T.K. Wade -- Author: July 2022

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Prayer of Manasses [Book Review]

"Prayer of Manasses" is a very short book found within the "Apocrypha." It was written by King Manasseh.

There honestly isn't a lot to talk about here. This is a very short and rather stock-standard prayer of humility to God. It is only 15 verses long. But to be honest, it is not the shortest book I have read.

The whole idea of this book is humility. It's about kneeling down before god and admitting that you are a sinful, flawed human being. By the end of it, the author is begging for repentance that he does not likely deserve. That's pretty much the whole thing in a nutshell. It isn't a bad book, but it's so limited in theme that there isn't much to say about it.

That said, there's no reason not to read it. It's cool to have something like this as an example of prayer. It even fits in very close to how Jesus advised people to pray. So for that reason, I do recommend it.

This blog was written on June 9, 2022.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Also stop by my Amazon.com listing by clicking this link: https://www.amazon.com/T.K.-Wade/e/B07BQK9RTZ

Check out my books! Thanks!

Monday, July 25, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Maccabees IV [Book Review]

Tired of how the Bible usually reads? Well, here's something that sounds a bit different.

"Maccabees IV" is a book found within the "Apocrypha." It was written by some fellow named Josephus. This book is related to the 2nd book of the previously reviewed "Machabees," in that it covers the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus and the martyrdom of a mother and her seven sons as well as the priest Eleazer, who died first.

The book itself is not preachy like most books but written more like a philosophical lecture, at least by the first of it. It's very eloquently written. By the end of it, it sounds much more passionate as it discusses the mother and what she had to go through. So if you are looking for a book of Scripture that has a different sound to it, you might try giving this one a go.

"Machabees II" was a very gory book that went over how dreadful the deaths of these children and their mother were, but "Maccabees IV" gives you an extreme amount of extra detail. As you read it, you will see in your minds eye what is happening to them. It's horrible. If you are squeamish about torture and gore, then you may not want to read it. It's rough. I mean... it's really rough. This book is as close as you can get to a horror story in Biblical texts.

Life back in those days were so severe. Horrible things could happen to you, perpetrated by your own government. Everything was so public and cruel. I get sick to my stomach just thinking bout it. But I'm no fool. I know all this can happen again.

This book is all about how religious reasoning can be the ultimate defense against the fears, emotions, and passions of the mortal man. It's all about putting aside the world because your soul is the real you. You're on for better things in the next life, so things like pain and death are really secondary.

This book is an interesting read now, but, like I was telling my dad the other day, I think it would be a good book to be read during the upcoming Tribulation. This book will assist in the concepts of martyrdom and the resistance to those who will inevitably go against Christians in the final days. They are going to need this book.

Once again, although I do recommend this book, I don't think someone who cannot stand gory and overly describes horror scenes will be able to deal with some of the long and extreme descriptions this book delivers. You need to understand that the author does not hold back. Consider it a warning before you embark.

This blog was written on June 8, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Pit and the Pendulum [Short Story Review]

The reason I don't review a lot of Poe stories is because I am not a fan of how he writes. This applies more so to his earlier stories. When I get to the end of them, I don't really feel like writing a review because I don't want to say a story is objectively bad just because of a subjective opinion about how a person writes. But there are some cases that his writing does not really get on my nerves as much, as is the case with this one.

"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a story written by Edgar Allan Poe, and it was published in 1842. It is a dark story set in the time of the Inquisition, a period that really does seem to be one that Poe would be inspired by.

Without really spoiling the story, which is quite short, it is really an intense narrative that carefully describes the very horrific circumstances that the protagonist has been placed in. The opening scene is in complete darkness, and that is related surprisingly well. Not an easy thing to do in writing.

The description of the latter mentioned pendulum and how it is presented in the story is very spooky without sounding as if it is supernatural. It all sounds very real but done in a way to take a man's mind out of a reasonable world. It's all about the torture of the mind as a man tries to escape from what constantly appears to be an impossible situation.

One thing that kind of surprised me here was that there was more of a positive ending. I would not call it an outright good ending, but it was higher on the positive scale than I normally see in his stories. But I won't say exactly what happens.

"The Pit and the Pendulum" is easily one of Poe's best works. It's worth your time. I completely recommend it.

This blog was written on June 6, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Monday, July 18, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Maccabees III [Book Review]

"Maccabees III" is a book found within the "Apocrypha." The author is unknown. Yes, this is the third book in line to the previous two books of "Machabees." The difference in spelling comes from the fact that I am reading a different translation. I read the first two books in the "Douay-Rheims Bible," which has different spellings for things. So I just decided to spell the book in the same way it was presented to me. Nothing strange here. Move along.

"Maccabees III" is not a sequel to the other two, but more of a prequel. It's specifically about the persecution of the Jews by Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy IV Philopator, a really nasty guy with a big ego. It all started when he got butthurt about not being allowed to go into the Jewish holy of holies. He goes in anyways and gets tossed around like a ragdoll by the angels guarding it. But he lives and then decides to blame the Jews for it and then treat them like crap.

First of all, the only reason he lived through the ordeal at all was because the Jews prayed to God about it. Second of all, why was he blaming the Jews for what was obviously a supernatural event? The man's an idiot. But idiot or no, he enacts a huge campaign against them comparable to Hitler himself. Now, it doesn't quite end the same way, and there was a very good reason for it: The Jews were very much doing their best to humble themselves before God during this trying time.

Ptolemy very much began to become the puppet of God the more the Jews prayed. He began to act strangely and forget what he was doing. There were even times during his persecution that he would actually vouch for them right before an execution [by drunken elephants] was about to happen. It all became a bit silly. He would set up an execution and right before he was about to commence it, he would act as if he never set the bloody thing up! It was driving his soldiers crazy. They didn't understand what was wrong with him.

Ultimately, he pulled clear out of whatever was making him weird and finally decided to go forward with the executions, but then the angels of Heaven swoop down and attack him and his men. Apparently the Jews were not allowed to see these things, but the soldiers were pretty much able to see that they were fighting supernatural forces. This incident completely changed Ptolemy's mind, and he rescinded his orders against the Jews.

"Maccabees III" is a very entertaining book, and I recommend it. It shows how God will sometimes "puppet" people to make them behave. It also shows that, at times, God will send his own army to fight our battles. I know that does seem a little out there, but actually it did happen in the Bible at least once. I believe it was in the protection of the Prophet Elijah. Either way, everything in this particular book is entirely plausible, and there's no reason to doubt it as far as I can tell. Good stuff.

This blog was written on June 4, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Friday, July 15, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Otters in Space [Book Review]

Don't judge a story by its cover... or its first few chapters.

"Otters in Space" or "Otters in Space: The Search for Cat Havana" is a book written by Mary E. Lowd. It was published in 2012. I bought it quite some time ago, and it just sort of sat in a cardboard box for ages. When I was going through my old unread books to try and whittle down what I had, I ran into this. My roommate told me I should read it because it looked stupid, and so I did. (It wasn't stupid.)

I went into it not knowing much about it, but the title of the book did look like it was going to be a fun and silly ride. Much to my surprise, it actually has a really solid iron-clad narrative for a furry science fiction story.

The story's setup is that the humans have left the planet, leaving the animals in a state of sentience. They aren't fully anthro like the humans were, but they are fully sentient and are running the planet in the human's absence. The dogs have most of the rule and are not getting along with the cats, oppressing them. The cats are constantly trying to get power in the government so that they have more rights.

Now by the second chapter, this is really all you get. It looks like a politics thing, but if you keep on going, the story evolves into other things, and the politics of the beginning get less and less preachy. In fact, it begins to look less black and white. For one, the cats have their own problems that aren't directly addressed in the beginning. Dogs may be overbearing and mean, but they aren't all bad. And cats have a serious ego and laziness problem which keeps them down as a people anyways. So the story really isn't as politically polarized as it seems when the story begins.

