often "speed up" writing a first draft by inserting markers for thoughts and ideas so the can easily come back to them later when they have figured out exactly what they want to write. He calls this the "TK Method" because a common trick is to insert "TK" in your manuscript at those points you need to revisit later. For instance, if you don't quite know the name of a villain's henchman, you can insert "VillainHenchmanTK" into your manuscript. When you have thought up a good name for him, a simple find-and-replace will help you fix that minor issue. Similarly, if you know that a particular moment needs to be included in a scene, but you don't quite know the details of how it will play out yet, you can use "TK" along with a short descriptor, such as "Chap2ClimaxTK". Again, you just need to do a quick find "TK" option in your writing software to find all of the TK spots. Why "TK?" Well, it's a letter combination that doesn't occur in too many English words. You can use whatever letter combination you like, as long as it's unique enough to be identifiable in your manuscript.

One downside I can see is that you would need to do a thorough search of "TK" before you submit a manuscript for publication, or your editor may come back asking for missing details.

I don't write manuscripts, but I often put placeholders in my work-related writing and then send it out to my team for assistance with filling in those key details (e.g., a date for an event or a link to a website).

Any Moron Authors want to chime in on tips and tricks that help with writing their first drafts?

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2024 BLACK FRIDAY/CYBER MONDAY BASED BOOK SALE

Hans G. Schantz is back with another Based Book Sale event:

The 2024 Black Friday/Cyber Monday Based Book Sale is live with over two hundred based books including 75 new to the sale all for free or $0.99:
https://basedbooksale.substack.com/p/2024-black-fridaycyber-monday-based

And there are an additional couple hundred books in the Everyday Based Book Sale
https://basedbooksale.substack.com/p/the-everyday-099-or-free-based-book
Cheers!

BOOKS BY MORONS

James Y. Bartlett, author of the Swamp Yankee Mysteries, which take place in a fictional town in the fictional state of Rhode Island, has started a new series. This one features Johann Sebastian Bach as the protagonist/sleuth.

I've reimagined him as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Keith Richards, and given him a posse: Bach's historical cousin Elias Bach (whom he hired for a few years as personal secretary and tutor for his children) fills the Dr. Watson role; and Anna Magdalena Bach, his second wife, brings the feminine perspective to these 18th century adventures.
The first book in the series, The Organ Job, now on sale, finds Bach and crew in the Hessian city of Kassel to inspect the new pipe organ at the Martinskirche. But they learn that the church organist's eldest daughter, married to the Lutheran pastor of the church, died suddenly in a midnight fall down the stairs of the rectory. And Pastor Mundt has now let it be known he wants to marry the organist's younger daughter-—someone Elias has become sweet on. So the investigation begins and meanwhile Bach learns that an old aristocratic enemy of his is staying with the Prince of Hesse, and plans a musical revenge like only Bach can!
Yes, the heads of Bach scholars will explode, (just wait til you see what Bach does to get ready to compose his music!) but these contrapuntal mysteries will entertain music and mystery lovers alike.
Book Two, The Coffee Garden, is scheduled for release next month!
Thanks,
James Y. Bartlett
Amazon Link: The Organ Job

FREE BOOK BY 'ETTE

Moronette Author Diana Pool is offering FREE copies of her book with the stated goal of increasing market penetration, which will hopefully lead to more sales.

I have a book available on-line with print copies and electronic copies that may be purchased. I have had some encouraging sales to date. While I would like to recover costs associated with the book production (graphics for the cover, costs for formatting to get the document through the Draft2digital platform, and purchasing some books to give away; but never the hours of my life put into the project associated with writing, editing x97, and other stuff) it is obvious that I need market penetration to enable me to become a recluse on a large but haunted mansion in a windswept, godforsaken corner of the planet. To address this issue I am offering my book - Selinon, by Diana Pool at no charge until the end of December. If more than 3 people download the book, I may extend this option until the next double blood ghost moon appears in the night sky. Is there a way to make the book thread readers aware of this one neat and free trick to lose weight, make yourself infinitely appealing to your secret crushes as well as wolverines, and be placed on the FBI watch list at absolutely no cost?

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Earlier this week I finished Agatha Christie's Murder in Retrospect, aka Five Little Pigs. A Poirot story, it features solid plotting and surprises, good analysis by Hercule, and much better characterization of the people involved than I expected. I'm beginning to think that Christie deserves the reputation she has as a mystery writer, and that she deserves better regarding her portraits of people.
I've picked up Curtain Up, an examination of Christie's work in the theatre, and a couple more of her own works.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 24, 2024 09:12 AM (omVj0)

Comment: Agatha Christie is definitely on my bucket list of authors I need to read. I picked up a collection of her Hercule Poirot short stories some time ago at a library book sale, but it's just been sitting on my shelf. However, I am thinking of reading many more short stories as part of my reading goal for 2025, so I shall have to move this book up the list...

+++++

Is it possible to hate-read a book? Yes, yes it is. I started to dislike this book within the first five pages, then turned to strong dislike, followed by disgust and then even self-loathing. By the end I kept reading as punishment for buying the damn thing.
So, I just finished up 'the book of elsewhere' by Keanu Reeves and China Mieville. I confess to buying it because I love Keanu, even though I have read Mieville in the past and loathed his work.
I am extremely sorry to say that Keanu did not improve the book. Imagine ChatGPT swallowed the thesaurus and then got the prompt to 'make a hyper-pretentious novel about death and immortality and a tusked pig that will not die, with a wide cast of characters that are pretty indistinguishable, with stream-of-consciousness intellectualoid writing. And make it lame'.
That would have been a step up from this drek. Aaagh.
Posted by: Candidus at November 24, 2024 09:21 AM (zGvse)

Comment: Consider this an ANTI-recommendation. These can often be useful as well, since it's nice to know what books to AVOID at all costs. In fact, I often read 1- and 2-star reviews of books just for that reason as I want to know if there are legitimate gripes against a book that is otherwise highly regarded.

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

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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.

With the exception of the first book below, all of the remaining books were scavenged from the library book sale I went to right before Thanksgiving Week. It's tough trying to plough through my TBR pile sometimes...

The Last King of Osten Ard Book 4 - The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams

I finally finished Tad Williams' most recent epic fantasy series and I suppose it was well worth the wait. He gives his characters a fond farewell at the end of this story, while also leaving open a couple of threads in case he ever wants to revisit the world of Osten Ard in the future. The main climax of the action happens around page 437 of this 700-page book. The remaining 263 pages are simply the characters coming to grips with the aftermath. There is also a "scouring of the Shire" sequence afterwards as Williams resolves one of the remaining plot threads. Overall, it's a good series and well worth reading if you enjoy Tad Williams' style of epic fantasy. (I did like Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn a bit better, though.)

The Select by F. Paul Wilson

This medical thriller is quite interesting from a political standpoint. Published in 1994, Wilson clearly criticizes the state of the medical industry back in those days, but reserves his harshest criticisms for those who favored "Hillarycare," which evolved into "Obamacare" in 2010. He's not a fan of tiered medical care that plays favorites among demographic groups (e.g., race, class, or those that are deemed "useful" to society). There are definitely shades of the WEF hinted at throughout the story, though I don't know if the WEF was even a thing back in 1994. I'm sure the foundations were there, though.

Demon Seed by Dean Koontz

One thing I like about Koontz's novels is that he explores different storytelling techniques. In Demon Seed, he plays around with the idea of an unreliable narrator which just happens to be an artificial intelligence that escaped its confines and now seeks to recreate itself in "human" form (for a loose definition of "human") by implanting its consciousness in a bio-engineered organism. It's also fixated on a woman in whom it believes it has fallen in love. Though it's actually quite psychotic and possessive, much like the man who created it. We can also see some shades of the later Frankenstein series of novels written by Koontz, which have similar themes.

Star Wars - Han Solo at Stars' End by Brian Daley

This is one of the earliest entries in the series of Star Wars tie-in novels that would eventually become known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Han Solo is recruited to find an old friend who has gone missing. In the early days, Solo was a mercenary and smuggler and he still has a bit of an edge to him in this story. He's not completely heartless, but he readily admits he prefers to shoot first whenever he can. It's a standard adventure story set in space, hearkening back to the pulp science fiction stories of yesteryear.

Midnight by Dean Koontz

In the small town of Moonlight Cove, California, people are changing. They are being "converted" from Old Human to New Human. Naturally, the story begins when the antagonist's dream for creating his own race of superhumans starts to fall apart. Dean Koontz seems to find transhumanism fascinating because he has written several stories that involve a mad scientist (or mad AI--see Demon Seed above) determined to elevate humanity to its next level of evolution. Often through horrific experimentation with questionable results.

Blasphemy by Douglas Preston

An atom smasher designed to probe the conditions that existed at very beginning of the cosmos, the Large Hadron Collider is the largest, most powerful machine ever built by man in the the real world. In the fictional world of Blasphemy, "Isabella" is an atom smasher nearly twice as powerful as the LHC. It tears a hole in the universe and makes contact with an entity on the other side...It must answer the ultimate question: "What does God need with a starship?"

Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

Odd Thomas and his even odder companion Annamaria find themselves guests at a fancy estate. For what reason, they don't know, other than Annamaria's certainty that she needs to be there and Odd needs to help the spirits that haunt the place.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 11-24-2024 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

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

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Many Morons and Moronettes contributed, though, for which Huggy Squirrel is eternally grateful.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I've been reading the "Goblin Market" anthology published by Raconteur Press. This one has some very entertaining short stories with takes on both goblins and the Faerie from their realm and the slight intrusion on our world via marketplaces, and how those interactions go.

I particularly enjoyed John D. Martin's story called "Eysteinn's Wondrous Axe".

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 01, 2024 08:59 AM (O7YUW)

2 BOING!

Actually, I have 3 overdue book ~~reports~~ reviews to submit.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 01, 2024 09:01 AM (Do9mJ)

3 Actually, I have 3 overdue book reports reviews to submit.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 01, 2024 09:01 AM (Do9mJ)
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I'll tell you the same thing I tell my students: Turn them in by Friday, December 13, and I'll get them graded...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 01, 2024 09:03 AM (BpYfr)

4 Wow! Very illustrious!

Posted by: Florida Peasant at December 01, 2024 09:03 AM (Lo97M)

5 Yay book thread! About halfway through Gilbert's bio of Churchill. It's 1928, the Tories have been swept from power and Winston's career is once more at an end.

I wonder what's in the rest of the book.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 09:03 AM (ZOv7s)

6 >>>He's not completely heartless, but he readily admits he prefers to shoot first whenever he can.

That's fake news.

Posted by: George Lucas at December 01, 2024 09:06 AM (lHPJf)

7 "TK" is newspaper shorthand for "To Kum."

Yeah, it's misspelled, that's why we have editors.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 09:06 AM (p/isN)

8 Morning, Book Folken! I am flattered once again to have the Perfessor quote me. Unfortunately I need to dash out to wash the car and hit the grocery, but I will be back later.

Reading Elizabeth's Strout's Tell Me Everything, another of her interconnected tales of Crosby, Maine, and the inimitable Olive Kitteridge. Yes, it's an "Oprah Booik Club" pick -- but Strout is better than that. Not only compulsively readable, her work plays fair: The evil or brokenness in her stories is distributed among both men and women. There is no "All men are Evil, all women are good, and when they're not, it's because of some man" message to her stuff.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 01, 2024 09:06 AM (omVj0)

9 Well, hell.

My phone ate my latest take on "The Weed Agency" by Jim Geraghty. All that rewriting -- poof!

Suffice to say that the agency keeps on keeping on.

