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@diazona@techhub.social avatar

diazona

@[email protected]

Software engineer, former particle physicist, occasional blogger. I support the principle of cake.

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FrancescaJ , to bookstodon
@FrancescaJ@mastodon.nz avatar

I mostly keep track of books on so I was a little surprised after finishing All The Light We Cannot See by that of all the people who answered ‘Flaws of characters a main focus’ only 38% said Yes 🤔 I mean Werner is a complex sympathetic character but the ways he is complicit in Nazism is a major driver of the plot. If that ain’t a character flaw I don’t know what is! Nevertheless that complexity is part of why it’s a great book that avoids cliche @bookstodon

The cover of All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. A boy runs down a cobbled alley, wearing black leather shoes & a grey coat - clothing from the WW2 era. The alley is narrow & grey but the end of it creates a vertical plane of light in the picture. The boy is running towards the light

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@FrancescaJ @bookstodon Y'know, I always feel like I have a hard time understanding that question. So when writing my own reviews - for fiction novels at least - I tend to interpret it as "is the plot largely driven by the main character's struggle to overcome their own character flaws?" (I'm sure there are other ways that the character's flaws could be a main focus of the novel, but I have a hard time imagining what they would be.)

Now, I don't know anything about this particular book, but I could imagine that if other people are thinking the same lines I would, in order to answer that question with a "yes" it's not enough for the main character to be a Nazi. He would have to perceive it as a flaw and work to overcome it, and that would have to drive the story. And maybe it does, I dunno... but if not, I understand answering "no" there.

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@FrancescaJ @bookstodon Oh interesting, I'll have to check that one out, thanks!

bibliolater , to bookstodon
@bibliolater@qoto.org avatar

How do you feel when you approach the end of a that you have enjoyed ?

I am nearing the end of a seven hundred and forty seven page . Just forty five pages to go. I am experiencing mixed emotions as I have enjoyed the work, it increased my knowledge and widened my intellectual horizon; however, I will be glad when the book is finished.

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@bibliolater @bookstodon If I enjoyed reading the book I generally find myself hoping there's a sequel

jason_w_karpf , to religion
@jason_w_karpf@mastodonbooks.net avatar

New Study Achieves Breakthrough in Warp Drive Design - Press Release

A warp drive concept that works within known physics. At last!

@bookstodon @religion https://apple.news/AZ2WX4m78Qnq0LETaaeToJg

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@jason_w_karpf @bookstodon @religion Huh, well it'll be interesting to see what additional research happens along these lines. It sounds interesting but the press release sounds very promotional, so I'm reserving judgment.

(I wonder what the religion group's interest in this is? 🤷)

dickrubin716 , to bookstodon
@dickrubin716@bookstodon.com avatar

I would love to get your thoughts and feedback on my from my latest book, The Challenges of Being Me. Do you like it? Does it capture your attention? Without knowing anything about the book, what genre would you say this cover best fits? @bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@negative12dollarbill @dickrubin716 @bookstodon Interesting, I kind of had the opposite guesses: the title makes me think of self-help, but the image suggests something else (possibly YA)

CultureDesk , to bookstodon
@CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

AI-generated books on Amazon now have the potential to kill people, as they've moved into the realm of mushroom foraging. Guides have popped up like, well, mushrooms, packed with information that makes no sense and could easily be dangerous, illustrated with structures that are "the mycological equivalent of a picture of a hot blond with six fingers and too many teeth," writes Vox's Constance Grady. Here's more.

https://flip.it/ekbDMe

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@doc @CultureDesk @bookstodon Depends on jurisdiction of course, but in the US, probably not. Or, I mean, you can sue anyone for anything, but you're not going to win if the only allegation you make is that they published something that was wrong.

Maybe a good lawyer could find some way to frame it as negligence 🤷

ChrisMayLA6 , to bookstodon
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

While its good to see that books still hold their own (in revenue generating terms) with films & music (they outperform both), the big news is that video games generated more revenue globally than books & music combined.

As someone who has never played a video game, but reads a lot of books, I'm not sure how I feel about this... but it tells us something about where the globe's creative & receptive energies seem to be spent.


@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon Video games have much more revenue potential than any of the others, though - people can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a single game by buying in-game content. If this graph includes all that revenue, then I bet it's not giving an accurate impression of how many people play video games compared to reading books, and shouldn't be taken as a representation of how people's "creative & receptive energies" are spent.

OwenTyme , to bookstodon
@OwenTyme@mastodon.social avatar

I've found another online store that respects the price I've set on print copies of my books.

Has anyone ever heard of bookshop.org? Anything good or bad to say about them?

