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

Random’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

Nice Ursula K. Le Guin collection available through Humble Bundle.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/wi...

Includes this month's book The Lathe of Heaven

While I am not anti military SF/F (I am a vet), I do not seek it out and will tend to choose something other than it if I have options. Its just doesn't tend to be my cup of tea kind of thing. As soon as we hit combat or the big battles start, my brain drifts off into other subjects and refuses to return most of the time. (I'm not one for action movies either. I just get so bored.)

There are a few exceptions though. Some of the books in Bujold's Vorkosigan series have a decidedly military SF flair. She does a really good job, however, of breaking up all the boring battles with Miles being Miles.

I am spending this Veteran's Day playing Veilguard. Over 67h in and I still haven't finished Act1.

Just finished The September House
Absolutely not what I expected going in, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable.

And now I have to figure out what's next.

Halloween is, hands down, my favorite holiday just like fall is my favorite season.

I'm not much a decorating person, so no decorations. We don't have kids, my husband doesn't care, and I despise rushing holidays by putting things up early. (That last bit applies to all holidays. I refuse to discuss Christmas before December for example).

As for little traditions. Trick or Treaters have been inconsistent over the years in this neighborhood. Some years we might get a whole bunch, some almost none. Since covid, I've kind of given up and just don't bother. Most parents anymore are taking their kinds to organized events instead of just walking the neighborhoods.

So my tradition. Put a fire in the fire place, turn all the lights off,, maybe light some candles, and put on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" while sipping on some tea. Celestial Seasonings Apple Spice is common since I try to avoid caffeine in the evenings.

I'll also often pull out Ghosts and Goblins. The book is full of short stories and poems and I have loved it since I was a kid.

Old lame Bridget doesn't hear
Fairy music in the grass
When the gloaming's on the mere
And the shadow people pass

I've also been trying to make A Night in the Lonesome October a tradition as well, but I have so far been inconsistent and some years I just forget. Its also more of an all month thing instead of actual Hallowing night thing. I am so happy this group introduced me to it though.

I guess I tend to like simple things. :)

Have to mention The September House

Fredricka - the house maid who cleans and cooks. A welcomed helper and friend despite the fact that she died by an ax blow to the head a long time ago.

There's Angelica and her pointing friends who always show up to point at the basement door. They will scatter if you run towards them, but always return.

Elias, the little boy who does not like his space invaded, bites, and can be temporarily gotten rid of by digging up and reuniting him with his mother's bones.

Blythe in the fireplace who freaks out anytime a fire is lit on the property and its so hard to get the sooty foot prints off the walls.

Her husband Jasper all folded up in the closet. He's supposed to be the one who chained and burned Blythe in the fireplace and killed Fredricka with the ax.

And of course Master Vale in the basement. Or is he the basement?

You would think these elements would be horrific, but its amazing what you can get used to for your dream home.

Not quite the spooky book I was hoping for October, but its been fascinating so far and I am starting to draw some suspicions. :)

Just finished Inspection

You know, I wouldn't call this horror at all. In fact it really felt a lot like science fiction, it was just missing a few of the superficial outer trappings.

So I called it science fiction. :)
I recommend. Wow, there is just so much that could be discussed.

Oh, and on to The September House

There are times I do love a good haunted house story.

I would say the one I loved the most was the one from House of Leaves. There's more to the book than the house, but it had that incredibly wonderful spooky feeling that I do adore.

A recent one for the list would also have to be How to Sell a Haunted House. A mix between sibling conflict along with something really freaky going on.

If life would stop getting in the way, I hope to get to The September House before the end of the month.

Not directly related to this book, but his previous one.

I was just listening to the latest episode of Imaginary Worlds and discovered that the 2016 movie Arrival was based on Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life.

Kathi wrote: "One point they seemed to make was that in magical realism, no one really noticed the magic. There weren’t the typical fantasy creatures or wizards & mages. I don’t know—there do seem to be subgenres of subgenres these days"

And yet, looking at the description of The House in the Cerulean Sea, we have a gnome, a sprite, and a wyvern. Those sound like pretty typical fantasy creatures to me. Even the blob and the antichrist are not new concepts to fantasy. :)

To add to my above, the one difference I see between magic realism and urban fantasy is a sense of surrealism in magic realism, where as urban fantasy tends to be more grounded.

The examples I gave above would likely fall more under urban fantasy where a book like Piranesi would be more likely to fall under magic realism.

But for me, in the end, they are all fantasy.

Shel wrote: "Also, I've tried doing A Night in the Lonesome October one chapter at a time, and I always get through the first few days and then give up and race ahead :D

Maybe I'll read it to my k..."

I know what you mean. For me, its especially a struggle early on when the chapters are so short and a little easier later when the chapters take more than two minutes to read.

Other than that first night where I got swept up and read 3 chapters in a row, I am behaving myself. I even made myself back up and read the correct chapter for the correct day, even though I had already read them. :)

Um, its the same thing? Well more magic realism is part of Fantasy I should say. I know some people will argue that magic realism is its own genre. But seriously, there's magic, its Fantasy. it doesn't really matter which elements are fantastical and which are realistic. At least it doesn't matter to me.

More on point I think would be to discuss the differences between Urban Fantasy and Magic Realism. From what I can tell (I don't admit to being an expert) is it depends on which parts are magical and which ones are realistic.

I honestly don't understand the need to divide and divide and subdivide things down to such levels. I guess its because I never go looking for something to read in that way? I mean when I'm looking for something new to read, I'm not looking for very specific sub genres. I'm more likely to be looking for a mood. Or, even more likely, I just look for something that just grabs my attention, wherever it may fall.

