The Return of the King

As mentioned in a previous post, I finally got around to reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Yesterday I finished The Return of the King.

I'm glad that's done. It took a good many years for me to get around to it and the reading itself had many stops and starts.

Probably I will watch the movies, then consider it done for sure.

The Salmon of Doubting The Return of the King

I'm still slogging through The Lord of the Rings. In order to take a break from it and feel like I'm reading enough, I've switched to The Salmon of Doubt, assembled from Douglas Adams's computers after his death.

Just a few pages in, it's already a more pleasant experience.

Reading Tolkien

More years ago than I care to admit, I bought a boxed set of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A bit over a year ago I finally started reading them.

I'm now through The Two Towers and will soon start on The Return of the King. I'm glad to have read them, but Tolkien's prose is still a slog for me.

At a recent book fair, I bought a copy of The Silmarillion. . . .

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

I am not much of a reader of fan fiction, because so much of it is hard to read. Some time ago, though, I started reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. The final chapter was just posted. While it is properly called "fan fiction", it's by far the best work of this type I have read. It is more accurately described as an alternate timeline for the same characters.

I don't want to give anything away, so there's not much more to add, but if you are at all interested in reading how Harry might have handled things if he were a rational, scientifically-minded person, check out at least the first chapter.

KC in 2016

Years ago I was a regular con-goer. I attended six Worldcons, one NASFiC and supported the KC in 2K and KC in 2006 bids. KC did not win those times.

I dropped out of the SF convention scene for many years.

Yesterday I checked the list of recent Worldcons, only to discover

http://midamericon2.org/

Kansas City has won to host 2016, 40 years after the first KC Worldcon.

I'm psyched.