I found my books on it recently and the site has good reviews online, so I've added bookshop.org links to the list that shows up when you click on one of my books2read links.

My books on their site: https://bookshop.org/contributors/owen-tyme

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@OwenTyme @bookstodon I haven't heard a lot, but what I have heard has been good.

I haven't gotten the chance to use them myself since I so rarely buy physical books these days and the few times I did I couldn't find what I was looking for on bookshop.org, but I always check.

kmherkes , to bookstodon
@kmherkes@wandering.shop avatar

My humble offering to anyone seeking a weekend read:

Weaving In The Ends, a novella duology that starts w/a summer fling & ends w/a Winter Solstice brawl.

It's the closest I have to a feel-good story, it's a cozyish quick read that can be read as a standalone, or as an easy springboard into the world of 2 connected novels.

Available in print & ebook now, audio coming soon!

https://books2read.com/WeavingInTheEnds

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@kmherkes @bookstodon Sounds like this might scratch an itch I've been having lately 😀 I'm putting it on my list

booktweeting , to bookstodon
@booktweeting@zirk.us avatar

CLEVERLY SELF-REFERENTIAL AND WILDLY imaginative novel is both a roman à clef about the “Golden Age” of science fiction and a Borgesian parable exploring the nature of memory and reality. Charming and trippy. B PLUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-circumference-of-the-world-lavie-tidhar/1143018566?ean=9781616963620

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@booktweeting @bookstodon Sounds interesting!

pivic , to bookstodon
@pivic@kolektiva.social avatar

‘God forbid that a dog should die’: when Goodreads reviews go bad https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/17/god-forbid-that-a-dog-should-die-when-goodreads-reviews-go-bad

Goodreads is horrible for readers and books. The technical platform is very badly maintained with bugs in the extreme. Amazon mine user data for nefarious purposes, for example, in building concentration camps (ICE).

I recommend anyone who's interested in keeping track of their books in a social way (if one wants; one can also use the platform so that nobody else can see your activity) to use Bookwyrm (https://bookwyrm.social), which is completely open-source and actively maintained by very kind people—you can host your own instance, which is BTW built on ActivePub—to whom I donate money to keep the site rolling; no ads, no tracking.

There's also The StoryGraph (https://www.thestorygraph.com) that was created by people who were fed up with Amazon and their . The system is closed-source and actively maintained.

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@robbiedavis @pivic @bookstodon @hardcover Cool, I'll have to check that out!

kenthompson , to bookstodon
@kenthompson@mastodon.world avatar

, anyone? Perfect example from publishing. A publisher is using AI to write crappy nonfiction, then assigning author names that almost match leading experts in that field (to trick search engines). No doubt other AIs will now search those texts as authoritative. This is done solely to make money and only makes the world a worse place.
@bookstodon @pluralistic

https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/book-club/

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@hexbatch @OhOkKay @kenthompson @bookstodon @pluralistic I definitely agree that that is a good practice, either that or some other way of preserving drafts, notes, or evidence of incremental progress. (There isn't really anything special about Git in that regard; a commit history can easily be faked.)

But I also think it's not reasonable to expect, in general, that writers must have done this. There are, and (probably) always will be, many cases where an author doesn't have records of their incremental progress, and that can't mean they have no defense against an accusation of AI-powered plagiarism.

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@hexbatch @OhOkKay @kenthompson @bookstodon @pluralistic Pretty much, yeah, as long as the email server operator is trustworthy. But even then, there's no particular need for Git; you can just email yourself a draft. (Unless you want to keep the contents of the draft private even from the email server operator)

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@OhOkKay @hexbatch @kenthompson @bookstodon @pluralistic There is nothing in this scenario we're discussing that would give AI tools the opportunity to scrape your drafts. (Unless you choose to use a website that uses all content they receive to train AI models.)

ferngirl , to bookstodon
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

If the ain't your jam, might I suggest a good book? Right now, I'm reading The Dictionary of Lost Words (by Pip Williams), and I'm really enjoying it.
@bookstodon what are you reading? Anything good?

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ferngirl @bookstodon Currently finishing up "The King's Seal" (https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/1315c50a-e30d-4cb7-8b2d-86c309e1cb4a), which is the end of a series... which I actually don't think is all that great - it's fine, but not a standout - though I suppose the fact that I did stick with it through a 3-book series has to count for something 🤷

skaeth , to bookstodon
@skaeth@writing.exchange avatar

What are your thoughts on DNF (Did Not Finish)-ing books? Do you feel guilty about it? Do you worry you missed out on something? Or are you confident in dropping a book and reaching for the next one?

At what point are you most likely to DNF, if ever? What sorts of things cause you to DNF?

