(1) LEARNING CURVE. “5 Dark Academia Novels from the World of Dark Fantasy” — CrimeRead’s Victory Witherkeigh on sub-genre of the school novel.

…What is it about school-setting stories that make us as readers sink into the world so much faster? Is it our nostalgia for a time when life seemed much more straightforward than our lives as working adults? We’ve seen it across the tales of boy wizards, lightning thieves, and even young women writing love letters. As a dark fantasy/horror author and fan, there’s something about school being a nightmare that just sings to my penchant for the spooky season of fall…

…Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – What is it about the secret societies of the Ivy League schools that are so interesting? Is it our own hunger for conspiracy theories when dealing with the institutions that have produced several of the United States’ most notorious leaders? Follow Galaxy “Alex” Stern as she navigates her first year at Yale University as the occult apprentice of a missing mentor trying to handle school and the varying power dynamics of the illegal occult use of the secret societies. This is the first book in a two-part Bardugo series that will make you snuggle in your college sweatshirt tighter….

(2) WHY HORROR? Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk tells the Guardian why she chose to write a horror novel:

“I adore horror. But I realised, too, that only the tools of that genre could portray the topic I wanted to portray – the hidden violence, the misogyny that is rife in the entirety of our culture, which we live with like some sort of constant illness, like a predator that is always present and emerges from time to time to attack us.”

(3) FOUNDATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY FANTASY. “Gods who make worlds” in The Christian Century.

Three decades ago, Tad Williams published the final volume in the best epic fantasy trilogy written in English since The Lord of the Rings. Called Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, the series ran from 1988 to 1993 and totaled over a million words. Half of those words came in the final book—one of the longest books ever to make it onto the New York Times bestseller list….

…Why have these books sold well but never set the world on fire?

Three reasons come to mind. First, while Williams may mark a certain transition away from the never-ending half-lives of J. R. R. Tolkien imitations, his stories do not belong to the grimdark turn of contemporary fantasy (a turn recently pilloried by Sebastian Milbank as “grimdull”). They are not gritty. Whether the topic is sex or violence, there’s nothing pornographic on display. Williams is a romantic at heart. His stories are not sadistic. Subversion, when and where it happens, is subtle, thematic, and stylistic; the narratives are not oedipal, with Tolkien or C. S. Lewis or Christian morals as the fated father. For readers or viewers exhausted by the teetering nihilism of Game of Thrones and its many peers, Williams is a breath of fresh air.

Second, Williams puts the “slow” in “slow burn.” He is a master plotter, and you may be confident that every single narrative thread, no matter how small, will come together by the end. But there’s no hand-holding and no artificial fireworks to keep your attention. I know only two kinds of people who have picked up Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn: those who put it down after about 200 pages, bored to tears and wondering what all the fuss was about, and those who kept going all the way to the end, falling in love in the meantime. There is no third group.

Finally, the world and history and happenings of Osten Ard are colored by a deep melancholy. (One character is startled to find a timeworn but intact statue: “She had never seen an ancient city of her people that was not in ruins.” A different character wonders to himself: “Is all we have—all we are—only a memorial of what we failed to save?”) Williams’s prose is among the best in fantasy, and its distinguishing character is a kind of plangent lyricism. In the dedication of the third volume, he calls the book “a little world of heartbreak and joy.”…

(4) COPYRIGHTUS INFRINGIO! “Warner Bros pulls plug on Harry Potter events at library” reports the Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News and Guide.

After eight years, Teton County Library has been forced to cancel its free Harry Potter-inspired programming for children and adults.

This year’s events — A Night at Hogwarts, Harry Potter Trivia for Adults and Harry Potter Family Day — had all been scheduled for later this month.

The library said in a press release Thursday that it acted in response to a cease-and-desist letter from legal representatives of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., the owner of copyright and other intellectual property rights related to the films featuring child wizard Harry Potter.

Before receiving the letter, the library’s staff “was unaware that this free educational event was a copyright infringement,” the release said. “In the past, libraries had been encouraged to hold Harry Potter-themed events to promote the books as they were released.”…

Boing Boing snarkily says:

…In the past the company has encouraged such activities, but it’s rebooting Harry Potter and wants to make sure the decks are cleared of deauthorized content and all the little brains wiped and ready for their new Vision for the Franchise….

(5) TODAY’S THING TO WORRY ABOUT. Military.com reports “Troops at Colorado Space Force Base Will Have to Bring Their Own To-Go Boxes for Dining Hall”.

… “As of 15 October 2024, the Schriever SFB DFAC will no longer provide takeout containers for patrons,” the spokesman said. “This initiative is part of our ongoing efforts to reduce waste and minimize our environmental impact. Individuals who wish to take their food to go are welcome to bring their own reusable containers.”

Schriever Space Force Base near Colorado Springs is home to numerous around-the-clock missions ranging from GPS operations, missile detection and warning, satellite communications and high-level surveillance missions.

As a result of those daunting and time-consuming missions, many of the 8,000 Guardians, airmen and civilian employees on base are often in a hurry and take their meals or leftovers from the DFAC — fittingly called the Satellite Dish Dining Facility — to go.

