Book reviews and literary criticism of adventure stories, along with an archive of John J. Reilly's The Long View
I'm here to Ruin your Braunstein. By which I mean that I am going to attempt to connect the newest old thing in D&D with my favorite contemporary fantasy series . I started drafting this essay nearly a year ago, but the recent Kickstarter for Jeffro Johnson&
Tim Powers has returned to the classic form of the adventure with The Mills of the Gods . Or perhaps I should say, his classic form of the adventure, which is a secret history so compelling that it threatens to displace mundane history altogether. Post-Great War Paris, roasting of famous
Twitter/X user The_Lord_Otter recently opined that L. Sprague de Camp was instrumental in preserving and promoting the work of Robert E. Howard , but that de Camp's own work was merely okay. I endorse this view , but I wanted to take a tangent into what I
In September I was talking with Alex of Cirsova Publishing about men's and women's tastes in fiction, and Alex mentioned that his mother had suggested marketing the Mighty Sons of Hercules short story collection to women. That piqued my interest, so I threatened to do some
I frequently lament that John J. Reilly left us too soon. He had a breadth of knowledge that is sorely lacking. In this 2009 post, John discusses the machinery that was put in place in the early 2000s to manage pandemics, populism, banking, and economics. I cannot usefully speculate how
Last week on X/Twitter I offered some suggestions in Travis Corcoran's thread about science fiction that belongs in the canon of Great American Literature . Lots of other people I know chimed in with good suggestions, but I wanted to step back from science fiction in particular in
I've put up both of John J. Reilly's books that I publish in the Summer 2025 Based Books Sale . I've participated in the sale before, as there are a ton of authors I like who also participate, and I usually sell a few copies
Last night on Twitter/X I suggested that John J. Reilly may be the prophet of our times . John died in 2012, but his writings offer us useful concepts for understanding our times based on history. In this 2009 blog post, John shows us what a modern day purge would
"Trap Line" might just be the perfect introduction to Timothy Zahn for those who are unfamiliar with him. This short story has Zahn's signature style, a hybrid of Campbelline science fiction with adventure, and often a little bit of mystery and intrigue too. His characters [and
Welcome back friends to the With Both Hands Digest! I logged off of Twitter/X for Lent and that ended up turning into a sabbatical from WBH as well. I spent my time engaging in spiritual disciplines, thinking different thoughts and doing different things from my normal routine, and I
Nick Cole's Strange Company 3 is coming out April, so I started reading the first Strange Company again this week. And that got me to thinking about the use of convention in telling stories. We cannot truly understand literary genres without understanding the conventions that comprise them. Yet
I have an essay on how to win at D&D, Kickstarters for your consideration, the Based Book Sale, along with some literary thoughts. Captain_Hook's Brolog: Wargames are not 'Playing Toy Soldiers' An excellent reflection on how good games make a tradeoff between simulation
Unfolding the World – Agony and Ecstasy I've said in the past that great men are often ridden by their obsession s. Based on this story from J. Daniel Sawyer, pain can also serve as a spur to accomplishment . The old humility was a spur that prevented a
The 50th Anniversary Edition of Adrian Cole's The Dream Lords will release on Amazon on January 15th, 2025, and you, my loyal readers, simply must pick this up, because this is the book for anyone who wanted Dune to be a comedy instead of a tragedy. Dune is
Welcome to 2025! When I started my commentary on Northrop Frye's The Anatomy of Criticism , I thought to myself that I could write about it for a year at least. That has absolutely come true, with the first post coming just over a year ago now, and I&