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And with that I'm finally caught up on my summer reading. I'm behind on my usual number of books for the year, but fortunately I have a pile of novellas to read because one of my favorite authors here has a new book in the series.

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YES! I loved the part about how his family learned he was still alive because he sent them a letter complaining about his underwear.

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Plus the unspoken horror of your life being in the hands of a barely trained ride operator who is completely distracted by all the crazy stuff going on in her life.

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Are there the usual spooky elements from amusement parks? Absolutely not. Are the spooky elements spooky? Absolutely! This was a lot of fun, and it took me back to younger days when I used to ride the rickety rollercoasters at Crystal Beach. Stories like this is why I love indie authors so much.

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Book #28 - Amusement Park Arcana by @authorizedmusings.bsky.social. I dragged reading through this a bit to make sure I got to the best parts in the spooky season. It is a horror novella about a woman searching for her friend who went missing the year before while working at an amusement park.

The cover of Amusement Park Arcana by Jennifer R. Donohue featuring a blurry image of a Ferris wheel.

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Did I mention the evil man-eating jungle? There's an evil man-eating jungle in there too.

You know, just your average day for a ragtag group of revolutionaries led by an amateur historian who absolutely has no time for this.

Book #27 - Deathstalker Honor by Simon R. Green So let's see, there's artificial intelligences, cyborgs, alien demons, rival noble houses, and a few other factions trying to make life an absolute nightmare for the newly formed republic. Plus a ton of personal butthurt to deal with.

The cover of Deathstalker Honor by Simon R. Green featuring Owen Deathstalker, a sci-fi character holding a sword an a laser pistol swuaring off against a ten foot tall four armed red alien demon.

Poor guy just wants to read a history book.

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Some days moving into the shed doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

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Book #26 - Pigeonwings by Heide Goody and Iain Grant. That was quite a romp! I'm glad I was able to nab the set on audiobook because it has been an absolute delight. Sister vs sister. Brother vs brother. Angel vs Devil. Flaming swords and Soyuz toilets. This story has it all.

A blue glowing silhouette of the archangel Michael with wings and halo holding an apple.

Few things delight me more than knowing that Ada Palmer and Jo Walton are besties. It gives me hope for the whole Universe.

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I mean, so what would happen if they DID try to create Plato's Republic? Well, craziness and shenanigans for one thing. I loved this top to bottom, and can't wait to get my mitts on a copy of the next one in the series.

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Book #25 - The Just City by @bluejo.eurosky.social Having studied philosophy and classics in school (I even have a degree in one of them) I was a bit scared of reading something that delved deeply into both, but I was delighted by how good the story was.

Cover art of The Just City by Jo Walton featuring a detail from The School of Athens by Raphael.

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I got to learn all about Lambrini!

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Between fits of laughter I got to read a fine tale of exactly WHY he was stuck on Earth, and how that turns out to have been a really bad idea. I love Goody's and Grant's characters, and they do a marvelous job of painting some all told disreputable people in brilliant and interesting color.

Book #24 - Clovenhoof by Heide Goody and Iain Grant. This was a snort out loud kind of comedic book. Their portrayal of the devil is brilliant: he's irresponsible, petty, and a general pain in absolutely everyone's backside.

The cover art for Clovenhoof by Heide Goody & Iain Grant featuring a glowing red silhouette of the devil sitting at a bar drinking a glass of Lambrini with a smile on his face.

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Seriously, I did NOT see that coming.

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Her take on the well known personages from the tales was new (at least to any tellings I've heard), but still captures their essences. I was a little worried about the seneschal to be honest, since he's my favorite knight of the round, but she did him good justice.

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This was one of those stories that did NOT go where I was expecting at any point, which is awesome. I can't really go into the best parts of the story since that would spoil it, but all I can say is trust me: it is well done and totally worth it.

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Book #23 - Queen of None by @natania.bsky.social Arthurian stories bypass my usual dislike of pastiche since most of the stories we have through history are themselves pastiche. It is kind of what fanfic came from, really. Anywho, Queen of None follows Arthur's sister Anna Pendragon.

Cover art for Queen of None by Natania Barron, featuring the titular character with her back facing you, strange mist emanating from her hands as she looks out upon a spooky nighttime landscape.

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"Our pope. Was a very very very very very very very bad pope. With two cats in the yard..."

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I'm going to have to go through it again and take notes, but for my first time I just wanted to give it a read and see where it went. It goes great places.

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I really enjoy that she focuses on Florence because it is my favorite crazy place in a crazy time. 9 dudes in a tower. Armies coming and going. Michelangelo's fierce hatred of da Vinci. And of course my favorite historical personage: Niccolo Machiavelli. So many good bits about that guy. Megs even

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Why are there so many listed start and end dates for the Renaissance? Why do historians focus on specific aspects while ignoring others? Why does the Renaissance seem to support everyone's views on the modern world? Well, Dr. Palmer has your back!

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Book #22 - Inventing the Renaissance by @adapalmer.bsky.social. Dr Palmer gives us not only a history of the Renaissance, but a history of the history of the Renaissance. Not being much of a historian myself, I found this boom amazing for filling in many of the gaps in my understanding.

Cover art for Inventing the Renaissance featuring the statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head by Benvenuto Cellini on an orange background.

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And fashion! My wife studied costume design, and my mother taught fashion merchandising so I really loved that.

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And having had someone close to me fall into homelessness this book hit me pretty hard. We don't treat debt as the societal disease it is, and instead try to make it the indebted's fault, which is BS. But don't think the book is all doom and gloom. It is a great adventure that's fun to read.

In the colonial era we used to have debtors prisons like they had in England, but fortunately we did away with them. But hey, there's nothing saying we couldn't make that a reality with all of the other crazy stuff going down. In that way the future of this is that nice near-future cyberpunk I love

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Book #21 - The Payback by @kashana.blacksky.app. I've been focusing on reading more indie and lesser known authors this year with great thanks to BlueSky for connecting me with the authors. This one was a pretty wild romp through debt in a world where debt police are a thing in the US.

The cover art for The Payback by Kashana Cauley featuring a black woman's face cast in shades of red. She's wearing a pair of sunglasses in which is reflected a collection of green Benjamin Franklins familiar from the $100 bill.

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Won't anybody let poor Owen read a damn history book in peace?

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Book #20 - Deathstalker War by Simon R. Green. Whew. That was a fun trilogy. Craziness, shenanigans, robot men, men robots, swords, lasers, spaceships, and explosions. Who could ask for more?

Cover art of Deathstalker War by Simon R. Green. It features two sci-fi characters, one a blond haired man wielding a sword and a pistol (Owen Deathstalker) and a red haired woman holding a pistol that is wired to a holster on her hip (Hazel d'Ark) standing back to back in front of a yellow landscape, ready for action.

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My usual October read is Weaveworld. His best in my opinion.

Alex 🏴Ⓐ🔆 (The Anarchist Turtle) @theanarchistturtle.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Reposted by Patrick DeWind

The Cornell 7 sounds way too cool and mysterious Just call them the Cornell rapists bro

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I don't want to think how much my wardrobe of linen SCA garb cost me, but I haven't gone down with heat stroke at Pennsic yet.

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Bollard science is best science.

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I love them all. Yes, that one too. The theme song for the first is one of the best songs of all time.

This is largely why I don't wear hats. My utter lack of fashion sense should stay away from my head.

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