Dzur

Dzur
Steven Brust
Fiction, 285 pages

This book begins, harmlessly enough, as Vlad Taltos, fresh from fighting the Jenoine and losing a good friend, risks a meal at his favorite restaurant. Though planning to dine alone, he soon finds himself in the company of a Dzurlord and Mario Greymist, the Jhereg assassin.

The Jhereg want Vlad killed, but Mario isn't there for that reason. Mario comes on behalf of a mutual friend—one concerned about a political situation involving Cawti, Vlad's ex-wife.

After a brief sojurn to Sethra Lavode's fortress on Dzur Mountain, Vlad returns to South Adrilankha to remedy the problem. Along the way, Vlad meets old friends, makes new enemies, and comes up with a few tricks.

Vlad Taltos would deserve a place beside the hard-boiled detectives of fiction, except that he's an assassin, not a detective, and resides in Dragaera, a fantasy realm.

About three-fourths of Brust's prolific writing is set in Dragaera, a land the ruling Dragaerans, a tall long-lived people, grudgingly share with the shorter, short-lived Easterners. Like other Easterners, Vlad Taltos is a member of an oppressed minority. Unlike most Easterners, Vlad holds a title in House Jhereg, and has several prominent Dragaeran friends. Not only is Vlad unique, he may be the only living Easterner to have spoken directly with the goddess, Verra.

Brust's Khaavren romances span centuries, while his Vlad Taltos novels span mere decades. The Taltos novels are shorter, and faster paced than those concerning the long-lived Dragaerans. Both series are well done, but it might be best to start with the Taltos novels before savoring the Khaavren romances which introduce some of Vlad's Dragaeran friends and provide the overall back story.

Lurulu

Lurulu
Jack Vance
Fiction, 204 pages

Over his long career, Jack Vance has been a prolific science-fiction writer. Sometimes his writing is exciting, sometimes subdued. His 2004 novel, "Lurulu" is of the latter sort. But what it lacks in treacherous villains and dangerous situations, it makes up in its richness of detail and pursuit of meaning. Lurulu is a mystical place, or perhaps state of being—a concept that means something different to each person. The book speaks of friendship and of the adventure of everyday living—at least everyday living for spacemen.

This sequel to "Ports of Call" begins after Myron Tany has offended his eccentric aunt and been put off her ship. Being a resourceful youth, he quickly finds employment on another. As the Glicca travels from star to star, Myron and his colleagues encounter interesting characters, societies, customs and beliefs. Although nothing much actually happens, the writing is superb, the dialog, sparkling. The pace is perfect, the content entertaining and the style satisfying.

Future critics may not consider this to be Vance's best work. But it's not his worst. Vance, writes in his preface to the 2007, "The Jack Vance Treasury", that he considers, "Lurulu" to be his, "final book." Vance, born August 28, 1916, was 89 when he penned that June 2006 preface. The writing in "Lurulu," like the texture of fine old wine, is mellow. Some things do improve with age.
Check out this entry on VanderWorld for a bit more on Jack Vance.

Photo by David M. Alexander. Taken in the early 1980s.

Snakes and Earrings

Snakes and Earrings
Hitomi Kanehara
Translated by David James Karamisha
Fiction, 2005, 120 pages

When Ama shows Lui his forked tongue, she decides to get one too. Several days later, Ama takes her to Shiba-san's shop to get her tongue pierced. Over the months that follow, she'll use increasingly larger studs to stretch her tongue, prior to taking the final step of splitting it. Along the way there is lots of sex, beer and pain. Lui faces the aftermath of two murders and becomes anorexic.

This award winning, first novel is a story of transformation. Although the three main characters have piercings, tattoos and more extreme body modifications, these transformations are merely physical. Lui's transformation is to be spiritual. In the end, Lui's transformation is both subtle and ambiguous. The book ends as Lui's transformation begins. It's up to the reader to determine where Lui's transformation will take her.

Had she been American, rather than Japanese, Lui might have behaved and acted differently. Still, the story is sufficiently universal that it transcends language and culture. However, though it may be universal, it is not typical. In its way, it resembles another short novel, "The Story of O." In that novel, two alternative endings are provided. Hitomi Kanehara provides only one, but its ambiguity suffices.

More reviews of Snakes and Earrings

A cute story with a profound moral

A small sparrow shivered while snow fell all around him. The sparrow would surely die in the cold. Then a cow wandered along and defecated on the sparrow. Warmed by the cow pie, the sparrow stopped shivering and began to sing. A passing cat heard the sparrow's joyful song and ate him.

Moral: Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy. Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. And, if you are up to your neck in shit and can still manage to be happy, for Heaven's sake keep your mouth shut.

