Sibylline's (Lucy's) 2023 Summer into Autumn & Beyond

Summer

Buttermilk Falls near Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks

Currently Reading in October


Reading in October
✔ The Annals of the Heechee (4/4) Frederik Pohl sf classic
✔ Nile Shadows Edward Whittemore fiction middle east
new Indigenous Continent Pekka Hämäläinen history native american
✔ Daemon Voices Phillip Pullman writing, essays
♬ The Napoleonic Wars Alexander Mikaberidze history france 19th
♬ RR bbg&wbg This Is Happiness Niall Williams fict irish

61. lib + rr + bbg This Boy's Life Tobias Wolff memoir *****
62. lib The Secret Hours Mick Herron mi5 ****
63. ✔RR Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (2/4) Frederik Pohl sf classic ***3/4
64. ✔ Heechee Rendezvous (3/4) Frederik Pohl sf classic ****

♬>audio
lib duh, library
✔ been on my shelf for tooooo long
RR reread
*bbg stands for Bridgeside Book Group
*wbg stands for Wally Book Group
** I read 100 pages attentively, then page through the rest. I count this as read. Any less I do not count the book as read.

Taking a break: will resume Dec 10, 2023
new A Guide Through Finnegans Wake Edmund Epstein**
new Finnegan's Wake James Joyce fiction irish**

Read in July
42. new Extraordinary People Peter May ***1/2
43. new Machine Elizabeth Bear sp/op ***1/2
44. new The Critic Peter May mys french ***
45. ✔ Arcanum Unbounded Brandon Sanderson fantasy NR
46. new Everyone knows Your Mother is a Witch Riva Galchen hist fic NR
47. new Muse and Reverie Charles de Lint urb fantasy ***1/2
48. bbg new Conquering the Pacific Andrés Reséndez history pacific 16th ***

7 books

Read in August
49. ✔ Fortress in the Eye of Time (1 of 5) C.J. Cherryh fantasy ****
50. ✔ Fortress of Eagles (2 of 5) C.J. Cherryh fantasy **** 1/2
51. ✔ Fortress of Owls (3 of 5) C.J. Cherryh fantasy **** 1/2
52. ✔ Fortress of Dragons (4 of 5) C.J. Cherryh fantasy **** 1/2
53. ✔ Fortress of Ice (5 of 5) C.J. Cherryh fantasy ****1/2
54. new Dark Earth Rebecca Stott post-roman britain ****1/2
55. ✔RR Son of Avonar (1 of 4) Carol Berg fantasy ***
Again 7 books

Read in September
56.new Foundryside Robert Jackson Bennett ****1/2
57. new The Banquet of Donny & Ari Naomi Guttman poetry *****
58. lib + WGB The Painted Drum Louise Erdrich contemp fic *****
59. new Shorefall Robert Jackson Bennett fantasy ****
60. new Locklands Robert Jackson Bennett fantasy ***1/2

5 books. In all fairness the Napoleonic Wars is over 900 pages long. . . .

>1 sibylline: What a beautiful topper. Happy new thread!

What a lovely name for a waterfall, Lucy.

Happy new thread. xx

Happy new thread, Lucy!

Ooooo! New Thread! I'm off to inspect everything you're reading now except maybe for Napoleon...
I look forward as always to seeing what you think of what you read, dear Lucy.

ETA: Yay! I see that I've already put Enzo MacLeod 2 on my Kindle at a bargain price!

Happy new one, Lucy!

Happy new thread Lucy!

>1 sibylline: Dreamy!

Well hallelujia, lots of visitors! I don't deserve any of you to stop in these days as despite the best of intentions I don't visit others as often as I would like to, I don't quite know why. Maybe since covid? I use my time less well? I mean, I bought the very last geraniums at the local greenhouse yesterday because I was so late getting around to that!

We're having smoke issues now and all spent an (admittedly rainy) Saturday inside. (155 was our top AQI) Here in Vermont we wait all winter for summer so any day when it is over 50F or so and I can't go outside to do things I am resentful. Any day when it is 65-85F and I have to stay inside I am furious! Today AQI fell under 100 and I went out -- spousal unit kind of has long covid (we think- as they eliminate every else it could be)mostly lung weirdness so he is still staying in.

TMI, bye. But many thanks for visiting.

Oh and about Napoleon, this is a dormant interest that seems to have re-awoken. I spent a year abroad in France and my history professor with whom I did a rather intense 18-19th century tutorial was OBSESSED with Napoleon. We kind of got stuck there, in fact. So, yeah, I know more than anyone should, really. I have a book on Waterloo lined up too. Nuts, really.

Happy new thread, Lucy! I hope the smoke dissipates and you can get more outdoor time.

I love the photo at the top. I hope the air clears soon.

>10 sibylline: We all have our areas of obsession.

>12 BLBera: I think I might have too many.

