#why is this book so funny is it because it's an audiobook...

[mood2you]

Lestat : Go outside and piss and shit and DIE and don't fall in love so much with the night that you lose your way back.

Louis [just drank Lestat's blood and got so hard he got nauseous] : I think I huave COVID

[13eyond13]

.

[susiephone]

wtf is dracula daily?

i’ve seen a couple people ask this question on my posts about it, so i thought i’d go ahead and clear it up here!

ok so, the classic horror novel “dracula” is an epistolary novel - that means it’s told via letters, diary entries, ship logs, and news articles. (technically the term “epistolary novel” refers to works told solely through letters or emails, but many have expanded it to mean any work that is told via in-universe documents, hence why diaries and logs often get included as well. “frankenstein” is another classic example; the whole framing device is robert walton is recounting the story he heard from victor to his sister via letter. a modern example would be “several people are typing,” which is told via slack messages, or “the perks of being a wallflower,” which is told via letters from charlie to his anonymous pen pal, which is functionally more like you’re reading his diary.)

because of the nature of the narrative, we actually know the exact day nearly everything in dracula happens - the letters, news articles, diary entries, etc. are all dated.

“dracula daily” is a substack project where the novel is broken up into parts, with people who are subscribed to the project getting emails every day something in dracula happens - for example, the novel opens with jonathan harker’s journal entry on may 3, so on may 3, subscribers are emailed that entry. the action of dracula takes place from may 3 - november 6, plus an epilogue set some years later. the project started in 2021 (i think), but fucking BLEW UP in 2022, and they’re doing it again this year! lots of us are very excited - especially people like me who fell behind last time.

why not just read the book?

valid! due to some parts of dracula being told out of chronological order, dracula daily does reorder some things. for example, the first section of dracula is told entirely from jonathan harker’s pov, then the second section switches the pov to mina murray. their sections have some overlap in the timeline, so dracula daily jumps back and forth between their perspectives.

if you want to read the book as bram stoker intended, dracula daily may not be for you. but for a lot of people (myself included!), it breaks up a very long text into easily digestible chunks (....mostly. there is one entry that is 10k words), and the fact that it’s a big project means there are a lot of people reading along with you.

i think there’s also something valuable about experience the slow revelation of wtf is going on along with the characters. the book which you might otherwise get through in a few days is stretched out into months of suspense and agony as you wait for the other shoe to drop, and it’s great.

plus, the whiplash between “jonathan harker’s neverending horror” vs “lucy is basically on the bachelorette” that you get in dracula daily is very very funny.

how do i sign up?

right here! and if you sign up and fall behind in the emails, no worries - the dracula daily website posts past entries so you can catch up.

what if i prefer audiobooks?

have i got great news for you!

like i mentioned before, i couldn’t keep up with the emails last year. part of it is that it is much easier for me to focus on an audiobook or keep up with a podcast than it is for me to sit down and read, especially with longer entries.

this year, there is going to be a podcast titled “re: dracula” that was inspired by dracula daily. every episode will be a dracula daily entry, with a full voice cast! (seriously, if you listen to british podcasts, you will recognize some of these names. the magnus archives and wooden overcoats girlies are WINNING.) you can find that here.

there is also a podcast called “cryptic canticles” that has an already-completed audiodrama of dracula that i’m told is also extremely good, and was also broken up by date. you can find that here.

why do i keep hearing about paprika/the boyfriend squad/lizard fashion/cowboys?

you’ll see.

oh god am i gonna hear about this nerd shit for the rest of the year

yes. sorry.

[cloudwhich]

enjoy this rambling i found in my notes app after i listened to the ascendancy trilogy audiobooks for the first time. i was working on my final animation project and i literally had to stop and write this down in the studio at like two am

it is SO heartbreaking ‘re-reading’ thrawn ascendancy. Like it just hurts my soul a little bit. I’m near the end of the third book after the final battle and GOD. Every character mentioned has such a distinct personality. Everything meshes together. The perspectives come from every single person EXCEPT thrawn. In a book about him. GENIUS.

The eventual trust that forms between Samakro and Thalias as well… after so much drama… honestly. Both of them as characters are so potent and persuading… they are real in my mind. And in my mind they are happy. (Also. I think I ship it)

AND ZIINDA… my love for her. A flawed character, but likable for relatable reasons. Her old doubts shadow her but she Persists. And does the right thing!!!! Also the way she’s voiced in the audiobook is just so fun. Like a reserved, slightly southern accent. Her and Sakmaro’s voices are so good. Each characterizes them PERFECTLY. Thank god for good voice actors to read my Star Wars audiobooks 🙏

IT WAS A PUNCH IN THE FUCKING GUT when Thrass was first mentioned because I knew what was coming. As did everyone else. But the memory interludes… good god. Those two deserved to live and thrive together it HURTS. And seeing Thrass’ view of thrawn through his perspective… they are BROTHERSSS. THRAWN NEEDED THAT BRO. And the words repeated from outbound flight in the last flashback… I cried in the studio. A single tear ran down my face bro PLEASEEEEE and I am DREADING the final flashback. I know the pain that awaits me. And then Thrawns final exile… why WHYY

Oh. Wutroow and Aralani my favorite command duo. Ever. Such a good dynamic it makes me wonder… (I can’t prove it. But they kissed once.)

