Category: K-O Page 2 of 22

Holiday Reading TBR

On November 28, 2025

In Chris McDonald/Frost, Currently Reading, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., YA/MG/Children's Books

I hesitate to call my shot here, especially the way that has gone for me this year. But I think this is safe enough.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, so it’s time to start focusing on the next big holiday. About the time this post goes up, I’m sure Mrs. Irresponsible Reader will have the tree up and will be decking our halls. I’m not the biggest holiday kind of guy–as my family and coworkers will tell you. But I seem to find myself reading more books about it (I don’t count the Andy Carpenter Christmas books, because there is so little of the holiday in them). Unless Fahrenheit Press puts out something Christmas-y–as they’re wont to do–this will be my list for the year.

That Christmas and Other Stories

by Richard Curtis, Illustrated by Rebecca Cobb

I thought the movie based on these stories was pretty cute, and have waited since last year to see what the various storylines looked like in their original format. Besides, if you ignore all the many questionable choices he made in Love, Actually, Richard Curtis is just a fun storyteller.

The Christmas Tree Killer

by Chris Frost
I’m game for any mystery Chris Frost (or his alter ego, Chris MacDonald) writes–and I’m curious to see how things go for DI Tom Stonem this Christmas. He’s sorta like the holiday’s Jessica Fletcher.

Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon

by Matthew Norman

Norman’s rom com sounds perfectly charming–just the kind of cozy read that’s perfect for this time year. Literary Hot Cocoa.

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

by Benjamin Stevenson

Stevenson’s series has been fun so far–and this shorter “Festive mystery” promises to be fun.

Do you have any Holiday Season-related reads coming up?

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from one, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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A Few Scattered Thoughts on My Latest Reading of Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

By HCNewton

On November 26, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Fantasy, Fiction, Further Up and Further In

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

Prince Caspian

by C. S. Lewis , illustrated by Pauline Baynes

DETAILS:
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, #2
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: July 01, 1994
Format: Paperback
Length: 223 pg.
Read Date: November 8-10, 2025

If you need to know what this book is about, or anything about this series…seriously, just stop what you’re doing and pick up this book. I don’t mean to be a snob, or maybe I do, but something was missing from your childhood, and now is your time to fix it. I realize that there are many legitimate reasons for people not to have read this (more for some of the later books), and I’m not questioning the choices you or your parents made (actually, I guess I am). But I’m not going to try to talk about this book like I do most others.

If only because everything worth saying has been said by other, better, writers. Probably several times.

I’ve also read this too many times to count as a child—even through my college years, and at least once a decade since. I’ll probably pick up the pace of re-reading them so I can talk to the grandcritters about them, too.

But I feel the need to say something now, so here are a few things that jumped out at me during this read:

bullet The cover on the edition we bought for our kids is just bad. The art’s fine, but this is a silly scene to capture. It really makes me miss the version I had growing up.
bullet It’s so hard to be patient with the Pevensies as they suss out where and when they are.
bullet I enjoyed the way that Trumpkin stumbled while trying to recap Caspian’s story and then just had to start at the beginning. I think this was a pretty smart move for impatient readers–give them a little bit of our friends and then go back to tell Caspian’s story–if he’d started with Caspian and his Nurse, how many of us would’ve put the book down? This way we get the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, some excitement, then the long backstory, and we’re back into the action.
bullet I loved the way Reepicheep was introduced. NB: I love everything about Reepicheep, so I won’t note every example.
bullet It was good to see (and helped the single combat later on be believeable) the way that Narnia is slowly making the Pevensies back into who they were.
bullet

“Such a horrible idea has come into my head, Su.”
“What’s that?”
“Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our won world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which?”
“We’ve got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia,” said the practical Susan, “without imagining things like that.”

And if you like that kids, let me tell you about some books I’ve written for grown-ups…
bullet I truly appreciate the way that Edmund sticks up for Lucy here contra-Peter and Susan when it comes to beliving her experiences. As annoyed as I am with Susuan, Peter actually thinking Lucy’s right, but weaseled away from it is far worse.
bullet The betrayal of Nikabrik and the way he talks about Dwarfs sounds like Mr. Beaver’s prejudice. I’m glad we have Trumpkin, our DLF, and others to show him wrong.
bullet While dictating his letter, I rather enjoyed Peter (who surely looked like a punk kid) getting picky about the spelling used by a noted scholar.
bullet Trufflehunter’s insistence that animals don’t change, their beliefs are rock-solid, unlike flighty humans/human-esque people is striking. That has to be an impact of Eve–but where do Dwarfs come from then?
bullet

The first house they came to was a school: a girls’ school, where a lot of Narnian girls, with their hair done very tight and ugly tight collars round their necks and thick tickly stockings on their legs, were having a history lesson. The sort of “History” that was taught in Narnia under Miraz’s rule was duller than the truest history you ever read and less true than the most exciting adventure story.

That last sentence is such a good one.
bullet

…all the-Talking Beasts surged round-the Lion, with purrs and grunts and squeaks and whinnies of delight, fawning on him with their: tails, rubbing against him, touching him reverently with their noses and going to. and fro under his body and between his legs. If you have ever seen a little cat loving a big dog whom it knows and trusts, you will have a pretty good picture of their behavior.

That last sentence is such a good one, too.
bullet We just don’t get enough time from Caspian’s victory to the end of the book. There wasn’t a lot of denouement in the first volume, either. But this felt too rushed.
bullet That last line–which is simply not good–makes me think of the last line of an 80s TV show. Someone makes a dumb joke while the entire cast is sitting together, they all laugh too hard at it and the picture freezes before the credits roll.

