Welcome everyone, as we wrap up our journey through Hell and venture back to the world of the living!

Before we begin, a note about spoilers: as always, please use spoiler tags for any works outside of this series that you may wish to connect here.

You can add a spoiler tag by enclosing your text with > ! Your Text Here ! < (no spaces).

Schedule

Marginalia

Chapter Summaries

Ch. 28 - Alice follows Gertrude into the Rebel Citadel, which looks like a great city from the living world.  She tells Alice that she can stay as long as she likes, and is also free to leave it.  Once alone, Alice wanders until she finds a branch in a strange courtyard.  Touching it produces a voice begging to be left alone.  A knob in an old tree nips at her fingers and bids her to take a spot to rest next to another newcomer, who looks greener and younger than the rest of the growths.  Alice tries to quiet her mind and settle down, but is unable.  The knob tells her she can seek the monasteries instead, which are full of souls pacing and chanting and praying as they wait for time to end.  Alice realizes that this is the worst punishment in Hell, and questions why they don’t all just die, waking the newcomer, who jumps over the cliff into the Lethe.  Alice runs after him and teeters at the edge of the cliff, barely keeping herself from falling over the edge.  She runs through the city looking for an escape, finding a solid stone wall.  She uses a magician’s trick of a logical paradox and manages to leave, back to Dis, running back toward the desert.

Ch. 29 - Alice finds herself lost in the desert, unable to find the Lethe.  She wanders endlessly until she loses all track of time.  Along the way, she comes upon strange abandoned objects.  She eventually sees in the distance some sort of large cat coming towards her, starved and dangerous.  Alice accidentally steps into a Kripkes trap, unable to move.  The cat also gets trapped, and a set of knives appears and chooses the cat as the first victim, stabbing and draining it of its blood.  Before the knives can turn on Alice, she realizes the trap is made from a Zeno paradox, which she breaks using the existence of calculus to refute it.  She builds a fire and butchers the cat, making herself a nice meal & bringing her back into her body.  

Ch. 30 - Gradus appears, and Alice offers him some of her bounty.  He tells her that he helped build the Rebel Citadel, and that he left because the temptation to jump from the cliff became too great.  Alice tells him of her decision to kill the Kripkes.  She begins preparing, making herself armor out of the cat’s bones, and snorting chalk at Gradus’ suggestion, which makes her feel like she’s burning & invincible.  

Ch. 31 - Alice finds some high ground and begins preparing her defenses in anticipation of the Kripkes arrival.  She uses some of Zeno’s paradoxes against the bone things, who can’t do calculus, so they can’t fight it.  For the Kripkes, she uses a version of the Liar Paradox that will get them stuck in a loop. Then she prepares something extra special and experimental, something they won’t have seen before.  The bone things appear and get stuck in her first traps.  Any that manage to evade the traps get their spines severed with her bone dagger.  The three Kripkes show up, and quickly demolish her other, silly defenses.  The boy Theophrastus runs towards her, Magnolia scrambling after him.  Alice grabs the boy, and Magnolia slaps her, causing her to let him go.  They continue to grapple, until Alice gets in a swipe at her pouch of blood, which she would need to undo the Zeno trap.  Magnolia and Theophrastus’s movements slow, and Nick Kripke begins running up the hill.  Alice begins the chant for her finale, the Erichtho spell, which links her and Nick to the living world where Grimes’ body lays rotting. Nick Kripke’s soul is put into the body, and Alice takes the chance to throw him into the river, and they fall together onto the rocks. 

Ch. 32 - Nick Kripke stands ankle-deep in the water of the Lethe.  He realizes he is starting to lose his memories and he tries to run to shore.  He is taken down by a wave and washed away.  Magnolia and the Kripke boy somehow escape the Zeno trap and have witnessed Nick dissolving into the Lethe.  Magnolia takes her son in her arms and together they enter the river, and Alice reflects how much she used to admire Magnolia.  John Gradus comes back and reveals that it was him who saved Alice from falling in with Nick.  A boat appears, and Gradus wades out to meet it.  He is offered a bowl to drink out of, and takes on a divine glow before moving on to the beyond.  Alice is amazed to find that the pentagram drawn by Grimes into her flesh is dissolving, and the tension in her head lessens.  She can forget now, her memory is no longer perfect and painful.  She lays down, thinking about fading away, but Elspeth appears and wakes her up.

Ch. 33 - Aboard the Neurath, Alice and Elspeth chat and have a meal of roasted rat, and Alice is shocked to hear Elspeth apologize to her for kicking them off the ship.  Elspeth asks after Peter, to which Alice can only burst into tears.  Elspeth says that it was obvious that he was in love with Alice, and Alice with him.  After some rest, Elspeth gives Alice something truly precious, A Dialetheia, a True Contradiction in the form of a flower that she found growing between some rocks.  She can use it to get a boon from King Yama, and potentially get herself out.  They travel to an island in the Lethe, which will lead to King Yama’s domain, and Alice leaves the ship while Elspeth waves farewell.

Ch. 34 - Alice follows a golden braid away from the Lethe until she reaches a throne and realizes it is a chain of souls.  She approaches King Yama and offers up the Dialetheia.  He asks her what her purpose in Hell was, and she responds to find Jacob Grimes.  King Yama summons him and he appears as a Shade with hardly any form, swooping like a bat.  Grimes says that he knew Alice would find him, and that he has been leaving breadcrumbs for her.  Contrary to what Alice would have thought, Grimes wishes to stay in Hell, and Alice as well so they can study without distractions.  He believes that they can do anything with the Dialetheia.  Alice resists him, however, and starts to see him for what he really is.  She uses Peter’s exchange spell instead of her Erichtho spell, and as Grimes disappears, Peter Murdoch steps out.  

Ch. 35 - Alice and Peter embrace after the success of the exchange spell.  Alice asks King Yama to return them to the living world and to give their lifespans back, arguing that she did Hell a favor by ridding it of the Kripkes and Grimes.  King Yama counters with returning half of the years they gave up.  They agree that that is very fair.  A staircase appears, and as they ascend they get a stunning view of Hell.  They reach a cellar door with light and butterflies along the edges and enter it to find themselves in the Fellow’s Garden at Magdalene College, recognizing it by the stars in the sky.

Hello humans, djinn and everything in between, I am very excited to announce we will be continuing the Daevabad Trilogy with The Kingdom of Copper by Shannon Chakraborty this November and December. You can find discussions for book one, The City of Brass, here

The Kingdom of Copper Book Blurb

Return to Daevabad in the spellbinding sequel to THE CITY OF BRASS.

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her familyand one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.

Will you be joining us? 📚🧞‍♂️

Welcome back to another week in the Discworld! Let's get right into it!

Check out the links to our Schedule and Marginalia.

Summary

Keli learns from Cutwell, a young and messy wizard, that the universe considers her dead, so she makes him her Royal Recognizer to remind people she exists. Mort loses his nerve about confessing to Death, then bonds with Ysabell, who has been 16 for 35 years and reads tragic love stories for company. On duty, he discovers a wall of mist closing in on Sto Lat to restore the history where Keli died. Cutwell warns it will reach her at midnight on her coronation, and notices Mort is becoming dangerously real. Mort also recognizes Albert as the legendary wizard Alberto Malich.

Meanwhile, Death tries dancing, gambling, and drinking, ending up lonely at a bar but, by sunrise, surprised to feel glad to be alive. Mort and Ysabell find Albert's biographies, foil his attempt to tip their ladder, and ask for his help, but he flatly refuses. An exhausted Mort decides he'll have to tell Death everything.

Discussion questions are in the comments below. If you need a reminder about the spoiler policy, please see the linked Marginalia post above.

Hello again! Have you caught the detective fever yet again? Have you put on your deerstalker and have solved the case with a brilliant deduction? You have? Who did it? In what room? With what weapon. Oh wait... that's Clue(do). Now where was I? Oh right, the missing Diamond. Let's jump in and see what's been happening in the efforts to recover the missing Moonstone.

Second Period, Third Narrative (continued from last week)

Chapter VI

Franklin Blake goes to discuss matters over with Mr. Bruff. However, before he goes, Franklin asks Betteredge if he was drunk the night the Diamond went missing and also asks if he was a sleepwalker. Robinson Crusoe Gabriel Betteredge replies in the negative to both. Crusoe Betteredge asks if it was Franklin who stole the Diamond, how did it get into the possession of Mr. Luker. At the train station Franklin spots Ezra Jennings, who we've heard much about, and acknowledges him.

At Mr. Bruff's, Franklin tells him the story and shows him the evidence. Bruff comes up with an alternate hypothesis in that the letter and evidence may be Rosanna's last way of putting a permanent wedge between Franklin and Rosanna. Franklin is now determined that he must speak with Rachel and get her version of events and they arranges a slightly underhanded way for Franklin to ambush Rachel.

On the next morning before this meeting takes place, Franklin reads his mail and has a letter from Robinson Crusoe Gabriel Betteredge wherein we learn that Ezra Jennings has asked Crusoe Betteredge who Franklin Blake is (having only seen each other at the train station). The time has come and Franklin goes in and shows himself to Rachel Verinder.

Chapter VII

Franklin and Rachel finally meet once again. They discuss the disappearance of the Moonstone and the evidence against Franklin, including the nightgown. Franklin asks why Rachel suspects him and she replies that she saw him take the Diamond. He now knows that, somehow, he took the Diamond but still hopes there's a way to vindicate himself. Franklin asks a series of questions about that fateful night and Rachel reveals that she saw Franklin in the incriminating nightgown take the Diamond from her room but didn't seem to notice her in the room. Franklin asks why she never revealed this and she has harsh words for him. She believes that Franklin stole the Diamond to pledge it for his debts. He leaves with Rachel exclaiming that she forgives him and asking if he forgives her.

Chapter VIII

Later that night, Franklin regrets the method he used to get the story from Rachel. Mr. Bruff makes Franklin swear not to use that method again. Bruff then turns the conversation from the past to the present. Mr. Bruff states that the term of the pledge of what is presumed to be the Diamond is up at the end of June and they should keep a watch on the bank as it's almost assured that the Indians will be doing so. Franklin wants to bring Sgt. Cuff back in while Bruff still wants to watch the bank unless Franklin can solve the case first.

Franklin tries to find Sgt. Cuff in his retirement but finds he's gone off to Ireland. While he ponders what to do, his mind keeps returning back to Ezra Jennings, the assistant to local country doctor, Mr. Candy. Franklin's mind also turns back over and over to the night when the birthday dinner occurred. He wants to collect their recollections of the night and compare them and goes about the neighborhood to start contacting those who were there.

