Joel Green is a hottie that I discovered at Instagram (@green.joel), where he has over 100,000 followers. He is clearly devoted to fitness and bodybuilding. He appears to be a personal trainer located in Europe.
Monday, September 02, 2019
EYE CANDY: Joel Green
Joel Green is a hottie that I discovered at Instagram (@green.joel), where he has over 100,000 followers. He is clearly devoted to fitness and bodybuilding. He appears to be a personal trainer located in Europe.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
BOOK REVIEW: The Reckoning (Maeve Kerrigan, #2) by Jane Casey
Maeve is one of the few women in her murder squad, and this impacts almost everything she does. In The Reckoning she is paired with DI Josh Derwent, a super macho detective who has a mysteriously long history with her boss, DCI Godley. The case that they are looking into in The Reckoning involves the brutal murder of three men who “have form” (i.e. are listed in police files because they have either been charged or convicted) for sexually molesting children, i.e. registered pedophiles. Surprisingly, early on Kerrigan and Derwent discover the person(s) responsible for these pedophile murders: a crime boss named John Skinner who Godley and Derwent have had serious run-ins with before. However this is not the end of the mystery but the beginning of another. Skinner leads the police to an even more heinous series of crimes, starting with the disappearance of his 16-year-old daughter after she attended a pop-up nightclub at a warehouse.
Meanwhile, while Maeve is involved in trying to solve these crimes she is getting to know the only other female member of the murder squad, Liv Dwyer. Dwyer is paired with Maeve’s former boyfriend/love interest DC Rob Langton who Maeve is in an on/off relationship with. Maeve moves into a new housing situation (a large house converted into six apartments where she doesn’t tell her roommates what her job is and where her male flatmates seem a bit too interested in making her feel welcome to the neighborhood). Things get even weirder when police find a video of Maeve on an underground website doing things which makes it clear she is being videostalked by a creepy, secret admirer. The website is run by the same people who are the promoters for the night club where the 16-year-old disappeared.
Overall, The Reckoning is a very well-done British police procedural with a suspenseful plot and a very strong set of supporting characters. There’s a fair amount of time (almost too much) spent on Maeve’s romantic relationship with Rob which distracts from the primary story but since I like both characters it didn’t cause me to lose interest or detract from my overall engagement with the book. I really look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series although I do hope they settle the Rob-Maeve connection one way or the other very soon!
Title: The Reckoning.
Author: Jane Casey.
Paperback: 373 pages.
Publisher: Orbit.
Date Published: October 1, 2011.
Date Read: July 30, 2019.
OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).
PLOT: A.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A-.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
2019 US OPEN: Thiem, Tsitsipas, Khachanov, RBA, Stephens, Kerber Lose 1R
Of the first rounds to watch I mentioned in my 2019 US Open preview post, this is what happened:
- S. Williams (8) defeated M. Sharapova 6-1 6-1
- A. Sabalenka (9) defeated V. Azarenka
- S. Kenin (20) defeated C. Vandeweghe
- D. Shapovalov defeated F. Auger-Aliassime (18)
- R. Opelka defeated F. Fognini (11)
- S. Tsitsipas (8) lost to A. Rublev
- N. Kyrgios (28) defeated S. Johnson
I'll be at the US Open all day this Sunday so I hope I see some good matches!
Monday, August 26, 2019
2019 US OPEN: Draw Analysis and Preview
The final major tournament of 2019 starts in New York City tomorrow. As usual, I will be attending the tournament during the holiday weekend. The defending champions are Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka, who come in to this year's tournaments as the #1 seeds also.
Here are the projected quarterfinals if results strictly follow seedings (which is very unlikely to happen).
MEN'S DRAW PROJECTED QUARTERFINALS
- (1) Novak Djokovic vs (5) Daniil Medvedev
- (3) Roger Federer vs (7) Kei Nishikori
- (4) Dominic Thiem vs (8) Stefanos Tsitsipas
- (2) Rafael Nadal vs (6) Sascha Zverev
WOMEN'S DRAW PROJECTED QUARTERFINALS
- (1) Naomi Osaka vs (7) Kiki Bertens
- (4) Simona Halep vs (6) Petra Kvitova
- (3) Karolina Pliskova vs (5) Elina Svitolina
- (2) Ash Barty vs (8) Serena Williams
Another aspect of analyzing the draw is looking at the exciting first round draws. This year there's one that is sucking all the attention: Serena Williams versus Maria Sharapova, in their 23rd meeting (Serena leads 19-3, with Sharapova getting a victory from the 2018 French Open 4th round match which did not happen because Serena withdrew). Although this is a blockbuster match-up, I see no reason why the result should be any different from any other match that Serena has actually played against Serena for the last 15 years, which is basically 18 consecutive wins.
