richardderus's seventh 2024 thread

uncleclaudius on Tumblr says "One of the panels of a mosaic of a cheery skeleton uncovered in 2016 in Turkey, probably dated to the Late Roman era Antioch. The word can be transliterated as EUPHROSYNOS (cheerful)."

Reviews 001 through 008 are linked here.
Reviews 009 on thru 017 are linked here.
Reviews 018 to 026 are linked there.
Reviews 027 to 033 are linked there.
Reviews 034 through 040 are linked here.
Reviews 041 to 045 are linked here.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEWS

046 The Blue Butterfly of Cochin in post #21.
047 The Mars House in post #61.
048 In Excess of Dark in post #86.
049 Glorious Exploits in post #114.
050 Silver Under Nightfall in post #232.

All my threads in the 75ers linked somewhere here
My Last Thread of 2009 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2010 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2011 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2012 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2013 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2014 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2015 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2016 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2017 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2018 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2019 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2020 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2021 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2022 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2023 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

All previous Burgoine reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD'S BURGOINE REVIEWS:

#016 Jumpnauts in post #97.

All previous Pearl Rule reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD'S PEARL RULE REVIEWS:

#007 (37%) Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) in post #206.

Seriously...not a great venue for normies here.
My 2023 goals are here, for reference.
2024 GOALS
If I reviewed 222 books in 2023, why not go for at least 250 in 2024?

So I will.

All but 36 of 2023's reviews were from NetGalley and Edelweiss+, the DRC aggregators I use to get my biblioholism fixes. That's 16% of the total actually read and reviewed. In 2024, I think that percentage is just fine to maintain, so I'll settle on 41 reads not from those two sources as my soft goal...I don't much care if I hit it exactly, but I do need to leave room to read and review books I've been gifted over the years!

2023's #Booksgiving review blast resulted in my blog views for the month being 177% of November's total. So that worked. I only used Twitter for all of November, then for #Booksgiving, added Bluesky and Tumblr. That worked, too. The sadness of my #PrideMonth limp, flaccid performanceless unblast made me realize that, if I'm going to get a big project done, I need to break it down into steps. This is new for me, and a result of the actual limitations that the strokes have imposed on me. Like no longer being able to read handwriting or decode graphics like Wordle, this acquired dyslexia is a limitation I need to acknowledge. Not to say I won't keep pushing against it...but it's real, and planning needs to be based in reality.
***
End of Q1 thoughts on goals
I've had to drop Tumblr from my review-posting because the owner/president/head jerkoff posted transphobic maunderings, then the trans employees said "y'all CTFD he didn't mean it" which well totally relate to needing the gig, but no. THEN announced Tumblr would sell to AI scrapers everything users have posted there...so that, plus their porn ban, means they get axed from me creating anything there, posting or boosting things there. And they don't care, or notice, but I get to keep my own moral high ground.

I don't see, or feel, any reason to adjust any of my annual goals. I've posted 51 blog posts in 2024, or on track for 200 annual posts; but that does not account for the heavy months of June and #Booksgiving to come, and there are already eleven reviews banked for those two.

See >5 richardderus: for 2023 achievements & 2024 goals.
My January 2024 summary is here.
My February 2024 summary is here.

MARCH IN REVIEW

I read seventeen books this month, mostly ~meh~-plus. Two were AWFUL: Dark Æon, which honesty forced me to give two stars to because it does address an important subject, albeit very badly; and Fourth Wing, which is, honestly, bloody unreadable bad writing, ghastly social politics, appalling message crafting for young women, and therefore hyped to the fucking moon and back. This makes Dan Brown look like Stephen King.

We deserve our fate.

Then there was the most wonderful relief of a read, one that very well might be my 6-stars-of-five book for 2024: Glorious Exploits: A Novel by Ferdia Lennon. Shimmers like fine diamonds mounted in pure gold. What a story, and it's a true one, with such a lovely layered set of meanings. Author Ferdia should have such luck in his second book, too! Also notably good, unsurprisingly, was Natasha Pulley's novel The Mars House. It is, comme d'habitude, a morality play and a quietly subversive indictment of Rightness. Such a wonderful month!

I bid you all welcome to this new thread!

Happy new thread Richard!

Happy new one, Ricardo!! *Smooch*

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Richard. Happy New Thread.

Happy new thread Richard!

Happy new thread!

Salutations on your seventh thread, dear fellow.

Happy new thread, Richard. It wouldn't take me much to dredge up the wherewithal to be a bad influence. Might have done it a time or two in the past.

Happy new thread, Richard.

Happy new thread, Richard dear!

>1 richardderus: An ancient cheery skeleton, looks like they had a positive look at afterlife at the time ;-)

Happy new thread. I'm liking the cheery skellington too. he does look like he's got the afterlife sorted.

You've moved again? Okay, I'm here. Happy new thread!

>1 richardderus: He should be cheerful; a flagon of wine, couple of loaves of bread - life's great!

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, RD.

046 The Blue Butterfly of Cochin by Ariana Mizrahi (illus. Siona Benjamin)

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: The Blue Butterfly of Cochin is the story of the ancient Jewish Indian community’s mass immigration to Israel in the 1950s. We follow Leah as she struggles to come to terms with leaving her beloved India and moving to the newly-formed country of Israel. Accompanied by a magical butterfly and through dream-like illustrations, both Leah and the reader, are transported from the lush Indian coastline to the awesome beauty of the Israeli desert.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Decades ago, I saw a documentary at the American Museum of Natural History about the Cochin Jewish community, of whose existence I had been utterly unaware until then. It was a typical documentary of its era, the 1990s, with the expected non-commercial production values; what came bursting through the auditorium screen was the gorgeous, lush architecture, evocative of great wealth; now, however, empty and becoming shabby with neglect. The community that had been so rooted in the tropical coastal state of Cochin for over a millennium and a half had just...vanished.

The beauty they left behind was haunting. The documentary set out to make a visual record of it before entropy carted its magnificence away entirely. This made a deep and lasting impression on me. (Clearly.) I saw this book on Edelweiss+, and of course had to have it for that reason first. Then I noticed the illustrator’s name: Siona Benjamin!

I had discovered how much I loved her Indian-miniature style images in the early Aughties, when I ran across her New York gallery’s website. Although these illustrations are not in that same style, they are just as beautiful, just as intricate, just as emotionally impactful.



These images all evoke in me the same energy that Marc Chagall’s 1960s paintings evoke:

The Circus Horse, 1969; via Wikimedia Commons
I don’t know about you, but I feel there is a creative DNA connection between these artists’ œuvres. Much joy, then, for me on the visual level; the story, with which I was familiar from that long-ago introduction, was here made personal through telling it from a displaced child’s viewpoint. That worked as a means to particularize the community’s collective decision’s personal cost.

The global rise in antisemitism is something I deplore. I think, quite apart from the State of Israel’s appalling actions in Gaza in 2023-2024, the threat of antisemitism is in its turn appalling; we have, in the last century, seen where that has led. Better by far in my view to oppose ethnic hatred wherever we find it. How better to start than with teaching children that Humanity is one race, made up of all kinds of people, and they all have very interesting stories to read, tell, and learn about.

Starting here, with this beautiful book, would be a great introduction.

Happy new thread!

From your last thread, I am super impressed that you remember my reading taste and doorways so well. I was just talking the other day with a co-worker of mine for whom writing style is the most important while mine is character, and it impacts how we interact with books even when we both love or have qualms about certain titles, as the genres we read overlaps quite a bit. I care about both plot and writing, but the way in which each interacts with character means that if I like both the characters and the plot, I will overlook mediocre writing, and if I love the characters and the writing, I will put up with less happening in the story.

>8 Owltherian: Thank you, Lily! You are the first in, so have a Thread Queen crown

>9 Berly: Thank you, Berly-boo!

>10 msf59: Thanks, Birdude!

>11 swynn: Greetings, and thanks, Steve.

