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Next Sword & Laser read.

This was a slog to read. Maybe it's the writing, maybe it's the plot. The characters are formed and knowable but each book in the volume read differently - that is due to them being written at different times.

I do know that I read the first two books before as a teenager, and it was then that I put Elric away. I just didn't care for him. Maybe it's the way women are portrayed, maybe it is just the first book was written for a magazine. I don't know. I'll give this volume 3 stars mainly for the appendix items -meaning I found this to be two stars but gave an extra one due to the work put into the volume.

I may not return to see Elric. Who knows?

At first I had issues with what she was writing but then I realized it was how.she was framing her arguments.

This book has changed me. I now have a better understanding of ascientific theory and what is a scientific theory. It's amazing how much other atheist/agnostic scientists put their faith in theories that have no basis in the actual scientific research.

The author does a great job of not debating those theories nor religion or have anything against them she just argues for what does the science tell us about the universe.

Taking it from that point of view, this book has changed me.

December 2022 pick for the Sword & Laser book club.

At first I was surprised that it was Elma's voice I was reading. But in the end this writer is just wonderful and I found Nicole Wargin a wonderful character to explore.

Like Elma there are secrets to this character that I will not explore. I will say that the time period of the third book takes place at the same time of the second book. You don't need to read book 2 but there is a spoiler in this book if you hadn't read it.

All the characters were great and the Mary Robinette Kowal never shies from either the misogyny nor the racism prevalent for the time period of this book. Nothing is shocking but it's beautifully written and very much a part of 1960s.

I do hope that if Kowal continues the Lady Astronaut series she adds some LGBTQ characters.

This was an exceptional book. It's not heavy into statistics but gives the rationale for what is a WMD (Weapon of Math Destruction) and WMDs maybe a new term but we have been under the exploitation of WMDs well before we think. It's not a new phenomenon but it is one that we should be aware of.

Take a read and learn how about them so that we can all do better to combat them and use math to not only help describe the world but make it a better place to live in.