42. mys french
Extraordinary People Peter May

Even though the 'treasure hunt' style of mystery isn't my thing, really, I will likely continue reading these as we have them all on hand and Enzo and his personal life will probably draw me along. My spousal unit loved them-to me the level of detail is more than necessary, even a bit tedious at times but certainly if you went into the catacombs beneath Paris following his directions you'd probably make it back out. And I spent lots of time looking up this church and that town, etcetera. I guess I like a bit more mystery in my mysteries? ***1/2

>13 sibylline: No such thing!!! Embrace the obsessions! 😀 ('Enabling' is my obsession.)

>15 PlatinumWarlock: I welcome the encouragement and fully concur. And welcome to LT!

>16 sibylline: Thank you! 😀

43. sf sp/op ***1/2
Machine Elizabeth Bear

A good story, good characters and I love the homage to James White's Sector General. A distress call brings the space ambulance to a distant and strange location where two ships are discovered, a generation ship and a merchant ship, but everyone is dead or in stasis except a comely golden AI. That's how the story begins, but it rapidly becomes apparent that all is not in the least bit as it appears, the target is . . . . but I can't tell you that can I? Dr. Jens has a severe auto-immune problem and depends on her 'exo-suit' to let her function, she has personal issues beside the constant pain management, to do with loyalty and where to bestow it. She is asked to investigate a problem in the hospital itself, and it slowly becomes apparent that all is seriously not well and she has to think and feel her way through how to handle the matter. I found myself wishing to know more about how the people who survive being re-awakened from 600 years ago, in cryo for who knows how long, were going to cope, but this wasn't their story. At the end Dr. Jens internal monologue really did go on for too long. Kind of gave the ending a bit of the leaky balloon feeling. ***1/2

>18 sibylline: I just started Machine only to notice that I read it in 2020 - and gave it the same rating!

>19 quondame: I totally get how that could happen! I keep trying to get my spousal unit to put a checkmark in a book he has read so he won't try and read it again. :)

Here's a link to the flooding in Montpelier, which is epic and truly catastrophic -- the Winooski river went 22 feet above usual height. We are fine -- our river did not flood its banks and the all-important culvert in our driveway did not get clogged as we spent all afternoon before the storm clearing the brook that drains into it. Our water bars on the hill worked too, thanks to the spousal unit's expertise with tractor, back hoe, etc.

Montpelier flooding

>21 sibylline: Thank goodness. Since seeing the photos of Montpelier, I've been thinking about you and hoping you're okay.

>22 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura -- we are totally fine, no damage at all -- just have to take some roundabout routes to get anywhere. I do go to Montpelier a lot -- and it's going to be a mess for a long time.

44. mys french ***
The Critic Peter May

I think this is it for the series for me -- remember, I am not reviewing -- this is a matter of taste, you might love this type of mystery, very detailed and carefully crafted. And that is a sly dig as 'the critic' in this offering was a wine tasting expert. I did learn something about wine-making, but perhaps more than I really needed to? And the method of murdering, well, unsavory (oops, doing it again). Also Enzo and women, I mean, seriously, the trope gone wild. It's actually a bit funny, but only a bit. May is a good story teller but these just aren't my thing, but they might be yours, can't emphasize that enough. ***

45. fantasy no rating
Arcanum Unbounded Brandon Sanderson

My daughter loves 'later' Sanderson but this is early stuff, a collection of short stories and a novella, and landed on my bookshelf, somehow or other. I have liked some of the later of his books, although I get weary of all the terminology and methodology of the various magics. Others love that stuff and I like some, just not too much. I'm counting this as read because I got more than halfway through (it's a whopper) and realized I wasn't engaged enough with any of the characters. I do admire how he plunges into a story and keeps it moving. no rating

46. hist fic NR
Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch Riva Galchen

I always enjoy Riva Galchen's stories in the New Yorker - however - (sorry, there is an however) I was not drawn into this novel of which I read a little over half before throwing in the towel. I did slowly page through the rest for the gist of the story. I don't know why it didn't take. The story of Hans Kepler's mother who was accused (and eventually acquitted, not a spoiler since it is in the historical record) of witchcraft in the . . . 16th century where the medieval and the stirrings of the enlightenment often locked horns. Well written, often very funny, often very sad but in this 'get on with life' way, I still felt bogged down. The witness statements might have something to do with it? I really don't know and once again must remind anyone who reads my comments that this is not a review. I no longer feel obliged to finish books that don't pull me in. Not fair, I know. So you must decide for yourself. NR

Good quotes: "Being my age is like being woken from a grave and walking the earth to see the alien world of my descendants." 90

"...This day I saw that I was walking to the end of my life, and they were walking into their bloom. They wre walking toward the center of their lives, and I was walking toward my own perimeter. . .It's a curious angle of the sun, of late light." 103

47. fantasy ss ***1/2
Muse and Reverie Charles de Lint

de Lint is always a pleasure to read and somehow I've fallen wayyy behind. Some stories are wonderful, others are good, and a few get a little too happy-ending/schmaltzy even for me, but that's ok too. He somehow manages to make magic and magical beings plausible and can spin a yarn and in combination that is quite a gift. ***1/2

>27 sibylline: Charles de Lint has been a favorite author since I stumbled over Riding Shotgun in an anthology my father deacquisitioned in my direction.

