Lathany

A good year, I think, although I would have given a different review back in September or October when we were down a bathroom as well as a kitchen! After all, the second half of the year was somewhat dominated by the building work, but we do now have a shiny new kitchen to show for it. I wouldn't want to do it again any time soon – but also don't have to.

Time-off this year for me went well: I had a couple of relaxing holidays in the South Downs and Long Melford. I also had a number of interesting and entertaining work events. Many of my friend-colleagues are either taking time out or moving on next year and I'm going to very much miss them.

We finished Heresy, She Wrote which I thoroughly enjoyed. There is now Heresy in Paradise scheduled for next year. My 2024 also involved, much Darktide, plenty of SteamWorld Heist II and a bit of Return to Moria as well.

In general terms – overall I enjoyed the year and ended in a good place.

In detail
As per usual, a month-by-month breakdown.

January – It was a chilly, uneventful month. I worked, played Darktide and watched some films.
February – The Hatted One joined the twins and I for the Infinity Mirror Rooms exhibition at the Tate Modern. I had dinner with Liz W at Tas.
March – Uneventful, with a quiet birthday celebration.
April – There was a Kew trip. There was also some gaming: both video and roleplaying.
May – We saw The Kills at the Troxy at the start of the month and Dom ran an awesome, mad game for Alistair's 50th. We spent a week in the South Downs on a family holiday enjoying a castle, Marwell Zoo and Jane Austen's house.
June – We attended Martin and Ebee's civil ceremony day. I had a work awayday in London and at the end of the month Dom and I went to Gymkhana for my birthday meal (organised in March).
July - I watched the General Election online with Alistair. I attended Lesley's retirement do, meeting up with many former colleagues.
August - Visited Kew and saw my first Banksy. This is also when the building work started on the new kitchen.
September – Bea and I got cat tattoos together, I had a work trip to Edinburgh and Bea and I had a long weekend in Long Melford.
October – We celebrated 32 years together at Trinity, we visited Krys and Chris, we completed Heresy, She Wrote after 18 months and... I'm not quite sure how many sessions. At the end of the month I had a hospital appointment, but was declared clear of issues.
November – There was a work AwayDay housed at the Tate Modern. Gem and Olivia came over for board games and Bea and I had a sunny Kew Trip.
December – The kitchen work finally ended, I survived two back-to-back work Xmas dos and my mother stayed a few days over Xmas.


The Lists of Things
As is my tradition, here are my lists of things of 2024.

Twenty-one books read for the first time.
The Midnight Mayor - Kate Griffin
Magpie Murders - Anthony Horowitz
The Martian - Andy Weir
Moonflower Murders - Anthony Horowitz
Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Airs Above the Ground - Mary Stewart
The Neon Court - Kate Griffin
The Minority Council - Kate Griffin
Stray Souls - Kate Griffin
The Husbands - Holly Gramazio
The Word Is Murder - Anthony Horowitz
The Sentence Is Death - Anthony Horowitz
A Line to Kill - Anthony Horowitz
The Twist of a Knife - Anthony Horowitz
The Bookseller's Tale - Martin Latham
Network Effect - Martha Wells
System Collapse - Martha Wells
Artemis - Andy Weir
The Glass God - Kate Griffin
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

Favourites
1. Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir: I got this because I enjoyed the Martian and this one is even better. Science-heavy, surprising and with an engaging central character.
=2. Network Effect - Martha Wells: Frankly, the whole Murderbot series has been great, but of the two full-length books, I preferred this one. Engaging, fast-moving and I love the central character. This is more at the space opera end of sci fi.
=2. The Husbands - Holly Gramazio: This is one of the most thought-provoking, yet entertaining books I have read. A magic attic that provides different married life alternatives for the protagonist Lauren and shows how the rest of her life changes. Definitely recommended (and I'm planning to make it my pick for my bookclub).
4. Stray Souls - Kate Griffin: I think the best of her Kate Griffin phase (I met her writing as Clare North). It's something like the fifth book, but the others before it are also well worth it. It's London-based fantasy set in the present day. And there's a supernatural support group in it.
5. Moonflower Murders - Anthony Horowitz: I've read a lot of Horowitz this year, but I like this the best, in part because I like Susan the best of his protagonists. Interesting double detective story switching from a book detective (Agatha Christie like) to a life one (Susan).

