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james_davis_nicoll

When a teen schoolgirl stumbles over a classmate's most closely held secret, there is only one course of action open to him.

My Dress-Up Darling, volume 1 by Shinichi Fukuda

Day 5: Favourite male character

Blake.

He's the reason for the entire story. Nation created him as something more complex than just a gung-ho freedom fighter; and Boucher as script editor for the entire four year run plus writer of some of the key episodes put a lot of work into making him even more complex and, for want of a better word, real. He's not always likeable as a person, but it's very easy to understand why he's the way he is, why the others follow him, and why he believes (with good reason) that what he's doing is the least bad option. And he does know it's the least bad option, rather than the best option. He's a good man in a bad situation, who still stops to help individuals along the way.

I pre-ordered the Blu-ray boxes for series 1 and 2 as soon as they were announced, because I loved the idea of having remastered and restored episodes. It is not a coincidence that I am buying the series 3 and 4 Blu- ray editions more for the new extras that aren't on the DVDs than the remastering.

james_davis_nicoll

A mother's determination allows her son to finally meet his long-lost father.

Tripoint (Company Wars, volume 6) by C J Cherryh

james_davis_nicoll

Space wizard cultists but instead of one sanctioned cult and one forbidden cult, there are hundreds of space wizard cults, each of whom is convinced they have the best space wizardry. So they're continually fighting to see whose is better.

The Space Emperor's antipathy is due to the disruption caused by incessant space wizard cultist fights.

james_davis_nicoll

So now email like this shows up frequently.

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james_davis_nicoll

This all-new Critical Kit Solos Bundle presents Be Like a Cat, Be Like a Crow, and other one- and two-player tabletop roleplaying games from designer Tim Roberts at UK games publisher Critical Kit Ltd.

Bundle of Holding: Critical Kit Solos

Day 4: Least favourite female character

Cancer, not least because of the ridiculous costume change and "Bwa-ha-ha, my pretties". Pella in Power is probably next, because the episode was written by Ben Steed with all Ben Steed's interesting ideas about gender politics and there was only so much Mary Ridge could do about it.

heleninwales

Yesterday (Sunday) was Quaker meeting in the morning. I made sure I got there early because an American chap had emailed to say he was going to attend. Being in a tourist area, we do get visitors from time to time, especially in the spring and summer. As it wasn't raining, I drove half way, parked the car in the layby on the old road (now a dead end for cars) and walked the rest of the way.

The wild garlic is flowering profusely. My walk didn't take me up this path, but it always looks so inviting when the wild garlic is in flower. As I was passing, I took a quick photo.

Golf path

Close up of the wild garlic flowers. The May blossom was out too, but I couldn't get a photo of that on my walk.

Wild garlic

After meeting, S (who has just returned from holiday in Corfu) had brought treats. Fresh kumquats and (very delicious) kumquats covered in dark chocolate. I'd never eaten a kumquat before or even seen one, but they are tiny citrus fruits about the size of a large grape. S explained that you just eat them whole. Biting into the fruit there is a burst of tangy citrus taste, then chewing the peel releases sweetness. The chocolate covered ones seemed to have been cooked or preserved in some way and the whole thing was sweeter and very delicious. I'm sure they will never be available to buy locally, but I will certainly look out for them again.

james_davis_nicoll

Let's take a trip down the book-lined pathways of Memory Lane...

What Was the First Book You Bought From Each SF Publisher?

Just rewatched Star One after watching it last night; this time with the audio commentary, which turns out to be a new one recorded for the Blu-ray release. Sally Knyvette, Brian Croucher and Mat Irvine. A couple of snippets I either didn't know or had forgotten - David A Hardy did a lot of the space backdrop paintings in the second series, and Brian Croucher did not like Paul Darrow. 🤣

Audio commentaries are supposed to be *commentaries*, but a lot of this one was them talking amongst themselves rather than saying anything about what was on screen. It turned out to be interesting anyway once they got going (and amusing when Croucher was getting catty about Darrow). Much better than a couple of the ones that were done for the original DVD release in the early 2000s, where they didn't really have anything interesting to say about what was on the screen, but also weren't really doing much with general reminiscing.

