#in this lovecraft country of ours

[padawan-historian]

Say His Name: Jordan Neely was a houseless community member who was publicly lynched on a NYC subway. The fear mongering of our apartheid state has emboldened everyday people to act as state-sanctioned enforcers and agents of empire.

[iamindifferenttolamp]

[deadshowsagency]

The Fandom Phoenix Project

Team up with other fandoms of cancelled shows and bring down Netflix! Comment your beloved cancelled tv show!

[seamonstera]

Fanfic asks open!!!!!

Okay, I am burnt out and I have no fucks to give and no joy in life, as I sit back and watch my country spiral into an authoritarian hell hole (and no, I am not an American).

So, to relax a little, I have decided to start writing cute little drabbles like I did a loooooong time ago (my birth year DOES start with 19).

Your favourite ship has no new fics and you tired of ChatGPT SUCKING????????

Just give a call to your friendly fandom elder!!!!!

For the small price of NOTHING I will write cute (or angsty!) drabbles for these fandoms: Discworld, Witcher, Dragon Age, RENNAISANCE ITALY (Machiavelli, I will write about Machiavelli), Castlevania, Bungo Stray Dogs, Name of the Wind, and a lot more (my current hyperfixation has absolutely deleted all the other things I like from my working memory, I am sorry).

I do NOT write straight things (UNLESSS it's an OT3. I fucking love OT3s)

[padawan-historian]

A lot of yall need to be listening and learning from our indigenous relatives, palestinian kin, and african diaspora folks who have lived under varying degrees of apartheid, genocide, and state-funded terrorism. the dystopia we read about in butler’s parable and herbert’s dune already exist (and has existed alongside ecological imperialism and environmental racism for generations)

with the reimergence of the conscriptions (curtesy of militant patriarchy) you can best believe they will ship soldiers to protect their resource interests and imperial impulses, declaring democracy as they exact colonized, political violence on our people and our planet.

Some of yall needed to hear this

Credits to @/mattxiv on Instagram

[itmeblog]

It's Black History Month

(Over here in the US of A) So here are some podcasts to check out.

Absolutely no Adventures - a fantasy (un)adventure story that follows Sig, the owner of Signature Eats bakery, as he aggressively avoids becoming embroiled in any daring quests or chosen one shenanigans even though the universe really seems to want him to do just that. This is a story about cutting Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey off at the knees to chill with friends and staying far, far away from the slightest whiff of adventure. And also baking. This is also a story about baking.

Afflicted - Lovecraft Country meets True Blood in this new series from award-winning producers Tonia Ransom and Jen Zink. In season one, a small East Texas town suffers supernatural disasters caused by a demonic book bound in human flesh…and only hoodoo can save the town from its affliction.

Apollyon - In the early 22nd century, the Apollyon virus wiped out 75% of the world’s population, and now most of the world is governed by the International Conglomerate of Research Scientists. Dr. Theo Ramsey is an ICRS research scientist who may have just discovered an effective vaccine for Apollyon, but the stakes to get the vaccine to the public are higher than she ever imagined.

Between Heartbeats - Tan immersive Urban Fantasy about the hurt, the powerful, and their growth within a broken world. We follow Sundiata, a guilt-ridden time manipulator with a knack for unemployment, and Nadia, a moralistic telepath determined not to lose control, as they balance frayed mental health against an unsympathetic police state. But when a malevolent presence rears is head, their neuroses become the least of their problems. Can our heroes make the most of their abilities before the option is taken from them?

Fan Wars: The Empire Claps Back - Two passionate Star Wars fans on opposite sides of the Last Jedi debate argue via Skype after their favorite forum closes down. If you love Star Wars (or call yourself a proud member of any fandom), you’ll love this romantic comedy told via

Harlem Queen - a Black historical fiction audio drama based on the life and times of Black, woman, "gangster" Madame Stephanie St. Clair during the Harlem Renaissance.

His Royal Fakin' Highness - What if Ophelia helped Hamlet get his throne back? This modern day, romantic comedy re-imagining of Shakespeare's Hamlet asks just that. As they stage an engagement in the wake of the king's death, these childhood frenemies must decide between duty and love.

InCo (This one's mine :D) - A Sci-Fi story about a disgruntled information seller, a mysterious space boy, and an android doing her best.

