Tamsyn Muir’s dark and fascinating exploration of queerness and personhood Welcome to the Gender Zone Tamsyn Muir's Nona the Ninth offers intrigue, espionage, politics, sword fights, funny t-shirts, a six-legged dog, conversations between planets, a God on a bender and more besides. But among its most exciting aspects through both of my readings is how the book (and, retroactively, the series as a whole) portrays and plays with ideas of gender, bodies and pronouns. In an interview  with Reactor prior to the novel's release in late 2022, Muir shared: My early readers have told me that this book has a serious case of gender. I think ALL the books have a serious case of gender; I consider my lesbianism to have a serious case of gender, and I’m not alone in… the lesbianism of gender (these words have stopped having meaning as I type them). I find this especially profound both because it reflects the experiences of people I know and because lesbianism is intrinsic to this series (arguably even more than it is to This is How You Lose the Time War and The Masquerade novels, though it probably ties The Unbroken ). Arguably the series is better known for being about lesbians than it is for being about necromancy, though the two tend to go hand-in-hand in descriptions. Where my previous post explored the secret moral upon which The Locked Tomb  is founded, today I will discuss the massive, bitter truth around which the series’ plots and characters orbit. Heavy spoilers ahead ! The Eightfold Word As discovered by the dwindling survivors of Gideon the Ninth ’s cast, becoming a lyctor grants immortality and ( potentially ) infinite necromantic power through the process of eternally consuming another person's soul. This flawed process, called the 'Eightfold Word' and 'lyctoral megatheorem', was devised by John Gaius ' companions post-Resurrection in hopes of imitating his relationship with Alecto (Earth). These sixteen paired off as necromancer adepts (some people received traces of John's power post-Resurrection, and some continue to be born with it a myriad later) and non-adepts, with the latter eventually being consumed as the eternal fuel of their partner's lyctorhood. Thus were born the seven Saints (John says he aborted the attempt of one pair out of mercy, but there is certainly more to the story) and the tradition of necromancers-in-training being paired with bodyguard-and-potential-fuel cavaliers. Necromancer Palamedes Sextus and Cavalier Camilla Hect, by HaileyRoseArt In that same interview, Tamsyn Muir discussed how lyctorhood is partly based on The Dream of the Rood , wherein the Cross is personified and plays a role in humanity's salvation. (Because these books weren't enough of a reminder of Muir's brilliance.) Like the cross' eternal association with Jesus, in most cases the cavalier is remembered by their eye colour forever replacing their necromancer's. (Their fighting instincts can also act as a kind of autopilot for the lyctor's body while performing out-of-body necromancy.) Beyond that, they are chicken soup for the lyctor soul. That is the understanding of lyctorhood we get in Gideon the Ninth (minus the insight about emulating John & Alecto). But as with so many concepts introduced in speculative fiction, it's the faults, exceptions and derivations to the rule that make lyctorhood such a stark focal point of the series. Bodies & Minds The simplest of these details, hinted at throughout the series but raised outright in The Unwanted Guest , is that consuming a person's soul does in fact have a greater influence than those described above. By all previous understanding, Ianthe Tridentarius achieved the established and accepted version of lyctorhood by consuming the soul of her cavalier, Naberius Tern, at the end of Gideon the Ninth . Yet while fighting Saint Ianthe for control of Tern’s body, keen Palamedes discerns that the cavalier’s supposedly subsumed soul is influencing both of them.  Tower Prince Ianthe Naberius, by Caio Santos Here is also the first of the genderfuckery, as Muir so astutely put it. Ianthe retains her pronouns both having consumed the soul of her male cavalier and while remotely puppeteering his corpse. There is no question of the body's genitals being a part of this determination: Ianthe is a woman and continues to be so while happening to inhabit Naberius' body. If that makes sense, congrats! You are now a transgender ally <3 Of course Saint Ianthe's identity is a rabbit hole without a bottom until – and perhaps beyond – Alecto the Ninth 's release. Both she and Kiriona use the title Tower Prince alongside female pronouns (despite having lived her life as Princess Ianthe), and it remains to be seen whether she will attempt to embrace or crush the influence of Naberius' soul on her. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, by Elena M. Benítez Harrowhark Nonagesimus is potentially in a similar situation, and not as a result of her strange version of lyctorhood. Her parents saw Harrow as the last hope of for the declining Ninth House, and sacrificed every other child in their home (likely on Pluto) to necromantically empower her. Fans speculate that Harrow's impressive abilities stem from a complex relationship with those 200 souls, and that have partially shaped her personality and experience of gender . Into the River Turns out trying to explain enough detail to effectively convey an important message takes a while – many would argue it takes a full-length book! I'll wrap this up with Part II in a few days, exploring the genderfuckery of other strange versions of lyctorhood in the series, and hyperlink it here. Until then <3

The secret climate crisis behind our favourite lesbian necromancers in space Welcome to the Bone Zone It's hard to believe that Gideon the Ninth , the first book in New Zealander author Tamsyn Muir's The Locked Tomb series, is only five years old. Even more so that I've waited so long to write in depth about this queer, gory, mysterious masterpiece of speculative fiction (though I did sneak a mention in my riffle through great lesbian characters ). These books might look or sound strange at first, but trust me that you don't know the half of it. This is Mean Girls meets The Substance meets Evil Dead meets Sherlock Holmes plus about a dozen more elements, sprinkled in choice cuts of millennial internet humour and a God who has spent his 10,000 year reign perfecting his dad jokes . But beyond all of that, I find the very experience of reading these books to be unique. With Harrow  and Nona  especially, but also Gideon to a lesser extent, my first read just was a confused thrill ride. Now I love being dropped into a bizarre world with the freedom to figure things out for myself, so it was great fun trying (and utterly failing) to predict where Muir was going, but I know that's not true for everyone. The great news is that my second read of the series was completely different , with tons of foreshadowing nuance and detail popping out that I must have glazed over the first time around. So, hey, consider reading these great books; Gideon the Ninth available free as an audiobook with either your Audible or Spotify subscription! I won't be covering any major plot spoilers today, but continue at your own risk if you want to experience this for yourself. John Gaius, His Celestial Kindliness, the First Reborn, the Necrolord Prime, King of the Nine Renewals, Emperor of the Nine Houses Meet God; you can call him John. He created the universe as we understand it (for the first two books), he keeps the sun shining, he has a lot of unhealthy habits, has the blood of billions on his hands and, as previously established, he loves dad jokes. Also, as he shares through dream sequences in Nona the Ninth , he was once just a well-meaning scientist. Emperor John Gaius, by exmakina (The B-plot of the third book might sound like a strange place to begin exploring this world, but this is where we finally get the history of Muir's world – and a peek at one of the subtle message of the series.) The Earth is dying and different ideas are being raised to save humanity. John and his team are working on a cryogenics-based solution to save the most lives possible and, crucially, try to let the Earth heal once those people are packed off for the stars. It isn't made expressly clear in the text, but I think it's fair to say that John's virtuous beliefs and attitude are why the dying spirit of the Earth "picked [John] to change" [ Nona , p. 410]. All magic in this world is based on the energies of life and death, so planets – and especially Earth, teeming with the cycles of life – are sources of incredible power. The Earth entwines her soul with John's and he quickly finds he has the power of necromancy; he experiments animating the bodies he was using to test his cryogenics technology before expanding his sights further and further afield. John Gaius, by rosenkranz In the meantime, and despite John’s best efforts to bring attention to the cryogenics plan, a group of trillionaires have won out with their plan to evacuate the population with multiple waves of faster-than-light ships. It smells fishy right up until it’s revealed that yes, they’re actually just getting themselves out of dodge and leaving the rest of humanity, and Earth, to die. (As a brief side note, I started Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Firewalkers  immediately after my reread and it was amusing to see a very similar depiction of events.)  Utterly frustrated and enraged, John makes it his goal to stop their escape. Negotiation fails him, and he ends up draining every life in the solar system in an attempt to catch the departing ships. A little later he begins the Resurrection by forging a human body for undead Earth (named Alecto) and the world of The Locked Tomb is born. Fan-made cover of upcoming Alecto the Ninth , by Noctilia John's story is the tragedy of righteous fury overshadowing noble purpose; vengeance eclipsing recovery. When one of his companions raises the idea of using his newfound powers to heal specific damage to the Earth, he ignores her in favour of learning more about his control over life and death [ Nona , p. 397]. He was never perfect, but his backstory demonstrates that it didn't take much of power's corrupting touch to reveal the cracks in his character. Of course part of what makes Jod (a fan name amalgamating John + God) such a chilling, complex, fascinating character is that the entire universe of the series is built on his tragedy and his attempts to deal with its consequences. In future posts I'll discuss the rest of the incredibly compelling cast, whose entire lives have been shaped, either directly or through 10,000 years of reverberating cause-and-effect, by this terrifying and punny figure. Hidden but Potent Moral As I alluded to previously, Nona the Ninth can be an incredibly confusing read the first time around. Part of that, believe it or not, is that the climate crisis and Earth dying are never stated explicitly throughout this book. I certainly didn't see the connection until I started looking up explainer posts after reading, and I've seen multiple reviews by others who had no idea. I wouldn't put it past Muir to just enjoy confusing readers for the sake of it, but I think she accomplished something more. Harrow the Ninth is well-nigh unintelligible until you discern the secret that shapes it. In the same way, you can read Nona and/or live on this planet just a little confused until you recognize the reality of global warming. I'll be fascinated to see whether Muir makes this theme more prominent in Alecto the Ninth , though I might not recognize it either way at first. Would be nice to see it become more prominent in our own plotline, because for better or worse we don't have John to go for our throats. ('Cause he's a neck-romancer.)

