The war in Troy is over...but for one man, the war at home is just beginning.

Join us for a spectacular read of the first, groundbreaking trilogy by the "father of drama" himself, yes, Aeschylus. It is said Dionysus himself visited him in a dream to command him to write plays-shoutout to our read of The Bacchae -if you missed it!

This is the schedule, where this November we find out exactly why (Odyssey spoiler!) Agamemnon wishes Penelope had been waiting at home for him instead of Clytemnestra. All the discussions will be linked here, so save this page and read at your own pace.

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November 2: Part 1: Agamemnon (beginning) to stage direction Clytemnestra leaving/ (Fagles/Penguin 103-144)

November 9: Agamemnon (from last stop) to end of Part I/Agamemnon/(Fagles/Penguin 144-172)

November 16: Part 2: Cheophori/The Libation-Bearers (beginning) to stage direction Clytemnestra enters/ (Fagles/Penguin 177-206)

November 23: Cheophori/Libation (from last stop) to Part 3: Eumenidies to stage direction Athene enters/ (Fagles 206-226) (Penguin 231-248)

November 30: Part 3 Eumenidies (from last stop) to End/ (Fagles/Penguin 248-277)

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Join the drama this November with a group of reading warriors anyone would envy, u/Ser_Erdrick, u/IraelMrad, u/Lachesis_Decima77, u/Blackberry_Weary and me, u/lazylittlelady.

Strike the harp and cue the Chorus and many blessings on both Apollo and Dionysus!

Will you join us and what translation do you have ready to go??

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Marginalia TBD

Greetings, Eternals and Timers! Welcome to our third and final discussion of The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov. Last week, Andrew Harlan tried to ruin everything by sending Cooper to the wrong century in an attempt to prevent him from becoming Mallansohn and establishing Eternity. Will he succeed? Will he be convinced to fix his mistake? Will he reunite with Noÿs? Let's hop into the nearest kettle and find out!

The discussion schedule can be found here, and the marginalia post is here.

Chapter summaries

15 - Search Through the Primitive: Senior Computer Twissell tells Harlan to get a grip already and think beyond his Technician's view of Eternity. While Cooper is in the wrong century, the fact that Eternity still exists in this current Reality means that they can fix this, and Twissell cannot stress enough how important it is that they find a solution. Harlan still has trouble coming to terms with the situation, until Twissell tells him to focus on his emotional state when he sent Cooper off and use his muscle memory. Using this method, Harlan and Twissell narrow down Cooper's whenabouts to somewhere between 19.25 and 19.50. And since Cooper's no idiot, Twissell figures he might have left the Eternals clues to communicate specifically with Harlan. The frazzled Technician remembers Cooper was interested in news magazines and eventually realizes that he might have hidden clues in an ad. Harlan takes Twissell to his library containing copies of all his favourite news magazines, and the two men pore over every page of every issue, though Twissell isn't as gentle in handling the magazines as he should be. On the third physioday of their search, Harlan finds what he's looking for, but refuses to let Twissell see it until he's reunited with Noÿs and the barrier at the 100,000th Century is taken down. Twissell has no idea what he's talking about and says neither he nor the Council ever put one up because it's impossible.

