Strontium Bitchings

My Star Cops DVDs are dying

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:01:43 GMT

I had an idea for a Star Cops fanfic*, so I decided to re-watch the whole series. Last time I did that there was one episode that wouldn't play (In Warm Blood). Now there are two (Little Green Men), plus it won't play the last 5 minutes of This Case to Be Opened in A Million Years, or the last 3 minutes of Other People's Secrets. Sigh. Thank goodness someone's put them up on YouTube. Wish the BBC would re-issue the series.

The other old DVDs I've rewatched recently seem fine. First two seasons of Stargate have nary a glitch. But last time I watched my Edge of Darkness DVDs there was a 5 minute chunk in one episode which wouldn't play. I guess some DVDs were cheap quality and degrade faster?

*the fic is here on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83486906/chapters/219943146

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BOOKS READ IN 2025

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 13:54:43 GMT

( Here’s the list of books for 2025. Most categories down a few from last year, apart from RPGs, which has more than tripled. )

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Enjoyed Bristolcon & Armadacon 2025

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 17:04:27 GMT

Spent 2 weekends in a row at science fiction conventions: Bristolcon in (you guessed it) Bristol and then Armadacon in Plymouth. Had terrific fun at both, with lots of catching up with friends and meeting new people.

John Higgins the Artist Guest of Honour at Bristolcon was terrific, and my highlight of the con. Did a great Guest of Honour talk, and then did a live painting workshop, which was one of the most fun and informative things I'd been to in years. I bought way too many books and way too much art at Bristolcon! I was on one panel and moderated another (Pets in Space - we had an actual dog on the panel).

Managed to resist buying too many books at Armadacon, but bought some more art and the CD of the first album by Paradox of Ravens who were the climax of the Saturday evening entertainment, and who are both lovely human beings. Their music has an 80s Depeche Mode/New Order vibe to it.

Guest of Honour Jonny Nexus was terrific value - good speaker, very self deprecating about his novel writing and RPG endeavours. He'd also suggested (and chaired) a cool panel about animal intelligence and personhood, which covered everything from real world animals to what to do of we encountered aliens or if AI became sentient. Physicist Martin Lavelle also gave a talk about quantum mechanics, and was lovely to chat to in the bar afterwards.

I gave a talk called The Past is An Alien Planet: They Do Things Differently There, to point out that 'Earth-like' planets in science fiction do not necessarily mean Earth as it is now. With health and safety tips for time travellers, and a discussion of carbon capture (yoghurt pots down salt mines!) in the Q&A afterwards. Lots of people came up to me over the day to say they'd enjoyed it, which was sweet of them.

There were lots of RPGs being played, but I only managed to play (part) of one of them, Dreams & Machines, because they clashed with panels I was on, or wanted to see. We stopped the Dreams & Machines game for a hour for me to be on the panel about RPGs!

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Alphabetical Story Meme

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 11:54:49 GMT

From ffutures : The idea is to go through the titles of all the fanfic you've written then link to one story for each letter of the alphabet, or as many as possible, with the usual rules about A and The not being part of the title.

I appear to be too fond of some letters in my titles and have neglected others entirely. Perhaps I need to write a Strontium Dog story about Zen the Brainwraith or set on the planet O'lob? Apart from The Nook Book, all of these are on AO3: archiveofourown.org/users/EledoneCirrhosa/pseuds/EledoneCirrhosa Not even including the old stuff which only exists in typewritten form or dot matrix print outs managed to cover the missing letters.

A - Aftershocks (Meltdown Man)

B - Blood & Ashes (Strontium Dog)

C - Coming to the Boil (Dragonriders of Pern)

D - (The) Dark Between the Stars (Space 1999)

F - (The) Footie, The Mutie & Marci (Strontium Dog)

G - Gronk's Guide to Mutant Abilities (Strontium Dog)

H - (A) History of the Galaxy in 100 Takeaways (Strontium Dog)

I - Infiltrator (Strontium Dog)

J - Just Passing Through (Strontium Dog)

L - (The) Last Dragon (Dragonriders of Pern)

M - Mail Call (Space Above & Beyond)

N - (The) Nook Book (Star Trek parody, written as a collab with my mate Flipper)

P - Plan B (Dragonriders of Pern)

Q - Quick Decisions (Dragonriders of Pern)

R - Remember Me (Strontium Dog)

S - Sins of the Father (Strontium Dog)

T - Too Pretty and Too Special (Silver Brumby)

U - Underdogs (Strontium Dog)

W - Winterkill (Strontium Dog)

Y - Year One: Infiltration (Wraeththu)

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Our local butcher has been driven out of business

Sat, 17 May 2025 08:48:48 GMT

My local butcher is closing down this week. He says meat prices are so high, his customers can't afford to pay what he'd need to charge to stay in profit. Beef has risen in price 3 times recently. Even traditionally cheap cuts like ox tails are now ridiculously expensive. Once he ordered beef on a Monday and by the time they delivered it on Thursday and invoiced, it cost him £200 more than Monday's quoted price. Last week he sold £1200 worth of meat, and made £146. That's not enough for him to cover the shop's expenses, let alone pay himself a wage. He says one of the local 'mini-marts' which sells meat (including halal) told him they are in the same situation.

If he buys chicken wholesale, it costs him £2.18 a kilo. The supermarkets sell that same chicken for £2.16 a kilo, because they make profit elsewhere and take the hit on the meat.

He says the wholesalers are telling everyone the rise in National Insurance contributions and National Living Wage is what is pushing up their overheads.

I guess eating less meat will be good for me. But I also used to get fishcakes, macaroni bakes and hash browns from my butcher.

The butcher has a side-line in selling second-hand goods. So he'll expand that business after the butcher's shop is closed. I hope that works out for him.

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I'm fed up of rotten fruit and veg!

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 10:38:45 GMT

I freely admit I would be healthier if I ate more fresh fruit and veg. But over the last few months that's become increasingly difficult... because a significant fraction of what I buy rots or goes mouldy before I can eat it all.

I HATE throwing away food. So I'm just going to have to give up buying some things. Like strawberries. Every punnet I've bought recently had at least one mouldy/squishy one hidden in it, no matter how carefully I looked at it in the shop. Every. Single. One. Doesn't matter if I purchased it at the corner shop, or the local fruit & veg shop, or the Morrisons or Aldi near work, or get it from the big Tesco or the little Tesco in person or order online.

And if I buy strawberries on Monday, there's absolutely no chance of saving them to eat on Wednesday. Even Tuesday is a bit too late. Tomatoes are almost as bad. Carrots and cucumbers used to be immune, but not recently.

I don't have the time or energy to go to the shops every day to buy fruit and veg (plus the local veg shop only takes cash, and the corner shop's selection is a bit erratic). Bloody 'just in time' supply chains are the bane of healthy eating.

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BOOKS READ IN 2024

Tue, 31 Dec 2024 15:31:10 GMT

( Read lots more novels this year, partly because of Worldcon but mostly because the nearest multiplex closed in late 2023 and all those hours spent at the cinema need filling! There were about the same number of graphic novels as 2023. But slightly more non-fiction. )

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Back from Worldcon and darkest Scotland

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 18:50:01 GMT

Had terrific fun at Worldcon. Managed to avoid catching Covid, possibly because I was too tired in the evenings (side effect of medication) to bother hanging about in the bars and instead just went back to the hotel around 9pm each evening.

The local train with an "all the trains you can eat" ticket for £5 for 5 days worked well. Apart from one night when there was a 45 minute gap between trains, so me and an American couple shared a taxi instead of standing in the rain.

Things they could have done better... there was no physical newsletter. And no physical newsletter office. I know - I went looking for it to give them some news. Ops sent me to the Media Office, who sent me to Information, who tried to send me back to the Media Office, then found someone who thought it was only on Discord (at which point I thanked them and gave up).

Things I went to see/did:
- Dune the Musical (awesome)
- Policing the High Frontier
- The Science, Fiction and Ethics of Terraforming
- The Lost Wonders of Science Fiction
- What lines should we cross when writing fanfic?
- Vegetables in space (one of my favourite panels)
- Ancient cultures and context
- Playing with gender and gender expectations in SFF
- Copaganda and the Judge Dredd conundrum
- The Expanse: greatest SF TV series of the 21st century
- SF as a tool to increase STEM uptake
- The many legs of SF - creepy crawlies in space
- Women in military SF (interesting, but they talked mostly about fantasy in a panel specifically named SF!)
- played in a 2 hour Traveller RPG session which was fun
- Chemistry in SF: cavorite, coaxium and other fictions
- All the world's boos depend on the beancounter: economics in SFF
- The myth of the wilderness
- Has science ruined science fiction?
- Going up: space elevators as highways to the stars
- Strong female leads who don't kick ass
- Dr Who fans meet-up
- went to the art show... and bought a couple of prints.
- spent remarkably little money in the dealers room... having to lug everything to Mum's then home on the train rather tempered my impulse to buy large and/or heavy things!

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Levitation – con report for Eastercon 2024

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 12:24:45 GMT

Had a fantastic time at Levitation. Came back knackered because I don’t think I’ve done so much socialising in aeons.

There were minor travel woes getting there and back – rail replacement bus on the way there, broken down train blocking our route on the way back. However, once I got there, all was well. The hotel was about 3 mins walk from the Telford International Centre. When I went for an explore on the Thursday afternoon, I spotted a cinema only a further 6 or 7 minutes’ walk away. So that was my Thursday evening entertainment sorted – I’m pining for movies since the local multiplex closed. Went to see Nasty Little Letters.

Breakfast at my hotel was allegedly continental when I booked it, but there was bacon and beans, so I availed myself of that, and the bread warming machine. I hesitate to call it a toaster. It did the usual hotel thing of once through just warms the bread, twice through cremates it… Had a lovely breakfast chat with various fans which didn’t finish until about 10.30 when the hotel staff were hoovering around us!

In fact, I had lots of nice chats with old friends and with random fans I hadn’t met before, including prior to the Past Isn’t Straight panel, on the train on the way home, and in the Games Room when in search of the water cooler (the newsletter almost wasn’t kidding about it being down a long, dim corridor past the sign saying ‘Beware of the leopard’).

Food – I didn’t venture out to the restaurants or in search of Asda, and just stuck to the venue food. The chips were awesome! Hot food adequate but not much variety. If the vegans didn’t like chilli, they were stuffed.

LOVED the venue – spacious, airy, lots of little nooks with a few chairs and tables to sit and chat, as well as the main fan/food/bar area.

FRIDAY PANELS

· Cats are real but dragons are hard (craft workshop) – I know now that (a) crocheting is fun but (b) it makes my eyes go funny if I wear my glasses!

· Contemporary Pakistani Speculative Fiction – a streamed event. Great discussion of an academic study the panellists had done, which touched on things such as the Islamic attitudes to djinn. The moderator kindly emailed the reading list.

· What happened to SF/F as a force for good?

· Book launch – Dawn & Dave of the Dead by David Wake. Which I’d already read as David did a pre-launch at Armadacon.

· The Past Isn’t Straight – and Neither is the Future.

· Can We Walk Away from Injustice?

SATURDAY PANELS

· Scientists in the Media Imagination – terrific fun.

· Climate Friction: Solar Punk and Environment Justice – went for some recommendations because most of the climate fic I’ve read so far were all character portraits and no plot.

