Book of the Month: Eyes of the Void

This review contains some mild spoilers for this series of books.

This is the first sequel to November's book of the month, Shards of Earth. I added this to my wishlist and got it for Christmas from my friend Terri. (Thank you Terri!)

I started reading it during the Christmas break and found it as compelling as the initial novel in the series. It continues the story about the deadly Architects who destroy planets and kill millions of beings in the process. 

There was a twist at the end of the first book as one of the main protagonists, Idris, the semi-mystical, partly-psychic, spaceship navigator 'Intermediary' discovered that the Architects were compelled in their destruction by some hitherto unknown greater force. A good chunk of this book is about Idris trying to work out exactly what that force is, using ancient technology left behind by a disappeared race nicknamed the Originators.

At the core of this mystery is the idea of 'unspace', a sort of unreal netherworld existing on a different plane of existence that humans and other beings can use to travel between star systems. It has its own un-reality and is the source of the Architects and their unknown master.

The author, Adrian Tchaikovsky, expands the universe he has created, with increased roles for several alien races. I liked how he makes them really alien, in terms of their culture, traditions and logic. They remain mysterious and ineffable even as they interact with the main characters in the novel. 

There is also an interesting sub-plot concerning an AI being called a Hiver and their relationship with their former owner. The Hiver has become an authority on the ruins and artefacts of the Originators and the human academic considers this stealing and plagiarism. Rows ensue, but the sub-plot reaches a deeply poignant conclusion in a scene that made me feel quite sad. 

AI or machine characters are difficult to get right, but I found the way they appear in this book very engaging. As mentioned before, these are probably the most sympathetic AI characters since the Minds and sentient drones in the Culture novels by Iain M Banks. They add an interesting layer to this series along with the well-drawn alien races. 

The plot bounces through several worlds as the main characters get pulled together towards a showdown of sorts on a particularly deadly planet. I won't describe it because that would be a spoiler but as "death worlds" go, it's an absolute doozy. 

The ending is a bit cliff-hangerey. There's a third book to come, which I think will be the final instalment. However, I reckon you could read this novel as a standalone or as the first point of entry into the storyline. The events of the previous book get referred to and explained at various points. 

I will be adding the third book to my wishlist as soon as it comes out in paperback. I'm not sure if that will be in time for my birthday...

November 2022 - a month in review, part 2: Occasions

November was a very busy month, including the loss of Cathy's Grampy, Jim. (See the month in review part 1.)

November is Cathy's birthday month, and with her birthday falling on a Saturday this year, we made a full day of it, starting with pancakes at McDonald's for breakfast. We then went to Cowbridge for a wander around and lunch - where I had pancakes again! Then in the evening we went to the Wales Millennium Centre to watch My Fair Lady. 

We went with June and Terri, but June was distracted during the pre-show selfie!

The show was very good, although there was a big delay midway through the first half because the revolving scenery stopped revolving and the unmistakeable burning smell associated with a blown motor was very apparent. The cast seemed to cope well with having a set that didn't spin any more, and there was some energy in the second half as it looked like they had to improvise some routines.

At the end of the month, we became godparents again - our third time. I made the joke that this meant I was The Godfather part III. This time it was in a Catholic church, which means I've now become a Catholic, Anglican, and non-denominational godfather. I am an exercise in ecumenism.  

Our latest godson (they've all been boys so far) is Herbert, son of Tom and Helena. Tom was a regular footballing companion when they lived in Cardiff, and I got to know Helena when the three of us were in the same Welsh class together. 

Midway through the month, my new boss started with the team. It has been a tough six months adapting to a new organisation with a much bigger remit and audience than I had in my previous job. I'm hoping that now our programme can start to kick on, having been in a holding pattern over the summer and autumn. 

The same week that my new boss started, I gave a Zoom presentation to the British Thematic Association. I talked about 'philatelic passports' that are issued at stamp shows with the idea that people would go round various stalls and stick in stamps from different countries. I have collected a few of these ever since going to the big Stamp World London exhibition in 1990.

This was the second time I have done a presentation to the BTA. Last year I talked about my collection of stamps that feature the Statue of Liberty.  That presentation is available to watch on YouTube and my latest presentation will be available in a few months' time. (We limit access to presentations to members for a few months.)

And with all that going on, we also saw the start of a bizarrely-timed and controversial World Cup. I was in two minds whether to boycott watching the whole thing, but I am quite weak-willed as it turns out. Plus, Wales qualified - even though they had a very disappointing campaign. 

Despite watching more of the competition than I thought I would, I have been strong and boycotted collecting the football stickers. That has been hard as there has been a cohort of people collecting them in work and an active sticker-swapping group!

In terms of live sport, I only went to three football matches in November, but I did get to go to an international rugby match and an ice hockey game on the same Saturday to chalk up my first ever "two sport twofer"! One of the football matches I went to was the final game of Gavin Chesterfield's 15 year tenure as manager of Barry Town. The 2-1 win for Barry was also the 50th match I've attended at Jenner Park, so a personal milestone as well.

After all that, I'd hope for a restful December, but December is never restful!

My collection of collections, part 1: Souvenir monks

I was giving my mate Tom a lift home the other week and commented that I'm a bit of a collector, and he asked what I collected. And the answer is, just about anything. I've dabbled in stamps, baseball cards, filled football sticker albums, filled at least four shelves with Boba Fett action figures, have boxes of Action Force sitting around, collected the back catalogues of various bands, and the complete output of certain authors, and have literally thousands of Lego bricks in my house (although Cathy has equal claim to them!).

On reflection, I'm a collector of collections. I've known this for a while. I wrote about it a few years ago when I was looking at the psychology of collecting for my MSc dissertation.