FIRST ROUNDS TO WATCH
S. Williams (8) versus M. Sharapova
A. Sabalenka (9) versus V. Azarenka
S. Kenin (20) versus C. Vandeweghe
D. Shapovalov versus F. Auger-Aliassime (18)
R. Opelka verus F. Fognini (11)
S. Tsitsipas (8) versus A. Rublev
N. Kyrgios (28) versus S. Johnson
PRE-TOURNAMENT PICK
I have made my pre-tournament prediction for the women's title: S. Williams d. S. Halep
I have also made my pre-tournament prediction for the men's title: R. Federer d. R. Nadal.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
BOOK REVIEW: Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky is the long-awaited sequel to the brilliant, award-winning Children of Time. Both books have several elements in common. For example, both books are centered on the development of non-human intelligences, the societies they form and tell the story of what happens when these intelligences interact with other extant intelligent life in the Universe. Time is another central element of both books, as the time scales on which the creatures evolve from being non-sentient beasts to full-fledged tool-using civilizations are quite long. Both technological advances and technological collapse also play significant roles in both books.
Children of Time was one of my favorite 5-star reads of the past few years so I was thrilled when I learned a sequel had been written. Although above I have spent a fair amount of time describing the many similarities the two books share, Children of Ruin is also different from its predecessor in multiple aspects.
The sequel is more complex in many ways. Instead of a primary conflict between two species, Children of Ruin features multiple 2-way and 3-way conflicts between various species, primarily because we are introduced to not one but two new sentient alien species, although it takes awhile for the reader to realize that is what’s going on. As with Children of Time, one of the novel (and exciting) aspects of the books is that for wide swathes of the story, humans aren’t really one of the intelligences involved in the conflicts. Instead it is their “children” who have been guided/led/uplifted to sentience who are the primary characters in the story. That is not to say that humans, or as the book says, “Humans” (indicating the remnants of humanity who have somehow escaped the collapse of Earth civilization and are now coexisting in symbiosis with one of humanity’s uplifted “children”), are not integral participants in the plot, because they are.
Due to the multifaceted nature of the inter-species conflicts in the book, communication and especially translation, is a key component of the plot. This is obviously difficult, especially between alien species engaged in first contact meetings and the author depicts the challenges well. The part of the book which I found disappointing (I think because I doubted their verisimilitude, which I know is a crazy thing to say in a science fiction book which posits multiple non-human animal intelligences as space-faring beasts!) was the depiction of artificial intelligence and virtual reality/cyberspace. I’m not sure why this was the case since these events occur so far in the future that computer technology could/should be so advanced as to resemble magic but my mind balked at the depiction of computer-mediated spaces that seemed magical or unconstrained by rules. This is somewhat of a minor quibble because the vast majority of the story is about the multiple conflicts between the uplifted intelligent animals and the newly discovered alien intelligences. It must be said that those conflicts are riveting and the resolutions are suspenseful and the paths to their conclusion are twisty and surprising.
Overall, I would say that Children of Ruin is a worthy successor to Children of Time, with aspects that are both superior and inferior to the first book. Happily, there are more of the former than the latter. But since my overall view of Children of Time was that it was a near-perfect standalone science fiction first-contact, alien civilization novel, this makes my overall review for its sequel less enthusiastic in comparison. However, Children of Ruin is still a significantly strong science fiction space opera, about multi-species conflict and alien contact and one I hope gets a sequel!
Title: Children of Ruin (Children of Time, #2).
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Paperback: 608 pages.
Publisher: Orbit.
Date Published: May 14, 2019.
Date Read: August 5, 2019
OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).
PLOT: A.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A.
