(1) Sasquan GoH and ISS astronaut Kjell Lindgren knows what day it is —
Happy #HobbitDay! To celebrate, I'm having second breakfast! pic.twitter.com/pwW70KYt16
— Kjell Lindgren (@astro_kjell) September 22, 2015
It’s Bilbo’s and Frodo’s birthday!
(2) But that’s not today’s only important birthday. Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer announced the arrival of their “humble bundle” —
He was born at 8:37 in the morning on September the 16th, which is, I am told, the commonest birthday in the US. It was a long but rewarding labour. The name on his birth registration is Anthony, but mostly I call him Squeaker. He makes the best noises in the world, mostly squeaks and peeps and snuffles.
Amanda is an amazing mother. I am changing nappies (or diapers, if you are not English) and enjoying it much too much. This is wonderful.
(3) George R.R. Martin has something of his own to celebrate — “A New Record”:
For now, let it suffice to say that the Emmy looks very good in my TV room, and while it IS an honor just to be nominated (as I have been, six times before), it’s even cooler to win.
(4) Today in History:
1986 – The TV show “ALF” debuted on NBC.
2004 – The pilot episode of “Lost” aired.
(5) Run away! Run away! “Burger King’s Halloween Whopper will be its first intentionally frightening burger”:
We’ve seen a lot of scary fast food over the years but now Burger King is reportedly coming out with a new Whopper that’s intentionally frightening. Fast food blog Burger Lad seems to have obtained some leaked pictures of a special Halloween Whopper that will feature pitch-black buns. As you can see in the photo above, this does not look like an appetizing burger — it rather looks as though Burger King has slapped a slab of beef and some vegetables in between two large pieces of charcoal.
(6) I don’t like that grub, but I do like this garb!
"900 years of time and space and I've never met anyone who wasn't important." @slcomiccon @SevenTimesSix Booth #1002 pic.twitter.com/h3CDeREk5S
— Seven Times Six (@SevenTimesSix) September 22, 2015
(7) I’ve been waiting for this – Steve Davidson’s latest look at “The 1941 Retro Hugo Awards (Part 5 — Dramatic Presentation Short Form)”.
So far as radio plays go, there’s plenty to listen to, though again, many of the originals are simply not archived anywhere accessible. Superman is an obvious choice; an episode or two from Lux Radio or Mercury Theater may whet your appetite. Don’t forget to check out the Blue Beetle too, as well as taking the opportunity to compare the Green Hornet’s radio appearances against the serial show.
(8) The “’Star Trek’ virtual tour will recreate every deck of the Enterprise” comes with a nice 12-minute animation.
You’ve probably seen a few attempts at recreating worlds in game engines, but never at this level of detail. Artist Jason B is working on the Enterprise-D Construction Project, an Unreal Engine-based virtual tour that aims to reproduce all 42 decks in the Enterprise from Star Trek: The Next Generation. While it’s not quite photorealistic, the attention to detail in this digital starship is already uncanny — the bridge, shuttle bay and other areas feel like lived-in spaces, just waiting for the crew to return. Jason is drawing on as much official material as he can to get things pixel-perfect, and he’s only taking creative liberties in those areas where there’s no canonical content.
(9) Mothership Zeta officially launches in October, but Editor Mur Lafferty, Fiction Editor Sunil Patel, Non-fiction Editor Karen Bovenmyer have posted sample Issue 0 at the website. The magazine will be a quarterly, “crammed with the best, most fun speculative fiction.” Read Issue 0 now, containing work from:
- Ursula Vernon
- Rhonda Eikamp
- John Chu
- Andrea G. Stewart
- Elizabeth Hand
- Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
(Note: “Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon originally ran in Apex Magazine in 2014.)
(10) The Star of the Guardians Indiegogo Campaign has raised over $20,000. Thanks to our contributors,we can now fund the conceptual artwork and the illustrated storyboard book. We can also ensure that all of our amazing perks will be delivered to all of our contributors.
The goal of the campaign is to raise $55,000.
(11) Joe Haldeman is interviewed by Brian Merchant in “The Author of Our Best SF Military Novel Explains the Future of War”.
Now, it’s becoming closer to reality—3D printers may soon allow anyone with the right hardware to manufacture deadly weaponry at home. Obscene weapons are increasingly obscenely easy to find. “Once we have that access to abundant materials, and anyone can print out a hydrogen bomb, we’re about an hour away from total destruction,” he says. “We are just a hair’s thread away from a large disaster.” The future of war is distributed, in other words. But we are just as ill-equipped to deal with our violent impulses now as we were four decades ago, Haldeman says.
