Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells was published in 1895 and is another story by this prolific author that's brilliantly passed the test of time. This forerunner of time-traveling fiction is as amazing now as it was in its own time period. A previous short story by Wells (1888's "The Chronic Argonauts", published in his college newspaper) was the foundation for the novella. 

I resisted reading The Time Machine for a long time because, as I said in my previous review of Timeline by Michael Crichton, I'm not a fan of time-travel fiction, which tends to be convoluted and dependent on too many elements having to converge at exactly the right moment or it simply won't work. In the case of 99% of these types of stories, I find the odds simply too astronomical for me to believe it's possible. And yet in every one of these stories, it does work. Impossibly. And, for the most part, stupidly. So I resisted this pivotal example of one of (the only two, in my opinion) the finest pieces of time-travel fiction available for a long time. Once I finally caved in and read it, it was nothing like I expected with elements of time-travel, yes, but also of horror and adventure, with a post-apocalyptic slant. 

Set in Victorian England (a time period I adore), a gentleman, scientist, and inventor identified only as the Time Traveller journeys into the far future and meets a small, "intellectually degraded", humanoid group called Eloi who live on the surface of the planet along with savage and simian Morlocks, underground darkness dwellers who only emerge at night to capture the Eloi. 

In the  story, the protagonist travels through time for a bit of adventure and goes right back out into other time periods using his machine after returning to tell his friends the tale of the Eloi and Morlocks. There is no deeper reason for his endeavors in creating and using this machine, but many since The Time Machine's publication have attempted to provide answers and justifications and sequels to this very brief story. I must say that I did actually enjoy the 2002 film version with Guy Pearce that gives the Time Traveller a deeply emotional reason for why he (a university professor and inventor) developed a time machine, as well as a name--Dr. Alexander Hartdegen. Follow-ups to the original story do hold appeal, but be sure not to miss the novella that started it all. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Animal Gender-Flipping

A list of some animals with reproductive patterns that deconstruct the male-female binary:

Animals That Can Change Their Sex

Many can switch from male to female or vice versa, depending on environmental or social conditions. (No mammals, though.) Famously, the clownfish, first on the list, reveals that Nemo's dad in the movie should have become his mother. Some animals are hermaphroditic, with both sexes in one body, or nonbinary. Some (e.g., the hawkfish) can even change back and forth rather than shifting to the opposite sex and sticking with it for life. Parthenogenetic species also exist, whose females can give birth without having their eggs fertilized by males. Humphead wrasse are females in youth but can change to males later in life.

Interestingly, Heinlein adopts this reproductive pattern for his Martians in STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. The fertile young -- "nymphs" -- are female. All fully mature Martians are male. Although only hinted at in RED PLANET and PODKAYNE OF MARS, apparently the Martians in those books have the same biology.

Such transsexual phenomena can't be classified quite the same as human transgender identity, since the physical changes are automatic in animals but voluntary in humans. Still, the examples mentioned, only a few among many, illustrate that life on Earth is stranger than we often realize. Consider the extreme sexual dimorphism of the anglerfish, where the male, much smaller than the female, attaches himself permanently to her body. He fuses with her so that he atrophies into simply a parasitic sperm cell producer.

For a deep dive, with copious references and statistics, into unconventional animal sexual behavior, check out the exhaustively thorough BIOLOGICAL EXUBERANCE (1999), by Bruce Bagemihl. He explores transsexualism, transvestism, parthenongenesis, and homosexuality, mainly the latter, in numerous species (mostly mammals and birds). The six chapters of Part I, "A Polysexual, Polygendered World," offer an overview of the field and refute arguments that have attempted to explain away homosexual behavior in nonhuman animals. Part II, "A Wondrous Bestiary," comprises a catalog of particular species observed to exhibit the behaviors discussed in Part I, with lists of sources for the information on each. The book's appendix, bibliography, endnotes, and index take up almost 100 pages.

Through natural phenomena such as these, we can find inspiration for bizarre alien reproductive biology without ever having to leave Earth.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Ama-Scam (and the 16 billion leaks)

It's not a great leap from Amazon scam, to Ama-Scam (not a word) to Abacab (also allegedly not a word) which is my ear worm for the last couple of days.

I particularly like the Moog synthesizer intro to Abacab by Genesis. I haven't thought about a Moog for donkey's years. I am assuming the instrument in question is indeed a Moog. Genesis is on the list as using it.

That song (Abacab) seems to be an anthem about lover's remorse and paranoia. The point-of-view character (sung by Phil Collins) has seduced the girlfriend of someone dangerous, and now he fears retribution, perhaps by suffocation after being wrapped alive in cellophane.

Dark! But, Mr. Collins had a number of dark and angry songs.

His opening stanza reminds me of the Apple "Flock" advertisement, with lyrics directing the listener to look at the wall, the floor, under the bedding, behind a door to notice disturbing details that are suggestive of surveillance.

Amazon isn't the worst, but Amazon did blast out a warning that well-informed scammers are crafting convincing emails with spoofed Amazon-sender-addresses. These spear phishing emails aren't just about frighteningly large purchases, but also plausible, month-end warnings about Prime subscriptions coming to an end, or being auto-renewed at an alarming new price.

Other sites warn that 16 billion Americans' email accounts, passwords, phone numbers, and personal details are for sale on the dark web. No wonder some of these texts and emails fool busy people! Also, while not absolutely illegal, data-brokers make a business out of violating privacy and endangering Americans' identity.

EFF writes about how some of these data brokers are slow walking consumer protection reforms and making it difficult to opt out.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/why-are-hundreds-data-brokers-not-registering-states

The most egregious tracking technique to spy on our web browsing might belong to "Meta".  It's "the Meta pixel". This tracking technique (allegedly) bypasses core security protections built into phones and browsers in pursuit of surveillance advertising. 

