Quick and more quick

I've been putting this off because I thought I'd have more time later in the week, but it's already Thursday, and I've got way too much to say and write and do, so here's we go:

 

Portabello mushrooms, potato pancakes (with sweet & sour sauce) and 49-clove broccoli (with added cauliflower), the latter two from Appetite for Reduction. Amazing. The potato pancakes were better the next day. I do think thinner and crispier is the way to go, compared to the ones below, but now I know. (And I may try them with olive oil in the future, rather than sesame. We'll see.)

Cutest cat in the world. Even with the two inch bloody scratch across my chest he gave me when I picked him up last night. And he knows he's not allowed on this blanket, because it makes him way too happy, and then not-good-things happen. But I couldn't bear to kick him off when he acts this cute.

And yesterday, I finally finished Kameron Hurley's God's War. I have a few serious nitpicks, including the fact that the religious war never really worked for me. I didn't once really feel the faith there, not the way I did in Dan Simmons' first two Hyperion books, with the Shrike and the obsession around it. That is the way to write religion. Also, some really frustrating lag in pace about one-fourth the way in; I can't say I've ever read a book like that before (versus the typical 3rd act lag). However, the pluses WAY outnumber the cons. The world is so jam-packed full of color and life and ugliness that this is really a must read for anyone who likes exotic worldbuilding or sucks at it and needs to get better. It's just breathtaking. On top of that is main character, Nyx, who is wonderfully hardcore, and Hurley lets everything possible hit Nyx like a sledgehammer, throwing curveball after curveball and it was a wild, exciting ride at some points. Real, brutal, and 100% believable. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Hurley throws in unrequited love (or something like it) that left me hanging. Overall, a refreshing read, and very inspiring from a writing perspective.

Next up is Strahan's just-released Best of SFF Volume 5, which I'm really excited about, as I've only read a handful of what's in there already. At lunch today I managed "Elegy for a Young Elk" by Hannu Rajaniemi, which I really loved (so much color!) and "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains” by Neil Gaiman. More soon!

What makes me happiest of all is that Human Seedlings has a tentative new title: "Deadwalkers." The not so great part is that the short is looking to be 10k or so, instead of 5k like I'd hoped. But at least it's moving, and that feels great. And now to return all the crits I owe.