But don’t get me STARTED on aralani and thrawn. Don’t. Because I can’t even. Equally stoic and skillful, but Thrawns autistic socially awkward ass wouldn’t survive a second without Ziara . And also… Don’t play. We all heard what she said about their museum “outing”. Ziara thought thrawn was taking her out. But she still enjoyed watching him ramble about art. Then she asks to GO BACK TO HER QUARTERS WITH HIM to “show him her wire sculptures”. And all that oblivious man does is Study. The. Sculptures. And psychoanalyze her. and THEN. Yall SPARRED??? Oh my god. Please. They probably had the most situationshipy friendship ever that only Aralani realizes ever had that connotation to it. I think after that ‘date’ ended she was like yeah. he’s either gay, autistic, or completely oblivious but i like his weird ass mind so imma keep him around

Oh. And Ba’kif was Stybla?? Did not know. I fuck w the Stybla not gonna lie. big fan of family drama

also. I find it so fucking funny when the officers get pissed off and curse or go out of standard protocol. I be giggling and kicking my feet when one of them says “damn”. Or when they swear under their breath WHAT DID YOU SAYYY I NEED TO KNWO

final thought: let Wutroow curse. Homegirl is itching to drop an f bomb let her do it

[funishment-time]

4-8 for Junko on the ask game? (Sorry if you've already answered for her)

(from this ask game)

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

junko4smash. she can sheik/zelda with Monokuma. also unrelated she would kill everyone in harry potter and it'd be so so funny

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

lots, but these days it's "JOYRIDE" by kesha

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

hmm. hopefully no one takes this Out of Context in a shitty way, buuuut...

in my early 20s i had intense anhedonia where everything bored me so much it was agonizing: not even music perked me up, which is one of the tell-tale signs that you have Something Wrong on like, a chemical level. i was dopamine-deprived and it almost physically hurt. hard to describe unless you've been there. i spent days listening to audiobooks for hours at a time while staring at the ceiling, going to class, and sleeping. nothing was interesting, nothing was stimulating, nothing was new or exciting or fun, and i looked forward to nothing. it was Advanced Depression in a way that wasn't even depression because i wasn't sad, necessarily, just...unable to genuinely feel.

this is small-scale shit but the anhedonia was so intense i would have done anything to end it, so like. i mean. i don't want to say "i get it" but i don't think Junko is unrealistic is what i'm saying, from my own experience.

also. we're both big sexy bears

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

that people can openly like Junko at all without 5000 disclaimers is a blessing to me. you all know there'd be some Fandoms where she wouldn't fly as a character and there'd be DNI lists about her fans due to her problematic, totally non-fictional real life behavior in Danganronpa, a story that totally happened

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

forgetting that, at least in DR1, Monokuma really isn't his own guy. he's a persona of Junko's. he isn't in V3, obviously, and you can argue both ways in DR2, but DR1 he is Junko, he is Junko's way of fucking with everyone and not revealing herself, and a lot of what Monokuma says tells us a bunch about her Worldview and her Relationships with her class. i don't know why this is so important to me But It Is so deal with it yo

[shiraglassman]

books i owe reviews to

I am behind on Stuff but here are some books I read recently that I liked

Lavender House 1950′s queer noir. Gay cop gets fired for being gay and ends up a hard boiled PI solving one of those Rich Household Murders when the head of a soapmaking fortune falls to her death. Has TW’s but a happy ending for the MC, who sounds like Batman in the audiobook.

Legends and Lattes Orc retires from adventuring and opens a coffeehouse in a city that’s never heard of coffee (which is its own kind of funny.) She accidentally found-families herself because of course she does, and it’s got f/f in it. 

A Gentleman in Moscow Smartass elegant aristocrat is sentenced to permanent house arrest in a hotel when the communists take over in Russia 100ish years ago. Book describes the next several decades of his life and all the adventures you can get up to in a small space, which are: plenty. Surprise, like the previous one this also has restaurant stuff in it so I felt very Seen by the person who recommended it to me. Has m/f in it.

A Lady for a Duke Regency m/f romance. Heroine was thought dead on the battlefield in Waterloo but instead, she’s nursed back to health in a cottage and takes the opportunity to quietly transition and return home to become the “poor companion” to her brother’s wife. Problem: her old best friend, who has a lot of Waterloo trauma himself, is at the end of his rope. He does lash out when he figures out his new love is his old lost friend, but it’s 100% selfishness not transphobia (”how could you let me think you were dead”) and there is more than enough space in the story for him to redeem himself. Just wanted to make sure y’all knew that was in there.

I also read Project Hail Mary ages ago and that was really cute. I LOVED the ending bc it was more than I was expecting by that point. I went in nearly completely cold and that’s why I’m not describing the plot, just that someone I trusted said that they thought I’d like it. So I’m gonna let that be the spoiler: that it was ultimately cozy enough for the likes of me. :P

[paradoxcase]

Gideon the Ninth audiobook, through to the end of Chapter 31

Cytherea is described as having "biscuit-colored curls" which I kind passed over the first time I was reading. She's described elsewhere as having light brown hair; American biscuits aren't any kind of brown, if they're made right, but Muir isn't American, either. In Britain, it's my understanding that "biscuit" refers to any hard flat cookie with a stamped design, but those come in all sorts of colors. Does "biscuit" mean a secret third thing in New Zealand?

Gideon says "it's stupid for a cavalier to watch their necromancer die" which I think sort of foreshadows Gideon rejecting Harrow's instruction to survive her

Gideon asks Cytherea why she came to Canaan House in the first place, and I feel like Cytherea's answer is about when she came the first time, nearly 10,000 years ago? She talks about how the Seventh wanted her to die beautifully and she though the Emperor had her best interests more at heart than they did

She says: "If they could figure out how to stop you when you're mostly cancer and just a little bit woman, they would" about the Seventh, but that's exactly what John did to her, isn't it?

And then: "I'll probably live forever, worse luck, whatever happened to One Flesh, One End?"

