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THE NEXT TIME AN ANTI-GUNNER SAYS CITIZENS’ RIFLES ARE USELESS AGAINST ARMIES…
…remind them of this. I was recently reading “Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans” by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager. The War of 1812 was going badly for the Americans. The British had burned the White House, and a huge contingent of British troops was in Louisiana planning to march north in conquest. […]
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THE LAW AND THE FACTS ARE ON OUR SIDE, BUT WE SHOULD BE USING EMOTION, TOO
Historically, both law and facts are on the gun owners’ side of the “gun control” debate, and the Other Side had relied largely on emotion. I respectfully submit that emotion is something our side should play to, as well. I made that point recently at the 2024 Gun Rights Policy Conference in San Diego last […]
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CATCH THE NEW SECOND AMENDMENT FOUNDATION VIDEO
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Wk2: Knows the Grindstone
Work 2021 at work started in a fairly typical way. Over the course of the christmas break our…
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Bripe and the world Bripes with you
This is, without doubt, the stupidest coffee device I have ever bought. But I have bought it.
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The 2024 FactCheck Awards
We'll know soon enough who won the 2024 general elections for president, Congress and other important positions. But we don't have to wait a second longer to find out this year's FactCheck Award winners.
The post The 2024 FactCheck Awards appeared first on FactCheck.org.
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Raskin Didn’t Say He ‘Won’t Be Certifying the Election’
Social media users have spread a quote attributed to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, claiming he said "we won’t be certifying the election" if former President Donald Trump wins. Raskin responded, saying the quote is "100% fabricated" and that "America is having a free and fair election and Congress will certify the winner." The origin of the posts appears to be a misleading account of Raskin's comments in February.
The post Raskin Didn’t Say He ‘Won’t Be Certifying the Election’ appeared first on FactCheck.org.
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Quote of the Day
Brother Diaz had no words. Honestly, he was finding it difficult to breathe down here. He was feeling dizzy. As if the ground might suddenly fall away. He struggled to loosen his collar once again. All he'd wanted was a comfortable living, somewhere sunny. To be taken seriously by the frivolous, regarded as wise by the unwise, and considered important by the unimportant. Instead, for reasons he couldn't comprehend, he found himself called on to consort with scarred knights and part-time painter's models, to face unspecified perils dire enough to threaten creation, all while not getting too close to the cages in which his congregation were kept.
- JOE ABERCROMBIE, The Devils
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
Oh, this is going to be good!!!
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Quote of the Day
Balthazar delivered a weighty sigh, but nobody noticed.
His current predicament gave him a great deal to sigh about: the ghastly mattress, the dreadful food, the frigid damp and unspeakable odour of his lodgings, the outrageous denial of clothing, the abominable absence of intelligent conversation, the heart-rending loss of his beautiful, beautiful books. But after long reflection he had come to the conclusion that the very worst thing about being forced to join the Chapel of the Holy Expediency . . . was the mortifying embarrassment.
That he, Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi, learned adept of the nine circles, suzerain of the secret keys, conjurer of unearthly powers, the man they dubbed the Terror of Damietta--or at least had dubbed himself the Terror of Damietta in the hope that it would stick--one of the top three necromancers in Europe, mark you--possibly four, depending on your opinion of Sukastra of Bivort, who he personally considered an absolute hack--should have been apprehended by buffoons, tried and condemned by dullards, then pressed into humiliating servitude alongside such abject morons as these.
He glanced sideways with an expression eloquently communicating his utter disgust, but nobody was looking. The ancient vampire, presumably rendered decrepit by being starved of blood, slumped in a chair looking as fashionably bored as a wisp-haired skeleton could. The elf stood, thin as a length of pale wire, face obscured by a shag of unnaturally ashen hair, motionless but for a constant and deeply irritating nervous twitching of her long right forefinger. Their chief jailer, Jakob of Thorn, looked on from the corner with arms tightly folded: a war-worn old knight who appeared to have spent a sizeable portion of his life being crushed in a mangle, an experience that had clearly squeezed all sense of humour out of the man. Then there was the supposed spiritual shepherd of this congregation of the disappointing: Brother Diaz, a perpetually panicked young idiot from a little-known and less-regarded monastic order, who wore the expression of a man who cannot swim on the deck of a rapidly foundering ship.
