This is Jaster Mereel Dunn. Named for the soldier who adopted and trained a young Jango Fett in the Mandalorian ways. And yes, I will be training him to respond to his commands in the Mandalorian tongue. 🤓

It‘s here! And I pick up my new best friend this Friday!!!

It has a fascinating central concept (some people can relive past lives, but it‘s dangerous because some lives will give you their baggage) but ends up leaning too heavily on it without fully exploring it beyond a couple of “oh, cool” moments. The ending commits the greatest of all sins in my mind: no consequences. This is an especially egregious affront given the central idea of the book. I genuinely liked the central idea and artwork, though.

“Even the Stoic wise man, therefore, may tremble in the face of danger. What matters is what he does next.”

Finished a week ago. Began while still despondent over the last book, which was the formal end of the Witcher‘s story. Couldn‘t fathom the point of reading it, to be honest. But by the end of the book, I realized why he wrote it and that it made for a beautiful send-off to the series. Denouement and catharsis bestowed through participation in some of the Prime functions of Myth. I grudgingly loved it. This series MUST be read in release order.

I made this by hand, finished it today. I Folded the parchment, sewed the signatures, mulled the spine, tooled and stitched the leather, pressed it, applied the finish work, and attached the corner protectors. 😁 Incidentally, the above is one of my favorite quotes from any author.

Man, this ending destroyed me. 😢 It had been spoiled for me several times, but I realize that all those people actually misunderstood the ending. To an absurd degree. So on the plus side, the ending actually wasn‘t spoiled (although many events were expected, a few important and glaring details were ignored by others in their interpretations of the finale). I‘ll post a review for the series after i finish the prequel.

Dig.

Making a softcover travel journal. Signatures sewn together (some nice parchment), need to mull the spine and let it set in the press tonight. Hopefully I can wrap it with the leather tomorrow night after work. We‘ll see how I feel.

Might as well just keep at it while I‘ve got the time. Diving headlong into the last novel in the series (after preparing a quick cup of Earl Grey! 🤓 (edit) Holy Crapcakes! Just few pages in (finished the first chapter) and this thing has delivered an AWESOME right-turn-Clyde! This is gonna be nerdgasmic!

PS: For those of you too young to recognize the term, or those old enough to enjoy the reminder:
https://youtu.be/i98QrSSHxo4

While always a key component, this one has a deeper than usual tonal shift in the mid-third (was a little lost on where it was all going, but the cleanly executed climax put us back on track) to deal more with the political consequences of events to this point. Switches between that and some frenetic yet rewarding violence. This volume lands squarely on par with the best of the GoT seasons. Last novel in the series proper is next! WOOT!

My favorite fantasy series. Properly: Chronicles trilogy (above), Legends trilogy, New Generation, then Dragons of Summer Flame. An excellent study of a story evolving in tandem with its author‘s ability to convey it. First books to make me both yell and cry. Copy signed by Weis, Hickman, and Elmore! I met them only recently, some 20 years after falling in love with their world. How this series came to exist at all is an equally fascinating story.

Reads like a conversation with someone who happens to be a huge nerd for this stuff, but gets how high school literature courses ruined classical mythologies for too many people. So rather than rehash some dusty old tome written in old english, he tells you a story in a way that communicates what is essential to understanding how these myths impacted the people who heard them. Also, Thor is crossdresser. 😁

Thought provoking & well cited. Recent editions include updated carbon dating info. Phenomenal eye-opener that destroys misconceptions about “barbaric” cultures and shows just how barbaric we humans can really be. Reveals how much the current “civilized” religions owe these “primitive” mythological structures. Tightly packed with mind-blowing connections that it took me almost a year to finish it the first time. Read, stop, stare, “whoa,” repeat.

I am an Alaskan tribe member, I grew up hearing stories of these things. This is a brilliant novel of the what-if-these-things-were-real-and-still-around variety. Demonstrates an impressive understanding of the subtext and function of the myths used to build his modern supernatural thriller. His descriptions of the interactions with the people and environs of Alaska are spot on. Scared the shit out of me and made me homesick. I love this book.

Brilliant. I love this thing more every time I read it. The full cast audiobook is a great experience as well, if you get the chance. I love the brutal honesty about myth and the history of the beliefs that have come down to us through the generations. Meaningful but also just one hell of a good ride.

An epic and deeply moving Period Piece of Theological Fan-Fiction that is still a fundamental influence on modern mythology. Don‘t just read it, re-read it. There are some good audiobooks of it out there, too.

Riveting and brutal, both visually and emotionally. Still useful and relevant as allegory, maybe even more so now that when it was first released. Besides all that it's just a damned good book. Pure genius in concept and execution.

🤞🏽🤞🏽

One hell of a ride, absolutely worth it to the very end. Angels, demons, heaven, hell, feminism, a deformed-from-a-failed-suicide teenage vigilante, gunslingers, global conspiracies, philosophy, ethics, cannibalism, vampires, drugs, sex, rock 'n' roll, all centered around a mission to bring God to account for his creation. And yes, I left a TON of stuff out. Hands down, my-all-time-favorite comic book series.

Happy Star Wars Day!

Well researched, viscerally detailed. Not an aggrandizement of warmongering and misogyny, but an insight into the ideals and motivations of a group that drew on both masculine and feminine perspectives to function. This book heavily influenced 300 (GN/flick). Deeply personal point of view on an event so epic that it is still being discussed some 2500 years later. History rises from the ashes to grab you by the throat and shake the shit out of you.