Palamedes pronounces "golem" exactly like "Gollum" and that amuses me

Harrow thought the secret to Lyctorhood was a secret power source in Canaan House they were supposed to discover - I guess to the extent that the consumed cavalier's soul is a power source, she wasn't exactly wrong

Camilla: "The last thing the Warden needs is an introduction to Lady Septimus" - pretty funny in retrospect

Palamedes after Harrow removes the plug Cytherea put on the Seventh lab's keyhole: "Did you hide the last key, too?" He was right about that

Colum is described as having a "perpetually scratchy voice" which I missed the first time, but it does match up with his voice here

Mayonnaise Uncle thinks Gideon's red hair might have come from the Third, which is I guess some extra information about the distribution of phenotypes in the Empire, but the only other redheaded House character we know of is G1deon (I almost wrote "Pyrrha") (who, ironically, is not biologically related to Gideon Nav unless he was like John's cousin or something). Mercy had "pink" hair, but I don't know if that means like, strawberry blond, or like, literally dyed pink. I guess it's been 10,000 years, so things might be a bit different now

Colum: "The next time we meet, I think it's likely one of us will die." Well, it wasn't the next time they met, since they both showed up to hear Cytherea tell a very fake story about why Protesilaus was already dead just after this, but I think it's the next time they are both in the same room together than Colum dies, so, yeah

Teacher says something about a "poor child" and Gideon doesn't know who he's referring to and I don't either even on the second readthrough. I guess it's possible that he's just talking nonsense, because he's a weird construct, but he's been saying things that consistently make sense in the current context throughout the whole book, so I don't really buy that

The scene where Corona is practicing with a sword and challenging Gideon to a duel feels kind of like she's anticipating being left behind by Ianthe and is trying to lean into the idea of becoming a cavalier after this, since she can't pretend to be a necromancer without Ianthe. We know from the Fourth teens that Ianthe has been sneaking into all the locked doors and reading the theorems at this point

When Naberius comes to collect her, he says "I won't tell her". I guess he means Ianthe?

Is that really how "beatified" is pronounced? I don't think I've ever heard it spoken before. Wiktionary seems to agree that it is

If I had listened to the audiobook first, I definitely would have misheard Gideon talking about "narking" on Harrow as "knocking" and been confused

Palamedes: "All I ask is that you put some pen and flimsy in my cell so I can start my memoirs." Yeah, that's not what you wrote when you were actually confined to the River bubble for months, haha

Narration: Suddenly [Cytherea] seemed impossibly old.

Cytherea claims that John was against soul siphoning. So, the thalergy siphoning that was a fundamental part of Mercy's challenge, and which the Second House uses regularly on enemies, is totally fine and cool, but Mayonnaise Uncle send Colum's soul away temporarily to generate power is wrong. You know, Mayonnaise Uncle is actually a lot more sympathetic on the second readthrough

Mayonnaise Uncle also really had Cytherea's number in this scene and no one listened to him, he was the only one saying that Cytherea was suspicious and everyone else was disgusted by this, including Judith. No wonder he was so sour in Harrow's River bubble

Harrow wants to use Protesilaus' head for necromancy and everyone else is unhappy about this. But this isn't strange for the Nine Houses - the Canaan House skeletons were made from the dead just like the Ninth skeletons were, and just like the Sixth skeletons were in Dr. Sex, not to mention Ianthe's use of Babs' body. Like, if we are going to start complaining about the desecration of dead bodies now, I think that starts to call into question the entire way that the Nine Houses uses necromancy and has been using it for the past 10,000 years. I'm not sure any of the other necromancers really have that high ground

Palamedes says Cytherea only has days left to live, she definitely giggles at that

In the pool scene, Harrow says that the calculations for the deaths of the 200 children were very precise, and that the babies contributed the most thanergy. Now I'm wondering if Gideon failing to die might have messed up those careful calculations in some way? Obviously Harrow was still born a powerful necromancer, and it still worked overall, but now I'm curious

Harrow about John's blood ward: "I knew it had to open for me" because she was the descendant of Anastasia. She never questioned that there might have been some other reason it opened

[liesmyth]

Books of the month!!!

(for the past 3 months) (forgot to do this for February and March so they're all here)

April

Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel — MORE blorbo Thomas Cromwell! Unreliable narrator tortured evil meow meow goes VROOM!! Genuinely hilarious on top of it. More thots. Fave read of 2024 so far. READ IT.

Dimenticare Berlinguer: La sinistra italiana e la tradizione comunista, Miriam Mafai — Essays on Italian political history. Probably not relevant to tumblr's interests. Very relevant to mine.

Mademoiselle de Maupin, Théophile Gautier — Gender! 1835s epistolary novel with Gender and crossdressing and musings on the value of Beauty! I loved this but it's rambly in a period-typical way. The Italian translation has very witty pretty prose; no idea about the original French, but I've heard the English translation isn't great.

The Angel of Indian Lake, Stephen Graham Jones — Third book of a trilogy. Do rec only if you love Jade Daniels as much as I do. Otherwise, it might get a bit confusing. I DO enthusiastically rec the first book in the trilogy, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, so you will all come to love Jade Daniels as much as I do. You're welcome.

The Manicurist's Daughter, Susan Lieu — A memoir about grief and families and the immigrant experience (Vietnam to west coast US). It's not usually my wheelhouse but I appreciated so many things about it, especially because of the audiobook version. Nonspoilery goodreads review here.

March

Bride, Ali Hazelwood — I don't like werewolf tropes enough to have enjoyed this. Fun romp if you like mates and knots.

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, Philip Gourevitch — Nonfiction; a partial account of the Rwandan genocide. (I say partial bc I think it lacks context if you, like me, don't know much about the topic going in.) Very poignant, unfortunately remains relevant; do NOT go for the audiobook version because it's dull as dirt.

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel — The book that blorbifies Thomas Cromwell and it's also laugh-out-loud funny. Do yourself a favour and read it.

February

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronthe — somehow I'd never actually read this in English before? Absolute banger. The first half remains superior.

American Elsewhere, Robert Jackson Bennett — I have screamed about this on tumblr before. COSMIC HORRORS TAKE OVER NEW MEXICO TOWN! Do rec.

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier — Amazing incredibly showstopping etc.

Clarkesworld, Issue 209 — Love me some cool sff short stories. Standouts: Lonely Ghosts (Meghan Feldman); The Enceladus South Pole Base Named after V.I. Lenin (Zohar Jacobs); Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole (Isabel J Kim)

january books || let's be goodreads friends! here

[advluv4life]

I got on here with a purpose and then immediately got sidetracked by The Sunshine Court. Luckily my purpose also has to do with The Sunshine Court.

