Red Rising – Revenge, Empire, and the Making of a Monster

Pierce Brown’s Red Rising begins as what looks like a familiar story: revenge. In many ways, it reads like a science fiction reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo. But where Edmond Dantès is betrayed by jealous rivals and corrupt officials, Darrow’s betrayal is civilizational. The injustice is not personal—it is systemic.

Seven hundred years before the novel opens, humanity colonized Luna and reorganized itself into a rigid hierarchy known as the Society. This system divides humanity into fourteen “Colors,” each engineered and conditioned for specific roles. At the top stand the Golds—physically larger, stronger, and trained from birth to rule. At the bottom are the Reds, expendable laborers told comforting lies about their place in the grand project of terraforming.

Darrow, a sixteen-year-old Red helium-3 miner on Mars, discovers that the world he has been taught to believe in is a fiction. After his wife Eo publicly protests the system and is executed, Darrow is drawn into the revolutionary Sons of Ares. What follows is not a frontal assault on power, but something more insidious: Darrow will infiltrate the ruling class itself.

Carving a New Man

The transformation that follows is one of the novel’s most striking sections. Darrow undergoes a brutal “carving” process, physically remade by a Violet into something approximating a Gold. He is then trained—physically, culturally, psychologically—to pass among the elite.

The parallels to Dantès in Monte Cristo are clear. Both protagonists are reshaped by suffering and education. Both emerge from transformation not merely restored, but weaponized. However, where Dantès acquires knowledge and patience, Darrow must acquire an entirely new biology.

This is also where my own scientific instincts begin to tug at the story. Brown explains that the Golds’ superiority stems from centuries of eugenics and forced Darwinism. While it makes for compelling myth-making, the degree of biological divergence sometimes strains plausibility. The physical differences between Colors are described as vast. At times, I found myself wondering whether they would even qualify as the same species by strict biological standards. It is one of those moments where an interest in science can slightly complicate the suspension of disbelief.

That said, the thematic intent is clear. This is a story about hierarchy and racism—with a twist. The ruling class is not merely socially dominant; they are biologically enhanced. Yet their moral authority is hollow. Their superiority of muscle and bone is matched by cruelty, manipulation, and systemic deception.

The Institute and the Logic of Empire

After surviving brutal entrance exams, Darrow is admitted to the Institute, where the Gold elite are forged. Here, Brown’s worldbuilding becomes particularly effective.

The Golds are not simply pampered aristocrats. They are subjected to ruthless internal competition. The Institute begins with the Passage: students are paired off and forced to fight to the death. The Society’s logic is clear—only the strong deserve to rule, and even among the strong, only the most ruthless survive.

From there, the surviving students are transported to the Valles Marineris. Each House is given a castle and instructed to conquer the others in a prolonged war game. Flags enslave opponents. Alliances shift. Leadership is tested under conditions of deprivation and violence.

It is here that the book shifts from revenge narrative to something more strategic. Darrow is no longer simply reacting. He must learn to lead, manipulate, inspire, and survive within the very system he intends to destroy.

Comparisons: The Traitor Baru Cormorant

It is difficult not to compare Red Rising with Seth Dickinson’s The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Both novels center on a protagonist who seeks to dismantle an empire from within. Both understand that brute rebellion often fails, and that true subversion requires mastery of the system’s rules.

However, their approaches differ significantly. Baru wages war through economics, bureaucracy, and institutional capture. Darrow wages war through charisma, violence, and myth-making. Baru’s battlefield is financial and ideological; Darrow’s is literal.

Where Dickinson’s work is coldly analytical, Brown’s is visceral. Red Rising trades in blood, honor, and spectacle. Yet both novels ask the same question: can you destroy an empire without becoming what it demands you be?

Final Thoughts

Up to the point where the Houses are unleashed upon one another in the Martian canyons, Red Rising establishes itself as more than a simple revenge tale. It is about transformation—biological, psychological, and political. It explores hierarchy not just as social construct, but as engineered reality.

Yes, parts of the science stretch credibility. Yes, the world can feel exaggerated. But the emotional momentum carries it forward. Brown understands scale, stakes, and the intoxicating pull of power.

If The Count of Monte Cristo is about a man patiently dismantling his enemies, Red Rising is about a young man thrown into the heart of empire and forced to decide whether he can break the system without being broken—or remade—by it.

And that tension is what makes the novel compelling.

Young Sherlock: When Holmes and Moriarty Were Friends

I just watched the first episodes of Young Sherlock, and while it is still far too early for a full review, the show left me with enough impressions to justify a few reflections. Sherlock Holmes has been adapted so many times that any new interpretation inevitably invites comparison. Even a promising first episode must stand in the shadow of more than a century of adaptations.

The premise of the series is simple but potentially very interesting. Instead of presenting the already legendary consulting detective, the show explores Sherlock during his youth, before he becomes the figure we recognize from the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle.

The series follows a teenage Sherlock navigating school, friendships, and the first mysteries that begin shaping his analytical mind. It is loosely inspired by the Young Sherlock Holmes, which similarly imagine Holmes’ formative years and early adventures.

In this version, the focus is less on the famous detective solving intricate cases and more on the experiences that might explain how the famously detached observer of human behavior eventually came to see the world the way he does.

A Holmes Who Has Not Yet Become Holmes

One of the more interesting aspects of the show is that Sherlock is not yet the fully formed character we expect. The cold rationality and emotional distance that define the adult Holmes are only beginning to emerge.

Instead we see a young man who is still forming his worldview, still testing his abilities, and still figuring out how he fits into the world around him.

