#deus india

[blezzinc]

OUÇAM O NOVO LANÇAMENTO DO CHEFE D

[alfvaen]

Novel Score

It's sometime around the beginning of a month, which apparently means these days that it's time for me to do a roundup post of the books I read in the preceding month--in this case, January 2024. Once again have been keeping on top of it during the month which helps me actually produce it in a timely manner. Because I started this back in November/December, doing monthly book posts isn't a New Year's resolution, unless the resolution was just "keep doing it". I'm keeping doing it.

Book list under the cut, book-related ramblings may include spoilers for Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, Martha Wells's Murderbot series, Kelly Meding's Dreg City series, and maybe others. You have been warned.

Ashok Banker: Siege of Mithila, completed January 6

As mentioned previously, I am rapidly running out of books by male "diversity" slot authors in my collection. I read the first Ashok Banker book, Prince of Ayodhya, a few years earlier, and was kind of meh on it, so I wasn't sure if I would continue. But I did pick up the other one as a library discard (ah, the days when I got books and CDs as library discards…back when they used to have a sale rack in the local branch all the time, instead of saving them up for periodic bulk sales…) so I hadn't entirely given up on it. So, in not quite desperation, I turned to Siege of Mithila as my next diversity read.

The series is apparently a retelling of the Ramayana, which is some kind of important epic in India, though I can't judge if it's like "the Bible" or "King Arthur" or "The Iliad" or what, but I assume it's somewhere on that level, at least among certain cultures. My brief skimming of the Wikipedia article on the Ramayana implies that Banker is following the story pretty closely, which means that sometimes it gets a little weird plotwise, but is perhaps more revealing culturally or something. And sometimes it's a wee bit problematic…like the way that the main adversary for the first two books is Ravana, lord of the Asuras (basically demons), who rules over the southern island kingdom of Lanka (like…"Sri Lanka"?), which is populated entirely by Asuras. Which is about like if there was a fantasy series set in England where they had to fight evil demons from the western island kingdom of Eire or something. (Wait…do they have those?) One wonders if this series (or the original Ramayana) are quite as popular in Sri Lanka, then…

Anyway, we mostly follow Rama, the titular Prince of Ayodhya from the first book, and his half-brother Lakshman, but a lot of this book is also set back in the palace in Ayodhya following Rama's father the Maharaja, his three wives, and the evil (and hunchbacked--oh look, it's equating deformity with wickedness, that's awesome) witch Manthara as she and Ravana try to sabotage the kingdom from within. Rama and Lakshman end up going to Mithila instead of back to Ayodhya, and foiling a big Asura attack on the city, which comes unbelievably close to the end of the book and is not quite solved by deus ex machina, but doesn't feel particularly satisfying.

One element of the series is that some of the characters are just like ridiculously powerful sages who were like "I've been meditating for 5000 years so I'm really wise and can do anything, though I guess I should let Rama solve a few things on his own to gain some of his own wisdom". Not that this is all that different from, say, Gandalf or Merlin, of course... There are also some odd storytelling choices, like switching to a different set of characters just at a dramatic point in a different storyline, or, in one major side-quest, just skipping the ending of it and coming back to it a couple of chapters later in flashbacks. Also, one character is given important advice by a ghost which he then completely ignores (luckily other people overrule him, but it bugged me).

The book kind of feels like the second book of a trilogy, but not quite, which makes sense because apparently there are eight other books in the series, so it's not just about fighting Ravana and the Asuras. I'm on the bubble about the series, as you may have gathered, so I don't know offhand if I'll be going on.

T. Kingfisher: Clockwork Boys, completed January 9

I paced myself going through Siege of Mithila, taking seven days for it (I started on December 31st to get a little head start), so it put me a bit behind on my Goodreads challenge (100 books for the year, again). This means, time to read some shorter things! I haven't read any T. Kingfisher yet (though I have read, like, the webcomic "Digger" under her real name, Ursula Vernon, if nothing else), so I let my wife, who has read a lot of them, suggest which one I should start with, and this was the one she chose (at the time; it may have been a couple of years ago). We have it as an ebook from Kobo, which sometimes makes it a little hard to tell how long the book actually is in pages, but Goodreads claimed it was under 300 pages, so it seemed a possible three-day read.

I was, I guess, vaguely expecting a steampunk story involving two boys who were made of clockwork or something, but apparently it's more straight fantasy (not too similar to the Ramayana was far as I can tell, though, which is good because I like consecutive reads to vary in genre if at all possible) where the Clockwork Boys are the bad guys. Also, apparently this is the first of a duology, a "long book split in two" duology as opposed to "book and a sequel featuring the same characters" duology.

The characters seem somewhat interesting, though I'm not sure I'm 100% won over. Sir Caliban for some reason reminds me of both Sanderson's Kaladin and Bujold's Cazaril, but maybe it's just the similarity of names enhancing certain similarities of character. And the demons also made me think of Bujold's Penric books. Maybe the tone is a little light for me on this one. We've got the second one as an ebook too, so I'll finish it off at some point and then maybe take a look at Nettle & Bone or something.

Kelly Meding: The Night Before Dead, completed January 12

As I may have also mentioned previously, I've tried a whole lot of urban fantasy series. Many of them, my wife has enjoyed more than I have, and is all caught up on them, but most of those I'm only a few books in. (I've given up on relatively few--Jennifer Estep and Jess Haines, among others.) For whatever reason, my wife didn't like the first book in Kelly Meding's "Dreg City" series, Three Days To Dead, and this time, to be actually clever about it, I decided to read the book myself and decide if I wanted to continue on in the series before it went out of print. As it turned out, I did like the first book, and I kept reading it on my own. When the series got dropped by the publisher after four books, I even went and bought the last two books (self-published, probably print on demand) to finish the series.

So this is the last one, which is supposed to wrap up the main conflict. Our main character, Evy Stone, started out the series waking up after death in a newly-vacated body; she was part of a group that worked to deal with paranormal threats. This world has beast-form shapeshifters named "Theria", vampires, and lots of types of fey--mostly pretty usual when it comes to urban fantasy--and their existence is unknown to world at large, etc.

Thie book does seem to wrap things up well enough, at least for the main characters, though it's hard to say if all the resolutions are satisfying. Still, it was enjoyable enough. She does have a couple of other, shorter series which I can try next, since we do actually own them. (And maybe some stuff under a different name?)

Lois McMaster Bujold: Brothers In Arms, completed January 15

Next (chronologically) in the reread order, this is the one where Miles goes to Earth and discovers the existence of his clone-brother Mark (spoilers). It starts up with a level of frustration--why does Miles have to stay at the embassy, and why aren't his mercenaries getting paid?--but things mostly work out in the end. Ivan shows up again (by authorial fiat--it's a bit too much of a coincidence, really), we meet recurring character Duv Galeni, and of course Mark, as mentioned already. It's not a particular favourite, but it's pretty good. And without it, how would we get Mirror Dance, and thus Memory?