This 2022 song deconstructs the rhetoric and lays bare true motivations Welcome to Ghost The world has conspired for four months to have passed since my previous Lyrical post , at the end of which I predicted I'd next be writing about one Epica song or another. Alas, they will have to wait just a little longer (although many of their lyrics are also more apt now than ever). Today I continue to fixate on, and try to wrap my mind around, the mindset of Trump supporters. Not necessarily the millions who apparently just prioritized economic shake-ups over... everything... but instead his actual cronies and base who have stood with him for eight years now. But first my favourite band in the whole wide world, Ghost . (If you want a long and confusing introduction to the band, this video does that quite well!) Musically Ghost straddle the line between rock and metal, while thematically they satirize religious (mostly Catholic) institutions, fears and demonization. Their song Cirice is about institutions manipulating people into joining them; Rats about the quicksand our society seems to be built on; Monstrance Clock about the truly Satanic idea of all parties having a good time during sex. Not every Ghost song is about religion, but I'd argue this one absolutely is: 'Twenties' Lyrics, Meaning & Analysis First off, I have to mention that I simply love the unique sound of this song. The powerful brass opening and heavy focus on drums throughout evoke a steampunk industrial landscape overlooked by metallic art deco skyscrapers. (Perhaps inspired by the art in the video!) The song was released while I was reading The Books of Babel , and repeated listens have firmly linked the two in my mind. Listen up hatchet man // Set controls for the heart of the land // Tell 'em all it is time You're the next in the chain of command // (As my) Apparition... (Apparition...) // Direct the course for collision (Grow) Suspicion... (Suspicion...) // For the Reich to come to fruition In the Twenties (Twenties) // We'll be singing in a reign of pennies // In the Twenties (Twenties) We'll be soaring in disguise of bevies // In the Twenties (Twenties) // We'll be smooching at the feet of da rulah In the Twenties (Twenties) // We'll be grinding in a pile of moolah Hopefully it's already abundantly clear that this is about Trump. This was always the plan: sow discord and suspicion to gain control, claiming he's for the people ('in disguise of bevies') in order to grab absolute power (and moolah) for 'da rulah' and his loyal few in the 2020s. The first few lines are perhaps the most confusing, but I think they mostly just refer to this not being anything new: Trump is walking in the footsteps (or is the 'apparition') of plenty of living and dead autocrats (the term 'Reich' certainly calls one to mind), and is being commanded to take up the hatchet by the narrator. Either that or this was a truly prophetic glimpse of Trump's successful bid for absolute immunity in office. Listen up you motherfuckers // Those Ivy League dopes they wanna mock us // Tell 'em all this is war And not fighting a war is for suckers // (Kiss my) Assassinate... (Assassinate...) // Gather the tools to disintegrate (Feed) Hate... (Hate...) I love the switch to stamping feet in place of instruments for the first few lines here; another excellent nod to the lie that this is in any way a movement for the people. Beyond that we can check the boxes for anti-intellectualism (as I discussed in my last post ) and direct calls for violence; also see the gorgeous little reference to Trump's draft-dodging. The whispered lyrics here are also perfect. Autocrats will conduct their assassinations , and they'll absolutely have the arrogance to tell the world to 'kiss [their] ass' at the same time. Likewise their power is built on hate, but their followers might be blind to just how much they have personally fed that flame. Reaping the seeds as a reprobate // I'm Number One // You're number two // You've got a lot of God's work to do In the Twenties (Twenties) // We'll be taking no shit from no chulas In the Twenties (Twenties) // We'll be grabbing 'em all by the hoohaas Here's another line that I'm just fully understanding now. They are literally enjoying the produce of a nation despite being criminals; but the 'seeds' line also leads nicely into the religious theme of doing "God's work". Of course Trump and his elites won't be lifting a single finger, but they can conjure the Protestant work ethic to demand that the people help themselves. (Also, and maybe I'm reading too far into it now, but Trump being 'number one', calling the people 'number two' is another slam dunk double entendre .) "Chulas" is another line that feels more general, evoking the 'us vs. them' mentality, but could easily have a more particular meaning. As for that final line ... oh boy . We'll be dancing in the fields of freedom // We'll be crushing them laws 'cause we don't need 'em All the way to the Thirties! Of course 'we' is again just talking about Trump's loyal few; though I suppose the utter entropic collapse of society is a form of freedom. 'Crushing them laws' almost feels optimistic, given the way 2024 has gone and that with control of the Supreme Court, the Presidency, the Senate and the House they can now twist the law to mean whatever they want. And of course, the final line is a triumphant cry that once they have achieved power they will do their best not to let it go into the 2030s and beyond. Outro This is obviously all pretty depressing to think about, but I think truly understanding what brought us here is key to both surviving our current situation and hopefully improving the future. Ghost's "Twenties" does a pretty great and entertaining job of summarizing Trump's actions and motivations and goes a way toward explaining why followers continue to buy in, thinking they are along for the joy ride. Any spots where your interpretation differs? Let me know! Thanks for reading <3

The war between objective & subjective reality Welcome to my final (for now) post about K.J. Parker and his brilliant novels, this time discussing his work's disturbing parallels with our current reality. If you missed my introductory post on Parker, you can find it here (the others will be linked below). I touched on the nature and theme of 'truth' in Parker's work – especially this Siege trilogy – in my Thursday post , and particularly around the third quote it looked at. Ultimately, both Trump's tactics and those demonstrated by Parker are related to the adage " history is written by the victors " and the idea that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it . Every time Trump lies, including (to use that foreshadowing classic) about the crowd at his inauguration , he is relying on his established authority and fervent supporters to overwrite objective reality with his subjective construction. In that quote from Thursday and throughout his writing, Parker is (cynically) fascinated by this transformation – especially in cases where objective reality was lost multiple re-writes ago, introducing powerful dramatic irony for his characters who care so much for that ideal of truth. A favourite example of mine is when a character accidentally invents god (The Invincible Sun) and questions him: “Fine,” I said. “Then who created the world?” “I did. Retrospectively.” “You can’t—” “Of course I can. I can do anything. Once I exist.” The world Parker depicts, both to entertain and to warn us, is a Trump's paradise where layer on layer of subjective reality perpetuate his corrupt authority, while science and education are mocked and defunded. A version of this manifests as the Sashan Empire in K.J. Parker's Siege trilogy. As I mentioned two weeks ago , this is a society built on absolute belief in its Great King, his god-like strength and his authority – in spite of objective reality being a little different from the accepted version: Slowly and painfully because he had that thing – the Echmen have a medical name for it which slips my mind – where your spine is bent like a pear sliced longways. He was about sixteen years old, skinny as a rake, with a pleasant, intelligent face apart from a lower lip that stuck out. I don’t know when I’ve ever been more shocked in all my life. (...) “The Great King.” “Exactly. The strongest man on earth. When I’m not tearing down city gates with my bare hands, I’m strangling lions. And that’s true. It’s true because people believe it.” “I suppose it depends on your definition of—” He shook his head. “No,” he said. “ The truth’s the truth, that’s it’s defining quality. Either a thing’s true or it isn’t. But tell me this. If I don’t believe in a thing and everybody else in whole wide world does, what then? ” He smiled. “A thing is true because we believe it. If we stop believing, it stops being true.” “We stop believing because new evidence comes along.” “You think that? How sweet. No, really it’s all about fashion, like hairdos and hemlines and tassels on cushions. We believe something because people we think are really cool tell us it’s true. Then we shape the evidence to fit, like a blacksmith bending iron. Or we just believe, because the truth is so self-evident it needs no proof, and no proof can shake our belief. ” In a way, I think Parker is actually commenting on (at least) two different things here. Obviously there's the Trump parallel, alongside the hundreds of historical examples of the same. But also the general trend of anti-intellectualism that seems to have been growing in our society for a long time; I think these ideas could easily be a gentle reference to anything from Astrology to the Myer's-Brigg's (a pseudoscientific corporate