premier mill hotel, katanning

premier mill hotel, katanning

rated 5/10

Saturday: we walk into our room and the first thought is, wow!

it's a huge room, with a huge bed and... well, that's about it.

Fancy, over sophisticated and a real pain.

The air con is controlled by a simple electronic switch. We set it to 22 degrees. next morning, ten hours later, it shows room temp as 19. what happened to the set temperature?

we know the air con is on, all night we have a cool breeze blowing directly onto the bed. i sleep with a towel over my head to protect from the cool drying air.

light switches are a set of six electronic buttons. i need my glasses to read which is which. whatever happened to a switch near its light?

there's an ensuite. deb has a shower but can't work out the controls, two showers, two taps? i don't even try. 

the toilet is dual flush. two black buttons on black background. only with my glasses i can see that the buttons are large and small.

the room has no tea making. there's a separate "valet" room -- outside our room, along two corridors. oh, and our room has one of those doors which will close and lock by itself. source for many a crude hotel joke.

parts of the original mill are built into the hotel, there are large metal things here and there. the corridors are very dim, i'd rather see clearly.

this is a personal preference: i prefer a thin pillow. the hotel has several pillows, all very thick, i end up sleeping with no pillow (and a towel over my head).

it's an expensive hotel. and i pay a bit extra for a room with a "city view" There's no "city" in katanning :-) but it is a pleasant view over the town. sort of interesting, too. worth the small extra cost anyway. and better than the roof and wall that we saw on our last visit.

and next morning... the hotel internet does not work.

luckily I'm typing on my ancient tablet, I'm 99%certain that when i press send it will save this message till it finally gets a working connection.

overall: this hotel feels fancy but is unusable. good for a one-night "experience", not worth it for any longer.

time to press send. i hope that the tablet does work...

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

(Binti #1 of ?)

science fiction, subadult

copyright 2015

read in June 2024

rated 7/10: well worth reading

I had to read Wikipedia to find what an astrolabe is. And I like the book's development of the concept.

The science is soft: a mix of very very futuristic -- and magical.

The book is quite simple and simplistic -- in that problems are solved by intelligent beings approaching the problems with goodwill and positive intentions. I like it. The two main characters -- human and alien -- are interesting and likeable enough that we wish them well.

The book has a message (one or more) -- well presented. Clear but quiet.

I enjoyed the book (novella). Not enough to buy every book by this author but enough that I am glad I have Binti#2 ready to be read.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

Bandaid solutions hurt when they are removed.

...Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

priest-kings of Gor, John Norman

priest-kings of Gor

(Gor #3?)

by John Norman (John Lange)

science fiction / fantasy

copyright 1968

read in June 2024

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

I was expecting a John Carter type of world. And it is... but...

There is a lot of depth to this world. With more complex people, too.

The priest kings themselves have depth and are almost more human than the humans.

John Carter of Mars is a gentleman of Virginia. Tarl Cabot of Gor is more like a thug of Manhattan. And yet... he does have responses other than fighting.

In another comparison... Heinlein women are beautiful, with big breasts and their role is to make sandwiches while the men do the serious thinking.

The women of Gor are sex slaves. Chained, naked, to the bed or screwed on the floor. A "free" woman may, at the whim of any man, be made a sex slave. Then if you hit her hard enough the woman will soon love you.

Yes, it's a turn-on for the reader but outdated. Except that the same gender roles are apparently espoused by misogynists on the Web.

The book is enjoyable, quite clever and needs a warning for jerk-off porn content.

NB: Several pages are given to description of -- and justification for -- the male-dom, fem-sub roles. And from Wikipedia: the author supported the roles. Was a well-qualified academic and wrote Imaginative Sex to get you started.... And yes, I think that I would enjoy the book. (Though one review says that it quickly gets boring :-)

.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

The Disasters, M.K.England

The Disasters

by Megan M.K.England

(has to be #1 of several...)

subadult, science fiction

The cover made me expect humour. No, it's adventure.

copyright 2018

read in May 2024

rated 7/10: well worth reading

That rating is for *my* enjoyment.

The publisher is "Harper Teen", this is definitely a book for teens. There is teen angst. Directly related to the plot is, Yes we are saving millions of lives but does that entitle us to steal things? That is a surprising -- but valid -- question. Similar plots seldom directly question the ethics of law-breaking for the greater good. But these are nice, clever, honest kids, they have never before deliberately broken the law.

The plot itself is not great but entertaining. Remember when Star Wars was criticised for being "just" a Western set in space? Well this book could be a bunch of teens driving a hotted-up jalopy from town to town... except it's a hotted-up spaceship flying from planet to planet.

Hey! It works for me :-)

But the characters: At first I was thinking, I don't like these people. A bunch of losers, as predicted by the title -- but they, mostly the main hero, spend too much time thinking, Oh no I can't do this I'll crash and kill everyone. And they all tend to cry under pressure, good grief.

As I read further I thought, hang on, this is not your traditional gang of teens. This is a far more modern... gender-diverse, racially-diverse group, with a lot of, well, quite traditional teen hang-ups.

The gender-diverse threw me. Then I got to know the individuals, especially the hero. Yes, they lack self-confidence -- because they have made mistakes. Yes, they cry easily -- because that's how they are.

Eventually, the group tackles the well-crafted challenge and use their amazingly unbelievable computer skills -- plus some very unlikely sneaking round without being spotted -- and they set themselves up for further books.

Good fun with an extra good fun ending.

Oh. If the author happens to read this: As the hero develops their leadership skills -- they spend too much time telling us that that is what they are doing. Perhaps just show, with less tell.

I ended up enjoying this book. But there is a clear reason for rating it seven (rather than six, read to pass the time).

As I read, and learnt more about the characters, I realised, there is no character to whom I can particularly relate. Which made me realise: Okay... Now I understand why people say that they want a book (or movie) starring people who are more like themselves.

I am not gender-diverse. Nor racially-diverse. Nor even a teen. I kept looking for a character -- more like me.

And that is why it took me quite a while to enjoy the reading.

So -- lesson learned, in an enjoyable way. Thank you.

 

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

Bandaid solutions hurt when they are removed.

...Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

the Nightmare Painter, Sanderson

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, Brandon Sanderson

fantasy, subadult

copyright 2023

read in June 2024

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

The author took out his list of, Essential elements for a Young Adult potboiler --and ticked off the points one by one.

Young hero and heroine, of course.

Get them naked as soon as possible, make them embarrassed.

Make sure that they think about but never have sex.

Make the hero a well-meaning but misunderstood fringe member of the young group. With talents which will only prove their worth when the world is about to end.

Then provide good advice, or good examples, for the young readers... except that this book slaps you in the face with the advice. Yes, it's good advice but not when it's shouted in your face.

Then there's the science which drives the plot. Yes it's strange but this book is fantasy so that's okay.

What does not work is when the author drops the plot to say,  Oh dear there is no more plot so I'll have to tell you what was all about.

The final advice is central to the "science": Do not trust The Machine, where The Machine is AI.All very good, except that the lack of logic and lack of subtlety make it very hard to do anything other than nod and smile indulgently.

There is also a problem with the author being famous for setting all his books in one consistent universe. In this one standalone story -- it is annoying.

In particular, the third person omnipotent narrator seems to be a statue in a cafe. Really? So he appears in other books, so what? In this book it adds only confusion. Particularly since he sometimes says/writes , oh, I can't really explain what happened there.

For an author to write outside his usual rut -- he needs to move right out of that rut. Anything else is just confusing. Or an annoying cross-promotion.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood