More Murderbot Articles

Jul. 13th, 2025 11:41 am
marthawells: Murderbot with helmet (Default)
[personal profile] marthawells
A really thoughtful essay on Murderbot: ‘Even If They Are My Favourite Human’: Murderbot Just Explained Boundaries

https://countercurrents.org/2025/07/even-if-they-are-my-favourite-human-murderbot-just-explained-boundaries/

“I Don’t Know What I Want”: The Line That Changed Everything

In the final moments of the season, Murderbot says: “I don’t know what I want. But I know I don’t want anyone to tell me what I want or to make decisions for me. Even if they are my favourite human.”

This is not a dramatic declaration. It is confusion wrapped in clarity. A sentence that holds discomfort and self-awareness in equal measure. It reflects a truth often ignored in stories about intelligence and emotion: that it is okay to not know, as long as that unknowing belongs to the self. In a world that constantly demands certainty, this line opens up space for uncertainty without shame.



* And a great interview with Alexander Skarsgård!

https://collider.com/murderbot-finale-alexander-skarsgard/

So, it just wants to start fresh and get away, and figure out who it is and what it wants. It doesn't really know that. I quite enjoyed that Murderbot didn't end up having answers to all the questions or knowing exactly what it wants. It's more messy and complicated than that. But it definitely knows that it needs to find its own path and make its own decisions, to make its own mistakes, and not have the Corporation or anyone tell it who it is or what it wants.

Murderbot Interview

Jul. 12th, 2025 03:05 pm
marthawells: Murderbot with helmet (Default)
[personal profile] marthawells
Here's a gift link for the New York Times interview with Paul and Chris Weitz, who wrote, directed, and produced Murderbot:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/arts/television/murderbot-season-finale-chris-paul-weitz.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V08.exvw.M_qE37ROOT58&smid=url-share

Huh

Jul. 12th, 2025 12:02 pm
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
This is probably in no way significant, but it just occurred to me to check to see where WorldCon was the years I was nominated:

2010: Melbourne, Australia
2011: Reno, USA
2019: Dublin, Ireland
2020: Wellington, New Zealand
2024: Glasgow, Scotland

(I was nowhere near the ballot in 2009, Montreal)

At a guess, those are years where vote totals were a bit lower?

Read more... )
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Four books new to me.Two are SF, one is fantasy, one is a mix of both. I don't see anything unambiguously labelled as series works.

Books Received, July 5 — July 11

Poll #33350 Books Received, July 5 — July 11
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 36


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Secrets, Spells, and Chocolate by Marisa Churchill (December 2025)
12 (33.3%)

Spread Me by Sarah Gailey (September 2025)
13 (36.1%)

The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride (February 2026)
13 (36.1%)

The Universe Box by Michael Swanwick (February 2026)
16 (44.4%)

Some other option (see comments)
1 (2.8%)

Cats!
29 (80.6%)

RPG checklist

Jul. 11th, 2025 10:43 pm
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
Specifically Fabula Ultima

Read more... )
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


New Dawn requires only that people conform without exception or face memory erasure and worse. Yet, a minority insists on being individuals.

The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe

New Murderbot Short Story

Jul. 10th, 2025 09:33 pm
marthawells: Murderbot with helmet (Default)
[personal profile] marthawells
The new Murderbot short story is up at Reactor Magazine:

Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy

https://reactormag.com/rapport-martha-wells/

Edited by Lee Harris, art by Jaime Jones.


And Murderbot was renewed for a second season!

https://deadline.com/2025/07/murderbot-renewed-season-2-apple-tv-1236453764/

“We’re so grateful for the response that Murderbot has received, and delighted that we’re getting to go back to Martha Wells’ world to work with Alexander, Apple, CBS Studios and the rest of the team,” Chris and Paul Weitz, said in a statement Thursday.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Jul. 10th, 2025 08:53 am
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Desperate to pay her brother Jasper's way out of Muhlenberg County, Opal accepts a job at an infamously cursed mansion.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Bundle of Holding: Pyramid 2

Jul. 9th, 2025 03:46 pm
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


The latter half of Pyramid's ten-year run, the issues published from November 2013 to December 2018, sixty-two issues in all.

Bundle of Holding: Pyramid 2
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


In a city with over a million people per square kilometre, real estate firms will never lack for clients. Good news for the employees of the Wong Loi Realty Company!


Kowloon Generic Romance, volume 1 by Jun Mayuzuki (Translated by Amanda Haley)
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Arrogant traffic analyst Boyd Hakluyt is just a pawn in the struggle for Ciudad de Vados' future.

The Squares of the City by John Brunner
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Everything you need for your own GURPS 4E tabletop roleplaying campaign.

Bundle of Holding: GURPS 4E Essentials (from 2022)




Volume 3 (Nov 2008 - Dec 2018) of Pyramid, the Steve Jackson Games magazine for tabletop roleplaying gamers. Sixty issues and more!

Bundle of Holding: Pyramid 1

July 4 Flood Relief

Jul. 7th, 2025 11:42 am
marthawells: Atlantis in fog (Atlantis)
[personal profile] marthawells
Kerr County Flood Relief Fund

The Kerr County Flood Relief Fund supports relief and rebuilding efforts after the flood of July 4, 2025. Your generosity helps our neighbors recover.

The Community Foundation - a 501(c)(3) public charity serving the Texas Hill Country - will direct funds to vetted organizations providing rescue, relief, and recovery efforts as well as flood assistance. The Fund will support the communities of Hunt, Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point, and Comfort. All donations are tax-deductible, and you will receive a receipt for your gift.

https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201


And Kerrville Pets Alive! is taking donations for rescue and fostering lost pets.

https://kerrvillepetsalive.com/?link_id=3&can_id=588b5a597b5d30fd7e36b213e5ba6987&source=email-freedom-is-fought-for-not-given&email_referrer=email_2803907&email_subject=how-you-can-help-texas-flood-victims&&
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Why wait around for the throne or the cash when murder can deliver it immediately?

Five Dangerously Impatient Heirs and Successors

Clarke Award Finalists 2004

Jul. 7th, 2025 10:12 am
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
2004: Labour spares no effort to liberate Britons from human rights, UKIP's electoral successes surely do not reflect fundamental flaws in the British psyche, and London voters are heartbroken to discover the Livingstone who was just elected mayor isn’t the Livingstone who co-wrote the Fighting Fantasy books.

Poll #33332 Clarke Award Finalists 2004
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42


Which 2004 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
21 (50.0%)

Coalescent by Stephen Baxter
5 (11.9%)

Darwin's Children by Greg Bear
16 (38.1%)

Maul by Tricia Sullivan
5 (11.9%)

Midnight Lamp by Gwyneth Jones
3 (7.1%)

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
20 (47.6%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.


Which 2004 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
Coalescent by Stephen Baxter
Darwin's Children by Greg Bear
Maul by Tricia Sullivan

Midnight Lamp by Gwyneth Jones
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

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