Sunday Morning Book Thread - 6-8-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (NOT the sequel to The Deplorable Gourmet. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(why do the laundry instructions require a stick of butter?)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

This is from the Provincetown Public Library in Provincetown, MA. It's a former church that was converted into a library many years ago. The half-scale replica of the Rose Dorothea was too big to remove easily, so now it's a part of the library. Neat! Reminds me of the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus library, which has ship *parts*, but doesn't have a replica of an entire ship.

MURDER MYSTERY TWIST

POP QUIZ! IT PAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WORD POWER

In the interests of full disclosure, I did pretty well up through number 17. The last three (18-20) were tough for me. I only made it due to process of elimination.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Reading wise, I started Nancy J. Cohen's Writing the Cozy Mystery. It's charming in and of itself, and a nifty little advertisement for her series, but it offers some excellent advice for character, setting and plot development that can apply across all genres.

Posted by: moki at June 01, 2025 09:34 AM (wLjpr)

Comment: Moki makes a great point about writing advice. Even if you find a book about writing that applies to a specifc genre (e.g., "cozy mystery"), chances are the writing tips can apply to any genre, as characters, settings, plots, etc., are all relevant for writing great stories. You still need to know the characteristics of a given genre so that you can writin within those genres. Especially if you want to mix-and-match genres, like a cozy mystery set aboard a space station.

I just read The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons, a Sherlock Holmes adventure. Bought it because it was offered for two bucks on kindle, I have know idea who Dan Simmons is, but it seems he is a somewhat popular and prolific writer. No idea why he was writing a Holmes story, but it was a good one, entertaining.

In spring, 1893, Holmes interrupts the author Henry James contemplating suicide, and enlists his help in determining whether the historian Henry Adam's wife was murdered, and also to prevent the assassination of Grover Cleveland and a number of other world leaders by a group of anarchists. Most of the main characters are literary and political figures of the time.

In telling the story, the author seems to be enjoying himself pontificating rather snarkily on the writers of the time and playing with author's perspective and the like.

All in all a fun read, light and airy. May have to check out some of this guy's other stuff.

Posted by: From about That Time at June 01, 2025 09:46 AM (n4GiU)

Comment: Dan Simmons is one of those authors who is not afraid to write in any genre he feels like. He's best known for his science fiction series The Hyperion Cantos, but he's also written in the horror genre and clearly the mystery genre as well. Simmons has a strong background in English literature, so I suppose it's not surprising that he'd be conversant with numerous genres and write accordingly. Hyperion, for instance, is basically The Canterbury Tales in space, with tons of literary references to Chaucer's work, as well as numerous other authors (one of the pilgrims is a poet).

MORE MORON RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: AoSHQ - Book Thread Recommendations

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg

Valentine wakes up on the banks of a river on the other side of the continent furthest from his home. He's the exiled legitimate ruler of the planet, but his soul has been placed in a different body. Now he has to make his way across tens of thousands of miles of dangerous, hostile terrain to reclaim his rightful role as Coronal of the gigantic planet Majipoor.

Although this series is labeled as "science fiction," I think "science fantasy" is more appropriate. Humans traveled to Majipoor thousands of years ago and conquered the planet, but now they live in a quasi-medieval society, having forgotten many of their amazing technological skills. There are relatively few signs of "science fiction" elements in this story. They have "energy throwers" (beam weapons) and "floaters" (levitating vehicles), but the vast majority of technology seems to be stuck at late-medieval or Renaissance levels.

This first book is mostly a travelogue of Valentine's adventures across Majipoor as Silverberg guides the reader in witnessing his worldbuilding. It's a very strange, wondrous place, with a mountain 30-miles high as the center of all political power, while a massive underground Labyrinth serves as the source of religious power, and the Isle of Sleep is the center of spirituality.

The Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg

Silverberg takes a major detour in this book of the series. It's really a collection of short stories with a loose connecting narrative between stories. Hissune, a young boy who Valentine met in the first book, finds his way into the deepest parts of the Labyrinth, where recordings of all citizens' lives are kept. He dives into key stories that are described briefly in the first book so that we see more details.

My favorite story by far--and one that is relevant today--is the story of the Pontifex who decided to abdicate his throne in the most unusual way. The Pontifex is the supreme ruler of the planet. His word is law. Unfortunately, his life is confined to the massive underground Labyrinth and he's unable to leave it for any length of time. One Pontifex gets tired of this. Upon the death of the Lady of Sleep, the Pontifex declares that he's now a woman and appoints himself the new Lady of Sleep. Tradition holds that the Lady of Sleep is the mother of the current Coronal, but the Pontifex can override tradition at will. He succeeds in his mad scheme and lives out the remainder of "her" life on the Isle of Sleep.

Valentine Pontifex by Robert Silverberg

Now we're back to Valentine's story, several years after he's reclaimed the Coronal's throne on Castle Mount, the titanic, 30-mile mountain at the center of Majipoor society. The shapeshifting Metamorphs, the indigenous race of Majipoor, are stirring up trouble by infecting crops with devastating diseases, among other schemes to drive wedges into the stable Majipooran society. Valentine must also deal with the internal politics of being the Coronal, as there's a push to elevate him to Pontifex. By tradition, the Coronal becomes the Pontifex after several years, then lives out his life in the underground Labyrinth. Valentine struggles with this concept because he enjoys the freedom of being Coronal and doesn't want to give that up, as he's only in his early forties at this point.

The Majipoor series has quite a bit of commentary on the roles of power within society. The stable society that currently exists has four major Powers: The Coronal, who basically serves as the political ruler, the Lady of Sleep, who serves as a spiritual guide, the Pontifex, who is the moral center of the culture, and the King of Dreams, who punishes evildoers with terrible nightmares for the rest of their life. Most citizens go quietly about their lives and there are seldom any major problems in society.

I had never read much Silverberg up until this point. I know him mostly as an editor of several anthologies I own. He's an interesting mix of Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft, Jack Vance, and Michael Moorcock, as you can clearly see their influences in his writing.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 6-1-2025 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

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Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Be on the lookout for Metamorphs, who may or may not resemble certain Morons.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

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