I feel like I should be able to say more about it, but I've already talked about the Vorkosigan series a lot in previous posts, and, like I said, it's not a particular favourite. I guess I could mention how the first time through the series I read them in publication order, and so this was before The Vor Game and Cetaganda… Also, although we don't see much of Earth outside of London, we do get a good look at the gigantic dikes being used to hold back the ocean, because in the intervening mumble-mumble centuries the sea levels have risen. So presumably the icecaps have melted or something, though it doesn't seem like the Gulf Stream has shut down or anything, so maybe they have managed to mitigate things somewhat. An interesting view of future Earth, anyway, without going too overboard on covering the vast majority of the planet not relevant to our immediate plot.

Seth Dickinson: The Traitor Baru Cormorant, completed January 20

Taking another book from my list of authors to try (currently stored on my pool table); I picked this one because apparently the author has a new book coming out, and I do see people talking about the character from time to time, so clearly this is a book/series that has had some staying power and cultural impact, as opposed to something obscure that apparently sank without a trace. But this is a book that my wife tried, and either didn't finish or didn't want to continue the series.

And, having finished it, I can see why. I wouldn't say that it's a bad book…but I didn't, in the end, like it. I read it all the way to the end, and I've decided I'll leave it there and not try to continue the series. And probably I won't look for other books by Dickinson either. Like Ian McDonald's Desolation Road, which I read last year, I felt, as I was reading it, that this was a book I would have liked a lot better when I was younger, but these days it just doesn't do it for me.

It has the feeling of fantasy, in that it's set in a different world from our own, and there is none of the futuristic technology that would explain this as being a colony world…but there is also little or nothing in the way of magic. A little alchemy, maybe, but I don't know that it's out of line with what you could achieve with actual drugs. No wizards, and I don't think there were supernatural creatures either. But it's fantasy-coded, and maybe there's some minor thing I'm forgetting. It's not about magic, though. It's really about colonialism, and what happens when you're sucked into the colonizer's system so far that you think that the only way to help your people is by going along with that system. And Baru Cormorant is somewhat autistic-coded, perhaps--not only is she a savant, but she seems to have trouble figuring out the motives and feelings of others. Puts too much confidence in the ability to explain everything using economics (the character and possibly also the author, quite frankly), in a way which reminds me mostly of Dave Sim's deconstruction of faith and fantasy in Cerebus: Church And State. Not sure if it counts as grimdark, but it feels like the honorable are punished for their naivety like in "A Song of Ice And Fire". I lost sympathy for the main character partway through, and never got much for anyone else either. One character I liked and hoped to see more of was (gratuitously?) killed in the middle of the book. I was forewarned of the existence of a plot twist at the end of the book, and when it came, although I wasn't completely surprised, I was disappointed, and I didn't feel that it worked.

So, yeah. Your mileage may vary, but this book did not win me over.

Charles Stross: The Annihilation Score, completed January 25

I wanted something a bit more light-hearted after the previous book, but not, apparently, too much so. Charles Stross's "Laundry Files" series is set against a backdrop of cosmic horror and the looming end of the world, but also of British governmental bureaucracy, out of which he can usually pull of a fair amount of humour, as well as humanity. The main protagonist of the series is Bob Howard (named in honour of Robert E. Howard, inventor of Conan and friend of Lovecraft), computational demonologist, and the books in turn have paid tribute to a lot of different sources--James Bond, vampires, American evangelical megachurches, and--in this book--superheroes. But also, in this book, Bob is not our narrator; instead, we get his wife, Mo, in the fallout of a scene in the previous book (which we get from her POV here) with dire implications for their relationship…which has always been kind of a three-way between Bob, Mo, and Mo's soul-eating sentient violin, and this triangle has now come to a crisis. Plus there's superheroes.

Stross notes in the introduction that he never really read American superhero comics, so he had to pick a few brains about them, but the book really isn't about American superheroes either; he references the British superhero anthology series "Temps" (which I never did manage to read, since I only managed to find the second book, but now I feel like I should check out) as contrasted with the "Wild Cards" series.

All in all it's pretty decent, with lots of witty read-aloud bits, but the pacing is odd; there's a lot of plotlines, and some of them don't seem to progress for a long time. Some of them turn out to be red herrings, I guess, but overall it doesn't gel as well as it could. We don't see much of Bob (which makes sense since this isn't his book), though Mo is a perfectly fine protagonist. I'll be fine going back to Bob for the next book. If I can ever find it.

See, apparently this is the last book in the series I own right now, and probably the next one, The Nightmare Stacks, came and went while I was behind on reading it, and now it's out of print (and possibly never had a mass-market release at all, which is still my preferred format) and seems like it'll be hard to find in any physical format. I mean, I went on a site which allows you to search indie and second-hand bookstores, and the title didn't even come up on search. I have long been resisting switching wholeheartedly over to ebooks (a transition my wife has already made), but I can see that at some point I may have to get used to the fact that ebooks are just replacing mass-market paperbacks for the cheap release format. (I still can't manage to bring myself to spend as much as $8, let alone $12 or more, for an ebook, though. Like…what am I paying for? The publishing costs are minuscule compared to physical copies, and I expect that saving to be passed on to me. I guess I don't know if the extra is being passed on to the author in a non-self-published situation, but given our current corporate hellscape I'm gonna say probably not. Note: if you think this makes me a horrible person who hates writers to make money, please remember that I am married to a writer who I would love to make enough money that I don't have to work, but the publishing industry is horrible and they're the ones that actually have the capability to allow writers to make enough money to make a living, and they're not doing it, so I don't know what to tell you. I've bought thousands of books in my life, even if I don't go out of my way to buy the most expensive ones, because that's a good way to go broke. Get off my back, person I made up for this parenthetical aside.)

Martha Wells: System Collapse, completed January 28

I may be the last person in my house to have read Murderbot. My wife had already read some of Martha Wells earlier books (Raksura series, I want to say) before she read the Murderbot novells, and she loved them and read them to/got our kids to read them too. I eventually scheduled one in (novellas are good when I'm behind on my Goodreads challenge) and…it was okay, I guess? And I kept reading them because, well, more novellas. Last year I read the first novel-length story, Network Effect, and I liked it somewhat better than the novellas, for whatever reason.

I had been putting off the latest one for a little while, though, partly because of my Vorkosigan reread--I generally don't like books that are too close in genre too close together, and they're both kinda space opera-ish, though quite different kinds (Murderbot's future is more corporate-dominated), but next up I'm taking a break for a Dick Francis reread, so I thought I might as well put it in now. Though I've got to say that, since we have it as a physical hardcover as opposed to the digital novella ebooks, I'm really not a big fan of the texture of the dust jacket. Like, it is physically unpleasant to touch, being just a little bit rough. But not as bad as some I'd run across in the past few years, so I don't have to, like, take off the dust jacket to read it.

