Thursday, September 29, 2016

Inside the Injustice Book Review

First, of course, I do a fair amount of reading. Not necessarily tons, but I don't watch much TV, don't do the bar scene, etc. So there's time available for reading. Feel free to send me books. Preferably by the light of tallow from my victims.

Second, I am not a book critic, or at least, that isn't my aim. Word choices aren't something that comes naturally to many people, and some need time to develop it. I do notice things about style and some outside references, but I'm more interested in getting people to notice the book, than granting an informed intellectual take on the work. I'm up for a good book discussion, but I don't know I have the interest in lengthy academic discussions of a text as a blogger. Puppy of the Month book club appears to be trying to do that job anyway, and there's three of them, so they should catch more than I could. Check it out, you might like it.

Thirdly, I have an aim of entertainment(see above) in my book reviews. I would much rather give a litany of the things that will make SJWs shriek, wail, and point their fingers in horror than write a standard book review such that it might be found at Publisher's weekly that might happen to give away key plot points. What's the fun for you if the bits that make the story interesting are actually given away.  Besides, the melodrama of the recitation of crimes against SocJus is simply fun for me. I might need to start taking notes, rather than rely on my memory.

Fourth, and possibly most important, I want to be trusted. If you follow me on Twitter(hopefully Gab soon; where's my email?), you might see me mention a book now and then that I never review. There's a reason for that. If I don't review it, I might not have finished it. It might only have been ok. There is also the possibility that the author doesn't need any exposure I might grant(Larry Correia, John Ringo, Mike Z. Williamson, etc.), but that's another matter. Trust is important. It helps grow this blog, which broke 6k pageviews this month, the ninth month it has existed. So it comes down to a philosophy of  "Friends don't let friends read bad books.".

Now, I've finished two books this week, and I need to start some reviews.
hahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHahahahaha.....

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Music blog: Benny Goodman

I started a new job this week, but I'll have a more text involved post tomorrow. In the meantime, some soothing music:





Now I have the urge to go read some Mike Hammer, but I've got a class tonight, and other reading to do.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Monday, September 26, 2016

I really need to check my comments more often.

Especially after I make an anti-SJW post or a book review. I end up with new readers, and I just saw some new comments on a few posts.

So, with that, Overgrown Hobbit,  I apologize for my lack of response. I'm not accustomed to backlog comments yet(this blog only started in January). Welcome, and I hope you enjoy the show. Now, to give you a proper response to your comments on earlier posts.

Daisy Kutter? Oh, I haven't touched The Last Train in a good while. I'm not even sure where those issues are right now. I miss Viper comics and their oddball offerings. Not so much Dead@17, but things like A Dummy's Guide to Danger and Daisy Kutter.

Yes, Rust is amazing.  Wait, you do Tempest in a Teardrop? One of the two webcomics I read anymore. I'm now interacting with a cultural reference that isn't one of the authors I review. Sweet. Anyway, I've only read a bit of Rust, as I opted for Old City Blues when they came out at roughly the same time. I only had so much comics cash.

You run a school game group? I love that those exist. If you really want to get the boys to a boardgame, you need to get a good brainburner for them. Also, if there's a chess team/club, you're "competing" with that. I'm all for the development of well rounded geeks.(mentally, that is. Too many of us are overweight, and I'm one of them.)

I haven't posted on comics in awhile, so maybe later this week or next I'll do a post. Prince Valiant is currently my king for all ages storytelling, with Mouse Guard and Bone close behind. I even have some PV I haven't read yet.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Music blog- Dwight Yoakam

Because I said so.







When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Injustice Quick Reviews 4

Cower not, fierce reader! I have found another collection of fine works in my busy reading schedule, worthy  entertainment for the library of any SocJus criminal. These tales span length, genre, comedy, and time, so be of good cheer.

Cannibal Gold by Chuck Dixon- Once more, I find I'm late to the party. I did not know that Mr. Dixon was writing outside of comics, but had seen and read his Winterworld novel that ties to his comic. This is great fun in the military action vein that John Ringo occupies, with some mild sf touches and no porn award scenes.  Major crimes: conspiracies by secretive folks with ties to governments, and narrative challenges to evolutionary theory. 8/10 Fell deeds.

The Origin Key by S. D. McPhail- This is a great story of conquest and justice in a fantastic Persian Empire.  If you read Susan's story in Between the Wall and the Fire, a part of that is repeated here, to good effect. I'm hoping the next story comes out soon, and to borrow from a bad movie title: "Tell your Children". Yes, I'd qualify it as a youth book, but there's plenty of fight and intrigue here for adults. Major crime: Being a good story with fighting men that are good. 7/10 Fell deeds.

Death by Cliche by Bob Defendi- Larry Correia''s cover blurb caught my eye. Then I started the book; I have to say it grows on you. Like moss.  If you like puns, tabletop gaming(rpgs), and wordplay, I think this will work for you.  The chapter quotes are great. Major crime: Bad jokes.6/10 Fell deeds.

Ledge Town by Jason Anspach- This is a short story set in the Apocalypse Weird (or the Wyrd) universe. I'm not sure what's going on with the rights issues, as AW has shut down. Still, an interesting short that may one day lead to a full novel. 7/10 Fell deeds. Get me more, Mr. Anspach.

The First Lensman by Doc E. E. Smith- I've seen the works and author both revered and reviled within the last year, and a comment on Twitter by Bradford Walker got at least one book in my reading queue. While the writing breaks down on occasion, the story keeps moving. While I would appreciate a bit more individuality in the characters, I also understand some of the story reasoning for it. Major crime: Men are men, and women are women in this old school adventure yarn. 7/10 Fell deeds.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Didn't think I'd find that much stupid...