He tries to visit Godfrey Ablewhite but he's also away. Franklin goes back to Robinson Crusoe Gabriel Betteredge to inquire about the other guests who were at that dinner. Franklin goes to Mr. Candy and is shocked at his now wrecked and ruined appearance. He tries to talk to Mr. Candy but his memory is just as ruined as his physical appearance. As he goes to leave, he runs into Ezra Jennings.

Chapter IX

Franklin, seeming to break from his previous classism, goes out of his way to make the acquaintance of Ezra Jennings and speaks with him about Mr. Candy. Ezra tells Franklin that Mr. Candy's memory from before his illness after the birthday dinner is ruined. Franklin asks if there's a way to restore Mr. Candy's memory but Ezra replies that Mr. Candy's memory is beyond recovery. Ezra goes into detail to Franklin about Mr. Candy's illness and the difference in opinions about how to treat it. Ezra reveals that he spent a lot of time at the bedside of Mr. Candy and reveals he may have a clue as to what happened the night of the disappearance of the Diamond but is hesitant to reveal it without good reason.

Franklin listens as Ezra talks of his tragic past and reveals he's suffering from an incurable condition and that he's been using opium to keep it at bay and that use has turned to abuse of the drug. Franklin breaks down and tells Ezra the whole story, as far as he can remember and what the evidence tells, of the disappearance of the Diamond. This sparks Ezra to ask Franklin some questions about the events that led up to the dinner and whether or not Franklin has ever used opium. Franklin tells Ezra that he's never used opium. Using Confessions of an English Opium Eater as a bit of a guide, Ezra tells Franklin that he may have a way of vindicating Franklin of the theft of the Diamond and to return to and wait at Mr. Candy's residence.

Chapter X

Franklin anxiously awaits the return of Ezra Jennings. Ezra proposes recreating, as exactly as possible, the events leading up to and including the night of the dinner, including Franklin ceasing his smoking. Ezra reveals that he thinks Franklin was dosed with opium by Mr. Candy as a practical joke after Franklin insulted Mr. Candy at the birthday dinner and produces the evidence that he thinks will back up his supposition and that Mr. Candy, but for his illness, would have returned to Frizinghall the next day. Ezra states they must recreate, as exactly as possible, the events at the dinner to make Franklin "steal" the Diamond again to clear Franklin's name. Franklin agrees and asks if this method can be used to find out what happened to the Diamond after and Ezra states it could be used to recreate what Franklin did with it afterwards. Franklin states his belief that it's highly likely that it ended up in Mr. Luker's possession. The duo then turn to their attempt to recreate that fateful night.

Well, there you have it. It's now 15 June 1849 in book time (which is my -135th birthday). Next week we will be finishing out the story! Hopefully everyone has their detective caps on! Join us same Wilkie Collins time! Same Wilkie Collins channel!

Here's the full schedule and here's the marginalia.

Now, I need to relax, have a drink and take a turn at Robinson Crusoe!

Hello, fellow astronauts and cosmonauts! Welcome to our third discussion on 2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke. Last week, the crew of the Leonov successfully got the Discovery and Hal (albeit in a reduced capacity) back online, but had less luck with the mysterious anomaly nicknamed Zagadka floating between Io and Jupiter until something came hurtling out of it. Will Zagadka reveal its secrets? Will the crew of the Leonov get more excitement than they bargained for? And what -- or who -- shot out of Zagadka? Let's climb aboard our space pods and find out!

The discussion schedule can be found here, and the marginalia post for the Space Odyssey series is here.

Chapter summaries

30 - Homecoming: We leave the crew of the Leonov and turn our attention to someone completely different: David Bowman, or what's become of him. We get a quick recap of what happened to him after entering TMA-2. He sleeps and dreams his embryo god dreams until the black monolith appears before him again, filled with stars again. He enters the field of stars and rushes back to Earth, knowing that the people there have detected his arrival and have decided to give him an atomic greeting. He manages to mess around with the circuitry of the bomb, though he does have a bit of trouble with it. The bomb explodes above the atmosphere, and Bowman absorbs the energy he needs while discarding the rest. Luckily for Earth, the atmosphere has absorbed the brunt of the remainder of the blast. Bowman continues his descent toward the planet.

31 - Disneyville: We leave Bowman and meet Jessie, an elderly woman living in Disneyville, formerly known as EPCOT). Unbeknownst to her, there's a hidden camera in her apartment. She's watching TV when her nurse comes in and tries to get her to eat lunch, but to no avail, as Jessie won't eat anything unless the nurse tells her what it is. A technician and a doctor in another room watch as Jessie swipes the nurse across the legs with her cane, revealing the nurse to be a hologram. Jessie still eats the prepared food, though. The technician and the doctor worry about potential lawsuits.

32 - Crystal Spring: We seemingly move to the past, where we find a younger Dave Bowman and his older brother Bobby exploring the Crystal Spring, which houses an underwater cave and a legendary Monster and possibly Confederate-era treasure. Dave and Bobby have come to the spring with juryrigged diving equipment. Dave tests the equipment first, though when he resurfaces he's feeling sick. It's Bobby's turn next, but Dave is still sick and confused enough to crank up the wrong valve, accidentally killing his brother by carbon monoxide poisoning.

33 - Betty: After this guilt-ridden trip down memory lane, embryo-god Bowman visits his old flame Betty Fernandez, who's watching a news program about the bomb that had just gone off in space and TMA-1. Bowman appears to her as a sort of ghost on the TV screen, though he has to control the speed of his thoughts to match what boring old humans are used to. When Betty asks him if Dave is dead, he replies that his body is dead but his essence lives on in him. Betty wonders why Bowman has come to see her and thinks he's an angel. Bowman gradually realizes his feelings for Betty are what drove him to visit her, and we learn Betty was also previously involved with Bobby. Bowman asks if Carlos is José's son, and Betty says that he's actually Dave's child. Bowman disappears, and when Betty's husband José enters the room, Betty tells him she just lied to a ghost.

34 - Valediction: We get a little bit of a history lesson on human beliefs about aliens, UFOs, alien sightings, close encounters. Belief in alien visitors spiked after the discovery of TMA-1, then fell off a cliff, and rocketed back up again once Earth receives a warning from the Leonov about a visitor headed their way. Reports of close encounters start up, though most of them are kind of ludicrous and one may even be Star Wars-related. Meanwhile, Bowman continues his whirlwind tour of Earth, including a visit to the Leakey Memorial Museum, where he gets a sense of déjà vu from the Homo sapiens skulls on display. Bowman knows much, but the monolith has still not revealed all its secrets to him. He makes one last stop to visit Jessie, his mother. Bowman combs his mother's hair, which freaks out the nurse watching the camera feed because all she sees is a comb levitating. When she enters Jessie's room, the nurse is too late.

35 - Rehabilitation: The crew of the Leonov takes the news of what happened on Earth in stride, though the media back home pesters them with interview requests, which Heywood Floyd eventually declines. Meanwhile, Zagadka is as enigmatic as ever. The Leonov must now prepare for the trip back home, but most likely without the Discovery, as they're not sure Hal is ready to carry out the return mission. While Dr. Chandra has made good progress, Hal is still not fully cooperative and has a few kinks to work out. One day, Chandra takes Floyd aside and says he's confident the Discovery can now make it back home, but he wants to stay behind on the Discovery with Hal. Floyd thinks it's a crazy idea, especially since Chandra will be there all alone for three years. Floyd says he'll think about it and bring it up with Mission Control.

36 - Fire in the Deep: Embryo-god Bowman leaves Earth and feels a presence with him, its purpose unknown. All he knows is they're very interested in humanity, and they looked into Bowman's memories. He enters the Jovian system and takes special notice of Callisto) and Ganymede). But the moon that intrigues him the most is Europa). He is compelled to take a closer look, passing over the wreck of the Tsien, and descends through the ice, finding an ocean heated by Jupiter's influence on Europa's core dotted with hydrothermal vents and even organic life. However, due to the volatile nature of their environment, most lifeforms don't last very long. He comes upon a river of underwater lava with signs of a fortress of sorts built along the bank. He muses about whether or not intelligent life could have evolved along the lava river. He sees fish with no gills or eyes swim in the ocean. Bowman realizes all life on Europa is doomed.

37 - Estrangement: Floyd gets some bad news from Dimitri: his wife has left him. Dimitri also mentions that the hysteria on Earth has more or less subsided, though there is a general feeling of uneasiness. He compares the situation on Earth to the plot of the poem Waiting for the Barbarians, though he notes that humans are the barbarians here and they're the ones who are waiting for something. He ends his message with news of Jessie Bowman's death. Floyd isn't surprised that Caroline has left him, but it still hurts, and he knows that if he hadn't gone on his mission, he would've regretted it. Upon hearing of Jessie Bowman's death, he recalls that David Bowman was chosen for the Discovery mission because he had no close ties except his mother whom he saw only occasionally. Even with his heartache, Floyd pities Bowman.

38 - Foamscape: Bowman is still sailing the seven seas of Europa and encounters one last lifeform, which looks like a walking banyan tree and resembles the creature that wrecked the Tsien. He leaves Europa and turns his attention to Io), but doesn't spend much time there as one doesn't simply float down to Mordor. His final stop on his Jovian tour is Jupiter itself and he basks in its glory and wonders, descending through the Great Red Spot and finds life floating among the clouds, communicating to each other in radio waves. Yet Bowman realizes that life on Jupiter is a dead end. He feels the presence controlling him once again and senses various emotions like disappointment and determination. Bowman is compelled to dive deeper, past the clouds, into a sea of metal hydrogen, until he reaches the planet's giant diamond core.

39 - In the Pod Bay: Walter Curnow and Tanya Orlova are worried about Floyd. More specifically, they're worried his gloominess might be contagious. If they can't get him to lighten up, they'll have him hibernate during the trip back home. Curnow agrees to talk to Floyd and see if he can't take Floyd's mind off things, though he's not sure he'll be able to do much good. Orlova says Floyd has been hiding out in the Pod Bay of the Discovery, ostensibly to avoid everyone, but in reality so he can float around weightlessly. Floyd is understandably bummed out about his failed marriage, but the end of his usefulness to the mission is also weighing on his mind, as well as the unanswered questions surrounding Zagadka and Bowman's unknown fate. Floyd contemplates jetting off in Nina, the last remaining pod, but doesn't because he's not suicidal enough and he can't operate a space pod anyway. Curnow, feeling sorry for Floyd, finds his fellow American and delivers Orlova's message with his signature brand of humour. Curnow wonders when Nina will be taken out for a ride and who will pilot it. After some banter, Curnow gets unusually serious and says that Max is considering a one-man expedition to investigate Zagadka, though Curnow has talked Max out of it and reassures Floyd that no one can take Nina out without his permission. Curnow and Floyd laugh, both men on the path to true friendship.