This is the first of 3 Caspian novels–putting him on a level with Lucy and Edmund for appearances. There’s not a lot of deep theology here, just Aslan’s protection of the land with direct intervention when called for–with Old Narnia’s royals along for the ride (somewhat literally). I liked the different way the children were pulled into Narnia–I really like young Caspian here–and everything else. It’s just a fun read.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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A Few Scattered Thoughts on My Latest Reading of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

By HCNewton

On November 12, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Fantasy, Fiction, Further Up and Further In

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

by C. S. Lewis , illustrated by Pauline Baynes

DETAILS:
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, #1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: July 01, 1994
Format: Paperback
Length: 189 pg.
Read Date: November 8-10, 2025

If only because everything worth saying has been said by other, better, writers. Probably several times.

But I feel the need to say something now, so here are a few things that jumped out at me during this read:

bullet On the second page of the story, Susan is already trying to act older than she is (which is really the problem that will recur in The Last Battle, people getting worked up about the makeup really miss the boat). Yes, it’s understandable—and maybe even necessary—at this point for her to do so. But it’s a trait that will define her.
bullet I could use another 3 or so chapters about the Professor’s house. Maybe even a book or two. As Lewis writes:

The house of the Professor’s—which even he knew so little about—was so old and famous that people form all over England used to come and ask permission to see over it. It was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories; and well it might be, for all manner of stories were told about it, some of them even stranger than the one I am telling you now.

bullet There is something just so…right…about Baynes’ illustrations. I can’t imagine this series without them (one of the many reasons I’ve avoided picture book retellings).
bullet Lewis stays on-brand by having the Professor bring out a version of the trilemma suited for the question of Lucy’s honesty.
bullet The way the children react just to the sound of Aslan’s name the first time. That’s a great touch.
bullet

This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited; I mean, in Narnia—in our world they susually don’t talk at all.

bullet Mr. Beaver’s comment about not trusting things that look human but aren’t is an odd bit of prejudice. It’s nice to see it quickly shown to be false by the giant Rumblebuffin, unless by size alone, giants don’t look human. Still, I want to make a point to watch out for that idea later on in the series.
bullet I don’t care how many times I’ve read it, Aslan’s walk to the Stone Table is hard to read.
bullet The de-statued lion’s reaction to Aslan including him in the “us lions” group has brought a smile to my face every time I encounter it. Probably for different reasons, but it always works.
bullet I find it interesting that no one other than the adult Pevensies talk in that stuffy, faux-Medieval way throughout the series (maybe A Horse and His Boy will prove me wrong).
bullet The closing paragraphs suggest that the Pevensies are possibly going to encounter many other children who’ve been in Narnia. I wish we’d gotten more evidence of that throughout the books—especially in The Last Battle.

This isn’t a perfect novel—nor a perfect Christian allegory. But I can’t be critical about it, not even a little. I just love this book. (and it’s not even my favorite in the series!)

PUB DAY POST: Righteous Trash by Nick Kolakowski: A Chaotic Family Reunion

By HCNewton

On October 23, 2025

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Righteous Trash

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Series: Jake Halligan, #3
Publisher: Rock & a Hard Place Press
Publication Date: October 23, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 232 pg.
Read Date: September 24, 2025

What’s Righteous Trash About?

Jake Halligan’s sister, Frankie, has come back to Idaho after a time in Mexico. She wants to start her business again—there’s always a market for guns, right? Especially of the extra-legal variety. But first, she wants to take care of some business for an old friend. With Jake’s help, of course. It’s messy and…well, never mind that.

But before they can really get into that, they find themselves at the scene of the nuttiest (gutsiest?) robbery—that promises to wreck Jake’s life. There’s some involvement with the FBI, some political corruption and cover-ups, and so many people pointing guns at the siblings that it’d be too hard to count.

All in all, a good time.

Action

One thing you expect from a Jake Halligan novel is some good action scenes—and boy howdy, does Kolakowski deliver here. There are some intense—almost cinematic—action scenes here.

But the first big gun fight in particular is the one I want to focus on for just a moment—there are multiple groups, with varying alliances (the exact number is hard to determine in the moment). You need someone like John Woo or Chad Stahelski to bring this to life—you’ve got the bullets, the quips, some stupid and useless deaths, and a couple of good twists. If you haven’t been fully engaged in the novel to that point, you will be after it.

The other action scenes are more grounded. I’m not saying they’re all that realistic, I don’t think (who reads these novels for hyper-realism?). But they seem a little more like what would happen to actual people, not stuntmen, in the situations. Just as compelling, just a little less eye-candy.

Stand By Your Man

One of the more interesting things through this series has been tracking the relationship between Jake and his wife. Or maybe it should be phrased as the relationship between Janine and her husband and sister-in-law’s lifestyle. She’s not comfortable with it (to undersell it), she doesn’t want it anywhere near their daughter, she’s barely tolerant of Frankie at all. And who could blame her for any of that? The number of bullets I want flying anywhere near my spouse is far lower than what Jake sees in the first book—never mind the others. And as for their kid? Forget it.

That’s not to mention how often Janine’s life has been in danger. That alone should drive her away.

Nevertheless, she stands by her man. I’m not sure if she should be admired or pitied, really. Either way, it makes her the kind of character you want to watch, and gives you something to think about in the midst of everything else.

The Missing Sequel?

Back in 2018, the first time I got to ask Kolakowski some questions, he mentioned a sequel to the first Jake Halligan book set in New Orleans. We ended up getting a very different sequel. Now in book three, we get a flashback to an adventure that Jake and Frankie had in The Big Easy.

I don’t know if any of the material he’d prepared for that would-be sequel ended up as that flashback, but it’s fun to think about (and fun to imagine what would happen after it). Obviously, it could just be a coincidence, and he needed a non-Idaho place for the siblings to get into trouble—and New Orleans works well for both of those criteria.