But it exists over at the "gaming and feminism" blog at gomakemeasandwich.  I honestly thought they'd all be busy stumping for the "furst womyn president" to toss much in the way of hate at white male gamers, but I was wrong, and for that I apologize. Please, if you read this blog, and see the like of this, email me or let me know via twitter(hopefully gab soon).

So, Fisking. Original will be in italics, my responses in bold.


Recently, in an online community that I participate in, there was a post discussing community standards which included the word “trolling” in the list of intolerable behaviorsSomeone expressed concern that some people might not know what “trolling” means, to which I replied (rather bluntly) that if someone participating in an online community doesn’t know what a word that has been around so long that it has passed into the common parlance means when used in reference to anti-social online behavior, that’s their problem for not taking the time to educate themselves. (I mean, that’s why Google exists, right?) And apparently, my comment was perceived by at least one person as bullying.

Well, that's not a bad start. People should be called out for being too lazy and dumb to use Google or dictionary.com while on the internet.

 Which. On the one hand, sure. I’m a bitch, and have long since stopped trying to be anything other than a bitch no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, someone is always going to think that you’re a bitch if you’re a woman, since “bitch” pretty much only means “woman that I don’t approve of”.

Glad you got that out of the way. Why are you so hateful? Oh, and bitch means "a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, especially a woman".  Of course, feminists have been trying to redeem this irredeemable idea for three decades at least.(same link, under the history)

And yeah, I don’t have much empathy for ignorance about 101 level issues, which isn’t always the best – especially when I’m dealing with people who are part of communities that I’m invested in. In those sorts of situations, bridge-building is important, and it’s not something I’m terribly good at. While I look up tremendously to the women in my circles who are bridge-builders, I know that’s not ever going to be me. I just don’t have the patience.

If you don't want to get people up to speed, why are you blogging about it? You're not very good with people, are you? Oh, right. Going back to read the definition of bitch. As you claim that, so have you become.

On the other hand, though, I’m pretty annoyed that saying forthrightly and without apology that people need to be responsible for educating themselves is something that someone can feel “bullied” by.

 Oh, so your feelings are the only ones that matter? Good to know where "feminism in gaming" stands on individual rights and respect for others.

 I have been both 1) bullied and 2) a clueless white person who couldn’t buy a clue to save her life, and I can tell you from personal experience that the pain of learning that you are ignorant about social justice and need to do some work around educating yourself does not even come close to the pain and life-long trauma caused by being the victim of bullying. NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT.

1. I'd be surprised if you knew being bullied as well as I have in the past.  2. You're still a clueless white person; did the white girls in Stockton deserve to get raped during the"protests"? 3.Your idea of social justice has nothing to do with justice, but rather vindictiveness, adversarial identity politics, and a lack of will to GROW UP AND DEAL WITH LIFE. The universe owes you nothing.

 Learning how ignorant I was about social justice and the level to which I needed to educate myself? That sucked, sure. It’s painful realizing that you’ve been inadvertently reinforcing systemic injustice, because everyone wants to believe that they’re a good person

Really? The cognitive dissonance is strong here. Being a bitch is mutually exclusive of being good. Reinforcing systemic injustice? What, are you a fence for a burglary ring? Are you a drug dealer or pimp? Are you practicing usury? These are actual injustice. 
  
Being bullied? Left life-long scars that I won’t ever recover from. Saying that you feel “bullied” by someone telling you to do your own damn work in educating yourself about important issues just shows how much marginalized people are expected to do the work of teaching their oppressors how not to be oppressive. Marginalized people are expected to hold their oppressor’s hand while gently stroking their hair and whispering softly in soothing, dulcet tones about how their behavior was oppressive, but it’s okay because they didn’t know and they’re still a good person.

HAHAHAHAHA. If you have actual scars, fine. Show 'em, and I'll sympathize.  But if you feel marginalized, you put yourself in the margins, probably by being an idiot and also valuing the opinion of predatory people. Which you seem to have become.

Which. You know what? No.

Now I am talking generally and not a specific person, just to be clear

It’s no secret that this is and never has been a 101 level blog – it’s right there in the sidebar. I delete comments pertaining to 101-level questions and issues, because there are so many better places on the internet to educate yourself.

Nice to see you being open to dialog. I can guess how you feel about dissent.

 
There are two reasons for this that I give whenever I am asked about the policy:
  1. Something I learned in the first few years of running this blog was that if I tried to answer all of the 101-level questions I got, I would never get any real actual work done. If I did all of the work around educating clueless privileged people that I was expected to do, I would never get to write about the deeper issues that are my real passion and focus.
  2. I am tired of having the same damn 101-level conversations over, and over, and over again. Explaining the basics of social justice 101 is fucking exhausting and aggravating to me, and I just don’t want to do it anymore.
 SocJus is exhausting, period. It's likely part of why you're a bitch. You hate the uninitiated, and at least have realized that brainwashing folks is a lot of work.

But if I’m honest, there’s also a third reason. One I don’t talk about much, because it’s hard to address it without sounding like a complete and total bitch:  I don’t have empathy for the 101-level struggles of men because men fucking exhaust me.

I'm guessing it's for two reasons: you are a complete and total bitch, and you wish that men would exhasut you. The wall hit pretty hard, I take it?

I’m not proud of it. As much as I make jokes about misandry and male tears, I’ll cop to the fact that those jokes are more of a coping mechanism for dealing with the shit I get because of writing this blog than an actual desire to laugh at men’s suffering.

