Highlights and Lowlights - March 2024

Books are listed in reverse chronological order from how I read them,
using a very primitive rating system:
“+” are good, and more “+” are better
“-“ are not good, and more “-“ are worse

I’m happy to answer questions about anything on the list.

Highlight - Cast in Flame - Sagara [Elantra #10]

Lowlight - a couple disappointments, but no true lowlight this month

Here’s a quick summary of what’s more in-depth below:
( ++ 1/2 ) Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Verne
( + - ) The Wizard and the War Machine - Watt-Evans [War Surplus #2 of 2]
( ++ - ) Memory’s Legion - Corey [Expanse collection]
( + ) Death of an Adept - Kurtz & Harris [Adept #5]
( +++ ) Cast in Flame - Sagara [Elantra #10]

Now Reading:
Long work - The Hero and the Crown - McKinley
Collection - Med Ship - Leinster

===========================================
March 2024

( ++ 1/2 ) Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Verne
Good! It held up well after 40+ years had passed since I last read it.
If you ever read this, make sure to avoid any translations that rename
the characters as Harry (the nephew) and Hardwigg (the uncle). (I do
recommend the translation I read by William Butcher.) There was more
humor here than I detected as a youth - no surprise there. Lots of
interesting science - Verne was certainly up on the latest science and
theories of the day. Glad I re-read it.

( ++ - ) The Wizard and the War Machine - Watt-Evans [War Surplus #2 of 2]
Ehhh - this was almost this month’s lowlight…maybe it should have been.
The main plot picks up several years after #1, when our original war
scout Sam Turner (aka “Slant”) picks up signals from another war scout
(“Flame”), this one homicidally insane and only held in check by its
onboard computer. Flame was so unbalanced that she was really hard to
read about. Strange for LWE, the ending was a bit of a downer, during
which the protagonist kinda abruptly changed his ways and demeanor
during a quick ending (all also strange for LWE).

( ++ - ) Memory’s Legion - Corey [Expanse collection]
I greatly enjoyed the Expanse series of novels. This is a collection of
eight short stories in the Expanse universe. On the one hand, the
writing is very much as good as the novels. On the other hand, 6 of the
8 stories feature minor and/or new characters that — with one exception
— aren’t as interesting as the main characters from the novel series.
(One of those 6 does feature Bobbie just a bit.) There’s a story
featuring Amos, and one featuring Fred Johnson, but the best story may
well have been the one about Filip (Naomi’s son).

( + ) Death of an Adept - Kurtz & Harris [Adept #5]
This was fine. Kinda glad this was the final one in the Adept run
(though I think they wrote several more about Knights Templar in this
universe), as I’d become kinda tired of the various tics and mystical
woo-woo. Antagonist Raeburn makes his biggest power grab yet, with the
help of all his like-minded friends, and Adam and all his allies are the
only people positioned to stop him.

( +++ ) Cast in Flame - Sagara [Elantra #10]
Very good - as this series consistently is. Kaylin learns more about
Bellusdeo, about her own familiar, and about the two new Barrani, and
ultimately finds a new home while saving the world (again). All fun, and
in some places pretty intense (especially the last 50 pages). BUT…though
I’ve enjoyed all 10 of these, I’m worried about my future enjoyment,
because structurally, these are becoming very similar: book “n” picks up
almost immediately after book “n-1”, and Kaylin needs to save the world
again, in such urgent, headlong fashion that lots of other stuff gets
pushed aside. Hopefully I keep enjoying them.

Now Reading:
Long work - The Hero and the Crown - McKinley
Collection - Med Ship - Leinster

Tony

In article <uufpbo$2q912$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:
>Now Reading:
>Long work - The Hero and the Crown - McKinley
>Collection - Med Ship - Leinster
>

Chee!
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On 4/1/24 11:04 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <uufpbo$2q912$1@dont-email.me>,
> Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Now Reading:
>> Long work - The Hero and the Crown - McKinley
>> Collection - Med Ship - Leinster
>>
>
> Chee!

Ah, Murgatroyd - here, have some coffee.

