December 2023 archive

The Iliad translated by Emily Wilson

The Iliad by Emily Wilson

Introducing her translation of The Iliad, Emily Wilson gets right to the heart of the matter. “The beautiful word minunthadios, ‘short-lived,’ is used of both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/31/the-iliad-translated-by-emily-wilson/

The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power

The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power

Samantha Power was a writer before she went into public service. And even though she’s been America’s ambassador to the United Nations, and is now serving as the chief of the US Agency for International Development, it’s possible — maybe even probable — that she’s a better writer than anything else. Which means that even after …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/30/the-education-of-an-idealist-by-samantha-power/

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant, one of two official wizards of the London police force, owes his life to Lady Tyburn, one of the genius loci of the city’s numerous rivers. So when she wakes him with a pre-dawn phone call to say that one of her daughter’s friends has had an accident — the “fatal” is unstated …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/29/the-hanging-tree-by-ben-aaronovitch/

System Collapse by Martha Wells

System Collapse by Martha Wells

System Collapse has a great ending, possibly the best yet in Martha Wells’ wonderfully engaging Murderbot series. I emphasize that because I was a little lost at the beginning of the short novel, though that was mostly my fault. The story in System Collapse picks up immediately after the end of Network Effect, which was …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/28/system-collapse-by-martha-wells/

Just SNOW Already! by Howard McWilliam

This book is an utter delight! Just SNOW Already! masterfully combines straightforward prose with the slyest, most charming illustrations to tell an entirely different, layered tale of anticipation and of (hopefully) not neglecting all the wonderful things already taking place while you’re waiting for something “better” to happen. Our unnamed protagonist is a young boy …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/27/just-snow-already-by-howard-mcwilliam/

The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss

The Narrow Road Between Desires by Partick Rothfuss

The last time there was a new book by Patrick Rothfuss to write about, The Frumious Consortium was a new project,and Laura reviewed The Slow Regard of Silent Things faster than the rest of the crew. She had strong ideas and took issue with common views coming out of fandom. She set the naysayers straight: …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/26/the-narrow-road-between-desires-by-patrick-rothfuss/

Merry Christmas

Luke 2:1-14, Old English: Soþlice on þam dagum wæs geworden gebod fram þam casere Augusto, þæt eall ymbehwyrft wære tomearcod. Þeos tomearcodnes wæs æryst geworden fram þam deman Syrige Cirino. And ealle hig eodon, and syndrige ferdon on hyra ceastre. Ða ferde Iosep fram Galilea of þære ceastre Nazareth on Iudeisce ceastre Dauides, seo is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/25/merry-christmas-3/

That’s Dickens with a C and a K, the Well-Known English Author

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ’Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/24/thats-dickens-with-a-c-and-a-k-the-well-known-english-author-3/

Long Chills And Case Dough by Brandon Sanderson

Given the way this year has been going, it seemed only fitting to (finally, belatedly) start my Year Of Sanderson with the last book released as part of his gargantuan Kickstarter. And let’s be honest, I likely won’t finish reading the other four books he sent out by the end of the calendar year. Fortunately, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/22/long-chills-and-case-dough-by-brandon-sanderson/

Mya McLure, The Brave Science Girl: The Toad Cave by Douglas Haddad & Jennifer Ball-Cordero

Mya McLure is a young environmentalist who knows that making an impact requires efforts both personal and political. While she leads her classmates in petitioning local government to stop cutting down trees, she also finds herself faced with a much less public dilemma, as a large number of toads come to her home in search …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/21/mya-mclure-the-brave-science-girl-the-toad-cave-by-douglas-haddad-jennifer-ball-cordero/