The primary protagonist of Charlie N. Holmberg’s latest novel,
Spellbreaker, has had a difficult life. Elsie Camden was mysteriously abandoned as a young child and subsequently delivered to a workhouse. She later became a servant for a truly odious master and now, although she is thankful to be a valued assistant for a stonemason and artist, she is still ever-conscious of her precarious existence. A young woman of the lower class in the late Victorian era can take few chances and holds few prospects. For Elsie, everything is much more complicated as she is a rogue spellbreaker in an England where magic users are registered, recognized, and powerful. If she is found out, she faces a grim end. As long as she stays beneath notice, however, she will be okay. But then Elsie gets caught, and her careful little life begins to unravel, revealing a history full of plots and subterfuge that she never knew existed.
(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) It was tad more expensive than they would have imagined, the costliest buy in IPL history, but the Rajasthan Royals went the distance to finally get their man. And former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, the newly-appointed Director of Cricket of the Rajasthan Royals, felt that Chris Morris was worth much more than every penny that they shelled out.
Following a bidding war with defending champions Mumbai Indians, his former franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore and the rechristened Punjab Kings, the Royals managed to prise out the South African all-rounder for a whopping Rs. 16.22 crore ($2.25 million).
The 33-year-old returns to the Royals fold after being part of the squad in 2015 and Sangakkara said that Morris inclusion opens up a lot of options on how they can use English pace ace Jofra Archer.
I was on not one but
two award juries in 2020. I told myself it was reasonable because there was a lot of overlap in the potential nominee pools, so it wouldn’t be
that much extra reading. I didn’t count on 2020 being a year of unusual strain and psychic deterioration, which increased the difficulty of reading, thinking, making critical judgments, and really doing anything that required executive function. Still, I got through my mountains of books, and even found some comfort (or, at least, distraction) there. I’ll highlight ten of my favorites.
The best book of the year for me was
Following reports of calls for political violence on Baen’s Bar, the online forum of Baen Books, and the subsequent temporary closure of the board by publisher Toni Weisskopf, Discon III, the 2021 Worldcon, has announced that it has removed Weisskopf as guest of honor.
Chair Bill Lawhorn sent a press release on February 19:
DisCon III condemns the violent and hostile content found within Baen Books’ forums. We also cannot condone the fact such content was enabled and allowed to ferment for so long. We want to make it clear abusive behavior is not, and will not be, tolerated at DisCon III. Such behavior goes entirely against our already established policies concerning inclusivity and creating a welcoming environment for our members, which can be found here: https://discon3.org/