Pixel Scroll 9/9/16 Pixel Trek: The Search For Scrolls

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(1) WORKING. Global News reports “Majel Barrett may voice ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ ship computer”.

But wait, you’re thinking. Barrett died in 2008. How is that possible?

It turns out that just before her death, Barrett recorded an entire library of phonetic sounds for future usage. It’s so thorough that it’s already been used, most recently in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot. Technically, Barrett could be the voice of Starfleet for eternity.

(2) UNDERSTANDING EPH. Karl-Johan Norén writes: “Not that it matters that much now that things are settled for another year, but I wrote down a walkthrough how EPH works: http://kjn.livejournal.com/65023.html Hopefully it can help fen understand better what EPH sets out to accomplish and how it goes about it.”

Right now I see a bit of pushback against the newly ratified E Pluribus Hugo rules (see eg Jed Hartman and Rachael Acks). In part this is because the test runs on prior Hugo nominations didn’t yield as good results as some may have hoped for, another might be that many fans do not feel they can exactly understand how EPH works. FPTP may be unfair, but it’s simple to understand. At its core, E Pluribus Hugo isn’t about selecting the works with the most “support”. It’s more about selecting the set of works that generates the most voter happiness, where happiness is defined as “getting a work onto the final ballot”. I think this framing has gone missing from the discussion. But in order to help with understanding, no, grokking how EPH works, here is my manually run example…

(3) PAWPROOF. In a comment, Lee calls our attention to software designed to detect when your SJW credentials are using your keyboard, which can then prevent inadvertent posting, expensive unintentional eBay purchases, or data destruction: Pawsense.

When cats walk or climb on your keyboard, they can enter random commands and data, damage your files, and even crash your computer. This can happen whether you are near the computer or have suddenly been called away from it.

PawSense is a software utility that helps protect your computer from cats. It quickly detects and blocks cat typing, and also helps train your cat to stay off the computer keyboard.

Every time your computer boots up, PawSense will automatically start up in the background to watch over your computer system.

Even while you use your other software, PawSense constantly monitors keyboard activity. PawSense analyzes keypress timings and combinations to distinguish cat typing from human typing. PawSense normally recognizes a cat on the keyboard within one or two pawsteps.

(4) FANHISTORY. Petréa Mitchell noted in a comment  that in honor of Star Trek’s anniversary, Revelist has a surprisingly well-researched article about early Star Trek fandom.

Long before becoming part of a fandom was as easy as starting a Tumblr account, female Trekkies (or Trekkers, as some older fans of the series prefer) not only dominated the “Star Trek” fan community but helped to create that community in the first place.

“It redefined the classic nerd to be much more inclusive. There were more women involved,” Stuart C. Hellinger, one of the organizers of the first ever fan-led “Star Trek” conventions, told Revelist. “The entire show was diverse in many ways, including the people that worked on the show. You had women writers and women story editors, and that wasn’t as common back then. A lot of different areas were opened up because of Gene [Roddenberry]’s vision, and a lot of the fannish community took that to heart, which is a very, very good thing.”

The framework that these women and men and wonderful weirdos put into place not only extended the legacy of “Star Trek” into what it is today, but became the basis for many aspects of fandom that modern people take for granted.

(5) EDITING AN ANTHOLOGY, STEP BY STEP. Joshua Palmatier, author, and editor of anthologies including Clockwork Universe, Temporally Out Of Order, and Aliens and Artifacts, has started a series of blog posts on “How to Create an Anthology.” The first entry is about finding a good concept.

This is the first of a series of blog posts that I intend to do in order to show how I create the anthologies for Zombies Need Brains, the small press that I founded in order to produce anthologies. It’s basically a behind-the-scenes look at the process, which will be covered in multiple parts. Obviously, this is only how I produce an anthology and there may be other roads to follow in order to produce one. Keep that in mind. So the first step in creating an anthology–at least a themed anthology, like the ones Zombies Need Brains creates–is to come up with a concept. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Ideas are a dime a dozen and can be found on every street corner. The problem is that not every idea will actually work as an anthology theme. There are some key aspects to the idea that need to be present in order for the anthology to work.

