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

Random’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I've had it since it was released and still have not read it even though I loved Stories of Your Life and Others

Plan on reading it, but wanting to try and finish Dragonfly Falling first.

Have to jump in as a tea nerd with a bit of trivia.

Kathi is right. Black, white, green, yellow, oolong, heicha, puerh all come from various varietals of the Camellia Sinesis plant. However, the names refer to how the tea leaves were processed after harvesting and not the varietal itself. So leaves from the same bush can be used to make different types of tea. Though certain varietals and locations tend to be preferred for certain tea processing.

Caffeine content has little to do with the processing style. Caffeine is a natural insect repellent and so the young vulnerable leaf buds have higher concentrations of caffeine over larger leaves. Yabao is a white tea made from branch buds from old tea trees and contains very little caffeine because its a branch bud and not a leaf bud.

Steeping parameters (water temperature, steeping time, leaf to water ratio), leaf size, and whether or not its whole or broken leaves are the major factors for caffeine content, not processing style.

Other factors can also come into play. An example would be Oriental Beauty (oolong). In this case they allow bugs (leaf hoppers if my memory is right) to bite the tea leaves and this stress triggers a response from the plant that makes the leaves sweeter.

Camellia Sinesis is native to China, but has spread all over the world. In fact, I know of a few tea plantations in North America and one of my favorite whites comes from Africa.

After the Poppy Wars, the British took one of the major varietals (Camelia Sinesis Assamica) to India and Sri Lanka (ceylon) and started tea plantations. When you think of a traditional British tea, it was very likely produced there. Most tea you find in the grocery store (at least here in the states) also come from these locations.

I personally tend to lean towards black teas, usually either from the Yunnan province of China or from Taiwan.

Sorry, couldn't help myself. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program. :)

I've got to spoiler tag this one because this story is just so good, I don't want to spoil anything. Be warned.

Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold, part of Borders of Infinity
The story might still be free on her website.

(view spoiler)[Harra's mother (Ma Mattulich). She did an utterly horrible and unforgivable thing, killing Raina. But I just can't help but remember her words during her confession.

Miles blinked. "What were all wrong?" Across the room Miles saw Speaker Karal's mouth tighten. The headman caught Miles's glance and stared down at his own feet, absenting himself from the proceedings. Lem, his lips parted in absorption, and the rest of the boys were listening with alarm. Harra hadn't moved.

"All my babies," Ma Mattulich said.

Harra looked up sharply at that, her eyes widening.

"Was Harra not your only child?" Miles asked. It was an effort to keep his voice cool, calm; he wanted to shout. He wanted to be gone from here. . . .

"No, of course not. She was my only clean child, I thought. I thought, but the poison must have been hidden in her. I fell on my knees and thanked God when she was born clean, a clean one at last, after so many, so much pain. . . . I thought I had finally been punished enough. She was such a pretty baby, I thought it was over at last. But she must have been mutie after all, hidden, tricksy, sly. . . ."

"How many," Miles choked, "babies did you have?"

"Four, besides Harra my last."

"And you killed all four of them?" Speaker Karal, Miles saw, gave a slow nod to his feet.

"No!" said Ma Mattulich. Indignation broke through the fast-penta wooze briefly. "Two were born dead already, the first one, and the twisted-up one. The one with too many fingers and toes, and the one with the bulgy head, those I cut. Cut out. My mother, she watched over me to see I did it right. Harra, I made it soft for Harra. I did it for her."

My heart shatters every time I read it. Not just for Harra, but also for that young woman whose mother made her murder two of her own children. How, in that environment, could she have come out unscathed in a society which protected such acts?

It also helps to underline just how strong and brave Harra was to break that cycle.
(hide spoiler)]

I get annoyed when a story leans too heavily on the the bad guy being bad because . . . he's bad. In real life, unless you're are dealing with someone who is like maybe a psychopath, people have very complex motivations, and that includes antagonists. It doesn't mean they haven't done bad things, or that they don't intend to do more bad things, but that they are more than a cardboard cut out with the words "I am EVIL HAHAHAHAHA!!!" written on it.

What's really sad is I am struggling to find what I consider good examples of the kind of villain or antagonists I enjoy the most.

Thalrick from our current Shadows of the Apt series is one I mentioned in the discussion. I'm as invested in what happens to him as I am in what happens with our heroes. We see his point of view, what motivates him, why he does what he does because he is loyal to his empire above all else.

Children of Time series has had a few situations where the antagonist turned to allies, like the beings from Nod. Remember when the spiders first met humans? Or the Noddians? I swear "we're going on an adventure" still gives me the willies. :)

Adrian Tchaikovsky might just have a pattern there.

I'm struggling to remember details, but Brandon Sander's original Mistborn trilogy, Ruin turned out to be more than just the evil force everyone had assumed.

I'll have to come back if I can think of any more good examples.

Shel wrote: "A character I'd call more of an anti-hero is Gerald Tarrant in the Coldfire trilogy by C.S. Friedman (Black Sun Rising is the first book). He's on the right "side", but he makes no pretense of being at all "good""

Gerald Tarrant is a great example of an anti-hero. And looking back at his history, he had very good reasons and motivations to do the absolutely horrible things he did. He was trying to make it so humanity could survive on that planet and the nature of the environment required sacrifice.

I think what I enjoy the most is when I can understand motivations even if I don't agree with or approve of the methods. I tend to like three dimensional characters who are infinite shades of gray instead of cardboard cut outs who are black or white only.