>12 Storeetllr: Most kind of you, Mary. *smooch*

>13 PaulCranswick: Thanks, PC!

>14 Familyhistorian: Considering how many book-bullets you have riddled me with, Meg, I would say you are quite safe.

>15 ArlieS: Thanks, Arlie!

>16 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! I think the afterlife was more or less nothingness at that time, but who better to remind you to have good time *now* than a dead guy?

>17 Helenliz: Thank you, Helen!

>18 humouress: ...and the commissions are *killing* me.

Yeah, that skeleton is after-living better than most actually lived.

>19 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita!

>20 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie...it is a new thread, but already thirty-five posts old...happens so so fast....

>22 bell7: You and I go back a decade-plus, and I think what others enjoy about a read is as interesting as what they do not! It makes reading more interesting to keep those details in mind. It can even save a tedious read, thinking, “Oh, Mary might like this, the characters are so interesting,” or so big, or whatever.

>33 richardderus: ... or you could just move less ;0)

>35 richardderus: So, time for a new thread?

>37 humouress: ...and have five hundred posts per thread...nope.

Not yet, quit pushing!

‘Morning, RDear. Happy new thread.

>1 richardderus: Mosaics are endlessly fascinating to me. That one’s beautifully done, if a bit NOT cheerful…

>21 richardderus: The global rise in antisemitism is something I deplore. I think, quite apart from the State of Israel’s appalling actions in Gaza in 2023-2024, the threat of antisemitism is in its turn appalling; we have, in the last century, seen where that has led. Better by far in my view to oppose ethnic hatred wherever we find it. How better to start than with teaching children that Humanity is one race, made up of all kinds of people, and they all have very interesting stories to read, tell, and learn about. Amen, friend.

*smooch*

>39 karenmarie: Hiya Horrible! I am ever so glad you liked my review. It needs saying, sadly. Both parts need saying a lot. I had hoped to see less hate in the world as I got older but it had the annoying quality of propagating instead.

*smooch*

>23 richardderus: Your welcome, and thanks for the crown!

Happy new one, Richard!

Holy Moly -- I can't keep up with you!! Happy new one...again!!

>41 Owltherian: The crown is an old tradition for the first-to-post on each thread.

>42 drneutron: Thanks, Doc!

>43 RebaRelishesReading: Things are moving really fast a lot longer than I thought they would, Reba...do not know what the heck happened this year....

>44 richardderus: Thats a new thing i have yet to learn.

>47 Owltherian: You know it now, for the one thread where it is the case, so no worries.

>48 richardderus: yep and oml this kitten is screeching at me-

>29 richardderus: Really? I'd say my work here is done but I'll just up my efforts instead!

'Morning, RDear. Happy Tuesday to you.

*smooch*

>50 Familyhistorian: That's the spirit, Meg!

>51 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible. Have a Tuesday and a half. *smooch*

Happy new thread, Richard! I'm still around! 🤣

Happy New Thread , Richard, and I am glad that I am not the only one that disliked The Wren , The Wren. You had the perfect summary for it on Paul's thread. Miasmic Misery Porn. Yes.

*Tuesday Smooch*

>43 RebaRelishesReading: What Reba said. I can't keep up. But happy new thread, RD!

>54 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel...happy you are still around! *smooch*

>55 vancouverdeb: That book...stole a half hour of my life reading the sample...and I want to know who I sue to get that time back and to expunge its miserable sodden gloom from my brain. The literary equivalent of forty degrees and drizzling.

>56 atozgrl: Hi Irene! Glad you came to visit...don't worry about keeping up, even I can't do that.

Morning, Richard. Happy Wednesday. My week is off to a good start, despite the wind and below normal temps. I am going to do a solo bird jaunt this AM. Of course, after I make sure the "kids" get to school.

I am really enjoying Wild Houses. Keep this one in mind. Another fine Irish writer.

047 The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

Rating: 4.8* of five

The Publisher Says: From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a queer sci-fi novel about an Earth refugee and a Mars politician who fake marry to save their reputations—and their planet.

In the wake of environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London’s Royal Ballet, has become a refugee on Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. In Tharsis, January’s life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger—a person whose body is not adjusted to Mars’s lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January’s job choices, housing, and even transportation options are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to be surgically naturalized, a process that can be anything from disabling to deadly.

When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January’s life is thrown into chaos, but Gale’s political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five-year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January’s financial future without naturalization and ensure Gale’s political future. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. And worse, soon, January finds himself entangled in political and personal events well beyond his imagining. Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay—and January may be the only person standing in the way.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Comme d'habitude, Author Pulley has taken multiple strands of today's hellscape and woven them into a clever, involving story. January is a ballet dancer...lean, lithe, and muscular even by Earth standards...and a refugee from the sinking of his home, London, due to climate change. No worries, it isn't a big deal in the story, just the way he gets to colonial Mars.

Where he, because he grew up on a high-gravity planet, is an "Earthstronger" and a terrible threat to the naturalized Martians. This condemns him to a life of menial labor where his freakish strength is an actual advantage not a threat.

Does this anti-immigrant rhetoric sound familiar? Start from actual differences, create threats, and stigmatize the Other with the largely imaginary threats and violent rhetoric?

The story is about all that and more. January is the only one who is referred to by the masculine pronoun. All the Martians are "they." No more information is given than that...and Gale, the senator whose careless seeking for a soundbite in their campaign to forcibly "naturalize" the Earthstrongers...a procedure with a horrific death rate, and ugly medical side-effects for those it does not kill...as the external suits that cause the Earthstrongers not to be able to exert themselves to capacity are defeatable. Gale's effort to get a political advantage blows up badly and causes them, as well as January, terrible problems.

Their solution is to offer January a five-year fake marriage contract that will give them good political optics, and him a way out of the endless drudgery and second-class citizenship of being in a suit or, far worse, beinf forcibly "naturalized." So, as always in Author Pulley's work, there is a slow...slooow...burn into True Love. That the relationship is so suitable is weird. January had to travel to another planet to find True Love...and the balance of power, also as always in Author Pulley's work, is even but in a completely unexpected way.

What makes me happy when I know there is a new book coming from Author Pulley is that I know what I will get...musings on interpersonal dynamics, commentary on injustices that clearly cause her outrage and pain, the somewhat unrealistic Love Conquers All resolutions...but have not clue the first how she will take me where I already know we're going.

*happy sigh*

So, I hear you wonder, since you got exactly what you wanted, and enjoyed the trip to get it, where's that fifth star? The one thing I was a lot less than thrilled with was the bizarre and offputting de-extinction of wooly mammoths as part of the Martian terraforming because it felt uncharacteristically gee-whiz neato-keeno it's my book and I'll do it because I can legerdemain. It did not make any sense to me, though clearly there is a narrative srand to explain it. I just did not buy it. I was also not entirely convinced by the time it was set in...the kinds of changes on Earth seemed to be unusually late, for what I expect to happen based on current trends and on Mars way too soon. So, not quite able to ignore and go on with my suspension of disbelief.

These were not terrible sins...this is a novel, not a counterfactual scientific paper...and they are in service of telling a cracking good story. Very much a good place to start reading Natasha Pulley's work if you haven't already; and a great treat for your season of reading if you have.

>60 msf59: Greetings, Birddude! I will make note of your carefully, maliciously aimed book-bullet...and may your next read stink on ice for coming all the way here to deliver the damned thing...and grudgingly trudge off to find out more.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday.

>61 richardderus: Fake marriage trope, human and Martian style, and some star-removing mammoths. Not quite enough to entice me, but if it were to show up at a Friends of the Library Sale, I’d snag it. I liked/disliked The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and gave away my copy and don’t currently have anything by Pulley on my shelves.

*smooch*

The Mars House sounds really intriguing! Onto the list it goes...

>61 richardderus: mmm. Not sure it's enough to entice me either. I read the Kingdoms and it left me unconvinced.

>63 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible...have a lovely Wednesday.

