Lee Hunts

I just finished reading The Real Story by Stephen R. Donaldson. This is the first entry in The Gap Cycle, which is a five book science fiction series that apparently expands massively in the next volume. As I implied, this story is smaller and rather simple. It involves three main characters: Angus Thermopyle, Morn Hyland, and Nick Succorso. Most of the focus is on Angus, however, as this nasty and even monstrous man shows up at a bar with Morn at his side. This draws attention from almost everyone, but especially Nick Succorso. And theories naturally come along, with events seeming to unfold in a particular way. But that is apparently not the real story. What follows is quite literally the real story, outlining the events as they actually occurred. No Spoilers The Prose The first thing that stood out to me in this story was the prose. In particular, the perspective that Donaldson used was fascinating and worth mentioning. The beginning of the book opens with what I ended up calling ...

I just finished reading King of Thorns, which is the second entry in The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence. This book follows up on the first entry, continuing the plot lines with interesting point of view shifts that relate to how the original story was told. I will be spoiling the first entry of this series throughout, so click away if you want to avoid that. We last saw Jorg, the main protagonist, manage to capture the castle of Count Renar, with Jorg proclaiming himself King of the lands of Renar. There are two following plotlines, where we see what is more-or-less the immediate aftermath of Jorg's rise to power, and then see Jorg's place four years down the line. The back of the book fills in some of the details. Jorg is now surrounded by a multi-nation army, and they are almost certain to lose. Jorg is now forced to surrender or sacrifice many as he faces down the enemy in a live or die situation. Also, "Jorg," as I say, is actually pronounced as it is spel...

The Tower of Babylon So far, I'm kind of in the middle. I might be disappointed with the first two stories for different reasons, but there were also aspects that I enjoyed. I think I might be able to appreciate idea stories if they are short stories. I know I have read idea stories that were novels or novellas, and at the time, they just annoyed me. I would rather have an essay just share the ideas, you know? But I didn't mind that as much, this time around, idk. The prose in the first one was a problem. It was very workman-like, lacking in the flourish that makes narratives so compelling. I could get used to it, but that doesn't fix things. I think I liked the first one more. It didn't really go the way I was expecting—I thought the vault would just be an illusion, meaning they would have to keep building—but the ending worked in a different way. I saw readers trying to rationalize the logic of the world that was "revealed" at the end, but I got the impressi...

I just finished reading Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. This is a reread of the book, given I read it some time ago when I was a teenager. I generally did not read any of the required books at school, so I am not sure if this is one of the few that I did end up reading, or if I read it later in my free time. Either way, I knew what I was getting myself into from the outset, and I can say that I got the reference from the fourth season of The Walking Dead, when that came out. If you didn't get it, just go outside and look to the flowers. This book is written about two men in the Great Depression. They are consigned by circumstances to walk the landscape for any odd job they can find, just so they can make ends meet. But behind all that is a dream. The American Dream: where the two of them can be wholly self-sufficient, livin' offa the fatta the lan'. They will have their own tract of land, their own food production, and won't have to answer to any one. This ideal emb...

I just finished reading The Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence. This is the first book in The Broken Empire trilogy, and it follows Prince Jorg Ancrath, a decidedly nasty protagonist who is about to return home after multiple years of raping and pillaging the landscape with his band of outlaws. You get a sense of the kind of character you are dealing with from the very first chapter, where Jorg steals, rapes, and kills people with his troupe of men for no reason but loot. And this is the crux of the book, the major selling point. Jorg is the most unlikeable character imaginable, treating everyone around him like they are pawns in his schemes. The cherry on top is that this story is told from the first-person perspective, giving the reader a close telling of his actions and psychology. Also, he just turned fourteen. No Spoilers Character I was drawn into this story from the very beginning. And I am happy to say that I was satisfied with the story throughout the course of the novel, and ...

This is quite simply one of the most idiotic books on racism that I have ever read. Imagine an ideology that blames everyday white people for racial disparities, one that functions on publicly shaming white people in order to change the world. That ideology fails catastrophically, of course, because people don't like seeing themselves as part of the problem—especially when they are trying to be the solution. Then we have this book, advocating that we publicly shame white people for responding badly to being publicly shamed. Ironically, it is essentially bootstrapping theory applied to white people on racism: if white people just stopped being racist, then racism would go away! And then it fails to work. Well, that's because of white fragility. White people need to bootstrap harder! Stop failing, white people. Basic Structure of the Review: 1. The use of systems is vaguely defined and sweeping in scope. 2. The focus on unconscious bias. What is the scope and power of this? 3. Al...

I just finished reading A Song for the End of the World by Jason Fuhrman. Jason is a youtuber and someone I know (through discord, at least. Haha). As such, it should go without saying that I have biases at play here. I could go on about how I won't let any biases creep in, etc., etc. But let's be real: when have you ever believed someone when they've said something along those lines? I never have. I am biased, and I am obviously a bit uncomfortable about it. I also know that psychological research has shown that when our feet are held to the fire, and we are obligated to provide examples to bolster our reasoning, biases tend to disappear. As such, I will start with a vague spoiler free summary on my views, followed by a more in-depth spoiler discussion. I should also mention that I am waiting to watch the conversation between Britton and Jason because I want this to be my reaction to the book itself with little influence from the outside. Overall (No Spoilers) Overall, I e...