Traveller’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2015)

Traveller’s comments from the On Paths Unknown group.

Ugh, why do all the fun things have to be so destructive? :(((

Ok, Mark has suggested a story called Casting the Runes, which looks like it might be interesting for those who have read China Mieville's Kraken. Not sure if it has anything squid-ish, but it does have a museum, at least. ;) ...and apparently it was the inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's famous The Call of Cthulhu.
...or so says Mark. ;)

Thanks for the link. On the one hand I'd like to read it, but everything that reminds me of how many species we are extinguishing by the minute just creates so much rage and frustration in me, and a complete feeling of helplessness...
If only those who oppose birth control would think about the long-term consequences of global human overpopulation....
(Not to mention the poverty that extremely high birth rates create.)

Yeah, extremely difficult, of course, but HYPOTHETICALLY not completely impossible...

Phew, you pointed to a lot of obstacles, Amy!

Ruth wrote: "I think I found an online one....I can't find the comment with the link to the Spanish file...It had 3 or 4 links in it and it was the one to the PDF."

Thanks Ruth, I think between the 2 of us, we managed to track it down - it's the very first Carmilla PDF that I linked to, (as you mentioned in your PM - thanks for your trouble!) and I have now removed that link from that post- thanks for alerting me!

Instead of that one, I have now tested the PDF at this link : http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1506/ca...

It is definitely English, but it will download itself as: "feedbooks_book_1506"

I hope you'll be able to find it after downloading? You can always right-click on the file, and then choose "rename" on the little menu there, and name it what you want to, in this case, presumably 'Carmilla', of course. :)

Ah, sorry, I didn't see you there, Puddin'. I was consulting Dr Internet while you were posting, I think... ;)

Yes - well, we could still have certain areas with artificial gravity, and do a lot of weight-bearing activities. One would just have to take special care of that aspect.

Hmm, apparently having a thick atmosphere has more to do with having a magnetosphere. And Ozone is so important, btw, to keep everything in - and we couldn't even keep our own intact, oi.

See here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrafo...

Thanks, Ruth!

I must admit that the movie had got me onto thinking: Well, why DON't we try and terraform Mars? I realize there are huge temperature differences between night and day, but we already regulate temps here on Earth, so...

I was wondering how much influence the relative lack of gravity there would matter, and if one could perhaps somehow increase the gravity on areas of? of the planet to help an atmosphere to form. I realize that if you managed to change the entire planet's gravity, you would essentially be bumping it off-course...

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I do. I really like her word craft. I liked The Mist in the Mirror in spite of a rather weak plot because her writing is so strong. It looks like she has four anthologies: [book:The A..."

Thanks for the heads-up, Amy. I'm finding myself a bit... overwhelmed at present, so your feedback is much appreciated!

Ruth wrote: "I got a kick out of the link to the PDF. I wish my Spanish was still good enough to read this easily. :)"

Oh dear oh dear - did you get something in Spanish, Ruth? Which one was that- I shld update my link to it then... Could you find an English one elsewhere? (I usually dld. mobi if I can help it.)

Hmm, maybe we should go on to a spoiler thread - my bad! (I've been neglecting The Martian, my apologies).

Okay, here is a thread where we can post spoilers up to the end of Chapter 6 : https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Btw, just in case anybody is new to GR, one does spoiler tags like this: < spoiler >
type spoiler text here </spoiler>

The result will be: (view spoiler)[ spoiler text BLEH BLOO BLAH! (hide spoiler)]

Hello everyone, time to move on a bit so that we avoid revealing spoilers - I apologize that I've been so lax with The Martian. I promise I am now going to put Halloween aside until later, and come back to The Martian.

Okay, so... let's confine our comments in this thread, up to the end of Chapter 6, in which we start to move a little beyond the "logs only" format.
I'll be back soon, but please go for it in the meantime!

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I read Hunger yesterday, Traveller. (Thanks for pointing it out up thread.) It turned out to be contemporary fiction rather than any kind of horror,.."

Thanks for the update Amy! Maybe I should look out for a collection of her work. You think it might be worthwhile?

HELP! M.R. James fans, please help me out? I am a complete greenhorn with this author and I cannot decide where to start! Please come and help me out here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hello Everyone! Well, I am at a loss as to which one to choose. I've been trying to find pointers online, but these stories all sound creepy to me!
Can some of you M.R. James boffs out there give us a few pointers, please?

How about we start with A Warning to the Curious, perhaps? Just a thought. I need help!

You're welcome, all!

I feel like I have read/heard the original Bluebeard story....For being a short book of short stories, I find that .."

Mmm, I find they are often tongue-in-cheek retellings of the originals, for instance PIB was quite funny, but I didn't like them all equally. The one where the nobleman goes for the young girl in the snow in the presence of his wife, made me feel very uncomfortable, for example. I'm not sure if she's being kinky sometimes, or if she's deliberately showing up the powerlessness of women. That's one of the reasons I've been wanting to read her book The Sadeian Woman. I think Carter is a more complex writer than initially meets the eye...

Mark, I know you're very busy these days, so no probs!

Update: I edited in an MR James update into message 62 above.

Okay, update: since many people are interested in Carmilla, and there is a very nice free copy at Feedbooks, I have started a discussion on Carmilla here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I had initially thought it might be nice to start with a single MR James story, and then maybe do one or two more spread out until Halloween, but Feedbooks sadly does not have a free copy of that.

EDIT: In an MR James update, I have actually now found two MR James books for free on Feedbooks. I recommend specifically Feedbook copies, because they are so nicely formatted, and you can grab them as epub, mobi or PDF format as it suits you.
Grab them here:
A Thin Ghost and Others : http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3693/a-...

and
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary: http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3677/gh...

On further investigation, I found some free kindle versions on Amazon, here: (Ghost stories of an Antiquary) http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Stories-A...

here (Ghost stories of an antiquary part 2) http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Stories-A...

and here: (A Thin Ghost and Others) http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Others-Mo...

I will get back to you on MR James after more research and investigation on the matter. ;)

Hi Mark! I wondered if you'd be able to resist the lure of gothicky ghost and horror stories! :D

Hello everyone! Let's do our usual thread where everyone can just fall in the door, but not post really big spoilers, and then we can do another thread later for bigger spoilers... and... well, since it's only a novella, let's see how it goes, yes?

Firstly, I would like to recommend this version at feedbooks, since it has a bit of background and a prologue that the Gutenberg version didn't have (for me anyway) http://www.feedbooks.com/book/1506/ca...

In any case, the prologue informs us that it is a female that is narrating the story. I always find cross-gender narrations interesting, especially ones done in times when there was still... let us say, a bit of prejudice extant. That said, I personally think Le Fanu does it quite well? ...or what would you say?

Jennifer wrote: "I am reading this right now: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories"

Oh yes! I have read that! That one has a very good vampire story - have you read that one yet? Did you know the original Blue Beard story before reading the first story in that collection?
I must say I wouldn't mind if people wanted to discuss that collection.

I'm glad, everyone! @ Yolande, Amy, Jonfaith. :)

Hello there and welcome, Carol!
Okay, I've looked up Varney the Vampire - do you mean the one by James Malcolm Rymer ? Phew, that is apparently a very long novel! At 812 pages, we would never make it in time before Halloween, but we could always read it sometime later as part of a gothic project or something.

In any case, we will hopefully see you at the Carmilla discussion then? :)