The book follows the path of Kipper, a cat, who is trying to find this place she personally refers to as Cat Havana, a place where cats can live away from the rule of the dogs. Along the way, she runs into the otters who have heavily colonized space, and she ends up making friends with them in order to find out where this place is. And beyond this, I don't really wanna spoil anymore because this book is extremely good.

The main thing that blew my mind about this story was that the author did such a wonderful job in capturing the personalities of each species. Cats are prideful and prudish. Dogs are overbearing and severe, but extremely loyal and obedient when under command. Otters are playful and have a love for life and liberty... and water. All these things together form an extremely entertaining story that perfectly bring out who these people are in context to their species.

As fun as the story is, it never seems to get to the point of just outright silly. The author took great care with every aspect of the narrative and the worldbuilding. Everything seems real and plausible. It's not at all what I expected from a book with this title. But the title is still relevant because the otters themselves, their culture and life, are so much fun! I'd love to live with them up in "otter space."

"Otters in Space" is a perfect blend of serious and fun. It's always taken seriously while still giving room to breathe and enjoy yourself. Although it may seem, in the beginning, like the story is moving into a forced political narrative, the story balances itself out flawlessly as it moves forward. I totally recommend it!

This blog was written on June 3, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Esdras II [Book Review]

Holy crap! This was intense!

"Esdras II" is a book found within the "Apocrypha," and it was written by Esdras himself. We also know him as Ezra, who was the high priest of the temple of Jerusalem when they were allowed to return.

So the first book basically lays the groundwork for who Esdras is and why he is worthy to be involved in this second book. He ends up being approached by an archangel named Uriel who... pretty much treats him like crap. But only verbally! Uriel is there to tell Esdras about the end times. Yes, the same stuff John of Patmos was told about in "Revelations." This is the same thing happening but in the Old Testament.

Esdras is constantly belittled and told that he cannot possibly understand the big things if he cannot understand the small things. The problem about these "small things" is that they are huge things that angels understand perfectly well. The conversation can only go so far before Uriel doesn't want to talk anymore until Esdras can spend a week purifying and humbling himself.

Over time, Uriel warms up to Esdras and it a bit nicer... relatively. The relationship between the two are pretty intense, and at times it may seem unfair. The whole point of why God is even bothering with Esdras is because this man is actually a pretty awesome guy who respects the laws and commandments of God with perfection. But with great humility comes tests and temptation from God, and so Esdras is treated pretty badly in order to see if he stays humble through the full encounter.

One annoying thing is that the Jews keep accusing Esdras of abandoning them while he is on this journey. At first, Esdras just tells them to go away. Later on, he promises them that he is fine and things are going to be okay. I can imagine how stressful this whole thing with Uriel must have been, but I am glad he was taking his role as high priest so seriously.

The book goes into a lot of details we saw in "Revelations." They even talk about Jesus in this book, although he is simply called Christ the Son of God. But probably the most shocking thing was the vision of the "eagle with many wings." This is a dream interpreted by Uriel about the United States of America. I'm not just assuming that because of the eagle thing. The raw description of the interpretation is really just describing modern US. That blew me away and made me tear up a little.

If the book is true, America goes through different phases. It loses everything it gains, then gets it all back. But then it will inevitably lose it all for good when God turns on us. It's sad, but I'm not entirely sure where we are in that timeline. It's frightening to think that we are sitting right in the middle of a prophecy.

The book may suggest at the end that Ezra was not allowed to die. It's a little bit cryptic, but it sounded like God really liked Ezra. He wanted Ezra to write this book first. He gave him a cup that, when drunk, would fill him with all the energy he needs to finish the book, and then it sounded like he was going to send him on his way. Don't quote me on this though. It was written in a way that made it not very clear, but it's a possibility.

