Apocryphal

Vintage means more than just old, and not quite nostalgia. It’s signifies an age gone by that will never return (though will likely be copied in parts at some time in the future) and that means the only way to experience it is by appreciating the vi…

in Witch World 2 - Setting & Characters Comment by Apocryphal January 2024

Yes, true - Vance does do a lot more with setting in a similar length. So did Leigh Brackett in The Ginger Star. And L. Sprague de Camp in The Clocks of Iraz. The only reason I don't think of this setting as 'generic' is because what I think of as a…

in Witch World 2 - Setting & Characters Comment by Apocryphal January 2024

I'm good to go.

in Arabian Nights reading schedule Comment by Apocryphal January 2024

Hmm, some good insights there, Richard. I was somewhat struck by the casualness with which the murders of the 4th story are described. There isn’t a lot of hand-wringing about them. Also, when he hears about the custom of dooming spouses (spice?) …

in Arabian Nights week 12 Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

Sounds good to me.

in Arabian Nights reading schedule Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

True.

in Current book choice rotation thread Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

Speaking of cool space battles (but otherwise totally off topic) I’m just about finishing up Protector by Larry Niven, which has this odd space battle that take place at sub lightspeed speeds, but because of the distances involved, when the protagon…

in Tripoint Q2 - Characters Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

Wow, very in-depth review! Thanks for that.

in Book Notes - Notorious Sorcerer, by Davinia Evans Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

Does Cherryh write hard SF (apart from the FTL)?

in Tripoint Q6 - The Whole Enchilada Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

Overall, I'd say I liked the book. I might have liked it more, but there were a few things that held me back. One was that I really felt like Cherryh was writing to her club members, and not being a club member there were too many things that I didn…

in Tripoint Q6 - The Whole Enchilada Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

Setting - to me it seemed kind of generic, at least as presented here. That might be because Cherryh has been copied a lot! I can absolutely see the influence of Cherryh on Star Cluster, and I can also see it on the kind of sessions Clash runs for h…

in Tripoint Q5 - Roleplaying Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

I got lost somewhere during the climax and don't have a good idea of what happened. The back of the book suggest Tom is going to save everyone by trusting his father. Is that what happened? Here's what the plot seemed like to me: (Spoiler)

in Tripoint Q4 - The Plot Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

(Quote) No. (Quote) No. (Quote) Everything in the real world belongs in fiction, and a lot of things that aren't in the real world, too. (Quote) I mean, I guess in the absence of a meaningful system of law and order, then I think yes.

in Tripoint Q3 - Rape Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

I was able to keep all these characters apart and they were distinct enough to stand out in my mind. I'm not sure any were all that deep, which is a bit surprising in a novel of this length. I mean, in terms of actual events, there really wasn't all…

in Tripoint Q2 - Characters Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

This is my second Cherryh, the first being Pride of Chanur, which was also a Clash monthly pick. With Chanur, I sometimes had difficulty parsing Cherryh's writing, and I did here, too, though not as much. Was there enough setting? I'd say barely en…

in Tripoint Q1 - Setting Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

These are exactly as I expected them to be, and I’m not sure if this is basically me remembering an old read, or something else. I also very distinctly remember reading the account of the people throwing meat into the chasm of snakes in the Travels …

in Arabian Nights week 11 Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

No worries - we'll lay the foundation, you can vault back in when you have your footing again.

in Arabian Nights week 10 Comment by Apocryphal December 2023

Robin Hood was also doing it on behalf of the wider citizenry, and he targeted the corrupt who had enriched themselves. Dalila was acting for personal gain, and her specific victims were ordinary people mostly minding their own business.

in Arabian Nights week 10 Comment by Apocryphal November 2023

Fun section and a tidy end to the tale of Dalila. Many elements were not believable (less believable than Jinn in bottles?) but then each night Shahrazad says she’s going to tell ‘one stranger still’. You can’t keep making Jaws sequels without event…

in Arabian Nights week 10 Comment by Apocryphal November 2023

I really enjoyed these two sections. I think the comment about this being a inspiration for mystery novels comes from the fact that Wilkie Collins drew inspiration from the story, and he’s credited with writing the first mystery novel. But apart fro…

in Arabian Nights week 9 Comment by Apocryphal November 2023

I didn’t expect the Wilkie Collins link, either, but there you go. I recently listened to My Favorites, a collection of Ben Bova stories (which I thought lent themselves quite well to audio) and one of the stories is all about a group of storyteller…

in Arabian Nights week 8 Comment by Apocryphal November 2023

I was lucky to find a used one. It wasn’t on the shelf, but I asked the store owner if he had one, and he checked his inventory, went down to the basement, and voila.