Posted by: Weak Geek, irked at December 01, 2024 09:07 AM (p/isN)

10 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading and a lovely Thanksgiving.

And welcome to December.

Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 09:08 AM (yTvNw)

11 On the Kindle, I read Before Bethlehem by James J. Flerlage. After five years of research, Flerlage wrote this novel of Joseph's family of the year before the birth of Jesus. An interesting story of their trials and tribulations.

Posted by: Zoltan at December 01, 2024 09:08 AM (OAKaM)

12 BOOKZZZ!

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at December 01, 2024 09:08 AM (7gFa4)

13 Vernor Vinge used a TK method when writing A Fire Upon the Deep, of course he didn’t call it that.

Posted by: 13times at December 01, 2024 09:08 AM (b3ml3)

14 The grandkids have been away for the past few days visiting their other grandparents and relations, and in the process have made it clear just how much time and energy they use up. For the first time in a long time I was able to do some serious thinking about writing, game design and so on.

One of the 'life hacks" I used to write books was to basically create an atmosphere of boredom, making the house quiet enough that writing was a great way to kill the time. Back when I was getting started, I gave up TV entirely, and my evenings were all about writing, which is why I was able to produce a book each year.

The loss of that due to two toddlers crashing into everything in sight is the biggest thing holding me back. I thought about getting started on something, but I'm going to either have to learn to function in a 'contested' environment, or work more aggressively with their mother to get her squared away.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 09:08 AM (ZOv7s)

15 I read "A Woman Underground" by Andrew Klavan and kind of enjoyed it. Not much of a story arc, but well written.

I have started "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly. Very interesting.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at December 01, 2024 09:10 AM (3Rpkk)

16 I like a lot of Agatha Christie's work, though I get the sense there was a dropoff in quality towards the end of her career.

Her Poirot makes for an interesting comparison with Sherlock Holmes (whom he often ridicules). He's more psychological than deductive in how he solves crime. Reflective of a different era, I suppose.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 01, 2024 09:12 AM (lHPJf)

17 Good morning dear morons and thanks perfesser

*buttoning pants*

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 01, 2024 09:12 AM (RIvkX)

18 Morning, Perfessor.
Morning, Horde.

Not a lot of reading this week. Revisited Fritz Leiber's Our Lady of Darkness. Still delightful after all these years.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 09:13 AM (q3u5l)

19 the best is yet to come with Churchill just you wait,

he was smarter than most of the wet tory hacks like Baldwin and Chamberlain,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at December 01, 2024 09:13 AM (pGTZo)

20 Demon Seed was also a movie in the early 80s. Is it based on the Koontz book, or did Koontz write the novelization of the film?

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:14 AM (78a2H)

21 Most people have a passing familiarity with conquistadors like Francisco Pizarro from western civilization class, but the full story of his long fought and bloody conquest of Peru is less known. Kim MacQuarrie spent five years in country and has compiled a complete account in The Last Days of the Incas.

Pizarro brought 167 men to conquer the millions of Incas. Once his ships landed, he burned the vessels to indicate to his men there was no turning back. Armed with horses, armor, and modern weapons, Pizarro and his men took the capital and captured their king. His ransom was a room full of gold, which was delivered, but Pizarro had him killed anyway. The king's brother escaped into the Amazon and began a 36 year guerrilla war, but ultimately failed to dislodge the Spanish.

MacQuarrie used both Spanish and native accounts to comprehensively document the Inca empire and their downfall at the hands of Pizarro and the Spanish.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 01, 2024 09:14 AM (atKHw)

22 Thanks to a fellow Moron's suggestion, I am deep into the Polity series and enjoying it!

Cheers, all!

Posted by: Brewingfrog at December 01, 2024 09:14 AM (9MtQT)

23 I also read Skywalker: Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail by Bill Walker. This is an interesting book of vignettes along his journey from the Mexican to the Canadian border. I was fortunate enough to have backpacked segments of the PCT in the High Sierras as well as other trails there with my son's Scout troop. The most beautiful scenery I've seen, and some of my fondest memories.

Posted by: Zoltan at December 01, 2024 09:16 AM (OAKaM)

24 Demon Seed was also a movie in the early 80s. Is it based on the Koontz book, or did Koontz write the novelization of the film?
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:14 AM (78a2H)
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The movie was indeed based off an earlier version of the book. He rewrote the story later because he felt the earlier version was "more of a clever idea than a novel." (from the Afterword in the version I read)

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 01, 2024 09:16 AM (BpYfr)

25 I homeschooled my kids and am a freelance writer. The solution I came up with is to LEAVE THE HOUSE. When Daddy's writing, Daddy's not at home on parent duty, dishwashing duty, cooking duty, dogwalking duty, or anything else. Daddy's off in a coffeeshop or the library and his phone is off.

A related method is to make use of all the time a parent spends waiting for kids while they're doing some scheduled activity like sports practice or music/language lessons. Put the earbuds in, find a chair, and type away.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:18 AM (78a2H)

26 F. Paul Wilson is a "libertarian adjacent" writer, whatever that means (his first Repairman Jack novel, The Tomb, has a cameo by "Neil the Anarchist" who raises a black flag every day and salutes it and I always took that as a hat tip to L Neil Smith) but his writing has always focused around shadowy powerful groups - human or otherwise - who have far to much power and money and decide to make the world better by manipulating the powerless. Often first by making them powerless and using them as assets.

His early science fictions, Enemy of the State, Healer, and Dydeetown World all view the relationship of the individual with the various aspects of the state, from authoritarian to incapable of performing its functions through the scale of its dysfunction.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 01, 2024 09:18 AM (D7oie)

27 Koontz's novel Demon Seed came first. Paperback original around 1973 or 74. I think he did some revising years later before it was reissued. Koontz did a number of science fiction titles early in his career -- he had a short story in Harlan Ellison's Again Dangerous Visions, and sf books from Ace, Lancer, & Bantam before moving into suspense novels.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 09:18 AM (q3u5l)

28 Is it possible to hate-read a book?

Yes. King Rat and the majority of High School English classes.

Posted by: NR Pax at December 01, 2024 09:19 AM (lXCUP)

29 Didn't Agatha Christie write plays as well as novels?

Posted by: dantesed at December 01, 2024 09:19 AM (Oy/m2)

30 Just back from Thanksgiving visit, and read Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz, a writer for Poirier, Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War, among other tv series and novels. It was... adequate. It entertained me on a six hour car drive, although I felt insulted by the constant references to his other work in what I can only call a "nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more" attitude. Self serving , if you will. Borrow from the library, but not worth spending your pennies. And Merry Christmas!!!

Posted by: Moki at December 01, 2024 09:19 AM (wLjpr)

31 Good Sunday morning, horde!

I started The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie yesterday on audio. I wasn't following well, because I was driving, but I was entertained by the ten-year-old schoolgirls, and I've downloaded a non-audio version for tonight's bedtime reading. It's a short one; I should be able to finish it quickly.

I also read The Wayside Tavern, by Nora Lofts.
It's historical fiction, and the main character is a little tavern built by Romans, situated next to a tiny abbey. Throughout centuries, the tavern is owned and run by descendants of a single family.

I liked it right up until the last couple of pages, which ended with a disturbing relationship that did not enhance the story one bit. Pissed me right off, it did.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 01, 2024 09:20 AM (OX9vb)

32 If you read Prescott's history of the conquest of Mexico and Peru -- written in the mid-19th century when Anglophone scholars could finally get access to old Spanish colonial archives -- he makes a very clear distinction between Cortez and Pizarro. In that book, Cortez is nothing but awesome and Pizarro is despicable. (The fact that Pizarro was murdered by his own men does kind of support Prescott's position.)

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:20 AM (78a2H)

33 The latest video by Malcolm Guite on his YT channel is about Merry and Pippen's first encounter with Treebeard in The Two Towers. To say it is a delight is an understatement. Guite brings all his enthusiasm and appreciation for Tolkien's writing to the audience. If you like that passage it's worth the time to check it out.

Question. Guite's readings have become so popular among his fans he is planning to start a secondary channel with a modest subscription, probably a few bucks. He would do a chapter a session, probably weekly and will start with A Christmas Carol followed by Wind in the Willows. I don't know how that works or how payment is made. (We are very cautious about using a credit card online.) Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.)

Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 09:21 AM (yTvNw)

34 I have to confess, this past week the only thing I've read has been cookbooks.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:22 AM (78a2H)

35 @21 --

If Pizarro had no way to get back to Europe, what good would gold have been to him?

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 09:23 AM (p/isN)

36 TK stands for "to come," and it's been standard in magazines, at least, for a very long time. I got my start writing fashion copy, and TK is essential--you may have to work on a spread well before you know all the manufacturers and prices, let alone stores that will carry whatever it is.

I loved writing fashion copy, BTW. Word play all over the place. Black tickled pink. Cocktail food chafing to be bit.
I once did a spread of undergarments, and readers actually wrote in to say they had counted the number of times I used "bra." (Abracadabra, for example.)

Posted by: Wenda at December 01, 2024 09:24 AM (6mIH4)

37 Cortez did the "burn the ships" bit too, but he saved all the hardware so he could build new ones as the situation required.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:24 AM (78a2H)

38 I hate-read Hotel New Hampshire for a girl.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 01, 2024 09:24 AM (RIvkX)

39 Spent yesterday trying to make a list of new (brand new 2024) trad pub historical fiction to recommend for purchase.
Found mostly 20th century settings, some 19th century, one 17th century ,one medieval.

I wish there was an older setting available that isn't a sexy feminist rewrite of a myth. Actual historical fiction, ya know?

It's no use asking people, when I try they recommend books *written* in the 20th century.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at December 01, 2024 09:24 AM (7gFa4)

40 I don't write manuscripts, but I often put placeholders in my work-related writing and then send it out to my team for assistance with filling in those key details (e.g., a date for an event or a link to a website).

I totes do this with meeting minutes in my technical meetings. Then I send it out to everyone that attended to . When the content and minutes are good, I send it out to everyone that was invited, but didn't attend.

Evidently I've been doing it for 28 years now, because my engineering director sent me an attachment with that in it, from a vice president and laughingly told me the vp told the directors some technical fellow made them do it when they were an intern back in the 90s. She then asked me how many engineers I've trained in my career to make an impact like that.

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 01, 2024 09:25 AM (MsrgL)

41 @29 --

That she did. "The Mousetrap," for one. See it if you can.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 09:26 AM (p/isN)

42 Thank you Perfessor and Horde. Good stuff as always.

The TK method is an interesting idea. I use square brackets for the same reason the TK works - I won't use those brackets for any other reason, so the placeholders are easily searchable.

My writing is mostly technical writing these days. I try not let the placeholder be an avoidance mechanism though. It can be too easy to bypass something difficult and say, "I'll figure this out later." I tend to keep wrestling with it and at least come up with ideas and options and notes that make it easier to pick back up later to refine and develop. I don't like leaving a placeholder completely blank.

Posted by: TRex at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (IQ6Gq)

43 Bonjour, my friends in leetle grey cells!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (kpS4V)

44 It's pathetic that I have to say this, but WHERE IS THE LEAD PICTURE FROM?

How can this be hard to figure out? ALWAYS IDENTIFY WHERE THE PIC IS FROM.

Posted by: William Taylor at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (bto58)

45 The other cool bit of Corteziana is that he didn't have a commission to conquer Mexico when he went there. He was just supposed to establish a colony. So he and his men founded Vera Cruz . . . and then the town council of Vera Cruz (H. Cortez, presiding) commissioned him to conquer Mexico.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (78a2H)

46 Last week I read "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster with Jules Feiffer illustrations. It is a delight. The finest word play and thought puzzles since Lewis Carroll. Juster takes so much of the language and has fun with it. And Feiffer's illustrations remind me, happily, of Thurber's line drawings. So simple and so expressive. It's impossible to read the book without constant smiles.

Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (yTvNw)

47 Day is running late
Tolle Lege
1/2 chapter to go in the WWI phase of Gilbert Martin's Churchill, a Life.
Started going to Google maps to see where the action was happening. And watched the Canadian movie Passchandaele yesterday

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (fwDg9)

48 attended to . When the content and minutes are good, I send it out to everyone that was invited, but didn't

Dang it Pixy. Why must you have turgid erections for >

attended to [fill in the missing content I can't remember]. When...

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (MsrgL)

49 You probably couldn't use that 'TK' trick if you were writing a book about Dick Butkus and Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears famous trip from Sitka to Kamchatka to visit the renowned KitKat Club.

Posted by: muldoon at December 01, 2024 09:29 AM (991eG)

50 Is it possible to hate-read a book?

Yes. King Rat and the majority of High School English classes.
Posted by: NR Pax at December 01, 2024 09:19 AM (lXCUP)
---
I tried this with Antony Beevor's book on the Spanish Civil War but had to give up because he had so thoroughly discredited himself in the opening chapters that all I would be doing is make the rubble bounce. My time was better spend doing productive research.

I retained the book so that if I need to back up my claims of his vicious bias and poor scholarship, examples are ready at hand. I might also use it as a target.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 09:29 AM (ZOv7s)

51 36 I loved writing fashion copy, BTW. Word play all over the place. Black tickled pink. Cocktail food chafing to be bit.
I once did a spread of undergarments, and readers actually wrote in to say they had counted the number of times I used "bra." (Abracadabra, for example.)

Posted by: Wenda at December 01, 2024 09:24 AM
***
I appreciate writing that works on multiple levels. I appreciate readers that get it.

Posted by: TRex at December 01, 2024 09:30 AM (IQ6Gq)

52 The woodwork in that top photo is gorgeous. The room's design and the craftsmanship is incredible. Thanks for posting it.

Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 09:30 AM (yTvNw)

53 Hearing Salty talk about rereading the Lord of the Rings trilogy makes me think I'm due for a reread myself. It's been years. You always pick up something new.

I remember how, on my last reading of "The Hobbit", i saw there was foreshadowing of Sauron in that oblique reference to The Necromancer, which I never paid much attention to. Of course that explains so many things, not just the darkening of Greenwood into Mirkwood and attracting all manner of evil creatures, but I suppose also nudging the Ring to find a new host.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 01, 2024 09:31 AM (kpS4V)

54 When I've left a marker in a draft to look at later, I've usually just put xxxx in the spot I want to revisit; I figure that's even less likely to show up in a legit word than TK.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 09:31 AM (q3u5l)

55 I am speculating, but I bet there was some other typesetting or proofreading mark that used "TC," making "TK" necessary. It definitely goes back to the typewriter era, so searchability is not the reason.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:31 AM (78a2H)

56 You probably couldn't use that 'TK' trick if you were writing a book about Dick Butkus and Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears famous trip from Sitka to Kamchatka to visit the renowned KitKat Club.
Posted by: muldoon at December 01, 2024 09:29 AM (991eG)
=====

Your teachers must have loved having you in their classes.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 01, 2024 09:31 AM (RIvkX)

57 I need a good novel set in 14th century Britain or France. Any good ones?

Posted by: Mr Gaga at December 01, 2024 09:31 AM (KiBMU)

58 It's pathetic that I have to say this, but WHERE IS THE LEAD PICTURE FROM?

How can this be hard to figure out? ALWAYS IDENTIFY WHERE THE PIC IS FROM.
Posted by: William Taylor at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (bto5

----
It's from the Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugul.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 01, 2024 09:32 AM (BpYfr)

59 I was visiting my parents for the entire holiday week, which meant I spent my evenings away from my stuff, and had no way to spend my time except with my laptop or my e-readers. So, I got a lot of reading done...

I finished up reading a short story collection "Jirel of Joiry" by C.L. Moore; a series of 5 pulp stories featuring a lady-knight in Feudal France named Jirel. How or why she became a knight is never explained, and any real fighting takes place of-page. Instead, all 5 stories feature her fighting something magic. In the first 4 stories, she travels to some magical realm, where the laws of physics don't apply (and page-upon-page is wasted telling us how strange this is) and Jirel wins the day through dumb luck and stubbornness. I kinda hated these stories. The final story is halfway decent, because it takes place in a haunted castle in the real world, and Jirel wins...still kind of by accident, but at least she is recognizably pro-active, and takes actions that advance the plot in recognizable ways.

Sadly, not a recommend.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 09:33 AM (Lhaco)

60 40 She then asked me how many engineers I've trained in my career to make an impact like that.

Posted by: BifBewalski at December 01, 2024 09:25 AM
***
Great example of knowing how to be a professional in ways a textbook or college degree won't do. Mentoring, leading by example, etc. So many little things that makes the whole enterprise more effective far beyond the core tasks. Well done.

Posted by: TRex at December 01, 2024 09:33 AM (IQ6Gq)

61 It was Winston Churchill 150 birthday anniversary yesterday

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2024 09:33 AM (fwDg9)

62 I retained the book so that if I need to back up my claims of his vicious bias and poor scholarship, examples are ready at hand. I might also use it as a target.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

As long as you have one digital copy before you destroy it.

Posted by: NR Pax at December 01, 2024 09:34 AM (lXCUP)

63 There's Mark Twain's novel about Joan of Arc.

Funny how cynical old atheistical Sam Clemens decided to write about her.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:35 AM (78a2H)

64 the Chocolate Wars by Robert Cormier, in middle school, another Catcher in the Rye derivative,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at December 01, 2024 09:35 AM (pGTZo)

65 I need a good novel set in 14th century Britain or France. Any good ones?
Posted by: Mr Gaga

I would suggest An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears. It is a medieval murder mystery with accusations of witchcraft thrown in. The catch is that the tale is told by four of the people involved, who all have their own biases, and one of them is insane. I enjoy clever writing, and this one was entertaining.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 01, 2024 09:38 AM (atKHw)

66 "It's pathetic that I have to say this, but WHERE IS THE LEAD PICTURE FROM?"

I dunno.

Posted by: Guy who only reads the comments at December 01, 2024 09:39 AM (vFG9F)

67 pockeTKnife

Posted by: muldoon at December 01, 2024 09:39 AM (991eG)

68 Note: Fingerpost is set considerably later, though -- during the Restoration period.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:40 AM (78a2H)

69 "There's Mark Twain's novel about Joan of Arc.

Funny how cynical old atheistical Sam Clemens decided to write about her.
Posted by: Trimegistus"

I liked Twain's account of Adam and Eve.

Posted by: fd at December 01, 2024 09:41 AM (vFG9F)

70 A book I started and finished this week was "Windrush" by Malcom Archibald. I got this book because someone on this thread has been talking about the series for the past couple months (sorry I can't remember exactly who) and because the first digital book was cheap on Amazon. Anyways, the story follows Jack Windrush, a young man from a military family who is about to start his career in the British Army. Alas, fate pulls the rug out from under him at the last minute, so his career does not start out in the way he envisioned...

Two things jumped out at me about this book. First, the formatting (in the Kindle version) seemed amateurish or incomplete. Usually, Jack's interior monologues were italicized, but there were entire paragraphs where they weren't. Other times, we would jump straight from Jack's musing to a new scene where a character we'd never met was speaking (with no real introduction) with only a paragraph beak between. No chapter breaks, no blank line between, just one thought straight after another. It wasn't enough to break my interest, but it did make me take notice.

(continued)

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 09:41 AM (Lhaco)

71 I am speculating, but I bet there was some other typesetting or proofreading mark that used "TC," making "TK" necessary. It definitely goes back to the typewriter era, so searchability is not the reason.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 09:31 AM (78a2H)
---
Lots of old editing marks/terms exist for obscure reasons.

As to characters, when I start writing, I open up a second document which is the "cheat sheet," a list of all characters, their descriptions, notable points, and the all the related background materials. I've never used a placeholder name, though I have changed them here and there as the concept matures.

Usually when a character is brought it, there's a reason behind it and a name is part of it. I try to be as efficient as possible in my writing, so I don't use lots of backstory on otherwise minor characters and if it's just incidental, no name will be used at all.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 09:41 AM (ZOv7s)

72 I once did a spread of undergarments, and readers actually wrote in to say they had counted the number of times I used "bra." (Abracadabra, for example.)

Posted by: Wenda at December 01, 2024 09:24

You know about the cup sizes?

https://youtu.be/oP2SLjBTZ6w

Posted by: Obligatory Seinfeld reference at December 01, 2024 09:42 AM (dg+HA)

73 Didn't Agatha Christie write plays as well as novels?

Offhand, A Murder Is Announced and the Poirot one that turns on some subtly of bridge (title TK) were plays.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 01, 2024 09:42 AM (/y8xj)

74 TRex re wordplay: Me, too. I still use it, in longer works.

BTW re copyright and I, which I brought up last week because I know so little about it and want to know more. I learned something this week that makes the need to know much more urgent. If an AI generator makes a claim on your ms and wins, the fine is $136,000 per offense--i.e., if you've sold 5 copies, you will owe 5 X $136,000.

The most common generator is apparently the worst offender in terms of challenging authorship.

It seems to me this is an issue that badly needs to be resolved.

Posted by: Wenda at December 01, 2024 09:46 AM (6mIH4)

75 (Further musings on "Windrush")

The second thing that felt strange about the book was the tech level. The story takes place in the 1850's, which meant that the British soldiers still wore redcoats and shakos, and used muzzle-loading 'brown bess' muskets, but the guns had percussion caps instead of flintlocks. And while the soldiers traveled in wooden ships, with masts, sails, and cannons on the broadside, the ships also had some coal engines to power propellers, and could travel far up-river. This would probably feel normal if I read/watched a lot of Civil War stories, but since I've instead immersed myself in the Napoleonic era (through Horatio Hornblower and Richard Sharpe stories) this feels like a very unnatural mix of classic and modern technology...

"Windrush" wasn't a perfect story, but it was fun enough to consider continuing in the series. There appears to be at least 12 books out there, with 4-pack ebook bundles available.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 09:47 AM (Lhaco)

76 Thanks for another dandy Book Thread, Perfessor!

Your time and effort spent rounding up content every week is very much appreciated!

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at December 01, 2024 09:48 AM (rxCpr)

77 @71 --

Paul Levitz of DC comics once wrote that he had about eight notebooks of details when he was writing Legion of Super-Heroes in the '80s.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 09:49 AM (p/isN)

78 38 I hate-read Hotel New Hampshire for a girl.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 01, 2024 09:24 AM (RIvkX)

Ugh. More disturbing relationships.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 01, 2024 09:50 AM (OX9vb)

79 In re: the guilty pleasure, I have both the first & second volumes. Not feeling guilty at all.

Posted by: Nazdar at December 01, 2024 09:52 AM (NcvvS)

80 If an AI generator makes a claim on your ms and wins, the fine is $136,000 per offense--i.e., if you've sold 5 copies, you will owe 5 X $136,000.

That's surprising since I've posted before about the co-worker of a friend who self-publishes an AI-generated "book" a week.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 01, 2024 09:52 AM (/y8xj)

81 " It's pathetic that I have to say this, but WHERE IS THE LEAD PICTURE FROM?

