Posted by Sari
Category 17, SF Manga: Planetes
If I am not a great fun of comics in general, I am even less a fan of Manga and Manhwa. The whole visual vocabulary justs turns me off: the eyes that go from small to big depending on the situation, the huge screaming mouths, the drops of sweat signifying somehting or other… I have tried all sorts of Manga multiple times, but I do think it is time to just give up and admit that it is a geeky thing that just is not for me. (Not a big fan of anime either apart from Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, which is still the best fantasy movie ever.) So not a great category for me. Luckily Jukka had bought Yukimura's Planetes in Finnish at some point, so I decided to grab part one, and try it.
Planetes is set in about 50 years into the future. The Moon has been colonised, and people have landed on Mars. Down side is that the orbit is full of dangerous trash, and thus we have ships whose job is to pick it up. There are also terrorists who want to make humankind withdraw from space. The Manga tells the story of a three person crew manning a trash collecting ship. The story is quite good, and worldbuilding excellent. If it was a novelI think I might like it a lot. Or even if it was a live action movie. Now I spent most of the time trying to find out which character is which.
Category 41, A number of SF magazine: Tähtivaeltaja 3/2018
Tähtivaeltaja is the magazine of Helsinki Science Fiction society. It has come a long way from its trashy punk-origins and is nowdays quite a sleek publication, but it still has that counter-cluture vibe that makes it unique among Finnish SF magazines. I occasionally review and translate stuff for Tähtivaeltaja, so I am a bit biased, but it is an excellent mag. It maybe publishes less Finnish short fiction than other magazines, but is great at introducing new rising international stars to Finnish audiences.
In 3/2018 that treatment is reserved to Kameron Hurley, there is an article about her, a short story and her hugo-winning essay Women have always Fought. A nice package which gives you a well-rounded picture of Hurley as an author, essayist and activist. There is also an introduction and short story by Finlandia junior winner Siiri Enoranta, and a short story by Edmund Schluessel. As usual, there are great amount of reviews comics and movies, something Tähtivaeltaja has always focussed on. The cherry on top is Petri Hiltunen's and Nalle Virolainen's profound interrogation of the role of the cat Jones, in Alien.
Nordqvist Sadepäivän ilo
Aromised tea with strawberry, cherry, raspberry and pineapple flavours. Raspberry and strawberry are dominant, and again, the taste is a bit soapy. It had been dark and rainy all day when I wrote this, so it was an appropriate choice – sadepäivän ilo means rainy day's joy.
Eating Muffins 