I need to go through the "extras" list for the DVD and Blu-ray boxsets and see whether there are other new commentaries, as I'd assumed the ones on the Blu-rays were just the ones done for the DVD release. Too late now for new ones from some of the people I'd really like to hear more from, but at least the Blu-ray remasters are being released while there are still some of the cast and crew around to do them.

Day 3: Favourite female character

I don't really have a strong bias towards a particular female character. I prefer Jenna and Cally to the later female crew members because I prefer the first two series in general, and I think there's better, more complex characterisation for them than there is for Dayna and Soolin. Dayna in particular I think is a bit one note; Soolin has an excuse both in having only one season and in being even more reserved about her past than Kerr "I do not need anyone at all" Avon, with good reason. Servalan is marvellous throughout, of course.

There quite a few good guest characters as well. The one at the top of my mind today is Lurena in Star One, since I watched that last night. Saying much more would be a spoiler, but she's stuck in a terrifying situation, she's almost fainting with horror and shock, and she still manages to hold herself together to fight back.

james_davis_nicoll

Yesterday I had a very, very annoying set of shifts that started with me locking myself out of my office. Then, despite the client in question being a total sweetheart who is very familiar with the theatre, one particular group of dancers kept blocking the same fire door, over and over and over. It was blocked in different ways by different people all but two times I checked.

In fact, I encountered twice as many fire code violations involving that door yesterday as I have in the previous ten years.

The client was reportedly aghast but that didn’t stop it from happening.

If I’d been house manager in the evening, I would have parked an usher by that door full time to keep an eye on it. I happened to be the usher at the aisle just up the hall, so I did check every 30 minutes.

However, on my way home I missed my train and that meant I could spend ten minutes playing a ground hog. So that was good.

james_davis_nicoll

Poll #34548 Books Received, April 26 — May 1

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 49

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

This is Free Trader Beowulf by Shannon Appelcline (2024)
23 (46.9%)

Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold (April 2026)
28 (57.1%)

Blood to the True Crown by Sung-Il Kim (November 2026)
6 (12.2%)

Some other option (see comments)
1 (2.0%)

cats!
35 (71.4%)

I am very tired, thus the lack of a poll earlier.

james_davis_nicoll

A family struggles to coexist with new neighbours.

The Inheritors by William Golding

james_davis_nicoll

Yesterday was a very long work day so I didn't have time to post this. Two books new to me. One I wanted in paper.One non-fiction about an--no, THE SF game, and two fantasy. Both fantasies are series.

Books Received, April 26 — May 1

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: 'ome from town

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Current Mood: content
Current Location: ici

We took a trip to Perth to visit an old friend, Lesley, who was at university at St Andrews with the Scot and was also my maid of honour when we got wed.

The museum is where the stone of destiny is now kept and also has some very fine Pictish symbol stones:

( More pics! )

heleninwales

I had intended to write in the morning, but the weather was dry so I did a couple of outdoor jobs. The first task was to sweep all the gravel out of the car's foot-well. It gets carried in on our shoes because the parking area in front of our house has loose gravel. We also park on unsurfaced car parks when we go out on walks. Once that was done I ventured to the bottom of the garden to clear a space for a bonfire. However, The brambles I'd cut were too wet after all the rain yesterday, so I didn't try to start a fire today. I'm hoping that by Monday things will be dry enough.

Then I made scones and, after lunch, backed up all my photos and other things I've been working on onto the mobile hard drives. I back up my writing daily onto Dropbox, but there are other things that are less vital so get backed up monthly.

And finally I wrote some words to add to the WIP. I'm hoping I'll finish the first draft of Book 3 of the trilogy this month. That will be quite a milestone.

