This Is How You Lose the Time War

I haven’t posted lately (I’ve been applying my nose to the grindstone), but I have been finding a few minutes here and there to read This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, which the No Strings Attached Book Club will discuss on Tuesday. I’m part of the way through, and I find it delightful, with magic prose and vivid images. Two agents for opposing future societies are supposed to be intervening in history (in various possible histories) to try to affect events to lead to their own worlds, but they start exchanging letters, and develop a real mutual fondness.

I’m not even halfway through, but I expect the narrative to spin off in a different direction somehow, although I’m not sure how. Maybe the two agents (both women, by the way) will be in grave trouble with their superiors for their unauthorized correspondence, or they will work out some kind of peace between their opposing societies, or something else which I am not clever enough to foresee will happen.

In any event, I recommend the book.

The Red Queen’s Race

I didn’t get any amendments this week, although I did get something in my Returned docket; someone questioned my renumbering of the claims in an allowed case, and, after looking it over, I posted the application back to him with a message that to the best of my understanding, the renumbering was correct.

I dealt with my oldest amendment this week, so now I’m at two amendments on my Amended docket, and one Board of Appeals decision on my Special Amended docket. I hope to make further progress.

I finished a first action rejection on my oldest Regular New case.

Today is a federal holiday, so, after working late Thursday evening, I slept late, and didn’t work beyond checking my email and docket a few minutes ago. OK, and printing documents for my next amendment.