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WillHayward

WillHayward@bookwyrm.social

Joined 3 weeks, 2 days ago

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WillHayward's books

Currently Reading

2025 Reading Goal

58% complete! WillHayward has read 7 of 12 books.

Timothy Snyder: On Tyranny (2017, Crown, Tim Duggan Books)

In previous books, Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder dissected the events and values that enabled the …

A Pocket Guide for Every Pocket

It shows the path tyranny takes from a joke among the elites to cold reality and what steps to stop that could look like.

Pithy, its pages excel at being Instagrammable (Complimentary). Information does nothing if its not in the hands of the people who need this and On Tyranny wants to be in every set of hands it can fit in.

reviewed Golden Son by Pierce Brown (Red Rising Saga, #2)

Pierce Brown: Golden Son (Paperback, 2015, Del Rey)

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, …

By Ditching The Hunger Games, Golden Son Finds Its Footing

Better all around than Red Rising. By changing the focus to the politics and precarity of revolution, Darrow and company have much better set pieces and characterization to work with.

While the ending does seem to draw a little to much inspiration from The Empire Strikes Back, I'm nevertheless still interested to see how Ol' RedGold wriggles his way out of THIS one.

reviewed Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Red Rising Saga, #1)

Pierce Brown: Red Rising (Hardcover, 2014, Del Rey)

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of …

More Like Rome Rising, Amirite?

"Rome in Space" has been done before but this might be my favorite adaptation. Starts off shakily by introducing its color system of societal hierarchy, making it seem much more like a "Hunger Games" knock off than it feels, even when it too falls into a "Battle Royale" style conflict, but by integrating it much more into its parent society, it feels much more vital and purposeful than Collins' usage of the same trope.

And for all that, it's a fun read. Not perfect but makes the time go quickly, and that's what I was looking for.

As an aside: It is shocking to see that it hasn't already been adapted for film or tv, but deciding the audience it would best serve seems like the largest challenge. Like "Ender's Game", the 16 year old protagonist and schoolyard relationships taken to bloody extremes are a tough balancing act when you …