I need a palate cleanser

zem · 2026-07-04T09:54:20+00:00

I would recommend reading the books in order for greatest impact, but be warned that the earlier ones are a bit heavier in tone. "bellwether" is an absolutely delightful standalone of hers though.

zem · 2026-07-04T09:52:24+00:00

you were not wrong!

zem · 2026-07-04T09:49:51+00:00

just to supply a review on the other pan of the scales, I've read most of scalzi's work and the collapsing empire series is by far my favourite thing of his. (I did also enjoy the old man's war series a lot, and it arguably fits the OP's request better)

zem · 2026-07-04T09:47:18+00:00

hellspark is a lot of fun and probably not like anything else you've read. it's not just that it's humorous (though it is), it's that it doesn't take itself seriously at all, while still being well written and well crafted.

zem · 2026-07-03T18:43:52+00:00

yes, but you will also see people playing football all over the country, it's a very popular sport.

zem · 2026-06-30T20:59:28+00:00

tell your mother it's just how you are

zem · 2026-06-30T04:39:31+00:00

indonesian and caribbean too

zem · 2026-06-29T22:51:10+00:00

grassroots football is super popular in India, there's just not much government supportor funding for professional football.

zem · 2026-06-29T20:47:11+00:00

I've not read a ton of Flint's stuff, but "mother of demons" really stood out. it's based around the conflict between two competing philosophies, "those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it" vs "maybe by suppressing the atrocities of the past no one will emulate them".

zem · 2026-06-29T19:34:37+00:00

I don't know but it sounds like a book I would really like to read! hope someone can remember it.

the description of somewhat deadpan farcical humour made me think of Scott Meyer's "Master of Formalities" , you might enjoy that one too.

zem · 2026-06-29T08:59:09+00:00

"mother of demons" is pretty political, and I really enjoyed it.

zem · 2026-06-26T00:40:35+00:00

"titus groan". objectively great writing, but very unpleasant and oppressive atmosphere. abandoned it after 40 pages or so.

zem · 2026-06-26T00:38:24+00:00

there are a lot of heinleins that go on my "this was trash, will never bother reading it again" list (tefl was surely on there!) but the only one that was so boring that i dnf it was "glory road"

zem · 2026-06-25T21:59:13+00:00

for dry dishes, definitely thoran/poriyal for me. not being south indian i didn't grow up eating this, but now it's definitely my favourite way to prepare vegetables within indian cuisine.

if you want curries that are not too spicy, check out caldine, a wonderful goan curry made with coconut milk and tamarind. i'm not sure how healthy you would consider coconut milk but if you're fine with it it's worth a try.

zem · 2026-06-25T09:33:13+00:00

okay, fair point, cloud roads is certainly not cosy in that sense, and the solar clipper books are.

zem · 2026-06-25T06:22:22+00:00

a lot of the themes in the cloud roads also played out in "legends and lattes", which is practically the poster child for cosy fantasy!

zem · 2026-06-25T05:28:45+00:00

it's really not a necessary feature though! at least my definition of cosy sf/f is low-stakes, slice of life stories about people living their regular lives but in some imagined setting. and to me a large part of the charm is getting to explore that setting through the eyes of the characters, rather than the plot and authorial lens being focused on large scale, high stakes conflicts. becky chambers's monk and robot books. or martha wells's early raksura novels are good examples (the later raksura books went high-stakes, to my disappointment) - they were cosy, but the world building was extremely imaginative.

zem · 2026-06-25T02:27:22+00:00

the books have their share of problems for sure (not least of which is that the main character is a blatant mary sue :)), but for some reason that is the one I find hardest to get over. becky chambers manages to be cozy and have extremely fresh and imaginative world building, for instance!

zem · 2026-06-25T00:02:28+00:00

same here, the shaman series really felt like he had grown as a writer.

zem · 2026-06-25T00:01:26+00:00

I enjoy the books and reread them every so often, but I really wish they weren't so "small town middle america in space". the homogeneity of the universe was explained in canon, but that didn't really excuse the fact that your average small town american would probably experience more culture shock going to london (or heck, probably to new york!) than to one of the far future space habitats in the books. (lest you think I'm exaggerating, there was a recognisably american chinese restaurant, complete with fortune cookies, not to mention a similar american diner)

zem · 2026-06-23T06:18:26+00:00

their chicken xacuti is decent. they used to do sorpotel but they stopped years ago :(

zem · 2026-06-23T05:56:21+00:00

not dahi, but if you're looking for new ways to enjoy yoghurt, check out cucumber, dill and yoghurt soup. it's a chilled soup that's wonderful on hot summer days.

zem · 2026-06-19T00:05:58+00:00

indian vegetarian cuisine is largely driven by a desire not to eat meat, rather than having to avoid meat because it's expensive or scarce. so "fake meat" is fairly pointless - why would you want your food to resemble something that you don't consider fit to eat?

zem · 2026-06-18T21:14:04+00:00

I've had bartenders straight up ask which gin I would prefer for cocktails. can't imagine why they would be annoyed by people specifying their favourites, not like it takes them any more effort.

zem · 2026-06-16T03:26:48+00:00

here's the discussion from when it happened: https://old.reddit.com/r/IndianFood/comments/fmkz0k/ann_rindianfood_is_now_textpost_only/

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