Chris’s Comments (group member since Feb 25, 2011)

Chris’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

A book that you are interested in is being made into a movie or TV series. What is your preference? Do you stick with just the book? Or just watch the movie/show? If both, do you have a preference on which you watch/read first?

Hello from The Woodlands, Texas (near Houston)!

Last week's question got me wondering -- where are you? I know that we have members from the US, but what about other countries? Let us know where you post from!

Chris wrote: "I have two books in progress, and I'm enjoying them both:

To Shape a Dragon's Breath is based on an Alaskan-like world culture.

The Fragile Threads of Power is th..."
I totally misrepresented To Shape a Dragon's Breath. It's set in the Massachusetts area, in an alternative history where the Norse settled the Americas. It's told from an indigenous point of view.

For SF, I'll propose The Future by Naomi Alderman. I've been seeing it turn up on a number of "favorites" lists.

For SF, I'll propose To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose. It's a alternative history fantasy from an indigenous point of view, in a world where the Americas were settled by the Norse. I think it would give us some interesting discussion.

It seems like there are only a few ways to react to an existential emergency:
* Pretend it's not happening, and carry on as usual
* Vociferously deny the science/facts
* Figure out how to profit from it
* Actually try to mitigate it

It seems depressingly familiar. Yet this novel manages to cover all the bases with interesting characters, politics, and skullduggery. And still we have hope. Can't wait for the third book!

I liked how Cardenia is doing a great job of assuming the Emperox position; she's made a few missteps, but is largely anticipating her enemies and coming out on top. And I was encouraged by the resourcefulness of the colonies in the lost system.

I am not at all sure how she recognized the king from outside the Interdependency, though...

I've been thinking about another book from my distant past,
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. It's been a VERY long time, but what I remember most is the two girls escaping from a remote mansion across a bitterly cold snowy countryside, pursued by wolves.

Although my area is VERY cold today, at least there are no wolves.

Dawn wrote: "I live in pretty much the most temperate area of Canada and I'm not a fan of these temperatures. My front door froze shut, couldn't open it for 3 days.
At first I was going to say [book:Red Mars|7..."
Oh, that made me shiver just to read it!

One story that came to mind for me was The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders. Outside the city is freezing wilderness, somehow sounding even colder because it's always dark. Brrr!

Much of the US is enduring an arctic blast this week. Brrr - I hope that you're keeping warm, wherever you are. What books do you recall that have severely cold weather?

I have two books in progress, and I'm enjoying them both:

To Shape a Dragon's Breath is based on an Alaskan-like world culture.

The Fragile Threads of Power is the first book in a new trilogy by V.E. Schwab. I re-read the first trilogy before I started this one, and liked the original trilogy even better the second time.

It's a brand new year! Are you setting any reading goals for 2024?

I thought this was very original, particularly the magical system. And yes, it is DARK! But characters are all interesting and complicated, and it's a good twisty thriller!

The best magical systems require sacrifice. Magic isn't really believable, or interesting, unless it has a cost. But great power also requires great responsibility. Nicholas' sacrifice at his uncle's direction seems to be in exchange for his own protection, but clearly his uncle is using Nicholas to increase his own power, wealth and influence (making him a supervillain, our theme for this month's reads!).

We had glimpses of how the magic could be used in less nefarious ways: to see through the eyes of a bird, or to make a flying carpet. I hope that our characters go on to explore the more beneficial and wondrous aspects of this magic.

I just loved this book, and I've been recommending it to all my friends. It has the right amount of snark and humor, and manages to cover all the supervillain tropes (volcano lair!) without taking them too seriously.

The cats are absolutely wonderful, and any cat acquaintance will recognize all their cattitude. Just perfect. Random, I absolutely agree with your IRL cat assessment!

Charlie is a lovable protagonist, as well (we can't give all the glory to the cats). He doesn't have super-villain-sized dreams, but he rolls up his sleeves and tries to make the best of the situation that Jake leaves him. I wish him well in his future endeavors!

It's a brand new year! Let us know what you’re reading this month, January 2024. Tell us about your reads - all genres welcome here!

Some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Tress of the Emerald Sea - truly lovely story
Starter Villain - can't wait until our discussion starts!
The Mountain in the Sea
The King of Elfland's Daughter
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
and I've gotten hooked on the Honor Harrington books by David Weber

Final polls are up! Please vote for what you'd like to read in March 2024.

Final Fantasy Poll

Final SF Poll

Preliminary polls are now open! Please vote for what you'd like to read in March 2024.

Preliminary Fantasy Poll

Preliminary SF Poll

I read this when it first came out and loved it. Read it again to refresh my memory (it's a pretty quick read) and enjoyed it just as much. The whole premise of the interdependency is really interesting ... humanity is spread across multiple star systems connected by the Flow. But most planets are extremely inhospitable, and reliant on interplanetary commerce to prosper. What happens if the means of interplanetary transport starts to disappear?

There's an interesting play here between the forces of commerce, of law, of religion, and of science (and, of course, self-interest). But our major characters (Cardenia, Marce, and Nohemi Nohamapetan) are all complex and believable, and bring the conflict to a personal level. I truly enjoyed this, and I look forward to re-reading the remaining books.

P.S. I do miss Naf. I was sorry to see her go so quickly ....

Shades of Terry Pratchett! Just like the Discworld stories, this was absurdly fun while taking a serious poke at real world issues. What IS a hero, exactly, and what is the hero's job? What are the economic requirements for a quest, and who should profit (that is, who should get the loot)?

Curmudgeonly Gorm turned out to be a great team leader to hold together such a mismatched bunch of failed heroes, while Gleebek, sorry, I mean Tib'rin, was a great sidekick (if not a great squire).

And I felt for all the Shadowkin who were either legitimate targets of quests, or who were allowed to hold legitimate jobs (but only as long as it was economically profitable to allow them to do so).

Good story!