To Bee or Not To Bee

Splendid as it is, the Internet is not necessarily trustworthy. Thus, I am unable to confirm or refute the remark, attributed to Einstein that if honeybees became extinct, mankind would follow within a few years. Still, there’s a general consensus among sources, including the BBC and The New York Times, regarding the strange disappearance of honeybees in 24 of the United States at a loss rate of 30 to 70 percent.
They’re calling it colony collapse disorder (CCD), and they don’t know its cause. Dr. Clarence Collison, who heads Mississippi State University’s Entomology Department, reports that researchers have observed a number of pathogens affecting adult bees. Of these, the majority of pathogens are linked to stress related illnesses. A Penn State scientist has established that these bees have weakened immune systems, Collison adds.
This is not, however, the first time bee populations have dwindled. Populations dwindled during the early nineties and middle seventies. A bee population collapse also occurred in 1896, however Collison rates the current collapse as the worst in his experience.
The magnitude of population collapse is shocking. The Washington Post reported on one beekeeper’s transport of two truckloads of bees for use in pollinating almond trees. When he arrived in California, most of his cargo was dead. Often beekeepers discover their hives have been vacated by all but the queen and the young. Some have speculated that sick bees don’t return to their hive in order to prevent its other members from becoming contaminated. Others have speculated that bees are being blinded by increased UV light due to an enlarged hole in the ozone layer. Another possible explanation is that environmental toxins cause them to become disoriented and unable to find their way home.
Though most reports of CCD have come from the United States, Linda Moulton Howe reports that nine countries in Europe and Canada also now are reporting massive declines in bee populations. Bee pollination is a fundamental necessity on which depends much of the food consumed by animals and men. Even if Einstein didn’t make the remark about extinction, anyone who’s learned about the birds and the bees should be concerned about CCD.

Fun with Heavy Metal

bismuth crystal

Rachel and I recently took in the Gem and Mineral show at the Jefferson County fairgrounds. She was by awed by the bismuth crystals we saw there. The crystals are multicolored due to the way light refracts off a thin coating of bismuth oxide. The crystalline form is unusual, kind of high-techy like something out of a science-fiction movie. Mildly radioactive, bismuth decays so slowly that it's considered safe. We bought a specimen. When we got it home, Jenny said, "Twenty dollars for a rock?!"

My wife said, "Twenty dollars for a rock?! And not even natural."

It's true; bismuth generally doesn't crystallize like this in nature; only in a lab. Bismuth, with a melting point of 520 degrees Fahrenheit melts at a lower temperature than lead, which melts at 621 degrees, but higher than tin which at 450 degrees melts at a temperature lower than paper combusts, according to Ray Bradbury, author of "Fahrenheit 451".

As a child I owned a dangerous toy, used to turn solid lead into toy soldiers. We kids marveled as the hot lead liquefied and somehow we managed to pour it into molds without serious injury. Later in college I bought a torch, tongs, crucible, and scrap silver. Sterling silver melts at 1,640 degrees, far lower than molybdenum, which melts at 4,760 degrees, but still plenty hot. Hot enough, that I was having trouble keeping it liquid while gradually adding metal to the crucible. When I heard the crucible loudly crack I abandoned the effort. Remembering the accident that ruined the young silversmith's hand in the book, "Johnny Tremain". I considered myself lucky. When the crucible cooled, a dull, glassy, flux coated silver lump remained.

Since bismuth can be melted on a kitchen stove, making bismuth crystals would be a cool science project. However, I don't know of any elementary school that would allow kids to try this in a classroom. Ken K. has been making bismuth crystals for over sixteen years using a scientific hotplate. He wears a respirator and safety glasses as a precaution. Hot metal can spatter. Some beautiful examples can be found on Ken's website*. Ken has perfected his own techniques which he won't divulge since that would be, "like Willy Wonka giving out his recipe for Everlasting Gobstoppers."

*Ken K's website is no longer active DL 2021

Oat Congee

Congee, a popular Chinese breakfast, is basically a soupy bowl of rice with bits of this or that floated on top. My wife likes hers with Chinese style pickled cucumber, strands of dried meat, or fermented black beans. Many people like salted peanuts on their congee. The idea here is to offset the blandness of the rice with little toothsome bits of whatever. Click here for a recipe.

This is the good part. A friend of ours wanted to get her cholesterol down. And here's what she did: Oatmeal is considered a cholesterol killer. Our friend made her congee with oatmeal instead of rice and ate it for six months. And you know what? Her cholesterol dropped.

I used to use yogurt instead of milk for my oatmeal since yogurt doesn't bother my lactose intolerance. Today I tried oatmeal congee and loved it. Oatmeal gives congee a texture and taste missing in rice congee. Oatmeal congee, like Susan Stamberg's recipe for cranberry relish, may sound awful, but try it. You'll like it. You'll see.