The news was not well-received on the Space Force subreddit.

“So, if you’re on crew at Schriever, or are simply one of those people who doesn’t have time for a real lunch break and prefers (like me) to take a meal back to your desk and do working lunches, consider this your heads up to go buy a bunch of food containers,” one commenter wrote.

“I’m always impressed about how the negative-morale field around Schriever is able to warp reality into ever more depressing states, but this one takes the cake,” the commenter added.

The Space Base Delta 1 spokesperson said Guardians can bring their own from home or can also buy their own takeout containers from the on-base coffee shop — also fittingly named the “Bean Me Up Cafe.”

Additionally, Guardians can choose to sit and eat their meal entirely at the dining hall….

(6) MIESEL ART AUCTION RESULTS. [Item by Andrew Porter.] Here are screencaps showing the final sale prices of Sandra Miesel’s sff art put up for sale at Ripley Auctions. (Only the sff art, none of the other items.) Click for larger images.

(7) STILL IN SEARCH OF (DIGITAL) BOMINABLE. [Item by Daniel Dern.] Following up on my item “(8) TERRY QUERY: WHERE’S ARNOLD?” in the September 24 Scroll (and some back-and-forth with a non-Filer PTerryphile), regarding the “recentlly ‘unlost’ story “Arnold, The Bominable Snowman,” which was, according to that scroll, “is/was supposed to be published online [in September 2024]:

The story is (now) available in an updated paperback version of Terry Pratchett’s (posthumous) collection, A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories… but not (based on my web search of my library’s e-holdings) Hoopla; Amazon/Kindle (and Amazon general search); nor a general web search), available online (yet).

If anybody knows more (ideally, when/e-where), my friend (via me) would like to know, as, no doubt, will many Filers.

(One guess is that it’s online in some UK site, outside of where my searches are searching.)

(Yes, I know, one could buy the new version or borrow/request it from one’s library. Or switch to Linux and LibreOffice–oh wait, wrong discussion…)

(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Paul Weimer.]

Born October 6, 1950 — David Brin, 74.

By Paul Weimer: It’s Kevin Costner’s fault that the work of David Brin came to my attention. When the adaptation of The Postman, warts and all, came to the screen, I discovered to my surprise I had not at that time read any of the work of David Brin. I set to rectify that, starting with The Postman…which, to my mystified surprise, I found I preferred the plot of the movie in many respects.  Undeterred, I hit my stride with reading his Uplift novels, revelling in the grand SF idea of species across the galaxy raising others to sentience–but who raised Humanity?  

But my favorite David Brin novel is probably Kiln People. Ostensibly a mystery novel, the big damn idea of Kiln People, being able to make copies of yourself to do various tasks and functions, is such a compelling one that I felt myself propelled on the strength of the premise and its implications for work, humanity, mortality and much more. Even more than the Uplift novels, it embodies the good of Brin’s fiction and thought. 

But Brin is an author whom I can disagree with, especially when it comes to Star Wars. I find Brin’s criticism and denigration of Star Wars to be, I think, way way too much. Sure, it’s a Campbellian monomyth hero chosen one narrative. But I think his criticism is way overpowered (and goes to far too much length) for the arguments he is making. I do get they come from a place of passion and sincere belief, but it is not one that I share. 

(9) COMICS SECTION.

• Breaking Cat News has a summary of the past days and the reveal of the cause.
• Brewster Rockit documents the attack.
• Reality Check  offers a calm night
• Alley Oop claims not to like science fiction.
• Steven French says, “This may not mean much to folk outside the U.K., but here are the four candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party depicted as ‘The Feeble (not Fantastic) Four’! “The Feeble Four: Tory superheroes assemble”, a Chris Riddell cartoon in the Guardian.  

(10) TYPEWRITER COMEBACK. [Item by Andrew Porter.] PBS News Weekend tells “Why typewriters are having a renaissance in the digital age”

…Take a look inside this South Philadelphia shop called Philly Typewriter and you’ll see the renaissance of something many consider a relic of the past. And now it’s gotten a boost from a 21st century icon. Singer Taylor Swift using a vintage Royal 10 typewriter in the video Fortnight, the chart topping single off her latest album, the Tortured Poets Department….

Andrew Porter remembers:

I used to use a Royal portable that my father used when he was going to school in the 1930s. It came in a big case with a carrying handle. Used it for many years. 

Then my stepfather swiped an Underwood office machine from his office for me (he was the publisher, could get away with that) that I used for ALGOL and other stuff, until I bought my Selectric directly from IBM in 1968. They said I was the first person who’d ever bought one from them who didn’t work in an office. $105 down and $35 a month payment until it was paid off.

As I’ve posted before, when I got a computer, I had my Selectric serviced, then it went into the closet, and ultimately I gave it to Curt for his wife.

I think local doctors still use them, for filling out forms in triplicate.

My desk in 1974, exactly where I’m typing this now (and mailing labels: I remember them, too!):

(11) SECRETS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL BUGS. “The Oldest Termite Mound? 34,000 Years and Counting” — an unlocked article in the New York Times.