This year I thought I might write a few blog posts about some of the more random things I collect or have collected. And I'll start with a small, fun gathering of souvenir monks, nuns and choristers that currently sit on one of my bookshelves.

I have nine of these little clay figurines. I don't know who produced them but they were for sale in gift shops attached to cathedrals and other Christian buildings.

I bought my first one in Wymondham Abbey in Norfolk in 1996, when we went on a family holiday there. (Wymondham Abbey is an interesting building. Half it was a monastery that was abandoned when Henry VIII abolished them all, but the other half was the parish church, so that bit of the building survived in use while the other half fell down. William Cowper, the eighteenth century poet and hymn-writer was part of the congregation there for the last few years of his life.)

Of the others, I'm pretty sure I bought the tall monk in the centre from Prinknash Abbey near Gloucester, either the monk or the nun from Bath Abbey, the chorister from Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, when I visited Liverpool for the first time in 1998, and maybe the monks from Bristol and Hereford Cathedrals.

I've also acquired some from other people. My friend Terri had a few and when she moved to Japan she gave them to me - I think that's where the ones from Christchurch Priory came from, because I've never been there. I haven't been to St Mary's church in Nantwich either. I know my parents went to Nantwich to visit the salt museum there. If they popped into the church for a nosey (and it's apparently well worth a look) then my mum may have bought me a monk.

I have not seen these figures on sale anywhere for ages. In the last couple of years I've been in gift shops in cathedrals in St David's in Pembrokeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, and St. Albans, and not seen any for sale among the other souvenirs. I always have a look for them.

From memory I think there may also have been choristers with red robes under their white cassocks. The ones I have both have blue robes, and I would like to try and get a red one for completeness sake. I also don't know if the nuns only came in black habits. The monks came in brown, black and white habits, which it would make sense to match to the monastery, except Prinknash Abbey is a Benedictine house and Benedictines wear black habits. White habits are worn by Cistercian monks. Maybe my souvenir was just visiting from another order, until he came home with me.

Just occasionally I get to say 'told you so'

Terri, our current resident waif and stray, has just started working down the local Odeon and brought home some bad news the other day.

"We're not getting Alice in Wonderland for the IMAX," she announced. "Apparently Disney are being arses and no one's going to show it."

Now, while it was true there was a spat between Disney and the cinemas because Disney want to release the DVD a mere 12 weeks after its cinematic release instead of the industry standard 17 weeks, I thought it was unlikely nowhere would show it at all. True enough a few days later the Cineworld chain broke with its movie-showing brethren and said they would have it.

But apparently Odeon were holding fast. Tez insisted it wasn't going to happen. I went 'Yeah, it will...' And then today the BBC reported that... 'Yeah, it will.'

Which in a way is a shame because Disney do perhaps need someone to stand up to them. And stuff comes out on DVD so fast now anyway it's slowly killing off the joyous wait for the film you really crave to see again. Pretty soon we'll all have films beamed instantaneously into our heads whether we want them or not.

But in another way it's cool, because I'll get to see a Tim-Burtonified Wonderland at the IMAX just down the road. Oh, yes, and because I got to say the most satisfying three words in the English language to Tez.

Told you so.

Word pair of the week: Betsu Bala

This word pair is actually anglicised Japanese, that can also be spelt/said Betsu Bara. Interestingly, Japanese doesn't have an 'R' or an 'L' so either can be used when it's anglicised, which is plobabry why steleotypes of Japanese people speaking Engrish mix them up.

Anyway Betsu Bala means 'additional stomach'. Apparently only women have them and it explains why women might not be able to finish their main course, but will have enough room for dessert. You'd use it as in the following:

"My friend Terri who has just come back from Japan couldn't finish her roast potatoes at the carvery the other night, but fortunately, while in Japan, she developed a Betsu Bala, which meant she had enough room to order the treacle sponge with the bottomless jug of custard. The pig."

Assumptions

I've noticed a lot of assumptions today.

Firstly, a confession. I went to a different church today because my normal church is having a reduced Sunday programme during August (assumption number 1: people don't want to do church in the summer).

So, we went to an Anglican church. I say we, I mean me and Terri, a long-term friend currently residing with us. She is looking for a church. She's Anglican. So it kind of worked us both going.

We were approached by a friendly chap who turned out to be the Lay Reader who later on ran the shebang, or whatever you're supposed to call the 'please turn to page 9' thing that the Anglican church do. That, by the way, actually turned out to be pretty easy to follow, and I quite enjoyed it. Saying a proper creed is always a bonus.

But anyway, Mr Lay Reader asked us if we were the couple who were there because our banns were being read out today. Not a bad assumption. He didn't know us from Adam and Eve, so we'll let him off. But it was amusing, although Terri may well have been offended that this stranger thought she couldn't do better than me.

Then we sat through the service, which moved along at a good pace. The sermon was based on 2 Corinthians 3, and the guy speaking did a good job exegeting it, linking it in with the faded glory of the old covenant with the prophecy of a new covenant in Jeremiah.

And then we had a cup of tea afterwards, during which time a few people told Terri that this service wasn't like their normal service which was usually "much livelier". Which was unfortunate, because Terri likes the liturgy and the collects and the Anglicanism of it all, and had quite enjoyed the service which ran through the 1974 revised prayer book. So, telling her that 'normally' it was qute different wasn't really going to sell her on the church.

It's been a useful experience really. It's left me wondering what assumptions I make about people.

Also a big shout out to Roger who reads this blog and was church warden for the day when we turned up. He greeted us very warmly, despite knowing who I was. So thanks for that, Roj! (He ended up having to read out one Scripture passage too, but that's another story...)