WRITING: A-.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
TENNIS TUESDAYY: Medevedev Beats Djokovic, Goffin to Win First Masters Shield; Keys Wins Biggest Title
Daniil Medvedev is the hottest player in tour this summer. He made his third consecutive final in a row in the U.S. Open series (l. Nick Kyrgios in Washington, DC; l. Rafael Nadal in Montreal). He won the Cincinnati Masters title by defeating David Goffin 7-6(3) 6-4. The 6-foot-6 Russian next generation player has the most wins on tour this year (44!) and jumped from #8 to #5 in the rankings, surpassing his countryman Karen Khachanov at #9. Medvedev beat World #1 Novak Djokovic for the second time this year, coming back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Cincy semifinals.
Madison Keys won her biggest title of her career by beating a resurgent Sveta Kuzetsova 7-5 7-6(5) in Cincinnati. Keys victory will power her back into the Top 10 for the first time since June 2018. Kuznetsova prevented Ash Barty from resuming the World #1 ranking by beating her in the Cincy semifinals, so defending champions Naomi Osaka will be ranked #1 at the 2019 US Open when it starts next Monday. Kuznetsovam returning from injury was languishing in the low 100s and was unable to defend her 2018 Citi Open title due to visa issues. Her finals appearance will get her direct entry into the 2019 US Open with a ranking of #62.
Monday, August 19, 2019
EYE CANDY: Chadoy Leon
Thursday, August 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW: A Memory of Empire (Teixcalaan, #1) by Arkady Martine
| A Memory Called Empire is the debut novel from Arkady Martine. It is a space opera, set on a planet called Teixcalaan which is at the heart of a large, multi-planet empire. The main character is Mahit Dzmare, the new Ambassador to Teixcalaan from Lsel, a small space station which is trying to maintain its independence from the galactic powerhouse and survive its relative proximity to a colonizing force. As soon as Mahit arrives on Teixcalaan she discovers that the unfortunate, accidental death of her predecessor, Yskandr Aghavn, was probably not as "accidental" or "unfortunate" as it appeared at first sight. The central tension in A Memory Called Empire is Mahit's unfamiliarity with and attraction to Teicxcalaani culture, language and society. She has two specific tools that are intended to assist her in becoming acculturated and successful in her ambassadorial tasks: a cultural liaison from the Ministry of Information named Three Seagrass and access to the memory/thoughts of the previous ambassador Yskandr via an implanted device in her head. Unfortunately, almost immediately after her arrival on Teixcalaan, her implant fails and she loses access to Yskandr and his years of experience and knowledge. So the book begins as a "fish out of water" story. Mahit's sense of unease and unfamiliarity is mirrored by the reader, who is also being introduced to the entirely foreign world of Teixcalaan. However, Mahit has an advantage because she's been preparing for her ambassadorial posting for years, studying Teixcalaan and as a Lsel Station resident has been exposed to Teixcalaani cultural products her entire life. For the reader there are many aspects of Teixcalaan that are strikingly unusual, starting with their names, which typically have the form of "Number" combined with "Significant Noun." For example, the current Emperor is named Six Direction. It's appropriate that Ann Leckie has provided a rave blurb for this debut novel, because there are several ways that her Imperial Radhch novels resemble A Memory Called Empire. Teixcalaani names provide no information about the gender of the person they are denoting, and are so different from what we readers are used to that it can make distinguishing and identifying with the characters difficult. Teixcalaani culture is technologically advanced and its language is very different from ours; the use of poetry is central and ubiquitous. The culture is very hierarchical and highly ordered, with the Emperor being uniformly venerated but not worshiped. One of the key moments in the book involves Mahit and Three Seagrass (who is a highly skilled amateur poet herself, a prized ability in Teixcalaan) quickly forced to come up with a short poem that can be distributed widely to alert important observers (specifically a powerful frenemy named Nineteen Adze) the perilous and parlous status of our heroes as Teixcalaani society begins to fray at the edges. Eventually Mahit (and the reader) becomes more familiar with Teixcalaan as the outlines of the plot (pun intended!) become clearer. There is an ongoing struggle to become the next Emperor (even though the current ailing one has publicly named three co-equal heirs Eight Loop, Eight Antidote and Thirty Larkspur) while the former and current Lesl ambassadors have important roles to play in resolving the situation. As one would expect, there is political instability which is sourced in the leadership struggle for control of the empire and Mahit is smack dab in the middle of it, along with her companions Three Seagrass and Twelve Azalea. The author resolves the conflict in a way that is quite surprising and rather satisfying. Overall, I would say that A Memory Called Empire is a fantastic, intensely creative debut novel which science fiction enthusiasts who liked Leckie's Radhch and Herbert's Dune novels will almost certainly also enjoy. In my humble opinion, a bit too much of the "action" of the book is literally intertextual and involves subtle interpretations of things said (and not said) for me to connect viscerally with the novel in an entertaining or emotionally engaging way. However, I fully appreciate the difficulty of the accomplishment and applaud the author for its successful execution. This is the first book in a trilogy and I suspect I will read the rest of the books, because I want to find out what happens with Mahit Dzmare and spend more time on Teixcalaani space. So as a story, t A Memory Called Empire must be considered a success. |
Title: A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1).