Janus Descending - a limited series, science fiction/horror audio drama podcast, follows the arrival of two xenoarcheologists on a small world orbiting a binary star. But what starts off as an expedition to survey the planet and the remains of a lost alien civilization, turns into a monstrous game of cat and mouse, as the two scientists are left to face the creatures that killed the planet in the first place.

Lady Lucy - Lady Lucy is an audio drama inspired by Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" Sonnets, 127-154. Between running her brothel, fighting the Church, murdering her friends' abusive husbands, and pretending to be a poet, the last thing Lucy needed back in 1586 was a surprise visit from her former flame... Will Shakespeare.

Liars and Leeches - Tonya Wright felt it all after the tragic murders of her sister and brother-in-law in a random act of gun violence. Struggling to travel outside of her home, she now lives constantly on edge about perceived threats that seem to surround her.

Nightlight - Multi-award winning horror podcast featuring creepy stories with full audio production written by Black writers and performed by Black actors. So scary it’ll make you want to leave your night light on.

Null /Void - a science fiction audio drama about a young woman, Piper Lee, whose life is saved by a mysterious voice named Adelaide. Piper soon uncovers a malicious plot by a monopoly of a tech company and must work with her friends and an unusual ally to help foil their deadly plot.

Out of Ashes - (currently remastering season 1) Follow a group of survivors as they navigate the ruins of modern civilization and battle against demons, ghosts, monsters and the looming threat of extinction from an ancient power.

Small Victories - A recently recovered drug addict tries to start her new lease on life, too bad life has it out for her.  This dramatic comedy follows Marisol through the ups and downs of her life.

The Courtship of Mona Mae - In the 1870s, pioneers Mona Mae Christophe and Zekial Montgomery search the American West for Mona Mae's mother, Clara. Mona must recall a past, long forgotten in order to survive, so that she can find her mother, love and create a way of life for herself.

Vega a Sci-Fi Adventure Podcast - In a fantasy futuristic world, Vega Rex is employed by her government to kill off the world's worst criminals. She's never met a criminal she couldn't catch…until now. Join Vega as she journeys through a world of bumbling apprentices, powerful technogods, and her biggest challenge yet. Hosted by Ivuoma Hall.

Witchever Path - is an anthology series where your decisions effect the story. Our stories are based in America’s NorthEast, featuring characters finding themselves in the thick of the unknown while tackling issues like queer identity, gender, race, and spirituality. Stories often focus on the communities not typically seen in stories taking place in New England, and giving voice to the perspectives of those communities while uniting under some universal themes. And the supernatural happens. A lot.

(All descriptions were taken from websites)

If you want to find more and there are way more there's a directory :D

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: The Most Divorced Time of year

[mysterious circle of robed figures] JK Rowling: hello children Rowling: today we continue our quessst to rehabilitate glinner Rowling: i will not ressst until he isss reintegrated into ssociety Rowling: and not ssleeping on my couch anymore

Rowling: cuz you know Rowling: that man isss Rowling: i mean ssure i hate transs people too Rowling: but i have other interesstsss assss well Rowling: Rowling: i'll let you know asss sssoon asss i think of sssome

Rowling: i do have other interesstsss outsside of transsphobia Rowling: like Rowling: for example Rowling: i like hating on autissstic people too Rowling: i mean, let's be frank Rowling: they've had it too good for too long

Rowling: and, you know, dissabled people Rowling: and the goblinsss Rowling: in fact actually i'm pretty versssatile Rowling: i'm almossst as well-rounded as hp lovecraft if you think about it

Graham Lineham: jk did you know that trans people have smaller skull shapes Rowling: it's 1 pm graham, why are you sstill in pajamas Lineham: i've been researching how the trans control the media Rowling: did you even try to look for a job today

Rowling: graham here's the newssspaper Rowling: hey maybe you could look at the want adsss Rowling: bet there'sss plenty of openingsss for a transsphobic comedy writer Lineham: i don't read newspapers, i heard that the wood pulp industry is captured by trans activists Lineham: they put estrogen in the news ink Lineham: you know Lineham: to get you Rowling: Rowling: wait really? Rowling: shit maybe i should sstart possting that

Rowling: graham ssseriousssly Rowling: you could at leassst apply Lineham: no everyone's against me Lineham: there's no jobs for a fearless truth teller like me Rowling: i Rowling: how Rowling: we live in england! there'sss nothing BUT jobsss for transsphobesss! Rowling: how are you still unemployed!?!