EFF explains what it is, how it works, why it is so sneaky, and how you can protect yourself.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/protect-yourself-metas-latest-attack-privacy?ref=jul2effector

Convenience is our downfall. We should never click a link in a text or email (unless we are sure that it was shared by a trusted friend.) Apparently, even the standard "Unsubscribe" text link is not safe to use! 

If no one responded to targeted advertising, or cleared a browser and went to find a wanted product through a direct website visit, perhaps surveillance advertising would not be profitable, but there is little chance of that!

On the upside, I have a family member who is fascinated by videos of blacksmiths treating pus-filled, abscessed cow hoofs. So far, I have not seen a single sidebar advert for blacksmith tools or farm animal veterinary products. 

All the best,

Rowena Cherry

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Riptide by authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child was published in 1998, one of their first collaborations. While I generally avoid pirate books (notably, I didn't care for Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes either, though I generally read everything I can get from him), I can't deny I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. This particular story had a bit more to it than I anticipated and I was intrigued by it, in large part because of all the puzzles the island throws at the main characters, making them a lot like the Lara Croft series I love in any form. The authors themselves describe Riptide as "a fictional tale of suspense, terror, and mystery…based on research into such eclectic subjects as buried treasure, high-seas piracy, 17th century espionage and cryptology, forensic anthropology, as well as the latest high-tech tools of today's treasure hunters." On their website, they listed some of them on a separate page related to the book, for those who want all the details. 

The story in Riptide follows a plot to retrieve the buried treasure of a nefarious pirate, Red Ned Ockham. Not only is the stash reputed to be worth billions of dollars but it supposedly includes a cursed sword that will kill anyone who so much as looks at it. The story takes place on a fictional and dangerous island off the coast of Maine. In part, the story is modeled after the legend of the Oak Island Money Pit (called the Water Pit here), a real-life place that's become famous for numerous theories and attempts to discover buried treasure. 

Malin Hatch is the main character, and the accident when they were little kids (Malin was five) that led to him losing his older brother opens the book. This event is the catalyst for his attempts 25 years later to return to the island his family owns. Unfortunately, the high-tech salvage team--one that has its own motives--he accompanies to the island quickly learns that the island's curse may not be all legend and superstition. Mysterious accidents, illnesses, and tech issues plague them as they try to discover the secrets behind the architecture of the Water Pit. 

The characters are extremely well-drawn and compelling and the settings are realistic to the point that you can almost see everything, as if you're watching a movie. Speaking of which, this story would make an incredible one with nail-biting suspense and a plot that just won't quit. There was talk of it in 2003 but, as far as I know, nothing came of it. I guess I'll just have to read the book again, something I encourage readers who like Indiana Jones/Lara Croft and Captain Jack Sparrow/Barbossa type characters featured in the same story to pick up as well. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Bad Advice for Writers

Searching on this topic recently, I came upon two thought-provoking lists (doubtless two among many). The general message of both is that aspiring writers shouldn't unreflectively accept any rigid "do" or "don't" as absolute and universal. As one might expect, I agree with many of the items, disagree with a few others, and have a "yes, maybe, but. . ." reaction to some.

On the Wordling Website:

Writing Tips to Disregard

On the Squibler website:

19 Pieces of Terrible Writing Advice

Not surprisingly, both lists object to the once-common decree, "Write what you know." The better version of this advice I've come across is, "Know what you write." In other words, if youre inspired by a story idea that includes elements you're not familiar with, research them in depth. As has often been remarked, if we could write about only things we know firsthand, fantasy and science fiction wouldn't exist. Historical fiction would be severely hampered, too.

To the advice that an author must write from experience, Henry James in "The Art of Fiction" explores what's meant by "experience." Does that maxim restrict writers only to their own personal experiences? James refutes this claim with the famous remark, "Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!” His detailed explanation of that point can be found on page 5 of this PDF:

The Art of Fiction

One item on Squibler's list that I agree is terrible advice: "Don't use adverbs." That's almost as silly as the admonition I once read somewhere, "Avoid prepositions." What parts of speech should we ban next? Adjectives? Pronouns? Definite articles?

The Wordling list includes "Good writing is rewriting" as a fallacy; the Squibler page lists "Avoid rewriting." It seems obvious neither maxim qualifies as an unbreakable rule. It depends on the work and the experience level of the writer. I'd say rewriting is sometimes desirable, even necessary. Obsessively rewriting the same piece over and over, however, I'd usually advise against. A bestselling author, one of my own favorites, warns aspiring writers that they'll have to go through multiple drafts of their first novel, maybe ten or more. If I'd been told that at the age of twenty and believed it, I would have given up in despair. On the other hand, I wouldn't wholeheartedly embrace Heinlein's famous "rule" to "never rewrite except at editorial order." Suppose you love that character or story idea and won't feel satisfied until it's brought to life on the page or screen? Having become a dedicated outliner, I revise thoroughly but never actually rewrite in the sense of overhauling the whole thing. That part of the process happens in the outlining stage. Likewise, I agree with Wordling that it's counter-productive to PLAN on producing bad first drafts.

I completely agree with Wordling's position that "Write first thing in the morning" would be an absurd burden to take on as an inflexible "rule." Writing mavens who promulgate that notion are either morning people (a species alien to me) or under the influence of the venerable American belief that getting up early is a sign of virtue and sleeping late but staying awake long into the night is, if not quite evil, somehow a sign of disorganization or laziness. Write at whatever time of day you can fit it in and summon up the most enthusiasm.