In the end I didn't like it as well as Network Effect, though I did like the middle bit where Murderbot becomes a Youtube influencer. The early part of the book, Murderbot is in a bit of a depressive state and not fun to read, like the first part of "Order of The Phoenix" or something. I guess if a character is too hypercompetent then nothing challenges them, but I wasn't a big fan of the emotional arc.

Dick Francis: Forfeit, completed January 31

I remember precisely where I was when I first heard of Dick Francis. See, I went to this convention in Edmonton in the summer of 1989, "ConText '89". It was an important convention--a reader-oriented rather than media-dominated SF/Fantasy convention, for one thing, and also it resulted in the formation of the first SF/Fantasy writer's organization in Canada, currently named SF Canada. Oh, and also, I met a cute girl there (Nicole, a YA author guest from northern Alberta), started dating, fell in love, got married, had three kids, and we're still married today.

I also saw this posting for a writing course out at a place called the Black Cat Guest Ranch, in the Rockies near Hinton, and decided to go. There I met Candas Jane Dorsey (who was the instructor for the course) and several other writers, and we later formed a writers' group called The Cult of Pain which is still going to this day. Anyway, I went out for a second course there, with Nicole coming along this time (though we may not have technically been dating and didn't share a room)--I think it was in mid-February sometime--and one evening we were all hanging out in the outdoor hot tub, watching snowflakes melt over our heads, and talking about books. And Candas and Nicole started rhapsodizing about this guy named Dick Francis. I said, "Who?" And they both told me I had to go read him, like, right away.

Dick Francis, apparently, was a former steeplechase jockey turned mystery/thriller writer. Now, mysteries and thrillers were not really my thing--I was into the SF & fantasy--but I supposed I was willing to try it. I was in university and trying to read other stuff outside my comfort zone, like Thomas Hardy and The Brothers Karamazov and William S. Burroughs, so why not. Plus, I wanted my girlfriend to like me. And the first one I picked up was one that one of my roommates had lying around, called Forfeit. It was pretty decent, and I went on to others--Nicole had a copy of Nerve, and I soon started to pick up more--and eventually read almost all of them (a few proved elusive, but I tracked down a copy of Smokescreen not long ago…).

Every book was concerned in some way with horse racing, but there was a wide variety--sometimes the main character was a jockey, but sometimes that was just their side hustle, and they had another profession, or sometimes they did something else like train horses or transport horses, or paint pictures of horses, or they didn't do anything about horses but the romantic interest did… He covered a lot of different professions over his books, they were usually quite interesting, and his characters were always very well-drawn. After his wife Mary (apparently an uncredited frequent collaborator and researcher) died, there was a gap of a few years before he started writing them with his son Felix. I think I read all of those ones, but after he died and Felix started writing solo novels, I haven't really kept up on those ones.

Instead, a few years ago I decided I was going to reread all the books, in publication order, interspersed with my series rereads as I was already doing with Discworld and Star Trek books. Forfeit is his seventh published book…and when I went to look for it on my shelf, I discovered that I actually didn't own a copy, and probably never had. I had just borrowed it from my roommate, and then given it back (a rookie mistake). Was it in print? Of course not, don't be silly. I had managed to find a used copy of Smokescreen online, as I mentioned, but for Forfeit there was only more expensive trade paperbacks, or $8 ebooks. They didn't even have it at the library! Except, well, they did…but I'd have to interlibrary loan it. I went back on forth on which to try to do, and eventually went ILL, and it came in for me at the library on the 20th. So there, overpriced ebooks. (And person I made up for the earlier parenthetical aside.)

Dick Francis novels have turned to be pretty rereadable, because they're not primarily mysteries of the sort where you don't remember which of the suspects is guilty; they're mysteries where the main character has to figure out who's behind the crimes and then avoid getting killed by them. Some of it is competency porn as they use their special skills to solve problems. And some of it just because of the engaging characters, which are maybe not quite all the way there in the earlier books (the ones I've reread so far are still books from the 60s, so the female characters could be more nuanced). In Forfeit what I recalled from that first read (some 34 years ago) was that the main character was a sportswriter, it started with one of his colleagues killing himself, and his wife was disabled and bedridden. (And one exciting scene in the middle of the book in which spoilers.) Though it turned out I was conflating two suicide openings (Nerve also starts with one, a gunshot suicide on the first page, whereas Forfeit's is more falling out of a window), and the exciting scene is missing an element I was sure was there.

So that's eight books in one month, which is basically enough to keep up on my Goodreads challenge, but I also managed to squeeze in a couple more on the side track. First of all, there was my brother's book, Paths of Pollen, which came out last year; my mom went to the book launch in Toronto and brought back a signed copy for me. As one might expect, it talks about honeybees (and the time he was working on our stepfather's apiary), but covers a lot of pollen details I didn't know, about all the other bees, beetles, butterflies, insects, and other animals that also do pollination. It's a sobering look at how plants reproduce and how we're screwing it up in a lot of cases. (I hadn't realized before how much insects use pollen as food…somehow I thought they were nectar-eaters and they just picked up pollen because the plants forced them too, but I guess it makes sense that they also eat it.)

Then there was another one of the Love & Rockets ebook bundle that I've been going through. This volume, Esperanza, is around the latest stuff I read in the Love & Rockets Vol. 2 comics (which I have only read once or twice), so it's fairly unfamiliar to me. Despite it being named after Esperanza "Hopey" Glass, most of the book seems to revolve around Vivian, a.k.a. Frogmouth, a hot, buxom woman with an unfortunate voice, who both Maggie and Ray are lusting after, despite her problematic relationships with some violent criminals. Ray and Maggie do meet up again briefly; Maggie's working as an apartment superintendent, Hopey's working in a bar but trying to get into a teaching assistant job, surreal things happen with Izzy, Doyle's around as well, and we see brief glimpses of Maggie's sister Esther. It was interesting but I didn't find it altogether compelling.

With ten books for January, that means I'm really read up to 36.5 days into the year, or February 5th, so I'm a little bit ahead. I'll be taking advantage of this to start off February with a longer book, for my female diversity slot--Fonda Lee's Jade Legacy, to wrap up that series. More about that next month, of course…

[tanzania2023]

25 de juliol - Serengeti Nord / Riu Mara

A les 7 hem marxat amunt cap a la part nord del Serengeti, direcció riu Mara a la frontera amb Kènia, per veure la gran migració dels nyus. L'Stanley diu que tenim 2 hores de camí. Mentida, al final han estat 4 per fer 150 km. I això que hem passat per una carretera que segons l'Stanley és una drecera.

