Three From The Road — Lions In The Fog

Death and the Penguin, Andrey Kurkov (1996/2022)

Amazon swears I bought this in March, 2022 so it only spent 16 months or so at the bottom of my Kindle queue before I read it. At this point I’m not sure who or what recommended it. That’s too bad – I’d take more suggestions from them. The penguin in the title is a bird named Misha, who finds itself adopted by unemployed writer Viktor Zolotaryov. Viktor winds up with an unusual gig writing speculative obituaries for a local paper, and Misha winds up with a gig attending funerals–often of people Viktor has written obits for. The result is an interesting blend of mystery with darkly funny overtones, blended with scathing commentary on the state of Ukraine after the end of the Soviet Union. Kurkov writes deftly and in an almost minimal style, and was ably translated by George Bird. Prior acquaintance with Ukrainian politics or history isn’t necessary to enjoy this entertaining story.

Smirk factor: All clear: 2 pts (No smirks to be found. Although I suspect the penguin of secretly smirking.)

Immersion factor: Chest-high: 1.5 pts

Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 pts

Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 pts

Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts

Total: 8/10 (4 stars)

““As a butcher friend of mine was wont to say,” continued Sergey, “Let’s drink to not being worse off. We have known better days.”

The once terrible was now commonplace, meaning that people accepted it as the norm and went on living, instead of getting needlessly agitated.

The pure and sinless did not exist, or else died unnoticed and with no obituary.”

— Andrey Kurkov, noted optimist

The Jasad Heir (The Scorched Throne 1), Sara Hashem (July 2023)

I preordered this based on the review of it in the May, 2023 Lightspeed Magazine – once I realized it was there, I zipped through it. An easy, satisfying read that ripples with nuance, detail and a fantastic, satisfying plot. Author Sara Hashem did a fantastic job with this. The plot and characters are layered, onionlike, with successive layers of substance that Hashem slowly and skillfully peels away. There’s an overlay of Arabic culture sprinkled lightly through the volume, which adds flavor and texture. The ending has particular dramatic depth, and sets the stage nicely for a tense opening to the next volume.

The faults are generally subtle. The world building was a bit sparse in spots, although the story sticks to the good side of the show vs. tell continuum. The writing could also have been a little tighter: now and then I had to look back to figure out what given name went with what character, and there’s too much use of my least favorite SFF word, smirk, in lieu of more subtle descriptors. This is balanced by otherwise excellent writing and superb storytelling. It was hard to believe it was a first novel, and I’m looking forward to more.

Smirk factor: Acceptable: 1 pt (10 ‘smirks’ but generally careful word choice.)

Immersion factor: Full-body: 2 pts

Writing quality: Above Average: 1.5 pts

Character/plot development: High: 2 pts

Innovative/interesting: Above Average: 1.5 pts

Total: 8/10 (4.0 stars)

“I didn’t understand the reactions I was experiencing, so I did what I do best in times of inner turmoil: I ignored it.”

— --Essiya, who hasn't even started dating.

Cold West, Clayton Snider (2020)

Recommended by https://www.ed-crocker.com/post/cold-west-a-review – this is a Grimdark fantasy western, with the “G” capitalized for a reason. It’s a quick read – literally an afternoon start to finish through its deceptively short 141 pages – but packed with the sort of thing you’re looking for if you want some really well-written, dark and fascinating entertainment. Snider’s a strong writer, and the plot flows fluidly. The main character, Wil Cutter, is damned many times over by his past who has managed to land on the straight and level. He brings ruin to himself and everyone he loves when he takes a job he shouldn’t have. The setting is a very weird version of the West, where magic and evil run rampant and no one seems to really, truly be a good person. There are only degrees of moral tarnish, painted artfully but also unsparingly and unsentimentally by Snider. A niche genre, to be sure, but this is a good, quick and compelling read.

Smirk factor: All clear: 2 pts (No smirks given or taken, although they’d seem to be native to these parts…)

Immersion factor: Chest-high: 1.5 pts

Writing quality: High: 2 pts

Character/plot development: Above average: 1.5 pts

Innovative/interesting: Above average: 1.5 pts

Total: 8.5/10 (4.25 stars)

May 31, 2021

Are We Biased Against Hard Work?

The naturalness bias may push us away from fairly evaluating people who have had to work hard for success and towards people who seem like “natural” successes — even when we say we value the things the strivers are living.

August 4, 2020

What Business Are You In?

Change is a given in life and work, but we frequently anchor our identity in the past or to things we cannot control. There is a huge difference between being attached to a durable, lasting sense of mission (“what” and “why” we do things) rather than our business models (“how” and “where”). Getting the two confused can have a terrible price.

July 30, 2020

Pace Yourself

Ever been told “it’s a marathon, not a sprint?” Most people intuitively understand the suggestion that we should start slow and conserve our energy. Even if you’re someone who only runs when being chased, we can still learn from this.

July 28, 2020

Falling Off The Path

All of us have ambitions, and all of those come with a list of things that need to be done to see them through. But there are always temptations to do things which don’t help advance our cause. We unpack advice on dealing with the real source of our issues.

Advanced Leadership: Trust and Responsibility

High-performing organizations choose to empower and trust their employees to do the right thing. They also enforce accountability for those standards. The alternative is to try to micro-manage each individual, which creates oppressive organizational cultures and environments, and eventually saps the employees and the organization of vitality.

July 27, 2020

Do We Crawl, Walk or Run?

There is plenty of glittering advice that promises to catapult us and our work into the next realm of performance. Before we embrace this advice, we should be sure that we and our organizations are ready for it.

July 15, 2020

Don't Forget Context When Offering Advice

The Harvard Business Review article, “Look to Military History for Lessons in Crisis Leadership” offers Covid-era leaders advice drawn from throughout military history. Much of the advice, though, needs more nuance and context to be fully applicable to modern leaders.

June 29, 2020

And Then What?

Slogans capture and channel our dreams. Iteration, adaptation, and the hard work of implementation make them real. Pausing to ask “And then what?” isn’t an admission of defeat. It’s a sign of wisdom and maturity, a willingness to at least start trying to think more deeply about complex and troubling problems.

June 23, 2020

Are You Sabotaging Your Own Strategy?

Change is in the air. As we enter mid-2020, organizations and populations everywhere are grappling with a series of powerful social, economic and political shocks. There has never been safety in clinging to the status quo, but it is even less of an option now.

May 21, 2020

When Is It Okay to Quit?

It’s said that quitters never win and winners never quit, but is this true? For highly motivated people, the drive to achieve can be a direct line to accomplishment or into a dead end. The key is the ability to discern when our goals no longer suit us. Ironically, this can be hardest for the best-motivated.