How can this be hard to figure out? ALWAYS IDENTIFY WHERE THE PIC IS FROM.
Posted by: William Taylor at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (bto5
----
It's from the Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugul."

Thank you.

Posted by: William Taylor at December 01, 2024 09:52 AM (bto58)

82 Finished The Return of the King. What a great saga. I got a lot more out of it this time through.

One sign of quality is that the settings and characters exist in your mind outside the book. Tolkien delivers that is spades.

Did not read all of the appendices, as the linguistics and calendar issues do not interest me.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 09:53 AM (u82oZ)

83 Is bridge a thing anymore?

When I was a wee tad the adults often had bridge parties as a social event. So, a Christie play based around bridge would've made sense to the audience.

The only instance I've heard of people playing bridge was from an old high school friend visiting another old high school friend who it turned out played bridge as a regular hobby.

These days I suppose that Christie's play would have to turn on some subtlety of Mario Cart.

Do any of you morons play bridge or is it now an eccentric pursuit like alchemy?

Posted by: naturalfake at December 01, 2024 09:54 AM (eDfFs)

84 I liked Jason Rekulak's novel "The Last One at the Wedding" so I checked out an earlier book of his, "The Impossible Fortress". Set in 1987, it follows 14-year-old Billy Marvin and his pals as they hatch a plan to steal a Playboy magazine with Vanna White on the cover from a shop on Main Street. In the back of that shop is the owner's daughter, Mary, who is programming on her own Commodore 64. They strike up a friendship and start to beef up the programming on his game "The Impossible Fortress" in time to send it in for a big gaming contest.

Lots of memberberries but a fun read.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 01, 2024 09:55 AM (kpS4V)

85 Praying for the American-backed ISIS fighters in Syria.

Posted by: Bagels at December 01, 2024 09:55 AM (fgPXI)

86 >>the Chocolate Wars by Robert Cormier, in middle school, another Catcher in the Rye derivative,

Ugh, had to read his "I Am the Cheese" book in school.
Haaaated it.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 01, 2024 09:56 AM (u1uWe)

87 Is bridge a thing anymore?

Posted by: naturalfake

It declined drastically after that incident in Florida a few years back

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 01, 2024 09:57 AM (atKHw)

88 @83 --

In my newspaper days I often griped that after the last bridge player had passed from this Earth, bridge columns would continue to be published.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 09:57 AM (p/isN)

89 >>Is bridge a thing anymore?

I know two people who've played bridge competitively.
Both Indian - so it may be bigger outside of the US?

Posted by: Lizzy at December 01, 2024 09:58 AM (u1uWe)

90 I don't think I can hate-read.

I might guilt-read. Particularly if it's a book that I think I should read, even if I don't like it.

Admittedly, I have a thing about finishing what I start.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 01, 2024 09:58 AM (eDfFs)

91 Tried reading Cormier once, but just couldn't get into his stuff. I heard that his novel Fade was supposed to be pretty good but never looked into it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 09:58 AM (q3u5l)

92 Weak Geek, they still have bridge columns for the same reason Mary Worth lives on in the comics section-- it's how the CIA passes information.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 01, 2024 09:59 AM (kpS4V)

93 Cards on the Table

(TK resolved)

Posted by: Oddbob at December 01, 2024 10:00 AM (/y8xj)

94 Read Two Alone by Sandra Brown, an interesting story about two strangers who survive the crash of a small plane in the Canadian wilderness. Five others aboard the craft perished instantly. Things you once thought important fall by the wayside when life is stripped to the basics of either surviving or dying. Water and food are critical. So is not freezing. Fortunately, one of the strangers is a Vietnam vet with skills that keep both persons alive until they are rescued. But not until a medical emergency arises and then the two are discovered by Canadian mountain men who want to kidnap one of the victims for their own twisted purposes. Gripping story from this prolific author.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at December 01, 2024 10:01 AM (rxCpr)

95 Played a few different card games but not a clue how Bridge is played.

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2024 10:01 AM (fwDg9)

96 Don Robertson's novel Miss Margaret Ridpath and the Dismantling of the Universe has a protagonist who's pretty big in bridge circles. Fortunately the novel (which is a terrific read) doesn't require the reader to know a lot about bridge.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 10:01 AM (q3u5l)

97 Howdy. They won't let me wear pants, but I do have a gown on. Close enough?

Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 01, 2024 10:02 AM (SSBCb)

98 In between reading real novels, I also read a (digital) comic book: "Blackbeard: Legend of the Pyrate King" published by Dynamite. This one hurt. I'm desperate for good fantasy or historical comics (anything that isn't super-hero or super-hero-adjacent. I enjoy those, but I also want variety.) so I was hoping this would hit the spot, but it just wasn't very good.

The art was...sufficiently detailed (we had backgrounds, and plenty of establishing shots to set the scene) but the character designs and art style were just a little too wonky for my tastes. The coloring stood out, and not in a good way. Way too much contrast; too many things were shiny when they shouldn't have been. And the story was oddly paced. It's an origin story of Blackbeard, where he only reaches his 'final form' in the last page of the book. It also sets up his downfall (in the form Lt. Maynard) but doesn't show the final confrontation.

The book just left me wanting more, and wishing the comic had been better...

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 10:03 AM (Lhaco)

99 Some notes on The Lord of the Rings.

Samwise is the premier hero, the everyday man who rises to meet heroic challenges. He carries Frodo on his back to reach Mount Doom and the vital lava pit.

I note that every romance is true love, marriages last, and there are no shenanigans outside of marriage. No wonder the birth rate of elves is so low.

The fate of Arwen lends a patina of melancholy to the ending. She lives an immortal life of ease; casting that aside to marry Aragorn, have 60 years of a happy marriage, a son and at least two daughters. Then Aragorn dies, and she is bereft. She goes off away from kids and grandkids to die alone, without hope remaining.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:03 AM (u82oZ)

100 Howdy. They won't let me wear pants, but I do have a gown on. Close enough?
Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 01, 2024 10:02 AM (SSBCb)
---
Did you submit your medical exemption form? In triplicate?

Just kidding, of course. Praying for your swift recovery!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 01, 2024 10:04 AM (BpYfr)

101 92 ...they still have bridge columns for the same reason Mary Worth lives on in the comics section-- it's how the CIA passes information.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 01, 2024 09:59 AM (kpS4V)

Oooooohhhh. This makes sense!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 01, 2024 10:05 AM (OX9vb)

102 @92 --

So those symbols and numbers are a cipher, and "ruff-sluff" is a code word.

All right.

(To tie this into books -- when I was the features flunky at the World, my wife bought me a book on bridge as a Christmas present. I promptly lost it. It might still be in the house.)

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 10:05 AM (p/isN)

103 Is bridge a thing anymore?

Posted by: naturalfake at December 01, 2024 09:54 AM (eDfFs)
---
I've never learned how to play. In terms of cards, euchre is very much a thing in Michigan and euchre tournaments feature prominently in various parish events. Seems to fill the same space as there are four players divided into two sets of partners.

We used to play at lunch and between classes in high school. Everyone had a euchre deck in their backpack.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:05 AM (ZOv7s)

104 I went to high school in the early 1980s, and I remember the school library having multiple copies of both I Am the Cheese and Chocolate War. The school pushed a lot of that post-hippie "anti-establishment" themed literature -- probably because the faculty were all Boomers still pretending to themselves that they were bold nonconformists.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 10:06 AM (78a2H)

105 This would probably feel normal if I read/watched a lot of Civil War stories, but since I've instead immersed myself in the Napoleonic era (through Horatio Hornblower and Richard Sharpe stories) this feels like a very unnatural mix of classic and modern technology...

----------

Steampunk

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:06 AM (g8Ew8)

106 Is bridge a thing anymore?

Posted by: naturalfake at December 01, 2024 09:54 AM (eDfFs)

It is quite popular in Botswana. I'm not sure why I know this.

Posted by: Scarymary at December 01, 2024 10:07 AM (K1HkL)

107 It would have helped to know something about bridge when reading "Moonraker."

Posted by: Weak Geek nearly posted "Goldfinger" at December 01, 2024 10:09 AM (p/isN)

108 A nurse at the hospital on one of my last visits suggested author Daniel Suarez to me. If I can get healthy enough to go into a bookstore, I'll have to check him out.
Anyone read his books?

Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 01, 2024 10:09 AM (SSBCb)

109 I note that every romance is true love, marriages last, and there are no shenanigans outside of marriage. No wonder the birth rate of elves is so low.

The fate of Arwen lends a patina of melancholy to the ending. She lives an immortal life of ease; casting that aside to marry Aragorn, have 60 years of a happy marriage, a son and at least two daughters. Then Aragorn dies, and she is bereft. She goes off away from kids and grandkids to die alone, without hope remaining.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:03 AM (u82oZ)
---
Not every romance ends well, though. We learn that Denethor's grim attitude and the threat of the shadow cause the premature death of his wife, which in turn darkens Denethor's heart.

I also think you have Arwen wrong. She goes back to Lorien to see what it has become and visit the remnants of her mother's people. When she dies, she will see Aragorn again. She could have tried to find a ship, but she accepts her mortal fate as an act of hope.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:10 AM (ZOv7s)

110 Zoltan, I assume you have read “1000 Mile Summer” by Colin Fletcher?

He hiked the trail in 1958 when nobody went backpacking in the US. He practically invented it as a new recreational pursuit. Great book. His 1968 “Complete Walker” is excellent as well.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 01, 2024 10:10 AM (2VfHu)

111 The Silmarillion has some pretty dark romances. Yeah, Beren and Luthien, but Eol and Maeglin are pretty sketchy dudes.

The sons of Feanor also mull stealing wives.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:13 AM (ZOv7s)

112 Re: 1st Draft hack (haven't read the thread yet, so apologies if I am repeating what others have said).

With ChatGPT or one of its brethren, instead of doing TK hacks, you can go ahead and ask it to fill in the blanks for you. "Please give me some name suggestions for the Archvillain's henchmen" You can additionally tell it to give you names that are French, if you want that, or are puns, or are based on some physical characteristic, and just pick a winner or come up with something inspired by the list you get.

I have even used it when I'm stuck on something. "Please write a transitional paragraph that moves the action from the pron theater to the periodicals room at the local library" or something. I don't use what it gives me, but it nudges me in the right direction.

One example I used was, "Give me a list a futuristic sci-fi cocktails to serve in an upscale space station bar."

And if the AI draft is not right, but it moves me to the next scene, I change the color of the font to purple so I know to go back and fix it later.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at December 01, 2024 10:13 AM (9yUzE)

113 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:10 AM (ZOv7s)

Ents still waiting for their Ent wives. Is it a false hope they carry?

Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 01, 2024 10:13 AM (SSBCb)

114 I put down money on two big hardcover comic book collections this week. Even though I have entire shelf worth of unread collections, I'm still buying more. I may have a problem...

First up: "The Complete Witchblade 4" over on Kickstarter. It's about a cop with supernatural powers, whose powers tend to rip up her clothes whenever she uses them. The book's appeal is....not subtle. The art is usually great, even if the story isn't. But I'm hoping the writing will be better this time.

Second: "Spider-Man by Michelinie and Bagley." Stories from the early/mid-90's, by a pretty good writer and one of the character's most prolific pencillers. Most importantly, this was back when Peter and MJ were happily married! Yeah, half the reason I bought this is to stick my thumb in the eye of bitter editors who ret-conned that story-decision, and who have kept the character miserable for the past 20 years. The rest of the reason I bought it was that I found it for just over half of cover price.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 10:13 AM (Lhaco)

115 When I worked in the materials testing lab for the State Highway Department, we used to play bridge during our lunch break. That was 25 years ago. Haven't played it since.

