Brandon Sanderson (2018). Skyward.

OK, so after enjoying Elantris and failing to do the same with Mistborn, I tried this YA novel. There is a short story set in the same universe, hundreds of years before, Defending Elysium. Tiny SPOILER: in the short story there are cyber-enhanced psionics that can be rather powerful. D&D-like powerful; Bester's The Stars My Destination powerful. Nothing like the subtler psi in David Brin's The Uplift saga, or the way Frank Herbert managed the psi/supernatural.


Now, about Skyward proper: The training of a wannabe cadet/soldier/pilot is a classic theme of SF. From before the Golden Age to Heinlein to Scott Card and beyond. So far, Sanderson manages to confer the story some original aspects, while making it very engrossing. Really, this is a page turner that developes at a pace that will beg for a sequel (it does exist, Starsight). The protagonist is a female teenager that can throw a tantrum or two and makes mistakes, but she can learn from those mistakes as well. A nice read that can be recommended to any child or kid that you care for.

A good light reading for either the younger ones or tired grownups at the end of a long day.

Globale Corona-Politik: Das Gegenteil von "Schutz" und "Solidaritaet" by Tobias Riegel

Risiken und Nebenwirkungen, aber keine Packungsbeilage. Die Corona-Eindaemmung droht mehr Leid zu verursachen, als sie verhindert. by Ralf Wurzbacher

The Vampire Wish

I'm still going through Sigmund Freud's The Unconscious, but I'm finding it easier to understand than I expected, and found some really good quotes to use for a uni essay too! The way he talks about stimulus as a motivation for the psyche is specifically the type of thing I want to use. It's my first foray into reading Freud but I'm actually enjoying it more than I thought I would.

Das neue Internet by Dharmendra Laur

Working on the newest Dean Koontz book which the title escapes me right now : /

Just started reading Swords of Steel, an omnibus of fantasy and horror fiction written by heavy metal musicians (Bal-Sagoth, Manilla Road, Slough Feg, Eternal Champion, etc.).

Reading Reina Roja (Red Queen) by Juan Gómez-Jurado. A thriller starring a cop fallen from grace and the most intelligent woman in the planet.

Wenn die Herrschenden den Stier an den Hoernern packen und die Linke nicht einmal den Stier sieht by Wolf Wetzel

Rhythm of War, the new Stormlight Archive book by Brandon Sanderson. The man knows how to write a huge fantasy epic, that's for sure ...

I've been reading a lot Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte by Adelbert von Chamisso. Fantasy book from 1813. A man sells his shadow for a magic bag that provides him with an infinite amount of money. He will discover that his shadow had more worth than he thought. And will find the 7 miles boots, with which he will travel the world. It's a graded reader, not full-lenght. Next I'll be reading another graded reader, a collection of Kafka's short tales.

this just started:
Donald Trump Jr.’s book Triggered

everybody should read this book
it explains a lot from our current culture , learn a lot how this forum functions

After Peter Schlemihl I'm back to German graded readers: some Kafka short stories I had never read in Italian before, the Baron of Münchhausen and Simplicius Simplicissimus - a picaresque novel that's considered the first adventure novel in German. I think now I can also try and watch the TV series adaptation from the 70s - it does not have English subs but I think I'm up to the task now. Then I should finish that Rainer Maria Rilke collection I bought a couple of months ago, I don't want to "backlog" books again.

Reading The Third Man by Graham Greene.

I just read that they were adapting "Good Morning, Midnight" (by Lily Brooks-dalton) for Netflix, and I decided to start reading it before I got spoiled.

I'm also reading "A Short History of Byzantium", by historian John Julius Norwich, and "Welcome to the Universe", by Neil deGrasse Tyson and other authors.

Also some short stories in German. They are boring as hell, but it is the only way to learn a language. Just like I did with English or French.