Jean and Kevin's relationship is obviously complicated, while they care about each other there is obviously pain and a level of betrayal (that was discussed at points in the book) but I don't remember him bringing up in relation to his own feeling how Kevin finding Neil could have in and of itself felt like a betrayal (at least initially).

I just listened to the audiobook for All for the Game like 100 times in the past 4 months but I can't remember clearly the Fall Banquet (I'm pretty sure that was the banquet) when Riko and Jean reveal that Neil is Nathaniel and they ask Kevin why he hasn't tamed him or trained him yet. I wonder how long it took Jean to, assuming that he has, come to terms with Kevin manipulating him to leave, abandoning him to Riko and Tetsuji's wrath, and then also finding his misplaced forever partner... How did he even cope with all that?

I see posts about how Jean talks about Neil and how he gives him a lot of funny nicknames and he doesn't really see him as attractive or anything but how much of that is because of Neil being a kind of enigma to him in the Nest? And I wonder if he was angry and upset with Kevin for finding and also denying him his 'true' partner after leaving him? I also kind of wonder how much Jean actually cares about Neil knowing that he only survived during Christmas break because Jean broke-

' ...what if...'

-you know? Part of me feels like he has him at arm's length because he really can't fathom anything else at this point and I hope their relation/friendship grows throughout the next book.

I've only read The Sunshine Court once, so maybe I missed something but I was driving and I was thinking about this and it hurt so much so...

[theriverbeyond]

do u care to elaborate on why tlt would be worse as a visual adaptation? the issue that comes to my mind would be that the unreliable narration and the sense that the main character has no clue what is going on would be way harder to get across on film, but i'm curious if there would be other problems

sure! also sorry this ended up being rlly long lmao.

the unreliable narrator part of the books is a big reason why I think the series would be worse as a visual adaption. overall, GtN as a standalone would probably adapt okay, but you would still lose Gideon's unreliable narration and all of her gorgeous & funny prose. NtN would probably be just okay as well, but again you would still lose her subjective narrative voice and the specific way she perceives the world. like..... at their best, a visual adaption (animated or live action) of NtN or GtN would still be less-than the book because both are stories that so heavily rely on their specific narrator's internal subjective experience.

and that's not even getting started on HtN -- I have no idea how one would adapt HtN into a 3rd person narration in any way without drastically changing it. and in changing the format, you lose the backbone of the story (Gideon Telling Harrow a story about herself), and you lose the disorientation of Harrow's lobotomy. you lose the viewer experience of confusion/self doubt/etc that just makes HtN what it is. I just can't see a visual adaptation succeeding without making massive sacrifices that I just don't think are worth it. like.... these books are good because of things that don't translate to video. video isn't the pinnacle of media. if something was designed to be a book/audiobook and it does an amazing job as that, I just do not see any reason to sacrifice a bunch of what made it good just to see it on a screen.

Secondly, I do not think a visual adaption would be able to retain fidelity to the source material, because everyone in tlt is gross all of the time. I love fan artists having fun with the designs but IMO that's not the same as an official adaption. like, not only is necromancy gross, a lot of the characters are described with traits what would probably not survive the transition to camera or animation. Such as: bloodsweat, Harrow being a wet rat constantly covered in vomit or blood or both, Silas looking jaundice/like mayo, Issac & Jeannemary looking like they are going through all the terrible parts of puberty etc. Gideon has a pimple problem and a crooked smile and Ianthe is gross and constantly wearing clothing that absolutely does not fit her. Mercymorn has a resting bitchface, G1deon looks like a skeleton with skin, etc etc. Anime or arcane-style animation would probably be better, at least with stuff like necromantic gore and bloodsweat, but they would probably still end up being like. conventionally attractive! idk maybe this is more of a personal preference but it's kind of important to me that they are not.

I have 3 personal exceptions:

Stage musical adaption. I think a stage musical could capture the drama, the emotion, and the camp needed. for GtN at least, but maybe even beyond. everyone is seen from a minimum of 50 feet away so they can use exaggerated makeup and really lean into all the ugly. practical effects for necromancy, musical numbers for the marta/cam duel and initial gideon/harrow fight.... palamades' explosion happening offstage as gideon stands frozen in the middle, her and us helpless and unable to do anything but wait. massive puppets for the lab 2/final boss construct. dramatic lighting to signify eye change/lyctorhood.... gideon falls on a rail and then everything goes totally black. silence, or maybe crying. harrow screams gideon's name. then lights up on gideon standing behind harrow, holding the sword together, under a narrow beam light. it could be good. and i think a stage musical could bring in enough of a meta-level awareness to make up for the lack of narration. for example, when she's trying to do her big speech, ianthe keeps trying to sing a song but the music refuses to start for her. & before lyctorhood, she stands literally in corona's spotlight shadow. gideon makes harrow out to be this big scary witch but she is just very tiny under a big spotlight. "dulcinea" could have her face covered on stage until the reveal, leaving the audience to realize they were had. while a stage musical would lose some parts, it could enhance the story in its own way. GtN but to the left. it could be fun. i have put a lot of thought into this.

a comedy short film, shot rom com style (or animated like a shoujo), of Ianthe's POV of HtN.

a comedy short film, shot like the office/parks and recreation, of Ianthe's POV of Antioch

[rjalker]

Do you have any recommendations as alternatives for TMBD? For me this has been my comfort series, one of which’s protagonist, setting and narrations I related to on so many levels and made me feel seen, especially the non-human and rejecting being human aspect, but after seeing your post and realizing the problems with the books (and author)’s attitude towards racism and ableism, as well as eugenics, it’s become clear to me this might not be something I want to emotionally invest in too deeply. I’m trying to look for something new but I don’t know how to find books with similar themes or focuses

It mostly depends, what are the specific parts of The Murderbot Diaries do you like best?

___

If you like the style of the narration, you may like this Public Domain story from 1960: The Lost Kafoozalum, by Pauline Ashwell. You will probably be astonished.