invention). Of course both stem from the same place (perhaps alongside religion) of personal frustration and friction with science, education and objective reality in general. (That and our fascination with sorting ourselves into categories, whether Hufflepuffs, INTPs or Geminis; us vs. them? But that's a topic for another time.) Even before the Sashan become major players in A Practical Guide to Conquering the World , manipulating perceived reality was utterly central to The Siege trilogy. Engineer Colonel Orhan keeps many things close to his chest – sometimes even from the reader – lest a single question begin to unravel his illusory confidence and meagre odds of defending the City. Actor/playwright Notker has the role of legendary Lysimachus thrust upon him, and before long the objective truth of his identity becomes a laughable suggestion. He likewise saves his people by orchestrating a massive hoax which required absolute belief until the last moment to succeed. Felix, ambassadorial translator for a nation that has ceased to exist turned great prophet of the Dejauzi, pulls successive illusory stunts until and after his conversation with the Great King above. Ultimately, belief and influence are only tools. In the Enlightenment (as the fascinating Terra Ignota novels I'm currently listening to constantly remind me) these tools elevated science and reason, and they can do so again if that is how we choose to use them. I tend to think that living in objective reality is the most productive option even if it comes with truths such as climate change and the necessity of vaccines; but apparently vast swathes of America and beyond disagree. Thanks for reading; until next week! <3

A couple further quotes & themes, in light of this week Two weeks ago I wrote a brief overview of K.J. Parker's The Siege trilogy, it's major themes, strengths and weaknesses. In the wake of certain... events... this week, Parker's establishment-questioning voice has been powerfully resonant for me and I wanted to follow up with a few more details about this series – particularly its finale, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World . Mainly I want to share some quotes that I couldn't fit into my previous post – both to give context to my summaries and to let you experience Parker's lovely sardonic tone for yourself: “Something you said,” she replied. “About us and the Echmen. The worms of the earth against the lions. ” “It’s a quotation.” “Thought it must be. All the clever things you say turn out to have been said by someone else. What does it mean?” “Once upon a time,” I told her, “the lions declared war on the earthworms. Everyone was sure the lions would win, but the worms were clever. They dug deep holes in the ground so the lions couldn’t get at them. Then, at night when the lions were asleep, they came back up, crawled in through the lions’ ears and ate their brains. It’s an old Robur fable.” She nodded. “And that’s your idea, is it?” “Basically, yes. The worms won because they figured out a new way of fighting. Which is what we’ve done.” She thought for a moment. “In the story, the lions started it.” “The lions always start it,” I said. “By being lions.” (...) “A war to end all wars,” I suggested. “Reorganising the world so wars don’t happen any more. Wars and genocides and whole nations marched off into slavery—” “Like the Robur used to do.” “We called it spreading civilisation and core Robur liberal values, but yes.” She nodded again. “Why you?” I acknowledged the merit of the question with a nod of my head. “Because I suddenly realised I was in the right place at the right time with the right materials all within easy reach. Meaning you. The Hus. And the Echmen. And if not me, who else? The opportunity might not occur again, ever. It sort of came to me, in a flash.” “In a dream, maybe?” “I had a dream once. I think I saw the Queen of Heaven. Of course, back then I didn’t know it was her. But I was off my head through blood loss at the time. That wasn’t the flash, though. I was wide awake, in the library.” “You want to rule the world.” It was like a slap in the face. “I suppose so,” I said. “Like they say. If you want something done properly, do it yourself . And from what I’ve seen, nobody else is fit to be trusted with it.” “And you are.” “Me, no. You, maybe. But even I couldn’t make a bigger hash of it than everyone who’s tried so far.” “I see. What gives you the right?” “Self-defence.” She sighed. “So you picked on me to be your crowbar.” (...) “Yes, the lions are bad. It’s time something was done about them. I expect that if we win, in a hundred years we’ll be lions ourselves , but I won’t be here to see that, so fuck it.” She looked at me. “Is it possible the Queen of Heaven really did choose you, only she forgot to tell you? Or maybe she figured that if you knew, you’d screw everything up.”  This passage has it all: the do-it-yourself attitude of all three protagonists, the utterly gray morality, the paradigm of 'us vs. them', the deep cynicism toward fixing the cycle of violence by repeating it. (Maybe it also helps to convey some of my points about the portrayal of women in this series?) In a slightly funnier (and darker) vein: All human life has value, even the lives of shitheads and arseholes, but then again, you can’t make omelettes, so on and so forth. On balance I’d rather see six dozen senior officers trampled into squashed bags of broken bone than the same number of other ranks. No real logic to that, of course, but there you go. I’d wanted the war, too, of course. But at least I had the sense to keep as far away from the action as I could possibly get without emigrating. These books are about men whose cunning, resourcefulness and audacious courage change the course of history through warfare, but I appreciate that there is nothing glorifying here. In an odd twist, Engineer Colonel Orhan is actually the most affected of the three by his actions despite being part of the army – nearly breaking down upon seeing his ideas put into action and facing emotional turmoil when ordering the deaths of enemy engineers in order to defend the City. Towards the end of the last post I mentioned the idea of Sashan Truth, and I'm still going to save that for another post (perhaps to come this Sunday). But this passage runs somewhat in parallel to those ideas while also exemplifying Parker's fascination with the relationship between truth and passage of time: I drew a long breath so I could point out to her all the fallacies in her argument, but then I thought; why? Out of an overwhelming duty to the truth? Fuck, as I may have observed before, the truth. If it was here, would it go out of its way to defend me? Unlikely. The truth is utterly selfish and doesn’t give a damn about anyone else. Serving the truth is like serving the empire. Nobody thanks you for it and you die poor. Besides, what is the truth, anyway? In a court of law, it’s the testimony of credible witnesses corroborating each other (...) Alyattes was now the nephew of the old emperor and the rightful heir to the throne. He hadn’t been until quite recently, but pretty soon anyone who could testify against his claim would be dead or singing a very different tune, and what was once a lie would become the truth, official, carved on the lintels of triumphal arches; and if you can’t believe what you read on a government arch, what can you believe? All the books would tell it that way, and in a thousand years’ time it will be the truth, just as what was once the bottom of the sea is now a mountaintop. Ask the wise men at the university what truth is and they’ll tell you it’s the consensus of informed and qualified scholars, based on the best evidence available. Availability is governed by what gets burned in the meanwhile, but I see no real problem with that. All living things change or else they die, and why should the truth be any different? All this being said, I don't think Parker is in the business of answering these issues he points out in the world. If anything, these passages might feel a little disheartening in light of the past week. But it is my truest belief, as I've ended a few posts by saying, that these stories are an opportunity to deal with and tackle real-world issues when they confront us like this; and to educate us so that we can (hopefully next time) guard against them. Anyway, be kind out there and I'll be back Sunday~