Among the characters around him is one played by Dónal Finn, whom many viewers will recognize as Mat Cauthon in The Wheel of Time. Seeing him appear here in a very different role was interesting. The character serves as a companion and foil to Sherlock, and I can easily imagine the two as different sides of the same coin: instinct and improvisation balanced against Sherlock’s emerging analytical mindset.

If the series continues for multiple seasons, it would not be surprising if we eventually see the gradual path toward the more solitary and intense figure that readers know from the original stories.

The Shadow of Moriarty

Perhaps the most intriguing narrative choice in Young Sherlock is the presence of James Moriarty not as an enemy, but as a friend.

Anyone familiar with the original Holmes stories knows where this relationship ultimately leads. Moriarty is famously described by Holmes as the “Napoleon of Crime,” the brilliant mastermind who stands as his intellectual equal and ultimate adversary.

Seeing the two characters as companions in their youth introduces a strong element of dramatic irony. The audience already knows the eventual outcome: these two minds, once aligned, will ultimately stand in opposition to one another.

This raises an interesting question about the direction of the series. Will the show gradually depict the events that push Moriarty toward criminality and Holmes toward the role of the detective determined to stop him? Or will it diverge more radically from the traditional mythology and chart a different path entirely?

If the writers choose the former, the series could develop an almost tragic dimension. Watching a friendship slowly fracture under the weight of ambition, ideology, or circumstance would give the Holmes–Moriarty rivalry a far more personal dimension than most adaptations have explored.

And in some ways, that might be the most interesting idea in the entire premise: not simply the origin of Sherlock Holmes the detective, but the origin of the one mind capable of opposing him.

Colin Firth Appears — and Looks Very Different

Another unexpected appearance in the series is Colin Firth, here playing Bucephalus Hodge, sporting a pair of rather impressive Victorian sideburns. It was slightly surprising to see him again in such a role.

For many viewers he will always be closely associated with his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, one of the most beloved adaptations of Jane Austen. That performance became so iconic that it shaped how the character is imagined even decades later.

Personally, the last time I distinctly remember seeing him was in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, though he has of course appeared in many films since then.

The Importance of Setting

One of the things I appreciated most about Young Sherlock is its decision to place the story firmly in a historical setting. Sherlock Holmes feels deeply tied to Victorian England. The foggy streets, the early forensic sciences, and the social structures of the time are all part of what makes the stories work.

This is also why modernized adaptations sometimes feel slightly off, even when they are very well made.

For example, the BBC series Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson, was undeniably excellent television. The first season in particular captured the excitement and intellectual playfulness of the character extremely well.

Yet the modern setting never felt entirely natural to me. Holmes operating in a world of smartphones, GPS, and digital surveillance inevitably changes the nature of detective work.

The Cinematic Holmes

The film adaptations starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson — beginning with Sherlock Holmes — arguably captured the atmosphere of the period more successfully.

Those films kept the Victorian setting but leaned heavily into a more action-oriented interpretation of the characters. Holmes became something closer to a Victorian action hero, combining deduction with bare-knuckle fighting and elaborate physical stunts.

The interpretation was unusual, but the films were undeniably entertaining.

A New Angle on a Familiar Character

What Young Sherlock attempts is something slightly different again: it asks what Holmes might have been like before the legend. Before Watson. Before Baker Street. Before the famous cases.

This approach opens up interesting possibilities. If handled well, it could provide a believable psychological bridge between an ordinary young man and the brilliant but emotionally distant detective readers know from the stories.

For now, it is still too early to judge whether the series will fully succeed. First impressions are promising, but Holmes adaptations have a long history of starting strong before struggling to maintain momentum.

Still, the idea of exploring Sherlock Holmes’ formative years — and perhaps the origins of his relationship with Moriarty — is an intriguing one. If the show manages to balance mystery, character development, and historical atmosphere, it could become a worthy addition to the long tradition of Holmes adaptations.

I will likely return to the series once I have watched the full season — and perhaps write a more complete review then.

Liftoff – How SpaceX Almost Didn’t Make It

Whatever one thinks of Elon Musk—his personality, his politics, or his online presence—it’s difficult to dismiss the scale of what he has helped build. He was a co-founder of PayPal (via X.com), later led Tesla, Inc. to global prominence, founded SpaceX, and has since been involved in ventures like Neuralink and xAI. Some of these came after he had already made and multiplied his fortune—but that doesn’t make the technical ambition any less real.

Eric Berger’s Liftoff focuses not on the larger-than-life mythology, but on the fragile, uncertain early years of SpaceX. And that is precisely what makes it so compelling.

The Early Days: Intensity and Belief

One of the most fascinating parts of the book is Berger’s description of Musk’s early hiring interviews. The questions were technical, probing, and often intense. Musk wasn’t just looking for résumés—he was looking for people who understood first principles, who could derive answers from physics rather than recite them from memory.

There’s also a recurring theme of personal commitment. Musk wasn’t a distant executive delegating risk. In those early years, he was deeply involved—sleeping at the factory, pushing schedules aggressively, and working alongside engineers. Whether one admires or criticizes his management style, the level of personal investment is undeniable.

The Merlin Engine and the Romance of Rocketry

Reading about the development and repeated test firings of the Merlin engine brought back memories of Cold War rocketry accounts like The Wrong Stuff and Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants. Rocket science has a particular kind of drama to it. Even ordinary flight is astonishing when you think about it. Escaping Earth’s gravity well—pushing beyond the atmosphere entirely—feels like stepping outside the environment we evolved for.

Berger does an excellent job of conveying how brutally difficult this is. Engines explode. Fuel lines rupture. Designs fail. Iterations pile up. Spaceflight is unforgiving in a way few other industries are.

