Saturday, November 8th, 2025 05:13 pm
Saturday, November 8th, 2025 09:44 am

Six books new to me: two fantasy, one science fiction, one that seems to be a mix of both, one horror, and one non-fiction.
Books Received, November 1 - November 7
How is it November already?
Poll #33815 Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz (January 2026)
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 32
Which of these (mostly upcoming) book look interesting?
View Answers
Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz (January 2026)
4 (12.5%)
Foundling Fathers by Meg Elison (June 2026)
13 (40.6%)
Letters From an Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss (November 2025)
14 (43.8%)
The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale (October 2025)
3 (9.4%)
Fallen Gods by Rachel van Dyken (December 2025)
7 (21.9%)
The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes by Conevery Bolton Valencius (May 2024)
20 (62.5%)
Some other option (see comments)
1 (3.1%)
Cats!
24 (75.0%)
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Friday, November 7th, 2025 09:12 am

Discovering what she expected to be a lucrative new job is instead an internship, Ropa Moyo tries to pay her bill by resorting to her avocation of detective.
Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments (Edinburgh Nights, volume 2) by T. L. Huchu
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Thursday, November 6th, 2025 02:16 pm
I had my twice-a-year appointment with the neurologist. All the low-tech neurology stuff was fine, with little change from the previous exam. We are reducing my dose of gabapentin, which we talked about last time, and I told him I want to give that a try.
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Thursday, November 6th, 2025 09:00 am

Miss the action movies of the recent past? Now you and your fellow gamers can recreate them.
Outgunned by Riccardo “Rico” Sirignano & Simone Formicola (Translated by Caterina Arzani)
Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 07:21 pm
This is a bundle of the 2019 Third Edition of Jonathan Tweet's RPG Over the Edge, from Atlas Games, possibly THE classic weird science / weird conspiracy RPG
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/OTE3E


This is a comprehensive revision of the system and setting, making big changes to characters, locations, and conspiracies, with huge amounts of weirdness in the introductory adventures alone. Even if you already have tons of material and a long-running campaign based on earlier editions, it's worth getting this just to mess with player expectations and show them that the world doesn't even stay the same sort of weird indefinitely.
As may be obvious, I'm a big fan, and this offer gives you plenty to play with. Definitely recommended!
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/OTE3E


This is a comprehensive revision of the system and setting, making big changes to characters, locations, and conspiracies, with huge amounts of weirdness in the introductory adventures alone. Even if you already have tons of material and a long-running campaign based on earlier editions, it's worth getting this just to mess with player expectations and show them that the world doesn't even stay the same sort of weird indefinitely.
As may be obvious, I'm a big fan, and this offer gives you plenty to play with. Definitely recommended!
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Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 02:04 pm
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Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 03:25 pm
Invested too much time statting out a character I will probably never use.
Evan Mason: Captain Jetpack!
( Read more... )
Evan Mason: Captain Jetpack!
( Read more... )
Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 09:14 am