Interested in a second perspective on "Revelations?" Then I recommend "Esdras II!" It doesn't really conflict with "Revelations" at all, but there's more of an intensity to it. It's direct and harsh with less confusing imagery. All the bizarre stuff shown in "Esdras II" is interpreted by the angel. Please give this one a go. It's extremely good, and I have no idea why nobody ever talks about this one.

This blog was written on June 1, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Monday, July 11, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Scalawagons of Oz [Book Review]

[Contains spoilers for a book nobody reads anymore.]

"The Scalawagons of Oz" is the thirty-fifth book of the Oz series started by L. Frank Baum. It was written by John R. Neill, and it was published in 1941. Yes, I have read all of the Oz books up to this point. Holy crap.

Once again, John gives us a living, breathing cartoon world version of Oz which does not match what came before his own works. They are a welcome addition, to me anyways. It never seemed very popular with the mainstream Ozians.

In this book, the Wizard creates a factory that makes sentient cars in order to further bring the fairy nation into a more modern era. Funny how he started off with airplanes first, yeah? These cars are called scalawagons, and I know what you're thinking: It sounds like scalawag. That may have been the root word of the name, but the cars themselves have no resemblance to what that word means. They're just vehicles.

The villain of this story is a bit hard to explain, but I liked him. For most of the story he was called a "Rubber Ghost," but he was later identified as something called a "Bell-Snickle." He's a sneaky, creepy, slinky, crawly sort of villain whose greatest desire is to remain a mystery. I liked him. He brought a lot of villainous humor to the story.

There was also the woefully problematic Mifkit, which had trouble being nice. Ozma tries to reform him by giving him work to do, but he would always over do it and it would annoy everyone. I thought he was cute! They remind me a little of Shawn O' Toole's Dinky race from his "Strange Galaxy" books. (Hi, Shawn!)

One of John Neill's problems is he writes like he has a distraction problem. His stories constantly jump around like a dog who keeps seeing random squirrels. Funny enough though, it doesn't really harm the story very much. Even though the story jumps around madly, the content of those side-steps are really enjoyable and a lot of fun to read. I like it!

I really like how Oz has been modernizing but in a Fairyland sort of way. Those scalawagons almost entirely drive themselves. There is even a LUNCH button on the console that gives the driver free food as many times as he wants. And since the car is sentient, you can eat while it drives for you.

And what is a story about cars without a chase scene?! Yes, "The Scalawagons of Oz" has a wonderful and exciting chase scene in it, and I enjoyed every moment of it. This story pretty much had it all, and I loved it.

I absolutely recommend "The Scalawagons of Oz." Although the story doesn't always seem to know where it wants to go, it still goes, and where it goes, the fun never stops. It's a great story, and I look forward to reading more by this author.

This blog was written on May 25, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Friday, July 8, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Esdras I [Book Review]

"Esdras I" is a book found within the "Apocrypha." I couldn't really figure out who wrote it. There was a ton of speculation about it, but I don't really like going into that. But what is this book?

Remember way back when I reviewed an Old Testament book called "Ezra?" Well, other than some minor differences, this is really the same book, but perhaps a teeny bit more. The truth is that there's also a little bit of "Chronicles II" and "Nehemiah" mixed into it as well.

In brief, the book is really all about the Jews finally being allowed to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple. Esdras (Ezra) is put in charge of teaching the people the laws handed down by Moses. Unfortunately, all of the people have been sinning over the years and marrying sinful heathens.

Honestly, the only thing in this book that was really exclusive was this interesting contest handed out by King Darius. He wanted to see who could speak the wisest saying, but it turned out to be more of a contest to see what is the most powerful of several things. The three contestants were wine, the king, and women, but there was a late forth entry that was "truth." The truth won out in the end, which I rather liked.

Other than that, I have really already blogged about this book. It was okay to read over again. I took it to be something of a refresher. It's time to move on though. I still have a lot ahead of me. As for a recommendation, I'm not sure this book really qualifies. Despite the extra content of "Esdras I," don't think it's worth your time. The book of "Ezra" was serviceable enough. Just read that one. It's easier to find.

