Day of the Cheetah by Dale Brown (1989)
When I was in high school and filled with Cold War anxiety, I became a fan of technothrillers like …
“Literature” Archives
249 posts
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (1905)
I’ll be honest, I had always disregarded The Scarlet Pimpernel based on its title alone. But then I…
My Cultural Diet (December 2025): Lord of the Rings, Wake Up Dead Man, One Battle After Another, Angel’s Egg, Tron: Ares
A quick rundown of last month’s cultural experiences.
Companies Like Palantir and Sauron Co-Opt Tolkien’s Writings for Their Misguided Branding
Tech companies want to harness the mythic-ness of Tolkien’s legendarium while giving nary a thought to its values and meaning.
Simultaneous by Eric Heisserer (2025)
Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival is one of my all-time favorite movies, so checking out the debut novel f…
My Cultural Diet (November 2025): Ghost in the Shell, Pale Rider, Stranger Things
A quick rundown of last month’s cultural experiences.
Black Tide by KC Jones (2022)
I do enjoy a good story in which some bizarre otherworldly event irrevocably changes life here on E…
The Black Company by Glen Cook (1984)
The Black Company is the most elite mercenary group in all the land, but they’ve fallen on hard tim…
My Cultural Diet (October 2025): Alien, The Naked Gun, Silver Surfer, Satanic Panic
A quick rundown of last month’s cultural experiences.
My Cultural Diet (September 2025): KPop Demon Hunters, Foundation, Sergio Leone, Donnie Darko, Sinners
A quick rundown of last month’s cultural experiences.
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (2013)
Given that one of its protagonists is a beautiful ballet dancer-turned-Russian spy trained in “sexp…
My Cultural Diet (August 2025): Mission: Impossible, The Expanse, Superman, Amélie, Book and Dagger, Squid Game
A quick rundown of last month’s cultural experiences.
The Hunter by Tom Wood (2010)
Originally published as The Killer under his original name (Tom Hinshelwood), Tom Wood’s The Hunter…
The Dying Earth by Jack Vance (1950)
Jack Vance is one of those classic sci-fi authors whom I’ve often seen bandied about as “one of the…
The Witchstone by Henry H. Neff (2024)
Although he’s the son of a high-ranking Lord of Hell, Laszlo really just wants to enjoy Earth’s fin…
Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham (2024)
Our popular conception of a spy is that of a dashing and debonair individual who gallivants around …
My Cultural Diet (July 2025): Ran, Superman, Murderbot, Thunderbolts*, Harry Dresden
A quick rundown of last month’s cultural experiences.
The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen by Lloyd Alexander (1991)
Lloyd Alexander sure did love writing coming-of-age stories inspired by the world’s myths and folkl…
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (2021)
We’re not designed to be online all the time and experience a never-ending stream of news, informat…
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (2000)
After hearing several friends rave about Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, I finally checked out the fir…