The one item on that blog I heartily disagree with: The author's skepticism about critique groups. Of course, no writers MUST join a critique group if it doesn't work for them. However, I've consistently found such groups more helpful than not. Sure, it's best to participate with other people whose proficiency level fairly closely matches your own, rather than very more or less advanced. But no matter the other members' level of experience and knowledge, they can provide the valuable function of "another pair of eyes." We know what we meant to convey in a certain passage, but will the reader understand it that way? Any comments can show us where we've missed our target.

Until I read the paragraph under the heading, "Keep submitting until they publish you," I wasn't sure what Wordling meant by citing it as bad advice. Their message turns out to be a recommendation to try self-publishing if traditional publishers keep rejecting a particular work. What I'd expected, though, was the equivalent of some professionals' negative comments on selling or giving stories to low-paying or nonpaying markets. This version of "know your own value" (which I assume it to mean) strikes me as misplaced pride. If you've tried every possible pro market for a short story without success, and you still believe it reflects your best work, which is preferable? Hide it in a file -- paper or electronic -- never to be seen by anyone, or get it published for nominal or no pay where at least it will be read? I'm strongly in favor of the latter. Some readers of that niche market might seek out your other fiction, earning money for you in the long run, or, if nothing else, that publication will grant you the pleasure of knowing people have enjoyed your work.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Pon My Word

Upon my word! Ten years --thank goodness-- after I was traditionally published with a concept of "rut rage" in my futuristic romance series, Star Trek introduced Pon Farr, which sounds a little bit similar but not the same because "mate or die" heroic motivation did not occur to me.

I did not watch Amok Time, but I used to believe that amok refers to rogue elephants' bad-tempered mating rage. (Now, I know better.... or at least, differently.)

Do you ever wonder how Pharma companies decide on names for their products? We all know of a car company that named a car model "Doesn't Go" and was widely ridiculed.

What about a drug for a serious mental condition that is named after an uncontrollable (sexual) inflammation affecting humorless aliens (Pon) and Russian organized thieves who reject authority (Vory)?

I would not have thought to have a go at this product's name, if not for the fact that their advert (see text link for Pharma) got my goat grammatically speaking, because the voice-over talent creates a word that never was, and never should be.

"Relapsing" is the written word. "Re-elapsing" is what the voice talent clearly says.

If AI is trained by everything published, AI is going to absorb this abomination and validate it. It's not the same thing as a politician who confuses "perpetrate" and "perpetuate" during an unscripted interview.

https://www.grammarly.com/commonly-confused-words/perpetrate-vs-perpetuate

There are some Pon Farr stimulated behaviors that might be perpetrated, but would most likely be physically impossible to continue perpetually (without taking a break every four hours).

Even lions, which can mate up to 100 times a day, only do so every ten minutes... source "internet searches"... which would count as "continual" but not "continuous".

Which leads me to recommend this Grammarly guide to commonly confused words: https://www.grammarly.com/commonly-confused-words

All the best,

Rowena Cherry
SPACE SNARK™ https://www.spacesnark.com/ 

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

by Karen S. Wiesner 

  

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Mount Dragon by authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child was published in 1996, their second collaboration. In the vein of Michael Crichton, this technothriller takes existing technology and extrapolates all the horrible places it could go if left unchecked in the hands of madmen. 

Two researchers, Guy and Susana are employed by GeneDyne Corporation, stationed at the Mount Dragon facility in New Mexico, and a hormone that's been engineered to prevent the flu goes horribly wrong. The virulent disease that results and spreads rampantly, not surprisingly, could have been prevented. Guy and Susana discover that their predecessor was driven mad by his work on the virus. Other so-called accidents have also occurred and been hushed up in the time since. Only they can stop a planet-wide epidemic from leaving Mount Dragon, but those who own GeneDyne will stop at nothing to continue their experiments. Note that the authors include on their website a final chapter to Mount Dragon that didn't make it into the book. 

The inspiration for the story was best described in an interview posted on the authors' website, in which they talked about "genetically-engineered tomatoes, or milk produced from cows that have been given growth hormones... ...things like that are just the tip of the iceberg. ...Imagine 'improving' something like cholera or plague so that it's even more deadly. Or...tweaking diseases so they home in on the hereditary differences of certain groups of people. It's a truly, truly scary thought." 

Something I love is that these two authors are always trying to make connections between all their books, regardless of whether they're standalone or series titles. The hacker Mime in Mount Dragon also appears in the Pendergast Series and devices created by GeneDyne are also mentioned there. 

If you like nail-breaking suspense stories with intriguing characters set in memorable places, this one has all the ingredients to satisfying your cravings. Personally, I can't get enough of books like these, whether they're written by Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, Andy Weir, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, or these two guys Preston and Child separately or together. If you feel the same, this is one to put on your list of must-reads. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Rewriting Memories

Well, sort of. A neuroscientist experiments with "zapping" brains to obliterate or at least modify negative memories:

Neuroscientist Rewrites Fear

Does the memory itself vanish? Not exactly, it seems -- how can we really know what mice remember, though? -- but the fear associated with it appears to be reduced or eliminated. Negative memories (specifically, of fear-inducing phenomena) are overwritten by pleasurable ones. If applicable to human subjects, this technique might be useful to treat PTSD.

The research draws upon the fact that "memory is dynamic, not static. Every recall subtly alters the memory itself." It's now known that, contrary to earlier beliefs, memories aren't stored in the brain like recordings that can be played back with perfect accuracy over and over. Hypnotism can't unearth reliable recall of forgotten events. Rather, it's at risk of distorting memories or even creating false ones. As revealed by research into "repressed memories" by psychologists such as Elizabeth Loftus, it's alarmingly easy to induce people to believe they remember events that never happened.

