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science70 · 1 year

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William Schmidt, cover art for Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka by L. Neil Smith (Del Rey/Ballantine, 1983).

#science fiction #book #cover art #William Schmidt #Star Wars #Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka #Billy Dee Williams #L. Neil Smith #USA #1983

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infactforgetthepark · 2 years

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[Free eBook] Their Majesties' Bucketeers by L. Neil Smith [Sci-Fi Murder Mystery]

Their Majesties' Bucketeers by the late L. Neil Smith, a multiple recipient of the Prometheus Award, is a self-contained science fiction mystery novel in his North American/Galactic Confederacy alternate history setting, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Phoenix Pick Press.

This is their featured Free eBook of the Month selection for May, and was originally published by Ballantine's Del Rey imprint in 1981. There's also a tie-in deal for more reprints of the author's backlist, offered at a substantial discount.

The story is a locked room murder mystery set on a distant planet in the far future of an alternate history timeline diverging from the American Revolutionary War, styled as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche starring the native trisexual tripedal aliens of a pseudo-Victorian civilization, in which Captain Agot Edmoot Mav, an Extraordinary Inquirer for the royal service, investigates the strange death of a controversial scholar.

Offered worldwide through at least Tuesday May 31st (possibly until Monday May 6th since the special usually rotates on the 1st Tuesday of each month), available DRM-free directly from the publisher.

Currently free @ the publisher's dedicated promo page (DRM-free ePub & Mobi available worldwide, requires valid email address; follow the instructions on the page to reset the suggested price in cart to $0.00)

There's also a promotional tie-in discount offer for a selection of L. Neil Smith's other fiction and non-fiction works either individually for $1.99-$4.99, or in a further money-saving bundle of all 10 extra books for just $19.00. These include his 1994 Prometheus Award for Best Libertarian SF Novel winner, Pallas, and its sequel Ceres in the Ngu Family space asteroid colony saga, several other tales in the North American/Galactic Confederacy setting, as well as a few standalone science fiction, alternate history, and horror thriller novels.

Description Captain Agot Edmoot Mav, Extraordinary Inquirer for Their Majesties’ Bucketeers, must solve the unsolvable mystery of who has killed a famed, but controversial, scholar.

For the killing was done in a windowless room which was locked and the murder weapon itself is a mystery.

But Agot Edmoot Mav is nothing if not persistent, and as a loyal member of the Bucketeers, will not rest till the truth is revealed about this murder, most foul…and most alien.

#free ebook #l. neil smith #galactic confederacy #science fiction #mystery #sherlock holmes #pastiche #drm free

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cantsayidont · 5 months

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July, October, and December 1983. The success of the Brian Daley Han Solo trilogy led to a trilogy of novels about the adventures of Lando Calrissian prior to the events of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, written by L. Neil Smith.

The first two novels, LANDO CALRISSIAN AND THE MINDHARP OF SHARU and LANDO CALRISSIAN AND THE FLAMEWIND OF OSEON, each follow basically the same formula: Lando is arrested on trumped-up charges and strong-armed into a dangerous quest, which proves much weirder than advertised (involving some surreal interludes) and turns out rather differently than anyone expects. In the course of these adventures, Lando makes a very dangerous enemy called Rokur Gepta, a strange being who is, or claims to be, a Sorcerer of Tund, a practitioner of Ancient Magics that Lando, naturally enough, assumes are entirely hogwash. In the third and final book, Lando comes to the aid of a race of manta-ray-like beings called oswaft, who live in deep space and can move at will through hyperspace — an early version of the purrgil space-whales of REBELS, albeit unequivocally sentient — and who are about to be wiped out by a military blockade.

Unlike in the movie SOLO, Smith's young Lando considers himself a gambler and con artiste, not a smuggler or soldier of fortune, making his living at sabacc (a game Smith invented for these books) and only very rarely carrying a weapon big enough to spoil the line of his cummerbund. After winning the Millennium Falcon just prior to the beginning of the first book, he's actually keen to unload the ship because he doesn't know how to fly, preferring to travel by luxury liner. Lando similarly acquires a droid who becomes his sidekick: Vuffi Raa, a mechanical starfish with his brain in his central body and five detachable tentacles that can alternatively serve as arm, leg, or "face." (This description apparently defeated cover artist William Schmidt; the droid on the cover of the first book does have tentacles, but doesn't otherwise resemble how Smith describes Vuffi.)

