A Test of Sincerity
Over the past year, I figured out a test for sincerity in words: does it sound original? Let me explain. It’s easy to repeat things I’ve read or heard many times. It requires less effort, and it’s...
View ArticleWhat Would Machine-Learning-Generated Novels Mean for Readers?
Many people now talk about ‘artificial intelligence’ (which I prefer to call ‘machine learning’) writing works and replacing human writers. Some people even discuss the possibility that within a few...
View ArticleIf We’re Talking about Bowdlerizing Roald Dahl, Why Not Talk about Danny,...
In case you don’t know, the new UK editions of some Roald Dahl books have some new edits suggested by sensitivity readers. What I find most remarkable is that nobody has mentioned Danny, Champion of...
View ArticleThis Isn’t a ‘Positive Scenario,’ It’s a Disaster
This essay from The Covid Underground offers three plausible positive endgames for the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the three ‘positive’ scenarios includes this: In the next three years, the majority of...
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Review of Outlaw Mage by K.S. Villoso
I backed the Kickstarter for Outlaw Mage: A Magical School Dropout’s Adventure, and recently read the eBook. So, here’s my review. My history with Villoso’s books I read about half of The Wolf of...
View ArticleI Don’t Know What to Make of R.F. Kuang’s Babel (Part 1)
I binged all the Amazon reviews of Babel by R.F. Kuang some months ago. Finally, this month, I cracked it open myself. Based on the reviews, I expected it would be a long essay on intersectional...
View ArticleI Don’t Know What to Make of R.F. Kuang’s Babel (Part 2)
Continued from Part 1. The Magic System The quick explanation of the magic system in R.F. Kuang’s Babel is: people engrave two or more words onto silver bars from different languages and the gap in...
View ArticleWe All Live in Coalwood
I recently finished Rocket Boys (a.k.a. October Sky) by Homer Hickam Jr. When he was a teenager, the town of Coalwood seemed prosperous, yet people knew that coal mines across the region were closing...
View ArticleI DNF’d a Novel Starring a Sex-Averse Ace Protagonist
Some time ago, I stumbled upon The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong in a little free library. As soon as I saw in the blurb that the protagonist is asexual, I stuffed it in my bag to take home. There was...
View ArticleColleen Hoover Is a Great Writer
Lots of people claim Colleen Hoover is a bad writer, or at least much worse than many others who lack her ridiculously high sales. Even she said that she thinks many other novelists are better than...
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