Delurking in a rare moment of being alone in the house of a morning.
I seem to not handle very much of the summer visiting that commenced with the somewhat fading incidence of Co-Vid.

My psyche doesn't cope so well with a lack of quiet. Somehow, I seem not to "people" well at all anymore. And my reading fell off a cliff. However, the flower (herbaceous) garden is thriving despite the frequent influx of forest fire smoke.

I will post some reviews on my thread by and by, so you know what I've been reading!

>29 SandyAMcPherson: Looking forward to seeing what you've been reading!

I've been busy with music things, so not much reading here either.

Ah HA!!! It's Lucy's birthday!!!! I wish you a very happy one doing just as you please!!!!!

>26 sibylline: Hi Lucy,

""...This day I saw that I was walking to the end of my life, and they were walking into their bloom. They wre walking toward the center of their lives, and I was walking toward my own perimeter. . .It's a curious angle of the sun, of late light." 103"

What an amazing quote. Very introspective. I think however, I am not drawn to reading the book myself. Thanks for the candid review.

Edited to add my birthday wishes, a day I didn't know had arrived for you, Lucy. Be well!

>32 SandyAMcPherson: It is indeed an amazing bit of writing/wisdom. It'll stick with me.

>31 LizzieD: and >32 SandyAMcPherson: Thank you for birthday wishes!

48. history *** 1/2
Conquering the Pacific Andrés Resendez

The subject is the establishing of a reliable enough method for crossing the Pacific Ocean from the Americas and more importantly returning in one piece and opening another trade route. The Spanish supported the venture and hired the best pilots and captains they could . . . well . . . . not always, but never mind. The focus of the book is Lope Martín, a mulatto pilot so competent and brilliant that he was assigned (albeit to the smallest craft) to the flotilla. Resendez begins with a short geological and meteorological précis of the challenges these sailors faced. No established simple way to determine longitude, indeed no clocks to time anything and determine speed, a huge ocean with fiendish winds and currents. I found this first chapter enthralling, actually. The book then proceeds with the building of the ships on the western coast of Mexico, the trip (details that are known) and then the most important of all the return, 'the vuelta' which never had been done before. Lope Martín was the first pilot to successfully achiever the vuelta (just barely). I don't think Resendez is to blame for long (kind of involved and dull) sections of detail about the politicking and scheming of the various men involved, in Spain, in Mexico, on the ships -- the story is convoluted and treachery was inevitable. Martín's ship, the San Lucas, was separated from the rest of the ships early on, whether by design or by accident, impossible to ever know. The Spanish behaved, as all these early explorers did, abominably wherever they found inhabited islands, but one cannot but marvel that all these men were willing to put their lives in such danger. Desperation, greed, and for some a pull toward risk-taking and adventure, a belief that their luck would hold. Lots of hard research here. ***1/2

Hi Lucy! Just popping in to say hello. 🙂

>35 PlatinumWarlock: Not very interesting here of late, because . . . .

Very absent from hereabouts of late. My MFA writing program hosts a conference for graduates (run by graduates) every summer, in different locales and this year it was near us at Mt. Holyoke College (beautiful campus) and so I've been immersed in mostly listening and talking my head off, taught a class, went to classes, readings, did some writing and had a very fine time. I haven't been to one of these in well over a decade so it was amazing to catch up with people. Acquired a pile of novels - but while here I've read no more than twenty pages over the eight day residency. Time to go home now!

>36 sibylline: Sounds a very fulfilling excursion, Lucy.
I'm unclear... are you teaching in the MFA program or visiting as an invited author? Or...?
It would be fun to see a title list of the 'pile of novels' acquired!

PS. I didn't know where Mt. Holyoke is located and finding their website didn't clarify (but google search did: South Hadley, Massachusetts). Looks an attractive college alright.

In a fun, non-literature aside, it was interesting to read this Antarctica discovery.

>37 SandyAMcPherson: No. I graduated from this program in '88. This is a conference for people already graduated -- many have published novels etc etc.
It's by us and for us. Lots of old friends there and made new acquaintances with folks who I've never met as the last time I went to one of these was in 2004 or so.

Here are some of the novels -- Keep in mind that I haven't read any of these novels listed, except one!