Smith, who died in 2021, was a Libertarian gun nut, but editorial pushback keeps that to a low boil in these novels, which makes them by far the most readable of Smith's books for anyone who's not a Libertarian crank. There's still a wry and cynical anti-authoritarian streak, however, which is perfectly appropriate for Lando Calrissian.

Smith's take on Lando is really the best part of these books. You get a clear sense of how being a professional gambler shapes Lando's outlook, and while he's not exactly heroic, you can see a nascent set of principles taking shape. Unlike Han Solo (who isn't mentioned in these novels), Lando is self-possessed but not cocky, and he's much less inclined than Han is to solve problems with violence.

The actual plots are rather strange (especially MINDHARP, whose storyline hinges on some very uncomfortable attitudes about indigenous peoples, which are eventually upended in a way that's even more uneasy), and include some departures from STAR WARS lore that are occasionally distracting. The latter were not Smith's fault (he said later that he'd been forbidden to even mention previously established characters or settings, and had to fight to be allowed to include the Millennium Falcon), but I'm not sure who should be blamed for the books' peculiar shortage of female characters. It's entirely possible that Lucasfilm and/or Ballantine were reluctant to even imply any kind of romantic subplot for Lando — antiblackness at work — but there are precious few women at all, and I think only one of them has dialogue in more than one scene.

While the Han Solo books were in many respects foundational to what became known as the "Star Wars Expanded Universe," the Lando Calrissian novels were often overlooked and treated disdainfully in later SWEU sources (for many years, Wookieepedia didn't even have synopses of them!), although there are a few references to these books in SOLO. Nonetheless, they're quite interesting and are notably better-written than most SW tie-ins. For all their plot oddities, they also remain the most thoughtful treatment of Lando, a character who was relentlessly marginalized and mistreated in the Bantam novels and most of the post-1986 comics.

#books #lando calrissian adventures #l neil smith #william schmidt #star wars expanded universe #star wars #lando calrissian #vuffi raa #rokur gepta #lando calrissian and the mindharp of sharu #lando calrissian and the flamewind of oseon #lando calrissian and the starcave of thonboka #the post-ESB issues of the original marvel series #do okay by lando for the most part #on balance he's maybe too much of a doofus #but it feels like an effort to distinguish him from han #rather than the dismissive hostility of the later novels #antiblackness

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wornoutspines · 9 months

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The Marsh King's Daughter | Official Trailer

Daisy Ridley, Ben Mendelsohn and Garrett Hedlund star in the movie adaptation of Karen Dionne's ‘THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER’. #daisyridley #BenMendelsohn #TheMarshKingsDaughter #OfficialTrailer #FilmTwitter #moviestrailers

Writer: Karen Dionne (Novel), Elle Smith & Mark L. Smith (Screenplay) Director: Neil Burger Stars: Daisy Ridley, Ben Mendelsohn, Garrett Hedlund, Caren Pistorius, Brooklynn Prince, Gil Birmingham I want to read the book first but I might not have the time because on that trailer alone the movie sounds amazing. Releases October 6, 2023 If you like this content, please consider supporting the…

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badmovieihave · 2 years

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Bad movie I have The Matrix Resurrections 2021

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floorman3 · 7 months

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The Marsh King's Daughter Review- An Average Father Daughter Film With A Twist

I’ve seen a lot of films in my day about father-daughter relationships. The Marsh King is the latest in the genre of movies. It was intriguing to me because of the two stars at the front of it. Ben Mendelssohn and Daisy Ridley are both Star Wars alumni. So they are an interesting duo to lead this movie.Based on the book from Karen Dionna, it wasn’t as good as I had hoped beforehand. Helena…

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#Ben Mendelsohn #Brooklynn Prince #Daisy Ridley #Gol Birmingham #Karen Dionna #Lionsgate Films #Mark L Smith #Neil Burger #Roadside Attractions #The Marsh King&039;s Daughter

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nemospecific · 2 years

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Oh my GOD this libertarian tract jammed into a "sherlock holmes solves the murder of darwin, and they're tri-gendered space crabs" is so fucking DUMB

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tara-of-helium · 2 years

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The Gallatin Divergence. L. Neil Smith, 1985. Cover art by Rick Sternbach.

#the gallatin divergence #l neil smith #rick sternbach #science fiction #book #sci fi art #art #paperback

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allthingsgofestival · 7 months

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Peach Pit

Names (L to R, T to B): Peter Wilton, Christopher Vanderkooy, Neil Smith, Mikey Pascuzzi

Hometown: Vancouver, Canada

First kiss:

Peter: Long

Mikey: Terrible

Neil: In front of the whole school. It was at a dance.