(6) MIDAMERICON II PROGRAM. I’m a big fan of con programming, which also seems the hardest part of the Worldcon to find out about afterwards. All those smart and creative people, all the different topics. Seems like once missed, it’s gone forever. Except for Jake Casella at PositronChicago blog who has posted recaps of numerous MACII panels. You’re a lifesaver, Jake!

(7) A DIALOGUE WITH GIBRALTAR APES. Kate Paulk scientifically proved the Worldcon is dead, and has always been, in a Mad Genius Club post “Worldcons and Hugos by the Numbers.” But standing out from the anti-Worldcon comments she elicited was Ben Yalow’s personal testimony about what he gets from his continued attendance. It made me want to stand up and cheer, as someone said in an old Frank Capra movie.

…The Worldcon was still full of those magic moments, despite being an enormous amount of work.

But watching a real astronaut accepting the Campbell for Andy Weir bubbling about how he got the science right was magic. And looking at the original typewritten correspondence between the previous KC Worldcon (in 1976) and Heinlein (the GoH that year). And walking into the exhibit hall, and seeing Fred, our 25 foot high inflatable astronaut — knowing it was named Fred because the funds to get it were donated by a Texas club in memory of Fred Duarte, a friend of mine for decades, and Vice-chair of the first Texas Worldcon, who died much too young last year. And having a video of a panel from 1976, with Jon Singer showing how a mimeo works by kneeling on a table and having the other panelists crank his arm. And watching the Business Meeting tie itself up in knots, and going through a long parliamentary routine, so as to let Kate Paulk ask Dave McCarty (this year’s Hugo Administrator) to state his opinion on the wisdom of EPH at a time when that question wasn’t in order (and, as expected, he was able to answer that he was opposed). And seeing Robert Silverberg at the Hugo ceremony, realizing that he’s been to every one of them since the first one in Philadelphia in 1953. And — I could go on for a long time, but won’t.

And watching, and being part of, a team of volunteers from around the world get together to make it all happen. We agreed on some things, we disagreed on others — but it all happened, and lots of people went home with their magic moments. And that’s what’s important to me.

(8) WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIES. George R.R. Martin writes about his first Hugo Losers Party, and its latest sequel, in “Our Kansas City Revels”.

The night before, at the awards ceremony, I had lost two rockets (one to Larry Niven, one to Roger Zelazny, fwiw). The affair began as a modest little party in a modest little room, with some peanuts and cheese curls and whatever booze we had been able to scrounge from other parties. But as fate would have it, my room was next to the pool deck, which allowed us to overflow the confines of my double, which we soon did, to become the loudest, largest, and most memorable party of the con. Gardner Dozois was our ‘herald,’ announcing each guest as they appeared, and naming them either a winner or a loser. Losers were cheered and welcomed, winners were booed and cursed and pelted with peanuts… unless they told a good story about they were really losers. (Which Alfie Bester did most memorably). Thus did that first Losers Party pass into fannish legend.

Martin’s next post details the Alfie awards ceremony – “Losers and Winners”. Here’s part of his commentary about the Alfies given in the fan Hugo categories.

Aside from two ‘committee awards’ (I am the ‘committee’), I do not choose the Alfie winners. The fans do, with their nominations. The Alfies go to those who produced outstanding work in 2015, but were denied a spot on the ballot, and thus the chance to compete for the Hugo, by slating…..

One of my special ‘committee awards’ went to BLACK GATE, which had 461 nominations in the Fanzine category, second among all nominees and good for a place on the ballot. But Black Gate turned down the nomination, just as they did last year, to disassociate themselves from the slates. Turning down one Hugo nomination is hard, turning down two must be agony. Integrity like that deserves recognition, as does Black Gate itself. Editor John O’Neill was on hand to accept the Alfie.

Our Alfie for BEST FAN WRITER went to ALEXANDRA ERIN, whose 213 nominations led all non-slate nominees in this category. (I note that I myself got 103 nominations in the category, good for thirteenth place. What the hell, guys, really? I thank you, but… I know professionals have won in this category before, but I’m really more comfortable leaving the Fan Writer awards for fans).

JOURNEY PLANET, by James Bacon and Christopher J. Garcia, had 108 nominations for BEST FANZINE, and took the Alfie in that category. Have to say, I loved Bacon’s enthusiasm (and he’s the calm, quiet, shy one of the two).