“I don’t think we’ve learned any fundamental thing about solving the problem. We’ve learned more about why people do seek violent solutions,” he says. “That doesn’t mean we have the social mechanism to address it.” His words resonate, depressingly, when you consider that the US now averages one mass shooting per day, and that the trend is only accelerating upwards.
“We have people who just go down to the K-mart and just buy ammunition, and they could kill a few dozen people before we can do anything,” he says. “[M]ore brute force is available to individuals, with no obvious improvement in the individual’s ability to responsibly apply that force. Or decide not to use it.” War, it seems, has been distributed.
Hence the forever warring, in smaller theaters.
(12) “Hear Radio Dramas of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy & 7 Classic Asimov Stories” at Open Culture.
If you’re thinking that the epic scale of Asimov’s sprawling trilogy—one he explicitly modeled after Edward Gibbon’s multi-volume History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire—will prove impossible to realize on the screen, you may be right. On the other hand, Asimov’s prose has lent itself particularly well to an older dramatic medium: the radio play. As we noted in an earlier post on a popular 1973 BBC adaptation of the trilogy, Ender’s Game author Orson Scott Card once described the books as “all talk, no action.” This may sound like a disparagement, except, Card went on to say, “Asimov’s talk is action.”
(13) The supermoon lunar eclipse happens this weekend:
The supermoon lunar eclipse of 2015 will occur Sunday, Sept. 27, and is a confluence of three events: a full moon; a lunar eclipse, in which the Earth blocks the sun’s light from hitting the moon; and lunar perigee, when the moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth. The last time such a confluence happened was in 1982; there were just five instances of it in the 20th century. This time around, viewers looking from the Americas, Europe, Africa, western Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean will have a chance to see the show.
(14) A new Mars exploration tool — “’Mars Trek’ Is Google Earth for the Red Planet” on Motherboard.
If you are one of the thousands of people who would like to start a new life on Mars, you might want to get an early start on scouting out some premium real estate options. Fortunately, NASA has created a new Google-Earth-style web app for the red planet, providing the Mars-eyed among us with a way to virtually explore their fantasy destinations in stunning detail.
“Working with our expert development team at [the Jet Propulsion Laboratory], we have just released our latest product, Mars Trek,” said NASA project manager Brian Day in a video about Mars Trek released today. According to Day, this “web-based portal allows mission planners, scientists, and the general public to explore the surface of Mars in great detail as seen through the eyes of a variety of instruments on a number of spacecraft.”
… Beyond these experiments, you can also calculate the trip time between two points on Mars, explore the adopted homes of NASA rovers and landers, and, if you are feeling really ambitious, 3D-print full sections of the online map. Day and his team also plan to add more features soon, including speculations about landing sites for future projects like the Mars 2020 rover.
[Thanks to Martin Morse Wooster, JJ, Will R., and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day GSLamb.]
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JJ
Thank you! And congratulations as well to Cat, complete with the hope that her work wins in her category.
Jon
Well, I hope you do win, and I look forward to reading your story wherever it is published; meanwhile, keep writing!
Richard, Paul
I hadn’t come across Singularity = Geek Rapture before; my only excuse is that Rapture is pretty rare on this side of the pond, but it does seem to me to be spot on for a very hefty chunk of those using it. Also, it’s downright scary…
About to post Round Five of the Bracket. There will be a three-way match, so that will be voted used ranked IRV voting, as per the Hugos; feel free to rank one, two, or all three. In either match-up, you can also vote for a tie, abstain, or vote for another work published in 2000 or later.
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
So, um, good luck with that.
In terms of statistics, women and UK authors continue their late-stage dominance. Dragon continue to cling to their place on the bracket. As do Napoleonic Wars/Regency UK books; however, 80% of the remaining books are “secondary world” novels.
Authors who are
Women: 80% (4/5)
Men: 20% (1/5)
Authors who are from
The U.S.: 40% (2/5)
The UK: 60% (3/5)
Books set at least partly in
Europe: 20% (1/5)
— Napoleonic Wars/Regency UK: 20% (1/5)
Books heavily featuring
Dragons: 20% (1/5)
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
Tie. There really is no way I can choose between these two.
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Yeah, again. Tie.