So, what did I think about Righteous Trash?

Again, Kolakowski nails the local geography. I really think I could drive to each location he describes—and for those who aren’t from around these here parts, he describes them in a way that conveys a good feel for the place. The fact that I could give a tour of the series locations to a reader who dropped by is just a bonus. (and I can absolutely see the Idaho political scene function the way he depicts it, although I think that could be easily ported into the other 49, too).

I enjoyed both the change—and utter lack of it—that we see in Frankie. She’s aged a bit, got some perspective (maybe wisdom), and knows what she wants. She’s also enough of a realist to understand what’s possible for her (you might read a little pessimism into that, too—but she’d deny that).

I’m a little worried about our friend Jake, at least where he was at the beginning of the novel. He’s a survivor, and he has Janine and his daughter to worry about, so I assume he’ll find a way to get it done. These novels have taken their toll on him (and everyone else), which I appreciate because these kind of books can gloss over that kind of impact. But, he’s such a nice guy (most of the time), that you hate to see it.

Great action, a clever story, characters that you just can’t get enough of. This is a fast-moving novel that will keep you turning pages longer than you should (plan your sleep accordingly; the adrenaline can only do so much). This is a fun thrill ride that will satisfy fans of the series and probably create some new ones, too. (It is absolutely not necessary to read the earlier novels before this, but you will appreciate some things more if you have.)

4 Stars

Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire: Toby’s Up to Her Old Tricks, with Some New Complications

By HCNewton

On October 8, 2025

In Fiction, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

Silver and Lead

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #19
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: September 30, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 400 pg.
Read Date: September 5-8, 2025

What’s Silver and Lead About?

Queen Arden has a task for her hero–and she’s more than happy to take it on. During the recent…whatever you want to call what Titania did, several items were removed from the royal vaults. Dangerous items, naturally. Now, Arden had wanted to wait until Toby had given birth and recovered before sending her to find them. But at least one of the items has been used, and someone is dead. She can’t put it off any longer.

Toby’s tired, fed up, and annoyed by basically being under house arrest because of her worried husband during the last few months of her pregnancy. Yes, Tybalt’s worries are understandable, but he’s maybe gone a little too far. Toby’s glad for the excuse to get to work, and promises she’ll be extra careful. (Any guesses how that goes and how cooperative the people she’s looking for are going to be?)

Quentin–whose identity seems to be the worst-kept secret in all of Faerie–sticks with her every step of the way. This adventure brings us across many old friends and allies and reminds us of one old enemy.

Oh, I forgot to mention, before any of this happens, everyone’s favorite Sea Witch has a request–both sweet and terrifying–for Toby before any of this business with Arden starts.

All in all, this is not the way most people spend the last couple of weeks of their pregnancy. But of course, Toby wouldn’t do it any other way, and her readers expect no less.

Aftershocks

While we are not looking directly at what Titania did in these pages, we’re looking at the aftermath. We’re also learning a little bit about how her plan didn’t completely work. But I’m going to gloss over that (but you’re going to want to stop and muse about it while reading).

Quentin is trying to wrap his mind around the version of himself he saw and remembers, and cannot stand it. He’s overcompensating—and you can’t blame him for that—when he’s not letting it interfere with his thinking in the present.

Some of the ramifications of Titania’s work are seen in the motivations behind this novel’s primary villain. This doesn’t justify their actions (they’d have likely found another way to justify things), but it gives us an idea of all the unintended consequences of her re-write of Faerie. (unintended, but she probably wouldn’t care).

I really appreciate this–we’re not primarily concerned with her, nor have we just gotten a “it’s been a few months, stuff happened, life goes on” kind of thing. Faerie learned a lot about itself, they found some messes that need to be cleaned up. Yes, life goes on, but it’s different and will continue to be for a while.

So, what did I think about Silver and Lead?

So after a few novels with big, world-changing events at their core, it’s nice to get back to the bread-and-butter kind of novel. Yes, the stakes are important. Yes, there are life-and-death situations all around—and if Toby fails, it will mean bad things. But it won’t be the end of the world.

One of the advantages of a long-running series like this is that you can pluck a (seemingly?) random someone from an early novel, dust them off, and have them play a major role in the current book. Which is great—it also means that every random someone has the potential of being important. McGuire used that well in Silver and Lead.

While I enjoyed Raysel’s use here, I’m a little afraid that she’s being given some short-shrift overall, and the interesting storyline that seemed to have kicked off for her in Be the Serpent will end more with more of a whimper than it should. (Hopefully, this means that McGuire has something really big cooking).

Early on in the reading, I texted a friend, “a very pregnant Toby is fun.” She really is—and just as it was good to get back to a smaller stakes plot, it’s nice to be with the characters again, adapting to/preparing for this new stage of life.

McGuire’s humor and willingness to put her characters through the wringer for the entertainment of her audience shine forth. Toby’s determination (read: near-uncompromising stubbornness), grit, and humanity are on display for all. Tybalt and May are Tybalt and May (always good), and Quentin continues to develop into quite the man. The Luidaeg was fantastically used—particularly at the beginning. It was also good to see the rest of the cast, and I’m looking forward to seeing what life is like for Sir Mommy Daye.

Fans will be pleased with this one, and it might draw in a few new ones. Silver and Lead is just what we needed after the last arc.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Tor Publishing Group via NetGalley—thanks to both for this. Sorry it’s up late, it’s been one of those months.

4 Stars

Catching Up with Toby Daye

By HCNewton

On September 18, 2025

In Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

I’ve been thinking about this post since September of 2022, I just knew I couldn’t write about Be the Serpent without seeing what McGuire did next—my mind wouldn’t let me decide what I thought about it until then. And then after Sleep No More, I had to tackle The Innocent Sleep, and then…well, I kept getting distracted or busy. But I have to put something down about these three so I can intelligently talk about Silver and Lead, and I really want to do that. So, I’m trying a different kind of post than I’m used to.

