vivdunstan

Lots more books finished since last time. Rather a mixed bag.

The graphic novel Robyn from Blue Fox Comics was a gender-swap reworking of Robin Hood. Nice artwork, but often confusing storytelling.

Manga Insomniacs After School continues to delight. An innocent coming of age story, involving two likeable kids, and some astronomy.

The second Bridgerton book started off really well. Sparkling verbal repartee between the two lead characters. But the writing went significantly downhill later.

I adore The Lord of the Rings. So I was very very happy rereading Fellowship. Will continue with the rest in the coming months.

Queen Macbeth was a historically grounded retelling of the true historical character that Shakespeare misrepresents. Until it went off into sheer flights of fancy. It also felt like what should have been a much longer book that turned into so many "then this happened" in the breathless closing pages. However I'm glad I read it, not least after seeing (online) Val McDermid talk recently about it at the Edinburgh Book Festival. It's also a quick read, more of a novella. One of a series of "Darkland Tales" retelling Scottish history in that format.

The Adapting Tolkien book of seminar papers was a varied set, some less successful than others. I was exasperated by how poorly the illustrations for one paper - so essential to what it was discussing - were reproduced in the Kindle ebook. Luckily I found a YouTube video of the original seminar paper presentation! But an interesting mix, ranging across within Tolkien's Legendarium, Elvish in the films, the Folio Society's illustrated Silmarillion, and the process of naming astronomical objects after Tolkien names. And more.

( earlier books )
1. Robyn Volume One - No One Above Another (graphic novel) by Simon Birks et al
2. Insomniacs After School (manga) volume 2 by Makoto Ojiro
3. Bridgerton: The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
4. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
5. Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid
6. Adapting Tolkien: Proceedings of the Tolkien Society Seminar. Peter Roe Series XX edited by Will Sherwood

I'm trying to remember to make time for this each week. To randomly draw a simple past/present/future 3-card spread of the Urban Crow oracle cards which I got recently. And find very easy to work with/interpret.

As usual, I'm using them as a tool to reflect on my situation and circumstances. And think about where I am and what I want to do. I am not using them in a predictive kind of way.

Here is today's spread. With thoughts/comments after the picture.



The middle card, Freedom, was lovely to see. I am currently newly in a better patch in between my recurring rollercoaster of post Covid vaccine neurological autoimmune disease flares. I've had these flares 9 times now, after every Covid vaccine (I get, and need, a lot of Covid vaccines because I am severely immunosuppressed). Each time I am even more ill for up to 3 months, with phenomenally increased sedation, headaches, arm and leg loss of control, and increased bladder incontinence. Many people wouldn't put up with this. But I'm not willing to sacrifice my much needed Covid vaccine protection. And I know I am generating good antibodies from each one.

So I'm in a better patch, for the next couple of months. After that I will get my 10th Covid vaccine, and be iller again for another 3 months. I will just cope. Plus my neurological disease is still progressing, and leaves me severely disabled, even in the better patches. But that progression is slow. And that's partly why I'm still here 30 years into living with this illness!

So yes, this is a time of relative freedom for me, and I want to make the most of it. Maybe get more things done, including the academic journal papers and research projects I am working on sporadically. And maybe get out more with Martin, to have fun.

The left card, reflecting the past, is Anomaly, which can be a problem, or something out of the ordinary, or other interpretations. It's making me think of my latest Covid vaccine flare more than my long-term neurological disease. A devastating neurological flare which has run from early May to early August. And it does tie in with Freedom.

The rightmost card, reflecting looking ahead, is Caching. Which again fits nicely with where I am. I want, in this short better patch, to make new valuable memories, and get things done I can look back on in future. So I want to make the most of this time, in a way I can look back on happily when I'm much iller again.

An interesting draw anyway, and some nice things to think about.

Meanwhile re Freedom, today is the start of the Glasgow Worldcon, and I have digital streaming access thanks to my attending ticket. I won't be watching much live, but hope to see one talk later today. And catch up on even more in the coming weeks and months. I also have Oxonmoot to look forward to in a few weeks. Again with a digital ticket. And ditto for the Edinburgh Book Festival. Streaming has been transformational for me.

Martin and I have just enjoyed watching last night’s recording (for paid ticket holders only - I had bought an online viewing ticket) of Neil Gaiman at the British Library chatting with Roz Kaveney about fantasy. It was lovely. Takeaways included:

• Neil has a half completed Neverwhere sequel novel that he hopes to get back to after writing Good Omens season 3 (yes 3!).
• As a youngster Neil thought he’d be a scifi writer later in life. Ditto for Terry Pratchett. Both of whom ended up pretty resolutely as fantasy writers.
• The only Discworld book Neil had a serious hand in was Pyramids, which he helped plan the plot for.
• So many insights into the origins of Sandman - even loads I hadn’t heard in Neil’s one hour detailed chat at the Edinburgh Book Festival just about Sandman.
• Neil thinks we are approaching the end of social media as we knew it. In particular he spoke of Twitter as “It’s a thing that we used to have in the olden days that was good.” Quite!
• I still have some Neil Gaiman graphic novels yet to read - must prioritise! His discussion of his family history links with Violent Cases and Mr Punch was eye opening.
• And yes, we need to watch the last part bonus episode for Sandman season 1 (“Calliope”) which was mentioned in the chat, and also Good Omens season 2 (also mentioned).

Tomorrow night we will be watching the recording from tonight of Neil Gaiman chatting with Rob Wilkins about Terry Pratchett and his worlds. Should be fab. Again I had pre bought an online ticket. These events are part of the wider Fantasy exhibition season at the British Library, and are going ahead despite the library’s ongoing cyber attack problems. I’m finding it astonishing that I’m able to watch and enjoy these talks viewing from northern Scotland.

Remembered I need to watch the Edinburgh Book Festival recordings I have virtual tickets for before the end of this month. So aiming to get through some this week coming, illness permitting. I think digital tickets can still be bought to watch recordings of these and many other 2023 Edinburgh author talks.

Booking my online streaming Edinburgh Book Festival tickets for this year. I could watch the events live online, but will also have until the end of September to watch them on catchup, which is most likely how I’ll watch. Martin is going to watch the Greta Thunberg talk with me. And yes that is the Icelandic Prime Minister speaking about her crime writing career in another one.