Having read more about the early U.S. and Soviet space programs, it’s striking to see similar levels of risk and sacrifice reappear in a commercial setting. It underscores just how extraordinary orbital launch capability really is.

Government vs. Commercial Risk

The book also invites reflection on the role of governments versus private companies in advancing technology. Governments funded the foundational research that made modern spaceflight possible. Without decades of publicly funded baseline research—materials science, fluid dynamics, propulsion theory—SpaceX’s work would have been vastly more difficult.

At the same time, governments are often more risk-averse. They operate with public money and political oversight. Failure carries consequences beyond engineering setbacks. Commercial companies, by contrast, can sometimes move faster and take bolder risks—though the financial consequences can be existential.

Liftoff makes clear how close SpaceX came to collapse. After three failed launches of the Falcon 1 rocket, the company was nearly out of money. The fourth launch succeeded in September 2008—barely in time. Shortly thereafter, NASA awarded SpaceX a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, a deal widely credited with helping stabilize the company financially.

The risks were real. Starting a rocket company is the industrial equivalent of lighting money on fire and hoping physics cooperates before the cash runs out. There’s an old joke that the best way to become a millionaire in aerospace is to start as a billionaire. The history Berger recounts—along with the many previous failed private launch ventures—suggests there’s truth to it.

Omelek Island and Improvisation

One of the most remarkable episodes in the book is SpaceX’s decision to move its launch operations to Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands after facing constraints at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The logistical challenge alone was staggering: transporting equipment, building infrastructure in a remote Pacific location, and operating far from traditional aerospace hubs.

That they managed to pull it off at all is impressive. That they did so under intense financial and technical pressure is extraordinary.

A Different Era of Spaceflight

What stands out most after finishing Liftoff is how improbable SpaceX’s survival really was. Today, reusable rockets landing vertically feel almost routine. But Berger reminds us that this future was not inevitable. It hinged on a handful of launches, engineering decisions, and financial gambles that easily could have gone the other way.

It’s also a reminder that the current resurgence in space exploration—commercial launches, Mars ambitions, satellite megaconstellations—rests on both public and private effort. Governments laid the groundwork. Private companies shifted the cost curve and accelerated iteration.

Final Thoughts

Liftoff is not a hagiography, nor is it a takedown. It’s a detailed, well-reported account of how a small, scrappy company survived long enough to change the aerospace industry.

Regardless of one’s opinion of Elon Musk, the early story of SpaceX is undeniably dramatic—and undeniably consequential. Berger captures the tension, the risk, and the sheer audacity of trying to build a rocket company from scratch in the 21st century.

If you have any interest in spaceflight, engineering, or high-risk entrepreneurship, this book is well worth your time.

True Detective – Season Two and the Weight of Expectations

Rewatching True Detective season two is a reminder of just how much expectations shape reception. Coming off the near-mythic status of the first season, this follow-up was never going to have an easy time. Season one had already cemented itself as something close to prestige television canon, and anything that did not closely resemble it was bound to feel like a disappointment to many viewers—including, at the time, myself.

Season two does share some structural DNA with its predecessor. Like season one, the story operates across two timelines, but this time the gap is measured in days rather than decades. The narrative unfolds largely in a linear fashion, without the framing device of interrogations and retrospective storytelling. The temporal shift happens roughly halfway through the season, and when it does, the tone of the series changes dramatically.

Up until that point, the show initially presents itself as a relatively conventional crime thriller centered on a homicide investigation. But once the jump occurs, the story veers sharply into much darker territory. The murder becomes almost incidental, a thread that leads into a sprawling web of corruption, greed, compromised institutions, and personal moral collapse. Where season one slowly peeled back layers of cosmic dread and existential horror, season two strips away any remaining illusions about power and governance.

In retrospect, the second season is arguably bleaker than the first. Season one had moments of warmth—fleeting as they were—and even allowed room for philosophical reflection and, eventually, a kind of fragile hope. Season two offers very little of that. Its world is cold, transactional, and fundamentally rotten. The focus on systemic corruption makes it feel less mythic and more brutally mundane, which may explain why it resonated less strongly with audiences expecting another Southern Gothic meditation on evil.

Acting-wise, season two is consistently strong. Colin Farrell’s performance as Detective Ray Velcoro stands out in particular. Farrell plays Velcoro as a man already broken when the series begins, barely holding himself together through alcohol, rage, and self-loathing. It is an unflattering, raw performance, and arguably one of Farrell’s best. Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn, and Taylor Kitsch also deliver solid performances, though their characters are given less room to breathe than Rust Cohle and Marty Hart were in season one.

Public reception to season two was famously harsh. Critics and viewers alike complained about the convoluted plot, dense dialogue, and lack of a clear emotional anchor. Compared to the relatively focused partnership at the heart of season one, the ensemble cast and intersecting storylines of season two can feel unfocused and overwhelming. On rewatch, however, that density feels more deliberate than incompetent. The confusion mirrors the moral and institutional fog the characters are trapped in.

Looking back, I think much of the disappointment surrounding season two came from expecting it to be something it never intended to be. It is not a continuation of season one’s themes or tone, but a deliberate pivot toward a different kind of darkness. Where season one wrestled with metaphysical evil, season two is about human systems and the damage they inflict—on cities, on institutions, and on individuals caught inside them.