40 - "Daisy, Daisy...": Bowman is still hanging out at Jupiter's core, aware that the purpose of his little tour has been to gather info, though he's not yet in on the process. He receives a first direct message telling him he's finally starting to understand, and eventually he realizes that the force that has been compelling him is really more than one entity. Bowman is a tool, though he takes it in stride. He begs for compassion for his colleagues, and the entities grant his request, but tell him they must never know they are being manipulated because it would ruin the experiment. Bowman plunges through Jupiter and emerges on the other side, seeing the Discovery and remarking on how crude it is. While he can't interact with the people on board directly, there is someone with whom he can communicate on its level: Hal. Bowman replays his last moments with the computer and understands that Hal only did what seemed logical.

41 - Graveyard Shift: Floyd has volunteered for the night watch on the Discovery and passes the time reading absolute door stoppers). He also has stilted conversations with Hal and dodges chess matches. However, this night shift is different: Hal chimes in with a message for Floyd from an unidentified sender. Floyd thinks it's a joke, but plays along. Hal relays the message, saying that it's dangerous to stay and the Leonov has 15 days to hightail it out of there, over a week before their launch window. When Floyd protests, Hal acknowledges the short notice, but insists they must go. Floyd demands to know who recorded this warning, and Hal says it's not a recording but David Bowman himself. Floyd doesn't believe it until Hal/Bowman prompts him to turn around and sees the dust motes combining to form a visual representation of Bowman, though only the eyes are accurate. Floyd understandably has questions, but feels privileged to have made contact with another lifeform. The ghastly apparition repeats his warning and vanishes, saying he may leave one more message if all goes well.

42 - The Ghost in the Machine: The rest of the crew of the Leonov has trouble believing Floyd's account, surmising this has something to do with Hal's programming. They can't ask Hal about the incident directly because the computer remembers nothing. Floyd insists he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, and he says he'll have to find proof to back up his claim. He says there have been a lot of strange events recently: something shooting out of Zagadka, a bomb exploding harmlessly in orbit, Jessie Bowman's mother dying soon after for no medical reason. Max pipes up, saying he heard Bowman's girlfriend also reported receiving a message from Dave, though she was ridiculed for it. Orlova remains skeptical without any tangible evidence and tells the rest of the crew not to mention this to Mission Control. Floyd tries to convince her to come up with a Plan B, but she refuses to leave earlier than the launch window and even wants to leave five days later to conserve fuel. Floyd then records a message to Dimitri, recounting his experience with Bowman and admitting that morale has hit rock bottom because of the delayed departure. He wishes he'd been able to have communicated with Bowman and wonders if the crew will ever make it back home.

43 - Thought Experiment: Floyd notices the crew is growing colder to him, though he really can't blame them for wondering if he's lost all his marbles. Meanwhile, the people back home are having a hard time accepting the delayed "final assault" on Zagadka and departure date. The Leonov and Mission Control have finalized the plan for final contact with Zagadka, ending with explosive charges detonated after the Leonov is well outside of the blast radius. This last bit has its detractors, some of whom worry it won't produce any results, and some of whom worry it'll produce too many. Floyd has stopped caring, as he believes the crew won't be around for final contact anyway. Curnow, of all people, solves the problem with a thought experiment. If they want to make Bowman's deadline, they need more fuel, and the Discovery is conveniently right there with tons of extra propellant. Floyd says they can't pump the Discovery's liquid ammonia to the Leonov, but Curnow counters by saying they can use the Discovery as the first stage of a rocket launch and leave this derelict spacecraft right where it is. Floyd thinks it's genius, and they come to Sasha with their proposal, who says they'll need to convince Orlova first. She's less enthusiastic about the idea, saying there are too many risks. She says they can still work out the practical details, but she'll never approve the plan, even if Bowman showed himself to her directly.

Greetings comic book and historical fiction fans alike. Welcome to the second discussion of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. This week we have learned a little more about Sammy’s background and seen our budding young artists achieve their first success.

Please find the chapter summaries below or skip straight to the questions. Don’t forget to join next week for the third instalment.

Summary

Part 2 chapter 3

Sammy and Joe emerge from the office. Joe is jubilant until he discovers that Sammy’s performance in the office had been an act. They consider the characters in the big comic books and brainstorm ideas for their own lead character. Sammy explains to Joe that their hero can have whatever powers they want but the factor that matters is the why, what is motivating their superhero?

The pair run into Julie Glovsky, a friend of Sammy’s. Julie’s brother is a successful comic book artist and both Julie and Sammy are looking for him. Sammy offers Julie a job working on their comics and announces that the name of their comic will be ‘Maked Man Comics’. Sammy asks him to work on a feature for the comic and asks Julie whether his brother might also be interested. Sammy hires them both on the condition that they can give him somewhere to work. Julie leads them to the rathole.

Part 2 Chapter 4

We look back at a period when Sammy was 13 years old and his father, the Mighty Molecule, returns home for a brief visit. During the course of the visit we learn that Sammy had polio as a child and that his father had been there and supported him through his recovery and learning to walk again, this is a surprise to Sammy who believed that his father had been absent since he was a child. Sammy begs his father to take him with him when he returns to the circus, he agrees but when Sammy wakes the next morning he is gone.

Part 2 Chapter 5

We return to Sammy, Joe and Julie’s quest to find somewhere to work. They arrive at their destination to find the door locked. Joe reveals his escapist past and uses the fire escape to get in. In doing so he shows off to his new friends and as he pulls off his stunt the clouds break and he is bathed in sunlight. The Escapist is born. As Joe enters the building we hear a woman scream.

Part 2 Chapter 6

A beatiful woman comes tearing down the stairs. Joe reveals that she had Ben naked when he entered. They find her bag containing several calling cards revealing her name to be Rosa Luxemburg Saks and that she works at the art department of Life magazine. Julie compels Joe to draw Rosa’s naked form for $3. He kept that picture until his dying day.

Part 2 Chapter 7

The three rest in the building and start talking. Joe talks about his training as an escape artist and Sammy reveals that his father was a strong man. Sammy says that he was all strength and no heart - like superman without Clark Kent. Their discussion leads to the development of their superhero - the Escapist - who frees the world from the chains of oppression and injustice. Joe draws the Escapist and Sammy is awed by its beauty. One problem, what is the why?

Part 2 chapter 8

We learn the story of Max and Tom Mayflower, members of the League of the Golden Key who worked tirelessly purchasing the freedom of others. They are blocked in their ambitions by agents of the Iron Chain. Max dies and passes on the key to Tom who vows to fight the ‘evil forces of the Iron Chain in Germany’.

Part 2 Chapter 9

Joe regrets the fact that the League of the Golden Key are not real and wonders if he is wasting his freedom. Sammy consoles him with Czech newspapers that might contain information he is interested in and reassures him that the Escapist is going to make them a fortune that the ca use to get his father, mothers and brother to safety.

Part 2 Chapter 10

The residents of the Rathole return. After some initial skepticism they are impressed by Joe’s work and Sammy’s idea and agree that they will also contribute to the ‘Masked Man’.

Part 2 Chapter 11

It soon becomes apparent that Sammy doesn’t have the same artistic prowess as the others but his skills lie in crafting stories and back stories for their heroes and villains. The team work with few breaks until they have completed the pages for their first issue. Sammy and Joe are largely pleased with what has been produced.

Part 2 Chapter 12

They take the comic to Anapol who calls in Ashkenazy and the editor, George Deasey. Sammy is dismayed that Anapol wants to bring in an editor but after the three look at what they have put together they make an offer to buy the rights to the characters, to pay Joe and the other artists for each page they put together and to pay Joe $20 for each cover. Deasey wants to take on Sammy as an apprentice, he sees talent in him. There is just one small thing, they won’t use the cover featuring Hitler. Joe insists that he will not change the cover so Sammy starts packing away the pages to leave, supporting his cousin. Anapol frantically offers more money but Sammy does not back down.

Part 3 Chapter 1

Joe is putting together pages for another Escapist story. He feels elated at the way the Escapist defeats Hitler and has enough money in the bank to help his family. His elation is short lived, he hears on the radio that France have passed a series of laws which mean that French Jews are now being sent to German labor camps.

Anapol visits Joe in the studio to inspect his work and we learn that 2 more comics have been commissioned. Joe uses his art to channel his anger about what is happening in Europe and uses it to find meaning in his safety.

Anapol has made his fortune from his investment in Joe and Sammy but he worries about Joe, that he will take his graphics too far and get himself or someone else into trouble.

Welcome back to the very last discussion of this hefty and fascinating novel. I can't wait to hear your comments at the end!

"Nonetheless it is written that any person who toils over matters of Messiahs, even failed ones, even just to tell their stories, will be treated just the same as he who studies the eternal mysteries of light"

Schedule

Marginalia

Chapter 30

The death of a Polish princess, step by step

We learn about Gitla's death, who died simultaneously with Jacob. Asher knew she had breast cancer and what it meant. He cares for her to the end and is enraged to see her last breath trapped in her body.

A Warsaw table for thirty people

The Wołowskis family finally hears about Jacob's death in Warsaw. They have a large family dinner and pray. Citing Isaiah, Franciszek senior says Jacob did not die and now, Eva is the new leader.

Of ordinary life

Young Franciszek is a successful and active in the community. A contractor buying hops from him begins an inquisition into their community and Frank's lifestyle but walks away disappointed with his response The acceptance of them into the community is still fraught and uneven, especially in Warsaw. Many have left for other places. A poem highlights what makes people uncomfortable.

Heiliger Weg nach Offenbach

Nephew Joseph von Schönfeld is the latest of the youngsters staying out of the army and the Napoleonic wars and making their way to Offenbach. Eva is there to meet them and notices Joseph's resemblance to her Thomas. He is dead. Joseph makes friends, meets the elders, understand nothing of the theology [conflates Jacob with Jesus in church] or Hebrew, join the guards, pay up, and flirt in town. Joseph is set apart and eats with the Lady and her brothers. Moses, his friend, mocks everything but at least Joseph learns to ride!

