Banners in the Wind

Banners in the Wind

Juliet E. McKenna

The previous volumes in this trilogy are Irons in the Fire and Blood in the Water. This review contains mild spoilers for both.

The third book in the Chronicles of the Lescari Revolution trilogy sees the fighting continue into autumn and winter after the foreign mercenaries have returned home. It is time for Lescaris to fight for themselves, to show that they are willing to fight for peaceful unity and able to control their own affairs. However old allies become targets as the ideological differences of the initial conspirators lead them into conflict. The surviving Dukes are keen to regain their titles, and one still remains safe in his dukedom.

It's fair to say that I had a few expectations about the third book in a trilogy about a revolution. There's so many ways the story could go -even within the broad expectations- and I was interested to see how the Lescari revolution would conclude and what shape a new Lescar would take. It had been a while since I had read Blood in the Water, but reminders of previous events, as experienced in different ways by different characters, are seeded consistently and seamlessly into this book when needed. I wouldn't recommend reading this book without reading the previous two, because you'd be missing out on a good read by skipping them, but it is perfectly possible to read this volume alone.

I've realised this book is very much a depiction of the aftermath of previous events, and much of the plot is driven by consequences. The consequence of removing rulers is a power vacuum that others will try to fill in different ways. The consequence of law and order breaking down is that regular folk are prey to criminals. The consequence of a paid army going home is that you will have to find people willing and able to fight for their own land. The consequence of internal unrest is that neighbouring nations will want to get involved. All of these challenges are faced by the conspirators and must be answered. Much of the plot consists of characters reacting to events -a town being overrun by bandits, the new tyranny of a troublesome former ally- but this is not a criticism, far from it. Everything that happens is a result of the characters previous actions, directly or indirectly, and it would be terribly unrealistic for any character to be in control in this situation. The pace is kept up throughout as each character deals with their situation, there's action and intrigue aplenty. As with the previous volumes we get a rounded picture of what's happening as characters on different sides of the conflict deal with different types of problems.

Consequences are also important on a more personal level as most characters deal with the results of what they havealready done. Duchess Litasse bears guilt for bringing a depraved mage into her quest for revenge, and as she grows increasingly uneasy about the actions being taken in her name she has to decide what her future will be. Tathrin faced the censure of his family for his part in the revolution, and is thrust into a leadership role he never wanted as he becomes the Captain-General and shoulders the responsibility for the new Lescari army. Aremil and Branca draw apart from each other, as each regrets the things they have done and fears the judgement of the other, but their communication via magic is essential. Even Sorgrad, whose stake in the fate of Lescar never seemed personal, has something to gain or lose as his subtly-disguised romantic feelings are revealed in a way that is wonderfully unorthodox and a testament to the author's skill.

Without going into much detail, the ending shows a way forward for Lescar and a chance at respite for the conspirators, who have had a difficult year and want to get on with their own lives in their newly-freed and unified homeland. While this is the end of this series I'm hoping that the later books set in the same world will make some reference to how things are going for the Lescari. I suppose I will have to read them to find out for sure.

The Survivors

Episode: s3, ep3

A mystery I didn't figure out by myself and powerful magic. It's, like, practically fantasy.

What Happens

You kids get off my lawn

The Enterprise rushes to a distress signal from a colony under attack. When the ship arrives the whole planet has been devastated, there's only one intact building and two survivors in a square bit of grass (what are the chances?). An away team meets a grumpy old man and his hospitable old wife, botanists who retired to the colony. They saw the attack and don't know why they survived it. Kevin, the old man, is keen for the Enterprise to go away and leave them alone. Rishon, the old woman, is friendlier, but even she doesn't want to leave, though their chances of continued survival are slim.
Troi hears twee music on loop in her head, the same as the music from Rishon's music box. It bothers her throughout a staff meeting and she goes to her quarters, but can't escape it even in sleep. Dr Crusher tries to help, but knocking Troi out doesn't stop the torment and eventually she has to induce a coma in order to give Troi peace.
An unidentified warship turns up from nowhere and ineffectually attacks the Enterprise, before leading the Federation ship away from the system. Picard returns and visits Kevin and Rishon himself, offering them a replicator, which Kevin refuses. It turns out Kevin is a pacifist and they wouldn't fight the attackers with the rest of the colony, but that doesn't solve the mystery of their survival. The mysterious ship returns, looking different and with better weapons. This time it damages the Enterprise and forces retreat, though no one is killed. Picard orders the ship to return to the planet, at which point he beams down to see the old couple again. Kevin is surprised and angry and insists Picard leaves. The Captain tells the old couple they're in danger from the warship and that he won't enter their house again but they will stay in orbit to protect them.
When Picard returns the warship reappears, Picard orders the Enterprise to hold position and not to engage. The warship attacks the planet, destroying Kevin and Rishon as the crew look on. After the apparent destruction Picard orders the ship to stay where it is, he's clearly waiting for something. Several hours later the house reappears, as do the couple's life signs. Picard was expecting this. He has the pair beamed to the Bridge and demands an explanation from Kevin, before explaining that Rishon isn't real, she disappears. Picard tells Kevin that a member of his crew is in agony because of him. Kevin turns into energy and goes to Troi's room. Picard finds him there and Kevin says he's taken the music away from here. Kevin explains that he's an immortal being of illusion who fell in love with a human and lived as one for over 50 years. No one ever figured him out before. He refuses to kill and so did not help the colonists, or the real Rishon, in their fight against the attackers. He tried to use illusion to drive the attackers away, but that just angered them. After Rishon died Kevin went insane and wiped out the entire attacking species. Ashamed of this genocide he recreated his old life and hoped no one would ever find out what he did.