Posted by: Toad-0 at December 01, 2024 10:13 AM (cct0t)

116 Looks like a tongue.

Posted by: Eromero at December 01, 2024 10:14 AM (DXbAa)

117 I need to find that Han Solo book as all the other Brian Daley books I've ever read have been enjoyable, memorable, read multiple times books. He's passed on now and left us with all too few stories, but they are all worth reading, esp his Coramonde novels.

Posted by: Kyle Kiernan at December 01, 2024 10:14 AM (zeSfh)

118 I have read several of Stephen Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa murder mysteries set in ancient Rome. I am currently reading A Mist of Prophecies. In it, Caesar's wife Calpurnia says, "We Romans believe that a man must be the master of his appetites or he’s no man at all, but we forgive such a defect in a woman. It wasn’t so in the days of our ancestors. A woman like Clodia, enslaved by her neediness, would have been despised by everyone. Nowadays people call such a creature fascinating, and men as weak as she is make poems about her." It seemed like a comment on our current culture.

Incidentally, the ancient Roman poet Cattalus did make poems about Clodia calling her Lesbia, as Calpurnia surely knew.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 01, 2024 10:16 AM (L/fGl)

119 I enjoyed Patrick O'Brian series immensely yet stopped at end of the Napoleonic wars
1/2 way through the Sharpe series but unless find them trolling through used books won't get any on ebook.

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (fwDg9)

120 Ents still waiting for their Ent wives. Is it a false hope they carry?
Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 01, 2024 10:13 AM (SSBCb)

Without any female ents around, I always wondered how they coped with morning wood.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (g8Ew8)

121 Steampunk
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:06 AM (g8Ew

---
If you go back to the mid-19th century, there's a lot of it out there. Firearms development was nuts as designers experimented with "blow-forward" recoil systems. Imagine being there when Browning converted a lever-action rifle to full auto!

Automobiles were pretty steampunk as well. And of course WW I tanks were lit.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)

122 Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Thank you for an alternative answer. The people portrayed in LOTR are, in general, better behaved than the standard of behavior in the '30s or even today. Except for the Orcs and Mordor's forces.

Arwen notes that no more ships will depart. They are all gone. But maybe being a grandmother was not in her. I see that as a powerful force, but maybe she had no role-models to tell her how much fun it could be.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (u82oZ)

123 Without any female ents around, I always wondered how they coped with morning wood.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (g8Ew

---
That thought never occurred to me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:19 AM (ZOv7s)

124 robert cormier, is who you assign if you want teenagers to hate reading,

Posted by: miguel cervantes at December 01, 2024 10:19 AM (pGTZo)

125 Dr Pork Chops & Bacons

Snort!

There is your D&D campaign right there. Find the Ent wives. It appears that they devolved as they made orchards and fields of flowers. Living in forest was not their thing.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:20 AM (u82oZ)

126 Morning all.
I would like to share a small triumph this week.
Since I left MA 4 yrs ago, I have been able to get ebooks from my old library there. They have a much better Ebooks selection than my current MD library. I am now on book 27 in the Spenser series which I have been borrowing from them.
I got cut off. My card expired. To renew they wanted local current address with ID. Busted.
Wrote an email admitting I had moved. Was there anything that could be done because i appreciated them.
I got back a lovely email telling me for a grand total,of $10 they would renew my card. Yay!
I again have two library systems to feed my habit.
❤️💃📚

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 10:20 AM (t/2Uw)

127 Thank you for an alternative answer. The people portrayed in LOTR are, in general, better behaved than the standard of behavior in the '30s or even today. Except for the Orcs and Mordor's forces.

Arwen notes that no more ships will depart. They are all gone. But maybe being a grandmother was not in her. I see that as a powerful force, but maybe she had no role-models to tell her how much fun it could be.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (u82oZ)
---
A few hobbits take a heel turn, showing that even an idyllic rural community has some bad apples in it.

I think Arwen deeply missed Aragorn. Remember, one of Tolkien's themes is accepting that your time has passed and going to sleep rather than clinging to live in fear of the void.

I'm reminded of my grandmother's last words to the pastor at her beside: "I'm going to see my husband now."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:21 AM (ZOv7s)

128 Given that most of them inexplicably put the fuel tank at the front, a LOT of WWI tanks were lit.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 10:22 AM (78a2H)

129 My brother is all into the Star Wars novels from the Old Republic with Darth Bane.

Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 01, 2024 10:23 AM (SSBCb)

130 If you go back to the mid-19th century, there's a lot of it out there. Firearms development was nuts as designers experimented with "blow-forward" recoil systems. Imagine being there when Browning converted a lever-action rifle to full auto!

Automobiles were pretty steampunk as well. And of course WW I tanks were lit.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)

It was the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. It must have been an exciting time. Can't imagine all the mixing and matching of the new and obsolete machinery and gadgets.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:23 AM (g8Ew8)

131 I'm reminded of my grandmother's last words to the pastor at her beside: "I'm going to see my husband now."

I imagine when I pass and I face Jesus Christ, I'll ask him, "Well, did I make the cut?" And he will pinch his fingers together and say, "Just barely."

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at December 01, 2024 10:24 AM (9yUzE)

132 Peak steampunk was well after the Victorian era. Look at interwar weapons design and emergent technologies. Tanks with four turrets or 70-ton "landships." Weird push-pull aircraft and high-speed seaplane races.

All sorts of craziness.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:24 AM (ZOv7s)

133 123 Without any female ents around, I always wondered how they coped with morning wood.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (g8Ew
---
That thought never occurred to me.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:19 AM (ZOv7s)
See, this right here is why we attend seminars (MoMes). This vital research has to be done by qualified experts.

Posted by: Eromero at December 01, 2024 10:26 AM (DXbAa)

134 Kyle Kiernan

I have read most Brian Daley books, but not his Robotech stuff.

I do like the two Coramonde novels, but his peak fantasy book was A Tapestry of Magics, IMHO.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:26 AM (u82oZ)

135 Sorry I missed the hobby thread, was rereading some Paksenarion.

Star's End? There's only such book in my library - Book 3 of Glen Cook's Starfisher trilogy that is called Star's End.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 01, 2024 10:28 AM (ZsBko)

136 99 ... "Some notes on the Lord of the Rings"

NaCl,

I think the difference with LOTR is Tolkien wasn't writing a fairy tale where they all lived happily ever after. He was creating a world and a story. Joy, change and loss are part of any story. He makes several references in the book that the events, as important and dire as they are to the characters, they are part of an ongoing story that began long before them and will continue after their time. I think that is where some of the power of the books come from. There may be resolution for the characters but the story of Middle-Earth goes on. That he included in the appendices what happened to all the Fellowship members brings that out. An ending may not be happy, such as Arwen's fate, but there is joy as well. It's a long term perspective that is seldom seen in literature.

Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 10:29 AM (yTvNw)

137 Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Good points.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:29 AM (u82oZ)

138 123 Without any female ents around, I always wondered how they coped with morning wood.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:17 AM (g8Ew
---
That thought never occurred to me.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:19 AM (ZOv7s)

If it lasts too long it could be a petrifying situation...

Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 01, 2024 10:30 AM (SSBCb)

139 I got back a lovely email telling me for a grand total,of $10 they would renew my card. Yay!
I again have two library systems to feed my habit.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 10:20 AM (t/2Uw)

Nice! Next time I'm in Columbus, I need to stop in at a library there and get a card. I'm sure their system has better choices than my all-Ohio (rural) library system.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 01, 2024 10:30 AM (OX9vb)

140 Do 335 Pfeil at 750Kmph goes zipping by Lloyd.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 01, 2024 10:31 AM (ZsBko)

141 Kind of book-adjacent: on a Larry Niven Facebook fan group someone announced that they heard a Mote In God's Eye streaming series was in the works. The reaction from Niven fans was interesting: a mix of scorn, dread, and hope for a miracle. Basically NOBODY believes Hollywood can do a good adaptation any more. The question was not "will they screw it up?" but "HOW will they screw it up?"

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 10:32 AM (78a2H)

142 Given that most of them inexplicably put the fuel tank at the front, a LOT of WWI tanks were lit.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 10:22 AM (78a2H)
---
Typical first-gen experimentation. The drive train was massive, needed a large crew to sustain, and the assumption was that the armor was sufficient. Only later did tank designers start thinking "Is there a way to mitigate an armor penetrating hit?" and that came when engines were smaller, more fuel efficient, and more powerful.

Also, people realized that a massive 10' high box filled with guns pointing every which way was not a very effective weapon system.

It's interesting to see how the Spanish Republic had such a huge advantage in tanks and utterly misused them.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:33 AM (ZOv7s)

143 JTB

It was the life-work of a master. The saga is very powerful. I do wish a hobbit society was in a protected shire. So much to praise, in his long history.

We can have that perspective today, but schools gloss over history. The Cold War is as remote to students today as the Spanish-American war is to us.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:33 AM (u82oZ)

144 Addendum: my personal dreadful suspicion is that a Mote adaptation would turn into a crappy Avatar knockoff, with poor innocent hippie Moties being oppressed by the suspiciously white and southern-accented Empire.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 10:34 AM (78a2H)

145 Willowed from yesterday's Hobby Thread. Wolfus mentioned that he had three Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories published in fanzines.

Wolfus, I'm sure you're familiar with the Man From U.N.C.L.E. fanzine archive, https://www.mfuarchive.net/. Would you share your pen name of your writings so we can read them?

Posted by: jayhawkone at December 01, 2024 10:34 AM (gSJ0P)

146 Re pushing the post-hippie anti-establishment literature in the 80s.

Gotta wonder how far back that goes. Novelists and playwrights were worshipping at the altar of the bold non-conformist for a long time before that. How many books and plays have we seen with protagonists whose sole redeeming quality seems to be that he never buckled under to the system?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 10:35 AM (q3u5l)

147 Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

I think the misuse of tank in the SCW was due to the still strong cavalry influence. Tanks were stronger horses.

Combined arms was in it's infancy. Although using all branches of the army together is as old as Alexander.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:35 AM (u82oZ)

148 Do 335 Pfeil at 750Kmph goes zipping by Lloyd.
Posted by: Anna Puma at December 01, 2024 10:31 AM (ZsBko)
---
Truly the wild west of aircraft design.

"I like the low-wing monoplane concept, but can we add a quad turret on the back?"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:35 AM (ZOv7s)

149 I've hate-read a book or two, but I think I rage-quit books more often. Hate-reading is when a book low-key pisses me off, and I want to be able to document and analyze exactly why the author sucks/fails. Rage-quitting happens when the author angers me in a bigger way, or in a way that needs no further investigation...

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 10:37 AM (Lhaco)

150 I think the misuse of tank in the SCW was due to the still strong cavalry influence. Tanks were stronger horses.

Combined arms was in it's infancy. Although using all branches of the army together is as old as Alexander.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:35 AM (u82oZ)
---
Oh, they very much thought that a pure armored fist could wreak havoc. Unless you 'charged' into soft terrain, in which case you created a parking lot. Franco got a lot of tanks that way.

Combined arms was understood, albeit the role of armor was not. One of the most overlooked parts of the war in Spain was the Nationalists' mastery of combined arms tactics using artillery and infantry in close coordination. The Condor Legion took this to the next level, which is why even without appreciable armor, the Nationalists were able to shred Republican defensive lines.

