Fairy Tale Spotlight: Meditations [Book Review]

"Meditations" is a book written by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was originally published in 1909, however it was written roughly between 170 and 180 AD. It is often considered to be a sort of handbook for stoicism, although there is some controversy surrounding it.

Marcus Aurelius was well known for persecuting and killing Christians. He did so quite frequently and with a lot of cruelty. So why would I care about this book? Well, for one, Marcus Aurelius is very dead, and, secondly, he never intended anything in this book to be published. I mean... just look at how long it took for it to even be published. "Meditations" were notes he wrote to help himself become more of a stoic person, and those reasons are more than enough to push aside what he did and to take a better look at how he structured himself as a man in a world of humans.

There is a lot to take in with this book, and it is difficult to boil it all down to one thing. There is a lot of repetition, which sort of helps with the problem. I think the most important thing I got from this book was the concept that we are ultimately in charge of our own behaviors and should not let others influence who we are. If we do, then it is really us that's doing that because we are actively allowing it.

A good example of the latter is revenge. The act of getting revenge is to become like the person you get getting revenge against. You are ultimately allowing the bad person to manipulate your anger into committing some sort of similar act. This means you are not truly in control of yourself.

Marcus was also very aware of the mortality of people, including himself. He often expressed that all the famous people of the past had all died, and he knew he would die too. He even expressed that there was a good chance that he would never be remembered, so it was important to live his life to the fullest, and as a good person, while he was yet there. Well, he is actually fondly remembered today for his writing---something I doubt he expected.

Due to him being an emperor of Rome, he believed in a polytheistic religion. He would however also refer to a God with a capital "G." Now, I am not completely sure what this was about. The context of it was unclear, and I assume that there is someone more informed than I am about it. It could just be his way of referring to nature. Marcus talked about nature a lot, and how the nature of different things never change. The nature of various people were often different to each other, but he would hold them to it just as he held to himself.

At the end of the day, Marcus just wanted to control himself and his behaviors. He wanted to be calm and non-emotional, which is actually not a bad quality for an emperor. It allowed him to deal with ruling a country with a very analytical and sane mind. Yes, he went after the Christians, but it was because he believed they were obstinate. His views about Christians were only mentioned one time in Meditations 11:3. You can look this up if you wish to see the verse for yourself.

All in all, this is a very good study guide into what it means to be a stoic, if you were interested in such a thing. I would say, however, that nothing in this book really matters without Christianity as a basis. Marcus was not really a good man, although I do believe he was trying to be one.

I do recommend this book to anyone studying stoicism or the life of Marcus Aurelius. Beyond that, you may want to take a pass, because you will probably find it a boring read.

This blog was written on October 1, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Friend for a Day [Short Story Review]

"Friend for a Day" is a short story by Robert Carter. It is the fifth story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. As I have already stated, this is a universe created by author Rick Griffin, in which he allowed many other people to write stories in.

Oh my gosh! The krakun are 40 feet tall?! What the heck? Why didn't I realize that in the earlier stories? No wonder they enslaved all the other races! They are freaking huge!

Seriously, I am not sure why I missed this important detail in the earlier stories. My brain must not have been able to conceive of such a huge height difference. You see, the krakun are a dragon-like race that enslave other species whenever they can in various ways. They are, in many ways, the villains of these stories, but also... they are just sort of there. The stories have not been about rebellion against the krakun at all. They have been slice-of-life stories just happening in this universe.

This particular story showed that good can happen even within the krakun. It was about one "young" krakun named Ashiok. He was just a kid, even though he was something like 700 years old. That's another thing about the krakun: they live waaaay longer than the other races. But it feels like they also mature as a similar ratio. So 700 years is still immature.

Ashiok, although a slave owner, is actually not a bad guy. He works in the fast food industry. Actually it felt a whole lot like a Starbucks. He was a chipper friendly krakun in a world where everyone around him was very cynical and cruel. I really liked him.

The main thrust of the story had to do with him coming to terms with the fact that he had become very good friends with his slaves. They were a species called the ringel, which are a lemur-like race known for being very forthright in how they speak.

Other than that, I don't want to spoil anymore. I do recommend the story. It was refreshing!

This blog was written on September 18, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters [Book Review]

"Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters" is a novel written by Jean Shepard. It was published in 1971. It collects a series of his short stories originally published in Playboy Magazine.

Each and every chapter of this book is a complete story unto itself. The previous book I reviewed was like that too, but this one really hit me pretty hard. I have completely different opinions about all of these stories, and I wanted to go over them individually. I also want to mention that Jean Shepard refers to the main character of this book as... Jean. Not Ralph. It's the same family from the previous book, but he personalizes this one, making me of the opinion that, although exaggerated, this is pulled from his actual life.

"The Grandstand Passion Play of Delbert and the Bumpus Hounds"

This is a story about extremely horrible neighbors. If you ever had bad neighbors in your life, they were not as bad as the Bumpus family. They were a bunch of rowdy hillbillies that had absolutely no appreciation for other people's boundaries. The scene from "A Christmas Movie" where the Thanksgiving turkey is eaten up by dogs was pulled directly from this story, although it was an easter ham in this case.

The neighbors were cartoonishly horrible to the point where it wraps back around to hilarious. You don't like them, but you sure as heck can still laugh at their antics. I really enjoyed the insanity of it, but I am so glad it did not happen to me.

"County Fair!"

Pretty good story about what county fairs were like during the depression. Actually, I think they are exactly the same today. Everything they described was familiar to the ones I went to. There was a scene in one of the rides where everyone threw up. I wonder if that scene from the "Problem Child" movie was based on that. Who knows?

"Scut Farkas and the Murderous Mariah"

Easily the best story in the whole collection. This was an epic story about heroes and villains... but it was also just about kids playing with tops. Jean Shepard managed to take a simple game that kids play and turn it into the most clandestine encounter imaginable. It kept me on the edge of my seat till the very end. So dramatic and wonderful. I am so sad this was never made into a movie. It sure as heck felt like one.

"Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss"

This was the one I bought the book for. I grew up watching the Disney film that was based on this. This is a solid story about a family going on a vacation trip. The movie actually reflected the story quite well, but it added extra stuff to the beginning. The story is all about the crazy trip, and it's wonderful.

