Month: September 2022

Thoughts on Notorious Sorcerer

This book, reviewed for the August 2022 issue of Booklist, grabbed my attention almost immediately with its distinctive magic, which entails pulling objects from different planes. I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

Davinia Evans’s debut novel, Notorious Sorcerer, introduces the city of Bezim, the only place on this plane where alchemy works, though it’s illegal due to a magical event that destroyed half the city. Siyon, a bravi who lacks the funds to become a proper alchemist, skirts the edge of legality by selling ingredients retrieved from the other planes to the alchemists who avoid arrest by being rich or part of the city’s prominent families. The protagonist draws the Inquisitors’ attention when he accidentally performs impossible magic very publicly, rescuing his friend Zagiri from a fatal fall, then experiences a waterfall of disasters that lead the Inquisitors to arrest the entirety of the elite Summer Club. Siyon is the city’s only chance to rescue the prefect’s son from another plane, as well as harness the Power of the Mundane to rebalance the planes, before the other Powers invade to correct the balance. Notorious Sorcerer’s unique magic system adds to this delightful fantasy setting, leaving readers eagerly anticipating the next book in The Burnished City series. 

Thoughts on The Mystical Murders of Yin Mara

You may, perhaps, have heard of the Maradaine novels by Marshall Ryan Maresca, a dozen interconnected novels spanning four different series. Perhaps you were scared off by the concept of starting a series that already has a dozen books… believe me, I understand, and someday I will read The Wheel of Time books. And maybe the 400 pages of An Unintended Voyage seemed a bit long for you to jump into, even though it’s a standalone novel set elsewhere in the world.

How about 146 pages? Maresca recently release a novella, The Mystical Murders of Yin Mara, intertwining hints from Maradaine with his extensive world-building as Phadre Golmin and Jiarna Kay travel from Maradaine to study magical and mystical theory as research assistants at Yin Mara College. Their studies are both aided and complicated by a series of murders beyond their experience, and well outside the capacity of this small city’s constabulary to solve on their own.

As is typical of a detective story, you’ll wonder how many deaths it will take our heroes to solve this conundrum. But you’ll also wonder what they’ll put at risk for that answer… their careers and those of the other researchers on their team could be in jeopardy as they chase clues across private property and ultimately air an accusation at a public event filled with high profile donors to their research.

My goodness, are you still here? You could already be reading this fabulous book instead of lingering for my conclusion. Quick, read this delightful novella before he releases another one! (You know, to clear space on your to read pile for that one too.)

My first Worldcon: Chicon 8

Let me begin by explaining what Worldcon is: the World Science Fiction Convention is an annual convention which is hosted in a different city and/or country each year. The location is selected by the members two years in advance from the available bids; bids are usually presented at least two years in advance of that selection. Among many other things, the annual Hugo Awards, recognizing the best science fiction and fantasy achievements from the previous year are presented at Worldcon.

I’ve been aware of Worldcon since 1995, when I missed one in Glasgow by a couple months. This year was the third time Chicago has hosted a Worldcon since I moved here, and the first time I was able to attend. I was recruited to help with some of the pre-convention work, which gave me an interesting glimpse into the various pieces that make up a convention this size. (In-person attendance was just under 3,600.)

When the convention announced their programming line-up, they released an online guide that allowed users to select items of interest and save it to a personalized schedule. I saved both of our events (I was on a couple panels and helping with convention tours), plus events that I was interested in attending. If I ended up missing events – mainly due to convention shopping or meals – I unchecked them, leaving me with a fairly good idea of what I actually attended.

More than two dozen books acquired at Chicon 8

Shopping was similar to other local science fiction conventions we’ve attended… just larger. We picked up a few books (OK, almost 30), though to be fair, Cassandra only bought books by authors who were there, and (not counting the used books) I only bought one book by an author who wasn’t present. Going forward, I may establish this rule for book shopping at other conventions.

Fancy chocolate in steampunk shapes bought at Chicon 8

We bought a few things other than books: chocolate in steampunk shapes, some cursed items (from Strange Hours), and some clothing. The chocolate is as tasty as it is distinctive … they were handing out samples continuously during exhibit hall hours. There was also an ample selection of jewelry, DVDs, and toys, though none of those made our shopping lists.

As I mentioned last week, we did unintentionally acquire Covid at the convention, presumably at a reduced intensity because we were all vaccinated and wearing masks most of the time. Despite that, I wouldn’t have missed this amazing convention and the chance to catch up with some good friends – and meet new ones – in person.

WorldCon thoughts postponed, replaced by cat photos

My intention for this week’s blog post was to write about Chicon 8, the first WorldCon I’ve attended. Unfortunately, despite the convention’s rock solid policies (proof of Covid vaccinations was required for on-site attendees, and masks were required except when actively eating or drinking), we managed to come home with what appears to be a mild case of Covid. This is, not surprisingly, affecting my energy levels… and my ability to swallow without wincing. Hot tea with honey helps. Actually hot water with honey does too, depending on my mood.

Arwen, a white and black cat, sitting on a Backyardigans blanket on top of a box of puzzles

Hopefully I’ll be able to write that post up over the weekend, as we’ll still be quarantining. Meanwhile, here’s a tiny glimpse at packing with cats. Before the convention, Arwen made herself comfortable on a blanket covering the puzzles destined for Chicon’s Teen Lounge. (How many puzzles were assembled in the Teen Lounge during the four days it was open? I have it on good authority that none of them were. Instead, they were busy playing games and coloring and generally hanging out with other people in their age group.)

Arwen, a white and black cat, sitting in the empty suitcase on the living room floor

There were several instances of cats in the suitcase as I was unloading, but I was too busy to take most of those photos. Finally, when I was done emptying it and about to clear it from the living room, Arwen made herself comfortable taking a bath in one corner. (The suitcase eventually left the room, but has not made it up to the attic yet.)

Living in Guatemala – the first visit, part 2

You didn’t think I could cover a whole 6 weeks in one post, did you? (Read Living in Guatemala – the first visit first, if you haven’t already.)

This was our second encounter with ping pong, having first tried it with no instructions whatsoever at Timeberline Lodge, which pretty much meant two uncoordinated kids bumped a ball around for a bit. It was different at PLFM because most of the students (and all of the teachers, of course) were adults, and some actually knew how to play ping pong. I can’t say we were great at it, but we did get the basics and learned how to occasionally score points.

An early discovery was that we had never been taught to read a map. On that first day of class, at lunch time, we were all driven to Candelaria and dropped off at our respective houses. We walked back to school with our parents after lunch. At the end of the day, map in hand, my sister announced that she knew the way, and my parents let us go on ahead, presumably intending to keep us in sight. Not surprisingly, we took a wrong turn… several blocks before we were supposed to turn the opposite direction. We didn’t get too far before realizing our mistake, but it took just long enough that our parents arrived in Candelaria before we did.

After our first week at the school, being rather rambunctious children, we were assigned to one of the other buildings. (There were three; two were several blocks from the main building, but across the street from each other.) We’d start every week at the main building, because students were assigned a new teacher every week, then walk with our teachers to our allocated classroom. This meant we had to plan ahead and walk back to the main building just in time for break if we wanted to play ping pong.

There were other advantages to being near the main building… the store across the street sold gummy bears. You could buy a few ositos for ten centavos. (By the time I reached middle school, there were places selling gummy worms too.)