We can't always know what we don't know Introduction Since early September I've been gleefully anticipating the weekly release of preview chapters for Wind and Truth , the fifth installment in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive . I have touched on this series before, writing about the idea of transhumanism  in Stormlight  and highlighting a significant moment  at the end of the third book Oathbringer that has an important lesson to teach us all. I've also previously written about the potential folly of prediction and getting invested, as it pertained to A Song of Ice and Fire . In that piece, I noted that Wind and Truth would be the biggest release I'd personally seen, and was wary about the transition from prediction to reading the actual book. But upon reflection, that isn't entirely true. In 2006, at the age of 9 or 10, I was devoted to the Harry Potter books and was similarly looking for any clue as to what might happen in the final book. I remember being proud to have deduced the identity of R.A.B. on my own; but also felt frustrated by the introduction of the 'Deathly Hallows' at the final hour, when there was an entire series worth of magical MacGuffins that could have served a similar role. Cover art for Brandon Sanderson's Wind and Truth , by Michael Whelan Now, almost twenty years later, I'm watching similar revelations unstitch my understanding of the Stormlight Achive world at the conclusion of its first arc – and it's a fascinating lesson to relearn. Spoilers for the preview chapters of Wind and Truth ahead. Hidden and/or New Information As I alluded to above, this series is planned for ten massive books (each has been over 1000 pages so far, and their lengths been consistently increasing) split into two 5-book arcs. While they seem to be taking place over a relatively standard timespan and geographic region, they are also shedding light on the ten thousand years of history on multiple planets that shaped the current story. My transhumanism post went a little more into it, but suffice to say that there are many beings in this story who have been around for significant portions of that decamillennium, but may have little reason to share insights with mere mortals. The previews for Wind and Truth have caught fans entirely off guard with at least three new insights so far, and there are presumably still four more weeks worth of chapters to come until the book's release on December 6th. One is the introduction of the Wind as an elemental force and avatar of Roshar (the planet where action has mostly taken place so far). Granted that this isn't quite as big a shock here as it would be if included in the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird – we already knew of creatures like the Wind, with similar ancient origins – but her appearance now and utter absence up to this point are incredibly strange. We have known of her kin, the Stormfather, since the beginning of the series. But he has also been the topic of much discussion in the fandom since Sanderson first read the prologue to Wind and Truth way back in 2022. This character, who has seemed uniquely reliable if a little brusque for four entire books, is suddenly incredibly inconsistent to the point of lying to our point-of-view characters. The Stormfather, by taratjah These two, alongside the more recent revelation that the mysterious Sja-Anat is now apparently working with the Ghostbloods , are twists on the existing world and narrative that feel impossible to predict – not unlike the Deathly Hallows. The difference, I believe, is that Stormlight is founded on these revelations re-shaping our understanding of its world. These are still the same setting and characters that Sanderson established in 2010, but every book has brought insights to expand the scope and ask us to question our understanding. Which is fitting, given that the whole series is about Journey before Destination . The other revelation is one that almost certainly was guessed at some point, but still shattered my understanding of this world. All of Sanderson's Cosmere books (of which Stormlight is a major part) take place in a universe made up of three realms, or planes: the Physical (normal reality), the Cognitive (shaped by and reflecting the ideas and perceptions of sentient beings) and the Spiritual (where all things are connected across space and time). Visiting the Cognitive realm was a huge deal in the early Stormlight books, but by now has become fairly commonplace and understood. The Spiritual realm always felt off-limits, like stepping into the scrolling computer code running the universe. But apparently we needn't have put quite so much mystique on the place – the reveal that we'd be visiting it came thanks to the blurb on the back of the damn book. Kaladin and Szeth in Wind and Truth , by Randy Vargas Where do we go from here? David from the 17th Shard podcast, which discusses and theorizes about Brandon's books, had a great quote last week that I've clipped here . In context, the quote was about another of Brandon's series where he took seven years between books, but I think it is incredibly apt for discussing A Song of Ice and Fire and so many other series. Luckily Stormlight is big enough and has so far been consistent enough that expectations have yet to be set in stone to the same degree. But I think we can apply this to more than just predicting the plots of sequels, can't we? Our beliefs, expectations and actions can very easily become calcified and almost automatic unless we consciously choose to change them and become more open to new possibilities. Funnily enough, that was the topic of one of my very first posts, back on September 20, 2023. I didn't even have it up on Medium until now, so consider giving it a look and maybe discovering another excellent speculative fiction series. Until next week, cheers and thanks for reading!

Great Men, impending genocide, kickass female leads and so much more. Introduction: The City and Branding Welcome! If you missed my post from last week introducing K.J. Parker, consider giving it a quick read as I'll be building off of a number of the topics therein today. I'm going to try to avoid spoilers where possible, but will look at the general premise of each book. K.J. Parker's The Siege trilogy was my first exposure to the author almost three years ago, and my recent re-read of the series solidly reaffirmed my high opinion of it. The novels see Parker's typical deadpan narration stretched over significantly longer page lengths than his many short stories, but he retains his sharp voice and rhythm by introducing different aspects of his characters just in time for the various situations they encounter. This lends each the feeling of an unreliable narrator at times, though it almost always turns out they're just a little more devious and immoral than you thought. Having just taken classes on attention-grabbing headlines, I found a new love for what Parker did with the titles in this series. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City , narrated by Engineer Colonel Orhan, sounds exactly like a BuzzFeed listicle. How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It , narrated by actor and playwright Notker, is sure to be SEO-optimized for other pretender Emperors looking for advice. A Practical Guide to Conquering the World , narrated by foreign translator Felix, will certainly be the title of some future best-selling financial advice book – and I'm frankly surprised that Parker beat them to it. Fan-made map of K.J. Parker’s fictional world, by Simon Regan The books take place in Parker's usual world (if it is one world and not just a lot of repeated people and place names, see last week's post for more about that), focusing on the downfall of the mighty Robur empire (in purple above) and the siege of its glorious and storied capital, known only as The City. The Robur Empire As I wrote last week, there really aren't any 'good guys' in Parker's writing. That might sound a little strange when I go on to say that this trilogy follows the fate of the dark brown-skinned Robur people as they stare literal genocide in the face. [As a brief aside, Parker introduces the Robur as derogatory-in-world 'blueskins' and foreigners like Orhan as derogatory-in-world 'milkfaces' and eventually moves to 'black/brown' and 'pale' as descriptors – while most other peoples' colouring goes entirely undescribed. It's all a little frustrating to parse, but I believe that 1) it is generally correct not to use 'Black' in this case as these characters have no relation to the history of Black people in our world, and 2) Parker wisely avoided writing about a systematic attack on white people in these books that came out between 2016-2022. Whether the backdrop of this story needed to be about race, and whether Parker executed it well beyond avoiding those two concerns, I'd love to discuss with someone more knowledgeable and qualified.] But this series (and most of Parker's writing) is also deeply critical of pretty much all systemic power, so we learn that the Robur forged their prosperous empire out of centuries of violence and thrive off of indentured servitude and colonialism. The Anti-Robur Alliance, made up of many surrounding nations who have lived under Robur heels for centuries, now seek to eliminate what they see as an innately brutal and inhuman people. Are they so wrong? Yes, obviously. One of the central morals of this trilogy is that the righteous revolutionaries of today will inevitably be the corrupt tyrants of tomorrow , and that has nothing to do with race. Plus, you know, genocide is fucking evil . But also no; why continue to be subjugated and oppressed by these imperials who call you savages (everyone calls everyone else savages in this world) when you have the chance to break free? Thus the near-absolutely gray morality of this series. But it is the Robur we are following, so who is it that steps up to face the impossible challenge of trying to save them? Great Men Another core aspect of this story is K.J. Parker's cynical fascination with the Great Man theory , which seeks to paint all human history in the actions of a few singularly influential figures. Each book follows a perfectly average man who sees the opportunity to pluck the strings of fate and goes on to pull them with all his strength, usually through grand tapestries of deception. Slave-turned-Colonel of Engineers Orhan is the odd one out, with Parker reversing his usual formula. Ingenious, devious and resourceful, Orhan barely manages to hold the fractious City against 150,000 enemies with only 4,000 engineers and a few civic employees to hold the walls. Yet his nature as a pale foreigner and lack of charisma mean his genuine accomplishments are barely recognized while they are happening, and certainly don't go down in history. (Not that he's a particularly good person or that he doesn't long for that recognition.) The second book sees the