williamjm

I read Susanna Clarke's short story collection The Ladies of Grace Adieu, and other stories, which I had on the shelf for many years without reading it. A couple of the stories are directly connected to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, the others have similar themes about faeries and magic and could also be set in the same world, with the exception of one which is in the setting of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I thought the highlight was the title story, which features an appearance by Jonathan Strange but is using a different perspective to the novel. Despite being published 8 years before the novel it does tie in well with the story. Mr Simonelli or the Fairy Widower and Tom Brightwind or how the bridge was built at Thoresby were also good. Some of the other stories felt a bit slight, particularly the Stardust story The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse.

9 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

And research the names Bardugo drops. I wonder if many are rolling in their graves, to be accused of horrible magic-craft. I wonder if their ancestors are deeply insulted or gleefully pleased. I wonder if Leigh Bardugo gets death threats from Yale alumni. I wonder if the people of New Haven have burnt her in effigy.

I noticed in the 'about the author' bit for the sequel that it said Leigh was an associate fellow at one of the Yale colleges. She's also an alumni of the Wolf's Head secret society, although she commented that they weren't actually shapeshifters (although that's exactly what a shapeshifter would say). I think she might have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Yale and New Haven.

On 4/2/2023 at 5:40 PM, DaveSumm said:

Bearing in mind I’m only half way though it, the connections between them are just Easter eggs and the series (the individual series, not the Cosmere) are all entirely readable without knowing the bigger picture. I believe some of the later books lean more into that side of things, but I’d be surprised if there’s any genuinely necessary reading outside of each series. Maybe someone who’s read the later books (Rhythm of War and The Lost Metal, so I hear) can weigh in.

I read The Lost Metal last month and this was an issue with it. Introducing characters and deities from other worlds in the last book of a series meant there had to be a lot of exposition, and I think the book would have better if it had been a bit more focused on the world it was set in rather than trying to tie into other series. For example, there's a bit where two characters are trying to escape from people who want to kill them and the plot has to stop for a bit for one of them to explain to the other a completely new form of magic from another world that hasn't been seen before in the series.

I haven't read the Stormlight books, so I don't know whether they handle it better.

1 hour ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Finished Seal of the Worm on Sunday.  Probably the best book of the series.  Really dug the epilogue, except for one thing 

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Taki lost in her adventuring.   Was a bit surprising that it took Che and Thalric three years to return to civilization.

 

I did think it was a really good conclusion to the series.

If you want more in the setting then Tchaikovsky has also written three volumes of short stories in the world (plus a fourth by other authors, which I haven't read). I don't think they're essential reading but they do have a good variety of stories and have a mix of familiar characters and locations and bits set in parts of the world that weren't visited in the main series.

I got a notification earlier today that somehow Tchaikovsky has published yet another story:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Away-Childish-Things-Terrible-Worlds-ebook/dp/B0BMSH79CR/ref=sr_1_10?crid=2G7VGN5PBM13M&keywords=adrian+tchaikovsky&qid=1680034668&sprefix=adrian+tch%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-10

36 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I just wish some of the better writers would release new works so we don’t have to talk about Sanderson…

I find Adrian Tchaikovsky is good at being similarly prolific while writing better books than Sanderson.

I wonder how many extra books Sanderson will sell as a result of the publicity caused by this kerfuffle?

3 hours ago, Rippounet said:

These last few episodes of Picard have been quite enjoyable.

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Edit: I suppose now the question is whether the season ends/culminates with the entire old crew on the bridge of a starship (Titan? Or will they go warp 11 and steal an Enterprise?) to face their enemy (Vadik) in a space battle.

 

2 hours ago, Poobah said:

And yeah his writing is mostly pretty mediocre though I wouldn't characterise it as outright bad most of the time - I've read or attempted to read far less readable prose than his many a time in published works, and I know that is rather a damning with faint praise kinda statement but it is what it is.

"Author with bad prose sells a lot of books, how can this be?" did seem a weird premise for an article. Has the writer never read a Dan Brown book?

I agree that it also seemed a bit harsh on Sanderson's writing to call it bad. He's a competent writer and storyteller, even if there's no flair to his writing.

1 hour ago, Lord of Oop North said:

They reversed the penalty decision about a half hour ago. In the letter it mentions that Aston Martin presented evidence of numerous instances where penalties were served and the jack made contact with the car.

The Ocon instance is different. In that case, there was a mechanic clearly working on the car during the penalty time.

I just saw that. I think it is a good decision to reverse it, having a 10 second penalty for that seemed very harsh.

32 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

The FAI are not covering themselves in glory either way.  Announce the second penalty too late, then withdraw it after everyone points out the incompetence.

Putting out a safety car seemed unnecessary as well when Stroll seemed to have done a good job of getting his car off the track.

A good victory for Perez, obviously helped by Verstappen's qualifying drama but when it looked like his team-mate might be in a position to chase him he did seem to be able to keep the gap at 4-5 seconds. Still a good result for Verstappen and keeps him in the lead of the championship. The other teams don't look like they have any answer for the Red Bulls at the moment, although Alonso must have enjoyed taking the early lead. It's a pity about the double penalty denying Alonso the podium, a big mistake by the team there, especially after Ocon got penalised for the same thing last race you would think all the teams would be cautious about working on the car early. A bit like early last year, George Russell seems to have the knack of getting good points even when the car isn't the best.

1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Grand slam!  And a bonus point win in every game.  Peaking several months before the WC once again.

If it makes you feel better they didn't get a bonus point against Scotland so maybe they haven't peaked yet?