Rowling: look jussst march into the BBC and asssk if they're hiring any transsphobesss Rowling: maybe they'll be impressssed with your moxie and hire you Lineham: it doesn't work like that these days Rowling: jusst wear a sssuit and ssit in the lobby til they hire you!

Lineham: i've got a great idea to get back in people's good graces! Rowling: whatss that Lineham: well you know how david tennant is the most beloved man in the country? Rowling: right Lineham: well if i can bring him down, then i will assume his place Lineham: as the most beloved man in the country Rowling: Rowling: right ok that makess ssensse to me

Rowling: look i clipped out a bunch of adss for transphobic jobss Rowling: i'll jussst ssend them to graham'ss agent Helen Joyce: terrible news, dark lord! Joyce: his agent dropped him for attacking david tennant Rowling: Rowling: oh

[devotedlydarkstrawberry]

I mean cause I can make a list...

Studios: But your favorite shows will never be finished!!1!!!1! :((((

Everyone: You never finished shows anyway???

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Also if you're expressing joy in the tags right now I want you to know that, unless you're a loki or other soulless MCU Star Wars GOT Big franchise enjoyer, this WILL happen to your favorite show. Our Flag Means Death has a massive cult following, it was trending for weeks after it aired. It topped the new streaming charts until it got too old to qualify for the new streaming charts. It still got cancelled. If our show can eat it what is protecting yours. This is bigger than you getting a dunk off on an annoying fandom. This is about Art not being allowed to be finished anymore. Television is dead. Our Flag Means Death is proof, A League of Their Own is proof, First Kill, Infinity Train, Lovecraft Country. It's all proof that Television is dying. So like, maybe hold off on your celebration because even if you don't like the show this is part of a horrific trend for both creatives and viewers of art.

[vintagerpg]

As I mentioned yesterday, I really love Jason Eckhardt’s work on the Lovecraft Country sourcebooks for Call of Cthulhu, particularly the desolate townscapes in Escape from Innsmouth. Right around the same time that came out, Necronomicon Press released Brian Stableford’s The Innsmouth Heritage (1992), also illustrated by Eckhardt. It gave the artist a chance to restore the fishing town to some of its glory, after a fashion.

The story is an interesting one, which sees Innsmouth under redevelopment. A geneticist and a historian discuss the town and hash out a plausible theory for the “taint” and all the legends around the town. We readers, think we know the truth, but Stableford does a good job of subverting expectations back and forth. It’s a solid story and was a key component for ’90s Stu figuring out how to read Lovecraft in different ways.

Eckhardt contributes to that in a visual way, twinning his decayed Innsmouth with this revived one, even if our clearest view of it is on the cover. What a job though! It captures a sense of a seaside tourist town while also maintaining a sense of the sinister in the distorted reflections.

[padawan-historian]

the reason our democracy works is not because of a handful of wealthy land holders and colonizers. our democracy works because in the midst of this lovecraft country of ours that is drowning and burning under the white gaze of jim & jane crow, there are everyday folks in political and communal spaces building bridges, planting gardens, and defending human rights for all, not just for a few, and certainly not just for one badly dressed, angry faced orange.

[sleepynegress]

Your post about Loustat paralleling Ruby and Christina makes so much sense. I haven’t rewatched lovecraft in a while though what specifically would you say makes them relate?