Season two may never escape the shadow of its predecessor, but revisiting it without those initial expectations reveals a grim, flawed, but compelling piece of television. It lacks the iconic highs of season one, but it compensates with a relentless atmosphere and performances that linger long after the credits roll. If nothing else, it deserves to be judged on its own terms rather than as a failed imitation of something it was never trying to be.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant – Poisoning the Empire from Within

I read The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson about a year after it was published and immediately loved it. For reasons I can’t quite explain—perhaps the long gap before the sequel—it took me much longer to pick up the following volumes. But the first book has lingered in my mind in a way few modern fantasy novels have.

Revisiting similar themes recently, particularly while reading Red Rising by Pierce Brown, reminded me just how striking Dickinson’s debut really is. Both novels center on infiltrating an empire to destroy it from within. But the tools, tone, and philosophy could not be more different.

The Girl Who Swore to Break an Empire

The novel opens on the island of Taranoke, where young Baru Cormorant lives with her family—until the Imperial Republic of Falcrest arrives. The empire, often called the Masquerade for the distinctive masks worn by its officials, annexes the island, executes one of Baru’s fathers, and begins remaking the culture in its own image. Hygiene, rigid sexual ethics, bureaucratic control—Falcrest does not merely conquer territory; it standardizes thought.

Baru’s response is neither open rebellion nor despair. She decides to join them.

Gifted with extraordinary mathematical ability, Baru excels at the Masquerade’s schools and attracts the attention of a high-ranking official, Cairdine Farrier. She is eventually appointed Imperial Accountant to Aurdwynn, a notoriously unstable province made up of thirteen duchies prone to rebellion.

What follows is not a tale of battlefield heroics. It is a war waged through ledgers.

Baru manipulates currency, credit, and inflation to destabilize opposition. She engineers financial crises and relief. She plays duchies against one another. She befriends—and perhaps genuinely comes to care for—Duchess Tain Hu, even as rebellion simmers beneath the surface.

Dickinson keeps the reader deliberately off-balance. You are never entirely sure whether Baru is improvising, compromising, or executing a long-laid plan. Has she already made her move? Or is every apparent move simply another layer of misdirection?

The novel builds toward an ending that is shocking, yet completely in character for both Baru and the Masquerade. It feels inevitable in retrospect—the kind of twist that makes you question whether you were complicit in misreading the situation all along.

(I’ll avoid spoilers here. If you know, you know.)

Infiltration: Blood or Bureaucracy?

The comparison to Red Rising is almost unavoidable. Both books ask whether an empire can be dismantled from within. Both feature young protagonists who choose infiltration over direct revolt.

But where Darrow’s rebellion is visceral and blood-soaked, Baru’s is cold and analytical. Darrow wins loyalty through charisma and shared suffering. Baru weaponizes tax policy and monetary systems. One story burns; the other suffocates.

Personally, I find Baru’s method more satisfying. There is a certain poetic beauty in using an empire’s own tools against it—turning greed, bureaucracy, and institutional rigidity inward until they collapse under their own logic. It evokes the image of a ravenous beast devouring what it believes to be another feast, only to discover it has swallowed poison. By the time it realizes the truth, it is already too late.

It also feels, in some ways, more plausible. Empires are rarely destroyed by frontal assault alone. They rot. They overextend. They consume themselves.

Dickinson understands this intimately.

Becoming the Monster

Like Red Rising, The Traitor Baru Cormorant forces the reader to confront uncomfortable moral questions. How far are you willing to go to achieve liberation? If you must become ruthless, manipulative, and morally compromised to defeat a monstrous system, what does that make you?

And perhaps the most unsettling question of all: if you become as cruel and calculating as the empire you seek to overthrow, do you still deserve to win?

Baru is not a comforting protagonist. She is brilliant, ambitious, and often terrifyingly pragmatic. The Masquerade seeks to reshape the world through discipline and control. Baru seeks to undo it—but she is willing to wield the same instruments.

That tension is what makes the novel extraordinary.

Final Thoughts

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is not an easy book. It demands attention. It withholds clarity. It trades emotional catharsis for strategic dread.

But it is one of the most intellectually satisfying fantasy novels I have read. Where many epic fantasies focus on swords and sorcery, Dickinson focuses on trade balances and ideology. Where others give you revolution through fire, he gives you revolution through compound interest.

And somehow, it is just as devastating.

The Age-Proof Brain – What We’ve Learned About the Brain (and What I’m Taking From It)

Reading The Age-Proof Brain by Marc Milstein felt like stepping into a summary of how much our understanding of the brain and body has changed over the last twenty years. What strikes me most is not just the individual findings, but how dramatically the overall perspective has shifted. We’ve moved from thinking in silos—heart health, brain health, metabolism, immunity—to seeing the body as one deeply interconnected system.

One of the clearest examples of this shift is the microbiome. Twenty years ago, bacteria were mostly something to eliminate. Today, we understand that we live in symbiosis with trillions of microorganisms that influence everything from digestion to inflammation to cognitive performance. Milstein highlights how gut health and brain health are intertwined, part of what’s now often called the “gut-brain axis.” That idea alone feels transformative. It’s not just about avoiding illness—it’s about cultivating an internal ecosystem. And when you start thinking about how dependent we are on this balance, it raises fascinating implications far beyond healthcare, even touching on things like long-duration space travel and colonization. What happens to the microbiome in radically different environments?

Another major theme is the connection between metabolic health and neurodegeneration. The growing evidence linking diabetes with conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s has reshaped how researchers think about cognitive decline. Some even refer to Alzheimer’s as “type III diabetes,” underscoring how insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation may play a role in brain aging. This represents a profound shift from the old model, which largely focused on treating the symptoms of dementia once they appeared.