Author: Arkady Martine.
Paperback: 462 pages.
Publisher: Tor Books.
Date Published: March 26, 2019.
Date Read: July 27, 2019.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★½☆ (4.5/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).
PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
2019 CANADA: Rafa Wins 35th Masters Title; Bianca Wins Canada As Serena Sobs
Rafael Nadal won his 5th Rogers Cup title in Montreal, demolishing Daniil Medvedev 6-3 6-0 in about 70 minutes. Amazingly, it was the first time in his career that Nadal had defended a hard-court (non-clay court) title, since he had won the 2018 Rogers Cup in Toronto last year. It's Nadal's 35th Masters series shield, increasing his lead over his rivals (Novak Djokovic has 33 and Roger Federer has 28). Nadal is the first player to win 2 Masters titles this year (having also won in Rome), while Federer won Miami and Djokovic won Madrid.
Saturday, August 10, 2019
2019 CANADA: Serena In 1st Non-Major Final In 2 Years; Faces Bibi Andreescu (19YO)
Serena has been playing excellent tennis in Canada. In the quarterfinals she finally got her first win over Naomi Osaka (in straight sets!) on Friday 6-3 6-4. Defending champion Simona Halep retired against Marie Bouzkova after losing the first set, Serena was forced to win a 3-set semifinal 1-6 6-3 6-3 against the Czech qualifier.
Andreescu is the first Canadian woman in 50 years to reach the final of the Canadian Open. She has made incredible strides and will be in the Top 20 on Monday for the first time.
Thursday, August 08, 2019
08/08/19: Married 11 Years Today!
Although we have been boyfriends since 1991 and living together since 1994, domestic partners since 1999, and civilly united (in Vermont) since 2000, we were only married in California on August 8, 2008 (Roger Federer's 27th birthday!) before Proposition 8 passed and after the California Supreme Court legalized marriage equality in the Golden State with the In Re Marriage Cases decision and upheld my marriage (and 18,000 others!) in Strauss v. Horton.
The above pictures were taken on our latest vacation in Valencia, Spain in July 2019.
Happy anniversary, hubby!
BOOK REVIEW: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
White Fragility is a short but affecting read; it is revelatory, informative and inspirational. The author provides insight into the myriad ways that white people respond to discussions about race and white supremacy. This excerpt (from page 2) basically encapsulates the primary thesis of the book:Socialized into a deeply internalized sense of superiority that we are unaware of or can never admit to ourselves, we become highly fragile in conversations about race. We consider a challenge to our racial worldviews as a challenge to our very identities as good, moral people. Thus, we perceive any attempt to connect us to the system of racism as unsettling and unfair moral offense. The smallest amount of racial stress is intolerable--the mere suggestion that being white has meaning often triggers a range of defensive responses. These include emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and behaviors such as withdrawal from the stress-inducing situation. These responses work to reinstate white equilibrium as they repel the challenge, return our racial comfort, and maintain our dominance within the racial hierarchy. I conceptualize this process as white fragility.The author Robin Diangelo uses the words "we" and "ours" in this quote and throughout the book to be explicit and forthright about her positionality as a white woman discussing racism. I imagine White Fragility would be very difficult for white people to read this book without experiencing some of the reactions that the author describes above. In fact, the author recognizes this and spends a significant amount of time in the book speaking directly to white readers of the text, to attempt to modulate and potentially forestall these reactions. I have to imagine how white readers will respond to reading about the ubiquity and resilience of white supremacy because I am not a white person. Despite this fact, the experience of reading White Fragility as a non-white person is an exciting experience. My primary feeling was one of admiration (at the thoughtfulness and precision of the language of the book and the cogent and contemporaneous nature of the ideas included) and amazement (at the sheer number of "secrets" revealed and taboos broken about discussing race, anti-blackness and white supremacy). While it is well under 200 pages, White Fragility provides numerous resources for facilitating the process of getting white people to talk about racism, such as the pages of footnotes at the end of the book providing evidence for claims made in the text, as well as "Books, Articles and Blogs" for the reader to continue their education on the subject(s) of race, racism and white supremacy. Additionally, there are very useful lists included in the book which distill and highlight some of the key concepts. An example is this list of the functions of white fragility (found on page 122):
Overall, White Fragility is a tour de force explication of why it is so difficult to have conversations about racism and (therefore begin) the process of dismantling white supremacy. In the end, I found the book somewhat depressing because it makes the prospect for improved race relations in the United States appear to be unlikely by analyzing and enumerating what would be entailed in producing such a future. With that said, the problem is not with the book, which does a great service to us all by illuminating and elucidating ideas and actions about race and white supremacy, but with us, the reader(s). RATING: FIVE STARS. |
Title: White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism.
