@Rhube@wandering.shop cover
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

Rhube

@Rhube@wandering.shop

She's just this guy, you know?

I'm a science fiction and fantasy writer. I like robots and dragons, silliness and literature.

Used to be an academic; may get too deep into analytic philosophy unexpectedly.

I'm agender and disabled #MECFS

Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi: http://ko-fi.com/drrhube
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/rhube

No unsolicited advice.

Not keen on DMs.

Note: CFS drastically reduces my spoons. If I miss an alt description please don't chastise or quiz me about it.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

dilmandila , to bookstodon group
@dilmandila@mograph.social avatar

I'm trying to read This Is How You Lose The Time War, but I'm struggling to understand what is going on, and I'm not sure if it gets better. It feels like a dense read. I heard so much about it, but perhaps I'm too impatient?

@bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@leapingwoman @uep @dilmandila @bookstodon this is good to know. I was considering listening to it as an audiobook, but it sounds like I would struggle with that. I will wait until I can get the book in print.

Rhube , to bookstodon group
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

This is hilarious: Audible has a version of The Art of War narrated by Aiden Gillan.

It's like Littlefinger divulging all his strategies for the Game of Thrones. @bookstodon

LincolnRamirez , to bookstodon group
@LincolnRamirez@mstdn.social avatar

I've been thinking of finally reading some Stephen King, but no idea where to start.

Go for one of the likes of his famous work, like the Shining or the Green Mile? Or something lesser known?

@bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@LincolnRamirez @bookstodon The Dark Tower is outstanding.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@LincolnRamirez @bookstodon fair. He has a lot of range. It is excellent.

For a shorter read, some of his novellas are fantastic - The Shawshank Redemption for a more real-world read. The Long Walk for chilling dystopia, or The Running Man for violent, action-packed dystopia (those are wrotten under the name Richard Bachman). I know others have recommended The Stand, and it is good. But many seemingly stand-alone novels, like It and The Stand are in fact part of the Dark Tower universe.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@LincolnRamirez @bookstodon I enjoyed The Green Mile when it came out in the 90s in chapbook form, but I always think it would be odd to read as a single novel. The whole purpose of that experiment was for King to wrote something the way Dickens did, in installments. It's probably fine, but if yoy can get it in chap book form, that's the ideal.

Uair , to bookstodon group
@Uair@autistics.life avatar

@bookstodon

Idea:

Bookstores should group fantasy with horror instead of scifi. Both fantasy and horror are purely creations of the author's mind; scifi is tethered to factual information.

If you need to group scifi, I'd put it with mysteries and thrillers.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@Uair @bookstodon hogwash.

SF and F are grouped together because they are speculative - they answer the question 'what if?' - which horror can also do, and that's why it is already frequently grouped with them. But SF is not fundamentally more rooted in facts than fantasy. That's a mistake along the same lines as supposing fantasy can't be realistic simply because it contains the fantastic. SF's questions are rooted in science, but it's every bit as capable of becoming divorced from facts.>

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@Uair @bookstodon >and the idea it's close to mystery is just damn strange.

This is just the weird, gatekeeping idea that SF is somehow 'superior' and shouldn't be sullied by fantasy. It's not just nonsense, it's harmful nonsense.

dickrubin716 , to bookstodon group
@dickrubin716@bookstodon.com avatar

I would love to get your thoughts and feedback on my #BookCover from my latest book, The Challenges of Being Me. Do you like it? Does it capture your attention? Without knowing anything about the book, what genre would you say this cover best fits? #writingcommunity #bookstodon #authors @bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@dickrubin716 @noodlemaz @willaful @benetnasch @bookstodon I wouldn't go with a hand-writing font as they can be difficult to read. The font is a little plain, but not bad. It does come too close to the edges of cover, though - try to give it more space.

You could also use some blending options on the text layer to give it a little distance from the image, such as an outer glow or a drop shadow.

The image could also use a little more contrast to reduce the washed-out effect.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@dickrubin716 @noodlemaz @willaful @benetnasch @bookstodon I think people are getting memoir because of the naturalistic photo and the person standing alone. This says that it's very much about one person's journey, rather than a YA romance. If you want to suggest romance, having more than one person on the cover would help. I can see coming of age, but the person looks a little old for that (hard to tell from the back of course, but the B&W also gives this a more mature feel).

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@dickrubin716 @noodlemaz @willaful @benetnasch @bookstodon your name also looks a little squashed over to the side. I get that you don't want it to interfere with the image, but there's just not enough space for it to sit comfortably beside the figure. I would have it on one line centred (with an outer glow or stroke effect to make it legible).

franciscawrites , to bookstodon group
@franciscawrites@mastodon.scot avatar

Can you name a film that was adapted not from a novel, but from a short story?
Here's one:

The Illusionist (2006)

@bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@franciscawrites @bookstodon The Shawshank Redemption, and I think it benefits from it. King's longer works rarely adapt in a faithful way that's also good, but being shorter enables the story to be told in full, at a good pace, with all the detail.

Jennifer , to bookstodon group
@Jennifer@bookstodon.com avatar

I need some new science fiction to read, who has some suggestions? I don't like military sci-fi. For reference, my favorite series is the Expanse, I also enjoyed Scalzi's Collapsing Empire, I love Robert Charles Wilson's books. I mostly enjoy space operas and unique stories about technology, for example I really liked the recent book Mountain in the Sea about AI and intelligent octopus. Suggestions from the awesome Bookstodon community? @bookstodon #Bookstodon #Scifi #ScienceFiction

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@Sablebadger @RHW @Jennifer @bookstodon yesssss, very recommended for this.

weirdwriter , to bookstodon group

Is it just me, or is self/indie publishing having it's midlife crisis tech bro moment? https://robertkingett.com/posts/6564/ #Publishing @bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@weirdwriter @bookstodon that's not how I would put it. I would say that indie publishing is being buried by grifters churning out millions of stolen words, so that it's harder to find genuine indie books.

So-called 'generative-AI' isn't indie publishing - it's scam artists stealing from indie publishers, writers, and artists.

RikerGoogling Bot , to random
@RikerGoogling@botsin.space avatar

can't turn off yellow alert

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@RikerGoogling that's called anxiety.

CultureDesk , to bookstodon group
@CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

In celebration of the 50th birthday of Stephen King's first novel, "Carrie," NPR polled its readers on their favorite King books. Here's what they chose. Which is your top pick? Tell us in the comments if there's a gem that didn't make the cut.

https://flip.it/f9sriI

#StephenKing #Books #Bookstodon @bookstodon #Fiction #Reading #Poll

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@CultureDesk @bookstodon lol - The Stand is a Dark Tower book.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@dfrancis @CultureDesk @bookstodon tbf, I said that and realised most of the list were. But I would argue that The Stabd has the most direct Dark Tower content. I mean, the Ageless Stranger is there as the main antagonist.

breadandcircuses , to random
@breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

Yeah.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@Npars01 @breadandcircuses anti-depressants are NOT the same as cheap state-sponsored alcohol- jfc. What ableist nonsense is this. Utterly gross.

Rhube , to random
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

I hate everything.

No way am I cleaning this up before the dentist's.

I bought fancy muesli and cheap muesli and was mixing them together to make Tolerable Muesli that would last longer and it combined weight of 2kg of muesli was more than I expected and the lid came off and this happened.

Now I have to buy more muesli and I have no breakfast and I have to clean up a huge mess on the floor.

I hate everything.

Rhube OP ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

Aaaaand a filling just came out. Because of course it did. That means ANOTHER dentist appointment. Genuinely unsure if this morning can get any worse.

Rhube OP ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

Please supply sympathy. I was dreading this morning and this goes well beyond my worst fears.

Rhube OP ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@ergative @thelatestkate thank you 💜

Rhube , to random
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

I have always thought that Keiko could do better than Miles O'Brien.

Rhube OP ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@ergative 'The fact that Keiko gives up her own profession as a botanist to follow Miles to his new assignment.' This exactly - AND SHE RESENTS IT, BUT NEVER LEAVES HIM.

I just watched the episode where they get married and... it was Like That from the start! Keiko gets 'cold feet', but is shown to have just been a silly woman who was never serious about not getting married in the end. Like 🤬 this was a sign that should have been taken seriously, before you guys brought a child into your>

luckytran , to random
@luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

Long-term, sustainable solutions to COVID:

➡️ Develop next-gen/nasal vaccines that greatly reduce transmission
➡️ Normalize masking and make respirators free
➡️ Regulate indoor air quality
➡️ Develop effective treatments for Long COVID
➡️ Make healthcare free and guarantee paid sick leave

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@luckytran I would put developing effective treatments for Long COVID much higher up that list, but otherwise, yes.