Milstein’s argument—and the broader scientific trend he reflects—is that we may have hit diminishing returns with symptom-focused approaches. The mixed results of many Alzheimer’s drugs over the last decade illustrate this point. Instead, research is increasingly emphasizing prevention and root causes: inflammation, metabolic health, sleep, vascular integrity, and lifestyle factors. It’s a much more complex model—but also, arguably, a more realistic one.

What I personally found both reassuring and motivating is the emphasis on reversibility—up to a point. Many of the processes that eventually lead to disease begin years, even decades, earlier. Before a formal diagnosis, there’s often room to intervene. Exercise, sleep optimization, blood sugar control, stress management, and cognitive stimulation can slow or sometimes reverse harmful trends. Once a disease crosses a certain threshold, we may be limited to symptom management. But before that? There’s agency.

Of course, navigating all this isn’t easy. Nutritional advice over the last thirty years has often seemed cyclical—fat is bad, fat is good; carbs are essential, carbs are the enemy. It’s enough to make anyone throw up their hands. One thing I appreciate about the current direction of research is that it’s becoming less about single nutrients and more about overall metabolic stability and inflammation control. That feels like progress, even if the headlines still fluctuate.

And then there’s the part I found most personally satisfying: learning new things genuinely protects the brain. Cognitive engagement—reading, learning languages, practicing memory techniques—builds cognitive reserve. That’s not just motivational fluff; it’s increasingly supported by longitudinal studies. For someone who enjoys reading, working through Duolingo, and using ANKI flashcards, it’s encouraging to think that curiosity itself might be a long-term investment in brain health.

What The Age-Proof Brain ultimately reinforced for me is that aging isn’t a single downhill slope. It’s the cumulative result of countless small processes—some of which we can influence. Over the past two decades, science has moved from a reactive, symptom-focused model toward a more systemic and preventive understanding of health. We don’t have all the answers. In many areas, we’re still operating with incomplete knowledge. But the direction of travel feels promising.

If there’s one takeaway I’m keeping, it’s this: protecting the brain isn’t about one miracle supplement or one breakthrough drug. It’s about cultivating a lifestyle that supports the entire system. And that’s both more complicated—and more empowering—than I would have imagined twenty years ago.

Returning to Harry Dresden: A Reread, a Reality Check, and a Peak Still Ahead?

It had probably been more than a decade since I last read Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files. At some point in 2024, I decided to start over from the beginning. The first four books went down quickly. Then came a long pause. I didn’t pick up Death Masks until May 2025, and only recently finished Blood Rites.

I had already revisited Dead Beat and Proven Guilty as standalones before starting the reread, since I’ve long considered them the peak of the series. They’re still relatively fresh in my mind. The question now is whether that “peak” holds up—or whether nostalgia has been doing some heavy lifting.

Rereading a long-running series years later is a strange experience. You don’t just revisit the story—you revisit the person you were when you first read it.

The Capture Problem

One thing that stood out more this time around is how often Harry gets captured.

It’s not literally every book—but it’s frequent enough to feel formulaic. Harry is overpowered, restrained, put into an elaborate death scenario… and then, through grit, cleverness, or outside help, he turns the tables.

Structurally, it’s not far removed from the old cliffhanger formula of the 1960s Batman series: the hero and sidekick trapped in an absurdly convoluted death machine, only to escape at the start of the next episode. Or the classic James Bond setup, where the villain unveils a grand plan and chooses a needlessly theatrical execution method that inevitably fails.

Did this feel less cliché in the early 2000s? Or am I simply older, less patient with narrative contrivances? It’s hard to tell. The tension still works in the moment, but the pattern becomes more visible on reread.

The Punishment Threshold

Closely related is the sheer amount of physical punishment Harry endures.

He is beaten, burned, stabbed, blasted, and generally brutalized with remarkable regularity. Urban fantasy protagonists suffer—it’s part of the appeal—but there are points where the cumulative damage feels almost cartoonish. You begin to wonder how this doesn’t leave deeper psychological scars.

To be fair, later books do explore trauma and long-term consequences more explicitly. But in these earlier entries, the physical toll sometimes feels more like a narrative device than a transformative experience.

Chivalry, Hormones, and Tonal Dissonance

Another aspect that lands differently on reread is Harry’s old-fashioned chivalry. His instinct to protect women—often against their explicit wishes—regularly leads to him getting battered or manipulated. It’s a character flaw, certainly, but it can also be frustrating. You’d think the man would learn.

At the same time, there’s the running commentary on how stunningly attractive nearly every woman in the vicinity happens to be. In Blood Rites, some of this is at least partially justified by supernatural allure—vampires and the like are canonically weaponized seduction—but even so, the tonal balance can feel off.

If memory serves, Butcher refines this aspect in later installments. It may simply be a case of a writer growing into his voice and his protagonist. Early-series awkwardness isn’t uncommon, especially in long-running genre fiction.

The Early Books, Reconsidered

I’ve never been particularly fond of Storm Front. It’s serviceable and clearly shows potential, but it feels like a debut—rough around the edges. Fool Moon improves on it with a stronger plot and a better sense of the world expanding.

On reread, I appreciated Grave Peril more than I did the first time. The plot can be frustrating, but it meaningfully broadens the mythology—introducing larger supernatural politics and deepening concepts like the Nevernever.

For me, the series truly finds its footing with Summer Knight. The scope widens, the factions become more intricate, and the stakes begin to escalate beyond monster-of-the-week. By the time we reach Blood Rites, the narrative is clearly shifting into something larger and more ambitious. The villains are more powerful. The consequences are heavier. The world feels less like a stage set and more like a living ecosystem.