The Half-Life of Home Dale Neal -- I have read two others of Dale's novels and he has a new one coming out. I absolutely LOVED Appalachian Book of the Dead
The Kudzu Queen Mimi Herman
Hurry Home Anne Scott Knight (short stories)
Monster Talk Michael Jarmer
Mrs. Somebody Somebody Tracy Winn **

**Lots of buzz about this one

I mostly traded my book for theirs and so I also brought home a pantload of poetry, one poem a day, I figure, shouldn't do me in.

>39 sibylline: BB for Appalachian Book of the Dead.
I rarely look at the reviews for books I plan on reading. Being cautious that maybe this isn't a BB for me, I prepared by seeing whether my anxious psyche these days could cope.

Upthumbed your review. It was such a heartfelt view of the story. However, the ol' psyche says, no you don't want to immerse in this one.

>36 sibylline: That sounds like an amazing way to spend eight days, Lucy! I love that part of the world... I've never lived in the Happy Valley, but my partner did for a while, and I've visited a few times. It would be high on my "where could I live?" list if I weren't so happy in Seattle. 😁

49. fantasy ****
Fortress in the Eye of Time (1 of 5) C.J. Cherryh

Cherryh's favorite trope on display here -- a person lands in a situation where they are either the only of their kind in an alien setting or they have landed in a situation of which they know nothing, a power struggle, rebellion etc. In both, in order to survive, learning has to happen and fast. Tristen is a Shaping and it is unclear if he is essentially a Revenant or if he is something newly fashioned -- the implication from the get-go is that the wizard, Mauryl who Shaped him feels he didn't get his creation quite right. We don't know either exactly what Mauryl had in mind, although it is clear that the Shaping was not to be human, but Sihhë, a race that is human, in essence as the two can interbreed, but the Sihhë are natural magical ability. In any case, Tristen is NOT a human even if he is embodied in a human body that works exactly as any other human body does. The plot is convoluted enough that I won't go into it other than to say that the non-magical humans and those with Sihhë abilities (diluted) do not trust one another, for the most part. Those who live in the south of the kingdom have more Sihhë and are thus looked at askance -- wrongs have been done to both. The big probbo with the Sihhë ultimately is that once in a while there is a baddie who makes big trouble . . . but the humans get fanatically religious and rigid and are equally dangerous. Ok enough. The interest for me is especially in watching Tristen learn. ****

50. fantasy ****
Fortress of Eagles (2 of 5) C.J. Cherryh

The big tension here is whether the new king, Cefwyn, (Tristen's trusted friend and ally) will get to marry his true love, who is the new reigning monarch of a neighboring kingdom that has a LOT of Sihhë blood and thus can do wizardry OR sorcery (First good, second bad). Tristen, of course, is under suspicion for anything untoward that goes on and Cefwyn has to send him away -- but he raises him to being the Lord of a whole area, next door to this neighbouring kingdom, where the people also have a lot more Sihhë ancestry than usual, sooooo, even though when Tristen arrives there is hanky panky happening, basically everyone but a few at the very top, are thrilled to have him and there are darker hints that many consider him to be the rightful king of their land AND the king of this neighboring kingdom . . . Treachery is EVERYWHERE and both Tristen and Cefwyn have their hands full figuring out what to do. What is rising in this novel too is in what ways Tristen will use his magical abilities -- even with intentions to do good, the power can turn and twist a person into doing more harm than good. So there you go, plot definitely thickens. ****

>42 sibylline: >43 sibylline: I've read the series twice, but not recently. I have to have a somewhat higher energy level to enjoy Cherryh's prose than I do for some others of my favorite F&SF authors.

>44 quondame: that makes perfect sense to me! She does demand a lot of the reader--granted she also gives a great deal!

51. ****1/2 fantasy
Fortress of Owls C.J. Cherryh

The plot continues to Unfold to Tristen and to us, as he begins to perceive the path he is treading, treacherous and lonely. Not much I can say. Either Cherryh will enthrall you or she won't. The core question that penetrates the series and becomes ever more demanding of Tristen and Cefwyn and those who love both, is where to draw the line between Truth and Illusion, the Edge of which can be almost impossible to discern or maintain. A balance of both?

52. ****1/2 fantasy
Fortress of Dragons C.J. Cherryh

Much that was unknown is settled by the end of this 4th offering: Tristen has made choices and has a deeper grasp of who he is and what he faces, even now, even if no one else knows the extent of it. The remaining mystery is what and who are the Shihhë, if he is not a who, exactly, then what is he? He is embodied in flesh, certainly, and yet . . . And Owl. I do wonder if we will ever know. A further wrinkle that emerges in book 4 amid much much drama, the next succession of the Marhanens and Elwynim, will also no doubt be the earthly subjest of the next and last book.****1/2

Hi Lucy -- somehow lost your thread for a bit so just now catching up and glad to hear you didn't suffer any damage during the terrible storms.

>48 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks for stopping by Reba -- I've been worse than terrible about visiting threads, so I hope you are doing well too?? Yes, we are fine -- now on the Cape for a couple of weeks. That is why I am hurling myself into reading the above series, pure bliss!

