Mark’s Comments (group member since Apr 13, 2012)

Mark’s comments from the The Sword and Laser group.

Any opinions from longtime MJS readers about the comics? Death of Dulgath Graphic Novel Volume 1 and The Jester

Tom:

https://www.goodreads.com/questions/1...

Speaking of dog books...

(view spoiler)[Dogs in space! Tiamat's Wrath (hide spoiler)]

Well, annihilation is what it appears, but we don't really know what's happened to those ships.

I searched the text of Tiamat's Wrath for the phrase going dutchman and it's used half a dozen times. The phrase seems to apply to more than just ships, so I'm probably missing something here.

Silvana wrote: "Can somebody explain what 'going dutchman' means? I googled it but nothing really makes sense in the book's context."

Might be based on the legend of the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship. The ships that disappear into the gates become ghost ships.

Sean Lookielook wrote: "You could do a ranking poll with a listopia, but 99% of people have no idea how the ranking system works."

I guess it's true that this works as a ranked voting system, but Listopia lists are all open-ended. If someone creates a list of five books to choose the next month's pick, anyone can add books to the list. Would we all have the self-discipline to only rank the five books presented?

My home town used ranked-choice voting in the most recent mayoral election and it was interesting, both as a voter and as an observer of the political process.

But March Madness is all about the selections, the angst of the seeding, the deep despair when your selection gets knocked out of the tournament, and Rob finally getting his way.

If the Supremes were to use ranked-choice voting for one of the occasional votes, that might be entertaining, but it's not a replacement for March Madness.

Tiamat's Wrath

An article from the B&N SF&F blog on where to find the stories

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/s...

Rick wrote: "Highly recommend the Chen books. They're good fun, set in a alternate Singapore (kind of) which as access to Hell and Heaven. And a detective who deals with them.

Mark - where did you find the 6th..."

The sixth book is Morningstar. I used the first Paypal link on this page of the author's LiveJournal blog to order the book for £10.00 GBP.

https://mevennen.livejournal.com/9398...

Ms. Williams also has some Chen short stories for sale via the second Paypal link on this page, but I haven't ordered them yet.

If you've already voted in S&L's March Madness, Amazon Prime Video has a Sci-Fi Series Championship with voting on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/PrimeVideo/status...

Garlic chicken and green chile pizza with Theft of Swords or TFFLoHA on the side.

John (Taloni) wrote: "Too bad for Martian Chronicles. I shall appeal to the dictator for a pick later on! (channeling AC/DC: For those about to read, we salute you!)"

Ray Bradbury was born August 22, 1920, so we can celebrate his life by reading one of his books August 2020. The question is which Bradbury book?

Rob, I don't care what Dante said, I'm still voting for Theft of Swords ;-)

If I understand the Roberator correctly, those of us voting for Theft of Swords must heed these words...

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate.
Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 1472

ok, some background research on the finalists, if you're so inclined ;-P

Michael J. Sullivan
https://scottsigler.com/podcast/frida...

Claire North aka Catherine Webb
https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.or...
(behind a pay wall, but you can sign up for a free trial)

Here's another that isn't behind a pay wall
https://www.tor.com/2015/06/25/midnig...

On mercenaries
https://www.careeraddict.com/become-a...

On time travel
https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...

Some Kindle books on sale:

Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Lem for $2.99

https://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Found-...

and The Detective Inspector Chen Novels Volume One: Snake Agent, The Demon and the City, and Precious Dragon by Liz Williams for $4.99

https://www.amazon.com/Detective-Insp...

The Chen novels are urban fantasy.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/52617

I recently read the first five traditionally published books in the series and enjoyed them. There is a sixth book that the author self-published which I haven't finished yet.

Brian McClellan's new self-published fantasy novel, Uncanny Collateral, is available direct from the author before official release date at

http://www.brianmcclellan.com/ebook-s...

I'm at 52% if I count books I read decades ago before joining S&L.

Coming in May, a graphic novel titled Altered Carbon: Download Blues by Richard K. Morgan, Rik Hoskin, with art by Ferran Sellares.

This is a new story, an expansion of the Altered Carbon universe featuring Takeshi Kovacs.

https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon...