Month: April 2021

Rejecting a book

I’ve been reviewing science fiction and fantasy books for almost five years now (wow!), and of almost a hundred books that I’ve reviewed, I’ve only rejected two. (The third one doesn’t count because it was Biblical fiction miscategorized as science fiction… probably because of the dinosaurs.) I’m not going to name the books here… they didn’t appeal to me, but I understand that they may appeal to other readers whose tastes differ from mine. But because I’m writing the reviews for somebody else, I end up explaining why I’m not recommending them.

I described the first book I rejected to a co-worker shortly after starting it: “To be honest, I’m not terribly impressed with the book… it seems single-threaded, after reading a series where there are several point of view characters and little to no predictability. Somebody once described John Grisham’s books to me as “written to be movies” for that same reason – a single plotline and one person telling it. If I have to guess, the main character will accomplish her mission, losing some of her team along the way, and live happily ever after. But I’m less than a quarter of the way into it, so that’s only a guess.”

My guess was fairly accurate, and I later apologized to a friend who read the book.

The explanation for the second book I rejected was almost triple the length of my reviews, but it provides too many identifying details about the book to share here. The plot, like the previous reject, felt predictable and cliché (is that redundant?) in what should have been a fabulous premise. I was actually excited by the blurb, and increasingly disappointed as I waded through the book.

We all encounter duds from time to time, so I consider myself lucky given how few review books have turned out to be something outside my reading range.

Is this a turning point?

On April 20, 2021, the police offer who murdered George Floyd was found guilty by a jury on all three charges. This was unquestionably the verdict that the United States needed given the viral video of the murder, the protests that followed, and the solid case that the prosecution presented. This was reinforced by President Biden immediately calling the family, then delivering a speech about the verdict, calling to purge systemic racism from our country.

Do not mistake this for justice.

Justice would have been George Floyd’s appearance in court for allegedly passing a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. And even that’s questionable, since it’s only illegal if there is criminal intent. (I don’t recall ever reading whether it was determined to be a real or counterfeit bill.) If I unknowingly receive and then spend a counterfeit bill, I’m as much a victim of the counterfeiters as whoever I’m trying to hand it off to. And, as a middle-aged white woman, the odds are against someone calling the police over it; they’d probably return the bill and tell me to get it checked at the bank, then ask for a different payment option.

In two months, we’ll learn if the sentencing matches the crime, and in August, the police officers who stood by and let the murder happen will be tried. By then, we may know if this really is a turning point, as Congress debates reforming the system.

It comes too late for many, including a teenage girl in Ohio, Ma’Khia Bryant, who was shot by police shortly before the verdict was announced.

If this is going to be a turning point – and I sincerely hope it is – then more police officers must realize what those who testified for the prosecution presumably already know: you cannot serve and protect while also perpetuating injustice.

The Quest (calendar) continues… part 6

The adventure continues in the city of West Haven, where as Faris seeks employment after spending most of her hard-earned coin in part 5.

The next morning, I sought out Rufus regarding the job opportunity he had mentioned. He provided some background information, including those giant rats I had encountered, and sent me to investigate a shut-down church. My goal was to finds its missing clergy, with a reward of five gold for each, and five for the task itself. He refused to give me an advance on the payment.

I decided to seek some help for this job, visiting a local guild hall to see if anybody with suitable skills was available. Perhaps if I had continued gambling, I could have afforded one of those fine companions. Instead I continued on my own, approaching the church at dusk. I tried picking a lock to get in, but again, it’s not on of my strong points, so I smashed down the door instead.

The place was creepy – poorly lit and cold, and something brushed my leg soon after entering. I reached for a weapon and realized I was stuck in a large spider web. I tried to untangle myself, then tried wrenching free, and finally just grabbed a torch and burned the webbing.

I hoped all of this webbing was from one spider, but immediately noticed three as they swarmed me. I killed two, and the third scrambled away after biting me. Even the stairs were covered in webbing, and there was a dead half-elf stuck to the stairwell wall in a web sack. There were more sacks upstairs, I cut them all down, hoping to find someone still alive. Most had desiccated corpses, except for one dwarf who was so weak, I had to carry him outside. I stomped all over the spider eggs I found in another sack.

Stomping disturbed another batch of spiders, they seemed to come in threes. I shot two before they got close, but the third one bit me. I climbed up to the bell tower, which seemed to have no spiders, despite an abundance of webs and another desiccated corpse. The bell was coated in black slime that shimmered in the moonlight. Another massive spider crawled out of the bell. I shot it multiple times, evading its attacks, but it kept coming and blocked the stairwell. With no other option, I climbed out the window onto the roof. Well, jumped a bit, fell a bit… the drop was farther than I expected, and a little on the painful side.

