valoise | Reading

settiai

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Current Mood: accomplished

james_davis_nicoll

A schoolgirl abandons the UK's post-Brexit educational system for the comparative safety and comfort of a magical school designed to turn out magical soldiers in the war on eldritch horrors.

Vanya and the Wild Hunt (Vanya, volume 1) by Sangu Mandanna

marthawells

For Murderbot Day, a great interview with DeWanda Wise, about playing NavigationBot in The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon:

https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-dewanda-wise

I had worked with Paul on Fatherhood. He literally texted me and was like, "do you want to play a murderous robot?"

james_davis_nicoll

People adopt very different strategies when it comes to making up for mistakes.

Five SFF Stories About Making Amends

james_davis_nicoll

What could possibly go wrong with a little harmless Satanism between friends?

Golem100 by Alfred Bester

settiai

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off and will be picking up next week for our in-person weekend.

Current Mood: sleepy

settiai

Okay, I just have two more days of work to get through, and then I have an entire week off. Nine whole days. The first five of which will hopefully be spent not leaving the hotel if I can manage it, because I desperately need to recharge. I'm even going to try to wash clothes either tomorrow or Friday so that I won't have to leave my suite unless there's an emergency of some type. A complete removal from all human interaction will do me so much good.

I'm hoping to set aside at least a few days to curl up and properly lose myself in video games, probably Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard although I might try something new. Or maybe something old, like a new Mass Effect playthrough. There are a lots of options. Whatever I go with, I keep saying that I'm going to play video games on the weekend, and then I don't manage it, so I'm really going to try during this break.

I also want to attempt to do some fic writing just for myself. I've had a bad habit of only writing for exchanges lately, but I have a ton of WIPs so it would be nice if I could set aside at least a few hours here and there during the break to work on getting back in the writing habit.

My Wednesday night D&D group is going to be getting together in person to play next weekend. Everyone's flying in on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and then we're going to jump in around lunchtime on Friday as soon as the last person arrives. Then plan is that we're going to play pretty much the rest of the day on Friday, all day Saturday, and until mid-afternoon on Sunday.

Current Mood: hopeful

james_davis_nicoll

His Majesty the Worm, a megadungeon-crawling fantasy roleplaying game from Josh McCrowell at Rise Up Comus.

Bundle of Holding: His Majesty the Worm

seekingferret

Bad Shabbos

Jews do not dance in this movie.

But it was nonetheless an incredible movie and I loved it so much and I laughed all the way through.

The film is a farce in the vein of a Neil Simon play- a modern Orthodox Upper West Side family prepares for a Shabbos dinner made fraught by the fact that the Catholic parents of the son's fiancee (who is in the process of converting) are visiting from Wisconsin. This process becomes a lot more complicated when a dead body, that the family has to conceal, turns up.

I love a precise farce and this is an incredibly well composed one that manages to squeeze multiple jokes out of every setpiece through callbacks and reaction shots and brilliant use of the limited set. The whole audience was constantly laughing for the entire movie.

I especially loved the incredible Talmud jokes, which testified to a writing team that not only is familiar with the text of the Talmud but also its vibes. I still laugh every time I think of the challah.

And I loved that it is a movie about a family sticking together through thick and thin. I remember complaining about This Is Where I Leave You that for all the funny moments the inescapable truth at the end is that this family doesn't like each other very much, and I found that deflated my enjoyment a lot. In this movie, for all the family dysfunction and disagreement, when things go down they team up to be dysfunctional together.

james_davis_nicoll

Each would-be pet owner gets three simple rules for taking care of the exotic animals Count D supplies. How hard could it possibly be to follow three simple rules?

Pet Shop of Horrors, volume 1 by Matsuri Akino

marthawells

Great interview with Murderbot executive producer Andrew Miano:

https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-murderbot-ep-andrew-miano

First and foremost, my partner Paul Weitz read the book for pleasure, not with any eye towards adaptation, and came in with it and said, "this would make an amazing TV show." We all read it and really sparked to it and thought it was unique and special and funny, which is not something that you always get in a lot of sci-fi. [It is] also very meaningful and emotional. It was the whole package so it was very exciting and we went about it. We met Martha... One of the biggest things to focus on is how do you honor the book? How do you translate that to the screen? It's not easy, but I'm very fortunate to have Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz — two smart, talented partners — creating and running the show with their guidance and Martha's support and involvement to sort of capture and stay true to the books.

james_davis_nicoll

Silverside Station attracts the rich, the famous, and the bizarre, as well as two Allowed Burglars bent on flamboyant larceny.

House of Shards (Drake Maijstral, volume 2) by Walter Jon Williams

james_davis_nicoll

Bestiaries and DM sourcebooks from Andrew Cawood at Cawood Publishing for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2014) and compatible tabletop roleplaying games.

Bundle of Holding: Cawood Monsters

james_davis_nicoll

Encouraging the next generation of space pirates and superheroes...

Five Stories Featuring Highly Supportive Parents

james_davis_nicoll

2002: Cherie Blair wows Britain with a notably successful real estate deal, Terry Pratchett's Night Watch wins the Best Scottish Socialist novel Prometheus Award, and an earthquake shakes England after Margaret Thatcher makes a public appearance.

Poll #33279 2002 Clarke Award Finalists

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34

View Respondents

Which 2002 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Bold As Love by Gwyneth Jones
11 (32.4%)

Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton
7 (20.6%)

Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson
7 (20.6%)

Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
10 (29.4%)

Passage by Connie Willis
23 (67.6%)

The Secret of Life by Paul J. McAuley
5 (14.7%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2002 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Bold As Love by Gwyneth Jones
Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton
Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson
Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Passage by Connie Willis
The Secret of Life by Paul J. McAuley

james_davis_nicoll

But I ended it by reuniting one fellow with his wallet and someone else with their car keys.

settiai

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Current Mood: accomplished

james_davis_nicoll

The Delikon invested millennia trying to civilize humans, a gift for which humans intend to show appropriate gratitude.

The Delikon by H M Hoover

james_davis_nicoll

(quoting from an emailed newsletter because if there was a press release, I missed it)

Voting is now open for this year's Aurora Awards. CSFFA members have until 11:59pm EDT on July 19th, 2024, to submit their ballot.

Only current members of CSFFA can vote in the Aurora Awards.

james_davis_nicoll

Could some kind person update the awards section of my Wikipedia article?

Also, could some kind person add my latest Aurora nomination to my ISFDB article? Unless it is OK for me to do so.