This author’s note originally appeared in the September 19th edition of my author newsletter. To subscribe to my newsletter, click here. It’s September, which means (among other things) that it’s time to revisit my business plan and update it for the next year. Every January 1st, I print out a new and revised copy of… Continue reading 2019-09-19 Newsletter Author’s Note
Tag: theme
Extra Sci-Fi S3E4: The Return of the King
Okay, I think the folks at Extra Credits got it wrong with this one in a really big way. Gollum didn’t redeem himself. That’s the entire point. Redemption is an important and very Christian theme of Lord of the Rings, but so is the problem of evil. Several comments on the video point this out:… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E4: The Return of the King
Extra Sci-Fi S3E2: The Fellowship of the Ring
Another fascinating episode from Extra Credits, this one focusing on the themes of generational passing and the diminishing of ages that is present in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I have a lot of thoughts on this episode, but they all basically boil down to one thing: Every generation reinvents the world. It’s a theme… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E2: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sholpan, or The Great Novella Experiment
So now that I’m finished with Desert Stars, the next project I’m working on is a companion novella to Bringing Stella Home titled Sholpan. While Bringing Stella Home is about James and his quest to rescue his brother and sister, Sholpan is entirely from Stella’s point of view and traces her rise in Hameji society, from prisoner… Continue reading Sholpan, or The Great Novella Experiment
The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card
Somec: the miracle drug that allowed the rich and well connected to sleep through the centuries and postpone death almost indefinitely. While the masses continued to live out their lives in normal time, the social elite watched over centuries as their investments multiplied, and their kingdoms grew into empires… …and ultimately crumbled. Thousands of years… Continue reading The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card
Gah! It sucks
I’m about a third of the way through To Search the Starry Sea, and my greatest fear at this point is that it isn’t as good as the last novel I wrote. Because if it isn’t as good, that means that I’m getting worse, not better, and if I’m getting worse, that means I’m never… Continue reading Gah! It sucks
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
Urras and Annares, a world and its moon, separated by the gulf of space and two hundred years of mutual contempt. On Urras, capitalist and socialist nations vie for dominance over the world’s rich and abundant resources. On Annares, the anarchist exiles scrounge for a meager living, but live in peace–and in hope. Shevek has… Continue reading The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
It was said that God, in order to test mankind which had become swelled with pride as in the time of Noah, had commanded the wise men of that age, among them the Blessed Leibowitz, to devise great engines of war such as had never before been upon the Earth, weapons of such might that… Continue reading A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Thoughts after finishing A Canticle for Leibowitz
Wow. Wow. This book is INCREDIBLE. I’ll review it later, but first I want to put down some of my initial thoughts. With any great book, you come to a point where you realize, consciously or not, that it just can’t get any better. The story, the characters, the world, the ideas and stakes, the… Continue reading Thoughts after finishing A Canticle for Leibowitz
Thoughts after finishing Legend by David Gemmell
I just stayed up a bit late, finishing Legend by David Gemmell. Wow. According to his wikipedia entry, Mr. Gemmell wrote Legend in two weeks while waiting to hear if his cancer diagnosis was terminal. After reading this book, I can definitely see how that influenced the writing. This book is incredible, one of the… Continue reading Thoughts after finishing Legend by David Gemmell