Twelve novellas read for the first time.
Demon Daughter - Lois McMaster Bujold
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain - Nghi Vo
On the Fox Roads - Nghi Vo
All Systems Red - Martha Wells
Vermeer to Eternity - Anthony Horowitz
What the Dead Know - Nghi Vo
Artificial Condition - Martha Wells
Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells
Exit Strategy - Martha Wells
Penric and the Bandit - Lois McMaster Bujold
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory - Martha Wells
Compulsory - Martha Wells

Favourites
1. All Systems Red - Martha Wells: As above, the first Murderbot tale I read.
2. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain - Nghi Vo: Like the Empress of Salt and Fortune this was well-written, engaging fantasy and not quite like anything else.
3. Penric and the Bandit - Lois McMaster Bujold: Solid Penric stuff, if not as good as some of them.

Nine computer games finished.
Home Safety Hotline
Ni No Kuni 2
The Case of the Golden Idol
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
Firewatch
Tacoma
Steamworld Heist II
Incubus
Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
Favourites
1. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide: This nailed the 40K atmosphere, the multiplayer was solid and fun. Also, not exactly beautiful, but excellent graphics.
2. Steamworld Heist II: Hatted bots saving the world in a turn-based strategy game that was fun, large and didn't require much computer space or power to run.
3. The Case of the Golden Idol: A rather good puzzle game that involves a lot of thinking and clues.

Twenty films I saw this year.
Marry Me
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Orion and the Dark
The Lost City
Dune 2
Tales from Earthsea
The Lego Batman Movie
Paradise
Atlas
The Matrix Resurrections
Inside Out 2
Appleseed Alpha
Beverly Hills Cop Axel F
Glass
Bullet Train
The Adam Project
The Equalizer
Godzilla Minus One
Whisper of the Heart
Carry On
Favourites
1. Orion and the Dark: it had been described as Inside Out meets Being John Malkovich. The description was fitting and the film was great.
=2. Bullet Train: Thriller / comedy about a number of assassins who find themselves on the same Tokyo train. I would say it's not going to be on my best film ever list, but was unexpectedly watchable and entertaining (and apparently based on a book). Brad Pitt is a decent lead and has a good support cast. Also, cameos.
=2. Godzilla Minus One: This starts slowly, but turns into a very good film. Set in Japan around the end of the War and featuring the named massive monster.
4. Dune 2: Epic, cinematic. I didn't like it quite as much as I hoped, but still good.
=5. Inside Out 2: Not as good as the first, but worth a trip to the cinema.
=5. Carry On: Engaging, and I agree not as formulaic as some. Also a Christmas film. Die Hard isn't knocked off its pedestal, but at least this is something worth beating.

Eleven seasons of TV
Shadow and Bone - season 1
Altered Carbon - season 2
The Signal
Bodies
Yu Yu Hakusho
Fool Me Once
Cowboy Bebop
Supacell
1899
Travelers - season 1
Arcane: League of Legends

Favourites/ordering
1. Bodies: It involved multiple interesting characters, various mysteries and time travel. I wasn't too sure for the first two episodes (and there was a lot to follow), but got really hooked on the next two. Five and six were also great, then the penultimate episode was a bit poor but the ending was good. I particularly liked that the four main leads were all police officers in different time periods.
2. 1899: It's weird and has isolated seavoyage / ghost vibes. It was supposed to be three seasons, but was cancelled. It's from the creators of Dark and I would say is better and weirder. I think cautiously recommended - the questions in the first season are mainly answered - but you end up with a set of new questions at the end.
3. The Signal: A German science fiction mini series about an astronaut and her family. It was an interesting premise and good characters. I think it was also the right length for its story, so recommended.
4. Supacell: A British superhero television series set in modern-day South London. It is about a group of five ordinary black people, unified by family history of sickle cell disease. This was the “origins” equivalent of Heroes and quite good – but I found it hard to get into the story initially.
5. Cowboy Bebop: A live action series based on the 1998 Japanese anime television series. Interesting, sadly only ran to one season, but I liked the characters and the atmosphere.