(9) NEW EPIC SUPPORTED BY PATREON. Two authors launch a vast fictional project, which they hope readers will back with regular contributions.

Authors Melissa Scott and Don Sakers had always wanted to collaborate on a project, but each attempt produced sprawling ideas and enormous casts of characters that couldn’t easily be confined to a conventional series of novels, much less to any shorter format. As electronic publishing opened up new formats and lengths, it became possible to imagine serial fiction again — and not just serial fiction, but the kind of serial fiction that would allow novelists to explore the sort of expansive, elaborate universes more commonly seen in comics. For the first time, Scott and Sakers could work at the scale their story demanded, without sacrificing character, setting, or idea.  What’s in the story? Pirates. Judges. Weird physics. Desperate refugees. Struggling colonists. Missing persons and a mystery ship. A quest for human origins in a pocket universe. A thousand individual stories that together create a much larger tale.

Thanks to websites like Patreon to handle payments, and open-source website building tools like Drupal, the sprawling serial space opera The Rule of Five launches in September 2016, taking full advantage of the enormous canvas available on the web. Each month, Scott and Sakers will post an episode of at least 2000 words — a solid short story. All subscribers will be able to see each month’s episode plus the previous episode. Subscribers at higher levels can get a quarterly ebook compilation, access to all past episodes, and even a print editions containing each completed Season, as well as public acknowledgement for their support. For readers joining the series in progress, quarterly and seasonal compilations will always be available to bring them up to speed.

Taking advantage of change, The Rule of Five offers a new kind of serial science fiction, borrowing structure from comics and series television, but firmly grounded in classic space opera. The prelude is open to all at http://donsakers.com/ruleof5/content/prelude. Readers can subscribe to The Rule of Five at http://patreon.com/ruleof5.

[Thanks to Rogers Cadenhead, JJ, Petréa Mitchell, Karl-Johan Norén and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Mark-kitteh.]

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117 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 9/9/16 Pixel Trek: The Search For Scrolls”

  1. (1) Make it so. It needs to happen, forever.

    (3) We’ve said “Cat-like typing detected” for years, but never bought the product. We just LOL and then erase it — or copy and share it if it’s particularly good. One of our cats invented a new emoticon once.

    (7) Yes, exactly.

    First? The only place on the internet where nobody wants that.

  2. First (possibly)

    1) the kibble a and bits of a voice aren’t the problem. It’s stitching them together in a way that makes that spoken voice sound like natural human speech. Siri does it best when it goes a sarcastic a reply, but it often sounds like, errr, a bunch of disconnected words. So I’d be interested to see how they create a nutural sounding voice.

  5. Fifth?

    Re: #7 – Poor, deluded Ben Yalow – thinking that WorldCon is about community and friendship – when ANY Puppy will tell him that it’s only about STEALING AWARDS FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR FRIENDS IN A SHAMELESS ATTEMPT TO BOOST THE SALES OF THEIR TERRIBLE BOOKS.

  7. I’m thinking about creating a blog to call attention to potential contenders for Best Related Work throughout the year, with posts for reviews, release announcements, interviews and other content.

    Beale’s clowns do their worst damage in this category, and I think it would be a little less vulnerable to bloc voting if the Hugo electorate had better information on great related works before nominations open.

    Any thoughts? If people have a go-to place where they’re already learning about related works, please post links. My perception there’s a need could be wrong. Many filers are much more plugged in to SF/F than I am.

  8. So, there’s a potential reprint market for a story I wrote twenty years ago. Let’s look the old file up on the computer hard drive.

    It’s not on the hard drive. It -should- have been copied over each time I transferred an old hard drive’s files to a new computer, but… maybe I never transferred it from the original floppy diskettes I saved files on back when I first wrote the story?

    Dig out the 20-year-old diskettes. Dig up a standalone diskette reader, since the desktop hasn’t had one for at least the last couple of models. Pop in the “Completed Stories” diskette, and…

    The file’s not on the backup diskette either. (But, wow, I wrote a lot of crappy, never-submitted stories twenty+ years ago.)

    So… dig out a copy of the anthology the story originally appeared in and start retyping the entire story into a new file on the current desktop.

    And of course it’s one of the longest stories I ever wrote or sold. Which is why any comments I have on today’s Scroll will have to wait until tomorrow. Back to the grind….