Author: Robin Diangelo.
Paperback: 462 pages.
Publisher: Tor Books.
Date Published: March 26, 2019.
Date Read: July 27, 2019.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★½☆ (4.5/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).
PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A.
Wednesday, August 07, 2019
UPDATE: Michael Johnson (Black, Gay ,HIV+ Man) Released From Prison Early!
 |
| Michael Johnson (left) with Dr. Steve Thrasher |
There's an exciting update in the ongoing saga of Michael Johnson (also known as "Tiger Mandingo"), a Black gay man with HIV who at the age of 23 in 2015 was sentenced to 30-years in prison for knowingly exposing several gay men to HIV (some of whom subsequently tested positive for HIV later). Johnson's case was a textbook case of HIV stigma combined with racial animus leading to a problematic criminal justice result. Happily, this conviction was overturned in 2016 and last year Johnson agreed to a 10-year Alford plea deal with the last 3 years converted to parole.
One of the key journalists and activists who raised the media profile of the Johnson case was Steve Thrasher (@thrasherxy) (seen pictured with Johnson above the day he was released from prison on July 9, 2019).
A New York Times report on Johnson's release said:
In theory, H.I.V. exposure laws are meant to encourage H.I.V.-positive individuals to disclose their status before having sex, and to practice safer sex, with the ultimate goal of preventing the spread of the virus.Congratulations to everyone who worked on this case. Johnson will be moving to and living in Indiana with a friend and says he plans to continue his education and would like to share his story as part of advocacy for HIV prevention and treatment,
But there is no evidence that these laws have reduced risky behavior or encouraged disclosure, said Catherine Hanssens, the executive director of the Center for H.I.V. Law and Policy, which provided legal support for Mr. Johnson’s case.
In the eyes of the law, an H.I.V. diagnosis is conflated with malice, she added.
“These laws effectively treat an H.I.V. diagnosis itself as evidence that the person acted with bad intentions when sex or other types of physical contact are involved in a crime,” she said.
Monday, August 05, 2019
EYE CANDY: Alan Valdez (4th time!)