So, 2025? Less kitchen work will be good and I already have several plans and arrangements lined up. I'm feeling cautiously hopeful.

Farewell 2024.

I've just finished a pair of books: Fleshers/Pinkers by Alison Croggon. I came across her through her Pelinor series which was a YA fantasy series: a little generic, but comfortable and interesting. Fleshers/Pinkers is YA "cyberpunk dystopia", actually a good description. The two books are the complete story (although I wouldn't be surprised if she wrote more in the setting). They mainly following siblings Dez and Bo as they initially aim to survive as fleshers (pinkers are considered the superior humans) and then to fight back against OpSec and its treatment of fleshers. I found the books very interesting and very readable. They are rather more comfortable than high art - but I really enjoyed the story and would definitely recommend them.

The Threads of Magic by Alison Croggon is a children's book (age 9+) set in a fantasy world. I was struck by the number of issues it had - too many narrators, narrators and threads that weren't really part of the story, so many coincidences and a lack of reason for some events (such as how it all started). And yet... it's a gripping story with a great concept.

I was part of the office Secret Santa last Xmas and my present was The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa. I've spent the last couple of months struggling through it. It has a fascinating concept - that things, and most people's memory of them, disappear one by one. It's very 1984 (disclaimer - I've seen the film but not read the book).

I have two big problems with it. The first is that a book about someone's world getting smaller and more austere whilst they feel more and more trapped is not really what I want to read in lockdown. The second is that the author really isn't interested in mechanics or explanations. All the questions I wanted to ask at the end of the first chapter or two remained unanswered.

So - I'm sure it's an excellent book and I wanted to like it. However, I didn't.

When I went to the dentist last Monday, I read and finished Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart. I enjoyed the setting, the mystery and also that it all hung together as a story. In addition I liked the protagonist, Jenny. To date, I think I've liked all the Mary Stewarts I've read equally - they are all interesting and consistent.

Having being recommended Brandon Sanderson, I read his first Mistborn trilogy.

I enjoyed it. It was engrossing and I wanted to know what would happen next. I liked the characters - particularly the leads (Vin, Kelsier and Elend) and I was also fond of TenSoon and Breeze.

With the first book - I really liked the set-up and magic system, they were nicely thought out. I found the gang rather numerous and many of them unmemorable (and wondered if the author killed some of them as the series progressed because he did too) and was not impressed that Vin was the only woman of note. Sanderson corrects this a bit as he goes along, so I hope it is less of an issue in his later works. I did like the ending though - I was pleased that one part of their aims was complete.

The second book had some interesting new characters in Allrianne, TenSoon and Zane. It also developed the magic system, shone a spotlight on leadership traits and had several rather excellent twists. I particularly liked the one around engravings.

The third book managed further world development and system development that was consistent and made sense. However, I felt the question that has been hanging from the first book and gets answered here – was hanging for too long. I like mysteries that appear early to be solved early and for later books to deal with new mysteries arising from the conclusion of earlier plot lines. The overall ending was good though, and the resolution of what roles everyone had.

So – I will be looking out for more.

Earlier this month I read Touch Not The Cat by Mary Stewart. I enjoyed it; in particular I liked the central mystery and the descriptions of the house and its grounds. I quite liked the protagonist Bryony, although perhaps not as much as the two protagonists in the other books I read of hers as I found her rather passive. I was a fan of some of the minor characters though - such as the vicar and the portrayal of the American family. I'm not sure about the family gift in this book. It was an interesting idea, but I felt could have been used/described more for people other than Bryony (there were some references, but I felt there could have been more).

