What many people might consider to be reasons to put the book on their reading list were reasons I hesitated to put Adam Johnson’s The Wayfinder on mine, and I hesitated again before picking up the book to read. I was not entirely wrong.
Blog
Galileo’s Notes on Ptolemy
Copernicus and Galileo, who are credited (perhaps in slightly overstated fashion) with entirely recontextualizing our place in the universe, are thought of in this way, but the reality is that most seemingly revolutionary thinkers were less people who ran in a different direction from everyone else, and more people who saw the trail ahead more clearly and could take the next few steps for us.
Kings Review
What stands out most about Kings, even compared to the previous books, is its ex post facto attempt to impose religious and moralistic justifications for the successes and failures of different kings, and the associated flourishing of the Jewish states.
Gradations of Omniscience
These terms we use – first person, second person (please don’t use second person), third person limited, third person omniscient – are an easy shorthand to describe how we are choosing to approach narration in a given piece. The more I work with different approaches to viewpoint and storytelling, though, the more important I think it is that the description come after the choice of viewpoint.
The Furniture Bible Review
Whether you are creating your own hardwood furniture and are looking to apply classic finishes to it, restoring old hardwood furniture, or even refinishing other woodwork, this book’s thoroughly described and illustrated techniques will be a significant asset.
Continuously Quantum Reality
In a recent essay from Quanta Magazine, “Are the Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics Beginning to Dissolve,” Ball argues for a resolution to these seeming contradictions proposed by Zurek in a recent book called Decoherence and Quantum Darwinism.
Beowulf Review
It can be read, outside of some of the trappings and language, as a kind of historical-fantasy tale with which plenty of people today are familiar. We still tell monster tales, albeit usually not in alliterative verse.
Reaching for Words
I am more aware of the words I am choosing, I think about the writing itself more with each sentence, and that is a problem. It makes me more aware of the gap, makes the gap between the story I want to tell and what seems to be appearing on the page loom larger.
Life in a Medieval City Review
We’re all supposed to be getting away from the stock, default medieval Europe-inspired fantasy settings, because they’ve become passe. It’s true such settings can be overused, but they are mostly overused because so many authors fail to utilize books like Life in a Medieval City.
A Delay
At risk of being made a liar yet again, I’ll offer September 2026 as a new goal to finish Golems and Kings.
IGC Publishing 