Guest Star
Rishon was definitely familiar. Turns out the actress, Anne Haney, has been in various things. I think I mainly recognise her as Mrs Zellner, the inspector from Mrs Doubtfire.


Oh Captain, My Captain
Picard figures out the mystery much quicker than usual. In fact I'm not quite sure how he figured out. I was still trying to figure out what was going on when Picard was testing his assumptions. It was refreshing that I didn't know what the answer was before most/all of the characters - and no one besides Picard had the slightest clue what was happening either. I mean obviously Troi's problems were linked to the old people, because of the music (that only Troi and the audience could hear and only the audience knows is coming from the planet). Also it's TNG the subplot always ties in to the main plot, unless either plot is about a crew member (except Data) experiencing a emotion.
What I'm now wondering is how intentional my confusion was. Did I miss a beat when Picard figures it all out? (I don't think so, it's not clear in the transcript either.) Was Picard's process of figuring it out initially fuller but got cut in scripting, filming, or editing? Was it just convenient to the story that Picard knew the answer at a certain point in episode? I suppose I'll never know for sure.

Counsellor Pointless

I know a song that'll get on your nerves

I feel really bad for Troi in this episode because she is tortured by a twee earworm from hell and can't do a thing about it. Of course I often feel bad for Troi because if something invasive and unpleasant is going to happen to any crew member, it is likely to be Troi. In fact this kinda stuff happens to Troi a lot when she's not even putting herself in harm's way. I guess the that's price of fuzzy, undefined mental abilities.* Speaking of which...

"It's difficult to explain. I feel there's something different about these two people. I'm sorry. I can't be clearer than that."
Troi says this kind of thing a lot when trying to be of some use as an empath. In this particular case I can understand that she's having difficulty, a magic old man is blocking her, but that isn't the case every time. It's probably her job to try and explain what she can sense, rather than going on about how hard humans are to read and how unclear everything is.
What's also common is that Troi's vague senses don't actually add anything to the plot or the mood. You mean there's something a bit odd about this already very odd situation? Well it's a good thing you mentioned that Troi. I suppose it annoys me because Troi is a good character who is so often badly used.


We Need to Talk About Kevin
Kevin's pacifism is mostly explained and explored in angry conversations with Picard. I wonder why the word pacifism itself is never used, almost as though the programme was shy of saying it? Kevin describes himself as being of "special conscience" then says he chose not to fight or kill. Picard acknowledges this as his right. The way it's explained it seems like pacifism is an odd, unusual choice. I guess for those in the heart of the Federation utopia it's not really a question, not part of their reality (just as it's not for so many of us). It's different for space-faring colonists, who might face any kind of weird danger (this is only the start of series 3 and already there's so much crazy stuff out in space).
I got a sense of disapproval from Picard when Kevin says he wouldn't kill, even to save Rishon, but that may just be because Picard is trying to goad Kevin at that point. The willingness to kill for the ones you love is often a sign of heroism in modern fiction, but when you think about it there's much that's problematic about the idea. The illusory Rishon says she wanted to fight, but stayed with Kevin, presumably that's want Kevin wanted to have happened. In actually Rishon did fight, and Kevin obviously respected her motivations enough not to stop her. It's not clear whether Kevin used his powers to save the colony before or after Rishon entered the conflict, either way his attempts to help sadly backfired. When he saw Rishon's body he went temporarily insane, and was able to commit genocide way too easily. Whatever your views on pacifism in general, it can only be a good thing that something so powerful avoids causing harm.
I liked that despite being a mystical being Kevin looked like a very ordinary, curmudgeonly old man.

No Magic Here
Kevin is an incredibly powerful being. He's been around millennia and can create illusions with substance. (Begging the question as to whether they actually are illusions, and what makes something an illusion? Perhaps I'm getting a bit metaphysical.) He can also destroy an entire species with a thought and blocks Troi's empathy with musical white noise. I'd assumed he might be a Q who left to live a quiet life, but apparently there are different types of ridiculously powerful, magical beings in the galaxy. It all seems pretty fantastical to me.
Kevin's power seems a little variable. He doesn't know when the Enterprise returns to the planet until Picard goes to him, even though he's blocking Troi and must be aware of what's happening in orbit.

Staff Meetings: 1
1. In the lounge the senior staff discuss the mystery of the survivors. Why those two people? What's different about them? Did they collaborate? Do the attackers need something from them? How long can they survive alone? Troi is plagued by an unfamiliar tune, which makes the staff meeting hard to focus on.

Death by Space Misadventure
11,000 colonists died in the unexpected attack on the planet.
50,000,000,000 aggressive aliens, an entire species, were wiped out in Kevin's reaction to his wife's death.

The End
Picard points out that he can't judge Kevin, no one has the means to do that. (Apparently Picard has learned a lesson about the perils of trying to judge powerful beings, let's see if that holds next time he meets Q.) Picard tells Kevin to rejoin the illusory Rishon on the planet. In his log Picard is uncertain whether Kevin should be praised or condemned, but the Captain is certain that he should be left alone. It's one of the more sensible things Picard has said.

Seriously, stay off this guy's lawn

* Or maybe it's what happens when you're a main female character?? Troi and Crusher are both healers, not fighters or adventurers. They play a more passive, supportive role when faced with danger (as opposed to Tasha, who was a fighter), so danger is something that unexpectedly happens to them, rather than arising as a consequence of their actions. I don't know, but seems like perhaps their gender makes them more innocent/sympathetic victims.

