nwhyte.livejournal.comFrom the Heart of Europe — LiveJournal

? LiveJournal Find more YOUR 2019 IN LJ Communities RSS Reader Shop YOUR 2019 IN LJ Help Login Login CREATE BLOG Join English (en) English (en) Русский (ru) Українська (uk) Français (fr) Português (pt) español (es) Deutsch (de) Italiano (it) Беларуская (be) nwhyte — Subscribe Readability Log in No account? Create an account Remember me Forgot password Log in Log in Facebook Twitter Google No account? Create an account Recent Entries Archive Friends Profile Memories From the Heart of Europe Previous 30 Demon in Leuven, by Guido Eekhaut Jan. 25th, 2020 at 3:48 PM nwhyte Second paragraph of third chapter: Lisa had al eerder lijken gezien. Een paar keer in het labo van een patholoog, een paar keer bij een verkeersongeval waar ze als aspirant naartoe was gestuurd. Om de smaak en de geur te pakken te krijgen, zeiden de instructeurs. Je eerste dode is het ergst, omdat je een instantverrijzenis verwacht. Daarna ben je genezen van dat soort onzin. Lisa had seen corpses before. A few times in the pathologist’s lab, a few times in a traffic accident to which she had been sent as a trainee. To get the taste and the smell, the instructors said. Your first dead body is the worst because you expect an instant resurrection. Then you are cured of that kind of nonsense. Guido Eekhaut is a well-known figure in the Belgian sf scene, who has also written a couple of dozen books, most of them speculative fiction but also some thrillers. This particular book was commissioned a few years back by Belgian railways as part of a set of six novels for commuters . (What a good idea!!!) It's set inand around Leuven, the city where we both live (well, I'm a bit outside it), and concerns an occult police detective (named Solomon) with a newly acquired sidekick (Lisa Noman, who is a woman) investigating the demonic deaths of a couple of senior university officials on top of the university library. There's lots of fun exploration of the city, both parts I know and parts I don't, and some interesting speculation on how magic actually works. I did feel the ending was a little rushed, and wondered if it might have been more satisfactory without the rather severe length restriction imposed by the sponsor. You can get it here . This was the shortest of the unread books acquired in 2013 on my pile. Next up is Strategic Europe , by Jan Techau. (If I can find it.) Tags: bookblog 2020 , world: belgium Leave a comment Share Flag Link My tweets Jan. 25th, 2020 at 12:00 PM nwhyte Fri, 12:30 : First time here, in 21 years in Brussels! A bit more Belgian than most of PLux... (@ Le Pullman in Ixelles / Elsene… https://t.co/EfXZhgmJn9 Fri, 12:33 : RT @ IFAD : Climate change will likely make food less available and more difficult to access. #IFAD and #FAO strive to defeat hunger, incre… Fri, 12:56 : John Roberts comes face to face with the mess he made https://t.co/Q22SvCNZqY Succinctly put. I remember saying at… https://t.co/s1lig4fP2K Fri, 16:05 : The Search for Dark Matter Depends on Sunken Ships https://t.co/Kzssz8fRTd Interesting piece about use of Roman lea… https://t.co/yMjs0s52tp Fri, 18:18 : Auguria, by Peter Nuyten https://t.co/tiEc8VSivJ Fri, 18:26 : RT @ dmcbfs : The former Deputy First Minister and @ SDLPlive Deputy Leader, Seamus Mallon has died. Fri, 19:07 : RT @ SJAMcBride : Seamus Mallon was one of the biggest beasts of NI politics throughout & after the Troubles. But away from politics, this 20… Fri, 19:09 : I am not sure that this actually proves the point. https://t.co/GfvRaAk4qu Fri, 19:30 : RT @ CharlesTannock : What self serving nonsense. Just an excuse to charge more for a propriety charger. Bring on universal chargers based on… Fri, 19:35 : RT @ ClaireHanna : So grateful to have spent an afternoon with Seamas Mallon earlier this month, soaking up learning for the years ahead. A m… ( Read more... Collapse ) Tags: #brexit , #fao , #ifad , #seamusmallon , twitter Leave a comment Share Flag Link Auguria, by Peter Nuyten Jan. 