4

Man, I cannot seem to get myself to finish up the post on "Debt - The First 5,000 Years". I've done 5 chapters out of 12. I haven't worked on it since early April. I will finish it, but I think that will do it for me and Economics books? We'll see. I kind of felt I was done with dilettanting my way through Economics once I discovered MMT, but "Debt" was so compelling, I felt I had to share. Meanwhile, more SFF!

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1st & 2nd up, books 3 & 4 of Ken Liu's "The Dandelion Dynasty":

• "The Veiled Throne", 2021, 1275 pages, 346k words. Wow - hefty!
• "Speaking Bones", 2022, 1333 pages, 362k words. Double wow (bow wow wow?), even heftier!

I read the 1st book "The Grace of Kings" in 2016, blogged here - it was released in April 2015. I then forged ahead into the 2nd book "The Wall of Storms", blogged here. After getting the 3rd book, I decided to wait for the 4th to come out and then read both together. If I had realized it had been 5 years between the 2nd and 3rd, I would maybe not have waited. But, totally unsurprisingly, about 1/4 of the way through the 3rd, I was really having trouble remembering who or what the characters, factions, countries, etc. were - this is despite the book having a "cast of characters" section.

So, I found Ken Liu's email, emailed him and explained my problem, and asked him if he had a précis/summary of the 1st 2 books he could share. 17 minutes after hitting send, I received this reply:

Hi Chris,

I can send you my synopses for the first two books. Hope they help!

Ken

Attached were indeed the synopses of the 1st 2 books! FTW! Once again, I Love Living in the Future! I am going to create a tag for that!

I think though, that these multi-volume epics should, in general, include a "what has happened so far". I think Martin did it with the "Game of Thrones" novels. I just started reading the 3rd volume of an Adrian Tchaichovsky series and it starts with "The Story So Far".

As epic as the 1st 2 books were (1275 & 1014 pages), their page total is exceeded by the second 2 to the tune of 319 pages! The synopses did help me get situated, and the books were great reads. The "silk punk" tech is really cool - totally different ways to achieve technology and automation using materials I would never have imagined. A great cast of characters, who are generally rewarded for being good people.

But I have to say, I think the 1st 2 stories were better. The characters there were more archetypal, and there were fewer of them. It kind of reminded me of the 2nd 5 Zelazny Amber stories vs the 1st 5 - those are also the 2nd generation rather than the 1st, and the stories are just not as strong.

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Next up, "Homeland", by Cory Doctorow, 2013, 444 pages, 120k words. This is the sequel to Doctorow's 2008 "Litle Brother", and is followed by "Attack Surface" in 2020. I read "Attack Surface" late last year and realized I hadn't read "Homeland". This is what comes of buying paper books vs eBooks. I had been buying Doctorow's books in paper so I could pass them on to my now-former-son-in-law - gotta spread those revolutionary memes.

This is an enjoyable book. Doctorow touts his favs Burning Man and cold-brewed coffee. His prodigious output is a moving testament to heavy caffeine intake, LOL! [Note, I almost never have any caffeine, aside from coke with my bourbon when I'm out (at home I stock caffeine-free coke) - it keeps me awake at night.] I think he has talked about kettling and strategies against it and other problems with opposing The Man in large demonstrations on some of his later books.

I wish I had read all these in order. I still haven't read "Pirate Cinema", which I've owned in hardback for what, a decade now? Paper books for me now appear to be bad tech.

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Finally, I got offered (BookBub) for $1.99 "Blood Music", by Greg Bear, 1985 (expanded from an award-winning 1983 novelette), 288 pages, 78k words. I loved this when it 1st came out. It still reads really well. Really well paced, and it has aged (now 40 YO) very well. LOL, the biggest anachronisms (? is that the correct term, for an incorrectly depicted future?) had to do with smoking! Still a fabulous and quick read.