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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-20 09:28 am
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Books Received, September 13 — September 19



Really, more of Book Received. One work new to me, science fantasy.

Books Received, September 13 — September 19

Poll #33640 Books Received, September 13 — September 19
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Yalum by Matthew Hughes (September 2025)
4 (19.0%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
20 (95.2%)

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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-19 10:21 am
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Bad News From Alpha Centauri A…



There's a planet in the habitable zone... but not an Earthlike planet.

Bad News From Alpha Centauri A…
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-19 10:14 am

Sabrena Swept Away by Karuna Riazi



Sabrena's life is full of struggles already. The last thing she needs is an other-worldly adventure. Life is, alas, not considerate of a teen's preferences.

Sabrena Swept Away by Karuna Riazi
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fred_mouse ([personal profile] fred_mouse) wrote2025-09-18 10:55 pm
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Murderbot Humble Bundle

For some days, I've seen people mention the Martha Wells Humble Bundle offer and gone 'nah, I don't need it, I've got most of the Murderbot stuff, I DON'T NEED IT'.

And then someone posted that it has the short stories, and I nearly caved. And then someone shared it on Tumblr, and I don't remember what was said, and I was like 'it won't hurt to look, right'?

I will tell you that I did not cave because it has a Murderbot book I have either not read or have entirely forgotten reading (and may not, in fact, own). I did not cave because of short stories, for I noticed not the presence of said short stories. I caved because nearly the first thing I saw was The Emilie Adventures, which I know not if I will love, but has been in my wish list many many years (best guess: 2018, which is the copyright date of what I think is the first Murderbot book I read, which was at the time the most recent. The two Emilie stories are copyright 2013 and 2014, but by the time I tried to acquire them, no legal avenues worked).

So now I have 14 ebooks, some of which I have read and some of which are short stories, and I do not have the oomph to put them in the acquired books list (which has a gaping hole in it in which I either bought no books, or did not record them), along with the three that turned up ... yesterday (and one I really wanted is not sodding available and my money has been refunded. I hate this 'warehousing glitch' or whatever the excuse is, it happens so sodding often).

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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-18 08:47 am
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-17 09:00 am

The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike



The Central Plaza Mansion tower offers palatial 900 square foot apartments for a mere ¥35,000,000. It is a deal too good for the Kano family to turn down... although they should have.


The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-16 11:19 am
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-16 10:07 am
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-16 09:09 am
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-15 02:17 pm
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Bundle of Holding: Dread Laironomicon



100 lair entries in two succinct pages apiece, from Aboleth's Sunken Lair to Wyvern's Nest.

Bundle of Holding: Dread Laironomicon
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-15 10:17 am
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Clarke Award Finalists 2014

2014: Creationism is banned in British schools, the first same sex marriages in the UK are conducted, and Canadian Mark Carney helps the UK navigate challenging times. What ever happened to Carney, anyway?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 73


Which 2014 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
70 (95.9%)

God's War by Kameron Hurley
25 (34.2%)

Nexus by Ramez Naam
10 (13.7%)

The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
5 (6.8%)

The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann
1 (1.4%)

The Machine by James Smythe
3 (4.1%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2014 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
God's War by Kameron Hurley

Nexus by Ramez Naam
The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann
The Machine by James Smythe
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-14 06:38 pm

Transit

So, yesterday, the wheelchair ramp on the Rt 8 bus I was on developed a bug. Or the system that detects if it is deployed did. The ramp retracted correctly but the bus thought it had not, and would not move.

Ha ha! I pick my routes to maximize alternatives in case of break-downs. I just disembarked and talked over to the LRT. Which, I discovered, was having a minor service delay.

My contingency plans can handle two delays, but not three. Good for me there were just the two. It did mean I was only a little early for work.

On the way home, just after I disembarked from the LRT, an SUV cut the LRT off so the SUV could reach the parking lot ten seconds earlier. If the train had not stopped, I'd have had to stick around, both as a witness and because the accident would blocked the sidewalk between me and the stop I needed to get to.

Less than five minutes after the LRT near-miss, three SUVs tried to turn into the same lane at the same time. I don't think they hit each other but there was a short discussion between the drivers before they all left. I'd have had to stick around for that as well, because it would have blocked the route my bus uses.
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-14 08:57 am

The Dosadi Experiment (ConSentiency, volume 2) by Frank Herbert



Bureau of Sabotage agent Jorj X. McKie is assigned a legal and ethical trap: a planet of victims, who, whether rescued or left to their impending doom, present a danger to the ConSentiency.