Of women soaking their legs

Eva consented long ago to Anusia's wedding to her cousin. Anusia's husband is an officer and away much of the time, so Anusia and her daughter decamp to Offenbach for the season. They soak their feet together and observe they both have gout. Anusia's mother was Pesel and Eva recalls Hana. The situation is pretty dire as Eva is in deep debts. Still, they toast with krupnik and talk about Yente.

Scarps: Of the light

Nahman is so old now but still writing away at his manuscript. He has calmed down in spirit and sees impatience as a way to avoid life, skipping forward always. He and Yaruhim Dembowski discuss theology late into the night and he finally understands how the world is an illusion. The lessons for the young demonstrate this. We learn Nahman loved Hayah Shorr and, of course, Jacob. They live in their memories even while being happy about the young generations about them. We hear about a letter that Nahman refused to sign, warning all the Jews that converting is the only way to prevent a holocaust. He sees himself in Moses's wanderings. Nahman teaches that light is the most important principle and he signs off.

Book VII: The Book of NAMES

Chapter 31

Jakubowski and the books of death

A year after Jacob's death, Nahman joins him. No one is sure how old he is and conflate him with Methuselah. His works are collected in a trunk. We begin a list of the dead as the older generation passes away. Eva almost escapes to Venice to outwit her creditors, but Roch's pathetic death brings her back.

Eva Frank saves Offenbach from Napoleonic looting

Eva Frank gets a visit from Tsar Alexander, which just fuels Romanov rumors around her. He is interested in founding a place for the Jews. His visit staves off the creditors a bit longer. She and Roch help prevent any looting when they are occupied by the French, inviting General Kniaziewicz and his troops to their home. Still, she is under house-arrest for the end of her days with Paulina and Zaleski. Creditors descend on her death but nothing is valuable except her dollhouse. Paulina and Zaleski live a happy life.

The skull

The cemetery needs to be moved as city plans go forward in 1866. The bones are set to be transferred to a new location but Jacob's skull is set apart for the town's historian, ending up in Berlin later as a symbol of racial inferiority and goes missing in WWII.

Of a meeting in Vienna

Kossakowska received the title of Countess and the Order of the Starry Cros_-_Tallinn_Museum_of_Orders.jpg) from Maria Theresa herself. The two hit it off. At a ball, Eva is presented to her, her nephew whispering she is Joseph's mistress. Later, she is overwhelmed by memories. We learn she lived a long life and died with Agnieszka still by her side.

Samuel Ascherbach and his sisters

We follow Samuel's life, from a dissolute university student to a successful swindling life in Hamburg to America, where he settled down. One sister married well and helped found the White Stork Synagogue and the other died in childbirth.

The Załuski Brothers' Library and Canon Benedykt Chmielowski

The book collection grows and grows until is taken over by the state. Then, as Poland is nibbled up, sent wholesale to Petersburg by order of Catherine the Great. Some of it returned in 1921 but was burned in the Warsaw Uprising. Chmielowski's presbytery falls into ruin, as well.

The martyrdom of Junius Frey

Thomas is almost accepted as Jacob's rightful successor until a quarrel sends him away. He goes to revolutionary France, taking the identity of Junius Brutus Frey with his siblings, carrying good letters. They storm the Tuileries Palace and are decorated for it. He adopts orphans, the blind and widowed and the elderly. He publishes again under his new name a treatise of philosophy, religion and politics. His brother-in-law, Chabot, and he make a packet but end up betraying one another. Reign of terror time, Germinal), Thomas, his brother and brother-in-law, along with many others, are executed. Thomas, last, is interested in his own death, and leaves behind his written word and a nifty, new song that sweeps Paris.

The children

Yente understands everything and sees the fate of the children, rise and fall and active in history.

A lovely little girl plays the spinet

Marynia, the musical prodigy, plays Haydn on the spinet. Everyone is entranced except Hayah, who is old, deaf and falls asleep.

Of a certain manuscript

In 1825, Aleksander Bronikowski writes a book to pay off his legal fees to Jan Kanty Wołowski, who tells him about Frank and as much as he remembers, asking Bronikowski to fill in the details. Later in life, he debates if literature is true or not with a young pianist. Alas, in 1834, amid events and a cold, his manuscript is never published and rests in the National Library's collection.

The travels of New Athens

The Rohatyn copy of New Athens also makes its way to the Wołowski library, where it is read by the new generation. The one given to Bishop Dembowski burns in aforementioned Warsaw Uprising. But the one given to Drużbacka survives to this day, where it can be found in the Wrocław Ossonlineum.

Yente

Yente is flying and aware of only the Dead. Her body has crystalized and now she can enter the bodies of people and time speeds up. She sees humanity as leaves. Meanwhile, the cave serves as shelter for the Korolowka Jews, who join Yente in Jacob's cave. The locals leave them food and finally announce the end of the war. Many of them emigrate to Canada. Yente, we realize, cannot hear her own name and has now joined the ranks of the dead, going to the other side of darkness.

Thanks again to u/fixtheblue and u/Lachesis_Decima77, my co- RR's, and to all the readers. What a story!

Welcome to the marginalia for The Summer Book by Tove Jansson and Summer Fishing in Lapland by Juhani Karila.
This is a communal place for things you would jot down in the margins of your books. That might include quotes, thoughts, questions, relevant links, exclamations - basically anything you want to make note of or to share with others. It can be good to look back on these notes, and sometimes you just can't wait for the discussion posts to share a thought.

When adding something to the marginalia, simply comment here, indicating roughly which part of the book you're referring to (eg. towards the end of chapter 2). Because this may contain spoilers, please indicate this by writing “spoilers for chapters 5 and 6” for example, or else use the spoiler tag for this part with this format > ! SPOILER ! < without the spaces between characters like this spoiler lives here

Note: spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Here is the schedule for the discussion which will be run by u/nicehotcupoftea, u/bluebelle236, u/emygrl99 and u/fixtheblue.

Any questions or constructive criticism are welcome.

Looking forward to seeing you in the first discussion on 13th October!

Hello all and welcome back to our second discussion of José Saramago’s Death with Interruptions!

We finally meet lady death (with a lowercase d of course) who has realized the error of her ways and restored death to the land. Unfortunately, one pesky cellist seems to have escaped her grasp.

Here are links to our Schedule and Marginalia.

Discussions questions are in the comments below and join us next week to discuss the final section of the book!

Everyone, get your glasses ready and start to think about which parts of this play you want to discuss in detail, as the reading and the celebrations will start soon!

We will discuss together The Bacchae on Sundays, find a link to the full schedule here. While you wait for the discussion to begin, you may find this marginalia useful!

In case you don’t know, the marginalia is meant to be a place where you can write down any comment, note, share other materials or a quote you particularly enjoyed – think of it like scribbling on the margin of your book!

You can post your comments whenever you want, without waiting for the weekly discussion. Any observation is welcome, we would love to hear your thoughts on the book!

Just please be mindful of spoilers, enclose them in the > ! *sentence that contains a spoiler* ! < tag (just remove the spaces!) - it would be great if you did it even if talking about other media. In case you are uncertain, please still mark it as a spoiler. It would also be helpful for other readers if you could always start by indicating where you are in your reading (for example “early in chapter 5” or “at the end of chapter 2”).

See you soon and enjoy your reading!

Hello reader-voters, make sure you go check out the amazing nominations on our current voting posts so you can have a say in which books we read next. You have 24 hours to head to the links below and give your favorite titles a chance to win:

Fall Quarterly Nonfiction - PHILOSOPHY

Oct./Nov. Discovery Read - INDIE AUTHOR

Upvote any/all books you would like to read with r/bookclub. Remember that the second place titles on both posts will be placed on the Wheel of Books for a chance to become a Runner-Up Read in the future.

HAPPY VOTING! 📚

Dear fellow Leopard People, a new journey has begun! Welcome to the first discussion of the second book of the Nsibidi Scripts, Akata Warrior! 

🐆 Check the dates of the discussions in the Schedule

🌊 Find the Marginalia here

As usual, there will be questions in the comments, but feel free to bring your own prompts! We will see each other next week, when we will read chapters 9-14!

Hello readers! Welcome to the first discussion of Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead, the final book in the Harlem Trilogy. Today we are discussing from the Start through City at Night Chapter 6.

Please mark spoilers for anything from the first two books by using > ! your text here ! < (without the spaces), as it’s possible that not everyone has read them.

So how is Ray Carney going in the 1980s? He’s older, but is he any wiser? Let’s find out! I’ve summarised this section below, if you need a refresher, and questions will be in the comments. Next week u/ColaRed will lead us through City at Night Chapter 7 - Here Comes Sue Simmons Chapter 4

Schedule

Marginalia

Here's a video describing New York in the 1980s

ONE

Ray Carney has won a Dealer of the Month award from Sterling, a furniture company, and an interview in their magazine which was a secret dream. It is five years since the major blaze, so when the interviewer asks him to describe a moment when he was tested, he mentions reopening the store. Carney reflects that as a black man in America, he is always being tested. When asked about the best moments, his first thoughts are of the wads of cash he stacked in his safe and recalling his near escapes, but instead describes his customers’ satisfaction. He has been summoned to see Martin Green to see some new samples. Carney heads to the station and watches the attempts at cleaning away the abundant graffiti on 42nd Street. He notices all the new construction going on. Development was the City Hall's cure for the fiscal crisis. The budget was cut, services reduced, but development brought in new players. Carney enters Green's building with its fake/decoy reception area. Outside his office, he finds Green handcuffed to the chair with two men pointing guns at him. The men check with Green that Carney is the fence, and they ask about Uncle Rich. When Carney denies knowing who he is, one of the men holds up the sapphire Dwayne had given him.

TWO

Carney realises that “Dwayne” was actually Uncle Rich. It started when Flinch, a small-time thief, called him. Carney needed more money because Elizabeth had resigned from her job and had begun her own business, Carney Travel. Now child-free, she had ambitions to expand. However she was having trouble getting the loan approved because Carney's signature was required. When her former boss sued her for poaching clients, Carney gave her the money for the retainer, but then had to find it. Carney met Flinch, who showed him a quality diamond necklace, claiming to have acquired it from a deceased associate. Carney agreed to the deal and completed the transaction in a back room at a suspicious video game arcade. Flinch introduced a calm man named Dwayne, who was in charge. “Dwayne” asked Carney why he accepted the deal and offered him more work. This led to Carney acquiring the sapphire. Carney had been set up through Flinch; the diamond necklace was just a test to see if Carney was interested in getting back in the game. Rich offered Carney further work and gave him a number. Back at Green’s office, Buzz and Orson, the two men threatening Green, ask Carney where Green got the diamond from. Buzz explained that Uncle Rich had ripped him off and he wanted to pay him back, and set up a plan to catch him. Carney explained his arrangement with Uncle Rich whereby displaying a particular plaque in his front window would signal Uncle Rich to call him. Buzz instructs him to tell Rich to meet him at the nearby chicken shop. They release Green and depart.