Do You Dream of Terra Two? is Temi Oh's debut novel. I own a signed copy because she was at the same launch event as Emma Newman and it seemed like an interesting first book. Over the last fortnight I've been reading it (it's a large hardback, so not a commuting book). It's about a group of teenagers who are qualifying for a 23 year journey to a new planet - to be the first inhabitants. It follows the individual characters (six of them) into the spaceship and the start of their journey. I would have classed it as YA (although that doesn't seem to be how it's marketed). It's very readable, a good concept and I like the different viewpoints. However, on the minus side, it doesn't really have a plot (well, until you're three quarters of the way through), the adults come across as a different species, some of the characters are better written than others and, given all the competition over places, you are left wondering just how these were the best qualified six (or, come to that, ten including the adults) people given their varying issues and illnesses. Overall - I'd recommend to anyone who didn't read for the plot and I'd be interested in what she writes next.

A few weeks ago, Dom ran another session of his current campaign Knights Errant (me, Elle, Andy, Martin and Alistair). We continued to pick slowly at using the form of symbol magic we had been taught and decided to travel to London. It turned out to be a bit less weird than expected, but still weird. We met Flo from the previous group who had taken a religious approach to the situation and holed up in Southwark Cathedral. We also met the leader of the first Knights group - staying in the Houses of Parliament. Both had more magical experience than us, but luckily for us it turned out we had been trained to defend against mind magic. We then found the boat that we believe caused the whole situation to start with - holed at the bottom of the Thames (and counts as the Duke of London). We also went back to the Royal Society and discovered where it had been dragged in from. We also witnessed a kidnapping involving portals in St James Park. We're now expecting the next group of Knights to be incoming shortly.

My friend venta has a story published in Luna Station Quarterly Issue 38. It's an interesting, thoughtful sci-fi story and can be read on-line here. The whole set are short stories by women writers, the themes are mainly (but not all) dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction.

I have bought a physical copy, not least because it can be signed (although it's now looking rather less pristine). This means I've been reading all the other stories on the train. This is what I thought of them:

• Wired - I found this interesting and very readable, but sad.
• The Zoo - Nicely written, but depressing with a sense of inevitability.
• The Extent - Quirky, a specific style, and took me a while to get into it, but in the end excellent. Probably my favourite.
• Looking for Sentience - Readable, interesting take on the idea and not depressing.
• The Witch Road - Dull, over-long and I was so relieved to get to the end. I feel it should be interesting, but I didn't find it so. My least favourite.
• Ambassador Berry - Some nice bits in here, but really a series of interesting text bits and not so much a story.
• The Plover's Egg - I liked the story and I liked the egg, but I didn't feel the author really brought them together except in a forced way.
• Blue Lips and Frozen Lashes - A nice, short piece. I like the concept, but not long enough to be a story.
• Pocket Full of Souls - I think this was my second favourite. It's an interesting concept, although I felt the story end was unfinished and it would have been an interesting concept for a character in a much larger work.
• Grork Dentist - Yuck. And not one for anyone who has had a bad dentist experience.
• Vincent Coriolis, Father of the Nation - A good tale, well-told rather than with twists and turns.
• Into Nothingness - I liked the idea and the different viewpoints. However, I did want to make the author write more and not leave them all unfinished or, worse, discover that was all there was.

Needless to say, they can also all be found on-line here.

I recently finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Tiger And The Wolf. It's the first of a fantasy series involving shapeshifters and it follows two different threads throughout the book - one of a girl who has a Wolf father and a Tiger mother, the other about a hero who has come north for support for the man he wants to become ruler. It's pretty good overall and the end is quite well chosen. However, having previously read Guns of the Dawn by the same author, I felt it was - comparatively - a bit slow moving and not quite as readable.