Christopher: Mine was at the same dance. It wasn't with each other. I remember there was a nice piano ballad playing. It was a touching moment.

Description of your high school self:

Peter: Whipped

Mikey: Didn’t want to be there

Neil: Totally wants all of the attention at all times

Christopher: Giant cheeseball

What club you'd be in: Disc Golf

Tumblr Class of 2023 @ All Things Go

📸: Brooke Marsh

#peach pit #tumblr yearbook #tumblr university #all things go #all things go festival

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usaac-official · 2 months

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336th Fighter Squadron pilots photographed on their return from the Russian shuttle mission, 21 June - 5 July 1944. P-51 in background is unidentified but the name on the cowling is Millie M'Love. From L-R Capt. Neil van Wyk, Patterson, NJ; Lt. Harry E Dugan Jr., Denver, CO; Lt. Ferris S Harris, Houston, TX; Lt. Charles H. Shilke, Somerset, PA; Lt. Richard J Corbett, Madison, WI; Col. Benjamin S. Kelsey, Waterbury, CT. Sitting: Lt. Gilbert W Hunt, Hays, KS; Lt. Joseph A Patteeuw, Detroit, MI; Lt. George H. Logan Jr., Montclair, NJ; Lt. George C. Smith, Los Angeles, CA.

#usaac #usaaf #P-51 #Mustang #warbird #crew #aviation history #366 FS

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ineffabildaddy · 6 months

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tysm for the tag @celestialcrowley!!!

pick a song for each letter of your URL, and then tag that many people

so with each of these, i just thought of the first song that came to my head with that letter (without repeating artists) hehe

i - i need some sleep by the eels (cause i had to)

n - never grow up by taylor swift

e - everyday by buddy holly (u know we had to do it to em)

f - fallingforyou by the 1975

f - friend song by slaughter beach, dog

a - a certain romance by arctic monkeys

b - bewitched, bothered and bewildered by ella fitzgerald

i - inside of love by nada surf

l - little freak by harry styles

d - don’t go down by elliott smith

a - all of me by frank sinatra

d - down by the river by neil young

d - dead! by my chemical romance

y - yr husband by kevin devine

tagging: @raining-stars-somewhere-else @sad-chaos-goblin @crowleyslvt @voluptatiscausa @genderqueer-hippie @sentientsky @bowtiepastabitch @sabotage-on-mercury @dontbotheraziraphale @crowleys-bentley-and-plants @crowleyraejepsens @procrastiel @beelzzzebub @queer-reader-07

#not good omens #except the everyday mention #ineffabildaddy

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theunbearablelightnessofbein · 26 days

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Ringrazio, per così dire, la sadica @vpervaffanculo

Rules: Pick a song for every letter of your url and tag that many people

T - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths

H - Hurricane - Bob Dylan

E - Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode

U - Una Storia Sbagliata - Fabrizio De André

N - Now You're Taken - Mogwai

B - Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes

E - Ekki Múkk - Sigur Rós

A - Anonimo - Lucio Battisti

R - Rock the Casbah - The Clash

A - Alison - Slowdive

B - Bluebird of Happiness - Mojave 3

L - Lullaby - Low

E - Enver - Offlaga Disco Pax

L - L'equilibrio - Scisma

I - Incenerate - Sonic Youth

G - Grace - Jeff Buckley

H - High and Dry - Radiohead

T - Transmission - Joy Division

N - No Time No Space - Franco Battiato

E - Ecstasy - Soviet Soviet

S - Stranamore - Roberto Vecchioni

S - Stella di Mare - Lucio Dalla

O - One of These Days - Pink Floyd

F - Fade Into You - Mazzy Star

B - Breed - Nirvana

E - E Penso a Te - Lucio Battisti

I - I'm the Ocean - Neil Young

N - Nuvole Senza Messico - Giorgio Canali

G - Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp

Non taggo nessuno perché di alcuni avrei paura a vedere gli abbinamenti

#si ammetto che avrei messo anche Bia la sfida della magia #se ci sono errori capitemi #ho aggiunto pure la G finale perché anni fa tumbrl non me l'ha fatta mettere #è la prima e l'ultima volta #non taggatemi!!!!

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todaysdocument · 5 months

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Discharge Petition for H.R. 7152, the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Record Group 233: Records of the U.S. House of RepresentativesSeries: General Records

This item, H.R. 7152, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, faced strong opposition in the House Rules Committee. Howard Smith, Chairman of the committee, refused to schedule hearings for the bill. Emanuel Celler, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, attempted to use this discharge petition to move the bill out of committee without holding hearings. The petition failed to gain the required majority of Congress (218 signatures), but forced Chairman Smith to schedule hearings.

88th CONGRESS. House of Representatives No. 5 Motion to Discharge a Committee from the Consideration of a RESOLUTION (State whether bill, joint resolution, or resolution) December 9, 1963 To the Clerk of the House of Representatives: Pursuant to Clause 4 of Rule XXVII (see rule on page 7), I EMANUEL CELLER (Name of Member), move to discharge to the Commitee on RULES (Committee) from the consideration of the RESOLUTION; H. Res. 574 entitled, a RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H. R. 7152) which was referred to said committee November 27, 1963 in support of which motion the undersigned Members of the House of Representatives affix their signatures, to wit: 1. Emanuel Celler 2. John J. Rooney 3. Seymour Halpern 4. James G Fulton 5. Thomas W Pelly 6. Robt N. C. Nix 7. Jeffery Cohelan 8. W A Barrett 9. William S. Mailiard 10. 11. Augustus F. Hawkins 12. Otis G. Pike 13. Benjamin S Rosenthal 14. Spark M Matsunaga 15. Frank M. Clark 16. William L Dawson 17. Melvin Price 18. John C. Kluczynski 19. Barratt O'Hara 20. George E. Shipley 21. Dan Rostenkowski 22. Ralph J. Rivers[page] 2 23. Everett G. Burkhalter 24. Robert L. Leggett 25. William L St Onge 26. Edward P. Boland 27. Winfield K. Denton 28. David J. Flood 29. 30. Lucian N. Nedzi 31. James Roosevelt 32. Henry C Reuss 33. Charles S. Joelson 34. Samuel N. Friedel 35. George M. Rhodes 36. William F. Ryan 37. Clarence D. Long 38. Charles C. Diggs Jr 39. Morris K. Udall 40. Wm J. Randall 41. 42. Donald M. Fraser 43. Joseph G. Minish 44. Edith Green 45. Neil Staebler 46. 47. Ralph R. Harding 48. Frank M. Karsten 49. 50. John H. Dent 51. John Brademas 52. John E. Moss 53. Jacob H. Gilbert 54. Leonor K. Sullivan 55. John F. Shelley 56. 57. Lionel Van Deerlin 58. Carlton R. Sickles 59. 60. Edward R. Finnegan 61. Julia Butler Hansen 62. Richard Bolling 63. Ken Heckler 64. Herman Toll 65. Ray J Madden 66. J Edward Roush 67. James A. Burke 68. Frank C. Osmers Jr 69. Adam Powell 70. 71. Fred Schwengel 72. Philip J. Philiben 73. Byron G. Rogers 74. John F. Baldwin 75. Joseph Karth 76. 77. Roland V. Libonati 78. John V. Lindsay 79. Stanley R. Tupper 80. Joseph M. McDade 81. Wm Broomfield 82. 83. 84. Robert J Corbett 85. 86. Craig Hosmer87. Robert N. Giaimo 88. Claude Pepper 89. William T Murphy 90. George H. Fallon 91. Hugh L. Carey 92. Robert T. Secrest 93. Harley O. Staggers 94. Thor C. Tollefson 95. Edward J. Patten 96. 97. Al Ullman 98. Bernard F. Grabowski 99. John A. Blatnik 100. 101. Florence P. Dwyer 102. Thomas L. ? 103. 104. Peter W. Rodino 105. Milton W. Glenn 106. Harlan Hagen 107. James A. Byrne 108. John M. Murphy 109. Henry B. Gonzalez 110. Arnold Olson 111. Harold D Donahue 112. Kenneth J. Gray 113. James C. Healey 114. Michael A Feighan 115. Thomas R. O'Neill 116. Alphonzo Bell 117. George M. Wallhauser 118. Richard S. Schweiker 119. 120. Albert Thomas 121. 122. Graham Purcell 123. Homer Thornberry 124. 125. Leo W. O'Brien 126. Thomas E. Morgan 127. Joseph M. Montoya 128. Leonard Farbstein 129. John S. Monagan 130. Brad Morse 131. Neil Smith 132. Harry R. Sheppard 133. Don Edwards 134. James G. O'Hara 135. 136. Fred B. Rooney 137. George E. Brown Jr. 138. 139. Edward R. Roybal 140. Harris. B McDowell jr. 141. Torbert H. McDonall 142. Edward A. Garmatz 143. Richard E. Lankford 144. Richard Fulton 145. Elizabeth Kee 146. James J. Delaney 147. Frank Thompson Jr 148. 149. Lester R. Johnson 150. Charles A. Buckley4 151. Richard T. Hanna 152. James Corman 153. Paul A Fino 154. Harold M. Ryan 155. Martha W. Griffiths 156. Adam E. Konski 157. Chas W. Wilson 158. Michael J. Kewan 160. Alex Brooks 161. Clark W. Thompson 162. John D. Gringell [?] 163. Thomas P. Gill 164. Edna F. Kelly 165. Eugene J. Keogh 166 John. B. Duncan 167. Elmer J. Dolland 168. Joe Caul 169. Arnold Olsen 170. Monte B. Fascell [?] 171. [not deciphered] 172. J. Dulek 173. Joe W. [undeciphered] 174. J. J. Pickle [Numbers 175 through 214 are blank]