Kathi wrote: "Our group read it in 2018 (so it is eligible to be nominated again). The author has written a sequel, [bo..."

I have some very complex feelings about those books (in a very good way). Looking forward to the new one.

Gary wrote: "In Lock In and its sequel, Head On, John Scalzi explores themes of gender identity and self-identity. I think the novels are an interesting mix of a sc..."

I really messed myself over with this series.
I like Scalzi's books in audio.
When I went to buy the first one, I was confused why there were two versions of the audiobook, each with a different narrator.
I chose the one narrated by Wil Wheaton cause I'm a fan of his work as a narrator and he does a lot of Scalzi's books.

So I went through the entire book thinking Chris was male and not even noticing that their gender was never specified. I also put it down to how smooth Scalzi made it appear. No awkward phrasing, etc to draw attention to the fact.

Chris wrote: "Two books where nature plays a large part are Annihilation (where nature runs amok) and Semiosis (where nature is sentient)."

Oohh, both excellent ones. :)

Another possibility. Its been a long time since I read it but To Ride Hell’s Chasm would be another.

I've been having a lot of problems coming up with something from the spec fic genres.

Would The Kaiju Preservation Society count maybe?

Not nominating for fantasy as this could be the perfect excuse for me to read A Bad Spell in Yurt yet again. :D

As since I'm a bit in the reread mood, I'd like to nominate Glasshouse by Charles Stross. A really fascinating story. Takes place in the future but the majority is a simulation of our more recent past.

Please no comments with future knowledge, but I highly suspect that while Thalric is starting out as an antagonist, that he may be ending up as an ally. Just a hunch on my part. The character is just too sympathetic for him to stay on the opposite side for all 10 books.

Finally finished Empire in Black and Gold (got distracted by a Doom Patrol marathon).

Just barely started Dragonfly Falling and hoping the weekend is quiet enough I can get a better start. I need to get caught up.

Finally finished.

Overall I enjoyed it. There was a lot thrown at us quickly and I'd love to better understand the history of the kinden and how it all happened.

I have to admit to being fascinated by Thalric. I really enjoy a well developed antagonist and I seem to be every bit as invested in what happens to him as I am the rest of the characters. Having his PoV helps a lot and I am really curious where his road eventually leads him.

I'll second Discworld!

I'll also toss out another that I have mentioned so many times.
A Bad Spell in Yurt
I was roaming a book store one day desperately looking for something that wasn't part of some huge epic series and ran across this. So light, so fluffy, so entertaining. I read it so much that the book fell apart and a cat hacked up a hairball on the cover. So I tore the cover off and kept the book in one piece with a large rubber band. My husband eventually bought me a new hard copy along with the rest of the books in the series (hadn't even known there was a series). Again read most of them to pieces. Really cheap binding. Now I have all of the books as ebooks, though the first one is still my go to. I think you can still find it for free on the author's web site.

Another classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
It, and the rest of the series, made me laugh when I had no reasons in my life to laugh and many reasons for . . . less pleasant emotions. Just wonderful, silly, desperately needed escapism.

It came to mind :)

Neil Gaiman's Sandman series has a decent amount of representation.

From Desire who is truly androgynous, to trans Wanda, to a number of gay, lesbian, and bi characters scattered around the series.

Shel wrote: "I also have found it interesting that the Murderbot books never specify a gender for Murderbot.."

I think that's because Murderbot doesn't actually have a gender at all. There would be no reason for their creators to include things like that. Sex bots, however, wow, now that's an utterly revolting idea.
The series however, has a number of alternative lifestyles represented.

In that vein, have to toss in the Expanse series as well.

Left Hand of Darkness immediately came to mind for me, its such a classic.

In Jemisin's Broken Earth series, we have the character of Tonkee who is trans. And Alabatser is a character that will always hold a place in my heart.

Not trans, but The Dark Beyond the Stars shows a generation ship society where same sex relationships are every bit as much the norm as anything else.

Those are a few off the top of my head. I keep thinking there's at least one more that's on the tip of my tongue, but for the life of me I can't seem to draw it to mind. I'll come back if it comes to mind.

Ann wrote: "I loved it and for the reasons stated previously plus the narration was top notch. I adore Wil Wheaton as a narrator. It’s an audible only audiobook and was well worth the credit."

I have to admit, I have become a huge fan of Wil Wheaton's work as an audiobook narrator and voice actor.

In fact, if you haven't noticed already, Wil Wheaton has narrated most of Scalzi's audiobooks.

No no no no no no no no NO!!!!!

In the past I have refused to buy used books where someone wrote in it. It just feels so utterly rude and disrespectful to future readers.

I never write in books. I have no need or desire to do so. Never have, never will. I read a book to see what the author has to say, not what I said years ago or what some stranger wanted to say.

If I have that horrible desire to take notes (almost never happens) I can do so on a piece of paper and tuck it between the pages. Or, even more likely, it would be in a separate notebook with relevant quotes.

Other people can do whatever they want to their own books, but I refuse to have anything to do with it.

And, with modern ebooks, its never an issue. I could make thousands a pages worth of notes and the ebook would still remain unmarred.

I think I've been dragging my feet on this series because it just has felt overwhelming due to its size.

However I gave in and grabbed the first 5 books off audible today. Plan on starting tonight and working to get myself caught up to the group.

Finished Ink Blood Sister Scribe and made a comment in the discussion thread. It was a really fun read.

Also finished Walking to Aldebaran which was utterly fascinating. I think I need to give it a week and read it again.