People don't know that while Spain sat out WW I, Franco visited the French and interviewed them, studying their tactics in his role as an instructor.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:39 AM (ZOv7s)

151 Whoops! look at the time.

Thanks again, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:39 AM (ZOv7s)

152 It's interesting to see how the Spanish Republic had such a huge advantage in tanks and utterly misused them.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 01, 2024 10:33 AM (ZOv7s)

It's been said that the French had better tanks than the Germans but misused them by attaching them to infantry units.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:39 AM (g8Ew8)

153 Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia)

Damn. Hang in there.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 01, 2024 10:40 AM (dR6yv)

154 @114 --

I remember that Michelinie run. One story that has stuck with me is Peter getting a job offer from a research lab in Emporia, Kan. It would have been a professional advancement for him but would likely have been the end of Spider-Man. I like to speculate how his life would have gone had he taken the job.

(C'mon, that can't be a spoiler.)

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 10:41 AM (p/isN)

155 Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

You pointed out in your book how Franco kept up training of NCOs and junior officers, which is a force multiplier.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:43 AM (u82oZ)

156 I remember that Michelinie run. One story that has stuck with me is Peter getting a job offer from a research lab in Emporia, Kan. It would have been a professional advancement for him but would likely have been the end of Spider-Man. I like to speculate how his life would have gone had he taken the job.

(C'mon, that can't be a spoiler.)
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 10:41 AM (p/isN)

There's no skyscrapers in Emporia. Would have killed much of the Spider-Man drama.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:44 AM (g8Ew8)

157 "He makes several references in the book that the events, as important and dire as they are to the characters, they are part of an ongoing story that began long before them and will continue after their time. "

This where Game of Thrones went wrong by trying to resolve eveything in a final episode.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 01, 2024 10:45 AM (Gqoy+)

158 Finished 'The Dollmaker', Arnow, and began Hunter's Horn. The afterword, by Joyce Carol Oates, in The Dollmaker was almost more interesting than the book.

Still working on 'Blacklisted by History', Evans. I regard this as a 'must read' by conservatives. The unfounded vitriol leveled against McCarthy was very much in the same vein as what has happened to Trump...and the players are the same.

Hat tip to the Moron who recommended it.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 01, 2024 10:45 AM (XeU6L)

159 I am poking through Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, and I won't review it since I technically have not started to read it, but I used to read a lot of cyberpunk, and I always liked it as an exciting new world full of brilliant and motivated people in a world where the old constraints didn't apply.
On reflection now, I realize that Cyberpunk as a genre is about technology enabling radical decentralization of power that results in schismatization of social order.
Some of the books celebrate the chaos, others discuss the ways newly empowered minority groups route around the dysfunction of no longer useful protocols and practices and are trying to come to terms with the new world to push back the chaos.

So, as a question for the day, since the ultimate minority is the individual, is Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat a cyberpunk genre book?

Posted by: Kindltot at December 01, 2024 10:46 AM (D7oie)

160 Dr Pork Chops & Bacons

The French military of 1940 did a lot of wrong things. They had better tanks and more of them that the Germans. But not better tactical communications.

To Lose a Battle by Alister Horne is an entryway into why the French lost.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:46 AM (u82oZ)

161 154 @114 --

I remember that Michelinie run. One story that has stuck with me is Peter getting a job offer from a research lab in Emporia, Kan. It would have been a professional advancement for him but would likely have been the end of Spider-Man. I like to speculate how his life would have gone had he taken the job.

(C'mon, that can't be a spoiler.)
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 10:41 AM (p/isN)

I recognize that story. That was in the "Michelinie and McFarlane" omnibus that I also own. Fun stuff, there. Alas, I think I'll be skipping the "Michelinie and Larson" book that goes between the McFarlane and Bagley books. From what I've seen, Erik Larson's art just isn't as good as the other two.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 10:47 AM (Lhaco)

162 look what they did to Halo, ugh or Foundation double ugh

Posted by: miguel cervantes at December 01, 2024 10:48 AM (pGTZo)

163 Dash, you might try asking your local if you can do it online. When I was in suburban MA, I was able to get access to the Boston library system via my local library. I had to apply and get a separate card.
In MD they have something called Marina which allows you to access books from any library in the state and then they ship it to my local library for,pickup.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 10:48 AM (t/2Uw)

164 I've instead immersed myself in the Napoleonic era

-
I came across two books of Sir Author Conan Doyle short stories about French Brigadier of Hussars Etienne Girard and his adventures during the Napoleonic War which I am enjoying. The stories are written in the first person as an elderly Girard looks back upon his life. I wonder how reliable a narrator Girard is as he is definitely a bit of a blow hard as he describes his dashing adventures and laments that he was never awarded a corps commander's baton or even made king of a conquered and now allied country. These are exciting stories of his rise through Napoleon's army during the wars.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 01, 2024 10:48 AM (L/fGl)

165 The French military of 1940 did a lot of wrong things. They had better tanks and more of them that the Germans. But not better tactical communications.

To Lose a Battle by Alister Horne is an entryway into why the French lost.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:46 AM (u82oZ)

France's biggest mistake in that war was making assumptions.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:49 AM (g8Ew8)

166 Kindltot

To me, The Diamond Age is all about what happens to Nell.

Lots of great SF, some laugh out loud lines of dialog, and an interesting ending. But not a book to reread, IMHO.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:50 AM (u82oZ)

167 Dr Pork Chops & Bacons

Leadership, from the top of the Republic down.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:51 AM (u82oZ)

168 Have read other Napoleonic era novels, a couple on Queen Louisa, but mostly stick to historical accounts.

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2024 10:51 AM (fwDg9)

169 @103, yeah, euchre is huge in Wisconsin, too; regular Tuesday thing at the Legion post

in high school, we all played rummy, don't know why ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they have been lying to us for decades at December 01, 2024 10:51 AM (gY0JQ)

170 116 Looks like a tongue.
Posted by: Eromero at December 01, 2024 10:14 AM (DXbAa)
----
Like a giant uvula with a tongue.

Posted by: Chairman LMAO, AI Expert at December 01, 2024 10:53 AM (LPS7w)

171 Leadership, from the top of the Republic down.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:51 AM (u82oZ)

Yup. Generals stuck in the old ways totally unprepared for the new ways.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:54 AM (g8Ew8)

172 Can't ever remember playing card games in HS. In college, the game was dominoes. Probably the only thing in my life involving math that I was good at.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 10:55 AM (t/2Uw)

173 Dr Pork Chops & Bacons

Don't forget the feckless Defense Ministers, and indeed, the entire crumbling structure of the French Deep State.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:56 AM (u82oZ)

174 171 Leadership, from the top of the Republic down.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:51 AM (u82oZ)

Yup. Generals stuck in the old ways totally unprepared for the new ways.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:54 AM (g8Ew

----
Like when the American colonists used guerilla warfare versus the British Redcoats. The were only versed in "conventional warfare."

Posted by: Chairman LMAO, AI Expert at December 01, 2024 10:57 AM (LPS7w)

175 Reading the Slough House series at present, because the Apple series is so good. The books and the TV series are very aligned so the plots are no surprise. Mick Herron is at his best writing character studies and at his weakest with narrative. His love for Slough House itself comes through loud and clear in his highly detailed building and purpose descriptions. His fascination with his two lead characters (Jackson Lamb and Catherine Standish) is the key to his plots, so thats all OK reading. When he starts describing other sruff (roads, towns, buildings, etc) he gets a little tendentious and, sometimes, a little boring. But River Cartright usually does something crazy enough to save the day, and Slough House can then go back to its humdrum mission. But mot before Lamb blackmails whoever is in charge at MI5 for a solution to some plot hole.

Pretty entertaining , all in all, though the TV series might be more crisply written.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 01, 2024 10:58 AM (1u/pU)

176 {{{Sharon(willow's apprentice)}}}

Good luck picking gifts for all your relatives. Books may be a part of that. Introduce them to the counter-culture of literature, great ideas, and thrilling entertainment.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:58 AM (u82oZ)

177 I came across two books of Sir Author Conan Doyle short stories about French Brigadier of Hussars Etienne Girard and his adventures during the Napoleonic War which I am enjoying. The stories are written in the first person as an elderly Girard looks back upon his life. I wonder how reliable a narrator Girard is as he is definitely a bit of a blow hard as he describes his dashing adventures and laments that he was never awarded a corps commander's baton or even made king of a conquered and now allied country. These are exciting stories of his rise through Napoleon's army during the wars.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 01, 2024 10:48 AM (L/fGl)

Expecting to be made King sounds so conceited and delusional....But in the context of Napolean's conquests...Oaky, it still takes a lot of ego to think that way, but I suppose it's at least in the realm of possibility! Sure, you wouldn't get to be King of Spain unless you were related to Napolean, but being made King of one of the German Principalities....

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 10:58 AM (Lhaco)

178 Can't ever remember playing card games in HS. In college, the game was dominoes. Probably the only thing in my life involving math that I was good at.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 10:55 AM (t/2Uw)

During my time in HS and college, the main game was chasing pussy.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:58 AM (g8Ew8)

179 I noticed Christopher Nuttall has his first Marines in Space series, The Empire Corps, in the $.99 book sale again. I bought that book for $.99 and ended up eating all the books in the series. Borrowed a lot of them through Hoopla so they were free. Highly recommended. The Marines are the last military on a dying Earth in chaos available to rescue a human outpost in space.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 11:02 AM (t/2Uw)

180 Reading, not eating. Lol

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 11:03 AM (t/2Uw)

181 Steampunk
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:06 AM (g8Ew

You want to read The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It is pretty much the genre setting work:

Charles Babbage had successfully created his difference engine and entered politics, and Europe entered an age of steam powered information technology

Posted by: Kindltot at December 01, 2024 11:04 AM (D7oie)

182 Sharon, you so smart! I just signed up online, just like that!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 01, 2024 11:05 AM (OX9vb)

183 My latest book purchase is Scott Horton's "Provoked," but it's another one of those books I probably don't need to read.

Scott is everywhere talking about it, and even says the book contains all the stuff he talks about, but with footnotes.

Bottom line, if you want to know about the current Russian/Ukraine situation, Scott's your guy. He's got the, as the kids say, receipts. You don't have to speculate on how all this happened, they admit it themselves.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:06 AM (lH8E4)

184 In the Civil Engineering department at Texas A&M, you had to learn how to play 42 if you wanted to make friends. They had a student lounge in the building where everyone hung out and did homework and socialized. The professors would often join in with the students, which was always lots of fun. There was always a group of 3 looking for a 4th to play a game. I have find memories of those times 😊♥️

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth - AoS Ladies' Brigade plucky comic relief. Eat the cheesecake, buy the yarn. at December 01, 2024 11:06 AM (SRRAx)

185 I like a lot of Agatha Christie's work, though I get the sense there was a dropoff in quality towards the end of her career.

Her Poirot makes for an interesting comparison with Sherlock Holmes (whom he often ridicules). He's more psychological than deductive in how he solves crime. Reflective of a different era, I suppose.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 01, 2024

***
From what I gather, later on she was concentrating more on her playwriting, which she considered to be fun, while still producing a book a year. Publishing two or more a year in the Fifties through the Seventies, when she died, would just have given more to the taxman. She refused to leave England, and even with the trusts and other legal devices she had set up for her, the taxes were still horrifying.

Yes, beginning in the Forties the emphasis in detective fiction was more on the psychological. In the Thirties 'tec stories were still much more about the deduction than the psychology -- see Ellery Queen's brilliant work in that decade. Even then some psychology was creeping in, possibly thanks to Christie among others.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 01, 2024 11:08 AM (omVj0)

186 "even though I have read Mieville in the past and loathed his work."

-----

Huh. I loved "The City and the City."

