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Another strong non-fiction entry in this compendium, "Rich Men's Skins: A Social History of Armour" is a concise but very content-rich exploration of the role of armor in history. Particularly social history. With plenty of citations and footnotes, Parker goes from the ancient world to the modern and highlights how armor functions in practice, and also interacts with the social status of those who wear it. Too short!

I re-read the novella Purple and Black, which is reprinted in this collection. The first time I read, years ago, it my impression was that it was the best novella ever written. After re-reading, I maintain my position is still a valid one until I find evidence to the contrary. This novella deserves its own review at some point, but suffice to say it accomplishes more in 90 pages than most books do in 500.

The Short Story "Illuminated" is a psychologically wild story, and to me K.J. Parker's most horrific. Reminds me of a blend between Inception and Edgar Allen Poe; like if Poe was writing Inception in an abandoned medieval tower on old parchment. Parker give the reader the least (i.e, references to the world or extras) but forces the reader right along with him into the depths of depravity. 5/5 for this short

Being read as part of the "Classics and Western Canon" book club group read.

Think about what you do when you write something down. You take a thought out of your mind, you separate it from yourself, and you fix it in a permanent medium, like a fly in amber. Then you leave it there.
A book can last a very long time. Even if the paper you wrote it on is lost or destroyed, all it takes is for someone else to make a copy. [...]
...Some flies in amber are only sleeping.

She gave me this look, which I confess I found hard to interpret. "What?" I said.
"Oh, nothing."
...There's that bit in the General Collect about how you have broken every law, dishonored every commandment, done every evil, neglected every good. Get a woman to say it and you could compress all that down into 'Oh, nothing' and save twenty minutes.

War is a great generator of ironies. My all-time favorites are the patent infringement lawsuits brought against the US government after WW1 by the German arms industry.... ...The German patent holders won the suit, and the US had to pay royalties on every rifle issued to and and every bullet fired by their armed forces during the war. I'd put that in a book, but nobody would believe it.

Let Maps to Others is a puzzling novella in this collection. Probably my least favorite work in this book, though I'm actually wondering if it is so simply because it went over my head. The message or purpose behind the novella isn't actually clear to me, though I suppose one could argue that isn't a prerequisite of "goodness" in a story. About a long-lost island; hope, fortune, and disappointment abound. 3/5

"he was always a good speaker, and he couldn't resist arguing the toss, even when it was clearly not the smart thing to do. I can imagine (I wasn't there) him arguing with Death, scoring five or six good solid debating points; the last thing he'd have seen before his eyes closed forever was the panoramic view you get from the moral high ground.

I never thought I would be so captivated by an academic essay, but On Sieges is a delightful commentary on how important the role of sieges has been to civilization and its development. You can really tell this is a topic KJ Parker feels passionately about. Well researched and eloquently tied into literature, art, technology, housing design, and much much more.

Amor Vincit Omnia, the next 30-page short in this collection, is probably one of the most disturbing stories I've ever read, from a purely psychological view. What is the true price of power, or survival; what are the true consequences of our actions? I don't know, and I think I know even less after reading this. This was a confusing story, from start to end, but it's making me sit here and think about it.

, the next 30-page short in this collection, is probably one of the most disturbing stories I've ever read, from a purely psychological view. What is the true price of power, or survival; what are the true consequences of our actions? I don't know, and I think I know even less after reading this. This was a confusing story, from start to end, but it's making me sit here and think about it a lot.

"A Full Rich Week," the second novella/short story in this collection, could be something out of a Horror novel if it wasn't for the dry humourous wit of the main character's internal mental commentary. Perhaps less philosophically profound than the previous story, it instead draws you in as you try and figure out what's even going on. It draws you in and twists your expectations to make you unprepared for the end.

Finished the first novellete "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong." What a surprisingly surreal and emotional story. Drama over musical composition can be far more intense than I realized; composers can be ruthless. The ending was untexpectedly ruthless, but emotionally loaded. I can see why this novellete between a short story and novella) won the World Fantasy Award, even though calling it "Fantasy" is a big stretch

"Cotton from India to Britain, opium from India to China, silver becoming tea and porcelain in China, and everything flowing back to Britain. It sounded so abstract- just categories of use, exchange, value- until it wasn't; until you realized the web you lived in and the exploitations your lifestyle demanded, until you saw looming above it all the spectre of colonial labour and colonial pain."

Robin, too, thought the photograph looked strange... All of their expressions were artificial, masks of faint discomfort. The camera had distorted and flattened the spirit that bound them, and the invisible warmth and camaraderie between them appeared now like a stilted, forced closeness. Photography, he thought, was also a kind of translation, and they had all come out poorer for it.

I definitely taste the Romance of the Three Kingdoms spices used to cook up this book. This is not a bad thing!

A delightful read so far, especially for a book with such a ponderous plot.

Also, I'm becoming convinced that Gaddis was a complete and verifiable genius. Like, full-on always the smartest person in whatever room.

Okay... this book is actually freaking hilarious in extremely subtle ways. Ways that are also dripping with sarcasm and cynical wit.

It's become fairly clear that most of the people who rant against the evils of this book haven't actually read it.

I love KJ Parker so much.

Ian McDonald seems to sometimes get a little caught up in his own cleverness, to the detriment of the story. Yet, this is still a really really good book.

I got the book because all the criticisms about it from from wealthy conservatives made it sound scandalous, provocative, and dangerous. I wanted to experience such a society-threatening book, capable of destroying the American dream! Instead however, I'm rather disappointed: So far it seems to be full of meticulous research, thoughtful analysis, and careful reasoning. Serious discourse is soooo boring... more wine!

Merry capitalist winter gift-giving holiday, everyone!