Q: What will happen in Donald Trump’s New York state criminal case now that he is president-elect?

A: Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, but the judge could decide that sentencing is no longer appropriate. If Trump does receive a sentence, it could be appealed, or the judgment could be deferred until 2029, when Trump would be out of office.

FULL QUESTION

What happens if Trump wins the election and then he gets sentenced at the end of the month?

The post Trump’s New York Case: What Happens Now? appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Some social media posts falsely claimed that CBS News reported there was "cheating" in the 2024 presidential election that benefitted President-elect Donald Trump. We found no evidence of such a report, and a CBS News spokesperson said the outlet "did not report or say there was cheating in the election."

The post Posts Falsely Claim CBS News Reported ‘Cheating’ in Election appeared first on FactCheck.org.

The new 2024-25 COVID vaccines are available, so FunkyPlaid and I got ours on Friday. Because we went to a pharmacy, my health insurance didn’t cover them, so I had to use funds from my HRA. (We could have waited until our medical provider had appointments, but that would have been late September or early October — and with travel coming up soon, I was unwilling to wait.)

It is bizarre and enraging to see how agencies supposedly dedicated to public health are flailing in this moment. I’m extremely fortunate to have a job that provides health insurance, an HRA, and sick leave, and I can afford KN95 masks and rapid antigen tests. What about people who are uninsured or underinsured?

I know it’s a bummer to read this, but it’s a bigger bummer to try to survive during yet another COVID surge. Let’s take care of our health, for ourselves and for our communities.

Concentrating on

This time of year is Planner Season, when the 2025 planners are released and people like me (and maybe you too) gobble them up and then spend the rest of this year hoping that next year we have lives exciting enough to plan.

Ever the optimist, my planner line-up for 2025 is:

• For my personal planner, daily log, habit tracker, reading journal, and commonplace book, I’ll be trying the Sterling Ink Common Planner in their new N1 size, which fits inside a Traveler’s Notebook. I’m currently using a Hobonichi Weeks, which is 95mm x 186mm; the N1 size is 110mm x 210mm.
• For my work planner, the Wonderland 222 A5 Weekly Planner has been working well for me this year, so I’ll try it again in 2025.

Cultivating

✍???? Drafting two stories, one for performance (I hope ????????) and one for a collection.

???? Still knitting that gift for someone.

???? Food I made that was yummy:

• Peperonata with peppers from a coworker’s CSA box, plus peppers from our own CSA box. CSA boxes are great!
• Gluten-free vegan apple crisp. I am not a huge fan of apples in their primary form; I prefer them as a cinnamon delivery device. So this recipe from Minimalist Baker, apples chopped up and baked with oats and sugar? That works.
• Sliced heirloom tomatoes on toast spread thinly with mayonnaise. Truffle salt if you’re feeling fancy. (I was.)

???????? Learning Italian with Duolingo.

???? The workweek was short because of the holiday on Monday, but also long because of everything. I’m still trying to create better boundaries around that.

Consuming

????️ One of my planner pals shared a sample of Bungukan Kobayashi’s Yagentoshiro Reflex Violet, a dusky blue with iridescent purple shimmer.

???? “girlfriend” by Hemlocke Springs is on repeat on my brain radio.

???? You don’t need to be a Rolling Stones fan to enjoy the “I Can’t Get No Legal Action” episode of the Judge John Hodgman podcast.

???? Still working my way through the crossword puzzle books I’ve hoarded and enjoying the daily Cross|word on Puzzmo. Also, Minute Cryptic is quite humbling.

???? One last episode of “Fargo” to go, then we’ll start the latest season of “Slow Horses”.

???? What I’m reading and quoting:

• “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Nayler: “The great and terrible thing about humankind is simply this: we will always do what we are capable of.”

Some links

From “What would an adequate COVID response look like?” by Julia Doubleday:

Right now, state representatives are deliberately avoiding mention of COVID, while propagandizing the safety of infection and/or the end of the pandemic by refusing to mask. It is hard to imagine how successful a pandemic response might be if public officials were actually trying to end the pandemic. We quite literally have public health and political and media figures working to hide three pieces of critical information: public knowledge of the virus, public knowledge of mitigation measures that would reduce viral spread, and public knowledge of the severity of the virus (which would motivate desire to reduce viral spread).

Other links:

• NaNoWriMo Shits The Bed On Artificial Intelligence (Chuck Wendig)
• Why Goblin Mode Is the New Self-Care Routine (Cleveland Clinic)
• 2024 Winners of the 17th Annual iPhone Photography Awards

One more thing

Today I’m journaling about this quote from Seneca: “Life, if well lived, is long enough.”

Look at this absolutely good girl: my canine sister, Willa.

Concentrating on

Rest, relaxation, and quality time with loved ones! We’re visiting family in Pennsylvania this week and attending a wedding in Kentucky on Friday.

When packing, I restricted myself to three notebooks and three pens because I tend to overpack and then immediately regret as I am schlepping around a stationery store in my backpack.

Cultivating

✍???? Drafting two (very different) stories. I’m looking forward to time off work to let my creative writing brain percolate.

???? Food I made that was yummy:

• Pork chops in garlic mushroom sauce, with mashed potatoes and salad on the side. I am not a huge fan of pork chops, but I got them in our CSA box, so I looked for a recipe that incorporated other things I am a huge fan of, like garlic and mushrooms.

???????? When my brain is full of Italian, I switch over to music lessons in Duolingo. It’s fun!

???? No.

Consuming

????️ Only three pens means only three inks: De Atramentis Charles Dickens, Sailor Manyo Hinoki, and Robert Oster Sydney Lavender.

???? I heard “White Gloves” by Khruangbin for the first time in a while and forgot how much I enjoy their music.

???? Recently FunkyPlaid and I tried to watch the show “Kaos” and lasted about ten minutes. I had listened to the Pop Culture Happy Hour episode on the show and thought I might enjoy it.

???? No time for games this week. I’m looking forward to some Puzzmo!

???? We started watching “My Brilliant Friend”, the adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet, which I read last year and loved.

???? What I’m reading and quoting:

• “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Nayler: “How we see the world matters — but knowing how the world sees us also matters.”

Some links

• I love Tracy Durnell’s latest weeknotes post. I’m not even mad at how it makes me feel like I’ve done absolutely nothing in comparison. ????
• Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars (Albert Burneko)
• Firefly Atlas: I’m eager to see fireflies while I’m here, so I’m doing some research.

One more thing

I was a bit anxious to travel during a COVID surge, so in addition to getting the new vaccine as soon as I could, I invested in a Flo Mask Pro to wear in airports, planes, and any other crowded spaces. I’m so glad I did; it was very comfortable to wear all day, once I got used to how it felt. My glasses didn’t fog up at all, which is a minor miracle. I did get some looks (you know the kind) but that was a small price to pay for a greater chance of avoiding Covid and/or Long Covid. I only saw a handful of other people masked.

For the first day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), I want to start with something difficult, and the reason why I’m participating in this monthly challenge.

I’ve lost all affection for my writing voice, and I don’t entirely know why.

These days, it’s challenging for me to get excited about writing anything personal. Everything I post, aside from ink swatches, makes me cringe, even simple replies to others' posts. When I started writing online, it was so easy to share any little moss-bulb of detail, despite lacking confidence in my voice or purpose. It was enough to noodle in public; I had a stage (my website) and tap-tap-tapping its microphone didn’t make me feel immediately self-conscious.

A few years ago, I pushed — harder than I’ve pushed for many things in my life — for the “community” aspect of Micro.blog to be more than a shared timeline. I wanted it to be something I could lean back softly into, both an audience and support group, comprised of people who shared the same penchant for collecting and amplifying small treasures of moments.

The people exist (and they are wonderful, I read what they share with delight) but the community? I know now that what I was asking for doesn’t exist online in the same way it did, but I didn’t know that yet. I kept pushing and pushing, until one day I just … stopped. Everything I said seemed to repulse people instead of drawing them closer. It was easier to find what I needed and wanted in the friendships I was slowly and intentionally building offline than it was for me to do that online. And that was a first for me. Much of my life, up to that point, had been spent focusing on connecting online.

Because much of my life, up to that point, had been lived online.

I don’t really want to go back to living so much online. But sometimes I’m nostalgic for the feeling of being understood through my writing, shades of myself that I don’t know how to represent except through words.

It’s supremely cringey even to post this, but I’m going to push through in the hopes there’s some self-acceptance on the other side of it. I’m not ready to stop writing altogether. In some ways, I feel like I’ve barely begun.

I was overwhelmed by the response to my last post, and so grateful for the reminder that there is still connection to be found online, I just need to push through my own self-consciousness to find it. And I have many good models for this behavior, people who are quick with a kind and supportive word, people who do not shy away from nuance.

Today I spent the day offline in the company of people like this, a small group of friends that gathers once a month to share our love of stationery: pens, ink, paper, notebooks, planners, postal mail, and the like. We sit around a big table and journal together while chatting, snacking, and drinking lattes carefully crafted by FunkyPlaid. The middle of the table soon fills with stickers, stamps, inks, and washi tapes that we’ve brought to share with each other.

As I look around the table at these treasured people, I think about how much work goes into building community. Healthy communities take intention, upkeep, energy, and shared values. This gathering happens every month because we invest all of this into making it happen. As hosts, FunkyPlaid and I make sure people feel cared for with food and drink in a clean and welcoming space. As guests, everyone brings what they want to share, and expresses interest in what they are interested in (and refrains from expressing disdain for what they aren’t).

It’s a lot of work, joyful work. And this work results in a day each month to anticipate, and memories to hold close the rest of the month. I hope never to take this community for granted.

- JOE ABERCROMBIE, The Devils

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Oh, this is going to be good!!!

You can now download Peter F. Hamilton's Pandora's Star for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars, contains more than six hundred worlds interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, the Second Chance, a faster-than-light starship commanded by Wilson Kime, a five-times-rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat.

Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, led by Bradley Johansson. Shortly after the journey begins, Kime wonders if the crew of the Second Chance has been infiltrated. But soon enough he will have other worries. Halfway across the galaxy, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.

Here's the blurb:

The mind-blowing new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion—currently in development as a motion picture at Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners

“You are the next step in human evolution.”

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways.

The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential.

Here's the blurb:

Swordplay, magic, intrigue and friendships stronger than iron: the first volume in the new swashbuckling fantasy series set in the universe of THE GREATCOATS.

Damelas Chademantaigne picked a poor night to flee a judicial duel.

He has precious little hope of escaping the wrath of the Vixen, the most feared duellist in the entire city, until he stumbles through the stage doors of the magnificent Operato Belleza and tricks his way into the company of actors. An archaic law provides a temporary respite from his troubles - until one night a ghostly voice in his head causes Damelas to fumble his lines, inadvertently blurting out a dreadful truth: the city's most legendary hero may actually be a traitor and a brutal murderer.

With only the help of his boisterous and lusty friend Bereto, a beautiful assassin whose target may well be Damelas himself, and a company of misfit actors who'd just as soon see him dead, this failed grandson of two Greatcoats must somehow find within himself the courage to dig up long-buried truths before a ruthless band of bravos known as the Iron Orchids come for his head.

Oh, and there's still that matter of the Vixen waiting to duel him . . .

Now that I've read it, I can tell you that my fears were unfounded. Indeed, the book isn't a novelization of the videogame and it takes place thousands of years before. Hence, other than sharing that far-reaching universe, one can fully enjoy the book without playing the game and vice versa. Moreover, I'm pleased to report that Exodus delivers on all fronts and that it's Hamilton's best novel in years! For my money, it's the best SFF work of 2024 thus far!

Here's the blurb:

Explore EXODUS, a new sci-fi action-adventure RPG coming soon from Archetype Entertainment featured in this epic novel from legendary author Peter F. Hamilton.

Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. Traveling in massive arkships, these brave pioneers spread out across the galaxy to find a new home. After traveling thousands of light-years, one fleet of arkships arrived at Centauri, a dense cluster of stars with a vast array of potentially habitable planets. The survivors of Earth signaled to the remaining arkships that humanity had finally found its new home among the stars.

Thousands of years later, the Centauri Cluster has flourished. The original settlers have evolved into advanced beings known as Celestials and divided themselves into powerful Dominions. One of the most influential is that of the Crown Celestials, an alliance of five great houses that controls vast areas of Centauri. As arkships continue to arrive, the remaining humans and their descendants must fight for survival against overwhelming odds or be forced into serving the Crown Dominion.

Among those yearning for a better life is Finn, for whom Earth is not a memory but merely a footnote from humanity’s ancient history. Born on one of the Crown Dominion worlds, Finn has known nothing but the repressive rule of the Celestials, though he dreams of the possibility of boundless space beyond his home.

When another arkship from Earth, previously thought lost, unexpectedly arrives, Finn sees his chance to embrace a greater destiny and become a Traveler—one of a group of brave heroes dedicated to ensuring humanity’s future by journeying into the vast unknown of distant space.

