Aussie Sci-fi and Fantasy Hub: February 2018

Tuesday 27 February 2018

Weekly Bookish Discussion #2

Tumor: A Medical Noir by Joshua Hale Fialkov & Noel Tuazon a short review

Tumor by Joshua Hale Fialkov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This would have been a 2 star if not for the ending. I really liked the art work but I found the story just a bit too simple. I thought that is could have had a little bit more in the way of plot to fill out what could have been a really meaty story. Ok not great.

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Snow White By Matt Phelan very short review

Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a re-telling of Snow White set in the 1920's told mostly by the beautiful sketched illustrations. A very quick "read" (There really isn't much to read).

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Bitch Planet Vol 1 Review

Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was great! The fake ads at the end of each issue about treible products that some sadly existed in the past (tapeworms for weight loss) and could very well exist (pills to make women more compliant, sound like frontal lobotomies anyone?) mixed in with sadly true stats about domestic violence.

Women are held to ridiculous standards by the "Fathers" and anyone who doesn't reach these ideals of feminine beauty, behaviour or stereotype is shipped off to the prison planet Bitch.
Keen to see where this one goes.

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The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes short review

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A nice collection of short mysteries solved with all the flare we expect from the legends of Holmes and Watson. The best in my opinion being "The Scandal in Bohemia" where we meet the only woman to outwit the great detective, "The Five Orange Pips" involving the possible ruin of the KKK, and "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" where we see the good in bad people and the bad in those seen as good.

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Wednesday 21 February 2018

War & Peace Part 2

Countess Rostova: · A thin oriental type of face, worn out with childbearing- she’d had 12 Chapter 10 Introduced to the Rostov’s who are the rich cousins of Anna Mikhaylovna and where she stays with her son Boris whilst in Moscow. It is St Natalia’s day and name day for the countess and the youngest daughter. During receiving well wishes we hear about the rest of the night we left Peirre They put the bear in the carriage with them and went off to visit and “actress” and ended up tying a policeman to the back of the bear and putting it in a channel. Chapter 11 The “children” come tumbling into the sitting room and we get our first glimpse of Boris and the Rostov’s son of the same age, Sonya, the Rostov’s niece and others. Chapter 12 Sonya is enamoured with cousin Nicholas. Nicholas is following cousin Boris into the military service. Natasha is in love with Boris. Countess Vera is a lot more prudent. Chapter 13 Follow Natasha (12-13) out of the sitting room who waits in the shrubbery of the conservatory watching first Boris leave and then Sonya coming out sobbing followed by Nicholas who consoles her with a kiss. This inspires Natasha to find Boris, pull him into the shrubbery and kiss him where upon he assures her that in 4 yrs he will ask for her hand in marriage. Chapter 14 Countess Vera is sent from the sitting room so that the 2 older women can talk, she finds the 2 couples and starts to harass them about the decorum of their actions and being found in this way, she is seen to be a hard nosed bitch. Anna and the countess are talking about how Anna has managed Boris’ appointment with Prince Vasili (describing the encounter with much more positivity on his part) and how she is going to go to Count Bezukhov (boris’ godfather) to beg money for his outfitting. Her widowhood and a lawsuit that is crippling her financially are alluded to. Chapter 15 Anna Mikhaylovna drags her son Boris to the residence of the dying Count Bezukhov and finds Prince Vasili baring the way to entry with the count. She starts repeating that its her uncle and she should be here for him in a nursing capacity and wins a small victory but muscling out on of the princesses. Boris is sent off to invite Peirre to the Rostov’s for dinner with Prince Vasilis assurance that he would at least like him out of the was (both for the evening and out of the way of his inheritance) Chapter 16 One of the princesses had a mole on her lip which made her the prettier of the two. Since his arrival from Petersburg, Pierre has been barred from seeing the count. Boris reassures Peirre that they have no intention of asking his father for money. Chapter 17 Countess Rostova asks her husband for the money to give to Anna to outfit Boris and gets it. But there are hints they are going to be in a bad way soon too from Dimitri Chapter 18 the Rostov’s dinner We meet Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova Le terrible dragon who is known for speaking her mind and being blunt. They go into dinner and Sonya is again miffed at Nicholas for speaking to Julia Karagina again. Pierre is once again oblivious to the social graces that he is stepping on, sitting in everyone’s way, talking in monosyllables, and getting well on his way to being drunk in the dinner. Chapter 19 The dinner continues and the German Hassar who has been drinking heavily starts to get quite animated on the manifesto of war that has been delivered and why the war is necessary. They are interrupted by Marya asking what all the noise is about when she in turn is interrupted by the young Natasha demanding loudly to know what will be for sweets. Chapter 20 Moving to after dinner entertainment the children are encouraged to sing, when Natasha noticies that Sonya is not with them. After a search of the usual haunts, she is found crying about what vera has said about her and Nicholas not being allowed to marry. Natasha cheers her up and the dancing begins. Natasha is asked to employ pierre in the dance by her mother, the countess, the act of which makes Natasha feel very adult. We are then pesented with the amusing sight of the count and Marya dancing the Daniel Cooper. With the count entertaining everyone by being most animated for a plump man and most of Marya’s animation coming from her face as she too was a big woman. Amusing all the guests and even all the serfs of the household. Chapter 21 the death watch As the dinner guest dance the 6th anglish the count had his 6th stroke. Prince Vasili corners the oldest of the princesses and convinces her that not only has the count written an new will for Pierre to inherit everything leaving them nothing, that it will not be invalidated by his illegitimacy as he has written to the emperor to legitimise him but that he will have it done. It comes out that it was the princes anne mikalovena that, a year ago, came to sully them to the count and spurned him on to change his will.

