Random’s Comments (group member since Apr 30, 2009)

Random’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I typically only eat when I'm having a meal, so no snacks. However, I do often read while I'm eating, but its usually just whatever I'm having for that meal.

I will often have a cup of tea though. :)

Nachiket wrote: "-- Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny
A robot taking the place of a human nanny leading to disastrous results. A warning against the dangers of automating everything and making machines do all our work. Humans need humans and human connection, and I certainly hope that continues to remain true in the future."

Not only is close human interaction important, it is down right vital in those first few years of life. Babies and young children who do not get touched can fail to thrive and even die in more extreme circumstances. Even the most introverted of us needs interaction with others in order to maintain our mental health.

Cheryl wrote: "Omphalos: I'm an atheist. I've never understood what it means to have faith, or to be spiritual (two different things). Chiang's novelette helps me to understand the faithful, and also shows that o..."

My parents became atheists many years before I was born. I was never really exposed to religion as a small child. An example, I never went to sunday school. The first time I saw a bible was a child's bible in the waiting room of a hospital when one of my grand parents were sick. I was about 10. That book was the most mysterious, confusing and baffling thing I had ever seen in my life at the time.

So I will fully admit, religion is just something I have never really been able to comprehend beyond a broad intellectual level. Add to this, I also do not comprehend spirituality. I know its supposed to be different from religion, but I have yet been able to find a definition that doesn't boil down to religion in one way or another. Faith can also be tossed onto that pile of non comprehension.

I think this may be one of the reasons Omphalos has stuck with me the way it has. Along with my non comprehension of religion, I have NEVER been able to comprehend people's need for there to be some purpose to their lives assigned to them by someone else.

What is my purpose in life? Whatever the hell purpose I chose to give it. And I think this is why the line I quoted previously stood out to me so much.

Finished Six Wakes
Not great, but ok. I feel it was a little too hand holdy for my liking.

Catherine wrote: "The character in your spoiler is one of my favorites to write. I don't know where she came from. I was writing Ascendant Sun, and she just strode in and took over. As is her wont. :-)."

She is certainly a character with depth. I am dying to find out how (view spoiler)[her relationship with Jai turns out. Or, for that matter, how things turn out between Jai and Kelric given everything else that is happening. Hey look! Can anyone guess my favorite two characters? :) (hide spoiler)]

Back to Romantasy, I had a thought this morning of another book I read recently. I don't think most people who are into romance would consider this romance. It does have an implied possibility of a HEA (happily every after). It has a few shelvings under Romance so I will toss it into the arena.

Nettle & Bone
I've never been one for romance even when I was younger, but I enjoyed watching a relationship forming between two more mature characters. It felt natural, not forced, no major consequences, no drama.

Like Cheryl said above, Marra had her calling, her goal. That was the priority. The rest was just bonus. but it was the things Marra noticed that stood out to me so much. Like they being forced to sleep together (physically sleep back to back, it was cold, there was 1 small blanket). She was ultra aware of him and of how much she moved, fidgeted, how much she might be bothering him. But later, when they no longer needed to share a blanket, she became ultra aware of his absence. Its surprising how difficult it can be to get to sleep by yourself when you are so used to someone else being there, even if you are not really interacting in any way.

I think HEAs annoy me because it implies that life goes into stasis once people get married or get into a stable relationship. Life is messy. There are stresses. There is pain. There is fear. The great thing about long term relationships is that you have someone beside you to share the stress, pain, and fear along with the joy. That you do not have to deal with that alone. And so much romance ignores all of that. yet I see it as one of the most important parts.

And besides, HEAs do not exist. They are nothing more than a fantastic lie. Nearly every relationship will end in grief one way or another. We are all mortal after all.

I haven't noticed a reluctance to read door stoppers or large series. Heck, I recently did a binge listen of the entire Vox Machina campaign of Critical Role. It took something like 6 months and I wasn't reading or listening to much else. I have to admit, I do love it when I can marathon a good series.

Tied to that, yeah I really lean towards waiting for an entire series to come out before I jump in. For example: I have all of the books in Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series so far, but I haven't read any of them yet. When I was younger, I had no problems starting an unfinished series.

But I think I am also pickier than I used to be. I need to be enjoying myself. If I am not, I don't have the desire to just power through. I think I read Stranger in a Strange Land when I was in like 7th grade, and I don't think I understood most of what was happening. It didn't stop me then, but I would never do something like that now. If I'm not following what's going on, I'm either not in the right head space and need to maybe try again at a later time, or just give it up and say its not my thing.

However, I do sometimes wonder if this is my tastes changing as I get older or if I have just gotten used to binge culture brought about with stuff like Netflix, where you can just binge an entire season in one go. Do we loose something when we no longer have that opportunity for speculation while we wait for more to come out?

