On Higher Powers

On Higher Powers

I keep tabs on Bruce Charleton's blog, and so the recent post on Phil K Dick [https://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2019/12/philip-k-dick-overview-so-far.html] caught my eye. > In the past couple of months I have read/ listened-to a dozen Philip K Dick novels, and most of the Exegesis - his philosophical and spiritual journal written during his last eight years. I haven't enjoyed a fiction writer so much, in such quantity, for several years. Certainly, I appreciate his work more fully this tim…

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A Few Good Books

A Few Good Books

John C Wright recently reviewed The Hidden Truth [http://www.scifiwright.com/2019/09/book-review-the-hidden-truth-by-hans-schantz/] by Hans Schantz, describing it as "part alternate history, part coming-of-age story, and part techno-thriller, peppered with wry observations about the nature of people, politics and power as seen through the eyes of a youth learning a hard lesson about the evils men hide." He is entirely correct. I found the first book engaging enough to go ahead and buy the sec…

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More Miscellany from the Internet

More Miscellany from the Internet

First, Brian Neimeier discusses that "works of art last" [https://www.brianniemeier.com/2019/03/ars-longa.html] - the second half of an old saying many of us, including me until recently, only knew as "life is short." > The equivalent Greek word is techne. That's a big clue that everybody before the Modern era would have put Michelangelo and Steve Jobs in the same general category. Both made stuff according to a standard. That's really what writing is. A carpenter makes a birdhouse by putting…

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i-Devices and Arkhaven Audio

i-Devices and Arkhaven Audio

For maximum compatibility, the audio files downloaded from Arkaven come as mp4 "video" files because while they are technically m4b files, many applications (like WinAmp) won't recognize them or play them well, and calling them mp4 results in a "least wrong" default that will still play the audio. In either case, since these are your files that you download - and back up if you're smart - you can't just spin up an "audible" app to download and listen to them in one easy place. The good news is…

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Odds and Ends

Odds and Ends

First, as Cataline notes [http://reactionarytimes.blogspot.com/2018/11/new-release.html], we have a sequel to the excellent Soda Pop Soldier. You may recall I very much liked the first one [https://thelastredoubt.com/soda-pop-soldier/], and am also looking forward to whatever is next in his Wyrd series. Brian Niemeier is promoting what sounds like a really cool series [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/galaxy-ascendant-book-3-a-shifting-alliance#/] . Downside is that it’s on indiegogo - upside…

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