Day 2: Favourite episode

Star One (which coincidentally I'm watching tonight with Kalypso as we work our way through the Blu-ray boxset). It's the culmination of the revolutionary story arc, where Blake has to confront what it's going to cost to take down the Federation, and the others have to confront it too. And then they find out the price is far higher then they could have imagined, and have to make a very different decision.

There are flaws, notably Cally getting cold feet even though she started as the most bloodthirsty of them, far more so than Blake was at that point in the storyline. They are greatly outweighed by the episode as a whole. A more plausible and interesting break in character, to me at least, is Servalan's immediate acceptance of the message from the Liberator. She knows who probably has the location of Star One, she presumably knows what Star One's other purpose is, and she knows a lot about the inside of Blake's head. She believes the warning and acts on it. You suddenly see that in spite of the ridiculous outfits and political plots she is a high ranking military officer who genuinely believes in protecting humanity and the Federation.

An interesting thing Chris Boucher said is that he wrote the "It's the only way I can be sure that I was right" line intending the emphasis to be on the word "right". Gareth Thomas spoke it with the emphasis on the word "I". As Boucher pointed out, that change in emphasis changes the meaning. (It happened again in Blake, with Paul Darrow shifting the emphasis from "Have you betrayed me" to "Have you betrayed me".) Regardless, Blake's influence over the others is such that they follow him (yes, even you, Avon) through the original plan, and then when things change drastically those with him on the surface follow his lead and those on the ship do what they think is right even though they think it betrays Blake - not knowing that it is exactly the decision Blake himself has made. It leads to one hell of a cliffhanger that would also have worked as a final episode.

And I will never, ever tire of Avon's "I want to be free of him." tantrum. :-)

Day 1: Favourite season

So what I get for my long-running failure to read DreamWidth more often than once a fortnight is finding out a day late that there is a Blake's 7 daily post thing going on. I estimate about five days before I fall into my usual lax posting habits...

Anyway, favourite series is 1 and 2 together. First and foremost this is because it's Blake's 7 that actually has Blake in it. That follows through to a couple of other things - there is an actual story arc, and very clear characterisations of people who don't necessarily want to be doing this, or at least doing it this way.

It also has Paul Darrow's scenery chewing tendencies more firmly controlled by the directors/producers than was the case in series 3 and 4, which in most episodes is A Good Thing. (The scenery chewing worked towards the end of series 4, when Darrow gave up on the inconsistent characterisation by different writers and decided to just play Avon as increasingly psychotic after years on the run being responsible for people he didn't want to be responsible for.)

And it has the Blake And Avon Show, which was not Terry Nation's original intention, but which everyone sensibly ran with when Avon became a breakout character. The interplay between a caring but utterly ruthless revolutionary and a cold, selfish, sharp-tongued character who just wants everyone to leave him in peace is fascinating. This is not just me looking at it through smut-coloured glasses, because I thought this long before Watervole told me to watch a couple of episodes with the sound off and look at the body language. This is, I think, the prime example, but when you look at the crew as a whole these characters, played by these actors, are very, very believable as a disparate group of people thrown together by circumstance and forced to rely on each other.

hrj

A couple days ago, I happened to see an "event" announcement on fb for the Berkeley Morris performance at dawn on May 1st, and I thought, what they heck, why not? I've only ever made it to their dawn performances a couple times back in...oh, let's just say quite a while ago, when I had a friend it the troupe.

Knowing that I've failed at this resolution before, I planned for success: laid out warm clothing the evening before, set up the coffee maker (yeah, I know, I only drink decaf now, but it's a ritual), and set my alarm for 4:30am. Yes, you read that correctly. The event was scheduled to start at 5:20 and the map app said it would take me half an hour to get to Inspiration Point in Tilden Park, so that seemed like the optimal waking time.

