WBH Weekly Digest 2023-04-21
Synoptic history of Europe, The Night Land, how epic fantasy has failed readers, the most horrifying anti-war satire I've read, and a cover reveal for Spengler's Future
Fantasy
Art as social technology
You need to ask yourself: what thing am I being accomdated to by reading this story? What am I offering, and to whom? All art does this, whether consciously or not. The character of the author is of supreme importance in making this judgement.
Eulalia!
Light Unto Another World by Yakov Merkin
Light Unto Another World by Yakov Merkin [Amazon link] is the first of a planned 10 volume isekai series, with volumes 1 through 5 already published, and 6 through 10 recently crowdfunded on Kickstarter. Uriel Makkis is on his way to a deployment with the Israeli army when he finds
The Black Company by Glen Cook
Glen Cook’s The Black Company is about the stubborn endurance of heroism in the midst of unbelievable wickedness and depravity. The story is incredibly dark, but there is a core of hope that shines through. This is the book that everyone who claims they like grimdark fantasy should read
The Well at World's End by William Morris
Sometimes, I read books so you don’t have to. The Well at World’s End really is a seminal work, but it is also a slog of a book that I wouldn’t recommend to someone reading for fun. But it is a fascinating story, and the prototype of
Darkness and Stone: The Lost Book 3
Darkness and Stone wraps up Peter Nealen’s WarGate series The Lost nicely. You get a cataclysmic final confrontation, endless chthonic horrors, and the phrase, “you mean you just guilt-tripped him to death?”
One of my favorite things about this series is that Nealen manages to give the impression that