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Apr. 24th, 2023 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatToo good not to attempt to share...
From the New Yorker. "This is What Your Unsolicited Advice Looks Like by Natalya Lobanova"
I've been reading too many self-help books, and not really getting anywhere, well not unless you count about ten to fifteen watercolors of random people I see on the subway? I'm debating doing one of a young woman reading The Atlas of Six. Yes, she was reading an actual paperback novel on the subway. A young woman under the age of thirty. I was impressed.
So, I looked it up...
It's the The Atlas of Six by Olivia Blake
With a 3.7 rating on Good Reads. I'm not reading the reviews - mainly because I rarely agree with them. Also most people suck at writing reviews of things. They either provide too many spoilers, or they just tell you how they felt about it - and unless you know their taste and the degree to which it syncs with your own - this is kind of useless, and tells you more about the reviewer than the book or if you want to read it.
I mean I could hate a book - that you'd absolutely love, more than likely for all the reasons I hated it. Or I could love a book, and you could hate it for all the reasons I loved it. Same is true about movies and television series. The trick in writing a review is to provide the reader with just enough information for them to ascertain why you liked or disliked it, and whether they will based upon your review. This is not easy to do without spoilers.
Good Reads sucks at it, so does Amazon.
What's the book about?
The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation.
Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, unwilling halves of an unfathomable whole, who exert uncanny control over every element of physicality. Reina Mori, a naturalist, who can intuit the language of life itself. Parisa Kamali, a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious, navigating worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova, an empath easily mistaken for a manipulative illusionist, who can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through illusions to a new structure of reality—an ability so rare that neither he nor his peers can fully grasp its implications.
When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.
It's basically the "contest trope" which is very popular in fiction at the moment. People compete to the death to get into an exclusive magical club.
People are into games.
It's odd, I like this trope a lot in fiction - even though I am not a person who enjoys playing games.
**
I'm slowly making my way through Rebecca Ross's A River Enchanted. I like the characters, but the world building and plot could use a bit of work. Also it's poorly paced - partly due to one too many points of view. I can tell them apart, but they cut up the action a bit too much. I think it would have worked a little better if the point of view was more limited in scope.
There's a lot of potential in the world. But a lot of it is left out - and I've got questions. I don't really understand the feud between the two warring clans. And how the magic works. It appears one side of the isle can practice magic without hardship, but there are other consequences (we're not really told what they are - and vaguely at that), while the other can practice magic but with hardship, and no other consequences. The rules of magic aren't explained in enough depth, and the spirits aren't played with enough.
Too much time is spent on characters wondering if other characters care about them or love them - and not enough on the world building, plot, and search for the missing girls. There's a mystery - and it's more interesting than the two romances, which kind of fall a little flat. They shouldn't - since the characters do work together, and I want them together, but something is lacking in the writing. Also, I was glad the sex scenes were scant, since the writer's skill doesn't lie in writing action or sex scenes.
The story is also dragging, which is a shame because the characters are likable and interesting, as is the world. I think the problem lies in execution? I don't know, it could also be a mood thing? I can't quite put my finger on why it drags. Sorry couldn't be more helpful.
****
I've decided arguing with folks about stuff on social media is kind of pointless - so I don't bother any longer. I'll discuss, but not argue. Basically I'll discuss thing with people I agree with or don't feel too strongly about, and haven't made up my mind on.
**
In the News...
Apparently two broadcast journalists got fired today? I found out on Twitter, which couldn't shut up about it.
The first was well...Tucker Carlson - apparently the man can say whatever he wants, except about the Doofus and Murdach. He got deposed for a trial, chose not to perjury himself on the stand (because lying on the air isn't punishable by fine or prison time, but lying under deposition is).
The second was a broadcast anchor on CNN who got fired for well various derogatory actions towards GOP candidates ...that some deemed to be misogynistic, and abusive. NY Times Article on CNN firing Don Lemon
He stated Nikki Haley was past her prime to run for office (considering we have men past 70 running for public office - that's a bit...well). And
he got into a verbal sparring match on air with Vivek, an Indian American GOP Candidate.
On Wednesday, however, Mr. Lemon made headlines again after a highly contentious on-air exchange with Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential candidate. The segment deteriorated as the men fiercely debated questions of Black history and the Second Amendment; Mr. Lemon’s co-anchor Ms. Harlow could be seen sitting silently beside him, at times casting her gaze elsewhere and scrolling through her smartphone.
The incident left several CNN leaders exasperated, the people said.
Mr. Lemon joined CNN in 2006 from a local NBC station in Chicago. In 2011, he made waves when he acknowledged in a memoir what many of his colleagues already knew: He is gay. At the time, few national television newscasters were out in public. Mr. Lemon was upfront about what he described as the risks of coming out as a Black man, sharing his concerns “that people might shun me.”
Be happy you don't work in broadcast journalism. At least we got rid of Tucker Carlson.
**
Here's a picture of the flowers planted at the entrance to Greenwood Cemetery...