near-broke actor and playwright Notker recruited to impersonate the influential Lysimachus (who, looking more the hero, was given credit for Orhan's defense of the City). The third has translator Felix in faraway Echmen learn of the apparent extinction of his people and link up with the numerous but underestimated Dejauzi (not entirely unlike Daenerys with the Dothraki) people to reshape the world. Both of these men also accomplish Great things in the end, by solidifying power as Lysimachus and becoming the prophet of a powerful new religion respectively, but it is incredibly amusing to see how self-preservation and occasional avarice are what lead them every step of the way. Whether good or bad, remembered by history or forgotten, each of these three men had a remarkable impact on the world. But unlike the theory, they certainly didn't do it alone. Kick-ass Female Leads According to Notker, what people want in a good story is: "something that looks at first sight like real life, but which actually turns out to be a fairy tale with virtue triumphant, evil utterly vanquished, a positive, uplifting message, a gutsy, kick-ass female lead and, if at all possible, unicorns." In typical Parker fashion, he does his level best not to follow this advice – even those short stories that include different kinds of magic don't feature any unicorns, let alone anything fairy tale-adjacent – except, to some degree, for the female leads. Both Notker and Felix's stories are indelibly twined with their female counterparts, while Orhan once again differs slightly. Aichma is the proprietor of the Two Dogs, a bar which Orhan favours and which plays an important role as a neutral ground between the rival factions within The City. She is introduced as the daughter of Orhan's long-dead friend, but his protectiveness of her over the course of the book – at one point prioritizing learning about her individual safety over that of the entire City – eventually calls that into question. She plays the role of cynical (almost more characteristic of these three than any biological marker of gender) sounding board for Orhan in addition to being one of the small group of friends he is fighting so hard to save. Hodda is an actress and theatre owner in The City who ends up marrying Notker-as-Lysimachus very much in order to fill the role of Empress to his Emperor. I don't love her and could spend a number of paragraphs ranting about the reasons why, but that would necessitate a lot more spoilers, so I'll shelve it for another time. Suffice to say that she really doesn't offer much more than cynicism to the story, yet gets by far the most screen time of the women in this story. Thirdly is She Stomps Them Flat, Dejauzi princess and Felix's ticket to survival and conquest. She's probably the least cynical of the three and has at least as much personality and intelligence as Aichma, but I still would have liked her to have more of an active role in her own story. And that's the overall theme here, really. They're (mostly) good, functional characters, and none are even romantic interests, but Parker's exploration of the Great Man trope doesn't leave much room for them to really shine. But wait, a secret fourth approaches! Sawdust is the daughter of indentured servants in the city who has a knack for engineering, and becomes instrumental to rapidly implementing and improving Orhan's siege weapons during the defense of The City. It's remarkable to see a female character just genuinely kicking ass in this series – she's easily among my favourite characters, and it's criminal that she's not mentioned again after the first book. Sashan Truth... Towards the end of the third book, Parker raises the idea of truth in the Sashan Empire; namely that whatever the Sashan Emperor & associated authority says is the absolute, objective truth. It is fascinating and I knew I needed to discuss it in this post, so gathered a bunch of quotes and prepared perfectly-considered comparisons to our own world. And, just as the hunchbacked Sashan Emperor could best 10,000 men in combat and just as they have never lost a single battle, I have fulfilled my wish and will certainly not need to save that topic for another time. Utterly false. Thanks for reading! I hope you consider checking out this series; I especially recommend the audiobooks, the narrator for which perfectly captures Parker's sardonic tone. Cheers!

The man, the myth, the legend; his unique style and unchanging formula Who is K.J. Parker? I only picked up Parker's novels and stories a few years ago, so I missed the era from 1998-2015 when this question was a mystery in the community of speculative fiction fandom. Generally accepted as genderless, Parker was noted for the bleak and wryly humourous tone of their fantasy stories, which frequently explored the intersection of flawed morality and opportunistic hunger for power. Most of Parker's stories are also notable for being entirely absent of magic , though these are still labeled fantasy since they take place in invented settings. Those stories that do feature magic lose none of the usual cynicism, however, and simply find new ways to poke holes in our perception of the world. When the subject of gender did come up, consensus lent toward Parker being female, remarkable to me given that I've yet to encounter a single one of their stories that features a female lead. Truly refreshing to see that gender could be separated from an author's writing and even traditionally male interests in such a way. Of course, 2015 saw K.J. Parker finally unveiled as British novelist Tom Holt . This change doesn't seem to have had much impact on the author though, as he has continued putting out some of his best and most popular work in the past decade. A Fractious World An aspect of K.J. Parker's work I find absolutely fascinating – and half wonder whether he does in part to toy with loyal readers – is that all of his stories seem to inhabit the same world, but it remains nearly impossible to view them with any kind of cohesion. (Notably, this includes both the magical and non-magical stories, putting understanding that much further out of reach.) Fan-made map of K.J. Parker's fictional world, by Simon Regan This is a fan's best attempt at assembling Parker's world, and as far as I can tell it is one-of-a-kind; Parker certainly hasn't provided any maps to go off, despite how heavily the geography of trade, war and politics features in his stories. I think Parker simply enjoys reusing names of places and people between stories, and has perhaps chosen to lean into it more over time. He also loves playing with the fog of time in his books, so is probably aiming on some level to confuse readers in the same way that mismatched details of real history have confounded scholars for decades. After all, the wear and tear of history are fundamental to so much of Parker's writing. It's hard to find one of his stories that doesn't play with ideas of perception and reality; the " Great Men " of these stories are all con men of one stripe or another, even if they are also as intelligent, charismatic or courageous as history remembers them. This world is also defined by bloodshed. The Robur, Sashan and Echmen Empires are all built on conquest, and most of Parker's stories tell of both recent and ancient catastrophic battles – to the point that multiple stories feature a competitive industry built on looting battlefields. (Granted, so much of Parker's work is based on aspects of real history that this might be too.) Despite this violent history, Parker is surprisingly sparing in utilizing revenge as character motivation. Far more often, personal revenge is an opportunistic grab on behalf of characters failing to keep hold of their slippery morals. Weaknesses Parker certainly has a successful formula for his stories, but sticking to this style for so long makes its weak points more and more evident the more you read. For me this mostly just has to do with the representation of women and the issues with inconsistent worldbuilding. I said earlier that I had yet to read a Parker story with a female lead, and I'll expand on that now to say that half of the stories don't feature women at all. That sucks, especially since I think Parker's formula of men bluffing their way into authority could be extraordinarily well suited to stories about women and trans people doing the same. Parker's male narrators are often exasperated with women in a way that makes it clear he is mocking their sexism; this is reinforced by the fact that all of the women who do appear on the page have their own wits and motivations. Yet there is never really any growth or explicit backlash to the sexism in a way that could be seen as normalizing these attitudes, which makes me wish even more for a little more diversity in these perspectives. The inconsistent worldbuilding is mostly frustrating as someone who wants to imagine all of these stories happening in the same world – the exorcisms of Prosper's Demon and Inside Man occurring just a few miles and decades away from the fabrication of The Invincible Sun in The Sun and I – but I think it also has broader consequences. Between the first and second books of Parker's The Siege trilogy, the author misplaces two important female characters and seems to turn his only gay character straight. The Siege But I'll go far more in-depth with all of these points – morality, Great Men, race, gender and more – as they relate to that incredible trilogy next week. Depending on how that goes, I'd love to eventually look at a few of these other stories and their pithy commentary on our silly planet and its institutions. Until next week, thanks for reading!