This did not take into account that there would be dense fog on the winding back-roads up the east side of the hills. It also didn't take into account that my directions app had an entirely different idea about where "Inspiration Point" was located. (I think there are two places by that name in the general area?) So I drove back and forth on one stretch of Grizzly Peak Road three times before I figured out the problem and finally was able to work out the right directions. (It didn't help that I've only ever driven to Inspiration Point from the Berkeley side of the hills before.

But I arrived at least a quarter hour before the dawn, so ritual was satisfied. I got to see half a dozen dances, participated in the singing of May Day carols, and danced in the massive Sellenger's Round circle.

When I was a little kid, in my family, May Day meant crafting little baskets made of woven paper, then filling them with flowers and leaving them on neighbors' doorsteps. I have no idea where that custom came from. I don't think it was a general thing that people did, just something my mom taught us.

After driving back home, I decided that I wanted to continue to drastically break routine for the day (and celebrate the one year anniversary of my retirement), and driving through the hills had inspired me to take a drive up to the summit of Mount Diablo and spend some time looking out over the vistas and generally just hanging out in scenic nature for several hours. I gazed admiringly (but not at all enviously) at the bicyclists who made the same trek. That is way beyond any bicycling ambitions I might have. I'm not big on hills.

And now, here it is a little after 7pm and my body is reminding me that I got up at four-fucking-thirty this morning and I should go to bed already.

james_davis_nicoll

The cover of the Traveller deluxe box: black, with the title and Game Designers Workshop in red, the subtitle Science-Fiction Adventure in the Far Future in white, as well as a distress call in white.

james_davis_nicoll

Technically, of yesterday.

Seen in email:

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james_davis_nicoll

James Nicoll Reviews offers readers reviews of a wide variety of works, as well as the opportunity to point out typos and broken links five days out of seven!

You can help fund James Nicoll Reviews in several ways.

May 2026 Patreon Boost

james_davis_nicoll

A novice cleric is caught up in a refugee crisis.

A Long and Speaking Silence (Singing Hills, volume 7) by Nghi Vo

james_davis_nicoll

* Near the bottom of a long list of names in an article about Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Kate Beaton.

james_davis_nicoll

The first 12 volumes of the Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society, the guides for the Traveller tabletop science fiction roleplaying game from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding: Traveller JTAS (from 2024)

james_davis_nicoll

22 works reviewed. 12 by women (55%), 10 by men (45%), 0 by non-binary authors (0%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 9 by POC (41%), one of which was my 1000th work by a POC. Also, I was nominated for two awards.

April 2026 in Review

james_davis_nicoll

A gaming adept is used as a weapon against a malevolent empire.

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: 'ereabouts

We walked out to Cambuskenneth and on the way, Ben Ledi was still covered in snow:

( More pics! )

james_davis_nicoll

The Traveller Great Rift Bundle features void-spanning campaign sets for the Second Edition Traveller tabletop roleplaying game line from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Great Rift (2022)

james_davis_nicoll

It's a case of limitations leading to more interesting plots and settings...

Is Science Fiction Better Off Without Torchships?

james_davis_nicoll

Saya's infatuation with Prince Tsukishiro is but another move in a long-running struggle on whose outcome existence itself depends.

Dragon Sword And Wind Child (Tales of the Magatama, volume 1) by Noriko Ogiwara (Translated by Cathy Hirano)

james_davis_nicoll

The third Traveller bundle for this week, the Traveller Mercenaries Bundle, features soldier-for-hire supplements and adventures for the 2020 2nd Edition Traveller SF TTRPG game line from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Mercenaries (from 2023)

james_davis_nicoll

The Shaa conquered the universe. Soon, there will be no Shaa. Who will take their place?

The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall, volume 1) by Walter Jon Williams

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: ici

Stirling is on the River Forth.

