Books
Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson. It turned out to be a good novel, set in an interesting time; I haven’t read a lot of revolutionary era historical fiction. The magic system is interesting, but I do wonder about the lack of limitations… as the final battle revealed. Still, it was good, and I’m looking forward to the sequel, Thieves’ Quarry, due in July.
Directive 51 by John Barnes. I’m about halfway through. It’s very interesting so far; sympathetic to all sides. I do wonder about a department of the future and why it had to be introduced… though it sounds gimmicky enough that I can buy it. I like the idea of the mutually incompatible passions getting tied together into Daybreak.
Podcasts
The Dice Tower Episode 290: A solid episode.
TJ Hour: Episode 1007 – The Art of Power, part 2. I’m very much looking forward to reading the matching book; it sounds like a good generalist book with an interesting skew.
TJ Hour: Episode 1008 – Commonwealth: Mostly listener mail, with the first in a series of guest hosts. The first three minutes were rough adjusting to the new voice, but it went along fine.
Wait Wait: 1/12 and 1/19. They were fine, but didn’t really stand out for good or bad. It’s good to be past the repeats.
Nathan Lowell’s Talking on My Morning Walk 1-20: Vaguely interesting, but I don’t know him, so his offhanded references to his books are mostly lost on me. I won’t be downloading more.
This American Life #173: Three Kinds of Deception. Interesting stories, but not revelatory. It felt like a filler episode.