Zoë’s Tale, Scalzi. Yes. Something of a coda to the earlier “Old Man’s War” books, this one also serves as a “No, that wasn’t a plot hole, see?” rebuttal to some earlier critics. I expect anyone who enjoyed the rest of the series will enjoy this, though I would not consider it required reading.
Erasure, Everett. Yes. I wish I had had a book club to read and discuss this one with, as I strongly suspect Everett was doing things I remained blissfully unaware of. Mechanically very strong, though I was deeply disappointed to see “y’all” rendered as “ya’ll”. There was also a weird OCRish typo: “stones” for “stories” […]
Johnny and the Bomb, Pratchett. Yes. This may have been the first Pratchett I have read, and it neither disappointed nor thrilled me. A harmless, entertaining counterpoint to Blackout.
The Last Colony, Scalzi. Yes. This is the third volume in Scalzi’s “Old Man’s War” series. After I had become accustomed to the primary mode of conflict in the first two books, I was a bit disappointed by the change-up at the beginning of this one. But damned if Scalzi didn’t find a way to […]
Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades, Scalzi. Yes. Scalzi has some genuinely big ideas here, and has written stories that are nearly worthy of them. To be fair, it would take many, many volumes to explore even a fraction of the central idea, and Scalzi does eventually at least nod to some of the […]
You may have heard about that survey of the religious knowledge of USAnians and wondered what the questions were. Here’s the full survey (and interesting to note that it’s not expected that a survey taker knows how to pronounce Episcopal, among other words) and the full report. Perhaps more significant is the fact that there […]
So some towns in Australia are having problems with swooping birds (birds are protecting nests, but people get pecked in the head while just strolling around), so here’s some help in protecting yourself: printable eyes to tape to the back of your head!!!! Also, there is a link going around to an animated gif of […]
I was initially opposed to proposals to make electric or electric/fuel hybrid vehicles make more noise. Isn’t one of the benefits of these vehicles that our neighborhoods are less noisy? But I guess people are concerned about the possibility of accidental death and dismemberment (?!?!?!?). All of my concerns are addressed in this excellent press […]