07 Oathbringer, by Brandon Sanderson
08 A Gentleman Fallen on Hard Times, by Grace Burrowes
09 A Gentleman of Dubious Reputation, by Grace Burrowes
10 A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances, by Grace Burrowes
11 A Gentleman in Pursuit of Truth, by Grace Burrowes

Currently I’m working over the 2nd draft of Song, mainly massaging the prose and looking for inconsistencies and places where a reader might say, “What? No! No one does that!” The work is slow because chronic fatigue is impacting me heavily and limiting how much work I can get done in a day, but Song will get finished, turned in, and make its way into your hands, gentle reader.

Until then, fair journeys and fair shores.

And so, without further ado, here’s the complete list for 2024.

— Jan —
1 Bad Actors, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (reread)
2 Bread Alone, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (reread)
3 From Every Storm, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (reread)
4 The Wrong Lance, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
5 Fair Trade, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (reread)
6 Salvage Right, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (reread)
7 Hellspark, by Janet Kagan

— Feb —
8 Defiance, by C.J. Cherryh & Jane S. Fancher
9 Of Cinder & Bone, by Kyoko M.
10 Heart of Stone, by Johannes T. Evans
11 Adulthood Rites, by Octavia Butler
12 Imago, by Octavia Butler
13 The Dragons of Dorcastle, by Jack Campbell

— Mar —
14 Doors Into Change, by Sharon Lee (chapbook)
15 The Hidden Masters of Marandur, by Jack Campbell
16 Ribbon Dance (e-ARC), by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
17 Salt & Broom, by Sharon Lynn Fisher
18 Posted to Death, by Dean James
19 The Middling Afflicion, by Alex Shvartsman

— Apr —
20 The Hanging City, by Charlie N. Holmberg
21 The Emperor and the Endless Palace, by Justinian Huang
22 Death in the Spires, by KJ Charles
23 Farryn’s War, by Christie Meierz (administrative read)
24 Clash of Eagles, by Alan Smale
25 Kakistocracy, by Alex Shvartsman

— May —
26 A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
27 A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine
28 Ice & Alligators, by Angel Martinez
29 Port Eternity, by C.J. Cherryh
30 Voyager in Night, by C.J. Cherryh

— Jun —
31 Wave Without A Shore, by C.J. Cherryh
32 A Taste of Rebellion, by Rachel White
33 Double Vision, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (collection)
34 Three Twins at the Crater School, by Chaz Brenchley
35 Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody
36 Ribbon Dance, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (published edition)

— Jul —
37 Tuyo, by Rachel Neumeier
38 A Glimpse of Redemption, by Rachel White
39 Dust Up at the Crater School, by Chaz Brenchley
40 Mary Ellen, Craterian! by Chaz Brenchley
41 Rowany Goes to Summer School, by Chaz Brenchley

— Aug —
42 The Call of Revolution, by Rachel White
43 The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
44 Running Close to the Wind, by Alexandra Rowland

— Sep —
45 The Duke at Hazard, by KJ Charles

— Oct —
46 Daughter of Fire, by Sofia Robleda
47 The Magpie Lord, by KJ Charles (reread)
48 China in Ten Words, by Yu Hua
49 A Case of Possession, by KJ Charles (reread)
50 The Political Thought of Xi Jinping, by Steve Tsang & Olivia Cheung
51 The Writer’s Little Book of Naming, by Marie Brennan

— Nov —
52 Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson
53 Edgedancer, by Brandon Sanderson

— Dec —
54 Flight of Magpies, by KJ Charles (reread)
55 When China Rules the World, by Martin Jacques
Favorite line: “The Taiping Uprising’s ideology was ‘a bizarre alchemy of evangelical Christianity, primitive communism, sexual Puritanism, and Confucian utopianism.'”
56 The Postman, by Liao Shubo (short story)

52 Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson
53 Edgedancer, by Brandon Sanderson

One of the hazards of researching for a novel — at least for me — is that the subject I’m researching can, under certain conditions, become an obsession.