· BSFA Awards

· What is the appeal of Libraries for F/SF readers (I was on this panel – fun discussion).

· Tade Thomson GOH interview

· The Good, The Bad and the Buggy (tech glitches)

· Invertebrates in Space! Again, I was on this panel, fun, informative and we continued in the bar until the Telford Centre kicked us out.

SUNDAY PANELS

· Art materials & techniques: picturing the future.

· Business meeting/bid session. There will be a 2025 bid at Belfast. No location information yet. Useful Q&A from Belfast committee. Someone asked if there was a Supporting Rate and they realised it was not on their list. I signed up as Supporting.

George Hay Lecture: Battling Cancer in 2024. Fascinating.

· Meta-fandom and Transformative works – went down a few rabbit holes, but was entertaining.

· The Impact on Space Opera of Diverse Voices.

· Doctor Who in Audio.

MONDAY PANELS

· Detectives in Fantasy & Science Fiction. Neat, but reinforced the notion that stuff gets forgotten so quickly. A question was asked about science fiction detectives (as opposed to the fantasy ones discussed) and I was thinking Alien Nation and another audience member said Star Cops, but the panellists didn’t mention those and couldn’t think of many others.

· GOH Dr Srinarahari talks about Indian SF – pre-recorded talk. Tech issues at the start before they got it up and running. Interesting, but not what I expected, as it was less about Indian SF and more about SF becoming a pervasive force in modern culture as a whole.

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BOOKS READ IN 2023

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 11:54:03 GMT

( Same as last year – number of novels is down because I’ve been reading a lot of graphic novels. )

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Writing Strontium Dog fanfic again

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 15:41:15 GMT

I have, after many years hiatus, got back into writing Strontium Dog fanfic again. God, I'd forgotten how much fun it is! And I've now wasted hours of my life re-reading all the graphic novels. And I've ordered a copy of the Strontium Dog RPG.

I've posted all the old fic from Dogbreath on AO3. The new stuff is:

Sins of the Father - an AU where Johnny's mum did the sensible thing and divorced Nelson B. Kreelman. A re-telling of the events in Portrait of a Mutant and Blood Moon. Johnny still has a crappy childhood (because fascist dystopia), but it is differently crappy.
archiveofourown.org/works/45665944/chapters/114916129

Allegiance - how Johnny met his first partner, Sniffer Martinez.
archiveofourown.org/works/45523687/chapters/114547216

True Romance - not entirely new but I re-did the captions and "special effects" and uploaded this "photo romance" spoof done with action figures, which appeared in Dogbreath 12.
archiveofourown.org/works/46534099/chapters/117176938

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Books Read in 2022

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 15:12:19 GMT

FICTION

1. The Green Man’s Silence by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy). Number 3 in the series.
2. The Green Man’s Challenge by Juliet McKenna (urban fantasy). Number 4 in the series.
3. Irons in the Fire by Juliet McKenna (fantasy). Number 1 in the Lescari Revolution series.
4. Blood in the Water by Juliet McKenna (fantasy). Number 2 in the Lescari Revolution series.
5. Pine by Francine Toon (crime). Meh. Don’t get why it got rave reviews.
6. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (historical).
7. Green Valley by Louis Greenberg (science fiction/crime).
8. Skein Island by Aliya Whiteley (fantasy).
9. Beyond Recall by Gerald Seymour (thriller).
10. Darkship Thieves by Sarah Hoyt (science fiction/romance).
11. Haven by Adam Roberts (science fiction). The Aftermath vol 2.
12. Brumby Racer by Elyne Mitchell. One of the Colt From Snowy River series.
13. The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell. Silver Brumby volume 1.
14. Pashterina’s Peacocks ed. By Danielle Lainton & Louise Coquio. Tributes to Storm Constantine. Made me cry in places.
15. The Horse & His Boy by C.S. Lewis (fantasy). Chronicles of Narnia
16. Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Books of Ambha vol 1. Really enjoyed this. I love the magic system that is based on Indian classical dance.
17. Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Books of Ambha vol 2.
18. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (fantasy). Burning Kingdoms vol 1.
19. Dark Water’s Embrace by Stephen Leigh (science fiction). I wanted to re-read this because it has aliens with 3 sexes and a human intersex protagonist.
20. Speaking Stones by by Stephen Leigh (science fiction). Sequel to Dark Water’s Embrace.
21. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy). Volume 1 of The Dresden Files.
22. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy). Volume 2 of The Dresden Files.
23. Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe (science fiction). The Protectorate vol 1.
24. Like a Boss by Adam Rakunas (science fiction). Windswept vol 2.
25. War of the Maps by Paul McAuley (science fiction).
26. Austral by Paul McAuley (science fiction). One of my favourite SF books this year.
27. Fomorian Brigade by James David Victor (military science fiction) Gene Soldiers vol 1.
28. Chercher La Femme by L. Timmel DuChamp (science fiction).
29. Fearless by Allen Stroud (military science fiction). Volume 1
30. The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield (crime/science fiction).
31. Mother Death by Karen Travis (science fiction). Nomad vol 2.
32. Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 3. A re-read.
33. Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 6.
34. Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 7.
35. Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 8.
36. Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). Expanse Vol 9.
37. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). A fun space opera. First in a series: Final Architects.
38. Eyes in the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Final Architects vol 2.
39. The Hyena & the Hawk by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy). Third in the Echoes of the Fall series.
40. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan (crime). Baby Ganesh Agency vol 1.
41. The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan (crime). Baby Ganesh Agency vol 2.
42. Austral by Paul McAuley (science fiction).
43. Tenor Trouble by Philippa Sidle (mainstream). Doric Opera vol 2.
44. The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu (urban fantasy). I like the understated dystopia that this novel is set in. The book isn’t about overthrowing the dystopian government – that grimness is just backdrop. Edinburgh Nights vol 1.
45. Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu (urban fantasy). Edinburgh Nights vol 2.
46. Cwen by Alice Albinia (mainstream with fantasy elements).
47. No Plan B by Lee Child & Andrew Child (thriller). Jack Reacher vol 27.
48. The Monster, The Mermaid & Dr Mengele by Ian Watson (fantasy).
49. Thin Air by Storm Constantine (sort of magical realism/urban fantasy).
50. Limit of Vision by Linda Nagata (science fiction).
51. Wither by Lauren Destefano (YA science fiction). First in the Chemical Garden series. Don’t think I’ll bother with the second one. Too many descriptions of posh frocks and not enough plot. Also it seems to be trying to set up a love triangle – bleaugh.
52. Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride (crime). Re-reading whilst on holiday. Logan McRae vol 1.
53. Dying Light by Stuart MacBride (crime). Logan McRae vol 2.
54. Dark Benediction by Walter M. Miller (science fiction). Anthology.
55. Ratlines by Stuart Neville (crime/historical).
56. Convergence by C.J. Cherryh (science fiction). Foreigner series vol 18.
57. Unreconciled by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan series vol 4.
58. Lightning Shell by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O’Neal Gear (prehistorical). People of Cahokia series vol 5.
59. Atcode by David Wake (science fiction). Thinkersphere Vol 2.
60. The Best of World SF anthology edited by Lavie Tidhar (science fiction). Some fantastic stories in this, though a couple I’d classify as fantasy rather than science fiction.
61. Space Carrier Avalon by Glynn Stewart (military science fiction). Castle Federation vol 1.