>49 sibylline: Sounds like a lovely get-away. Enjoy!

53. fantasy ****1/2
Fortress of Ice C.J. Cherryh

The final book in the Fortress series, Cherryh takes the reader within view of the challenges the next generation will face--not resolving anything of course! There is so little I can say without spoiling should a person planning to read the series looks at the comments ahead of time, but there are children and there are complications about their births and abilities and nothing at all is resolved with the Quinalt faith which abhors 'sorcery', wizards, magic, etcetera without ever examining the complexities more closely. I greatly enjoyed the process of maturing that both Tristen and Cefwyn undergo during the entire series and the start of maturation of the next generation. One feels they will overcome and endure. Five stars as I read through all five in about 3 1/2 weeks, happily while on holiday! Perfect! *****

54. hist fic, britain post-roman ****1/2
Dark Earth Rebecca Stott

Setting is a couple hundred years after the departure of the Romans from Britain and Londinium in particular where some Saxons have a toehold. They avoid the ruins of the old city as haunted but there are people living there, almost all women, refugees from the harshness of the collapsed and changing situation. Stott does an amazing job at creating characters--two sisters, orphaned when their father, a rare and revered blacksmith dies--and a story that grips while also evoking how unsettling and yet providential the abrupt abandonment of Britain was for all those left behind. They left EVERYTHING they could not take in a trunk or two (or less, were they slaves) tools, weapons, gold, silver, iron, glass, fabrics, bronzes, the very stones of their buildings . . . . the list is endless and of the people remaining few have the skills to fabricate any of these things. Secondly Stott does a fine job at convincingly showing what it was like to live in a society that truly believes in haunts, curses, monsters and the like. Her goal was to bring into the light what life for women during this time of turmoil might have been like and I think she succeeds. A fine book! ****

55. fantasy ***
Son of Avonar Carol Berg

Took on this reread because I had collected the rest of the series and thought I wanted to continue, but alas, no, I don't and won't continue. The problem Berg needed a ferocious editor who would have said, ditch the first person and don't overexplain. I'm annoyed really because underneath there is a pretty good fantasy story although it isn't particularly original it has some nice features. The story opens with Seri, formerly a duchess, has married an antiquarian but he is revealed to be sorcerous, except -- he isn't really -- he's a great healer--but now he's dead and she's banished herself to a tiny cottage in the middle of nowhere and along comes this beautiful but utterly feral young man being chased by creeps who can't talk but is . . . well . . . different. Sorcerous? Well, you get the idea. I thumbed through the next three and just thought No -- it shares features with the Cherryh Fortress novels but there is a mile-wide difference in the telling. ***

>53 sibylline: Carol Berg is one of the authors I compare more to Robin Hobb both because they pace the story more deliberately than most and because they inflict major damage on the MCs while not abandoning them to destruction. I love books paced to pull me along chapter after chapter whether much is happening or not, but I rather like these authors as well. I prefer Carol Berg's Books of the Rai-Kirah and the Sanctuary and Lighthouse Duets, but I can't say that the pacing is much different.

>54 quondame: I want badly to enjoy Berg and I did like the Books of the Rai-Kirah a LOT, but the first person problem here just did me in. Explanations - - so really hard to do in first person.

56. fantasy ****1/2
Foundryside Robert Jackson Bennett

In this universe, a group of humans figure out how to rewrite reality and become, to all intents and purposes, gods. Only . . . not benevolent gods. They fight one another mercilessly, and humankind are made into tools or are simply expendable. The battle appears over, except that remnant technology fascinates a new generation of 'makers' to try to become (like) gods themselves. Enter a young woman who has been 'scrived' by one of these wannabes to be augmented, except . . . she somehow remains independent. Sancia. She ends up in Tevanne where all the big foundries, that do the scriving to make buildings strong and all things to work "better" as a thief and, given her special skills, the best. She gets a job to steal a little wooden box from one of the big foundries but she takes a look and . . . off we go. Great story, excellent characters, as with City of Stairs a variety in the cast that appeals. On to Book 2! ****1/2

58. contemp, native american *****
The Painted Drum Louise Erdrich

Can a novel be close to flawless? Indeed one can. Many novels are. And this is one. Compelling in all ways, and also forceful enough to establish a voice that echoes on after you finish. Erdrich achieves, somehow, deep intimacy with the main characters while maintaining a dreamlike distance as if they watch themselves doing things, not quite fully present, which means you watch them at a second reserve. Such as the theft of the drum which lies at the heart of the novel. A woman, living with her mother on a particular back woods road in rural New Hampshire, is part Ojibwe, but her mother has never seriously claimed her heritage, both have lived quietly 'white' while running an estate business, clearing out houses for people. There are secrets, there is a troublesome love affair and difficult neighbors, two deaths. The close observation of surroundings, inside and outside, are sharp and focussed always in tune with what is going on in the human realm. A long section in the middle of the book gives the history of the making of the drum and fits perfectly inside the story in the present. *****

I was unable to find anywhere what pine a 'cavern pine' refers to- Obviously a name like popple for poplar etc. For New England it is likely to be red or white pine or hemlock, but I had no luck.