Seven Wonders

Seven Wonders

  Adam Christopher

This story of superheroes and supervillains takes place in the fictional Californian city of San Ventura, home to the Cowl, the world's last supervillain. Standing against this menace are the Seven Wonders, the city's superhero team. However some of the citizens of the 'shining city' are not happy with this arrangement. Some are scared of the criminal mobs who claim to be doing the Cowl's work and make the streets unsafe, while some detectives in the city's police force can't help noticing that the Seven Wonders don't stop a lot of crime. The lives of some non-powered folks are going to change dramatically as they are pulled into the schemes of the super-powered and everyone in San Ventura and beyond must cope with coming changes.


This is a fun book that keeps the pace and action going throughout. There are twists and turns from the start, and while I saw some of them coming (I'm aware of superhero tropes) there are surprises even for the genre savvy. I found this book more enjoyable (and less confusing) than the author's previous novel Empire State, though I suspect that's because I'm more familiar with superhero stories than with noir. The main characters are well written, with the narrative giving a glimpse into the mindset of each. There are various shifts in alignment and its a testament to the author that these don't feel unlikely. The titular superhero group mostly aren't viewpoint characters and so they do feel a little flatter, though they are meant to be aloof during the start of the story so its no surprise we hear about them more than we see them. I particularly liked that two of the most dynamic characters in the book are women, and that they lead or steer the action quite a bit of the time. It's also cool that the motivations they are given are ones that are traditionally assigned to male characters in comic books.

The setting felt familiar in a good way, and by that I don't just mean San Ventura (I have never been to California), but the whole set up. It's a superhero world, albeit one with very few active superheroes, and it manages to blend the feel of different comic book traditions. There's almost a tussle between the clean-cut all-American comic book tradition of the super team's public face and the darker, seedier underbelly of supervillains, criminals and superheroic compromise. These different parts of this world exist together and there are also glimpses of the more mundane existence lived by the ordinary, unpowered folk. It is good that they aren't forgotten as some superhero stories tend to focus on blasting and punching as opposed to the concerns of normal life.

Seven Wonders is a fun, action-packed novel that doesn't skimp on characterisation or emotion.

The Ensigns of Command

Episode: s3, ep 2

Picard must understand and apply a complex treaty without Data's help. Data must persuade some people to do something they don't want to do without Picard's help.
There is no one of the rank of Ensign featured in the episode and Wesley only gets one line, so that's not what the title is about.

What Happens
Data is playing a string instrument concert with O'Brien, a Vulcan and a blueshirt. Data tells Picard and Dr Crusher to come back when someone else is playing because he's been told his playing lacks soul. Picard explains the downside of excessive honesty, and is called away by a message. The Shelliac aliens (who probably don't have anything to do with nail polish) notify Picard that there are humans on a planet that belongs to them. The Federation have 3 days to remove the humans as per a treaty, after that the aliens will destroy the human vermin. The planet has fatal radiation that interferes with scanners, transporters and weapons. Dr Crusher reckons that the humans must have adapted to the radiation (adapting to radiation you can't survive is a neat trick). Data is sent to start the evacuation as he's the only one who can survive there (it seems the radiation also affects Klingons, Vulcans and any other non-human races on the Enterprise).
Data's arrival surprises 2 talkative men with capes. Their ancestors settled there 92 years ago after their Federation ship got lost, it took a lot of work to survive the radiation and create a settlement. There are now 15,253 people, it's impossible to evacuate that many by shuttle in 3 days. Data is taken to their leader, who seems mildly surprised to see an android and refuses to believe anything Data says and won't evacuate. A lady helps Data, she is very interested in him and asks a lot of technical questions, despite never seeing an android before. Further attempts to explain the situation to the leader result in denial and the leader going on about the history of the settlement. Data tries talking to people individually, most don't believe him, or think they can fight or negotiate. Data tries asking Picard and Riker for guidance, but they are having no better luck. Data goes to a public meeting where the leader successfully uses rhetoric and inflated civic pride against facts, even though Data tries to appeal to them emotionally and even mentions dying children. Some colonists are mildly concerned about their impending deaths and meet with Data separately.

French tips anyone?

Riker insists that Geordi and O'Brien make the transporters work, they try even though it's impossible. It will take Star Fleet 3 weeks to send a fully equipped colony ship. Picard tries to negotiate for more time with the aliens, who stick to the treaty and refuse to hear any argument outside it. They will arrive in 3 days, kill any humans they find and colonise, as is their right. Picard and Troi look at the big, complex treaty and Troi explains why a basic concept of Star Trek is deeply improbable. Picard takes the Enterprise to intercept the aliens, who let Picard beam over, but still won't listen to him.
Data holds a meeting in the lady's house where some people hear Data out and think that maybe they should evacuate, but only if the leader can be convinced. The leader arrives, tells everyone off and attacks Data, which he sees as turning off a machine rather than an act of violence. This means that the evacuation is off, for some reason. The lady somehow reactivates Data and he realises that actions speak louder than words. He makes a phaser from household items (don't try that at home), stuns a group of guards then destroys the town's vaunted aqueduct. He explains that the aliens are numerous with stronger weapons and will probably kill them all from orbit (it is the only way to be sure), so they won't have a chance to fight. This makes the colonists understand and even the leader agrees they should prepare to evacuate, though he wanted to die for the settlement.
Picard decides to really look at the treaty, gets the senior staff to read it, then finds a section about 3rd party adjudication. He tells the aliens that he'll get a hibernating race to adjudicate when they wake in 6 months, or they can give him the three weeks he's asking for. The aliens aren't happy but they agree. Geordi and O'Brien say they can get the transporters working if they have 15 years and a +100 research team. The evacuation plan goes well and the lady says goodbye to Data. She wants some emotional connection from him, but Data claims he doesn't have emotions. The message of the scene is that Data is purely rational.