Like all previous series/novels by Peter F. Hamilton, the Archimedes Engine duology is vast in scope and vision. Covering more than 40,000 years, from the time the first arkships left Earth to the present day political intrigue within and withour the Centauri Cluster, the worldbuilding is extensive to say the least. Alas, some of the information the reader requires must needs be conveyed via info-dumps. Having said that, the author managed to avoid that particular pitfall for the most part and the majority of the details/revelations are shared in a more streamlined fashion. Such info-dumps, few and far between as they are, act like a necessary evil and can't truly be avoided entirely. Given its size, there is a lot to take in from the disparate storyines of Exodus. Especially at the beginning, and it does take about 200-250 pages for the players to be introduced and the plotlines to be set into motion. To say that this novel features a multilayered plot would be the understatement of the year. Thankfully, there is a timeline and a Dramatis Personae at the start of the book. I rarely say this, but this is a work that would have benefited from having a substantial glossary at the end. Still, overall Hamilton does a good job of keeping his readers apprised of what they need to know throughout.

As mentioned, there are several storylines and it does take a while for a somewhat cohesive whole to take form. The heart of the tale that is Exodus seems to revolve around the Crown Dominion, comprised of six adjacent star systems ruled by a different House. Centuries before, one of the Queens launched a subversive campaign to evolve the Imperial Celestials in a fashion that was anathema to the others, forcing her counterparts to united their forces and destroy her and her entire House. Since then, the five remaining Queens signed the Imperial Accord and each of them in turn will rule as Empress for sixty years. But cracks have appeared in this alliance and external factors have come into play to destabilize the entire Crown Dominion. Since the Remnant Era, which saw the violent rise and fall of interstellar civilizations through atrocious wars that saw countless worlds laid waste, armed conflicts have become extremely rare. Every Dominion has its Archons and their agents and this Cold War is waged through their proxies. This unwritten rule has defined intra- and extra-Dominion antagonism for millennia, yet someone appears to be fomenting chaos that could start a new war and various Archons are now trying to discover which Dominion could be the culprit. Finally, the relationship between humans and the various transhuman species that have evolved to become the Celestials is the third main story arc of Exodus. Some Celestials see them as little more than chattel, while others have given them lands and liberties. But for some, it's not enough. When the arkship Diligent arrives in the Kelowan system after a 40,000-year sojourn through space, Josias Aponi, a man who has walked on Old Earth, will not settle for a life of servitude under the woke of an oppressive regime. And Finn, who dreams of seeing the stars and living the exciting life of a Traveler, sees the arrival of the arkship as his ticket out of his boring existence. And behind all these contrasting and seemingly unconnected storylines, someone or something is manipulating events. To what end? This remains a mystery. . .

Given the number of plotlines, there are a multitude of perspectives that witness events throughout the novel. Some POVs are better and more interesting than others, yet I would say that all are probably important for the author to convey everything that needs to be shared. There is a lot going on all across the Centauri Cluster, so various eyes and ears are necessary to follow the action and make sure that it all makes sense in the end. I found Finn to be an annoying, entitled brat at the beginning. But he does grow on you as time goes by, especially after Ellie knocks a bit of sense into him. Which was Hamilton's plan all along, I'm sure. I found everything that has to do with the Queens of the Crown Dominion to be a bit irritating, to be honest. Though the Hunger Games-esque trials of the Congregant daughters were compelling, if a little overdone. Personally, it's the Archons and their espionage that I found the most captivating. Hence, my favorite character was probably officer Terence Wilson-Fletcher, a human detective who becomes an Archon's agent. The sections featuring him are more police procedural than space opera, but it's through his actions and discoveries that the plot becomes clearer and clearer. I'm still not sure how/why the fight for human rights angle was necessary. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

One would expect a 900+ pages doorstopper to suffer from certain pacing issues, yet you'd be wrong in this case. As mentioned above, it does take quite some time for the overall plot to take shape, and Hamilton needed more than 200 pages to lay the groundwork for everything that comes after, but I wouldn't say that the rhythm is ever an issue. True, some chapters move at a faster clip than others, but I never found the pace to be a problem. If anything, Exodus might be one of the fastest novels of its size that I've ever read. The author had me hook, bait, and sinker from the get-go, so I always wanted to learn more and more.

I won't lie, the cliffhanger ending was frustrating. And yet, Peter F. Hamilton came up with a thrilling endgame and a rousing finale that closed the show with panache. Seriously, the last 200 pages or so made for compulsive reading. After such a page-turning experience, I just wish I didn't have to wait till next year for the conclusion!

Exodus is space opera at its best!

The final verdict: 9/10

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

For those interested in the Exodus action-adventure RPG, check out their website.

Here's the blurb:

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Windup Girl and The Water Knife comes a sweeping literary historical fantasy about the young scion from a ruling-class family who faces rebellion as he ascends to power.

"You must be as sharp as a stilettotore’s dagger and as subtle as a fish beneath the waters. This is what it is to be Navolese, this is what it is to be di Regulai."