>57 sibylline: I've been thinking lately that I should read some more Erdrich so your excellent review sold me easily. A couple of things need to be read in near future but soon, very soon...

>53 sibylline: I recently decided I have just too much trouble enjoying anything written in the first person style. So I'm pleased to be in good company. It's something about lack of engagement because I'm overwhelmed with the character's thoughts and conversations rather than living the story with a disinterested perspective. It's like tell rather than show failure. I think, anyway...

>57 sibylline: This went onto my September WL. Excellent review!

>57 sibylline: Excellent review of The Painted Drum, Lucy. I enjoyed that one too. I was surprised at first to find myself in New Hampshire, and liked the way Erdrich "book-ended" that around the more familiar Love Medicine setting.

59. fantasy ****
Shorefall Robert Jackson Bennett

The battle sure isn't over as the 'first maker' Crasedes is determined to make over humanity, but also to destroy one of his constructs, calling herself Valeria, who has her own agenda. Crasedes, after thousands of years, has come to believe humanity cannot be trusted with their own inventions, sooner or later someone uses their advantage to enslave, dominate etc. others. What is he afraid Valeria will do? The question is, which one should the group (Sancia, Berenice, Orso, Gregor, Polina et al.) believe or maybe even trust? Under the pressure of the present scriving has moved forward a long way and they are able, up to a point, to resist. Things look hopeful and then they go sideways and it becomes quite apparent that there is only Bad and Worse and that they might be getting the upper hand. Worse especially. Make way for Book 3. I have to pause to comment here that the tale is getting a little what I call Sandersonish --problem-solving-with-fancy-tech/magicky-- over character development. Kind of neck and neck in this one, so I worry that my interest will flag in book 3. I like some innovative stuff but not when it takes over. ****

>61 sibylline: You're an intrepid reader for sure.
With all due respect, what that book sounds like it would do to me...

>63 sibylline: I wouldn't want that to happen! I agree, not at all your sort of book.

>42 sibylline: Can you advise as to where the best place to start with Cherryh's oevre is, Lucy? I really need to read some of her/his work.

>52 sibylline: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation.

>56 sibylline: I went to add that one to the BlackHole and discovered it was already there. I really need to track down a copy!

>57 sibylline: Dodging that BB as I have already read it.

Have a fantastic Friday, Lucy!

>42 sibylline: >64 alcottacre: As another C.J. Cherryh(she/her) fan what I'd recommend for a first read would depend on whether you are a Fantasy fan (Paladin) a hard SF fan (Heavy Time) or more a social SF fan (Downbelow Station or Foreigner). What I would not recommend even if you are a total Russian folklore fan is Rusalka, not that it isn't good but it can be depressing. I selected these partially because Cherryh's use of language can be distracting for readers and I found it less distracting in these books than in others.

>64 alcottacre: >65 quondame: I would concur with Downbelow Station as a potentially good starter. I LOVED the whole Chanur series and I think they might have been the first ones I read. I think it starts with The Pride of Chanur. There's a special name for dropping a main character (and therefore the reader) into a situation where they have to figure out what the heck is going on --

Rusalka is a tough one, tried to get into it a couple of times and so far have failed.

>65 quondame: More fantasy than hard sci fi, for sure. Thanks for the help, Susan!

>66 sibylline: I think I have at least part of the Chanur series here. I appreciate the help, Lucy.

Have a wonderful weekend!

>67 alcottacre: In that case (fantasy) you might prefer to start with Paladin.

The Chanur series is my favorite as well, but you have to commit to the first four books as they are all one long story (and I wish it had been longer as I love living in them so much). And you know how much of a fantasy fan I am.

>68 sibylline: Thank you, Lucy!

>69 ronincats: Roni, when we meet in Joplin, I am going to have you guide me to some good sci fi and fantasy.