Oh, I’m also suspending my typical no spoilers rule here. Read at your own risk, this is the only warning I’m giving.

Be the Serpent

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #16
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: August 30, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 305 pg.
Read Date: August 31, 2022-September 5, 2022; August 25-29, 2023

It felt like I was standing outside this scene and watching it unfold, like none of this had anything to do with me. Like I should have been able to smile politely, say, “No, thank you,” and walk away, leaving everything exactly as it was before I got out of bed this morning.

I don’t know how many friends of mine have stumbled on books 2 or 3 of this series and never kept going. Or stumbled and were pushed on (and were so glad they did). I sort of get that, but I didn’t have that reaction. I did stumble here on book 16, Be the Serpent. Obviously, by this point—it doesn’t matter, I’m going to shake it off and keep going. Toby, Tybalt, May, Quentin, and the rest (the list is getting ridiculously long) mean too much to me to be put off by one novel.

But I do have to wonder what was going on in McGuire’s mind for her to give us this book—I have no proof of this, but in my head-canon, she was so focused on the last pages of this novel and what she was setting up that she didn’t pay enough attention to the execution of this novel. That doesn’t sound like McGuire to me, but it’s the best I’ve got.

The opening is fantastic—and the way that Toby and Rayseline executed their plan was so well done, and the prospect of watching Raysel heal in the midst of Toby’s chaos seemed like a fun lark. And then the horrific happened—the scene where Toby finds Stacy’s kids dead or dying is possibly the most gut-churning thing she’s written (and that’s saying something)*

* If you want to argue that she’s topped that in some recent InCryptid novels, I won’t fight you.

The problems start a chapter or two after that. Once Toby realizes why Stacy killed her kids (because she’s not really Stacy, but Titania, realizing she’s Stacy all along. I don’t know a shorter way to describe it all), she sets out to destroy Titania—but she can’t. No matter how often she tells herself it’s not her, no matter that the “Stacy consciousness” tells Toby to do it, no matter how many frelling times she has that conversation with anyone (including herself several times)—Toby can’t just do it. That’s almost understandable.

But also, McGuire has to tell us several times how this whole thing is tearing Toby apart. But I honestly don’t “see” it happening. I hear about it—I see it when she’s interacting with Stacy’s surviving kids or husband. But otherwise? I really don’t.

I could’ve been satisfied with the ending had it ended 2 pages or so into the last chapter (because that was just a great moment).

But no…we’ve got to do the whole Titania comes back, puts the hurt on Toby, and then rewrites history—wiping Toby’s mind and rewriting her history—having (pretty quickly) found a loophole in Oberon’s decree (he must be pretty rusty from all the nothing he’s been up to for the last few centuries). Sure, the first two parts of that list were certain to happen eventually.

But I just hate, hate, hate the whole “we’ll rewrite history/perception/whatever” storyline. Buffy in the asylum, Picard’s whole other life in “The Inner Light” (although he at least starts off remembering reality), um…other examples I should have at hand, but don’t. At the time, I told friends (and maybe my readers in a WWW Wednesday post or a Saturday Miscellany) that I hate the ending, but trusted McGuire would make me come around to it in the next book (and prematurely resented her for making her eat my words).

In the end, that didn’t happen—I still am going to consider Be the Serpent as the low point of this series. However…I really liked the lemonade she turned this giant pile of lemons into. Which brings us to….

Sleep No More

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #17
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: September 5, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 310 pg.
Read Date: October 26, 2023-October 27, 2023; January 13-16, 2025

“Romantic love is not required to live a full and happy life, my seedlings,” Father had told us, watching carefully to be sure we took his message to heart, “but if you cannot love one who loves you truly in return, find friends, find companions, find people who will tell you the truths you cannot carry and unveil the lies you cannot see. Most of all, cleave to each other, for you will be the only sure support you have in all this world.”

We spend most of our time watching this Alternate Version of Toby make her way through this version of Faerie that we all can kind of recognize, but not really. A good deal of the “fun” of all this is seeing the ways that Titania’s rewriting of things is similar—but not quite—to our version of things.

Toby, for example, has all the niceness, the kindness, the happiness that we all know she’s capable of—but she rarely gets to express (or she can only express in certain ways). August is…wow. The best older sister, really (sure, it’d be better if she didn’t believe that changelings were lesser beings, but…at least she doesn’t treat them as trash). Quentin, on the other hand, is an entitled jerk.

Thankfully, we get to come into this world just before it starts unraveling, partially because of Toby. Even as she really doesn’t know what she’s doing (or who she is, most importantly), she keeps being Toby—which means taking apart the plans and machinations of her opponents. Everything I think McGuire got wrong in the previous book, she did right here. We even get to revisit some of the bigger moments of the past.

I really liked the story; I thought McGuire executed it as close to flawlessly as is possible. I liked the conclusion—it was exciting, tense, and you honestly (especially now) had no idea how things were going to turn out. Sure, we know that bigger and worse things are on the horizon than we just dealt with—but okay. That’s pretty much par for the course.

Best yet? October and August have a relationship now. Simon and Toby are closer than they were. Yes, things are messed up ,and everyone will need to recover and reset. But…we’ve gained a lot.

Sleep No More

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Toby Daye, #18
Publisher: DAW 
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 314 pg.
Read Date: October 31-November 1, 2023; January 24-31, 2025

Love is a knife forever suspended an inch from your heart, and if it falls or you stumble into it, you can all too easily find yourself impaled and bleeding.

