zkrisher - Network

The Opening Arguments Poscast #1141 - Are Republican AGs really trying to have some of the most important federal protections for disability...

The Opening Arguments Poscast #1141 - Are Republican AGs really trying to have some of the most important federal protections for disability rights declared unconstitutional? Attorney Jenessa Seymour joins to explain the history and purpose of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the pending challenge to a Biden-era regulatory update intended to protect trans health care rights.

https://overcast.fm/+AAN4Tx2e_TU

#accessibility #ADA #lgbtq #section504 #law #podcast

I've finished: The Great Wheel by Ian R. MacLeod The Great Wheel is a literary work, concentrating on Father John's internal...

I've finished: The Great Wheel by Ian R. MacLeod

The Great Wheel is a literary work, concentrating on Father John's internal struggle with his faith and with his role on his one-year mission to the Endless City, the sprawling slum of climate refugees that borders privileged Europe.

This isn't a YA novel where the protagonist defeats the corrupt system. It is a much more realistic novel and that is where its power lies. There are no easy solutions; there is no hero, god or miraculous technology that will save the day.

It is a struggle just to find inner peace between your own inner demons and the harsh realities of the world.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/2b92c23f-fb18-49e9-b178-8b98c2ed54c5

@bookstodon @audiobooks #ScienceFiction #ClimateChange #bookstodon #Audiobooks #books #SocialJustice

Content warning:Netanyahu, Israeli PoliticsThis week, Israelis woke up to war again, but this time not to the Hamas surprise attack of...

Content warning:Netanyahu, Israeli Politics

This week, Israelis woke up to war again, but this time not to the Hamas surprise attack of October 7 but to a conscious decision by their government to restart fighting, against the will of the popular majority, which consistently favors an end to the war and the return of all the hostages. This same week, the Netanyahu government intensified its battles on two other fronts as well: its war on Israeli democracy, and its war on Diaspora Jews.

https://us18.campaign-archive.com/?e=429a869b3c&u=d3bceadb340d6af4daf1de00d&id=ca0c3f045e

#israel #netanyahu

I've reread: In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee MartinezIn the Company of Ogres takes some strange twists and turns. Every time I thought...

I've reread: In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez

In the Company of Ogres takes some strange twists and turns. Every time I thought I knew which kind of story this is it took a twist and turned into something else.

We start with Demonic Accountants running the place, continue with a black sheep last chance Cinderella story move to a bit too much teenage love triangle and end up with cosmic forces at work.

But the best thing about Martinez is that he is funny, and Ogres is first and foremost a satire of fantasy tropes. My favorite moment was a game of Real D&D played by Ogres, goblins, orcs, and so on... playing as other D&D character types.

And how can you not love a story about a character called: Never Dead Ned.

Sadly fore some reason this is the only A. Lee Martinez novel not available as an audobook.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/9e9c0f3b-97ea-474b-8837-e9683110471f

@bookstodon #SFF #fantasy #satire #bookstodon

Content warning:Netanyahu, Israel, Gaza,If you wanted to understand why Netanyhu is restarting the war in Gaza today, it's because he is...

Content warning:Netanyahu, Israel, Gaza,

If you wanted to understand why Netanyhu is restarting the war in Gaza today, it's because he is in the process of firing the head of Shabak, the Israeli FBI and this threatened to galvanize the opposition in huge demonstrations.

The head of Shabak recently opened an investigation into contacts between Netanyahu's inner cyrcle and Qatar on of the main sponsors of Hamas.

How dare the opposition demonstrate when the nation is at war!. #israel #gaza #netanyahu

Left Hanging#SilentSunday #photography

Left Hanging

#SilentSunday #photography

I've finished: Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera Rakesfall is a work of art, it requires experience in order to appreciate it. This is...

I've finished: Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

Rakesfall is a work of art, it requires experience in order to appreciate it. This is not a novel I will gift to friends that are not deep into Sci-Fi.

I was able to grasp that I was looking at something beautiful, but I needed the final chapter to understand much of what Vajra Chandrasekera was aiming at.

Rakesfall proposes a cosmology that integrates mythology and technology. It involves possession, gods, demons, time travel and a multiverse, and it takes us all the way from colonial history to the heat death of the universe.