My friend, book blogger Kriti, was musing on these questions a while back, and it sparked this new post: https://armedwithabook.com/dealing-with-dnf-the-practice-of-did-not-finish/

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@skaeth @bluGill @bookstodon Ooh that's an interesting take. A bit surprising to me, actually. My understanding of DNF has always been to stop reading with no intention of ever coming back to it.

There have been many times I stopped reading a book temporarily because it's not what I was in the mood for at that moment or because I got too busy with other things in my life or so on - sometimes even because the book is good enough that I want to save it for a time when I can properly appreciate it - but I planned to come back and finish (or reread it from the beginning) later. It just doesn't feel right to tag those books with the stigma of a DNF label.

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@skaeth @bluGill @bookstodon Ah I see. I dunno, I just feel like there's a huge difference between DNF and DNF-for-now in terms of what it says about the book.

FWIW I've never been one of those people who had any trouble setting aside a book temporarily. Reading a book cover-to-cover all in one sitting is just not done, in my world. (Unless it's a super-short book I guess.) At a minimum I have to stop at some point to, like, get food or something. And I can't bring myself to find much of a meaning in the distinction between taking a half-hour break to eat, or taking a 10-hour break to go to work, or taking a 3-week break because of various other things I have going on in my life, or so on.

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@skaeth @simon @bookstodon Other people's opinions are extremely overrated 😛

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@skaeth @bluGill @bookstodon Usually only one at a time for me, although sometimes I'll have two going at once if they're different genres. At least, only one (maybe two) at a time actively. It does happen that I'll put aside a book temporarily and read another book in the interim, especially if the one I put aside is one I expect to be really good and the other one I pick up is less good.

BTW this is a very interesting discussion, thanks for starting it 🙂

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@skaeth @bluGill @bookstodon Good question - yes, I usually do follow through with finishing books later. I'll typically get far enough into the book before putting it down that I'm invested in finding out how the story concludes. But I don't necessarily know, at the time of putting the book down, when I'm going to come back to it. (in rare cases it takes years)

I'd say I use a mix of borrowing and buying to get my books, although a lot of them I actually get as free ebooks from promotions by Barnes and Noble, so I don't know if that really counts as either! What I can say is it's quite rare I'll spend money to buy a book unless I know I really like it, or I have a very strong expectation of liking it based on other work by the same author in the same genre.

diazona , to bookstodon
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

Now that I've finished and gone back to reading "regular" books, I have a whole new appreciation for Robert Jordan's ability to create interesting characters and weave (🧐) them into a compelling story. I'll never complain about women who fold their arms under their breasts 47 times per chapter again.

...well okay I will because it's silly, but point is, the man could write, in a way that a lot of run-of-the-mill published authors cannot.

@bookstodon

diazona OP ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ametonym @bookstodon I think I don't agree with that. I mean, sure there were a few typos that should have been fixed by better copy editing, and the story was certainly more complex than it needed to be in a few places, but neither of those detracted very much from my experience.

Or, I guess I should say, I don't think more aggressive editing would have made the books substantially better for me. I'd believe it could have done so for many other readers.

CindySue , to bookstodon
@CindySue@bookstodon.com avatar

I finished a book that wasn't for work! First one in like 3 months. I decided last night to try a romance which is a genre I haven't read much of in the last couple of years. I started the book last night and finished today.

My headphones are dead so I can't finish what I was doing for work. I complained to the husband and he said to read a book. So that is exactly what I intend to do.

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@CindySue @bookstodon nice! Having the option of that outlet to disconnect from work is pretty great

Jennifer , to bookstodon

I saw this book at the bookstore last month. The title made me laugh so I had to get it. Started it this week and so far love it. @bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@Jennifer @Nonya_Bidniss @bookstodon hahaha nice to see someone at B&N leaning into it. I am intrigued, I'll have to check this out.

Likewise , to bookstodon
@Likewise@beige.party avatar

Cozy mysteries?

I’ve read & enjoyed Still Life by Louise Penny, does that count? I recently found this book, The Thursday Murder Club & it was called a ‘cozy mystery.’ Do you all have any recommendations, do you like this genre or am I’m just 100 years old?
@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@MardraS @Likewise @bookstodon Ooh sounds great! I'm adding that to my list.

DejahEntendu , to bookstodon
@DejahEntendu@dice.camp avatar

The Humans, by Matt Haig.

The narrator leads us through a look at Earth and posh English culture from the eyes of an alien. Humorous without stepping too far, it leads into a serious story as the narrator grows. By the end, it's poignant and we're left with the warm fuzzies. Truly a lovely arc of a story.