Oh Captain My Captain
Picard advises Data that excessive honesty is bad, especially in a command position, as advertising your flaws stops your crew from having confidence in you. Plus you'll start to believe in your limitations.
Picard tries to deal with the aliens' demand and adherence to the treaty. His attempt to speech at them fails because they rudely hang up. Although he refers to the treaty it takes him a while to actually look for a solution somewhere in there. It's a complex document that was made over a century ago by +300 legal experts, even so it seems a bit odd that he and Troi were apparently skim-reading it before. It's also odd that there are no lawyers on the Enterprise. I'd have thought there should be trained lawyers, or at least someone with a law degree, I mean they have (or possibly had) a fiction expert... on the spaceship.
When Picard takes the time to properly look at the treaty with the senior staff (not even a paralegal to help out) he discovers the loophole. A 3rd party can be brought in to adjudicate and he chooses a race currently in hibernation for another 6 months. He gives the aliens the options, then he hangs up on them with great satisfaction.

Riker: lover, adventurer, middle-management
In a moment of bonding Riker ad Picard finish each others sentences while explaining (apparently to each other) that the aliens will destroy all the humans and they'd be entitled to do so. And thus the stakes are explained.
In this episode Riker plays the role of that manager who tells you to do something difficult/impossible then motivates you by repeating what he's asked you to do and assuming you'll get it done despite your objections. He kind of gives Data advice, but he doesn't help Geordi and O'Brien at all. He just wanders in on them modifying the transporters and gets on their backs about it.

Does Not Compute

What's happening now?

Data has trouble understanding why no one will listen to him and his plainly stated facts. The lady explainsthat humans have various flaws that he does not, and helps him by suggesting he try reverse psychology and emotional language. Of course Data can't play that game the way a human can, plus he's a weird-looking, non-human stranger whereas the leader is apparently respected so much that people would rather risk dying than go against his word.
Data doubts his ability to accomplish his task. The lady kisses him because he's feeling down (because that's a thing people do?) and Data entirely wrecks the moment by analysing the kiss and asking what it was about. At the end of the episode the lady suggests Data might have some fondness for her and he is perplexed by the notion, which disappoints her. He kisses her, but only because it mirrors her kissing him earlier. Apparently Data has been chemically castrated (or whatever the android equivalent is) since the Naked Now because he not only feels no affection, he entirely fails to recognise it.

Counsellor Pointless

This means, get your own coffee

Troi -in her secondary role as Picard's secretary- explains the circumstances surrounding the treaty and communications issues with the Shellac aliens, who cannot be read telepathically or empathically. She also demonstrates to Picard why any interplanetary communication is highly improbable, even among species that have some common reference points. Yes, many different aliens being able to communicate easily with each other, even using roughly the same methods of communication, it the does seem to good to be true, doesn't it?
Troi asks Picard who they have to help with the treaty, and Picard says it's just the two of them. I dunno, it seems like he could probably find someone to help out.

Blind Engineering/Poor O'Brien
Geordi and O'Brien attempt to follow impossible orders and get the transporters working. Wes helps but even he doesn't think it can be done. Riker ad Picard wander through every so often telling them to get on with it. Wesley questions this, but Geordi says that's just what captains do. These are the things are engineers know.


Planet of ... Sheep
The people of the settlement may not believe Data and if they don't their actions make sense. They trust their leader enough to make that decision; though you'd think those who were present might be concerned that he has reached his decision without giving it any thought, or checking anything, or even coming up with a reason why Data would lie to them. Later its clear that some people do believe Data, or are concerned enough to hear more from him, but even then they refuse to let Data help them unless the leader agrees. At the point that you believe your leader's decision will lead to your death, why do you still care what he thinks? No one is actually willing to stand up against his word and help save the lives of their peers. When the leader turns up to the not-so-secret meeting everyone talks very calmly and meekly, and just watches as he stuns Data. Is this someone you want as a leader? Even if his grandfather was heroically crushed by rocks building an aqueduct.
It's easy to feel mild contempt for these idiotic people, but I suspect they represent us, as a whole. There's no obvious or heavy-handed parallels with current affairs, but I think this is a commentary on modern society. If you look at something like global warming, for example, you see much the same kind of behaviour from leaders and the led, but with less convictions and principles.

Today's lessons:
1. Excessive honesty is a bad thing
2. "Wanting the impossible" is the short definition of Captain
3. People will follow a leader, even against their own judgement
4. Making legal documents work for you requires reading

The End
Picard got chance to listen to Data's violin concert and says it shows feeling. Data explains, for the second time that day that he doesn't have feelings, he's just imitating other violinists. Picard counters by saying that the musicians he's imitating are entirely different, yet he blends them. Data concedes that he has learned to be creative.
I feel that Data has convinced himself that he doesn't have feelings and is reluctant to accept compliments. As the first section made clear, if you believe something about yourself enough you probably make it true. Something I can identify with.

London Fantasy Bingo

When you read British urban fantasy it's difficult to get away from London. It makes sense, London is by far the biggest and most famous UK city. There's a lot an author can do with London, but I have noticed certain trends that appear regularly within this particular subgenre.

For the purposes of this post I'm not so much looking at the various historical fantasies and alternate histories set in London, its more about fantasies set in modern or contemporary London.

Examples:

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch - 6/9

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - 6/9

A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin - 7/9

Stray Souls by Kate Griffin - 8/9

King Rat by China Mieville - 7/9

Kraken by China Mieville - 8/9

The City's Son by Tom Pollock - 8/9

Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon - 6/9

Some of these scores a bit rough as I'm scoring from memory, so it's possible a few of the above would actually score higher if I read them again.

I can think of other books I haven't got around to reading yet, and I expect there are even more examples I haven't even thought of. If you get a score for a book that I haven't mentioned here do let me know, especially if there's a book that gets a full house.

