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NeilNjae
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I've not read many (any?) survival stories. I've read a few naval adventure stories, such as the Hornblower books. However, I've not read a great many "popular history" accounts of navies and survival. So not a great deal of comparison. T…
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(Quote) That was the idea. And it's not in conflict with @BarnerCobblewood 's idea. The women's house is a place where "normal" rules don't apply, where the "normal" social order is upended (promiscuous women, the caliph in hidin…
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I don't think I've read any Norton, so now is a good time to start!
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(Quote) By my reading, he really didn't. There was a lot happening between the bathing and the arrival of the dervishes, and the porter is now recovering from all his exertions.
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(Quote) It seems to be a novella comprised of connected short stories / vignettes. That would fit into some of the less mainstream games (Microscope?) (Quote) It's obviously set up for a series of books, but she's not written the rest yet! And it's…
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The reason for suggesting prize winners is because I don't have any other books I'm keen to read! But if the consensus that that being a Hugo winner isn't sufficient to make a book a candidate for here, let's go with that. So, a few alternatives. O…
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For Becky Chambers, I thought Small Planet was rubbish. Her second book, Closed and Common Orbit, was really good though. I've read a couple of Vernon aka Kingfisher books, but the lighthearted ones, and really enjoyed them. As lots of people have …
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(Quote) Can I unpack this a bit? Are you saying: * these stories are deliberately constructed in the jātaka tradition, or * these tales have adopted similar forms as they have a similar purpose (convergent evolution), or * interpretation of jātaka …
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I'm thinking maybe Nettle and Bone, the most recent Hugo winner, or A Psalm for the Wild-Built (and maybe the sequel, as they're both novellas), or The Windup Girl as a solarpunk-type novel.
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(Quote) Do we want to rejig the reading schedule so we do one top-level story per week? That may be quite a lot of reading. If we extend the time between discussions, might we lose momentum?
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I think the review is here: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/georgi-gospodinov/time-shelter/ Interesting-sounding book!
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(Quote) I think Horta is overstating his case, both for the authenticity of this text (or any other he approves of) and the importance of the Arabian Nights on European literature. That overstating means I'm increasingly sceptical about many of his …
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(Quote) I don't know what sources Seale is drawing from, but I think she's drawing on both Galland's translation and Arabic texts. As for the Diyab tales, I get the clear impression she's looking at both Diyab's and Galland's texts. In any case, I …
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(Quote) I also think that there are only so many ways you can write the same thing. The other translation I read has those bits in-line, and I mostly skip them. (Quote) Good question! I have no idea. But I also think we have be careful not to have …
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Notes on Fisherman and jinni * Again, extensive notes before the tale. Are these useful? * How do you rate this as a children's story? * Did you read the poetry? * Were you expecting the fisherman's solution?
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(Quote) The Introduction states that many of these tales are pre-Islamic, so there's no reason why some of these tales couldn't be Babylonian. There's also the cultural continuity argument: many of these tales are recorded in Mesopotamia. I'm not s…
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(Quote) That's a good question to ask. Are you looking forward to the next tale? Do you want to know the story of the Second and Third Old Men? Regarding the influence of the Tales on European fantasy, the Wikipedia article on the history of fantas…
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(Quote) It looked like it should have been a good read, so it was a good choice for the club. Perhaps we're getting spoiled in our old age?
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(Quote) He could pass it on to some other relative. I would say his brother and his children, but that's probably not an option in this case. But as you say, don't question too much. Kings are supposed to preserve their kingdom, that's what kings do…
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This question (and the previous one) made me reflect on the reason I didn't like this book. It had an elevated importance to literature. And it had alternate history. And it had political satire. And it had mad science. And it had time travel. And i…
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I'm afraid it didn't. I was quite looking forward to something humorous, but this didn't do it for me. I think it was the mismatch between the utterly ludicrous setting and the intense seriousness with which the characters (and hence us) sometimes t…
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...and Arabian Nights week 2.
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(Quote) You're welcome. This is already more successful than I thought! (Quote) That's an interesting thought, and puts a different light on the notion of these tales as being about what it means to be a good king. (Quote) Good observation! (Quot…
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I'm not sure what definitive "ending" there is to an indeterminate sequence of stories. I think that accepted wisdom is that Sharhriyah falls in love with Shahrazad during the telling and they remain happily married after the 1001 nights, …
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Getting there. I'm about half-way, but should have some time this week to get cracking.
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First week's notes up.
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Welcome back! And enjoy the cruise.
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(Quote) Yes please!
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Draft reading schedule for Arabian Nights now in its own thread: https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/922/arabian-nights-reading-schedule#latest
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The setting, if fleshed out, could be interesting to game in. You could do something interesting with the force of formation instinct and calendrical conformity. Perhaps that's where the Dog Eat Dog element is coming from: in that game, players gain…