Not buying it. Don't start none, won't be none. Oh, too late for that. Your type created the M&M's meme that essentially calls all men monsters, right? You know, the first one here:
 

 I would like to be able to respond to these situations with empathy and compassion, but that’s just not possible, because I have suffered too much from men too often. 

Right. Because you have lousy taste in men. 

 
When my daily life is full of struggles that reinforce the fact that society sees me as less because I am female, I just don’t have the energy to feel empathetic about a man’s pain that a woman is refusing to educate him about the basics of the basics of the basics of social justice.

I see you as less because you're dumb and have poor judgement. How high is you notch count? Nobody wants a field that's been overworked, it's not fertile.

 
Specifically, I don’t have empathy for men who need education to understand that patriarchy exists.

I don't have much for women that don't realize they benefit from patriarchy.

  When daycare costs in Canada are forcing women out of the workplace and back into the home… When the male-domination of the tech industry means that tech towns are also areas in which women suffer the greatest economic inequality… 

Those Canadian homes are likely happier long term. The article literally says nothing about it possibly being a cultural choice. Men hate the workplace, but see it as a need to provide for themselves and their families. Why do you want women there instead of home?

I also see a refusal to acknowledge the fact that women's healthcare costs far more and is used more often. And the fact that women are more likely to leave the workforce for great periods of time, if not altogether.

When, at my last job, I made 78% of what my husband makes, despite having a higher education level than he does… When my life is full of glass ceilings and invisible barriers that I have been beating my head against, with no perceptible progress, I can’t have empathy for a man who is blind to the daily indignities that I face.

Different fields merit different pay. A master's in social work is worth less than a high school diploma. An electrician's license is worth much more. Mortality risk is a factor. Also, how long were you at your respective jobs? It's not an apples to apples comparison. Again, the universe owes you nothing.

I don’t have empathy for men who need education to understand that you are accountable for your sexist actions.  

I have none for women without the ability to understand the reverse is also true.

 
When I worked for several years for a company at which the sales bros could talk openly in the office about strippers, call women bitches, and engage in other sorts of misogynist language without any penalties or repercussions… When that same company literally broke the law in regards to condoning a hostile work environment and doing nothing to change it when it was reported to them, and I was told that I had no real legal recourse… 

If true, you should have carefully documented the incidents and seen the police or legal counsel.   Possibly both. You didn't or you'd have said.

 
When I once temped as an assistant to a high-powered real estate broker who was so condescendingly insulting and patronizing that he made me cry on multiple occasions, and I later found out that I was his fifth temp in four weeks… 

So he's a lousy person. You have lousy taste in men. We already established this.


When my life has been full of men who have harassed, insulted, or harmed me with sexist words and actions, I can’t have empathy for a man who is blind to the fact that only you are responsible for your actions.

Well, the second part there we agree on. The first, again, you have lousy taste in men. I think you actually like being treated like trash, you just don't want to admit it.

 
I don’t have empathy for men who need education to understand that the male gaze exists.


And I suppose the female doesn't? Right, quit acting like you don't do the exact same to men, or haven't in the past.
  
When IGN had a section of their website devoted to covering booth babes at E3 (before booth babes at E3 were outlawed)…

This is a part of why Grummz is the navel guy. I know it's from PAX instead, but your culture created part of what he's know for.
  
When games like Soul Calibur and Dead or Alive offer up sexualized depictions of women who are reduced to a collection of titillating body parts…

Are you just bad at fighters, and want something to complain about? Because the men in those games are pretty sexualized too.


When Bayonetta is sold as an empowered and liberated “strong female character”…

You know a woman created Bayonetta, right?

When the hobby that I love reduces women on a daily basis to the sexual pleasure and gratification that they can provide to the only “real” gamers – straight men – I can’t have empathy for a man who is blind to the fact that objectification of women is a problem.

You don't love the hobby, you love posturing and World of Darkness fanfic. You also can't deal with the fact that straight men are the biggest market for hobby games. Of any type. Go read 50 Shades of Grey again, you sad thing.

 I don’t have empathy for men who need education to understand that rape culture exists.

Do you mean like the Rolling Stone UVA lie?  Or the Duke lacrosse team false accusation? Or mattress girl's observable lies? While rape is tragic and should be punished, feminists continue to give less reason for women to be trusted.

Or were you referring to the real rape culture of women teachers? Because I'm tired of not being able to go a freaking month without seeing  a story where a woman rapes an underage student, and most of the time, gets off easy.


When all the girls I went to high school with wore shorts under their uniform skirts because the boys would flip up our skirts to “see if we were wearing underwear”…

 Your parents didn't do anything. Either you never told them or are lying. Which bad judgement do you have here?

 When truck drivers coming into the office of the company I used to work for would routinely sexually harass the women in the office… 

I'm guessing you have a bad definition here. In the USA, an incident would get investigated and if true, the perpetrator fired. Or, you're just too stupid to document properly.

 When I have been pursued by men who are only dissuaded by me making a show of the ring on my finger…

And you'll complain when they stop entirely. Make up your mind.

When literally every woman I know has at least one story about unwanted sexual touching by a man at some point in their life… 

Define "unwanted sexual touching".  Because I don't know if you mean a guy touched their hand or what. Stop moving goalposts; reaching for her hand isn't rape or necessarily harassment.

 When there are now 50 women who say that Bill Cosby raped them and there are still people who say those women are just looking for attention…

Don't know on that one.  It looks bad for Bill, but I've heard of rings of highschool girls that lied about a coach raping them.  Again, why did it take until now?
 
When I have to exist daily in a culture that commodifies my body and tells men that they are entitled to use it for their sexual pleasure, I can’t have empathy for a man who is blind to the ways in which our society excuses rapists and blames the victims of rape for their own rape.