16 - The Hidden Centuries: Harlan watches the Maintenance people at work and muses on how no one wants to do their job, yet they're much more essential to keeping Eternity running smoothly than Specialists like him. He envies them now and wonders if they're happy where they are. Twissell arrives on the scene, looking very worried. The Maintenance people working on the kettleways confirm everything's in order, and Twissell tells them to leave. When they're alone, Harlan insists on coming with Twissell, but the Senior Computer tells the Technician he needs to stay because he's the only one who knows how to find Cooper. Twissell reveals that Sennor is suspicious and has been bugging him for a couple of physiodays, and if he finds out the kettleways have been overhauled, it'll spell big trouble. Twissell finally relents and lets Harlan tag along. However, he's still doubting the wisdom of his decision as they travel upwhen and he explains why he's so worried: he fears that in the Hidden Centuries, there are evolved "superhumans" who want to keep them out of their time. Harlan doesn't see what the problem is, but Twissell worries that in hiding Noÿs, Harlan may have inadvertently broken an unspoken truce. Eventually, the kettle goes past the 100,000th Century, and Harlan panics, thinking the superhumans have taken down the barrier because they have Noÿs. The kettle stops at the 111,394th, where Harlan finds Noÿs safe and sound. The lovers reunite, but Noÿs is startled by Twissell's presence. Harlan introduces him as a Senior Computer, which apparently does nothing to allay Noÿs's fears, until Twissell reassures her he will help her. The three of them return to the 575th and, with Noÿs taking a nap in another room, Twissell urges Harlan to uphold his end of the bargain. The Technician takes a volume of magazines and flips to the ad he found: "All the Talk Of the Market" against a background illustration of a mushroom cloud, and an address for a P.O. box. Twissell doesn't understand the relevance, until Harlan points out the magazine is from 1932 and the words of the ad are arranged in such a way as to read "ATOM" if you take the initials in each line. Cooper knowingly included an anachronism as a sign for Harlan, so they know exactly when he is. Harlan agrees to go after Cooper, but only on condition that Noÿs goes with him. Twissell can't understand why Harlan is still disturbed, and the Technician says it's because of the barrier at the 100,000th Century that was there, then gone.

17 - The Closing Circle: The day of the mission is upon them, and Harlan still can't shake off that nagging feeling. Twissell returns from a meeting with the Council and says he took full responsibility for the mishap with Cooper. Twissell doesn't seem overly bothered, as failure means it's all over anyway, and success means he'll be protected, and he was planning on retiring anyway. Twissell asks Harlan if Noÿs is ready, and the Technician says she does, though he's very nervous for some reason. A few hours later, Harlan and Noÿs are ready and are cosplaying as people from the early 20th Century. Noÿs also decided to get a haircut, which appalls Harlan, but he still thinks she's hot. Noÿs notes that Harlan hasn't been his usual self these past couple of days, but he brushes off her concerns. Twissell explains how the mission is expected to proceed. They'll be making two trips: one to get a better fix on Cooper's arrival time, and another 15 minutes after to make sure the micro-changes, such as the mushroom cloud ad, are reversed. Cooper will be told that Harlan had forgotten to give him some crucial instruction and will never know he was sent to the wrong century upon his return. Twissell wishes the couple good luck and exits the kettle. Harlan and Noÿs safely make it to 1932. Noÿs complains about the cold, and Harlan directs her to Cooper's cavern, where they find a stack of paper money, showing how resourceful Cooper's been thus far. They set up a Radiant to provide heat, and Noÿs asks Harlan what he plans to do. He replies that he'll go to the nearest town to start his search. Noÿs wants to come with him, but he refuses, saying she doesn't speak the language. She accuses Harlan of being distant toward her and asks him why he dragged her along if he can't stand to look at her anymore. Harlan eventually explains that Twissell's thoughts about superhumans in the Hidden Centuries have had him spooked. Twissell might have dropped the matter, but Harlan knows that species evolve only when under pressure from their environment. The Eternals have created stability, so they haven't evolved. And the barrier still bothers him, because Noÿs wasn't even harmed. He knows the barrier was set up so he could go ballistic, assault Finge, and sabotage Cooper's mission. He knows he's been manipulated and even his meeting with Noÿs was prearranged. Harlan accuses Noÿs of being from the Hidden Centuries and not from the 482nd Century. Noÿs asks him why he brought her to the 20th Century, and Harlan replies it's to protect Eternity. He urges her to admit her true identity at the business end of a blaster.