Evolution

Episode: s3, ep1

Beverley Crusher is back! Wesley Crusher has normal, teen reactions. Dr Kelso tries to reduce the hospital budget by launching an egg into a space explosion (I think). Already an improvement on series 2.

What Happens
Wesley oversleeps. The Enterprise is in a binary star system in time for a spectacular explosion. A scientist, Stubbs, is there to shoot some tech into the explosion, for science! The ship rocks about as the Enterprise is pulled towards the stars. Picard gives orders and Geordi does stuff, but the Computer insists there's no malfunction. The ship is made safe again, but sickbay is busy with minor injuries. More importantly, Dr Crusher is back! YAY! She notices that the food slot in sickbay is broken, but the Computer insists there's no malfunction. (Have you spotted the pattern yet?)
Beverley worries about Wesley. Stubbs tells the lad about the concept of wunderkind and the burden of fulfilling your potential. Red Alert sounds, a Borg vessel is detected, but can't be seen. It sounds bad but you can tell there isn't really a Borg attack because the music is wrong, its spooky rather than action-packed. Then the Computer starts reciting chess moves.
Stubbs insists his experiment must not be delayed. Geordi technobabbles about hotwiring the ship because the systems are disintegrating. Wesley is supposed to be in quarters, but he crawls around 10 Forward, setting traps. He tells Guinan he thinks the problems might be his fault, because of a nanite experiment he was doing that got loose. Big band music plays loudly across the ship, and Picard has to shut off the Bridge power to stop it. Stubbs is sad and angry about his experiment, and lectures Wesley about baseball and impatience. Beverley and Wesley have a real discussion about his responsibilities and her absence.
Beverley and Wesley explain about the nanites. Stubbs wants them killed so he can do his work and is deeply confused when crew members suggest they're an intelligence that shouldn't be destroyed. Picard tells Wesley to work with Data to remove them safely. Stubbs interrupts Data, Geordi and Wes to shoot at a section of Computer killing the nanites there. Horrible gas floods the Bridge. Data points out that Stubbs' actions prove intelligence, as they responded to his attack. Stubbs is confined to quarters, and Picard tells Data to find a way for them to communicate with the nanites. Troi talks to Stubbs, who is scornful of her touchy-feely approach. Later a console attacks Stubbs with blue lightning.
Data volunteers himself as a conduit so Picard can hold a peace conference. Picard speeches about peaceful co-existence and the nanites explain that they were exploring and meant no harm (which is convenient). Picard creates fellow feeling by saying that he's an explorer too. Stubbs is made to apologise for mass murder and the nanites agree to end the conflict. They don't need assistance anymore, they want to leave the ship as it's too confining. Data is returned unharmed. Stubbs sorts out a planet for the nanites and is successfully able to do... whatever it is.


Guest Star
Its young(er) Dr Kelso from Scrubs.

One Bahama Mama please

Ken Jenkins plays Dr Stubbs, a Star Fleet scientist who has spent his life working on an 'egg' that will do... something. Its very important that his experiment is launched in time for the solar explosion in this specific binary star system, because it only happens once every 196 years.
Stubbs is a man who has devoted his life to this experiment and he talks to Wesley about the pressure of being gifted and living up to the potential everyone sees in you.* In his spare time he likes to imagine long ago baseball games, because he's really good at stats and also patient, or something. He doesn't like Troi, because she's a counsellor or an empath, or both. He's entirely driven, to the point of arguing with the Captain and killing a load of nanites in order to force the crew to do things his way. In the end he has to apologise to the nanites for the killing, and I think he mostly means it, though I'm sure he's helped along by the fact that they tried to kill him back. In the end he uses his contacts to secure a world for them and does his egg and star experiment. (I was kinda hoping it might be something like the end of Futurama's Into the Wild Green Yonder, but it really wasn't.)

Oh Captain My Captain
Picard is happy to give professional praise about Wesley and compare the lad to his father, but is distinctly uncomfortable and uncertain when asked about Wesley having a personal life. Then again Picard doesn't seem like the kind of boss who wants to know about anyone's personal life, he's got captaining to do.
Picard makes clear that his first priority is not some guy's science experiment, it's the safety of the ship. It's not even like the experiment involves lost civilisations or fascinating ancient artifacts. It's the Captain's prerogative to endanger the ship for his interests, and his interests alone.
Picard tells Data to find a way for them to communicate with the nanites. Because how is Picard supposed to solve a problem unless he can make a speech at it?

Doctor Doctor
Dr Crusher is back! Hooray!!
No one mentions what happened to Pulaski, its probably not important. I respected Pulaski, but I didn't like her as much as Crusher. For all that she was shown to be compassionate, Pulaski would sometimes make a decision about whether or not people counted as human and wouldn't change her mind, like with Data and those clones.
Stubbs comments on the mother-son Crusher team and asks whether Wesley ever has fun. Beverley realises that after a year she doesn't really know the answer to that question. They clearly haven't bonded since she returned, Wesley is too polite with her, and she worries. She speaks to Picard about Wesley and both the Captain and the Doctor realise that they were getting into trouble at 17, and Wesley just doesn't. Beverley tries to talk to Wes about taking on too many responsibilities, and he confronts her about being away. (Well, its the TNG equivalent of a parent-teenager confrontation, there's no shouting or sarcasm and little anger.) Beverley offers her help and she tells the senior staff about the nanites.
At the end Beverley sees Wes with some brightly-dressed young people. Her worries assuaged, Beverley can adopt a mother role she's more comfortable with.