  9. The only places I can think of is the Hugo spreadsheet of doom by Renay from Ladybusiness and Didi Chanoch’s Hugo wiki. I don’t know of anything specific for Best related works, though it would be a valuable resource.

  11. Rcade says I’m thinking about creating a blog to call attention to potential contenders for Best Related Work throughout the year, with posts for reviews, release announcements, interviews and other content.

    If you do, I promise to send all such publicity emails I get to you for posting. Macfarland alone published a lot of Related Works as do many of the University Presses.

  12. Don Sakers! I remember a number of short pieces, most notably “Leaves of October”, which was expanded into a novel some years later. His work impressed me back in the 1980s. I like what I’ve read by Melissa Scott, so I may just have to check this out, even though sprawling works like this usually make blood spurt from my ears! I read way too many series in my teens and now trilogies make me break out in hives. 😉

  13. If the Puppies believe WorldCon is dead/dying/on life support/etc., then perhaps they will cease attempting to manipulate the WorldCon awards, aka the Hugo Awards.

  14. There is the Filers’ own 2016 Recommended SF/F Page, which has a permalink to in the File770 blog header, and to which people have been very good about contributing. But it is for all categories, and not just Best Related Work.

  16. rcade: I would find that a valuable resource.

    Just finished Cecilia and Sorcery and would like to rave about it. It’s fantastic fun, lovely characters, great relationships. I want to waltz down the street now.

  17. bookworm – I am re-reading The Grand Tour now! All three were on sale for $3 the other day so I snapped them up.

    They are lovely books. Have you read Patricia Wrede’s Marelion the Magician books? Alas, they don’t appear to be e-books.

  19. (7) A DIALOGUE WITH GIBRALTAR APES. I just…that’s a very lovely comment from Ben Yalow, but why does Kate Paulk care whether Worldcon “is dead”? (BTW something that is still happening is not dead.) I mean, move on already, Paulk. We get it – you hate Worldcon, the Hugos, probably everything and everybody. Okay – find something you love and write about that, instead. Just repeating negative garbage about Worldcon, the Hugos, etc. won’t make them true.

    (8) WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIES. I get that he doesn’t care about winning Best Fan Writer, but here’s a FanTip for Martin: You’re a fan; pro & fan aren’t mutually exclusive. And sheesh, the Alfies feel like a quintessential fan thing – “man, sucks that all these folks lost; I’ll make up my own fun award and throw them a fun party!”

    Long work week makes a grumpy Kendall, sorry. I’m going to a Ren Fest tomorrow, so that should help reset me. 😀

  20. @bookworm 1398 – I love Sorcery and Cecelia and reread it about once a year. I have paper copies but bought the ebook set as well, so I can open it anywhere I am. I liked the first best, then the third, then the second, but I enjoy all of them.

    Wrede’s Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward (available as a set in paper or ebook – again I have both) are also favorites.

    ETA Ultragotha- look for the combined e-edition, A Matter of Magic.

  21. If I could stalk with the deities,
    Stalk with the deities,
    That is what I’d truly like to do
    If I could hunt with Olympians,
    Seek with their Roman kin.
    Camera safari with Vishnu…

  22. Ultragotha: Yes, I bought it in that sale. I remembered someone here recommending them, but don’t know who that was.

    Jonesnori: I’ll look for a matter of magic.

  23. I get that he doesn’t care about winning Best Fan Writer, but here’s a FanTip for Martin: You’re a fan; pro & fan aren’t mutually exclusive.

    He knows that, he says as much in the snippet reproduced here. He just doesn’t want to take up room for fan writing when it could go to someone else who doesn’t have his high profile.

  24. “PawSense normally recognizes a cat on the keyboard within one or two pawsteps.”

    Two is too late – my previous cat’s preferred path across the keyboard took him over the power key and then the return key to confirm the shutdown dialog.

  25. Didn’t get a chance yesterday, but may I belatedly proclaim my Bliss! and Rapture! that Mike is back & pixelating.

    When I met people at Worldcon and said I was “part of the File770 gang” everyone knew what I was talking about, and many people asked after Mike’s health & well-being. You haven’t just been missed by us.

