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Artemis by Andy Weir - 3/5 Oxygen Tanks

So I finally read Andy Weir's 2017 novel, Artemis. It follows Jazz, who lives on the moon colony with the book's title, Artemis. I am a big fan of the near-future science fiction genre and I think Weir delivers on it better than most, however I struggle with the plot of Artemis a few times along the way. There is, to me, a gaping "feel good" plot hole with the resolution of the story and it really soured the book for me.

Interestingly, this is a book I thought I had started previously and was immensely turned off from but when I came back to it recently, I had zero memory of any of it and went along for the ride.

It's a fine read and it's an interesting plot that is only doable through this near-future sci-fi genre, but yeah - bring along a healthy suspension of disbelief and just go for the ride.

Radicalized by Cory Doctorow (2019) - 3 of 5 stars

The commentary is, of course, the strongest aspect of the book. Unfortunately, I found the stories and the framings distracted from the messages carried in the book.

Review: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This isn't the normal sort of book for me, but I love Almost Famous and based on the blurb I read, it felt like it might be in the same space. The book is about a group of people, Daisy Jones, and the band, The Six. It's set in the 70s predominately and it takes you through the journeys of all the people, on a journey to stardom. The book is surprisingly touching and even brought me to tears. Overall I loved it and highly recommend it for folks.

Here are a handful of my favorite lines, none of which spoil anything for future readers.

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I think you have to have faith in people before they earn it. Otherwise it's not faith, right?

I guess I'm saying… if you redeem yourself, then believe in your own redemption.

I'll tell you: If a friend lied to me the way I lie to myself, I'd say, "You're a shitty friend."

You can't love someone back to health and you can't hate someone back to health and no matter how right you are about something, it doesn't mean they will change their mind.

Historical Fiction: Toussaint Louverture, James Madison, the War of 1812

Disclaimer: The following is a half-baked story idea that came to me as I listened to a lecture regarding Toussaint Louverture. I am not an expert on his life, the Haitian revolution, nor even the US' War of 1812, though I feel I know most about it of the other topics. I encourage you to delve into these things, each of them are fascinating pieces of history from what I do know.

What if Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haitian revolution had lived long enough to spread it to the American southern colonies, as well as the colony which we now know of as Florida. So the southern colonies go into revolt, and it is a long bloody civil war. The North ends up joining in fighting for the Southern free men, despite largely being antislavery due to President Jefferson's beliefs and his southern heritage. This is a very unpopular move stirring up even more unrest in the fledgling country. Seeing all of this going on is what triggers England's attack and causes the War of 1812.

But, James Madison was elected just prior to England's attack, and to his credit and he had already been intending to seek peace with Toussaint and the southern rebellion leaders. He is able to make a deal with the southern rebellion, to his credit they will remain part of the USA, but they will be granted freedom, equal rights, reparations, as well as a rushed agreement to restructure Congress to drive more equitable representation, the state that will become Florida becomes New Saint Domingue, and French officially becomes a national language alongside English.

In exchange, with a signature and guarantee Congress will agree to all these demands, the Southern rebellion joins the fight against the British and the combined forces sweep north to force out the British.

The Day I Became Friends with a Robot by Tristrum Tuttle

A story written by AI and illustrated by AI.

Hearing his words

The following post was from my original blog on ronincyberpunk.com, it is archived here for posterity purposes

Alright folks, next chapter of the story. If you want to read the past entries go visit the archive for "The Immortal"

Captain Davis sat in his chair, shining his sword, the sway of the vessel causing the soft sound of metal sliding over metal. The boards of the ship creaked under the stress as the steersman brought her about for the next leg of the tacking. His expression was cold, his face emotionless. He took this sword and held it into the light, watching the light shine he nodded his satisfaction and slid it into his scabbard. Rising he walked to the door of his quarters, his boots clicking with each step. He stood for a moment longer, his hands clasped behind his back, pausing to clear his mind.

The doors to his quarters opened as he emerged, he let them fall closed behind him and he looked over the port side to spy the much larger ship, the Union Jack easily visible flying from their mast. Katja and Ian stood fidgeting, waiting for him to either say something or give some sign of his thoughts. He merely nodded to them, and they both took only a moment to realize he either had guessed as much or was accepting it that quickly.

Cicero strode his deck, nodding to his crew to acknowledge their efforts, he approached the bow and turned to look back over the ship. Clearing his throat and suddenly the deck fell silent, before every battle he gave words – words of wisdom, advice, of calm.

"Today, we face a new opponent. One you all have undoubtedly noticed was lacking on our list of prey, one which will promise us a new level which we must attain. Thus far we have but given them our ship's name and my name to call us by, after what this will bring, they will know each of your names. They will know your stories, and for those of you they don't – they'll make them. Regardless of how long you stay aboard my ship, our ship, you will leave with a name to be recognized." He paused, taking two steps to the stern, his hands still clasped behind his back. "Today, we will take that ship. And will take that flag. And we will put it below our decks, adding it to our collection of such items. The Queen knows us only through the victories we hold over others, today – she will know us personally. Whatever we claim today is yours. I will have no share in it, this victory will be my share."