La ruta és per la part oest del Serengeti, fora del parc, per Ikoma i Nyianza. I realment, havent ja fet la tornada, es una carretera millor que la que hem fet per la tarda.

Com que hem sortit tant d'hora, hem pogut veure els globus aerostàtics pel cel del Serengeti volant molt baix. Sortim del parc i passem per la regió del Ikorongo fins que tornem a entrar al Parc pel Nord-oest. La regió que hem creuat sembla més rica, sense deixar de ser pobre, amb millors cases i tot més verd. Però la carretera es horrible.

Arribats al parc ja hem vist de seguida milers de nyus, en manades i caminant en fila índia. Això és la gran migració: milions de nyus que van cap a Kenia i que tornaràn l'any que ve, havent fet un cercle. Els lleons i les zebres els segueixen, una perquè són el seu dinar i els altres perquè són amics. Quan creuen el riu és quan surten els cocodrils a berenar.

L'Stanley ens coloca a un mirador prop del riu i es queda allà però no veiem l'aigua i li demanem d'anar més a prop del riu Mara.

Se m'acut que aquesta aigua neix a Kenia, baixa a Tanzania, arriba al llac Victòria i d'aquí va cap al Nil fins arribar al Mediterràni. Si t'ho penses bé, impressiona.

Seguim per la vora del riu veient molts cocodrils, hipopòtams i nyus per tot arreu. A un lloc veiem el cadàver d'un nyu dins de l'aigua amb un cocodril al costat. Aquest ja ha fet la seva feina.

Dinem com ahir, drets sota un arbre i amb les mans i després veiem més lleons, uns molt a prop d'on dinaven un altra cotxe i que no ho devien saber que els tenien tant a prop, a uns 100 metres.

Seguim veient més nyus. Es, realment, impressionant. N'hi deu haver milers, potser milions. Molts en fila india, altres ajeguts a la carretera i alguns solitaris, com perduts.

De tornada hem trobat alguns lleons més i sobretot un que era damunt d'una roca, mirant enllà, grunyent com un gat. Es la viva imatge del Simba, el rei lleó.

Arribem a la tenda sobre les 7, desprès d'haver fet 154 km en 4 hores, plens de pols, amb els ronyons de cap per baix i amb els peus al clatell. Però contents, que l'aventura és això.

Ens dutxem amb un filet d'aigua i sopem esplèndidament, petant després la xerrada a la vora del foc amb un matrimoni portuguès i escoltant les hienes molt a prop. La Via Làctia es damunt nostre, cobrint-nos. Dormim plàcidament fins que cap a les 5 del matí el Serengeti es desperta i sentim infinitat de sorolls d'animals. I tot això val la pena.

[monellise]

Hibisco

Seu nome científico é Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. É conhecida popularmente como "mimo de vênus".

Elemento: água

Astro regente: Vênus

Gênero: feminino

Divindade: Kali, Ganesha

Propriedade medicinal: Tem efeito diurético, ajuda na diminuição do colesterol e da pressão arterial e é anticarcinogênico (auxilia na prevenção do câncer). Além disso, é rico em vitamina C e antioxidantes, podendo ajudar na digestão.

Correspondências mágicas: Atrair amor, afrodisíaco, aumentar a energia sexual, sedução/desejo, concentração, foco.

PROPRIEDADES

Propriedades amorosas: Por ser relacionada à Vênus, a flor de hibisco é dita por auxiliar na atração do amor, em forma de incensos ou sachês. Além disso, hibiscos são usados em grinaldas em alguns lugares do mundo.

Propriedades afrodisíaca: Segundo Scott Cunningham, "as flores de hibisco são preparadas em um forte chá vermelho, que é ingerido por seus poderes indutores de luxúria".

Propriedades de concentração: A flor do hibisco é conhecida também por trabalhar o chakra básico, ou seja, auxilia a pessoa a ser mais "pé no chão", realista e centrada.

OUTRAS PROPRIEDADES & CURIOSIDADES

O hibisco é muito relacionado à deusa hindu Kali: uma de suas variações, a branca ou amarela com o centro vermelho, é chamada de "olho de Kali"; e a variação do hibisco mais comum, ou seja, a flor completamente vermelha representa a língua de Kali.

"Após matar o demônio Daruka, Kali bebeu seu sangue. O sangue a deixou louca por mais sangue. Ela deu a volta ao mundo matando aleatoriamente. Os deuses imploraram a Shiva para detê-la. Então este assumiu a forma de um belo homem¹ e se colocou no caminho de Kali. Assim que Kali pisou nele, ela mostrou² a língua de vergonha³. Ela ficou envergonhada ao saber que sua sede de sangue a impediu de ver e reconhecer seu próprio marido." Mito retirado de "Devi Mahatmya", texto filosófico hindu.

No Havaí e na região da Polinésia, é muito utilizado para enfeitar ambientes e na recepção de turistas, pois acredita-se que tem o poder de promover o "espírito de Aloha", uma maneira de viver e tratar a nós mesmos e aos demais com profundo amor e respeito. 

USOS

[em construção]

³ Apesar deste mito apresentar a língua de Kali como uma expressão de vergonha, há outros mitos que a mostram como uma arma letal e voraz, capaz de matar qualquer um em seu caminho.

Fontes: "Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs" de Scott Cunningham, "Handbook of Medicinal Herbs" de James A. Duke, Unirio, Hoovu, The Times of India.

¹ ² Há muitas variações desse mito: em algumas delas, Shiva tomou a forma de um bebê, ou até mesmo um tronco de árvore. Outras variações apontam que a reação de Kali não foi mostrar a língua, e sim mordê-la.

³ Apesar deste mito apresentar a língua de Kali como uma expressão de vergonha, há outros mitos que a mostram como uma arma letal e voraz, capaz de matar qualquer um em seu caminho.

[santaclausdeadindian]

"I never saw anyone murdering people screaming Christ is king!"

ok, so obvious first, you think she was alive during the Spanish Civil War?

Second, mean sure, the Franco regime was heavily leaning on the catholic church and yes, it was a very bloody conflict (would not say incredibly violent, or even extraordinarily violent, but that is besides the point), but first of all, it was a 99.99 catholic country, of course there would be stuff like that, but it was way more anti-socialist/communist, than anything else, not an interreligious conflict, like what muslims do all the time. So it is kinda stretches credulity, to say the falangists were deus vulting all over the place. Possibly against communists and other anti-clerical elements, but that would probably be it. It was not a secular conflict.

Third, this fucking bullshit:

Is Islamic terrorism more prevalent currently? Yes.