You know what? Carry a gun. If someone actually tries to rape you, shoot them.  Then get counseling, there's some real damage that occurs mentally.

I don’t have empathy for men who need education understand tharigid gender roles are bad

Right, you hate cooking and cleaning; and would rather have a boss that hates you and makes you cry.

 When my four year old daughter thinks that women can’t fly planes… When my daughter wants to grow up to be a princess who gets saved from a monster by a prince, marry that prince, and have babies, despite my husband and I telling her she can do anything she wants with her life… 

Ok, some women can fly planes(and helicopters). But why can't you see that your daughter is actively rejecting the life that is clearly making you a miserable, hateful person? Why can't she have what she wants, instead of what you want for her? Isn't it HER CHOICE, feminist? Or do you not grant her agency, as you are enlightened?

When a friend’s five year old son gets bullied for wearing his favorite skirt to school and cries because of it…

I don't know what definition of bullying you have here, but maybe he should conform here until grown. Men can wear kilts, but men in skirts and dresses just look sad.  Norms are not harmful; get over it.
  
When the daily reality of parenting my four year old daughter is trying and failing to combat the social programming she internalized when she was TWO that she is less because she is female, I can’t have empathy for a man who is blind to the ways in which gender essentialism and binarism are harmful.

Quit projecting your feelings of being female onto your daughter. She  knows she is more because she is female: her sex has purpose, unlike yours. If she stays smart, she'll run away with a good Christian man and have a lot of children as soon as she can.

So that’s where I set the bar of “you must be at least this enlightened to be worth my time”. Make of that what you will.

So your an elitist academic that hates the common man(and woman)? Got it.

Well folks, that's your reminder for the day.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Not dead, just quiet

I've got a few things I'm working on, no worries. I have another quick review set in the works. Haven't read anything I felt like giving the full treatment to this week(yet). I unfortunately haven't had a real opportunity for tabletop play for a few weeks, so I haven't had a real chance for that input.

On the other side of gaming, I've been playing a bit of Grim Dawn from Crate Games. Having a lot of fun, there's tons of character possibilities and plenty to discover. This is the first gamer's game electronically I've gotten into in years, so it's an enjoyable change. No, I'm not interested in most PC/console games anymore. Call it a character flaw, call it personal taste, that's where I land these days.



And, since I'm feeling like it, here's a song.



When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Injustice Book Review- Pius History

Cower not, fierce reader! Today, I have for you a nonfiction collection from Declan Finn. This collection contains a multitude of sins against Social Justice, and all of them connect to the sins within his Pius Trilogy, where this material ultimately came from.

There are four papers in here, and I shall discuss them and their sins in order.  The first paper is in many ways the most crucial, a vindication of Pope Pius XII, called by some "Hitler's Pope". This false narrative, which did not exist until recently(the past 2 decades), is so pervasive that even Vox Day briefly mentions it in his The Irrational Atheist.

Dclan Finn goes on in the first paper to demolish all arguments that Pius XII supported or was supported by Hitler in any way. As a cardinal, he spoke out against Nazism and helped Pius XI draft an encyclical under the name Mit brennender Sorge, a clear thumb at the Nazis, as encyclicals are normally issued in Latin, not the language of a nation or people, but the church. As Pius XII, one of his encyclicals even spoke directly against National Socialism, and was used in propaganda bombs against the Germans. One are Pius  XII and his lying critics agree, at 80k Jews he had a hand in saving, it should have been more.

Onto the next paper, I won't ruin some of the more interesting bits of the first for you.

The next, Sudanistas, is an indictment of media, and political policy in Africa. The fighting in Sudan has endured for decades, crosses political and religious borders, and only got covered after Darfour.  I won't cover much of this paper, except to mention the imposition of Shariah law, the return of crucifixion on convicts, and the government bombing of churches on Sunday mornings. Yes, it is a partly religious war, with the sides being dictated by the northern Muslims.

What follows next is not a scholarly paper, but rather, a discussion of weaponry, particularly the weaponry used in the book: real, theoretical, and fictional. This is your high destruction tool section, so if you want to know a little about the toys, this is your spot. I does read more like a blog post, and that's fine. Some folks might love this section just for the starting points of weaponry research. Of course, the SocJus crowd would shriek about the violence inherent in the tools.

Last, we come to a paper on John Paul II. Having no exposure to Catholicism in my youth, I knew nothing contained in this paper.  I also must wonder how many Protestants have any clue as to the extent of JP II's involvement in the fall of Soviet Russia, and the Warsaw Pact block.  Like Pius XII, he carefully avoided direct condemnations of the system, but instead encouraged the Catholic faith, and assisted parties in opposition to the fixed price, single party socialism, and advocated for local determinism.

In conclusion, these papers commit many sins, acknowledging the good done by those wrongly maligned or ignored, bringing light to the evils in the conflict in Sudan and Uganda, and of course, having fun with weapons. 8/10 fell deeds

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

An open letter to Christian Publishing Houses

To Whom This Concerns:

You need to stop doing ebooks wrong. You're charging full physical price for ebooks. I've been looking, and the fact is, that most of you are following the footsteps of Traditional Publishing in fiction. Thankfully, the content issue is not present; you are gatekeepers, but you're trying to present truth while you make money.  But most of you are still charging $5-6 on the very low end, with most of your books going for $9 and up.