"The Star-crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski"

This is another one of Jean's stories that was made into a film, although I have not seen it yet. Jean (not Ralph) is older now and thinking about girls. This story is about his first date, and with an exotic girl no less. I did like this one, but it was also the moment I realized that these are secular stories. Keep in mind when you read his stuff that he is an Atheist.

"Daphne Bigelow and the Spine-chilling Saga of the Snail-encrusted Tinfoil Noose"

What is going on with that wacky-ass title? This is another dating story. This time, he ends up with a rich girl. It's one of those situations that you know isn't going to go well, but you can't help but read until the end. I had to know how bad it was going to be. She was not anything of his class, but he did his absolute best to make it work. Great story, but also kind of a slow motion train wreck.

"The Return of the Smiling Wimpy Doll"

My least favorite, but it isn't bad. It just makes me groan at the truth of it. This is the oldest I have ever seen Jean in his stories. He is an adult and has even served in a war by this point. This story is all about nostalgia and how it can take a stranglehold on our lives.

His mother did something lots of mothers do and sent him a box of all his old toys from his childhood. This makes him go temporarily insane as he goes through the box, reliving his old memories much too quickly. It's funny, but I really hate when this sort of thing happens.

"Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories"

Another dating story! Well, it's a bit more than that. This is his one and only prom story. The dating part sort of just goes along with it. This is a brilliant telling of one of man's all-time great puberty rites. I never went on one, and I am glad I never did. I freaking hate stuff like this.

This is a story about something wonderful, going horribly, but still somehow being wonderful. It's not about the disaster, but more about the experience as a whole. I liked it, and, once again, I am glad I never went through stuff like this.

That's all of them! I absolutely recommend this book. It was a fun read, and I fully intend to keep reading his books. Jean Shepard is one of the best storytellers of all time!

This blog was written on September 15, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Columbo: The Grassy Knoll

"Columbo: The Grassy Knoll" is a novel written by William Harrington. It was published in 1993 and followed the canon happening in the movie series at the time. This was the one Columbo book that I did not really want to read, but I read it anyways. I worried it was going to get political.

Oh, I knew the book was not actually about Columbo investigating the JFK assassination. All the books are set in the "modern" era. Although I should say that the JFK assassination is a major part of this story. In some ways, the story of that shooting helps Columbo solve the crime happening in 1993. I like that, and it was a very interesting tie-in. That said, this story is really about the murder of a man named Paul Drury, a famous talk-show host who was known for bringing up dangerous topics.

As usual, William Harrington is extremely suited for writing a Columbo story. The lieutenant is presented very well, and you will easily love his charming style of sleuthing. This has always been the case for this author, and it is probably the real reason I read it. I just like these books.

The only problem I had with this story was that it does have a left-leaning narrative. There are politics in this book that are kind of annoying, and much of it happens because it dealt with JFK. This is the problem whenever you deal with political situations sadly.

All said, however, I did really enjoy the book, and I do recommend it. It's still good, and the JFK stuff was actually really interesting. Columbo remains one of, if not the best, detective characters in world history.

This blog was written on September 8, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Curio [Short Story Review]

"The Curio" is a short story by Kate Watts. It is the fourth story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. As I have already stated, this is a universe created by author Rick Griffin, in which he allowed many other people to write stories in.

This story featured the geroo exclusively. The kangaroo-like race was shown inside their generation ship, and you got a good look at how they lived their lives. Apparently the geroo seem to be the fan favorite. They are cute, I admit. Apparently, their faces don't have a large range of emotion, so they display how they feel by how their ears are positioned. That's pretty cute.

The story here was a tense one. It had to do with a geroo named Avit who has an old relative that is very frail. She had a curio that held secrets in it that could possibly reveal a terrible truth about something in the past. The problem was that Avit's sister was kind of a monster, trying to suppress his ability to figure anything out.

I know I am being a bit vague here. I don't want to spoil anything. You have to understand that the geroo live very close lives on ships because, if I understand it correctly, the kraken stole their planet from them. Because of population concerns, they are only allowed to live a certain number of years before they have to be removed. As sad as this sounds, they all accept it as a part of their lives. Crazy, huh?

The hidden secrets of this story have to do with a deceased relative of Avit's that dealt with a pandemic where many geroo had to be summarily killed. It was called the "Wasting" of all things. More than that, I don't want to say. What I do want to say is that this was a very emotionally driven story filled with mystery and thrill. I did like it.

This is also a really good story to learn about the geroo. I recommend it especially if you are interested in them. Solid story with a strong emotional premise.

This blog was written on September 8, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Unintended [Short Story Review]

"Unintended" is a short story by Kandrel. It is the third story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. As I have already stated, this is a universe created by author Rick Griffin, in which he allowed many other people to write stories in.

Oh, this was a good one. It deals with the Anput, which are an alien race similar to jackals. They carry a rod called a span which is utilized in much the same way as a scepter of sorts. The one in this story is named Djedi, which I never really learned how to pronounce. Apparently the Anput are religious zealots that were adopted by the Krakun slavers. They use them sort of like enforcers, controlled entirely by convincing them that they are gods. It reminded me a little of themes found in the movie "Stargate."

He has a Garoo slave named Paku who is a very interesting character. She is so loyal and cute, but you can tell she has her frustrations when serving the needs of Djedi. Their rapport and relationship is what this story is all about.

The main thrust of the story happens when Djedi's ship collides with another ship while going at insane speeds. The description of this moment was powerful and shocking--some of the best writing I have ever seen of such events. What happens after that, I shouldn't spoil.

I absolutely recommend "Unintended." If I am not mistaken, the cover art of the book is representative of a scene from this story. Have a look at it below.

This blog was written on August 24, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Heretic [Video Game Review]

"Heretic" is a video game developed by Id. It was originally released in 1994, but I am reviewing the 2025 version found within the Heretic+Hexen Remaster from NightDive Studio.

"Heretic" is basically like Doom, but with a fantasy theme. It plays very similarly with the new mechanic of being able to collect and use items.