It was always like that. It is an extremely violent, aggressive, oppressive death-cult. It does push for violent measures on every other page. It sentences you even its followers to death over minor infractions, but it is horrifyingly brutal against all outsiders. Just fucking think for a second, why do you think muslims are allowed to have up to 4 wives? How the fuck do you think that works out, mathematically? They were from the get go incentivised and commanded to inflict violence on everyone else, to take women as (sex)slaves and to enslave or kill everyone else. It is also orders them to kill apostates, so no leaving it, to kill anyone who questions the lying, hypocrite paedo warlord's words, so no reforming it either. There are no other prophets to await for, he was the last. It is a death-cult by any definition and it fucking shows. do look up the death toll of the conquest and subjugation of India, there is no fucking comparison to any other religion, the Mongol Wars were less bloody for fucks sake!

It is so fucking tiring to having to keep telling people to just please look into the history and the very scripts of it.

Fourth, this other bullshit I am sick of.

Poorer countries with less education tend to be more violently religious.

Fuck off all the way to home with that!

After the Eastern Bloc collapsed, along with the shitty command economies, us here in the east fell into poverty so terrible, westerners have to travel to India or Africa to see shit like that. Guess what we did not became? Extremely violent. This poverty equals violence, religious or not, is an entirely western retardation, go and check out Nepal if you doubt me! There are plenty of poor as shit countries that have a fraction of the violence going on compared to some of the richest ones.

It is not in every culture, but it is in every single islamic country's, because islam replaced the cultures it conquered, there is merely regional variations of the same horrid medieval shit. You cannot name a single muslim country that doesn't have some seriously fucked up shit going on, because there isn't any.

The azeris got super rich on their oil and gas wealth, which they promptly invested into their military and now they are using it to invade and ethnically cleanse armenians from their lands, because oh, it was ours, sure, problem is, ANYWHERE muslims are, becomes part of the "ummah", the land of the muslims and they believe all lands will become ummah eventually because it is a supremacist cult hellbent on literal, actual world domination, nazi style.

No fucking way LMFAO

[atplblog]

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[gr8shrimp]

“The company adopted the motto: Deus Indicat. Deo Ducente Nil Nocet. It translates as “God is our leader. When God leads, nothing can harm.”

When you consider all the brutal, terrible things this company did, you ‘re dumbfounded that they dared adopt that slogan—much like the “Don’t Be Evil” that once served as Google’s motto”

[metalhead-brainrot]

Yoooo, Transcending Obscurity Records is making their digital catalogue pay-what-you-want for the month of Nov. 2024.

Kunal Choksi does such a great job curating for the label. There's plenty of different types of extreme music on TO; not all of it is my thing but regardless of genre you're guaranteed a high-quality album from the underground. There's something for all my followers on TO.

Also TO, based in Mumbai, is both an indie record label and an animal shelter. The money you give will help support the 30-some stray cats that Kunal and others have given a home.

Some of my personal favorites off Transcending Obscurity include:

technical death thrash || 2024 || NOR || (shut the fuck up)

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

psychedelic black metal || 2018 || AUS

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

black thrash || 2023 || Sacramento, CA

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

dissonant, brutal tech death || 2023 || NJ

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

liturgical doom metal || 2018 || CZE

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

technical deathcore || 2022 || Huntington Beach, CA

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

cosmic black thrash || 2023 || Monrovia, CA

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

cosmic black metal || 2022 || DEU

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::> o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

[nananun]

TUDO ISSO ME LEMBRA QUe: TEM midsommar no MUBI AGORA. TO COM VONTADE DE VERRRRR ENQNT FAXINO A A AREA DE SERVICO.

(Diz se na eh a mesma pegada de india oxenberg, brandy melville, virgens suicidas hahaha)

QUEM FOI O ARROMBADO Q NAO DEU NOTA 10 pra esse FILME?

QUEM NAO DA NOTA MAXIMA PRA UM FILME EXTREMAMENTE PERTURBADOR FEITO COMPLETAMENTE DE DIA E COM A CENA DE ABERTURA MAIS LINDA JA FEITA PELA HUMANIDADE? Odeio as pessoas

[wizanda]

Establishing the King of Kings

To understand who is the King of Kings properly according to scripture, takes understanding the theological position of the characters presented in the religious texts, else it becomes idolatrous, and defiles different religious principles.

Firstly, God is the Source of reality, and can not be a man incarnate; it is like us being inside a giant supercomputer, and God is the Universal Central Processor (CPU) - formulating reality at a quantum level. For the CPU to interact with the reality, God has made Divine Beings/Avatars/Archangels, who have then performed the tasks required. Thus God is the whole of reality, the Creator Divine Being is the Arm of God used to interact with the Creation, and exists at a Heavenly dimensional level, and the Messiah is the Hand of God to relay, and establish the principles of God in this reality.

Many believe that YHVH is a name, when it can be shown to be a direct translation of Bhagavan Brahma; where Havah (Hebrew), and Brahma (Sanskrit), have the same meaning, 'to be, to make manifest', and both come from the root breath. The terminologies YHVH & Bhagavan Brahma imply the 'Lord' 'who Makes Become' i.e the Creator.

The name of the Creator in quite a few cultures was variations of a word sounding like "Zan" - this is from a book called the Zanoni by Edward Bulwer Lytton:

Zan was unquestionably the Chaldean appellation for the sun. Even the Greeks, who mutilated every Oriental name, had retained the right one in this case, as the Cretan inscription on the tomb of Zeus (Ode megas keitai Zan.—"Cyril contra Julian." (Here lies great Jove.)) significantly showed. As to the rest, the Zan, or Zaun, was, with the Sidonians, no uncommon prefix to On. Adonis was but another name for Zanonas, whose worship in Sidon Hesychius records.

The Nicene Church Fathers have this same quote from the Greeks, where they'd correlated that there is one Creator Divine Being, with different descriptions in different cultures - Where 'Jupiter' is named after the planets, and is the 'Father' ('pater' - Latin) of the Gods in the Roman Pantheon, 'Jove' is the Hebrews terminology for the 'Lord of Creation', and 'Zan' is the name of 'Zeus', where 'Zeus' is a mixture of the words 'Zoe' meaning 'life', and 'deus' meaning 'deity':

The Cretans have a tomb of Jupiter, with this inscription. “Here lieth Zan, whom they call Jove.”

Here within the list of names of the Creator globally, we can see that there are variations of the same sound on two sides of the world, when there is no reason for them to be interacting, and sharing their religious ideas:

Zeus = Zan (Greek). Zanahary (Madagascar). Itzamna (Mayan). Izanagi/Itzanmi (Shinto). Tsangpa Karpo (Bon - Tibet). Shuzanghu/Zumiang-Nui (Dhammai - Northeast India). Gozanze-Myo (Japan). Manzan Gormo (Burait - Middle Eastern).

