1954 audio thriller by Francis Durbridge, in eight parts: Paul Temple is a professional novelist and amateur sleuth. A young woman is murdered, and her boyfriend is set to hang. But her father is convinced that the man is innocent.
1973 crime, dir. Terrence Malick, Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek: IMDb / allmovie. Bad boy Kit meets good(-ish) girl Holly. Death ensues.
When the GM asks "what day of the week was your character born on", do you respond:
I did some analysis of card draws in Leaving Earth to try to work out the odds in a particular situation.
2014 humorous science fiction, fifth in the Isambard Smith series. The Lemming men are invading the British Space Empire, and must be stopped!
This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.
1989 mystery, third of Caudwell's Hilary Tamar series. The barrister Cantrip has been called to Jersey, though he's certainly not a tax expert. It turns out that the administrators of the Daffodil Trust are becoming unexpectedly prone to sudden death…
I’ve been doing the Perl Weekly Challenges. The latest involved binary palindromes and a restricted Knight's Tour. (Note that this is open until 27 June 2021.)
2010 science fiction, last of its trilogy. Ariane Kedros is testifying at the trial of surviving terrorists, and someone seems to be trying to blow her up, but at least the enigmatic aliens have a new job for her. Oh good…
I went to visit one of the tekeli.li forumites and we played games in someone else's outdoor space for a change.
1998 non-fiction. A Pan Am Boeing 314 Clipper was en route from Noumea to Auckland when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. They were instructed to make their way back to the USA as best they could.
More boardgames played from home.
2013 audio adaptation of Christie's 1939 mystery, in three half-hour episodes. Luke Fitzwilliam runs into a dotty old lady who's going to London to report a series of murders in her small village… but she's "accidentally" killed before she can get anywhere.
2010 fantasy, second of its trilogy. Both Darkborn (burned by light) and Lightborn (dissolved by darkness) are having political upheavals, with assassination only another tool in the kit. Someone seems to be trying to set them at war with each other. But will anyone listen in time?
I’ve been doing the Perl Weekly Challenges. The latest involved file analysis and combinatorial explosion. (Note that this is open until 20 June 2021.)
2015 SF, second of a trilogy. Torrin has got her new love Jak back to Torrin's home world, but that isn't by any means going to be the end of their problems.
2020 fantasy, dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood, Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne: IMDb / allmovie. From the dawn of time they came, moving silently down the centuries…
2018 fantasy, first of a trilogy. Evie is a very minor member of the royal family, without significant magic or status; even when the Crown Princess carries out a coup against the Queen, she just wants to be ignored. But as the only other survivor of the family, she won't be granted that luxury.
Second vaccine dose achieved!
I’ve been doing the Perl Weekly Challenges. The latest involved lots of digit splitting. (Note that this is open until 13 June 2021.)
2021 science fiction novella, sixth in the Murderbot series. On Preservation Station, one of the largest polities that's not part of the Corporate Rim, someone's been murdered. And it's Murderbot who finds the body.
2020 urban fantasy. Susan Arkshaw, brought up in the country by her slightly dippy mother, goes to London to start her art degree and try to find her father. Magic ensues.
1996 police procedural audio in four parts, by Nick Fisher. A body is found by a tour boat going along the Regent's Canal; DSI Julie Enfield (Imelda Staunton) investigates.
I’ve been doing the Perl Weekly Challenges. The latest involved chained strings and number construction. (Note that this is open until 6 June 2021.)
1949 children's fantasy. Timothy and Hew live on Popinsay Island with their father, a retired naval captain, and help look for the pirate ship reputed to have been wrecked nearby. But soon they will get involved in larger adventures…
On a warm Bank Holiday afternoon (can there be any stronger evidence that English weather is out of joint?) I got together with several friends for boardgaming, including one I hadn't seen in person for over a year (barring very brief handings-over of shopping etc.).
2008 fantasy, the second in the Dhulyn and Parno series. They're on the winning side of a battle against an aggressive kingdom, and they've captured the crown prince; and that's only the start of their troubles.
Some trailers I've seen recently, and my thoughts on them. (Links are to youtube. Opinions are thoroughly personal. I still hate everything.)