Here is a copy and paste of the plot:

Three brothers (D'Sparil, Korax, and Eidolon), known as the Serpent Riders, have used their powerful magic to possess seven kings of Parthoris, turning them into mindless puppets and corrupting their armies. The Sidhe elves resist the Serpent Riders' magic, thus prompting the Serpent Riders to declare the Sidhe to be heretics and wage war against them. The Sidhe are forced to take a drastic measure to sever the natural power of the kings, destroying them and their armies at the cost of weakening the elves' power and giving the Serpent Riders an advantage to slay the elders. While the Sidhe retreat, one elf sets off on a quest of vengeance against the weakest of the three Serpent Riders, D'Sparil. He travels through the "City of the Damned", the ruined capital of the Sidhe, then past the demonic breeding grounds of Hell's Maw and finally the secret Dome of D'Sparil.

Apparently you play an elf named Corvus and are about as much of a badass as Doom Guy. This is a pretty nice game to get into once you have tired yourself out from too much Doom. It feels the same, but everything is themed like it's from a D&D campaign.

This game also gives you the option to look up and down through a wonky process called Y-sheering. It lets you do it without correcting for perspective. This can make everything look warped and weird. It is a little hard to get used to and might even make you sick, but I did get over it after a couple of maps.

The enemies are appropriately scary, but there seemed to be less variety in them than I remember in Doom. You get really used to seeing the same enemies over and over, and it does get old. Still, I did enjoy the variety of maps and how they were all put together.

"Heretic" has five main episodes (each containing eight maps plus one secret map):

1. The City of the Damned

2. Hell's Maw

3. The Dome of D'Sparil

4. The Ossuary

5. The Stagnant Demesne

They are all very interesting with the exception of the final one. I found the final episode to feel a lot like "Master Levels of Doom II." The maps were just too confusing and led to boring moments where I had no idea what to do. Apparently some of these maps were even modified for the modern release to be even stupider than they were before. Not sure why they did that.

My favorite was probably "The Dome of D'Sparil" for really having the aesthetic of being in underwater domes. Great job! I found each of those a joy to explore.

"Heretic" was made for people who like both Doom-style games and fantasy elements. It's really fast and fun to play, and I do recommend it, despite its shortcomings. You can play a remastered version of all five episodes and more in the excellent "Heretic+Hexen" from NightDive Studios.

This blog was written on August 21, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Castaway [Short Story Review]

"The Castaway" is a short story by Gre7g. It is the second story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. As I have already stated, this is a universe created by author Rick Griffin, in which he allowed many other people to write stories in. Very magnanimous of him.

This story was easier to comprehend. It involved two new races: a fox-like race called the Kyacaotl, and an alien kangaroo-type race called the Geroo. This story was actually an alien encounter tale. A Kyacaotl outcast named Tin meets an alien Geroo named Ava who is lost in his region, cold and maybe dying.

He takes her back home and they learn about each other's races. It even turns into a bit of a romance. Without going into the specifics and spoilers, there is a dark turn to this story that was very interesting and did very well to explain this universe a bit more. I really enjoyed their rapport with one another, which really drove the story along quite well.

I do recommend this story, and I am really looking forward to going forward with the rest of the tales. Alien first encounter stories are really interesting, and this was no exception. This is quality scifi writing so far.

This blog was written on August 14, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Pseudonym [Short Story Review]

"The Pseudonym" is a short story written by SixSydes, ironically also a pseudonym of sorts. It is the opening story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. Just a quick explanation first. This collection is based around a single universe created by Rick Griffin. He created the universe, but other people actually wrote stories for it. I know that's kind of weird. It is a science fiction universe with furries as the aliens. The book comes with a species guide in the back that I had to constantly check. The stories themselves do not explain them as well, so I had to keep checking. Although this was kind of annoying, I just learned to live with it.

"The Pseudonym" takes place in a world where a dragon-like race called the Krakun has enslaved a number of species, using them for servitude. One particular enslaved race called Geordians, a cat-like species, is prominent in this story. It goes into one named Vatea who has been secretly writing romance stories as a means to make enough money to free her family. There is a bit more to it than that, but I don't like to overly spoil the work of an extant writer.

Since this was more of an introduction to this universe, I had a harder time reading it. Sometimes breaking into new stories can be like that. I did think it was interesting that different species had different atmosphere requirements. The Geordians had to wear airtight suits when in the presence of their masters. This made things somewhat scary since the Krakuns could puncture their suit if they got mad.

Other than that, I don't want to say anymore. It was an interesting tale, and I do recommend it. I feel like I am going to understand things a lot more as I continue reading these stories. More to come.

This blog was written on August 8, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash [Book Review]

"In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash" is a novel written by Jean Shepherd. It was published in 1966. It is best known for being the book that inspired the movie "A Christmas Story," but it is so much more than that.

People who read a Jean Shepherd book do so because Jean Shepherd wrote it. He was a humorist who knew just how much exaggerating to do to make just about anything sound interesting and even exciting. This book follows various tales from the Parker family. They lived in Northern Indiana during the Depression. Jean is basically pretending to be the eldest boy, Ralph, in this story, and telling it as if it was him all along. It is a really interesting way to write a book, because we know it's him doing it. Everything about this book is Shepherd.

The book is separated by these little intermissions where Ralph is an adult, revisiting his old town. He is telling these stories to an old friend at a local bar. His stories go into Christmas, the Forth of July, being in a marching band, and it also goes to the vastly different experiences they had in movie theaters at the time. Jean also goes into some dark themes as well. There was a chapter about how the government would inspect your house to see if they had the right to sell off all of your property for unpaid taxes. There was nothing funny about that, but he still managed to make it very compelling to read.

One thing that I did notice was that Ralph is not always a morally perfect boy. There are times where he gets away with things that an adult might see as abhorrent, but Jean never bothers with trying to teach you morals; he is only trying to give you his perspective of what it was like to be young and stupid. I can still see how some people might be annoyed with some things he does, but it did not bother me.

Jean Shepherd is clearly writing this book for an adult audience. There was an entire chapter about pornography, and it was really good. It's really not as bad as it sounds, but I would caution that this is not really a story for kids.

I think the main thing I got out of this story is just how much fun Jean Shepherd made everything to read. It reminded me of how film noir was narrated, but it was not usually intended to be so dark. He was very good at using analogies to explain how things were, and that is a good way to make everything, even mundane things, seem wondrous.

If you liked "A Christmas Story" then you will enjoy this entire book. It is the very same sort of narration, and it gives you a good look into the mind of a child during the Depression. I completely recommend it, and I will be reading more of his books.