NON-FICTION

1. Outlaw Ocean: Crime & Survival in the Last Untamed Frontier by Ian Urbina. Fascinating and horrifying in equal measure. Lots of ideas here for running the Blue Planet RPG when the next edition finally appears.
2. The Dinosaurs Rediscovered by Michael J. Benton. Good summary of the new discoveries of the last 20 years or so.
3. Tamed: Ten Species That Changed Our World by Alice Roberts
4. Mustangs: Return to the Wild by Hope Ryden
5. Wild Horses I Have Known by Hope Ryden
6. Rope, Twine & Net-Making by Anthony Sanctuary
7. The Glamour Boys by Chris Bryant.
8. The Idiot Brain by Dean Burnett.
9. None Bolder: The History of the 51st Highland Division in the Second World War by Richard Doherty
10. The Horse, The Wheel & Language: How Bronze Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World by David W. Anthony

GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Gung-Ho by Von Kummont & Von Eckartsberg. Volume 1.
2. Out by Williams, Conrad & Lasko.
3. Brink book 2 by Dan Abnett & I.N.J. Culbard.
4. Pulp by Ed Brubaker & Sean Philips.

BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH

1. Project 19: Crisis in the Desert by James Roscone. The foreword/set-up chapter was more interesting and better written than the actual novel.
2. Shadows of the Watching Star by William Sarabande (prehistorical). The First Americans series number, um, 7 or 8? I read about a half dozen of this series back in the 80s. But I’m no longer that person and will no longer tolerate “noble savage” characterisation and prehistoric people with “primitive” mindsets.

RPG BOOKS READ IN 2022

1. Haunted West RPG. This is obviously a labour of love and full of cool stuff. But because it is 800 pages long and weighs more than a rucksac of house bricks, it took me almost 5 months to get through it all. It has 4 different systems in it: crunchy ‘normal’ one; minimal crunch one; tactical miniatures combat one; and a PbtA hack.
2. Dune: Sand & Dust. First splatbook for Dune.
3. Coyote & Crow RPG. I bought a dead tree copy because the Kickstarter wouldn’t ship outside the USA.
4. Doctor Who RPG, 2nd ed.
5. Tartarus RPG.
6. The Silver Road RPG. Very minimalist.
7. Fluxfall Horizon RPG.
8. Terminator RPG. Haven’t finished reading this yet, because I got distracted by other RPGs which arrived later.
9. A|State RPG. Not sure I’ll ever run this, but it does a much better job of explaining how some of the Forged in the Dark mechanics work, then other FitD games do.
10. Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland RPG. Uses the Silver Road system, with some extra and setting-specific rules.
11. Dune: Agents of Dune. A campaign for Dune, set in an alternative timeline.

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Bristolcon 2022

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 10:59:17 GMT

I was at Bristolcon last weekend, which was more fun than I expected. The programme was largely fantasy items and publishing items, so I initially didn't think I'd go to much, given that I'm largely a science fiction geek. And I also knew that several people I usually chat to wouldn't be there.

However, I was down to volunteer and also to moderate a panel on War Never Changes and had been emailing the participants beforehand. Thus on the morning I got the opportunity to meet JP Corwyn, who was one of the panellists and is blind. I offered to be the volunteer to guide JP to the Opening Ceremony and to the first panel of the day. We hit it off and I stayed as his volunteer all morning. JP was a gent and insisted that we go things that I was interested in too.

I went to:
Opening Ceremony
Reading by Anna Smith Spark
There Were No Elves at Helm's Deep
Worldbuilding Tips and Tricks - this was great.
The Economics of Fantasy - had a lot of actual history discussed, so was much more interesting than I was expecting.
Book launch/signing
GoH interview - Liz Williams. Hugely entertaining.
Reading by Cavan Scott
And of course the War Never Changes panel. Which went brilliantly. Dom Murray was incredibly nervous because it was his first ever panel, and refused to believe he was doing fine.

