New Angeles! Haven’t gotten that to the table for a while but some really interesting mechanisms and interactions in that.

6nimmt and Azul were almost on my list. Super clever design and love how 6nimmt creates a similar yet distinct experience for different player counts.

It’s still going! One of the rare collectable games that survived its initial few years. Still wonky in several ways but one of the finer multiplayer games I’ve played.

That’s a great list!

Oath, Arkham Horror 2nd Ed, Talisman, John Company, A Distant Plain, Maria, Vast: Crystal Caverns, Mafia de Cuba, Days of Ire and will sneakily add in Jyhad / Vampire, a TCG that plays like a board game (2+ hour play time, 4-5 player count etc).

So that puts me on book 25 for the year? I think I may have missed one or two along the way, and it’s a fair step down from the frenetic pace I set earlier in the year, but pretty happy with that. Some long flights coming up so may hit the big 3-0 by end of year.

System of the World done, what a monster! Dallied with Geoffrey of Monmouth for a day or two there but after reading Le Morte D’Arthur earlier this year will give it a rest right now. Onto Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire and loving it.

Next one on the list is to finish Neal Stephenson’s The System of the World, which I’ve been slowly working through, then potentially onto Alan Moore’s The Great When. I have a non-fiction book on my to-read list but it’s tangentially work-related and not sure that scratches my escapism itch.

The other was Karen Armstrong’s ‘A Short History of Myth’, which was very helpful in surviving a surprise multi-hour delay at Canberra airport. Thought-provoking if, well, a little brief. It literally is a Short History though so can’t begrudge it that.

Always love seeing your stuff on my feed Marc.

It’s lovely to see. But, you would barely see this in Australian media, which is dominated by Murdoch-owned press. One of the two major parties is all but owned by mining magnates and climate denialists, while the other is mouthing platitudes while extending fossil fuel leases. It’s not great here!

But the sheer size of these Baroque Cycle tomes are making it difficult on the morning commute. As such, also picked up Gene Wolfe’s Fifth Head of Cerberus and reading that on my train journeys. Haven’t read Wolfe for 35+ years, let’s see what all the fuss is about hey?

Catalogue, inventory or compendium comes to mind, although I am sure you have considered and discarded them all. I also do like Curiosa as it implies something unusual about the catalogue.

Now on Spook Country, the follow-up to Pattern Recognition, but I do find it one of Gibson’s weakest works so slowing down a bit. Also a chapter or two off finishing some non-fiction, which‘ll be a first for this year (something I tend to dive into more but I felt like something different for 2025).

Looks fantastic!