Apparently it's World #Hippo Day, which of course reminds me of Sarah Gailey's alternative-history novelette, #RiverOfTeeth
https://www.npr.org/2017/05/28/528842986/hip-hippo-hooray-for-river-of-teeth
#books
Tag: books
Re: The Dispossessed is Solarpunk?
Of those I’ve only read The Dispossessed. Definitely worth reading, though I don’t think I’d call it Solarpunk.
One of the planets has a harsh natural environment and a mostly-functional anarcho-communist society made up of people who left the other planet’s rather less-functional hyper-capitalist society, though it has managed to clean up their damage to its more hospitable environment (in part because they outsourced most of their mining to the other planet)
Still a bit rough around the edges, but my Gemini conversion for my Les Misérables …
Still a bit rough around the edges, but my Gemini conversion for my Les Misérables commentary is up! The blog is now available both on the web and via Gemini.
It features commentary from two full read-throughs (in different translations) plus reviews of movie, stage, radio and comic adaptations.
Gemini: Re-Reading Les Misérables
Web: Re-Reading Les Misérables
New round of #introductions for all the new people joining the Fediverse!Hi, I’m Kelson …
New round of #introductions for all the new people joining the Fediverse!
Hi, I’m Kelson (he/him), a computer programmer in the Los Angeles area. I talk about all kinds of things here: #scifi/#fantasy, #books, actual #science, #tech, #history, #linguistics, random day-to-day stuff, etc.
I also post photos – mostly cityscapes/landscapes, nature, random interesting stuff I’ve spotted IRL – on Pixelfed (@KelsonV) and more “serious” photos on photog.social (@kelsonv)
Balooon-based floating telecom relays always make me think of an element in Robert Charles Wilson’s “Spin”
Balooon-based floating telecom relays always make me think of an element in Robert Charles Wilson’s sci-fi novel, “Spin,” in which a mysterious membrane appears around earth that drastically slows down time inside. (A simulated sun maintains the day/night cycle) This effectively cuts the world off from outer space, including orbiting satellites. The world settles on high-altitude balloons as a replacement.
It’s a really interesting book, especially once people realize that they can still launch probes or spacecraft out, just can’t receive any transmissions back. And when they realize that they can take advantage of the different rates of time on Earth vs. outside.
There are two sequels, Axis and Vortex, which are very different. Worth a read, but I think Spin was the best of the three.
@hafnia Yeah, they had some interesting ideas – the chain of worlds, the floating civilizations, the different ways of linking people together cybernetically – but IMO the stories weren’t anywhere near as good.
Dark Forest spoilers (3/4 through)
Fascinating as the Year 200 setting has been up to this point, the naivete & overconfidence has been maddening.
You *know* the enemy has vastly superior technology & knows way more about physics than you do. You don’t send your entire fleet to intercept one ship that you’ve decided is harmless based on the fact that *your tech* couldn’t be destructive enough based on *your* knowledge of physics.
Awakened hibernators seem to be more…paranoid? Cautious? Perceptive?
I guess the idea is that those who grew up in this era figure humanity has already faced the Great Ravine, we can face *anything*, while those who lived earlier don’t have that overconfidence.
Or maybe the Imprinted tech is out there, the polarity fixed, and in wider use than anyone thought.
But it’s still been frustrating pages & pages of “when will the big dummies figure it out?”
The amazing scene where Eponine stares down…
The latest episode of the Les Miserables Reading Companion podcast covers the amazing scene where Eponine single-handedly stares down 6 hardened criminals and wins.
As always, their analysis turns up some really interesting connections with other parts of the book – like the fact that Eponine channels both Javert and Thenardier, the two main antagonists, but uses their traits to act heroically.
https://readlesmis.libsyn.com/ep40-iv8i-v-the-dangers-girls-face
I found this old post I wrote on how Marvel or DC would have milked Lord of the Rings…
I found this old post I wrote on how Marvel or DC would have milked Lord of the Rings as an “event” comic book, with tie-ins, spin-offs, and character spotlights…
…and realized it’s not that far off from what the Hobbit movies actually *did*.
What If…Lord of the Rings had been an “Event” Comic?
Finished re-reading Sparrow Hill Road, by Seanan McGuire. Imagine all the hitchiking ghost stories you’ve …
Finished re-reading Sparrow Hill Road, by Seanan McGuire. Imagine all the hitchiking ghost stories you’ve heard are true, and they travel the ghosts of long-dead highways.
It’s told episodically as a collection of stories about the same ghost, what she does, how she died, and her quest to stop her killer.
It made me think about the difference between a horror story and a ghost story. I don’t like horror much, but I do usually enjoy ghost stories quite a bit.
Hello, my name is Kelson. I’m a computer programmer in the Los Angeles area…
#reintroductions #introductions Hello, my name is Kelson. I’m a computer programmer in the #LosAngeles area. I like #scifi, #fantasy & #comics (behind on a lot, keeping up w/ #TheFlash, Saga & #JessicaJones). I tend to talk about #webdevelopment and #tech, and I still have a #blog.
I also talk about #books at [edit: @KelsonReads@Bookwyrm.social ] & post scenic #photography at @kelsonv
@Einahpets Yeah, it’s an impressive exploration of the many consequences of the tech & …
@Einahpets Yeah, it’s an impressive exploration of the many consequences of the tech & how people would use it. Both the threeps and the Agora, which I find myself seeing as a counterpoint to the Oasis.
I’m going to have to get out to the Festival of Books one of these days – I keep meaning to, but haven’t quite managed yet!
Things that are appropriate while reading October Daye novels: Headaches. Coffee. Cutting your mouth on potato chips so you taste blood.
Things that are appropriate while reading October Daye novels: Headaches. Coffee. Cutting your mouth on potato chips so you taste blood.
I just finished the chapter in Les Miserables that focuses on the Battle of Waterloo.
I just finished the chapter in Les Miserables that focuses on the Battle of Waterloo. Thoughts at Waterloo
#books #lesmis #lesmiserables #waterloo #reading #wordswordswords
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