The only downside of Bristolcon is the bar gets INCREDIBLY NOISY so for people with damaged hearing (me) and age-related hearing loss (me) it is almost impossible to hold a conversation. I should have nabbed a committee member and asked if there was an option to use the Dealers Room or Art show for chatting after those had been dismantled.

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Fanfic - the Wraeththu Mythos novel is on AOOO

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:34:56 GMT

The novel length Wraeththu Mythos story I wrote is finally up on AOOO. Tribal Identity: archiveofourown.org/works/41074653/chapters/102950109 It has a mature readers tag. Nothing gratuitous or graphic, but it is for mature audience rather than general ones.

I was hoping to submit it as a 'spinoff' novel to Immanion Press, since Storm Constantine had always been very supportive of fanfic, and had published several fanworks. However, first Real Life interfered with me finishing it. Then second, it grew long enough for two novels. Then very sadly, Storm died.

So it is finally on AOOO for Wraeththu fandom to have a gander at. I divided it up into 5 parts, each representing a year of the story.

Year 1: Infiltration

Year 2: Incursion

Year 3: Interdiction

Year 4: Insurrection

Year 5: Invasion

I really enjoyed writing these characters, so I might return to them sometime. Hopefully the next story won't take 16 years from first putting paper to final edits! Also, next time I think 'I could write a short story about these guys', it won't end up being 143,000 words... :-)

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Eastercon 2022

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 15:10:16 GMT

Belated witterings about Eastercon 2022 (Reclamation).

It was wonderful. Seeing people I hadn't seen for 2 years, chatting, running to and from panels.
It was exhausting. Seeing people I hadn't seen for 2 years, chatting, running to and from panels. :-)

The 30 mins gap between panels was awesome.
I went to Mary Robinette Kowal and Tasha Suri's GoH interviews and they were both fabulous.
The 3 hour queue to check into the hotel was horrendous. (They did give us a 25% discount on that night's room rate as an apology).

The bit I was dreading the most was the coach journeys to and from Heathrow. But the coaches were not at all crowded and the terrible traffic the media was predicting never materialised.

The cheap con food was never available in the real ale bar when I went looking for it. So I survived on their sandwich meal deals and eating the nice, but expensive, hotel bar food. And grazing on the free chocolate eggs left out by one of the bid sessions.

Everyone was being very good about masks. But two of the people I hung out with at the con tested positive for Covid when they got home. I tested negative.

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Eastercon 2022 (reclamation) want an INTERNATIONAL covid pass

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 16:01:03 GMT

The latest PR for Reclamation had a link to their Covid policy. Good job I went to re-read it, as I had missed the first time round that they want an INTERNATIONAL Covid Pass, not a domestic one.

I've no idea how easy/difficult getting an International one is, and the Gov website (understandably) says tons about international travel related stuff and nowt about how you'd go about using an International one for domestic stuff. (This is the England regulations I'm talking about - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may have their own screeds of legalese to plough through).

I did find out that the digital version of the International pass lasts:
- 30 days if you confirm your phone number
- 72 hours if you don't confirm your phone number
(It doesn't say how)

If you want a paper copy, you need to leave 7 days for it to arrive. (Assuming the post in your area is reliable).

Do I need to say what country I'm travelling to? (The People's Republic of Heathrow???)

I'll try later in the week to apply for it, after I've done my next lateral flow test. Hope it doesn't require a PCR test like my Mum's Scottish version of the International Pass did when she went on holiday a few months ago.

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Bristolcon 2021: con report

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 17:45:19 GMT

I've mostly gone back into lockdown again because the southwest is a Covid plague pit. And I have to trek to Scotland at the end of Nov to prevent my Mum from travelling down here. But I ventured out to go to the Bristolcon one day convention at the Hilton Doubletree. I'd offered to be a minion/gopher a while back, and more recently they'd asked me if I could work on the reg desk first thing, because the committee member who does Membership had a doctor appointment and wouldn't be able to get to the con until after the reg desk had opened.

I didn't go to the 'unofficial' Friday night events and 'bar con'.

COVID VS THE CON
I arrived at 8am on the Saturday and there was a headless chicken feel to start with, as the Chairman had gone down with Covid. So there was a lot of folk running about saying "Where's the signage for the panel rooms?" and "Who has a key to X room?" because with 2 committee members missing, the logistics were crumbling a bit. Insert your own swan metaphor here.

Reg desk had been pared down to handing out badges, and programme schedule only. Covid meant no goodie bags, no souvenir booklet, etc. We also were not taking walk ins, so there was no cashbox, card reader or receipt books etc. And the dealers got sent to the Dealers Room to get their badges etc. So the reg desk queue moved REALLY fast. Everyone was very good at doing socially distanced queuing, and hovered out of the way until we waved them forward.

In fact, masks and social distancing was very much a Bristolcon thing. Apparently there were minions tasked with politely asking people to use masks or display their exemption lanyards... and they complained to the Committee that they were bored and had nothing to do! Go Bristolcon membership!

And one public spirited panelist turned up at Ops/Reg Desk in the afternoon to say that she was dropping out of being on her panel, because she was starting to lose her voice and didn't want to make people paranoid that she might have Covid.

PANELS ETC
There wasn't actually a huge amount of panels I wanted to see at the con. There was a heavy fantasy bias this year. At least it seemed that way to me, given that I prefer SF to fantasy. I went to:
1. GoH interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky - a superb chat about space opera with Gareth Powell. Highlight of the con!
2. New Weird Britain - UK folklore and how it is being used in fantasy & horror.
3. Why is there no democracy in epic fantasy?
4. How well does science fiction predict the future?
5. For the Empire! Are SF&F stories of fantasy or galactic empires tackling colonialism & exploitation?
6. A bit of the closing ceremony - it took 40 mins to get my food from the hotel bar, so I missed the start.