Yet, it is very much a novel of our time, of the powerful, the greedy and corrupt who wish to attain godhood and those who will oppose them.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/eca894b2-fc35-4eb8-af56-107b1cad4c47

@bookstodon @audiobooks
#SFF #ScienceFiction #bookstodon #AudioBookds

I've finished: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett This Holms and Watson duo really captured me. The fact that the setting...

I've finished: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

This Holms and Watson duo really captured me. The fact that the setting isn't London, but a province near the seawall that protects a biotech empire from seasonal attack by giant leviathans makes it much more appealing.

The biotech isn't mimicking current or future technology, it mainly enhances natural abilities. The augmentations have repercussions and unwanted side effects.

The story is toled in first person by Dinios Kol, an engraver, augmented to have perfect recall. He is very competent but suffers from imposter syndrome as he tries to hide his dyslexia from his superiors.

Kol is assigned to assist the eccentric genius investigator Ana Dolabra, an over sensitive woman that has to blindfold herself in order to manage the amount of information assaulting her brain. Kol assits her by going out into the world and recalling what he's seen and heard.

As the plot thickens, we learn more about the empire and its ills.

As mysteries go, our attention is pointed towards many clues, the satisfaction is more in watching competent people do a good job in the face of adversity.

The Tainted Cup is a real page-turner and I found it hard to put down.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a97ae9ff-1aa2-4ea9-a547-f290ac647b61

@bookstodon @audiobooks
#SFF #mystery #AudioBooks #bookstodon

Content warning:Spoilers, Sub-Genre DiscuttionThread:A novella that is a better match for the Dystopian Deconstruction prompt is: The Annual...

Content warning:Spoilers, Sub-Genre Discuttion

Thread:

A novella that is a better match for the Dystopian Deconstruction prompt is:

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

The story starts with an acceptance letter to university in one of the remaining domes.

But, It is not the story of a girl from the waists struggling to integrate into privileged society.

It is about leaving a struggling community and an overprotective parent.

(It is true that there is a sequel where she does go to the privileged university).

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f7e40263-c266-4bde-b772-608fc23449be

@bookstodon

Content warning:Spoilers, Sub-Genre DiscuttionThread:As I read Scythe I kept looking for any sign of an unconventional YA distopia and just...

Content warning:Spoilers, Sub-Genre Discuttion

Thread:

As I read Scythe I kept looking for any sign of an unconventional YA distopia and just couldn't find it.

1. Teens recruited into the elite clique and enter a special training program, yes.
2. Teens fall in love after a short period of feigning indifference, yes.
3. Teens find out that the system is corrupt, yes.
4. The young lovers find themselves on opposing sides of the divide, yes.
5. Stupid miscommunications that cause them to doubt the other's love, yes.
6. The Teens overcome the corrupted system using their new learned powers, yes.

The only thing that I can think of as unconventional is the fact that the AI didn't turn out to be evil.

@bookstodon

I've finished: Scythe by Neal ShustermanIt was recommended as part of a Story Graph reading challenge under the prompt: " 20....

I've finished: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

It was recommended as part of a Story Graph reading challenge under the prompt:

" 20. Dystopian Deconstruction (1 added)

Critiques the overused conventions of YA dystopias".

I found it to be a very conventional YA dystopia novel.

I see these prompts a a learning opportunity. If you've read Scythe and can enlighten me as to why it would be considered a diconstruction of YA dystopian conventions, I'd love to hear it. If you agree that it is not a diconstructi9on, can you recommend another novel for this prompt?

Mind you, in this reading challenge Anti YA is an adjacent prompt.

" 19. Anti-YA (2 added)

Challenges traditional YA tropes like the chosen one or insta-love."

I think this discussion will contain spoilers. So it will be continued in the next message with a content warning.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/53eeb598-9e44-4392-bcbf-d693e8e3e2b5

@bookstodon #subgenres #ScienceFiciton #dystopia #YA #StoryGraph #bookstodon

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley is on sale at LibroFM. A wonderful military SF page turner without the Jingoism that turns me off many...

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley is on sale at LibroFM.

A wonderful military SF page turner without the Jingoism that turns me off many books in the sub-genre. With a strong anti capitalist core.