This is the old bridge (no, not the one the battle of Stirling Bridge was fought on, which was there before this later medieval one)

( More pics! )

james_davis_nicoll

The first of five Traveller bundles this week; rulebooks and ship sourcebooks for the Second Edition Traveller tabletop science fiction roleplaying game line from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Update (from 2024)

The second of five Traveller bundles this week; tour the Third Imperium space fleet in Traveller, the tabletop science fiction roleplaying game from Mongoose Publishing.

Bundle of Holding: Traveller Imperial Navy (New)

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: 'ereabouts

This house, close to the castle and next to the Holy Rude (as you'd expect from The Earl of Mar, a senior noble) was destroyed during the civil wars.

And this was Cowane's house (he of the hospital). You can see the difference between a noble's house and a wealthy merchant's house.

james_davis_nicoll

The text of Cherryh's post reads:

"Dear readers and friends. The unhappy fact is---the numerous bouts of anaesthetic I've had have made it pretty well impossible for me to write. I drop stitches. Not many. No problems with daily life or doing creative stuff or enjoying life in general. But the ability to control narrative is just not what it was, and it's just not going to be there. I've accepted that, painful as it is. I thank all of you who've stood by me patiently. The body of work is what it is, and I am lastingly grateful to my publisher, Betsy Wollheim, who has given me every extension of time and resource. And of course to Jane, who is all things.

james_davis_nicoll

Aliens contend over the fate of a remarkable boy.

A Mirror For Observers by Edgar Pangborn

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: 'ere

The great hall. Just look at that hammerbeam roof!

( More pics! )

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: 'ereabouts

The palace:

( More pics: )

heleninwales

As it's been dry and sunny for a few days and the front grass was starting to grow and look untidy, I got the mower out and gave it its first cut of the year. It took 1.25 hours and produced 2/3 rds of a wheelie bin of grass clippings.

james_davis_nicoll

Four books new to me. Three fantasy, one horror (maybe?) and at least one is part of a series.

Books Received, April 18 — April 24

Poll #34517 Books Received, April 18 — April 24

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 38

View Respondents

Which of these look interesting?

The Drakon King by Terry J. Benton-Walker (November 2026)
2 (5.3%)

They Cry by Glen Cook (November 2026)
12 (31.6%)

The Raven at the Ash Door by K. A. Linde (June 2026)
5 (13.2%)

Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi (November 2026)
24 (63.2%)

Some other option (see comments)
2 (5.3%)

Cats!
27 (71.1%)

There's been a situation that has been making life stressful for the past year, and yesterday the stress doubled. My way of dealing with this kind of cosmic ass kick is to bury myself in writing, where I feel I have a pretence at control. I only say this because I might not be as responsive to posts as usual, and if anyone even notices a dearth of commentary from me (very small chance I realize) it's not you, it's me. Not gone, just coping and scribbling away.

heleninwales

As usual on a Friday morning, I went to the Co-op to do the main weekly food shop. I'd also been shopping on Tuesday, so I didn't need quite as much as I sometimes get.

There was a bit of excitement as I came round the end of the shelves and turned to head up the next aisle when a small tortoiseshell cat galloped past, paws scrabbling furiously on the smooth floor as it tried to corner fast. It was being gently pursued by one of the shop assistants. She made a grab and the cat promptly vanished under a shelving unit. I have no idea whether she managed to tempt it out again. I don't know whether the automatic doors are sensitive enough to admit a cat or whether she'd just dodged in as people came or went. It's not the first time she's done it. There was a post on the local Facebook group about her venturing into the Co-op and also that she'd been seen in the park nearby. I think she lives in one of the houses that back onto the Co-op car park.

After shopping, I arrived at M's house to fine her and E (the current live-in carer) reciting "The Owl and the Pussycat". Naturally, I joined it (it's one of the few poems I know by heart). I have no idea what had spurred the poetry recitation. We did the crossword and zygolex as usual and had a chat. Then I headed home to unload the shopping and have lunch.

heleninwales

Over the winter we seemed to have got into a bit of a rut with our walks. The endless rain meant that some favourite walks would be quagmires, so best avoided. However, the weather has settled and it's bright and sunny and so yesterday we did a walk that G had found after exploring the paths somewhere new.

