between the rock and the cold, cold sea

...Although I can't honestly say you're my only hope.

Fantasy empires. What's the first one that leaps to mind?

(Or two.)

I crave, O Francophones, your assistance.

If you could translate for me the phrase, suivant pas à pas le texte, I will pour a libation in your honour to the deity of your choice.

Or, you know, just buy you a drink if I ever find you in a bar.

My presentation is now due next week, not the day after tomorrow. Thank the sweet godless heavens. Though I still have work to do, and I'm being rather slack about getting it done. (So. Sleepy.)

On the right side of my left knee is a bruise the size of my spread hand, purple and blue. It doesn't hurt, exactly... until I knock it against something. (Ow.) Climbing. The pain is why we do it. (Right?)

Livejournal - while I'm procrastinating - a question: if one were to look for an introductory book on the Silk Road trade, what books would one recommend? I'm sure someone has come across something interesting and useful, right? Anyone?

Must work. Do not want.

If anyone else out there has read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, I'd appreciate a sanity check on the stuff I'm saying about the golem and The Escapist.

So this would be me hanging out a sign that says, "Volunteers solicited."

Anyone got any recommendations for free sound recording software?

Yesterday's exam went about as expected. To whit, unpleasantly. Today, I was supposed to go read books in the library, but I had a bit of an avoidance episode. I went to the bookshop, bought Laura Anne Gilman's Curse the Dark and spent the day reading that instead.

My climbing date cancelled, I have overcaffeinated my stomach into queasiness, and my social anxiety seems to be back again. Ah, exam season. You remind me so much of why I much prefer essays, and the whole rest of the year.

Tomorrow, if I'm a Good Student, I'll go into the library and read Real Books. And then make for the gym to try to get rid of some of this pus and bile.

If I fail Virtue, well. It's a bank holiday weekend, so I'd better not fail virtue. Library won't open again until 9 AM Tuesday.

#

I'm not reading any more of Shadow Unit: Refining Fire until Sunday. My stomach doesn't need more stress, and I need my sleep too much.

Yeah, that situation? Contributed a little too much to my exam stress dreams and queasy illness.

#

I'm going to be away for the summer blockbuster season in books. I've ordered them from Amazon, but. They won't arrive until I'm back.

So help me, my friends, I'm going to be out of range of an English-language bookshop for eight weeks. But I'm bringing the laptop. So tell me, where do I go to get free ebooks these days? Because I'm signed up to Tor, I've visited Cory Doctorow's website, and (thank heavens, I think) I've mostly grown out of enjoying the stuff Baen produces.

Help?

Book 158, Nonfiction 8:

8. Paul Cartledge, The Spartans: An Epic History

Where are my footnotes, damnit? Endnotes referencing sources without further discussion just don't cut it.

Cartledge is a noted specialist on Sparta and the Spartans, and thus I must conclude that this book is designed for the general, as opposed to the scholarly, audience. While it gives a solid overview of Spartan history (and the Spartan mythos) from archaic on down to more modern times, it doesn't contain the kind of juicy academic discussion I was hoping for.

Cartledge presents a chronological progression of Spartan history, interspersed with spare 'biographies' of known and/or important figures therein. The ones of Demaratus and Gorgo are perhaps the most interesting of these. Also interesting is the Appendix, which discusses the ancient Greek approach to hunting in light of the apologetics for (now-outlawed) fox-hunting in the UK.

Epic, this book is not.

He's perhaps a little too in love with the Spartan mirage, and never presents a detailed critique of any single period in Lacedaimonian history. (A couple of times, it almost seems as though he's finally going to get his teeth in and shake, but no joy.)

That said, it's a decent introduction to Sparta and Sparta's peculiar place in Greek history and modern myth.

My next history-for-fun read is Sarah Pomeroy (and I'm growing a chaste academic crush on that professor and all her works), Spartan Women, so it should make an interesting comparison.

---

So, I'm probably going to WFC 2008. Am I better off flying Dublin-London-Calgary, or should I fly Dublin-Toronto and either connect, or entrain, to get to the right place at the right time?

(I figure on flying out of Dublin on a Wednesday evening, and returning overnight on the following Tuesday. But my experience with long-haul international travel with connecting flights is rather limited. Thus, the request for advice. :) )

A list for my own convenience ( behind the cut )

*counts*

So, fourteen authors. I've read works by nine of them. One is out of print, two only marginally fit the criteria of character-with-development, at least two are small press and damnably hard to find except online, and one has one of the most annoying casts of characters I've ever read.

And no, these sets don't overlap.

If I've missed someone - specifically fantasy, now, and with actual narrative arc for non-straight female characters - feel free to point them out.

Hmm. Now I'm tempted to ask the same question of science fiction, just for the purposes of comparison.

ETA 21-10-07:

I'm told I should add Elizabeth Lynn, Ellen Kushner (Privilege of the Sword) and Jo Clayton to the list.

So. Seventeen, then.

Okay. This is a favour for a friend who loves fantasy but has so far been restricted to the (limited) selection available in Irish bookshops. She's looking for fantasy novels with lesbian protagonists, or at least major actors.

My memory might be going, but the only author I could think of off the top of my head was Jane Fletcher. (My friend's into quest fantasy, traditional stuff, otherwise I would have pushed Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water on her for sheer diversity of cast. May do that yet.) Mary Gentle's Ash has something close, S.M. Stirling's Across the Sea of Time is alternate history, and while I can think of a couple of SF novels that might fit the bill , I'm drawing a blank on the fantasy front.

(I can think of plenty of books with gay protags, but lesbians, not so much.)

So, guys. Who'm I missing?

I'm just now wondering...

Would it be an abuse of my shiny new status as an official college newspaper book reviewer type person to ask and annoy publishing company publicity departments for advance review copies, do you think?

I've never done this type of thing before, you see. So advice would be very much welcomed.