Whew! Where to start. I feel I probably need to play catch up for Ruby/Christina's dynamic on Lovecraft Country because that's probably the one fewer people who follow me are familiar with so... This is Ruby and Christina:

Ruby is a rock/blues singer in the 1950's Chicago, and like our man Louis, she has done most of the work holding up her family. Also, like Louis, a lot of the challenges she faces are deeply racist, and because of her gender full of misogynoir as well, more than today because of the past setting of the story... Her shade and body type also come into play when compared to what her sister, who is lighter-skinned and thin could get away with in life. Christina is the daughter of the leader of a centuries-old white male-dominated magical cult, in which she is clearly the most talented in wielding magic but she has no say-so and cannot inherit the same privileges because of sexism, something that is *always* intersected with racism which that cult has deeply ingrained traditions in. Despite it all, these two fall in love. The biggest similarities I see in Christina and Lestat are...

both... are not just white but white-white blonde hair blue-eyes.

have a measure of self-loathing because of some trauma devolved from whiteness (Lestat stalked and tortured and piled into a bunch corpsed reflections of himself) and (Christina always considered a "protected" possession beneath white men and not an equal because of her gender)

are powerful supernatural beings, a wizard (I just feel that's the more likely adjective over witch for her) and a vampire

are narcissists

woo and manipulate, seduce, their partners into being with them, by lending their own privilege to give them protection or higher status, via whiteness

both are desperate to connect with their Black partner in ways that are impossible because of innate privilege deferential w/in the times they live and their own psychological shortcomings - Lestat opening the relationship and Christina going through the pain of a "lynching" to try to understand Ruby's day-to-day fear

are ultimately toxic to their partner and all other healthier relationships they have - Ruby's family especially Leti and Louis' family, most importantly Claudia

genuinely love their partner but just don't have the capacity or ability due to past traumas, narcissism, and that huge gulf in empathy for their very different lives.

The biggest similarities between Louis and Ruby are.. that they are broken by racism and the responsibilities of existing and maintaining for others while they are invisible in their plight. Both are uniquely beautifully human, vulnerable beyond what any other people in their lives "see" and that makes them both entrancing and vulnerable to the Lestat and Christina.

These are both queer interracial dynamics that take a really empathic and honest eye to render well, especially in this day and age. Both of these cultural spaces are riddled with discomfort, judgment, and fear, which mostly lead to dishonest depictions; and self-censoring, but they have subverted that for the most part.

Both I would say have been exceptionally well done and if really looked at critically beyond the chemistry and romance, I do think some interesting wider sociological conclusions/implications could be gathered from them. I think that's in part because of the freedom of the genre space. When it's supernatural or fantastical in some way, often the heavier issues are rendered more honestly. I'd absolutely love to read a dissertation really breaking it down.

[thedissonantverses]

Mere Anarachy is Loosed Upon the World

Or Dragon Age Origins, Cosmic Horror, and Post-Modernism(Part 2)

Wanted to get this done before the holiday kicks in for those of you that have it tough this time of year. I'll apologize in advance but I'm writing this with the perspective of you having played DA Origins. If you haven't read the first part I strongly suggest you do if you're a novice on post-modernism.

With all that out of the way, let's start with...well, the origins. I think we can make a strong argument that how Dragon Age as a series handles game design is part of what makes it work so well as a post-modern text. Each origin story offers a different version of the truth, with the only commonality being Duncan. We'll circle back to Duncan a little later.

What it comes down to is choice. Choose a commoner dwarf versus a noble and you'll have an entirely different perspective on what being a dwarf even means. Choose a Dalish elf versus a city elf and they're entirely different worlds. Choose a mage versus another class and we start running into the horror of existence in this universe pretty fast. What's the most interesting is whether or not you choose that background, it happens anyways. There is a Cousland or a Brosca out there that went through the horrible things your Warden did, but they don't meet Duncan. You doom the others by not choosing them. The fate you were rescued from becomes their reality.

Which is the true Hero of Fereleden? They all are.

Then we meet Duncan. The fixed point. The monster and the hero. The blighted and the one who blights. The Grey Warden.

Let's talk about unreliable narration real quick. See the narration gets unreliable when the narrator themselves doesn't have all of the information or is lying directly and through omission. As no one knows everything, even if I pretend that I do, by choosing to narrate you're already telling only part of the story. We see it with the origins first, then Duncan.

What we don't learn until it's too late, is every Grey Warden is lying to you. They're not here to save your life. They're here for soldiers in a war that never ends and has been shaping Thedas long before you were even a thought. What you were matters to you, but it doesn't matter to them. They are the great uniters of Thedas in that they only have one end they must achieve no matter what the cost. Forget what came before. Forget the scars and pain and anguish of what you were before. The blight ate your past the moment you drank from the chalice and it's hungry for more.

