Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Nov. 25th, 2025 11:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runpunkrunA post-Earth society ruled by giant corporations called Concerns whose only goal is to spread vat-grown wage slaves out across the galaxy to exploit resources for profit.
A frozen moon shrouded in eternal darkness and heavy gravity populated by sightless creatures who evolved to live in both.
Like many of Tchaikovsky's novels, this is a story told from two perspectives: the humans whose pod has crashed on a hostile alien planet they can barely make sense of, and the locals who encounter a seemingly idiotic Stranger (a "savant clown beast") that bumbles around, communicates in grunts, and doesn't know enough to come out of the ammonia-methane rain.
The world building and the alien design are, of course, meticulous. The interaction and cobbled together understanding between the humans and the aliens was my favorite part because only the reader knows the full story. Unfortunately the humans, in their duress, aren't all that interesting. The middle sections that focus on them in their pod feel the weakest and, because of that, overlong, but the story picks up again in the last third.
I spent most of the middle in mild agony, thinking there was only one way this story could end, but then I remembered this is Adrian Tchaikovsky, and he doesn't write those kind of stories.
Contains: blood, violence, threat of genocide; no work-life balance.
A frozen moon shrouded in eternal darkness and heavy gravity populated by sightless creatures who evolved to live in both.
Like many of Tchaikovsky's novels, this is a story told from two perspectives: the humans whose pod has crashed on a hostile alien planet they can barely make sense of, and the locals who encounter a seemingly idiotic Stranger (a "savant clown beast") that bumbles around, communicates in grunts, and doesn't know enough to come out of the ammonia-methane rain.
The world building and the alien design are, of course, meticulous. The interaction and cobbled together understanding between the humans and the aliens was my favorite part because only the reader knows the full story. Unfortunately the humans, in their duress, aren't all that interesting. The middle sections that focus on them in their pod feel the weakest and, because of that, overlong, but the story picks up again in the last third.
I spent most of the middle in mild agony, thinking there was only one way this story could end, but then I remembered this is Adrian Tchaikovsky, and he doesn't write those kind of stories.
Contains: blood, violence, threat of genocide; no work-life balance.
Check-In Post - Nov 25th 2025
Nov. 25th, 2025 06:51 pmbadly_knitted posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
get_knittedHello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question (courtesy of
ysabetwordsmith): When learning a new art or craft, do you prefer level-grinding the basics, skipping ahead to the cool techniques, or a mix of both?If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
Oddments
Nov. 25th, 2025 05:56 pmoursinWe perceive that there does not appear to be any gender-confusion, or relationships with military helmets, connected with this particular tortoise, or maybe no-one noticed: Gramma the Galápagos tortoise, oldest resident of San Diego Zoo, dies at about 141. Not quite old enough to have met that there Charles Darwin, then.
***
Reversal of Fates: Access Through Photographs can be a Counterbalance
Ongoing digitization and cataloging work not only serves the interests of scholars and manuscript communities—it also creates crucial, publicly-accessible provenance records that provide an increasingly robust bulwark against manuscript theft and trafficking.
Sing it.
***
Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy:
“A lot of that music from that era, the record companies did not keep backups. They were all destroyed, almost all. And it’s all up to the record collectors. They’re the ones who kind of saved the music from that era,”
....
Superior to a random recording uploaded to YouTube with no accompanying information, the database includes things like where the song was recorded and when, as well as lists of musicians and composers who worked on the songs.
***
I think I may have mentioned at some time the phenomenon of the 'monkey walk': Before Tinder, there was the Monkey Parade… . Though some recent works read for review incline me to think that one reason for the decline not mentioned in that piece was the rise of the coffee-bar - indoors in the warm with a juke-box, and the site of massive 50s moral panic around The Young.
***
Statue to 'remarkable' woman who escaped slavery:
A statue to a "remarkable and brave" woman who fled slavery and torture in the US has been unveiled in the fishing town in northern England where she found freedom.
Mary Ann Macham spent weeks hiding in woods in Virginia before stowing away on a ship, eventually arriving in North Shields in the early 1830s.
She was taken in by a Quaker family, married a local man and remained in the town until she died aged 91.
Tags:
Reveals Delay
Nov. 25th, 2025 12:50 pmintherainex posting in fandommixtapeexDue to American holidays and open pinch hits, works reveals will be delayed two weeks to December 7th. An updated pinch hit list will be available in the next 48 hours. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
Fannish 50 S3 Post 58: Sleep, My Love (NOIRVEMBER)
Nov. 25th, 2025 12:17 pmglitteryvSleep, My Love
A 1948 film from Triangle Productions that was directed by Douglas Sirk. It's based on a novel by Leo Rosten.