Please, take a look at the Amazon kindle bestsellers. most of these are going for $3-5  and in nonfiction, some books get up to about $9, which, honestly, is about the most I'd ever pay for a non-physical book, and it better be blasted good, as well as non-fiction, which sells less.  Quintus Curtius' recent translation of Cicero's On Duties is an excellent example here. I was acquainted slightly with both the translator's thoughts, and Cicero, and this was an excellent translation and layout. That is the top quality and content you should be putting at the level of $9.99, and really, you're going to have to have a huge book to justify more.

As to your fiction, let's ignore the issues you have with writing quality.  Your fiction needs to be dropped in price for ebooks. Relax, you'll move far more copies, and your cost doesn't go up with sales like with print. Don't believe me? Please, contact Baen books and Castalia House for some numbers regarding ebooks. They should be happy to help, as you aren't direct competition. Read some of Mad Genius Club, where most of the authors self publish at least some of their work, and find that indie and self publishing sales are going up, and tradpub sales down, as a percentage of money, not just copies.

I'm well aware you have staff to support, but treating ebooks as second class is actually hurting your sales.  Most of the time these days, I only get my Christian books used, from my local library's friendshop. Yes, I'm finding excellent used books for $1-2 that are excellent, published by Ignatius, TAN, and others. You need to realize that used books are your direct competition, and by putting your ebooks at the price you have, you lose money. Please, get the prices down to $3-6. You'll find a lot of sales you didn't have before.

Respectfully,
Alfred Genesson
The Injsutice Gamer

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Injustice Quick Reviews 3

Cower not, fierce reader! We have an assortment of stories to sink your teeth into! No, not like that! Just devour these the normal way, and look out for idioms.

Fight the Rooster by Nick Cole- Dude, where's my apocalypse? Yes, the modern master of apocalyptic fiction has decided to show that he's more than just a zombie/robot fighter. This is seriously a work of good literature, both loving and lampooning Hollywood, its people, and flaws. 9/10 fell deeds.

Starship Grifters by Robert Kroese- This is a wonderful, loving lampooning of the most popular SF property. The characters are good, the laughs keep coming, and I'm waiting for more. This does fall under some of the rare SFF that should appeal regardless of political/religious stripe. Heckuva fun ride, though. 7/10 fell deeds.

Codename: Winterborn by Deland Finn and Allan Yoskowitz- Ok, while I've read the Sean AP Ryan books, I didn't expect Declan to quite get into John Ringo territory(Ghost series, minus the sex). Action packed, and not a bit of disappointment to be had. Perhaps a bit of overuse on quotes from the Prisoner. NAH, that's almost impossible. Now caught up on Mr. Finn's publicly available fiction, so there's that. 8/10 fell deeds.

The Hidden Truth by Hans Schantz-Mr. Schantz was kind enough to send me a copy of this tale, as he is quite unhappy with the lack attention by SJWs. This is a quite capable story, perhaps needing some work on dialog, but overall very entertaining.  We have mistrust of government, secret societies, murderous conspiracies, and even the true reasons of feminism. I'd like to see more of this world. 7/10 fell deeds.

 Tom by David Freer- Yes, I took Mr. Freer up on his offer in the remarks after my commentary on the F770 outrage over the Dragon Awards.  And while the book perhaps could use a little format work, my faith in him from his Mad Genius Club posts has proven well founded. This is an amusing tale that fits firmly in the YA category. Good humor, and lots of references to pop culture. He commits the crime of a corrupt bureaucracy moving much of the action, when of course the government has your best interests in mind.   7/10 fell deeds.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Music Blog- Queen- Flash

Because I love this movie.


Lots of pulp and opera stylings here.


Sits up there in both great music and great adventure for me. Is it realistic? Why be less awesome?


When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Injustice Book Review: Pennsylvania by Michael Bunker

Cower not, fierce readers! Today we have a fine, if ultimately gentle tale of Amish SF. I am reviewing the omnibus edition.Yes, Amish exists, and I'm late to the party, as those in the know will tell you.

I confess, I really only became aware of the existence of SFF that didn't wallow in SocJus last year, and only started this blog in January of this year. So I'm actually over two years late to this particular party. The good news is that good stories remain such, and there are always new folks to show the way.

On to the indictment of Mr. Bunker's work!

Firstly, it's AMISH in nature. While they try to stay out of most of the affairs of the world, it's a faith that secularists cannot begin to understand. And while I disagree with the Amish on some particulars of the Christian faith, I respect their right to practice as they see fit, especially as they don't want to inflict their views on others. Many other crimes flow from this.

Secondly, there is widespread distrust of government among the "English" characters within this book. At least, among those we really see. There's one named character, if I recall, that actually remains on the side of the government of the setting, and that character is not in the tale much.

Thirdly, as a result of being Amish, we see a longing for a community that voluntarily cares for those within it. Not allowing government to meet needs, by performing Christian acts? That's an act of aggression in and of itself.

Family, and a longing for a simple life that revolves around such is actively portrayed as both good and attractive. Again, faith going against government, and against the ways of the world. We are constantly told to want more, when we don't need more.

A fifth crime this story commits is the presentation of farmers as anything but dumb and ignorant. Farmers are shown to be problem solvers, and the good ones still are, Amish or not. This approach to life of getting knowledge as it's needed to be applied is out of step with the scientiism and expert worship of the world.

Mr. Bunker has written an excellent novel with a most interesting perspective. In a few ways, I am positively reminded of Mr. Lansdown's A Stitch in Space, though that character is far more aware of worldly culture. 7/10 fell deeds.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

The Salt Must Flow

First things first: I need to thank Vox Day for linking to my last post.  The response has been great, and I hope I gained some more readers out of it, and shall endeavor to continue in that quality of post.

For today's post, I must thank Escape Velocity for drawing my attention to this article via Twitter. You need not read it, it's prime fisk material, so original will be in italics, my response in bold.