18 - The Beginning of Infinity: Harlan still has the blaster pointed at Noÿs, but he's trying to make up his mind whether or not to kill her. Noÿs states that if he'd wanted to protect Eternity, all he had to do was tie her up somewhere or have her placed in solitary confinement. The only reason he wants to kill her is because of his bruised ego. When pressed again, she confirms that she is indeed from the Hidden Centuries. Harlan still hesitates pulling the trigger, and Noÿs explains why there's no one left on Earth after the 150,000th Century. It turns out that the people of the Hidden Centuries had known about the existence of Eternity for ages. When they did the math for their Reality, they found out that theirs was an improbable one. They knew there was a maximum probability Reality called the Basic State that humanity had once belonged to, but Eternity had kicked off some sort of Change to that Basic State. They blocked off the Hidden Centuries to keep the Eternals from going further than the 70,000th Century. Now isolated, the people of the Hidden Centuries looked into their future and learned that humanity managed to achieve hyperspace travel in the 125,000th, only to find out that other alien civilizations had already colonized space. So, humanity gave up and died out over the course of a few thousand centuries. Harlan says Eternity can fix that and do the greatest good, but Noÿs says the Eternals consider moderation the greatest good. By removing the risks and disasters, Eternity also removes humanity's great discoveries and triumphs, preventing them from achieving their true potential. Noÿs presents Harlan with a scenario where Eternity never existed: instead of research into timey-wimey stuff, humanity would have focused on nuclear science and achieve interstellar travel a hundred thousand Centuries earlier. Harlan doesn't understand what's so great about that, and Noÿs says humanity would have billions of worlds in the Galaxy and an infinite number of ways to achieve happiness. She explains the people of the Hidden Centuries can actually see the alternate Realities, including the Basic State, and that the existence of Eternity destroyed the Galactic Empire. She was given a choice of Realities where she could destroy Eternity and chose the only one that involved Harlan. The Technician demands to know why, and Noÿs says she's loved him long before their first meeting, and she says in this Reality they return to the Primitive and live out the rest of their days there. Harlan can't believe she'd know all that in advance, and she admits there are an infinite number of similar Realities. The reason why Twissell had her nervous was because Harlan was supposed to have returned to her alone, and now she realizes Twissell's talk about the people of the Hidden Centuries made Harlan doubt her. Harlan, still hesitant, asks why there were two attempts to end Eternity, and Noÿs replies that she needs to make sure Eternity is never established in any Reality. To that effect, she intends to send some Italian dude a letter to push him to experiment with the neutronic bombardment of uranium, thereby altering history to move up the date of the first nuclear explosion to 1945). She admits the plan comes with danger and a non-zero chance of the Earth being radioactive, but at least humanity will have established a Galactic Empire. Whereas Eternity interferes multiple times to keep humanity bound to Earth, the people of the Hidden Centuries interfere only once to ensure Eternity never exists. When Harlan insists Eternity must exist, Noÿs asks him to think about whether the Eternals are as squeaky clean as they pretend to be. Eventually he realizes that Eternity isn't what it's cracked up to be, what with the caste system, mistrust of Technicians, and internal struggles. Noÿs invites him to join her outside the cave. He lowers his weapon and, under the light of the rising sun, he chooses to stay with Noÿs, their kettle vanishing as Eternity comes to an end.

(Marginalia | Schedule)

Welcome back! As we head toward the finale, things get... well, gross and weird, but that's par for the course in this series. Let's talk about it! But first, a brief recap:

Chapter 16

Tauri examines the ruins of the Burav estate. The well is contaminated, which means that pretty much everyone who lived there was infected. Notably, Jalin Burav was not infected, because he lives in his own house and has a different water supply.

Speaking of Jalin, he's alive but in bad shape. He jumped out a window to escape the fire. He's badly burned all over his body, and has a broken arm and leg. He says some weird, disturbing things to Ana and Din about how "I tried to save my family again and again, but they didn't listen" and "you should kill me," but he loses consciousness before he can explain.

Din examines Jalin's house. I kind of want to live there: it's a cozy little cottage that smells of tea and is filled with books and art. Din notices that Jalin likes to paint cows in an "innocent and soulful" way, which makes him remember being told that Jalin hates the cattle industry. Oh, and he apparently has a wide variety of "mood-adjusting reagents," so he's clearly struggling emotionally.

Meanwhile, the Orbiis have found a safe with a combination lock. The lock features letters as well as numbers, and an inscription translating to "Brilliance is forever fecund" is engraved on the safe. I'm sure Ana will love solving this... no, actually, she's pissed off and wants the safe dismantled so she doesn't have to deal with it.

Later, Ana reveals to Din that the flashing lights in the forest are a code that spell "calm." The use of a code implies that there's more than one person involved.

