In case those of you who read the WW wondered, the yellow iris did indeed bloom, as did several more purple. But it’s hard to get Mei-Ling to hold still for a picture, so she won the top model contest this week. However, there is picture of the yellow iris at the end.
For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines. The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in. And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.
Completed:
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold. Audiobook. Very closely tied to the events in Mirror Dance. This might also be called “Miles Grows Up,” because he does a lot of reassessing his goals and priorities, as well as solving a major crisis. I quite liked.
Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh. I’m not sure I ever read this one. Very exciting to have a “new “book by a long-gone author. I quite enjoyed.
In Progress:
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold. Audiobook. Nice use of two different narrators, each of whom has information the other would really like to have.
Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh. I think I read this one a long, long time ago. Nonetheless, quite enjoying.
Also:
Finished the most recent Smithsonian and give it a thumbs up.
Jane Lindskold: Wednesday Wanderings 
April 28, 2023 at 3:53 am |
I love looking at the iris! Thanks!
I read Texas Hold’em, (Wild Cards #27), George R.R. Martin, editor. Multiple authors contribute. I really like these stories/books. The premise is a virus came to earth and some people who got sick got wonderful powers (Aces) and others ended up with not so impressive powers (Jokers).
The plot stays together even with so many authors contributing. This story featured Bubbles. She subdues her foes by bubbles of differing strengths and sizes and to recharge herself, she needs impacts, like hit by a car or falling from a tall building. Fun book.
April 28, 2023 at 7:32 am |
A lot of work goes into continuity with Wild Cards, so I’m sure the editors would appreciate your comment. I think this is the longest running shared universe out there.
April 30, 2023 at 12:57 pm |
I’ve been … preoccupied … so I’ve about a month of reading to share:
Books I’ve read recently:
“Feedback” and “Rise” by Mira Grant.
“Feedback” was the 4th novel in the NewsFlesh universe of future zombies and political thriller. It’s an odd book, set contemporaneously with book 1 in the series, following a different set of web journalists and you already know who the bad guys are if you read the books in order, so it’s more a case of “who will survive?” rather than “what’s going on?”
“Rise” is the collection of all short stories and novellas in the NewsFlesh universe, at least up to the point of publication. Not sure if Grant (a.k.a. Seanan McGuire) ever wrote any more but at this point, I have enough of this universe and no real desire to read any more.
Re-read: “The Mask of Loki” by Roger Zelazny and Thomas T. Thomas. This one has the feel of being almost but not quite Zelazny, as it should since he only co-wrote it. If I had to guess, Zelazny did the final polish on this one while Thomas did the final polish on “Flare” which is why “Flare” didn’t feel like a Zelazny book to me although I could see his touches on it. I re-read it because it had been long enough that the details were gone and only the bones of the story remained in my mind. And besides, I retain a slightly more than passing interest in both the Templars and the Assassins and it was good to revisit these versions of them.
Re-read: The “Babylon 5” tie-in trilogy “The Passing of the Technomages” by Jeanne Cavelos.
Centered on Galen, because he was the technomage in the B5 sequel series “Crusade”, it gives all the background and info on the Technomages – who they are, how they did what they did, plus extra info about their visit to B5, Anna Sheridan, Kosh, how John Sheridan survived, etc. I rather like it, which is why I re-read it. You should see “Babylon 5” at least up to the end of the Shadow War plus the episode “The Well of Forever” from “Crusade” before reading this trilogy or there will be spoilers.
May 1, 2023 at 8:11 am |
I wish I could remember the polish/etc order on those two books, but I can reassure you that Roger never “phoned in” a collaboration… He always cared.
May 1, 2023 at 8:16 am
Oh, I believe you. But in any collaboration, someone has to get the last pass on the book, and that was just my impression of the two.