An ineffectual priest, an enervated knight, a misanthropic elf, and an antique vampire. It sounded like the start of a bad joke to which the tragic punchline was yet to be revealed. One might at least have hoped for an awe-inspiring venue: some sculpture-crusted sanctum whose marble floor was inset with the ideograms of saints and angels. Instead, they got a draughty little box in the guts of the Celestial Palace, whose one window had a view of a nearby wall sporting a muddle of leaky drainpipes.
The choice of Balthazar's farce of a trial had been atonement for his trespasses through service to Her Holiness or burning at the stake. At the time it had seemed a no-brainer, but he was beginning to suspect that, in the long run, immolation might prove to have been the less painful option.
- JOE ABERCROMBIE, The Devils
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
Balthazar's POV is by far my favorite thus far. He's the most entertaining necromancer in speculative fiction since Steven Erikson's Bauchelain and Korbal Broach!
His current predicament gave him a great deal to sigh about: the ghastly mattress, the dreadful food, the frigid damp and unspeakable odour of his lodgings, the outrageous denial of clothing, the abominable absence of intelligent conversation, the heart-rending loss of his beautiful, beautiful books. But after long reflection he had come to the conclusion that the very worst thing about being forced to join the Chapel of the Holy Expediency . . . was the mortifying embarrassment.
That he, Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi, learned adept of the nine circles, suzerain of the secret keys, conjurer of unearthly powers, the man they dubbed the Terror of Damietta--or at least had dubbed himself the Terror of Damietta in the hope that it would stick--one of the top three necromancers in Europe, mark you--possibly four, depending on your opinion of Sukastra of Bivort, who he personally considered an absolute hack--should have been apprehended by buffoons, tried and condemned by dullards, then pressed into humiliating servitude alongside such abject morons as these.
He glanced sideways with an expression eloquently communicating his utter disgust, but nobody was looking. The ancient vampire, presumably rendered decrepit by being starved of blood, slumped in a chair looking as fashionably bored as a wisp-haired skeleton could. The elf stood, thin as a length of pale wire, face obscured by a shag of unnaturally ashen hair, motionless but for a constant and deeply irritating nervous twitching of her long right forefinger. Their chief jailer, Jakob of Thorn, looked on from the corner with arms tightly folded: a war-worn old knight who appeared to have spent a sizeable portion of his life being crushed in a mangle, an experience that had clearly squeezed all sense of humour out of the man. Then there was the supposed spiritual shepherd of this congregation of the disappointing: Brother Diaz, a perpetually panicked young idiot from a little-known and less-regarded monastic order, who wore the expression of a man who cannot swim on the deck of a rapidly foundering ship.
An ineffectual priest, an enervated knight, a misanthropic elf, and an antique vampire. It sounded like the start of a bad joke to which the tragic punchline was yet to be revealed. One might at least have hoped for an awe-inspiring venue: some sculpture-crusted sanctum whose marble floor was inset with the ideograms of saints and angels. Instead, they got a draughty little box in the guts of the Celestial Palace, whose one window had a view of a nearby wall sporting a muddle of leaky drainpipes.
The choice of Balthazar's farce of a trial had been atonement for his trespasses through service to Her Holiness or burning at the stake. At the time it had seemed a no-brainer, but he was beginning to suspect that, in the long run, immolation might prove to have been the less painful option.
- JOE ABERCROMBIE, The Devils
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
Balthazar's POV is by far my favorite thus far. He's the most entertaining necromancer in speculative fiction since Steven Erikson's Bauchelain and Korbal Broach!