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at December 01, 2024 11:10 AM (5YmYl)

187 Generals stuck in the old ways totally unprepared for the new ways.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons

We're prepared for the wars of tomorrow with tranny troops and such.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 01, 2024 11:10 AM (L/fGl)

188 I need a good novel set in 14th century Britain or France. Any good ones?

The Pillars of the Earth,
Timeline,
The Evening and the Morning.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at December 01, 2024 11:10 AM (3Rpkk)

189 Now, the book that I presume hasn't been written yet is the one where the Matt Gaetz allegations are tied to an imprisoned former corrupt officeholder in Florida, a CIA asset who was captured in Iran, an attempt to blackmail Gaetz' father to pay the ransom to get the guy out, in exchange for Biden pardoning Gaetz for his "crimes."

Spy writers, put down your pens. You can't make this shit up.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:10 AM (lH8E4)

190 To me, The Diamond Age is all about what happens to Nell.

The Diamond Age is one of those books that I started three times and never finished. I just couldn't get past Stephenson's writing style. I did slog through Cryptonomicon because it was supposed to be some sort of Big Deal but IMO in retrospect wasn't worth it.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 01, 2024 11:12 AM (/y8xj)

191 {{{Salty}}}

I've actually done a pretty good job at that. One of my DILs said no more toys for Hannukah. Would the relatives be willing to send gift cards to Barnes and Noble?
The other DIL started reading The ThreeBody Problem and couldn't wait to talk to me about it at Thanksgiving.
I feel like both my sons are raising their kids to love books and reading.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 11:13 AM (t/2Uw)

192 France's biggest mistake in that war was making assumptions.
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:49 AM (g8Ew

Their biggest mistake was being french. In a war.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:13 AM (lH8E4)

193 164 ... "I came across two books of Sir Author Conan Doyle short stories about French Brigadier of Hussars Etienne Girard and his adventures during the Napoleonic War which I am enjoying."

I enjoyed those stories and liked them. It seemed that Doyle was having fun with the sincere but blowhard character. I've read that Doyle regarded his historical fiction far more than the Sherlock Holmes stories, books like Sir Nigel" and "The White Company". The Gerard stories let him do historical writing but added some humor to the mix. I've wondered if Gerard inspired the Flashman character by George MacDonald Fraser.

Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 11:14 AM (yTvNw)

194 I think the misuse of tank in the SCW was due to the still strong cavalry influence. Tanks were stronger horses.

Combined arms was in it's infancy. Although using all branches of the army together is as old as Alexander.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 01, 2024 10:35 AM (u82oZ)

From what I remember, the Spanish copied the Italian tactics of moving armor intermixed with infantry, which both negates the flexibility of infantry and the speed of the tanks. The Germans evolved to combine close air support with armor units to mimic both dragoons and horse artillery.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 01, 2024 11:15 AM (D7oie)

195 We're prepared for the wars of tomorrow with tranny troops and such.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 01, 2024 11:10 AM (L/fGl)

The enemy will be thrown in disarray by our military's tactical dick sucking.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 11:15 AM (g8Ew8)

196 "Is bridge a thing anymore?"

"I know two people who've played bridge competitively.
Both Indian - so it may be bigger outside of the US?
Posted by: Lizzy at December 01, 2024 09:58 AM (u1uWe)"

At one time competitive bridge was an enthusiasm amongst the educated Indian expat community in the US (and probably elsewhere). When I was in law school I was a member of a duplicate bridge team. My partner was a Turk in the US studying engineering, and the other half of our team was a pair of Indians. About fifteen years ago or so I prosecuted a lawyer who regularly played in duplicate tournaments-he put more time and effort into playing bridge than into his law practice. Not sure about today, but my two contacts with the game, and all the books and newspaper columns, showed a widespread structured hobby with tournaments, professional bridge players and the like at one time anyway.

cont...

Posted by: Pope John 20th at December 01, 2024 11:15 AM (uk4V/)

197 in high school, we all played rummy, don't know why ...
Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they have been lying to us for decades at December 01, 2024 10:51 AM (gY0JQ)

Mr. Dmlw! and I play rummy. There are not many card games that can be played with only two people.

Would love to play euchre with some people, but we don't have any local friends that we hang out with. And Mr. D is pretty antisocial, tbh.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 01, 2024 11:16 AM (OX9vb)

198 Willowed from yesterday's Hobby Thread. Wolfus mentioned that he had three Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories published in fanzines.

Wolfus, I'm sure you're familiar with the Man From U.N.C.L.E. fanzine archive, https://www.mfuarchive.net/. Would you share your pen name of your writings so we can read them?
Posted by: jayhawkone at December 01, 2024

***
Certainly, Jayhawk -- though for some reason the "Search" button there has stopped working for me. My pen name there is "Benzadmiral." My stories are "Austen East Affair," "The Guadalupe Affair," "The Night Watch Affair," and "The Deadly Playground Affair." They are all set in the same universe. "Austen," the Girl From story, is a direct follow-on to "Guadalupe."

If "Search" doesn't work, you can click on "Index," then on the "A-C" group of authors, and do a Ctrl-F search for "Benzadmiral."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 01, 2024 11:16 AM (omVj0)

199 Wasn't Omar Sharif a big deal bridge-wise?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 11:17 AM (q3u5l)

200 good morning Perfessor, Horde

Han Solo at Stars' End ... man, there's a blast from the past. I think that's the book where you find out why Han has stripes down his pants. He had been a Space Marine of some kind, and got kicked out.

Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:20 AM (JcnCJ)

201 I saw some story yesterday that at the rate he is going writing the last two books in the GOT series, George RR Martin will not finish in his lifetime even if he lives into his 90's. Hahaha
I will never read another one of his books. Seeing as he never finished a single story line, this seems like Karma to me.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 01, 2024 11:21 AM (t/2Uw)

202 Bridge was big once upon a time with Wall Street traders, especially at Bear Stearns. I think Poker has sort of displaced it nowadays. I still play bridge on my computer every now and then, and enjoy it.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 01, 2024 11:21 AM (j+PwL)

203 Wasn't Omar Sharif a big deal bridge-wise?

He had a long-running syndicated newspaper column.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 01, 2024 11:21 AM (/y8xj)

204 Han Solo at Stars' End ... man, there's a blast from the past. I think that's the book where you find out why Han has stripes down his pants. He had been a Space Marine of some kind, and got kicked out.
Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:20 AM (JcnCJ)

Damn! The things one learns on this blog.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 11:22 AM (g8Ew8)

205 Wasn't Omar Sharif a big deal bridge-wise?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 11:17 AM (q3u5l)

Sure, but I hear he don't like when you rock the casbah.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:22 AM (lH8E4)

206 Steampunk
Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 01, 2024 10:06 AM (g8Ew

You want to read The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.

-
I enjoyed the short story Oracle Engine by M.T. Anderson which is a steampunk version of Ancient Rome and tells the inside story of the Battle of Carrhae and the defeat of Crassus.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 01, 2024 11:24 AM (L/fGl)

207 204 Yup. Han wears blue pants with blood red stripes. That's from dress blues.

Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:25 AM (JcnCJ)

208 Willowed from yesterday's Hobby Thread. Wolfus mentioned that he had three Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories published in fanzines.

Wolfus, I'm sure you're familiar with the Man From U.N.C.L.E. fanzine archive, https://www.mfuarchive.net/. Would you share your pen name of your writings so we can read them?
Posted by: jayhawkone at December 01, 2024 10:34 AM (gSJ0P)

If he doesn't, perhaps we can have a contest to see who figures it out first. The winner gets bragging rights.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:25 AM (VNX3d)

209

Thank you, Perfessor and all the Book People, for another great Book Thread.

I recently read Phoebe Atwood Taylor's The Cape Cod Mystery: An Asey Mayo Mystery. It was pretty much okay so I thought I'd try another in her Asey Mayo series: The Diplomatic Corpse. It takes place in an imaginary Cape Cod town where the residents are performing a historical pageant. There are so many characters with so many odd personalities. None of them these characters are especially likable to the point that I don’t really care about the character who was murdered and not especially curious about who killed her. If the author is trying to portray the chaos of trying to producing a pageant by writing a story that’s hard to follow, she succeeded. I'm not especially enjoying the book but will finish it in hopes that it all pulls together in the end somehow.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at December 01, 2024 11:25 AM (t2/eg)

210 I think that's the book where you find out why Han has stripes down his pants. He had been a Space Marine of some kind, and got kicked out.

So he only had one pair of pants and they lasted him the rest of his life?

Posted by: Oddbob at December 01, 2024 11:26 AM (/y8xj)

211 JTB, I read The Phantom Tollbooth when I was in college (I wasn't exactly the target audience) and loved it. And I made sure to rad it to my kids (the actual intended audience). "It's more important to know whether there will be weather than what the weather will be" The Whether Man.

Posted by: who knew at December 01, 2024 11:26 AM (+ViXu)

212 204 I think the color is different in the movies.

Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:26 AM (JcnCJ)

213 It was a big thing at Boodles, the club that fleming frequented, thanks to his former boss Admiral Godfrey
the model for M, not Cumming

Posted by: miguel cervantes at December 01, 2024 11:28 AM (pGTZo)

214 210 Only on book covers, apparently

Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:28 AM (JcnCJ)

215 I think that's the book where you find out why Han has stripes down his pants. He had been a Space Marine of some kind, and got kicked out.
--------
So he only had one pair of pants and they lasted him the rest of his life?
Posted by: Oddbob at December 01, 2024 11:26 AM (/y8xj)

This is only one reason why the modern Star Wars product is such a profound failure. They don't tell the story of the character, they tell the story of how he got his pants.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:29 AM (lH8E4)

216 The Pillars of the Earth

-
Mrs. Wrecks' boss' two favorite novels are The Pillars of the Earth and Lonesome Dove.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 01, 2024 11:29 AM (L/fGl)

217 200 Han Solo at Stars' End ... man, there's a blast from the past. I think that's the book where you find out why Han has stripes down his pants. He had been a Space Marine of some kind, and got kicked out.
Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:20 AM (JcnCJ)

Okay, creating an origin story of his favorite style of pants may be a little trite, but it's still better than creating an origin story for his last name. Once again, the EU proves itself superior to the Disney movies...

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 11:30 AM (Lhaco)

218 Didn't Agatha Christie write plays as well as novels?
Posted by: dantesed at December 01, 2024

***
Quite a few. I've just finished Curtain Up by one Julius Green, and he examines how the plays came to be, their production, and how well or poorly they did at the box office. Her three most famous and successful were Ten LIttle Indians (only a now-infamous n-word was in there instead of "Indians), The Mousetrap, and Witness for the Prosecution. She wrote other thrillers and dramatic plays, even one comedy.

Her adaptations of her own mysteries, with only one exception, left Poirot out -- she felt his presence would draw audience attention from the work itself -- and she never did a Miss Marple play.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 01, 2024 11:31 AM (omVj0)

219 @215

This is only one reason why the modern Star Wars product is such a profound failure. They don't tell the story of the character, they tell the story of how he got his pants.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:29 AM (lH8E4)
----
"Charming rogue mixed up in some shady business with Jabba the Hutt, but what's the story behind his pants?"

Posted by: Chairman LMAO, AI Expert at December 01, 2024 11:32 AM (LPS7w)

220 In late and so many comments to comment on.

...they heard a Mote In God's Eye streaming series was in the works. ...
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 01, 2024 10:32 AM (78a2H)

The only hope for this is that we may be past peak woke, on the slope back down to normality, and they will better and Dune or Foundation.

The big question: does the show-runner love the source material or hate it? Like Vooroeven and Starship Troopers, Disney and everything is has remade in the last five years, etc.

