The Sword and Laser discussion

I started this thread for book news related to, or the result of, COVID-19 circumstances, because stuff is happening.

Sheila Jean posted an article yesterday about MacMillan's ebook embargo about face, which was good news

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...

but then there are articles like this, about the impact of current events on local bookstores

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/bo...

If we isolate COVID-19 quick burns from the regular Quick Burns thread, will we all be safer?

Mark wrote: "If we isolate COVID-19 quick burns from the regular Quick Burns thread, will we all be safer?..."

As long as the quickburns stay at least six feet apart.

I posted this in QB but it was quickly buried:

How To Support Your Independent Bookstore Through Coronavirus And Beyond

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...

I wonder what scifi authors are commenting on this, and might have predicted it in their books. It feels like we're in a scifi world.

Osterholm claims to have predicted it in Deadliest Enemy(chapter 13?), but that's non-fiction. He was on Joe Rogan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URh...

I still remember the beginning of The Stand

I recently saw no more than 10 people to a group; could be tricky to maintain on the thread...

Tamahome wrote: "I wonder what scifi authors are commenting on this, and might have predicted it in their books. It feels like we're in a scifi world.

I saw this last night:

‘WANDERERS’ AUTHOR CHUCK WENDIG IS ALSO FREAKED OUT BY HIS NOVEL’S SIMILARITIES TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/wandere...

Dunno if other places are doing this, but in the UK there are a lot of Facebook groups etc aiming to provide help for people who are self-isolating, whether it’s fetching groceries, going to the post office, or just providing company (from a safe distance) to those who are feeling lonely.

I don’t think I live close enough to anyone to fetch groceries, but I’m certainly available to chat to anyone who’s feeling lonely/anxious/overwhelmed by everything. DM me if you wanna talk about whatever.

I'm sure there are a lot of experts in not getting out here, including me.

On the plus side for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire, I saw George R R Martin is passing his time during this period writing the next book.

Here's what Mr. Martin had to say

https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2...

For those of you who may be concerned for me personally… yes, I am aware that I am very much in the most vulnerable population, given my age and physical condition. But I feel fine at the moment, and we are taking all sensible precautions. I am off by myself in a remote isolated location, attended by one of my staff, and I’m not going in to town or seeing anyone. Truth be told, I am spending more time in Westeros than in the real world, writing every day. Things are pretty grim in the Seven Kingdoms… but maybe not as grim as they may become here.

So the Coronavirus may get him to sit down and write the book he's been working on for 11 years ;-)

Every cloud has a silver lining

Ruth wrote: "Dunno if other places are doing this, but in the UK there are a lot of Facebook groups etc aiming to provide help for people who are self-isolating, whether it’s fetching groceries, going to the po..."

Wow can have virtual group meetings this month...

Who knew the Discord would be so relevant?




(says the person who rarely goes because I don't think about it oops)

There might be a treatment to lessen the effects of Coronavirus. Since the biggest problem is people's systems getting overwhelmed and killing them, this could be a huge help.

https://www.connexionfrance.com/Frenc...

I heard about this on the radio on the way home, and the doctor talked about viral loads as the patient gets sicker. A bigger viral load lets the protein on the Coronavirus attack other tissues, like the kidneys and heart. Keep that from happening and deaths go way down.

terpkristin wrote: "Who knew the Discord would be so relevant?




(says the person who rarely goes because I don't think about it oops)"


I forgot about the discord and now I can’t find the information! Anyone got the link/deets?

Ruth wrote: "I forgot about the discord and now I can’t find the information! Anyone got the link/deets?"

https://discordapp.com/channels/54897...

or this if the above doesn't work for you
https://discordapp.com/invite/e2YUWzz

Ruth wrote: "I forgot about the discord and now I can’t find the information! Anyone got the link/deets?"

Also there's a pinned post from Rob near the top of the group page with all the details.

Tassie Dave wrote: "Ruth wrote: "I forgot about the discord and now I can’t find the information! Anyone got the link/deets?"

https://discordapp.com/channels/54897...

or this if the abov..."

Thanks! I can access the discord but I had difficulty verifying my email so it’s read-only access for now...

A more techy update: Can Smart Thermometers Track the Spread: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/he...

Tamahome wrote: "I wonder what scifi authors are commenting on this, and might have predicted it in their books. It feels like we're in a scifi world.

Osterholm claims to have predicted it in
Deadliest Enemy..."</i>

Don't want to get into spoiler territory but John Scalzi was spookily prescient about this in [book:Lock In especially the novella included with the audio book which covers the outbreak of the virus.

David Brin's blog: http://davidbrin.blogspot.com

Tamahome wrote: "David Brin's blog: http://davidbrin.blogspot.com"

He’s right.

The very idea of bailing out airlines and cruise ship companies is ridiculous. Corporations can borrow free money and basically never pay it back, but the actual workers (we, the citizens) don’t have access to that.

Cutting the payroll tax is literally insane. It will undercut the safety net we all depend on. Having selfish, stupid, rich a-holes in charge at this time will wreck the country. I don’t know how other countries are dealing with this but the US federal government is making all the wrong moves.

It's almost like you have a moron in charge ;-)

So do we , but your moron is a unique type of moron :-?