Cosmic horror is a genre of fiction that deals with fear of the unknown and the unknowable. Reality is eroding around us and there are some secrets better left buried from humanity for the rest of time. It deals with the viscous nature of our darker hearts. It's nihilistic and while I don't subscribe to nihilism myself, it's great for digging into the most visceral depiction of post-modern thinking. Check out Old God of Appalachia for a good cosmic horror podcast that take place in one of my favorite parts of the country. They don't shy away from tackling racial tensions and what amounted to legal slavery in the region and how that's shaped its history.

Speaking of which, we can't get around Lovecraft's racism. He was a virulent colonialist of the worst kind, and it showed up in works. Pretty fitting actually when we're talking about the corruption of the fabric of reality. If you want a decent, funny, entry level cosmic horror I recommend John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin. This article is a really great read on this topic as well. Unfortunately, genre fiction tends to heavily trend towards coding with racism and antisemitism and it's something that overshadows it today. DA is guilty of this as well, with the most relevant Origins example coding the elves as indigenous peoples. Thankfully, they've pulled away from that more and more over the years, but it's baked into the foundation, and I'd like to acknowledge that here.

The darkspawn, their blood, and the blight are a great example of cosmic horror. People are corrupted when they drink darkspawn blood. They are overtaken. It changes their perception of reality. They can sense the horrors in a way they never could before. To fight the blight, you must become it. You must sacrifice your future or else sacrifice the world's. This becomes very, painfully literal if you want to save your Warden's life. You must choose once more, knowing all of these things have happened and all of them are happening. Complete a dark ritual, the results of which you may never see but will have ramifications beyond your ken. Sacrifice a friend-knowing he still has a life left to live or perform a Grey Warden's most profound act yourself and kill the archdemon and in so doing, die.

You are the horror. Dare you live, knowing the evil you carry inside? What happens when you can no longer fight it? You didn't just look into the Void; you brought it with you.

Combine cosmic horror with unreliable narration and dreaded fate and you get Ostagar. You get a man named Ser Loghain. But is he a Warden, a traitor, or father trying to ensure his daughter's future?

Yes.

How Loghain as presented is a righteous bastard but also completely rational and empathetic is an example of great character writing. Dragon Age will never tell you rather he is wrong or right. Even in Inquisition, Solas see both sides of Ostagar and both are what happened at Ostagar. Loghain the tragic hero and Loghain the protective father and Loghain the man who betrayed his king are all Loghain.

Every party member, even Alistair, is skilled at shading the truth. But Loghain is the purest example of post-modernism applied to a character in Origins. The Landsmeet is one of those confluences of fate that one longs for fiction, another fixed point where you decide the fate of a country, and who are you?

When I died love, when I died,

my heart was broken in your care;

I never suffered love so fair,

and now so I suffer and abide

when I died love, when I died.

When I died, love, when I died

I wearied in an endless maze.

that men have walked for centuries,

as endless as the gate was wide

When I died love, when I died.

When I died love, when I died

ether was a war in the upper air;

all that happens, happens there;

there was an angel by my side,

when I died, love, when I died. -"A Western Ballad" Allen Ginsberg.

At the end of their journey, the Hero of Ferelden can either embrace death, or perform the dark ritual and live. They've accepted the horrors inside them, why not once more?

We're going to end our examination of Origins here. Not because there isn't much, much more I could talk about, but because there are characters and themes I want to cover in Awakening and DA2. That's right, adding a bonus part. Please message or comment or reblog or argue with me, particularly if you felt like I forgot something. This is meant as academic exercise if anything. For now, remember the horrors persist but so do we.

[sereneswrld]

INTRODUCTION

Hi followers and new viewers, my name is Serenity. I go by my DR name here as eventually I will respawn. I am 24 years old, graphic designer, and reality shifting advocate. I enjoy art, music, and cleaning (lol). This blog will be used to report my shifting journey and experiences. I want to leave something behind for the current gen and next.

When do I plan on respawning?

I plan on respawning either during a near death experience, or when I reach an old age where the inevitable happens. I want to continue to make something of my current life, and also to persevere through the things I’ve been through. I won’t say it’s for soul growth more ego, but I believe it will play apart. As far as respawning, I just want to create my reincarnation. Something’s I believe humans shouldn’t have to deal with for ‘soul growth’ if the lesson can be taught in another way. What I mean by this is my reincarnations from here on out will require me to be well off in life. I don’t want to be the richest, but I don’t want to be poor ever again+ more.