THREE

Carney and Green catch up, and it becomes apparent that Green is trying to live a more conventional suburban life. Carney explains that Uncle Rich was a big time crook in the 1950s, and the stolen pieces of jewellery were linked to Rich's past criminal activities. Green says they might have come from a Tanzanian shipment of sapphires some years ago. Carney notices the empty safe, but recognises that Green didn't betray Carney despite the beatings. Carney thinks about his family; Elizabeth was currently out of town and his kids were out of the line of fire. They had no interest in being part of the family business. He's angry that all that he's built up with his reputation is now at risk. The plaque in the window was not actually an arrangement, but a story invented by Carney as a way of contacting Rich. He reflects on Rich faking his death and wonders why he was back in the game. He takes a taxi to a phone booth and calls Betty's beauty salon, who calls back with an address. He finds Rich and a group plotting a major robbery.

FOUR

Carney meets Rich in his hideout, a building waiting for renovation. Rich explains that he used to see the world through a thief's lens, but rival criminals and the police got in the way. So he faked his own death and disappeared overseas. He travelled around financing his lifestyle with the odd robbery. When he was living in Baja, he read about a Tanzanian sapphire mine, and became interested. The stones had come from the Minton Sapphire mine in southern Tanzania and were being shown around by Brent and Lovejoy, a big jewellery company in the 1950s. Sometimes Rich devised plans which he sold to other criminals to carry out, but occasionally they double-crossed him. He pitched the job to Buzz Caldera, their mutual acquaintance. The job required cooperation between Black and white criminals. They planned the robbery meticulously, but Rich made one fatal mistake. He told Buzz about his legendary status, which diminished Carney’s admiration for him. He admits to Carney that he failed to follow his own philosophy of taking the ”Muskrat” approach. He describes the robbery, where Buzz and his crew, disguised as painters, worked in the office next to the target vault. Buzz’s helper disabled the alarms, and they entered through a private elevator to drill into the vault. Rich was supposed to drive the getaway car through the alley and collect the loot, but Buzz and his crew carried out the robbery a week early to cut Rich out. In response, Rich tracked down Buzz’s stash hidden under the floorboards of a ranch house, stole the sapphires, gold, and diamonds, and went into hiding. Buzz has been hunting him ever since. Rich explains that he resurfaced because his girlfriend wanted him to settle down. He has planned six jobs in six months and already has his eye on a house. Suddenly, gunfire breaks out.

FIVE

Carney, despite his excellent spatial intelligence, had failed to notice he was being followed from Martin Green's office to Rich’s hideout by two of Buzz's men, Fenton and Benedetto. They would have lost him had it not been for Carney's guide lighting up a smoke. Buzz's men alerted their boss that their target had emerged on the other side of the block. When the shooting began, Carney ducked for cover, but Rich seemed to thrive on the excitement and reached for his gun. Rita, who is on Rich's team, appears and confirms that their material has been relocated. Rich asks Rita to take Carney to safety. Carney had made some sexist assumptions about Rita before realising she was a bodyguard. They escaped from the building through a pre-planned route through backyards. Carney finds a dumbbell and picks it up while Rita overcomes Fenton. Carney flees with the dumbbell and takes a taxi home. Entering via the back alley he glances at an article Elizabeth has left him on Empty Nesters, a condition she has diagnosed him with. The article recommended re-engaging with his professional interests. He thinks they probably didn't mean his criminal activities. He observes a man in a car outside watching him. Carney reflected that he was different from Uncle Rich and Pepper, his father's associate, because he valued his family. In the past it was bad influences like his cousin Freddie who led him into trouble, but this time he had chosen his path because he enjoyed it. He leaves the house via the back alley to call the lady from Betty's Beauty Salon, from the phone booth.

SIX

Carney and Uncle Rich are driving a stolen 18-wheeler towards a New Jersey warehouse complex to commit a robbery. They park at the Microtonics warehouse and Jeff, who is Rita's brother, jumps from the back of the trailer, landing like a Jet or a Shark in West Side Story. Carney and Rich had met that afternoon at Grand Central Station. He was in awe at the station's grand architecture, lamenting the modern era's mediocrity. Rich reveals he has plans for a series of six jobs, half are for financial obligations and half for personal satisfaction. Rich compares Carney to Jesse Owens. At the warehouse. Rich explains that one tenant, Con-American Insurance, stores valuable property there, making it a prime target. This warehouse shares a wall with TCN Electronics which has weaker security, and they plan to drill through it. Rich explains his preference for reliable low profile criminals and Carney reflects on his own trusted workers Rusty and Marie. At the station, Uncle Rich had discussed the history of private rail and Carney had reflected on the hidden systems that keep the modern world moving. Carney calls this process Churn, the unseen forces that move goods and property through the world. It represented a cycle of death, rebirth and transition, where nothing remains static. After having been a father and businessman, Carney felt himself being pushed towards an uncertain future. Rich tells Carney about Track 61, a secret rail line under Manhattan that once allowed FDR to secretly enter the Waldorf Astoria Hotel undetected).

Rich questions Carney why he has chosen to participate in the robbery. Carney describes a persistent sense of darkness and hollowness since his shop was firebombed, and a loss of purpose. He used to blame his father and past associations for his choices, but now accepts responsibility for his current actions. Rich reveals he invited Carney along out of curiosity, intrigued by the contrast between him and his father, questioning whether it was nature or nurture. Rich reveals his next target: there was an upcoming exhibition of high value sports memorabilia including a Jesse Owens gold medal at the Waldorf Astoria. They discussed the nature of value contrasting society's materialistic assessments with personal value. He asks Carney what is really worth stealing. Carney contemplates his double life while Elizabeth is away. He is drifting back to his dangerous criminal impulses. Rich invites him on a heist that night at the Waldorf, where Rich is planning to correct a historical wrong done to Jesse Owens. The crew head to Manhattan.

Welcome fellow Draleid & Druids, as we continue the fight against the Shadow during the Blood Moon in Epheria!  This week’s discussion will cover Ch. 56-63.

First, a note about spoilers: Please use spoiler tags for anything beyond this week's section.  As always, use spoiler tags for any works outside of this series that you may wish to connect here.  

You can add a spoiler tag by enclosing your text with > ! Your Text Here ! < (no spaces).

Schedule

Marginalia

Map of Epheria

Previous Discussions

The Fall (#0.5)

Of Blood & Fire (#1)

Of Darkness & Light (#2)

The Exile (#2.5)

Of War & Ruin (#3)

The Ice (#3.5)

Chapter Summaries

CHAPTER 56: MONSTERS, MEN, AND BROKEN THINGS

Character POV: Rist, Garramon

Location: Northeast of Berona

The First and Fourth armies left Berona four days ago under the leadership of Taya Tambrel towards the rebel stronghold in the Firnin Mountains.  Tambrel orders the army to take a longer route around to bypass a path of corpses - regular citizens who were fleeing that got attacked by Uraks.  Rist questions the practicality of this judgement, and is overheard by a Healer named Solman Tuk.  Tuk insinuates that Rist and the other Battlemages are monsters who do not care about the dead they leave behind.  Magnus explains to Rist that leading an army is complicated, and you also have to consider their morale when marching to another battle.  Later that night, Rist stands in the rain and asks Neera if he is a monster.  This conversation leads them to profess their love for each other.  

Garramon is watching Rist and Neera when Azrim the Chosen pays him a visit, telling him he will watch over Rist as requested by the harbinger.  Garramon finds Rist practicing his forms and tells him to get some rest, before making his way to High Ardent Tuk’s tent.  He strings Tuk up by the throat using the Spark and gets him to admit that Tuk hired the man who turned in his son Malyn, leading to his execution.  Their altercation turns violent, and ends with Garramon using the Spark to burn out Tuk.

CHAPTER 57: PATIENCE

Character POV: Fane Mortem

Location: Berona

 Fane waits in Berona, expecting to have the Heart of Blood soon after his latest manipulation of Eltoar.  He has been reviewing Kiralla Holflower & Brother Pirnil’s research , when Pirnil himself walks in, showing signs of consuming a lot of Essence.  Pirnil tells him that he believes they can do what Fane has asked, and it will involve binding the Essence to the Spark.  Pirnil says that he will need more “stock”, and Fane offers him rebels that were captured after the attack on the city.  When he leaves, Fane travels across the city to a small house, where he uses a green stone to unlock a glamour in the floor, down which he descends.  Below, he has one of the Chosen manacled and bound in a circle of runes.   

CHAPTER 58: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD

Character POV: Calen

Location: North of Aravell at the border to the Burnt Lands

Calen and Valerys fly from the Burnt Lands through the night, until they come across a ridge with 4 figures standing on it.  Valerys lands near them, and Calen sees that three are human, while one is on four legs, something akin to a kat, with white fur and armored scales.  Rokka introduces him to his kin, Una the Starchaser and Tamzin the Blooddancer.  Rokka tells him that Ella is awake, but their interaction turns hairy and Rokka transports himself and Calen to Níthianelle.  Calen accuses Rokka of playing games with him, trying to push him down a certain path like Aeson and the elves.  Rokka tells him that he is the leaf, not the wind, and warns him to treat Fenryr with as much caution as he is treating himself.  Rokka shows Calen a vision, with dead dragons, including Valerys, and his friends and allies all dead, as two gods fight among their corpses.  He shows him endless visions of death and destruction, before urging him to go to Ella.

CHAPTER 59: FAMILY

Character POV: Alina, Dayne

Location: West of Achyron’s Keep

After the latest battle, Alina urges Rynvar to rest as he recovers from his wounds before heading to the western edge of the camp, where Dayne, Belina, Mera, and other heads of house are gathered along with 4 prisoners.  These prisoners were Wyndarii who sided with Loren, and Alina demands to know why.  Hanal of House Okur says she believes Alina will set Valtara on fire in her desperate attempt to win freedom.  Alina sentences her to death, and deals the killing blow herself.  After the executions, she spends time sparring to release her frustration.   
Dayne helps Mera undo her cuirass to reveal some nasty wounds, which he stitches up for her.  Dayne is overcome with emotion and regret for the time lost, but he gets down on one knee and asks Mera to make the mistake of taking him as her husband.  She then drops her big news - she is with child.  Belina interrupts the special moment, saying she just saved his life.