In Navola, a bustling city-state dominated by a handful of influential families, business is power, and power is everything. For generations, the di Regulai family—merchant bankers with a vast empire—has nurtured tendrils that stretch to the farthest reaches of the known world. And though they claim not to be political, their staggering wealth has bought cities and toppled kingdoms. Soon, Davico di Regulai will be expected to take the reins of power from his father and demonstrate his mastery of the games of Navolese diplomacy: knowing who to trust and who to doubt, and how to read what lies hidden behind a smile. But in Navola, strange and ancient undercurrents lurk behind the gilt and grandeur—like the fossilized dragon eye in the family’s possession, a potent symbol of their raw power and a talisman that seems to be summoning Davico to act.

As tensions rise and the events unfold, Davico will be tested to his limits. His fate depends on the eldritch dragon relic and on what lies buried in the heart of his adopted sister, Celia di Balcosi, whose own family was destroyed by Nalova’s twisted politics. With echoes of Renaissance Italy, The Godfather, and Game of Thrones, Navola is a stunning feat of world-building and a mesmerizing depiction of drive and will.

You can now download R. Scott Bakker's The Darkness That Comes Before for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

A score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse. The No-God has been vanquished and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns...Drusas Achamian, tormented by 2,000 year old nightmares, is a sorcerer and a spy, constantly seeking news of an ancient enemy that few believe still exists. Ikurei Conphas, nephew to the Nansur Emperor, is the Exalt-General of the Imperial Army and a military genius. He plots to conquer the known world for his Emperor and dreams of the throne for himself. Maithanet, mysterious and charismatic, is spiritual leader of the Thousand Temples. He seeks a Holy War to cleanse the land of the infidel. Cnaiur, Chieftain of the Utemot, is a Scylvendi barbarian. Rejected by his people, he seeks vengeance against the former slave who slew his father, and disgraced him in the eyes of his tribe. Into this world steps Anasurimbor Kellhus, the product of two thousand years of breeding and a lifetime of training in the ways of thought, limb, and face. Steering souls through the subtleties of word and expression, he slowly binds all - man and woman, emperor and slave - to his own mysterious ends. But the fate of men - even great men - means little when the world itself may soon be torn asunder. Behind the politics, beneath the imperialist expansion, amongst the religious fervour, a dark and ancient evil is reawakening. After two thousand years, the No-God is returning. The Second Apocalypse is nigh. And one cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten...

You can now download Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan -- poet, diplomat, soldier -- until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.

Meanwhile, in the north, the conquered Jaddites' most celebrated -- and feared -- military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, driven into exile, leads his mercenary company south.

In the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan, these two men from different worlds meet and serve -- for a time -- the same master. Sharing their interwoven fate -- and increasingly torn by her feelings -- is Jehane, the accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.

Hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, The Lions of Al-Rassan is both a brilliant adventure and a deeply compelling story of love, divided loyalties, and what happens to men and women when hardening beliefs begin to remake -- or destroy -- a world.

TJ Klune's Somewhere Beyond the Sea is down four positions, ending the week at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Abigail Owen's The Games Gods Play is down one spot, finishing the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is down one position, ending the week at number 9. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is down four positions, ending the week at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing debuts at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses is up one position, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury is up five positions, ending the week at number 7. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Stephen King's Holly is down four spots, finishing the week at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

A collection of shockingly prescient stories covering topics from aliens to AI, including some that have never before been seen, from the New York Times best-selling author of the Silo trilogy

Hugh Howey is known for crafting riveting and immersive page-turners of boundless imagination, spawning millions of fans worldwide, first with his best-selling novel Wool, and then with other enthralling works such as Sand and Beacon 23.

Now comes Machine Learning, an impressive collection of Howey’s science fiction and fantasy short fiction, including three stories set in the world of Wool, two never-before-published tales written exclusively for this volume, and fifteen additional stories collected here for the first time. "Glitch" asks what happens when a battle bot refuses to fight. “The Automated Ones” introduces ideas of discrimination in a world populated by both humans and AI, and its sequel “WHILE (u > i) i –;” explores the challenges a human woman and an android face after falling in love. In "Select Character" a new mother who is bored with being stuck at home starts playing her husbands' video game according to her own rules-- and makes a surprising discovery. These stories explore everything from artificial intelligence to parallel universes to video games, and each story is accompanied by an author’s note exploring the background and genesis of each story.

Howey’s incisive mind makes Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories a compulsively readable and thought-provoking selection of short works—from a modern master at the top of his game.