We drove to the car park near the old bridge, just to save a boring plod along a road and then on the footpath by the bypass. As you can see, the weather was glorious.

The photo is taken from half way across the old road bridge looking towards the new road bridge that carries the A470.

River Mawddach

The whole walk was only 3 miles, but it was 1½ miles steeply up followed by 1½ steeply down, so provided more exercise that the distance alone suggests. The path led through woodland. ( More photos here... )

Before too long we were treated to a splendid view. From here you can see the entire Cader Idris range. The air was a little hazy, unfortunately. Today is clearer, but today I had to do the food shopping.

Cader Idris

heleninwales

16/52 for the group 2026 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: P is for Plants

My friend has a beautiful garden and at this time of year, all the flowering shrubs are covered in flowers.

Flowering shrub

james_davis_nicoll

Kea must solve a murder to save her community.

The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe

Current Mood: photographical
Current Location: ici

WW1 memorial for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders- the regiment of both his father and grandfather:

I was taken by this window detail:

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jacey

April 2026

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Page Summary

james_davis_nicoll - My Dress-Up Darling, volume 1 by Shinichi Fukuda
julesjones - 30 Days of Blake's 7 - Day 5
james_davis_nicoll - Tripoint (Company Wars, volume 6) by C J Cherryh
james_davis_nicoll - Inspired by a Space Wizard discussion on Discord
james_davis_nicoll - I think I passed some sort of threshhold
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Critical Kit Solos
julesjones - 30 days of Blake's 7 - Day 4
heleninwales - Kumquats
james_davis_nicoll - What Was the First Book You Bought From Each SF Publisher?
julesjones - Blake's 7 - Star One - audio commentary
julesjones - 30 Days of Blake's 7 - Day 3
james_davis_nicoll - nggg
james_davis_nicoll - Books Received, April 26 — May 1 poll
james_davis_nicoll - The Inheritors by William Golding
james_davis_nicoll - Books Received, April 26 — May 1
cmcmck - Last holiday pics
cmcmck - Perth
heleninwales - Backups
julesjones - 30 Days of Blake's 7 - Day 2
julesjones - 30 Days of Blake's 7 - Day 1
hrj - The Merry Month of May
james_davis_nicoll - Happy May Day, Traveller!
james_davis_nicoll - Sincere offer of the day
james_davis_nicoll - May 2026 Patreon Boost
james_davis_nicoll - A Long and Speaking Silence (Singing Hills, volume 7) by Nghi Vo
james_davis_nicoll - I made the CBC!*
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Traveller JTAS (from 2024)
james_davis_nicoll - April 2026 in Review
james_davis_nicoll - The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
cmcmck - Cambuskenneth Abbey
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Traveller Great Rift (2022)
james_davis_nicoll - Is Science Fiction Better Off Without Torchships?
james_davis_nicoll - Dragon Sword And Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara (Translated by Cathy Hirano)
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Traveller Mercenaries (from 2023)
james_davis_nicoll - The Praxis (Dread Empire's Fall, volume 1) by Walter Jon Williams
cmcmck - Bridges!
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Traveller Update (from 2024) & Traveller Imperial Navy (New)
cmcmck - Mar's Wark
james_davis_nicoll - Cherryh to retire
james_davis_nicoll - A Mirror For Observers by Edgar Pangborn
cmcmck - Inside the castle
cmcmck - Stirling castle
heleninwales - That's my exercise for the day
james_davis_nicoll - Books Received, April 18 — April 24
sartorias - Here and There
heleninwales - The usual Friday
heleninwales - A new walk
heleninwales - Flowering shrub
james_davis_nicoll - The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe
cmcmck - Inside the Holy Rude.

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