Media Pundit

chrisbarkerauthor.co.ukHow to Read 100+ Books in a YearToday, I broke my reading target for 2026 by finishing 100 books. Statistically, I should finish about 150 books by the end of year.1 This is the first time I have set an explicit reading goal. Bef…

15 Aug

New blog post: How to Read 100+ Books in a Year chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk/2026/08/15/h... #Reading #writing #writingcommunity

Looking for a book about the BBC on Amazon, so far about 50% of the links are irrelevant

I’m surprised there isn’t more Carrie 2026 discourse considering a) adaptation of a legendary film/book, b) hugely popular, c) major and controversial changes to the source material. #Carrie

I am watching it and have Thoughts, but kind of want to see the ending before I post them. #Carrie

(Yes my family watches tv slowly). #Carrie

It is probably possible to make genuine art/products with AI, and even use it to enable things with a creative spark. The problem is that the spam merchants will always out produce the artists.

Casey S. Pumpkins 🎃@caseyexplosion.bsky.social

I wish I was exaggerating, 16 games from one dev, all AI slop, all clones of something else, all pumped out in the space of months. That's my experience of what AI tools are enabling, not creativity, not anyone's dream game, but spam. Constant, low effort, neverending, AI generated spam.

The best ROI with AI comes from button mashing and spamming a million variations on the same thing, until you get lucky. There’s no barrier to doing it, so why not? The only people it hurts are the consumer and the entire creative ecosystem, not the person making it.

@sarahseeandersen.bsky.social

Most people’s main experience of AI is some variation of spam. It is an inherently spammy technology!

Media Pundit reposted

Sarah Andersen

Random example: late in the book it becomes clear that the Nazis will lose the war, the camp will be shut down, and Doll will probably be executed. He thinks about how successful the Nazi regime has been, with these facts fully in mind, and gives it a 2.5 out of 3. #TheZoneofInterest

Media Pundit@mediapundit.bsky.social

On the other hand, it also gets deeper into the psychology and history of its characters. Paul Doll, the fictionalised version of Hoss is one of the most compellingly pathetic depictions of evil I can remember reading. #TheZoneofInterest

Basically people who are skilled at office politics and working their way up hierarchies, but complete blundering dumbasses in every other area. #TheZoneofInterest

Picture a guy who was all-in on crypto in 2021 and who is now all-in on AI, and that’s Paul Doll. Only with Nazism as the ‘in’ thing. #TheZoneofInterest

Media Pundit@mediapundit.bsky.social

His main justification is the Nazi party getting 37% in the 1933 election, thus demonstrating that Germans support them more than any other party in history. #TheZoneofInterest

Doll constantly thinks to himself that he is completely normal, which is partly desperate rationalisation- he is very, very evil- and partly sort of true. If you work in any sort of corporate hierarchy you probably know a few people like Doll. #TheZoneofInterest

I’ve just finished reading The Zone of Interest, and I think I actually like it more than the film (which is also good). #TheZoneofInterest

There are also some vaguely sympathetic characters in the novel version. YMMV on whether that is a good thing. #TheZoneofInterest

I’ve just finished reading The Zone of Interest, and I think I actually like it more than the film (which is also good). #TheZoneofInterest

What the film has going for it is being completely realistic and lacking in drama. It’s a slice-of-life depiction of the Kommandant of Auschwitz, and the deadness of the camera adds to the horror. #TheZoneofInterest

@calliope5431.bsky.social

The book has a ‘plot,‘ and ‘subplots’ and all of things you would find in an ordinary story, which is arguably unnecessary given the gravity of its subject matter. #TheZoneofInterest

Media Pundit reposted

Calliope

Much like the bioterrorism panic and grey goo, "memetic hazards" are also just vestigial fear of the USSR repackaged for the 1990s. There is no such thing as a "superhuman persuader" in practical terms.