Allison (played by Claudette Colrbet) wakes up in a train headed to Boston. Her confusion turns into panic. Last night, she'd gone to bed in her home in NYC. Now she's going somewhere with no idea how she got on the train or WHY her husband's gun is in her possession.
At the same time, her husband Richard (played by Don Ameche) has called the police to report Allison missing. But, just before the investigation gets going, she calls Richard from the train station. He sends her a plane ticket for her to return home . . .
I'm gonna be vague in order to keep the mystery of the plot under wraps.
FWIW, I'm not super familiar with Colbert's work outside of It Happened One Night, so my impression of her when I started watching this movie was v. incomplete. Like the rest of the cast, she does a decent job in her role as a devoted wife of a rich architect. To my utter lack of shock, I liked Robert Cummings as Bruce, a friend of a friend of Allison's. He rocks it in his role.
A special shoutout goes to Hazel Brooks as Daphne. First of all, she's gorgeous. Secondly, her voice is surprisingly deep. And that, combined with her glamourpuss aesthetic elevates her dialogue to a deliciously campy level. EVERY LINE SHE SAYS has this undercurrent of vampiness that I LOVED. I do wished the movie had been from her point of view cuz she was a lot of a lot.
This next thing is something that really surprised me abt the movie. Because there was a moment where Bruce and Allison go to Bruce's brother's wedding. His brother, Jimmie (played by Keye Luke) is Chinese American. The wedding is fully Chinese. As far as I could tell, I didn't see anyone in yellowface. FTR, I'm not Chinese, so take my lack of squickiness because I didn't pick up on any blatant or oblique racism against Chinese folks with a tiny grain of salt.
Douglas Sirk and Joseph A. Valentine, his cinematographer, KNEW what kind of movie they wanted to shoot. The majority of the film takes place in Allison and Richard's 3-story brownstone that has a gorgeous terrace. Throughout the movie, there's excellent use of SPACE. Frex, there were scenes where characters would be looking for someone who happened to be hiding up on the 3rd floor. Also some scenes of ppl going up and down the stairs that truly worked. There's a good sense of how tall and expansive the home is (which includes a conservatory.)
The story is okay. It's watchable.
Do I have any criticisms?
I have 3, but two of them are SPOILERS.
SPOILER 1
By the end of the first 10 minutes, it was super clear that the main plot was one of intense gaslighting. NGL, that made me lose some interest in the movie a little.
SPOILER 2
The potential romance between Allison and Bruce was poorly handled.
OK, so iMO, Allison did love her husband, but it was more of the kind of love someone has for a friend. However, she'd only known Bruce for abt a week. And yet they not only had excellent chemistry but, whenever they talked, Allison would GLOW. She'd come alive regardless of the conversation topic. It legit didn't matter if it was the weather, food, his friends, etc cuz it was their INTERACTIONS that livens her up.
OFC, since she's married, though, the movie gets as close to the edge of the line that she'd have to cross into infidelity as it can get. By the end, Allison and Bruce as holding each other and it's super clear that they'll be together, but they had so much sparkage that it drove me nuts that they never kissed.
END OF SPOILERS
The third one has to do with Det. Sgt. Strake (played by Raymond Burr). As soon as he showed up, I perked the F up because he's one of my faves. Unfortch, he's deffo a background character who only pops in two scenes. :|
Do I recommend it?
I do . . . if you have an hour and a half ot kill? Some of the romantic aspects are much subtler than I'd generally liked and the mood was a bit uneven. It's online. I give it a 2.4 out of 5.
Queerness level
Zip.
A 1948 film from Triangle Productions that was directed by Douglas Sirk. It's based on a novel by Leo Rosten.
Allison (played by Claudette Colrbet) wakes up in a train headed to Boston. Her confusion turns into panic. Last night, she'd gone to bed in her home in NYC. Now she's going somewhere with no idea how she got on the train or WHY her husband's gun is in her possession.
At the same time, her husband Richard (played by Don Ameche) has called the police to report Allison missing. But, just before the investigation gets going, she calls Richard from the train station. He sends her a plane ticket for her to return home . . .
I'm gonna be vague in order to keep the mystery of the plot under wraps.