Pulley might not be for you, since her focus is more on externalities and less on the relationship itself, in her work. She is always focused on some injustice and uses the men at the center of the story to dig into that. So permaybehaps a chemistry mismatch here.

>64 katiekrug: I think it will appeal, Katie. I told you on your thread my Tale of Woe about the review and its genesis.

>65 Helenliz: If that one left you cold, this one will too, Helen. It's a treat to me, but I already drained the Koolaid pitcher.

Hiya Richard.

>61 richardderus: I was not sure about this one. Excellent review. I put a hold on it ad am the first in line. Sounds like an entertaining read.

>61 richardderus: The Mars House sounds interesting! I’ve added it to my TBR, hopefully to be read sooner than later.

Happy Odin’s Day!

Karen O

>69 Owltherian: Good afternoon, Lily.

>70 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! The book is worth your eyeblinks, as you will very soon see.

>71 klobrien2: I hope its turn come soon, Karen O. The story is very involving. *smooch*

>72 richardderus: How are ya?

>68 richardderus: Sensible summation, I will save myself the stress. Which is a shame, as your review sounds good.

>75 Owltherian: Older, but not wiser.

>76 Helenliz: You won’t thank me if you get it based on my enthusiasm and then find it tedious, so best to nip that in the bud, eh what?

Happy new thread!

>79 ocgreg34: Thank you, Greg! Happy to see you here.

Wednesday *smooch*

>77 richardderus: heh, im sure your way wiser than me.

Happy Thursday, Richard dear!

We will be leaving tomorrow to walk the last part of the Pieterpad, so no regular Thursday visit next week.

‘Morning, RD! Happy Thursday to you.

Insomnia has struck, alas.

>66 richardderus: A chemistry mismatch doesn’t worry me overmuch. Returning from a 45-minute drop down a rabbit hole: I currently have 2,626 books tagged ‘tbr’ and 25 tagged ‘abandoned’. I just looked at my review of Midnight Fires: A Mystery with Mary Wollstonecraft and just posted it on my thread. I was very snarky.

>77 richardderus: Older, but not wiser. You crack me up.

*smooch*

Morning, Richard. Sweet Thursday. Good review of The Mars House. I will add the BB. Getting out on some bird walks, despite the returning chill. Only in the 20s at the moment. I get to spend some time with Jack this PM, so that will warm me up.

I hope the week is going well for you.

048 In Excess of Dark by Red Lagoe

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: What if every terrible thing imagined came true? Every fleeting, nightmarish thought a reality?

For grief-stricken Karina, her newfound ability to turn her worst daydreams into palpable truths has sent her into a downward spiral of depression and guilt. Coupled with the appearance of an enigmatic shadow figure and visions of her dead family, she grapples to maintain her sanity while desperately attempting to harness her abilities and reunite with her loved ones.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Red Lagoe was introduced to me by Well Read Beard a couple years back. As I bought her books with my very own United States dollars, they went unreviewed...though not unenjoyed. This is not the first book-bullet the Beard has clipped me with, this author and her wild, fearless pursuit of story-logic's final destination (note horror-movie play on words, please), no matter how deeply grim it may be are now part of my regular rotation. I was very pleased to get this as a DRC.

I am not a chirpy soul. I genuinely believe the worst will happen because that is what the evil xian gawd, who clearly does rule the universe, wants for her victims. So as I read along in this book, I kept thinking, is Karina really just me? I tested my hypothesis by handing the Kindle to my Young Gentleman Caller on a flying visit he paid without telling him why I wanted him to read the book. Two hours later he handed it back and commented, "when did you meet this Red person, and Red had better be a she." So yeah...I related to Karina's nightmarish sense of deja vu as the horrors she is experiencing tie right in to her worst, darkest imaginings.

The worst things that can happen to a parent will spiral any one of us into deepest, most depressed misery. Not all of us see dark shapes that can mimic our lost ones. As a reader, I wavered between being sure this was a bad case of delusional grieving, and Karina's toxic mother's low-key emotional manipulations...and a little, uneasy sense that maybe, juuust maaaybe....

And by the ending, I was *still* not sure. To be clear, the ending has a full and satisfying reason for the events of the book...but I was still in that uncertain space until the very end of the read. That is quite a feat for an author to manage, as I started reading before young Author Lagoe was even born...I have seen every trick and ridden every trope before, and she still made me change my mind about what was happening multiple times.

I recommend this short, intense read to anyone whose life has included loss at an extremely deep level and who is willing and ready to process the darker side of it, as well as to those who think religious and supernatural "horror" are really quite silly. This book plays with those notions in a very unsettling, yet more grounded in reality, way that is very believable.

Karina and her disintegration are genuinely unnerving and upsetting, but for all the darkness on parade here, this is in the end a strong woman's discovery of her truest, most powerful self.

At 99¢, this is a great value. Look into it, and Red Lagoe, and I think you will come away glad to buy her work when you need a little challenging reading.

>81 bell7: Thursday *smooch* back

>82 Owltherian: Good heavens I hope so! If I wasn't at my advanced age there would be some major, major problem in me, the universe, or Reality itself.

>83 FAMeulstee: Thursday *smooch*, Anita! I am so happy that you'll be going on the rest of the walk that I will repress my unhappy sense of injury that you won't be here to come say hi.

>84 karenmarie: Oh gross about the insomnia! I shall send you a few of my extra hours...fell asleep at 9 then awoke at 5 for an hour, arose at 7.

Ill be by shortly to see what your displeasure looks like. *smooch*

>88 richardderus: It would very much have a problem.

>85 msf59: Greetings, Birddude! I am glad you liked the review, and I am fairly confident you will like the book when its turn comes.

It got cold here, too! The suns out but the winds up, too. *brrr* I think the week will be fine when its all said and done. Basically it was ordinary, and that is about as good as one can hope for.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Friday to you.

>86 richardderus: Here’s my takeaway from your review: my Young Gentleman Caller on a flying visit he paid ..Yay, happiness for both of you, hope Rob’s doing well. Book, well, I’d pass even for $.99, but it’s available on Kindle Unlimited, so just used one of my precious 18 slots for it. (edited to add used)

>90 richardderus: Thanks for the kind offer. I made up for it last night, getting ~9. Yay for your getting lots of good sleep.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>93 karenmarie: Hiya Horrible, happy weekend to come!

Rob is frazzled, as who would not be doing all the work he does, and another year older, as I hope we all will be.

Enjoy Red’s book! She is very good at the character-driven horror that I enjoy...because of the characters not the horror.

Next day greetings, RD! Hope you're doing okay.

Yes, the life of a chef is crazy, according to everything I've read, heard, about, seen. I hope he's happy in addition to being frazzled.

Yes to another year.

*smooch*

>95 karenmarie: Hi Horrible...Rob's about as happy about as often as anyone could expect to be. The world does not give us unmixed feelings too often, and he is thinking harder than he has ever thought before. That *never* makes a person too terribly happy for very long.
***
The one prophecy even Mystic Meg could never've got wrong.

BURGOINE #16

Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang (tr. Ken Liu)

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: From the Hugo Award–winning author of Folding Beijing comes a gripping science fiction thriller in which three unlikely allies attempt a desperate mission of first contact with a mysterious alien race before more militaristic minds can take matters into their own hands.

In a future where the world is roughly divided into two factions, the Pacific League of Nations and the Atlantic Division of Nations, tensions are high as each side waits for the other to make a move. But neither side is prepared for a powerful third party that has apparently been an influential presence on Earth for thousands of years—and just might be making a reappearance very soon.

With the realization that a highly intelligent alien race has been trying to send them messages, three rising scientists within the Pacific League of Nations form an uneasy alliance. Fueled by a curiosity to have their questions answered and a fear that other factions within their rival Atlantic Division of Nations would opt for a more aggressive and potentially disastrous military response, the three race to secure first contact with this extraterrestrial life they aren’t quite convinced is a threat.