And the spider followed me out! It smashed me with those massive legs and bit me, but I managed to kill the beast. With the beast dead, I climbed back into the church, hoping to find some survivors. I found a worship room with a small altar and offering table, with rotting food except for an apple I tucked away, along with a bottle of aged wine, and a healing potion I quaffed immediately. I also noticed a large religious tome, with the church’s symbol on it.

Penny’s Cosplay

Near the end of February, I completed one of my goals for the year: submit at least two short stories to competitions or for publication. Around the same time I submitted one short story to a competition, I signed up to receive weekly creative writing prompts from Reedsy. I was considering using one of their prompts (“Write about an android just trying to blend in with their human companions.”) and submitting the resulting story to their weekly contest, but hadn’t quite figured out the plot. As I was walking on the treadmill listening to Neil Gaiman’s MasterClass about storytelling, it hit me, and I ended up combining the homework from his class with the story prompt. The assignment was to alter a fairy tale, which Neil Gaiman demonstrated with a lovely explanation of how Snow White was clearly a vampire.

Penny’s Cosplay

The mismatched pair emerged from the passenger side of the taxi simultaneously, with Penny in a flowing pink dress emerging from the back seat to stand next to Adelai’s silver plating, partially obscured in a minimalist maid’s outfit. Adelai bent down so Penny, a full two feet shorter, could attach the maid’s headwear to her shiny head, then placed a sparkling tiara on Penny’s head, securing it in the blue wig. They both already wore their convention badges on lanyards dangling from their necks, ready to attend the country’s largest anime convention. Adelai slowly rotated her head towards the convention hall, stating in monotone “Let’s make this your best day ever, Penny.” 

They had barely made it inside the door when someone squealed and ran up to Penny gushing. “You are the perfect Princess Mayerte! And your android, ohmygoodness, is perfect as the maid slash bodyguard! Can I get a photo with you?” 

Penny nodded, and the gushing fan girl handed her phone to a friend for a quick snap. “Thank you so much! Oh, I’m Emmy… what’s your name?” 

Reaching into a pocket of her dress, she pulled out a pink card to show the girl. 

My name is Penny.

I’m mute.

“Oh. Umm… well, your costume is awesome, Penny! I’ll make sure to share my photo on the con’s Discord. Have a great time!” 

A quick swap in her pocket brought out a blue card. 

Thank you!

They moved slowly through the dealer’s hall and artist’s alley, with Adelai always half a step behind Penny, pausing frequently for photo opportunities as their outfits were admired. Shortly before eleven-thirty, they filed into a room with dozens of other Princess Mayertes and other fans to listen to the show’s creator, Miyata Yoshike, speak. Penny, being the shortest princess in the room, was given a seat in the front row. Adelai was relegated to standing stiffly along the back wall with the handful of personal androids who were chaperoning their charges or dragged along to carry their shopping. 

When the panel ended, Penny waited patiently for Adelai to rejoin her as the rest of the fans cleared the room. The pair of them caught Yoshike’s eye. “Are you entering the costume contest this evening?” 

Adelai tilted her head inquisitively at Penny. A green card emerged. 

Yes.

Yoshike raised a puzzled eyebrow at the card, then let it slide. “It would be so exciting if two of my characters won the paired category! I’ve never seen such a creative use of a personal android at a convention. I’ll see you there!” 

After Yoshike had left the room, Adelai turned to Penny. “We’ll need to find the masquerade registration.” She set a backpack, matching the maid costume, on the chair next to Penny, pulled out the program book, and flipped to the masquerade page. 

Registering for the masquerade turned out to be a simple process of filling in some basic information: their badge and characters names, the source material their costumes were based on, along with contact details, including real names, in case they won. Penny did not use keyboards often, so Adelai stood patiently while she meticulously typed in each letter, double checking her spelling as she went. 

The afternoon passed quickly as they wandered through the convention. Penny folded origami poorly in the children’s area, then flopped repeatedly onto the available bean bags, ignoring whatever show was on the screen in favor of moving around the room to examine other crafts before flopping again. They hovered in the gaming room for a while, amused by the number of thematically appropriate games that seemed to revolve around food. Ninja Burger looked to be a longer game, so they just watched for a bit until some other kids arrived looking for a faster game. Adelai supervised as Penny played Ramen Fury and Sushi Go with some teenagers. Nobody seemed to mind Penny’s silence, and even cheered when she won the Ramen game. 