I also meant to go to Anna Smith-Spark's GoH interview, but got chatting in the bar and list track of the time. Ditto going round the Art Show (though I have looked at all the online art displays). I did, as usual spend far too much money in the Dealer Room.

SOCIALISING
It was lovely to see various people in the flesh for the first time in 18 months to 2 years. There were lots of "what geeky stuff got/is getting you through the pandemic?" chats.

I only stayed about half an hour after the Closing Ceremony finished, because I didn't want to spend an evening in a crowded bar, even if people were being good about masks. I struggle enough to hear what folk are saying in crowded bars when they are not muffled by a mask.

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Eastercon (Confusion 2021) - Day 4

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 13:17:09 GMT

I had a gaming thing scheduled with my brother for 3pm, so I only did a half day at Confusion on Day 4.

The Exoplanets panel had no tech issues. They wandered off topic a lot but it was entertaining nevertheless.

Annoyingly, as usual the previous panel crashed into the next panel, and so the buffering thing meant I didn't get into it until it had started. It was the In Memory of Storm Constantine panel and it had no audio. I really, really wanted to hear this, so set off to log onto Slide to tell the moderator that.

And discovered that I had no idea which of the 7 channels was the Storm Constantine one! (I hadn't written it down like I had with some other panels). No problem, I thought - I'll go look at the list of what's on today and that will say. But it didn't say on the "now happening" page, and the 12.00 panels had all vanished from the Monday programme page - it only had future panels showing, not current ones. I went round and round in circles trying to find the "whole of the programme" page which I knew had the info on it. FFS stop making vital info difficult to find.

So I jumped in and out of all the Slide channels until Kari posted a moderator message in one, indicating it was the Storm one.

Kari and Tech sorted the audio after a few minutes, so I got to hear most of the panellists stories about Storm. It was sweet and funny and made me cry in places.

The final panel I watched was New Keystones in SF. Again I missed the start, due to (1) the previous one not finishing until bang on 1pm; (2) the buffering thing lasting a minute or two; and (3) I am a human being who sometimes needs to pee!

I think the tech issues for this con would have been a lot less frustrating if the communications had been better. Stuff like:

Don't assume everyone and their dog is constantly glued to Facebook and Twitter. Put everything important on your website. Especially "how to" summaries and links to platforms/channels.
Don't send out emails at the last minute. (If there is some sort of last minute emergency, fair enough).
Repeated information is better than lack of information.
Too much information is better than lack of information.
If the platform to ask questions is different to the platform to watch the panel, it needs flagged up in LARGE FRIENDLY LETTERS in multiple places, so people don't have to go hunting thru emails to find it.
If there are multiple channels/rooms for questions with generic names like "Room 1", then you need to include the channel name in the title of the panel EVERYWHERE that title is mentioned. e.g. Exoplanets in SF - Room 5.
If the panels all start bang on the hour, then the panels need to end at 5 to the hour. Those 5 minutes are vital for meat space activities like comfort breaks, making cups of tea, feeding the cat, etc. As well as providing 5 minutes to get over the buffering issues. (Having 5 minutes for buffering from 12.55 to 13.00 is no use if the last panel I went to ends at exactly 13.00).

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Eastercon (Confusion 2021) - Day 3

Mon, 05 Apr 2021 09:54:16 GMT

The Confusion lack of understanding how efficient comms works continues...

I wanted to go to the Bid Session. So I pootled about, doing things like CHECKING MY EMAIL (this will be important later), then logged onto the site about 15 mins before the Bid was due to happen. Then jumped into the Bid as soon as it let me... and it buffered... and buffered... and I finally got into it after a couple of minutes after it had started...

Only to find a sign saying "we've moved to Zoom - check your email for the login".

FFS. Don't put that info inside the session which is difficult to get to. Change the bloody title of the session!

Checked email again. Yes there was now an email about the Zoom Bid. It had arrived at 10.50 for a session that started at 11.00.

Again FFS.

When the bid had finished, I caught the second half of the Xenos in SF panel. Might go listen to the start of that if they recorded it.

The 2000AD panel buffered for 5 mins, but I finally got into it.

I watched the recording of the 80s pop lyrics vs Warhammer 40K quiz. One of the contestants had terrible tech issues, but everyone seemed to be having fun.

I couldn't get into What's Not Being Published, but my second choice of Love & Gunships was a great discussion.

The Fanfic lecture was really good and had no tech issues.

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Eastercon (Confusion 2021) - Day 2

Sun, 04 Apr 2021 09:55:18 GMT

Things have improved on the tech front, but still not 100%.

I couldn't get into the 10am panel I wanted to see - just a black screen, not even any buffering. Same for the others running in the same slot. So I wandered off to do other things.

At 1pm I tried again for Dan Abmett's GoH interview - and everything worked! Yippee! As did the lecture on Medieval Forensics. And both were excellent events.

However there was no audio on the 8pm panel I wanted to see - 80s pop music & space marine dialogue. I tried my second choice of Working Class Heroes and that had audio... and some very fine discussion. I have a few book recommendations jotted down.

The Male Power Fantasy panel also worked fine.

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Eastercon - Day 1

Sat, 03 Apr 2021 09:41:16 GMT

Was a total wipe out.

The only thing I saw was the last 2 minutes of the Opening Ceremony. Because they didn't get me a username until it had started, and it took me a while to realise that the links in the email were invisible (white on white background), and not just missing.

I got into the Opening Ceremony on my third attenmpt.

After that, nothing worked. Panels just buffered endlessly.

So I spent the evening on the phone to a friend, chatting gaming and SF with him instead.

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Goodbye, Storm Constantine, I'll miss you

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 16:41:16 GMT

I heard yesterday that Storm Constantine died a few days ago.

