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PaperclipPerfector  12hr ago (text post)   434 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 2026

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So, what are you reading?

I'm finally done with Christie's And Then There Were None. Didn't have much preamble, it just goes straight into it. Seems like a book written to an audience already very familiar with her work. It was enjoyable enough, and the characters worked. I've more or less given up on the desire to figure out who the killer is beforehand in these kinds of books, and I find that it is pleasant to read them like that. I'm afraid that the only other thing which I can say is that my favourite character died.

Going to give another stab at Sayers' Whose Body?

I finished Mage Errant, it was pretty good but dropped down to a 3.5/5 by the end. I actually made a Youtube review if anyone is interested: https://youtube.com/watch?v=8XjM93SfXTE

Started reading Spellslinger on the advice of the author of Mage Errant, and it's fun so far. My biggest gripe with it though is that it has that retarded trope where the protagonist gets in intense magical battles and always just happens to knock people unconscious instead of actually killing them. So incredibly stupid, though I get why authors are tempted to use it.

The new Dungeon Crawler Carl book just came out. Book 8, A Parade of Horribles.

So far it hasn't been thrilling me. Book 7 featured the conclusion of multiple long running storylines. Book 8 starts with Carl and Donut isolated from the supporting cast. I probably just wasn't in the right mood, I'll give it another shot in a week or so.

Glad you enjoyed Ten Little Redacted. The impression I get is that the people who read mystery novels in the thirties and forties were for the most part well-versed in the conventions and "meta" of the genre. Aside from her book's sheer entertainment value, part of the reason Christie is so admired is because of how intimately acquainted she was with these conventions, and how skilled she was in subverting them and manipulating her audience.

About one-third of the way through The Matriarch.

Wrapped up Locke Lamora. Overall 6/10 - the plot holes became too big to ignore by the end (why the fuck did Barsavi not make sure Locke was dead before putting him in the barrel? How could the bondsmage guild exist in the form that it does without totally upending any semblance of political stability?).

Started on Hesse's The Glass Bead Game. I'm a little concerned that it's just going to glorify exercises in intellectual masturbation but it has a touch of Borges that makes me willing to stick it out.

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