DNI IF: MINOR, ANTI-SHIFTER, XENOPHOBE, AGREE WITH AGING DOWN TO DATE SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND OVERALL A NEGATIVE PERSON. WE HAVE ENOUGH NEGATIVITY IN THIS REALITY AS IS. KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!

My realities are separated into different categories. Some realities are strictly a desire to experience a show/movie I’ve always enjoyed, others are more for actual soul growth and understanding the meaning of life overall. Any reality that is high school based I script that I have no desire for relationships, or attraction to any gender until I reach a certain age in my DR. The age would have to match my current reality age, as I don’t personally agree with dating younger in your DRs if you’re an adult in your current life. Just a disclaimer as I list my DRs.

What are my Desired Realities?

Tv Show Based DRs: LoveCraft Country, Moesha, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, A Different World, PowerBook 2, Riches, 90210, Hit The Floor, Veronica Mars, and Degrassi.

Movie Based DRs: Twitches, Halloweentown, Mean Girls, The Devil Wears Prada, Zenon Z3, The Craft, Bring It On: Fight To The Finish , Alice In Wonderland, and Hocus Pocus.

Soul Growth DRs are personal as of right now.

Table of Content (Coming Soon...)

Behind The Scenes (TMI About...)

Daily Memoir (RS Diary Entries)

Characters in Depth (Who Are They)

What I Learned (How I Got Here)

My Waiting Room (Know My Inner World)

The End (Once I Permashift)

(Last updated 01/22/25)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

All the books I reviewed in 2023 (Novels)

Next Tuesday (December 5), I'm at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC, with my new solarpunk novel The Lost Cause, which 350.org's Bill McKibben called "The first great YIMBY novel: perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful."

It's that time of year again, when I round up all the books I reviewed for my newsletter in the previous year. I posted 21 reviews last year, covering 31 books (there are two series in there!). I also published three books of my own last year (two novels and one nonfiction). A busy year in books!

Every year, these roundups remind me that I did actually manager to get a lot of reading done, even if the list of extremely good books that I didn't read is much longer than the list of books I did read. I read many of these books while doing physiotherapy for my chronic pain, specifically as audiobooks I listened to on my underwater MP3 player while doing my daily laps at the public pool across the street from my house.

After many years of using generic Chinese waterproof MP3s players – whose quality steadily declined over a decade – I gave up and bought a brand-name player, a Shokz Openswim. So far, I have no complaints. Thanks to reader Abbas Halai for recommending this!

https://shokz.com/products/openswim

I load up this gadget with audiobook MP3s bought from Libro.fm, a fantastic, DRM-free alternative to Audible, which is both a monopolist and a prolific wage-thief with a documented history of stealing from writers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

All right, enough with the process notes, on to the reviews!

NOVELS

I. Temeraire by Naomi Novik

One of the finest pleasures in life is to discover a complete series of novels as an adult, to devour them right through to the end, and to arrive at that ending to discover that, while you'd have happily inhabited the author's world for many more volumes, you are eminently satisfied with the series' conclusion.

I just had this experience and I am still basking in the warm glow of having had such a thoroughly fulfilling imaginary demi-life for half a year. I'm speaking of the nine volumes in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, which reimagines the Napoleonic Wars in a world that humans share with enormous, powerful, intelligent dragons.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/08/temeraire/#but-i-am-napoleon

II. Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff

The Destroyer of Worlds is a spectacular followup to Lovecraft Country that revisits the characters, setting, and supernatural dread of the original. Country was structured as a series of linked novellas, each one picking up where the previous left off, with a different focal characters. Destroyer is a much more traditional braided novel, moving swiftly amongst the characters and periodically jumping back in time to the era of American slavery, retelling the story of the settlement of the Great Dismal swamp by escaped slaves.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/21/the-horror-of-white-magic/#anti-lovecraftian