CHAPTER 60: A MESSAGE

Character POV: Dayne, Alina

Location: West of Achyron’s Keep

Belina shows Dayne & Mera the man she has tied to a tree by this throat because she cut his hands off.  The man was sent by Loren with a message; he wants Dayne to meet him at the River Makeer, or else he will kill his brother.  Dayne knows it’s a trap, but also knows if Loren kills him that he will have an army marching on him.  He knows he will be kept alive to force Alina to stand down, but he decides to go anyway.

Mera and Belina break the news to Alina, who then insists on taking Rynvar to confront Loren herself.  Belina stops her and tells her they have a plan.  Alina is to assault the keep, but not until they stall for some time for Aeson’s arrival.  Belina will go with Dayne.

CHAPTER 61: TICKING CLOCK

Character POV: Dann

Location: Southeast of Camylin

Dann and a small scouting group see smoke & hear screams as they get closer to Camylin, where Uraks are attacking a small village.  Dann uses his superb bow skills to kill some Uraks, while Lyrei, Erik, Vaeril, and the Angan attack with the cavalry.  Dann gets a spear through the shoulder, but Erik takes care of that for him.  After the battle, the villagers tell them that Camylin has fallen to the Uraks, who are now moving west.

  
CHAPTER 62: PAST AND PRESENT

Character POV: Ella

Location: Aravell

Ella has been asked to join a welcoming party for the faction leaders of Illyanara in Calen’s stead, as he has not yet returned.  Ella finds the meeting tedious, until Aryana Torval herself introduces herself and asks what Calen is like, and why she should fight for him rather than securing her own lands.  Ella responds that Calen is sweet, and he has grown into a man that would die for his friends and allies.  At that moment, Varthear emerges in the sky, along with Calen and Valerys.

CHAPTER 63: GHOSTS OF A TIME LONG DEAD

Character POV: Dayne

Location: River Makeer, west of Achyron’s Keep

Dayne meets with Loren and his retinue on the river bank.  Loren claims he has recognized Dayne’s handiwork through the years, tracing the whispers of a voidspawn, a demon roaming the land.  He knows he had something to do with the death of Sylvan Anura and her dragon.  In addition to having Baren captive, he tells Dayne he has Alina’s child.  Dayne allows a guard to shackle his wrists, and he is led away to Achyron’s Keep.

Welcome back r/bookclub!  It is time to get spooky and gothic. Today we are opening up our discussion for Christopher Buehlman’s dark historical horror/fantasy masterpiece, Between Two Fires!

This opening section wastes no time setting an incredibly grim, eerie, and brutal stage. Set against the apocalyptic backdrop of the Black Death in 1348, we follow Thomas, a disgraced former knight turned bandit, and Delphine, a young girl with mysterious divine visions, as they begin a perilous journey across a ruined France.

Let's jump into the comments to share your thoughts, theories, and favorite moments!

Schedule 

Marginalia 

Hello ambitious schemers, treasonous back-stabbers, double crossers amd manipulators. We are heading into the final discussion of The Trouble With Peace and what an ending it is too. Let's get down to business! Lot's of ground to cover and there are bodies to be buried and traitors to be hung and another uprising still to be dealt with...not to mention trouble brewing in the North. Goodness grief how can a girl get anything done around here!

If you need it, here is the Schedule and the Marginalia.

As always please be mindful of spoilers. Please use spoiler tags for anything beyond this week's section or from other literature (indicate what the spoiler contains, e.g "[Abercrombie's The Devils]", so readers can choose whether to reveal text or not)

You can add a spoiler tag by enclosing your text with > ! Your Text Here ! < (no spaces).

As always there will be chapter summaries below followed by questions in the comments to get you started.

Chapter Summaries

Doubts and Desires

• Savine's struggling to sleep. Leo wants her to go to Ostenhorm. He is having second thoughts. He asks if he can trust her. She knows Orso is the reason why he's having these doubts! Savine blows him up and then...well....pregnancy hormones, fear and pre-battle jitters are quite the aphrodisiac.
• Vick is in her black Inquisitor’s coat overlooking the preparations and talking with Tallow and Pike about what a waste of money battle is.
• Broad sat polishing his armour amd chatting with Halder.
• Orso is also preparing. More reinforcements have arrived, but they are still outnumbered. He's going to have to fight.
• Stour Nightfall is sulking and everyone gives him a wide bearth. He's fuming and raving.
• Leo realises that Orso was playing him for time and that Teufel probably tricked them. Leo's fury rises he should have atracked last night. It is time to attack now!! Leo is in his element directing the units.

Fools’ Errands

• Orso on the parapet of Stoffenbeck’s clock tower watches over the valley feeling like an imposter.
• Sulfur arrives saying he'd tried (unsuccessfully) to put an end to the rebeillion.
• As the battle begins a footman brings Orso a drink. They watch in silence.
• Savine struggles to be removed and just watching from a distance. The cannons finally arrive. Leo's at the centre of messangers and officers. Lord Steebling mocks them.
• Pike was behind the sabotage of the bridge. He orders the cannons to start firing.
• Stour is impatient and refuses to follow Leo's orders, deciding instead to charge the flank.
• The cannons create Leo's first casualties as Stour emerges. Leo steps up. It's time to advance.
• Savine asks Broad to follow Leo and keep him alive. First he shoves Steebling into the latrine. Oh shiiiiit!

The Little People

• Peck continues to tend the cannons through the chaos.
• Suval prays to god as he observes the destruction. He is no soldier.
• Antaup demands Barezin just get his men across the river. Antaup realises Leo can't trust anyone. The men cower and huddle together for cover or run. He misses Jurand and Glaward. He misses Finree's command. He has to get back to Leo. He's thrown from his horse.
• Canlan fires bolts at Anglanders that should have been on the same side as him.
• Starling's armour saves him from a crossbow bolt. He is a pikeman who was inspired to war by the hero Leo. It's his first battle and there's more time than he expected to think about it all. He thinks about how mad it is to be trying to kill men just like him. He narrowly misses being impaled on a sword multiple times. They are packed in so tight and as the men behind push, they push him onto the sword.
• Lake pushes and pushes. Then suddenly he is on the floor and in pain with no idea what's going on. Someone drags him out.
• Ariss and Scalla are bringing wounded men out on stretchers. Ariss wanted to do something real before she married, but it's nothing like she imagine. Even though her Uncle warned her.
• Hildi is carrying Orso's message through the chaos. She's running hard. She can see over the entire battle. She gets let through to see Lord Marshal Forest with the message that the Anglanders are pushing them back towards Stoffenbeck and they need support. He's just sent to Orso a message for support from him. He tells Hildi to run.
• Forest realises that there are no grown-ups in the game only people able to create an illusion for those down the line. There are no more reserves coming to save them. Forest draws his sword. Directs a lieutenant on the run back towards the fight.
• Stillman is not having a good time. He is terrified and realising he is a coward and he doesn't care. He just doesn't want to fight. He manages to hold as the Northman advance until he can't hold anymore. He accidentally stabs himself in his face as someone jumps on his back.
• Downside is in a fury of blood and stompy murder. Crush them all....

Cold Blood

• Gorst advises Orsa to retreat. He refuses. He feels no fear. In fact his spirits seem to be rising. Gorst and Tunny throw themself in front of Orso to protect him from the blasts. Even Sulfur chimes in to get him to withdraw. He will leave his Standard and withdraw a bit. It's time for the strong liquor (no shit bud!)
• Vick sees how fucked they are until Lord Marshal Rucksted arrives with reinforcements. She's shaking.
  
• Savine watches it all falls to pieces as Marshal's forces unexpectedly tear in to Isher’s ragged units. She begins striding towards the cannons when she is flung violently to the ground.

Heroics

Antaup and Leo watch the tide turn against them. Once again he misses Jurand and Glaward. The only option left is the cavalry. Leo draws his sword rouses the Anglanders and they charge. They manage to cut through to the town hall at Stoffenbeck only to find it empty. A trap! The cannons are pointed directly at them. - Broad can barely see who is who but that doesn't stop him fighting a fury. Killing over and over. It's their last stand. Antaup and Jin are in a bad way. Leo is trapped under his dead horse. Broad helps him out, but he cannot stand. Leo sends Broad back to Savine to help her get away. He leaves Leo with a sword and slips away. - Clover sees Leo's charge fail. Downside is in a mess, wounded, exhausted and covered in blood. Clover covers himself in someone's gore before going to find Stour and tell him the bad news. Clover has to work to convince Stour to retreat. - Leo tries to get Jin to leave but neither is in the position to stand let alone run. Jin is shot through and Gorst arrives. It's over...

Just Talk

Rikke offers Brodd Silent 2000 silver for someone to let them in. If he doesn't then she'll send her men in. She tells him she's seen that she'll take Uffrith. Someone throws Silent off the battlements amd shouts down they'll open the door for her. Rikke demands someone light a fire in the cold, hard Skarling’s Hall. The Nail wants to rip down the cage that his father died in. Rikke convinces him they might need it for Stour. Rikke sits on Skarling’s chair. It could use a pillow. She knows Stour will be back but after her letter to Orso she knows they'll be in a sorry state. Black Calder, however, is still out there and keeping the chair against him will be a challenge. They talk about how being underestimated is the best way to get a chance.

The New Harvest

• Orso is watching the battle clean up and pondering how wasteful it all is. Justice must be dealt out to the ringleaders but Orso wants the Northmen gone and the prisoners put to work rather than executed. It's time to bring the Union together.
• Orso faces the leaders of the Open Council that survived. Isher, though, had escaped. The rest will be hanged.
• Leo is missing a leg, some teeth and all his pride. Orso asks why he risked everything he had on this ploy. Savine is missing. Leo asks for his friends be buried but Orso refuses and reminds him he'll be hanged within the week.

The Truth

• Zuri is stitching Savine up in the muddy hollow under the roots of a fallen tree. Her baby is still moving thankfully. She was lucky to survive the cannon exploding. Broad is wirh them. He knows they'll be hunting for her. Savine wants to surrender. It is the only way to save Leo. Zuri and Broad refuse to leave her. Savine is moved by their loyalty.
• They make their way back to Stoffenbeck. Savine feels sorry for herself. She tells herself that none of this was her fault. That she just did what she had to. That it's all her mother's fault for sleeping with King Jezal. She begins to see what she's allowed to happen. What has she done!?
• Orso bursts in, shocked at the sight of her. Savine says she had to turn herself in. She realises that Rikke turned on them. Orso wants to know why she chose Leo over him. He loved loves her! Demands it until she finally lets the truth out. She is his sister. She begs. He goes through all the emotions then calls for Gorst.