This felt like an incredibly unnecessary book. Sure, it seemed like a good idea—perhaps even entertaining just to see things from Tybalt’s perspective. But we already know this story. Why bother?

Oh, for so many reasons, it turns out. I ended up loving this book.Rather than picking up months later, like we did in Toby’s POV, we see this from the instant Titania did her thing—or pretty much. We get more than simply Tybalt’s POV—we get to see how all this nonsense is impacting the rest of Faerie—or isn’t, as the case sometimes is. We see just how far the range of the changes are. Most importantly, we see what happens to people who aren’t that close to Toby—the collateral damage.

And that damage is devastating—and is getting worse.

Then we get to see some of the specific incidents described in Sleep No More from Tybalt’s POV, or at least what others tell him. Still, it’s not Toby’s viewpoint. We come away from all of it with a greatly expanded understanding of everything that happened to the characters we know and love (or just know). Also, between the two books, we really learn so much more about Titania than we did before (naturally). And now we really want to see Maeve in action—as apocalyptic as that likely will be.

Could McGuire have done this as a larger-than-usual book from shifting POVs? Probably. But the pacing would’ve been weird, getting the different POVs on the same events would get tiresome (and hard to decide which POV would come first)…and, I think it’d have just been a mess. So much better this way.

My beef with this one—and I think it’s the only one I have in both Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep is Tybalt’s lack of emotional control. Yes, it has to be hard to see Toby like this, to see her not know you at all—but for crying out loud, man! You’ve been around for centuries, you know the whammy that magic can do to someone’s mind and body (you’ve experienced it first hand!!)—magic from one of the Three? Hold yourself together, know that you’ve got a chance to help everyone—especially Toby, and stop acting like a child when she’s around.

Do the greatness of Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep make up for Be the Serpent? No. Do they make it more forgivable? Ehhh, kind of. Mostly, I know for future re-reads to expect some rough riding, but that it’s worth it. As I said above, the lemonade she made from Be the Serpent is mighty tasty. And I’m okay with that.

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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The World’s Last Night by C.S. Lewis: An Interesting (if Somewhat Scattered) Collection that Starts Off With a Banger

By HCNewton

On August 24, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Further Up and Further In, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

The World’s Last Night
And Other Essays

by C. S. Lewis

DETAILS:
Publisher: HarperOne
Publication Date: February 14, 2017
Format: Paperback
Length: 122 pg.
Read Date: August 3-10, 2025

What’s The World’s Last Night About?

This is a collection of essays by Lewis, quite simply. I don’t know that they belong together more than that. GIven the original date of publication (1952), he was alive when this was collected, but I have no idea if he was involved in the selection—I am curious about that. So much so that I’ve written 3 more sentences (including this one) about it than I intended to.

Here’s what the jacket flap on my copy says:

In these seven satirical yet poignant essays, C.S. Lewis tackles the temptations of evil. He challenges readers to decide how they would live on thew world’s last night and writes, “We are not the playwright, we are not the producer, we are not even the audience. We are on the stage. To play well the scenes in which we are ‘on’ concerns us much more than to guess about the scenes that follow it.” The infamous Screwtape makes a special appearance with a toast that explores the prospects for exploiting evil. Blending irony, humor, and paradox, Lewis tackles religion’s most difficult and intriguing questions regarding immorality, belief, and the meaning of prayer.

I’m also not sure “satirical” applies to all seven essays. But I didn’t come here to pick a fight with anyone involved with putting this together. So let’s move on with a quick look at each essay (the premise should be clear for most from the title).

The Efficacy of Prayer

I loved this essay. I’m glad I read the collection, if only for this—sadly, the rest of the collection really didn’t live up to it. But I’m okay with paying most of the $17 I spent on the book for this essay. It’s one I will be returning to.

On Obstinancy in Belief

This is sort of a Science v. Faith (a ridiculous debate). Lewis made some pretty good points, and it was generally good. But I’m not sure it’s a home-run.

That demand for our confidence which a true friend makes of us is exactly the same that a confidence trickster would make. That refusal to trust, which is sensible in reply to a confidence trickster, is ungenerous and ignoble to a friend, and deeply damaging to our relation with him. To be forewarned and therefore forearmed against apparently contrary appearance is eminently rational if our belief is true; but if our belief is a delusion, this same forewarning and forearming would obviously be the method whereby the delusion rendered itself incurable. And yet again, to be aware of these possibilities and still to reject them is clearly the precise mode, and the only mode, in which our personal response to God can establish itself. In that sense the ambiguity is not something that conflicts with faith so much as a condition which makes faith possible. When you are asked for trust you may give it or withhold it; it is senseless to say that you will trust if you are given demonstrative certainty. There would be no room for trust if demonstration were given. When demonstration is given what will be left will be simply the sort of relation which results from having trusted, or not having trusted, before it was given.

Lilies that Fester

This is an interesting take on anti-intellectualism and related ideas. It really feels like it could be a recent composition.

There’s a paragraph about a child reading Science Fiction that sold me.

Screwtape Proposes a Toast

I was just going to refer you to what I wrote about this as an add-on to The Screwtape Letters, but apparently, I never finished that post. So, um, that won’t work.

This fell short of the original Screwtape material. It doesn’t have the wit, the insight. It feels like a sequel to The Abolition of Man crammed into Screwtape’s mouth, and it didn’t work nearly as well.

Good Work and Good Works

Second-best essay in the batch.

‘Good works’ in the plural is an expression much more familiar to modern Christendom than ‘good work’. Good works are chiefly alms-giving or ‘helping’ in the parish. They are quite separate from one’s ‘work’. And good works need not be good work, as anyone can see by inspecting some of the objects made to be sold at bazaars for charitable purposes. This is not according to our example. When our Lord provided a poor wedding party with an extra glass of wine all round, He was doing good works, But also good work; it was a wine really worth drinking, Nor is the neglect of goodness in our ‘work’, our job, according to precept. The apostle says everyone must aot only work but work to produce what is ‘good’.