Weekly Reading Discussion #1

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Tuesday 20 February 2018

Weekly Reading Discussion #1

War & Peace part 3 Book 1 Chapter 22-27

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Monday 19 February 2018

War & Peace part 3 Book 1 Chapter 22-27

War and Peace Part 1

My raw notes on my second reading of War and Peace By Leo Tolstoy War and Peace Book 1 1805 Characters with multiple names listed down the column

Anna Pavlovna: · self-deprecating “if you’re not doing anything else please come and see me the invalid” · “despite her 40 yrs overflowed with animation and impulsiveness” doesn’t matter how old she gets she is forever a child or that is what she portrays · people she “serves up as a specially choice delicacy a piece of meat that no one who had seen it in the kitchen would have cared to eat” cutting comment on the aristocracy? · Prince Vasili · children: Anatole, Hippolyte, Helene Princess Bolkonskaya · on her upper lip, a delicate dark down · pregnant · the most fascinating woman in Petersburg Overwritten: “Prince Vasili did not reply, though, with the quickness of memory and perception befitting a man of the world, he indicated by a movement of his head that he was considering this information” he nodded… wtf Influence in society, however, is a capital which has to be economized if it to last” When Princess Drubetskaya was begging for his influence of the emperor to have her son (Boris) made a Guard Pierre vs vicomte V: “Liberty and quality, high-sounding words which have long been discredited.” Pierre seems like the well meaning buffoon that is only there to amuse the others, his appearance, large and bungling, picking up others possessions and not knowing the right courtly procedures, talking to the aunt etc. His opinions, his siding with Napoleon and agreeing that the execution was the right thing to do politically and that the French people will not fall back under the power of the rightful king willingly are all at odds with what the political opinions of his “betters” symbolised by the vicomte. Prince Hiployte is in love with princess bolkonskaya (the little princess) who I married to prince Andrew who doesn’t really seem to care for her, but won't be cuckolded. He is going to war, away from his new pregnant wife because the life he lives here (Petersburg) doesn’t suit him and she will be sent to the country for good measure. Prince Andrew solidifies this contempt for his little wife in an argument with her about his leaving for war and moving her to his father’s house in the country where she admits her fear, in front of Pierre. After promising Prince Andrew that he will no longer go around the Kurigins he heads straight there to see a scene of debauchery and drinking with a bear (Bruin) and a window being smashed out for a bet. End of session 1

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater Review

https://youtu.be/5u9tVfL9m8gI finally edited and got this one out there. Come and check it out.

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Sunday 18 February 2018

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater Review

Ringworld by Larry Niven Review

I came to this book through a refernece to it in Wil Wheaton's book Just a Geek. Wheaton described meeting Larry Niven at a convention and the mutual enthusiasm of their meeting and his glowing recomendation of the book made me what to read it. Wheaton was right, its is a great technical science fiction book and I just loved it.

Its not easy to develop sound and complex characters for fictional alien species as well as logical and very advanced technologies with an engaging plot. But Niven has done just that.

I'm gushing but it is so rarely that I love a story this much that doesn't have dragons or zombies or magic.

I love my science fi

Long form review of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

These are the raw notes I took whilst re-reading House of Leaves in January 2018 House of Leaves Chapter IX Opening line goes to first footnote x135129137 and 130 137134 back to x 130 131132133 x120 x refers to “inexplicable wanderings and that seems to be what we are doing until we come to 130, chasing our tale back and forth through the pages where we get the translation referring the Labyrinth and then to centrality and then to gravity. In 120 we find out that Zampano got it all from 1 book and was sending us on a goose chase to look smart according to Johnny Where he rants about truck’s running him over that didn’t, trees falling on him that don’t… Describes yet another sexual partner and then leaves us unsure of where to read next. Why use the german for building plan, the apologise, then give the translation Footnote 136 actually talks about doors opening up as a deceptive way ahead and to force the visitor to go back upon the very same tracks that he has already followed on his wanderings and then sends us back to a k footnote on pg 109 from 114 Footnote 138 sends us back to the end of chapter 6 and forward 150 odd pages Footnote 139 is actually warning us about reading too fast or too slow and not understanding what we have read and becoming tangled in the labyrinth. Then sends us back to 135 on so on through ground already covered Footnote 142 within Johnny’s footnote about drinking too much refers to love fading fast and leads to blank lines? A dead end? Pg 119 the blue boxes begin Footnote 144 is inside the first blue box, can’t tell how many of the words are also blue, contents talked about being piping and ducts and the like are usually in walls, floors etc and are in this case sectioned off in the box is then mirror imaged as if seen from behind on the next page and continues in that style until pg 144 with the struck out line “picture that in your dreams” a house made of nothing. Footnote 146 list buildings that the house is not like runs down the left hand side of the double page from pg 120-134 This is then referred to the opposite side of the page where there is a list of architects but is upside down forcing me to flip the book and work back to pg 121 Once past pg 121 we can read the straight path knowing the other sections exist without having to acknowledge them like the exploration4 Pg 122 we get the first sign that something is in the house with them. The destruction of the food cache and the neon arrow Just when we think we are getting through this literary labyrinth, we have flipped the book upside down to read foot note 166 (film hauntings) and worked back several pages, flipped sideways and worked forward again for 167 (literary hauntings) who’s space grows on its last page we start to read about historical explorations that have resulted in isolation caused mutiny from footnote 169 we are sent back to footnote 155 about the mysterious growl that further sends us back to the start of the chapter with the x footnote. Then directed to the Pelican poems with I feel the only one related being the last about him tapping on the wall of a house and wanting to drink something warm again, reflecting the situation we left Wax an xxx in. This chapter is a mind fuck and a labyrinth with the mirrored words the worst to read. Chapter 10 Navidson brothers and Reston set off the rescue the Holloway team. Navisdon starts his usaual cinematography