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Casting the Freudian extrapolations aside (as they are just plain silly), the paragraphs on "doubling" as a key aspect to surrealism and to signs in general, are excellent fodder for the brain.

How appropriate that surrealism is so difficult to define for art historians.

The initiation is initiated, or the trap is set, who can tell?

Lord Draffutt, Beastus ex Machina!

First review of The Varvaros Ascensions.

Just got word that there are a number of books coming to me in the mail as author's payment for my work. I'm quite happy about this! Some titles I've wanted to read for a long time! Oh, and I wrote a story and had it accepted within a week. That doesn't happen often at all. And it's for an anthology that I am psyched to be a part of! It's been a good last few weeks as a writer.

Intriguing that man's own technology gave rise to magic in this world. You know the old saying about technology and magic . . .

Also, I want to know more about Ardneh's realization of self-consciousness.

I'm cringing thinking of the possible cost of the diversion that is allowing Rolf to get to his destination. Great, now I'm emotionally-vested. Sword and sorcery isn't supposed to do that! :)

Interesting that Bela Lugosi left Weimar Germany just as the Bauhaus design school was coming to prominence. Then the band named after the school eulogized (in their own gothic way) the actor years after his death.

Undead
Undead
Undead

Chup, Rolf, and Lonford all making plans for how they are going to escape once their "strike team" goals are achieved. Now I know things will go horribly wrong!

In my mind, I pictured Draffut as Jake from Adventure Time. And, you know what? It totally worked. Totally!

You knew Rolf would have to find his sister, just a question of where and when. The circumstances are . . . inconvenient.

The section on Soviet Constructivism is every bit as boring as you might imagine. Blah.

That old saying that you have to lose your life in order to save it? Literally true in Chup's case. And I'm guessing that Charmian took some small pleasure in cutting off his head, despite her reluctance.

Propaganda as art, art as propaganda. The use and form of propaganda perfect themselves in the early 1920s, setting the stage for later iterations, both soviet and fascist.

I like the "punchiness" of the plot here. In a sword and sorcery novel, I want my action fast and frequent. I enjoy intrigue, but in this genre, you have to get to the magic and mayhem. Saberhagen goes almost too quickly, at times, but paces it well.

Interestingly, I just read an article on Dada in an old issue of Smithsonian magazine. The article failed to mention any political motivation at all in Dada's work, whereas the current essay is rife with it. It seems that Smithsonian gave the watered-down version, ignoring political motivations completely, I'm guessing because they don't want to upset advertisers!

Exactly how powerful is Charmian? She is not all she seems, either.

Chup is quickly becoming the defacto hero of this story. His shenanigans with the centipede prove it.

Moving on to the 1920s. I've been reading this book slowly, but more quickly, as of late. I think I shall slow again on this one, as it is an almost overwhelming read if I think about it too much, and it's such a monolithic book I can't just power-read my way through it. Besides, reading this requires thinking and consolidation. It's going to be a long haul but, I think, worth it. So far, so good.

Is Chup supposed to be my favorite character in the book? Because he is, without a doubt, the most intriguing.

Now I know exactly where Jonathan Stroud found the seed for his character, the djinni Bartimaeus. No doubt in my mind, but that the imp was picked up right from the pages of this book.

Duchamp's notion of using shadows as indecixal signs (rather than icons of the objects that themselves cast the shadow) has got me to thinking if I can use that idea in a literary work, composing it completely of shadow impressions, rather than concrete images.

While I might not agree with all the theoretical hubub of modern art and its critics, I'm glad I have been able to steal some ideas from them!

Interesting. Using magic to summon a being to force it to construct technology. Hadn't really thought of that angle before.

Oh, a medi-bot. How handy.

In 1916 we see photography-as-art.

What are Chup's ambitions? There is definitely way more to him than I initially thought.