… Her appreciation for termites stems from a project that she recently oversaw in Namaqualand, a region of desert scrubland along the west coast of South Africa and into Namibia. There, some 27 percent of the landscape is covered with low, sandy mounds that were built by the southern harvester termite, Microhodotermes viator. Inside the mounds are vast labyrinths of chambers, tunnels and nests that extend up to 11 feet underground. The locals call them heuweltjies, which means “little hills” in Afrikaans.

Three years ago, Dr. Francis and her field research team set out to find why the groundwater along the Buffels River in Namaqualand was saline. “The groundwater salinity seemed to be specifically related to the location of these heuweltjies,” she said. The investigators reasoned that radiocarbon dating could pinpoint when the minerals stored in the termite mounds had seeped into the groundwater.

The investigators were surprised to find that the heuweltjies were far older than any active termite structures known to exist. As detailed in a paper that the researchers published this spring in the journal Science of the Total Environment, one of the three mounds selected for dating has been continually occupied by termite colonies for 34,000 years. It is more than 30,000 years older than the previous record-holder, a mound in Brazil built by a different termite species….

(12) GOING DEEP. “NASA’s laser comms demo makes deep space record, completes first phase” at Phys.org.

…NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration broke yet another record for laser communications this summer by sending a laser signal from Earth to NASA’s Psyche spacecraft about 290 million miles (460 million kilometers) away. That’s the same distance between our planet and Mars when the two planets are farthest apart.

Soon after reaching that milestone on July 29, the technology demonstration concluded the first phase of its operations since launching aboard Psyche on Oct. 13, 2023….

(13) LET’S TREAD BOLDLY 2 — SPACE TRAVEL RADIATION. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] Going into space is fraught with dangers: you can get stuck in orbit (Marooned); have a critical computer glitch (2001); have your crew quarters destroyed (Dark Star); encounter a meteor shower (Pitch Black); have mental issues (Forbidden Planet); get left behind (The Martian), get a blocked toilet due to the Russian, potato-heavy diet (The Big Bang Theory); encounter rogue space junk (Gravity)… among much else.  Among the ‘much else’ are the radiation belts surrounding the Earth.  These are caused by the Earth’s magnetic field trapping solar wind positive and negative particles, accelerating them to the poles where they enter the Earth’s upper atmosphere to the visual delight of spectators. Associated risks include cancer, cataracts, degenerative diseases and tissue reactions which makes space travel far more hazardous than being at a convention after the bar has run dry. (Honest!) So, what to do?

Well, for the International Space Station there is little problem as its orbit is below the inner Van Allen belt.  But if you want to go anywhere more interesting, you have to go through the Van Allen belts.  Here the recent Artemis mission with the unmanned Orion capsule that went around the Moon (how I remember the run-up to Christmas with Apollo 8) took detailed measurements from various place inside the craft.

This research has just been published.  The Orion craft traversed both the lower (more proton rich) and higher (more electron rich) belts. They report on radiation measurements at differing shielding locations inside the vehicle, a fourfold difference in dose rates from differently located detectors was observed during proton-belt passes that are similar to large, reference solar-particle events encountered in interplanetary travel. Interplanetary cosmic-ray dose equivalent rates in Orion were as much as 60% lower than previous observations from the Apollo missions. Furthermore, a change in orientation of the spacecraft during the proton-belt transit resulted in a reduction of radiation dose rates of around 50%. These measurements validate the Orion for future crewed exploration and inform future human spaceflight mission design. What happens in the future will depend heavily on shielding, trajectory, the Solar cycle and severity of Solar particle events. The problem is that manned interplanetary missions have good reasons to prefer long missions in light vehicles. (Lighter vehicles and short missions use less fuel and short missions shorten exposure.) So radiation risks will remain a key challenge for human space exploration.

The primary research is George, S. P., et al (2024) “Space radiation measurements during the Artemis I lunar mission”. Nature, vol. 634, p48-52.

(14) GOING WITH THE FLOW. [Item by N.] This info comes a little late, but on closer inspection, this film has fantastical elements! Good, because it looks and sounds stunning. Set for a limited release in NY and LA on November 22 and a wide release in the rest of the US on December 6. (Those in France get it earlier on October 30). “’Flow,’ An Edge-Of-Your-Seat Survival Film, Gets U.S. Trailer, Release Date” at Cartoon Brew.

A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, Flow follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage, and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet. From the boundless imagination of the award-winning Gints Zilbalodis (Away) comes a thrilling animated spectacle as well as a profound meditation on the fragility of the environment and the spirit of friendship and community. Steeped in the soaring possibilities of visual storytelling, Flow is a feast for the senses and a treasure for the heart.

(15) VIDEO OF THE DAY. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] Hmm. Seems genre adjacent. Or perhaps adjacent to genre adjacent: Ryan George’s “How Psychics Argue”.

[Thanks to Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, N., Paul Weimer, Daniel Dern, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, and Teddy Harvia for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jayn.]