K.A. Ashcomb's Blog, page 56

Book Review: The Blood Tartan: Quest of the Five Clans by Raymond St. Elmo

This is no mere fantasy. This is a mystery, a lyrical poem stretched into a story, this is the thought you never knew you needed, this is alternative history. Yet, to state straight away that there were hiccups before I got the hang of the rhythm of the philosophical bear. In the beginning, I was so lost sliding from one fast action (fighting) scene to another, from one wordy sentence (you could spend days to mull over) thought to another, not knowing where I was and who I was following. I st...

Book Review: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

Enlightenment Now is an argument for reason. How science is the only way we can make sense of the world; and how we still ignore it and go with our gut feelings with the understanding of what is happening in the world. Things are better than we think. We are healthier, freer, and we have a lot more time to enjoy our lives and pursue things we love. Terrorism and other threats we are afraid of are far scarcer than our intuition says, and this is partly due to our extravagant media and our natu...

Writing: Short Story: Bog

Hi everyone!

I went for a short walk with my husband to a local marsh reservation. I was spellbound by how the winter had covered everything with powder snow, and how the usual green, red, and brown vegetation looked frozen in time, how the water had turned solid. It got me thinking about marshlands and all the folklore about bog monsters and fairy-folk. And then I thought about evolution. Not only about in the usual sense but the evolution of our beliefs. It used to be that humans told stories about...

Book Review: Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales by William M. Bass, Jon Jefferson

“Most people think of the cranium as a single dome of bone, and if you run your hands over the top of your head, it certainly feels like one piece. In reality, though, the cranial vault is a complex assembly of seven separate bones: the frontal bone, or forehead; a pair of parietal bones, which forms the skull’s upper sides and read; the temporal bones, low on either side; the sphenoid, which forms the floor  and part of the sides, and the occipital bone, the skull’s heavy back and vase, whic...

Book Review: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

Vimes does diplomacy his way. Then again, if Vetinari wanted anything else than policing in Uberwald, he should have sent someone else. The Fifth Elephant is a bit different from other Watch novels even when this is also about kings and crimes, but this is about Uberwald and not Ankh-Morpork. Also, about Dwarfs, werewolves, vampires, and rest of the lot who are not your common thieves from back home, making Vimes have to navigate the newness of it all.

This is not my favorite Discworld novel, and...

My Top 3 Books in October

Hi everyone!

Sorry, I missed this post, trying to keep too many things in mind at the same time sometimes has a cost. I read several good books this month, making it hard to choose just three. But the first one outshone the rest.

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, this book is something I would recommend everyone to read. It gives a clearer picture of the world and explains why we get it so...

Self-Publishing: Cover Art and Failure

Hi everyone!

There won’t be a short story today. I thought it was more meaningful if I wrote about the current state of publishing my second book and the failures concerning it. If I were to be over-dramatic, I would say that my book is being held hostage by a missing cover artist, the one who did Worth of Luck’s art as well, but that would be unfair towards her to put all the blame for the delay on her. I should have been firmer with the artist and demand her to stay on the schedule and not to disapp...

Book Review: Papillon by Henri Charrière

If I had to describe this book with one sentence, I would say: This is a horrible tall-tale with a hopeful undertone where the protagonist goes through the worst and always comes out as a winner. It is debatable if Papillon is an autobiography or novelization of real events told mixing fiction and facts and other prisoner’s experiences; either way, it is a gripping story, and Henri Charrière is an excellent storyteller. I was most at home with the prison scenes as they felt more real, but tha...

Book Review: The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

You can debate if this is a philosophy book or a physics book that lacks mathematical formulae. Still, I think such a dichotomy is unnecessary as the poetic words can fit into the ream of physics as much as mathematics and physical reality into the realm of philosophy as philosophy in its rawest form is a study of existence. This is an excellent lyrical book which at times flows from word to word without sticking. Not because of difficult concepts but because of soft and smooth prose. This ma...

Giveaway, Worth of Luck Audiobook

Hi everyone!

Worth of Luck audiobook is finally out there! I had a pleasure working with a fantastic narrator and streamer Travis Sowers, you can find him here:

https://twitter.com/Semulin?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

https://www.twitch.tv/semulin

You can find the book on:

https://tinyurl.com/wol-at-chirpbooks

https://tinyurl.com/wol-at-kobo

https://tinyurl.com/wol-at-googleplay

https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/worth-of-luck-glorious-mishaps-series/404528

https://tinyurl.com/wol-at-scribd

https://tinyurl.com/wol-at-estories

https://tinyurl.com/wol-at-nook

Still waiting for it to appear on Audible, Nextory, Libro, and Storytel.

But to the giveaway! Comment underneath, and I randomly draw three winners to get Worth of Luck audiobook and I will announce them on my blog middle of the next week.

Good luck! And thank you for all for your support