The Dosadi Experiment (ConSentiency, volume 2) by Frank Herbert
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-13 09:06 am
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Books Received, September 6 — September 12



Six works new to me: two fantasy (one a roleplaying game), four science fiction. The roleplaying game is part of a series but otherwise, they all seem to be stand-alone.

Books Received, September 6 — September 12


Poll #33608 Books Received, September 6 — September 12
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 46


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent (October 2025)
8 (17.4%)

Outlaw Planet by M.R. Carey (November 2025)
20 (43.5%)

Champions of Chaos by Calum Colins, et al
1 (2.2%)

Slow Gods by Claire North (November 2025)
24 (52.2%)

The Divine Gardener’s Handbook: Or What to Do if Your Girlfriend Accidentally Turns Off the Sun by Eli Snow (August 2026)
22 (47.8%)

Death Engine Protocol: Better Dying Through Science by Margret A. Treiber (April 2025)
13 (28.3%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
30 (65.2%)

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fred_mouse ([personal profile] fred_mouse) wrote2025-09-13 09:04 pm

More farewells

Today has brought the news of the passing of two more people - one I counted a friend, and one I knew more in passing. I've known both since the 80s.

David was a member of the dance group my mother and I joined in about 1984, and which I've intermittently been associated with since. I'm not sure if I ever had a conversation with them that wasn't about dancing. We were members of the same performance group, although I spent far fewer years in it than David. Other than folk festivals and dancing places, the only other place I ever remember encountering David was in one of the city queer pubs on a very quiet weekday afternoon. I never did find out if they were there because it was a safe space, or because it was their local pub.

Robert ran the Fremantle Music School, which I attended briefly in the mid 80s*. I've encountered Robert intermittently over the years, at various music events. They were involved in the Mandolin Orchestra, and I believe the Recorder and Early Music Society. We met up again when I joined the first of the two (very) amateur orchestras I've joined in recent years -- they have been the leader of the group in the years I've been there (two years? three?). In retirement, Robert became somewhat prolific in composing pieces, and I think we had one of their pieces at least every semester. We have one that is due to be debuted tomorrow, at a concert that is now going to be a bit fraught. **

* provided-by-school lessons ran to the end of year ten. I found a lovely teacher at the FMS, but when they moved away from the school roughly a year later, I followed them, mostly having lessons at their home.
** I really feel for our conductor, and for our other main organiser, both of whom have been dealing with calling telling people one on one throughout today.

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fred_mouse ([personal profile] fred_mouse) wrote2025-09-12 10:26 pm

Sleep

At my last psych appointment, I reported back that while getting my evening tasks done earlier was great, and for four nights I'd successfully gone to bed at a reasonable time, it hadn't lasted. I had continued to get the tasks done (most nights) but had lost the ability to then go to bed afterwards -- I'd adjusted to the new normal, and 'finish my list' was no longer 'and it's bed time' it was 'and it's time to read fic / flirt with tumblr / etc'.

(aside: the expression on the psych's face was priceless. They said approximately 'You did the homework?! only teachers do the homework!?'. And here was me feeling that I'd half arsed the homework. Which, yeah. )

Building on that success, I've moved my bedside lamp down from the top of the bedside shelf (say, 1.1m up) to the shelf that is the same height as the bed. This enables me to read in bed with just the lamp on, and not have a really bright room. And it will surprise no-one who knows about sleep and light and screens, putting the screen away and then reading in low light on paper? My insomnia is dramatically reduced.

I'm now waking up before the 7am alarm more days than not. But what I'm not feeling is rested. I'm obviously getting 'enough' sleep in some way, or I wouldn't be waking, but I'm not sure I'm getting enough sleep cycles. Or maybe it is that I've got a lot of stress happening, and I'm just burning through all the oomph I have.

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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-12 09:12 am

Happy 11th Birthday, James Nicoll Reviews!



I'd been posting reviews to LiveJournal since April of 2014 but on September 12, 2014, James Nicoll Reviews went live, with a review of Robert A. Heinlein's Between Planets.
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-12 08:57 am

Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan



It's time for Bo to leave doomed San Francisco behind... just as soon as she completes one final task.

Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-11 03:35 pm
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Bundle of Holding: Rifts Worlds 1 (from 2018) & Rifts Land and Sea (from 2022)



11 sourcebooks that range across the shattered Earth of the Rifts tabletop roleplaying game from Palladium Books.

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Worlds 1




More World Books for the cross-dimensional tabletop roleplaying game

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Land and Sea (from 2022)
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-11 08:56 am
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SideQuested by K B Spangler & Ale Presser



A woodcarver's foster daughter sets out to free a maiden from a magical tower prison, just the sort of thing that always works out exactly according to plan, without unforeseen geopolitical complications.

SideQuested by K B Spangler & Ale Presser