It's true that wearing gloves, scarves, and hats are useful to combat frigid temperatures and that equipping yourself with big burly boots to navigate slippery paths are useful winter tools, but they are not the only dangers that you should be worried about. Yes, you know what I'm talking about; I'm talking about preparing and arming yourself against infection and more specifically viral infection.
Unfortunately, I missed January’s diagnosis, but if you’re still looking for great books published last month, I suggest checking out Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds, Control Point by Myke Cole, or Seven Princes by John R. Fultz.
This SFF Diagnosis is by no means a complete list. After all, dozens of books are published each month. Instead, I strive to tell you about the biggest publications of each month, looking at a variety of speculative fiction’s sub genres.
So without further ado, here are my picks for the February SFF Diagnosis:
It is not known for sure who St. Valentine was. There are many legends surrounding this person. One legend says that St. Valentine was a Roman who performed secret marriages of young couples after the Roman emperor had forbidden young men from marrying. Another legend says that St. Valentine was a prisoner who fell in love with his jailor’s daughter and wrote her a note signed, “Your Valentine”.
I remember that for the longest time I called Valentine’s Day by its infamous pseudonym of Singles Awareness Day. But thanks to the magickal genius of Scott Cunningham, celebrated author of herbological and gemological guides and encyclopedias, I found a few charms that helped me “up the ante”, so to speak. These super-simple charms can be done with items easily found in the kitchen or garden.
Note: Unlike movies, love charms do not force the object of your affections to love you. Love charms attract love, and that can come from anywhere.
My personal belief of Lady Gaga is that she is much like a robot or some other creature with endless energy and conviction, since she is constantly on tour and always wearing a new outrageous outfit. To express this view I hold of her, I decided to depict Lady Gaga as the Energizer Bunny, since she seems to be made of the same endless energy.
Quentin, as usual, is restless. He wants a real adventure of the kind he read about in the Fillory novels as a child, where he would save the kingdom and become a hero—but no adventure has come. When the opportunity arises to go on a minor adventure to collect taxes from a far-away island, he signs up and sets off for the island with Julia, who shares his restlessness in Fillory.
That said, it is sometimes good to be reminded that what we see as common and traditional may not be the same for everyone. Participating in the card exchange allows us to explore other cultures and gives us a chance to share a piece of ourselves. Above all, the card exchange is meant to be fun and no matter how we approach the challenges, there is still that feeling of joy when receiving a card in the mail.
Last time, we took a look at the translated book titles in the French version of the Wheel of Time series. This second part and final article in this series will be looking at recurring elements throughout the series and how their French translations measure up to the original English version.