#archivesgov #December 12 #1963 #civil rights #civil rights act of 1964 #1960s

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the-dust-jacket · 1 year

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Hello. I've already read the Kingston Cycle, Half a Soul and I'm about to finish the Stariel books. Do you have more recommendations? Thank you in advance.

Oh absolutely!

A Matter of Magic, by Patricia C. Wrede (for cross-country Regency romps, rogues, magicians, spies, and Ladies of Quality)

A Marvellous Light, by Freya Marske (for murder and mystery and secret Edwardian wizardry, romance, grand old houses and creepy curses)

Spellbound, by Allie Therin (for forbidden love, found family, and frightening magic in 1920s New York)

Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal (for frothy and impeccably evocative Regency magic)

Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho (for schemes both magical and mundane and the world of fairy crossing into the world of the tonne)

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis (for laugh-out-loud time travel shenanigans and questionable Victorian aesthetic choices)

Soulless, by Gail Carriger (for vampire assassins, werewolf aristocrats, interrupted tea time, and other terrible inconveniences which may beset a young lady)

A little darker:

The Magpie Lord, by KJ Charles (for semi-secret magical society, creepy family estate, steamy romance all in an Extremely Victorian Gothic setting)

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke (clever and deeply atmospheric tour of a magical 19th century England, but definitely not romance)

Salt Magic, Skin Magic, by Lee Welch (for curses and magical bonds and frightening fairies)

Widdershins, by Jordan L Hawk (for Gilded Age mystery and romance featuring Lovecraftian horror and humor)

More fantasy:

Uprooted, by Naomi Novik (for fairytale magic and whimsy, adventure and romance and creepy trees)

Seducing the Sorcerer, by Lee Welch (for wizard fashion, romance and humor and whimsical magic)

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman (for wild romps in the fairyland next door, alternately humorous and haunting)

More historical:

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles (for saucy Regency romance and determined social scheming)

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (for dry humor, wacky hijinx, and extended family shenanigans)

Hither Page or The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian (village and manor house mysteries respectively, featuring lots of queer romance and found family with a dash of jaded post-war espionage)

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (for yearning and laughs and first love and an eccentric family living in an increasingly run down castle)

A little farther from the brief, but might be worth checking out On Vibes:

The Left Handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, by Diana Wynne Jones

His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik (more Regency fantasy, but full on Age of Sail adventure rather than comedy of manners, romance, or secret magic)

Among Others, by Jo Walton

Arabella of Mars, by David D. Levine

A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan

It also sounds like a Georgette Heyer or Jeeves and Wooster binge would be really fun right now!

#ask a bookseller #love that? read this!

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sophiebernadotte · 1 month

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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another instalment of the Fandom project! This time, we are once again discussing books, this time, young adult books. Check out previous posts in this series here.

Once again, the list is quite long, so I will just mention the wiki and not go into deeper details about what each one needs help with. If I did that, the post would be too long, and no one would have time for it.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, if you can create & edit a Tumblr post, you can edit articles on a wiki. Here, you can find an easy step-by-step guide on how to get started with contributing, but you can also message me & I will help guide you through any question marks.