Elizabeth Loftus

Eventually, the capacity to "rewrite traumatic memory pathways" might become a viable clinical approach. But even if future research makes it possible to extrapolate these techniques from mice to human patients, we'd still be a long way from SF scenarios along the lines of TOTAL RECALL or the chilling TV series DOLLHOUSE. Implanting elaborately constructed alternative past experiences in people's minds may remain the stuff of imaginative fiction. We don't have to go that far, though, to run into ethical issues. "The notion of erasing or altering memories raises risks of misuse or identity manipulation. . . . When does a 'helping hand' in memory editing become undue influence? Who decides what deserves erasure or augmentation? How will society balance mental health advancement with autonomy and consent?"

Moreover, suppose human subjects do consent in advance to having their remembered pasts rewritten? If they regretted the decision later, would the process be reversible? The question also arises of how important past experiences, even traumatic ones, are to our core identities. If we really could have all our most unpleasant memories deleted, should we?

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

Final Girls was published in 2017, written by Riley Sager (pen name of Todd Ritter). Although this was the first book written under the author's pen name, it's one of the last I'm reading of his. It fits into a niche genre that includes psychological suspense thrillers characterized almost routinely by unreliable narrators, unexpected plot twists, and complex and usually immoral characters. Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, S.J. Watson, and Sager himself are the forerunners in this category. 

As you can imagine, this "slasher film" trope is based on the last character left alive to tell the tale. The premise of Final Girls stemmed from the author wondering what it would be like for girls who are the last to survive horrific events in which everyone else around them was murdered. He wondered if they thought about it every day, whether it was possible for them to forget such a thing, and if they can ever trust again. 

The heroine, Quincy Carpenter, was involved in such an event. Ten years ago, her and her college friends were on vacation at Pinewood Cottage. Everyone was massacred by a psychotic escapee from a nearby mental hospital. Quinn remembers little about this, and what she does remember is recalled in scenes interspersed with the current story. After the incident, Quinn involuntarily becomes part of an unofficial club of "Final Girls", so named by journalists and social media websites. Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd also survived harrowing, similar situations. For the most part, Quinn has shunned not only the press but the other "group members". She's getting on with her life, blogging as a baker and committed to a boyfriend lawyer, her hang-ups from the past locked up in a drawer in her kitchen. Lisa commits suicide and, a few days later, Quincy finds a text from her, begging her to make contact. Not long after that, Lisa's death is rule a homicide, and the other Final Girl Sam shows up on Quincy's doorstep. What happens next is a whole lot of disjointed weirdness, doubts about everyone and everything in her life, and the endless red herrings that complicate (and sometimes overwhelm) stories like these. 

Unlike a lot of Sager's other novels that I've read (and reviewed previously on this blog), he didn't include anything vaguely supernatural in this particular one. While I love stories that blend a thriller with the paranormal, I didn't miss it too much in this story, which I thought was one of his best. While, yes, it's true that I'm going to complain like I always do about his books that this one was at least 150 pages longer than it really needed to be, it was an edge-of-the-seat story and I got so caught up in it, I forgot the cardinal rule of not taking anything the writer says at face value. While I was trying to figure out what devious twist he'd try to pull out of his hat at the last minute, Sager sneaked in the back door with something I should have been looking out for from the first. Clever. I love that he out-thought me. Very few fellow writers have that ability so I can give nothing but kudos to him for achieving it with this story. 

In the author's note in the back, he mentioned that his editor's enthusiasm for the book aided him in setting a personal best in speed writing. Stephen King gave Final Girls a mostly positive review but found it "hampered only by bad writing and lack of literary merit". Honestly, I didn't notice anything but an overinflated word count. The book won the International Thriller Writers Awards for best Hard Cover Novel in 2018, so it can't be too bad. Fans of the genre will no doubt find this one worthy. Talk of a movie based on the book was announced in November 2017 but I don't think anything ever happened with it. Incidentally, there were two 2015-released movies (one called Final Girl with Abigail Breslin and another called The Final Girls), neither written by Sager, as well as a 2021 novel, The Final Girl Support Group (by Grady Hendrix), with a similar premise. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Actors' Looks and Suspension of Disbelief

THE MUSIC MAN (1962) is one of my favorite musical films. (I just ignore the unlikelihood of a happily-ever-after for Harold Hill and Marian. Accustomed to a roving lifestyle, with no skills other than truth-bending salesmanship, will Harold contentedly settle as a domesticated married man in small-town River City?) A made-for-TV version in 2003 starred Matthew Broderick. The plot and songs closely followed the original; the main point of the remake, as I recall, was to feature younger actors. Much as I enjoy Robert Preston in the classic 1962 version, it's true he's slightly too old for the role as a suitable mate for Marian. Not to mention the chronological difficulty that he believably, albeit falsely, claims to have graduated from Gary Conservatory in 1905, and the story takes place in 1912. So he'd logically be in his late twenties at most. Viewers have to use a bit of imagination to accept Preston as that young. Furthermore, both Marian's mother and Mayor Shinn's wife in the original movie definitely look too old to have children the ages of Winthrop and the Shinns' youngest daughter.

The remake of SOUTH PACIFIC, a 2001 made-for-TV movie, poses a similar problem, differing in that way from the classic 1958 film. In the newer version, Glenn Close plays Ensign Nellie Forbush. For me, it takes severe suspension of disbelief to accept her as an ensign, a rank for a very young officer. More importantly, a major point in the relationship between Nellie and the French planter Emile focuses on the difference between their ages. Pairing an actor who plays Emile with a Nellie played by an actress who's close to his own age undercuts a vital element of the story. Their "Twin Soliloquies" duet highlights the incongruity with its theme of a romance between "older, sophisticated man" and "young, naive woman." Consider, too, GONE WITH THE WIND. From a perspective of cool realism Leslie Howard, in his mid-forties, was far too old to portray twenty-something Ashley Wilkes.

On the other hand, generations of audiences have accepted mature actresses in the role of teenage Juliet. In Shakespeare's day, of course, she and all female characters were performed by boys. Laurence Olivier played Othello in blackface. When SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION came out, I was taken aback to learn Morgan Freeman had the part of the narrator, Red, a redheaded Irishman in the novella. Minutes after the movie began, though, I was captivated by his performance and decided he was perfect in the role. After getting over the initial shock of the change in ethnicity (as for the nickname, the script justifies it as a shortening of his last name), I realized Red's race and physical appearance have no substantial impact on the story. (That is, provided one overlooks the anachronism of Black and white prisoners freely mingling during the era of the novella's setting.) Making Othello white, though, WOULD crucially change Shakespeare's plot.

So in my viewpoint making some characters' looks faithful to the source material does matter. In SUPERMAN adaptations, for instance, sooner or later Lex Luthor has to go bald. And everybody knows Lana Lang is a redhead. Even though it's a rather minor detail, the fact that she's played by dark-haired women in two TV series, SMALLVILLE and SUPERMAN AND LOIS, nags at me as just plain wrong. The actresses couldn't have dyed their hair or worn wigs?

Granted, the skill of the performer outweighs the ideal of absolute realism in physical appearance. Still, my personal feeling is that in the naturalistic mode of contemporary filmmaking, some serious attempt should be made to have characters, especially major ones, look "right." It's jarring when one deviates too far from her or his established and expected appearance.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Rumors and Ripple Effects

Last week, my blog post was suppressed, which is not unusual. I poke the AI bear like a short-sighted proctologist from time to time. The ripples from that-- an examination of the enduring brilliance of a British essayist--were minimal.

Angela Hoy blogged this week about terminal AI errors for authors who self-published on Amazon, and who were cancelled and lost their earned-to-date royalties on ebook sales for no reason and with no recourse (because their complaints went to a bot).

I should not have repined, if it had not seemed relevant as an introduction to an important post about the risks of sharing someone else's gossip, from the law firm Venable LLP, which firm I have not cited for some time.

https://www.closeupsblog.com/2025/06/when-gossip-becomes-defamation-liability-for-rumors-and-their-ripple-effects/#page=1

Legal bloggers Lee S. Brenner. Darya Kaboli Nejat, Sam Poursafar, and summer associate Paul S. Bernstein share excellent warnings and advice about second hand defamation in the highly digestible form of Q and A.

Informed by a decision in the case of Holzgraf v Lozier (brought in central Illinois), they conclude:

"The main point is that you do not need to be the original source of the rumor to be held responsible for its impact."

One can be liable for defamation if one tells another person in confidence, but should have foreseen that that other person would not keep a juicy story secret.

All the best,

Rowena Cherry 

SPACE SNARK™

http://www.spacesnark.com/  

http://www.rowenacherry.com

Karen S. Wiesner: {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci by Barrington Barber

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci by Barrington Barber

by Karen S. Wiesner

Leonardo Da Vinci has long been a fascination for me. An Italian polymath of the High Renaissance, his achievements as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect almost feel alien-like. In too many areas, he's just too far ahead of his time to have been relegated to the years of 1452 to 1519, where most of his radically advanced conceptions couldn't even be made in reality. But he and those who trusted him tried making many of them. I marvel that one person was given so many skills. Most theorists don't necessarily design their own projects even in blueprint, nor go on to actually building it. Either they don't have the skills, the materials, or the funding. But he did so much more than conceiving, designing, and construction. He also worked from the inside out, figuring out the inner workings of the human body, proving himself to be a revolutionary in medicine, science, art, and architecture.

How did one man come by all these incredible secrets? It's beyond believing or conceiving.

Barrington Barber gives us glimpses of the genius. I read this beautiful, gold-embossed, clothbound boxed set with reproductions of Da Vinci's work called The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci. The three volumes delve into his art, life, and work. I enjoyed the overview, marveled at his range and just how much the world owes to his advancements and innovations in such diverse areas. Who can compare to him in any of those disciplines? Even if anyone has gone beyond since, no one else can claim the discoveries he did in the mere 67 years he spent on this Earth…well, that we know of. 😁

My only complaint is one that goes for all biographies. The very last thing I ever want to know about anyone, especially those I admire, are details about their private lives. I learned far too much, things I really didn’t want to know about the man. In this one area, at least, Da Vinci was indeed mortal, fallible, and depressingly common. Sigh.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Variations on Peter Pan

The Disney animated PETER PAN, to nobody's surprise I'm sure, softens and lightens the source material. Generations of children who've never read or viewed J. M. Barrie's book or play may have grown up imagining Neverland as a carefree realm of adventure offering sometimes scary thrills but no danger of permanent harm, where Peter will help you get home to your family in the end. The animated sequel does include a hint of one uncanny feature of Peter's character, his "out of sight, out of mind" tendency to forget people and events. Only a hint, though, which doesn't last long, when he -- like Captain Hook -- intially mistakes Wendy's daughter for Wendy herself. In the novel, he forgets enemies after killing them, and he doesn't remember Tinker Bell. Fairies have such short lives, after all, and there are so many of them.

In the live-action film HOOK, Peter Pan has become a man in our world and forgotten his past in Neverland. The movie focuses on recapturing the alleged magical joys of childhood. Barrie, however, describes children as "innocent and heartless." Peter Pan is innocent, not in the sense of being good, but of being oblivious to good and evil. People die in his Neverland. Not only does Peter blithely slay pirates, when Lost Boys start to grow up (which is forbidden) he "thins them out." I've always considered the concept of not wanting to grow up rather creepy, anyway. Have you ever met a real-life child who wasn't eager for adulthood?