Hinako Yaotose is saved by certain doom... by a monster who wants to let Hinaka ripen a bit before eating her.
This Monster Wants to Eat Me, volume 1 by Sai Naekawa
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Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 01:49 pm
For some time now my web site has experienced frequent outages due to excessive traffic. As an experiment I've taken the Forgotten Futures CD-ROM zip file off the site. It was by far the biggest file on the site, and it's possible that repeated downloads were causing the problem.
Instead I've uploaded it to archive.org as a zip file, about 658mb - open the link in a new tab or page!
https://archive.org/details/ffcd-8-zip
This takes everything that was on the last release of the CD-ROM plus a lot of extra material that would have been on the next release if there had been one. It won't all fit onto a CD-ROM any more, but if you unzip it into a subdirectory of your hard drive it ought to work well.
Note - Links to Empire of Earth, which would have been Forgotten Futures XII, do not work.
If you run into any other problems please let me know!
Instead I've uploaded it to archive.org as a zip file, about 658mb - open the link in a new tab or page!
https://archive.org/details/ffcd-8-zip
This takes everything that was on the last release of the CD-ROM plus a lot of extra material that would have been on the next release if there had been one. It won't all fit onto a CD-ROM any more, but if you unzip it into a subdirectory of your hard drive it ought to work well.
Note - Links to Empire of Earth, which would have been Forgotten Futures XII, do not work.
If you run into any other problems please let me know!
Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 10:01 pm
The three of us voted this afternoon, then went to the supermarket, where we had to deal with a pushy person who wanted us to sign dodgy-looking petitions: he said they were for same-day voter registration, but I noticed that the page he wanted us to sign didn't say what we were signing for. There are dozens of possible state ballot questions for next year, so it could be almost anything. (The procedure in Massachusetts, as I understand it, is people or organizations say "I want to put this on the ballot," and then the attorney general vets the proposals, and either OKs them or explains why not. After that, they can collect signatures.)
The only thing on the ballot in Boston today was city council seats, after the incumbent mayor's main opponent formally withdrew after coming in a distant second in the primary. Happily, I had a choice of five or six good candidates for the four at-large city council seats.
Addendum: there are in fact forty-seven "petition initiatives" on the state website, including a few that are labeled as versions A, B, or even C of the same thing. The list is on the state website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments
The only thing on the ballot in Boston today was city council seats, after the incumbent mayor's main opponent formally withdrew after coming in a distant second in the primary. Happily, I had a choice of five or six good candidates for the four at-large city council seats.
Addendum: there are in fact forty-seven "petition initiatives" on the state website, including a few that are labeled as versions A, B, or even C of the same thing. The list is on the state website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments
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Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 11:14 am
Because both shows feature a red-haired teenaged girl with a monosyllabic name and a troubled relationship with their family, my brain merged the continuities of Son of a Critch and Stranger Things.
Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 02:50 pm
Lets make it three posts in a day....
[Yes, I've taken a week's holiday!]
So, cancerwise, it's been a drag and then a whirl, and then, hopefully, a new, settled (for a while) normal.
First, the drag. Going back to work was great. Fought to go back up to my 4-day week as soon as I could as three days wasn't enough. Tiring through the summer, and cost any energy for reading or knitting, but worthwhile. As the months have gone on the fatigue has crept back more and more. I'd started joking about bedtime getting so early I wouldn't have got up yet! Getting home in the evening and not being aboe to eat dinner due to exhaustion is, however, no joke.
Second, the whirl. This treatment regimen started in slight confusion and it continues that way. The 3-weekly infusions stopped six weeks back, several months earlier than I'd expected (especially with appointments scheduled until the end of the year). Entirely correctly, it turns out. So, having got over my crossness (understatement, that) at suddenly and unexpectedly changed plan and the usual changes in medications hiccups (removing is just as unbalancing as starting), I'm feeling less achy and a whole lot less tired. I'm even staying up after 7.30 in the evening! What larks! (Or owls?)
I'm getting my knitting mojo back too.
Another year like this doesn't seem like a bad proposition. I'm intending to retire in a year too.
[Yes, I've taken a week's holiday!]
So, cancerwise, it's been a drag and then a whirl, and then, hopefully, a new, settled (for a while) normal.
First, the drag. Going back to work was great. Fought to go back up to my 4-day week as soon as I could as three days wasn't enough. Tiring through the summer, and cost any energy for reading or knitting, but worthwhile. As the months have gone on the fatigue has crept back more and more. I'd started joking about bedtime getting so early I wouldn't have got up yet! Getting home in the evening and not being aboe to eat dinner due to exhaustion is, however, no joke.
Second, the whirl. This treatment regimen started in slight confusion and it continues that way. The 3-weekly infusions stopped six weeks back, several months earlier than I'd expected (especially with appointments scheduled until the end of the year). Entirely correctly, it turns out. So, having got over my crossness (understatement, that) at suddenly and unexpectedly changed plan and the usual changes in medications hiccups (removing is just as unbalancing as starting), I'm feeling less achy and a whole lot less tired. I'm even staying up after 7.30 in the evening! What larks! (Or owls?)
I'm getting my knitting mojo back too.
Another year like this doesn't seem like a bad proposition. I'm intending to retire in a year too.
Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 02:35 pm
ETA: Bought:
- Pebble 2 Duo
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Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 08:43 am

A trading voyage leads to first contact and a delightful process of mutual discovery.
Voyager in Night by C J Cherryh
Monday, November 3rd, 2025 09:54 pm
Tried to move my dinner time in just two days, ate too late, crashed my blood sugar, and had to cancel gaming.
(It's not diabetes. It's just that I am incredibly intolerant to eating late)
(It's not diabetes. It's just that I am incredibly intolerant to eating late)
Monday, November 3rd, 2025 02:03 pm
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Monday, November 3rd, 2025 06:20 pm
This is a bundle of the game Monarchies of Mau, about intelligent "uplifted" cats in a post-human world, from Onyx Path Publishing. It's compatible with an earlier game, Pugmire, about intelligent dogs, which I don't know at all, and includes Squeaks in the Dark, a compatible RPG about intelligent rats. All appear to be based on the OGL rules, e.g. D&D.
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Monarchies

This isn't actually a genre that interests me much, but it looks like you're getting a fair amount for your money, and if you're interested it's probably worth a look.
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Monarchies

This isn't actually a genre that interests me much, but it looks like you're getting a fair amount for your money, and if you're interested it's probably worth a look.
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Monday, November 3rd, 2025 12:48 pm

Modern humans are fine, but what if we had a bit more variety in our stories?
Five Ways Science Fiction Can Expand Beyond Homo sapiens
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