For example, Mercedes Lackey's Serrated Edge series. Is it urban fantasy? is it Magic Realism? Does it actually matter? Its elves and race cars saving kids. The books were easy to read for a 20 year old in college who didn't have a much in the way of extra mental energy for entertainment. I've never had the desire to find the exact perfect little cubby to stick them into. Its spec fic. Its fantasy. It was entertaining. Good enough.

If we were talking about romance, I'd say its the need people have to subdivide things down so finely that they are never exposed to anything outside their own particular kink.

Or, like with the whole New Weird thing, as need to be different, trying desperately to separate yourself from what people are familiar with as to make you appear more special. And I say this as a fan of the works of Jeff VanderMeer.

It seems more like a way for people to go, "Me? No I don't write/read that low class genre fiction. I'm refined". Its like Margaret Atwood insisting she doesn't write science fiction.

Shel wrote: "As I'm thinking about books that are labeled "magic realism", I feel like they are scenarios where there aren't explanations for the magical things that are happening. While in fantasy - I guess ur..."

Does urban fantasy REALLY explain its magic systems, the how and why? Seriously? Does most fantasy for that matter? I read Minimum Wage Magic semi recently. I liked it a lot more than than I thought I would. There is no explanation of the magic. Just that it showed up and that it is and this is the new power structure in the city of Detroit. That's actually part of the idea of fantasy. It doesn't have to explain why or how. It just is.

Well I lied. Its October and I'm in a horror mood.

Starting Inspection tonight

Possibly The September House after. Seed might be in there somewhere as well.

I'm also a day late starting A Night in the Lonesome October. I'll be reading the first two chapters tonight and trying to stay with one chapter a day until the 31st. :)

Finished The Singularity Trap over the weekend. I really enjoyed it.

And, I am going to kill my reading for the rest of the year and likely for most of next year as I am starting/restarting Mighty Nein campaign of Critical Role. Between my second BG3 playthrough and my husband doing a Critical Role animated series marathon over the weekend in prep for the new season coming out soon, I'm back in the mood.

I am going to squeeze in a reread of A Night in the Lonesome October for next month. This time I intend to read it one chapter a day to match up the days. First time I read it, I was having too much fun to not do it all in one big go. :)

May manage to squeeze in a few horror-ish short stories as well. There are some I had gathered for last Halloween, but did not get to.

Halloween: the only holiday where I try to read something appropriate for the season. :)

Shel wrote: "and A Night in the Lonesome October because the drawings are just fun!."

Ooohh, its about time to reread that one. First time I read it was in audio, so I did not get the pictures, but since then I have picked up a ebook copy that does contain the illustrations.

Sadly I'm having a horrible time thinking of any others that contain illustrations that I have recently read. I think Anathem had diagrams in its index, but otherwise I am struggling.

I am baffled by emojis. I used to just consider them slightly fancier emoticons, but they appear to have transformed into modern hieroglyphics that lean heavily on memes and social media for translation context.

As is, I don't give a rats rear end about modern social culture or social media, really don't give a fuck about memes, and so I can't be arsed to care about emojis.

*waving cane*
get off my lawn!

As a reader, I really enjoy the written word. I'd prefer to stay with it.

So, for those who have heard me talk about the Yurt books and shown interest

I've mentioned that the author has had A Bad Spell in Yurt available for free on her website.

Well the entire series is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.

For those who haven't heard me talk about it, A Bad Spell in Yurt was a book I ran across back in the 90s when everything seemed to be nothing but massive epic series. It was easy to read and light and became a serious comfort read for me. I literally read multiple editions to pieces (though likely to be blamed on poor quality binding as much as how often it was read).

Also, can't remember if I mentioned this before, but the first three books of the Locked Tomb series (starts with Gideon the Ninth) is also available on Kindle Unlimited.

Cheryl wrote: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a five star book and made one of the Listopias. I'm not sure if you think it qualifies."

There can be a few types of unreliable narrator, though its been so long since I read Huck Finn that I can't remember enough details. It was a school assignment so it was read and promptly forgotten as soon as I passed the test. :)

Using some of the examples above
(Going to put book names in spoilers cause some might not want to know exact details of a particular book.)

1) The narrator is purposefully providing faulty information.
(view spoiler)[The Last Days of Jack Sparks and We Have Always Lived in the Castle fall under this category. (hide spoiler)]

2) The narrator is not understanding what is going on and so cannot accurately report what is happening.
(view spoiler)[The Long Game is an example of this. (hide spoiler)]

3) The narrator has a warped sense of reality. This might be due to drug use, mental health issues, or similar type issues and cannot accurately report what is happening.
(view spoiler)[At the End of Every Day falls under this category (hide spoiler)]

I believe (view spoiler)[Walking to Walking to Aldebaran (hide spoiler)] might be a mix of 2 and 3.

I hope more people chime in as I do really enjoy a good unreliable narrator and they seem scarce in the SF/F genres. I think the best ones are the ones we discover as the story unfolds and not one that is presented as unreliable to us early on.

I would have been one of the people who mentioned The Last Days of Jack Sparks. It was a good book. Glad others are enjoying it. :)

There is also We Have Always Lived in the Castle

and a short story Walking to Aldebaran
You really need to read twice for everything to start making sense.

Maybe The Long Game

At the End of Every Day

I keep feeling like there are others but I just cannot bring them to mind.

Finished Passage
That was a really hard read
rated 5 stars