An unusual two star rating might be another example of the importance of managing readers' expectations, because this text was definitely not what I was expecting, and my appreciation of it was consequently diminished. That being said, even if I had known what I was getting into, I'm not certain that I would have found very much to appreciate about Pyhtagoras' and his fellow cultists' "golden" verses, sentences, sentimets, statements, and so forth.
Verdon’s Tragedy Sneak Peek
As you hopefully saw in our recent weekly writing update, I finally finished the first draft of Verdon's Tragedy, a side story set in the Fo'Fonas world. Even if revisions go smoothly, I don't expect a release date sooner than December 2022, but I want to share some thoughts about the story and the writing now.
Society’s Origins
When I unearth an article that I can make applicable to writing and storytelling, I have no compulsions against sharing it with you. This week, that’s a paper from Science Advances on how societies initially arose: “Disentangling the Evolutionary Drivers of Social Complexity: A Comprehensive Test of Hypotheses.”
Blood Magic S3:E6: Blood and Dragons, Part Two Release
If I’d plotted the series differently, this could easily have been the climax, the final episode, the end of it all. I didn’t, though, so I hope that means that you’ll all now be on tenterhooks about what the real ending might be like.
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Review
Don’t expect a text that exists primarily to inform or tell a coherent story, because that’s not what Franklin was setting out to do with his autobiography. It was instead intended originally for his son, and eventually for a wider audience of the burgeoning America, as a moral guide, an example and explication of how it might be possible to live a moral, productive, and well-regarded life, such as Franklin himself led.
Definition, Connotation, and the Function of Language
A long time ago, there were no dictionaries, no modern language associations, no Oxford standards. Language is a fundamentally organic system that has been evolving for thousands of years, as complex and intricate as something like the economy, and for most of its existence its rules have not been explicit.
Blood Magic S2:E6: Contaminant, Part One Re-Release
In the original release post, I claimed that Kiluron and Doil needed more active roles, and that this should not have been a two-part episode. I disagree with my former self.
Warfare on the Mediterranean in the Age of Sail Review
I learned an enormous amount about naval warfare in the age of sail, the tactics and techniques involved, how the evolution from oars to sails took place, and the geopolitical context behind conflicts that I only vaguely knew happened at all.
Blood Magic S3:E5: Blood and Dragons, Part One Release
In some ways, Blood and Dragons is the easy climax of the series, the obvious one. I’m hoping that I’m able to pull it off where that’s an advantage, and not a problem, because I’m really excited to finally be writing this pair of episodes.
Coup d’État: A Practical Handbook Review
That title is no understatement. Bloodied copies of this book have been purportedly discovered amongst the most worn possessions of failed coup leaders, which Luttwak is quick to disclaim as being evidence that they did not amply take to heart his text’s lessons, and not a suggestion that his instructions are flawed.
IGC Publishing 