A brief look back at some impactful stories, for Canadian Thanksgiving Unmentioned but not Forgotten I've written about a lot of great books and the ideas they evoke over the past year, but there are many more which don't make it into my posts (or are only briefly mentioned). I'm sure I'll eventually get to plenty of the ones I loved, and will occasionally explore the reasons I didn't love others. But today I want to share a few meaningful books I've read so far this year, why they are important to me and perhaps why you might enjoy reading them too. 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak This deeply emotional tale of a woman's life, death and aftermath in Instanbul sticks with you long after putting it down. It has strong echoes of A Thousand Splendid Suns while also asking serious questions about the idea of taking your life into your own hands; particularly when doing so goes against conservative society. It is painful but also full of hope, and I struggle to think of any SFF novel that comes close to showing such a dedicated and loving group of friends with this degree of skill. This was the first novel I read with a new book club last month, and it represented a really special feeling of community and camaraderie to make it through and discuss it. Moreover, this book was incredibly meaningful to me for its intersectional feminism given the constant friction in today's discourse. Between this novel and The Island of Missing Trees , Elif Shafak has become a great inspiration to me. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Partly a stand-in for The Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna also by Barbara Kingsolver, I nevertheless found Demon Copperhead to be the strongest of the three I read this year. Kingsolver is a genius at exploring historic events and settings through carefully invented characters: Demon looking at the opioid epidemic in the Appalachia region, Poisonwood at the colonial violence in the Belgian Congo and Lacuna at the Communist ideals of Rivera, Kahlo and Trotsky in Mexico. This year saw me reading a lot more general fiction, and while there were other highlights – Where the Crawdads Sing , The Heart's Invisible Furies , The Goldfinch – Barbara Kingsolver's novels felt both central to my experiences and fairly representative. There is something of a formula to all of these novels, combining coming-of-age with incredibly well-researched settings and historic events that clearly hold deep fascination to their authors. Each was emotional and gripping to a degree that my usual SFF fare often struggles to match, and each was incredibly meaningful to me in its own way. Honeycomb by Joanne Harris Occasionally when browsing discount bookstores online, I'll see a book in the appropriate genre, search its rating on GoodReads, and add it to my cart with no further investigation. While this has certainly left me in ownership of a few duds, it was absolutely worth the experience of discovering Honeycomb as I read it. Fittingly it even made up for the copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales I got from the same store! Where Grimm's tales consistently disappointed me, Honeycomb's outdid every expectation I ever held. I love the cast and world Harris built out (originally sharing these individual stories on her Twitter), with characters like the Lacewing King, Honeycomb Queen, Harlequin, Barefoot Princess and more still living their quirky and inspiring little lives in my mind months after I last picked up the book. Each of these stories is incredibly quick and meaningful, with many including illustrations by Charles Vess to add even more depth to the experience. This book reminded me of the power and beauty of fairy tales, and I couldn't recommend it highly enough to anyone else who found Grimm's a little disappointing. The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez I actually discovered this novel the same way as Honeycomb , though I imagine I'd have found it eventually anyway given that Jimenez' second novel The Spear That Cuts Through Water has gotten a lot of attention this year. The Vanished Birds shares an initial vision with Maja Lunde's The History of Bees which I also read this year, reflecting on the extinction of species due to climate change, but I thought Jimenez' book was far and away the better executed of the two. This book was a treat to read, partly because it goes in some very surprising directions. It might be the strongest exploration of colonialism through the lens of science fiction I've read, which is no small feat considering how popular that theme has been over the course of the past decade. I'd love to do a deeper dive into it at some point, but thought I'd mention it here for how, like Honeycomb , it reminded me of the sheer thrilling power of imagination to tell incredible stories in wondrous worlds. Thanksgiving So thank you authors for sharing these lovely tales, and thank you readers for making it possible. With more stories like these, I truly believe we can have a brighter future.

A scene that can be taken to represent a dozen aspects of the series Foundation of the Series Early in both George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones (1996) and the first episode of its HBO adaptation (2011), the men of the Stark family happen upon the gruesome aftermath of a clash between a stag and a direwolf. Here's the clip from the show – back when it was pretty damn good – if you want a refresher (Content warning for gore) : Author George R.R. Martin has his faults, but I'd argue his execution of symbolism is the best in the business. Inside and outside his world, inordinate importance is placed on the House symbols – the Stark direwolf, the Baratheon stag, the Lannister lion and so on – in part because of the magical reappearance of direwolves and dragons in this early part of the story. (This isn't necessarily the place or time, but the detail that House Lannister long since hunted their native giant lions to extinction and now only have the caged, inbred descendants of lions deep beneath Casterly Rock is another brutally perfect example.) Major House Symbols and Words, by MonteKarstark This is a portentous moment for the characters, for both its symbolism and its direct connection to the five (six) Stark children, each of whom receives a direwolf pup. It also goes a long way to establishing essential aspects of these characters: Jon is used to being apart from his siblings, but is caring and willing to stand up for his beliefs; Eddard is thoughtful and reverent but also utterly pragmatic; Theon is quick to violence and blind to the meaning of the moment. It is the moment that many fans became invested in this story, even if neither the books or show put much significance on the wolves beyond this moment. At least in the books it isn't just Bran psychically linking with Summer; Arya and Jon are also consistently experiencing 'wolf dreams' with Nymeria and Ghost respectively, though it's unclear how conscious they are of their abilities. Robb seemed to be doing the same with Grey Wind – in battle, no less – and a horrifying but plausible fan theory speculates that he entered his wolf's mind at the Red Wedding, only to die a second time. Antler in the Throat But setting the pups aside, the imagery I'm here to discuss: the stag and the wolf collide and both are killed. What meaning(s) does this convey, and what events does it foreshadow? Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark before the series, by Lensar The most straightforward, overarching interpretation is that this foreshadows the many dangers associated with King Robert Baratheon's (whose House sigil is a crowned stag) upcoming visit to the Starks at Winterfell, hoping to make Ned his new Hand of the King. Not that Ned needs the warning: he had enough of southern politicking while helping Robert take the crown sixteen years before, and is incredibly reluctant to return. But he ultimately can't refuse his friend's request, so the wolf moves south where it doesn't belong and both the stag and wolf are dead within the year (you could even interpret Ned's end as an antler in the throat, if you squint). So much of the fallout can be lumped in there too, when we consider that Joffrey & Tommen's subsequent power continues to come from the Baratheon name and symbol in spite of their true parentage. Sansa's horrifying journey, from the loss of her direwolf Lady through Joffrey's actions to her escape in the hours after his death, is centered on the association of stag & wolf. Robb and Catelyn's attempt to avenge Ned follows even more directly. Theon once again goes straight to violence in the aftermath, ripping the heart out of the north in his attempt to impress his father. Echoes of the Past Yet the image can also be taken to represent the defining events which brought the world to the point we see it in both book and show: Robert's Rebellion. Robert holding Lyanna's body, by Nicolas Charly Though it would be nice to say that Robert, Ned and company overthrew the 300-year Targaryen dynasty for altruistic reasons, it was mostly because Robert was in love with Lyanna Stark, who Rhaegar Targaryen supposedly kidnapped (though it is now clear that Rhaegar and Lyanna ran away together). While it’s by no means clear that Lyanna would have survived childbirth had she not been in hiding during a massive civil war, I think it's safe