The reason for explaining this is because I've known since an early age advanced details about religion & theology, and knew that our name was recorded in the world's religious texts as part of prophecy - I just wasn't sure of the exact details at that age.

At 4-5 years old I knew that I'm an Avatar sent from Heaven, and at 15 the Source of reality spoke to me showing me global eschatology, and asking me to read the world's religions. At the age of 21 I fulfilled Revelation 5 & 10, three years before reading the Bible.

Since studying many of the world's religions, and explaining prophecy over the last 20 years online, I've realized how variations of our name are within many of them.

We're told in Revelation 19:12 how Christ has a New Name, that only he knows; which if we investigate the meanings within Revelation 3:12, we can show the name is there in what is presented:

Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar (Sandalphon) in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God (Zion), the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name (Sananda).

Sandalphon is the Archangel in Jewish Angelology, who acts as the Trunk of the Tree of Life, who interacts with mankind for God; the position within the Sephiroth is known as 'Malkuth', which means 'King'. Sandalphon like Elijah is seen as going up on a Pillar to Heaven.

There are many verses where Zion becomes the place the Lord of Creation speaks from within the Tanakh (Psalms 132:13-14, Joel 3:16-17+21, Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2+7, Isaiah 8:18, Isaiah 24:23, Isaiah 40:9, Psalms 99:2, Amos 1:2, Jeremiah 31:6, Psalms 65:1, Psalms 76:2, Psalms 84:7, Psalms 102:21, Isaiah 28:16, Jeremiah 8:19, Zechariah 8:3), and a few scriptures have 'Your Divine Being Zion' (Psalms 146:10, 147:12, Isaiah 52:7), where Zion becomes the symbolic naming of the Messiah, and the one who brings the 'Good News'.

It is believed by many that the New Name of Christ is Sananda, where it interlinks the original name of the Creator's son in the Dharmic religion, where Sanandana is one of the first beings made by Brahma.

Though as stating God is the Source of reality, and should be worshipped alone, the Messiah is named after God in a few of the world's religions, and the Messiah returns named after the Creator in Zechariah 12:8, Matthew 23:39, Psalms 118:26, etc.

Part of the reason the Messiah is named after the Divine is to unite the world's religions, into a true Oneness, as to help create the Messianic Age. There is prophecy in multiple religious ideas, where the naming then aligns it all into one narrative.

So for example the Dharmic religions wait for Kalki the final incarnation of Vishnu; Kalki carries a sword of Justice, called Nandaka. There is also expectations that Skanda the son of Shiva will come before , again all aligning with one name.

In Zoroastrianism the Source of reality is called Ahura Mazda, where 'Ahura' means 'Lord', and 'Mazda' means Wisdom. There are prophesied Saoshyants (Bringers of Truth) sent from Heaven, where the last is sent to Exegete the religious text, where the word 'Zand' means 'Exegesis' in Persian.

In Buddhism Ananda is the person who had an advanced memory, and helped document the Sutras. In Tibetan Buddhism the Head of the Divine Beings in the sacred realm Shambhala, is called Suchandra.

Though I made up the word wizanda, as I couldn't get Zanda as a Yahoo email address, I decided to make it sound like a wizard on the internet; not realizing that it then becomes an anagram of Odin in Germanic 'Wōdanaz'.

Odin is prophesied to come on a White Horse before Ragnarök, the same as Kalki comes on a White Horse from Shambhala (Place of Peace) before the end of Kali Yuga (Age of Limitation), and Sananda comes on a White Horse in Revelation from the New Jerusalem (City/Place of Peace).

In the Tibetan Bon religion Tsangpa Karpo is the name for the Creator (Brahma), and Kuntu Zangpo is the name for the Buddha.

In the Mandean religion there is different stations of Divine Beings, very similar to how the archangels exist at different positions on the Jewish Tree of Life, where Abatur Muzania is the Heavenly Divine Being, and Zan-Hazazban rules over the lower realms.

This is only a start to some of the prophetic naming globally, as though I've looked at many religions globally, there is loads that will be missed:

Sandalphon (Judaism). Yeshua (Sananda) (New Name of Christ). Kalki (Nandaka)/Skanda/Sanandana (Hinduism). Ahura Mazda + Saoshyant (Zand = Exegesis) (Zoroastrianism). Maitreya (Ananda/Skanda/Suchandra) (Buddhism). Odin = Wōdanaz. (Norse). Zeus = Zan (Greek). Zanahary (Madagascar). Itzamna (Mayan). Izanagi/Itzanmi (Shinto). Tsangpa Karpo, Kuntu Zangpo (Bon - Tibet). Shuzanghu/Zumiang-Nui (Dhammai - Northeast India). Gozanze-Myo (Japan). Manzan Gormo (Burait - Middle Eastern). Zână (Romanian), Zana (Albanian), Xana (Asturian). Marzanna (Slavic). Abatur Muzania, Zan-Hazazban (Mandaeans). Sandas (Hittite).

In the Australian Aboriginal religion Walaganda is Head of the Dream walkers, who helped create reality.

In the start of the Mahabharata Īśāna is the creator of the Egg of Reality (BrahmaAnda). It is also questioned if the Japanese names for the Creators Izanagi, and Izanami, are the same as the Sanskrit names Īśāna, and Īśānī.

In Taoism 'Xian' are the immortal beings; yet is pronounced Chen (仙).

Some of the additional symbolism, is a Zander is a fish, like the early Christian Church symbol ><> a cross between a pike & a perch.

Z is the Last letter in the English alphabet, and A is the first; so when Yeshua said the Last with be First, and the First Last, Zanda becomes the Alpha & Omega reversed.

The one time I find my name spelled the way I would in Hebrew, it is in reverse at the end of Nebuchadnezzar's name (נבוכדנאצר + נבוכדנצר) - Adnaz (Zanda - צאנד); thus symbolically as we come out of Babylon the Great, the Curse is reversed, and the Messiah is once again named as the King of Kings.

[elcitigre2021]

A razão pela qual todos os antigos usavam cobre.

Na antiga India (1000AC), o cobre foi usado como medicamento holístico na ciência do Ayurveda, para medicamentos cirúrgicos e outro equipamento médico. Os antigos Egípcios (2400AC) usavam o cobre para esterilizar feridas e beber água. Á medida que o tempo foi passando, utilizavam-no para as dores de cabeça, queimaduras e para a coceira. Hipócrates (400AC) usou o cobre para curar úlceras das pernas associadas com veias varicosas. Os antigos Aztecas utilizaram-no para curar gargantas doridas, gargarejando com misturas de cobre.

