As I have now written a large number of book reviews, I decided I should collect them together for easy reference. This is similar to what I have done with articles and reviews of video games. This blog originally began as a way to preserve articles I had written for various gaming websites over the years but I have been focusing more and more on literature for the last few years. I will be dividing these into specific categories and I will continue to update this.
Fantasy & Speculative Fiction
J.R.R. Tolkien
Despite the blog’s name being derived from Tolkien, I have written relatively little about his works directly though he is certainly mentioned often enough.
E. Michael Jones on Tolkien
A Review of The Hobbit Film Trilogy
The Importance of the Scouring
Robert E. Howard
I discovered Howard’s short fiction only in the last few years but I have become a big fan and have been slowly working through his oeuvre. Pastiches and related works which will be listed here too.
Conan the Cimmerian
Hyborian Thoughts
More Hyborian Thoughts
Conan Pastiches
The Siege of the Black Citadel by Chuck Dixon
Caravan of the Damned by Chuck Dixon
Blood of the Serpent by S.M. Stirling
Conan the Adventurer (animated television series)
Other Works
Kull of Atlantis
Solomon Kane
El Borak and other Desert Adventures
Sword Woman and other Historical Adventures
Almuric (although credited to Howard, I don’t believe this was written by him)
Vox Day
Arts of Dark and Light
Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy & Other Stories
A Throne of Bones
A Sea of Skulls
Commentary on Vox Day’s Top 10 Novels
John C. Wright
One of the greatest living fantasy and speculative fiction writers.
Starquest
Starquest: Space Pirates Of Andromeda
Starquest: Secret Agents of the Galaxy
Starquest: Catburglar of the Constellations (forthcoming)
Other Fantasy and Speculative Fiction
A mixture of different works I have read as well as related articles on films or general commentary.
Novels
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller and On the Beach by Nevil Shute
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Imaro and Imaro 2: The Quest for Cush by Charles R. Saunders
In the Black by Patrick S. Tomlinson
She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn
Short Stories
Speculation (written but not necessarily recommended by me)
Related Works
APPENDIX N: The Literary History of Dungeons & Dragons by Jeffro Johnson
The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood
Other Articles
Outer Space: A Fantasy Wallpaper
Shattering Idols
Film Adaptations
Blade Runner (film review)
Stardust (film adaptation Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name)
Dune: Part One
Dune: Part Two
Adapting Dune‘s Characters to Film
Novels & Short Stories
Novels
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (Part I & Part II)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (not a review)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Short Stories
The Penguin Book of Australian Short Stories edited by Harry Heseltine
Quantum of Solace (from For Your Eyes Only) by Ian Fleming
Anticipation (written but not necessarily recommended by me)
Other Articles
Losing the Plot (on the impossibility of “spoiling” a good story)
Gamma Fiction
This category started by accident but I have reviewed a number of books that fit under this umbrella and will continue to do so as I come across them. These are all works with the typical tropes of a secret king who is little more than the author’s self-insert. They usually also feature at least one sexually forward female character who loves this protagonist just because he exists. Some of these admittedly belong in the ‘Fantasy and Speculative Fiction’ section but these aren’t really the elements I focus on in these reviews.
Dan the Destructor: Barbarians of the Storm – Book I by Rob Rimes
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Sideways by Rex Pickett
Will Save the Galaxy for Food by Yahtzee Croshaw
The Gamma According to Trollope (Anthony Trollope knew the gamma)
Super Mario Bros. 3: Brick by Brick by Bob Chipman (non-fiction but definitely fits)
Asian Literature
This is mostly related to Japanese works but I have also been seeking out some of the Chinese Classics in recent years.
Japan
Fiction
Modern Japanese Short Stories edited by Ivan Morris
Rising Sun by Michael Crichton
Shōgun by James Clavell
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
Non-Fiction
The Christian Century in Japan 1549-1650 by C.R. Boxer
The World of the Shining Prince by Ivan Morris
China
Fiction
The Water Margin by Shi Naian (translated by J.H. Jackson)
Non-Fiction
The Analects of Confucius translated by Simon Leys
History, Biography & Anthropology
Ancient Egypt: All That Matters by Barry Kemp
Churchill, Hitler, and “The Unnecessary War” by Patrick J. Buchanan
Down Among the Wild Men by John Greenway
Ned Kelly: A Lawless Life by Doug Morrissey
Simon Leys: Navigator between Worlds by Philippe Paquet (translated by Julie Rose)
Stalin’s War by Sean McMeekin
The Evolutionary Psychology Behind Politics by Anonymous Conservative
The Phoney Victory by Peter Hitchens
White Trash by Nancy Isenberg
Religion
The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
American Pilgrim by Roosh Valizadeh
Are We Together? by R.C. Sproul
Christianity and Culture by T.S. Eliot (Part 1 & Part 2)
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism by John Zmirak
Politics, Economics & Society
Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Battlelines by Tony Abbott
Cuckservative by John Red Eagle and Vox Day
Debunking Economics by Steve Keen
Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Free Speech Isn’t Free by Roosh V
Righteous Indignation by Andrew Breitbart
The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape
The Big Necessity by Rose George
The Conservative Revolution by Cory Bernardi
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
Video Games
These are also listed in my in my Game Reviews and Articles list.
Ask Iwata
Beyond Donkey Kong
Console Wars
Crimson Skies
Disrupting the Game
Doom Guy: Life in First Person
Jagged Alliance 2 (Boss Fight Books)
Playing at the Next Level