Thursday, August 01, 2019
BOOK REVIEW: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
| The Calculating Stars is the (Nebula and Locus) award-winning book by Mary Robinette Kowal about the 1950s space race but set in an alternate time line where a meteor hits the Earth near Chesapeake Bay, decimates the Eastern Seaboard and catalyzes the greenhouse effect, endangering human survival on Earth. The main character of The Calculating Stars is Elma York, a former WASP pilot and mathematical genius who ends up working as a “computer” for the International Aerospace Coalition, the space agency responsible for managing the race to the stars. The impetus behind the space race in this timeline is not a US-Russia proxy war but a race to get to space in order to save humanity before Earth becomes inhabitable due to the runaway global warming caused by the long range after-effects of the asteroid collision. One shorthand view of the book is that it is a version of “The Right Stuff” and "Hidden Figures" told from the perspective of a Jewish white woman who is obsessed with going into space but has to combat social conservatism and sexist mores in order to achieve her dream. Elma is a fun character and it was fun to spend time with her. She has a pretty severe undiagnosed anxiety disorder; during episodes where this manifests as panic attacks she tries to get through by doing mathematics. For example, she will mentally recite the beginning of the list of prime numbers or the Fibonacci series or do 4-digit arithmetic operations in her head. Her husband, who is also Jewish, an engineer and eventually becomes her boss at the IAC, helps to distract/calm her down at times of stress (such as facing a room full of reporters). Elma becomes internationally known as “the Lady Astronaut” through her advocacy in the media of the idea that women should join the space program. This is an interesting SFnal twist because in real life no one but white men were considered by NASA to become astronauts in the equivalent time period (1950s to 1970s). Although I like Elma I’m not as enamored with the book as a whole. Of course, as a black gay mathematics professor I’m in favor of the author’s depiction of the regimented/stilted mores of the 1950s and the spotlight she puts on the senselessness of the discrimination based on gender (and race) that occur(red) in such an important science/engineering enterprise. I also love the fact the story is infused with a love of mathematics and science/engineering and was intrigued that it is told from the perspective of a white Jewish woman. But for me there was a spark missing which prevented me from emotionally connecting with the story. I think this may be because ultimately the stakes are too low. Since this is an alternate timeline (caused by a very unlikely event) the overarching idea that the space race needs to be successful earlier in time in order to save humanity is not that compelling. And even though I want Elma to succeed at breaking barriers, she will/would be fine even if she didn’t go into space. So although I enjoyed spending time with Elma and love the centering of math and science in the rare context of a SFnal book which pays close attention to identity and positionality of its characters, I ended somewhat unmoved by The Calculating Stars. I admire it more than I adore it. However, I will most likely read the sequels in the trilogy because I am curious about how the story ends, and when that occurs with any first book, it must be considered a success. There's a reason why it is very likely to win the 2019 Hugo award for Best Novel in addition to its other accolades. |
Title: The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1).
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal.
Paperback: 432 pages.
Publisher: Tor Books.
Date Published: July 3, 2018.
Date Read: July 20, 2019.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.83/4.0).
PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A.
WRITING: A.
Saturday, July 27, 2019
The Expanse Season 4 Premiere Date Is December 13; Season 5 Is a Go!
Meanwhile here's an official synopsis for The Expanse Season 4 from Amazon Prime Video:
Season 4 of The Expanse, its first as a global Amazon Original, begins a new chapter for the series with the crew of the Rocinante on a mission from the U.N. to explore new worlds beyond the Ring Gate. Humanity has been given access to thousands of Earth-like planets which has created a land rush and furthered tensions between the opposing nations of Earth, Mars and the Belt. Ilus is the first of these planets, one rich with natural resources but also marked by the ruins of a long dead alien civilization. While Earthers, Martians and Belters maneuver to colonize Ilus and its natural resources, these early explorers don’t understand this new world and are unaware of the larger dangers that await them.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
BOOK REVIEW: Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
Storm of Locusts is the second book in the Sixth World series by Rebecca Roanhorse that began with the award-winning Trail of Lightning (see my review). The Sixth World is set in a future/alternate United States where more than half of the land mass has been inundated and billions of people worldwide have been killed by an apocalyptic event called The Big Water. Basically everything west of Colorado and east of Kansas is destroyed in the deluge. So the setting for our story is Dinétah, the land of the Diné (which is the word in Navajo used to describe the Native American tribe).
One of the primary features of Storm of Locusts is the pleasant feeling of reading a book with characters and world building which are new and unfamiliar. After all, the book can be classified as an action-packed, post-apocalyptic, urban fantasy with a powerful, violent woman of color protagonist. You don’t read one of those days every day!
The main character is Maggie Hoskins, a 20-something Navajo woman who is known as the Godslayer and Monsterslayer for some of the events that happened in Trail of Lightning. The sequel Storm of Locusts is both better and worse than the first book, in different aspects. There’s more action in Storm of Locusts and far less of the emotional energy is centered on the romantic tension between Maggie and the handsome stranger Kai Arviso which loomed large in Trail of Lightning. To me, these were good things. However, some of the things I was disappointed by in Storm of Locusts were the too-brief appearance of the openly gay, multiracial character from the first book and the fact its problematic pacing was repeated in the second (basically most of the primary plot points in both books are resolved apparently hastily in the concluding 10 pages). I was neutral on the addition of a new, teenaged, gender-nonconforming orphan named Ben in the second book. I liked the fact that Maggie’s emotions are most often connected to Ben and her sudden in loco parentis role as Ben’s protector. However, the story is still muddled with the inclusion of a romantic relationship between two side characters. (Other readers who are more positively disposed to romantic elements might view these aspects as pluses.)