Here's the blurb:

Three fantasy novels of war and wizardry by a “fabulously talented” New York Times–bestselling author (Charlaine Harris).

In The Ladies of Mandrigyn, a brilliant mercenary must lead his army against the forces of the most powerful wizard alive. Gifted with courage, strength, and the intelligence to know when to fight, Sun Wolf is the greatest mercenary in a land overrun by war. With his first lieutenant, Starhawk, at his side, he has laid waste to countless cities, taking the best of their treasures for himself, and distributing the rest among his bloodthirsty crew.

Then a woman comes to him, an emissary from the town of Mandrigyn, a lush port city recently sacked by a powerful, mad wizard of unmatched abilities. She offers Sun Wolf untold riches for the use of his army, but the captain is not fool enough to wage war against a magician. He refuses her offer, but that is not the end of it. The women of Mandrigyn can be very persuasive.

In The Witches of Wenshar, to harness his newfound magical powers, Sun Wolf must cross the desert in search of a witch who can teach him the ways of sorcery. Accompanied by his lieutenant, Starhawk, he travels across the forbidding desert to the land of Wenshar, where witchcraft is said to flourish. There he seeks out a witch with powers far beyond her years, who is rumored to have mastered the ancient art of white magic. But when he and Starhawk finally reach her, there is evil in the air—an evil against which all their might is useless. Sun Wolf must learn to harness his newfound powers—or be taken by this sinister trap.

In The Dark Hand of Magic, Sun Wolf must use his immature magical powers to rescue his old army from an evil wizard’s curse. A string of rotten luck has befallen his old crew’s latest campaign, and they have begun to suspect a curse. Their arrows break; their food rots; their tunnels cave in. They have heard rumors of Sun Wolf’s magical abilities, and beg for his help. But when he goes after whatever is targeting his men, he finds himself up against the deadliest force he has ever encountered.

Here's the blurb:

New York Times Bestseller

From Neal Stephenson—who coined the term “metaverse” in his 1992 novel Snow Crash—comes a sweeping, prescient new thriller that transports readers to a near-future world in which the greenhouse effect has inexorably resulted in a whirling-dervish troposphere of superstorms, rising sea levels, global flooding, merciless heat waves, and virulent, deadly pandemics.

One man—visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D.—has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work? And just as important, what are the consequences for the planet and all of humanity should it be applied?

Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming. Ultimately, it asks the question: Might the cure be worse than the disease?

Epic in scope while heartbreakingly human in perspective, Termination Shock sounds a clarion alarm, ponders potential solutions and dire risks, and wraps it all together in an exhilarating, witty, mind-expanding speculative adventure.

You can now download Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World for only 2.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

The three next installments, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, and The Shadow Rising are also on sale.

Here's the blurb:

The Wheel of Time ® is a PBS Great American Read Selection! Now in development for TV!

Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters.

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

When The Two Rivers is attacked by Trollocs—a savage tribe of half-men, half-beasts— five villagers flee that night into a world they barely imagined, with new dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.

Here's the blurb:

Dragonlord Linden Rathan, last-born of a race of immortal weredragons, has spent six hundred years alone, searching for his soultwin while his fellow Dragonlords watch over humanity’s Five Kingdoms.

When the Queen of Cassori dies mysteriously, Linden and the other Dragonlords are called upon to prevent civil war as two human claimants vie for the regency. As the battle for Cassori rule escalates, Linden becomes the target of the Fellowship, a secret society of true-humans who could actually destroy his immortal life.

Then he meets a beautiful young ship captain named Maurynna who may be the only one who can help Linden bring Cassori back from the brink of chaos. The Last Dragonlord is the debut novel in Joanne Bertin’s acclaimed Dragonlord series.


You can also download Greg Bear's Eon for only 1.99$ here.

Here's the blurb:

In a supernova flash, the asteroid arrived and entered Earth’s orbit. Three hundred kilometers in length, it is not solid rock but a series of hollowed-out chambers housing ancient, abandoned cities of human origin, a civilization named Thistledown. The people who lived there survived a nuclear holocaust that nearly rendered humanity extinct—more than a thousand years from now.

To prevent this future from coming to pass, theoretical mathematician Patricia Vasquez must explore Thistledown and decipher its secret history. But what she discovers is an even greater mystery, a tunnel that exists beyond the physical dimensions of the asteroid. Called the Way, it leads to the home of humanity’s descendants, and to a conflict greater than the impending war between Earth’s superpowers over the fate of the asteroid, in “the grandest work yet” by Nebula Award–winning author Greg Bear (Locus).