I'd wondered why she had gone quiet for a few weeks on the topic of Para Mort, her latest Wraeththu Mythos anthology, but put it down to lockdown, Xmas/New Year and/or maybe Brexity business paperwork taking up all her time. Alas, it was none of those.

( Read more... )

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Books read in 2020

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 15:03:24 GMT

FICTION

1. Alliance Rising by C.J. Cherryh & Jane Fancher (science fiction).
2. Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh (science fiction). I felt the need to re-read this after reading the new ‘prequel’, Alliance Rising. It is still a great book, but it is very noticeable now that the tech is paper printouts and paper ID documents instead of reading stuff on a screen.
3. The Farm by Joanne Ramos (science fiction).
4. Damnificados by J.J. Amaworo Wilson (mainstream/magical realism). This is lovely. Funny, poignant, political and with touches of magical realism now and then. It was an impulse buy at an Eastercon, and I’m so glad I did. The author doesn’t seem to have written any other novels, which is a shame.
5. Four Days to Veracruz by Owen West (thriller).
6. The Bear & the Serpent by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fantasy). Vol 2 of Echoes of the Fall.
7. Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Loved this.
8. Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky (science fiction). Curiously unengaging. Possibly a combination of the narrative structure and the fact the hero spends most of the book trying to avoid getting involved in anything?
9. Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn (science fantasy). Vol 1 of the Shadowlands Duology.
10. Broken Shadows by Jaine Fenn (science fantasy). Vol 2 of the Shadowlands Duology. I’d like to read more in this setting.
11. The Last by Hanna Jameson (science fiction). The blurb on the book makes it sound like it is a serial killer picking off victims one by one. It is really not that at all! Nice portrait of people over-reacting and going a bit weird at the end of the world.
12. Special Purposes: First Strike Weapon by Gavin G. Smith (horror). The Soviet Union starts the zombie apocalypse in the 80s. Fun when its character stuff and a bit of action. Gets dull when it is page after page of zombie-killing.
13. Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells (science fiction). Confluence vol 1. Interesting in bits, nice ideas, but heroine too much of a Mary-Sue in other bits, and does that REALLY annoying romance trope of having the hero and heroine almost become a couple, then stop that story arc dead in the water so the author can spend the whole of the NEXT volume doing the will-they-won’t-they thing all over again. So I’m not going to read the next one!
14. Song of the Night by Zoe Burgess (fantasy/romance).
15. Rosewater by Tade Thompson (science fiction).
16. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (fantasy). Broken Earth vol 1. Reading too much sub-D&D, comparable to Tolkien at his most ripped-off, lost heirs to the kingdom, put me off fantasy for decades. It is books like this one which are proving to me that fantasy is actually worth reading. Lovely writing, interesting characters, doing stuff with timelines and narrative which I can’t mention for fear of spoilers. I finished it and immediately ordered the 2nd volume from the library. Then the library shut due to Covid-19, so I couldn’t pick it up! Oh noes!
17. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin (fantasy). Broken Earth vol 2. Since I couldn’t get the library copy, I bought the second volume!
18. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (fantasy). Broken Earth vol 3.
19. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). The Expanse volume 1. Re-read this in preparation for running some one-offs of The Expanse RPG.
20. Caliban’s War by by James S.A. Corey (science fiction). The Expanse volume 2. Ditto.
21. Scatterstones by Fiona Lane (science fantasy). Set in Storm Constantine’s Wraeththu Mythos universe.
22. Breathe My Shadow by Storm Constantine (science fantasy). A Wraeththu Mythos novel.
23. Blood, The Phoenix & A Rose by Storm Constantine. A Wraeththu Mythos novel.
24. Citizen Andri by Philippa Sidle (science fiction). Spaceforce Vol 3. Philippa complains that she’s had her title ‘Spaceforce’ gazumped by Donald Trump and now by the Netflix TV series, so she’ll have to re-brand the series.
25. The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan (fantasy). Vol 3 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent.
26. In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan (fantasy). Vol 4 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent.
27. Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan (fantasy). Vol 5 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent.
28. Updraft by Fran Wilde (YA fantasy). Bone Universe Vol 1. Someone recommended this to me, but I almost gave up on it. Mainly because it does ‘Boot Camp’ TWICE in one fekking book. First the heroine is training to fly and be a trader’s apprentice, then, just when I’m going ‘Thank Grud that’s over, hopefully we’ll get to the plot now’, she gets sent off to start training to be in the ‘police/priesthood’.
29. Love Beyond Body, Space & Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-fi Anthology ed. by Hope Nicholson.
30. Starters by Lissa Price (YA science fiction/dystopia).
31. The War of the Worlds:The Anglo-Martian War of 1895 by Mike Brunton. A spoof military history book from Osprey.
32. American War by Omar El Akkad (science fiction).
33. People of the Canyons by Kathleen O’Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear (prehistorical).
34. Abandoned by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan vol 2.
35. Pariah by W. Michael Gear (science fiction). Donovan vol 3.
36. Act of Grace by Anna Krien (mainstream).
37. Dead Bad Things by Gary McMahon (horror/crime).
38. The Exile Waiting by Vonda McIntyre (science fiction). It’s been reprinted, with a short story set in the same universe.
39. Daughter of Kura by Debra Austin (prehistorical).
40. The Last Wave by Rick Vancey (YA science fiction). Vol 3 in the Fifth Wave series.
41. One of Us by Craig Dilouie (science fiction).
42. The Eagle & the Raven by Pauline Gedge (historical). Another book I recall being fantastic when I first read it, but on a re-read is just okay.
43. Stasi 77 by David Young (crime).
44. How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (historical).
45. The Sentinel by Lee Child & Andrew Child (thriller). Jack Reacher vol 25
46. The Survivors by Kate Furnival (thriller). Was on the recommended shelf in the library. Set in a displaced persons camp in the aftermath of WW2. I’ll probably see if the library has her other books.
47. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths (crime). Enjoyed it but it is a sequel to another book I probably should have read first!
48. The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey (YA science fiction). First in a series.
49. Dune by Frank Herbert (science fiction). Re-read it after enjoying playing the quickstart version of the Dune RPG. Still enjoyable, but I’d forgotten (or not noticed) all the problematic bits, like Jessica being purchased as a sex slave for the Duke, and all the gay and bisexual characters are eeeeeevil. I wonder how they are going to deal with that in the new movie?
50. All That’s Dead by Stuart MacBride (crime).