Bolstered by recent evidence of alien visitations in the distant past, the three scientific minds must solve puzzles rooted within human antiquity, face off with their personal demons, and discover truths of the universe.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Interesting mash-up of Doctor Who and the holographic universe interpretation of quantum physics. I was less sold on this story than I was on Vagabonds a couple years ago. Part of that is down to the personalities of the main characters, as I am bored by straight people competing over sex. Another part was the politics of the Earth conflict...why the hell does an omniscient, all-but-omnipotent force...whether alien or divine...allow the injustice and horror of the world as it is?

There is no answer to that question that convinces me of the existence of such beings. So a big part of my reading energy goes into fighting off the sense that this story is founded on sand, and it is shifting rapidly under my readerly feet.

Not everyone will feel this way, so the folks who liked Contact, Arrival, or the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson will be gruntled by this read. Vagabonds readers will likely miss the more ornamented prose in that book, but the pleasures of characters developing, seeking, and solving problems will make up for it.

Saga Press wants $13.99 for an ebook, which feels like a good deal to me.

>96 richardderus: No, no - not thinking! Why would he want to do that?

Is it related to the mystical 'adulting'?

>98 humouress: What is "adulting" and why would I need to do it?

>96 richardderus: >98 humouress: Thinking can lead to all kinds of things.

>99 ArlieS: I think this is a question for Richard to answer.

>98 humouress: his life is now at that point where he is *required* to think, poor lambkin. The whole adulting thing is the price we exact from the young for later security. Nasty ol' adulting!

>99 ArlieS: something we no longer need to bother our pretty little heads with thank all the goddesses!

>100 Familyhistorian: ...and so few of them good...

>101 humouress: The Oracle hath spake.

Happy Sunday, Richard. I hope the weekend is going well. I am getting out on the trails and also getting plenty of reading in. The life, right? Also, it is nice to having the wife home. No hurry for her to go back to work. I just want that warmer weather to return. We got spoiled.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Sunday to you.

>96 richardderus: The world does not give us unmixed feelings too often Nailed it.

>97 richardderus: … as I am bored by straight people competing over sex. Given my reading taste since, oh, July of last year, I’d have to agree.

Jenna’s in the middle of this adulting thing – she’s 30. Her girlfriend is 27 and will get her PhD in Physics next year. She wants to teach at a university in the US, and the way things are shaping up right now Jenna will be with her wherever she is. At least I’m grateful for them wanting to stay in the US.

*smooch*

>106 msf59: Sunday orisons, Birddude! We're incredibly lucky that we live in a time and place that our health is so good because of the many amazing techniques and drugs we have access to. Happily that means we get to really enjoy these years.

Sue being home and healthy, too, really is the icing on the cake.

>107 karenmarie: Hooray for adulting, then! I hope they get to stay reasonably close by.

Spending my Sunday doing as little as I can because the weather changed overnight and that's my body's cue to hurt. All this sunshine is killin' me!

Feel better smooches!

>110 MickyFine: Thank you, Micky...things are calming down pretty quickly, thankfully. *smooch*

hey Richard, how are ya?

Comment on something toward the end of your last thread: Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road was among the donated books in a collection we received from the estate of someone who worked with civil rights in Mississippi. We already owned the book, but the book was interesting enough to have me reading the description and flipping through a few pages before putting it in the book sale stack and moving to the next book on the cart.

049 Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: An utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history.

On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they’ve herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of Medea. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realize that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship.

Told in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Graft Irish brogue onto ancient Syracusan and Athenian combatants, set the story in the aftermath of the Athenian defeat at Syracuse with its famously weird resolution to the problem the Syracusans had with what to do with the POWs, and make a buddy comedy out of it.

Of COURSE I asked for this book!

The titanic tragedies unfolding in today’s world are nothing new. The sheer number of us alive on Earth compared to three thousand...heck, three hundred...years ago means there are higher head counts in the disasters, but not greater or even equal proportions of the population. The scale of Athens’s humiliation, and her losses, in the failed imperial project that included her attempt at conquering Syracuse, rivals the British losses in World War I. An entire generation gone. The scale of democracy’s failings, and this imperial expansionist war was directly down to a democratic vote in Athens, has always been epic. After all, no government is one tiny bit better than its people force it to be.

So Gelon and Lampo get the historically accurate job of dealing with the horribly immiserated prisoners chucked down into the quarry to die. The solution has not changed. We get to see it all from the viewpoints of the two men who more or less came up with the solution, though. Gelon is sort of a sad soul, a man who is aware of and burdened by awareness of, the pointlessness of existence. Does any of this really matter, on can hear Gelon wondering inside himself. He finds no joy in the deaths the Athenians are doomed to, especially since it means he...and the world, of course...won’t get to hear the latest Euripides hit The Trojan Women. Because of course Gelon is all about the tragedian Euripides.

Lampo...get it?...finds light gleaming in all darknesses, Lampo thinks the Athenians must be good for something...and entertaining the Syracusans with the latest and greatest plays from cultural hub Athens is just the ticket. The men overhear the Athenians lightening ther last hours with dialogue from the current Athenian version of the West End/Broadway season, and hey presto a solution to the awful moral conundrum of just letting human beings die in misery comes. Lampo is the instigator of the full cast revival of the play, and convinces the angry Syracusans...even the guy with the club who’s taking revenge for his lost sons by killing every Athenian he possibly can...to set aside their hatred and listen to this brand-new play from the cultural capital of the world.

Setting aside the utter weirdness of this story’s factual reality...we know it really happened...this could have been a retelling of the events that went heavy on Message, bearing down hard on whichever piece caught Author Ferdia’s fancy. Instead he lets the reader select the message they want from the many on offer. Start with an Irish voice telling, in English, a tale of a violently failed colonial enterprise. I trust I do not need to go too far on that one to bring it into focus for you. Move to the unemployed potters, those craftworkers whose job it is to take dirt and turn it into useful and often beautiful things for people to benefit from, who see the utility and the necessity for using these aggressors for some kind of benefit to those they harmed. A tale, then, of restitution, never a bad thing to bring into the modern world. But then look again: the actors are there, able and ready to do their jobs, but unnoticed until summoned into being as actors by capitalist producers, who in case this parallel to the modern world slid past you, make no effort whatever to compensate the creator of the play they are producing. And the actors making the play are, it should not go unremarked on, living below the poverty level and thus are ready to do anything to stay alive.

And, should all that be more than you want to deal with in your present mood, this short novel can simply and pleasurably entertain you with its surreal blend of fact, fiction, and Aristophanes-level multilayered comedy.

Laugh along. Think deeply. Enjoy the music. You pick, you are the one who makes this read...all Author Ferdia did was find the story for you. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

>114 richardderus: - Rhian really likes this one, too. I guess I should keep my eye out for it!

We just saw a strange and rather wonderful production of Chekov's "Uncle Vanya" with one actor playing all the parts in a rich poetic Irish brogue.

Sort of like Chekov channeling Becket but it worked main well.

Nothing like hearing Shakespeare done in the original Klingon.

>112 Owltherian: Glad it is a beautiful day outside, Lily, that really makes the world brighter.

>113 thornton37814: That one cant be ignored entirely, but might not be good for first try at Caldwell, Lori. Try God's Little Acre before that one.

>115 katiekrug: I am fairly convinced that one will end up being my 6* read of 2024, it is that good, so get it tomorrow on release day is my advice. It is worth full price.

>116 magicians_nephew: Ha! Yeah, the world can benefit greatly from hearing old stuff in new ways, Jim.

>117 richardderus: Yeah, it really is.

Hiya, RD. Happy Monday to you.

>109 richardderus: I’m sorry that the weather changing is your body’s cue to hurt.

