Q3 2021 Roundup

With the fall equinox, summer is now over.

This blog has passed 2800 daily posts in a row, though reported hits are way down from last year.  Posts will continue until readership improves.  : – )

This summer saw many posts on favorite topics, including dinosaurs, robots, solar energy, and cryptocurrencies.  And robot helicopters on Mars.   And the melting cryosphere.

If we hear about a solar powered robot dinosaur that eats cryptocurrency you know it will appear in this blog!  Especially if it emerges from a melting icecap and goes to Mars to transform into a helicopter.

Book Reviews

As always, weekly reviews of 14 fiction and 6 non fiction books.

Notable book:  The Amazons by Adrienne Mayor

Fiction

Antkind by Charlie Kaufman
The World Gives Way by Marissa Levien
The Very Nice Box by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman
Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Captain Moxley and the Embers of Empire by Dan Hanks
The Paris Labyrinth by Gilles Legardinier
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Questland by Carrie Vaughn
The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
Elysium Fire by Alistair Reynolds
The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Non-fiction

The Amazons by Adrienne Mayor
Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen
Venus and Aphrodite by Bettany Hughes
Forget the Alamo by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford
We Had A Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff
Pastels and Pedophiles by Mia Bloom and Sophia Moskalenko

Great Names For a Band

Terms found in real technical papers, not made up at all.

“Spin Orbit Torques”
“Cadmium Telluride”

Book Review: “The Beautiful Ones” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I really liked Gods of Jade and Shadow (2019), and thought this story might be more of the same. But this isn’t related at all, except by Moreno-Garcia’s style.

This is a romantic story about a wedding.  Not generally my cup of tea.  But Moreno-Garcia made it work for me, even though there is a lot more detail about dresses and home décor than I really need, or even am able to follow.

In this fantastic land that feels like nineteenth century Latin America only way more magical, the Beautiful Ones are the wealthy socialites who dominate the city and countryside with their wealth, power, and complicated rules.

And, of course, the “Beautiful Ones” aren’t, and the outcasts are the real beautiful people.

Young Nina is wealthy, but she is a country girl more interested in beetles than bonnets.  She is sent to the city for the Season, to find husband.  Nina also has psychokinetic powers, which she hasn’t really mastered.

Hector is a professional performer, with fabulously developed psychokinetic powers.  Nina has read about him in a scientific journal. (Nina reads.)

These two are made for each other, no?

Obviously, life is not that simple.  Stuff happens.

Nina’s protector, Valerie, jilted Hector long ago, and that connection lingers.  Is Hector using Nina to get back to Valerie?  Is Valerie using Nina for her own Beautiful Ones games?  Can Nina and Hector work it out, despite everything?

Overall, it’s a charming story.  I liked it.

And, of course, the “Beautiful Ones” aren’t, and the outcasts are the real beautiful people.

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1. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Beautiful Ones. TOR, New York, 2021.

Sunday Book Reviews