Is Dead Beat Still the Peak?

All of which brings me back to Dead Beat and Proven Guilty. In my memory, that stretch represents the series at its strongest: confident, expansive, emotionally resonant, and fully aware of its own mythology.

Soon I’ll find out whether that assessment holds up—or whether I’ve been selectively remembering the highlights and smoothing over the rough patches.

That’s the risk and the joy of rereading. You don’t just rediscover a series. You renegotiate your relationship with it.

Dan Simmons (1948–2026)

News broke this week that acclaimed science fiction and horror author Dan Simmons has died at the age of 77 following a stroke. Coverage can be found at Ars Technica and Locus Magazine:

• Ars Technica

• Locus Magazine

Simmons was, of course, best known for the Hyperion Cantos, beginning with Hyperion in 1989. I read the series as a teenager, and I still remember the profound impact it had on me. The first book in particular remains, in my view, the strongest of the four—largely because of its unusual structure. Framed as a kind of science-fiction Canterbury Tales, it presents a series of interlocking pilgrim narratives, each distinct in tone and genre. At the time, I had never read anything quite like it.

Of all the stories in Hyperion, the most haunting for me was that of Sol Weintraub and his daughter Rachel, who suffers from “Merlin’s sickness,” a condition that causes her to age in reverse. Watching a parent slowly lose a child not to death but to time itself is a devastating conceit, and it has stayed with me for decades. It is one of the most emotionally powerful arcs I encountered in science fiction at that age.

While I am most familiar with the Hyperion books, Simmons’ body of work extends far beyond them. His debut novel, The Song of Kali, won the World Fantasy Award, and he went on to write across horror, historical fiction, and mainstream thrillers. Whether one encountered him through epic space opera or darker, more intimate horror, his range and ambition were unmistakable.

It is always sobering to see figures who shaped one’s early reading life pass on. Simmons made lasting contributions to speculative fiction, and for many readers—myself included—Hyperion was not just a novel, but an experience.

His passing makes me want to revisit the Hyperion books, this time with older eyes, and perhaps finally explore more of his horror work as well.

R.F. Kuang – Babel: Dark Academia, Language, and the Ethics of Knowledge

R.F. Kuang’s Babel immediately caught my attention for its combination of Dark Academia and linguistics, two of my favorite literary obsessions. From the outset, it evokes comparisons to Lev Grossman’s The Magicians or Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, while also sharing some DNA with Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Dark Academia, as a sub-genre, thrives on institutional settings, intellectual obsession, moral ambiguity, and the costs of brilliance—and Babel delivers all of that, with a twist.

The novel’s magic system is both original and intellectually playful. Rather than spellcasting or alchemy, magic is generated by language itself: when a word in one language cannot be perfectly translated into another, the lost nuance produces a form of energy that can be harnessed. Scholars capture this power by engraving the paired words—original and imperfect translation—onto silver bars. The rarer the language, the more elusive the concept, or the more aggressively knowledge is extracted from native speakers, the stronger the magic. Overuse dulls the effect, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of exploitation—a clever, and morally uncomfortable, analogy for linguistic colonialism.

The story centers on Robin Swift, an orphan recruited by the formidable Sir John Crowley and sent to Oxford’s Babel Institute to study the manipulation of these untranslatable gaps. At first glance, this might feel like a familiar “young person discovers hidden talent” setup, reminiscent of fantasy coming-of-age stories. But Kuang quickly establishes the darker dimensions of her world: power, ambition, and the ethical compromises inherent in scholarship. Even in the early chapters, it is clear that this is not a light story of magical triumph; the narrative is anchored in intellectual rigor, secrecy, and moral tension—the hallmarks of Dark Academia.

What makes Babel particularly engaging is the way it interweaves historical and political commentary. The Babel Institute itself functions as a colonial apparatus, extracting knowledge from conquered cultures under the guise of scholarship. The novel’s exploration of imperialism, ethical extraction, and exploitation feels pointed without ever becoming heavy-handed. Kuang makes it clear that the pursuit of knowledge is never neutral, and that brilliance, unchecked, carries moral consequences.

I found the first two-thirds of the book compelling, particularly for its thematic richness. The intersections of language, power, and ethics, combined with Oxford’s academic milieu and the careful construction of Robin’s magical education, kept me thoroughly engaged. The moral complexity—how personal ambition intersects with institutional and imperial power—is thought-provoking, and the narrative invites the reader to question the ethics of scholarship itself.

However, I struggled with the final third. The story’s later developments, while perhaps intentional, undermined some of the sympathy and nuance established earlier. Tragedy and moral consequence are central to Dark Academia, but the way Kuang executed them here left me somewhat dissatisfied. The ending seemed to lean toward a “the ends justify the means” message—a provocative idea, but one that felt less nuanced than the setup promised. Whether this was a deliberate challenge to the reader or a misstep in pacing and execution is hard to say. Either way, it makes Babel feel uneven, despite its otherwise rich thematic and intellectual texture.

Even with this unevenness, the book is fascinating. For anyone intrigued by Dark Academia, the ethics of scholarship, or the interplay of language and power, Babel offers a unique, intellectually stimulating journey. The magic system alone—treating translation gaps as both a literal and metaphorical source of power—is worth the read. Kuang also succeeds in reminding us that knowledge is never free, and that brilliance often carries costs that are easy to overlook until too late.

I’m now very curious to explore Kuang’s other work, particularly The Poppy War, which promises a different but equally ambitious exploration of power, history, and morality. For readers who enjoy books that make you think as much as they entertain, Babel will likely stay with you long after the last page.