>114 richardderus: The titanic tragedies unfolding in today’s world are nothing new. The sheer number of us alive on Earth compared to three thousand...heck, three hundred...years ago means there are higher head counts in the disasters, but not greater or even equal proportions of the population. The scale of Athens’s humiliation, and her losses, in the failed imperial project that included her attempt at conquering Syracuse, rivals the British losses in World War I. An entire generation gone. The scale of democracy’s failings, and this imperial expansionist war was directly down to a democratic vote in Athens, has always been epic. After all, no government is one tiny bit better than its people force it to be. You’re sorta smart sometimes…

I got up late, am still on brekkie and my 2nd cup of coffee. Got some adulting to do today, darn it.

*smooch*

>121 Owltherian: :-)

>122 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible... thanks for the kind words. I'm pretty sure Ferdia Lennon deserves most of the credit for writing the hell out of this story and making me think through the chuckles.

Do your adulting well. It'll be over sooner that way. *smooch*

>114 richardderus: Of COURSE I added this book to the BlackHole! Thanks for the review and recommendation, RD!

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today.

>125 alcottacre: Oh, excellent news, Stasia. The read should be a good one for you.

I'm posting this on several threads besides my own. (I'll be back to visit later, RD)

Peggy wanted me to let you all know that her dear mama died last night about 3:30. It was easy in the end.

I met her mother several times, and she was a dear, smart, sweet woman, just like our Peggy.

Please keep her and her DH in your thoughts and prayers.

>114 richardderus: So much for my determining to get through my library books before ordering more - but no, they have it, and I have reserved it. Genuinely, who could resist?!

>128 Helenliz: No one should resist, Helen. The story has survived the millennia because it has everything one could ask for. Author Ferdia did it justice.

>127 karenmarie: Sad news, Horrible. I'll go condole now. TYVM for letting me know.

My laptop needed to be switched over, so I am on the new one which will not let me sign in here. Using my phone is a distant second to the laptop so I am not sure when I'll next be here

'Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

Coffee, LT, breakfast soon. Life's good.

>132 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, happy Woden's Day. It's dank here. I'm busily scraping my brain for words to describe Silver Under Nightfall, and not quite succeeding. *sigh*

Hi Richard. I'm (sort of) back. Just skimming through because I am just way too far behind. However, I was stopped short by the luscious illustrations in >21 richardderus:. Thank you for that review and pics. Another book I own that fits your sentiments that humans are (or ought to be) one family, is called Mirror by Jeannie Baker. Story is wordless, from a child's point of view. It's actually 2 stories, one reads from front to middle of book, the other from the back to the middle. Basically, it's the same story, 2 cultural perspectives and reaching the same conclusion: we are one. Baker's oeuvre is collage and her illustrations are exquisite.

Am I remembering that you don't have a library nearby? Maybe somewhere in the internet you can find samples of it.

>134 jessibud2: Howdy do, Shelley, glad to see you out and about. Siona Benjamin makes gorgeous art indeed. Getting yourself a copy of that book will keep you intrigued, I am sure.

The library here is fine, except they want me to pay them for books I returned during the pandemic and they then lost, so I don't use them anymore. I will go looking for Author Baker's book. *smooch*

>134 jessibud2:
That is a outstanding wordless picture book. I hesitate to add the word children's in that genre title because so many of the wordless children's picture books have a message for all ages, but technically most of them fall into the genre of children's literature. Jeannie Baker has done several of those wonderful books and they are all good.

>135 richardderus: Isn't there evidence that you returned the books? On you library card record or something?

>136 benitastrnad: :-)

Hiya Richard!

>137 humouress: During the pandemic there was no one checking things in so no. Dropped into the chute was all I could do, so there's no proof and no responsibility on their part to believe me.

>139 Owltherian: Good afternoon, Lily.

>141 richardderus: I just so happened to not go to school today, due to my mother being sick, and i am just anxious because i have to get my picture taken twice due to me being in Chorus & in a Book Club in my school.

Hi Richard, dear friend, a belated Happy New Thread mate.

>142 Owltherian: I relate to not wanting your photo taken, but it has the virtue of being a quick process.

>143 johnsimpson: How do, John! Welcome indeed to see you.

>144 richardderus: I guess, but i hate my smile

That reminds me, I have to order my son's school photo. But he said he threw away the card with the ID number on because he didn't like it, so I'll have to jump through hoops to get it. A mother's work is never done ;0)

ETA: *smooches* from your favourite Super Villainess

That is really to bad about the library not believing that you returned the books, Richard! No such thing happened to me.

*Thursday smooch*

>146 Owltherian: Again, relatable. Try out some new photo expressions in the mirror. One might strike your fancy.

>147 humouress: *sigh*

The same thing happened to my sister's gift of a 23-and-Me kit one Yule. I sent it back, threw away the bunf that came with it...and she had the devil of a time getting it back. Come to think of it, I don't know that she ever did....

Supervillainous *smooch* back

>148 vancouverdeb: I think they chose a hard line early on, because they're still charging late fees unlike most major libraries. In one of the US's richest counties....

I have done nothing since then to get back library services. That's how they gonna be, I'll pay another library system to use their services.

Sweet Thursday, Richard. All good here in Chicagoland. Since, Sue isn't working we are getting more Jackson time in. I am enjoying my Spring Break but staying busy. Books are treating me just fine too. Just waiting for those warmer temps to return.

I hope you are feeling good, my friend.

>152 msf59: Hey Birddude! I'm glad the Sue-time means Jackson-time, too...but hope she is not finding not working hard to adjust to. Sometimes having that outside obligation is a good thing.

It's dank and drippy today, so I am feeling it. This too shall pass. My current review is fighting me, but my current read is sailing along nicely.

>149 richardderus: Probably, but im running on 3 hours of sleep in school- i am suffering.

>151 richardderus: Luckily for us, we can get books online from the NY City library without having to live there. Printed books, I’m not sure. Which other library are you using?

>155 Storeetllr: I don't use print books...I use Brooklyn's online resources. NYC does offer me online access, too. So far, Brooklyn's cheaper. *smooch*

Just stopping by for ((Hugs)) and **smooches**

Have a terrific day, RD!

Hiya, RDear, happy day after Woden’s Day to you.

>133 richardderus: I’m not reading much paranormal/fantasy these days, so can’t try to inspire you re Silver Under Nightfall.

*smooch*

>151 richardderus:
Same thing happened to me. I got blocked from our university library because I had exceeded the limit for overdue books. I was shocked. Fortunately for me all but 4 of the books were on the shelves, so once they got checked in I was good to go.

In case you are interested the limit is 10 "lost" books. I don't know what happened to the 4 that are still listed on my account, but I am sure that they were turned in with the others. They aren't convinced, so they will remain in a dormant stage on my account. Probably forever, since I will be leaving Alabama in the fall.

>157 alcottacre: *smooch*

>158 karenmarie: I just...like it's...fine.

Just...fine. Can't complain. *sigh*

Well, I'll get something done. Dunno, maybe not that book, though.

>159 benitastrnad: The frustrating part is, there can be no proof in either case. If it isn't on the shelf, we have no way to prove why. *sigh*

I don't remember what we set as the "claims returned" limit on our system. I am one of those who has the ability to override it though. We haven't encountered the problem so far.

I can remember as a kid stuffing books into the "Night Depository" slot at the Library, sometimes with a dollar stuffed in the pocket to pay my lat charges.

Probably pre computer days, though.

I've never had my dealer cut me off from my drugs,

Happy there are so many online resources to fall back on nowadays

Hiya Richard!

>163 thornton37814: I have no notion what led the library to making the decision, but they lost a voter...their next bond issue won't get my vote.

>164 magicians_nephew: Me too, Jim.

>165 Owltherian: Hi Lily.

>168 richardderus: How are you today?

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Friday to you.

Quiet day here, still not finished with my first cup of coffee.

*smooch*

>150 richardderus: He found the card today - but it turned out to be last year's. Still a win for me, though.

>151 richardderus: Maybe that's how they got to be one of the US's richest counties?....

>164 magicians_nephew: It's been a while since I checked out physical books from the library but I remember getting a physical receipt by stacking up to 4 of them on the machine the last time - though that might only be for checking them out but not for returning them via the after-hours slot.

