jml's notebook
Perhaps the rest
Thing #2 is quite possibly asleep in their bouncer. Thing #1 is in obvious need of some attention and emotional care, but they'll just have to figure something out for themselves while I steal a quarter hour for myself.
- The Cradle series, Will Wight. Xianxia progression fantasy that works surprisingly well. Devoured them.
- Beauty: A Very Short Introduction, Roger Scruton. Fascinating and infuriating. Would love to write a full-length post about it.
- Selkie Summer, Ken MacLeod. Not bad. Somewhat off-brand by not having any critiques of capitalism or socialism.
- Dead Lies Dreaming, Charlie Stross. A return to form, perhaps, but also a reminder that past form isn't that great.
- The Traveler's Gate series, Will Wight. Not as good as Cradle but still fun. Gets better as it goes. Strengths are vivid worldbuilding, good action scenes, and just enough character development to support both.
- The Street Cultivation series, Sarah Lin. Nowhere near as good as New Game Minus. Leans heavily on money as metaphor.
- The A Thousand Li series, Tao Wong. I like the Chinese cultural notes, but there are long stretches of boring that undermine the whole thing.
- Masquerade in Lodi, Lois McMaster Bujold. I think this novella is supposed to be about Penric processing his suicide attempt. I don't think it succeeds in that.
- Circe, Madeline Miller. Read on a recommendation from Greg Rucka. Highly enjoyable.
Welp, Thing #1 just woke Thing #2 up for real. Luckily, that's it for @unblogged for the year.
Merry Christmas, and a happy 2021!