It's funny, it's got action, drama, and only one easily fixed flaw right at the very end. (you'll know it when you see it, and see why it's so easily fixed it may as well be a joke)

It is public domain, meaning it has no more copyright, so it's free to read at all times, and you can even publish it yourself or create continuations and publish those. Think of Dracula, Frankenstein, and most recently and famously, Mickey Mouse.

(Edit: You can now read The Lost Kafoozalum on the Internet Archive as well. It will probably take 30 minutes or so to load, but when it does you'll be able to listen to an automatically-generated audiobook too. I'm adding this link in when this post is 40 minutes old for the record, so it should be ready when this post is 2h old)

And I found that there's also more stories in this series, the first of which, Unwillingly to School, can be found in this book that you can borrow from the Internet Archive)

___

For one of the things Martha Wells read and was inspired by to create The Murderbot Diaries, there's The Imperial Radch series, by Ann Leckie, which is free to borrow from the Internet Archive.

It's everything The Murderbot Diaries wants to be but isn't because of Martha Wells' bigotry.

It's about many things. Gender. slavery. the right to self-determination. imperialism. and more.

It is much more...linguistically? complex than The Murderbot Diaries, though. TMBD is very light reading, and this actually requires paying strict attention. This mostly applies to the first three books, the two standalone novels are more relaxed.

Book 1: Ancillary Justice: https://archive.org/details/ancillaryjustice0000leck

Book 2: Ancillary Sword: https://archive.org/details/ancillarysword0000leck

Book 3: Ancillary Mercy: https://archive.org/details/ancillarymercy0000leck

Book 4 (standalone): Provenance: https://archive.org/details/provenance0000leck

Book 5 (standalone): Translation State: https://archive.org/details/translationstate0000leck

___

Also my twin @walks-the-ages says that "everything I ever wanted from The Murderbot Diaries is actually in Transformers fanfiction and has been for decades". So they recommend literally just looking for Transformers fanfiction even if you haven't watched any Transformers.

If there's specific genres you like, I can try to think of other recommendations.

In general I just highly recommend checking out Project Gutenberg , Standardebooks, The Internet Archive, and Librivox.

Free books, audiobooks, and books you can borrow. Everything on Project Gutenberg, Standardebooks, and Librivox is public domain, aka no copyright, which means you can share and download as many times as you want and publish your own versions or sequels.

The Internet Archive also has a ton of public domain stuff, but also lets you digitally borrow books from their library.

[lunarthecorvus]

YOOO A KANEJ FAN

I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE

yes soc is awesome im on like a 3rd reread rn

actually i came here because of that asks reblog thingie to ask you something like what's your fav colour or shir

BUT KANEJ!!!

okay you gotta tell me your fav scene. also did you read the books or watched the show

Heyy! First I have to apologise for being so late with this- I can be good at answering asks or just awful at answering them on time-

I have read the books and watched the show. I watched the show first then got hyperfixated on the crows and needed to consume the books so I listened to the audiobooks! I adore the audiobooks and all the voices BUT I have a complaint about the pronunciation of words being different each time I heard them- even the same voice actors would pronounce the same word differently ahsha

Show wise I have quite a few favourite scenes and one of them is the one where all the crows (minus Matthias </3) were in that cafe discussing plans. Another one is the one where Jesper says that Jes means Suli for friendship, I loved the moment where the train expolded, the irony was just funny and I loved Jesper in that scene.

The scene where we had Inej, Zoya and Nina is the same frame was perfectt. Alina telling the Darkling she can deal with it hersekf and handle the people coming after her, also her killing the Darkling was amazing because I despise that creepy man. Inej doing the cool jump and slicing the shadow demon, iconnn. Honestly I almost wrote about that whole scene, I just love it all.

Seeing Kaz, Jesper and Nikolai be in the same room (the scene where Jesper and Kaz are arrested), I also loved.

Ooo and the scene where Inej is surrounded and goes 'the question is will I waste my prayers tonight after gutting you all' that was INEJ FUCKING GHAFA, shes so powerfulll. Then her and Nina interacting (I know not for long but stilll) and Nina speaking Suli, YESS. I wish that scene was longer.

Book wise, I could go on forever and in more detail about but I don't want this to be too long, so if you want to know more about why I love these scenes, feel to send an ask and i might get to it this year hopefully ahhsdh-

Inej being injured in the ship and Nina taking care of her. Just reading Nina care for Inej and them just being best friends and just talking was so nice to read, those girls deserve the worlddd, also their friendship means so much to mee.

Jesper and Wylan when they're breaking the chain because thats when I really realised how much I loved book!wesper and them interacting was so niceee. Also we just got see more of a newer side of Wylan and Jesper, it's one of my favouritee wesper scenee.

Kaz and Inej 'I would come for you' scene, when I tell you I was shocked at this scene, two people guarded like those two. Especially admitting that he would come for her not matter what was happening to either of them, he would come for herrr.

I was going to include just one but the other scene is the scene where Kaz says is my tie straight and Inej laughs, its them being in love and just being soft for a moment AHHHH, then when she goes to her parents and when she goes 'her heart was a river and it carried her to the sea', the fact that she gets to reunte with her parents hunt slavers and work with Kaz to take them down on land sometimes as well, JUST I LOVE HER and am happy for her. Her saying she thinks he's worth saving AAAAA.

Honourary mention is when she said the 'I will have you without armour or I will not have you at all' she set boundries as she should despite the fact that she knew she had feelings for him and wasn't willing to throw her life away and basically said that he needs to be willing to work on himself, Y E S.

Matthias and Nina, the kiss scene where he spins her around, I SQUEALED when I read that. I adore them both and was so happy when they actually finally broke down all the tensity and gave innn.

