Some other realities

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:09:31 GMT

I was going to write about books and TV when I got sidelined by last night's RL drama. I'm rereading the Murderbot books at the moment, preparatory to reading the new one, Platform Decay. By the time I get to it, I will have talked myself into the budget being quite able to stretch to a new book. Alas, it will be Kindle, because said budget won't stretch to all real books. At the moment I've just finished with book 2, Rogue Protocol, fresh in my mind after Swancon, where some friends ran an excellent panel discussing the books.

They only got about halfway through the series because there's a lot to discuss, plus the inevitable person or two in the audience who Would Not Shut Up. Lasers built into one's arms would solve so many frustrations. The panel helped me remember that I agree with Murderbot that the Miki robot was intensely annoying! And that ART may be an asshole, but it has been very helpful to Murderbot, enabling it to disguise itself as human, among other things.

On the screen side, I got a month's subscription to STAN, to cheer me up after Swancon ending, and because reading Murderbot encourages a frame of mind where I just want to sink into media and totally escape reality! I've got a list of shows I want to catch up with, and of course they're on different streaming services, so this will take me awhile. Right now I'm watching From's fourth season. Don't worry, I am not going to give any spoilers, so my review of the first two episodes consists of the word gibber. In an approving, my-gods-they-went-there way. Much better pace than some earlier episodes. Characters are actually communicating, to the extent that I might scream if I hear someone say, "We need to talk," one more time.

I also want to read Ann Leckie's new book, Radiant Star, and am seriously considering of getting that one as a real book. I love the Imperial Radch, my favourite Roman Empire in space/tea drinking/genderweird culture, but will read anything Leckie comes up with. It makes sense that I'm fond of both. Ann Leckie's review of Martha Wells' books was simply, "I love Murderbot!" It's hard to describe what I mean, but her style helps me immerse myself in the books to the extent that I forget there is any other reality while the book lasts. Can't stop myself trying to work out which gender each of the Radch characters are, though.

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Raised by Rats

Some other realities