From the New Yorker. "This is What Your Unsolicited Advice Looks Like by Natalya Lobanova"
I've been reading too many self-help books, and not really getting anywhere, well not unless you count about ten to fifteen watercolors of random people I see on the subway? I'm debating doing one of a young woman reading The Atlas of Six. Yes, she was reading an actual paperback novel on the subway. A young woman under the age of thirty. I was impressed.
So, I looked it up...
It's the The Atlas of Six by Olivia Blake
With a 3.7 rating on Good Reads. I'm not reading the reviews - mainly because I rarely agree with them. Also most people suck at writing reviews of things. They either provide too many spoilers, or they just tell you how they felt about it - and unless you know their taste and the degree to which it syncs with your own - this is kind of useless, and tells you more about the reviewer than the book or if you want to read it.
I mean I could hate a book - that you'd absolutely love, more than likely for all the reasons I hated it. Or I could love a book, and you could hate it for all the reasons I loved it. Same is true about movies and television series. The trick in writing a review is to provide the reader with just enough information for them to ascertain why you liked or disliked it, and whether they will based upon your review. This is not easy to do without spoilers.
Good Reads sucks at it, so does Amazon.
What's the book about?
The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation.
Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, unwilling halves of an unfathomable whole, who exert uncanny control over every element of physicality. Reina Mori, a naturalist, who can intuit the language of life itself. Parisa Kamali, a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious, navigating worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova, an empath easily mistaken for a manipulative illusionist, who can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through illusions to a new structure of reality—an ability so rare that neither he nor his peers can fully grasp its implications.
When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will.
It's basically the "contest trope" which is very popular in fiction at the moment. People compete to the death to get into an exclusive magical club.
People are into games.
It's odd, I like this trope a lot in fiction - even though I am not a person who enjoys playing games.
**
I'm slowly making my way through Rebecca Ross's A River Enchanted. I like the characters, but the world building and plot could use a bit of work. Also it's poorly paced - partly due to one too many points of view. I can tell them apart, but they cut up the action a bit too much. I think it would have worked a little better if the point of view was more limited in scope.
There's a lot of potential in the world. But a lot of it is left out - and I've got questions. I don't really understand the feud between the two warring clans. And how the magic works. It appears one side of the isle can practice magic without hardship, but there are other consequences (we're not really told what they are - and vaguely at that), while the other can practice magic but with hardship, and no other consequences. The rules of magic aren't explained in enough depth, and the spirits aren't played with enough.
Too much time is spent on characters wondering if other characters care about them or love them - and not enough on the world building, plot, and search for the missing girls. There's a mystery - and it's more interesting than the two romances, which kind of fall a little flat. They shouldn't - since the characters do work together, and I want them together, but something is lacking in the writing. Also, I was glad the sex scenes were scant, since the writer's skill doesn't lie in writing action or sex scenes.
The story is also dragging, which is a shame because the characters are likable and interesting, as is the world. I think the problem lies in execution? I don't know, it could also be a mood thing? I can't quite put my finger on why it drags. Sorry couldn't be more helpful.
****
I've decided arguing with folks about stuff on social media is kind of pointless - so I don't bother any longer. I'll discuss, but not argue. Basically I'll discuss thing with people I agree with or don't feel too strongly about, and haven't made up my mind on.
**
In the News...
Apparently two broadcast journalists got fired today? I found out on Twitter, which couldn't shut up about it.
The first was well...Tucker Carlson - apparently the man can say whatever he wants, except about the Doofus and Murdach. He got deposed for a trial, chose not to perjury himself on the stand (because lying on the air isn't punishable by fine or prison time, but lying under deposition is).
The second was a broadcast anchor on CNN who got fired for well various derogatory actions towards GOP candidates ...that some deemed to be misogynistic, and abusive. NY Times Article on CNN firing Don Lemon
He stated Nikki Haley was past her prime to run for office (considering we have men past 70 running for public office - that's a bit...well). And
he got into a verbal sparring match on air with Vivek, an Indian American GOP Candidate.
On Wednesday, however, Mr. Lemon made headlines again after a highly contentious on-air exchange with Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential candidate. The segment deteriorated as the men fiercely debated questions of Black history and the Second Amendment; Mr. Lemon’s co-anchor Ms. Harlow could be seen sitting silently beside him, at times casting her gaze elsewhere and scrolling through her smartphone.
The incident left several CNN leaders exasperated, the people said.
Mr. Lemon joined CNN in 2006 from a local NBC station in Chicago. In 2011, he made waves when he acknowledged in a memoir what many of his colleagues already knew: He is gay. At the time, few national television newscasters were out in public. Mr. Lemon was upfront about what he described as the risks of coming out as a Black man, sharing his concerns “that people might shun me.”
Be happy you don't work in broadcast journalism. At least we got rid of Tucker Carlson.
**
Here's a picture of the flowers planted at the entrance to Greenwood Cemetery...
Naughty me
Date: 2023-04-25 03:50 am (UTC)I don't know if Carlson said anything about Murdoch directly under oath. But he clearly helped the old *&%^$ lose a boatload of money.
Re: Naughty me
Date: 2023-04-25 04:54 pm (UTC)At this point, anyone who declares Fox reliable - looks idiotic.