Library errors seem to go both ways.

Some weeks ago, I was at the library desk to collect an inter-library loan, and the librarian asked if I wanted her to also check out the other books I had with me, gathered from the shelves. I said "yes", and handed her 4 books. She put all 4 on some kind of gadget, and announced their due date - same as the ILL book she'd already checked out. But when I got home, I found that somehow only 3 had been checked out; the 4th hadn't been, and neither of us noticed. So I currently have a library book here that isn't checked out to anyone.

It'll go back with the others due at the same time, or earlier if I finish it fast. But the library currently has no way to know where that book might be.

>169 Owltherian: Alive...that's enough for now.

>170 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! Happy Friday, smoochling.

>171 humouress: ...yay...conditionally...

No, the county's rich because it's near NYC and highly suburban/rural, so the property values are stratospheric.

Return slots do not give receipts, annoyingly.

>172 ArlieS: People make errors, and machines do, too...but the human side bears the responsibility to verify what the machine says is true.

>173 richardderus: Yeah, being alive is good.

Hi Ricardo! Sorry the library doesn't believe you. I do! : ) Wishing you luck finding another source and have fun reading this weekend. Smooches galore.

>156 richardderus: I’m confused. I have online access to NYC library, and I don’t have to pay anything. I don’t live in NYC either.

Hope you’re enjoying this sunny, breezy day!

>114 richardderus: I'm so glad you enjoyed Glorious Exploits Richard. It's the book that I'm currently trying to get everyone I know to read.

>177 Owltherian: :-)

>178 Berly: *smooch* that's been years ago. I no longer think about it.

>179 Storeetllr: I use Brooklyn's library, not NYPL because during the pandemic I found their rates cheaper and their ebook catalog fatter, than the other options.

>180 SandDune: I completely agree, Rhian! I'm pretty sure it will be the best thing I read this year. Anything else has one heckuva Hill to climb.

>181 richardderus: Being alive is great, although some peoples lives are not that great.

As a resident of New York State, you shouldn't have to pay anything to access NYPL resources. Maybe something has changed?

I can access them through the card I made The Wayne get when he worked in the city. It's up for renewal in November, and as he now works from home, I may be cut off 😕

>185 Owltherian:

An eternal verity.

>186 katiekrug: I think even Jerseyites can pay the $50-ish a year to get ebook access...so I am told, anyway.

'Morning, RDear. Happy Saturday to you.

Once again, still on my first cup of coffee. It's all good, though.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>189 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! My coffeeing is over for the day but the memory is delighting me still.My lunch burger was blah but fine...the eternal Saturday kosher salads that will follow, yech! Egg salad without mustard, relish, or other tartening agent; potato salad, same; green salad I ain't eatin' no more after a giant gastrointestinal disaster recently, makes it a giant NO. I'll make do with Ensure. It isn't worth the calories.

*smooch*

Sorry to hear about the missing library books. Mistakes happen and they should have accommodated this for you. Sort of like a "one time only" kind of deal all is forgiven. I was at the library and was informed that one of my holds is ready for pick up...the kicker being that I had already checked it out two weeks prior but the computer system did not register it.

Anyhow..happy weekend reading!

>1 richardderus: cheerful thin man, resting on corn?

>144 richardderus: as to hating having your photo taken, as the daughter of a photographer, I was trained early to submit to being photographed. My elder son, however, invariably grimaces in any photo. I think it's his "trying to smile" face. :)

>192 LovingLit: My eldest hates having his photo taken. I think it may be because he usually had that ‘trying to smile’ grimace in his childhood photos (which most kids seem to have). My youngest, on the other hand, always made a weird face or put bunny ears behind someone. There’s a lovely family photo that my aunt sends out on birthdays with my parents and sister - and he’s given his grandmother the bunny ears.

This makes no sense at all. Please stop saying...better yet, thinking...that your religion is truthful, still less The Truth.

>191 figsfromthistle: SMDH

Machines are not infallible and the humans who just trust them without verifying their outputs are doomed to make life harder for themselves.

>193 humouress: The kid's got the right idea....

Hai again Richard, hope you have a good easter!

>196 richardderus: mmph

>197 Owltherian: This Sunday is gorgeous, and since I have to go outside in it, that is a great thing.

>198 humouress: :-P

>199 richardderus: Sounds fun, i havent been outside yet and i hope its as nice as yours.

>201 Owltherian: I do, too.

>202 richardderus: From what i can see, its quite cloudy.

It's time for March in Review, posted in >6 richardderus: above. I also had a quarter's end think about the way the year's goals are feeling in >5 richardderus: above.

And also- how do you make a header the right size? I would like to put one on my next thread but I'm not sure how to make it the right size.

PEARL RULE #007 (37%)

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros

This is what y'all said was The Best Thing Ever?

Dull, samey-samey, silliness...letting your trainees DIE? super stupid, wasteful, and...well, none of it can make up for that garbage world-building. Violet's a caricature not a character. This might be worse than the Mormon lady's celibacy/emotional abuse porn. Honestly, it's just bloody unreadable bad writing, ghastly social politics, appalling message crafting for young women, and therefore hyped to the fucking moon and back. This makes Dan Brown look like Stephen King.

We deserve our fate.

>205 Owltherian: The thread headers are automatically sized, and once you have posted the thread, the text cannot be changed or modified; no text can be added next to the header of the threads. What you choose is what is there until you make a new thread.

>207 richardderus: Ahhhh, thank you!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Sunday to you.

>190 richardderus: Yuck to the potato salad and egg salad. I only like what I make. Sorry about your recent GIANT gastrointestinal disaster. Ensure is the way to go.

>194 richardderus: Where’s the candy? It’s a Candy Holiday, right?

>206 richardderus: 37% sounds like you gave it more than a fair shake.

*smooch*

>192 LovingLit: Morning, Megan! I missed responding to you. The corn idea appeals to me but that would require time travel as there was not a single ear of corn in Rome until the eighteenth or nineteenth (more likely) century.

I'd say picture-taking is my least favorite activity.

>208 Owltherian: No problem.

>209 karenmarie: Horrible! *smooch*

Not being much of a candy fancier, I got no dog in this fight. Peeps make me ill to smell or see; don't like chocolate much; jelly beans make me need to floss; some hard candies are fine but they get tedious. So even if the bleeding zombie shows up with a basket of candy and a pair of bunny ears, I ain't openin' up.

I literally could not believe what I was reading. It was WORSE than the Mormon lady's crap! It made the abuse-porn shady gray stuff look pretty good!

>206 richardderus: In my defense, I did not say it was the best thing ever, but that it was very much run-of-the-mill for its genre (seeing as I do like the genre, I rated it higher than you). Count your lucky stars, 'cause the sequel is worse.

"This makes Dan Brown look like Stephen King" made me smile.

Happy Sunday *smooch*

>213 bell7: No, you did not...but look at the consumer reviews and, whee dawggie! Ma Yarros will save literature! This. Is. BIG! Wonderful excellent cool storytelling gold!

P.U.

You couldn't have rated it lower....there aren't negative stars.

>214 richardderus: As I reread my message, it sounds much less tongue in cheek than I meant it. I agree with you that the book was overhyped, and very much enjoyed your review. May your next read be better!

>215 bell7: I'm not getting humor just now...a tough time body-wise is making me grouchy, I guess. I totally missed it! *smooch*

>194 richardderus: I love it

>216 richardderus: Ow! I hope your body relents soon.

>216 richardderus: The fault is mine, sometimes the thoughts in my head don't get conveyed well by my speech and are made doubly difficult by text with no tone behind it. Even reading my own words over a couple hours later, it sounded much different to me. Anyway, to say more plainly what I attempted to convey with poor humor, though I liked the book, I think your criticisms justified and your review entertaining and well argued. I do love that we can have different opinions on what we read and still be friends. And the sequel really is worse.

