sutcliff_swap | Member Posts

Paul Krugman talks with Ada Palmer about her new (nonfiction) book Inventing the Renaissance. I came at this from the Krugman side (he's a Nobel-winning economist who used to write for the NYT, and I subscribe to his substack) but I figured some of you would be interested from the Palmer side (I never got into Terra Ignota, though). I found it really interesting! I read the transcript, but there's a link to the video conversation as well.

Speaking of Nobelists, a v. v. srs study found that countries with greater per capita chocolate consumption produce more Nobel laureates - so eating chocolate makes you smarter, right? :-)

duskpeterson

The royal sactuary is arguably the most important chamber in the palace. It is here that, in former times, a sanctuarian priest held daily rituals designed to uplift the spirits of worshippers and – I am sorry to say – crush the spirits of slaves. The Emorians, rightly appalled by the Koretians' treatment of their slaves, built part of their new palace over the burning ground just outside the courtyard, which lay within easy sight of the sanctuary.

Despite its despicable misdeeds of the past, Koretia's priesthood has survived to the present day. The Jackal, who is also High Priest of Koretia, holds annual services to honor the slaves who served and died in Koretia; these services are often attended by the few slaves who survived their treatment. Some of these slaves remain dead in mind but come willingly to this service, drawn here by the Jackal, who is the god of death and who therefore watches over their spirits in the Land Beyond. To witness these dead-in-mind men and women gather around the Jackal is a deeply moving experience - a living monument to the Koretian belief that the gods can transform evil into good.

The royal sanctuary was desecrated at the time of the Emorian invasion of 961; the sanctuary was used to stable horses in the years that followed. After the Emorians withdrew from Koretia in 976, the chamber remained empty for many years. In 987, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Koretia's slaves by the Emorians, the chamber was rededicated under the name of the Royal Sanctuary of the Living Dead. It is now a memorial to the suffering of Koretia's former slaves.

Conveniently for visitors, the royal sanctuary can be visited separately from the rest of the palace. The sanctuary now has its own entrance, unconnected to the royal residence or any other portion of the Koretian palace.

[Translator's note: The Royal Sanctuary plays a dramatic role in Death Mask.]

sineala

What I Just Finished Reading

Marie Javins, Iron Man: Extremis Prose Novel: Extremis is an Iron Man arc I have read a lot, and I read this prose adaptation because I was interested in comparing the two; novelizations often flesh out the stories with additional details and I wanted to see what additional material was in here and what it was like.

(Also I promised myself I'd read one book a month and I finished this on the 31st in, like, an hour. I had a lot of migraines last month.)

The answer is that it's... weird. There is a lot of MCUification -- Tony has an arc reactor, a public superhero identity, and an AI named JARVIS, as well as a massive crush on Pepper -- but then it's also very comics -- Tony is sober, is clearly a working superhero and has been one for many many years, has a human butler named Jarvis who still works for the Avengers (who are clearly Tony's longtime friends), and has undergone at least a few of his bigger comics storylines, like being drunk and losing his company to Stane and being broke and living on the streets. You know. That one.

So I'm not really sure who this is for, because it's gonna annoy die-hard comics fans. I guess it's for fans who want to read some Iron Man and don't care much about continuity. Also, if you want a whole bunch of body-horror details about how Extremis works that are even more body-horrific than canon (like, Tony is conscious, mostly lucid, and blind and paralyzed and in pain the entire time he's in the cocoon and he is aware that Maya is talking to him) then I guess this is for you?

Also, weirdly, one of the ongoing themes is basically that it's Sexual Humiliation Hour for Tony? The first page of this book wants to tell us that there are tabloid stories about how Tony can't get it up, and the big Extremis reveal features Maya making fun of Tony because his dick's not bigger. I, uh. Okay? Yeah? Wasn't expecting any of that.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

( Doctor Strange of Asgard #4, Imperial #1, Ultimate Spider-Man Incursion #1, Ultimate Wolverine #1 )

What I'm Reading Next

IDK. All my Not Having Migraines time is going to finishing this exchange fic and not reading.

Current Mood: creative

lil_1337

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isis

What I've recently finished reading:

A Drop of Corruption, the sequel to The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. I liked it a lot (Din and Ana are great characters!), and I thought it was easier to follow than the first book, in the sense that I figured out the major twists and culprits before they happened (which is not a criticism, it means the appropriate breadcrumbs were dropped). The worldbuilding continues to be very weird and cool. Definitely one of the best Sherlock Holmes fanfics I've read! :-)

What I'm reading now:

I've gone back to the Shardlake series by C. J. Sansom and am now on the fifth book, Heartstone.

What I'm watching now:

Still Andor. The other night I dreamed we were giving a party, except our house was basically Mon Mothma's house on Chandrila and the party was like the wedding episode. And then I went into the bathroom to change clothes and I noticed that my husband had left the tap dripping water so the cats could drink it, just like in real life :-) And then I woke up.

What I'm playing now:

Still Mass Effect: Andromeda, heading toward the endgame. It's still fun! Except for having to kill another Architect, which is basically the thresher maw of the Andromeda galaxy, and I still hate both of those enemies!

isis

Mostly I'm just putting it here so I can find it again. But also, I rec this whether or not you have played the game, it's not really spoilery, and it's very cool:

Words by Phineas (at YouTube)

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Rosemary Sutcliff Fanwork Exchange

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interesting links to fascinate people

FIC: The Royal Sanctuary: historical background (Tempestuous Tours)

Wednesday Reading Meme

[Review] The Modern Bestiary - Joanna Bagniewska

[Review] The Wicked + The Divine Vol.8 - Gillen, McKelvie, Wilson, Cowles

[Review] The Wicked + The Divine Vol.7 - Gillen, McKelvie, Wilson, Cowles

[Review] The Wicked + The Divine Vol.5&6- Gillen, McKelvie, Wilson, Cowles

[Review] The Wicked + The Divine Vol.4- Gillen, McKelvie, Wilson, Cowles

[Review] On Stranger Tides - Tim Powers

wednesday reads and things

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