The inaugural Dragon Awards have taken place at DragonCon, with fifteen works of science fiction and fantasy across the fields of literature, comics, film, television, and gaming being honored with fiery-red trophies.

Good start you've got, that is wholly accurate.

 
The Dragon Awards claim to offer “a true reflection of the works that are genuinely most beloved by the core audience,” while a report from The Verge states that the results “highlight the populist side of science fiction and fantasy.” However, a closer look reveals that the winners reflect a rather more specific side.

Are you bad at English? Are you offended that someone, somewhere thinks you have lousy taste in books? Newsflash: they're right.

Since they were first announced earlier this year, the Dragon Awards caught the eyes of the Sad and Rabid Puppies campaigns, which were initiated to influence the works chosen for Worldcon’s Hugo Awards

Conflating lies. There was no campaign aspect from the ones running the groups during nomination time, and the Sad Puppies campaign said very little about it.

The Dragon Awards’ voting process is conducted through a simple online poll open to anyone with an e-mail address, and the rules state that it is acceptable for authors to campaign for votes; all in all, the new awards were the perfect fit for the strategies used by the Puppy campaigns.


These are the same tactics used by you and yours behind closed doors. Mr. Martin admitted that this year. Stop lying about it being one sided; we prefer to be open and honest about it.

Four of the seven novel categories were won by pro-Puppy authors. Son of the Black Sword, by Sad Puppies founder Larry Correia, was named Best Fantasy Novel; John C. Wright’s Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm took the prize for Best Science Fiction Novel; Brian Niemeier’s Souldancer won the Best Horror Novel award; and Nick Cole’s Ctrl Alt Revolt! went away with the trophy for Best Apocalyptic Novel.

Another accurate chunk. Why do you keep returning to lies?  Facts win out over feelings.

Most of these authors made specific attempts to rally Puppy supporters in their directions.  

 Most? That's four guys you don't like out of fifteen categories. 

Correia made multiple blog posts encouraging his “wrongfan” readers to vote

Six posts from Larry is hardly a campaign. One of those times is only mentioning that it exists and is free to nominate and vote. Try harder.

Wright stated that “your votes that were unwelcome at the World Con are most welcome at Dragon Con,”

Is he wrong? And how is this a campaign? Explain to me how a word implying a long concerted effort applies here. Please, show me how I'm stupid.
 
and Niemeier gave his book away for free so as to attract voters.

What's your point? There's no packet, and no fee for the process. It's perfectly within the rules to enable an educated voting pool by making your work more available.  Oh, right. You prefer low information voting.


Outside of Puppy circles, the award for Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel went to Hell’s Foundations Quiver by David Weber


Yes, he's not a Puppy. He also isn't one of yours, just because Tor publishes one of his series. Baen has his more popular works. They even have their own conventions(two!) with a new award.

Naomi Novik’s League of Dragons was named Best Alternate History Novel

Yeah, I'm surprised Turtledove didn't win. Likely her only shot at it, as the series is done.

and the late Terry Pratchett won a posthumous award for Best Young Adult or Middle Grade Novel thanks to his book The Shepherd’s Crown.

Yeah, not a puppy. Not an SJW either. He was a pretty talented author. RIP, Sir Terry.


It is worth noting that a few of the novels not written by pro-Puppy authors still enjoyed support from the Puppy campaigns.

 Wait, you mean we don't live in echo chambers like you? 

During the voting period, Rabid Puppies founder Vox Day posted a list of his personal picks, which, in terms of the novel categories, almost exactly tally up with the eventual winners; the only difference is that his Best Young Adult choice was Changeling’s Island by Dave Freer rather than the Pratchett book. In the case of Naomi Novik, Day was forced to begrudgingly admit that she is a good writer even while labeling her an “SJW-lite.”

Gee, maybe he's more in touch with reality and the populace than you are. I mean, what kind of bigot holds up an opponent as an example of good work?


One result of this campaigning is that novels with which the Sad Puppies were generally unfamiliar appear to have been at a disadvantage.

 Maybe the Sad and Rabid Puppies reflect poplar tastes better than you. Nah, you're an "English transgirl". You clearly know reality and good writing. Or is that World of Darkness fanfic?

This is most evident in the category for horror fiction, a genre in which the Puppies have previously shown little interest. The winning novel, Souldancer, currently has just eight reviews on Amazon and three on Goodreads; any award handed to it clearly does not reflect “the works that are genuinely most beloved by the core audience” or “the populist side of science fiction and fantasy.”It would seem that Souldancer succeeded in beating out more popular horror nominees, such as Christina Henry’s Alice, merely because its author is pro-Puppy.

Yes, we all trust reviews, do we? Maybe some of us realize how active your type is at disemployment. Maybe we were busy reading books. At any rate, it's not your crappy pastiche of urban fantasy, faerie tales, and WoD fanfic that you love.

Outside of the novel categories, Sad Puppy influence is harder to discern.

Just say Puppy. You're already conflating the two groups, simplify so you won't be lying as badly.


The comic and moving image awards went to works that have also been honoured at the Hugos in recent years: 

Another correct statement. Keep going.

Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and her artistic team, was named Best Comic Book

More truth; can you keep it up? By the way, you don't need that comma. We'll talk later about how crappy most hero books are these days.

Neil Gaiman and J. H. Williams III’s The Sandman: Overture took Best Graphic Novel 

True, and a well constructed statement. Congratulations.

 the title of Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series went to Game of Thrones; and The Martian was voted Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie.
 
 As Vox Day stated, if he'd been campaigning, Deadpool would've won movie. I'm proud you stayed honest here, though.