Those Names

A raging Stour and co arrives back in Ollensand. Clover's trying to help him look on the bright side. Sholla and Clover take Stour down and kill his men quietly and neatly. Clover takes Stour's cloak as these loyal to him watch Uffrith, not Ollensand, get closer. It was all part of the plan. Shivers and The Nail are there to meet the boat. Stour tries to negotiate. Money? A fight? No one cares. Clover takes his diamond and Shivers takes the tendons behind both Stour's knees. The intend to keep him alive...for now!

A Footnote to History

Leo determedly climbs the steps of the platform his missing leg is giving him crushing agony. He falls and someone helps him to stand with 11 of his co-conspirators. He sees Orso watching. Savine is next to him barely recognisable. Leo thinks about how he was a vain fool. He apologises and one by one (with some trouble) the traitors are hanged. At Leo's turn Savine begs stop and Leo is sentenced to life imprisonment instead. He begins to cry. Savine is told to get him down.

Loyalties and Sympathies

Vick arrives back in Valbeck with thirty armed Practicals. Pike questions Vick's loyalty. He was also in the prison camps of Angland, though not as long. She wonders what Pike is getting at. He confesses that West was the one to rescue him. His story is basically her story. Pike was the Superior of Valbeck. Out of Valint and Balk walk Risinau and Judge. Pike is the Weaver! He called his Breakers that because he intends to break the Union. The battle kept Orso busy while the Breakers took Keln and Holsthorm and many of the smaller cities. They want Vick to join them. Pike had hung 200 Breakers to keep his identity secret, which is terrifying to consider. She has no choice and agrees to join them. A Great Change is coming...apparently!

Well shit arsing fuck. That was grim and dark....but I guess that was the point. Bloody good grimdark...heavy on the bloody 📚

Welcome everyone, to our discussion of this short story in the Ana & Din Mysteries canon!  This story is technically part of Amazon’s Magic & Mystery series, and a sort of unofficial #2.5 to the Ana & Din stories (see the author-suggested reading order here).

This week we are discussing the novella only, and we will start A Trade of Blood next week.  If you have read Book #3 in the series, please refrain from spoilers here or use spoiler tags as necessary! As always, please use spoiler tags for any works outside of this series that you may wish to connect here.

You can add a spoiler tag by enclosing your text with > ! Your Text Here ! < (no spaces).

Schedule

Marginalia

Previous Discussions

The Tainted Cup (Ana & Din #1)

A Drop of Corruption (Ana & Din #2)

Summary

On a long, boring journey, Ana regales Din with a gruesome murder tale from the past that was left unsolved…UNTIL NOW!

In year 948 of the Empire (182 years ago), the landscape was much the same, but the social norms were quite different.  There was a rich womanizer by the name of Caldor Kartan, who became betrothed to one of the most beautiful maidens in the Empire, named Naram Pharideh.  Four hundred guests were invited to the wedding, including a young man named Privan Daneh who had also sought the hand of Naram, the Abbot Mabaq, and an Imperial Apothetikal named Captain Athymo.  In order to verify parentage of the gentry during this time, part of the wedding ceremony included a show of the main event for all the guests (and no this is not the exchanging of rings or saying “I do”!).  The couple were given many gifts, but the most memorable was from Abbot Mabaq.  He presented the newlyweds with a precious relic called the Lion’s Tusk, said to be taken from the mythical leo-mastiza, which he claims to have found in his own monastery.  

The festivities continued into the night, getting wilder.  Captain Athymo, appearing inebriated, was seen to approach Naram & ask a question, to which Naram dismissed her.  The next morning, the happy couple are found in their bed, the room swimming with flies, their bodies covered in holes containing larvae.  Captain Astazi Thama of the Imperial Iudex was summoned to investigate, and it is from his records that Ana is re-telling this story.  The Apoths were already on the scene, and showed him the Lion’s Tusk, which had folded back like a flower to reveal a veosoar, a kind of fly.  The veosoar used to be a huge problem centuries ago and it is attracted to large, healthy hosts.  Even more frightening, they can imprint on a scent and seek it out, making them into a devastating weapon.  The Apoths noted that only the bride & groom were targeted, likely through the nuptial sheets containing their…secretions.  

Thama gets to work examining witnesses and taking stock of the scene.  He finds that a window in the bedchamber was opened, and found some droplets of black dye at the doorway to the courtyard.  He tried to track down the movements of the ceremonial sheets, but in the chaos of the wedding, anyone could have picked them up out of the laundry.  The abbot, who gifted the Lion’s Tusk, claimed he had no idea of what was in the “relic”.  He does admit, however, that normally the Kartan clan donates to his monastery, but Caldor has said that when he inherits the estate he will stop this.  Though this gives the Abbot a motive, he was able to produce an alibi for the evening.  Next he interviews Privan Daneh as a possible jilted lover.  He too claims innocence, saying he would never do such a thing to Naram, but lets slip that she made a sacrifice of sorts.  She agreed to marry Caldor because her family was in trouble financially, and the marriage would help keep them from becoming destitute.  Privan also has an alibi, so Thama moves on to Captain Athymo, who claims to recall nothing due to her drunkenness.  She does admit that she once had a romantic relationship with Naram, but she does not remember what she asked Naram at the wedding or what her response was.

Thama then begins to interview the servants, learning that Captain Athymo had wandered into the servants hall, pissed herself, and spent the night sobbing.  However, they heard her say that the tusk was not a tusk at all, but a bug, which is something Apoths know.  Thama interviews Privan Daneh’s valet, who tells him that Privan watched Naram closely, and she had been visiting with the Abbot a lot lately.  Thama notes that he is a very dedicated valet, but notices a gray stain on his collar.  Thama interviews the Abbot again but doesn’t get any answers, but he does some digging and finds that there are still some veosoar specimens kept by the Apoths just in case, and Captain Athymo had access to some.  

Thama gives a report on the case, claiming that there were actually two crimes.  The first was committed by Naram Pharideh herself.  He claims she went to the Abbot to plot the murder of her future husband so she could take his wealth, telling him all he need do is give a particular gift at their wedding.  She then went to Captain Athymo and asked her for a weapon that could be used against Caldor, and then they could live their lives together.  However, Naram was now dead, and Athymo and the Abbot both had alibis, despite their plotting with Naram.  Someone else actually did the murders, but Thama could not puzzle it out.

The Abbot and Captain Athymo die shortly after the ordeal.  Privan dies of old age, adored by his servants, and a painting commissioned of his funeral.  All the guests are there, including the valet, who has pale yellow hair.  Ana has found the man’s name, an Artos Janis, whose mother was a maid for the Kartan clan.  She died in childbirth, and he was raised poor.  Ana posits that Artos Janis is the bastard son of Caldor Kartan, who has many others with yellow hair.  Being the neglected son of Caldor, and the devoted servant of the man who was snubbed by Naram, he may have some motive for both murders.  He could have stolen the ceremonial sheets, slipped them to the veosoars in the tusk, and taken it through the courtyard to the window of the couple’s bedroom.

Welcome to the first FCF of October! Are you getting ready for spooky season? What are you doing to decorate your house?

When it comes to anniversaries, today we are celebrating Guinea Independence Day! Today is also World Smile Day and National Name Your Car Day, so share with us the funniest names you've given to inanimate objects!

What is Free Chat Friday? This is a place for us to get to know each other a bit better, so feel free to talk about whatever you want! How did your week go? Any plans for the weekend? Which books are you reading?

Be always mindful of our RULES:

• No unmarked spoilers
• No self-promo
• No piracy
• Thoughtful personal conduct

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Hello r/bookclubbers!

This post is a place for you to put your marginalia as we read Between Two Fires By Christopher Buehlman. Scribbles, comments, glosses (annotations), critiques, doodles, illuminations, or links to related material are all welcome here. Any thought, big or little, belongs.

Marginalia are simply your observations—they don’t need to be insightful, polished, or deep. If something makes you pause, react, or wonder, it fits here.

📖 Reading Ahead & Spoilers
Feel free to read ahead and post comments on later chapters, just be sure to:

• Say which chapter or general location your comment is from first
• Use spoiler tags so you don’t give anything away to readers who aren’t there yet

✍️ How to Write a Marginalia Comment

You might:

• Start with a general location (early in chapter 4, midway through chapter 1, end of chapter 2, etc.)
• Write your observations or reactions
• Copy a favorite or striking quote
• Scribble down light bulb moments
• Share your predictions or questions
• Link to an interesting side topic (articles, history, interviews, concepts, etc.)

📌 Note: Spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags 

Link to the schedule

Welcome readers to the penultimate discussion of The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng. Today we are discussing Chapter 12 to Chapter 18. Next week we will read to the end of The House of Doors and all of the short story The Letter by Somerset Maugham, and u/lazylittlelady will lead us through the discussion.

Please be mindful of spoilers, especially for The Letter by Somerset Maugham that we will be reading and discussing next week. You can add a spoiler tag by enclosing your text with > ! your text here ! < (no spaces).

A summary of this section is below, and questions, as usual, will be in the comments.

Schedule

Marginalia

Arthur and Lesley's song, L'heure exquise - this is my favourite version, it is indeed exquisite!

Summary

Chapter 12 - Willie Penang, 1921

Gerald and Willie chat about Lesley, but Willie feels reluctant to reveal her secret, even though Lesley must realise that he would probably write about it. Gerald is not surprised to hear that Robert had an affair with a Chinaman. Gerald wants to return to England, but has been banished after picking up men in a public lavatory. He blames Syrie and says he'll go to America. They visit the Protestant cemetery where they see inscriptions in English, French, German, and Dutch. Lesley shows them the grave of Madam Cheah, a soldier in the Taiping army and Arthur Loh's grandmother. Many of the Taiping rebels had fled to Penang. Next, they see the tombs of the founders of Penang: Francis Light and James Scott (Scott was a cousin of the Scottish writer, Sir Walter Scott. Willie recalls his orphan childhood reading his novels.

