Cover for Spells of War
Here’s the cover for Spells of War. I hope you like it. I hope lots of readers like it.
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books
Power and royalty in Lord of the Rings
A major theme of Lord of the Rings is that power corrupts. It’s impossible to miss. The Ring represents the power to subjugate, conquer, and destroy. Sauron made it for that purpose. It has a magical aura that causes people who stay near it for long to want to possess and use it. It controls people more than they control it. Only Sauron can fully control the Ring.
Hobbits vs. authoritarianism
However, it doesn’t influence everyone equally. Hobbits are, with one major exception, less susceptible. Sam shows little interest in it, taking it only when he has to and returning it to Frodo with relative ease. It’s a huge burden on Frodo, but he doesn’t succumb to it until he reaches Mount Doom and faces the decision to destroy it. Merry and Pippin have no interest in acquiring it.
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Spells of War has gone out to beta readers
Several readers have received the beta draft of Spells of War. Now I can ignore it for a while. My purpose wasn’t to do trope-busting, but just to follow up on the implications of The Magic Battery. Even so, it has some unusual features.
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Update on Uncle Hugo’s
File 770 has an update on the effort to bring back Uncle Hugo’s. The bookstore was destroyed by a fire set by an unknown arsonist during last year’s Minneapolis riots. The article says, “Last month [Don Blyly] found three prospective buildings to consider – one would be satisfactory if he can get it for the right price.”
The fundraiser has raised nearly $200,000 and is still active.
Book discussion: Enlightenment Now
Is the world going to hell? Are we all doomed? Steven Pinker has consistently argued that not only is this view mistaken, the long-term trends of the world show steady improvement in human well-being. Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress provides many specifics in support of this position.
Alarm and disasters sell in the news media. People want to appear serious by citing problems rather than progress. Organizations looking to raise money or get people involved focus on what needs fixing. Taken together, they can create the impression that only terrible things are happening and they’re getting worse.
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