I don’t get enough traffic here to try to come up with something clever and click-baity. Part of the reason my posts have been fewer and farther between these days is that I’m working on a couple of new things.
First – I have started writing more. Writing there, means less writing here.
Second – I’m going to try to add a couple of bits to this page. I’m not into computer programing or whatever language the web kids are using right now to code pages. I’m not interested in being the person to do any of that stuff. I AM however going to try to get some new content via a YouTube channel that I’m creating.
Yes, talking and story telling via video tend to go a lot faster than I can type. I also want to connect up my tabletop RPG habit with this site, sort of creating an entire thing for myself.
We’ll see how it goes. There’s a lot of work to do between here and there.
There were a couple of things that caught my attention right away with this story. The first was it didn’t start with the story, the book started with an explanation of the fact that it was slightly alternate history. The next thing was that the wizard was named Merlin.
I almost put the book down right then. Merlin is so deeply, desperately overused I almost stopped.
I pushed on and finished the book. I enjoyed the story once I got past a couple of things, and the world building had some interesting bits. I don’t know that I’ll go any further in the series, but I’m glad to have checked this one off the TBR pile at least.
Bonus bit for anyone who actually reads my review stuff here rather than directly on Goodreads. Once I got past the fact that the “Merlin” of this book was NOT in fact yet another Arthurian remake, I still couldn’t shake it. I could only picture the actor from the movie remake of the story from 2019 where Angus Imrie plays Merlin as a gangly, hyperactive teenager who uses a lot of hand-wavium and snapping to make things happen. Here’s a clip for you to enjoy:
This is one of those posts where I put it here, on my site so that when anyone questions it I can say definitively that I own it.
The weekend before Thanksgiving I headed to Cherry Hill (yes, the Philadelphia con is in NJ) for the annual science fiction convention put on by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. I’ve gone to Philcon for many years, and have been invited to be on panels for many years as well. This convention is the home of a couple of the most legendary convention stories, including defend the pizza, and Yes – I realize that was 9 years ago.
Blame to me. I glanced at the convention requirements, but I did NOT read them as thoroughly as I should have. I see this now, I saw it then. It still didn’t make me at all happy. You see, the convention, as a private organization, can make any requirements it sees fit for entry into their event. They did. They required a Covid vaccination update that fell within certain parameters. IF you were just vaccinated back in ’22, that wasn’t good enough. You’d need a PCR negative test if you didn’t have a booster dated this year (basically).
They’re not wrong. *I* am the danger vector. Since the CDC declared an end to the public health emergency back in May, and even before then, I have been traveling for work. I’ve been from Georgia to Oregon. In 0 of the places I’ve been since May has anyone asked for proof of vaccination, let alone very specific versions of the vaccine. I haven’t even seen a mask in months. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not out there trying to catch anything, I just haven’t given things much more thought than basic precautions. I even still keep my CDC card with me. Proof of vax, even if I don’t really need it anymore. Except now I did, and it wasn’t good enough.
Imagine my shock when the convention staff told me I wasn’t allowed in.
I’d booked a hotel, I’d made the drive, I’d set up things for the panels I was going to speak on and even ordered (and pre-paid for) a t-shirt for the first time in years. Nope, you’ll have to go away.
Once I got past my initial shock, I was actually angry at this rule. Again, not their fault I didn’t know, and I know that. I was as much stunned they made the rule more than anything. It was excessive, at least to my way of thinking. I shared my opinion with a friend and he suggested I just go to the local pharmacy and get tested. Excellent plan.
I drove to a local Walgreens and headed to the pharmacy counter. The worker there kindly explained that a PCR test required lab work and there was no way I was getting that at this hour on a Friday night. I looked around, trying to figure out what to do with my rapidly building level of frustration. As I looked around, I realized there was almost nobody in the store. I looked back at the girl behind the desk and said, “What are you doing right now?” She was taken aback so I added, “You’ve got boosters, right? I want one.”
So, 15 minutes later I had a shot in the arm and a newly signed and dated entry on my CDC vaccination card. I drove back to the hotel, parked the car and headed back to the check in desk. I plunked the card down on the desk and asked for my entry badge. The very same person who refused me before glanced at the card, saw the date that ended with ’23, smiled and welcomed me.
That’s the part that really bothered me later. It was the same person that felt it was so important to turn me away previously. It looked like I met their rules, so they were happy and welcoming. The part I’m glad she missed was that I had literally been gone for about a half an hour and still didn’t meet the requirements for entry. You see, those shots technically require a 2 week time period to become effective… and the rules said that too. A shot in the arm that day didn’t actually help anyone in the immediate time frame. They could have just as easily turned me away again…
I’m glad they didn’t. Laying out the money for the trip was a doable thing, but not for absolutely no return and no access to what I came there for. What it did was cement in my mind that this convention wants to never change, and if that means dying then so be it. In my personal experience over the past decade the attendance, the panel variety, the guest list and many other aspects have been dwindling. This year I was shocked at the lack of people. I’ve said the crowd was thinning before, but I saw so few people there I didn’t believe the attendance was more than about 200. It was dismal. The panel list was smaller, the guest list was smaller and the principle speaker wasn’t able to attend (last minute illness). Part of me can’t help but wonder if the policy had a bigger hand in that dip in attendees than just the rumors I heard. Yes, I know of at least 2 guests that said they weren’t coming back based on the rule. If I know of two, how many more were there? How many attendees just didn’t bother? What was there to draw them in?
The hotel hasn’t changed in all that time either. Admittedly, they’re working on remodeling the place, but I think this photo was symbolic of my weekend.
Worn, broken and barely hanging on. That’s it. That’s what I got from the weekend and even after waiting a week to get past the immediacy of my feelings, the impression has not improved. If anything, it’s gotten worse.
My panels, and my fellow panelists, were good. There were never more than ten people in any panel I was on (or that I attended), but the people that were there still held some enthusiasm. I was able to connect with a couple of con attendees, so that was great. I got to see my friends and may have even weaseled my way into a couple of short story anthologies for next year.
Still owning the fact that it was my screw up in not practicing what I preach and failing to read the fine print, this year just left a bad aftertaste. This wasn’t a good con. I had witnessed struggles in an indirect way with this con before, but I went with the benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t there in person to witness the challenges, so I could just try to keep things going. Not so much anymore. I’m glad I made the connections I did. I’m glad I saw my friends again, but I’m going to have to wait until next year rolls around to decide if I’m actually going to attend Philcon again. Ever.