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@DejahEntendu @bookstodon Sounds interesting!

ninsiana0 , to bookstodon
@ninsiana0@mastodon.social avatar

What books are you ending your year on?

I'm currently reading NIGHT SIDE OF THE RIVER by Jeanette Winterson.

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ninsiana0 @bookstodon For me it's the last book of the Wheel of Time series - I've been working on the series since January and it was my goal all along to get to the end this year

hollie , to bookstodon
@hollie@social.coop avatar

I love when you emphatically express to your family that books are a most welcome gift, and THEY BELIEVE YOU! :)

@bookstodon

The same stack of books but from behind, showing how the Lord of the Rings volume has the edge of the pages in red with Tengwar (Elvish script) in white. Translated it reads, "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them"

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@hollie @bookstodon oooooooo 😍

I mean, I shouldn't complain since I recently got a haul of books myself, but that stack looks beautiful and I definitely have a bit of book envy!

diazona , to bookstodon
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

Very excited to have paper copies of my new favorite books, the Dragon Blood series! It's been a while since I bought any physical books but these were worth it. Even though I already had all the ebooks 😁

https://app.thestorygraph.com/series/126035

@bookstodon

ninsiana0 , to bookstodon
@ninsiana0@mastodon.social avatar

Hey. It's ok if you're behind on your yearly reading goal. That number was arbitrarily chosen in a January fog of optimism & champagne anyway, and you don't need to turn something you love & brings you comfort into a stressor. Read good books. Enjoy them. Be gentle with yourself.

@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ninsiana0 @bookstodon Wise words 😀 although I wouldn't discount the satisfaction that comes from achieving a goal over a long term. It's not the biggest deal but it is something.

I actually do have one goal I really care about, which is to finish the series this year... I'm definitely running a little behind on that (only 10.6 books in, out of 14) but it's close enough that I might just make it. 🤞

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ronsboy67 @ninsiana0 @bookstodon Yeah, but then you have the satisfaction of meeting your goals to keep yourself happy... the rest of us have nothing.

(congrats though 😀)

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ronsboy67 @ninsiana0 @bookstodon Well... again, way to go on achieving goals, but I gotta admit I don't understand the appeal of that one 🤷

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ronsboy67 @ninsiana0 @bookstodon That makes sense, but personally I would think the thing to brag about is all the other stuff you got to do in the time you saved, rather than than how much less reading you did.

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@hybridhavoc @ninsiana0 @bookstodon 😁 thanks for the encouragement!

pseudonymsupreme , to bookstodon
@pseudonymsupreme@pnw.zone avatar

Huh. It just occurred to me that not everyone reads all the time. Like, there’s a bunch of people without books they’re reading right now. That concept is so bizarre to me. I’ve always got several books going. Ebooks, audiobooks and physical copies of books. If you don’t read anymore, when and why did you stop? No judgement. I’m genuinely curious. @bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@anomnomnomaly @BackFromTheDud @pseudonymsupreme @bookstodon I wonder if Waffle House wait staff get discounted waffles though... I would do a lot for an easy supply of cheap waffles

Likewise , to bookstodon
@Likewise@beige.party avatar

If someone, who isn’t an avid reader says, “This is one of the best books I’ve ever read…” (assuming they aren’t talking about something they read when they were 5)

Do you think:

Wow, this must be a phenomenal book, I must find it immediately.

OR

This is probably trash or close to it & if I see it, steer clear. @bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@Likewise @bookstodon Both of those seem like overly strong reactions to me.

Personally, I probably wouldn't make much of it because I know that my taste in books doesn't align with a lot of other people's. But I would ask what they liked about it, consider how well their reading preferences align with my own, and probably look it up on , and based on all that info if it sounds interesting I'll add it to my to-read list.

I would never take someone's positive review of a book to mean that it's trash, unless I know that their preferences are diametrically opposed to mine, and in that case it's not too likely I'd be listening to that person in the first place.

Narayoni , to bookstodon
@Narayoni@mastodon.social avatar

Very Apt! "And, as is generally the case around the time a prophet is expected, the Church redoubled its efforts to be holy. This was very much like the bustle you get in any large concern when the auditors are expected, but tended towards taking people suspected of being less holy and putting them to death in a hundred ingenious ways. This is considered a reliable barometer of the state of one’s piety in most of the really popular religions" @bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@Narayoni @bookstodon attn: Mythbusters

DarkMatterZine , to bookstodon
@DarkMatterZine@mastodon.social avatar

Bookish people: I’m making bookmarks as a kind of business card that hopefully people will keep.
What are your favourite dimensions for a bookmark?
Do you like ribbon or thread from a circle cut in the top or do you prefer bookmarks that are just a rectangle of eg paper?
Would you use a handmade one-of-a-kind bookmark? (Website details in a small space on one side, the rest would be pretty, have anything from pop culture icons to scenes or florals.)
@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@DarkMatterZine @bookstodon Love the idea 😀

Personally I like a tall bookmark, like 12-15 cm, otherwise it's too easy for it to just fall out of the book. And I like having something on the top to give that end a bit of weight. Ribbons and tassels are okay but they can easily get caught in the book; I think what I'd like best is some kind of a knob or handle, e.g. a little knot of thread.