Posted by: Candidus at December 01, 2024 11:32 AM (QDUXX)

221 Gotta run some errands. Thanks, Perfessor, for another wonderful book thread. Love the cartoon on the subway with the fake book cover.

Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 11:32 AM (yTvNw)

222 Disappearing the President by Lee Smith.

Good read.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 01, 2024 11:33 AM (LkLld)

223 Okay, creating an origin story of his favorite style of pants may be a little trite, but it's still better than creating an origin story for his last name. Once again, the EU proves itself superior to the Disney movies...
Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 11:30 AM (Lhaco)

Speaking of, I hear tell Gandalf got his name from a bunch of not-hobbits who thought he was a grand elf.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:34 AM (lH8E4)

224 To me, The Diamond Age is all about what happens to Nell.

Lots of great SF, some laugh out loud lines of dialog, and an interesting ending. But not a book to reread, IMHO.
Posted by: NaCly Dog

Agreed, and I loved this book. It was the main work that led me to (incorrectly) believe Stephenson might secretly be one of us. Victorians as a role model, the guy with the duster riding the range during the crazy times, and of course, the sympathetic portrayal of an Afrikaaner.

One of Salty's LOL lines that I still remember: "Good. You have Zulus".

Posted by: Candidus at December 01, 2024 11:36 AM (QDUXX)

225 Another LOL line from Diamond age that I paraphrase onto my daughter occasionally:

When you said "Salt", did you mean to say "Excuse me Father, would it burden you unduly to pass the salt? That would be most gracious of you."

Posted by: Candidus at December 01, 2024 11:38 AM (QDUXX)

226 Speaking of, I hear tell Gandalf got his name from a bunch of not-hobbits who thought he was a grand elf.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:34 AM (lH8E4)

Word is trickling in that the Ride of The Rohirrim movie is going to be just as bad as Rings of Power. Disappointing (if true) but not at all surprising.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 11:41 AM (Lhaco)

227 Hobbies cont...

From my experience there are very large numbers of hobby and hobby-like specialized interests in the US, with gatherings (conventions) and organizations that reflect the diverse, and sometimes intense, interests of Americans-obviously reading and writing for the readers of this blog-and likely most or all of us have been involved in one or another of those interests at one time or another.

The pulp writer Frank Gruber researched several hobbies and wrote mysteries set in niche hobby communities for his characters Johnny Fletcher and Oliver Quade; Clayton Rawson did the same sort of thing for slight-of-hand and magic, and-IIRC- the TV series CSI did much the same sort of thing regularly for a variety of unusual hobbies and interests.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at December 01, 2024 11:41 AM (uk4V/)

228 Well, it's time I should think about accomplishing something in the so-called real world.

(I won't actually accomplish anything, but I'll think about it...)

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 01, 2024 11:42 AM (q3u5l)

229 Speaking of, I hear tell Gandalf got his name from a bunch of not-hobbits who thought he was a grand elf.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:34 AM (lH8E4)

Word is trickling in that the Ride of The Rohirrim movie is going to be just as bad as Rings of Power. Disappointing (if true) but not at all surprising.
Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 11:41 AM (Lhaco)

Let me guess. The Rohirrim will ride Fainting Goats, and use tinfoil weapons and armor.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:43 AM (VNX3d)

230 Note to self: never comment about a character's back story again. Or his pants.

One of the reasons Han is such a cynic, is that he used to believe in duty, honor, country, and such. Once that went out the window, you're darn right he shot Greedo first. Only a fool wouldn't.

That's a pretty good book, IIRC

Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:44 AM (JcnCJ)

231 Word is trickling in that the Ride of The Rohirrim movie is going to be just as bad as Rings of Power. Disappointing (if true) but not at all surprising.
Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 11:41 AM (Lhaco)

Let me guess. The Rohirrim will ride Fainting Goats, and use tinfoil weapons and armor.
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:43 AM (VNX3d)

Not even joking, there's going to be gay Rohirrim and trans Rohirrim and black Rohirrim.

Bank on it.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:46 AM (lH8E4)

232 229 They ride until they reach the refuge of Safe Space. There, they must gird for battle with their deadliest foe yet, Privilege the White.

Posted by: callsign claymore at December 01, 2024 11:47 AM (JcnCJ)

233 Word is trickling in that the Ride of The Rohirrim movie is going to be just as bad as Rings of Power. Disappointing (if true) but not at all surprising.
Posted by: Castle Guy at December 01, 2024 11:41 AM (Lhaco)

Let me guess. The Rohirrim will ride Fainting Goats, and use tinfoil weapons and armor.
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:43 AM (VNX3d)

Not even joking, there's going to be gay Rohirrim and trans Rohirrim and black Rohirrim.

Bank on it.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:46 AM (lH8E4)

Then we'll have to have the furries who believe they're Fainting Goats, and those who screw the Fainting Goats, and other perversions.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:50 AM (VNX3d)

234 sock_rat_eez: In NE Wisconsin the game is schafskopf (sheep's head), which I'm told is similar to euchre. IMHO, it's the best card game and I love the dedicated vocabulary that goes with it.

Posted by: who knew at December 01, 2024 11:51 AM (+ViXu)

235 Let me guess. The Rohirrim will ride Fainting Goats, and use tinfoil weapons and armor.
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:43 AM (VNX3d)

Not even joking, there's going to be gay Rohirrim and trans Rohirrim and black Rohirrim.

Bank on it.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:46 AM (lH8E4)

Just looked it up. Lots of Of Color cast members, a "tomboyish" female lead, and a bad guy who is human, but whose motivations will be similar to those we face today.

Oh boy.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:53 AM (lH8E4)

236 I'm a couple chapters into "Dark Space" and despite all the huzzahs on the back cover, I can tell it's not for me. Just the most absolute basic writing. It feels like an elevator pitch (admittedly a long space elevator).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 01, 2024 11:56 AM (kpS4V)

237 Just looked it up. Lots of Of Color cast members, a "tomboyish" female lead, and a bad guy who is human, but whose motivations will be similar to those we face today.

Oh boy.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:53 AM (lH8E4)

One more show to ignore. Perhaps it's time to sell the TV and antenna, and rely on DVDs of past movies.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:56 AM (VNX3d)

238 Just looked it up. Lots of Of Color cast members, a "tomboyish" female lead, and a bad guy who is human, but whose motivations will be similar to those we face today.

Oh boy.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:53 AM (lH8E4)

One more show to ignore. Perhaps it's time to sell the TV and antenna, and rely on DVDs of past movies.
Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:56 AM (VNX3d)

This is sounding like a First World Problem, doesn't it?

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 11:58 AM (VNX3d)

239 Morning Hordemates.
I've been rereading some older WEB Griffin books. But last night I started a biography of a pilot of B-29's in WW 2. I'm not excited by it so far. Hopefully it gets better.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 01, 2024 11:59 AM (W/lyH)

240 Just looked it up. Lots of Of Color cast members, a "tomboyish" female lead, and a bad guy who is human, but whose motivations will be similar to those we face today.

Oh boy.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 01, 2024 11:53 AM (lH8E4)

I, for one, am so tired of BIPOC Lesbians doing all of the screenwriting for movies these days.

I can't identify with any of the Mary Sue characters or the situations in which they find themselves.

I truly miss the days of a handsome knight in shining armor rescuing the beautiful damsel in distress and them living happily ever after.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth - AoS Ladies' Brigade plucky comic relief. Eat the cheesecake, buy the yarn. at December 01, 2024 11:59 AM (SRRAx)

241 Re-reading Lord of the Rings, and hit this gem:

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

Tolkien certainly had a way with words.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 12:02 PM (VNX3d)

242 WE HAZ A TRANNIE NOOD

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2024 12:02 PM (fwDg9)

243 If Pizarro had no way to get back to Europe, what good would gold have been to him?
Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 09:23 AM (p/isN)

Did he sail his fleet around the Horn, or did they overland at Panama or Nicaragua, and build ships on the Pacific side?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 01, 2024 12:03 PM (djmRI)

244 WE HAZ A TRANNIE NOOD
Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2024 12:02 PM (fwDg9)

Thank you for choosing that word order, Skip. "Nood Trannie" would have been disgusting.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf - Remember Vic and VNN! at December 01, 2024 12:04 PM (VNX3d)

245 Reading some of my father's newspaper and public relations writing from the late 40's and 50's, he'd regularly use the term "to kum" as in "The parade will start at noon at the corner of (to kum) streets."

Posted by: Ronald Kornblow at December 01, 2024 12:06 PM (pXRYM)

246 Do any of you morons play bridge or is it now an eccentric pursuit like alchemy?
Posted by: naturalfake at December 01, 2024 09:54 AM (eDfFs)

I played entirely too much of it at university, was never very good. And it still has a huge following, and is quite an industry.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 01, 2024 12:12 PM (djmRI)

247 "TK" is newspaper shorthand for "To Kum."
Posted by: Weak Geek
-------
To quote my favorite song writer:
"When correctly viewed, everything is lewd"

Maybe (Probably?) it's just me, but it wasn't much of a stretch.

Posted by: buddhaha at December 01, 2024 01:35 PM (apXry)

248 "robert cormier, is who you assign if you want teenagers to hate reading,"

I'll see your Cormier and raise you a James Joyce. I got into deep do-doo when, in grade 11 English class, we were ordered to read 'Dubliners'. I lasted less than 2 chapters, and when called upon I threw the book to the front of the room, and complained that I had no matches so I could not burn the #%#&*( thing.
The English teacher, B.A. Trinity College, Dublin, went ballistic. "Some hilarity ensued" (TM).
I got to have a 'philosophical' discussion with the headmaster. Luckily I was rescued by my parents who agreed with my review. My father thought Joyce was 'extremely over-rated' (He had the power of a B.Sc. degree and (Major, ret'd) to back it up. My mother had never read Joyce before, and lasted about as long as I did, when she tried to read it. Her verdict was 'he was writing about drunks, wrote it while drunk and his editor was drunk'.
The class got to choose what to read, and chose 'Captain Blood', as a result of a prior exposure to it, by me.

Posted by: Dyspeptic Curmudgeon at December 01, 2024 02:12 PM (gYfPj)

249 Apropos the cartoon, and misdirecting book covers.
Grade 10 French class. I slipped the book cover from a copy of Rafael Sabatini's 'Captain Blood', over my French text. During class I acted as if I was trying to hide the book from my teacher's view, while reading it. He 'pounced', asking me to read from the example at the top of page whatever. Which I proceeded to do. He strode up the aisle and grabbed my book from the desk, to learn of my deception. “Une tromperie exceptionnelle” (iirc). And he made me translate 4 pages of the book into french, which took some time, as I had to look up a lot of words. Luckily the tenses were easy!

Posted by: Dyspeptic Curmudgeon at December 01, 2024 02:19 PM (gYfPj)

250 @247 --

One of my editing textbooks said a copy editor needed to have a dirty mind. If a hed could be read lewdly, it would be.

Learned this the hard way on a brief story about a politician's coming decision on running for re-election. One-column hed.

I wrote:

McCurdy
Plans to Be
Unveiled Friday

Which wound up in the "cheers and jeers" newsletter with this comment: "Who's going to undress him?"

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 02:32 PM (p/isN)

251 @250 --

"Revealed," not "Unveiled."

I knew something was wrong with that.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 01, 2024 03:47 PM (p/isN)

252 I’m reading a miniature copy of huckleberry Finn in two volumes. It’s a favorite book from my childhood.

Posted by: Grendel at December 01, 2024 04:46 PM (Mkoos)

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