This blog was written on May 22, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Extra Bits of the Catholic Bible [Review]

After wrapping up the extra books that only appear in the Catholic Bible, [I was reading from the Douay-Rheims version which is a very old one] I decided to go back and check books I had already read in the King James Version but that had chapters and verses added to it. These only seemed to exist within the book of Esther and the book of Daniel. I almost did not read these, because I did not want to have to reread the entire book for context, but I found out that these bits can be read mostly on their own.

The additions to "Esther" were passable. They were more about Mordecai and a vision he had about the destruction of his people. Esther has a moment that reminded me a lot of Judith where she humbles herself before God. She even put dung on her head. Back then, people knew how to do the humbling thing. We're terrible at it these days! All in all, the additions were okay but not really as interesting as what came next.

The additions to Daniel were a blast! They show Daniel doing early police interrogations and CSI work. I'm not even joking! I felt like I was watching an episode of Forensic Files. In the first part, two old men who were also judges accuses a woman named Susanna of cheating on her husband. They do this because she wouldn't have a threesome with them. Because they were so well respected in the community, the people immediately called for her death.

This was sort of a "group think" situation where elites were able to control a mob of ignorant people through their gained influence. It happens even today. Anyways, Daniel shows up and accuses them of lying and says he can prove it, but he has to separate them first. He then conducts an interrogation of each, asking where Susanna and the unknown man was lying. Each man says it was under a different tree, and since their stories did not line up, they were obviously lying from the beginning.

This is actually how real interrogations are conducted in the modern age. I actually spend a bit of time watching law enforcement videos, and I enjoy watching interrogation stuff as well. Watching Daniel use modern interrogation techniques in the Biblical era was extremely satisfying for me.

But wait! It gets better!

One of the heathen kings that Daniel worked for worshiped a great idol called Bel that could apparently eat real food. Because it seemed to be able to eat like living people, the king believed that it justly deserved worship as a god. But Daniel refused and said that idols cannot eat. So he staked his life on the fact that he could prove it.

So Daniel actually performs some clever forensics here. The food really was disappearing in the room where the idle was locked in, so Daniel placed some dust all over the room before it was locked, and the next day when he entered in with the king, the food was gone... but there was also footprints everywhere. These same footprints also led to the secret entryway where all the 70 priests and their families were taking the food to be eaten. It was brilliant.

There was a third part about a dragon which Daniel destroys, but it was not as clear as the first two adventures, so I'll just mention it and move on. Additionally, there was an extension of the furnace scene where they out rightly say that the forth figure was an angel, and they all say a really long and kind of boring prayer. It wasn't as cool as the forensic stuff though.

Now that I am done with the Catholic extras, I guess it might be cool to pick a favorite. The most entertaining to me is probably "Judith." I just enjoyed that story more than anything. But come on now. I'm not being fair to myself. All that forensic stuff with Daniel blew my mind. I'm actually a bit annoyed that the Protestant's Bible knocked those extras out. Even though it is only part of the book, I think those little stories with Daniel were the best. So even though I didn't read the whole book, I am just too tempted to say "Daniel," but I'll put "Judith" as a hard second place.

By the way, if you want to read those great extra chapters of Daniel, get ahold of a Douay-Rheims Bible and flip to Daniel 13-14. It is all about a 15 min read. I highly recommend them!

This blog was written on May 18, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Monday, July 4, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Machabees II [Book Review]

Well, here we are at the end of another long road.

"Machabees II" is a book found within the "Douay-Rheims Bible," which is one of the Catholic Bibles. It's author is not known. Where the first book did not have a whole lot of spiritual context, this book makes up for it 100%.

This isn't really an aftermath book but more of a extra content book. It shows the spiritual and even personal side of the events of the first book. It shows very much why the Jews would win battles and wars, which was because they would humble themselves before God.