Another strength of Storm of Locusts is the reduction in the presence of gods compared to how visible they were in Trail of Lightning. In the Sixth World, people have “clan powers” which tend to manifest themselves after an extremely traumatic or near-death experience. Maggie‘s powers include super-speed, expert facility with weapons and a killer instinct. Additionally, in the Sixth World various Navajo legends, spirits and gods are walking-about real. I understand that these books are urban fantasy but as an atheist the inclusion of creatures who are actual “goods” and not just people who have god-like powers which may just be really advanced technology always irks me. (This was part of the difficulty I initially had with Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy but I would argue the supernatural/mystical elements are handled more effectively in those works than they are in the Sixth World books so far.)
Anyway, overall I would say that on balance Storm of Locusts is about as good as Trail of Lightning, and I look forward to reading the still-untitled third book in the Sixth World series when it comes out.
Title: Storm of Locusts.
Author: Rebecca Roanhorse.
Paperback: 313 pages.
Publisher: Saga Press.
Date Published: April 23, 2019.
Date Read: July 14, 2019.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).
PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A-.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
2019 WIMBLEDON: Djokovic Outlasts Federer in 5-hour, 5-set Thriller to Win 16th Major
In one of the most exciting matches since the classic 2008 Wimbledon final, Novak Djokovic outlasted 8-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3) in a match which lasted nearly five hours ad featured the very first ever 5th set deciding tiebreaker (at 12-all). For the 3rd time in a major grand slam match (following the 2010 US Open semifinal and 2011 US Open semifinal) Djokovic saved double match point and went on to win. Federer broke Djokovic at 8-all and was serving 9-8, 40-15 but was unable to win either of the points thanks to Djokovic's excellent serving (and Federer's own nervousness). This was particularly curious because the Swiss great had an amazing serving day with 25 aces (including one at 30-15 in that all important 18th game of the 5th set). Even though my prediction that Federer would win did not pan out, I feel good that my belief that Federer would confound critics (who gave Djokovic the edge) was very nearly correct.
In fact, in most aspects Federer was the better player for most of the match. He broke Djokovic twice in both of the sets he won while his serve was only broken three times: up 5-2 in the fourth set, early in the fifth set and up 9-8 in the fifth set (but two of those times were when he was serving to close out the set). Federer had 40 more winners (94 to 54) and only 10 more errors (62 to 52) than Djokovic. Often times Federer has difficukty converting breakpoint chances in big matches, but he won 7 out of 13 while Djokovic only won 3 of 8. The big problem was the 3 tioebreaks they played where every point is essentially a breakpoint. There Federer played his riskiest tennis and it generally did not pay off. That basically was the match. The third set tiebreak Federer was up 5-3 when he made some uncharacteristic forehand errors and ended up losing four points in a row and the pivotal 3rd set.
Significance of Today's Result
With his win, Djokovic improves to 26-22 over Federer head-to-head and is now only 2 majors behind Nadal's 18 who is only 2 behind Federer's 20. He has now beaten the best grass-court player of all time in three Wimbledon finals (2014, 2015 and 2019). Federer's major final record falls to 20-11 while Djokovic's record improves to 16-9. Federer has now played 12 Wimbledon finals and won 8.
2019 WIMBLEDON: Men's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)
This is my prediction post for the 2019 Wimbledon men's final. Last year I did predict that Novak Djokovic would defeat Kevin Anderson. This year I correctly predicted the results of 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals.
MEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW
Roger Federer (SUI) [2] d. Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] 7-6(3) 1-6 6-3 6-4. 11 years after Federer and Nadal played the greatest match of all time, the two rivals faced each other on the grass courts of Wimbledon again this year. Many observers believed that Nadal would win this match due to the fact that Nadal had dismissed Federer in the semifinals of Roland Garros less than a month before and the fact that the Wimbledon grass courts are playing more like clay courts than hard courts. However, Federer has now managed to win 6 of their last 7 meeting, and the head-to-head is now a mere 24-16, which means that on non-clay court Federer leads 14-10 since Nadal leads on clay 2-14. This match was generally of a very high quality, except for the second set, where after losing his serve and failing to break back within 2 service games Federer basically ceded the set and marshaled his energy to make a push in the third set where he was rewarded with an early break. The ending of the match was incredibly stress , with Federer needing 5 match points in the last two games of the match to close it out. At that stage of the match both players were at their peak, playing their best tennis simultaneously. It was awesome!
MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW
For the 48th time Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic. Djokovic leads the head-to-head 25-22 and has a pretty surprising 2-1 head-to-head against the 8-time Wimbledon champion at Wimbledon, having beaten him in the 2014 and 2015 finals while Federer won their 2012 semifinal matchup. The two have not played in a major since the 2015 US Open final (also won by Djokovic) and last year's 2018 Paris Masters was viewed by many as the best 3-set match of the year (and won by Djokovic).All the stats and history predict a Djokovic win on Sunday. (Federer is the only one of the big 3 who have never beaten the other two back-to-back to win a tournament) but I believe that Federer will take great confidence from his win over Nadal and the fact that he has been tested by playing the #3 (Nadal), #8 (Kei Nishikori), #17 (Matteo Berrettini) and #27 (Lucas Pouille) seeds in the tournament while Djokovic has only faced the #21 (David Goffin) and #23 (Roberto Bautista Agut) to reach this level. Of course I am also a huge Federer fan and would love to see him win a 9th Wimbledon and record 21st major. Federer is 20-10 in major finals while Djokovic is 15-9. However, Federer now has the most match wins on tour in 2019 and maybe this will lead him to a surprise victory. MadProfessah's prediction: Federer.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
2019 WIMBLEDON: Halep Stuns Serena To Win 2nd Major Title
To the surprise of most observers, World #7 Simona Halep put on a devastating display of accurate, defensive, propulsive tennis on Wimbledon Centre Court to defeat 23-time major champion Serena Williams 6-2 6-2 in 56 minutes to win her second major title. The loss means that Serena is still stuck at 23 major singles trophies, the most in the modern era, but still 1 behind the odious Margaret Court, who won 24 (although 11 were from her home country's tournament in Australia, at a time when it is quite difficult to really consider the Australian Open a grand slam tournament). The 6-2 6-2 drubbing she received is her worst loss in a major final (where she is now 23-9) since she lost the 2014 French Open to Garbine Muguruza by the same score. She has now lost 3 major finals in a row, to Kerber, Naomi Osaka and Halep.
WOMEN'S FINAL REVIEW
For the second year in a row, Serena lost in the Wimbledon final after making it through the draw in dramatic fashion, but without having to play a Top 10 player before the championship match. Last year she lost to Angie Kerber in straight sets and today it was Simona Halep. In both cases the reasons for these results are complex, but I feel like in today's match too many people are chalking it up to amazing play by Halep and downplaying the weaknesses that Serena revealed. It is true Halep had a mere 3 unforced errors in 2 sets today. But Serena had double that number of unforced errors in the first two games. Her serve was NOT ready to go at the beginning of the match, and after 11 minutes she was down 0-4. Both her serve and her return, two of the best parts of her game, and probably the best in women's tennis, completely disappeared. I suppose that would be enough to rattle anyone, but there were multiple times when she was in a winning position with a ball to hit out of reach that she would overhit it, trying to bludgeon it and intimidate her opponent. Instead, she hit the ball over the line. This must have happened at least a half-dozen times. Also, Serena seemed unprepared for Halep amazing defensive skills, powered by incredible anticipation and stupendous movement. Serena would hit what she thought was a winner, Halep would get it back and Serena would hit another shot that would win the point against most players, Halep would make a ridiculous get and then Serena would hit an error. I believe these mistakes were primarily caused by her lack of match play and the fact she hadn't played a top player in the tournament up to that point and she has had almost zero match play outside of the majors since she returned to competitive tennis in May 2018. She is yet to have won a title of any kind since the January 2017 Australian Open. At age 37 (38 in September) it is becoming increasingly clear she just simply can not continue to just focus on the majors, unless she finds a way to completely overhaul her mental approach to playing a major final, which is a very unlikely prospect. I still believe (and hope) that she will win 24 (or more!) grand slam singles titles, but even if she doesn't, there's no doubt in my mind that Serena Williams should be considered the G.O.A.T.
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