13 Treasures Series // A Walk to Remember // The Amateurs // The Archived // Artemis Fowl // Beautiful Disaster // Big Little Lies // The Bone Season // Books of History Chronicles // The Book Thief

Charlaine Harris // Chris Van Allsburg // Chronicles of Nick // Cornelia Funke // Covenant // Dan Brown // Daughter of Smoke and Bone // Destroyermen // The Devil Wears Prada // Diana Wynne Jones // Divergent // The Diviners Series

Emily of New Moon // Endgame // Eric Flint // Famous in Love // The Fault in Our Stars // Fever/Highlander // Fifty Shades of Grey // Fire and Thorns // Gabriel Allon // Gail Carriger // Gail Carson Levine // Gallagher Girls // The Giver // Guards of the Shadowlands

Half Bad Trilogy // Hardy Boys // Hush, Hush // If I Stay // Island in the Sea of Time // J. K. Rowling // Jane Austen // John Green // John Wayne Cleaver // Just One Day // L. J. Smith // The Last Kingdom // Little Britches // Little Women // Lockwood & Co. // The Lone City // The Lovely Bones // The Lying Game

Mara Dyer // Maximum Ride // Me Before You // Meg Cabot // Millenium Trilogy // Monsters of Verity // Mortdecai // Neil Gaiman // Nerve // Outlander // Paws and Claws Mysteries // The Phantom of the Opera // Phillip K. Dick

R.L. Stine // Rain of the Ghosts // The Reckoners // Red Queen // Roman Mysteries // The Selection // Shades of London // Sharpe // Shopaholic // Sir Robert Carey Mysteries // Starbound Trilogy // Starcrossed // Storm and Silence

Takashi Matsuoka // Trudi Canavan // Uglies // Unearthly // Unenchanted // Vicious // We Were Liars // Wicked Lovely // The Witchlands // The Work and the Glory

If your favourite book or series isn't mentioned here, I suggest checking out the literature page, the book club or go to this page & simply search for your favourite book/series/author. Its almost guaranteed to have their own wiki!

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donaruz · 1 month

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Sono passati 30 anni da quel 5 aprile del 1994, quando Kurt Cobain, leader del gruppo Nirvana, si suicidò con un fucile calibro 20 compratogli dall’amico Dylan Carlson, il frontman degli Earth.

Il corpo verrà ritrovato solo l’8 aprile dall’elettricista Gary Smith presso il garage della casa di Seattle sul lago Washington. "

Accanto al corpo, una scatola contenente droga, un cucchiaio, aghi, sigarette e un paio di occhiali da sole, così come hanno rivelato alcune immagini scattate dopo il ritrovamento del corpo e rese note alcuni giorni fa. Poco sangue, quasi nulla, e una lettera indirizzata alla moglie Courtney Love e alla figlia Frances Bean.

Il leader dei Nirvana, da molti considerato il vero padre del grunge, è morto come aveva vissuto, stordito dai farmaci e dalla droga, imprigionato - le parole sono le sue - nella paura di vivere e “avverso al genere umano”, a tal punto da non avere più “nessuna emozione”. “It’s better to burn out then to fade away (E’ meglio bruciare in fretta che spegnersi lentamente)”, scrive Cobain nel suo commiato, citando Neil Young (che oggi dice: “Se avessi avuto la possibilità di parlare con lui gli avrei detto di mollare tutto, di fare altre cose, di allontanarsi da quel mondo”).

L’inizio - letterale - della sua fine ha una data ben precisa. Due mesi prima del suicidio, il 3 marzo, in una suite dell’hotel Excelsior in via Veneto a Roma, Cobain andò in overdose. Con lui c’erano la moglie e la figlia, nella capitale per trascorrere qualche giorno di relax dopo l’ultimo concerto del tour europeo dei Nirvana, a Monaco. Già in quella occasione molti parlarono di tentato suicidio. Ricoverato al Policlinico Umberto I, Cobain fu poi trasferito all’American Hospital, prima di tornare negli States.

Le settimane successive furono un lungo preludio alla fine annunciata. Depressione, droga, molta droga, tranquillanti, e nessuna voglia di vedere la luce del sole. L’uomo simbolo del grunge aveva semplicemente scelto di morire. Da solo. Un altro nome nella macabra lista del ‘Club 27’, che allora contava, fra gli altri, anche Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix e Brian Jones, tutti geni della musica morti tragicamente a 27 anni. A loro, il 23 luglio 2011, si è unita anche Amy Winehouse.

#musica #kurt cobain

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