Sorry to hear that your body is giving you a hard time, and hope things improve soon. *smooch*

>217 ArlieS: Isn't that just *chef's kiss*?

My body is just not cooperating. ow

>218 bell7: Text confuses the best of us when you are seeking nuance, I fear. I'm just unusually impaired right now.

Sorry to see that your body is playing up, RD
By the way - and it may cheer you up - you passed 2,000 posts on your threads this year during the day.

Worst bloody nightmare ever with my goddamned computer. The power cords I have will not charge the computer at all...either of them, in either charging port. I hate this. Now I'm back to the old janky computer. *sigh*

>206 richardderus: Thanks for this. I had a similar reaction before bailing early, but figured it was just me reaching my YA saturation point.

>222 richardderus:
I have been having that problem with the cords for my mobile phone/hand held computer. I finally purchased two new ones and they won't charge it either. I still have one that works so I guess I will have to carry that around with me. --- at least until I get a new phone.

>221 PaulCranswick: Well, PC, given the number of chronic conditions I have, it is pretty much inevitable that I will be in some kind of pain. It's just bad now. It's going to pass. Which Stoic was it who said, "scorn pain... either it will pass, or you will"? That's me.

>223 swynn: That could easily be part of my response, too, but the biggest part of my dissatisfaction is the crap worldbuilding. Think.It.Through!

And no the Spartans didn't let their failure warriors just die, they were demoted in status and lost access to full citizenship. The history of bad ideas we got from the misunderstanding of the past would fill a petaflop of data.

>224 benitastrnad: How I wish it was the cord. I have three USB C cords and have tried each one. In both ports. Then tried other devices on each one. They all three charge the other devices and not the Chromebook.

March in review is at >6 richardderus: above. Good month!

Feel better soon, Richard! Between the physical pain and the technological pain, you really deserve a break!

Gentle {{Smooch!}}

‘Morning, RD. Happy Monday.

>6 richardderus: Meh and awful, offset by a potential 6* book and Pulley’s The Mars House. Congrats on the good stuff, and I hope you find better stuff for April.

>212 richardderus: Bakery sweets for you, then, right?

>216 richardderus: Sorry it’s a tough time body-wise.

>222 richardderus: … and computer woes on top of that. Insult to injury.

*smooch*

I hope you start feeling better soon, RD.

050 Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco

Rating: 3.9* of five

The Publisher Says: Remy Pendergast is many things: the only son of the Duke of Valenbonne (though his father might wish otherwise), an elite bounty hunter of rogue vampires, and an outcast among his fellow Reapers. His mother was the subject of gossip even before she eloped with a vampire, giving rise to the rumors that Remy is half-vampire himself. Though the kingdom of Aluria barely tolerates him, Remy’s father has been shaping him into a weapon to fight for the kingdom at any cost.

When a terrifying new breed of vampire is sighted outside of the city, Remy prepares to investigate alone. But then he encounters the shockingly warmhearted vampire heiress Xiaodan Song and her infuriatingly arrogant fiancé, vampire lord Zidan Malekh, who may hold the key to defeating the creatures—though he knows associating with them won’t do his reputation any favors. When he’s offered a spot alongside them to find the truth about the mutating virus Rot that’s plaguing the kingdom, Remy faces a choice.

It’s one he’s certain he’ll regret.

But as the three face dangerous hardships during their journey, Remy develops fond and complicated feelings for the couple. He begins to question what he holds true about vampires, as well as the story behind his own family legacy. As the Rot continues to spread across the kingdom, Remy must decide where his loyalties lie: with his father and the kingdom he’s been trained all his life to defend or the vampires who might just be the death of him.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Weeelll...ya see...it's like this: I ain't the one to say nice things about vampire stuff, or about throuple romances. I do not believe the first exist, or could; the second seems like a really, really, really hard way to have a relationship one wishes to keep in place on the long term.

So what the hell made you ask for this DRC, old man?, I hear you wonder.

Rin Chupeco.

The Never-Tilting World and Wicked As You Wish as well as her debut The Bone Witch are all very well-written stories with queer characters and stakes that matter, characters I cared about, and world-building I invested in. I expected this book to have those strengths...mostly did...and be even better than her seven-years-ago debut. Not so much on this one.

The problem for me is that I can't put my finger on exactly how, why, or where. The prose is fine. The story doesn't have plot holes. I knew about the vampires before I asked for the DRC. There's not a good palpable reason for me not to be warbling my fool lungs out about this book. But.

There is always a chemistry between book and reader that is never, ever the same. Authors aren't the same people from book to book. Readers aren't either. And sometimes, in any kind of relationship, two chemistries change just enough, in just the wrong direction from each other, that one is not resonating in the right way for the other to get the gleeful rush of connection.

This is what happened in my experience of this perfectly good story.

Hey, RD. I liked Fourth Wing more than you but completely agree with you on its immense popularity. It is puzzling, to say the least. That said, it doesn't really bother me much, as long as people are reading something.

>233 msf59: Howdy Birddude... yeah, better they're reading than staring. It's actually scary to me that I can speak to Old Stuff while he stares at The Beverly Hillbillies and get the same uncomprehending stare as I do when he's drunk.

Richard, I'm kind of back. First, I read your thread and reeled from BBs. Then I skimmed. Finally, I just scrolled. I see enough that I wish you some satisfaction with getting the computer business straight soonest and yourownself back in working order as quickly as possible. I'm happy to see that you've had a visit from your young man. If he's thinking, he could hardly come to a better friend than you.
*smooch* for the day!

Hi RD, Happy upcoming new thread. (you're at 236, you're bound to switch shortly, I'd imagine). Better late than never to this one. Or am I incredibly early to the next. LOL.

I'm sympathetic to your cord pain. Two similar anecdotes. If we lose power for some reason, when it comes back on, the brick to my laptop won't work unless you physcially unplug it and plug it back in. Weird.

The other one is with my kindle. The cord I've been charging it with worked just fine, but when I wanted to manually put something on it, I tried to plug it into my laptop to use it as an actual USB cord and no dice. I had to find a different one and that one worked. As geeky as I am, I didn't know that all USB cords aren't created equal. 🤷‍♀️

>235 LizzieD: Peggy! Delicious to see you here. Rob zooming through was a great surprise. He always makes sure he says how much he appreciates the friendship we share. That's honestly so much more important to me than anything else. So I'm glad he feels that way too.

>236 mahsdad: The miserable thing finally gave up and started charging when I brute-forced the aftermarket charger into the port on the side I was using before. This is untenable as a constant behavior but at least I have warning of the essential unreliability early on. I'll back everything up constantly now. Goodness knows that *should* be standard operating procedure. But it is not, for me at least.

It will be now!

>206 richardderus: I most definitely didn't say that.

>213 bell7: I wasn't planning on reading the sequel but there's always the possibility that curiosity might kill the cat. Less so, now - thanks for the warning.

>216 richardderus: You're grouchy? How unusual ;0) Wishing you pain-free and sunnier moods asap.

>222 richardderus: Are the ports on your computer damaged, maybe? In other news, my youngest managed to dump a glass of water over his laptop. Fortunately it survived (unlike the last goodness-knows-how-many-times. Thank goddesses for warranties.)

>239 humouress: ... and here I was readying the voodoo dolly for your punishment...

If the ports are damaged it's factory delivered with them that way, and the warranty protection in the US is lamentably lacking. The tech scum make sure it's harder and more costly in time and effort to exercise your warranty than just toss the product and get another.

My poor foot is throwing a tantrum. Not that he's wrong to do so but it needs to be over by the end of the week. I need to get my April money then.

>240 richardderus: I suggest you think very carefully about the consequences of using a voodoo doll on super villainesses.

And I'd give your foot a stern talking to, if I were you.

At some future point all our devices will charge via USB-C and there will be universal skylarking and rejoicing.

But it's going to be a long long journey to get to there from here

Looks like you had a good reading month last month RD. I hope April will be as good or better.