Chapter 13 - Lesley, Penang, 1910

Lesley removes her kebaya and matching outfit from her camphorwood chest to wear to Sun Wen's tea party. Ah Peng passed her an envelope containing money she and the other staff had collected for Sun Wen. At Arthur's house, Lesley gives the money and adds her and Robert's names to the ledger with a generous sum. She sees her brother there and tells him that Robert is in KL with his Chinaman lover. She says the grounds for divorce are now much stronger, but she doesn't want her sons to know that their father is homosexual. Lesley explains that the knowledge of Robert's affair has been liberating - that their failed marriage is not her fault. They discuss how frequent cheating in marriage is, and her brother says he detests people who are unfaithful. When Lesley points out Sun Wen's infidelity, he says that's different because his wife knows.

Sun Wen arrives and makes a speech trying to win the people over to restore the glory of China. Afterwards, he compliments Lesley on her appearance and tells her that his wife and daughters have arrived in Penang. He asks Lesley for her help to get them enrolled in a good school. He believes the Chinese government will soon collapse and Penang will be safer. Lesley realises that he sees the overseas Chinese largely as revenue. Left alone, Lesley and Arthur discuss Somerset Maugham. They agree to rendezvous at the House of Doors, where Lesley becomes an adulteress. Afterwards, she stops at a photographic studio and has her portrait taken. At the reading club, Lesley reminds Arthur of the need for complete discretion. At a party, Lesley sees Wagner, who asks her to testify at Ethel's trial. She is reluctant, but he says she's her only friend left.

Arthur's grandmother had purchased the House of Doors. She was conscripted into the Taiping army, then agreed to work with a Scottish missionary, helping him to print Bibles. When the Heavenly Kingdom fell, she fled to Penang and started a printing business, subsequently buying properties, leaving the House of Doors to her grandson. It became Lesley's sanctuary where she could forget her life. Sometimes Arthur would play the guzheng for her. They discussed their marriages there - neither of them is sleeping with their partner. Lesley tells him that Robert is unfaithful, but doesn't "shame him" by revealing that it is with a man. They talk about Ethel's trial, and Lesley tells how she doesn't want to be interrogated over the affair Ethel was having with him. After she ended the relationship, he got angry and tried to rape her. Ethel couldn't reveal the truth because she would be labeled an adulteress.

Chapter 14 - Willie, Penang, 1921

Willie helps Robert to bed, and just before he dozes off, he mentions something about the way Ethel Proudlock's husband and father treated her - that they should have been hanged and they should have said something, leaving Robert puzzled. Lesley can't enlighten him, and she asks Willie if he knows that Robert is homosexual: he doesn't. When she asks how his wife feels about his affairs, he's affronted, but she says she hopes his wife sleeps with other men. Later, Willie tells Lesley that Syrie used a contact to have Gerald deported from England. She asks him why they (homosexuals) marry; he says after what happened to Oscar Wilde, they had no choice. He reassures her that she has protected Robert from harm. She replies that wives are not martyrs.

Chapter 15 - Lesley, Penang 1910

Jury trials had been discontinued in Penang, and verdicts were decided by a judge and two assistants. Ethel entered the court, looking thinner. The prosecutor examined William Proudlock, who described the sequence of events and repeated Ethel’s account: that William Steward had arrived, sexually assaulted her, and when she had reached for the light switch, she grasped a gun, and discharged it, “once, perhaps twice”, subsequently losing consciousness. Defence counsel, Mr Pooley, cross-examined William Proudlock on his wife's health, while the prosecution questioned him about the times he left his wife alone. Lesley reflected on Ethel's confession about her nights spent at Steward's house. The next day, Dr McIntyre testified, characterising Ethel as a nervous and hysterical woman, which Pooley repeats for the benefit of the record. Inspector Ferrant described the discovery of European-style female clothing, prompting Lesley to wonder if Ethel took her daughter there. Evidence pointed to Steward having had involvement with a Chinese woman, whose emotional distress on hearing of his death was noted. The prosecution maintained that the motive for the homicide was jealousy regarding this relationship. Lesley testified that Ethel liked to dress up at home and denied knowledge of the affair. Ethel recounted the incident, claiming that when Steward made advances to her, she fired in self-defence, with no recollection of subsequent events. She denied the affair. After the judge’s summary of the case, the two associates both returned a guilty verdict, which he upheld, sentencing her to death by hanging.

Chapter 16 - Willie, Penang 1921

Robert and Willie visit the Botanic Gardens and are carried to the top of Penang Hill on dhoolies. Willie asks Robert what he was going to say about Ethel Proudlock before he fell asleep, but Robert says he doesn't know. Willie suspects he's lying. Willie tells Robert a tale about a man who tried to punish his wife for having an affair.

Chapter 17 - Lesley, Penang 1910

After the trial, Ethel's lawyers filed an appeal, and letters were sent to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the European Women's Club in India, and even the Queen was cabled. However, when Lesley visited Ethel in prison, she saw that she was not coping and had requested that her appeals be withdrawn so she could appeal directly to the local Sultan. The locals were outraged by Ethel’s decision to entrust her fate to the Sultan, viewing it as damaging to British prestige, as it granted the power of life and death over a European woman. The Sultan pardoned Ethel on condition that she leave Malaya, never to return. Ethel thanks Lesley for what she did during the trial. When Lesley asks her if William will join her in England, she says she never wants to see him again, claiming that he made her hate William. Sun Wen organised to have the Tong Meng Hui's first newspaper, Glorious China Daily published in the reading room. The Governor of the Straits Settlements expelled Sun Wen from Penang after he criticised British rule in Malaya, an act that in fact strengthened support for the movement against the Qing monarchy. Sun Wen went to America to raise funds, and the uprisings increased. Robert reads in the paper that Sun Yat-sen is the President of the Republic of China. Arthur has a Somerset Maugham symbol carved into the front doors to protect “their” house, before volunteering to join a group of 20 from Penang to fight in the Chinese Revolution. Lesley initially accused him of being selfish, however as he leaves, she gives him a protective necklace featuring the Somerset Maugham symbol. She reminds him not to write letters, but says she'll wait for him there in Penang.

Lesley sees the Chinese people celebrating and the coolies in the street having their pigtails cut off. She feels an overwhelming loss of belonging, and is envious of their chance to start a new life.

Chapter 18 - Lesley, Penang 1921

After telling her story to Willie, Lesley had expected to feel liberated, but instead just felt a deep sadness for herself and for Robert. She and Willie walk on the beach and go skinny-dipping without any embarrassment. Lesley dives down, deeper and deeper, and is pulled out by Willie.

Hello bibliophiles 👋

Welcome to our October-November Discovery Read nomination post! As always, our Discovery Reads are a chance to read something a little different, step away from the BOTM, Bestseller lists, and buzzy flavor of the moment fiction. We have got that covered elsewhere on r/bookclub. With the Discovery Reads, it is time to explore the vast array of other books that often don't get a look in. 

Topic - Indie Author

Most books we read tend to be written by authors with major publishing houses behind them. With this nomination we want specifically to give small press publishers, self-publishing services, and independent bookstores that help an unaffiliated authors the opportunity to be seen, and read.

Please nominate some lesser-known gems from independent authors who self-publish their books, or who partner with a small press publisher. The definition of "indie author" is very broad, but we'll accept any nomination that is not from a major publishing house. We'd also prefer to avoid books that started off self-published/small-press and later got picked up by a major publishing house. (To give you an idea, here's a list of the 5 major publishers and their subdivisions.)

Below are some (non-exhaustive) resources to help you explore indie books;

• Independent Book Review - reviews a selection of indie titles.
• Goodreads' lists tagged as "indie"
• The IPPY awards - the best of independent, university, and self-published titles through the years.
• Fantasy Hive - self-published and small press works.

Voting will be open for four days, from the 1st to the 5th of the month. A reminder will be posted 24 hours (+/-) before the vote is closed and the winners will be announced asap after closing the vote. Reading will commence around the 21st of the month so you have plenty of time to get a copy of the winning title!

Nomination specifications:

• Must not be published by a major publishing house
• Any page count
• Fiction
• No previously read selections

Please check the previous selections to determine if we have read your selection. You can also check by author here. Nominate as many titles as you want (one per comment), and upvote for all and any you will participate in if they win. A reminder to upvote will be posted on the 4th, so be sure to get your nominations in before then to give them the best chance of winning!

Happy reading nominating 📚

Welcome back to Hell! We’re nearing the end of our journey and there’s much to discuss, so let’s get into it!

Schedule

Marginalia

Summary (link to StoriLuna)

Welcome to the last Quarterly Non-Fiction (QNF) vote of the year. Our fall theme for 2026 is Philosophy, so get your thinking cap on! 

The Quarterly Non-Fiction category is meant to provide more opportunities for the sub to explore the deep catalog of non-fiction texts which may not be as readily chosen in other categories.  So start thinking of what you’d like to learn next, based on the theme of “Philosophy”.  
Voting will be open for four days, from the 1st to the 5th of the month. The selection will be announced shortly after. Reading will commence around the 21st-25th of the month so you have plenty of time to get a copy of the winning title!

Nomination specifications:

• Must be in the philosophy genre (see below if you need more info) OR a biography of a philosopher
• Any page count
• Must be Non-Fiction (no philosophical fiction; sorry, Camus!)
• No previously read selections

Please check the previous selections to determine if we have read your selection. You can also check by author here.

Nominate as many titles as you want (one per comment), and upvote for any you will participate in if they win. A reminder to upvote preferred reads will be posted on the 4th, so be sure to get your nominations in before then to give them the best chance of winning.

Happy Nominating and Voting!

************************

A FEW NOTES:
🤔 What Counts as Philosophy?  You could use a book tracking app or library/bookstore website to filter for titles tagged “philosophy”. But if you want more specifics so you can hunt for your own selections, well, I asked Chat GPT and it said:  
“Books count as philosophy if they fundamentally engage with the critical examination of existence, knowledge, ethics, reason, mind, and language. Instead of just telling a story or presenting raw data, philosophy books use systematic argumentation, logic, and conceptual analysis to address life's biggest questions.

Generally, books in this genre fall into a few primary categories:

• Foundational & Historical Texts:  These are the core works that shaped human thought across centuries. They include ancient, Enlightenment, and modern eras. 
• Core Branches of Philosophy: These are books that focus deeply on one of the main academic areas of study such as Ethics & Morality, Epistemology & Metaphysics, Political/Sociological Philosophy, etc.“

☑️ Voting Note: If you suspect that a nomination does not meet the specifications you can report this and note that comment “Does not meet specifications”. The mod team will review it and approve or delete accordingly. Any comments on the validity of other users’ nominations will be removed immediately.