Eventually they lined up with other competitors for the masquerade. A full dozen Princess Mayertes assembled for a group photo, and as expected, Penny was the shortest, and Adelai was the only android maid. The other princesses had entered the individual contest, though some of them promised that next year, they’d bring an android too. 

The crowd was enthusiastic about all of the costumes and skits, and cheered wildly for the smallest princess when Penny and Adelai crossed the stage. Penny grinned broadly watching the other cosplayers on and back stage, waving back at anybody who waved at her, presumably having seen her earlier in the day. As the judges tallied the votes, Adelai glanced down at Penny. “Best day ever?” 

The green card came out again, confirming that it was. 

Penny held up a yellow card with confetti pieces colored on it after each award was given, beaming at each person as they returned back stage. A crowd of new friends surrounded her, holding their breaths, when they announced the audience vote for the best paired costumes. 

“We’re delighted to announce the winners of the best paired costumes, Princess Mayerte and her android maid, as presented by Adelai Thompson and her android, P N 0….” The presenter paused briefly. “… C H 0.” He put his hand over the mic, which did little to muffle his next comment. “Is this right? Aren’t personal navigator androids capped at four feet tall?” 

Adelai and Penny were making their way onto the stage, and the audience was already cheering as he said that. Adelai registered recognition on a few faces as they realized what it meant. 

The presenter, still a bit confused, stepped over to meet them with their award as Penny pulled an orange card out. 

May I speak? 

He hesitantly nodded and offered her the microphone. She shook her head, gestured to the screen behind them, and faced the somewhat bewildered audience as her words appeared on the screen. 

My name is Penny, I am a Personal Navigator 0 Charge Hours 0 android assigned to Adelai Thompson. My design does not include a voicebox; I am able to connect with any WiFi enabled device to share necessary information. 

All I wanted was the chance to be a real girl for one day, and today has been the best day of my life. This convention and these amazing people made this possible, and allowed me to understand how a human participates in the world. 

I would remember this day forever, if I could, but my next upgrade includes a memory wipe. I want to thank all of you, and especially Adelai, for this experience.

She turned to Adelai, who had removed both the maid’s headwear and her shiny mask, revealing a normal woman to the audience. Adelai was blinking furiously, clearly trying not to cry, as the audience slowly rose to their feet to give Penny a standing ovation. Penny reached for her hand as they strode off the stage. 

The Quest (calendar) continues… part 5

Having discuss the Quest calendar mechanics last week, the Quest continues where part 4 left off.

As we approached the city, an idiot guard accused me of having kidnapped Victor Fellmont, and attacked me as we were entering! We managed to slip past him after he stabbed me with his spear. Fellmont was soundly chastised by his fater, then I was sent to meet Rufus Saltworth, his head guard, for my payment. I talked him into a bit extra for my troubles, and he offered to hire me to deal with other unusual activity in the city.

As I wandered the city, heading back to the inn, Luc scurried under my cloak as an eagle swooped down at us. He landed on a nearby lamp post, staring at me with a look that said “You’re mine now.” It was not dissimilar from how Luc adopted me. I carefully reached out and touched his head, and the name “Richard” flashed through my thoughts.

He followed me as I wandered through town, picking up some meal rations, getting my bow and arrows fortified, and finally sitting down to a nice meal at the Thirsty Devil Tavern. As I was strolling back towards the inn I stayed at previously, some idiot stabbed me and stole my coin purse. The joke was on him though, I only had four gold pieces left. (I’d better find another job quickly!) Well, except it meant I was empty-handed when I passed some beggars a few minutes later.

I saw a guy pick a merchant’s pocket, then turn around and buy food. Hesitantly, I approached and asked him to return the money. He shouted at me and stormed off, dropping some coins in the process. Then I checked the job board again. The choices were… interesting.

I picked up a job as a chef’s assistant. The title was misleading, all I had to do was taste the terrible food. I threw up all over the kitchen, but earned some coin in the process. Then I tried to find out who was stealing pies – from a better cook, obviously. No luck there. I founded it out by going after rats in someone’s basement, which paid nicely.

Having replenished my coin, I stopped at the Thirsty Devil Tavern again for a drink. There was a table with a game of King’s Cards, so I joined for a bit. I walked away with almost double my starting purse, to a round of groans because I quit while I was ahead. As I was leaving, one of the other players was accused of cheating, which started a brawl. Having no interest in the fight, I scurried out of the way, grabbing a few coins from the floor as I headed to the door. Somebody must have hit me, I woke up under a table during the clean up, just as the city guard arrived and started arresting people. I slipped out the side door before they could grab me. Then I strolled back in the front door and booked a room for the night.