Books, Flowers, and Cannibalism
Got contacted about a job. No firm commitments on their part, but it's more interest than I've gotten in months. We'll see how it goes. I think I'm going to be a pretty good candidate.
I have finally finished Shadows of the Apt, after several months. If that sounds like a long time, well, it's a series of ten novels. My ultimate verdict is that it probably could have used fewer fight scenes, but was still pretty good. I'd recommend it if you like military fantasy that is more than just a themeless slugfest, morally ambiguous heroes and villains, and an examination of the ultimately self-defeating nature of totalitarianism.
There are several other books I'm in the middle of reading. The Otter's Tale, which I actually finished, is a fascinating semifictionalized account of a family of otters, mixed in with information about the natural history of the British population. How to Tame a Fox is one I've barely started, but it's a rare popular science book which was written by one of the scientists involved; I am very keen to see how that changes the quality of the work. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is a fascinating anthology by a master of short stories--you can read some of his stories for free online, like "Good Hunting" or "The Paper Menagerie".
Also, made a new flower arrangement! I think the orchid's flower spike goes well with the sprays of pine needles.
RPGs go well. I'm still running the war plot on Kaerwyn. Since it occurs to me that I've never described the plot despite talking about it: The PCs are on my character's homeworld to try and stop a war from breaking out between Kemet (revanchist ancient Egypt) and the Southern Basin (anarchist cheetahs with hands). They're currently in Kemet, having traveled across the Republic of Aksum to get to Kemet.
Unfortunately, preventing war will be very hard, because the Sassanids want a war since it will weaken Kemet, the Nubians Kemet conquered want a war because they think it will allow them to revolt, and some Kemetics and people from the Southern Basin want a war because they think it will advance their own position or they just really hate the Pharaoh.
I think I've set up one of my players to eat the Pharaoh, actually.
I have finally finished Shadows of the Apt, after several months. If that sounds like a long time, well, it's a series of ten novels. My ultimate verdict is that it probably could have used fewer fight scenes, but was still pretty good. I'd recommend it if you like military fantasy that is more than just a themeless slugfest, morally ambiguous heroes and villains, and an examination of the ultimately self-defeating nature of totalitarianism.
There are several other books I'm in the middle of reading. The Otter's Tale, which I actually finished, is a fascinating semifictionalized account of a family of otters, mixed in with information about the natural history of the British population. How to Tame a Fox is one I've barely started, but it's a rare popular science book which was written by one of the scientists involved; I am very keen to see how that changes the quality of the work. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is a fascinating anthology by a master of short stories--you can read some of his stories for free online, like "Good Hunting" or "The Paper Menagerie".
Also, made a new flower arrangement! I think the orchid's flower spike goes well with the sprays of pine needles.
RPGs go well. I'm still running the war plot on Kaerwyn. Since it occurs to me that I've never described the plot despite talking about it: The PCs are on my character's homeworld to try and stop a war from breaking out between Kemet (revanchist ancient Egypt) and the Southern Basin (anarchist cheetahs with hands). They're currently in Kemet, having traveled across the Republic of Aksum to get to Kemet.
Unfortunately, preventing war will be very hard, because the Sassanids want a war since it will weaken Kemet, the Nubians Kemet conquered want a war because they think it will allow them to revolt, and some Kemetics and people from the Southern Basin want a war because they think it will advance their own position or they just really hate the Pharaoh.
I think I've set up one of my players to eat the Pharaoh, actually.