This blog was written on August 7, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Fairy Caravan [Book Review]

"The Fairy Caravan" is a children's novel (not joking) written by Beatrix Potter. It was published in 1929. This book is well within the subject matter of Fairy Tale Spotlight. It has a lot to do with fairies and reminds me a bit of the stuff I had read in Irish folktales.

The thing that attracted me to this was it's length. At first, I thought it was just another collection of short stories by Potter, something she is best known for. This is, however, a full story intended for children, although I am not sure what children would be able to read this today. It's weirdly sort of aged into more of an adult book because of it's difficult reading comprehension curve.

The story begins with what may be considered the main character, a Guinea pig named Tuppenny. Some scam artist rats sell him a hair-growing potion that makes him to grow so much hair that it causes him problems. His friends all begin pulling his fur out, which leads to him running away and finding the titular caravan. From here, Tuppenny is less of a main character and more of just one of the many animal circus performers traveling around the country.

I've never seen an opening character take a backseat like this. I kept thinking Tuppenny might make a comeback or play a bigger role in the story, but he is not even mentioned in the final chapter. He is just sort of there and enjoying it. What an odd way to introduce a story.

The real story is about the caravan which is full of animals. You get to meet all of them, and they are all very cute. I especially liked Xarifa the doormouse who was often sleepy and a little silly. Pony William was also very cool. Paddy Pig was pompous and funny. I really liked them all.

As for the main story, not much happens. The story comes across as a slice of life. There could have been adventures happening before and after, but we only see this one slice of it. The worst that happens is that Paddy Pig goes missing in the forest. He might have been picked on by fairies living there which made him a little depressed and crazy. The fairies in this story are the "Good People" of Irish fame. They are only nice when it suites them, so everyone is very careful about them.

Like in her short stories, animals are basically people like us, while still being animals. Cats will still devour mice, despite them being people. This becomes a serious thing during the story. The caravan has to make sure their audience will not attack each other during their shows. In one instance, the mice could not come to the show because there were cats present. The caravan later gives the mice their own show, which I thought was really cute.

Although not technically a collection of short stories, it does sometimes sidestep into a short story told by various animals. These stories often use heavy dialect which can make reading them a chore. Many times over, I lost the plot because I could not fully grasp the dialect being used. The caravan riders seem to be the easiest to understand thankfully.

Beatrix Potter was apparently really defensive about this book being unchanged. She said that it was a story she used to tell her family, and she told the publishers that it must not be fixed to make it easier to read, a task she allowed to happen to her other stories. This book was something personal. To be fair, it wasn't really that bad, and she might not have published it to begin with. I'm glad she just decided to put it out there.

Once again, this story is really long and difficult for a children's book, but it might be okay for a fully grown adult with high reading comprehension skills. If you want to go a bit further than her Peter Rabbit stories, then I'd recommend this one just fine. Just know what you are getting into.

This blog was written on August 6, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Outer Wilds [Video Game Review]

"Outer Wilds" is a video game developed by Mobius Digital. It was released in 2019, but I only just discovered it this year in 2025. I also bought it completely randomly, knowing very little about it. It might have been intuition, but if so, why did I not get this back when it came out? I'm not sure how I ended up with it in the first place.

But I digress.

In "Outer Wilds" you play one of an alien race with four eyes (they actually look really good), who have just started their own space program. You are their new astronaut, and all they want you to do is just fly into outer space and have a look at what's up there. At first, it almost seems farcical that these aliens even have a space program. They are about as backwater as they can be. They seem almost like hillbillies. Even your spaceship has some parts on it that are made of wood.

Once you blast off, you quickly realized that the entire solar system is very small. All the planets are flying wildly around the sun at impossible speeds. Nothing is very far away. In fact, you might accidently take off and mistakenly fly right into the sun. It's... right... there. And the planets are spinning super fast too. A day is like a few minutes, and it feels like it too. Just stand on your homeworld and look up. The stars are flying past quickly, and you can even see all the other planets out there. Day and night come and go constantly. This is just how this universe is designed.

There are no objectives to the game. They just want you to go up there and explore... figure things out. Your only motivation is your own curiosity. Pretty soon, and likely by accident, you are going to die. It might be due to a daring act, or you might just accidently decide to open up the hatch without your spacesuit on. Either way, you will die. And when you die, you will wake up at the same moment in time when the game began. As it turns out, you are in a time loop. You are living out the day over and over again.

But what if you don't die? Whelp, you'll still die anyways. At the end of 22 minutes, the sun goes super nova, killing you and everyone else. This will also reset the loop. Why is this happening? You don't know, but the clues to it are scattered everywhere. Pretty soon, you are landing on planets, poking around, looking for the reason the system keeps blowing up and killing everybody. Nobody is telling you what to do at any point. It's just you, trying to learn why it's all happening, trying to learn the meaning of the loop you are caught inside. And that is the genius of this game: it's all you.

"Outer Wilds" is a thinking man's game. It isn't about shooting things or fighting off evil; it's about unraveling a mystery 22 minutes at a time. And knowing you are going to die will only make you brave. You'll go to places scarier than you can imagine, because if you fail you'll just be back to try again. It's all about just trying to learn one more thing before everything starts over. You can do it... all you need is 22 minutes.

This game has a similar vibe to a much older game called "Myst." Myst had a very simple solution to solving it, but you had to spend hours and hours on it trying to figure out what that solution even was. But once you figure it out, "Myst" could be beaten in minutes. "Outer Wilds" is the same sort of game, but it has a much better presentation and gameplay. And the best part about it is that it is entirely powered by your own curiosity. You are the driving force that makes everything work; the game isn't really doing anything but existing until you look into it. Brilliant.

The worst thing about "Outer Wilds" might surprise you. Once you unravel its mysteries and finish the game... you will miss it. You will feel like you lost something. There's no real reason to keep playing it because you already solved it. You'd have to wait a few years to forget everything, and so it's just suddenly over and gone. The worst thing about this game... is when it's over. Every game I played afterwards did very little to please me. I couldn't even enjoy "Doom."

This next statement is very true: "Outer Wilds" is my favorite game of all time. No game in my entire life made me feel this way. It haunted my dreams. I wanted to talk to people about it. One of the puzzles was actually solved while I was not even playing it. I just sort of figured it out while thinking it over. For about 30 hours, "Outer Wilds" became my life. I love this game so much, and I recommend it more than any game I have ever played. It should be a rite of passage for any thinking man or woman living on this planet. Go out there and explore.

