When I was in the city a few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of "Shaka's Children" from the Strand. It's a history of the Zulu from the founding of their kingdom to the early 1990s, and it's very interesting.
I like reading histories and cultural studies, partly because they're a nice break from fiction (after a while, all stories start to sound the same) and partly because they're useful research. Even if I don't intend to do anything with the information at the time, sooner or later it usually comes in handy.
In this case, the Zulu are a strong influence on the Danna, a group of people in one of my original worlds. So it's good to learn all about the Zulu that I can, so I know what's the same and what's different, instead of just groping in the dark.
And in other news, the weather sucks, but I bought molasses cookies so all is well.
I like reading histories and cultural studies, partly because they're a nice break from fiction (after a while, all stories start to sound the same) and partly because they're useful research. Even if I don't intend to do anything with the information at the time, sooner or later it usually comes in handy.
In this case, the Zulu are a strong influence on the Danna, a group of people in one of my original worlds. So it's good to learn all about the Zulu that I can, so I know what's the same and what's different, instead of just groping in the dark.
And in other news, the weather sucks, but I bought molasses cookies so all is well.