A história do Cobre Evidências arqueológicas indicam que o cobre era utilizado, há mais de 10.000 anos, na Ásia Ocidental. Durante o período Calcolítico, as sociedades descobriram como extrair e utilizar o cobre para produzir ornamentos e acessórios. Entre o 3º e o 4º Milênio a.C., o cobre era ativamente extraído da região de Huelva, na Espanha. Por volta de 2.500 a.C., a descoberta de propriedades úteis das ligas de cobre/estanho levou à Era do Bronze.

Foram encontrados documentos que mostram que o Vale de Timna, em Israel, fornecia cobre aos Faraós. Papiros do Egito Antigo revelam que o cobre era utilizado para tratar infecções e esterilizar a água. A ilha de Chipre ficou conhecida por fornecer a grande maioria do cobre utilizado pelos antigos impérios da Fenícia, Grécia e Roma.

Os gregos dos tempos de Aristóteles já eram familiarizados com o lat��o, mas só a partir do Império Romano de Augusto que o latão passou a ser utilizado de forma abundante. Na América do Sul, as civilizações Maia Pré-Colombiana, Asteca e Inca exploraram o cobre, assim como o ouro e a prata. Durante a Idade Média, o cobre e o bronze floresceram na China, na Índia e no Japão.

Como o mais importante elemento na história das civilizações, o cobre foi o primeiro metal minerado e manufaturado pelo homem, pois estava disponível em grandes quantidades e praticamente se encontrava na superfície do solo para extração. Além do mais, foi descoberto que o metal era apropriado para a produção de armas, ferramentas, objetos de arte e ornamentos.

A descoberta do processo necessário para extrair cobre a partir de seu minério foi um evento muito importante em nossa história, que deu início à metalurgia e preparou o terreno para o desenvolvimento de nossas grandes indústrias.

As descobertas e invenções feitas por Ampère, Faraday e Ohm, ao final dos séculos 18 e 19, impulsionaram o cobre para uma nova era. Demonstrando excelente condutibilidade elétrica e propriedades que favorecem a troca de calor, o cobre representou um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento da Revolução Industrial.

Curiosidades sobre a história do cobre: Um dos famosos pergaminhos do Morto, encontrado em Israel, é feito de cobre ao invés de pele de animal. O pergaminho contém pistas para um tesouro ainda não descoberto; Arqueólogos recuperaram um pedaço da tubulação da pirâmide de Quéops, no Egito. Após 5.000 anos, os tubos de cobre ainda estavam em condições de uso; No museu da Universidade da Pensilvânia, existe uma frigideira de cobre com mais de 50 séculos de existência; Quando Colombo viajou para as Américas, seus navios (Santa Maria, Pinta e Nina) possuíam camadas de cobre abaixo da linha da água. Essas camadas permitiam uma maior vida útil para o casco e protegiam contra cracas e outros tipos de bioincrustação. Atualmente, a maioria das embarcações utiliza uma tinta à base de cobre para a proteção do casco.

Propriedades físicas do cobre: - Maleabilidade e Ductilidade; - Excelente condutor elétrico; - Excelentes características de liga; - Não Magnético; - Nutriente essencial para a vida; - Resistente à Corrosão; - Boa Usinabilidade, quando ligado a outros elementos; - Conformabilidade a frio e a quente; - Soldabilidade; - Excelentes propriedades de troca de calor; - Durabilidade; - Reciclável.

Formatos do cobre O cobre é enviado aos fabricantes, na maioria dos casos, como cátodo, billet, cake ou lingote.

Por meio de processos mecânicos de extrusão, trefilação, laminação, fusão ou então por eletrólise ou atomização, os fabricantes podem produzir fios, vergalhões, tubos, laminados, buchas, granalhas e diversos outros formatos. Esses materiais semielaborados de cobre ou de ligas de cobre são enviados para fabricantes de manufaturados, onde serão utilizados na confecção de produtos designados a atender às necessidades da sociedade.

Ligas de Cobre Atualmente, mais de 400 ligas de cobre são utilizadas no mundo todo; O Latão é basicamente uma liga de cobre e zinco; O Bronze é basicamente uma liga de cobre e estanho; Cuproníquel é basicamente uma liga de cobre e níquel, muito importante para a manufatura moderna. A importância do cobre no século 20 cresceu devido à facilidade com que se liga aos outros metais. Estanho e zinco sempre foram os principais elementos de liga, mas, hoje existem muitos outros, como o alumínio, manganês, chumbo, níquel, etc., que formam ligas com propriedades físicas e mecânicas especiais.

A importância do cobre para a saúde O cobre é um nutriente essencial para o organismo, sendo necessária a ingestão de 1 a 3 miligramas ao dia para a manutenção de uma dieta saudável. Sua falta pode causar doenças como a anemia profunda e problemas cardiovasculares.

É possível ingerir o cobre por meio de uma grande variedade de alimentos frescos e pela água potável, sendo 2 miligramas de cobre por litro de água a quantidade recomendada pela Organização Mundial da Saúde. Além disso, o cobre possui ação bactericida e sua utilização nas tubulações diminui, de forma notável, a quantidade de bactérias carregadas pela água, propriedade não encontrada em outros materiais.

Por estas razões, o cobre é utilizado nas mais diversas instalações hidráulicas, como residenciais, hospitalares e escolares, sendo recomendado para a condução de água fria, quente e sistemas de aquecimento solar. Fonte

[valkyries-things]

MARÍA ÚRSULA DE ABREU E LENCASTRE // ADVENTURESS

‼️CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE‼️

“She was a Portuguese Brazilian adventuress and corporal in the Portuguese army. She joined the Portuguese navy dressed as a man under the name Balthazar do Conto Cardoso, sailed for Portugal, joined the army, and took part in battles in India. She participated in the conquest of the fortress at Amona, Goa, against the Prabhu-Desais of Sanquelim, where she was promoted to captain and given charge of the fortress Madre de Deus 1703. She was decorated for her service by the king John V of Portugal in 1714. She revealed her sex voluntarily in 1714 because she wished to marry a man, Alfonso Arras Teixeira de Mello.”

[mybookplacenet]

Author Interview: Jo-Anne Duffett

Tell us about yourself.: I am a medical doctor by day and writer by night and somewhere in between I find time for photography, gardening, running, kayaking and travelling with her fishing mad husband. I am passionate about sports medicine and am also a travel doctor with a yellow fever license and a part-time academic. My first novel, Surf n Turf is set between Cape Town (home) and the Karoo where I love the brilliant night skies. Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?: I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, into a fairly ordinary medical family. Not for long, though... When I finished primary school, we moved to the amazon jungle where my parents were medical missionaries. The mission base was a cultural melting pot of Brazilians, Americans, Europeans and every nationality you can imagine. I quickly added Portuguese to my English and Afrikaans. (South Africa has 12 official languages (sign language being the 12th)). I had a Norwegian tutor for geography, a British lady for English, a South African ecologist teaching me about the jungle, there was a an Argentinian who fell in love with an Australian. So I have a very multi-cultural background. When I returned to South Africa to complete high school, no one could figure out my nationality by my accent. I was just the jungle girl who had owned a pet sloth, nearly lost her parrot to a boa constrictor and dealt with many snakes and tarantulas. I also had a horse, Great Danes and Siamese cats who were never allowed outside without a leash - we never knew when there was a jaguar lurking around. Our house was surrounded by jungle. The howler monkeys were terrifying when we first arrived and I was trying to read Lord of the Rings and was convinced the sounds came from some creature in the book. After the jungle Cape Town was tame but my family continued to do short term mission trips, taking me to places like Uganda and Mozambique. I met my husband when I was 14 but we only married when I was 25 once I was finished studying medicine. He had never left the Western Cape before meeting me, now we have travelled all over the world and South Africa. My field of medicine also creates opportunities for travel, I have been to a conference in the USA, visited universities in the Netherlands, travelled with team South Africa to China, India, the Isle of Man, Zambia and Lesotho. I love exploring and with my husband we have ventured to Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Zanzibar and all our neighbors Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia. So I have many places cultures and languages to draw from in my writing. I now consider myself a naturalized Capetonian as I have lived here the longest. Do you have any unusual writing habits? I plot while I'm running. Do you have any advice for new authors? When writing thoughts from a different gender to your own, bounce your ideas off someone of that gender. What is the best advice you have ever been given? Porque Deus amou o mundo de tal maneira que deu o seu Filho unigénito, para que todo aquele que nele crê não pereça, mas tenha a vida eterna. João 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that who ever believes in him will have eternal life. John 3:16 What are you reading now? A Thousand and One Arabian nights by Anon on audiobook in my car check out Librivox.com for free audiobooks (classic) Work and Win by Oliver Optic audio book on my phone while I do chores (classic children) The Leper of St Giles by Ellis Peters in my husbands car (medieval mystery) Secrets at Court by Blythe Gifford in the lounge (historical romance) The Phoenix and the Carpet by E Nesbit in the bedroom (classic children) Trapped with the Duke by Annabelle Anders on my phone for queues (historical romance) What's your biggest weakness? Well fitted jeans on a man Historical romances Chocolate What is your favorite book of all time? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen I never get tired of reading it. Or watching it, although reading is better as you get to imagine how they look. I love the way she creates strong personalities. When you're not writing, how do you like to spend your time? Working! Exploring Researching my next holiday Running Photography Hiking Walking with my husband Kayaking Open water swimming Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you? The first story I remember was the Lion the Witch and the wardrobe. My sister and I took turns to read it out aloud and we were limited to a chapter a night. It was so frustrating. When I was small, I was given a proper Holy Bible by my grandpa and a dictionary. I would look up a word to have to look up the words explaining that word. I guess it improved my vocabulary exponentially. My setwork books at school I read cover to cover the first day I got them and instead of studying for the literature exams I just re-read them. What has inspired you and your writing style? Although I enjoy reading classics, I really enjoy the fast paced style of mysteries, combined with my love of romance. I want to keep the reader interested and turning the pages not getting bogged down in detail. Its an art to describe the beauty of the setting without leading your reader to skim. What are you working on now? A sweet contemporary medical romance which combines my passion for my work with my enjoyment of literature. Fire & Ice, How to Tame a Doc Thomás Ribeiro could win the titles of “best dad” and “Dreamland’s Doctor Tall, Dark and Handsome,” but he is icy to ladies and with good reason. Dr Charlie Kriel is a pint-sized fiery sports doc, wary of kids and determined to do without men. A matchmaking aunt and engaging kid contrive to melt ice with fire. Charlie is determined to protect her heart and keep her secrets, so she fights like a scared kitten. Can Thomás, get out of his self-imposed ice-cage, and tame her? What is your favorite method for promoting your work? Book review sites What's next for you as a writer? A time-travel romance :-) Buckle up for a thrilling ride through time and space in Dani the Dino Girl, From Fossils to Fables. When 21st century palaeontologist, Dani, is suddenly transported back in time, she finds herself in the company of a 17th century nobleman who escaped pirates by traveling into the 6th century. Throw in a stowaway boy, elephant birds, a mischievous lemur, and a missing grandma. Will Dani be able to use her scientific knowledge to survive in this new world? Or will she be swept away by the romance and adventure that awaits her? Fans of time travel, historical fiction, and animal companions will love this unique blend of science and fantasy. There is loads of work still be done, but I'm enjoying all the research required for the various time zones. Who would have thought I would visit a glass museum, browse an antique store, take out palaeontology textbooks form the library or visit an archaeology dig?! How well do you work under pressure? I seem to get more done, the more that needs to be done. I thought during my holiday that I would write for vast periods, yet I ended up reading instead, but during term, when I can only snatch a sentence or a paragraph, then I really make progress. Work of course is never ending high pressure. How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing? It is entirely determined by my characters. I first need to understand what makes them tick, anticipate their reactions, let myself become their alter ego. If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be? My photography. Search for "Jo D" on SmugMug Jo-Anne Duffett's Author Websites and Profiles Amazon Profile Goodreads Profile Read the full article

[zipper-ghost]

* looks into the distance*

The Saint of Brightdoors won the nebula.

In what world? That book was mostly nonsense and contrivances

The protagonist fondles his nipples next to a public road because he got turned on by a magical door.

(more complaints but they are spoilers)

The protagonist you follow through 90% of the story has no agency throughout most of the novel.

The antagonist was killed by an upset stomach he got through an std (sexually transmitted demon) that entered his bowels during a blow job. The perfect and kind sees all except during climax.

This book was so horny in the most off putting way.

The most random insane stuff kept happening. He is randomly given a super precious artefact he couldn't figure out how to steal that could kill the antagonist. Like, the person was like here, look at this and just gave it to him. A bad feeling lead guided him to find super essential information. Some deus ex machina stuff, except when you find out the real reason it feels even dumber. Protagonist might as well have been a rag doll.

There were so many descriptions of staring at magical doors.

The continent was called Jambu (java apple/wax apple) I think it's an old name for India but man it was so goofy to read over and over

I liked his mother and her lesbian lover. The protagonist's friends from the 'no longer the chosen one' support group were nice. They pushed along the plot and the rebellion. Protagonist kept refusing to commit to helping them and did everything half heartedly.

He also inexplicably refused to be rescued by his friends from a refugee camp??? But then follows one of the antagonist's hench men because he offers to help him out of the same camp? I think he was starving at that point because he was hiding from his friends??

This book was insane.

The character goes through a lot of character development at the end of the book and accepts his destiny as the Saint of bright doors. This development of course, happens off page so we see none of it. We have no idea why or how he finally decided to be an active participant in the revolution or how he finally got control over his powers.

[atplblog]

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