What I think of as the fanfic impulse inspires writers to deconstruct and re-imagine works of fiction in order to answer questions left hanging, explore the viewpoints of characters not fully developed in the original, compose scenes and side stories that might have occurred offstage, speculate on what happened after "The End," or flip the script altogether for a fresh perspective. If we're fascinated by a story and its characters, we want more of them. If the author doesn't satisfy that desire, we sometimes try to do it for ourselves. I've just read THE ADVENTURES OF MARY DARLING, by Pat Murphy. As the title implies, it considers what Mary, mother of Wendy, John, and Michael, does after they vanish through the open window. Not sit around waiting and fretting! To rescue her children, she embarks on an Edwardian-era adventure from London to the other side of the world, returning to the island of Neverland where she, too, was taken as a child. Murphy's version of the tale envisions Peter Pan as, not a runaway child, but some sort of ancient nature spirit wearing the body and personality of a self-absorbed little boy. If a Lost Boy dies or leaves, Peter forgets and replaces him, giving new children the names of previous ones. Hence the island hosts a succession of multiple Curlys, Tootleses, Twins, etc. The Lost Boys are ragged, dirty, and more often than not hungry. (Peter, in keeping with his changeless existence, doesn't need to eat.) The author's afterword quotes several passages from Barrie's novel to illustrate the underlying grimness of Neverland.

A few of the many other revisits to Neverland: WENDY, DARLING, by A. C. Wise -- as an adult, Wendy returns to Neverland to rescue her daughter, Jane, who has been lured away by Peter Pan. In Wise's sequel, HOOKED, the pirate captain, who has "died a thousand times," repeatedly resurrected by Peter's magic, ends up in London and allies with Wendy. Christina Henry's LOST BOY portrays Captain Hook as a former friend of Peter, his very first Lost Boy, in fact, and traces their evolution from friends to enemies. Jody Lynn Anderson's TIGER LILY views Peter through the eyes of the title character, in love with him and threatened by the arrival of Wendy. THE CHILD THIEF, a dark novel by Brom (both a fantasy writer and an artist), reveals Peter's ulterior motive for offering lost or abused children a refuge in his faerie realm. PETER DARLING, by Austin Chant, especially captivated me; in this novel, Peter is Wendy, or vice versa. When Wendy outs herself as a boy named Peter, her parents naturally think he/she is deranged; the magic of Neverland allows him to live as his true self. The island, though, is far from a paradise, and here, too, Peter and Hook have a complicated relationship.

PETER PAN has never been one of my top favorites, because of the absurdity (as it seems to me) of the "not wanting to grow up" premise. I've always been attracted by its uncanny, dark aspects, though, as well as the strangeness of PETER PAN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS. Therefore, I'm intrigued by published "fanfic" that expands on various hints in the original and explores its world from different perspectives.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Shooting An Elephant

"Shooting An Elephant" by George Orwell is a powerful essay that was originally published in the compilation "Inside The Whale and Other Essays". It is a tale of ugliness, misunderstanding, alienation, enforced cruelty, and social (if not peer) pressure. 

It is well worth reading on many levels, and is probably relevant even today.

One aspect of peer pressure (in this account) is the effect on a policeman in a hostile environment of the expectations of a hostile populace on the decisions he makes. Either he submits to their expectations or he does not submit.
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/shooting-an-elephant/summary

After re-reading Orwell's essay, it seems to this author that--if a trial in the USA is only a fair trial if the jury is a jury of the defendant's peers-- then any trial of a policeman or policewoman, National Guard officer, Border Patrol officer, or ICE officer is only a fair trial by their peers if the jury consists of other law enforcement personnel... just as there is a separate legal system for the military.

George Orwell makes it clear that he did not want to shoot the elephant, did not consider shooting the elephant to be justified (but it was excusable because the elephant had stomped and skinned a coolie and thereby killed the unfortunate coolie).

The elephant's rage was apparently temporary. 

According to one internet commentator, elephants are deeply afraid of causing harm and possess a noble nature. Allegedly scientists have studied the elephant’s brain and discovered spindle cells—rare neurons also found in humans-- which are said to be associated with self-awareness, empathy, and complex social perception.

Spindle cells are also found in other primates to greater or lesser degrees, particularly Bonobo. Spindle cells are also associated with cancer.

Leonardo da Vinci is credited with the opinion that, “The elephant embodies righteousness, reason, and temperance.”

Before starting a new enterprise, some Hindus are said to pray to Ganesha, the Elephant-headed god of Beginnings, Prosperity, and Wisdom. Ganesha is the patron of intellectuals, authors, bankers, and scribes.

For more on elephants: https://www.britannica.com/animal/elephant-mammal/Reproduction-and-life-cycle

All the best,

Rowena Cherry 

SPACE SNARK™

https://www.spacesnark.com/  

https://www.rowenacherry.com

{Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: "The Oblivion Bride" by Caitlin Starling by Karen S. Wiesner

 

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: "The Oblivion Bride" by Caitlin Starling

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

"The Oblivion Bride", a romantic fantasy novella by Caitlyn Starling, was published January 21, 2025 by Neon Hemlock Press, the same publisher that released Starling's 2020 "Yellow Jessamine" novella. This new tale has a lot in common with that one, though I liked this one slightly better. Taking place in a made up city-state called Volun, wild magic surrounds the walls, forcing all to stay inside a warded area for safety's sake. The main character Lorelei has lost almost everyone in her family under suspicious circumstances, including, most recently, her beloved mother. The cause is almost certainly magical in origin, possibly a curse. Her remaining kin, an uncle, is determined to figure out the cause of this and so agrees to marry Lorelei off to the top war alchemist Nephele, who applies herself to investigate while the marriage is being arranged and Lorelei is magically impregnated in a way that also includes Nephele's genes. 

