Archive for comic fantasy

a journal of the invasion year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2026 by xi'an

Read The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett, which I enjoyed tremendously. Admittedly, and paradoxically, it belongs to a highly specialised niche, namely the one of murder mysteries in fantasy settings. Paradoxically, because in a fantasy universe, anything can prove true (and the opposite), which makes uncovering the murderer(s) an impossible task (for the readers). But the author manages to make the story into a page turner, while unfolding the specifics of the local universe without massive infodump. And creating fully-fleshed characters, esp. the main investigator and her rookie assistant. I am definitely looking forward the continuation of the sleuthing adventures of the pair and comforted that the book won the 2025 Hugo [Best Novel] Award! (And this made me reminiscing of other great fantasy mysteries, like Gideon the Ninth, A Master of Djinn, the Bobby Dollar trilogy, as well as several Kingfisher‘s books.) I also read the BD Petites coupures à Shioguni (Small denominations in Shioguni) by Florent Chavouet, a Japanese gangster story with a truly original style and a relatively convincing scenario.

Prepared several kilos of local (sea) scallops during our Norman vacations, which is easier than preparing oysters but messier since the shells may be full of sand. Also failed my first chocolate mousse of the year, mostly due to eggs being too cold and solidifying the barely melted chocolate as a result.

Watched Beyond the Bar, (yet another) Korean TV series on a major legal company and the rise of a young recruit. Repeating a lot of tropes found in other series on the same topic, with weak resolutions of the legal issues but enjoyable at low doses nonetheless. Also found myself watching The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third instalment of the Harry Potter franchise, Fantastic Beasts, which is frankly appalling, cheesy, and lacking a true background story.

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a journal of the [downplayed] plague and [endless] pestilence year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2022 by xi'an

Read another novel by Fred Vargas, the early This Night’s Foul Work which carries the usual Vargas’ themes more focussed on the psychology of the characters than on the police work, with no pretense at realism (from police work, to ignored regulations and procedures, to superhuman abilities of the improbable villein), and a rather simplistic (and surprising for a CNRS researcher) vision of regional idiosyncrasies. Again. (Maybe I am being thin-skinned because Normans are the targets this time.) Adamsberg, the main detective gets positively (or rather negatively) sleazy when spying on a romantic rival.

Read [in planes] The Traitor God sounded like an interesting plot when I picked it: a rogue mage, having left its order and city ten years ago, and coming to the rescue of old friends in trouble. However, the blob-like evil behind said trouble got particularly grotesque and absurd, till a ridiculous finale that was only the premise to a second volume. While sounding similar in concept, Paladin’s Grace proved much more enjoyable [in the same planes], if pure mindcandy (and hence hardly at level with a Hugo or Nebula Award). More a form of fantasy sleuthing than anything of a cosmologic scale (and no explanation as to why the god died), with a perfume-maker as the scientific police equivalent!  (But this is definitely not Süskind’s Parfum.) A bit heavy-handed on the romance part, though, with endless internal debates of both central characters. And also read The Maleficent Sevens, whose most redeeming quality is its title, as otherwise, I found little to enjoy there: the characters are not compelling, even in their maleficiency (facade grim only if this qualifies as grimdark fantasy), their motivation for (re)banding together is unconvincing, the magical abilities and actions hold no coherence, usual plot u-turns aplenty (like walking dead, krakens, subterranean demons), the naval battle is beyond stretching belief, contrary to the other (anti)heroes, the orcs are discriminated against in being the only ones to miss salvation in the final chapter, the dialogues are far from witty (far far away from Terry Pratchett if this qualifies as comic fantasy).

In contrast with my earlier light encounter with COVID, I attended a COVID funeral in Normandy a few weeks ago, which, besides the deep sadness of seeing a relative depart, made me question the general laisser-faire attitude about COVID, despite the dozens of thousands of daily cases (in France) and more than an hundred death. With hardly anyone wearing a mask in public transportation for instance. (In a cruel if not unexpected irony, some people attending the funeral later tested positive.)

Watched Hokusai in the plane to Santiago, and back, which I found a little bit stiff in its historical reconstruction and somewhat missing in getting the uniqueness and genius of Hkusai’s paintings. But interestingly bringing to light that paintings and sketches became somehow prohibited unless restricted to actors and courtesans, after the demise of the Tokugawa shogunate, during the Meiji Restoration. And un-enthusiastically completed the House of the Dragon, still lacking in scope. And in dragons.

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