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I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

By my count Mistress of Bones gets 6/10 in Romantasy tropes, which I guess makes it not really Romantasy.

On the other hand 60% is a passing grade under some systems, so YMMV

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

9)First-person POV: the book is told in third-person limited POV.

10)Jacob(s): there ain’t no Jacobs (e.g. decoy love interests) in this book.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

8)Unnecessary Capitalisation: Amber is a sunstance like gold. It should not be capitalised. That is all.

Romantasy tropes which don’t appear in this book: 8)Lots of sex: I don’t think there was any sex in this book, even offscreen. The main couple get a few charged moments, and that’s it. One of the characters was the lesbian mistress of the Queen, but we don’t get much detail on that.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

7)Everyone is white: yeah. Ellis explains this, IMO charitably, as being driven by authors not wanting to overstep any bounds regarding racism, appropriation etc. Although the result is that the genre as a whole is racially problematic in a different way.

I do like that Mistress of Bones is based on Spanish-inspired mythology rather than the typical Northern European.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

5) Human in a world of x: typically faeries, vampires, elves etc. This trope kind of appears but not really. It’s more like ‘country girl in a world of vaguely sinister, mask-wearing city folk.’ Which, kind of like Faeries I guess?

6)Actual not urban fantasy: yep.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

Want a pet spy? Bring a mouse back to life. A fighter? Lucky this sword has a tiger bone in the hilt. Etc.

Necromancy also drives the core plot of the book, which is Azul’s attempt to resurrect her sister. Unfortunately, that requires her to physically touch her sister’s missing bones. Again, not a bad idea for a story. Simple, understandable, high stakes.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

4) Main character is a something-bender: Azul is a necromancer, which means she can bring anything back to life (and to some degree control it) using bones. Which is one of the cooler parts of the book, actually.

Necromancy allows for some of the best world building ideas (for example, that the world is literally built on the bones of the gods). It’s also surprisingly versatile.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

(These formulas are a little rigid, you may have noticed)

The male romantic lead is kind of horrible to Azul, being that he is an Emissary of Death, an organisation which religiously persecutes necromancers. On the other hand, he’s not super good looking and kind of breaks the mould in other ways, so I would give it half a point.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

2) Enemies to lovers: they are definitely going in that direction, even if it doesn’t fully happen in this book.

3) Dark Fuck Prince male romantic lead: Ellis describes this as kind of like Beauty and the Beast, except that the beast is ugly on the…inside. Which is weird. So the male romantic lead is a super hot aristocrat but absolutely horrible to the main character.

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

Here are the most distinctive Romantasy tropes according to Ellis. We are hitting about 50% so far. #MistressofBones

Going through the tropes, kind of in order of importance. 1) Underdog female main character: Azul is a 19-year-old necromancer in a world where necromancers are persecuted. So yep.

Malfoy has three characteristics: 1) Racist jerk 2) Kind of meh at everything 3) Blonde The fact that the HP fandom is obsessed with him doesn’t say good things about the fandom. #Malfoy

I mean it’s a bad boy/girl thing, whatever, but come on. #Malfoy

The whole point of the character, at least in later books, is that he’s not even brave enough to be a proper villain. #Malfoy

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

I am indebted to Lindsay Ellis' video on Romantasy which pointed out a lot of the common tropes. #MistressofBones

So far everyone has a rapier, vaguely piratey. #MistressofBones

I may have accidentally picked up a Romantasy book at the library…kinda. Will report back because I am curious about the genre. #MistressofBones

Going to the ‘new’ section in the library is the closest thing to literally picking a book at random. Also brings to mind Orwell’s comment about not finding out how terrible most books are before he started reviewing them. #MistressofBones

Personally I am only interested in AI art/literature etc if a) it is genuinely exceptional or game-changing in some way, or b) it couldn't possibly have been made without AI. I don't think I have (yet) seen any examples of either. #AI

Kind of tells you something that no-one has managed to make anything good with it after four years. #AI