(no subject)

Since I got my new glasses, I've been reading things a bit faster! Um, yes. Oops. Embassytown was great. Although I don't understand people saying it's about language. It's not. It's about culture and lying, and the actual linguistic component of it is very handwavy... After that I got on to Whispers Under Ground, the third in the series of Peter Grant novels by that Ben Aaronovitch. Which I enjoyed, although it could have done with being more subplotty.

After this I have been reading The Also People, also by Mr. Aaronovitch, a Virgin New Adventures novel. This is basically a mashup of Doctor Who and Iain M. Banks's The Culture (represented here as the "people", who live on a Dyson sphere, run by a Mindgiant AI called "Hubgod". the humans are people, and the amusingly named ships are AIs and considered to be also people, and the entire society regretfully had a war with Idiranssome religious insectoids, which resulted in orbitalsrings being destroyed). I've only just started this really, but it's already provided an interesting look at childrearing in the Culturepeople, that I can't really remember Banks having done. Also, it has provided what might be my favourite line ever at the moment:

"Of course I'm not sentient", said the table. "I'm a table. I have two functions, one is to hold material objects at a convenient height by virtue of my rigid structure and the other is to take your order. What would be the point in a sentient table?"

Bernice considered this. She had to admit it was a good point.

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