Finally, unlike the Hugos, the Dragon Awards recognize gaming. Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout franchise won big, with Fallout 4 winning in the PC/Console Game category and Fallout Shelter taking the Mobile Game prize.

 And?


In the tabletop gaming categories, Pandemic: Legacy was the choice for Board Game while the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game got the prize in the (frankly rather cluttered) category of Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures/Collectible Card/Role Playing Game

Wait. Did you not only state facts, but an opinion I agree with? I'm stunned; I may never recover.  But, there might be reasons for it; minis games and CCGs tend to die fast without a tournament scene, and RPGs have to contend with the twin collosi of D&D and Pathfinder.

Will future iterations of the Dragon Awards remain dominated by the Sad Puppies circle, or will the awards will attract a broader voting base?

Ah, you're back to your bad assumptions, I see. Wait until we have nominating and voting data; then you can perhaps call it that. Keep in mind it's the first year.


If the latter, we are left with the question of whether the Dragons will continue to honor self-published and niche authors or begin to lean more towards juggernauts such as Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, and Neil Gaiman.

Yes, because Hugh Howley and Andy Weir were picked up by big publishers right away. Big publishing editors would've kept The Martian out of print, and thus, out of Hollywood. Your gatekeepers like crap and hate good stories.


When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Hurt is Strong at F770

Welcome, fierce readers, to my Dragon Awards post. In case you can't tell, my focus is going to be mostly on the SJW response, largely viewable in the comments at File 770. Some of them are thought out, some outright lies, and some are just insulting.

But first, I'd like to congratulate the winners of the first Dragon Awards.

John C. Wright for Somewhither
Larry Correia for Son of the Black Sword
Terry Prachett for The Shepherd's Crown(RIP)
David Weber for Hell's Foundations Quiver
Naomi Novik for League of Dragons
Nick Cole for Ctrl Alt Revolt!
Brian Niemeier for Souldancer
Ms.Marvel in comics
Sandman: Overture in graphic novel
Game of Thrones in TV
The Martian in movie
Fallout 4 in PC/Console game
Fallout Shelter in mobile game
Pandemic Legacy(s1) in boardgame
Call of Cthulu in other tabletop game

Some of you that have been reading here will know that I don't like all of these by any means. They won the award, end of story. I don't have to support it or encourage it; I will congratulate it for now, if only as an impetus to get more like minded folks to care about the other categories.

I would also like to congratulate Declan Finn, for accepting on behalf of Misters Cole, Niemeier, and Wright. You are an excellent writer on your own, and it speaks well of your writing and you that these gentlemen would see fit for you to be their surrogate.

Now, to the SocJus crowd, from the comments at File 770(I need a bath):
1. Mike Glyer saw fit to publicize the fact that someone took a stab at F770 for not being on the ballot when his blog couldn't be due to no category for that work. Way to make it all about you, Mike.
2. "Soon Lee" wants to know who the administrators of the award are, calls the site unhelpful(she's correct there), denounces Declan for his incomplete posting of finalists, and says that she trusts the Hugos more. You can't watch the video and figure out who the admin is? You can't use email? It's an open campaigning award, I'm not going to fault him for not listing things he didn't care about.
3."Andrew M." finds it suspect that you had to be registered to know what was nominated, thinks turnout was low, and basically thinks Vox Day gamed what he could, followed by mentioning some books aren't published in the UK w/out a Hugo. You could have registered and nominated and voted. Vox barely mentioned them. And print is no longer an obstacle to that, tool.
4. "Rick Moen" thinks a voting fee makes for a legitimate award, and the Dragon is just an opinion poll. Isn't that what the Hugo was supposed to be, an award from the FANS of SF/F?
5. "Lee Whiteside" thinks that DragonCon owed truefen more publicity about the award. Why? There's no publicity about the fact that ANYONE can pay to nominate and vote in the Hugos.
6."Sean Wallace" thinks that sales of Castalia House books are harder to track, and one of the ones on the ballot only sold 11 copies. I'd like to see your pack of lies source of data, Sean. There's no way any book from CH only sells 11 copies. Amazon tracks all the ebook sales very precisely, so shove off.
7. Kurt Busiek buys the lie, which saddens me greatly. His Astro City is usually good, and sometimes great.
8. "Cat Elridge" lies blatantly about a single ballot per email address, thinking it was  a Chicago voting style scam. Project much, Hugo lover?
9. "Ryan Radlien" believes it a valid criticism that none of the nominees at DragonCon won. What? This isn't a "must be present to win" raffle, moron, and neither are the Hugos.
10."Nickpheas" is surprised that some might think Somewhither science fiction. Also demonstrates the belief that he doesn't need to read it to judge it based on it's cover. Ignorant of Appendix N style SF aren't you?
11."alexvdl" among others calls it an award put together by puppies. Show your work, give me interviews, post a reference for this accusation when, as far as I know nobody in the puppy organizational scheme did any of the work to put it together.
12. Mike Glyer stated that Vox Day made a large number of picks that weren't human shields that won, showing his voters are in control of it. Maybe there's far more of us than you believe.
13. "TexasReed" make no bones about his hatred of Brian Niemeier and his work, calling the affair a circle jerk. Did you read the work? I'd be surprised if you did, and you clearly know jack squat about the excellent Mr. Niemeier.
14. "Chris S" is among those with the effrontery to insult Mr. John C. Wright's prose, calling the first page a piece of sophomoric crap. Get a dictionary, he uses the words correctly, well, and has a much better vocabulary than you do.
15. "kathodius" is incredulous to the idea that Dave Freer could create a coherent world after reading his blog posts. I'm incredulous to the idea it lives in the real world after not comprehending Mr. Freer's fine entertaining prose.
16. TYP wants it to become subject to the vote of DragonCon "members" . Dragoncon has attendees, fool, worldcon cons you into thinking you joined a club.
17. Cat Eldridge thinks the Dragon Award voters aren't interested in books. Maybe they just don't like conventions where they get told they're evil and need to die.


