Weekly Roundup: June 19th - 25th
I’m e rathke, the author of a number of books. Learn more about what you signed up for here. Go here to manage your email notifications.
This Week’s Posts
Tuesday: PREY - I discuss Predator and Prey and cultural appropriation. Within 24 hours, this was already my most popular post of all time. So that’s neat.
Wednesday: Paying subscribers received Chapter Seven of Emrys the Fool and free subscribers received Chapter Five. If you received neither, there are instructions here on how to get these in your email.
Thursday: The Blood Dancers Release - Over at Bestseller, I released an excerpt of my newest novel The Blood Dancers. This is part of The Shattered Stars, an episodic space opera following the crew of The Burning Apollo across the galaxy in a Firefly infused Star Trekkian adventure, which I’m cowriting with Kyle Muntz.
Saturday: An unusual take on The Fictionista’s Prompt about a man who digs a hole. Once again, I narrated it because why not.
I meant to write the next essay in my series on Wong Kar Wai, but I watched Happy Together instead of Fallen Angels because I’m kind of a huge dummy. Expect that essay next week instead. Watching Fallen Angels tonight (last night, I guess, or earlier this week, depending on when you’re reading this sentence).
Speaking of Wong, my previous review of Chungking Express got adapted by me for a Hong Kong based magazine, which is very cool. Read it here. Expect more of these in the weeks ahead.
From the Archives
Always loved this little essay about how music feels to me. I’ve received a number of emails about it in the 18 months since so it may resonate with you as well. And I do sure dig them groovy tunes.
Listening
This is not unrelated to that lofi essay.
What I’m reading
Great essay here from
about writing for an audience, making that a gift. He was also the person who told me the reason I enjoy writing for my son is because I love him, which should seem obvious but sometimes it takes someone telling you the obvious before it clicks.More of this, please. Check out
’s newsletter for good recommendations and the best vibes this side of millennialism.On my McCarthy read/reread I finished No Country for Old Men, which is the most screenplay-esque novel I’ve ever read, which is fitting since it began as one and then became a movie. I also think the way the movie collapsed the final 50 pages into about 10 minutes makes it hit harder, which is another way of saying that the movie actually improves on the book.
How’s that for a hot take.
Finished Altered Carbon, too, which is fun and wild and, for a time, reads like a playthrough of DOOM, and I mean that in the best way. But, like all cyberpunk novels, I find myself ending at sort of a remove from it because, ultimately, I don’t care about all the cops and robbers plotting that the cyberpunk playground gets filled with.
I just want the playground. And so as they become more about the PLOT as the novel goes on, I lose interest.
So it goes.
Still, pretty solid novel. Lots of fun. And you may be normal and enjoy hardboiled noirish cyberpunking.
Also, reread The Road yesterday for the first time in, I guess, 15 years. It’s the kind of book I only seem to be able to approach in a single sitting. Back then I didn’t have a child or a spouse or even a girlfriend and it still made me cry, but not until the very last few pages.
Yesterday, dear reader, I started crying in the first ten pages.
The Road is great. I’ll have more to say about all this soonishly. Also jumping right into The Passenger and Stella Maris. In the meantime, follow
’s newsletter for some real good McCarthy analysis.Read Nicola Griffith’s Spear, too, which I didn’t know was an Arthurian novel, because I don’t read the backs of books or reviews or marketing material, but I’ve been doing lots of Arthurian research so this was pretty perfect for where I’m at right now. Maybe my favorite depiction of Nimue that I’ve encountered.
What Else?
Substack’s released a referral program. Information right here:
If we can get 150 new subscribers, I’ll be giving away two ebooks to all subscribers.
Also, over on Substack Notes, I continue to write daily 100 word stories and have begun doling out writing prompts. So follow along there if you’re inclined to dive deeper into the substackian ecosystem.
Was trying to sneak in writing a cyberpunk novella this week but it turns out I’m writing something much longer than anticipated, which I don’t have time for. About to start writing Episode Seven of The Shattered Stars, which is going to sort of be True Grit in space, which is as fun as it sounds. You should be reading that next June.
In the meantime, read my books that are currently out. Then review them.
Thank you.
My novels:
Glossolalia - A Le Guinian fantasy novel about an anarchic community dealing with a disaster
Sing, Behemoth, Sing - Deadwood meets Neon Genesis Evangelion
Howl - Vampire Hunter D meets The Book of the New Sun in this lofi cyberpunk/solarpunk monster hunting adventure
Colony Collapse - Star Trek meets Firefly in the opening episode of this space opera
The Blood Dancers - The standalone sequel to Colony Collapse.
Iron Wolf - Sequel to Howl. Coming 7/25/2023
Some free books for your trouble:
Wolf.
Howl.
I really enjoyed Altered Carbon. Struggled with the second in the series. Third much better, but not as good as the first. My takes.
Your take on Altered Carbon is a lot like mine. The best parts about that novel are the fascinating little ideas it tosses at you casually and then does nothing with. But the parts it wants to focus on, like the heist/revenge plot and the sex ("love"?) interest just do nothing for me. And are cyberpunk protagonists unlikable on purpose? Is that a feature?