January Reading Thread

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Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl.

This is a reread from my youth and it is as good as I remember it.

Told through alternating narrative styles, this story illustrates the issues faced by civilizations of vastly different levels of development as they interact with each other. The most advanced civilization monitors the development of other worlds and works to ensure they are able to mature and grow without outside interference - protecting them from each other.

The concepts and themes explored resemble Star Trek's Prime Directive, though I do not believe the author was much influenced by this. I have always loved Star Trek, but I have to admit the Prime Directive is treated unevenly and tends to be addressed in whatever way serves the current episode's plot.

Enchantress from the Stars takes a simplistic story and turns it into an indepth, philosophical approach to the implications of cultural contamination and interference.
 
A stroke of the pen by Terry Pratchett.
An anthology of twenty short stories written by a very young Terry.
These were allegedly tracked down by enthusiasts going doggedly through thousands of old copies of something called The Western Daily Press.
This journal often featured short stories and occasionally they printed serials....Some of the stories were by a young writer using the pen name Richard Kearns, it was revealed that he was actually the legend who became Sir Terry.
 
kythe said:
Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl.

This is a reread from my youth and it is as good as I remember it.

Told through alternating narrative styles, this story illustrates the issues faced by civilizations of vastly different levels of development as they interact with each other. The most advanced civilization monitors the development of other worlds and works to ensure they are able to mature and grow without outside interference - protecting them from each other.

The concepts and themes explored resemble Star Trek's Prime Directive, though I do not believe the author was much influenced by this. I have always loved Star Trek, but I have to admit the Prime Directive is treated unevenly and tends to be addressed in whatever way serves the current episode's plot.

Enchantress from the Stars takes a simplistic story and turns it into an indepth, philosophical approach to the implications of cultural contamination and interference.
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I liked this summary so much I've purchased the book. It sounds like my sort of thing.
 
A travel binge...

Peter Mayne: A Year in Marrakesh (1953)
Unusual. Author lives in relative poverty in the back streets of old Marrakesh, mixing minimally with the ex-pat community, learning Arabic while attempting to write a novel. Ironically the novel never gets published, but his diaries (this book) do. A very pleasant timeless feel to the narrative as the author becomes increasingly part of the local community.

Tahir Shah: The Caliph's House, A Year in Casablanca (2006)
The author has bought a vast ruined mansion on the edge of shantytown, only to find he has little understanding of local culture and beliefs, not least the Jinns that are said to inhabit the house and have very definite opinions on what he should and should not do. I found the author irritatingly helpless at first, but the book grew on me. I read and enjoyed the sequel last year, so felt obliged to read this one.

Leonard Woolf: The Village in the Jungle (1913)
Grim reading. Novel of life in a remote village of South West Sri Lanka, based on the author's experience of colonial administration in Sri Lanka from 1904 - 1911, where he ended up as "assistant government agent" for the "Southern Province". This led to him becoming an opponent of imperialism/ colonialism. Though grim, I found it interesting enough to order a copy of the relevant volume of his autobiography.
I spent four months in Sri Lanka in 1978 - sixty seven years after the author last lived there, but it's now all of forty five years since my own visit.
Leonard Woolf is the husband of Virginia W.​
 
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HareBrain said:
Started a reread of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke. I seem to remember trying a reread a while ago and being unable to get into it. This time there's no problem, and I'm enjoying it as much as when I first read it on its release.
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I'm enjoying this so much! I wish it could last forever!

*a fairy gentleman appears*

(me): Are you here to grant my wish?

(fairy): You've been reading it for days and how far have you got? Have you seen how much is left? I am not needed here.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
Well that's good of you. Hope you enjoy it.
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Apologies @Teresa Edgerton
I tried and tried but I really couldn't get into it, I think it was too far from my usual reading material.
I've sided it off into my TBR file and maybe one day?

Anyways you got a bit of royalties from me so there's that .... I had a link ready to purchase book two but I can't see it happening TBH
 
I've just started Divinity 36 by Gail Carriger, and so far it's a very entertaining read. A coffee shop employee is tapped by aliens to become a celebrity singing "god". Gail is known for her steampunk fantasies, so this is quite a switch.
 
Mackenzie Crook: "The Windvale Sprites" and "The Lost Journals of Benjamin Tooth"
I enjoyed the Detectorists and Worzel Gummidge so much I thought I'd better check out these two y/adult books, written and illustrated by Mackenzie Crook......
Not too bad at all. The second one held my attention better than the first, which was a surprise given that the main character is portrayed very unsympathetically in the first.
They're both part of a series apparently, but seeing as how they came out in 2011 and 2013, it looks like further instalments have stalled.
 
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