The story behind this particular obsession is complicated. I don’t know why my father, a criminal and a conman, would hang out at a Chinese curio ship in the Southern California town where I grew up. There could have been innocent reasons, although I kind of doubt it. He was, after all, a criminal and a conman. Some few times he took my brother and I with him to the shop, and we were strictly enjoined to explore elsewhere, away from the conversation he was having with the proprietor, which we were not under any circumstances to interrupt.

I was perhaps 7 or 8 years old, but I still remember the smell of the place — polished wood and Chinese medicines in little paper bags and small brown bottles. The shelves in the rest of the place were full of carved ivory figures and jade jewelry and inlaid boxes and, sometimes, cheap paper curiosities that my father could afford to buy for us. It ignited my fascination with the country and the culture that produced such wonders.

A few years later, a student teacher was assigned to my sixth grade class, and she had charge of three of us, nominally the brightest students. She taught us French during math class and Shakespeare during English, and I loved her like a second mother. At the end of the year, she gave me a thin little book of Chinese poetry in prose, with an inscription that said, “I think you’re ready for a different language! To a good English student, with best wishes. [signature] June 1971”

More than 50 years later, I still have it.

Anyway. All this is to say that the simple act of looking up Chinese names for characters in Tolari Space ignited that interest with not just a desire to read Chinese poetry in the original, but to read Chinese science fiction, which has a vibrant fandom in China. So I have actually embarked on learning Mandarin Chinese, yes, at my age.

I am at the very beginning of this journey, but my husband suggested I describe the resources I’m using in case anyone else gets the bright idea of studying Mandarin without either enrolling in a college course or going to China or both. They are:

1. LingoDeer (smartphone app) (paid version). This will only take me to intermediate, but since I am a rank beginner, I won’t run out of lessons for a while. I use this app rather than Duolingo because it better suits the way I learn.
2. Skritter (smartphone app & website) (subscription). A flashcard app for learning Chinese characters. LOTS of decks to choose from; the HSK decks also teach you how to write (do yourself a favor and get a stylus for that). I find it VERY effective, and the number of characters I’m learning has quickly outstripped the characters I need for the LingoDeer lessons.
3. Mă or Mà? Chinese Tone Practice (website, free). Uses tone change (tone sandhi), which can be confusing even if you have a good ear (which I do), but it’s still quite useful.
4. Cantone (smartphone app) (free). More Chinese tone practice. You can turn the tone sandhi off.
5. ChinesePod (podcast, accessed on Spotify paid). Literally thousands of podcasts, from absolute newbie to advanced. The newbie podcasts use high frequency words in every day situations, such as “hold the elevator” and “is anyone home?” You can link it to Skritter if you have a ChinesePod subscription, which I don’t.
6. Spotify has a number of Chinese listening podcasts, nearly all starting at the intermediate level, so I’m not using them yet.
7. Various Chinese TV shows and movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime, to get the sound of the language in my ear and try to pick out words I know. Really, just watch whatever appeals to you, just first make certain it’s in Mandarin, not Cantonese. Or Korean.
8. A mi zi ge notebook and a jian zi ge notebook. This is practice paper with gridlines for writing characters with an actual pen or pencil. Mi zi ge has the diagonals, jian zi ge just has vertical and horizontal lines.

When I get to intermediate level, in a few months or six, I will search out local conversation groups, which I’ve been assured exist. If I don’t find one, I’ll probably go online and look for a tutor, mainly for conversation practice.

I would also like to say that having smart hearing aids that connect to my smartphone via bluetooth is EXTREMELY useful for all of this.

And meanwhile, I’m writing book 7 of the Tales of Tolari Space, The Song of Lynadria. The climax of the book is being stubborn, and I’m having trouble making it work. I may need to seek professional editorial help, if it comes to that. We shall see.

And that’s the current news from Monralar by Lake Ontario! Fair journeys, gentle reader.

I may pick up Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson again and give it another try — after I finish the 3rd Magpie Lord novel and some political nonfiction I’m reading as research for The Song of Lynadria. If I do that, the Sanderson will likely take up the bulk of the month.

45 The Duke at Hazard, by KJ Charles