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Best Books of 2013.
I've done Best Of lists for a few years now; sorry this one is so late! Last year was a bad year for me keeping track of the books I read; general malaise paired with getting paid to write for...
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Ai Was Right! (2; 1:1)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin.Across the ice caps& around the equatoryour shadow follows.So this is part of the same cycle-- the Hainish Cycle-- as The Dispossessed, but it was...
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Oubliette in Three Words: Liches in Spacesuits. (3, 2:1)
The Man of Gold by M.A.R. Barker.Inside the Flint Cube,the keyboards smoked & shot sparks.The Man of Gold lives!I'm not going to get into this now; we'll be doing an Advanced Readings in D&D...
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3, 2, 11.
I went to go see King Lear at BAM with onatopofthings&Jennifer last night. Same theater with the super steep stairs where we saw Patrick Stewart in Macbeath. It was my first time ever seeing Lear,...
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The Age of Salarius. (4, 2:2)
Mermaid in Chelsea Creek by Michelle Tea.Sulfur, quicksilver......salt, the fruit of the dead sea.Nackle, soldier's wage.Wait, this is the first part of a trilogy? That isn't okay. This is fatbutts'...
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Ratatosk, Skald subclass. (5; 3:2)
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Volume Two by David Petersen, et al.Crown of insect scales,almost my favorite, but then:the ghost of an owl!Another Mouse Guard anthology to enjoy. My feelings on the...
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HC SVNT OGRESS.
It was the Eleven-Books Club meeting for fatbutts's pick, The Mermaid of Chelsea Creek. Opinions were not really split, except for Lilly, who liked it despite the problems other people had with it. A...
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All These World Are Yours, Except Europa. (8; 3:5)
Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World; Planet of Exile & City of Illusions by Ursula Le Guin.White gold, yellow gold,lonely against black velvet,the stars of our worlds.These are three...
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Injury to Arm Motif.
I started physical therapy for my arm. There isn't a good story behind how I hurt it. In November Jenny woke up with a gasp, so I jerked awake. A pillow had fallen, that was all, but I had been...
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Oubliette Session Nine: The Cult of Yama-of-Many-Faces.
(Idol of Yama-of-Many-Faces; art by PO-WEN.)Finally-- first time this year, actually-- I got my Oubliette campaign going again! Well, Silissa took some credit for the delay, with her pottery class!...
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All Yumens Must Die! (9; 3:6)
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin.The Dreamers don't shout:"the Sleeper has Awakened!"as they never Slept.This is a pretty explicit condemnation of colonialism, with a tempered view of...
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Hi Ho, Silver! (10; 3:7)
White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi.O goodness gracious!Underneath her skin, she isa great ball of fire!You know, this is the second time that a blurb on the back of the book has really been right...
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Weddings, Tattoos & Cabaret.
Social media has made the world a weird place. I don't want to get too deep into it at the moment, but remember how everyone used to think it was weird to keep a blog? Heck, people still do, which...
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I AM SHACKLETON. (11; 4:7)
Shackleton by Nick Bertozzi."Hvem er du," huh?Oh, I'll tell you who I am:I AM SHACKLETON!I mean, I really like Antarctica, I really like comics, & I sort of like history; what's not to like here?...
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I AM THE GOBLIN KING! (12; 4:8)
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.Raise the clockwork bridge!Advancement fights tyranny,if you do it right.I read this back during the weekend of Jess & Rasheem's wedding, & subsequently...
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#TorDnD Session One: the Kidnappings!
Bridget: "Did you let your beard get long just so you could stroke it like a wizard?"Mordicai: "What, that's ridiculous, but of course, absolutely, yes. Meh!"I managed to fall backwards into a Dungeons...
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The Lightning Tree. (13; 4:9)
The Telling by Ursula LeGuin.Gather round, listeners,Yoz, it's time to hear the Maz!"Roll initiative!"The eponymous "Telling" is a religion based on storytelling. Or sort of, anyhow; "religion" is the...
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Vim & Vigour. (14; 4:10 )
Valour & Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal.It's not true thatyou can't con an honest man.But can he con you?You know I like Robinette Kowal's "Jane Austen with illusion magic" novels. On, before I go...
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Oubliette Session Ten: The Tomb of the Royal Physician.
(The Tomb of the Royal Physician; art by Daren Bader.)Last session, so many moons ago, our intrepid Kitsune nobles & their Zaibatsu allies passed through the Shrine of Yama-of-Many-Faces & into...
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