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
I never liked JSMN. Isn’t it gone yet?
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
3. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
4. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
2. Deadhouse Gates write-in
Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Well. No point shirking the hard choices. I must be cruel and relentless, like the blade of a battleaxe, or a VAT inspector. Decisions must be made.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Right, then. Alea iacta est.
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Pain. Unspeakable pain.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna ClarkeThe Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
JS&MN did not wow me as much as TGE.
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
2. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Still haven’t read Tooth & Claw. Paladin of Souls works better as a stand-alone while Night Watch needs knowledge of the previous City Watch books for maximum effect. It’s a spear-point story.
Lydy Nickerson – “So, can anyone explain to me, without damaging themselves or anyone they love, what Leo Grin is on about over on Wright’s blog? Somebody did something, and Leo’s unpersoned them.”
From the charges, somebody has been designated an SJW for attempting to ruin the reputation of little Teddy Beale and a friend. We’ll just contemplate how exactly one might possibly ruin Beale’s reputation any further than simply quoting his own words.
“And does anyone else want to take JCW aside and say, “You do know you’re barking, right? I mean, certifiable whack-whacka rubber room nuts. This hasn’t escaped your attention, has it?””
In a recent post, Wright has persuaded himself that the Pope isn’t really criticizing capitalism or advocating against global warming because the media is simply distorting his words. Wright claims to have gone to the source to convince himself that His Holiness didn’t *really* support such things as “the Global Warming fraud”.
Wright’s skills as a researcher are somewhat doubtful.
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html (paragraph 23-26)
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
3) Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1) Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2) Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Argh. All of these are close. Not looking forward to the final round.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
1. The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
2. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
3. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
This was the tough one. I could have just tossed a coin, but I didn’t have a three-sided coin. I think Paladin is the strongest of the three, though.
Kyra on September 23, 2015 at 4:06 pm said:
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
It’s almost over …
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
3. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Read the first and last of Barretts racism essays re Howards poetry. I never knew that Howard was much of a poet actually, so this is interesting in itself. I didn’t think much of those samples, though on the whole I’m not much of a fan of Howard anyway.
Still, the essays seem reasonable, well balanced and non-fanatical in comparison with others of their kind. Well done. If this is why Grin and co. got mad, it is very silly of them.
Conversely, the modern American obsession with this sort of thing (putting dead people on trial, if only in essays, vis racism, sexism, etc.) does seem a mania though. Whats the point ? There has to be a purpose, an end-state required of all this typing. Who cares if John Doe didn’t like black people in 1935? Or today? Must everyone live their life in fear of the wrong word at the wrong time? Just to please some over-sensitive teacher? Let clods be clods, live and let live.
1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
1.The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2.Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1.Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2.Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
3.Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
@RDF
JCW’s version of Catholicism has very little to do with the real thing, which is unfortunate since he often acts as if he himself is the chosen representative of God and final arbiter of theological matters (Nielsen Hayden? a heretic! Evolution? bunk! Global Warming? Another hoax!).
He also isn’t big on humility and forgiveness, as his 9/11 post attests.
The Scrolled Equations
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
Duran Duran appear to be on Ellen Degeneres.
(TV is on because I am moving furniture and electronics, and I find it soothing.)
Oddly enough Gaiman’s DD thing is downloading right now too.
I’m assuming Jupiter is aligning with Mars or something.
In the meanwhile….
KYRAAAAAAAAAAAAA
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1-Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
3-Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2-Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
I will continue to hurl the furniture about to soothe myself.
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
Argh. No TPOTS? My heart is well and truly broken now.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Let’s see…
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna ClarkeThe Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
Easy-peasy; I still dislike the Clarke.
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Ok, this requires forehead cloths. Lots and lots of forehead cloths. Um. I really like all three, for very different reasons. Um.
1) Bujold
2) Walton (although I know Pratchett will get more votes, and don’t begrudge that)
3) Pratchett
Frankly, no matter which work wins in this bracket, I won’t be disappointed.
“JCW’s version of Catholicism has very little to do with the real thing”
The reason its the “Catholic” church is that its got a lot of very different people in it, including very very many not much different from JCW, and many more who are much more rigid than he is. I have seen every order, flavor and nuance of Catholicism, from Commie guerrilla nuns to Opus Dei.
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1 Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2 Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Congrats Jon
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
Still don’t like the Clarke. Addison. Would that the next one was so easy….