Here's the blurb:

INTRODUCING
HONOR HARRINGTON

Having made him look a fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her.

Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station.

The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens.

Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling; the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called "Republic" of Haven is Up To Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system.

But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They've made her mad.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

You can download Justin Cronin's international bestseller, The Passage, for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's a blurb:

'It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.'

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear - of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey - spanning miles and decades - towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

You can now download James Logan's The Silverblood Promise for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

Lukan Gardova is a cardsharp, academy dropout, and—thanks to a duel that ended badly—the disgraced heir to an ancient noble house. His days consist of cheap wine, rigged card games, and wondering how he might win back the life he threw away.

When Lukan discovers that his estranged father has been murdered in strange circumstances, he finds fresh purpose. Deprived of his chance to make amends for his mistakes, he vows to unravel the mystery behind his father's death.

His search for answers leads him to Saphrona, fabled city of merchant princes, where anything can be bought if one has the coin. Lukan only seeks the truth, but instead he finds danger and secrets in every shadow.

For in Saphrona, everything has a price—and the price of truth is the deadliest of all.

Here's the blurb:

WINNER OF THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2021 BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, LIBRARY JOURNAL, BOOKLIST, AND THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

A ruthless princess and a powerful priestess come together to rewrite the fate of an empire in this “fiercely and unapologetically feminist tale of endurance and revolution set against a gorgeous, unique magical world” (S. A. Chakraborty, author of the The City of Brass).

Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household and cleaning Malini’s chambers.

When Malini witnesses Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess desperate to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is up three positions, ending the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

TJ Klune's Somewhere Beyond the Sea is down three positions, ending the week at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Abigail Owen's The Games Gods Play is down five spots, finishing the week at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing mtaintains its position at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses maintains its position at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury is down four positions, ending the week at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Raven Kennedy's Goldfinch debuts at number 14. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Stephen King's Holly maintains its position at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Here's the blurb:

Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter’s rights won’t get her far when she’s got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew—and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.

But Ada doesn’t care—all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen—until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong—but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker—and she may not be entirely sure who’s manipulating who until it’s too late…

A phenomenally fun novella that kicks off a trilogy of sexy space heists and romantic tension, Full Speed to a Crash Landing is packed with great characters and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

You can also get your hands on the digital edition of William Gibson's Virtual Light for only 1.99$ by following this Amazon Associate link. This OneLink will take you to the nearest Amazon site serving your country and you'll see if you can take advantage of this sale.

Here's the blurb:

2005: Welcome to NoCal and SoCal, the uneasy sister-states of what used to be California. Here the millenium has come and gone, leaving in its wake only stunned survivors. In Los Angeles, Berry Rydell is a former armed-response rentacop now working for a bounty hunter. Chevette Washington is a bicycle messenger turned pickpocket who impulsively snatches a pair of innocent-looking sunglasses. But these are no ordinary shades. What you can see through these high-tech specs can make you rich--or get you killed. Now Berry and Chevette are on the run, zeroing in on the digitalized heart of DatAmerica, where pure information is the greatest high. And a mind can be a terrible thing to crash...

Here's a blurb:

Now a New York Times bestseller!

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place.

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Devils is indeed a more fun and entertaining novel. Not a light read per se, but lighter than what Abercrombie has accustomed to with the First Law books. Sure, the narrative is snarky and filled with jokes and hilarious scenes, but à la Abercrombie there is nevertheless plenty of blood and gore to go along with the "lighter" elements of the tale. I doubt that The Devils will end up on the ballot for the World Fantasy Award, yet I can assure you that it's the most fun you'll have reading SFF in 2025!

Here's the blurb:

A brand-new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie, featuring a notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey.

Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.

It's difficult to judge how good/bad the worldbuilding is. As was the case with The Blade Itself, Abercrombie doesn't reveal a whole lot about this alternate Europe and the rest of the world. Perhaps subsequent installments will flesh out the world a bit more, as was the case with the First Law trilogy. But that remains to be seen. The author keeps his cards rather close to his chest in this first volume and only provides enough information so that readers can follow what's going on. The Devils is set in a universe where the great Roman Empire, the one that ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, never came to be. Rome was conquered by Carthage and became part of its empire, until Carthage was swalloed by the opening of a gate to Hell that went terribly wrong. There is a schism between the Church of the West, which is matriarchal and follows the Saviour (who was a woman), and the Church of the East, which patriarchal and follows the Father of the Saviour. There is no Muslim/Islam analog, for some reason. The Holy Land is occupied by elves, against whom the Crusades were fought. Prophecies seem to indicate that the elves will return once more to destroy the world, which is why something must be done to reconcile the Church under one creed so that the elven menace can be faced by a united front.

