Geekery

Whatever I’m geeking out about at the time.

📚 Cyberbooks by Ben Bova

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50/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not really that great of a book, but entertaining now as a bit of retro-tech kitsch. A bit of noir mystery and a lot of needling of the publishing industry, all based around the then-SF idea of publishing books electronically. In some ways somewhat naïve about the progression of technology, but in other ways remarkably prescient about the upheaval that electronic publishing and distribution would cause in the traditional publishing world. An entertaining curiosity if you come across it, but not good enough to be actively sought after.

Me holding Cyberbooks

📚 Uncanny Issue 54 edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Monte Lin, and Betsy Aoki

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49/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Standouts for me this month are Catherynne M. Valente’s “Can You Hear Me Now?”, Grace P. Fong’s “We Do Not Eat Much Fish”, Sarah Monette’s “The Kingdom of Darkness”, and AnaMaria Curtis’s “The Coffin Maker”.

Me holding my iPad displaying the cover for Uncanny issue 54.

Year 50 Day 130

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Me, wearing a black cap, mask, and t-shirt with the Norwescon logo in green, in a hotel conference room with other people sitting around a number of round tables.

Day 130: Today was the first ConCom (Convention Committee) planning meeting for Norwescon 46. It was good to get back into the planning mode with this group of friends, and I feel like we’re off to a good start. Once again, it looks like my job lineup this year is webmaster, social media manager, Philip K. Dick Award coordinator, and Thursday night DJ. Just six and a half months to get everything planned and ready to go!

📚 Grounded by David Bischoff

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47/2023 – ⭐️

Uff. Bad enough that the characterizations are off for everyone, especially Picard, and that the threat comes off as a bad B-movie monster. But on top of that, one of the introduced characters is described as “having Autism”, which is presented as a disease in a way that may have been acceptable 30 years ago, but is just offensive now, and, of course, which later gets tied to psychic abilities and is apparently curable. Cannot recommend.

Me holding Grounded

Year 50 Day 129

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Me wearing a Star Trek t-shirt and giving the Vulcan salute in front of two bookcases filled with Star Trek books, DVDs and Blu-rays, and various toys and mememtos.

Day 129: Happy Star Trek Day to everyone* who celebrates!

* Everyone except whoever decided to pull the plug on Discovery so suddenly that they had to re-shoot key moments of the last few episodes to cobble together a series finale instead of a season finale, whoever decided to pull the plug on Prodigy so suddenly that they’re still finishing the second season and hoping that someone else picks it up to broadcast it, and whoever decided that an appropriate Star Trek Day celebration was a 22-minute “special”, the first two episodes of Strange New Worlds on broadcast TV, five “very” short animated bits (only one of which debuts today), and a 25% discount on the online Star Trek store. Seriously, why are the Ferengi Pakleds in charge of this franchise?

(Updated to change Ferengi to Pakleds. The Ferengi are far too profit motivated to do this bad of a job keeping the fans engaged.)

📚 Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold

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46/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1992 Hugo Best Novel

Really good continuation of the story from Shards of Honor, even beginning the day after the earlier book ended. Bujold manages to create fascinating, sometimes relatable, and often very flawed characters, and to craft a world that’s an interesting mix of almost medieval feudalism and future technology. For a series I didn’t know anything about and initially approached with a little skepticism, I’m definitely understanding why it got the awards and the good words it has from many of my friends.

Me holding Barrayar

📚 Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

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45/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

More interesting than I’d expected it to be, given that neither military nor romance are among my generally preferred SF genres. Bujold’s characters are interesting, making even the “captive falls for noble captor” scenario more workable than it might have been, though there were definitely still moments that didn’t really work for me. And there was an unexpected coda, unconnected from the main plotline and characters, that was a neat way to end the book.

Me holding Shards of Honor