Category: Philosophy

Laozi’s Dao De Jing translated by Ken Liu

subtitled A New Interpretation for a Transformative Time. I probably would never have picked up this book if it weren’t for the fact that Ken Liu is the translator. I have so many books and so little time, and reading about religion in my free time is not high on my list of priorities. However, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/29/laozis-dao-de-jing-translated-by-ken-liu/

The Forgetters by Greg Sarris

Y’know, when I first said yes to this collection of short stories based on the indigenous storytelling traditions of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples, I was expecting something very different. I thought that this would be a collection of old myths given a fresh retelling. And there is a little of that, definitely, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/25/the-forgetters-by-greg-sarris/

Cosmic Detective by Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt & David Rubín

Look, you hand me something with Matt Kindt’s name on it, I’m gonna read it, that’s just the rules. For his latest graphic novel, Mr Kindt has teamed up with a dream team of fellow writer Jeff Lemire (who’s famous for a lot of acclaimed stuff I haven’t yet read. I’m SORRY, I don’t have …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/05/cosmic-detective-by-jeff-lemire-matt-kindt-david-rubin/

Eight Billion Genies: Deluxe Edition by Charles Soule & Ryan Browne

collecting the entire 8-issue series. I knew I was in for something good when I read the name of the creators’ company, Silent E Productions. It’s a joke at once elegant and simple, and sets the perfect tone for this thoughtfully maximalist look at the nightmare question of what would happen if everyone in the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/01/eight-billion-genies-deluxe-edition-by-charles-soule-ryan-browne/

Wrapping Up

The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag

Time for some short takes to clear the desk for the coming year. Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk. Nobel winner Tokarczuk uses very short chapters, each titled “The Time of …”, to depict life in an archetpyal Polish village from just before the outbreak of the First World War through the last years …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/12/30/wrapping-up-3/

Octavia E Butler’s Parable Of The Sower: A Graphic Adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings

I actually hadn’t read the original text of Parable Of The Sower before this, but I have read and loved Parable Of The Talents. I’ve also read and, in retrospect, disliked Kindred — I had good things to say about it at the time, but the way Sarah treated her ancestress feels more selfish and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/03/octavia-e-butlers-parable-of-the-sower-a-graphic-adaptation-by-damian-duffy-and-john-jennings/

Big Panda And Tiny Dragon by James Norbury

While I originally picked this up as a children’s book, it is definitely a volume for readers of all ages, featuring sweet, simple lessons with some truly lovely watercolor and ink illustrations that invite you to stare at them for hours in delighted/delightful meditation. Our two title characters are Big Panda and Tiny Dragon, a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/28/big-panda-and-tiny-dragon-by-james-norbury/

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #3) by Seth Dickinson

Y’all, I thought this was the last book in the series. Like, I’m glad there’ll be more, but I was under the impression that this was the grand finale, so spent the last thirty or so pages being pretty confused till Seth Dickinson’s afterword acknowledging both that there’s one final book coming but also that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/22/the-tyrant-baru-cormorant-the-masquerade-3-by-seth-dickinson/

Record Of A Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3) by Becky Chambers

Every book of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series has centered on a slightly different, but extremely relevant, facet of life that is common to the modern millennial and Gen Zer, perhaps even more so than to prior generations. Her knock-out debut, The Long Road To A Small Angry Planet, discussed the found families that have become …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/11/27/record-of-a-spaceborn-few-wayfarers-3-by-becky-chambers/

The Monster Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #2) by Seth Dickinson

On the one hand, this sequel to The Traitor Baru Cormorant isn’t quite as filthy with forensic accounting as its predecessor in the series was, but it’s still one of those intellectually challenging fantasy novels that I know won’t be for everybody, more’s the pity. Our heroine, the titular monster after her villainous role in …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/09/02/the-monster-baru-cormorant-the-masquerade-2-by-seth-dickinson/