Jim Butcher – Blood Rites and the Dresden Files in Transition

Blood Rites occupies an interesting—and slightly awkward—position in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. It is very much a connecting novel, a book that does a lot of important work for the series without necessarily standing out as a clear favorite on its own. Looking back at the broader arc, it feels less like a destination and more like a bridge.

Both Summer Knight and Death Masks revolve around genuinely world-altering stakes. They mark a clear transition away from “Harry Dresden, wizard-for-hire private investigator” toward something much larger: Harry as a growing power in the supernatural world, increasingly entangled in conflicts that are far beyond his ability to simply walk away from. Blood Rites sits squarely between those larger turning points. The plot is solid, revelations are plentiful, and consequences matter—but it is sandwiched between louder, more dramatic books.

Part of why Blood Rites can feel slightly overshadowed is what comes after it. For me, Dead Beat and Proven Guilty represent something like a peak era of the series, where Butcher fully embraces scale, myth, and long-term consequences without losing the personal stakes that make Dresden compelling. You could arguably include White Night here as well, since it functions as a kind of delayed resolution to plot threads introduced as far back as Death Masks. Against that backdrop, Blood Rites can feel like connective tissue rather than a headline act.

That said, a great deal happens in this book, and much of it echoes forward through the rest of the series. Most notably, Blood Rites introduces Mouse, who will go on to become one of the most beloved companions in the entire Dresden Files. Mouse’s arrival alone gives the book lasting significance, and his presence immediately shifts the emotional tone of Harry’s personal life.

We also begin to see the first real consequences of Harry’s decision to pick up the coin in Death Masks. While the fallout is still subtle at this stage, Blood Rites makes it clear that those choices were not contained to a single book. The Dresden Files increasingly becomes a story where actions linger, debts accumulate, and power always comes with a price—even when it is only partially paid.

In retrospect, Blood Rites is a novel that rewards readers who see the series as a long-form narrative rather than a collection of standalone adventures. It may not have the apocalyptic sweep of its immediate neighbors, but it quietly reshapes the board, introducing characters and consequences that will matter far more later on.

It is not the book most people point to when naming their favorite Dresden novel—but without it, the series that follows would not quite work. And in a story as long-running and interconnected as The Dresden Files, that kind of role matters more than it might first appear.

Rationality – Steven Pinker and the Trouble with Being Human

Steven Pinker’s Rationality is not, despite the title, a straightforward handbook on how to think logically. Instead, it is largely a catalog of the many ways humans fail to do so. The book is less about defining rationality in abstract terms and more about exposing the cognitive traps, statistical misunderstandings, and intuitive shortcuts that repeatedly lead us astray.

In that sense, Rationality overlaps heavily with material familiar to anyone who has spent time reading about statistics, cognitive psychology, or the scientific method. There are few genuinely new ideas here if you are already steeped in these topics. Much of the book will feel like a well-organised refresher: confirmation bias, base-rate neglect, motivated reasoning, regression to the mean, and the many ways anecdotes override data in our minds. Pinker is very good at presenting these ideas clearly, and the book remains accessible throughout, helped by a light, sometimes playful tone that keeps it from becoming dry or academic.

The one section that genuinely stood out to me was Pinker’s discussion of causal networks. This was an area I had not previously explored in much depth, and it provides a powerful lens for thinking about complex phenomena where simple explanations fail. Issues like the nature versus nurture debate make far more sense when viewed as interlocking causal systems rather than binary choices. Instead of asking which single factor “causes” an outcome, causal networks force us to think in terms of interacting influences, feedback loops, and indirect effects. It is a way of thinking that feels both more honest and more useful when dealing with real-world complexity.

Pinker also touches, briefly but pointedly, on two of my longstanding pet peeves: the widespread fear of genetically modified organisms and the persistent resistance to nuclear power. Both are striking examples of how intuition and cultural narratives often overpower evidence. GMO crops are among the most extensively tested food technologies in history, yet are often treated as inherently dangerous because they feel unnatural. Nuclear power, meanwhile, is commonly associated with catastrophe despite having an exceptional safety record when measured per unit of energy produced.

What makes these cases especially frustrating is that both technologies could be powerful tools in addressing climate change. GMO crops can reduce land use, pesticide reliance, and food insecurity, while nuclear energy offers large-scale, low-carbon power generation with a reliability that renewables alone still struggle to provide. Rejecting these options on emotional or ideological grounds is not just irrational in the abstract—it may actively undermine our ability to deal with one of the most pressing challenges of our time.

Despite dealing with heavy topics, Rationality never feels preachy or inaccessible. Pinker has a talent for explaining technical ideas without condescension, and the book’s humor helps soften what could otherwise come across as a relentless critique of human thinking. I have not read a great deal of Pinker’s work before, so I cannot say whether this tone is typical for him, but it works well here.

Personally, I have long considered myself something of a rationalist, or at least an aspiring one. I have been a reader of LessWrong for years and an avid follower of Astral Codex Ten, which largely explains my interest in the book. In that sense, Rationality often feels like preaching to the choir. I suspect its ideal audience is not people already immersed in Bayesian reasoning and cognitive biases, but those who have not yet seriously questioned how unreliable intuition can be.

Even so, the book serves a useful purpose. If nothing else, it is a reminder that believing oneself to be rational is not the same as being rational—and that vigilance against our own biases is a never-ending task. Rationality may not radically change how you think, but it does reinforce why careful reasoning, evidence, and humility remain essential in a world that increasingly runs on confident misunderstandings.