>241 humouress: As a frontal attack would be useless, the only way to finish off the supervillains of the world is to launch stealthy deniable ones ..

>242 magicians_nephew: I live in hope that I shall survive to greet the Brave New World.

>243 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks most kindly, Caro! The same wishes heartily returned.

Not even trying to catch up, RD, but will leave ((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today.

>247 alcottacre: *smooch*

There's nothing like new tech to increase blood pressure. Hope you get it sorted soon, Richard.

Sorry to hear you are having trouble with your computer and your digestive system, Richard. I hope things take a turn for the better soon.

Happy Tuesday, Richard dear!

I was over 150 messages behind, hard work to catch up ;-)
I will look out for a translation of Glorious Exploits.
Glad Rob could visit you.
Sorry about the computer woes.
I hope you feel better soon!

>249 Familyhistorian:, >250 vancouverdeb:, >251 FAMeulstee: I need to craft new routines, since the tech in question is not going to change. So far it seems that the old computer is best for browsing and watching stuff; the new one for writing; and the tablet for white-noise generating while Old Stuff blares his *&T%$^#$^ MeTV crap. Honestly, that shit was bad and boring in the 50s and 60s. It's intolerable now.

>251 FAMeulstee: Good heavens, Anita! 150 messages, I'd've said just to start afresh, not even try to scan them.

Rob's flying visit was lovely. I hope the weather un-sogs here soon as that will improve my mood. *smooch*

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Tuesday to you.

>232 richardderus: I’ve always loved the name Remy. Great review. You ALMOST got me.

>238 richardderus: Brute force is definitely an option, glad it worked in this case.

>240 richardderus: I’m sorry your poor foot is throwing a tantrum.

>242 magicians_nephew: Amen, Jim.

*smooch*

>254 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! I was just over at yours complaining about your mass-shooting of book bullets. Wicked woman.

*smooch*

Hiya Richard, how are ya?

((Hugs)) and **smooches** and hopes that all your woes are eased soon

>256 Owltherian: Good morning, Lily.

>257 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia. Nothing new to report.

>258 richardderus: How are you today Sire?

Hello, Richard! Hope you’re feeling better today. Seems like you’ve made peace with your electronics. That’s good. So frustrating when they don’t work the way they’re supposed to/the way you need them to.

I read a John Cheever short story last night. Have you any thoughts on Cheever?

Have a great day!

Karen O

>260 Owltherian: Unwell. This is, annoyingly, just the usual.

>262 richardderus: Ah, i wish i could help, but sadly i cannot.

>261 klobrien2: The peace treaty is still a work in progress, but I approach a workable place.

Cheever and I didn't get on that well...he's got chops, but his ideas didn't interest me that much. Falconer was probably the least uninvolving for me (surprise, surprise); but his stories are, at least the ones I read were, almost brutally detached from and unsparing of human frailty while ever so superciliously judgmental of it.

Be well and happy today, Karen O. *smooch*

>263 Owltherian: This is kind...the reason getting old is a hard job is that kindness, while nice to get, doesn't help the problem at hand. *sigh*

>265 richardderus: Getting older must not be nice at times, especially with the pain you sometimes have to endure, i know for sure about the pain due to visiting my grandparents (whom are both in their 70's but possibly almost 80)

>266 Owltherian: The journey is often not much fun. The good thing is that you're visiting the grands and so can see what is needed...and adjust your own course through life.

>267 richardderus: Yeah, both of them struggle with back pain, so i already know i will be struggling with it.

*waves*
Sorry to hear of the technology & bodily woes.
Can't promise April will be better - it's routinely a mixed bag in our house.

>268 Owltherian: But now you can, and should, work to avoid it.

>270 richardderus: Yeah, if i figure out how.

>269 Helenliz: Well, Helen, tech woes come with the pervasiveness of the tech...trying to find the work-arounds that enable me to access the benefits and minimize the maddening bits. *smooch*

>271 Owltherian: In my case, what would have helped in advance with my post-age-60 back pain was working on "core fitness", particularly from age 40 onward. Of course your grandparents may have an entirely different source of back pain than I do.

>273 ArlieS: Yeah, i think my grandmother pulled a muscle & i feel bad for her to be honest.

>244 richardderus: It's neither stealthy nor deniable if you announce it on the internet; but I'm not going to tell you that.

Also - are you trying to take over my job??

Just sneaking in to deposit virtual treats and smooches.

>274 Owltherian:, >273 ArlieS: Arlie is correct about exercising one's core. A lot of straine back muscles are related to core muscles being weak and underexercised, as are lots and lots of lower-back pains. Start working those areas now, don't have trouble later.

>275 humouress: *chuckle* I could never hold a candle to your innate wickedness...fear not.

>276 MickyFine: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

>277 richardderus: Im for sure going to work on that, since i already am starting to get backpain.

>280 Owltherian: OMG

Yes! Start tonight! you will be glad very soon

>281 richardderus: I bet i will be glad, the pain only ends when i lay down & it SUCKSSS.

Hey, RD. Thanks for sharing the bird meme on my thread. I can really relate. Clouds and rain here throughout the day, with snow possible tonight and tomorrow. Sighs...

>282 Owltherian: yuck

>283 msf59: Wasn't that a hoot! (please forgive pun) So true that it's only if you're not ready will everything align.

Boo and hiss all over y'all's weather! Today's rain is not nutso, but it's steady, and it's not stopping. I don't need to go out until Thursday, so I should be okay...*crosscrosscross*

>284 richardderus: Yeah, i am in pain right now-

My brother is a PT and he's got an interesting clientele, including a couple of over 80s. Most of what he gets them doing are exercises for life, so things to make it easier to get out of a chair, lifting shopping off the floor. He has some young fit things as well, and treats them quite differently!
I'm early 50s, keeping in shape now hopefully slows the deterioration. Also, I still need to shift my lockdown weight.

>287 Helenliz: Wow, that's kind of cool, but i think 14 is a bit young to be going to a physical therapist.

>288 Owltherian: Physical Trainer.
Depends, if you're exercising wrongly you'll do more damage than good.

>289 Helenliz: Woop- i dont really exercise may i say- I've been to a gym once and my grandma whom is in her 50's is in way better shape than me to be honest, and she keeps making me walk for miles and it is physically exhausting.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

>252 richardderus: I so relate to having mind-numbing TV on in the background. Bill doesn’t watch the crap OS does, but if Bill’s in the Living Room, the TV is on. The only time it’s tolerable is when I’m there too and we’re watching something I like – soccer almost exclusively now, but we’re going to watch A Gentleman in Moscow when we can binge watch it.

>255 richardderus: Yup, BBs everywhere. *smile* I do have to work a bit harder to find new authors. I have, however, finally figured out that I can follow an author on Amazon to find out about new releases – some I know about any way, but it’s nice to get reminders. God knows I get enough emails from Amazon, so a few about authors/releases don’t bother me.

Sorry about the physical woes, sounds like the tech is somewhat under control.

*smooch* from your own Horrible and now Wicked Woman

>291 karenmarie: My tech woes are down to forming new habits. This laptop has a much worse screen, poor contrast, smaller; its power-ports are finicky as hell; its speakers are terrible; but its keyboard works, its wifi is fully functional, and it's got the charm of being here...no effort or expenditure required. Assuming Valerie comes to visit again this year, and is feeling indulgent, I might ask her to pay for a replacement keyboard for the old one to make it work again...it's as much as a new computer costs, hence why I have this one, but it's a better computer. I shall cogitate.

I'm told A Gentleman in Moscow is an excellent adaptation. So is 3 Body Problem on Netflix, but it's SF so you'd hate it.

Go to the next thread to collect your crown...it's the Margaret Crown, interesting history.

>286 Owltherian: to >290 Owltherian: Build the exercise habit now, Lily. I can tell you from experience that it will pay you back ten times over.

>293 richardderus: I would think, and i will try my best, even if that means going to the gym with my parents.