…th for 30 minutes, and add in a spoonful of phở paste in every bowl. It’ll compensate for the weaker broth taste. On the broth: if you’re really not in a hurry, you can put it in the fridge and let the fat bubble up to the surface before skimming it. If you didn’t use over-fatty pieces, it shouldn’t be too greasy, but there’s still going to be fat in it. Then boil the broth again after taking it out of the fridge. Also, the broth freezes pretty we…

…ally speaking I thought the plot went downhill after she took the stage. I really, really loved Olivia Armstrong in the second anime–she’s a formidable woman who knows what she wants, and got where she is by sheer force of will and talent (as opposed to alchemy, which gave a boost to quite a few of the characters). Likewise, Selim being Pride was a creepy choice (though the ending on his side, him being raised by his mother again, was just plain w…

…What about you? What are your favorite genre books written by women? Feel free to make your own list! (whether you’re a woman or not, BTW. We need more people celebrating women in the genre) ETA: additions suggested in comments: SF Virtual Death, Shale Aaron Happy Policeman and Brother Termite, Patricia Anthony Catherine Asaro Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood All the Windwracked Stars and sequels, Elizabeth Bear The Darkover series, Marion Zimmer…

…rants of Epinal–we had awesome couscous, flammekueche(s), cakes, … And, of course, I saw old friends, met new people (including a couple of Anglophones invited by the festival), and generally had a great time. We also acquired a ton of books–the H is currently engrossed in Pierre Bordage’s latest space opera pentalogy, “La Fraternité du Panca” (The Panca Brotherhood); and I have the complete set of Elisabeth Vonarburg’s “Reine de Mémoire” (Queen o…

…gets a chance to be all official and formal, Neutemoc makes a much-awaited comeback. Oh, and a warrior dies of a curse. –The Best of BCS Year Two is now out, featuring stories by Marie Brennan, Saladin Ahmed, Yoon Ha Lee and more fabulous authors. And my own “Memories in Bronze, Feathers and Blood”. Scott H. Andrews does a tremendous job of publishing vivid and evocative fantasy, and if you haven’t already checked out BCS, this is a tremendous way…

…to AR, they didn’t ask for any specifics on books 2 and 3, so I was mostly free to do what I wanted (within reasonable limits, of course). But one character had come up in book 1, and just stuck around: Teomitl/Ahuizotl, the Imperial Prince who became Acatl’s student. And, as I wrote book 2 and started planning book 3, it became clear to me that much of the trilogy was going to revolve around the triangle formed on the one hand by Acatl, Teomitl,…

…court. That’s all for today, and I’m taking a weekend break (got some radiators to take apart and clean if I want to be my apartment to be heated this winter). Coming Monday: the trailer for Master of the House of Darts, and a competition for cool prizes!…

…) will look at you very oddly if you keep referring to your nice masculine computer. The French language is grammatically gendered, sure; but to all intents and purposes, gender is a dead attribute when it comes to most everyday things. The other issue I have is with the notion of “gender characteristics”–I’m sorry, but though there are common points between the way cultures view male vs. female, there are also a heck of a lot of differences. Peop…

…–the only way I know that works involves cutting the chicken in half; feel free to chime in if you’ve got better ideas!). It’s best served with a dipping sauce (I used nuoc cham, but you can also make a ginger and lime dipping sauce) Ga ngu vi huong, five-spice grilled chicken Recipe Type: Main Cuisine: Vietnamese Author: Adapted from Mai Pham Prep time: 24 hours Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 25 hours Serves: 8+ Tasty and gingery Ingredients 1 who…

…elling the story of Vidya Bagchi, a heavily pregnant software engineer who comes to Kolkata searching for her husband, Arnab Bagchi. Arnab Bagchi was meant to come on a short mission to the National Data Centre–not only did he never come back, but now it seems as no one in Kolkata has ever heard of him; and the more Vidya digs, the more it seems that very powerful people are determined to stop her… As you can see, the plot has a lot of familiar el…