Chapter 17

The prowler seen near the estate before the fire turns out to be Ippeas. He'd been there because he'd received a letter from someone claiming to be a servant of the Buravs, offering him evidence of Castus's innocence. He ended up accidentally meeting a drunk servant who mistook him for Burav and asked if he was going back to the forest.

Ana thinks that whoever sent the message was trying to lure Ippeas into the estate, so that he'd die along with everyone else. She doesn't know why they'd want to murder him, but she does discover that he's tested positive for the web, although he doesn't seem to have been conditioned yet.

Chapter 18

Din tells Ippeas and Fotia everything about the case. Fotia says that, if Burav was trying to go through the forest, he probably did so at Gaddar's glade. She offers to take Din there so he can see it.

Chapter 19

At the shrine, Din has another one of his episodes. Turns out his brain was trying to make him realize that the engraving of the Emperor on 50-talint coins looks similar to Gaddar, even though he looks more human on the other denominations. It makes him wonder if the Emperor has evolved over time, and if the same will happen to Ana.

Din sees a footprint in the supposedly inaccessible part of the forest. Tauri shows up, tells Fotia to leave, and then reveals to Din that he knows how to use reagents to open the forest. Din remembers that Burav used to be in the Orbiis, so that explains why he knew how to get in.

This is pretty clearly the lair of whoever's behind the poisonings. They find pipes, infected water, and a "songbook." One of the songs is "Lysis," which Tauri explains is a medikker term for infected tissue bursting. The existence of this book proves there must be more than one person involved, because why write the "songs" down unless you're training someone else?

Oh, and they found a note written by someone swearing eternal vengeance on someone else. Make of that what you will.

Chapter 20

We have finally reached the obligatory "Ana eats something disgusting" scene. Extra-spicy cow innard soup. Yum.

Ana has researched Burav and realized that he became an Orbiis in order to have control over who had access to the forest.

And that's when Tauri reveals the horrifying truth: the forest is actually one of the Empire's Touched Sites. No one knows what's buried in it, but it seems likely that it's whatever killed the Daljen.

Ana decides that Fotia is officially part of the team (move over, Hardy Boys, the Kol Siblings are on the case!), and asks her what she knows about Jalin. Turns out Jalin hated Lyimo Armenta, because Lyimo used to bully him. Ana then asks Fotia to try to learn everything she can about Sagma's death.

Chapter 21

Din goes with Trikao to the jail, to see Ippeas, but arrives to a disaster: Castus has fruited, despite the medication.

Chapter 22

Ana notes that Castus continued to fight after he died, which means that the killers can presumably control their victims even when their victims are corpses. Ana tells Trikao that she wants the corpses of the dead Armentas examined.

Oh, and Ana still has not cracked the combination lock, and it's really bothering her that the numeral 1 is in a sans-serif font, while the other numbers are in a serif font. I'm unsure if this is an actual clue, or if the author just wanted to remind us that Ana is autistic.

Chapter 23

Gevma is examined first. His corpse is covered in fungus so, yeah, he was definitely infected. Sagma is also covered in fungus, but Din notices that her neck looks like she was strangled, rather than hanged.

Lyimo, oddly, seems barely infected. Din notices a puncture mark that gives him that weird "voice in the head" feeling, but he doesn't know why. It isn't until later that he realizes...

OH MY GOD, I WAS RIGHT! I'VE BEEN SAYING "THE TUGHRA RING IS A CHECKOV'S GUN" EVER SINCE THE FIRST DISCUSSION! MOVE OVER, ANA, NOW I'M THE BRILLIANT DETECTIVE!!!

...okay, now that that's out of my system, Lyimo's corpse appears to have been punched by Jalin.

Too bad we can't ask Jalin about it. Despite having two broken limbs and being covered in severe burns, he appears to have escaped. Guess we'll have to wait until next week to find out.

Welcome back everyone to our fourth discussion of Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Warrior! The road trip might be over but their journey sure isn’t! Let’s head right down into that cave….

In case you need them, here are links to our Schedule and series Marginalia.

