I haven’t had much luck in the past getting the ActivityPub WP plugin to work. Maybe today is the day?

Reblog via ssweeny

The latest in a series of “self-help” style books I’ve gotten from the library this year.

This one had by far the “loosest” prose. Probably because the author started as a blogger rather than an academic. But this style helped the “anecdote interspersed with lessons learned” pattern that these books tend to use feel less stale.

I do think the overall lesson of “you are mortal and therefore can only give so many fucks, so choose carefully what to give a fuck about” is probably more necessary now than ever and I’m so glad I read this one.

Reblog via ssweeny

Like many other people I discovered Martha Wells via the Murderbot series. Until I saw the press for this book I had no idea she was also an accomplished fantasy author. I guess I have more stories to go back and read!

I really loved the characters in this one. This is one of those stories that flips between the Origin Story where everyone meets amidst a crisis and Current Day where they are reunited to face a new crisis. I thought the characters’ relationships in the Present Day flowed well from how they met in the Origin Story, and their interactions were both natural and entertaining.

I thought the plot in the Origin Story timeline was more exciting, even if there wasn’t much tension since you knew certain characters appear in the Current Day and hence couldn’t have died. It’s a story of war and defeat and desperation which is tough to beat.

The Current Day story line is much thinner and involves mystery and conspiracy but honestly it doesn’t feel like much happens so much as you’re spending time with these characters as they deal with their current problem.

As far as I know this is a standalone novel but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this setting and these characters.