FWIW, I'm not super familiar with Colbert's work outside of It Happened One Night, so my impression of her when I started watching this movie was v. incomplete. Like the rest of the cast, she does a decent job in her role as a devoted wife of a rich architect. To my utter lack of shock, I liked Robert Cummings as Bruce, a friend of a friend of Allison's. He rocks it in his role.
A special shoutout goes to Hazel Brooks as Daphne. First of all, she's gorgeous. Secondly, her voice is surprisingly deep. And that, combined with her glamourpuss aesthetic elevates her dialogue to a deliciously campy level. EVERY LINE SHE SAYS has this undercurrent of vampiness that I LOVED. I do wished the movie had been from her point of view cuz she was a lot of a lot.
This next thing is something that really surprised me abt the movie. Because there was a moment where Bruce and Allison go to Bruce's brother's wedding. His brother, Jimmie (played by Keye Luke) is Chinese American. The wedding is fully Chinese. As far as I could tell, I didn't see anyone in yellowface. FTR, I'm not Chinese, so take my lack of squickiness because I didn't pick up on any blatant or oblique racism against Chinese folks with a tiny grain of salt.
Douglas Sirk and Joseph A. Valentine, his cinematographer, KNEW what kind of movie they wanted to shoot. The majority of the film takes place in Allison and Richard's 3-story brownstone that has a gorgeous terrace. Throughout the movie, there's excellent use of SPACE. Frex, there were scenes where characters would be looking for someone who happened to be hiding up on the 3rd floor. Also some scenes of ppl going up and down the stairs that truly worked. There's a good sense of how tall and expansive the home is (which includes a conservatory.)
The story is okay. It's watchable.
Do I have any criticisms?
I have 3, but two of them are SPOILERS.
Again, keep in mind that I'm gonna spoil HUGE THINGS abt this film
SPOILER 1
By the end of the first 10 minutes, it was super clear that the main plot was one of intense gaslighting. NGL, that made me lose some interest in the movie a little.
SPOILER 2
The potential romance between Allison and Bruce was poorly handled.
OK, so iMO, Allison did love her husband, but it was more of the kind of love someone has for a friend. However, she'd only known Bruce for abt a week. And yet they not only had excellent chemistry but, whenever they talked, Allison would GLOW. She'd come alive regardless of the conversation topic. It legit didn't matter if it was the weather, food, his friends, etc cuz it was their INTERACTIONS that livens her up.
OFC, since she's married, though, the movie gets as close to the edge of the line that she'd have to cross into infidelity as it can get. By the end, Allison and Bruce as holding each other and it's super clear that they'll be together, but they had so much sparkage that it drove me nuts that they never kissed.
END OF SPOILERS
The third one has to do with Det. Sgt. Strake (played by Raymond Burr). As soon as he showed up, I perked the F up because he's one of my faves. Unfortch, he's deffo a background character who only pops in two scenes. :|
Do I recommend it?
I do . . . if you have an hour and a half ot kill? Some of the romantic aspects are much subtler than I'd generally liked and the mood was a bit uneven. It's online. I give it a 2.4 out of 5.
Queerness level
Zip.
Interview and Update
Nov. 25th, 2025 10:55 ammarthawellsGreat interview about Murderbot:
Bifurcating Character with Incisive and Witty Inner Monologue: a Masterclass with ‘Murderbot’ Co-Showrunners Paul Weitz and Spirit Awards Winner Chris Weitz
Since SecUnits issued by the Corporation Rim (a group of mega-corporations ruling the galaxy in the distant future) are sentient, complete obedience to human orders is guaranteed by the “governor module” in each unit. However, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård, who nabbed an Emmy for his intricate and chilling performance in the HBO series, Big Little Lies), figures out how to disable its module to gain autonomy. “Murderbot is sentient from the get-go — it’s basically a slavery narrative. It’s important to Martha that Murderbot was always sentient,” Chris says of the close collaboration with consulting producer, Wells. “All the SecUnits are under human control. They can think for themselves but can’t act for themselves. So, they experience this torture of being at the disposal of others.” In addition to exploring themes of humanity and free will, the series also calls into question the issue of personhood, as Paul notes: “To what degree are we going to grant personhood to non-human intelligence?”
https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/bifurcating-character-with-incisive-and-witty-inner-monologue-a-masterclass-with-murderbot-co-showrunners-paul-weitz-and-spirit-awards-winner-chris-weitz/
***
I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after basically three weeks of travel in October, catching up on household stuff, trying to get ready for the holidays, getting back into working on the current book. I think I was more mentally exhausted than physically, but it was still a lot.
