The Collapsing Empire: A Catastrophe Is Just Another Political Ploy

John Scalzi's latest novel "The Collapsing Empire" is another complex political space opera, in the best sense of the term. Although it has spaceships and battles and Imperial guards and all that, it's really about people and organizations reacting when scientists discover an impending catastrophe. The catastrophe itself doesn't fully manifest by the end of this novel but that's almost beside the point, as our protagonists struggle more against competing plans to turn this to advantage than against the problem itself.
The lead is an Everyman (female) thrust by circumstance into greatness and getting by, mostly by letting the professionals around her Do Their Job. I'm not sure that she makes any decisions other than to prioritize the safety of humanity, which is after all Her Job.
The liveliest character is a Merchant Prince(ss) in the role of a young Nicholas van Rijn (more profane and less restrained) whose firmly established sense of priorities includes working hard and partying harder. After one rather violent crisis she woos a survivor who objects that how can they get together after she was prepared to sacrifice him; she replies why complain about something that didn't happen, and let's get busy.
Never before have I seen a plot point hinge on whether a political faction relied upon a scientific paper that was not properly peer reviewed. Ha!
Scalzi is a master of his craft and if you expected a story that runs solidly and urgently from an explosive opening to a climactic world altering ending, you got it BUT it's obviously the beginning of a series - it sets up several problems and then doesn't resolve them. The very last spoken line points to an unwritten story to follow (or else is the author's prank.)
Don't leave readers hanging , brother Scalzi. Let's see the sequel soon!

SCA Dream

It finally happened, oh my SCA friends and family: I dreamed that I showed up at Pennsic without any clothing. There I was amid the happy throng and not a stitch, either garb or mundane. No-one really noticed; it would be far from the oddest sight there, but "This shows a lamentable lack of planning," I thought, "All that driving and now no armor!"
But then I remembered I had my gold chain in the glove box. It was going to be o.k.

All Is Quiet On New Year's Day

Stayed at home all day.
Did not drive car.
Did not spend money.
Tinkered with stuff, cleaned, worked on the yard.
Doing some yoga, making lunch for tomorrow and really looking forward to going back to work.
Life is not always drama.

Starting the year with a nice shave

Starting the year with a nice shave. So refreshing!

Happy New Year

Here, like a daughter,
Or perhaps like a sister,
And cat co-parent

Kiara Hudson
Completes this complex modern
Family hiaku.
 ---

I am grateful for Arthur

And I am grateful for my sister/daughter/cat co-parent Nessa

and I am grateful for Kiara but I have to get a photo of us together haha!
EDITTED: Got one!

Also grateful for my neighbors, friends, Zumba, Toastmasters, and so much family!
Also the refinance and the new heating system.
Looking forward to 2018!

Thank You Nessa, Cat Co-Parent

There has to be a term for the person who brings a beloved cat into your life, in this case Arthur Odinkat Hudson, whose picture you've seen here more than once. Nessa Hudson here is like a sister and is like a daughter but most of all is a cat co-parent. If you have the word for that let me know and happy New Year!

December 2017 Memes