📚 The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

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38/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I found this one to already be a bit better than the first in the series; it certainly had more moments that made me chuckle or laugh out loud. I’ve seen lots of comparisons between Pratchett and Douglas Adams, and while I could see that in the last one, it was definitely more evident here. As if with the first book, Pratchett and Adams definitely lived in the same town, but with this book they’re now next-door neighbors. On its own and if found without any prior knowledge, the first wouldn’t have hooked me; this one would have convinced me that I’d be interested in reading more.

Me holding The Light Fantastic as an ebook on my iPad

Year 50 Day 103

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My wife and I, both masked, standing in Seattle’s King Street Station train station, all old white marble and ornate white ceilings. Behind and above us is an Amtrak departures board.

Day 103: It’s adventure time! We’re heading off for our summer vacation. Where to? You’ll just have to wait and see. First step: Seattle’s historic King Street Station, so I suppose it’s a little obvious that we’re getting on a train….

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Year 50 Day 102

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Me standing in front of an in-ground pool on a sunny day. On the far side of the pool is a sheltered area decorated for a party. People can be seen chatting, standing or sitting near the pool, some in the sun, some in the shade.

Day 102: Got to have a very pleasant afternoon with friends at one of those very rare locations: A Seattle-area home with a private outdoor, in-ground swimming pool! Didn’t hop in for a swim, but it was really nice to sit and chat while dabbling my feet in the pool.

📚 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

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37/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Though I’ve absorbed a certain amount of general Pratchett-related knowledge through decades of geek osmosis, until now I’ve not read any of his work (aside from his Good Omens collaboration with Neil Gaiman). Having been gifted a nearly complete selection of Discworld ebooks, after looking at several reading guides with various and sundry suggestions of where to start and how to continue, I finally just decided to start at the beginning and (over time) work my way through in publication order. Of course, this means that the first book I’ve read is one that many lists seem to agree might not be the best introduction to the series, which I suppose I can see – it does have a definite first-book “I have this idea for a humorous fantasy world series, let’s see if it works” feel to it. That said, it’s frequently amusing (particularly for someone old enough to have been reading fantasy in the 80s; much of this book might not land as solidly for someone raised on modern fantasy), and I actually found the idea of the Wyrmburg and its inverted dragonhold, where the riders walk along the ceiling by hanging upside down from rings by using hooked boots particularly imaginative. Admittedly, if I hadn’t already come across enough snippets, quotes, and other mentions of Pratchett and Discworld it might not be enough to solidly hook me, but as it is, I’m looking forward to reading on and seeing how Pratchett evolves the concept through the later books.

Me holding The Colour of Magic on my iPad

Year 50 Day 101

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Me sitting on a grey couch, processed to look like comic book artwork.

Day 101: Another one of those days where we spent the day puttering around at home, doing nothing particularly interesting or photogenic, so I resort to finding a filter to give yet another shot of me on the couch some small level of interest.

Year 50 Day 99

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Me sitting on a couch, looking down and concentrating on sewing a button onto a shirt.

Day 99: Sewing isn’t a particular skill of mine, or something I do very often, but I did manage (with some instruction from my wife) to sew a wayward button back onto a shirt. A small triumph, perhaps, but a triumph!

Year 50 Day 98

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Me standing in a strip mall parking lot in front of Rose Bakery, holding a small container of cake.

Day 98: Over the weekend when running errands we saw a local bakery that we hadn’t noticed before, so today on my way home from work I stopped by to pick up a couple pieces of cake for dessert. Verdict: tasty! We’ll likely go back sometime when they have a larger selection, as it was a bit sparse at 5 in the afternoon.

📚 War Drums by John Vornholt

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36/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

An average adventure, mostly focusing on Ro and Worf as they try to manage confrontations between an unusually xenophobic Federation colony being beset by a band of young Klingons who have gone feral after crashing on a planet. Ro is presented pretty well, but Worf’s characterization often felt off – a bit too smiley, and whatever the situation, it’s difficult for me to see him dancing. Arguably there are reasons for this, but it just kept feeling wrong.

Me holding War Drums

Year 50 Day 97

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Me sitting in a chair in front of a bookcase, with boxes for Star Trek glassware and a pizza cutter in the shape of the original Enterprise in my lap, holding the pizza cutter.

Day 97: At yesterday’s Norwescon picnic, I got a couple fun gifts from one of my friends. A full set of Star Trek glassware, with four glasses representing different planets and a shot glass representing a Borg cube, and a very cool but terribly impractical pizza cutter in the shape of the original NCC-1701 USS Enterprise. My friends know me well!