Tag: Worldbuilding

Reading: The Mercy of Gods

Book 1 of The Captive’s War, a series by James S. A. Corey, published by Orbit in 2024

Science fiction through and through, the action begins on Anjiin, an Earth-like planet home to the humans in the story.

It’s a complex set-up saved from immediate confusion by a two page prologue introducing the Carryx, along with—it must be said—a bunch of exotic sounding people and planets that are not mentioned again.

Confusing. And yet, also on the first page, the speaker, the keeper-librarian of the human moiety of the Carryx, using just four words seems to summarize the plot.

But of course these authors (Yes, two authors now not really hiding anymore) using the one nom de plume. They wrote The Expanse an eight volume series that I enjoyed very much and apparently also wrote the screenplay for the TV series, also very good. Knowing their pedigree, I have expectations.

When I heard that they were starting another series, I wondered if they could repeat their success without repeating their worldbuilding? They covered a lot of ground in The Expanse I thought, and it’ll be hard to imagine another whole different universe.

I haven’t read a story for quite a while that takes nearly the whole volume to intro the protagonist. Though a bunch of humans make it in quite early in the piece, which thankfully gave me a few people I could relate to, they are not the primary characters.

Their names are similar but not the same as ‘our’ names. Dafyd is one of the humans. So is Campar. Night Drinkers are one of the alien groups.

There are maybe half a dozen alien tribes to get acquainted with, and they are much more alien than usual. Their various biologies are rendered in detail and I was reminded of their main features often enough that I could learn them.

There are re interpretations to get used to. Librarians are not the librarians we know. A medry … just does not ring a bell. A moiety is a term I last met in anthropology.

There’s much much more. Reading is ongoing.

Lodestar 61, Scrim

About five years ago, I reworked what would’ve been the next couple of chapters to submit to Worldbuilding Magazine, for an installment they were running on relationships, V3I3: Gender & Relationships

Since I was extracting the story from an ongoing Lodestar Saga and wanted eventually to be able to come back to it—as I am doing now—I changed Srese’s name and backstory. But, although she is called Kate in this chapter and has a whole different history, she is still Srese. As you will see.

Scrim’s parts in the whole deal have not changed, and that part of his life–as it is described here–fits in well with what’s coming for him.

Enjoy!

61. Scrim & Kate (aka Srese)Download

Lego, Set #60439

On the weekend last I had my grandkids, aged 7 and 4, over for a few hours. While we played hide and seek, the box was inadvertantly discovered in Oma’s not-so-secret Christmas present hiding place.

And of course we opened it and set to with great gusto. And I’m happy we did, because though the set is recommended for age 6+ the 7 year old found it difficult.

He soon narrowed his focus to the wheelchair guy in Bag 1 and his buggy, while the four year old helped the 76+ yr old Oma by finding shapes amongst the contents of Bag Three.

Which was a lucky guess for it held a girl minifig, helmet, airpack, a bed/couch, microwave, mug, coffee machine and a bank of windows. In other words, a collection of playable elements.

The rest of the set was completed after the kids had gone home. and I was tickled pink to find another iteration of the frog element …

I laughed discovering how the slippery slidy minifigs are made to stay on their beds … “Oooh, is that what those bricks are for?”

The hinge joint pieces I first stumbled over in a mystery pack from http://www.brickresales.com and had no idea what to do with. Just in case you’re thinking … Well, duh! What else could they be? That’s right. Once you know, it’s obvious.

The number of different elements in this set was probably nothing out of the ordinary … count them if you like.

The ‘round’ hatch opening-and-closing mechanism is a joy to operate, as is the sliding up-and-down hatch. I think both these will get their real work-outs when the kids come again.

Now I’m wondering where and how to set up a moon base in my apartment. I’ll need to do some re-arranging.

Mmm.

And PS, what is the ring meant to represent?

Lodestar’s Anuboids = ‘Centaurs’?

I literally just posted Lodestar 57 and tripped over this … There’s now a word for Anuboids, also known as ‘nubies’ in Lodestar, a novel I began roundabout 15 years ago. They might even be ‘reverse-centaurs’.

I’m gob-smacked, though I shouldn’t be. I’ve been overtaken by both science and the public domain. Now by Cory Doctorow, which is a kind of thrill.

“A centaur is someone whose work is supercharged by automation: you are a human head atop the tireless body of a machine that lets you get more done than you could ever do on your own.” from https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/02/despotism-on-demand/