to say that her chances might have improved. The end result of Robert’s actions was in a way the most eerily similar to the image of the dead stag and wolf: the wolf dying as she gives birth, in this case to Jon who advocates so staunchly for the wolf pups to live and is rewarded with his own albino pup. Returning to Winterfell The dead stag and wolf are a masterful way to introduce many aspects of this world, from the characters to the portentous sigils to the series' tone. It encapsulates much of the Stark- and Baratheon- centered plot to come and reflects the events that led the world here. Perhaps it isn't even done: The Winds of Winter still features Stannis Baratheon fighting to liberate the North on behalf of the Starks, and it is widely speculated that his daughter Shireen Baratheon might be sacrificed to resurrect Jon Snow. Will this association continue to bring death and destruction? This image is only one profound example of George's incredible ability to foreshadow plot developments and re-contextualize past ones; his books are full of them, which is part of why the community has been able to continue theorizing so avidly for thirteen years since the last book. In particular, George has established an incredible amount of imagery around dragons and false identities, as I discuss here . Are there any similarly far-reaching pieces of imagery that come to your mind? I'd love to hear about them! Thanks as always for reading <3

Escape the distractions and rediscover your love of stories The struggle to focus on a book is real Have you ever sat down determined to finally read a book, only to find your phone back in your hand after less than ten minutes? Less than five? Has there maybe been a time or two when the book was never even opened? That last has happened to me three times in the past week, and I had everything going for me: no incoming messages, already knowing I liked the book and years of experience setting everything aside and reading. It's not just you! It's horribly ironic that BookTok and Bookstagram accounts are full of aesthetically pleasing posts about the dozens of books they read, encouraging followers to do the same via the exact dopamine-laden short-form content that makes focusing on other activities feel more difficult by comparison. But I'm here to promise you that there is hope! It will just take a little patience. Work with your attention span Living with ADHD can often feel like we are at the mercy of our fickle attention span. It is remarkable how quickly and effectively we can engage with something new and shiny, but by the same token it can be scary to see how easily that fascination evaporates. It's a fact of our lives, so why not embrace it where we can? A common piece of advice I like to give around here is simply to read what you enjoy, and put down what you don't. If you couldn't stand math in school, would you be frustrated with yourself for struggling to get through one of Einstein's proofs? No, because that's not for you – neither are a lot of books, and that's okay! For me, tension and mystery are absolutely key to keeping me invested – whereas romance and social machinations (especially in Victorian England, sorry!) often actively subtract from my interest. It took me some time to figure that out, so have patience with yourself as you try to determine what does and doesn't work for you and your interests! As you explore, you might stumble on an author or two who really mesh well with your taste. Perhaps the best fit I've found is Seth Dickinson (whose novels I just spend three weeks singing the praises of ), but far more prolific is Brandon Sanderson, whose imaginative novels almost always sweep me away . But you can certainly go far more general as well! I absolutely loved Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead , was overwhelmed by her The Poisonwood Bible and am currently entranced by her The Lacuna . While I've learned to be hesitant about books hyped by TikTok (I still haven't forgiven Fourth Wing ), I've also come to accept that Bestsellers are damned worth that title for how powerfully they can draw a reader in and capture attention. Not finishing what you started (and not going broke) A significant hurdle to my advice so far is the fact that we ADHDers are also more likely to buy a cool new book on impulse, only to slowly accumulate guilt as the pile of unread books grows. If there's a book in the pile that catches your interest right now, great! Otherwise, don't sweat it – that's your aspirational pile of books, and maybe you can work your way there. First, try one of these: Borrow a book from the library. In my experience, getting my hands on an exciting library book is just as good as buying a shiny new one – and probably $20-30 cheaper! Audiobooks and eBooks are great options here too; just make sure to pick something unintimidating and genuinely interesting to you right now. If you love it, great! You can buy a shiny copy with confidence. If you get three pages in and are bored to tears, also great! Return it and try something else. Load up Spotify Premium. Did you know that your account now comes with 15 hours of audiobooks per month? It's a fantastic way to dip your toes into any number of available audiobooks that might be waitlisted at the library. I go into details and offer tips here ! (Even without Premium, some podcasts on the platform upload audiobooks for anyone to listen to!) Try some short fiction online. I love speculative fiction, so can highly recommend online publications like Lightspeed Magazine and Nightmare Magazine which made incredible short stories available. These tales always have an important message to impart and are often wonderfully imaginative, despite being short enough to consume in a half hour. I did a spotlight of one of my favourite stories, Pitcher Plant , here . There are plenty more sites out there dedicated to other types of fiction! Reduce distractions. Managing your attention with ADHD can be a juggling act. For me, blasting music while reading (or doing something physical while listening to) a book goes a long way to fully engaging my mind and reducing distractibility. Patience and curiosity make perfect If you take one piece of advice away from this article, I hope it is to stop bashing your head against the wall with whatever book you're currently struggling with (at least for now). Once you find something that just lets you enjoy and get into the rhythm of reading, consider returning! I highly recommended Piranesi and The Thief as starting points in the speculative fiction genre, or again to look at some Bestsellers if your taste is more general. Either way, best of luck with your reading journey <3

Trade, lightning, cancer, cryptarchs and so many lesbians: can Falcrest fall? Welcome to the third and final (for now) part of my discussion and analysis of Seth Dickinson's Masquerade series. Part I introduced the books' cast and themes and Part II examined Baru's growing understanding of compliance & rebellion. Today I'll speculate about the forthcoming conclusion to the series, where it might take our favourite characters and what its message might be, as an answer to empire, bigotry and colonialism. Trade Concern As I alluded to at the end of last week's post, Baru has turned from the Tain Shir-like path of chaos and destruction to achieve her goals and decided she will beat Falcrest, the Empire of Masks, at its own game: trade. Being a savant in accounting and economics is a large part of the reason Baru was recruited in the first place, so setting herself wholly to economic endeavours – seemingly on behalf of Falcrest – plays directly to expectations. Baru Cormorant, by sheppard Her plan – set up mostly by her subconscious mind, a detail that will sadly have to wait for a dedicated post on her and Tain Hu's relationship to explain – is to establish trade directly between Falcrest's rival nations: spices, food, lumber and more from the Oriati Mbo flowing directly to the wintry desolation of the Stakhieczi in exchange for their miraculous glass and steel. In her ideal world, this will see profits and development rise by cutting out Falcrest's role as omnipresent middlemen. The problem comes back to the themes I explored last week: this interweaving of trade and culture is exactly how Falcrest has established its empire, and even if Baru succeeds she might just be playing to her master's hands and furthering the globe-spanning dream of the Masquerade. Baru's plan is to lure Falcresti money to invest wholeheartedly into her concern only to pop the bubble on them, destroying the empire by causing them to over-leverage their most effective weapon. Iraji, Tain Hu, Aminata, Tau-Indi, Svirakir and Baru, by ash-and-starlight Now, I have very little understanding of economics – consider reading this much more informed analysis by canmom for details and historical parallels – but I think it remains unclear to what extent Baru successfully popping this speculative bubble will negatively affect the rest of the world. A question raised throughout the series is the price of throwing off colonial Falcrest: the potential loss of engineering, education, vaccinations and so forth, even if trade could now be replaced or maintained. This is also the first argument in defense of colonialism in our world, stemming from Eurocentrist ideas that colonialist ways are the best and only. Given how thoroughly Falcrest