Watching Paul Murton follow the River Dee, and thinking some of the Aberdeenshire folk sound awfully like Scottish Borderers! A uni classmate of mine at Dundee used to think my accent sounded as though I was from Brechin or somewhere up there. Nice to hear folk who sound “local” for me anyway. My accent is a mix of Edinburgh like / Borders cross, and a much stronger version which comes out the more puggled I am or if talking to eg my Mum! The Hawick part can come out really strongly then. Plus perhaps an added Somerset twang thanks to 30 years marriage 😜

I just wrote up my experience watching masses of Cymera 2024 on streaming.

Finally going through the printed Edinburgh Book Festival Programme, and hugely disappointed by how few events this year are offering streaming paid tickets. I’ve enjoyed many of their talks remotely in recent years. This feels like a real step back, discriminating against people who can’t attend in person.

On plus, having realised how few of the Edinburgh Book Festival events this year are offering streaming, I can very quickly go through the programme. No need to read all the event listings, looking for those I like. I can just look for the few with a livestream tag under them. Sheesh!

I've just finished this contemporary fantasy book, a debut publication by a new novelist. Who lives near Edinburgh of all places! I liked a lot about it. It's a combination of a tale of magic books / contemporary fantasy / time travel / thriller and I'd say memoirs in a strange way. But I did have problems, and that's why I've rated it just 3/5 overall.

The plotting is intricate, right through to the very end, and admirable. But I found the mass of characters being introduced early on and the chopping and changing of points of view tricky to keep up with, and hard to stay engaged with. However when it reached about halfway through something happened that was so very clever as writing. I was rather wowed. And then from there it careers towards the finale. Again densely plotted.

Beware it gets very violent in places. Very violent. This is not what I would term a young adult read for that reason. It's closer in some respects to crime fiction in that respect. It also strangely reminded me of the TV scifi series Heroes, with the many protagonists in there. But it was a bit overwhelming to read in book form. Though on plus it's very cinematic, and I could easily imagine this book adapted to a movie version.

However for fans of contemporary fantasy who aren't deterred by violent bits in places I'd recommend this. Just maybe beware going in that it is going to be a bit choppy in narrative, especially earlier on, and you may need to give it more time to get hooked.

I would definitely read another book by the same author, but would prefer one with a fresh plot and concept. I am also looking forward to seeing the author chat about this book at the Cymera book festival in Edinburgh in the summer. I have an online weekend pass for that whole festival, and will be watching - mainly on catchup - with interest.

Finally been able to show Martin again the Mastermind question in January about Doctor Who that left me reeling, and that he answered correctly then and still didn’t take in key new info! Enjoyed the episode, though didn’t like one element as expected. But yes, feeling very relieved now re spoilers. And I’ve just filled him in on the Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee and Broughty Ferry links of a certain actor.

I will post more in depth thoughts about tonight’s episode later.

Got through my final two Edinburgh Book Festival 2023 recordings, nicely ahead of the 3AM on 30th September deadline to view them online!

Here are the latest two talks I watched:

• Kübra Gümüşy, R F Kuang & Irene Vallejo: A Short History of Language - a fascinating panel discussing language, translation, culture, colonialism and power
• David Greig & Alan Warner: Scottish Legends Retold - two authors of recent novellas set in Scotland in the 9th and 18th centuries, with an insightful discussion about the writing process, historical research, dealing with imposter syndrome and aiming for historical fidelity

I was especially wowed by the latter panel, which had a great discussion between the two authors and chair Sally Magnusson. And I very much want to read their two books, reimagining the stories of the theft of St Columba's bones and Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight across the Highlands and Islands.

Digital tickets are still available for a huge number of 2023 Edinburgh Book Festival events, but you have to watch the recordings by 3AM on this coming Saturday, so time is tight!

This is mainly a reminder to myself, but may be of use to others to know about these streaming options.

Edinburgh Book Festival offers online streaming access to many of its events. Which can still be booked, even after the events have taken place. You can watch recordings on catchup until the end of September. I have streaming tickets this year for:

• David Greig & Alan Warner: Scottish Legends Retold
• Denise Mina: 15th Century Culture Wars
• Katrín Jakobsdóttir & Ragnar Jónasson: Partners in Crime
• Kübra Gümüşy, R F Kuang & Irene Vallejo: A Short History of Language

All of which have now happened, and I slept through the live events, but I can access the recordings online through September. I also had a streaming ticket to see Greta Thunberg talk, but she pulled out of the festival, because of the festival sponsor's fossil fuels links.

This coming week the Tolkien Society's Oxonmoot event will be taking place in Oxford, and again online in hybrid form. I have an online ticket. Will sleep through the live events, but can watch recorded talks over the coming months, probably until nearly Christmas. The Oxonmoot team are really good at getting the streaming technology working well (I've had online tickets for the past few years), and the content is fascinating.

I blogged about this on my main personal blog, having just finished viewing all the talks I will watch. I got through 22! All watched online. Phew. Extremely positive experiences.

The drawback of reading Iain Banks’s “Raw Spirit” whisky tour book is I now have a very long list of whiskies I want to try! If we ever get back to the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh I am going to have to spend a long time - and a lot of money! - in their dedicated whisky bar. It is also marvellous reading more about whisky names I recognise from all the computers at St Andrews Computer Science back in the 1990s 🙂

Current reading, mid Nov 2022. For fiction The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo and Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh. Non fiction Terry Pratchett bio by Rob Wilkins, Geographies of Enlightenment Edinburgh by Phil Dodds, Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince, and Hello, World! by Brian Kernighan.