😢😢😢RIP CHEWBACCA. 😢😢😢

😢😢😢RIP PETER MAYHEW😢😢😢

Falling a bit behind in posting progress with the series, but I‘m about 50 deep into the next one! Only one left after this (in the series proper) and it‘s my understanding that there‘s one after that, but it‘s a bit of a prequel (and not numbered). Also shown is a new nerdism that I‘ve picked up: making quitter strips in Affinity Designer! 🤓
(That one‘s of all the different Witcher Schools).

Still SO good! On the last couple books in a series that continues to be character-driven, complex, and brutally honest on an emotional level. Shit gets crazy with well paced, GoT-level intrigue. Deals with realities of war in a horrifically honest way. There‘s also a book-spanning, relevant subplot that discusses reproductive rights in a very insightful manner that firmly destroys some of the accusations I‘ve seen levied against the series.

4 down, 4 to go!

That‘s 4 down, 4 to go! On to the next one, post-haste! Great stuff. Expanded well on the world by diving headlong into the power struggles and intrigues surrounding the main characters.

And on to the next, without delay! I need to go find myself a new quitterstrip. I‘ve had this one for a little over 20 years. 😆

Finished Blood of Elves! Picked up the next book in the series while on my break (because I knew I‘d get through BoE today). Leaning into this series HARD. The author makes an effortless transition in from anthology to novel (Blood of Elves being the first in the series of novels, preceded by two anthologies). This fantasy setting is a wonderful mix of politics, action, science fiction, and myth, seemingly written for Pragmatists. 😁

The author makes excellent work of moving from the anthology format to a formal novel. I‘m really enjoying this series. Not fancy or flighty. This guy really understands folklore. A surprisingly fresh perspective.

Went on a pretty rough hike yesterday. I loaded my pack with a book, a sandwich, a hoody, and some sweatpants. I figured it would be cold at the waterfall, and I like to read at the top when I‘m on my own.

This shit got me SHOOK! I‘m LOVING this story. I just finished this (2nd in the series) and after I finish this post and climb into bed, I‘m starting the next one in the series. 2 down, 5 to go!

ONFG! LOOK WHAT I FOUND AT THE LIBRARY! Complete TP with all 24 issues of the adaptation of the NOVEL, not the movie. SQUEEEEEEE!*
(But like, you know, a manly squee that reminds one of automotive repair and/or trial by combat, to be sure.)

I‘m really digging this series. This is the second book in the series. This guy REALLY gets it. You should check it out.

I recently discovered this excellent series. SO GOOD. It‘s by a polish author that started the series back in the nineties. They just released the english translation of his most recent addition last year. This guy gets it, understands folklore and mythology in a way that even good fantasy authors don‘t seem to. It‘s not a bright and shiny epic. First couple books are anthologies and the rest are novels (7 or 8 books in total, I believe).

Great book, I love this series. A fun, verifiable education on the subject of forensics.

OK, really well done. But craptastically exhausting. Took forever to finish. Really well researched Ns offers some great insights into explaining things as they really are (meaning our best understanding given the most verified information available). I thoroughly recommend this book, with some caveats. Some of the generalizations from the available data undermine the importance of local pockets that deal with a different norm.

Just picked this up for 5$, found a new bookstore nearby. One of the best attention-grabbing first chapters in recent memory. The opening few chapters make some great promises and set an enticing stage by both being clear and concise about what is going on but at the same time they speed along at the pace of several WTF?! a minute. 😂 REALLY fun so far.

Bibliophilic problem number whatever (it‘s not dewey so I don‘t know):
Anyway, so I recently made an exciting find at the library. I had heard of it before and I‘ve been exited to begin reading it! Then, while rearranging my library yesterday (moving it to the master bedroom in my apartment and my room is now in the small bedroom) I was forced to exclaim (in my best terrible British accent), “Hang on a tick...” 🤷🏽‍♂️

ONFG SO GOOD!

Read it in one sitting. Raises some interesting and wholly up uncomfortable questions with a few of the wholly plausible scenarios it presents. It seems simple enough on the face of it but it‘s got the seeds of many a heated philosophical and ethical debates. Fun for that. But it doesn‘t really wrestle with anything it presents and ends up breezing past what could have been its best topics. Definitely NSFW and I do not recommend it for children.

I am loving this book. I came across several references to this book on a YouTube channel called “Like Stories of Old,” which has become my new favorite YouTube channel. Brilliant insights. Strongly recommend this!

YES!

I‘m really impressed with how succinct the book is, given that it‘s not even fifty pages long. No real dive into meaning/mythology behind the forms but that is acknowledged to be outside the scope of the book from the beginning. It does an excellent job of describing the forms and techniques that go into this style (with useful nods to exceptions), and offers plenty of appropriate pictures as examples. Excellent for all ages!

GF is going back to school and has PHIL101 coming up. I‘m excited for her, so I‘m brushing up on the basics!

Real talk.

I loved it! I enjoyed the pacing, dialogue and treatment of the characters, which actually took them beyond their original setting in a really fun way. Managed to talk about some occasionally jarring and mature themes as well. It was not just a cut and paste of the classics at all, but a believable (in context) interaction of ordinary people struggling against extraordinary circumstances, their own or their environment‘s. I strongly recommend.

Holy crapstacks! How did I not know this was a thing? So this app called “Overdrive Libby” lets you digitally check out audiobooks from your local library! Ebooks too, and you can send those to your kindle or read them in the app. SO COOL!

#booknerdproblems