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The Devils
Needless to say, I was giddy at the thought of getting an early read of Joe Abercrombie's newest novel months before its pub date. The Age of Madness trilogy was pretty bleak, even by the author's standards. Lord Grimdark is not known for his romantasy or cozy fantasy works and it's safe to say that his last series truly delivered on the grimdark front. From the blurb, it appeared that Abercrombie went for a more humorous style and tone for this new one and I for one was looking forward to that. As mentioned in my review of The Wisdom of Crowds, I felt that it was a bit too high-handed with the social commentary and a bit overdone with Judge's cruelty and the Great Change in general.
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.
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Nobody wants Copilot Pro AI for Office365, so Microsoft will force-bundle it and raise the price?
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X is the latest social media site letting 3rd parties use your data to train AI models
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What explains the outsized success of autistic applicants to college
Z went to a Duke recruiting weekend where accepted kids can get a feel for the university. He hung out with some kids who decided to go to Harvard and Stanford, and a bunch of kids who decided on Duke. What was similar about all of them? They talked openly about having autism. At lunch […]
The post What explains the outsized success of autistic applicants to college appeared first on Penelope Trunk Careers.
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My Jewish college kid is protesting the war in Gaza. And I’m proud.
In the last 48 hours many of Y’s friends have been arrested for being part of an anti-war encampment at their college. I am shocked by the large number of college encampments across the US, but I knew this was coming because Y (who goes by they) has been discussing it for months. We are […]
The post My Jewish college kid is protesting the war in Gaza. And I’m proud. appeared first on Penelope Trunk Careers.
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How to keep a family together
I’m meditating now because it slows down time and I only have 14 more weeks until both my kids are at college. When Z is reading on the couch, and Nino is reading next to him, I pull up a chair and meditate with my eyes open because I don’t want to miss this moment. […]
The post How to keep a family together appeared first on Penelope Trunk Careers.
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Russian Penitentiary System of the 90s: Two Photo Projects From Foreign Authors
The post Russian Penitentiary System of the 90s: Two Photo Projects From Foreign Authors appeared first on English Russia.
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The Sad Story of the Unique Monument
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The Giant Fecal Art Object Appeared in St. Petersburg
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Beauties of the Russian Empire on the Colorized Old Photos
The post Beauties of the Russian Empire on the Colorized Old Photos appeared first on English Russia.
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The Hut on the Wheels
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Russian Grandmothers Who Break the Social Norms
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Life In Moscow Before the Revolution
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The Beauty of Siberian Winter
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A Journey of a Swiss Traveller by Train to the Urals
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Girls and Coffins: Advertising From the Moscow Funeral House
The post Girls and Coffins: Advertising From the Moscow Funeral House appeared first on English Russia.
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The Best Works of Sergey Maksimishin: Prominent Russian Photographer
The post The Best Works of Sergey Maksimishin: Prominent Russian Photographer appeared first on English Russia.
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The Craziest Wedding Competitions in Russia
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Azerbaijan From the Bird’s Perspective
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A Sculpture of an Easy Girl Appeared in the Belgorod Region
The post A Sculpture of an Easy Girl Appeared in the Belgorod Region appeared first on English Russia.
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The Magic of the Carpathian Mountains
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Kiev: Residential Building is in Fire Due to the Wreckage From the Air
The post Kiev: Residential Building is in Fire Due to the Wreckage From the Air appeared first on English Russia.
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They Said “Give Weapons To Everyone”
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An-225: The Dream is Over
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Festive Maslenitsa Event in the Moscow Region
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Women on the Roofs of Leningrad
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The Most Beautiful Country Photography Contest
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Trashy Parties of the Russian Youth
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White Bear – Master of the Arctic
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Russia in the Parallel Universe
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Soviet Life on the Photos of Vladimir Bogdanov
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Bad Day For the Garbage Truck
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Elton John In the USSR
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Beauties of the 1950s – 1970s
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Evils of Politicians in the Satirical Art of Semen Skrepetsky
The post Evils of Politicians in the Satirical Art of Semen Skrepetsky appeared first on English Russia.