Brother Diaz, a craven monk with little to recommend him, is summoned to the Holy City, where he's press-ganged into becoming the head of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency. Though it goes against its precepts, the Church understands that sometimes one must fight fire with fire. As stated in the cover blurb, holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds. The Chapel of the Holy Expediency is comprised of evil elements that should have been put to death. Instead of being burned at the stake, they were given the opportunity to atone for their crimes by serving Her Holiness. A lost scion of  the royal family of Troy has been found. Brother Diaz and his flock must return her to the fabled city of splendors so she can ascend the Serpent Throne, and in so doing perhaps heal the rift and reunite the Eastern and the Western branches of the Church. The problem is that everyone with a claim to the crown will stop at nothing to kill the girl and ascend the Serpent Throne. And Troy is a long way from Rome. To make matters worse, all Brother Diaz has to rely on are the street urchin who is to somehow become empress, a cursed Knight Templar, a geriatric vampire, a jack-of-all-trades woman who's seen it all, a supposedly flesh-eating elf, a self-important necromancer, and a sex-crazed Norse female werewolf. What can possibly go wrong along the way? Why everything, of course!

It's obvious that Abercrombie decided that he was going to have fun writing this one, so buckle up because this is going to be one heck of a ride. Forget about the dark and dismal atmosphere of the Age of Madness, The Devils will have you chuckling and then laughing out loud in basically every single chapter. As is the author's wont, characterization remains this novel's best facet. Everyone gets a POV other than Baptiste, which makes me wonder why. This is another character-driven effort and Abercrombie sure came up with a motley crew of flawed men and women. Understandably, Alex, would-be Empress of the East if they can somehow survive this shit show and reach Troy and put her on the throne, is sort of the main protagonist. I say sort of because there is a nice balance between most of the perspectives and everyone shares the limelight. And though I've more or less enjoyed everyone's POV, with the exception of Vigga who was always a bit over-the-top for my liking, I have to admit that Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi is probably my favorite Abercrombie protagonist other than the inimitable Sand dan Glokta. True, these characters are not always the sharpest tools in the shed, but they each get their moment to shine and it's nice to see that each dog has its day. In true Abercrombie fashion, the author plays with our expectations and pulls the rug from under our feet a number of times. Even with a more humorous style and tone, Joe Abercrombie will always be Joe Abercrombie.

Having said that, I do believe that he went a bit overboard with the jokes and the snarky bits. And yet, to be honest, The Devils is that kind of work. It's meant to be a fun and thrilling ride and this is exactly what it is. Some sequences move more fluidly than others, yet pace is never really an issue. Some scenes only seem to exist for comedic purposes and don't necessarily add much to the story itself, true. But who cares in the end? You're having a good time from the first to the very last page.

Mark your calendar. The Devils is sure to be a hit next spring!

The final verdict: 8/10

For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Here's a blurb:

A mythmaker of the highest order, China Miéville has emblazoned the fantasy novel with fresh language, startling images, and stunning originality. Set in the same sprawling world of Miéville’s Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel, Perdido Street Station, this latest epic introduces a whole new cast of intriguing characters and dazzling creations.

Aboard a vast seafaring vessel, a band of prisoners and slaves, their bodies remade into grotesque biological oddities, is being transported to the fledgling colony of New Crobuzon. But the journey is not theirs alone. They are joined by a handful of travelers, each with a reason for fleeing the city. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a renowned linguist whose services as an interpreter grant her passage—and escape from horrific punishment. For she is linked to Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, the brilliant renegade scientist who has unwittingly unleashed a nightmare upon New Crobuzon.

For Bellis, the plan is clear: live among the new frontiersmen of the colony until it is safe to return home. But when the ship is besieged by pirates on the Swollen Ocean, the senior officers are summarily executed. The surviving passengers are brought to Armada, a city constructed from the hulls of pirated ships, a floating, landless mass ruled by the bizarre duality called the Lovers. On Armada, everyone is given work, and even Remades live as equals to humans, Cactae, and Cray. Yet no one may ever leave.

Lonely and embittered in her captivity, Bellis knows that to show dissent is a death sentence. Instead, she must furtively seek information about Armada’s agenda. The answer lies in the dark, amorphous shapes that float undetected miles below the waters—terrifying entities with a singular, chilling mission. . . .

China Miéville is a writer for a new era—and The Scar is a luminous, brilliantly imagined novel that is nothing short of spectacular.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from China Miéville’s Embassytown.