Reading Wednesday
I have spent a not insignificant amount of time searching through the online database of recipients of the Légion d'honneur. There's an alphabetical by last name list and a search function. (Fyi, I did find the person I had originally gone looking for.)
In case anyone wants to see if they have any ancestors/namesakes who got the Légion d'honneur.
Even though the people in the database are only those deceased before 1977, it does have everyone awarded from 1802 on and it's possible to get more recent records if you have a specific query.
It's super interesting! The oldest person I saw in the database was born in 1768. 1768! And sometimes when you input an uncommon last name they are all from within 50km of each other -- birth places are listed -- it's pretty hilarious.
The Légion d'honneur (Legion of honour) is the highest French honour for military and civil merits. It's got five levels of distinction, the lowest being Chevalier (Knight) and the highest Grand Croix (Grand Cross). Most of the recipients are French, some are not; some are famous, most are not. All are listed in the database (supposedly, I haven't checked individually).
Simone Veil is Grand Cross and I mention her because she's a badass. She's the main driving force being the legalisation of abortion in France, a survivor of Auschwitz and a member of the Académie Française*.
* When you get elected to the Académie Française (French Adacemy), you get given a sword and called an Immortal. THAT IS SOME HIGHLANDER SHIT RIGHT HERE.
READING
Finished reading
2015
Le Jardin des silences
Prince of Cats
Sandman Overture
Spider-Gwen v1
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl v1
Magnus Chase and the Sword of Asgard
The Red Pyramid
Le papyrus de César
Tumulte à Rome
2016 (finished)
Marie des dragons intégrale
volume 4 of Les aigles de Rome
Cixi de Troye
Star Wars Shattered Empire
Star Wars Princess Leia
Lucifer v1 (Vertigo comic) by Mike Carey (writing) and Peter Gross, Dean Ormston and various (artists) (1999 - 2006): This is not to be confused with the current Lucifer ongoing (writing by Holly Black, art by Lee Garbett).
I reread this recently because after the TV show was announced I decided to offer this for yuletide and I got matched on it. (The fic I ended up writing was The Devil's Party, ~3k of post canon gen.) Issue 1 of the new run came out Dec 16 2015 so I was afraid I might be Jossed at the last minute by a canon formerly closed for almost ten years, but I wasn't, entirely -- in fact, I may have gotten some stuff right.
Anyway. This version of Lucifer (the character) first appeared in Neil Gaiman's Sandman, in the very first arc and was central to the Seasons of Mists arc. The artist Kelley Jones said "Neil was adamant that the Devil was David Bowie. He just said, 'He is. You must draw David Bowie. Find David Bowie, or I'll send you David Bowie. Because if it isn't David Bowie, you're going to have to redo it until it is David Bowie.' So I said, 'Okay, it's David Bowie.'" so if he looks familiar, that would be why.
Lucifer (the comic) picks up post-Sandman, but you don't need to have read Sandman. Here's what happened in Sadman you need to know: Lucifer quit Hell, only the Lilim Mazikeen followed him, and a pair of angels (Remiel and Duma) now rule over Hell.
The comic TECHNICALLY follows right after the Morningstar Option miniseries, but I read it the first time around without knowing this until I had finished the series and aside from not knowing who Rachel Begai was, it didn't impact my enjoyment of the comic that first read-through. I did not reread Morningstar Option this time around, simply because I did not have access to it.
I greatly enjoyed it!
I am always a sucker for Free Will vs Predestination and this book has that in SPADES. The central conflict is Lucifer's absolute yearning to break free of his Father and be his own person. I really sympathise with this and the concept of trying to break free from both omniscience and omnipotence and how angry it makes Lucifer that every move he makes is part of The PlanTM is utterly fascinating. How far do you have to run, when you're running from God?
Lucifer is wonderfully charismatic. In text, he's described as "an arrogant, ungrateful son of a bitch on a permanent power trip" by Jill Presto to his face (ilu, Jill) and his answer is "Ha! Excellent. Accurate on all counts." and also as "the only grown-up I know who keeps his promises". Both of these are true.
