Joe Kessler > Recent Status Updates

There's only one bed BUT they're both too stubborn and so they sleep on opposite sides of the floor. Your faves could never.

Oh, I am so glad I decided to read these books in the order I did.

Terec of Lund! How the heck are you?

"Can I cook the potatoes?"

"But you're a man!" Grace objected.

"Am I?" said the Doctor. "I can't keep up."

Audiobook reader just pronounced Camus like it rhymes with Seamus.

"Kids don't need a life where nothing bad ever happens; what they need is someone who's there for them when the bad stuff happens."

Captain Audmon! I had to check, but yes, that's the same airship as in The Return of Fitzroy Angursell. Too funny.

Fun little subtle Doctor Who reference there -- the main character eating a piece of celery he keeps handy to prevent certain rare poisons, a trick he learned from a strange wanderer who's presumably the Fifth Doctor. (Or would be except for copyright reasons.)

"This too, she was given to understand, was the doing of the present Lord Chancellor, who was himself from some remote hinterland region." Yeah, she DEFINITELY doesn't realize that that's the same Kip she heard about from Basil. I wonder if she ever does?

It's occurring to me now, as Pali hears all these great things about Kip from his cousin, that she might not realize Cliopher Mdang *is* Kip when they meet in THOTE. Victoria Goddard sure loves her little dramatic ironies!

"Pali liked Basil and Sara immediately, which was rare for her." Oh, please tell me somebody eventually tells Kip they've heard from him!

“He died and came back to life.” Pali blinked[...]“It’s not as if we didn’t get up to absurdly dramatic things when we were his age. Not that particular one, it’s true, but,” she shrugged as magnificently as she could. “It’s good for the younger generations to find their own paths to greatness.”

"I liked Ragnor Bella immediately, though I probably would have gone mad in short order had I been obliged to live there." Oh, this crossover with the Greenwing and Dart books is so delightful already.

"All people are interesting, if you find out what they are particularly interested in."

This is even more delightful than I expected it to be.

This felt like a three-star early on, but I'm afraid I'm going to settle on a two in the end.

(spoilers / speculation) she's gonna frame him, isn't she

I support women's wrongs, but Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, Doctor Who.

"I'll never understand why they remake good movies. Why doesn't somebody go back and remake bad ones, correcting the mistakes? I'd love to see a decent version of Dune."

Boy do I have news for you, book from the year 2000.

Enjoying this, but it is unintentionally hilarious that the dystopian cyberpunk future year is... 2007.

"She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach and thought of the Doctor. Sometimes he’d speak about the way events took shape, the future growing invisibly around you. And every action you took contributed to that shape, like putting your fingers to wet clay spinning on a wheel. Except the clay hardened impossibly quickly. Harder than concrete. And you were stuck with what you shaped."

Okay, back to this one now.

"Cliopher, what is the purpose of government?"

“To steward the resources of all for the benefit of all,” he replied automatically to the sudden sharp question, the response one he had laboured over for so many nights trying to discern the right way forward.

“People who choose appearance over substance tend to end up with a whole lot of nothing. I used to choose substance over appearance, and found that left me with a whole lot of knowledge and no way to change opinion.”

"'We expect our gentle readers will appreciate knowing the appropriate etiquette if they should happen to encounter the new Viceroy, as Lord Mdang is known for his unexpected appearances in unlikely places. The correct form of address remains your excellency, and is to be accompanied by a second-degree genuflection.’”

“You could call your memoirs that. Unexpected Appearances in Unlikely Places.”

“I don’t care how they do their work, so long as they do do their work and it doesn’t involve bribery, cronyism, and major corruption. They could finish their work by noon and spend every afternoon fishing for all I care—so long as they do their work first!”

Dream boss, tbh.

“He thinks I’m an octopus sucking the world dry. That’s not what octopi do, but I haven’t belaboured the point.”

Halfway through! This reread is going quicker, but it's still a pretty lengthy book.

“If ever I may effect the release of Fitzroy Angursell, madam, it shall be on the condition he write a song about you." 😈😈😈

"Cliopher had a rule for committees before he signed off on their formation: they had to be able to state their purpose in two sentences or less. This had affronted any number of bodies, but he had found it enormously helpful in assigning duties and secretaries and general governance practices."

Wish we had that rule at my workplace, tbh.