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It's not like I got nothing done today; I managed to get the 2661 phone unfucked with the help of Sprint tech support, and I finished Fortune's Stroke, the David Drake/Eric Flint collaboration that's part of their Belisarius series. It's weird that I haven't tried it before; it is, after all, cousin to the Drake/Stirling Raj Whitehall novels, which are based more closely on the life of Belisarius as opposed to using him as a main character.
Aside from those things, though, I didn't stir forth from the burrow for anything, which means tomorrow will be a little crazy as I pack up Cowzilla and my laundry before heading over to Fox Way. After finishing up there, I'll be heading up to the Frederick area to hang out with edminster's family, which will pretty much kill the day. Big question is whether I'll be smart enough to head out of there before it gets too late so I can get a decent amount of sleep before Monday.
Well, stylistic differences between Stirling and Flint aside (and they're considerable, imao) Fortune's Stroke reminds me quite a bit of The Sword, which is the fifth of the Raj novels, but it also reminds me of Flint's Assiti Shards novels in that the action doesn't solely center on Belisarius and his opponents; rather, since this is a multi-front war against the Malwa involving the various "rebel" nations of southern India and the Axumites of Ethiopia and Arabia, we get to see what's going on there as well.
For those of you not familiar with the series, in the distant future one camp of humanity decides to seize control of its rebel star colonies by fixing the problem at its source - by sending an agent into the past to create a world-spanning empire based on the rigid caste distinctions of India. This agent, Link, views all humans as eminently expendable in pursuit of its goals. In contrast, Aide, sent back by the colonists to help Belisarius and the Byzantines defeat the Malwa, is more prone to value people as individuals with their own special capabilities and talents. Neither Link nor Aide are human; they're also not the pure computer AI that is Center from the Raj books. They're both post-human, and Aide at least isn't implanted the way Center is.
So, anyway...Fortune's Stroke was pretty good brain candy, and I'm going to have to pick up the other four parts I don't already have. I suppose I could download them from the Baen Free Library, but I don't really enjoy reading books off Cowzilla.
Aside from those things, though, I didn't stir forth from the burrow for anything, which means tomorrow will be a little crazy as I pack up Cowzilla and my laundry before heading over to Fox Way. After finishing up there, I'll be heading up to the Frederick area to hang out with edminster's family, which will pretty much kill the day. Big question is whether I'll be smart enough to head out of there before it gets too late so I can get a decent amount of sleep before Monday.
Well, stylistic differences between Stirling and Flint aside (and they're considerable, imao) Fortune's Stroke reminds me quite a bit of The Sword, which is the fifth of the Raj novels, but it also reminds me of Flint's Assiti Shards novels in that the action doesn't solely center on Belisarius and his opponents; rather, since this is a multi-front war against the Malwa involving the various "rebel" nations of southern India and the Axumites of Ethiopia and Arabia, we get to see what's going on there as well.
For those of you not familiar with the series, in the distant future one camp of humanity decides to seize control of its rebel star colonies by fixing the problem at its source - by sending an agent into the past to create a world-spanning empire based on the rigid caste distinctions of India. This agent, Link, views all humans as eminently expendable in pursuit of its goals. In contrast, Aide, sent back by the colonists to help Belisarius and the Byzantines defeat the Malwa, is more prone to value people as individuals with their own special capabilities and talents. Neither Link nor Aide are human; they're also not the pure computer AI that is Center from the Raj books. They're both post-human, and Aide at least isn't implanted the way Center is.
So, anyway...Fortune's Stroke was pretty good brain candy, and I'm going to have to pick up the other four parts I don't already have. I suppose I could download them from the Baen Free Library, but I don't really enjoy reading books off Cowzilla.