I really like the wy in which, every time you're lulled into thinking of him as 'kind of an okay dude, really', he'll turn right around and show exactly how inhuman he is ("You came into my house. And then you prayed to him."). Not even necessarily in a bad way, but in a YO THIS DUDE IS A PRIMORDIAL FORCE OF THE UNIVERSE way.
I am also forever fond of "They used to call the devil the father of lies. But for someone whose sin is meant to be pride, you'd think that lying would leave something of a sour taste. So my theory is that when the devil wants to get something out of you, he doesn't lie at all. He tells you the exact, literal truth. And he lets you find your own way to hell." because I too have been thnking this.
Lucifer in this is a very Milton kind of Devil -- better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven (except he decided he wasn't even gonna reign in Hell anymore) -- as is the cosmology, but despite a lot of figures from non-Christian lore make significant contributions to the plot: Lilith, Izanami (and Susano-o-no-mikoto), Bergelmir...
I really like all the secondary characters: from Mazikeen the warleader (her relationship with Lucifer is fascinating) to Jill Presto the cabaret-dancer-turned-omnipotent to Elaine Belloc (HER ARC IS AMAZING -- spoilery but amazing) to Duma Angel of Silence to Spera the fallen Cherubim to Beatrice to Mona to everyone, basically.
The overall plot is also great, even if it suffers from some slower bits in the last third or so. It's also really hard to talk about without spoilers. I will say it features the longest roadtrip I have read for someone to get an abortion that they cannot get through other means* (for magic reasons and this is treated as a violation and the abortion as being entirely her choice and a legit thing for her to want).
*Yes, I have a basis of comparaison for this. I know, I'm surprised too.
The main plot is intersped with one-shot interludes about various characters, which may or may not tie back into the main plot.
The book has two many artists, Peter Gross and Dean Ormston. I find Ormston's work to be often lacking in the gravitas necessarry to pull off certain scenes and I just plain don't like the style, but occasionally it manages to land beautifully. Peter Gross is a lot better and more consistent. Some of my favourite guest artists are David Hahn (issue 41, Sisters of Mercy), P. Craig Russel (issue 50, Lilith) and Ronal Wimberly (issue 58, The Yahweh Dance).
Anyway, A++ would totally reccomend.
Still reading
Contes et récits de l'histoire de Carthage by Jean Defrasne
Le Déchronologue by Stéphane Beauverger
Partial list of comics I am following, which I will add to as I remember them:
Lucifer
Scarlet Witch
The Wicked + the Divine (sort of. When I remember it exists)
Reading next
Adding: The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins (via
netgirl_y2k), The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (via
isis ) and Anna Cowan's Untamed (via
skygiants ).
Books that I have already: Pyramids of London by Andrea K Höst, Prisoner (Echo's Wolf, Book 1) (Werewolf Marines 2) by Lia Silver, Taking Stock by Scott Bartlett, February by Lisa Moore, The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan, The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett, Hostage by Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown, Le Graal de l'Inframonde by Vanessa Callico and Diana Callico.
Books that are out and that I haven't got: L'armée furieuse & Temps Glaciaires by Fred Vargas, Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, by Garth Nix, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, Melting Stones and Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Beginning Place by Ursula Le Guin, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, the last two books of Kate Eliott's Spiritwalker trilogy, The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, whatever's out of the Craft Sequence series, Chroniques du Pays des Mères by Elisabeth Vonarburg, Lord of the Two Lands by Judith Tarr, Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter, Barbara Hambly's vampire series, Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho, The Sand-Reckoner by Gillian Bradshaw, The Idylls of the Queen by Phillys Ann Karr, Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar, City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett and Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds.
Books that aren't out yet (and when they're out): The Sleeping Life (Eferum, #2) by Andrea K. Höst (2015), Benjamin January #14 by Barbara Hambly (no idea), the Tris book by Tamora Pierce (2015), The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (caveat), Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer and whatever Jenny Dolfen's next project is.
TV I'm watching tomorrow, probably.