Told from the point of view of a grunt that finds herself unstuck in time, there is much more to a mission than just the fighting. We slowly build a picture of the world through the mosaic of Dietz's disjointed experiences.

https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781508280408-the-light-brigade

A time travel novel so good the Science Fiction Book Review Podcast reviewed it twice and gave it a rare 5 star rating.

SFBRP #394: First Review

https://www.sfbrp.com/archives/1558

SFBRP #416: Spolerific Review

https://www.sfbrp.com/archives/1644

@lukeburrage #BookSale #LibroFM @audiobooks @bookstodon #ScienceFiction #TimeTravel #AbudioBooks #antifa @Kameronhurley

I've finished: The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta Despite being set in space, this is a story about social justice, about the...

I've finished: The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta

Despite being set in space, this is a story about social justice, about the environment and the prosperous colonies abandoning the third world.

But first of all this is the story of a woman trying to find out why her spouse has disappeared and what he's been doing behind her back. Will she be able to reconnect with them and is their relationship salvageable?

Lumi is a healer, but she is a vulnerable soul, she is tested to the limit as her world crashes around her.

It is also an interesting mix of hard science and shamanism.

Xe Sands is the perfect narrator for the melancholy tone of the novel.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/eaecfc43-4a95-40c0-a2cb-1e0f6144bf7a

@audiobooks @bookstodon #ScienceFiction #SocialJustice #Audiobooks

Elizabeth Bear's White Space novels are also available: Ancestral Night:When an action adventure with precursor technology, a multitude...

Elizabeth Bear's White Space novels are also available:

Ancestral Night:

When an action adventure with precursor technology, a multitude of alien species of all shapes and sizes and sentient AI, is actually about internal and external mind control and a young woman's journey to find her own path in a galaxy that keeps trying to manipulate her.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Ancestral-Night-Audiobook/B07HKLN6TN?ref_pageloadid=HCETmLbAij3r7gkP&pf_rd_p=5a4fb781-998c-4918-95c5-0d9a9a49a837&pf_rd_r=RGNW5F39AN9B89MGAACR&plink=T0CKvMTY0jwfzNwc&pageLoadId=kRlqa47YXuts2l8N&creativeId=afeeeb21-0b91-4093-b7e3-2c50fafa0305&ref=a_ep_series_c10_lProduct_5_2

Machine:

A relaxing Sci-Fi thriler.

Filled with my favorite tropes: lots of aliens, ancient artifacts, mystery and intrigue.
Yet my blood didn't rise until the end game.

An interesting factor is that the main character has a disability, however this is not her only or even main trait.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Machine-Audiobook/179711364X?ref_pageloadid=HCETmLbAij3r7gkP&pf_rd_p=5a4fb781-998c-4918-95c5-0d9a9a49a837&pf_rd_r=RGNW5F39AN9B89MGAACR&plink=T0CKvMTY0jwfzNwc&pageLoadId=kRlqa47YXuts2l8N&creativeId=afeeeb21-0b91-4093-b7e3-2c50fafa0305&ref=a_ep_series_c10_lProduct_5_11

On The Storygraph:

https://app.thestorygraph.com/series/487

@audiobooks @bookstodon
#booksale #audible #Audiobooks #ScienceFiction #bookstodon

Audible is having a sale until the 10th of March. There are some interesting books on offer:The Book of the Unnamed MidwifeA women lead post...

Audible is having a sale until the 10th of March. There are some interesting books on offer:

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife

A women lead post apocalyptic novel.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a7ccc22d-a916-4ce9-9aee-4551542f1439

Audible:

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Book-of-the-Unnamed-Midwife-Audiobook/B01LOQUNY6?ref_pageloadid=SA3HGEGQd7PVz0Wq&pf_rd_p=5a4fb781-998c-4918-95c5-0d9a9a49a837&pf_rd_r=NXX2FDSMZEWRTMN2QRY8&plink=hv9H9B3S4jh3ldmd&pageLoadId=ufaWlqoDe1X3KW9f&creativeId=afeeeb21-0b91-4093-b7e3-2c50fafa0305&ref=a_ep_series_c10_lProduct_3_3

#booksale #audible #Audiobooks #ScienceFiction @audiobooks @bookstodon
#bookstodon

Both available novels in the Endsong trilogy by Sascha Stronach are on sale at LibroFM. They universe is a mix of tech, biotech and magic...

Both available novels in the Endsong trilogy by Sascha Stronach are on sale at LibroFM.