Nina being on Parem, I know that its sad because of what it did to her BUT she was just so powerful and commanding in that scene I just ahhhhhh love it. Also I love how Nina just manages to flirt her way through stuff and is an incredible spy, NINAAAA, shes so impressive

Wylan, ooo this one, its when Wylan was first disguised as Kuwei and watched his dad be fine with killing him, as well as just being face to face with his abusive piece of shit father. As someone who has/had a Dad like that when I heard that I was so FREAKING PROUD of him, he was face to face and watched his father do that and managed to boast to him about knowing he'd that and fooling him, Y E S. I was so impressed and knew the strength it would take to even face him, I'm still so proud of him to this

Inej, there are so many scenes but one is the 'when the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.' just hit the feels, she's writing her own fate after other people writing it for her and knowing that unlike Dunyasha she didn't have some special protection when she was taken, but she will hold herself up because she has survived and she is INEJ GHAFA. Another scene like this I loved was the incinerator scene because it felt so just AHHH, she finally chose that she was going to survive and finally live, it just hitss. And she released she was going to do it herself and not for work for anybody and help people like her.

There are so many more Inej scenes but this post is already too long that I don't want to make it so much longer, I wanted to include scenes for Kaz, Jesper and Matthias but I saw this post was just so long so for now I'm ending it here, if you want me to write about those scenes just send me another ask about it and I'll include them :)

[thetarotsequence]

Part Two - Half House and The Tower

✨From here on out, there will be spoilers ✨

Half House:

This chapter is foundational knowledge, in my opinion, on how to build a lovable character and then let them do disagreeable things. Honestly, THE LAST SUN is a masterclass in character building, already, but this chapter is the cornerstone of getting the reader sucked in, and the next chapter (which I'll get to, pinky promise) is the string that tugs the stick out from under the edge of the box, effectively trapping the reader in complete and total love for these stories. I don't make the rules, that's just how it happens.

The key, I think, is how relatable Rune is. From his claim that the stories about the worst night of his life "Just. Won't. Fucking. Die," to the pause he has for the unsettling feeling of did I just fuck up? that he feels after the encounter with Max in the bathroom, Rune is just a regular guy. I mean, yeah, he's technically a fallen prince with the capability to incinerate everything in an as-yet-undetermined radius, but he's a normal dude with a shitty day job, spooky boss, and bills to pay! He worries about his weight and wears laundry of questionable cleanliness! Just me? Listen, once you start having a chair pile, you never go back. But I digress.

I will die on the hill that these books - while fantastic to read - are even better when listened to. Josh Hurley, the narrator, is my dream narrator for my OWN book (if I get lucky enough to be published one day - I hope he can do a British accent). I hated audiobooks, legitimately hated them, until these stories, because the narration just feels like listening to a friend tell you about what's going on in their life, until all of a sudden it doesn't and you're in an epic battle with a lich, or struggling not to cry as your worst fears and biggest hopes are confirmed one right after the other (but that's HOURGLASS THRONE talk). So, if you're a hands-on reader who hates audiobooks, just trust me. I've listened to these books so many times I don't hear my own brain voice when I read them anymore. It's just the incredible talents of Mr. Hurley that have been engraved on my memory like grooves in a vinyl record.

It's the narration, too, that enhances that relatable factor, especially where Brand is concerned. He's definitely doing a violence on Max that would get American CPS called, but the narration makes it funny, the way I think it was intended to be. And again, they all clearly grow from this point over the series, and moreover, no one is perfect, and if you haven't wanted to stick someone's head in a toilet and flush, you're probably a liar.

Speaking of liars - Queenie. Settle in and grab some tinfoil for your hat, because I Have A Theory:

I think Brand went fucking nuts on Max - and granted, this is mild considering what he, a literal sharpshooter mercenary, is capable of - because he was programmed to do so. I have the benefit of having read all the way through the 3rd book and the EIDOLON, so I know that evidence supporting my theory exists, but that's an essay for a different day. What matters now, dear reader, is that I think that Queenie fucked up, and she's realizing it in the background of this scene when she tries to stop Brand, only to have him steamroll the conversation right over her. He goes oddly (and humorously) formal in his recount of what he did and why, and the ferocity of his protectiveness coupled with his recount of events just never sat well with me. It was disproportionate; there's no doubting that. I've always been suspicious of this sequence of events, specifically because this happened on the heels of Rune mentioning that the Empress, in her "unhinged grief" (such a mood) vanished into thin air and obtained Cryptid Status. From the first time I read these books, I thought (and continue to think) this bitch is the Empress, isn't she? Every time.

But! More on that theory soon.

Queenie's gentle manipulation, asking Rune how it was for him, after he lost everything, was masterfully done, Empress or not. It speaks to someone who has been a parent, or at least has been responsible for giving guidance (which, ahem, the Empress is the Mother archetype in the Tarot soooo...I am, as the kids say, standing on business) and knows that a delicate hand is needed. Where she couldn't stop Brand's irate retelling, she is able to successfully pull one of Rune's heartstrings and get him thinking about what she wants him to think about.

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this passage not only for the breadcrumb trail beginning in front of us as readers, but also for the dynamic emerging between the characters. Especially knowing how much trauma exists between the three of them now, and being a parent of a child with trauma (she's bootleg, don't worry, I didn't give it to her) and being a parental figure with my OWN trauma, I could really relate to the feeling of fucking up because of a trigger being set off when I was unprepared.

The last thing I loved about this chapter is how Brand and Rune work a case. It's incredibly smooth, subtle world-building that SHOULD, by rights, feel like an info-dump, but it doesn't, because of how expertly this is written. The personality embedded in Rune and Brand saturates the page and obfuscates any sense of things being spelled out for the reader. Plus, the way Rune and Brand riff off of one another is fun, and funny, and 100% the reason why my wife ships them romantically, because they DO bicker like an old married couple. It feels more than anything to me, like conversations I would have with my wife (if we were magic-case-solving-mercenaries, obviously). It's impossible not to love Rune and Brand. They're iconic.

Favorite Quote:

Not so much a quote, but the way Josh Hurley narrates Rune proudly theorizing "Maybe he wants to give me a big fat check" is stuck permanently in my vernacular, cadence, tone, everything. I have quoted it while opening the mail several times. There is never a big fat check.