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Umm. Ummm. Umm? Mmm. Uh-uhn. Mmmm…
At this moment I’ll go with
1) Bujold
2) Walton
3) Pratchett
Ask me again in five minutes, and it could be completely different….
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1 Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
2 Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
3 Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Forehead Cloths! Getcher nice, cold, soothing Forehead Cloths! Now available with the scent of lavender! And if you act now, we’ll throw in an extra cloth with a pocket for ice cubes! Operators are standing by!
kyra…wimper…kyra…wimper…
1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
2.
2. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Cally, I don’t think forehead cloths are enough any more. I’m looking to hartshorn, vinegar and smelling salts.
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
3. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
(A tough call. Neither was really a favorite of mine, but overall, I think Addison had the complete package.)
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1 Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2 Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
(A very very tough call indeed. Pratchett is my favorite of these authors, but I don’t think Night Watch stands so well on its own, so I eliminated it. Overall, I prefer Bujold to Walton, but T&C is probably my favorite of Walton’s books, and I’m not a huge fan of the Chalion series. But Paladin was the standout book of that series, so…I didn’t quite end up flipping a coin, but it was close.)
I had a Swedish(?) cookie once which was made with hartshorn. It was really, really good. The guy who cooked them said he had a terrible time finding hartshorn as a cooking ingredient. Presumably now, with more stores on the internet, it’s easier.
He did say that you need to cook them with the windows open, because they’ll stink up the house.
RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
1 The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2 Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1 Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2 Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
3 Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
2. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Wow. That was difficult. The Pratchett beats the Walton in part because I was looking for something different in my dragons. But Paladin of Souls was just gorgeous.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
Tie, cause I really can’t decide
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
3. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
2. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
Surely JS & Mr N stomps all over the Goblin Emperor? No? Hmm maybe not. Well The Goblin Emperor does have one character draw in depth and despite the complete lack of humans, is a book very much about the dilemmas of humanity even when the central character has no material wants. It is a clever book in that its strengths are not obvious or overt but grow on further reflection.
But…JS & Mr N is a Christmas pudding of fantasy, faerie, the matter of Britain, wizards, alternate-history.
Souffle versus pudding?
I vote PUDDING! MORE PUDDING! Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Right. This one is actuality pretty easy.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
So, next? How about the 22nd century authors?
FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
We are having technical problems with our interwebs connection. We may be intermittent for a while longer.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
Maia wins this round.
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
2) Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
1) Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
3) Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
This is only slightly painful. Paladin is just one of the most memorable books I’ve ever read. I still vividly recall scenes, ideas, words and the thoughts/emotions they gave me.
Hartshorn is still quite commonly used for certain German holiday cookies, such as Lebkuchen, Spekulatius, etc… You can usually buy it in supermarkets during the Christmas season or in pharmacies around the year. There are probably online stores selling it as well, though regional baking supplies can difficult to find abroad. I still remember how I tried to find rosewater and vanilla sugar as a student in the UK.
Cally, I’ll take a few of those forehead cloths (unscented, please).
21ST CENTURY FANTASY, ROUND FIVE
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
This is where I need the cloths. Night Watch by a little over Tooth and Claw. (It helps at this stage to remember that there are no actual prizes.)
Oh, and…
Congratulations, Jon and Cat!!
Heh heh. The default setting for the Mindjammer RPG has a Rim Sector. Of course.
I think there might be something wrong with me. I gave up on the Clarke after the second or third time I threw it against the wall and I’m meh about non-Vorkosigan Bujold. Also, never got into Discworld, so this is easy.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1. Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
2. Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
I will cast my lone vote this round for Katherine Addison. I can only hope that either Lois Bujold wins the next round or finish what I’m currently reading *and* the other winner by then.
(Should I admit that I read The Colour of Magic in the eighties–probably when it first came out in paperback in the US–and didn’t like it enough to read any more Pratchett after that? I hear his later books were pretty good, but I still haven’t gotten around to it.)
Edit: Congratulations Cat and Jon!
I got to see Valente read from “Planet Lion” at FOGcon, but only part of it– glad to see the whole thing now. I’m surprised to see how long and densely written that excerpt was; at the time it seemed to fly by, so I guess she’s just a good reader.
1. RAVEN KINGS, GOBLIN EMPERORS
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
2. DRAGONS, DEMONS, DESPOTS
1 Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
2 Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
3 Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
Today I have learned I most definitely need to put Walton on my tbr pile, and I really need to continue reading the Chalion series.