NON-FICTION

1. Complete Guide to Acrylics by Lorena Kloosterboer.
2. Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind by Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen.
3. A Concise History of Sunnis & Shi’is by John McHugo.
4. The Price of Altruism: George Price & the Search for the Origins of Kindness by Oren Harman.
5. Insatiable: The Rise & Rise of the Greedocracy by Stuart Sim.
6. British Battle Tanks: Post-War Tanks 1946-2016 by Simon Dunstan.
7. Grimoire Dehara: Kaimana by Storm Constantine.
8. The Horse: A Biography of Our Noble Companion by Wendy Williams.
9. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge.
10. Sisters in Arms: Female Warriors from Antiquity to the New Millennium by Julie Wheelwright.
11. The Happy Brain by Dean Burnett (neuroscience). Why isn’t some of this stuff common knowledge?

GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. The Terrible Elizabeth Dunn Against the Devils in Suits by Arabson.
2. The Nightly News by Jonathon Hickman
3. A Shadow Within: Evil in Fantasy & Science Fiction by Francesca T. Barbini (ed.)
4. Six Days: The Incredible Story of D-Day’s Lost Chapter by Robert Venditti, Kevin Maurer & Andrea Mutti.
5. Unnatural Selections by Gary Larson. Okay this isn’t exactly a graphic novel, but this is the best section to put it in…
6. Cows of Our Planet by Gary Larson.
7. The Far Side Gallery 3 by Gary Larson.
8. The Prehistory of the Far Side by Gary Larson.
9. Orphans 1: The Beginning by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction). THIS is how you do Boot Camp – skip over it and then flashback to any bits of it which turn out to be relevant.
10. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Eisinger, Scott, Becker.
11. You Brought Me the Ocean by Sanchez & Marsh.
12. Love the Lion by Brremaud & Bertolucci
13. Orphans 2: Lies by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction).
14. Orphans 3: Truth by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction).
15. Orphans 4: Winners & Losers by Recchioni & Mammucari (military science fiction). Not sure if this is the end of the series, or if there will be another.
16. Snowpiercer Vol 3: Terminus by Bocquet & Rochette. Didn’t realise it was Vol 3, but it is a stand-alone story.

BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH

1. Edges by Linda Nagata (science fiction). Inverted Frontier volume 1. I was fooled into buying this by that “volume 1”. It isn’t – it’s a sequel to another series. So it is written as if you know who these characters are (I didn’t), what their backstory and relationship is (I didn’t), and therefore care about it and them (I most certainly didn’t). So do I want to spend several hours reading about smug, irritating guy? Or find out if his relationship with famous but personality-free woman will rekindle on this dangerous mission? Nope, I don’t.
2. Invisible Ecologies by Rachel Armstrong (science fantasy). Nice writing, neat ideas. But the poetry chapters did nothing for me. And the prose chapters were all character portraits with very little actual plot. I wanted something with a bit more drive and grab for my lockdown reading.
3. Future Perfect by Katrina Mountfort (YA science fiction). Dystopian society where everyone has to be Body Perfect, must only be interested in shallow celebrity culture, and sex is banned. Started okay, but it lost me when the heroine – who has banged on about how no-one is allowed outside the city dome and how much she’d like to know what it is like out there – get sent outside with hunky romantic interest and hardly reacts at all to the experience because the landscape isn’t pretty. This is not the author being ironic or doing character development.
4. Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (cyberpunk). I kept this, so I obviously liked it back in the 80s when I originally read it. This time round I just didn’t care about anything that was happening or who it was happening to.
5. Wolf Wind by Jane Wade Scarlet (western). Plodding and with characters displaying sudden changes of opinion for no reason. One minute a person is saying “we must be kind to this poor boy” and the next they hate him.

RPG BOOKS READ IN 2020

Your Best Game Ever by Monty Cook
Kids on Bikes
Bite Marks
Hack the Planet
Scum & Villainy
Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000AD
Cortex Prime
Ghost Ops
Tribe 8 (re-read to run a campaign for the Tue group)
Paleomythic
Liminal
Android: Shadow of the Beanstalk
Alien
Legacy: Life Among the Ruins
Worlds of Legacy: Primal Pathways – worldbook for Legacy RPG
Cortex Prime – the very, very late kickstarter finally turned up
Mythic D6
Terra Oblivion - worldbook for Mythic D6 RPG
The Company - only just started reading this one.

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So why is no-one asking Dominic Cummings this?

Tue, 26 May 2020 17:00:09 GMT

Dear Mr Cummings
You said you were worried that you couldn't drive safely, so you went for a 30 mile 'test' drive to Barnard Castle.

If you truly thought your driving might be dangerous, why did you put your CHILD in the back of the car???

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Britain needs more Lerts!

Mon, 11 May 2020 12:29:40 GMT

Every time the government or the media bangs on about Stay Alert I can't help thinking of that old, old, joke...

Be Alert!
Britain needs more lerts!

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