The Tower:

This, as I said before, is where the string gets pulled, and we, the readers, get trapped. It's not the hook - that was buried back in the sparkly lure of the Heart Throne chapter - this is us being reeled in so swiftly we can't even struggle on the line. The continued world-building is seamless, concise, and vivid. I love the line where Rune says the rest of the world thought New Atlantis pulled their Gotham out of a cereal box, and the way he follows it up with "not a bad rep to have". This sentence does so many things at once: it establishes how New Atlantis came to be, it establishes what other people thought of it happening, and it establishes that it was costly on multiple levels, AND it establishes that it is incredibly unlikely to happen again. This makes New Atlantis feel more real, to me, because it's the difference between living somewhere and just visiting, or seeing photos online. Y'all might see a picture of bluebonnets in a meadow and think "Wow, so pretty," and I would see it and definitely think "God, it was probably 102 degrees when this was taken."

Speaking of differences in perspectives! When Rune said that Lord Tower and Brand "didn't get along" my first instinct is best described as uh huh...sure, Jan. HOURGLASS THRONE survivors know what I'm talking about.

I also loved the stealth-worldbuilding of wandering the streets of New Atlantis with Rune and Max on their way to the Pac Bell. And did you notice the seamless way Rune interrogates Max? I literally didn't notice that that was what it was, an interrogation, until THIS REREAD, so like...yesterday. And then Rune effortlessly provokes Max to reveal his true feelings about the situation? Slow clap goes here.

Another thing I just realized this reread is that IF QUEENIE IS THE EMPRESS, IS SHE THE ONE WHO TOLD LORD TOWER MAX WAS THERE????? Because who was holding New Atlantis together in her wake? Oh, just good ol' L.T. That takes LOYALTY, a deep kind of loyalty that most political figures don't deserve, and I'm curious to see if I'm right, if the loyalty was reciprocal, or if Queenie/The Empress was still trying to call the shots from behind the scenes instead of stepping back. Also, calling it now: I don't think it was just grief that sent Queenie to ground. I think she had something to be legitimately scared of coming for her, and she bolted for her own survival. I feel this way because New Atlantis, according to Rune, treats grief differently than we might. He refers to himself as a cautionary tale, even - why would a society designed to not support victims have space for grief? So my next question is - did she participate in the raid? Or does she know something about it?

Going back to Lord Tower - this is a weird experience, this reread, because of the loss of my own Dad, but it's even weirder to realize that I can see how Rune identifies L.T. as a father figure, now. It's right there on the page, but in THT, the recognition of that role in his life was a sucker punch for me. So that's interesting. I look forward to seeing what else this reread elicits for me.

Also, what happened to that AI, KD? It's been a while...I'm just saying. Is this Chekov's AI?

Another 'love it' moment for this chapter, to close out my TEDx talk, is yet more casework, this time in the form of Rune getting info from L.T. It initially felt like a mysterious-benefactor-and-protege situation before, but like I said, this reread, I can feel the difference, and like a paperback that's gone soft as fabric from too many rereads, I hear the soft affection in Lord Tower's sigh and "Must you make me so terrifying?" quote. I also hear that paternal vibe in "Addam is special, and I worry." You even hear it in the OBVIOUS (except to Rune) matchmaking energy from Lord Tower calling Addam a "confirmed bachelor, much like you." Which I love, every time.

Favorite Quote:

"His walkabouts?" (Emphasis to try to capture Josh Hurley's narration). Honestly, Rune's entire snarky commentary is just so funny, especially now that I know what happens, and it's obvious just how not like what he expected Addam turned out to be. But that's another topic for another day.

[mediumtires]

i can’t get over the intimacy of sharing a 17 hour flight.

have you ever been on a long haul flight? you get comfortable. and i mean. real comfortable. these men live in hotel rooms and cars and airplanes for the better part of the year. they know how to travel comfortably.

it’s sweatpants and slippers and audiobooks. christian and toto probably slept in close proximity of each other. do you know how vulnerable that makes a person? sworn enemy two rows in front to the left and christian nodding off with airpods in and a neck pillow? are you joking?

toto with an eyemask on and christian makes fun of him for it and toto scrambles to explain “i got my eyes lasered last week OK”. christian keeps chuckling for two hours straight as an excuse to keep looking over at his archenemy with the dark tousled hair. literally watches him sleep.

and fred. just literally in the middle of the aisle doing squats and engaging absolutely anyone in conversation because he’s bored. poor stewards have to squeeze past him every time christian calls them over.

meals. they’ll be eating together, at the same time. it’s such a weirdly intimate thing to eat on a flight, you can’t tell me it’s not. toto with a napkin tucked into his collar, christian rolling his eyes at him. fred already stuffing his face because standing up has him starving also he’s bored.

and. according to my main man carlos, the one way to fight australian jet lag is to stay awake the whole flight. we’ve all heard it, we’ve all seen it, he kept us updated. i can’t see these three old men staying awake for the whole thing but there will certainly be awake time. there will be work getting done (everyone but fred let’s be real), there will be books and music, maybe toto watches a movie and christian annoys him until he turns on the subtitles so he can watch along from behind. then he makes fun of toto’s choice of movie (i’m thinking top gun) for the rest of the flight. maybe toto meditates and christian can’t believe his eyes. in between toto will get up to get the blood flowing and he’ll do his squats right next to christian’s seat. i am convinced he has a night time routine and he WILL be doing it on the plane. he’ll offer christian his snacks.

and this is all fun and games ok but ABOVE ALL. they must have been talking.

and this is what has me insane because christian is SUCH a pr guy. like he is such a sucker for having cameras around and playing it up as this big respected team boss when in reality he’s just a big ass softie whenever there’s no one around to judge him. and he had to built this image of himself. he was the youngest tp, no f1 experience when he started and also - may i remind everyone - he’s short. tiny. he had to puff out his chest and bark at everything and everyone but he had to be charming about it too and this is literally how he learned to play the media so well. he is the king of pr. he knows how important image and perception are. BUT. i so very strongly believe he drops the act when he’s sure no cameras are around and that’s why he’s so well liked in the paddock. considering the portrayal of him in the media, i would keep a twenty feet distance to that man at all times but people aren’t are they? he’s well liked.

