Llaverac rated A Lightness: 5 stars
A Lightness (EBook, 2022)
A Lightness by S. W. Searle
“There’s this funny thing that happens when you reveal yourself to the people you love and they accept you with …
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Currently interested in indigenous perspectives, queer perspectives, sci-fi (who would have known?), economics and gardening (forest gardens particularly), sprinkled with comics [he/him]
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Llaverac rated The God of Arepo: 5 stars
The God of Arepo by writing-prompt-s, sadoeuphemist, stu-pot, and 2 others
Temples are built for gods. Knowing this a farmer builds a small temple to see what kind of god turns …
Llaverac rated Laziness Does Not Exist: 5 stars
Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
From social psychologist Dr. Devon Price, a conversational, stirring call to “a better, more human way to live” (Cal Newport, …
Llaverac finished reading Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
From social psychologist Dr. Devon Price, a conversational, stirring call to “a better, more human way to live” (Cal Newport, …
Llaverac commented on Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 3 by Tsutomu Nihei
Heretofore unwilling to communicate in all but the most zero-sum fashion, humanity’s implacable nemesis attempts …
Quite ambivalent about it after 3+ volumes.
On one hand, the story is clearly not coasting: in each volume Something Happens (somebody dies or is significantly changed, or we learn more about the lore).
On the other hand: there were several times where I wondered whether some pages were missing, the transitions from one scene to another could have been better. I often don't understand exactly what's happening in action sequences. Also the story doesn't escape some tired tropes: the hero has amazing skills thanks to his lineage, and a lot of female/third-gender characters are attracted to him for no apparent reason. They're also naked or almost naked at some point. The characters look a lot like each other. Even a grandmother looks like a teenager.
After having read several other mangas by Tsutomu Nihei, it's fun to find new iterations of previous elements though: the gaunas, Toha Heavy Industries, …
Quite ambivalent about it after 3+ volumes.
On one hand, the story is clearly not coasting: in each volume Something Happens (somebody dies or is significantly changed, or we learn more about the lore).
On the other hand: there were several times where I wondered whether some pages were missing, the transitions from one scene to another could have been better. I often don't understand exactly what's happening in action sequences. Also the story doesn't escape some tired tropes: the hero has amazing skills thanks to his lineage, and a lot of female/third-gender characters are attracted to him for no apparent reason. They're also naked or almost naked at some point. The characters look a lot like each other. Even a grandmother looks like a teenager.
After having read several other mangas by Tsutomu Nihei, it's fun to find new iterations of previous elements though: the gaunas, Toha Heavy Industries, the ominous masks, a bear...
Llaverac finished reading Healing Grounds by Liz Carlisle
Healing Grounds by Liz Carlisle
A powerful movement is happening in farming today—farmers are reconnecting with their roots to fight climate change. For one woman, …
Llaverac finished reading Terremer - Intégrale by Ursula K. Le Guin
Terremer - Intégrale by Ursula K. Le Guin
Terremer est un lieu magique et ensorcelé. Une mer immense recouverte d’un chapelet d’îles où les sorciers pratiquent la magie …
Llaverac finished reading Dagger Dagger vol. 2 by Lonnie Nadler
Volume 2 of the sci-fi/dark fantasy comic magazine anthology
Step 1: support a new comics anthology on Kickstarter
Step 2: a few months later, read it. Feel confused and unsatisfied: are some of the stories not very good, or could they use more clarity, or maybe reading them back to back isn't the best way to actually enjoy them?
Step 3: maybe calm down on comics anthologies if you don't actually enjoy them that much
Step 4: a new comics anthology appears! go to Step 1
Llaverac quoted Taoism: An Essential Guide by Eva Wong
The great depth and diversity of Taoist spirituality is introduced in a single, accessible manual …
Wu-wei had different meanings for different Taoist philosophers. The wu-wei of the Tao-te ching is different from the wu-wei of Chuang-tzu, which is different again from the wu-wei of Lieh-tzu. Wu-wei in the Tao-te ching is “going with the principles of the Tao,” and the path of the Tao is a benevolent one. Thus, wu-wei in the Tao-te ching is not “doing nothing”; it is not even the noninterference advocated in the Chuang-tzu. In the Tao-te ching, wu-wei means not using force. The sagely ruler who cares for his subjects in a nonintrusive way also practices wu-wei. Far from doing nothing, the Taoist sage of the Tao-te ching is an active member of society and is fit to be a king.