This blog was written on July 28, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Ben and Me [Book Review]

Full title "Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin By His Good Mouse Amos" is a book written by Robert Lawson. It was first published in 1939. I have a renewed copy with minor changes released in 1967. This book was also adapted into a short animated film by Disney in 1953, simply called "Ben and Me." That animated film was what got me interested in the book.

The whole idea here is that Ben Franklin was actually kind of an idiot, and if it wasn't for a talking mouse named Amos, he would never have become the famous man that he inevitably became. At first glance, this seems a little mean to one of our founding fathers... but only if you believe in talking mice. In truth, this is a cute and fun fictional story about one of history's most interesting men.

And to be fair, Amos doesn't always do what's best for Ben. In a couple circumstances, Ben's wisdom does hold out. But Amos was clearly the most pragmatic of the two, while Ben was more of a crazy loony, although I should say he was a very lovable sort of crazy loony.

One thing that did surprise me was that a scene I really liked from the film apparently was not in the book. I liked how, in the animation, Amos takes credit for inventing Ben's bifocal glasses. This is nowhere in the book, which means Disney did that themselves.

But to be fair there are things in the book that were not in the Disney film. Amos gets a cute French girlfriend mouse and fights for her cause during Ben's visit to France. It also goes into Ben's obsession with his own looks, and this was sadly very true. He really got into a bit of foppery in his day.

This book was absolutely intended to be children's literature, but weirdly enough, it is very eloquently written. Robert Lawson was born in the 1800s, so he just had a different way of writing things. Children today might have some trouble understanding some of the words he uses in the book. The renewed version of this book includes a glossary for all the words that tend not to be used anymore in today's English. Very helpful!

Of course, I recommend this book to anyone. If you want to read it, it is still in print, but it is not available on Kindle. You'll have to order up a physical copy. You can get it new, though, and very cheap. I got mine for about $7. That is an overly reasonable price for the story I got. Check it out.

This blog was written on July 23, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Pit Fighters [Book Series Review]

[This review contains some spoilers, and it is also a review of an erotic piece of literature. You may not want to read about that, and, if so, feel free to skip this one.]

"Pit Fighters" is a short erotic book series written by Rick Griffin. As of the writing of this review, there are currently four available:

1. "The Opportunity" (2019)

2. "Orientation" (2019)

3. "Side Gig" (2020)

4. "Family Ties" (2021)

These are erotic stories about furry anthropomorphic characters, but the author sticks to the story in a way that makes them extremely immersive and interesting.

The world of "Pit Fighter" is a very socially open place where bisexuality is normalized and even pants seems to be optional. It really plays into the concept of animals not worrying about having their bits showing, as long as the context is correct. You can be naked in front of your mother, but if you had an erection, that would still be a problem. So context in nakedness is still important.

In this world, there are pit fighting competitions, and they are very popular with the crowd. But it isn't just the bloodsport aspect of it. A lot of the "heros" in the sport are somewhat sexualized by their fans, and the promoters of the events sometimes encourage this for ratings, even if the sport itself is just fighting. It also seems that a lot of the fighters are encouraged to have sex with each other behind the scenes if they want to.

All this hype tends to lead fans to try and get into the business themselves, often for the wrong reasons. The main character of the story, a rabbit named Paris, falls for this trap and ends up in a very bad contract and up to his long ears in debt. From here, it is all a matter of self-discovery as he learns that he will be a pit fighter for a major portion of his life or suffer the consequences of going back on his contract which could ruin himself and his family. It's a bitter pill to swallow, and the author does a wonderful job relaying this.

Now, I don't want to spoil any more of the story than this. Heck, I already covered a good portion of that first book, but I felt it was needed to give you an idea of how serious the story is. From here, I really just want to explain a little more about Rick Griffin's interesting split between what is serious and what is erotic.

Rick Griffin does not normally do erotic content. In fact, I think this may be his only erotic series ever. He has some erotic art here and there, but he tends to be known more for clean content. I should also point out that I consider Rick Griffin to be one of the best modern writers of our time. The reason he is not well known is because of his niche subject matter, that being locked tightly within the furry genre. If you aren't into that sort of thing, you may never discover him.

Despite this being an erotic story, Rick knows well how to focus on what makes these characters tick rather than just focusing on their genitalia. They are people with families and friends. They have dreams and sometimes those dreams get dashed. We can all relate, to some extent, to what Paris goes through in these stories, even if you don't agree with his erotic love for strong male fighters. Rick Griffin masters the literary arts in this series and manages to take what would otherwise be a horny throw-a-way porn book, and instead he gives you a serious, interesting, and even amusing story for you to comfortably digest. It is a masterpiece.

My criticisms are very light. Each book takes about an hour to read, making them all feel like short stories. Actually, it's more like he released a chapter in each book. I don't like that as much, but it really was not that bad, considering each of them was so cheap. I honestly treated the four parts as one complete book. But then, it isn't complete. By the end of the forth book, it still ends with an unfinished story.

It's been a long time since he wrote the last part, and that makes me sad. I honestly loved reading this so much that I felt I could have continued reading it forever. It had an almost soap opera effect. I just liked the characters and enjoyed how everything unfolded. It will be sad if I never get to see how things go.

As for the erotic elements, they are sprinkled in, but they never feel out of place. They happen for the right reasons and only last as long as they need to. And while they occur, the author still retains the same writing style, explaining what's happening in the mind of the characters involved. I rarely see something like this happen. I am honestly shocked that he was able to keep things together so flawlessly. Bravo.

Although technically unfinished, I still recommend the "Pit Fighter" series. There is still a lot of fulfillment to be had here. Like I said, it has a soap opera feel, so it was never going to have a complete resolution anyhow. But what is here is still amazingly satisfying.

This blog was written on July 7, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Last Starfighter [Book Review]

"The Last Starfighter" is a novel written by Alan Dean Foster. It was published in 1984 which is the same year as the movie. This is a promotional novelization of the film. Yeah, I read a lot of those.

If you've seen the movie then great! It is, at least in my own opinion, one of the best scifi movies of all time. It's all about a guy named Alex Rogan who got really good at a surprisingly advanced video game at his trailer park. What he didn't know was that this game was actually a training simulator for the real thing. Aliens in outer space were in a real space battle, and Alex had just been recruited to be one of their best. It's got all the makings of a wonderful story.