mirrors this ideology, I fully expect to see a brief, painful period of decolonization in the novels followed by a fascinating emergence of new and old methods throughout this world. (The Oriati Mbo, so far mostly untouched by Falcrest, is a great example of a thriving society completely different from the Empire of Masks.) I do believe Baru's plan will succeed to some extent, especially given how many allies she now has to potentially push it forward without her. Because her path has not been an easy one, and I see no evidence it is about to get any safer. Baru before and after her travels, by marceline2174 Cryptarchs The central obstacle in Baru's path are her rival cryptarchs, who may be far more numerous than the six she was led to believe existed. Baru and the reader are told in Monster  that Renascent (?) was the sole survivor of a previous Throne (the secret ruling cabal of Falcrest) and that she recruited Itinerant (Cairdine Farrier) and Hesychast (Cosgrad Torrinde), who presumably recruited Apparitor (Svirakir) and Stargazer (?) in addition to Agonist (Baru) and Durance (Xate Yawa). It's easy to be immediately suspicious of this claim, given that Renascent (an extremely mysterious spymaster, more on her in a moment) is its only source. But only in Tyrant  do any of the characters question it: First with Tain Shir, ever dedicated to opening Baru's eyes to the lies which envelop her; then with the chaotic blazed Faham Execarne, who responds to Yawa's threat of Imperial authority by suggesting he could negate it with his own. The theory which multiple characters arrive at is that this is the provincial cell of the Throne, dedicated to the governance and control of matters outside the nation of Falcrest itself. After all, Farrier and Hesychast's ideological contest is about the control and subjugation of the provinces through psychological conditioning and eugenics respectively, and the three known lesser cryptarchs each hailed from a different province: Yawa from Aurdwynn, Svir from the Stakhieczi and Baru from Taranoke. Baru even speculates that yet-unmasked Stargazer could be from the Oriati Mbo to round things out. Ultimately while this was a fantastic twist – setting Baru and Yawa even further from the power over Falcrest they thought they had already won – I don't imagine it will be a major plot point with only one book supposedly to go. Whether Baru is set to face off against a hundred cryptarchs or just Renascent, Hesychast and potentially Farrier, the confrontation will likely be decisive and explosive. Who (and what) is Renascent? “A self-governing world shall require a self-governing citizen. It will require a woman who can without coercion or persuasion be trusted to make perfect choices to keep the Masquerade strong. Once this citizen can be created, then the Republic will last forever. No force of law will be required. All citizens will gladly perform their own functions, for no reason except the joy of it. This is the great desire of Renascent, the Throne Reborn. And I must prove to her that I am the way to fulfill this desire.” --- “Is Renascent really an old woman?” I asked. “Someone told me so, at the Elided Keep. But Falcrest despises the old and fears the powerful woman … it’s quite incredible to me that you’d follow her.” “She’s not,” Hesychast said, tersely. “What? An old woman?” “I’m not sure she’s a person at all, any more. She made certain requests of me over the years, and—well. I speculate.” “What? Is she a parrot, then? A whale? Another tumor?” “It’s complicated. And taboo. We won’t speak of it now.” - Seth Dickinson , The Tyrant Baru Cormorant An aspect of these books which I touched on in a previous post and will go more into below is Seth's incredible imagination for alternate ways the world and science could have developed. Suffice it to say that Xate Yawa isn't necessarily talking complete nonsense above: a popular theory is that Renascent is secretly a branch of the immortal Cancrioth, benign tumours passing genetic information and perhaps personalities down through the generations. The most promising example of this last is the Brain, where the tumour's memories may be most easily accessed by its host; the Cancrioth's current Brain host isn't the most sane, but it is entirely possible that an alternate branch of the line secretly found success and stability at the core of Falcrest. As likely a Renascent as any: "Immortal Empress", by James Ng The other somewhat prominent theory I've seen is that Renascent has achieved the immortality-through-ideology that Farrier and Hesychast seem to be competing for and which I also explored in that previous post : Unless Farrier finds the answer to the Imperial Question, the riddle of closure. Unless at last one of his protégés comes back perfect. Then, in the only way that matters, he will be immortal. - Seth Dickinson , The Monster Baru Cormorant It could be that Renascent is alive in the very structure of Falcrest, from the yearning of its empire to the manipulations of the Throne and its utter disdain for monarchy post-revolution. But... I'm not entirely convinced, given Hesychast's statement above that Renascent has made unusual requests over the years. If she's the host of a tumour she should be human enough, and if she's ascended as a concept I struggle to imagine her doing much in the way of communicating. (Yet even as I write, I can imagine explanations: a detached brain in a complex machine; messages through the movements of Falcrest society. Who knows.) In this strange world, there are endless possibilities. Lightning in the East Seeded throughout the series are hints of the mysterious world beyond the familiar Ashen Sea Trade Ring and current time period. We learn that 'Jellyfish Eaters' ruled this region not long ago, and that their descendants still inhabit some of the islands Baru visits on her travels – we also see Tain Shir eating a jellyfish at one point, adding to her unparalleled mystery. More strange lore is hinted at everywhere, from the far south with the Cancrioth and more, to Aurdwynn's immortal Virtues and to the ancient history of legendary narwhals apparently important to the extinct Falcrest monarchy. (I'd love to go deeper into every hint of these and about the history of this world sometime; perhaps once the fourth book arrives.) But the lightning on the eastern supercontinent, past the ship-breaking Mother of Storms, surpasses all in the amount of attention and foreshadowing it has received. Through frequent hints about his scars and experiences we know that Svirakir/Apparitor and his lover have visited the East and wish to return. It's subtle, but Traitor establishes that Baru herself has read a book containing all Falcrest knows about the Lightning. We even get to see it ourselves in the epilogue of Tyrant , through the eyes of a doomed Falcresti expedition. And, holy shit, it is a thrilling and fascinating chapter. Ghostly letters appearing in the afterimages of strikes, strange symbols seemingly etched by the lightning itself and a group of warped armour-wearing humans (I theorize they're the Stakhiezci survivors of Svir's expedition, but perhaps a local people) performing a sacrificial ritual and eating the victim's brain. I'm calling it now: this thing is sentient. Whether the supercontinent is a massive brain and the strikes are the firing of neurons or Seth has dreamed up something even stranger, I'm utterly enraptured by this world. Perhaps related, we get other hints through Svirakir's perspective and Baru's fever dreams (I'm assuming that she's influenced by what she read of the East in that book, but perhaps it's complete nonsense): Long ago, in a faraway place, a secret fire had passed through Svir’s body. It had aligned something in him … something that thundered in the empty spaces of his mind. Whenever he didn’t know what to do, that palefire leapt within him, and a solution came. --- A lightning farm collected thunderbolts to animate the meat golems that conducted various labor. “Those must run on the same galvanic principle that makes corpses twitch,” Baru assured Hu. - Seth Dickinson , The Tyrant Baru Cormorant The first quote feels like it could easily point to a sentient being that briefly inhabited Svir – and perhaps still does to a lesser extent. The second feels like a hint from Seth: If Baru dreams of putting the lightning to use in this way in her utopia, maybe that is Falcrest's best current understanding of the warped locals – meat puppets animated and controlled by the all-powerful lightning. Could this be related to Renascent's true form? Falcrest certainly associates the threat of the East with a sense of doom, almost to the point of taboo – could that be why Hesychast wants to avoid speaking more about his mysterious master? Even if that's not how things work out, the lightning has been set up to be a major force in the series. Maybe Tain Shir has been there, since she's already associated with every other mysterious force in this world (more on this in one of my future posts, promise!) Maybe Baru will be caught and exiled, only to find a new destructive weapon to leverage against Falcrest. No matter how it turns out, I can't fucking wait <3 Baru and Iscend Comprine, by dungeonmistrix That's all for now! Thanks for making it this far; once again I'll highly recommend these books to anyone who's somehow reading this but hasn't yet enjoyed Seth's incredible work. Cheers!