Oops

It looks like I should have done this post last month. Oh well, better late than never, for now ...

1. "My Brother's Keeper", by Tim Powers, 2023, 327 pages, 101k words. This book reads totally like vintage Powers. The "Brother" in question is Branwell Brontë, brother of the Brontë sisters, who are courageously battling werewolves. Enjoyable.

2. "Terminal Boredom", by Izumi Suzuki, 2021, 203 pages, 55k words, 7 stories. These stories were recommended as being quirky and out there. The title of the collection is a good choice. The characters in the stories are mostly very tired (unless they're old boomers). Not bad, but not great.

3. "The Tyrant Baru Cormorant", by Seth Dickinson, 2020, 953 pages, 251k words. The Masquerade #3, definitely a tome. I read the 1st 2 of the series, blogged here, The Masquerade #1 in 2016, and here, The Masquerade #2 in 2018. I'm not sure how I missed this one coming out. I got triggered to check on it by the release of a new, unrelated novel by Dickinson.

   Trying to remember what the series was about, I read my posts on the 1st 2 books - I am not crazy about the series. Nobody is very likable. Everybody seems to enjoy betraying everybody else. I said in reviewing the 1st book, "Characters with nothing but bad choices." From the ending of the book, this may be the end of the series, but ... Better put some garlic up.

4. "House of Open Wounds", by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 2023, 602 pages, 186k words. Sequel to "City of Last Chances", and as such book 2 of "The Tyrant Philosophers" series. The 1st book I characterized as:

   A really rich tapestry of politics, refugees, demons, intrigue, revolution, very well plotted. A most excellent read.

   This 1 is even more of the same, with a greatly expanded tapestry of theories of magic and religion. Tchaikovsky has a writing style where he subtly shows you the big hammer that is going to smite someone, gives you plenty of time to forget about it, and then finally does some totally unsubtle smiting.

   It was a fun read, but I noticed something. The main premise of the plot is that a country becomes scientific and creates technology to harvest and reuse magical and godly power. They then want to have their memes conquer the world - kind of like "The Masquerade" in the just reviewed Dickinson book! Well, the 1st Baru Cormorant book came out in 2016, so Dickinson definitely got there 1st. But, who cares, memes just want to be free. [FREE THE MEMES!!!]

5. "The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles", by Malka Older, 2024, 140 pages, 43k words. Book 2 of The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series. Book 1 was fairly recent, 2023, blogged here.

   I like the setting for these stories: loops built around Jupiter with settlements attached, with the society, particularly their academia, highly dedicated to figuring how to restore the Earth's ecosystem. This story includes a trip to an early settlement on Io - who in their right mind would settle Io? This is again a missing persons story and a whodunnit. Like the last one, fairly mundane.

   But, the 1st 1, I wrongly gendered Plieti as male. Short as these stories are, I did not feel like going back for a reread and determining if Older ever gendered Plieti. And, of course, I did not remember this before I started reading #2, to where I could pay close attention. [Dammit, Jim, I should always go check my exocortex for context in a situation like this.]

   But, regardless, I am pretty sure that Malka never genders Plieti in Book #2. I presume this is by design. But, here's some of the (seriously gendered) blurb for the book on Kobo:

   But Pleiti’s faith in her life’s work as a scholar of the past has grown precarious, and this new case threatens to further destabilize her dreams for humanity’s future, as well as her own.

   Admittedly, Plieti has more stereotypical feminine traits than masculine, but, so what? Is Older making a statement here, or what? Did I just miss the gendering?

   LOL, speaking of "stereotypical feminine traits": a heavy dependence on long hot baths and a variety of teas; and getting "the vapors" to where this at times seems like a Victorian novel.

   Also, academia as portrayed by Doctora Older (an academic) totally convinces me I dodged a bullet when I decided in 1974 NOT to go into academia. I could never have done it.

6. "The Bezzle", by Cory Doctorow, 2024, 221 pages, 68k words. Book #2 of The Martin Hench Novels. Doctorow is The Bard Of The Revolution.

   "Follow the money." Forensic accountant Martin Hench is the perfect person to do this, and expose the corruption and depravity of late-stage capitalism. Doctorow shines an arc lamp on MLM, the prison-industrial-complex, 3-strike laws, LA Sheriff Department deputy gangs, and the cancer that will devour everything if we don't stop it: Venture Capital, VC - the apex predator of late-stage capitalism. And what is its prey? Small businesses, mom-and-pop operations, the backbone of the middle class, hoovered up to be converted into the maximum amount of capital possible, with their survival totally optional. Late-stage capitalism is not pretty.

   Ooh, I spotted a slight inaccuracy in some geek stuff that I used to be a Level XII Software Wizard on. I emailed it to Cory, he thanked me the next day & said that the book was already a bestseller so it would be getting reprinted shortly, so he would get a fix in. Yay! I love living in the future!

   I have this in my eBook app as Mystery?!?!? I'm not sure what genre this is, possibly a new one? Techno-exposè? Any suggestions?

A lot of my processes seem to be winding down. I've kept the subscriptions, but I've quit reading Scientific American and Technology Review after many decades of doing so. I am subscribed to their RSS feeds, as well as Futurism and other sources of scientific and technical articles, so I no longer feel too compelled to read the magazines per se. So, after 4 decades, no magazine stack! Just call me "Mr. Spontaneous". ;-P