My thoughts on Brandon Sanderson’s Oathbringer are long overdue, I actually finished reading the book in February. It’s been a busy three months. I will try to avoid spoilers for this book, but spoilers for the first two are inevitable at this point.
Most of the story follows the same primary characters encountered in Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, who have developed into Radiants. Sanderson does a fabulous job again of bouncing between their current situations and how their histories moved them to this point. Dalinar, in particular, is forced to explore the memories he had blocked of his deceased wife, and Shallan, her conflicted family history. Each of the characters has unsettling experiences, and each in some way challenges society’s rules. Discoveries are made that shake society to its core.
Shallan, still one of my favorite characters, develops unique personalities for each of the faces she draws herself. Among other problems, two of her personalities are attracted to different people; she has to determine which part is the real her and which heart to follow.
Szeth, the Assassin in White, rediscovers his passion for Truth, and reappears, along with Lift, who we met briefly in Words of Radiance, and more thoroughly in her own book, Edgedancer. And Venli, one of the remaining Parshendi, evolves in her understanding of the war between the Voidbringers and humanity.
In a couple years, I’ll re-read all of the books again, to prepare for the release of the next one.
Garden planning is one of my annual goals. Planning generally starts in January or February, since some indoor planting can start as early as mid-February, depending on what I’m growing that particular year. This year was a late start for me, I didn’t plant anything until almost mid-March.
I try to use up my old seeds first, so I sort through them when I begin garden planning, and then see what I need to fill in my planting gaps. This year, I have a lot of leftover seeds, so all I bought was a couple varieties of large tomatoes. This is where hope starts kicking in… I hope the old seeds will still germinate. This was the last year for the pepper seeds, none of them sprouted.
Seed starts, from planting to seedlings. With luck, many tomatoes will be produced and consumed.
As they sprout, I hope I remember to open the curtains, to get some sun in on the new growth. I’m actually fairly good at that. As it warms up, I hope the forecast is accurate… I check it each morning and decide whether to put the pots (well, yogurt cups) all the way outside, just outside the front door (where they’re partially covered), or leave them in the house. Every day they’re in the house, I hope the kitten doesn’t decide to knock any of them down or destroy any of the seedlings. Especially the tomato plants, since the leaves have a nice bounce to them. And I hope I pick the right days to put them out, and the right nights to leave them out to harden as it cools, but hopefully not too much. Here in Illinois, the nights can vary wildly – we may see a 10 degree drop one night, and a 30 degree drop the next – so I have to choose carefully.
They don’t all survive. You can see in the photo that I started with more cups than I have now. Some sprouted and then faded while still tiny. I planted at least 3 cups of basil; I have one left. And while there’s an overwhelming number of tomatoes, half of those are cherry tomatoes that are more likely to make it into the mouth than the house when harvested.
At some point soon, I hope I pick the right time to move them outside. As you can see, they’re getting a bit tall for those little yogurt cups, but we’ve had a couple nights where the temperature was still in the 40s. Once they’re big enough, they’ll probably be OK with a night or two that gets that low, so it’s entirely possible they relocate to a couple different spots this upcoming weekend. I think it’s safe… I took a gamble and planted peas about 10 days ago, and those are coming up nicely.
I recently visited Whiskey Acres, a distillery in Dekalb, IL. As I’ve mentioned before, I do like a good whiskey, and by chance had tried a Whiskey Acres Rye at Hardware recently. It was a bit of a random choice at Hardware, given that there are over 400 whiskeys to choose from, and I try not to repeat the ones I’ve had before. I mentioned to a friend that I had tried a rye from Illinois; he responded by telling me about this distillery that he wanted to visit at some point… I looked at the name and realized it was their rye. And it’s only 30 minutes away!
Whiskey Acres buildings, still (her name is Flo), casks, and the array of bottles for tasting.
We decided to meet for the last tour on a Friday night – it starts at 7pm, lasts an hour, and they close at 8:30. The weather was beautiful (not to be confused with “the weather is here…”), and apparently everybody else decided not to be there that night… we were the only people on the tour. And we learned a lot!
With the exception of the malted barley, Whiskey Acres grows all of their own grains. When they’re ready to start preparing the mash, they notify the farmers of how much corn they need, so it’s fresh off the farm when the start using it. The mash will sit for a few days before being introduced to Flo, their still. (Apparently all stills should be named. Please take note if you have an as-of-yet unnamed still.) The still is a full day process, unless they’re preparing vodka, in which case it goes through the still 3 times, so it’s a 3 (continuous) day process. We didn’t meet Nick, but apparently the vodka is made with his tears… 3 days of continously running the still is a long time.
After the distillation, the alcohol is barreled. We learned that to qualify as a bourbon, it must be 125 proof or lower at the point when it’s barreled, and the barrels must be new. The barrels for bourbon are burnt on the inside before the alcohol is added; that’s where it picks up the brown color.
The aging process of a whiskey varies. The smaller casks age faster, they may only take 18-24 months; the large casks can take 5-7 years. And some poor soul has to check them periodically as they approach the potential ready date. Part of me would love that job, but to be honest, my palate is not particularly discerning, so I suspect I would be bad at it.
The tour wraps up with a tasting of their rye, bourbon, and vodka. I am not generally a vodka drinker, yet was pleasantly surprised at how drinkable it was. It didn’t outweigh my normal preferences… in the end, I walked away with a bottle of their bourbon. (And yes, I am sipping some while I type. It seemed appropriate.) You get a souvenir shot glass with the tour, they’ll even wrap it up for you after your tasting.
The Whiskey Acres tasting room is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through November. They don’t serve food, but have plenty of space for a picnic, if you pack one, or you can drive into downtown Dekalb for some lovely sushi or other food options.
Occasionally, I receive multiple review books together. They usually have different due dates, so I prioritize whichever one is due first. If they share a due date, I have to decide which one to read first, and I generally take a “save the best for last” approach. At that point, I only have the cover to go by, and since it’s an advanced copy, that’s usually the back cover, with the blurb, rather than a fully illustrated front cover.
This worked for me well last time, when I read a fantasy book before Side Life. This time, well, after the first chapter of the first (of two) book… I considered that I may have gotten them in the wrong order. The first book had an illustrated front and plain back cover; the description alluded to an existing world that I had no concept of. With no solid expectations going into it, I was rolling in laughter before I finished the first chapter. There were so many quotable quotes, I chose not to flood my Facebook friends with more than a couple. So I confess, I totally misjudged that book (and I’m not telling you which it was) based on the back cover.
And yet, as much as I liked it, I enjoyed the second book I had received that much more. This was what I’ll call a true review copy – plain covers on the front and back – so I only had the blurb on the back to judge by before I started reading. I may share that review at some point in the future; they publish elsewhere first. Based on the blurb, I knew that the protagonist was a half-orc, defending a borderland between the humans and the orcs, and that he discovers during the story that there are things he doesn’t understand. The character development is particularly well-written, you can understand both why the character is missing information and how he adapts as he learns. If you get the chance, read The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French. Then add the sequel to your want to read list; it doesn’t appear to have a publication date yet.