I didn't stay more than a day in any one city (except for two nights in Allentown, PA, which was lovely) and I was mostly leaving before most of the hotels started to serve breakfast, so I was living on a lot of airplane food. I did get to ride the train for the first time in the US (the Acela Amtrack) which was fun. I've ridden trains in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Scotland, but never here.
There was a lot of emotional overwhelm, seeing so many people, but also it felt really good, because they were all people who cared about books and art and creativity. The smallest crowd was in New York, about 40-50 people, the largest was in Seattle with around 300. The Texas Book Festival in Austin was like an encapsulation of the whole trip, being in a giant crowd of people (the largest in the festival's 30 year history) who were all "books, books, books!" I've heard that people seemed to be going to more arts-related events lately, and that was what I saw on my trip.
Bifurcating Character with Incisive and Witty Inner Monologue: a Masterclass with ‘Murderbot’ Co-Showrunners Paul Weitz and Spirit Awards Winner Chris Weitz
Since SecUnits issued by the Corporation Rim (a group of mega-corporations ruling the galaxy in the distant future) are sentient, complete obedience to human orders is guaranteed by the “governor module” in each unit. However, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård, who nabbed an Emmy for his intricate and chilling performance in the HBO series, Big Little Lies), figures out how to disable its module to gain autonomy. “Murderbot is sentient from the get-go — it’s basically a slavery narrative. It’s important to Martha that Murderbot was always sentient,” Chris says of the close collaboration with consulting producer, Wells. “All the SecUnits are under human control. They can think for themselves but can’t act for themselves. So, they experience this torture of being at the disposal of others.” In addition to exploring themes of humanity and free will, the series also calls into question the issue of personhood, as Paul notes: “To what degree are we going to grant personhood to non-human intelligence?”
https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/bifurcating-character-with-incisive-and-witty-inner-monologue-a-masterclass-with-murderbot-co-showrunners-paul-weitz-and-spirit-awards-winner-chris-weitz/
***
I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after basically three weeks of travel in October, catching up on household stuff, trying to get ready for the holidays, getting back into working on the current book. I think I was more mentally exhausted than physically, but it was still a lot.
I didn't stay more than a day in any one city (except for two nights in Allentown, PA, which was lovely) and I was mostly leaving before most of the hotels started to serve breakfast, so I was living on a lot of airplane food. I did get to ride the train for the first time in the US (the Acela Amtrack) which was fun. I've ridden trains in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Scotland, but never here.
There was a lot of emotional overwhelm, seeing so many people, but also it felt really good, because they were all people who cared about books and art and creativity. The smallest crowd was in New York, about 40-50 people, the largest was in Seattle with around 300. The Texas Book Festival in Austin was like an encapsulation of the whole trip, being in a giant crowd of people (the largest in the festival's 30 year history) who were all "books, books, books!" I've heard that people seemed to be going to more arts-related events lately, and that was what I saw on my trip.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Life
Nov. 25th, 2025 11:20 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
smbc_comics_feed
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
The good news is they're also telling the aliens to do something about the dolphins.
Today's News:
putting my sci-fi book on sale!
Nov. 25th, 2025 11:43 amtassosssSo my book The Dementia: A Space Adventure is on sale right now for $0.99, and it's wide, so it's available on all the major retailers.
You can get it here: https://books2read.com/TheDementiaASpaceAdventure
This is your sign friends! If you've been thinking about getting it, it's as cheap as Amazon will let me go! This only applies to the e-book version (not paperback, which is not on sale and only on Amazon still. I'm working on it.)
Also, and very important: if just one person buys my book on Amazon, then I can screenshot 69 sales. Nice!
You can get it here: https://books2read.com/TheDementiaASpaceAdventure
This is your sign friends! If you've been thinking about getting it, it's as cheap as Amazon will let me go! This only applies to the e-book version (not paperback, which is not on sale and only on Amazon still. I'm working on it.)
Also, and very important: if just one person buys my book on Amazon, then I can screenshot 69 sales. Nice!
Two Things
Nov. 25th, 2025 08:36 ammuccamukk1. xkcd just made me cry (continuation of the cancer posts, which no one involved currently has.)
2. Mom gave me a ball of really pretty white yarn, which is wool with a bit of a halo, and maybe sport weight? Could be finger weight? Unsure? It's large enough to make a scarf, and I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a pattern that's: a) VERY EASY, b) maybe has a little bit of lace? I can do very basic lace, as long as it doesn't have too many steps.
