Just discovered that the mighty Philip Reeve is on here! I'm currently rereading the original Mortal Engines Quartet. I also recently loved Bridge of Storms his new story set in the same world
I'm currently reading an Adrian Tchaikovsky novel, Made Things. Thieves, thief-lords, mages, homunculi and a vividly evoked city
Holocaust Memorial Day: a day for remembering
"Never again"
northeastbylines.co.uk/culture/hist...
Unexpected choice from Alan Hollinghust on the radio just now for the book which has most influenced him- The Lord of the Rings, which he first read when he was 11. He said just the light or a landscape can remind him of Tolkien still, after 60 years.
On 21 January 1889: Edith Bratt, #Tolkien's future wife, was born.
Edith and Ronald met as teenagers, and they were married for 55 years until her death in 1971. She was the inspiration for Lúthien after Tolkien saw her dancing in a woodland. On their gravestone, she is "Lúthien" and he is "Beren".
When CS Lewis is good, he’s brilliant:
“Somewhere ahead he could hear birds singing. He knew the night was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite easily now. A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun.
1/5
still from the Star Trek original series episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield showing two men with split black and white faces
Got a ton of comments on my Starfleet Academy review calling it "woke" and when I explained that Star Trek has always been progressive people started fighting about how the franchise was never as in your face back in the day and yeah totally, it used to be SUPER subtle
Early spring flowers from my garden including a wild daffodil, viola, winter flowering cherry, snowdrop, grape hyacinth/muscari, hellebore & kerria on my hand.
In case you suffer from seasonal low mood or have been anxious or sad today, here are the earliest spring flowers-these will be blooming in a few weeks’ time 🌿
Washington Post has three frames of the shooting. As you can the ICE agent was NOT in front of the car when he fired the three shots. Not even the first shot.
Poor Gollum! I can sometimes see why Asimov said he was the real hero of Lotr
A huge cardboard box inside a lab
Ooh nice, my box full of heads just arrived.
Full of cold, achey all over with a blocked up nose
I've put the excellent Habsburg Encounters with Native America to one side to read the new Dan Brown, my guilty pleasure.Theres a connection though as its set in Prague! Its a lot of fun
Just finished Blitzers by Alistair Chisholm, it was a lot of fun. Although its a kids book there's a satirical swipe at the manosphere, Danny gets into online influencers when he's trying to train his Blitzer or electronic creature, to be more aggressive and it makes him aggressive.
Two new books I was pleased to take out of the library recently, both eagerly anticipated
My @tolkiensociety.org membership card came yesterday!
The story is The Withered Heart by G.G Pendarves
Reading the second story in this, a collection of stories from Weird Tales by women writers. A hard-up aristocrat discovers his ancestors heart and a message promising rewards if he bring him back to life.He and his best friend the narrator are reluctant but his beautiful wife is willing
@larichierouge.bsky.social French Rich?!
Yay discovered @dicknixon.bsky.social is on here!
Just finished it, such a great life-affirming ending while also setting us up for a sequel.Can't wait!
I'm watching Dune:Prophecy, just seen the first two episodes.I was surprised by how much I'm enjoying it! As it used to say on Ray Feist's books 'file under guilty.pleasure'.
Some glimpses into Westmoot 2025 including a summary of my keynote on Eärendil and myth-making as well as links to a few other talks. #westmoot25. annasmol.net/2025/05/28/s...
Hirilorn...Tuesday tree pic
At first I thought it was a bit too tropey but as I've got into it it gets deeper, with lots in it about family and belonging as well as the usual good and evil.And of course *dragons* 🐉 are very cool, even if they do breathe fire!
I'm really enjoying Dragonborn by Struan Murray. Alex finds out she is actually a dragon like her much missed late father and her overprotective mum has been trying to protect her from her heritage.The wise and kind dragon/man Oliphos takes her to the island of Skralla to train her.
So I've just found that HarperCollins have just republished Christopher Tolkien's The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise...#excited @tolkiensociety.org
The emperor in the original Dune is shadowy and mysterious, even though Paul humbles him at the end its still a shock when it happens,but in this story we know Shaddam all too well, every dumb scheme and cruelty