A tense game towards the end between Scotland and Italy. The Italians were threatening a victory with a couple of minutes to go but a small knock-on just short of the Scottish tryline quickly turned into Kinghorm scoring at the other end.

At half-time in the middle match Wales made a bright start but France have moved into the lead and look dangerous whenever they attack.

10 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

That didn’t go as well as could have been hoped.

That might be the most one-sided defeat I've ever seen for England. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong and towards the end France seemed to be playing a different game to them. It's not going to get any easier facing the world's number one team next week, either. France have maybe under-performed a bit in the tournament until today, but if they can carry this form through to the World Cup they will be formidable.

3 hours ago, Ser Not Appearing said:

I just had a thought - Do we know if this book was originally written in English?

According to his author bio he is American. Apparently he was nominated (with a co-author) for a Nebula Award for Best Novelette, a few years ago.

On 3/6/2023 at 8:28 PM, polishgenius said:

As an aside, unrelated to Rothfuss himself, but as we know we've had quite a few books since inspired in one way or another by Rothfuss. The 'I am telling you my story from the future' form has become popular since then. 

However nothing has been so frankly brazen as a book I happened across yesterday when I was scanning back through some recommended reads from 2022. I can't do a screenshot because, well, we don't do that here, but check out the free preview of RR Virdi's The First Binding on Kobo and read the first few lines of the first chapter.

For all I know it's a perfectly fine book past that, and the premise sounds intriguing, but he's biting a man's flow there. 

I was curious and read some reviews on Goodreads, one included this quote from the book which suggests even the protagonist has read The Name of the Wind:

Quote

"I made my way to the bed, setting my belongings down at one side. My hands went to one of the journals I always carried, turning it open with a brush from my thumb. An old and familiar story flashed before me and I smiled.
It was of a red-haired boy who grew to be a man many thought a demon. Partly on account of his odd hair color, but more so for the deeds he came to be known for and by. By the end of it all, they say he killed a prince. Some say a king. Wizard. Bard. Hero. A villain.
The world saw it easier to mark him both, none, and sometimes, pick between depending on the day. Only he knew the truth.
And now I found myself understanding why he never told us the true accounting of things."

It was a great drive from Alonso. It would have been interesting to see if he could challenge Le Clerc for third if the Ferrari hadn't broken down, I'm not sure what the gap was behind Le Clerc when that happened. It was another one of those races where everyone most ignores Verstappen as he goes off and dominates at the front. Ferrari seem to be continuing last year's tendency to find ways to not deliver on the potential of their car, although even if everything had gone perfectly it's hard to see how they could challenge the Red Bulls.

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

That Alonso fella is looking pretty race-y.

My understanding is that along with acquiring Alonso, A-M made several notable personnel changes on the technical side in recent years. It looks like it might be paying dividends.  

I realise that due to the identity of the team owner it was never going to happen, but it would have been fascinating to have Alonso and Vettel driving together in a competitive Aston Martin.

In Q1 and Q2 the field looked very close, although Red Bull did pull ahead in Q3. It would have been interesting to see whether Le Clerc could have challenged for the front row if he did another run. Alonso didn't quite manage to challenge for pole but still a good qualifying result for him. Hopefully we have a competitive race tomorrow rather than Verstappen charging off into the distance.

On 2/14/2023 at 6:33 PM, Werthead said:

The Ferrari looks interesting. Almost everyone else has kinda copied last year's Red Bull.

In terms of the talk, Ferrari seem very confident, Aston Martin seem buoyant, even Williams seem happy, and McLaren's whole demeanour has been, "Oh shit." Which is encouraging.

With the first qualifying about to start Aston Martin seem to be what everyone is talking about. I think just about everyone apart from the Red Bull team will be hoping that Alonso really can put in a challenge for pole position.

I see there's a listing for Josiah Bancroft starting a new series with The Hexologists in September. I did enjoy his Babel series a lot so I'm interested to see what he does next. The plot summary does sound a bit more whimsical (not that the Babel books didn't have some whimsical moments).

Quote

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.

But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake--going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven--the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent antiroyalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.

Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for whatever springs from the alleys, graves, and shadows next.

6 hours ago, ljkeane said:

Apparently Joe Root is still good at cricket. Good that was cleared up.

Harry Brook also seems quite good at cricket, it is an impressive start to a career.

18 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

 

 

That reminds me of a video I recently stumbled across on Youtube of a musical duel:

I managed to get a ticket yesterday for this summer's Ashes match at The Oval. When I looked before pretty much all the Ashes tickets seemed to have been sold out, but I guess they released another batch. I'm not even sure now when I last managed to see a Test in person, I think it's been at least 5 years.

It was a great match between Ireland and France, very close for most of it although the French started to struggle towards the end. The Scotland / Wales match was very scrappy in the first half with lots of errors, although Scotland managed to dominate in the second half and seemed to score points every time they got into the Welsh 22. It's strange seeing Scotland at the top of the table just behind Ireland on points difference. Wales might be pleased with the performance of some of their young forwards, but concerned about their seeming inability to score points.

There's still a long way to go but Ireland must be the big favourites for the championship now. Scotland may have two good victories but will have to play better to beat France away and Ireland.

1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

And I saw Travis at a small theater concert in 2003 or 2004 in Seattle with just a few dozen in the audience. Crazy to see a hugely popular band after The Man Who in such an intimate venue.

First gig I went to was at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh in the early 2000s, I think I was some sort of charity fundraiser with Teenage Fanclub and Travis at the top of the bill.