As you can see, there's a great lack of thought, and a great amount of hate available at F770. I don't know why Mrs. Wright bothers to respond at all over there, given she and her husband get lied about continually there.

For next year: we really need folks to be reading the better works in comics and playing boardgames. I have no real complaint on Pandemic, but it's an iffy one in my book.  I'll try to do some new posts on comics soon, so perhaps some of my readers might find some of the good work that is out there.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Music Blog: Hatebeak- Seven Perches

Because avian death metal



Yes, that is a parrot. It's name is Waldo.




When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Fisking Publisher's Weekly Review of Beyond the Mist

I was made aware of this review of the book via Facebook yesterday, and am appalled at how terribly written this review is.  Apparently it's originally from BookLife, but they're supposed to be professionals. Let there be Injustice!

Original will be in Italics, my response will be in bold.

The setting of a (redacted) in the far future 

You couldn't go one sentence without spoiling a good chunk of the plot. And you write for a professional trade journal reviewing books? How can I monetize this? I'm more entertaining than you, that's for sure.

doesn’t quite fit this story centered on Christian values, free will, redemption, forgiveness, and repressive roles for women

Why not? Christian themes are universal to the human experience, and it's themes of mercy and redemption call to everyone. Also, you're the one repressing women, by stating they don't have free will to choose their role.


Zephyr Walker(redacted). (Five more redacted sentences)

What, is this going to be a plot point a sentence? Are you stupid enough you can't discuss a journey without starting at the end? From Alice in Wonderland: Start at the begining, go until you reach the end, and stop. I don't start a book knowing the end, I want to discover it.

 
The fascinating premise eventually lags 

Your attention lagged because you can't imagine anyone different than your sad, sorry circle.

  (Nobility Among Us) exacerbates uneven plotting with long-winded descriptions

Yeah, because everything in life happens at an even pace, there's never an internal struggle, and I don't have to think about the details involved. Stop projecting your lack of introspection.

 
one-dimensional characters;

This is a tale of mercy, forgiveness, redemption, and self discovery; you are projecting hard if you think that's one dimensional.  


women whose only goals involve cooking, marriage, and babies;

Because nobody ever does anything that they enjoy in service to another in your world. You must really hate life if you hate well made food, pleasant company, and babies; these are some of the best pleasures on earth.

 
and a detour into a whodunit

It's good to know that your life went entirely according to plan, was all plotted out, and NOTHING interfered with it. My life has not gone so smoothly, and changes story types within a day. I'm guessing my life is a bit more real than yours.


Yeah, that's it, but I had to redact that much because the person couldn't describe the book without the plot. For reference and contrast, here's my section from the second set of quick reviews:

Beyond the Mist by Ben Zwycky- I actually read this before Nobility Among Us, and it was great. An adventure story about restoration and redemption. Major crime: mercy, and forgiveness 8/10 Fell deeds.
 


Gee, I think my short review was better. I didn't give away the story.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.


 

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Injustice Book Review- Swan Knight's Son by John C. Wright

Cower not, fierce readers! The inimitable Mr. Wright has graced us with a tome that calls for immediate judgement! I was initially going to place this in a quick review, fearing my skills inadequate to the task, but the Grand Inquisitor's work is such that it demands a full hearing.

Of course, the most prominent crime this book makes is that of being written by Mr. Wright. I am certain there are those in tears, collapsed in their safe spaces over the fact that he has put out yet another novel, given his Catholic faith and refusal to compromise it.  The forces of Social Justice cannot tolerate one that would defend the unborn, stand against extramarital activity, and the proper definition of marriage. This book is simply guilty by association.

My good friend Brian Niemeier has stated that this novel bears a family resemblance to the work of Mr. Neil Gaiman. That, I find to be an inadequate statement, as the work of Mr. Gaiman indeed does have a cruel and at times vicious world of faerie, yet it is also projected to have kindness and gentleness. Mr. Wright gives faerie no such mercy, but rather exposes its motives and honor to be foreign to our own. Mr. Wright also presents faerie as in service to the Lord of Darkness, ultimately, something Mr. Gaiman would not contemplate. The other matter concerning the world of faerie is that it was subdued in Mr. Wright's presentation through Christianity, and driven from the sight of men.

Another crime of Mr. Wright's is that of the assumption of the power of Christianity. I'll avoid the details, but the idea that Christianity redeems more than men is evident at a critical point, and possibly flows throughout the story(we shall see on that point with the next books).  The Christian symbolism in the sword is an excellent presentation, and of course, we know that SocJus cannot stand for militant Christianity to be presented as good in any way.

We do also see some potential lesson on when to be wise in the presentation of truth. While good and noble, there are those that cannot comprehend the fullness of it, and need a severely abridged version. After all, SocJus believes in Science! and not in Truth, and miracles have no home in the world of scientific consensus.

One small note: This book is published as a YA novel. Put aside any fears as to the possibility of a simple story; it is not here. The vocabulary and mythology employed throughout this fine text put it well within the appreciation of adults, and in fact is likely to have a fuller appreciation by adults, especially those versed in mythology and Christendom.

This book meets several lofty premises, and commits more crimes than I would attempt to list here. Mr. Wright has indeed accomplished a majestic thing here, and surpassed his other work in my estimation. 10/10 fell deeds.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.