(...)
In the Warring States, the Taoists of the Chuang-tzu and Lieh-tzu believed that political involvement and longevity were inherently incompatible. With this change in the image of sagehood, the meaning of wu-wei also changed. Wu-wei now meant noninvolvement, or letting things be. The sage was no longer involved with or concerned about the matters of the world. While other people trapped themselves in fame, fortune, and socially accepted behavior, the sage ignored them, and was completely free.
(I thought it just meant noninvolvement and learned something)
The Tao of Pooh is a book written by Benjamin Hoff. The book is intended …
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2 stars
It made me understand some concepts better, like p'u, the uncarved block, but some passages really grated on me, like the one on science and cleverness. I get what the author is saying: it's a criticism of seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge, of using complicated words as a form of gatekeeping, of focusing on the study of the tree while missing the forest around it etc. But in the era of COVID and climate change, I have very little patience for "what do scientists even know anyway?"
And there are way more nuanced and better written critiques of productivity culture than the chapter about Bisy Backson.
@joachim@lire.boitam.eu T. Kingfisher talks about which characters the following books will be about in this Twitter thread, and it looks like it's still going to be: one book = one of the remaining paladins gets a romance.
I'm with you on gnoles though! (and after book 3's cliffhanger, I admit I'd really like to know where this specific plot is going :P).
Thanks a lot for your list by the way! I read the paladins books because you put them here, and despite my few reservations, I devoured them in less than 2 weeks! And Katherine Addison's books are also on my radar now :)
Llaverac reviewed Paladin's Hope by T Kingfisher
Piper is a lich-doctor, a physician who works among the dead, determining causes of death …
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4 stars
It was as enjoyable as the first two volumes of the Saint of Steel series, but at the same time I had mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, I really like the author's sense of humor, I enjoy following the relationships between characters in their late thirties (i.e. my age), and mixing romance with investigations on gruesome murders works really well apparently? I technically finished Paladin's Hope 10 days ago and haven't started a new fiction book since. I just... don't feel like immersing myself in another one for the moment.
On the other hand, I'm afraid that the series could get a little repetitive at some point. Until now, each of them followed a similar pattern. There are berserker paladins whose god died a few years ago, they feel broken, not worthy of love and/or dangerous for the people around them that are not fellow paladins. Until they …
It was as enjoyable as the first two volumes of the Saint of Steel series, but at the same time I had mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, I really like the author's sense of humor, I enjoy following the relationships between characters in their late thirties (i.e. my age), and mixing romance with investigations on gruesome murders works really well apparently? I technically finished Paladin's Hope 10 days ago and haven't started a new fiction book since. I just... don't feel like immersing myself in another one for the moment.
On the other hand, I'm afraid that the series could get a little repetitive at some point. Until now, each of them followed a similar pattern. There are berserker paladins whose god died a few years ago, they feel broken, not worthy of love and/or dangerous for the people around them that are not fellow paladins. Until they meet someone and mutually fall in love, after having spent a very long time thinking about how unworthy they are of the other person's affection and vice versa (and there are also corpses that must be investigated). The paladins' love interests are well-rounded, interesting characters (especially the women of the first 2 volumes), but I wish I could say the same about the paladins. Their god died and it's, like, their whole deal. Stephen knits socks, Istvhan is large and Galen mustn't be touched when he's having a nightmare and... that's pretty much it? Their respective personalities aren't literally the same, but the whole "ugh how could they love me?" sort of evens them out I think.
The very end of Paladin's Hope hints at more development of one important plot point, and having a gnole as one of its main characters brought a breath of fresh air, so fingers crossed for more variety in upcoming volumes.
Llaverac finished reading Paladin's Hope by T Kingfisher
Paladin's Hope by T Kingfisher
Piper is a lich-doctor, a physician who works among the dead, determining causes of death for the city guard's investigations. …
Llaverac finished reading Paladin's Strength by T Kingfisher
Paladin's Strength by T Kingfisher
He’s a paladin of a dead god, tracking a supernatural killer across a continent. She’s a nun from a secretive …