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@DarkMatterZine @bookstodon Like, a way to bookmark a range of pages rather than just one position? Interesting thought... Off the top of my head I'm skeptical I would find it useful but it's hard to imagine without having tried it.

ramblingreaders , to bookstodon
@ramblingreaders@toot.community avatar

Do you know there's a alternative to Amazon-owned ? is a social network for tracking your reading, writing reviews, and discovering what to read next. You can follow and interact with users on different instances and on . You can import from a Goodreads CSV export. You can create private shelves and curated lists. Join us at https://ramblingreaders.org or choose one of the other instances available @bookstodon

diazona , (edited )
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@ramblingreaders @danialbehzadi @bookstodon Yes, legally speaking "proprietary" is one possible type of licensing arrangement, and "open source" by the OSI's definition is another (or perhaps a set of related types that share some key features), but there are others besides those two.

follows an approach which is not proprietary, but it is not open source by the OSI's definition either.

Of course, some people define "open source" in a different way from the OSI, but that can get confusing....

DocCarms , (edited ) to bookstodon
@DocCarms@mstdn.social avatar

There was a poll that stated—Rowling’s opening line in the HP series is one of best in the world. Someone posted about how there are a bunch of other opening statements that are better.

Here’s one of my personal favorites, from Gabriel Garcia Marquez (in English):
“It is inevitable — the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”

What are some of your favorite opening lines in literature? 😊
@bookstodon

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@DocCarms @arisu_m @bookstodon Not just you 😅 which is part of why people like it so much, I bet

diazona , (edited )
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@arisu_m @DocCarms @bookstodon 😂👍 that might be even better

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@Dunstable @DocCarms @bookstodon We had a whole mini-thread about that somewhere else among the replies!

It figures, it's so good it gets suggested more than once 😀

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@Tweetfiction @DocCarms @bookstodon I involuntarily imagined that next-to-last one in Gonzo's voice 😂

Come to think of it... even though doesn't exactly have an opening line, the first few sentences of actual narration are a strong start:
(Gonzo) "Hello! Welcome to The Muppet Christmas Carol! I am here to tell the story."
(Rizzo) "And I am here for the food."

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@mikebaarda @DocCarms @bookstodon I think you have a point, but it's kind of context-dependent. Personally, when I read that line, sure my interest is piqued a little, but I'm also immediately primed to be looking for an explanation of the things you mentioned, and I'm not likely to have a good time reading the story until I start getting that explanation (or at least some justification for why I need to wait for it, like if the POV character is trying to find out). So it's kind of a high-risk high-reward maneuver: an opening line that introduces mysterious terms for story elements (such as, but not limited to, characters) can backfire badly if the rest of the story doesn't deliver details at the right pace.

It's also definitely possible to overdo it by throwing so many unfamiliar terms at the reader so fast that they get turned off. Not the case here, of course, but other books definitely do it.

</non-expert-opinion>

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@Tweetfiction @DocCarms @bookstodon 😂

diazona ,
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@mikebaarda @DocCarms @bookstodon Gotcha. Yeah I think that's the best way to do it, when that mystery drives the book (or series, in this case). It was just on my mind because of a recent discussion with a friend about a different book - I forget which one, some fantasy thing - that had used like nine made-up terms by the end of the first sentence 😂 and we were both thinking how that's almost enough to stop a person from reading right there.

I'll have to add The Gunslinger to my reading list 👍

diazona , (edited )
@diazona@techhub.social avatar

@smitty @mikebaarda @DocCarms @bookstodon Yeah but I would say the difference is that one is much less mysterious. It doesn't grab your attention by alluding to a significant plot point that needs to be resolved. In fact it's kind of the opposite: yes it introduces one unknown term from the story, but aside from that it's actually very non-mysterious. It conveys stability and comfort and familiarity, at least to an audience used to reading European fairy tales.

I mean, I definitely agree that it works well! I just think it's important that it gives the reader so little to wonder about, just that one unknown term. That's how you properly pace a fantasy intro IMO.

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