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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   2579 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 2, 2022

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm picking up Thurman's Jesus and the Disinherited. Don't know anything about it besides that it was an influence on MLK.

Just finished Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice. I was very impressed by the density of plotting. Shades of Dune, but clearly a much bigger influence from the Culture series. Would recommend.

Today I trawled a used bookstore going down my list. The best find was Thunder Below by Eugene Fluckey, a WWII captain who got into by far the most submarine combat. I did pick up various sci-fi/fantasy and a couple Audubon field guides, but I'm most excited about that memoir. Oh, I also found a 2-volume of Gibbon's Decline and Fall, which I purchased for historical interest. I don't expect that I'll actually chew through it any time soon.

I'm kind of surprised you enjoyed Ancillary Justice so much, because I actually thought it was quite dull. The problem (to me) was that the author had interesting ideas for a setting, but no plot to back it up. Which, in fairness, is kind of like Dune. But I think that this book had even less interesting of a plot than Dune has.

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