  26. In reading, I’m stalled halfway through “Child of a Hidden Sea” by A.M. Dellamonica and don’t know if I’ll be able to finish it. I was alreday feeling dissatisfied, and then Sprog finished “Four Roads Cross” and I went !POUNCE! on that, instead (only partway in, no spoilers please!).

    Anyway, about half the time I really love Dellamonica’s protagonist and want to spend all my time looking at the wildlife in the new world with her — but then she gets all You’re Not the Boss of Me! I Do What I Want! in a way that’s impossible for me to believe of someone who’s ABD in a PhD program. I’m also disappointed because Dellamonica is being very “realistic” about the portal fantasy in many ways — but so far Our Heroine has had no-strings sex with one guy in the strange universe and vf cebonoyl tbvat gb raq hc jvgu nabgure, htu, without *once* thinking about contraception! Who *does* that, realistically? Does the author not know or forget because she’s married to a woman (a most effect method, to be sure)? Or is she not mentioning it because she thinks it will be perceived as ‘unromantic’? I am heartened to learn that contraception and/or condom use is *finally* becoming common in romance novels, but that seems to be a 21st-century development.

  27. Am back from seeing Tuvan throat singers. On the plus side, Tuvan throat singers! On the minus side, got home and discovered that my Kindle was still at the venue. Fortunately, they found it and I can retrieve it Monday (when I’m there for the Hungarian group). And the book I’m currently reading (Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) I also own in hardcopy, and honestly, because it’s illustrated, I should probably have been reading the physical version all along.

  28. Joe H, yeah for people returning lost Kindles! (I have my phone number and email addy on a sticker on my ebook, not that I’ve ever accidentally left it behind or anything. And then got a call that it was at the grocery store while I was in a concom meeting, and could I please come fetch it. Hypothetically speaking. Nothing to see here, move along….)

  29. @Aaron: I’m not sure how you get him saying that in the snippet when he wrote “I’m really more comfortable leaving the Fan Writer awards for fans” – as I said, I understand he doesn’t want it. But I can’t read that as other than saying he doesn’t think he’s a fan. (shrug) YMMV.

  31. Yeah, I was incredibly relieved when I called and they had it there. In the meantime, I’ll probably spend the weekend reading actual pieces of paper with ink stamped onto them. Maybe it’s time to get back into my Ballantine Adult Fantasy reread for a bit.

  32. SF Reading: A banner day for me, finishing two books! Wow. Go me.

    #1 I finished the audiobook of N.K. Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate on the way home tonight; it was mostly great, but I find Nassun pretty unbelievable, in many ways – but that’s fine, I still loved the book. Now I so want the third book! Do “we” know the name of the next book and have a vague idea of when it may come out?

    Hmm, there’s a short story set in the Stillness (unrelated to the books, but in the same world). Also an audio version.

    #2 I also finished John Tristan’s The Adorned this morning; interesting fantasy world (minimal fantasy elements), less romance than expected (till the last third or so), and surprisingly little sex for Carina Press (that’s fine); it was good but not great. (Tristan’s The Sheltered City was better and had more fantasy…but more sex, if you’re not into that, FYI.)

    The excerpt for Smythe’s No Harm Can Come to a Good Man isn’t grabbing me, for several reasons. No comments to my query. Anyone read anything else by Smythe, like The Explorer etc.? Those are also on my list to check out at some point in my life, who knows when.

  33. Kate Elliott fans out there – Jaran is on sale for $1.99 from iTunes and Kobo in the USA, and thus probably other outlets hereabouts. FYI!

  34. Kendall: I can’t read that as other than saying he doesn’t think he’s a fan. (shrug) YMMV.

    Given the many blog posts GRRM has made over the last couple of years about how he perceives himself to be a part of Fandom (and has been for decades), I can’t possibly interpret what he’s saying as that he doesn’t think he is a Fan. I think he’s saying “I’m really more comfortable leaving the Fan Writer awards for fans [who are not eligible for the Pro awards, as I am]”.

  35. (8) WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIES. – GRRM really know how to throw a party I guess – they always seems so fun

    Couple of articles from SBS (Australia’s multicultural news network) on the Hugo’s, and on Chuck Tingle particulalrly, that I haven’t seen highlighted elsewhere:

    (From May) – How trolls have ruined science fiction’s most prestigious awards two years running
    (From a couple of days back) How gay-dinosaur-erotica author Chuck Tingle took on internet trolls

  36. (1) Nifty.

