Wrapping Up 2020

This year was tough all over.  In addition to the world-wide pandemic disaster and the US election disaster, your humble correspondent faced treatment for deadly illness.  (Ironically, I probably would have been homebound much of the year even without the pandemic.)

Nevertheless, the blog persists!  Without interruption!  The blog has surpassed 2500 days in a row of daily posts.

This year saw over 34K hits*, which is more than 90 hits per day on average. This is up 6K (>22%) from 2019.

Once again, much of this traffic has been a “long tail”, a hit here and there on old posts.  With about 3000 posts from almost 7 years, these dribs and drabs add up.

From the stats I have, the traffic has been extremely bursty.  Throughout the year, I see a week or 10 days with 50 hits per day, then 4 or 5 days with 250 or more hits, then another period of less traffic.   (The standard deviation was over 97, with a mean of 94) This happened again and again, with no clear pattern or known underlying driver.

Combined with the long tail already mentioned, it’s difficult to draw conclusions.

(*I should note that I am only using the default stats provided by wordpress.  I do not have enough information to know exactly how they are collected, or what possible sources of error or omission exist.)

Round Up

For convenience, here are some year end summaries.

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Great Names For Bands

As always, I’ve noted some “great names for a band”.  Dave Barry pioneered this joke for many years in his columns.  My variation is mainly taken from or nearly quoted from actual, real, “I am not making this up” scientific and technical articles.

Here are this year’s bands:

Rocks from Ryugu
Rocks from Ryugu with Bennu Dust
Wing Models of Yi
The Great American Biotic Interchange
Venus Feelers
Skid n’ Bump – All-mechanical, Mostly Passive
Clockwork Cucaracha
Scotch Yoke Clinometer
Double Octopus
Compound Obstacles
The South Pole Wall  (also ia great name for a cocktail)
Solar Canals of Gujarat
Bottlebrush block copolymer photonic crystals
Antarctic Frogs
First Fossil Frog
Eocene High Latitude
Gondwanan Cosmopolitinism
Tape-spool boom extraction system
Flux Lobe Elongation
Magnetic Pole Acceleration
Towards Siberia
Possible common capture events
Radially Symmetric Fertile Parts
Pendicle Bending
Wing Heart
Scent Pads
Failed Squid Meal
Prey Seizure

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Books Reviewed

As always, I wrote short reviews of books I read this year, usually appearing every Sunday.  Over the whole year, I reviewed 55 fiction and 24 non-fiction books.

Glancing at the list, I would especially recommend:

Fiction:

The City We Became  by N. K. Jemisin
October Man by Ben Aaronovitch (And other stories by Aaaronovitch)

Non-Fiction:

Trekonomics (2016) by Manu Saadka
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Here are the links for all the reviews.

Books Reviewed in the 4^th Quarter

Fiction

Dead Lies Dreaming by Charles Stross
Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow
Missionaries by Phil Klay
A Visit From The Goon Squad (2010) by Jennifer Egan
Cuyahoga by Pete Beatty
Quillifer the Knight by Walter Jon Williams
October Man by Ben Aaronovitch
A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Non-Fiction

Billion Dollar Loser by Reeves Wiedeman
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer
A World Beneath The Sands by Toby Wilkinson
The Price of Peace by Zachary D. Carter
Time of The Magicians by Wolfram Eilenberger
Wagnerism by Alex Ross

Reviews From Q3

Fiction

Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen
Point B by Drew Magary
Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
Love and Theft by Stan Parish
False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
Moon Over Soho (2011) by Ben Aaronovitch
Midnight Riot (2011) by Ben Aaronovitch
Whispers Underground (2012) by Ben Aaronovitch
Broken Homes (2013) by Ben Aaronovitch
Foxglove Summer (2014) by Ben Aaronovitch
Lies Sleeping (2018) by Ben Aaronovitch
The Hanging Tree (2015) by Ben Aaronovitch
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
Life for Sale (1967) by Yukio Mishima
A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane

Non Fiction

14 Miles  by DW Gibson
Dark Towers by David Enrich
Trekonomics by Manu Saadka
1177 B. C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline
Empires of the Sky by Alexander Rose

Reviews From Q2

Fiction

88 Names  by Matt Ruff
Providence  by Max Barry
Shakespeare for Squirrels  by Christopher Moore
All Adults Here  by Emma Straub
Afterlife  by Julia Alvarez
Wake, Siren  by Nina MacLaughlin
How Much of These Hills is Gold  by C Pam Zhang
The Automatic Detective  by A. Lee Martinez
Tyll  by Daniel Kahlmann
The City We Became  by N. K. Jemisin
Little Fires Everywhere  by Celeste Ng
Arabella of Mars (2016) by David D. Levine
Arabella and the Battle of Venus (2017) by David D. Levine
Arabella the Traitor of Mars (2018) by David D. Levine
The Orphan’s Tales, Vol 1.: In the Night Garden (2006) by Catherynne M. Valente
The Orphan’s Tales: Vol 2.: In the Cities of Coin and Spice (2007) by Catherynne M. Valente

 Non Fiction

Istanbul  by Bettany Hughes
Tacky’s Revolt  by Vincent Brown
The Library Book  by Susan Orlean
The Lives of Bees  by Thomas D. Seeley
Unworthy Republic  by Claudio Saunt
How to Hide an Empire  by Daniel Immerwahr

 Reviews From Q1

Fiction

Shadow Captain by Alastair Reynolds
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Trace Elements by Donna Leon
Processed Cheese by Stephen Wright
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Highfire by Eoin Colfer
The Feral Detective by Jonathan Letham
Hi Five by Joe Ide
Agency by William Gibson
Zed by Joanna Kavenna
Naked Came The Florida Man by Tim Dorsey
A Small Town by Thomas Perry
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

Non Fiction

The Shadow of Vesuvius by Daisy Dunn
Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
Imagined Life by James Trefil and Michael Summers
Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener
The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan
Island People (2016) by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro
The Accursed Tower by Roger Crowley

Catching up with the ‘Rivers of London’ Stories by Ben Aaronovitch

The Rivers of London Stories by Ben Aaronovitch

I hadn’t read Aaronovitch until recently, so these stories are a pleasant surprise.  And with a half dozen earlier novels, catching up has been a nice summer project.  (There are some short stories and graphic novels, too, but I haven’t got to them.)

England is menaced by supernatural forces—again.  Her Majesty’s government has, of course a response.  It seems like the Queen has dozens, and dozens of responses (The Laundry, The Checquy, The Clown Service, The Diogenes Club)

Aaronovitch recounts some of the cases handled by yet another branch, the London Metropolitan police force, specifically by newly minted Constable Peter Grant.

Aaronovitch is a good writer (with episodes of Doctor Who to his credit), so its fun to read with only a few Briticisms too obscure for a yank to follow.

It’s all a lot of rollicking fun, and there is another novel out this summer.

But first, lets get caught up.

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Midnight Riot (2011) by Ben Aaronovitch

Young Peter Grant isn’t a great copper, he’s too easily distracted and misses too much.  But it turns out he has some magical powers that help him sense things other coppers miss.

This talent leads to his accidental involvement in a weird case involving a ghost and other not exactly human perps.  He is picked up as an apprentice to a senior detective and actual wizard, to be trained up as a wizard himself, if he can manage to not kill himself in the process.

Peter is tasked with keeping the Queen’s Peace, even among the minor gods and other spirits.  Dealing with drunken yobs is challenging enough, dealing with murderous maniacal beings (not sure exactly what kind of beings) is a real headache.

Moon Over Soho (2011) by Ben Aaronovitch

Can you die of jazz?

It looks like something is killing musicians in London.

This is a job for PC and apprentice wizard Peter Grant.

Soho has a lot of nastiness, for sure, but Grant and his colleagues have to unravel some seriously nasty magical nastiness.  There may be a connection to Oxford, too (naturally).