cameras off, he’s a nice guy. funny. probably very knowledgable about the sport, likes to give advice and help smaller teams. not necessarily merc. but basically everyone else. he can hold a conversation without making stupid comments all the time. and that’s what he and toto do too! the media and everything 2021 has made them into something aggressive and founded in hate and disrespect but actually, they were friendly with each other long before 2021 and they managed to be adults about the whole thing (so surprising tbh). THEY ARE STILL FRIENDS. and so they are okay with things like sharing long haul flights and sleeping in each others proximity etc etc etc even when christian makes a throwaway comment about it after like “oh toto was there too, got his eyes lasered or sumin idk i didn’t really ask”

BRO YOU HAD 17 HOURS ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME YOU DIDNT SPEAK TO TOTO ONCE THE ENTIRE TIME. try again. he asked about his eyes and then went on to complain about his tummy ache and THEN he probably filled toto in on geri’s race horses and they shared stories about having to build lego cars on christmas day with their sons who are literally the same age, all of it over some shitty airplane lasagne.

you can’t fool me christian horner you can’t

[menkhu]

It's your turn to go off! What's your favorite piece of media right now and why? Do you have a favorite character??

i'm not sure i can live up to the glory of your example but sure i'd love to go off hehehe >:3 i'm interpreting these as two completely distinct questions for maximum rant ability. y'all get to hear about chrisjen avasarala from the expanse and no gods no monsters by cadwell turnbull

i've been obsessing over chrisjen avasarala from the expanse for a hot minute now, and since i'm like halfway through the show and watching one ep each week, i have many months of obsessing left. and the other day i just discovered? when i went to see if my library had the expanse audiobooks? that there's a mini graphic novel series focusing on her? i didn't look into it too much because it's later in the timeline and i didn't want to be spoiled but just by looking at the cover i saw that it also features the character that i ship her with(?) most and i'm soo excited to get far enough in the show to read it.

the question mark next to ship is because she and bobbie draper have suchh a fun dynamic that the exact capacity in which they are together doesn't matter as much to me as them being together. when bobbie was first forced to work with chrisjen, she had just been through a precipitous change, discontent making her kinda petulant and bitchy, did not like her, and then the moment things Got Real and chrisjen's life was on the line, bobbie instantly went from not caring about the old lady to being ready to die for her and it was sooo funny. and the petulance and bitchiness did not leave. and chrisjen herself--she comports herself with such grace and poise but inside, she, too, is petulant and bitchy, and bobbie is one of few people with whom she lets that part of her show. it's beautiful. i'm looking forward to reading the comic and seeing all the gorgeous illustrations of them cussing at each other.

my fav thing about chrisjen is how she's both idealistic and calculating. she's a politician, scheming and playing chess with people, whispering into the right ear at the right time to manipulate people into showing empathy.

as for my favorite piece of media right now, i'm honestly not sure what it would be, but i've been having thoughts and feelings about no gods no monsters by cadwell turnbull. reading it is a different experience from most fantasy novels. ik prevailing advice with writing is to keep the action moving, keep the pace quick, trim out anything unnecessary, but this book takes time to sit with many different characters, to show you their backstories and motivations so that you understand what roles they take and why. like, there's a guy who you get to learn about how his marriage came together and fell apart and how it affected him and it isn't until you get to the part where he turns to online communities to fill the hole in his life that you start to see how he's relevant to the wider plot. and the story is soo much stronger for it bc ultimately, it's a story about otherness and community and the werewolves are just a cool side benefit. it plays with perspective in a fun way, it's deeply queer, and it feels more real than many non-fantasy stories.

anyway people on goodreads weren't especially kind about it so i decided to love the book all the harder for it.

[wormwoodandhoney]

quarter three book favorites! (qts 1 & 2) once again, in the order in which i read them:

I'm gonna cheat and list three witch books I read in a row because they're all kinda linked in my head: The Change, about three women who gain magic powers after they go through menopause, The Witches of Moonshyne Manor about a coven of witches in their eighties who must protect their home, and The Rules of Magic, a prequel to Practical Magic- though I preferred the even farther reaching Magic Lessons.

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin is a really hard book to describe haha but it is as great as everyone says it is.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson is a really fun, voicey mystery. A complicated family reunion at a ski lodge gets more complicated when people start dying.

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen is the sequel to one of my favorite fairy tale retellings, Little Thieves. I'll admit this one isn't nearly as good as the first, but still pretty great.

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina is a mystery novel about an Indigenous teenager who dives into the mystery of the missing women on her reservation after her sister disappears. This is marketed as a horror and I think that's a bit of a mistake- the horror is in the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women, and this book is not a fast-paced slasher or thriller. It is great though.

Northranger by Rey Terciero is a graphic novel, and it's a queer, modern retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. So fun! Lots of discussion of horror media and how it both helps and hurts queer people.

Vampires of el Norte by Isabel Canas is a gothic historical romance set in Mexico, as vaqueros attempt to stop the invasion of the United States- and the vampires. Mostly a romance, but so delightful.

Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper was a fantastic memoir! Written by the Black man who was birding in Central Park when a white woman called the cops on him, this memoir is primarily about how much Cooper loves birds and what it was like for him to grow up gay, Black, and nerdy. Highly recommend the audiobook, which is read by Cooper and his passion comes through his voice so beautifully.

Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu is a gothic classic that I'd never read, and I really enjoyed it! I love classic vampires.

The September House by Carissa Orlando is a delightful haunted house book about a woman who refuses to leave her haunted victorian manor. It has a turret, after all! She is annoyed when her adult daughter comes to investigate, because she knows that her daughter will just overreact to the bleeding walls. Fun and funny, with a lovely amount of depth about why families hide things from each other.