Religion and Rocketry

Huh. Interesting take on extraterrestrial life, etc. I’m not sure what else to say.

The World’s Last Night

There are many reasons why the modern Christian and een the modern theologian may hesitate to give to the doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming that emphasis which was usually laid on it by our ancestors.

It’s hard to believe that someone in the 20th Century could start an essay about escathology that way. But there it is, in black and white.

We must admit at once that this doctrine [of the Second Coming] has, in the past, led Christians into very great follies. Apparently many people find it difficult to believe in this great event without trying to guess its date, or even without accepting as a certainty the date that any quack or hysteric offers them. To write a history of all these exploded predictions would need a book, and a sad, sordid, tragi-comical book it would be.

I’ve read some of those books, and he describes them well.

Overall, this is a really good look at the doctrine of the Second Coming and Judgement and how we should act before then—and why we should do so.

So, what did I think about The World’s Last Night?

I liked this more than some of what I’ve read by Lewis this year, but it doesn’t hold a candle to him at his best. There are moments of brilliance. Moments of spiritual insight and wisdom. Some moments of wit and common sense (which should never be sneezed at). Some moments where you wonder why he has impacted so many (including myself) in such a strong and lasting way.

Still, it’s worth the time—not just for completistis, either. Just know going in that not every essay is going to wow you.

I’m tempted to give it 4 Stars just for the first essay, but let’s not get carried away by such a strong start.

3.5 Stars

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis: Do you listen to the angels on the outskirts?

By HCNewton

On June 29, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Fantasy, K-O, Theology/Christian Living

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

The Great Divorce

by C. S. Lewis

DETAILS:
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Company
Publication Date: 1946
Format: Paperback
Length: 128
Read Date: June 22, 2025

“Then those people are right who say tht Heaven and Hell are only states of mind?”

“Hush,” said he sternly. “Do not blaspheme. Hell is a state of mind—ye never said a truer word, And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind—is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakable remains.”

Sixpence None the Richer’s “Soul”

Since 1994 (two or three years after I read this for the first time) I haven’t been able to think about, much less read, this book without thinking of this song. So why not let you have it run through your head as you read this?

What’s The Great Divorce About?

The conceit of this book is that C.S. Lewis is granted a vision in a dream of the afterlife. He starts out in a miserable place, full of people that could best be described as miserable (although that might be being too kind). He sees a bunch of them waiting for a bus, and since that’s pretty much the only people he can see around, he joins the queue. Before he knows it, he gets one of the last remaining seats.

After a couple of really unpleasant interactions with fellow passengers, the bus comes to a stop and everyone disembarks. They’re near some trees, but mostly there’s a large amount of grassy land near a cliff. Everyone kind of separates and walks around, while others come from a distance toward them. The best way that Lewis can come up with to describe these people is “Bright Ones” or “Solid People.”

They seem more solid and bright than anyone else—who now pretty much seem like disembodied ghosts to Lewis. Meanwhile, the grass is intensely hard and sharp; the trees and rocks are similarly “more real.” Once the Bright Ones arrive, they all head off to talk to individual ghosts—and the interactions that Lewis watches/overhears, the interactions aren’t all that pleasant.

The Bright Ones, it should be stressed, aren’t the problems. They’re patient, kind, and entirely honest. The Ghosts, on the other hand, are nasty, defensive, selfish, and seem to go out of their way to twist the words of the Bright Ones. The Bright Ones are trying to convince the Ghosts to leave these problems—and so many others behind, so they can find true happiness and forgiveness in the City.

Lewis watches some of these, and then is met by his own Bright One, who answers some questions for him about what’s going on.

Okay, that’s more of a summary than I typically give—but the meat of the book isn’t in that outline, it’s in the individual interactions between Bright Ones and the Ghosts.

“The Transmortal Conditions”

In his Preface, Lewis stresses that this book is a Fantasy, sure, it’s one with a moral—but it’s Fantasy. “The transmortal conditions are solely an imaginative supposal; they are not even a guess or a speculation of what may actually await us.”

That’s for the best because there are many problems with his vision of the realms—but at the same time, he does a wonderful job of depicting them

The loneliness of Hell/Purgatory* and how the denizens exacerbate the problem continuously to their own detriment is utterly fantastic. Even better is the hyper reality of the outskirts of the City and the Bright Ones. Lewis said he got the idea from some article he read by an American whose name he’d forgotten years before.

Between this book and Perelandra, I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Lewis’ best writing is reserved for him trying to capture Paradise and relate it to his readers. He falls short, obviously, but the way he does communicate either the area around Heaven or a Pre-Fall Venus are so fantastic that I find myself trying to describe the ineffable.

* It’s Hell for those who don’t take the opportunity to repent, Purgatory for those who do. An intriguing way to be able to placate either the Roman Catholic or Protestant in his readership.

George MacDonald

On one of the rocks sat a very tall man, almost a giant, with a flowing beard. I had not yet looked one of the Solid People in the face. Now, when I did so, I discovered that one sees them with a kind of double vision. Here was an enthroned and shining god, whose ageless spirit weighed upon mine like a burden of solid gold: and yet, at the very same moment, here was an old weather-beaten man, one who might have been a shepherd—such a man as tourists think simple because he is honest and neighbours think “deep” for the same reason. His eyes had the farseeing look of one who has lived long in open, solitary places; and somehow I divined the network of wrinkles which must have surrounded them before re-birth had washed him in immortality.