Not-quite-an-Ensign
The show finally acknowledges that Wesley doesn't behave like a normal teenager and maybe that's a cause for concern. I suppose not having his mother around meant he was being raised by a group of people who are there in a professional capacity. There wasn't any family time and all the interactions we see are between Wes and adults. He's driven enough to aim for the Academy and since that's an area where all the officers could easily encourage him that's become the focus of his life. When Beverley suggests that he's taking too much on he's understandably annoyed. He's been doing so much, more than anyone expected, and yet he feels like he's facing criticism for that. It's also no surprise that Wesley throws his mother's absence back at her (though it was his choice to stay on the Enterprise). Of course -this being a utopian future with no interpersonal conflict- the anger and tension immediately dissipates. Beverley offers her help and Wesley accepts it. Still it was good that they had this scene.
Wesley effectively creates life (or intelligence) in this episode, but there's no smugness or superiority or people going on about how damn smart he is. There's just a mistake that goes badly wrong and needs to fixed. In a very normal teenage reaction he tries to sort it out himself in the hopes that no one will find out and he won't get into trouble. Initially he only confides in Guinan (who's outside Star Fleet and conventional adulthood), she points out that maybe he's been too smart for his own good, like Doctor Frankenstein.
At the end Wesley socialises with some other young people, the implication being that he does have friends, so that's alright then.

Guinan's Hat: Forest Green
Guinan tells Wes that she's no good at being confined to quarters, as her husbands will attest. She asks about Wesley's problem and there's no suggestion that she'll report it to anyone. Guinan claims to have known Doctor Frankenstein, and I'll believe her because she's basically like a wiser, less-flashy combination of a Time Lord and a Jedi.
She also gets the best line:
Wesley: I always get an A.
(Wesley leaves)
Guinan: So did Doctor Frankenstein.

When talking to Dr Crusher at the end of the episode Guinan reveals that she's had lots of children, but only one she didn't relate to. It took several hundred years, but she managed to bring him round.


Security Breach
The ship is very vulnerable because they can't trust any external data or rely on weapons while there are so many system failures. In fact its a mercy that life-support isn't threatened.
Worf points out that allowing unknown creatures, who have shown an understanding of hostility, to basically possess/infect a Star Fleet Commander is a great threat. Everyone ignores him because they can't be bothered to run malware scans on androids. Plus by that point the nanites have already infected their entire environment, and its not like Data even has lasers or anything.

Staff Meetings: 2
1. Picard, Data and Riker go to the lounge to discuss the system-wide failures. Troi and Stubbs turn up, Stubbs wants a briefing because this is his only chance to do... whatever it is. Picard understands, but must ensure the safety of ship and crew. Stubbs would rather die than leave his experiment undone, he's also rude about Troi's empathy. Troi tells Picard how driven Stubbs is, though Picard had already figured that out.

2. Beverley tells Picard, Riker, Data and Stubbs about the nanites. Wesley explains that his nanites evolved, the computer hardware is their food and they've started multiplying, apparently evolving as they do. Stubbs suggests an exterminator. Beverley points out they're a collective intelligent, and Stubbs points out that she kills diseases, germs and other lifeforms all the time. Picard tells Wesley to work with Data to remove nanites safely, but stronger measures may be needed later.

Today's Lessons:
1. If something is meant to be kept in lab conditions don't take it to your room, otherwise you might accidentally endanger the lives everyone you know. Of course, if nothing really bad happens you probably won't be punished.
2. Don't stake your entire life on one thing, because if that doesn't pan out you'll probably go crazy.
3. Guinan: A mother shapes her child in ways she doesn't even realise. Sometimes just by listening.

The End
Beverley has a chat about motherhood with Guinan. She sees Wesley with his arm around a girl, in a group of young people and comments on how healthy that is. Then she asks Guinan who that girl is.

* Book recommendation: the subject of being a prodigy and the pressure that comes with that is a major theme of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, which is a great YA book.

Planned Reading

Here's a list of books that are either already on my to be read pile (physical and electronic), or are likely to be added to it when I get around to spending my Xmas money. Plus I'm sure many of these books will be available through the library service too.
The books are presented in no particular order, and I'll update what I've read as I go.

Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher

Banners in the Wind by Juliet E. McKenna 

Noir Carnival edited by K. A. Laity

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

Chicks Dig Comics by various

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (I've never read any PKD and this was recommended by a colleague)

The Time-Travellers Almanac edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (I will have to dip in and out of this one as its a truly enormous anthology and looks like a book that deserves its own lectern)

The Copper Promise by Jennifer Williams

Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman

The Shadowed Sun by N. K. Jemisin

Clovenhoof by Heide Goody and Iain Grant

Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough (I won this in a raffle chaotically hosted by the author)

The Bookman Histories by Lavie Tidhar

Tales of Eve edited by Mhairi Simpson

Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (I read all the books as a kid, except the first one)

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

The Merchant of Dreams by Anne Lyle

Dangerous Waters by Juliet E. McKenna

The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar

Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard

And to think my husband says I don't want things. Though to be fair, he was talking about things other than books and DVDs, and I must admit I find I don't tend to want other stuff so much.

This actually looks like a lot of books, though I don't normally do lists like this, so maybe that's it. I wonder if I'll manage to read them all? Stay tuned to find out.

New Year

It's that time of year to do a bit of planning and looking forward, as well as a little looking back.

This year I want to get more organised and rather than coming up with vague resolutions I'd like to have actual plans and goals in place for myself. I realise that I'm the kind of person who needs a structure in order to be effective, so I'm coming up with that at the moment. I'm hoping to be a bit more organised with blogging too, I enjoyed doing the Sandman reread earlier, but I think I could have planned it better. January might be a bit quiet in these parts while I get a few things sorted out.

Of course other people's plans aren't particularly interesting and a lot of what I've come up with so far is written in shorthand that only I'm meant to understand, so I won't be posting a list here. Instead I'm going to start positive and mention some good things that will be happening this year.

