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PaperclipPerfector  19d ago (text post)   2378 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

Still going through my backlog.

Time is the Simplest Thing by Clifford Simak. Interesting read and I appreciate the additional character added by the zeerust.

City is undoubtedly showing its age but it had a big effect on me.

Oooh, I haven't read City yet but it's a comment much like yours that got me to check out Time is the Simplest Thing in the first place. I'll have to check it out next time I get a chance!

More than halfway through Kiki de Montparnasse. It's okay. I don't like any of the characters though.

Finished Uncivil War: The British Army and the Troubles. Found it interesting and a sufficiently unique perspective. Goes on a lot about how a core problem was the refusal of the British Army to really take action against Loyalist militias due to lack of resources and competing demands from height of the Cold War NATO to keep sufficient troops in Europe to counter any possible Soviet large-scale invasion. In addition to all of the usual problems often seen in COIN operations. The British Army didn't seem to spend too much effort on the problem-class of, unit builds up some local relationships, then rotates out after 6 months, new unit rotates in and has to start the relationship-building thing from scratch. Possibly inter-linked with the issue of apparently British Army divisions having their own independent identities and cultures not necessarily tightly linked with any other Army Division.

Also started and finished Blue Dawn which I found from the thread 2 weeks ago. I think I generally like the genre of Red-team action fiction, and I liked the Kelly Turnbull books, but this one just didn't seem that appealing to me. It seemed kind of cringe at times, the premise a little too farfetched. It's not like the Turnbull series isn't farfetched, but it seems to have the vibe of being deliberately and un-self-consciously absurd in a way that I find entertaining and funny.

Now reading War at Every Door, on the splits within the Confederacy in the American Civil War, which I found from this response to one of my older comments (I do get around to this sort of thing eventually, if not always right away). Just started it, but it seems there was a lot more internal dissent and resistance on both the Confederate and Union side than most popular summaries of the war pay attention to.

Recently finished Epitaph, by Mary Doria Russell. Competently written, interesting subject matter (the life of Wyatt Earp from the perspective of Josephine Marcus), and maybe it's confirmation bias but I thought her political inclinations showed a little even though she made an honest effort to be impartial.

Read Swords and Deviltry, the first book of Fritz Leiber's dealing with Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Entertaining, do not regret the read, but not sure if I really gained anything.

Currently reading The Worm Ourobouros, by Eric Rücker Eddison. Beautiful language, refreshingly antiquated world-view, but the world-building leaves a lot to the imagination. Or maybe that's not even a but; but actually works in its favor.

Next up: Ninti's Gate, by Matthias Pierce, one of the few youtubers I actually enjoy. Let's see whether he's any good as an author.

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