But how does the novelization stack up? Well, Alan was definitely a reasonable choice for an adaptation. The whole setup for this story is very similar to Foster's "Spellsinger" series, which also had a normal guy thrust into a crazy situation. But the one problem with that series was that it was a bit overwritten. As it happens, so is this one.

It's not a bad story. I would even say that it is a great way to experience the story in literary form. However, every single milestone of this story tends to move in loops. One of the issues of the story is that Alex cannot decide if he wants to be just a normal guy on Earth or a starfighter for an alien race. In this movie, this conversation proceeds quite well and naturally. But in the book, everything is extended much more than it should be. It makes Alex's reluctance come across as annoying. Every scene is pretty much like this. If you enjoyed a scene from the movie, expect it to be triple length in the book. Not good.

That said, it isn't all that bad either. At it's base, this is actually a great way to get into the heads of all the characters. Alan does not just translate a script; he makes sure you know exactly what is going on. From that perspective, the book is actually a good choice. I was pretty divided on this.

The whole reason I wanted to read this book was because my friends pretty much said it was one of his best novelizations. It was a long time since I heard this, but I never forgot. But for me, it was right down the line between good and bad.

For the above reasons, I am sort of going to just recommend both the movie and the book as one unit. I think they both bring something to the table. Although, if you only had to do one, just watch the movie. It's still out there and available. "The Last Starfighter" may have bombed when it came out, but that doesn't make it any less of a great film.

This blog was written on July 4, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Little Brown Mouse [Book Review]

"Little Brown Mouse" is a teeny tiny book with really thick pages written by Ginger Swift. It has a copyright on it for 2024 and was released in Happy Meals at McDonalds. I don't actually know if this had an earlier release.

There's not much to say about this one. It is a very tiny book with very easy to read text. The illustrations really tell most of the story. The idea here is that a parent will read this to their young child and show them the pictures. This is basically the very earliest reading comprehension level there can be. This is a book to help a young child learn how to read, so there isn't much focus on plot.

That said, this sort of book is important. Very young children should start off with these and continue to try and work their way up to more difficult ones. I commend McDonalds for giving these away for the time that they did. There are so many kids today that just have lost all interest in reading, and that is very sad.

On the back of the book, the publisher seems to be a group called Cottage Door Press. They say that they are a "publisher of high-quality children's books designed to spark curiosity in little ones." They "believe in reading to children from the day they are born." That is a brilliant philosophy, and I support it.

I know it seems like I was doing this review as more of a joke, but I really do want to promote reading in young children, especially by eight years of age. A good thing to do is to look for a list of Newberry Award winning or nominated books. They have a long list of genuinely good books for children to read once they get somewhat good at it. Reading will strengthen the mind and push the limits of the imagination. People need to read to become smart, and there is no way around it.

As for "Little Brown Mouse," I have no choice but to recommend it to its appropriate audience. If you have a very young child, give it to them to read... or just read it to them. You gotta get them started somehow.

This blog was written on July 3, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Don't Raise the Bridge (Lower the River) [Book Review]

"Don't Raise the Bridge (Lower the River)" is a novel written by Max Wilk. It was published in 1960. It was made into a movie starring Jerry Lewis in 1968. I read the book because I enjoyed the movie.

The plot here is a cynical inn keeper named George Lester is about to lose his inn when his ex-wife plans to get rid of her greater share of the business. She offers for George to buy her share, but it is way out of his budget to do so. So the whole book is about him scheming to make a whole lot of money really quickly. Being the cynical man that he is, he turns to an extremely elaborate crime to make that happen.

In fact, his scheme is so elaborate that is boggles the mind as to why anyone would try it. It was almost akin to some of the plans made in a "Mission: Impossible" episode. It was also extremely sociopathic in its means as well, taking advantage of good people in order to make it happen. George was not really a good man.

The plot in general had to do with stolen blueprints for an experimental drill. He hired a corrupt dentist to place the microfilm into the inlay on a suffering man's teeth who would soon be in the vicinity of a prospective buyer. He would then have horrible pain in the second location and be forced to see a second dentist there to relieve the pain... as well as remove the microfilm. Admit it: that's way too overcomplicated... but that's also the aspect that makes the book amusing. The title of this book really makes sense.

Because the plan is so egregiously tight, it is even more dependent that nothing goes wrong, and things actually do go wrong quite often. As George frantically tries to adapt to the problems in real time, it is very funny watching as he suffers and stresses over his own folly. That aspect alone is what makes this book a fun read, not because he is otherwise a bad person.

There was also a character named Cooney that made me laugh. He is technically the only good-hearted person in the whole story... at least in a verified way. George was really annoyed that someone could be so good in a world where evil is fairly mainstream. The problem with Cooney was that, even though he was a good person seeking justice, he was also not very good at it. He was definitely trying, but he always fell short of being the hero he wanted to be. But who cares?! It was great to see such a nice person in a book full of rotten people.

I know this may seem crazy, but I actually loved this book and even recommend it. It's mainly for the ending, which was surprisingly uplifting. The turn at the end was nice, and I won't spoil it. I would also recommend the movie, but I will say that the book's main character does not seem like Jerry Lewis to me. But then again, Jerry played a very unconventional character than he was usually known for. I think he still pulled George Lester off well. Give either one of them a looksee.

This blog was written on July 2, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Inside [Video Game Review]

"Inside" is a video game developed by Playdead. It was released in 2016. It is not the sequel to "Limbo," but it gets really close to being a similar experience. A lot of people might call this one a spiritual sequel in many ways.

No more black and white. No more film grain. No more silhouettes. You are a boy again, though, and the danger is as bad as ever. I am not entirely sure what the plot actually is, but everything is presented very well. It seems like some sort of worldwide plague event happened, and people are pretty much being shot dead in the streets to contain it. They absolutely do not care that you are a little boy. If anyone sees you, they will go out of their way to murder you in any way they can. Dogs will come after you too, and they are very fast. Most of the time you run from dogs, it comes right down to the wire. And if they get you, you get to watch a little boy get brutally mauled by them.