    (2) UNDERSTANDING EPH.
    Oh good, another worked example. It’s a useful addition to the corpus of information about EPH; anyone who wants to can step their way through the process and thereby gain understanding of the mechanic.

    (7) A DIALOGUE WITH GIBRALTAR APES.
    I couldn’t get past the first few paragraphs; the more I read of Paulk’s writing, the less inclined I am to read any more. But good on Ben Yalow for sharing his magic moments. So long as there are enough people willing to organise & enough people wanting to participate, the Worldcons will carry on carrying on.

    (8) WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIES.
    “I know professionals have won in this category before, but I’m really more comfortable leaving the Fan Writer awards for fans”

    GRRM is a professional writer; he is also a fan.

  37. BTW, I no longer get the 5 minute edit window. Anyone else experiencing the same thing?

    ETA: Hang on, here it is. But it wasn’t on my previous comment. Weird…

  41. @JJ (& @Aaron): Okay, I must be misinterpreting his incredibly-poorly worded line. ::bows::

    ETA: The “pros can’t be fans” silliness is believed by some, which bugs the crud outta me – probably why reading a line like that irritated me. But JJ, if I’d stopped to think a bit more, I’d’ve remembered reading stuff he wrote about being a fan, and not taken it as written. Sorry, Mr. Martin.

  42. Stop my cat from typing? But he does some of my best work! He tends to overuse the “and then they all took a nap in a sunbeam” ending, but it’s barely even a cliche yet.

    Meanwhile, I’m really happy to see pixels scrolling again.

  43. So good to have scrolls back!

    I polished off Nisi Shawl’s Everfair last night and am still chewing over what I think of it. She manages to tell decades of alt history in 300 pages focusing on what seems like a lot of characters for the length but isn’t really when you take into account its scope; the result is something that is a little too focused on a small group to feel like a satisfying account of a whole nation and a little too sprawling to feel like a satisfying account of those characters’ lives. The worldbuilding is fascinating though and from her interviews I think she achieves what she sets out to do – not flinching away from the horrors and prejudices in the period she’s writing but imagining a way those could have played out differently and the impact that would have on the rest of the world. Absolutely worth a read for anyone intrigued by the premise, with the caveat that the premise is probably the best bit.

  44. (8) WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIES – When Alexandra came up to accept her award, She didn’t really have anything prepared and indicated that as a humorist, she’s used to writing it ahead of time. As she left, she did point out that she got more votes than George in the category. I ran into her earlier in the convention and I figured she had a good shot at getting an Alfie for Best Related Work or Fan Writer. I talked with George’s assistants to see if they had contacted her. They hadn’t, so I offered to get a pass to her and did so following the Wild Cards panel.

    I was also glad to see Alyssa Wong get one for Short Story. Especially after everything else that went on with her at the con. Great reaction shot of her on George’s LJ page.

  47. @Arifel I polished off Nisi Shawl’s Everfair last night and am still chewing over what I think of it.

    Recommended read.

    I finished this today and loved it. Shawl includes a very short intro about the historical basis which helps set the scene and the horror of the time period. Issues the book touches on: politics, colonialism, race, religions, atheism, tribal conventions, conversion, relationship power, sexuality, family in many forms, friendship, loyalty, betrayal, medicine, technology, languages, and war. The steampunk was just technical enough for me. POV changes with chapters and dates which I enjoyed as it helped get to know characters but may not work for everyone.

    Trigger warnings: graphic descriptions true to historical violence: mutilation of men, women, and children

  48. > “Anyone read anything else by Smythe, like The Explorer etc.?”

    The Machine is a very, very good novel, as long as you like depressing and unsettling stuff (which I do.)

  49. @Kendall
    Thanks for the Clarkesworld link to the Jemisin story. The world of the Stillness is so vivd and bleak. Looks like a Ykka had been on her mind for a couple of years.

  50. Kyra: The Machine is a very, very good novel, as long as you like depressing and unsettling stuff (which I do.)

    I didn’t mind the dark and unsettling part, but I found The Machine to be a disappointingly-predictable erfheerpgvba bs n qrnq ybirq bar / Senaxrafgrva novel. I’ve been hesitant to pick up anything else by him since.

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