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RichardAbbott
About
- Username
- RichardAbbott
- Joined
- Visits
- 6,364
- Last Active
- Roles
- Member, Administrator, Moderator
- Games I like
- Sundry, mostly board
- Books I like
- Science fiction, fantasy, some historical fiction
Comments
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I think the embed link is not the one to use to import into Google calendar. When I try adding from URL and use this, I get the error message Sorry, https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=5iar78lru0hgailkc1uo6lh6ag%40group.calendar.google.co…
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Ok, I've been rereading these last few chapters, and dipping back into the early bits of book 1, on the theoretical grounds that the end of a book ought to address the problems raised at its start. I think - does anyone agree? - that Dorcas is Se…
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I need to reread these four chapters. My first impression was that we finally learned something of Severian's parentage. But my main feeling on reaching the end of the last chapter was "er, um, was that a conclusion? Did we actually get to clos…
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I've never heard that pronunciation before... I'd expect the gam bit to rhyme with ham. I have checked with my other half, who is biologically better-informed than I, and she has also never heard that pronunciation. Must be a personal idiosyncracy...
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I was reading through a biography of Aldous Huxley and discovered that he was born on the outskirts of Godalming, Surrey - a town where I live from age roughly 10 until I left the parental home. How odd that I had never realised this while living th…
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> @NeilNjae said: > Thanks for the offers, folks. I'll sort out the schedule and kick things off. If I flounder, there's help about. Do let me know if you're on holiday or too busy, and I'll try to bluff it in your absence
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I'd happily help with a slow read but would prefer if it was a book I'd already read rather than one I was approaching new. So (for example) I'd be happy to assist with Moby Dick, since I have read it, albeit a long time ago. But I'd not feel so goo…
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Out of interest I looked up the etymology of Autarch and found (https://www.lexico.com/definition/autarch via Google) Origin (Image) early 19th century: from Greek autarkhos, from autos ‘self’ + arkhos ‘leader’.
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Thanks for letting us know!
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I should also have said that the meta-explanation for why things might be different and why the (apparent) reversal of entropy of the New Sun should work, was very cool. In its conception of a set of beings outside the constraints of regular time it…
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It all seems very appropriate for Severian to go back to his starting point - very TS Eliot We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. I liked also …
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(Quote) Antoine Vanner writes some interesting naval fiction set at the end of the 19th century, ie during the very transition from the Age of Sail to the modern era. In a span of time rather less than a single lifetime, naval warfare transitioned t…
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It's now December 18th and I thought I'd joggle this back up to the top of the stack...
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I'm in :)
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I had a thought about this while peeling apples just now... in TWOE it is clearly Ged who comes of age. While in both TTOA and TFS, Ged is the catalyst for someone else coming of age. So far is obvious. But the ways in which he is the catalyst a…
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(Quote) Before reading Tehanu, I used to feel aggrieved that Tenar got kind of dumped unceremoniously after Tombs of Atuan, and that she deserved better! Which I suppose you could say signals that Ged was again the main character, despite not appear…
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> @Michael_S_Miller said: > There’s even a few points where the Old Speech seems to be so profound, so full of truth, that it reaches right out of Earthsea and shapes the narration of the book we’re holding. .... > And later, the narrati…
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This was another section that I had to read twice to follow the various twists and turns. Other thoughts... we had a quick flash forward to a later ceremony of mysterious import. I'd forgotten about the green man (foolishly, as we were promised he…
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The Other Wind is (IMHO, naturally) totally awesome, both as a story in its own right, and also as both a culmination and subversion of the whole mythology Ursula LeGuin carefully set up in the earlier books. Since at a guess we are two years away f…
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(Quote) "All the glory of mortality was in [the dragons'] flight. Their beauty was made up of terrible strength, and utter wildness, and the grace of reason. For these were thinking creatures, with speech, and ancient wisdom: in the patterns of…
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This thread is a good a place as any to comment, that every time I reread the EarthSea books I am somewhat overwhelmed by Ursula LeGuin's capacity with language. I find books 2, 3 and 5 profoundly emotionally stirring (it's a long time sine I read #…
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Nothing much to say here: adding a comment so I see what others contribute.
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The people of the open sea, with their raft-based life, were hugely evocative for me or the transience and splendour of life: "The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss". And the Dragon's Run, with the dr…
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It has always seemed to me that magic in EarthSea is intimately connected to language. There's the obvious way in that the key thing in any struggle is to be able to accurately and correctly name your opponent,. Also as you go further away from the …
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There are occasional comments about sundry great deeds that he has performed between books 2 and 3, for example, capping the Black Well of Fundaur (whatever that is :) ). So we can assume that he has quite adequately proved his competence... but my …
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I think there are several complexities in the picture. One is that it is perennially unclear who is leading and who is following. Sparrowhawk insists on numerous occasions that Arren must lead, since otherwise he wil not know which way to go. This …
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> @NeilNjae said: > (Quote) > Yes, but who (or what) actually are the leviathans? What do they want? Why are they using Nessus and Ascians as tools in their struggles? I don't think the books have yet been clear on the matter. > I…
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These chapters were seriously dense! I read them twice over to try and sort out all the many twists and turns, and also looked back at the Azure House episode in book 1. Re the latter, I can now see some clues that support the connection, but I can'…
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This extract from Brave New Worlds "This seemingly paradoxical situation can arise because, in a dystopia, the society often gives up A in exchange for B, but the benefit of B blinds the society to the loss of A; it is often not until many yea…
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Looking forward to reading this one