Lorelei is, not surprisingly, a mess, grieving the loss of her mother and never expecting to develop feelings for her betrothed. Nephele has a similar reaction, given that this was an arranged marriage and she's an older woman who's been almost totally consumed by her career up to this point. 

While I enjoyed the dystopian quality of the setting and otherworldly mood of the events, as a whole, the story felt as disjointed and underdeveloped as "Yellow Jessamine" did to me when I read it (which is why I didn't review it). My main issue here was that the past really wasn't dug into deeply in this particular tale. We learned very little about Lorelei and Nephele's histories nor about the circumstances surrounding the state of the world beyond what was told us as statements of facts (i.e., whatever might have been written on a character/plot sheet in advance of writing--no more, no less). That crucial dimension of development forced 2D renderings and never achieved full-fledged lifelike status for me. I also have to comment on the fact that the reader can't help but feel Lorelei was projecting on older-woman Nephele her loss and devastation over her mother--desperately needing maternal comfort. It's difficult not to get an icky feeling about their romantic/sexual relationship because of that. 

Additionally, the last few chapters kind of dissolved a bit with far too many instances of the f-word per page. I don't mind some well-placed swearing, but sometimes overuse gets so drastic that it's hard to know what the author meant a word to actually mean. If everything (noun, verb, adjective, you name it) becomes an acrobatic feat of grammar by twisting the same word to the form needed, the story becomes muddied by the appearance of the same word from one sentence or paragraph to the next. Not only that, but using a word like that absolutely does not in any way intensify the reader's sense of suspense, action, or emotional connection--you know, beyond annoyance that genuine portrayal of said suspense, action, and emotional connection is being reduced to childish cursing. Ergo, the reader is thrust out of the story by lazy writing, which is what happened to me toward the end. I really struggled to finish the last few chapters. 

That said, I nearly always enjoy Starling's offbeat and unusual storytelling, and this tale is no exception, despite the areas I was left wanting more and different things than were being presented. I read eagerly at first and my interest only waned slightly from start to finish. (I certainly would have preferred to be more excited about the novella near the end rather than earlier on.) 

As a little bonus, the exterior and interior of the paperback were very striking. The front cover had such a multifaceted and layered image, I found myself going back often for more, to discover something else that might have been hidden in the cleverly rendered artwork. The interior had compelling, black and white, free-form images before each chapter of a similar but always changing nature. Unfortunately, the text was left-aligned, not justified, and that made it hard for me to read. I just prefer text to be tidy and symmetrical to prevent it from distracting from the story. 

For those who like to view the world in an unconventional, even weird way through their reading, this story will more than satisfy. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Graduations

Earlier this week we attended the high-school graduation of one of our grandsons. (Summa cum laude!) Recently I read a joke somewhere to the effect that speakers at a graduation resemble the corpse at a wake -- they have to be there, but you don't expect them to do much. Actually, the talks at this ceremony were short, pithy, and uplifting. One student speaker applied Disney's TANGLED as a metaphor for the end of high school. School was like Rapunzel's tower sheltering them from the "big, scary outside world," and now they're ready to chase their dreams and "follow the lanterns." Brevity of speeches was probably encouraged because that venue hosts something like fourteen county school graduations in one week. As described in an article in our local paper, the staff apparently cycles the proceedings through with the speed and efficiency of June weddings at the Naval Academy chapel.

I was shocked to learn, upon first reading the Harry Potter series, that British secondary schools don't have graduation ceremonies. The students just finish their courses and leave. Academic qualifications are earned by performance on standardized tests administered externally, not by the schools -- the inspiration for OWLs and NEWTs in Rowling's series. As explained by British people posting online, the rationale for not holding a graduation is that their high-school-equivalents don't award diplomas/degrees. Degrees, and therefore graduation rituals, occur only at the university level.

Apparently different countries follow a wide range of customs. A Wikipedia page with examples:

Graduation by Country

Not too surprisingly, Japan seems to have even more elaborate ceremonies than the U.S.

Homeschooled students in the U.S. can join in group rituals or organize private celebrations as simple or elaborate as they choose.

I'm reminded of Isaac Asimov's classic story "The Fun They Had," set in a distant future when schools don't exist. In this society, students get individualized computer instruction from AI "teachers." Here Asimov anticipates not only distance learning but also e-books. The two children in the story find hard-copy books, as opposed to an electronic device that can hold hundreds of texts, as strange as the idea of human teachers. The kids envy children in the olden days for gathering with their friends instead of slogging alone at a computer terminal. Most comments I've read on this story seem to assume it's an unironic exercise in futuristic nostalgia. In fact, Asimov didn't enjoy public school and probably would have welcomed a system like the one in the tale. Anyway, we must assume students in this future world don't have graduation ceremonies at all, not even similar to those of contemporary homeschoolers, since they don't have even a vestigial concept of "school" as a group activity.

When we establish colonies on the Moon or other planets, or social groups on starships, how much will present-day academic rituals be preserved? Will the kids in those cultures participate in something analogous to school as we know it or study individually on computers? Will they "graduate" or simply earn certifications for each phase of what may become a continuous course of lifelong learning? I like to believe some kind of completion rites will still occur for important life transitions, including educational ones. Human beings need ritual.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Warriors Anthology Edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Warriors Anthology

Edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

This post contains my 154 review on the Alien Romances Blog! 

Warriors, published in 2010, is another cross-genre anthology George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois edited and assembled together. As before, this collection with 20 shorts (two of them novellas) was originally published in one large volume. Later, the stories were separated into three paperbacks, and all include Martin's introductory article titled "Stories from the Spinner Rack", which I very much enjoyed reading for its shared nostalgia (though I did wonder if the author actually tried to read a few romances or nurses novels before deciding he'd "never did get into" them). All the authors are big names, award-winning and undeniably gifted, and Warriors won the 2011 Locus Award for Best Anthology. 