Among the many things I forgot about this book is the way that MacDonald serves as Virgil, guiding Lewis around the area, answering many of the questions he has about what he’s seeing and experiencing. Having read Surprised by Joy pretty recently, when he goes into what kind of impact MacDonald made on him really helped underline this part for me.

When so many of the other Ghosts had Bright Spirits appear to them that were someone important to them—mostly family members, Lewis (who isn’t quite a Ghost, but is largely treated as one) gets an author who was instrumental in laying the groundwork for his conversion. A great choice, and a very honest/self-revelatory one.

So, what did I think about The Great Divorce?

Never fear. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened

I absolutely loved this. I remembered liking it, but I was just blown away this read-through.

Yes, I’d quibble with some of the theology here—Lewis and I aren’t going to see eye-to-eye on many things until we both arrive in the City to be corrected (and neither of us will care about that then). But this isn’t a systematic theology, it’s a Fantasy story with apologetic aims. As such, it’s wonderful. And, I’m never going to sneeze at the chance to read Lewis describing a paradise.

And this is not an apologetic work in the way most of his are—he’s not trying to make a case for the thoughtfulness of Christianity, the reasonableness in the belief in miracles, or anything like that. He’s looking at the core of people, how they think; how they react; how in every thought, word, and deed they are selfish; it’s all about self-interest, self-importance, self-worth. They may try to dress it up somehow, but eventually—even if it’s just for a moment, it’s about them. Seeing myself in these ghosts—I assume that most readers do—is not unlike seeing yourself in the words of advice that Screwtape gives to his nephew. Neither is a pleasant experience, but the mirror that Lewis holds before his readers is pretty clear.

Of the works by Lewis that I’ve read this year, this is his best writing, his most subtle thinking, his most heart-opening thoughts. I heartily encourage this one to those who are curious—even if just for the Fantasy of it all.

5 Stars

Miracles by C.S. Lewis: A Pleasant, If Not Particularly Helpful, Read

By HCNewton

On April 13, 2025

In C.S. Lewis, Further Up and Further In, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

Miracles: A Preliminary Study

by C. S. Lewis

DETAILS:
Publisher: Collier Books
Publication Date: 1960
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Length: 168 pg.
Read Date: March 2-9, 2025

…the shock comes at the precise moment when the thrill of life is communicated to us along the clue we have been following. It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. “Look out!” we cry, “it’s alive.” And therefore this is the very point at which s many draw back—I would have done so myself if I could—and proceed no further with Christianity. An “impersonal God”—well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads—better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap—best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband—that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (“Man’s search for God”!) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?

So it is a sort of Rubicon. One goes across; or not. But if one does, there is no manner of security against miracles. One may be in for anything.

What’s Miracles About?

In this book, Lewis sets out to defend the idea of miracles. The possibility of them. He flat out says he won’t defend the historicity of Christian miracles—that’s not his field (of course, neither is theology, but that doesn’t stop him). He wants to lay the groundwork. If he can convince the reader that miracles are possible—even better they expect them and appreciate the relationship between them and Christianity—well then, he hopes the reader will—like Lewis himself did—examine the claims of Christianity on a more reasonable and ready basis.

The Direction of the Argument

First, Lewis starts with Supernaturalism vs. Naturalism (and it’s here that he might be at his best for the book)

Belief in miracles, far from depending on an ignorance of the laws of nature, is only possible in so far as those laws are known. We have already seen that if you begin by ruling out the supernatural you will perceive no miracles, We must now add that you will equally perceive no miracles until you believe that nature works according to regular laws. If you have not yet noticed that the sun always rises in the East you will see nothing miraculous about his rising one morning in the West.

His point is essentially that his readers will fall into two camps: those who will refuse to accept a miracle because they can’t happen or those who are willing to accept there are—or at least might be—supernatural possibilities in the world. If you are a committed reader in the former camp, there’s nothing that Lewis can do or say to make you change your mind. He will, at least, help you to see that—and lay out the possibilities of a supernatural explanation.

If you’re open to a supernatural explanation for things—like a miracle. Then Lewis has some things he’d like to talk to you about.

…it is mere confusion of thought to suppose that advancing science has made it harder for us to accept miracles, We always knew they were contrary to the natural course of events; we know still that if there is something beyond Nature, they are possible. Those are the bare bones of the question; time and progress and science and civilisation have not altered them in the least.

Then he moves into Christian miracles—or at least the miracles that Christians claim as part of their story—their Scriptures, their religion.

…you cannot [remove miracles] with Christianity. It is precisely the story of a great Miracle. A naturalistic Christianity leaves out all that is specifically Christian.

This is, he suggests, part of the path that he took to get to where he is.

If at any point along the line of argument, Lewis loses you, he will not ask you to accept his conclusion—or at least he has no basis to do so. Otherwise…

So, what did I think about Miracles?

You are probably quite right in thinking that you will never see a miracle done: you are probably equally right in thinking that there was a natural explanation of anything in your past life which seemed, at the first glance, to be “rum” or “odd.” God does not shake miracles into Nature at random as if from a pepper-caster. They come on great occasions: they are found at the great ganglions of history—not of political or social history, but of that spiritual history which cannot be fully known by men. If your own life does not happen to be near one of those great ganglions, how should you expect to see one? If we were heroic missionaries, apostles, or martyrs, it would be a different matter. But why you or I? Unless you live near a railway, you will not see trains go past your windows. How likely is it that you or I will be present when a peace-treaty is signed, when a great scientific discovery is made, when a dictator commits suicide? That we should see a miracle is even less likely. Nor, if we understand, shall we be anxious to do so. “Nothing almost sees miracles but misery.” Miracles and martyrdoms tend to bunch about the same areas of history—areas we have naturally no wish to frequent. Do not, I earnestly advise you, demand an ocular proof unless you are already perfectly certain that it is not forthcoming,

I enjoyed it—this was the second or third post-Narnia book I read by Lewis, and it’s one of them I’ve returned to the most. It’s also less and less effective to me the more times I read it. I just don’t like his line of argument. Nor do I appreciate some of what he says about the Scriptures. But, I do enjoy reading this.