Even though it seems like you are dealing with a pandemic, things get a heck of a lot weirder as the game progresses. The government seems to be doing mind-control experiments as well, turning people into mindless drones. You can even control them yourself at certain points. It's all very strange and surreal watching people just sort of run around brainlessly.

There are also these really interesting moments where you have to act and move to a certain rhythm. The audio in this game is extremely good, opting once again for ambient noise rather than music. The noises sometimes form a rhythm that help you understand what needs to be done and when. This is a tried and tested formula that Playdead has turned into a science, and I love it.

Once you get to the end of this game, you will see and experience things only dreamt of in nightmares. This game exploits a lot of fears such as being torn to pieces and drowning. Yes, you spend a lot of time underwater with not a very good capacity for holding your breath. Every dive is a risk, but you have to do it.

The only criticism this game ever seems to get has to do with its extremely shocking ending. It has a lot of people split. I don't mind it as much, but I do know why people feel so divided on the issue. It does not come out of nowhere, but that doesn't take away the absolute horror of your final fate.

Like with "Limbo," I do recommend "Inside." It had everything good from their original title and just takes it all the farther. I hear Playdead is working on a third game. I look forward to whatever it is.

This blog was written on June 30, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Limbo [Video Game Review]

"Limbo" is a video game developed by Playdead. It was released in 2010. It is considered one of the most influential independent video games of all time and has inspired a bunch of copycat games from other developers.

The plot of "Limbo" is about a boy who enters Limbo in search of his sister. That's all you have to know. The problem with this place is that it is a world that sort of plays by its own rules. It is inhabited by creatures and other humans. There is also a really terrifying giant spider that you have to deal with early on.

Despite you being a young boy, this world is cruel and deadly. There are a lot of really horrible ways to die. One way this game softens the blow is by presenting everything in black and white with an old movie filter over it. All the characters are silhouetted as well. There is almost no music in the game, opting for more ambient sounds and tones. The aforementioned spider had a really deep vibrating hum that went along with it. Very intense. Atmospheric stuff like that always got to me, even after multiple playthroughs.

The traps of this world are terrifying and never feel as if they are intended to be fair, although if you are very careful you can figure them out before they kill you. Most of the time, impatience is what ends up being your undoing, and that's okay. I never really felt like the developers did anything wrong. This is just the nature of this world.

There are also these worms that will occasionally attach themselves to your head. If this happens, you will immediately turn around and walk until you eventually die of some random calamity. I call them "suicide worms." The only way to get rid of them is to find a creature that will eat it off of your head. You have to find a way to make that happen within the rules of the creature controlling you. Very cool and very scary.

There are a lot of mind-bending aspects in this game. In some places, the entire world will rotate, keeping the same gravity. In others, gravity itself will change. All these mechanics come with dangers that can either slice, crush, or kill you in some other manner. And like I said, even after multiple playthroughs, all these things seem fresh and terrifying. The developers made an experience that is fairly timeless.

The game also feels like the perfect length for what it is. It doesn't really ever feel like it's taking too long to get to its climax. The ending itself is very satisfying. Where some of the puzzles may be a little confusing for some players, I wouldn't call any of it truly obnoxious like I have seen in similar games.

Of course, I recommend "Limbo" to this generation of gamers and the next. Because of its simple style, it will always look good no matter how far we advance. It is one of the most atmospherically pleasing games to ever be made.

This blog was written on June 30, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Snow White (Disney 2025) [Movie Review]

"Snow White" is a movie made by Disney. It was released in 2025.

Cons:

-The main character was ruined by the actress being annoying in the public square. The character is also supposed to have white skin based on the original story, and she did not. However, I might have forgiven this if she had just been a more likable person outside of the movie.

-The portrayal of the evil queen was stilted and weird, despite looking the part.

-There were a lot of unnecessary musical numbers added to the movie that felt uninspired. The songs from the original movie had added lyrics which did not help any.

-Costumes and set design looked shockingly cheap.

-Bandits were added to the story for some reason.

-Dopey talks and is also the narrator.

-Dwarves reference the fact that they act like the names they have, which is cheap self-reference humor.

-There is no prince. Instead Snow White has a love interest throughout the film who is just some guy. He is also the one to kiss her at the end.

-The was no glass coffin, which was actually apart of the original story. She was just laying on the ground.

-The evil queen is able to turn back from her old lady disguise. This was a big one for me, because in the original film, it felt like, in her madness, she sacrificed her beauty for hate of Snow White. It felt permanent. She dies an old, ugly woman in the original film.

-The dwarves have random magic that is only used once in the entire film. It is never explained or used in any way that matters.

-Snow White defeats the evil queen by pointing out that she knows the names of everyone.

-There is probably more, but I can only remember so many things at one time. I'm only human.

Pros:

-The dwarves were not as bad as people complain about, but they were actually bad. Doc was my favorite. His portrayal was actually pretty entertaining.

-There was one musical sequence about how the queen is evil or something. Her singing was uninteresting, but the choreography of the other dancers and such was actually really good. I genuinely enjoyed that part of the film... for the choreography... not the song or the singing... or the evil queen which the song was actually about.

I do not recommend this film.

This blog was written on June 19, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Pigs is Pigs [Short Story Review]

"Pigs is Pigs" is a short story written by Ellis Parker Butler. It was published in 1905. It was later made into an animated short film by Disney in 1954. This is sort of a review of both, but I am focusing more on the story.

The whole concept of this story is about why bureaucracy hasn't really been a benefit to anybody. It all starts with a dispute between a the manager of a private postal worker at a train station (not U.S. Postal) and a customer. He ordered a pair of guinea pigs, but the manager wants to charge him the delivery rate for livestock. The customer points out that they aren't real pigs; they are pets. Pets get the cheaper rate, but the manager is following his rule book to the letter which is causing the problem.

This dispute leads to letters written to the company where an extremely complicated series of bureaucratic nonsense takes place in order to determine that the blasted guinea pigs are pets and not actual pigs. This long process might not be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the guinea pigs are male and female... and the female is pregnant. And as you might expect, they begin multiplying very quickly.

This is a situation where time is really of the essence, and the regular process is just going too slowly to keep up with it. Letters have to be written and replied to. Telegrams have to be sent. Nobody was using any common sense, because they had to follow the procedure instead. And meanwhile, the guinea pigs are filling up the postal station at an insanely fast rate. It's very comical and a lesson that can be learned even in 2025. We still have these problems sadly.