I am very much enjoying Leinster's Med Ship stories.
- Tony

Tony Nance wrote:
> Ted Nolan wrote:
>> Tony Nance wrote:
>>> Now Reading:
>>> Long work - The Hero and the Crown - McKinley
>>> Collection - Med Ship - Leinster
>>>
>>
>> Chee!
>
> Ah, Murgatroyd - here, have some coffee.
>
> I am very much enjoying Leinster's Med Ship stories.

This thread inspired me listen to an audiobook adaptation of _Med Ship_
during this evening's dog walk. (<https://crcomp.net/epubtomp3/index.php>
shows how to create an audiobook in Calibre.)
_Med Ship_ finally hits the spot after a recent string of audiobook
flops, following on the heels of the fabulous _Citizen of the Galaxy_.
The first Leinster story reminds me of Perry Rhodan's Liquitiv arc:
<https://www-perrypedia-de.translate.goog/wiki/Liquitiv?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de>
right down to the triple asterisks ahead of the afterword. The Liquitiv
arc also adds Noir and Police Procedural elements.

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

Tony Nance wrote:
> Ted Nolan wrote:
>> Tony Nance wrote:
>>> Now Reading:
>>> Long work - The Hero and the Crown - McKinley
>>> Collection - Med Ship - Leinster
>>>
>>
>> Chee!
>
> Ah, Murgatroyd - here, have some coffee.
>
> I am very much enjoying Leinster's Med Ship stories.

This thread inspired me listen to an audiobook adaptation of _Med Ship_
during this evening's dog walk. (<https://crcomp.net/epubtomp3/index.php>
shows how to create an audiobook in Calibre.)
_Med Ship_ finally hits the spot after a recent string of audiobook
flops, following on the heels of the fabulous _Citizen of the Galaxy_.
The first Leinster story reminds me of Perry Rhodan's Liquitiv arc:
<https://www-perrypedia-de.translate.goog/wiki/Liquitiv?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de>
right down to the triple asterisks ahead of the afterword. The Liquitiv
arc also adds Noir and Police Procedural elements.

Addendum:

Part of my past Lenten observance included a daily reading from the
rather dour Book of Ecclesiastes. Easter was then celebrated with a
turn towards Tobit and its theme of medical arts - a serendipitous
change of course in light of this very thread.

One more thing. Here's a handy cognitive excercise to strengthen
proficiency at discerning embedded narratives, be they in corporate
media, AI, or anything else:

[T]he stories with which we fill our imaginations shape
our souls as well as our actions in the world. ...

In my undergraduate and graduate courses in medieval
history and the history of Christianity, my methodology
is the same, if less explicit: to think ourselves inside
the frame(s) from within which our sources were written
so as to attempt to understand why their authors made
the arguments that they did in the way that they did
and thereby become aware of the limitations of our own
frames.

<https://history.uchicago.edu/directory/Rachel-Fulton-Brown>

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

On 4/2/24 10:18 PM, Don wrote:
> Tony Nance wrote:
>> Ted Nolan wrote:
>>> Tony Nance wrote:
>>>> Now Reading:
>>>> Long work - The Hero and the Crown - McKinley
>>>> Collection - Med Ship - Leinster
>>>>
>>>
>>> Chee!
>>
>> Ah, Murgatroyd - here, have some coffee.
>>
>> I am very much enjoying Leinster's Med Ship stories.
>
> This thread inspired me listen to an audiobook adaptation of _Med Ship_
> during this evening's dog walk. (<https://crcomp.net/epubtomp3/index.php>
> shows how to create an audiobook in Calibre.)
> _Med Ship_ finally hits the spot after a recent string of audiobook
> flops, following on the heels of the fabulous _Citizen of the Galaxy_.
> The first Leinster story reminds me of Perry Rhodan's Liquitiv arc:
> <https://www-perrypedia-de.translate.goog/wiki/Liquitiv?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de>
> right down to the triple asterisks ahead of the afterword. The Liquitiv
> arc also adds Noir and Police Procedural elements.
>
> Danke,
>

Glad to hear Med Ship hit your audiobook spot. I'm going to end up
reading the other two Baen collections[1] of Leinster as well...and then
figure out what other Leinster to read after that.

Tony
[1] Planets of Adventure, and A Logic Named Joe