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Midweek music spot: Fantasia on "On Ilkley Moor Bah't 'At."

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One of our regular contributors drew our attention to this Fantasia on the Yorkshire Anthem ( On Ilkley Moor Bah't 'at ) by Simon Mayor, arranged for two mandolins, a mandola, and a mandocello. He hadn't previously heard of a Mandocello, and neither had we. But we understand that this is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family, larger than the mandolin, and is the baritone instrument of the mandolin family. The term does NOT refer to a type of cello played by Mandalorians as in this picture posted  here on Instagram by the Piano Guys. This is the way ... 

Classic book review: "Field of Dishonor" by David Weber (Honorverse 4)

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Up to the publication of " Field of Dishonor, " in 1994, its' author David Weber would have been described as a military science-fiction writer. He had been the co-creator, with Steve White, of the space combat strategy game "Starfire" and both of them got their start as published authors with collaborative military SF novels set in the Universe of that game. Weber's next half-a-dozen books, including " Path of the Fury" which was later rewritten and extended as " In Fury Born , " the excellent  Mutineer's Moon  which kicked off a trilogy, and the first three novels in the "Honor Harrington" or "Honorverse" series, were also very much military science fiction, although they did include quite a bit of the economic and political background which set up the space battles the protagonists find themselves in. With the publication of this fourth book in the "Honorverse," David Weber took the risk of alienating...

Musical Sci-Fi parody of the week: "Ghost riders in Orion's sky"

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This week's best joke

"The straights of Hormuz should be renamed Schrodinger's Straights As they seem to be open and closed at the same time." (Found on X, formerly twitter, today, with variants from David Keyes @DavidMKeyes and others)

Book review: "Band of others" by M. H. Foster

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" Band of others " by M. H. Foster, which is the third part of " A gentle apocalypse ," was published on 14th April 2026 and follows on from " The demon overlord's retirement plan " and " Love, politics, and other acts of war. " In the first book in this series, bored with evil after  444 lifetimes of grinding the faces of the poor, despoiling civilisation, fighting and killing heroes, the Demon Overlord of the world of Alteria decided to take the path of Cincinnatus, retire to a farm in a back-country village, and grow turnips. In this book, his attempts to remain inconspicuous and enjoy the quiet retirement for which he had plotted for lifetimes become still more difficult ... While not entirely without challenges, Willem Porter, a.k.a. Galornus Prime, retired Demon Overlord, thinks he has adapted to retirement and learned how to grow really successful vegetables. He has even adapted to the difficulties caused when one of his main lieuten...

Link to a review of Timothy Zahn's book "Thrawn"

We will at some point be putting up a our own reviews of all Timothy Zahn's histories of the Grand Admiral, but in the meantime here is a link to a review of the novel "Thrawn" which we particularly like. Respected Villain: Star Wars Thrawn by Timothy Zahn, reviewed by Aaron Rench . Mr Rench's review of the book begins as follows: "As I read Thrawn by Timothy Zahn, I constantly watched for the moment he turned “bad”. It never came. In the 2017 novel, Thrawn’s character is reestablished but also gets a subtle shift in motivation as he transcends from his days in the Extended Universe to that of the current Canon. Thrawn is a beloved character to many, simultaneously a deep-cut from eras past and a present pillar of tactical brilliance and cunning logic. Those who read any of the Legend books were graced with his unavoidable presence — either as a main antagonist or with a revered reference by both heroes and villains. He’s recently received a new coat of paint, an...

Book Review: "Love, Politics and other acts of war" by M. H. Foster

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" Love, Politics and other acts of war " by M.H. Foster is the second volume in the "A Gentle Apocalpyse" series. It follows on from " The Demon overlord's retirement plan " in which, bored with evil after  444 lifetimes of grinding the faces of the poor, despoiling civilisation, fighting and killing heroes, the Demon Overlord of the world of Alteria decided to take the path of Cincinnatus, retire to a farm in a back-country village, and grow turnips. After 444 lifetimes of evil, being reincarnated at the end of each, Galornus Prime the Demon Overlord has faked his 444th death and settled down as a farmer in the village of Lower Middleton, which is basically a magical fantasy world's version of a cross between St Mary Mead from Agatha Christie's " Miss Marple " stories, Ambridge from " The Archers, " or Walton's Mountain.  He has managed, not without some challenges, to become accepted by his neighbours, none of who susp...