This entry was originally posted at http://dhampyresa.dreamwidth.org/135666.html and has
comments over there.
In case anyone wants to see if they have any ancestors/namesakes who got the Légion d'honneur.
Even though the people in the database are only those deceased before 1977, it does have everyone awarded from 1802 on and it's possible to get more recent records if you have a specific query.
It's super interesting! The oldest person I saw in the database was born in 1768. 1768! And sometimes when you input an uncommon last name they are all from within 50km of each other -- birth places are listed -- it's pretty hilarious.
The Légion d'honneur (Legion of honour) is the highest French honour for military and civil merits. It's got five levels of distinction, the lowest being Chevalier (Knight) and the highest Grand Croix (Grand Cross). Most of the recipients are French, some are not; some are famous, most are not. All are listed in the database (supposedly, I haven't checked individually).
Simone Veil is Grand Cross and I mention her because she's a badass. She's the main driving force being the legalisation of abortion in France, a survivor of Auschwitz and a member of the Académie Française*.
* When you get elected to the Académie Française (French Adacemy), you get given a sword and called an Immortal. THAT IS SOME HIGHLANDER SHIT RIGHT HERE.
READING
Finished reading
2015
Le Jardin des silences
Prince of Cats
Sandman Overture
Spider-Gwen v1
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl v1
Magnus Chase and the Sword of Asgard
The Red Pyramid
Le papyrus de César
Tumulte à Rome
2016 (finished)
Marie des dragons intégrale
volume 4 of Les aigles de Rome
Cixi de Troye
Star Wars Shattered Empire
Star Wars Princess Leia
Lucifer v1 (Vertigo comic) by Mike Carey (writing) and Peter Gross, Dean Ormston and various (artists) (1999 - 2006): This is not to be confused with the current Lucifer ongoing (writing by Holly Black, art by Lee Garbett).
I reread this recently because after the TV show was announced I decided to offer this for yuletide and I got matched on it. (The fic I ended up writing was The Devil's Party, ~3k of post canon gen.) Issue 1 of the new run came out Dec 16 2015 so I was afraid I might be Jossed at the last minute by a canon formerly closed for almost ten years, but I wasn't, entirely -- in fact, I may have gotten some stuff right.
Anyway. This version of Lucifer (the character) first appeared in Neil Gaiman's Sandman, in the very first arc and was central to the Seasons of Mists arc. The artist Kelley Jones said "Neil was adamant that the Devil was David Bowie. He just said, 'He is. You must draw David Bowie. Find David Bowie, or I'll send you David Bowie. Because if it isn't David Bowie, you're going to have to redo it until it is David Bowie.' So I said, 'Okay, it's David Bowie.'" so if he looks familiar, that would be why.
Lucifer (the comic) picks up post-Sandman, but you don't need to have read Sandman. Here's what happened in Sadman you need to know: Lucifer quit Hell, only the Lilim Mazikeen followed him, and a pair of angels (Remiel and Duma) now rule over Hell.
The comic TECHNICALLY follows right after the Morningstar Option miniseries, but I read it the first time around without knowing this until I had finished the series and aside from not knowing who Rachel Begai was, it didn't impact my enjoyment of the comic that first read-through. I did not reread Morningstar Option this time around, simply because I did not have access to it.
I greatly enjoyed it!
I am always a sucker for Free Will vs Predestination and this book has that in SPADES. The central conflict is Lucifer's absolute yearning to break free of his Father and be his own person. I really sympathise with this and the concept of trying to break free from both omniscience and omnipotence and how angry it makes Lucifer that every move he makes is part of The PlanTM is utterly fascinating. How far do you have to run, when you're running from God?
Lucifer is wonderfully charismatic. In text, he's described as "an arrogant, ungrateful son of a bitch on a permanent power trip" by Jill Presto to his face (ilu, Jill) and his answer is "Ha! Excellent. Accurate on all counts." and also as "the only grown-up I know who keeps his promises". Both of these are true.