Can twenty first century police methods track them down?  And then what?

The case leads to what appears to be an unknown, “ethically challenged” wizard, who seems to be up to a lot of really horrible and wicked stuff.  Who is this nameless one, and can he be stopped?

Whispers Underground (2012) by Ben Aaronovitch

London’s Underground is rightly famous.  How could there not be supernatural doings down there?

PC Peter Grant and colleagues are called to investigate a murder in the Underground which may have “special” elements of interest to Grant.

The case leads into the tunnels and sewers under London and the Tate modern. Who knows what you might find down there?

It’s the holiday rush and an unusual heavy snow, so troubles on the trains are not well received.  It doesn’t help any that the victim was an American Senator’s son, so the FBI sends and “observer”.

What exactly is going on under London?

And where is the Faceless Man?

Broken Homes (2013) by Ben Aaronovitch

Still pursuing the Faceless Man and other Oxford bred Crocodiles, the “special” London police of the Folly step into dangerous waters—personal and magical.

The trail leads to an infamous modern tower block, which seems to harbor a lot of strangeness. PC Peter Grant thought of becoming and architect and is an urban archaeology enthusiast, so he’s just the man to investigate the peculiar buildings in London.

The police keep the pressure on the faceless one, hoping to force him into an error.  The trick will be to survive the confrontation.

Foxglove Summer (2014) by Ben Aaronovitch

PC Grant is dispatched to Ruralshire to support the investigation of an apparently mundane disappearance of two young girls.

The case doesn’t seem to require his “special” talents, but he volunteers to help out.

Of course, Ruralshire is just as prone to weirdness as London ever was, so soon enough Peter is up to his neck in mysterious doings that do seem to require his skills.

And sometimes it’s good to have a copper on the scene to yell, “Oi sunshine! Cut it out.” And then try to de-escalate, if possible.

The Hanging Tree (2016) by Ben Aaronovitch

When young Olivia McAlister-Thames gets in trouble with the police, her mum (the goddess of the Thames) calls in a favor with PC Peter Grant—please keep her daughter out of it.  Peter is dating Beverley Brook, Olivia’s sister, so there’s that, too.

If things were only so easy.

And, of course, this is only the beginning of the tangled web of trouble in London’s magical demi-monde.

Witches and various grades of fey.  Dangerous, evil sorcerers—many of them out of Oxford, of course. A nasty trickster (from France?).  And, for variety, very ugly American defense contractors. It’s hard for Peter to keep up, even with an ever-growing circle of allies.

And Aaronovitch can’t resist the temptation to wreak yet more fictional havoc on London’s famous and infamous architecture.

Lies Sleeping (2018) by Ben Aaronovitch

Hot on the trail of the Faceless Man, the Metropolitan Police go to a fully staffed “intelligence led proactive” operations.  The “proactive” part includes “poking” such Crocodiles as can be found, and generally showing up unannounced on a lot of doorsteps.  The “intelligence” part includes pulling in everyone Peter knows, including gods and goddesses throughout the ages.

What exactly does the Faceless Man plan to do with the church bell he commissioned?  He surely not interested in campanology, per se.  And what’s all this bollocks about Excalibur, Arthur, and Merlin?  That’s all just stories, isn’t it?

Whatever the Faceless Man is up to, the gloves are off.  Families threatened, police officers kidnapped, a Detective Inspector shot, for goodness sakes!  What is this?  America?

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1. Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot, New York, Del Rey, 2011.
2. Ben Aaronovitch, Moon Over Soho, New York, Del Rey, 2011.
3. Ben Aaronovitch, Whispers Underground, New York, Del Ray, 2012.
4. Ben Aaronovitch, Broken Homes, New York, Daw, 2013.
5. Ben Aaronovitch, Foxglove Summer, New York, Daw, 2014.
6. Ben Aaronovitch, The Hanging Tree, New York, Daw, 2016.
7. Ben Aaronovitch, Lies Sleeping, New York Daw, 2018.

Sunday Book Reviews