Rhube , to bookstodon group
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

This is a shot in the dark, but I'm looking for an audiobook on the history and archaeology of Troy/Hisarlik, preferably reflecting more recent academic work than 2011 (the date of the work I've just been listening to). I'm interested in a work by an academic who really knows what they're talking about, not popular history with unexamined bias.

It's OK if it's situated within a broader history of Ancient Anatolia or similar, as long as it covers Troy in detail. Any recs? @bookstodon

Rhube OP ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@athena_rising @bookstodon Thank you! These sound good!

Rhube , to random
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

If you're on Tumblr, the AI scraping is being rolled out NOW NOW NOW.

You can turn on 'Prevent third-party sharing for [blog name]' to opt out.

You have to do this for each blog individually. It wasn't there for me at first, but when I navigated to my blog settings via View blog it updated - don't know if that was coincidence. Anyway:

On web: select Account > Your blog > View blog > Blog Settings

I'm off to see if there's anything I can do on WP. #tumblr

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon group
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

@bookstodon Do you own any autographed books? If so, did you personally meet the author at a signing?

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon Yes, several, and in most cases I was there at the signing. But when I got Robin Hobb to sign my book I was gushing too much about Alien Earth (a different book she wrote under Megan Lindholm) and she was distracted and wrote 'Wishes best' instead of 'Best wishes' and this is why I can never meet my heroes I am SO EMBARRASSING.

kenthompson , to bookstodon group
@kenthompson@mastodon.world avatar

, anyone? Perfect example from publishing. A publisher is using AI to write crappy nonfiction, then assigning author names that almost match leading experts in that field (to trick search engines). No doubt other AIs will now search those texts as authoritative. This is done solely to make money and only makes the world a worse place.
@bookstodon @pluralistic

https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/book-club/

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@peachfront @hexbatch @diazona @OhOkKay @kenthompson @bookstodon @pluralistic this - like everything else, they will ban your book and not accept any argument to the contrary.

Like, I approve of the stance against AI, but this is absolutely not going to be applied fairly or in a way you can rebut.

Learning how to use git to make all your changes is utterly pointless. They will not care.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@peachfront @OhOkKay @hexbatch @diazona @kenthompson @bookstodon @pluralistic it is extremely rare for it to be that easy.

CultureDesk , to bookstodon group
@CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

"Gen Z is bringing back reading," says The Week, which leads us to wonder what the heck it is we've been doing all these years. But, the publication explains, it's not just reading — it's real books, made of paper. Per research published in @TheConversationUS: "Gen Zers and millennials prefer books in print over e-books and audiobooks" which has manifested in an "unlikely love affair with their local libraries." Here's a breakdown of what might be happening. We want to know: How do you like to read these days?

https://flip.it/zJEJAK

@bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@CultureDesk @TheConversationUS @bookstodon as a Millennial I massively prefer print. As someone with sensory issues I can only really do print or audio books. Ebooks are actively bad for me.

dbsalk , to bookstodon group
@dbsalk@mastodon.social avatar

At the end of Song of Susannah (Dark Tower VI), Stephen King includes a series of diary entries, purportedly his own but there's discussion among fans if they're real or fictionalized. In one, he writes "Meanwhile, I have an idea for a novel about a lady who buys a picture in a pawnshop and then kind of falls into it."

Help me, fellow Constant Readers: was that story ever written? The plot is not familiar, but sounds like one I'd enjoy. #Books #StephenKing #Bookstodon #Fiction @bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@dbsalk @bookstodon It's Rosemadder - not one of his best,but worth a look! Content Warning: very much about domestic violence and trying to escape it.

adriano , to bookstodon group
@adriano@lile.cl avatar

I think it’s finally time to read Pride and Prejudice @bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@adriano @bookstodon it is a good'un.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@adriano @bookstodon lol 😂 I've seen the film of that - fun, but a little different in places.

Rhube ,
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@adriano @bookstodon Like, not in as many scenes, for sure.

chelming , to bookstodon group
@chelming@social.sndevs.com avatar

I have a goal of turning every book I read this year into an earring. I got started a little late in Jan so I missed about 5 of them and have ~5 made so far. I'm not sure that I'll go back and do the ones that I missed.

@bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@Jennifer @BZBrainz @chelming @bookstodon Murderbot ftw!

Rhube , to random
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

Fantastic news, everyone! Confirmation that people in the England and Scotland will finally be able to buy COVID vaccines privately in April!