I really like the wy in which, every time you're lulled into thinking of him as 'kind of an okay dude, really', he'll turn right around and show exactly how inhuman he is ("You came into my house. And then you prayed to him."). Not even necessarily in a bad way, but in a YO THIS DUDE IS A PRIMORDIAL FORCE OF THE UNIVERSE way.
I am also forever fond of "They used to call the devil the father of lies. But for someone whose sin is meant to be pride, you'd think that lying would leave something of a sour taste. So my theory is that when the devil wants to get something out of you, he doesn't lie at all. He tells you the exact, literal truth. And he lets you find your own way to hell." because I too have been thnking this.
Lucifer in this is a very Milton kind of Devil -- better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven (except he decided he wasn't even gonna reign in Hell anymore) -- as is the cosmology, but despite a lot of figures from non-Christian lore make significant contributions to the plot: Lilith, Izanami (and Susano-o-no-mikoto), Bergelmir...
I really like all the secondary characters: from Mazikeen the warleader (her relationship with Lucifer is fascinating) to Jill Presto the cabaret-dancer-turned-omnipotent to Elaine Belloc (HER ARC IS AMAZING -- spoilery but amazing) to Duma Angel of Silence to Spera the fallen Cherubim to Beatrice to Mona to everyone, basically.
The overall plot is also great, even if it suffers from some slower bits in the last third or so. It's also really hard to talk about without spoilers. I will say it features the longest roadtrip I have read for someone to get an abortion that they cannot get through other means* (for magic reasons and this is treated as a violation and the abortion as being entirely her choice and a legit thing for her to want).
*Yes, I have a basis of comparaison for this. I know, I'm surprised too.
The main plot is intersped with one-shot interludes about various characters, which may or may not tie back into the main plot.
The book has two many artists, Peter Gross and Dean Ormston. I find Ormston's work to be often lacking in the gravitas necessarry to pull off certain scenes and I just plain don't like the style, but occasionally it manages to land beautifully. Peter Gross is a lot better and more consistent. Some of my favourite guest artists are David Hahn (issue 41, Sisters of Mercy), P. Craig Russel (issue 50, Lilith) and Ronal Wimberly (issue 58, The Yahweh Dance).
Anyway, A++ would totally reccomend.
Still reading
Contes et récits de l'histoire de Carthage by Jean Defrasne
Le Déchronologue by Stéphane Beauverger
Partial list of comics I am following, which I will add to as I remember them:
Lucifer
Scarlet Witch
The Wicked + the Divine (sort of. When I remember it exists)
Reading next
Adding: The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins (via
netgirl_y2k), The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (via
isis ) and Anna Cowan's Untamed (via
skygiants ).
Books that I have already: Pyramids of London by Andrea K Höst, Prisoner (Echo's Wolf, Book 1) (Werewolf Marines 2) by Lia Silver, Taking Stock by Scott Bartlett, February by Lisa Moore, The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan, The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett, Hostage by Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown, Le Graal de l'Inframonde by Vanessa Callico and Diana Callico.
Books that are out and that I haven't got: L'armée furieuse & Temps Glaciaires by Fred Vargas, Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, by Garth Nix, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, Melting Stones and Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Beginning Place by Ursula Le Guin, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, the last two books of Kate Eliott's Spiritwalker trilogy, The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, whatever's out of the Craft Sequence series, Chroniques du Pays des Mères by Elisabeth Vonarburg, Lord of the Two Lands by Judith Tarr, Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter, Barbara Hambly's vampire series, Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho, The Sand-Reckoner by Gillian Bradshaw, The Idylls of the Queen by Phillys Ann Karr, Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar, City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett and Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds.
Books that aren't out yet (and when they're out): The Sleeping Life (Eferum, #2) by Andrea K. Höst (2015), Benjamin January #14 by Barbara Hambly (no idea), the Tris book by Tamora Pierce (2015), The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (caveat), Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer and whatever Jenny Dolfen's next project is.
TV I'm watching tomorrow, probably.
This entry was originally posted at http://dhampyresa.dreamwidth.org/135666.html and has
comments over there.