Dawn wrote: "I am a serious sucker for a kick-ass female lead and you write good ones"

Soz is my husband's favorite character. Followed, I suspect, by (view spoiler)[Tarquine (hide spoiler)]. Spoiler tag in place because this character doesn't show up until later books.

But back to the subject, while not Fantasy, the Skolian Empire series is a big exception in my "I don't like romance" stance. I think its because the story is about more than the romance, that happily ever afters aren't necessarily the focus, and there's some really good SF in there. I guess it feels like the romance is shaped by the characters and story more than the characters and story being shaped by the romance. Hopefully that makes sense to more than just me. :)

Catherine wrote: "I had male hard sf readers writing to ask about what happened to the relationships of characters"

My massively unromantic husband (he proposed to me over the phone) is one of those guys, In fact he's the one that fervently hounded me until I read Primary Inversion (back when there were only 3 books).

Now even unromantic I (who happily accepted that phone proposal and saw no problem with it) eagerly await new books. :)

Finished the rest of the collection. my favorites were
How It Unfolds and Slow Time Between the Stars.

I've been craving Mysteries a little since that last QotW, so I may start The Psychology of Time Travel next.
But I've been waffling horribly, so who knows. :)

Brad wrote: "For Fantasy, The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. An oldie but certainly not forgotten. While it's easy now to label it as "to Tolkien" and dismiss it but in the 80's i..."

I mentioned in another thread, a bunch of the Shannara ebooks (including the initial trilogy) are currently available on Humble Bundle for those who might be interested in giving it a try.

The Imaginary Worlds podcast recently did an episode about Romantasy as well.

Romance isn't really my thing so I've not paid much attention to it.

A couple more

Humble bundle has a Jeff Vandermeer bundle for any interested.
I already own all but 4 of the books plus a short story. But its $40 to buy those off Amazon, so I may as well go a head and do it.
These are direct epub downloads.

There's also a Terry Brooks Shannara bundle that contains a decent chunk of the various sub series.
Shannara
Heritage of Shannara
Word and Void
Genesis of Shannara
Legends of Shannara
These are through Kobo.

Kathi wrote: "I thought most of the stories in that collection were quite good. The only one that fell short for me was The Long Game by Ann Leckie."

I've still got 2 more stories to go, but so far The Long Game is also my least favorite. I have to admit, I just did not get the point at all.

I read some of the better reviews and there's a lot of mention of the evils of capitalism, but I didn't really get that either. I'd feel dense if it wasn't for the fact that the majority of reviews I read expressed feelings similar to mine.

Maybe the author was just trying to be subtle, but for such a short story (31 pages), there just wasn't time for subtle to sink in.

Decided to finally start the Far Reaches collection. Some short stories to bide my time until I figure out what's next.

How It Unfolds was a fascinating premise. One of the few cases where I would have liked something more expanded, but at the same time, that's not really what the story is about. But I would be very interested in a story that is about that. :)

I ended up bouncing through more than a few books and finally settled on The Road to Roswell

I really enjoyed the characters (I adore Indy) and the plot was just a lot of fun.

No clue what's next.

I really enjoy SF/F books with a Mystery leaning.

Just some I've pulled off the top of my head.

A good number of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series such as
Cetaganda
Memory
Komarr
The Mountains of Mourning
Diplomatic Immunity
CryoBurn
Many of my favorite books in the series are in that list.

Altered Carbon
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
The Engines of God - I understand the entire series is like this but have not read them
When Gravity Falls
Pines
Recursion
Dark Matter
Lock In and Head On
Legion and Skin Deep (I really need to read Lies of the Beholder)
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

I'd also want to toss in a few of the Discworld books, more specifically some of the Watch books
Guards! Guards!
Men at Arms
Feet of Clay
The Fifth Elephant
Thud!
Snuff

Finished My Best Friend's Exorcism
Takes place in the 80s and turns out I would have been 1 year a head of the main characters. Enjoyable book. The references were fun because I lived a lot of what the character's experienced (minus demon possession and exorcism). It also drove home on exactly how much I do not miss high school. :)

Thinking I'll be starting Unraveling or maybe something from Connie Willis. Haven't decided yet.

Another jumped to mind for me
The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The majority of the story is actually a flash back to the main character's childhood.

Finished We Sold Our Souls
Pretty good. Didn't feel as tight as some of the other books of his I have read, but I still enjoyed it.
Reminded me of my late high school years listening to Metallica, iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath. I was surprised I remember the words almost exactly to a song I could swear I've never heard before. :) Its been along time.

Next Up
My Best Friend's Exorcism

How to Sell a Haunted House

How to Sell a Haunted Mouse
The sale of old animatronic equipment has become problematic as it is realized the spirit of Walt haunts these devices.


A House with Good Bones
A House with Good Zones
The hosts walk us through renovating old houses with good overall foundations and layouts.
Actually I was shocked to find out there actually is/was a show called Good Bones which is related to renovations.