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Stats
Started: 2026/01/30
Last Updated: 2026/01/30
Completion Status: Chapter 1
Current Objective: Read A Princess of Mars
Started A Princess of Mars: 2026/01/30
Finished A Princess of Mars: 2026/02/04 - 5.9h
Thoughts
Another friend recommended me this one. And internet said it was short books. Looks pretty shortish in my e-reader (false 200 extra pages INC !!!). its a shorty !!! Nice. Ill probaby then read another Murderbot, and then maybe go back to malazan. Or maybe read a 2nd murderbot. Maybe Feb is the month of shorties, and then March is back to malazan. Idk. I kinda want to read a malazan each month you know. It gets me reading a lot more (since i like finishing books in a timely ish fashion), and its an epic!!! You know you know!!
A Princess of Mars
This was a .... interesting book? I do want to continue the series just as a first starting point, in case it seems like i didnt like it
As I was reading it, I realized what these books are: Diary-style books. Books without necessarily a clear goal or villain or purpose, just sorta survive. I would categorize this and Malazan (book 1) as Diary style. We just trying to survive you know. Murderbot is kinda diary, but he generally has a goal in each of the stories. So yeah I would say Barsoom and Malazan, the two Diaries which i read one after the other.
And boy was it a diary this one. I mean John himself says he doesnt think people will believe it, but he has no reason to lie as he has been dead 21 years! I assume its to make sure he isnt just doing 10 year "cycles".
My man John cannot lose! There were so many times when John is describing insurmountable odds, and then the just punches a guy and wins. And then he gets the princess the end. And then he learns the Barsoom language the end. And then he spends 9 years on Barsoom the end. He is sorta a little be OP, no? The story was fun though. Gotta love Woola too.
I found it VERY interesting how Sci-Fi changes with the current technology. Although it is usually fiction about the future and space, only limited by technology, if you have no reference for future technology, its hard to imagine the fiction of it! They didnt have computers and transistors! They hadn't gone to space when this was written! A lot of the sci-fi stuff was much more genetic. Which is cool in its own way. You know, green people. Also John kept on mentioning the distances between planetary bodies which is funny to me. I feel like humans must have just calculated them relatively accurately around 1920. But then a lot of the tech is just unexplained! Teleporting to mars! The airships in my mind are literally just boats.... in the air (i assume because planes naturally dont have a lot of stationary power in air, like helicopters)! They had camera tech that just can sort of show anywhere on other planets.... just cuz. Idk its just cool kinda seeing that perspective
But, in the end, I do want to see how Johns travels continue, now that he is back on earth before dying again. Maybe he stops World War 0 before it happens by jumping 100 feet, but this time on earth. Major respect for the guy if he did that.
Also a random point in media i want to bring up is the whole "how could I be lying if I divulged all of those other details?"
This kinda implies that if someone was making fiction, they wouldnt go into all the unnecessary parts, but of course, the speech that the defendant is giving is written by a writer for a fictional character, so clearly someone was able to make up all the details!
I mainly say this because its kinda related to John's "just trust me bro" (although his is also based on the whole death thing)
Onto Murderbot again for now, then back to Malazan for a bit!
Reading Log
2026/02/03
In Rememberance of My Woola - Biscuit
I now understand why people believe in ghosts and revere the gods: Death.
In life there is but one guarantee: Death.
"The ends justify the means." The ends? Death.
Its really got me thinking about how I am so focused on the ends, the death, but that distracts from the "means!" Her life! My memories with her! While they may fade into the darkness, that is all circumstantial! Its about the journey before the destination, the end. If all we cared about and got hung up on was the ends of everything, and paid no attention to the "means," then why shouldn't all of humanity, all of life itself for that matter, just end themselves all here and now? If the means are of no importance, that would get us to the end!
But no, life is not about the ends, its about the means. Its about the journeys. Its about... the life! Its life!
This end, this result of me being incomprehensibly sad, all could have been avoided if the means just hadn't happened. I never got Biscuit, and I never played with her and walked her and slept alongside her and went on trips with her.
But would I really want that? Avoiding these 2 days, these 2 weeks maybe of sadness, by throwing away 10, 14 years of time with my dog? Every photo, every memory, every dog bed and dog house and dog collar gone, just to save myself from a period of mourning. No! Thats horrible! It is sad! And it does suck! And its not gonna stop sucking! And my dog is not going to come back! But does that just mean it would be better if she never existed? No!!!!!!!!
Of course not!
Truly there is nothing more universal to life than the end of it. It comes for all, and is much more guaranteed than taxes (look at billionaires!). Its just something that has to be acknowledged. And still, it sucks. And still, I will be sad looking at her dog house and not seeing her there. But truly, its just the result of all life. Memento Mori and all of that. Yeah, Persona 3, it happens, the references its just how it is.
And I have to say, it is probably one of those greatest fears of mine: Loss. I have always feared the loss of Bizzy. Since I got her and began considering the fantasy of going to college as a young kid, I always worried about leaving for the 4 years, and my dog not being there when I got back. When I left for Japan, I always feared waking up one day to the text that Biscuit had gone to sleep. And even when I consider a new dog, I fear the day when I will have to go through all of this again. But should it be avoided? It was 14 years! Not all of it I spent with her, and not all of it did she spend with us (mentally), but it was 14 years! She was a 16 year old dog! Should I truly fear the "risk" of loss, when the return is 10 years of love?
I don't know.
2026/02/04
Finished Book 1 (A Princess from Mars)
Thoughts above, but for rlog I gotta say... 6 hours in 6 days! Wow. Its been a reading year.... and at the same time I havent made any progress with FFT0!! .... hmmm. Okay but also thats literally because of Arknights Endfield, like Ive played it so much since it came out on 1/21. But,,,, even then Ive still read! Awesome!
And lost a dog..... not so awesome :(.... love you Bizzy
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