60. fantasy ***1/2
Locklands Robert Jackson Bennett

To say I was disappointed with this series makes me uncomfortable after having found City of Stairs not just good, but remarkable and wonderful. However, I did not experience that same joy here. HOWEVER, as with the case of many fine writers not every book they write will fully hit the mark for everyone and more generally, not every story will work as well even for an individual. Before I continue, I want to remind anyone who does read these offerings that I consider what I write here comments, not reviews, because they are first and foremost subjective. What I write is intended to remind me of what I experienced reading the book, not to convince anyone else to read or not read. My stars reflect that too. The long and short is that I was never pulled fully in. The characters were strong and full of potential but I never attached to any of them, almost not never quite. I thought the scriving idea interesting but a bit too forced especially in book 3. I've noticed in speculative fiction two particular threads that, for me, have to be in balance to keep me riveted. First, characters. It's never only the situation or setting they find themselves in, the problems they face, it is who they are as individuals, which then determines how they approach problem-solving. (Head first, eyes closed, checking and rechecking etc,) And yes, the second is problem-solving. Some books are just one long string of problems to solve and who the characters are hardly matters, they just take each mess as it comes and cope. Here you have plenty of character development potential, but unfortunately, this series, as it continued, tipped the balance into the latter category. Some of the most interesting characters (Gregor) (Orso) were offed and frankly I got bored. One insuperable crazy problem after another and I knew the 'team' would come up with something. I suspect my lack of interest has to do too, with NOT being used to gaming on line? ( I have played D&D around a table, but that is the extent of my experience in this arena. ).With being a fan of 18th and 19th century literature? So so character and setting driven. Ah well. And anyone who loves Cixing Liu and Brian Sanderson etcetera, you'll love it. ***1/2

>71 sibylline: Your comment about book reviews was 'exactly so' in the way it resonated with me (I consider what I write here comments, not reviews, because they are first and foremost subjective). Perhaps expressed so clearly because of your writerly background, which is experience that would delve into what makes a story engaging (or not).

Last night I finished an ER book (Stone Soup) by EB Mann, which in part, reflects your comment regarding a narrative that doesn't work when the action is all about one long string of problems to solve. Such stories do not engage me and I skimmed to find the meat of the book, coming up empty. It will be difficult to review without my being so personally from my perspective. But then, that *is* all I have to offer really.

>72 SandyAMcPherson: Thank you Sandy for a warm and thoughtful reply! I'm glad you understand what I was trying to get at!

>71 sibylline: The first was OK for me, but I wasn't convinced to continue. It had so many elements I'd seen before, and a lot of unused potential.

>75 sibylline: I totally get that!

Here's an Autumn photograph!


After a summer of constant rain we are having a run of lovely days.

61. memoir *****
This Boy's Life Tobias Wolff

A second read, the first was more or less when it was published, thirty years ago. Tobias is ten and he and his mother are fleeing Florida and yet another of her bad relationships, headed for Utah; it is the early 50's. When she and Tobias's father split, each took one child. The other, Geoffrey Wolff is also a writer and among other things wrote about their father in The Duke of Deception- a handsome, brilliant, charismatic man who was unable, basically, to ever tell the truth. Tobias Wolff (who renamed himself Jack for this period of his life) tells the story of this six or so year period of his life in a series of connected stories in sections--each section focussed around a place and a situation and that are further divided into separate vignettes.

If possible the memoir was even more rewarding the second time around because my understanding of both the emotional difficulty and the writing 'craft' that went into the creation goes so much deeper. Wolff achieves (what is more or less impossible) writing a memoir about that specific (and critical) period between pre- and late-adolescence not as a narrative but as a series of stories, dialogue and all, that is utterly convincing as a memoir. While it is written as if fiction, it feels and is, surely, the truth of that period of his life. Perhaps only his truth, but truth. One could discuss why this works for days or weeks. Wolff himself says in his preface: "I remember the past in terms of stories. That's how I think of it, how I talk about it, and how I've written it here." I've written plenty of stories that are based on my life experiences, but I deviate from the facts knowingly to shape the story the way I want it to go. Most of us can't help doing that, interfering with and remaking our past in that way. Here, Wolff ruthlessly re-imagines the past exactly as he remembers it, I say ruthlessly because he doesn't spare himself for one second. He is his father's son and lying and subterfuge come naturally to him, sometimes with (some) justification, sometimes not. Also he re-inhabits the mind of the boy he was, with no judgement from his adult self about the things he did (and didn't) do. Such as regret, yes, or even something like disbelief at his stupidity or naivete but never judgement. He was a kid, this is how I coped. The self-awareness that went into the work is blinding. *****

duplicate of comments above, not sure how that happened!

>71 sibylline: I just picked up a copy of Foundryside the other day, but I have not yet read it. Maybe I should find a copy of the City of Stairs series instead. . .

I consider what I write here comments, not reviews That is exactly how I feel about the books on which I comment.

>77 sibylline: I have owned that one for years, but I am not sure that I have ever read it. I really need to remedy that.

>79 alcottacre: Wonderful to hear from you. Yes, I would put my Bennett reading into Stairs . . .

I write that comment thing once in a while because I try not to influence anyone to read or not read something just because it didn't work for me. Writing a good book is unbelievably difficult, so I've gotten more sympathetic as I go!

Meanwhile . . . I actually finished something!

>77 sibylline: (and #78), Lucy, such a coincidence, your saying (quoting the book, I mean), "I remember the past in terms of stories. That's how I think of it, how I talk about it, and how I've written it here."...

Yesterday, at #28, I was answering Linda (aka, laytonwoman3rd, #24) to encourage her to go ahead and write that generational book she speaks of creating. I talked about "memoir fiction" which is how I've written stories.

I, too, remember the past in series of stories, sometimes only fleeting vignettes. I think our pasts are better expressed by acknowledging that "...we can't help doing that, interfering with and remaking our past" (as you said). Because if the core of the story is how it is remembered ---> after all, that is all we have to offer. My kids love these stories, and they were for a long while, simply oral traditions. I finally wrote them down (many years ago). I don't feel any need to struggle with trying to publish them, though.

Long-winded reply on why I liked your reviews of the Wolff book.

>77 sibylline: Lucy, I love that your personal comments spark different responses from your visitors. When I read that post, I immediately remembered a conversation my DH and I had last week. Somebody had told him that we remain the person we were when we were six. I understand that Wolff was writing about an older self, but what we remember and what we do with or to that memory is fascinating. I look at our kindergarten pictures and see life-long characteristics of both of us. Otherwise, I'm not sure how much of being six I recall. What I do recall is definitely in story form.

>80 sibylline: I put Bennett on my list of authors to look for when I am in Joplin in a few weeks. I am hoping that the book shoppe has City of Stairs.

62. mi5 ****
The Secret Hours Mick Herron

Herron follows a new thread (or should that be threat) facing 'the Park' in the present taking us back to a past debacle that all Slough House fans wonder about, just what the heck did happen in post-wall Berlin? He also highlights in the most serious way he has yet, the lunacy of a government thinking to safely sub out stuff like vetting spies for their internal (and presumably external) security organizations. Also the lunacy of thinking any of us thinking we are safe: we are preyed upon by the ultra rich and even some of the lesser rich. Also of thinking any of us, even some of the ultra media savvy are safe from the media and internet in general. You are not. Period. While there are some slouchy, likeable characters this is a book in a darker key. For all his drinking and farting and smoking and being rude to people, Jackson Lamb is a serious dangerous angry and person and don't you forget it. So is First Desk, bless her nerves! ****

63. sf classic ***1/2
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon Frederik Pohl

It's difficult to write sensibly about a book written forty years ago in which some of the concepts are still fresh and exciting and others are dated and jarring. Same goes for the characters. Some sf writers, say, Arthur C. Clarke have managed to be vague about exactly the right details, the things not invented or named or even quite conceived of yet, and some seem to write about people with that wisdom and generosity or whatever it is, that keeps the book fresh over the decades. It's also somewhat unfair to judge by today's standards, but that can't be helped. Pohl works some of the time but not all the time, but I will finish the Heechee series because I am sufficiently drawn by the 'big idea' -- who the Heechee are and what they fear -- and the story itself, people and all, is just intriguing enough to keep me interested. One of the ironies is that the AI (not called that yet -- and not recognized as such yet) are pretty much the best characters -- Pohl feels freer to invent, more playful perhaps? ***1/2 or maybe a ****?

>84 sibylline: I keep telling Peggy that I need to get to the Mick Herron books and one of these days I actually will! Unfortunately my local library does not have any of them.

>85 sibylline: Having read so little science fiction while I was "growing up" as a reader, I am trying to remedy that now. I will have to see if I can find the Pohl book.

>86 alcottacre: I did run across something saying that the story, with the Heechee and all were, at the time, excitingly inventive. 'Classic' sf can be . . . less engrossing due to that change in attitudes or whatever. Anyway you might want to look at my comments on Gateway the first book -- I was not happy with some aspects, but those seem to have been improved if not entirely remedied in book 2 and we shall see what comes along in the last 2 books. I never read all the way through although something about the story seemed familiar as I read. But I know I went no further.

There's a new Victoria Goddard novella, The Game of Courts

>88 quondame: How exciting! That will go into the xmas books for the family pile, we all love V. G.

64. sf classic ****
Heechee Rendezvous Frederik Pohl

From the title you will guess that the Heechee, wherever they are, will come out of hiding. Meanwhile, Broadhead's health is failing and his desire to 'save' mankind, save the planet has not abated. His generous wife Essie has come up with a new version of Albert who is . . . . indisputably a full person despite being made of electrical energy and not embodied. Wan reappears as awful as ever. And yes, we meet the Heechee, within (in the mind of Captain) and without, as seen by humans. By the end everyone understands what the real threat is, and is NOT Heechee but the Assassins! On to the final book! I don't know the history of 'stored intelligence' but I detect the source (or some of the inspiration) for the second Star Trek series with their 'just as real as real' computer-generated reality
programs where they can let off steam. However, my ongoing plaint is that Pohl, while trying, really cannot imagine women, no matter how brilliant, as anything but cuddly, there to serve men, cook, clean etc. No man ever cooks anything for a woman and no women at all in any position of real authority. By 1984 he could have been a little further on? Nonetheless a ****.