While I love cross-genre fiction, there were far too many war stories in this one, which probably makes you laugh as much as it does me at this point. For the most part, I picked up this anthology for one story--the George R. R. Martin Dunk and Egg installment (the third in his A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms series). 

I guess the word "warrior" has a positive, noble context in my mind. Most of the "warriors" in this anthology, however, weren't necessarily good people in my estimation. I'd call them "rogues" (or something similar) instead. I prefer to believe the best of warriors, and, in my way of thinking, warriors tend to be ordinary joes or janes who step up and become heroes in a crisis, even if they never wanted to be that in the first or last place. 

Truthfully I was hoping there would be more fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction selections, or that those types of stories would have something more compelling than run-of-the-mill soldiers who follow orders without actually thinking for themselves, or who fight for a good cause and not simply for whatever the agenda on tap is. A few of the stories stood out in this collection--the ones I'll review here--but, with the exception of The Mystery Knight and The Scroll, even those weren't really what I was looking for. I also feel compelled to inject that one story in particular (that I'm choosing not to name here) was so disturbing, I felt dirty after I read it and I'd give anything to just blot it from my mind for the rest of time. Make of that what you will. Another was written in a way that frustrated me and put me off the story instantly. I don't know if I would have liked it if it'd been written differently or by someone else altogether. Again, since it's a subjective opinion, I won't name that particular story either. I was also sad that I didn't like one of the stories by a popular author I've been reading much more of lately and was looking forward to. 

Though similar to other Martin/Dozois anthologies, in that each story in this collection was preceded by a fairly in-depth author biography, the introductory blurbs included for each were so slim, they were all but worthless. It's difficult for me to enjoy something that I don't get an adequate summary for in advance of reading. Probably another "me" thing on that count. I was initially pretty unhappy about the lack of illuminating blurbs until after I read the stories. Then I wondered how to describe them myself. So many defied summary! 

Below you'll find the stories I'm covering in this review listed in the order they appear in the original publication in one volume. Technically, they came in 1st, 9th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. For those of you following my anthology reviews, if I'd edited and assembled this collection, I would have started with "The Scroll", ended with The Mystery Knight, and placed the rest of them in this order: Story #4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 instead, with the rest of the stories around them.                                                 

1)              "The King of Norway" by Cecelia Holland: Bloodthirsty Vikings, complete with violence and vows, about sums up this story. While I'm sorry to say I found it predictable, especially as the make-or-break-it first included in the collection, I did like the line "All dreams are true somehow". I spent a lot of time considering that line apart from the story, if nothing else.

 

2)              "Seven Years From Home" by Naomi Novik: This was an interesting sci-fi tale about a researcher's role in a manufactured war. I was drawn in by the theme of time not healing some wounds and about how war, "politics and the great concerns of the universe" leave one content to withdraw into a place where peace and simplicity are the rule, not the exception, as it is in reality's ever-present state of violence.

 

3)              "Out of the Dark" by David Weber: Compelling. Literally (and I mean that), humanity's only hope for survival when the Earth is invaded by canine-like aliens is the very last being one would think of in terms of providing help to mankind. All in all, kind of an insane story that makes me laugh in shock each time I think of it now.

 

4)              "The Girls From Avengers" by Carrie Vaughn: Set in 1943, a woman in WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) investigates the death of her friend. While I might have liked this if the subject matter and themes were more interesting to me, I will say that this story did fit the brief of fascinating, worthwhile warriors, the way most of these tales didn't (in my opinion anyway).

 

5)              "My Name is Legion" by David Morell: Set in 1941, members of the French Foreign Legion do their duty, even if it means fighting each other. While the story was generally enjoyable, I felt like I was missing something all the time I was reading. I just didn't get it, which may be more of a commentary on my dislike of war and stories containing that theme than anything actually wrong with the piece.

 

6)              "Defenders of the Frontier" by Robert Silverberg: For two decades, the troops manning a fort that was once teaming with soldiers have done their duty to their realm so completely, they've wiped out every last enemy. There are only 11 defenders left, and they've had no contact with the Empire in long enough for them to wonder if they've been forgotten. I read this in a state of horror from start to finish. These men struck me as the worst kind of monsters--the kind that doesn't even realize what they've become by blindly following orders. After submitting without question for so long, someone and something snaps. It has to. Is all shred of humanity lost at that point? The story tries to answer that question after a fashion by the way the survivors react, but I suspect that my answer to the same question would be on the opposite extreme.   

 

7)              "The Scroll" by David Ball: A French engineer and his fellow slaves under a new regime are mere pawns in a diabolical game in which the madman in charge of building a new city from the rubble follows the whims of an ancient scroll said to prophesize (and predict) what the engineer will do next. Wow, was this yet another horrifying refrain! The engineer trapped in this sad, sordid drama would do anything to stop playing the role he's been cast into. But it seems like everything he says and does, everything he doesn't say and doesn't do leads to one thing and one thing alone: Death. There's no escape. It reminded me a lot of the videogame Fable II, in which the hero is forced to go to the Spire, where the cold, calculating, nutso Commandant tries to teach submission to all the slaves. Devoid of choice or freedom, blindly following some random edict, leaves nothing but no-win situations. This was my second favorite tale in the collection, mostly because it held me so spellbound while I read it.

 

8)              The Mystery Knight (Book 3: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) by George R. R. Martin: This was hands-down my favorite included in the anthology. I reviewed it back on March 14, 2025 with the two previous stories in its series. 

Warriors had a theme that wasn't really geared toward someone like me, who dislikes war in nearly every context. Those who are fans of war stories and not-necessarily noble warriors will probably enjoy this anthology much more than I did.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor 

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/