They universe is a mix of tech, biotech and magic and can be hard to follow. however, in a dark world the characters are delightfully queer and very antifascist.

The Dawnhhounds:

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/8a15344a-5478-4b04-90c6-7ae2208eea85

The Sunforge:

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/14b66158-058e-4506-a394-13997589cf1c

LibroFM:

https://libro.fm/search?q=Sascha+Stronach&searchby=author

#booksale @audiobooks #SFF #lgbtq #libroFM @bookstodon #bookstodon

I've reread: The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore I was reminded of The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove when I heard...

I've reread: The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore

I was reminded of The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove when I heard RFKjr was planning to ween America off antidepressants.

It is about a town taken off its meds after a patient's suicide spooks the town psychiatrist.

This is a zany comedy; it is not the best representation of mental illness. But the power of Moore's novels is in their compelling characters; Their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, as well as their grotesqueness.

We got a washed up schizophrenic B-Movie actress, a decent stoner constable, a horny old blues singer with a past, a socially awkward biologist and his dog, an ancient lonely giant lizard with psychic powers, as well as many others…

I think this is one of Moore's best novels. I was really invested in the characters journey to find happiness.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3d5d5355-da9f-4129-aaec-1eb769971a06

@bookstodon @audiobooks
#fantasy #humor #bookstodon #AudioBooks #RFKjr

I've Finished: The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. TepperOn one hand, The Gate to Woman's Country is a product of its time....

I've Finished: The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper

On one hand, The Gate to Woman's Country is a product of its time. Dealing with the aftermath of world war III. On the other hand, toxic masculinity is as relevant as ever.

In dialogue with the Iliad, Tepper Imagines a woman lead society that segregates men to a military garrison limited to Trojan War technology and confining war to formal battlefields set outside the walls where women, children and men who have renounced military life, live.

There is more to it than that, the arrangement isn't stable and must be maintained. The segregation isn't hermetic and women interact with the warriors outside Carnival Time. This is where the drama and the characters weaknesses and strengths come into play.

One place Where Women's Country really feels dated is that in a society where the sexes are mostly confined to their own camps and where marriage has been abolished, there is no mention of lgbtq sex.

A thought experiment with depth and compelling characters.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/cf7a67ef-a154-4b08-bcd8-7855a345c3d9

PS.
The audioook is available to the Audible Plus catalogue.

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Gate-to-Womens-Country-Audiobook/B07D9PLHSB?ref_pageloadid=2cCp7yKQTDailcgf&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=71HP3JQZEDAG4GSP7E76&plink=pmK2QE0tBNKcHapr&pageLoadId=Ey4YJsfjEI3uiYlc&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B07D9PLHSB_1

@bookstodon @audiobooks #ScienceFiction #feminism #ToxicMasculinity #bookstodon #AudioBooks

How to Persuade the Vaccine Hesitant by: Andrew Miller"So my wife is a pediatrician and works in some hospitals with high vaccine and...

How to Persuade the Vaccine Hesitant

by: Andrew Miller

"So my wife is a pediatrician and works in some hospitals with high vaccine and intervention hesitation (suburban ones). She has found *tremendous* success by just letting the families know she will have to document the higher risk of specific, and often fatal illness, in the chart of their child".

https://kottke.org/25/02/how-to-persuade-the-vaccine-hesitant

#vaccines #medicine #skepticism #RFKjr #SBM

I've finished: Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky In Shroud, Tchaikovsky imagines evolution on a world where visible light is not available....

I've finished: Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky

In Shroud, Tchaikovsky imagines evolution on a world where visible light is not available.

As a legally blind person I'm both disappointed and glad that this novel is not about blindness. I would have liked to see Tchaikovsky describe the challenges of dealing with blindness, but wouldn't have liked to see him fail at it, like too many other sighted authors.

This is a first contact story. Quite uniquely, establishing communication isn't the first priority.

It contrasts a human capitalist strip mining project with an alien intelligence that has it's own history, constraints and priorities.

But first of all, it is a trek across a dangerous alien environment and survival against the odds.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3881cf9f-e318-4bf3-a7fe-496c3a56781d

@audiobooks @bookstodon
#ScienceFiction #AdrianTchaikovsky #FirstContact #Audiobooks #bookstodon