A Memory Called Empire, gen thoughts, no real spoilers
The depth of the world building for this book is amazing. It requires a lot of your attention to get used to it. There's a glossary in the back to help, but I haven't been using it.
Love the court politics too. Just . . . *Italian chef kiss*
I find it appropriate that my bookmark for this book is a sheet from a notepad I decorated with literary quotes from my Instagram feed. Considering the world's fascination with literature and poetry.
How are y'all liking it? I'm just starting chapter 6.
This article brought me joy this morning. I hope it makes you smile too.
Customer Service Hall of Fame
I work at a place that sells stuff online. One of the things we sell is ice cream (it ships with dry ice to keep it frozen).
Email this morning from a customer says they ordered 3 gallons of black licorice ice cream (the flavor only a handful of people REALLY LOVE and everyone else hates) and they received the package with our label and everything, but the box had a weed whacker instead.
🤣🤣🤣
Can you imagine being the poor bloke that ordered a weed whacker and got 3 gallons of black licorice ice cream instead?
Friday funnies for you.
No journey is complete without the perfect soundtrack! As we prepare to send the first woman and next man to the Moon in five years, we want to know what space jams you’d add to our #NASAMoonTunes playlist. Discover how to submit your song picks: https://www.nasa.gov/moontunes?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASA&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=68875022
The Raven Tower spoiling ~20%
I very much like the narrator and the 1st person/2nd person narration happening.
Allusions to the character Eolo being transgender have me excited. Bindings but male pronouns? Yes please! (Did Eolo run away as a girl and join the army as a boy? Is that why he was nervous when he met Dera?)
Please let him hook up with Tikaz.
Plot feels like it's deliberately taking it's time. And I appreciate that this is a book you should probably devote a significant portion of time to get anywhere. My whole evening tonight will get me about a quarter to a third of the way through.
What does everyone else think so far?
Today, a friend introduced me to the show "Killjoys" about a trio of bounty hunters in space. Its got a great cast, a woman showrunner, smart storytelling, and I am now addicted. Oh, and the soundtrack is amazing. If I can find a way to listen to the entire soundtrack all the time, I will be a happy one.
Spoilers: #TheExpanse #TiamatsWrath
Finished reading Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey last night. Book 8 of #TheExpanse.
I love this series, both the books and the TV Show. Part of me finds them almost conventional but a bigger part of me appreciates the care the authors put into telling their story and the complexity of the characters. Loved the return of Elvi Okoye. To me, Teresa Duarte didn't feel like a teenager but her problems were atypical for someone her age, so I let it pass.
Amos Fucking Burton continues to be indestructable. And I will miss both Bobbie Draper and Christjen Avasarala. I love those ladies so much.
finally, news that matters
"Researchers strapped video cameras on 16 cats and let them do their thing. Here’s what they found"
longpost (+++)
Once upon a time, there was this church. The old bell ringer retired, and so the pastor hung a sign in the window.
One day, a man with no arms and no legs hops up to the church and asks for the pastor. "I'm here for the bell ringer job." He explains. The pastor is skeptical, but they go up to the top of the bell tower.
The man hops back against the wall and hop hop hops at full speed towards the bell. His smashes is face into it, and the whole town can hear the bell ring. It's gorgeous. Nobody knew bells could sound this good.
The pastor is shocked. "That's incredible." He says. "But that looked like it hurt- can you really do that every week?"
The man nods. "Oh, sure thing. Watch." He backs up again and charges towards the bell. He misses and goes flying out the window. The man tumbles to the sidewalk below, killing him instantly.
The pastor rushes outside. There's a cop there looking at the body. "You know this guy?" He asks.
"No, but his face rings a bell."
To anyone who is interested, I am currently writing recaps for the MCU movies on my personal blog. CA:CW went live this morning. If you'd like to read my critical analysis of superhero movies, please check it out!
(I write about other stuff too, but the MCU Rewatch is the current big project).
Writer person who's been places. Tell me what you're currently reading. 📚
My current read: "A Memory called Empire" by Arkady Martine for #sffbookclub