There are two major aims for an apologetic work, as I’ve heard from a few apologetic professors/writers. The first is to present a defense for the faith to unbelievers—to convince them, to provide evidence for the faith to them, or at least to show that Christianity has a rational basis (things along those lines). The second aim is to buttress the confidence of the believer that they haven’t taken a blind leap of faith, that their convictions can stand against a hostile culture—or a disinterested one. I don’t see this working to well with the unbeliever (outside of maybe stressing that they’re committed to not accepting the possibility of miracles), rather the strength of his book falls into the latter category.

I appreciate what Lewis attempted to do here. I enjoy seeing him think through these things, and generally have a good time with his language. But it’s not the best thing he penned, and I’m not sure it’s all that useful.

Still, I like it. And anyone who’s going to name a chapter what he called Chapter 9? I want to spend a little time with.

3.5 Stars

PUB DAY REPOST: Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire: G-G-G-Ghosts!

By HCNewton

On March 11, 2025

In Fiction, InCryptid, Seanan McGuire, Urban Fantasy

Installment Immortality

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: InCryptid, #14
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 11, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 432 pg.
Read Date: February 12-17, 2025

Obviously, there are some spoilers about the previous novel in the series, Aftermarket Afterlife to follow. And, you could probably say the same for the series as a whole. Take that into consideration if you read beyond the period at the end of this sentence.

What’s Installment Immortality About?

In the months that it took Mary to put herself back together after the attack on their training headquarters, the Covenant hasn’t been quiet. In fact, as they knew a ghost was involved in the attack, some of them have been targeting ghosts up and down the East Coast.

The anima mundi, still rebuilding its control, recruits (to put it nicely) Mary to stop them and rescue what ghosts she can. Mary gets permission to bring along some help from her family (the kind of help that can’t, say, get stuck in a ghost jar)—she doesn’t intend to, but she ends up bringing along Elsie and Arthur who have a need to do something, anything, to help them move on from their mother’s death.

So begins a cross-country trip filled with more danger than they expect (and they expect a lot).

More Mary

This book, like its predecessor, has done a fantastic job of showing the place of Mary in this family. She’s far more than just a quick message-delivery-system, or a genie that can show up at just the right time (she never really came across that way, but it’d be easy to see her filling those roles). It’s both heart-warming and heart-tugging.

She’s also changed a lot—thanks to Annie’s intervention at the Crossroads, and because of her new/growing relationship to the anima mundi. And there are more changes on the horizon—which will be fun to watch as people like me have become more invested in her after the last book.

I thought I had several things to say about Mary here, but just about all of them would need to be redacted. I really enjoyed our time with her, and while I expect that we’re going to be spending a few books focused on other characters after this one (Verity or Elsie are my guesses, which means it’ll probably be Alex), I’m looking forward to seeing what this new part of her life—ahem, afterlife—brings us.

Elsie and Arthur

Poor Arthur—I thought I had a pretty good handle on what was going on with him after the last book, but of course, there’s a lot more afoot than we could’ve known. With plenty of time with him—to see him interact with Mary and his sister, we get to hear a lot more from him and understand things from his perspective.

Then we learn even more from some outsiders. We’re going to have to spend some more time with Arthur soon, because leaving him where McGuire did is not comfortable.

Elsie, on the other hand, surprised me. I figured that like with Alex and Annie—and even the babysitter—when she got a chance to shine, she’d step up and show herself to be exactly the kind of kick-ass heroine that the Prices and Healys seem to specialize in. I won’t get into details, but she’s not cut from the same cloth as her cousins—but that doesn’t mean she should be taken lightly. It’s just that there’s an element of diversity even here that I wasn’t expecting, and I’m glad to see. I think it would’ve been boring to see her transform into a variation of Verity or Alice.

More interestingly than that for her was seeing her relationship with Arthur and how she’s reacting toward the Aeslin mice in their home.

So, what did I think about Installment Immortality?

This was a little bit of a let-down after the Aftermarket Afterlife. It was primarily a follow-up to it, tying up loose ends and getting us all ready for whatever is next. As such, it’s not going to be as good, it can’t be as powerful, and it should help the reader catch our breath. Also, saying it’s not quite as good as one of the best books in this series is not much of an insult.

But, oh man…there were so many things that are great about this book. For one example, there’s a conversation between Mary and one of the Aeslin Mice that is incredibly strange. And if you remember that we’re talking about a conversation between a ghost and a sentient, talking mouse with a perfect memory…strange should be expected. Not this level of it.

Of course, we get to meet new Cryptids, and more than a few ghosts. Their perspectives on the Prices, on the war with the Covenant, on Mary and the Crossroads (many don’t believe the Crossroads are gone, for example), and so on, are fascinating. It’s a good reminder—that we occasionally get, but not as strongly as we do here—how much people don’t instinctively trust this family. But we also get a variety of reactions to them along those lines.

This was very satisfying in terms of long-term character arcs, the war arc, and so on. Installment Immortality was also satisfying on its own terms. There’s some good supernatural, ghosty action. Some good reminders that the dead should not be messed with. Strong character development—no one leaves this book the way they came in. And some sweet moments that remind you that everyone can use a dog in their life.

This is not a book to jump into the series with, unless you want to spend a lot of time confused—Aftermarket Afterlife would function far better for that (as would starting at the beginning). But for long-term fans, this is exactly what they were looking for.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Tor Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars
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