A Year in Pictures – Kerala Houseboat

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One of the most splendidly relaxing things we did during our India trip was visit the “backwaters” of Kerala — a series of waterways plied by houseboats, like the one you see in this photo. There’s a bedroom in the “house” with a kitchen at the back, and dinner was partly made from fish and shrimp pulled out of the water less than an hour before they went in the pan. I love being on the water, and while I prefer the sea, there’s a lot to be said for a quiet bit of floating around.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

several recent books

I am not going to pretend I have any kind of objectivity here. None of these writers are strangers to me; they range from “the woman I’m about to go on tour with” to “the guy whose short stories I was critiquing when he was an undergrad just getting serious about writing.” But their books are excellent and I recommend them to you. All three are recently released!

Attack the Geek, by Michael R. Underwood — a side installment in the Geekomancy series (Geekomancy, Celebromancy, the upcoming Hexomancy). This series is basically “what if you could get superpowers through your knowledge of pop culture?” And don’t tell me you never wished you could do that.

(Bonus installment: there’s an excerpt from Shield and Crocus up on Tor.com; that’s Mike’s new series, which will be starting up in June.)

Valour and Vanity, by Mary Robinette Kowal — fourth in the Glamourist Histories (Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, Without a Summer). I haven’t read this one yet because it just came out today, but you damn bet I’m going to, and not just because we’re touring together. This series is Austen-ish with magic, and they’ve only gotten richer as they go along. Plus: GONDOLA CHASES. How can you not want to read a book that has a gondola chase in it?

Steles of the Sky, by Elizabeth Bear — last in the Eternal Sky trilogy (Range of Ghosts, Shattered Pillars), though there will be new stories in that world after this, or so I hear. Central Asian-inspired epic fantasy, with some truly awesome worldbuilding elements and also a giant tiger-woman. (My love for Hrahima, let me show you it.) I was belated in reading the second book, so I haven’t picked this one up yet, but as above: you damn bet I’m going to. In fact, it may be coming with me on the trip.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.