III. Scholomance by Naomi Novik

The wizards of the world live in constant peril from maleficaria – the magic monsters that prey on those born with magic, especially the children. In a state of nature, only one in ten wizard kids reaches adulthood. So the wizarding world built the Scholomance, a fully automated magical secondary school that exists in the void – a dimension beyond our world. The Scholomance is also an extremely dangerous place – three quarters of the wizard children who attend will die before graduation – but it is much safer than life on the outside.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/29/hobbeswarts/#the-chosen-one

IV. Tsalmoth by Steven Brust

Longrunning Brust hero Vlad Taltos has been convinced to recount the story of how he and Cawti came to fall in love, and how they planned their marriage. This is quite an adventure – it plays out against the backdrop of a gang-war within the Jhereg organization, with Vlad in severe mortal peril that he can only avoid by uncovering an intricate criminal caper of crosses, double-crosses, smuggling and sorcery. But while Vlad is dodging throwing knives and lethal spells (or not!), what's really going on is that he and Cawti are falling deeply, profoundly, irrevocably in love. The romance that plays out among the blades and magic is more magical still, a grand passion that expresses itself through Nick-and-Nora wordplay and Three Musketeers swordplay.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/27/mannerpunk/#ask-anyone

V. Hopeland by Ian McDonald

Seriously what the fuck is this amazing, uncategorizable, unsummarizable, weird, sprawling, hairball of a novel? How the hell do you research – much less write – a novel this ambitious and wide-ranging? Why did I find myself weeping uncontrollably on a train yesterday as I finished it, literally squeezing my chest over my heart as it broke and sang at the same moment? The stars of Hopeland are members of two ancient, secret societies. There's Raisa Hopeland, who belongs to a globe-spanning, mystical "family," that's one part mutual aid, one part dance music subculture, and one part sorcerer (some Hopelanders are electromancers, making strange, powerful magic with Tesla coils). Amon is a composer and DJ who specializes in making music for very small groups of people – preferably just one person – that is so perfect for them that they are transformed by hearing it.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/30/electromancy/#the-grace

VI. The World Wasn't Ready For You by Justin Key

These are horror stories, though some of them are science fiction too, and more to the point, they're Black horror stories. In his afterword, Key writes about his early fascination with horror, the catharsis he felt in watching nightmares unspool on screen or off the page. And then, he writes, came the dawning recognition that the Black characters in these stories were always there as cannon-fodder, often nameless, usually picked off early. "Black horror" isn't merely parables about racism. In the deft hands of these writers – and now, Key – the stories are horror in which Blackness is a fact, sometimes a central one, and that fact is ever a complication, limiting how the characters move through space, interact with authority, and relate to one another.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/19/justin-c-key/#clarion-west-2015

VII. The Future by Naomi Alderman

A cracking, multi-point-of-view adventure novel about billionaires prepping for the end of the world. Three billionaires, the lords of thinly veiled analogs to Facebook, Google and Amazon, each getting ready in their own way. Stumbling into their midst comes Lai Zhen, a prepper influencer vlogger with millions of followers.

When Zhen becomes romantically entangled with Martha Einkorn, the top aide and chief-of-prepping for one of these billionaires, she finds herself in possession of an AI chatbot that is devoted to protecting a very small number of people from incipient danger. This chatbot determines that Zhen is being stalked by an assassin at a mall in Singapore, and guides her to safety.

The chatbot is a closely held secret among the tech billionaire cabal. It is designed to monitor world events and predict when The Event is imminent, be it disease, war, or other cataclysmic disaster. With the chatbot's predictive powers and its superhuman guidance, the billionaires, their families, and their closest confidantes will be able to slip away before the shit hits the fan, fly by different private jets to one or another luxury bunker, and wait out the apocalypse. Once the fires raging without have died down to embers, the chatbot's billionaire charges will emerge to assume their places as wise and all-powerful leaders of the next human civilization.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/07/preppers-of-the-red-death/#the-event

VIII. Liberty's Daughter by Naomi Kritzer

There's so much sf about "competent men" running their families with entrepreneurial zeal, clarity of vision and a firm confident hand. But there's precious little fiction about how much being raised by a Heinlein dad would *suuuck*. But it would, and in *Liberty's Daughter*, we get a peek inside the nightmare.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/21/podkaynes-dad-was-a-dick/#age-of-consent

Like I said, this has been a good year in books for me, and it included three books of my own:

I. Red Team Blues (novel, Tor Books US, Head of Zeus UK)

Martin Hench is 67 years old, single, and successful in a career stretching back to the beginnings of Silicon Valley. He lives and roams California in a very comfortable fully-furnished touring bus, The Unsalted Hash, that he bought years ago from a fading rock star. He knows his way around good food and fine drink. He likes intelligent women, and they like him back often enough. Martin is a—contain your excitement—self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long guerilla war between people who want to hide money, and people who want to find it. He knows computer hardware and software alike, including the ins and outs of high-end databases and the kinds of spreadsheets that are designed to conceal rather than reveal. He’s as comfortable with social media as people a quarter his age, and he’s a world-level expert on the kind of international money-laundering and shell-company chicanery used by Fortune 500 companies, mid-divorce billionaires, and international drug gangs alike. He also knows the Valley like the back of his hand, all the secret histories of charismatic company founders and Sand Hill Road VCs. Because he was there at all the beginnings. Now he’s been roped into a job that’s more dangerous than anything he’s ever agreed to before—and it will take every ounce of his skill to get out alive.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865847/red-team-blues

II. The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation (nonfiction, Verso)

We can – we must – dismantle the tech platforms. We must to seize the means of computation by forcing Silicon Valley to do the thing it fears most: interoperate. Interoperability will tear down the walls between technologies, allowing users to leave platforms, remix their media, and reconfigure their devices without corporate permission. Interoperability is the only route to the rapid and enduring annihilation of the platforms. The Internet Con is the disassembly manual we need to take back our internet.

https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-con

III. The Lost Cause (novel, Tor Books US, Head of Zeus UK)

For young Americans a generation from now, climate change isn't controversial. It's just an overwhelming fact of life. And so are the great efforts to contain and mitigate it. Entire cities are being moved inland from the rising seas. Vast clean-energy projects are springing up everywhere. Disaster relief, the mitigation of floods and superstorms, has become a skill for which tens of millions of people are trained every year. The effort is global. It employs everyone who wants to work. Even when national politics oscillates back to right-wing leaders, the momentum is too great; these vast programs cannot be stopped in their tracks.

But there are still those Americans, mostly elderly, who cling to their red baseball caps, their grievances, their huge vehicles, their anger. To their "alternative" news sources that reassure them that their resentment is right and pure and that "climate change" is just a giant scam. And they're your grandfather, your uncle, your great-aunt. And they're not going anywhere. And they’re armed to the teeth. The Lost Cause asks: What do we do about people who cling to the belief that their own children are the enemy? When, in fact, they're often the elders that we love?

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/the-lost-cause

I wrote nine books during lockdown, and there's plenty more to come. The next one is The Bezzle, a followup to Red Team Blues, which comes out in February:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

While you're waiting for that one, I hope the reviews above will help you connect with some excellent books. If you want more of my reviews, here's my annual roundup from 2022:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/01/bookishness/#2022-in-review

Here's my book reviews from 2021:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/08/required-ish-reading/#bibliography

And here's my book reviews from 2020:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/08/required-reading/#recommended-reading

It's EFF's Power Up Your Donation Week: this week, donations to the Electronic Frontier Foundation are matched 1:1, meaning your money goes twice as far. I've worked with EFF for 22 years now and I have always been - and remain - a major donor, because I've seen firsthand how effective, responsible and brilliant this organization is. Please join me in helping EFF continue its work!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/01/bookmaker/#2023-in-review

[cyarskj84]

“Where is your fire? I say where is your fire? Can’t you smell it coming out of our past? The fire of living…not dying. The fire of loving…not killing. The fire of Blackness…not gangster shadows. Where is our beautiful fire that gave light to the world? The fire of pyramids; The fire that burned through the holes of slaveships and made us breathe; The fire that made guts into chitterlings; The fire that took rhythms and made jazz; The fire of sit-ins and marches that made us jump boundaries and barriers; The fire that took street talk sounds and made righteous imhotep raps. Where is your fire, the torch of life full of Nzingha and Nat Turner and Garvey and DuBois and Fannie Lou Hamer and Martin and Malcolm and Mandela.”

Lovecraft Country Rewind 1921.

Source: aquamzan