Girl at the End of the World
Fox Spirit Books are publishing a pair of anthologies early this year featuring female characters in apocalyptic short stories. My story 'The End of the Garden' will appear in the first volume, it's definitely not your usual end of the world story, it's narrated by a hedgehog for one thing. Both books will feature an impressive range of stories and I'm really interested to see what the talented folks on those lists have come up with.

Fox Pockets: Guardians
You may remember me mentioning Fox Pockets (the small but perfectly formed mini-anthologies from Fox Spirit Books) back in June when my flash fiction story was published in the first volume: Piracy. Since then the second volume, Shapeshifters, has been released, and very fine it is too. My story 'My Guardian's Guardian' is due to be published in the Guardians Fox Pocket later this year.


Loncon3
In August this year I shall be attending my first Worldcon, since its going to be happening in the country I live in. I didn't do many conventions in 2013, deciding to spend a bit of money on a holiday to Greece instead. I've heard mixed reports about recent Worldcons, but as they are run by different people in different locations and (this year) in a different country I'm going into Loncon3 expecting it to be its own event. A lot of friends are going, so if nothing else it'll be a good opportunity to catch up with people and hopefully make some new friends too.


Looking back at the resolutions I made last year.
The most successful resolution was get a new job, which I achieved in April and has been going pretty well since then.
Have more fun and be more creative are, in retrospect, well-intentioned and tricky to judge. I did have fun and was creative in 2013, but at this point I'm not sure if it was more than 2012. I think overall I felt better in 2013 than 2012, so I'm calling that a vague win.
Blog about TV more is a resolution that happened in an unexpected way. I unintentionally stopped blogging about books for about 6 months. This means that the percentage of TV posts compared to book posts went up, but not in the way I wanted.
I'm honestly not sure if I did get better at punctuation, sentence structure and grammar. I might have done but I don't feel that I put much effort into it so I cannot say that I achieved that resolution.

Books glorious books

I haven't posted about books in over 6 months. I knew it had been a while, but that's still surprising to me. Must do better.

I slowed down posting about books before I stopped working at the library back in April. Since changing job I have been reading less, books don't surround me as they once did, but I certainly haven't stopped reading. I got to a point where I had so much to catch up on that it was just easier to stop, plus around June there was a heatwave (by UK standards) and I find it harder to think when I'm too hot. Still it's high time I got back into writing about books.

These aren't all the books I've read in the last 6 months, but a selection of my favourites. The end of the year seems like an appropriate time to list things.

Earth Girl - Janet Edwards
This YA SF book is about a girl with an autoimmune condition that dramatically impacts her life and a love of history (I may have experienced some fellow feeling). Jarra is smart and stubborn, determined to show the off-worlders she has always resented that those stuck on Earth aren't inferior. There's romance and drama and unexpected twists as well as an interesting vision of the future. The setting doesn't rely on dystopia for drama, if anything a triumph of the book is that its worldbuilding shows how ordinary life operates in a distant future with advanced tech and different cultures.

The Corpse-Rat King - Lee Battersby
A weird fantasy starring a cynical conman who somehow gets confused with the kind of the dead. Marius's talks his way back to the world of the living by promising to bring the dead a new king, then tries to avoid fulfilling his vow. We get a lot of Marius's backstory, showing both his life and the history of his country. The twists and diversions are strange, unexpected and often comical, meaning that this doesn't feel like a typical fantasy.

Blood in the Water - Juliet E. McKenna
The 2nd book in the Lescari Revolution trilogy, my review of the 1st is here. This book deals with warfare as the rebels who are trying to rid their land of warring dukes put their plans into action. This story shows not only battles and magic but the repercussions that conflict has on those who don't fight. The characters and story are complex, with different viewpoints clashing just as strongly as armies and mercenaries.

Trickster Makes this World - Lewis Hyde
This non-fiction book explores the role of tricksters in various mythologies and posits what these figures say about humans and society. It was an interesting mix of mythology, anthropology, natural history and psychology. As well as looking at ancient and tribal cultures there was also discussion of how boundaries and creativity work in modern society with focus on variety of figures including artists and abolitionists. The book wasn't quite what I expected, it was a very broad view of how tricksters fall outside of defined categories and how the spirit of tricksters is important in the creation of human culture.

For my birthday (at the end of April) I got a Kindle, so I've started reading ebooks. I still prefer paper books, but I haven't read that many ebooks yet, so I'm still getting used to the interface. I expect I'll read more ebooks in future.

The Killing Moon (Kindle edition) - N. K. Jemisin
This fantasy is set in a world where the goddess of dreams is worshipped and peace must be upheld. The peace is upheld by Gatherers who harvest dream magic. When something dangerous and corrupt is created in secret a senior Gatherer and his apprentice must disrupt go against their vows and training in order to restore order. This is another excellent secondary-world fantasy from the author, whose debut trilogy I really enjoyed. The world is well constructed and has flavours of ancient Egypt but is much more than a copy of an existing culture, the characters are engaging and their viewpoints make sense despite how unusual their culture is.

 
Hookers and Blowe (Kindle edition) - Mhairi Simpson
This novella deals with a tough, successful police detective who suddenly find himself confronted by the supernatural. Fighting his bad memories and trying to find a way to do his job in circumstances he doesn't understand DC Robert Blowe has to try and combat killers he can't arrest. This fantasy crime is an inventive story with a hard bitten character who has unexpected depths.