Tassie Dave wrote: "It's almost like you have a moron in charge ;-)

So do we , but your moron is a unique type of moron :-?"

True, but It’s not just Trump and the Republicans, Pelosi and the Democrats are doing it wrong, too. Trump is an extra special kind of stupid who is going to get people killed, but the leadership on the other side has badly bungled their response, as well. I mean, why is an economic stimulus so hard to procure? Only Bernie Sanders made the right call, but he’s a lone voice in the wilderness, whose chances of becoming president have disappeared.

Seanan McGuire linked to one of her short stories, The Tolling of Pavlovs Bells, on twitter earlier. She describes it as"timely, but not comforting." I'll say! If you're looking for distractions, this isn't it, but it was a good read.
https://www.apex-magazine.com/the-tol...

Note: the story isn't new, but very topical.

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "Seanan McGuire linked to one of her short stories, The Tolling of Pavlovs Bells, on twitter earlier. She describes it as"timely, but not comforting." I'll say! If you're looking for distractions, t..."

Super happy fun story.🧪🦠🤕🌡🤧🤢🤮😵💀⚰️

I’m a bit concerned about the bioterrorism aspect when linking this to coronavirus. That aspect seems divisive when we need cooperation, and feeds into existing conspiracy theories swirling around COVID-19.

I was a little concerned about that myself. Definitely that aspect of the story should not be connected with right now.

Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "I was a little concerned about that myself. Definitely that aspect of the story should not be connected with right now."

Well that just brightened the day!

The great and wonderful Randy Rainbow just dropped a new song this morning, “Social Distance.”

https://youtu.be/WimbyL_25Nw

And then there's this classic from way back... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrtw...

Rick wrote: "And then there's this classic from way back... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrtw..."

My reaction, first 20 seconds: "Well, this is tasteless"
Keeps watching, rest of video: "Holy cow this is hilarious."

Edited to add: Holy CRAP Trike, that Randy Rainbow bit had me falling off my chair!

John (Taloni) wrote: "Rick wrote: "And then there's this classic from way back... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrtw..."

My reaction, first 20 seconds: "Well, this is tasteless"
Keeps watching, rest of video: "Ho..."

Yeah, that was me, too. He has this one also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xt58...

I'm not inclined to read plague fiction right now, but if you are, here is an Associated Press article

Plague as art: Over the centuries, many kinds of stories
https://apnews.com/7dd8c74df3917e4233...

New book releases are being delayed. Tamsyn Muir and Tor just announced that Harrow the Ninth will be delayed.

https://twitter.com/tazmuir/status/12...

The entire first act will be available for free on April 14 and on June 2, what would have been the original release day, a new short story will released.

Updated corporate logos for the age of corona

https://adage.com/creativity/work/jur...

The U.S.'s Largest Comics Distributor Is No Longer Shipping, Due to Covid-19

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-u-s-s-lar...

A helpful message from the Doctor

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/stat...

To lighten things up the ultimate S&L watch

Lord of the Rings with Lightsabers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckScH...

The Mines of Moria fight.....

David Brin had a good post Saturday. Who wants to smell lemons with me? https://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2020/0...

Do as the Daleks demand: Stay Indoors

https://twitter.com/Sandford_Police/s...

(Edit: I didn't cotton on: Sandford is the pretend village in Hot Fuzz, the real police then retweeted:




https://twitter.com/TaysidePolice/sta...

Quote: Our colleagues in Skaro Division have deployed their Direct Action Local Enforcement Kops to ensure everyone is following guidelines about isolation and social distancing. We recommend everyone uses their Totally Awesome Rightly Distanced Isolation Systems to comply

)

I'd love to see the Police force on Skaro. They'd be hardcore ;-)

What I Learned About the Coronavirus World From Watching Zombie Flicks

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/11/...

Executive Summary: Never count out a species responsible for duct tape.

Coode Street Podcast has been doing quick 10 minute interviews with different authors asking what they're reading: https://jonathanstrahan.podbean.com/

If you guys want to watch something horrible for some reason They’re making a second coronavirus zombie movie with Tiger King. I haven’t seen the first movie but I did watch cinema snobs hilarious review of it

https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/324...

Interesting New Yorker article about plague literature by Jill Lepore

What our contagion fables are really about
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

The reading list is not for the faint of heart:

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
The Plague by Albert Camus
Blindness by José Saramago
The Stand by Stephen King

😇 Good Omens: Lockdown 😈

https://youtu.be/quSXoj8Kob0

😂

🍰 🥖 🧁 🎂 🍞 🥯

From director Mike Dougherty:

EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW TO SURVIVE COVID-19 I LEARNED BY WATCHING SCIFI & HORROR MOVIES

https://youtu.be/QUdV7Xf9sT4

Trike wrote: "From director Mike Dougherty:

EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW TO SURVIVE COVID-19 I LEARNED BY WATCHING SCIFI & HORROR MOVIES

https://youtu.be/QUdV7Xf9sT4"

Astoundingly good!

Something to wear while reading in public?

That's cool :-)

I've seen 2 people wearing masks here. It still looks odd to see them.

There is no recommendation from health officials (in Australia) to wear them here.

Though in countries that are faring much worse, I'd certainly wear one.