2. Mom gave me a ball of really pretty white yarn, which is wool with a bit of a halo, and maybe sport weight? Could be finger weight? Unsure? It's large enough to make a scarf, and I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a pattern that's: a) VERY EASY, b) maybe has a little bit of lace? I can do very basic lace, as long as it doesn't have too many steps.
“dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called ‘life’”
Nov. 25th, 2025 07:34 amlarryhammerEssential life experience: having a twelve-year-old rant at you for 10 minutes about how the existence of sweet potatoes offends them.
---L.
Subject quote from Let’s Go Crazy, Prince and the Revolution.
---L.
Subject quote from Let’s Go Crazy, Prince and the Revolution.
The Fantastic Journey: Fanfic: Minor Injury
Nov. 25th, 2025 02:29 pmbadly_knitted posting in fan_flashworksTitle: Minor Injury
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Jonathan Willaway, Varian.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Set after the series.
Summary: Scouting around together while their friends make camp, Varian and Jonathan run into a bit of trouble.
Word Count: 629
Content Notes: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 498: First Aid.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Fantastic Journey, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
( Minor Injury... )
Hopeless Feeling
Nov. 24th, 2025 11:14 pmcornerofmadnessSo out of 70+ faculty the same 21 people who do everything are the only ones who voted and four more voted to take the insurance that means we lose our doctors, our HSA, to save 100$/month but has a 9K deductible vs the 3K we had and oh the insurance is under major investigation by the federal government for fraud. Thanks for voting to make sure we're one health crisis away from homelessness there. But also the rest of the faculty, why are you not helping? Do you all have spouses with better insurance? Are you on medicare? Any good reason you weren't there for us?
But I was trying to find a little joy in the day and I did get paid for my short story today. That's great. I've been waiting for MONTHS on this, literally at least 6 months and I've been wondering when we were going to market it. Turns out next month and it'll be out in January.
In the opposite of joy my gastric paresis is acting up so bad. Ate and apple, puked in my office trash can and then my blood sugar dropped out because lunch was in the trash. F.U. life.
But in better news, the blood from my dexcom wasn't from infection. The skin had broken down under the glue so it's getting a rest.
Music Monday, prompt - a song that tells a story. Oh there are OH so many.
this Abney Park one isn't a happy one per se. Robert hasn't talked much about it but some of his stories and songs suggest he grew up in an abusive situation
And Reba had a lot of them. This one had me writing some romance story about a guy named Chance Deveroux back when I was in college but I never finished because I was told guys can't be part of the main focus of a romance. It had to be all the woman's pov (I know better now of course but it was most likely a horrible story anyhow)
But I was trying to find a little joy in the day and I did get paid for my short story today. That's great. I've been waiting for MONTHS on this, literally at least 6 months and I've been wondering when we were going to market it. Turns out next month and it'll be out in January.
In the opposite of joy my gastric paresis is acting up so bad. Ate and apple, puked in my office trash can and then my blood sugar dropped out because lunch was in the trash. F.U. life.
But in better news, the blood from my dexcom wasn't from infection. The skin had broken down under the glue so it's getting a rest.
Music Monday, prompt - a song that tells a story. Oh there are OH so many.
this Abney Park one isn't a happy one per se. Robert hasn't talked much about it but some of his stories and songs suggest he grew up in an abusive situation
And Reba had a lot of them. This one had me writing some romance story about a guy named Chance Deveroux back when I was in college but I never finished because I was told guys can't be part of the main focus of a romance. It had to be all the woman's pov (I know better now of course but it was most likely a horrible story anyhow)
(no subject)
Nov. 24th, 2025 11:41 pmsixbeforelunchIf I had a dollar for every time I've read a science fiction novel about a female protagonist who travels to another planet and discovers she's being manipulated by an infectious alien hive mind, I would have at least three dollars (four, if I include the book where another member of the crew is taken over by the aliens but the protagonist herself is IIRC never directly touched by them).
IDK but in context that feels like kind of a lot of dollars.
IDK but in context that feels like kind of a lot of dollars.
Petrichor
Nov. 24th, 2025 11:26 pmaurumcalendulaI'm revisiting Petrichor (I'd gotten busy after the second episode and didn't get around to picking it back up until now).
Episode 3:
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Episode 4:
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Episode 5:
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Episode 3:
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Episode 4:
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Episode 5:
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