The story is written in prose, but when Disney did their animated short, they cleverly translated it into poetry. I like both stories, but the one Disney did is so much more satisfying. It's mostly the same story too with some small but much adored embellishments. If you can't find the story, then you should definitely watch the cartoon.

"Pigs is Pigs" is a great story with an accurate depiction of the problems we all have suffered with bureaucracy. It really is an awful thing, and they were apparently feeling it just as badly back in 1905. The short story is public domain now, and the Disney short is easily accessible on YouTube. I recommend them both.

This blog was written on June 18, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Two Kings [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of this story.]

"Two Kings" is a short story written by Norton Juster. It was published in 1965 as part of the book "Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys." This is the best of the set.

An extremely poor and miserable king lives in a kingdom of equally poor and miserable people. He is so poor that he is pretty much just like any other guy there. He just happens to be king. Also his name is RNP. His name is as broken as everything else about him. Although RNP is used to being miserable and having nothing, he does wonder if there are better things out there in the world, and so he sets out on a journey to find that out.

The other king is named Magnus. He is the polar opposite. He has everything anyone could ever wants. Riches beyond belief. All his people love him. He gets everything he wants, no matter what. But Magnus worries, kind of weirdly, if there is anyone out there who has more than he does. So he sets out on a journey to find out. Ironically, he chooses RNP's kingdom at random and sets off. Well, his people don't want him to be miserable in such a horrible place, so they all take a shortcut while the king goes the long way and absolutely renovate RNP's kingdom before he gets there, making it just as wonderful as his own kingdom. But when Magnus gets there, he just sees the same riches he already has, so his question isn't really answered. This makes him depressed and so he returns to his kingdom.

When RNP gets to Magnus' kingdom, the whole place has been wiped out by a really bad storm. Everything is ruined and nobody is there. When RNP sees this, he comes to the conclusion that the rest of the world really must be so sad and miserable, and so he turns back home feeling maybe a little better now that he knows the truth. He can now be content with his lot.

Cleverly, the story ends here, but you can take a good guess what happens to the two kings. I likes this story a lot. it's all about the humble inheriting greater things. "Two Kings" gets a great big recommendation from me!

This was the last of the three stories from "Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys." Norton Juster really is a wonderful author. I wish he wrote more stuff in his lifetime. I recommend this collection and really anything else he has written. Wonderful man. The world will forever mourn his loss.

This blog was written on June 8, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Rescuers [Book Review]

"The Rescuers" is a book written by Margery Sharp. It was published in 1959. Yes, this is the book that inspired the Disney movies, although the movies kind of do their own thing.

The story here is about a society of mice called the Prisoner Aid Society. They pretty much look for people in need and then pick one of their own to go try and help them. In this case, it was a Norwegian poet trapped in a really awful castle dungeon with guards and a cat. They end up voting for Miss Bianca to be the one to help the boy since she is also a poet.

Miss Bianca may be a poet, but she is not Norwegian. She then hires a companion in Nils, a Norwegian mouse, and also brings along Bernard, the mouse who came to ask her to do the mission in the first place. Even though the movies focus on Bianca and Bernard, Nils is actually really awesome. He was a sailor mouse who obsessed over life on the seas. Although he sometimes made Bianca uncomfortable, he still had a roughish charm that she appreciated.

I think the thing that I really loved about this story was how absolutely dedicated the mice were to helping people. It was a way of life for them. It seemed to be something all mice really talked about, even if they were not apart of the official society. That is so incredibly cute.

Without spoiling what happens, this is a very exciting story that deals with every obstacle in a realistic way. You just have to see the mice as people like us. They can even talk to us in this universe. Imagine having a pet mouse you could chat with!

I don't normally do this, but I really want to mention the brilliant illustrations by Garth Williams. I mention him specifically because this book has been illustrated by multiple people since it came out. Garth obsessively made sure that everything in his picture actually represented what was happening in the scene. This really brought the book to life with brilliant detail. If you read this one, make sure Garth Williams is the illustrator.

If you are looking for an exciting and cute book about mice on a rescue mission, you can hardly do worse than with "The Rescuers." I totally recommend it. While it was likely intended for children, this is still a great book for adults. They will appreciate the detail put into the situations that the mice have to deal with. Really well done.

This blog was written on June 7, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: West Side Story [Book Review]

[Some spoilers included.]

"West Side Story" is a book written by Irving Shulman. It was published in 1961, same year the movie came out. Yes, it's one of those books. This was very likely written during the production of the movie in order to promote it upon release. The weird thing here is that it is a book based on a musical/ballet film which focuses more on choreography to explain itself. Also I bet you didn't even know there was a book for West Side Story! Well, neither did I. I randomly found it in a book store. Who knew?

If you've seen the movie, this book is pretty much the same story, but the author gives it all to you in a very hard-hitting narrative that never pulls it punches. Let's face it: this story is rough and depressing at the best of times. It's a hard pill to swallow.

The name of the game is big city gangs and mutual hate. It's the Whites vs the Puerto Ricans, and despite them both being Americans, they just can't live together without violence, rape, and murder. It... is... awful.

What makes matters even more difficult to deal with is that there is a "Romeo and Juliet" situation happening as well. The former leader of the White gang falls in love with the sister of the PR gang leader--respectively Tony and Maria. And no... this is not a story about love conquers all. It is a story about how bad decisions ultimately lead to bad outcomes. Even though Tony is trying to get out of the gang life, he just cannot shake his past. And even though Maria knows her brother is doing bad things, she still loves him and doesn't want him to get hurt or die. It is the makings of a very slow train wreck that goes on for ten long chapters.

But I gotta hand it to the author: he did extremely well at telling this story. I don't even know this guy. He put so much heart into trying to get all the characters' perspectives into this book. And the final page was one of the most impactful narratives I have ever read in any book beforehand. It was brilliant and really put the problems of the world into a healthy perspective. I mean... you can almost just read that last page and still come away with something.

The author's not perfect, mind you. He also kind of said something about Batman and Robin having X-Ray vision. (This was in reference to a character who read a lot of comic books.) We'll not worry about that though.

All said, I do recommend this strangely obscure book. If someone was to make a novelization of "West Side Story," this is how it should be done. Great job. I'm depressed as hell, but I don't regret reading it!

This blog was written on June 6, 2025.

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

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