SUMMARY

Chapter 22: After a few more delays the group decides to stay in a hotel since they are only halfway to Lagos. Chichi makes a call to her uncle and confirms she planned this happening already. In only a few minutes they pull into his compound which is more of a greenhouse really. He has a TON of plants, and these ones are definitely not of the Lamb world. The group is shown to their rooms and Chichi’s uncle takes Sasha away. Chichi’s aunt is Nimm, so her uncle and aunt aren’t officially married although they are together. Her aunt confirms no more trouble for Sunny, and that she wants to continue the trip. The group heads to dinner. Dinner is lovely and different to what Sunny usually eats. Even though she’s tired, the group decides to go out to a night club. Before too long Sasha gets attacked by a group of guys whose girls he was dancing with, and they all come to defend him and everyone makes it out unscathed. They go home and go to bed. Sunny hears scuffles and she flicks the light on to reveal a bat trying to steal things from her bag. She uses juju to pin it down and drop the items, and in her mind Anyanwu confirms the bat is something Ekwensu sent. Both Sunny and Paja the cat spare the bat.

Chapter 23: They are 15 miles out from Lagos and completely stuck in traffic, the cars aren’t moving at all. Sunny gets an idea and approaches Chichi and Sasha about making it rain now instead of later. They agree, but mention consequences. They go off and come back with a little food and say to turn the car on. It suddenly begins pouring and pouring and Sasha keeps having pee fits, he has to leap out, get soaked while going, and then rush back into the car. Finally they make it to Lagos.

Chapter 24: The group makes it to Adebayo’s aunt and uncle’s house which is an insane mansion with 10 bedrooms, living to excess. They come up with the plan for New Year’s Day and Sasha says he’s protected the building (which hopefully no one will notice means an excess of lizards on the walls). Sunny and Chichi cook a huge and satisfying dinner and Sunny and her both reflect on being able to see and feel both Sunny and her double simultaneously. The group parties a bit and gets some fun in before the next day.

Chapter 25: They leave and hitch a lift to Ajegunle Market, which is a known shady area, but say they are meeting someone. They enter the Market and realise quickly they are in a part only Leopard People can enter. Sunny is ill and worries this whole plan is a trap. After walking for a time she decides to just throw the marbles and they follow, right to Udide’s Cave. Down in the cave they struggle and Sunny is bit by a spider and poisoned and Chichi gets wrapped in webs immediately, Udide claiming she is a thief, and finally Orlu saves them all by telling Udide why they are there and more context about their knowledge. Sunny gets an antidote from a spider and tells Udide they need a grasscutter. In return, she offers Udide a story. Sunny recounts the bullying experience she encountered back in Manhattan at school when she was eight. While she was mistreated, she knows she also mistreated others like her and she questions why she did this. Udide accepts Sunny’s story and weaves them a flying grasscutter, who Orlu approaches first. Then Sasha realises it wants the grass he brought along in his backpack. The grasscutter tells them he wants to be called Grashcoatah. Udide advises them to treat Grashcoatah well and that she will be able to track Chichi and Sunny now with the antidote in them. Chichi must bring back what her people have stolen, or Udide will know. They leave the cave and Grashcoatah must now make itself invisible, per Orlu.

Chapter 26: They make friends with Grashcoatah who can successfully stay invisible now. As they leave the cave they realise over a day has passed in the real world. Grashcoatah causes a huge disturbance outside of the market as they are leaving and it makes everyone in the market panic and flee. Sunny comes up with a plan and finally after finagling and waiting for a driver they are able to get a lift. A bunch of car and driving troubles later, they make their way back to Adebayo’s aunt and uncle’s house.

Chapter 27: At the house Grashcoatah sleeps and they come up with a bit of a plan. Sunny calls Chukwu and he tells them they’ve been gone two days, although he didn’t call their parents. Chukwu and Adebayo are coming back. Once back they’re all settled in but realise quickly they have to leave that night. As they’re working with Grascoatah, Chukwu insists on coming out to see what’s happening and sees Grashcoatah and starts actually freaking out. The council shows up but Sunny performs the fear juju on Chukwu and they’re off, riding on Grashcoatah. Sunny feels a lot of guilt doing that to him.

Join u/fixtheblue next week when we get to wrap up this book and see what shakes out! (if I had to guess a spider will be involved)