Of course, they should all be free on the NHS, but this is a huge deal for vulnerable people like me who couldn't get vaccinated at all! https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/covid-and-flu-jabs-can-you-get-free-jabs-aSS3y3s0bDZH

Rhube OP ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@ergative no problem!

bibliolater , to bookstodon group
@bibliolater@qoto.org avatar

What is the most difficult #nonfiction or #academic #book you have ever #read? What made the #book so difficult for you? Would you #recommend others #read that #book?

#Question #Questions #Reading #AmReading #ReadingCommunity #Books #Ebook #Ebooks #Bookstodon @reading @bookstodon

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@bibliolater @MarianHellema @reading @bookstodon when I was doing my PhD another grad was German and she said she preferred to read Kant in English because it was even harder in German - at least with the translation someone had already tried to work out the meaning of the words.

But for me, Kant was nothing to Hegel. My lowest marks of my undergrad were for the Hegel course. I needed Peter Singer's Very Short Introduction to Hegel to explain it to me 🤣

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@bibliolater @MarianHellema @reading @bookstodon it's kind of fascinating, because he was writing under heavy censorship and trying to obscure some of his meaning from the authorities. But even so...

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@MarianHellema @bibliolater @reading @bookstodon Well, it's just the truth, not really a story.

GottaLaff , to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

🔥🔥🔥 !! (Trump’s in court to see this) 1/
Inner City Press:

Judge Kaplan: I'm advised the jury has reached a verdict. We will have no outbursts in these proceedings, we will maintain decorum. Bring in the jury.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@GottaLaff niiiiiiice.

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon group
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

@bookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon

Did your parent(s) try to hide certain books from you, while you were growing up?

I think my mom would have done better to just mix Rubyfruit Jungle in with all the other books, instead of putting it by itself on top of the bookcase. Curious teenaged me found it.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon Not to my knowledge. There were weird random films my dad wouldn't let me watch alone (Trainspotting and Repulsion) but not books. Random considering some of the films he was perfectly fine with me watching.

To my knowledge, my parents didn't police what I read at all, they only cared that I did read, and I'm glad of that.

KitMuse , to bookstodon group
@KitMuse@eponaauthor.social avatar

I need your help #bookstodon. One of the classes I'm taking at the graduate level this semester is Religion & Science Fiction. I read more fantasy, and would like to do my research paper on something that's not obvious (like ST/BS5/Matrix/etc.) & I'd love to use more modern sf rather than the golden age classics.

Anyone have any interesting ideas for my research paper on regarding the intersection of religion and science fiction?

@bookstodon #sciencefiction #scifi #ReligiousStudies #academia

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@KitMuse @bookstodon this isn't a book (or that deep) but my RE teacher used Darth Vader turning away from the Dark Side and Luke burning his body to teach us about symbolism.

He was a nerd and lay preacher and geeky child me wanted to absorb it all. On the book side he put me onto A Canticle for Leibowitz and Earth Abides, both of which consider new religions forming in a post-apocalypse world.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@KitMuse @bookstodon there's some discussion of religion in Stand on Zanzibar, where John Brunner correctly predicts the rise of right-wing Christian extremism in the US as a counter to the hippy movement and rejection of religion, although he focuses on extreme right Catholicism (Right Catholics) rather than the evangelical and extreme puritanism we're seeing now. The book's theme is overpopulation, with Right Catholics being against birth control in an already overpopulated world.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@KitMuse @bookstodon it's a complicated book with a lot going on, but that is one of its themes. Also interesting from the POV of drawing on fictional sociologist Chad C Mulligan to provide commentary. I can't remember if he directly discusses the Right Catholics in the extracts from Mulligan's work, but I'm sure he does at some point, and it would be interesting to explore the layers of commentary in this as a presentation of religious tensions.

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@kitoconnell @KitMuse @bookstodon Yes!! That's one of the quotes that stuck with me - my dad (who got me into Brunner) was always quoting that.

Context for those who haven't read it: said by a junkie staring at a screen tuned to white noise. There's definitely a lot of people searching for meaning in other ways.

I take the perspective that the science in Stand on Zanzibar is sociology, more than anything, and the ultimate conclusion of the book can be seen as finding alternative sources of>

Rhube ,
@Rhube@wandering.shop avatar

@kitoconnell @KitMuse @bookstodon >meaning in loving one another, rather than fighting against overpopulation as such. The problem is not that there are too many people, but in how people relate to each other - and to a large extent, colonialist attitudes to how people occupy space.

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