The Mummy (1999): Swashbuckling Adventure in a Superhero Age

When The Mummy hit cinemas in 1999, it already felt nostalgic—like a lavish modern remake of a lost matinee serial. There was something unmistakably old-fashioned about it, closer in spirit to The Sea Hawk starring Errol Flynn than to the late-90s blockbusters it shared space with. It delivered action, adventure, romance, and—crucially—witty, rapid-fire dialogue.

At the time, the most obvious comparison was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. A full decade had passed since Indy’s last outing, and there was no clear sign that the fedora would return. Into that vacuum stepped The Mummy, swaggering confidently with sandstorms, ancient curses, and a hero who knew how to throw a punch and a one-liner.

It’s tempting to see the film as a deliberate attempt to fill the Indiana Jones-shaped hole in popular cinema—and if so, it succeeded brilliantly.

A (Mostly) Spoiler-Free Summary

Set in the 1920s, the story follows Evelyn Carnahan, an ambitious but somewhat bookish librarian with dreams of real archaeological discovery. When she acquires a mysterious key and map pointing to the lost city of Hamunaptra, she assembles an unlikely expedition. Along for the ride are the dashing but morally flexible adventurer Rick O’Connell and Evelyn’s well-meaning brother Jonathan.

What begins as a treasure hunt quickly turns into something far more dangerous. An ancient high priest, Imhotep, is accidentally resurrected, unleashing plagues, supernatural horrors, and a steadily escalating body count. The heroes must race to undo what they’ve unleashed—before the curse consumes not only them, but potentially far more.

The film balances horror imagery with comedy and romance, never leaning so hard into darkness that it loses its buoyant tone. The ending avoids nihilism in favor of classic adventure closure, the kind that leaves the audience smiling rather than shell-shocked.

Filling the Indy Gap

The DNA shared with Raiders of the Lost Ark is obvious: archaeological MacGuffins, supernatural peril, desert chases, and a charismatic rogue at the center. But The Mummy isn’t a clone. Where Indiana Jones often leans into pulp peril with a straight face, The Mummy embraces a slightly lighter, more self-aware tone. It winks without parodying itself.

Ironically, if The Mummy did help remind studios that audiences still loved this kind of adventure, we might have it (partly) to thank for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Whether that’s a blessing is debatable. Few would argue that the fourth Indy film recaptured the tight scripting and tonal balance of the original trilogy.

The Dialogue (and That Line)

Part of what makes the 1999 film endure is how quotable it is. The action is energetic, but the banter is what sticks. It’s difficult to meet anyone who has seen the film and doesn’t instantly recall:

“Hey, Beni! Looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the river!”

It’s delivered at the perfect moment—equal parts triumph and exasperation—and it encapsulates the film’s spirit: danger undercut by charm.

Rachel Weisz and the Modern Heroine

Another element that feels ahead of its time is Rachel Weisz as Evelyn. In an era when many big-budget action films still relegated women to damsel roles, Evelyn is competent, driven, and essential to the plot. She makes mistakes, yes—but they stem from curiosity and ambition, not helplessness. She is both romantic lead and intellectual engine of the story.

In retrospect, that balance feels refreshingly modern.

Did It Launch a Trend?

There’s a credible argument that The Mummy helped pave the way for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Before Pirates, pirate-themed films had a reputation for underperforming. Yet here was The Mummy, proving that audiences would show up for swashbuckling spectacle laced with humor and supernatural elements. Replace sand with sea and mummies with cursed gold, and the tonal similarities are striking.

While it would be overstating things to claim direct causation, it’s not unreasonable to see The Mummy as part of a revival of earnest, big-hearted adventure storytelling in the early 2000s.

An Instant Classic

More than 25 years later, The Mummy remains immensely watchable. Its visual effects, while very much of their era in places, hold up surprisingly well. More importantly, its pacing, chemistry, and sense of fun remain intact.

We now live in an age dominated by superheroes—particularly after more than a decade of Marvel Studios reshaping blockbuster cinema. Fantastical spectacle is no longer rare. And yet, what feels rarer is this specific flavor of adventure: archaeologists, ancient ruins, treasure maps, and supernatural peril grounded in pulp tradition.

What wouldn’t I give for a few fewer capes and a few more expeditions into lost cities?

If nothing else, The Mummy stands as proof that sometimes the best way forward for blockbuster cinema is to look backward—to matinees, to Flynn, to Indy—and remember that adventure should be thrilling, romantic, and just a little bit funny.

The Mummy Returns… Again – Universal Confirms Sequel for 2028

According to Entertainment Weekly, Universal Pictures has officially announced a new Mummy sequel, with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz set to return. The film is currently scheduled for release on May 19, 2028.

For many fans, this will feel both surprising and oddly inevitable. The original trilogy—beginning with The Mummy (1999)—was a defining action-adventure series of its era, blending pulp spectacle, light horror, and old-fashioned swashbuckling charm. However, the law of diminishing returns was clearly visible as the series progressed, and even more so with the spin-offs such as The Scorpion King and its sequels.

Late sequels to long-dormant franchises have a mixed track record. Some fail to recapture the tone or cultural moment that made the originals work in the first place. Others, while rarely matching the heights of the original films, can still deliver solid entertainment—Gladiator 2 being a recent example of a legacy sequel that found a degree of success on its own terms.

Whether The Mummy 4 will justify its resurrection remains to be seen. Still, there is something appealing about revisiting a franchise rooted in practical effects, globe-trotting adventure, and charismatic leads. If nothing else, a successful return could encourage studios to invest in more adventure films in the same spirit—a genre that has arguably been underserved in recent years.

For now, cautious optimism seems like the most reasonable stance. 2028 is still a long way off.