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This is the second John Rebus book I have read (listened to). As with the other one, it seemed to be a good book, but I couldn't really tell you what happened. The narrator did a good job, and I adore his accent, but too much of the time I didn't quite get what he was saying. I think Scottish English is just enough different from American English that it actually requires a bit of translation effort. And it didn't help any that my listening time was kind of choppy. With a 14-disc book, that makes it hard to keep track of who is who and what is what. And maybe I should try reading the series from the beginning and get a better sense of the characters.
Do you plan to be buried, cremated, cryogenically frozen or something else?
Submitted by aynge.
I want to be turned into diamonds. So cremated, at least. I most decidedly do not want to be embalmed and buried. That has to be one of the most freakishly horrid traditions our society has ever come up with.
I have been given two later books in this series, and my understanding is that this is a series that must be read in order. So I picked up the series debut's audiobook at the library and listened to it. After reading the cover blurb, I was not expecting great things. And I did not get great things. I will admit that this was better than I anticipated. But that isn't saying a whole lot.
Lieutenant Eve Dallas is a New York cop in (IIRC) the year 2057. She is assigned to the high-profile homicide of an expensive whore whose grandfather is a conservative prude of a Senator. (You now have enough information to solve the case.) Real coffee is even rarer than firearms, and when billionaire and prime suspect Roarke offers Eve a steaming cup of joe, she tumbles for him and compromises the investigation. That's mostly what the book is about. It fails as mystery or science fiction, but if all you really want is some Nora Roberts soft porn, this is the book for you.
Who have you lost touch with that you'd love to talk to again?
Lots of people, actually. But if I had to pick one...Vanessa Breig. We were at Drury together and even shared an apartment for a little while. Last I saw her, she was planning her wedding and had asked me to be a bridesmaid. And then she just completely dropped out of my life, no warning, no explanation, no nothing. I heard through the grapevine that things weren't going well for her, and the marriage didn't work out. I actually worked with her ex-husband at OTC, and I asked (very carefully) if he could put me in touch with her, but he had no idea where she was or what she was doing. So Nessa, if you read this, drop me a line. I hope you are having a good life.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Not actively, but I try to keep an open mind. I've never experienced any kind of ghostly phenomenon myself, and I've heard plenty of ghost stories that are obviously bullshit, but I have also heard accounts of ghostly encounters from people I consider honest, respectable, and intelligent. Maybe they are simply not thinking it through completely before deciding they've met up with ghosts. Or perhaps today's science does not yet know everything about how our world works. What would people hundreds of years ago have made of today's technology? Even something as simple as a radio would appear magical to them. And some of what we have now would have been the stuff of science fiction only decades ago.
So, I don't claim to know what a "ghost" actually is, and I don't have sufficient scientific training to even speculate intelligently. But perhaps someday, some quantum physicist will unravel the mystery and bring it into the realm of science. Until then, I am content to consider them excellent fictional devices.
Who is your oldest friend?
Of people I am still in contact with, I guess it would be my friends from CSC retreat. I probably started attending that shortly after birth. I'd be hard pressed, though, to say which one I met first. Liz, maybe, or David.
What vacations would you most like to take in the next five years?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.
Just off the top of my head:
1. Venice, Italy.
2. A Mediterranean cruise.
3. A Pontius family reunion in Germany.
4. A Pontius family reunion in Winnipeg.
5. Las Vegas, Nevada. (We have this planned for August.)
6. A BookCrossing UnConvention. (Planned for October.)
7. A BookCrossing Convention.
8. A WorldCon.
9. Another Bubonicon. (Planned for August.)
10. Anouther Bouchercon.
11. Another Malice Domestic.
12. Sweden.
13. Australia and New Zealand.
14. An SAI convention.
15. Another Mensa Annual Gathering.
In honor of Bastille Day, we'd like to know: What's your favorite thing to come out of France?
A hovercraft. :-)
Seriously, I love French pens, especially Waterman and Jean-Pierre Lépine.
Pax had a conference in Fort Worth, Texas, last month, and it coincided with our 16th wedding anniversary, so I tagged along. After getting settled into our hotel (The Renaissance Worthington, very nice) we had our anniversary dinner at Reata.
Other restaurant highlights included Mercury Chophouse, Simply Fondue, Piranha Killer Sushi, Razzoo's, and Cantina Laredo. I spent most of the week just wandering about downtown, taking photos.
There were some neat shops, but I didn't find much of anything I simply couldn't live without. Except some new tennis shoes, when BookCrosser whimzykat was kind enough to drive me (in her adorable Mini Cooper) to a mall. (One morning of wandering in my cute little red flats just about killed my feet. When am I going to learn never to wear cute shoes for wandering about?) Whimzy and I also had a whee of a time perusing the Renaissance porn at the Kimbell, but no photos were allowed in the exhibit (even in the areas without age restrictions).
One afternoon, I tried walking to the Stockyards.
The distance didn't bother me; it was only a few miles, which I can do easily if I'm not wearing cute shoes. But I got a little ways north of the Courthouse, and it was just too scary. I wimped out. So the next afternoon, I waited an hour for a bus that never materialized. But then Pax's meeting let out early, so we took a taxi and got there just in time to watch the Fort Worth Herd.
We also did a little shopping for Fathers' Day gifts, and Pax even rode a mechanical bull.
We almost stayed in that part of town for dinner, but the skies were looking a little threatening, so we caught a cab back to the hotel and ate downtown instead. That's about the time the tornadoes started ripping through the metro area. It made for an interesting dining experience as the tower's fire alarms kept going off.
And getting to the airport the next morning was quite the adventure as well. I'm glad we ended up hiring a driver with a high-clearance vehicle (instead of a regular taxi or a SuperShuttle), as some of the highways were completely under water. We made it in time for our morning flight, but then there was the small matter of all the weather delays. I think it was after 3PM before we finally boarded our flight. But we made it home safely.