24th, 2020 at 6:18 PM nwhyte Second frame of third page of Auguria, Tome 1: Ecce signum : Sound the retreat! We are withdrawing! NOW! Second frame of third page of Auguria, Tome 2: Gaeso dux : Ehiwaz... Second frame of third page of Auguria, Tome 3: Fatum : I know that voice... I bought this series of three albums on spec at the Brussels comics festival in September, and started kicking myself as soon as I opened to the title page and realised that I had the French translation of a Dutch original - if I'm going to read in another language, I prefer the original if I can read it at all!!! It is also available in German and Spanish, but not (yet?) in English. So. It's a three part story published in 2017 and 2018, of which the first volume is revised from a version originally published in 2010. The first volume is set in 69, the Year of the Four Emperors, mainly covering the Batavian Revolt , and the other two in 71, mopping up after the conflict - the second volume mainly in Britannia, the third back in Germania. The art is gorgeous, the historical research is thorough, and the situation of the Batavians as Romanised Germans with ambiguous loyalties is well depicted. I have to say that I got rather lost plot-wise; there are a number of different strands which seemed to me to more or less peter out, and when I turned the last page I was a bit puzzled as to what it all meant. I felt that Nuyten could do with a writing collaborator to complement his artistic and research talents. If you want to give it a try, you can get the French versions here , here and here ; the Dutch originals here , here and here ; the German here and here (third volume not out yet); and the Spanish (in one volume) here . This was my top unread non-English language comic. Next on that pile are the two last volumes of the Amoras series. Tags: bookblog 2020 Leave a comment Share Flag Link My tweets Jan. 24th, 2020 at 12:00 PM nwhyte Thu, 12:38 : RT @ IFAD : 1/3 of the world’s youth population is projected to live in sub-Saharan #Africa by 2050. Economic participation of rural youth:… Thu, 12:56 : The alphabets at risk of extinction https://t.co/PCKHeo0eCb Fascinating. (Though the “Old Nubian” illustration look… https://t.co/PVnBmHm3n3 Thu, 18:09 : November 2004 books https://t.co/kY1gBPL3lM Thu, 20:48 : A time for generosity https://t.co/nUVPAukHPA And we're not seeing it form the British government towards EU citize… https://t.co/PFSowCu9EU Fri, 10:45 : RT @ davidallengreen : And so Brexit will begin With a Big Ben that does not bong, because Boris Johnson's gung-ho, can-do confidence failed… Tags: #africa , twitter Leave a comment Share Flag Link November 2004 books Jan. 23rd, 2020 at 6:09 PM nwhyte November 2004 was grimly dominated by the re-election of President Bush, which I honestly had not seen coming. It was an important lesson to me to avoid wishful thinking in my elections analysis in the future. The newly re-elected Bush administration immediately recognised Macedonia as Macedonia, which probably played an important role in the failure of the following week's referendum which would have reversed some elements of the post-conflict local government reform if it had passed. We presciently published a report on South Ossetia , and I had another op-ed on Moldova . My one work trip was to Geneva, where I rather bravely drove there and back; I remember a long and valuable walking conversation with Pat Cox beside the lake, where he gave me some invaluable career advice ("read the paperwork before the meeting"), and also giving Hattie Babbitt a lift to Geneva Airport as I departed. We actually managed two family trips, one ot the Ardennes with the kids, and one with just the two of us to the Hague for a dance performance connected with the royal wedding earlier in the year. November 2004 books Non-genre 7 (2004 total 19) Atonement , by Ian McEwan The Scheme for Full Employment , by Magnus Mills The Man Who Was Thursday , by G.K. Chesterton The Summer Book , by Tove Jansson The Distan...