Keep in mind though that things don't always turn out well. There are very graphic scenes of martyrdom in this book. Very gory too. Rated R.

"Machabees II" also has some very odd supernatural moments in it. It has things like soldiers flying around in the sky, and flames that burn without going out. A lot of this is not really all that well explained. I mean... the author mentions these things, but then he sort of just moves on without any other explanation. The weirdest part for me was when the prophet Jeremiah shows up and gives the story's hero Judas (not to be confused with with Judas from the Gospels) a golden sword from God Himself. I mean... if it's true, then it's true. But this whole scene just feels off. I got a feeling in my gut about it that gets my skepticism going.

There was an awesome battle with elephants in this one, which I believe was mentioned in the first book. It's better explained here. I like it, and it would be great to see in a movie. Reminded me a bit of 300.

Another thing that kind of put me off about this book, and likely the Catholic Bible in general, is how they push the idea of praying for the dead. I've never seen any point to praying for the dead. So what if the Jews did it? It's just weird. They're dead! They're in God's hands now. It's not your concern. One of the annotations happen here that tried to promote it as a part of the religion because the Jews did it, and I'm not buying it.

"Machabees II" is a pretty good book, but it feels a little off at times. At other times, it sounds perfectly natural. The writer, whoever it is, puts a lot of passion into it, and he even seems to worry that it was not passionate enough at the end of it. Interesting. I recommend it a bit more than the first book.

This blog was written on May 18, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!

Friday, July 1, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Unfortunates [Book Review]

[I spoil the main points of this book.]

"The Unfortunates" is a novel written by B. S. Johnson, and it was published originally in 1969. The reason, the ONLY reason, I bothered to read this book was because of the novelty of reading it. Why is it a novelty? The chapters are all unbound. Each chapter in this book comes in a box and can be pulled apart and placed in any order you want, with the exception of the clearly marked First and Last chapter. That's why I read it. Not even joking.

The story is about the author, going back to a city where a bunch of memories strike him in various places. It all has to do with the death of his best friend Tony, who dies of cancer earlier in his life. The event was so heartbreaking to the author that his arrival in this city just drudges up all of his past, and he experiences these flashbacks everywhere he goes.

One of the reason the chapters can be read out of order is that it doesn't really matter where he goes first or last, only that he is there and thinking about these things while he is there. The order is honestly unnecessary. At the end of the day, it's all about the author's heartbreak.

The book is written like a collection of surface thoughts. At first it sounds like beatnik poetry, but it isn't. I got used to it as well, which I didn't think would happen. About six chapters in, I was totally following what was going on. It's like listening to someone think. There's all these interruptions of thought which he shows by placing in tabs. Most of the sentences are run-ons with nothing but commas splitting them apart until you get to an eventual period.

The story here is very sad, but it's also something that is surprisingly relatable. Even if you haven't suffered through what this man did, you can imagine what it would be like if it did happen to you. And that's the goal of the book. It's just about coming to realize how difficult it is to live on Planet Earth. Some things seem so certain, but then situations change and we often don't understand why and how to deal with them.

One downside to the book is that the author is really, dreadfully against Christians. He even went so far as to abbreviate the faith as "Xtian" and then go off on how ridiculous was. I mean... no wonder it seems like he's wandering around with no direction. He's angry at anything that might provide him with some! But then, that's the story, isn't it? He's an Atheist, and life is meaningless.

The final chapter of the book did not have a period at the end, and that isn't surprising when you consider his situation. The man died back in 1973 believing that there was no truth in fiction, so all he was ever able to do was write about things he knew, and in the book about himself, he couldn't even properly end it. Life without God is ultimately meaningless.

As fascinating a read as this was, the novelty of the unbound chapters was really the point of reading it. As it stands, there is little to get out of the book but one man's pathetic story. I don't recommend it, but I also do not regret reading it at all. It gave me a lot to think about.

This blog was written on May 16, 2022.

Check out my books! Thanks!