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Sean Lennon recommended Shakara/London Scene by Fela Kuti in Music (curated)

 
Shakara/London Scene by Fela Kuti
Shakara/London Scene by Fela Kuti
2000 | World
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"The thing that blows my mind about Fela's records is that he can just write two 15 minute songs, and they don't feel at all indulgent. It's all in one key but it never bores you. The tension is like slow, tantric sex, it just builds and builds. He knows how to capture a vibe and hold it tight so the intensity keeps building before it explodes. I don't know why 'Lady' is my favourite track, but personally it hits me really hard. I listen to it all the time, and I find the lyrics really entertaining too. It's his version of a feminist album I guess, he's talking about how 'the woman eats the meat before the man…' I guess that's a symbol of liberation. Meanwhile he has his nine wives singing the backing vocals. He's more than a musician, he's a superman. He almost took over Nigeria and his compound was a separate city, he had his own laws, it's amazing that music can be that powerful. I'm a huge fan of his, He's an example of how music can almost start a revolution."

Source
  
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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Blood Bound (Unbound, #1) in Books

Sep 6, 2019  
Blood Bound (Unbound, #1)
Blood Bound (Unbound, #1)
Rachel Vincent | 2011
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
3.5 stars

First off I can't quite believe it just ended like that! WTF?! But at the same time, I have a feeling I know what Liv chose to do.
 
This will be my third series by the author and probably joint second with her Soul Screamers, with Shifters being number one--which I really loved.
 
Blood Bound took me a lot of getting into and I can honestly say that the best and most enjoyable bit for me was the last 150 pages or so when it finally all came out and they were going to do the job that had been building for most of the book.
 
The whole Skills thing was very interesting and the two gangs in the city wanting to off the other was quite entertaining especially with the bindings and tattoo's.
 
It was complicated at times with the overlapping bindings and friendships/loyalty and just because of those last 150 pages I've marked it up half a star. Not sure if I'll read the next book, though.
  
    Blocksworld HD

    Blocksworld HD

    Games and Education

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    App

    Play more than 4 million awesomely fun creations made by players like you! Make and sell custom...

    Fallen City (2011)

    Fallen City (2011)

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    Movie

    Shubei town, southeast China, the present day. Five years after he fled with RMB800,000 (US$125,000)...

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Ross (3284 KP) rated Shorefall in Books

Nov 16, 2020  
Shorefall
Shorefall
Robert Jackson Bennett | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mediocre sequel
I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Shorefall picks up around three years after the events of Foundryside, when a small crew stand up against the mighty, powerful families of the city, stop their evil plotting and strike out on their own. They have set up their own, independent scriving house, making magical machinery, and helping others to do the same. A bit like BrewDog, but without the financially dubious shareholder arrangements.
In this world, magic comes in the form of scriving - bending reality to make objects behave in a certain way (persuading a door it cannot open without a specific person being present, convincing an arrow it is falling, so must accelerate accordingly, albeit in a straight line, etc). Most of the book's plot and action centre around this, and it becomes quite draining, and a stretch at times. I forgave the first book quite a lot in this regard, because it was world-building, but this much world-building in a second book seems wrong. And the mechanics of it are so much like coding that that is all you can think of. At times it is like watching an episode of 24, but instead of following Jack Bauer's thrilling escapades, you are watching Chloe coding a macro to speed up her timesheets while being vaguely aware that something exciting is happening.
The book starts very strongly, we are in the company of Sancia and Orso as they appear to be down on their luck and having to sell their work to make ends meet. Cue: exciting espionage scenes as Sancia sneaks off to steal.
Sadly, this opening chapter in which we had no idea what was happening was the best one. So many times throughout the book the crew were on some mission or other for some reason, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what or why, and nor did I particularly care. The plot just seemed to be in a backseat with the world-building driving with no sat-nav. And so was character development, as all the main characters just completely plateaud and didn't change in the slightest.
In short, I found the book very dull and drawn out and the second half was a real chore.
  
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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Rebel of the Sands in Books

May 19, 2018 (Updated May 19, 2018)  
Rebel of the Sands
Rebel of the Sands
Alwyn Hamilton | 2016 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amani is a girl in a country that doesn't value women, and treats them as useless property only good for breeding sons. The country is basically occupied by another country that the Sultan is "allied" with, but lets run roughshod over his people. She has her sights set on escaping her backwoods, dead-end town, and running to the capital city, where the aunt she's never met lives. All of that is derailed when she meets Jin at an underground shooting competition, and then later hides him from the armed forces hunting him.

The country is definitely middle-east inspired, but there's a lot of religion-bashing, and complaining about the culture oppressing women. It's the same problem I have with a lot of knight-and-castle era fantasy - just because historically in OUR world those time periods weren't kind to women, doesn't mean they have to be the same in fantasy. It's FANTASY! It can be anything you want! Break the tropes! It's a fine line to walk, taking the good parts of a culture without just cherry-picking and appropriating the culture, and who's judging what the good and bad parts are, anyway? So I understand it's difficult, but bashing the culture in a book inspired by their mythology is not quite cool, either. I feel like City of Brass, another fantasy book set in the middle east, hit a better middle ground of embracing the culture of the inspiration without bashing parts of it.

That gripe aside, I really enjoyed the world-building. I'm not quite sold on the characters yet - Amani is far too quick to abandon things she should fight for - but I'm interested enough to see how they progress in the next two books.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com