Owl Stretching (Kindle edition) - Kate Laity
Ro is kind of a shaman, living in an uneasy world post-invasion where lazy aliens will eat anyone who comes to close. Her best friend, Simon, recently woke up from a ten year coma, and convinces Ro to go on a road trip to bury his dead cat. Ro also undertakes a spiritual journey that mirrors the ancient myth of a goddess descending to the underworld. Ro is a very engaging character, her telling of the story is full of tangents and quotes and asides. Her messy thinking, changing emotions and flaws make her very easy to like and fun to read about, and the story takes various unexpected twists.

Osama (Kindle edition) - Lavie Tidhar
Set in a world where Osama Bin Laden is a character in a cheap, pulpy paperback series. Private detective Joe is asked to track down the reclusive author of the series. Joe travels to cities around the world on the trail. I've enjoyed Lavie Tidhar's short stories and his distinctive style is clear in this novel too. Joe's investigation is interspersed with descriptions of terrorist attacks, fiction in the novel, yet all too real to the reader. Joe travels through a world that is familiar and yet different to our own, encountering people who seem to be somewhere else entirely where fiction is real. The locations are described in an immersive way that really gives the reader a sense of place. This feeling may have been enhanced because I read the book while I was on my first trip outside of the UK in about 4 years, so it was fitting to read a book with so much travel.

Scandal - series 2

My thoughts on series 1 from the beginning of the year.

Scandal definitely got more interesting in series 2 and it some of the things that had previously annoyed me were gone (namely British lawyer) or reduced (the filming-through glass).

The Problem of the Week plots were mostly abandoned to focus on a larger and more involved arc, which allowed the show to live up to its name and provided many twists and turns. There was also a lot more development and back story for the existing characters and new ones. The level of political intrigue was ramped up massively with more attention put on the the President, First Lady and Chief of Staff, as well as new characters who are players int he political game. The first half of the series focused on a conspiracy which started during President Grant's election campaign and saw an unlikely alliance between many main characters, including Olivia. The second part of the series jumped ahead in time, the President dealt badly with revelations, Cyrus and Mellie scheme and squabble to keep influence over Grant, and Olivia & Co get involved in a dangerous web involving the intelligence agencies and a mole hunt.

Olivia Pope continues to be the focus of the show, although she increasingly shares screen time with other characters, mostly characters connected to the White House. Olivia's strength of will and fierce intelligence are still on display, but she is clearly haunted by her part in a conspiracy. She is often shown to be vulnerable emotionally, especially when it comes to her complex love life and relationship with President Grant.

Quinn did get much more interesting, her Secret Past turned out to be mysterious even to her. She used to be Lindsay, was framed for a bombing in which her boyfriend was killed and was spirited to Washington where she work up with a new identity. Her odd situation turns out to be part of a greater conspiracy and Olivia & Co must save her from prison and execution at the start of the series. After surviving the ordeal of her trial and discovering the truth, Quinn becomes interested in the covert world of intelligence and is Huck's unofficial apprentice. Her enthusiasm makes her more interesting although her newly learned skills take her to a dark place.

Huck's back story is revealed, he's not only ex-military but also a former Government assassin. His dangerous world encroaches on the story and his former colleagues, mentor and employers often appear. At one point Huck is captured and tortured and though he tries to shake off his old life his skills are often needed and he is never far away from breaking.

President Fitzgerald Grant and his First Lady Mellie are a much bigger part of this series and their troubled relationship had me uncertain who I felt sorry for. Mellie is a ruthless political animal who will do just about anything to get where she wants to be and I'm fairly certain Fitz didn't run for President so much as he was pushed. For all her scheming Fitz is little better, I honestly don't think he deserves to be President and he seems kinda weak-willed. The main times he shows any backbone is when making poor decisions. This is not a TV president I admire, and yet (like so many people in this show) my lack of respect or affection doesn't stop me from being interested.

Cyrus Bean -the gay, Republican, Chief of Staff- is part of various conspiracies and shows himself to be at least as ruthless as Mellie, and there are times when the two horrors are scheming against each other for Fitz's trust. Cyrus's husband James features more and in his role as a journalist he almost exposes what Cyrus did. I feel that Cyrus doesn't deserve James as a husband, especially as he seems positively irritated by anything resembling family life and has no problem manipulating him anyway he can.

Abbie ends up having a relationship with former DA David, whose life and career are ruined by Olivia & Co after he unsuccessfully prosecutes Quinn and tries to expose a conspiracy. For a while he and Abbie seem happy, but David blames Olivia for ruining his life. When he's in danger he turns to Olivia and her firm for help and seems to become part of the team, but there has been a lot of bad blood between them.

Harrison comes into his own more (I remembered his name this series) although he has little development or back story. He acts as Olivia's deputy and is probably the most brainwashed of the group (by Olivia - though Huck was actually brainwashed by his former bosses at one point). Harrison is incredibly invested in the idea of Olivia & Co being the good guys, the 'white hats' and gladiators. There is a constant misunderstanding of the meaning of the word gladiator.

Watching Scandal can be an odd experience because I don't feel affection for most of the characters, by and large they're horrible people who often make bad decisions. David, James and Huck are the only characters I feel sorry for without reservations, and Huck has done enough terrible things that it's hard to justify calling him a good person. And yet it is fascinating, the engrossing plot arc and increased pace have really paid off. There have been episode that felt twice as long because so much happened in them and the complexities of the characters work really well.
I read an article recently that described Scandal as a dark, perverted mirror of the West Wing, which I can understand. I enjoy Scandal but in a totally different way because tonally its an entirely different show. I don't generally think of West Wing when watching, which is probably to Scandal's benefit. President Grant's series finale announcement about whether he's running for a second term or not is a major plot point, but I simply cannot care about it as much as when President Bartlett did it. Plus the dramatic impact and soundtrack are nowhere near as cool. Having said that, the last minute reveal at the end of series 2 means I'm definitely looking forward to series 3.