And with that he fell quiet, calmly striding to the stern of the boat – and for a moment the only sounds were the clicking of his heels on the deck as well as the straining of the ship's very hull. That relative quiet was shattered by the uproarious cheers of his sailors.

"Captain, do you hear that?" Lieutenant Adams inquired. Both the Lieutenant and Captain Williamson turned to look across the water to watch the ship with it's red flag.

"Do we know it's name yet?"

"No Captain, the sun at her back puts it in the shadows."

"Fine, then continue preparations, anyone cocky enough to fly their red flag thus openly deserves to feel our bite."

The Ship on the Horizon

The following post was from my original blog on ronincyberpunk.com, it is archived here for posterity purposes

Ian bent over the edge of the crow's nest as he spied the ship on the horizon, "Captain! Ship off the starboard!" It was too far to tell anything more than that. He pulled himself back into the nest and sat with his back to the shallow wall.

Ian was lazy. Absolutely 100% lazy, he would have spot the ship 15 minutes earlier had he been keeping a constant look out but instead he was sitting up here nodding off and did his occasional search of the horizon.

He used to get all jittery and excited with the possibility of combat but now it bored him, The Immortal hadn't gone to battle in weeks, instead it had found merchant after merchant who might take off trying to outrun them before it eventually gave up and surrendered the plunder.

Captain Davis stood behind the steersman and looked to the horizon, the sun to his back he could see the miniature white sails filled with the wind as the ship sailed towards them. Looking upward Cicero looked past the crow's nest and examined his flag, the openly threatening red billowed in the wind.

Other pirates fly fake flags of peace of merchants, luring victim ships in and then feigning weakness or trouble to get them to pull along side, when it's too late the ships are drawn close and boarded. Captain Davis didn't need this trick. Let them spy his flag, the pure crimson red belying his true purpose – and let them run. Let them put their fate to the chase.

A small smile creased his face, a smile most of the crew knew. The smile of the hunt. Turning on his heel he spoke crisply to the steersman, "Bring her about, begin tacking towards that ship. I want her identified before she turns about." The steersman nodded and smoothly began bringing the ship about. Cicero turned and began bellowing orders, "Katja, I want you to identify that ship and if it is anything but a naval vessel with an armada behind it – I want it."

"Aye Captain," Katja nodded and turned to the crew. Her form was what many would consider beautiful, lithe and strong yet her demeanor squashed any hopes the men on the ship had. She was dominant; the only person who she respected was the Captain and the crew knew it. "Prepare for the battle you Sea dogs!" And with that it was official. The crew let loose a howl as one and the deck was enveloped in the commotion of the preparations for the coming battle.

Ian pulled himself back up out of the crow's nest and pulled out the spy glass, fumbling with it he found the ship, now substantially closer due to the fact they were rushing towards each other, the Immortal tacking it's way closer to the oncoming ship. And then he saw the flag.

"Aye! The ship is the British Royal Navy!" He squinted into the spy glass and tried to read the title off the bow. "Pray… Pray-tor-ian" He closed the spy glass and jumped out of the crows nest, grabbing the rope he slid down to the deck. His small form was mousy compared to the rest of the crew, his eyes were small and brown, his hair black. Running across the deck and ran up to the Captain's door and rapped on it several times, rubbing his knuckles afterwards having rapped a bit too hard.

Captain Davis sat in his Quarters writing in the log, his quill pen moving smoothly over the paper as the ship rocked and creaked with the sound of it passing through the waves. He always wrote an entry before battle. Who knew if this would be his last. He knew it wouldn't be. He couldn't die yet. Not yet. He continued to write after hearing the rap at his door. His crew knew better than to bother him at this stage of preparation. So he ignored the knock.

Katja spied that weasel of a man standing in front of the Captain's doors. "You!" She marched over to him and stood next to him, her tanned skin and well formed face glared at him, "Do you realize what you just did?!" She was irate, this ship ran perfectly because she had trained this crew within an inch of perfection. And here he was breaking one of the most well known traditions and rules of the ship. Don't interrupt the Captain before a battle. As she went through this mental rant she finally tuned back into what Ian was saying:

"…Royal Navy, The Praetorian!!! Don't you understand? It's Her Majesty's vessel!!!" He was shivering he was so excited – no he was probably nervous. Scared he might get a cannon ball through his crow's nest. So this presented an interesting question, up to this point the Captain had avoided enraging the British Royal Navy – having dodged a few of their ships and not engaged one yet. But he had been in the mood for a plunder today. Do we continue on course? Or perhaps the weasel was right – ask the Captain.

To be continued next Thursday, as always