A YA Series, a First Contact Novel, and a Startup Book Walk Into a Bar—Pursued by Wolves
The wolves help in the Westmarkian revolution, are domesticated by the aliens, and turn the startup into a unicorn, which they promptly devour.
The Westmark Trilogy
By: Lloyd Alexander
Published: 1981
184 Pages
Published: 1982
244 Pages
Published: 1984
237 Pages
Briefly, what is this series about?
The series is speculative fiction, there is no magic, no supernatural elements. Other than the fact that it’s made up, Westmark could be a small country in 18th century Europe. The story has elements of both the American and French Revolutions, with things like mayhem, monarchies, muskets and marketplaces (of both goods and ideas).
The main character is Theo, who begins the series as a printer’s devil before being swept up by events. His profession lays the groundwork for a very strong “freedom of the press” element.
Who should read this series?
If you’re a fan of Alexander (most likely his Chronicles of Prydain series) then I think you’ll enjoy this trilogy as well. If you have no familiarity with Alexander I would start with Prydain. (See my review of that series here.)
Specific thoughts: Darker and more serious than most YA series
YA is an interesting genre, one that by its very nature is always going to be somewhat sophomoric. Nevertheless there are authors who try to class up the genre, drop some gravitas into the middle of the overwrought angsty fluff. It doesn’t happen very often. YA dystopias pretend to do it (though I will say that Mockingjay, the final Hunger Games novel, didn’t merely pretend). One notable example is the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. But along with Le Guin I would put both of Alexander’s series.
I could imagine having kids read the Westmark Trilogy as a supplement to a history class about revolutions. It’s got a surprising amount of realism and really grapples with actual issues of actual people in a way very few series do. (I hope actual people don’t have to participate very often in a last man standing battle royale…)
Though as I said above, if you haven’t read any Alexander I would start with the Chronicles of Prydain. And perhaps I may be forgiven for pivoting from Westmark to that series, but Noah Smith put up an amazing review of Prydain recently that I can’t help including:
Until recently, I had thought that every kid in America grew up reading The Chronicles of Prydain, just like Narnia and Lord of the Rings. Apparently I was wrong; in recent weeks, I’ve discovered that almost no one I know has read Prydain. Well, it’s time to rectify that.
The Prydain books are children’s fantasy, full of the usual wizards and monsters and fairies, but the themes are surprisingly mature; the series is all about coming of age, what it really means to be a hero, etc. As the protagonist, Taran, grows from a boy to a man, the series transitions from fun and improbable adventures to difficult choices and bittersweet endings. In my opinion, the writing of these books is better than Narnia, but the life lessons and social values are what really set them apart.
David Roberts wrote a good review of the series on Vox back in 2017. I don’t know if I’d call Prydain the “greatest fantasy series ever written” — Lord of the Rings is hard to beat. But it’s up there, and for some reason it’s been almost forgotten.
Also, the character Gurgi is the best sidekick ever created.
Roadkill
By: Dennis E. Taylor
Published: 2022
346 Pages
Briefly, what is this book about?
Jack Kernigan was kicked out of MIT for a crime he didn’t commit. Back home in Ohio he runs over an invisible alien who’s trying to cross the road on a blind curve. This, as it happens, is first contact. Rather than go to the authorities, Jack and his friends Patrick and Natalie end up taking possession of the alien’s flying saucer and its AI. From there things really get crazy.
Who should read this book?
If you’ve read other stuff by Taylor (he’s best known for the Bobiverse series) and enjoyed it you’ll probably enjoy this. Otherwise if you’re looking for something relatively light, where you don’t have to (or want to) think very much, this will probably scratch that itch.
Specific thoughts: Taylor and the science of global warming do not mix
The book is perfectly serviceable and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Taylor. The books are entertaining. However I have noticed that Taylor has a weird tic. I’m not sure if it affects all of his books, I don’t recall seeing it in the Bobiverse series, but then I only read the original trilogy, so perhaps it comes up later. His weird tic is that he ends up offering up some completely apocalyptic, but also totally impossible global warming scenario.
I noticed this in the last book I read of his, Outland, where global warming turns an alternate Earth into an unlivable inferno within a few decades. It was a dumb and entirely avoidable mistake, so imagine my surprise when he makes a new, but very similar mistake in this book.
In this book the protagonists are confronted with the possibility of the atmosphere’s O2 percentage dropping to 19%. It’s currently at 20.95%, so dropping to 19% doesn’t seem like much of a stretch, but in fact it would take centuries, if not millennia for it to drop that far. Taylor has it happening in five years. And not through some SF hack, like the giant vacuum in Spaceballs. It’s going to happen through processes that are all outgrowths of man-made global warming, with a small villainous shove that must remain undetectable, lest the villains get caught.
In neither case does the global warming catastrophe affect the plot very much, nor does it spoil the plot. In both cases it’s a very minor component. Small enough you might even miss it. Nevertheless it is a very strange tic…
Slicing Pie Handbook: Perfectly Fair Equity Splits for Bootstrapped Startups
By: Mike Moyer
Published: 2016
212 Pages
Briefly, what is this book about?
A guide to dynamically allocating equity in a new company before that company has achieved profitability.
What authorial biases should I be aware of?
Moyer is a big advocate for fairness, and a huge advocate for this system. At multiple points he urges people to reach out to him if they have any issues with it. This thing is definitely his baby.
Who should read this book?
If you’re looking to assign equity in a new endeavor I would definitely read this book. It’s actually a great system if you’re in a situation where lots of people are hoping to contribute time, money or resources in exchange for equity.
Specific thoughts: You could probably figure out most of this yourself
Moyer does have a tendency to oversell the amazingness of his system. To be clear, it’s a good system, and he’s obviously thought about it a lot. Additionally he has numerous examples of it actually being used. This is why I would get the book, and why I may be using it in the near future for some new ventures I’m contemplating. Nevertheless it’s not some earth-shattering hack, some unknown, completely revolutionary way of doing things. If you just set out to do your very best to account for and aggregate contributions to a new business as they occurred at a market rate, with a beneficial multiplier for cash contributions (obviously) then you’d probably end up with 80% of Moyer’s system.
You may be thinking that I’m going to use this to dismiss the book on some level. In reality it’s the exact opposite. The fact that it’s largely common sense is a huge point in its favor. Moyer is not asking you to do anything weird or unnatural. All of his recommendations are things that you might have thought of yourself, things that make sense. As such it’s kind of a no-brainer to use this for equity allocations, because it’s something your best self would do anyway.
All this said I think he does pass by too lightly the difficulties of determining market rate. Just the fact that there is a market is probably the best we can expect for overcoming that difficulty.
Fables for Young Wolves
Published: 2025
120 Pages
Briefly, what is this book about?
A series of Aesop-esque fables that use animals (especially wolves, dogs and pigs) to reflect on good and bad qualities humans might possess, and ideally encourage the former.
Who should read this book?
I saw this book recommended on John Carter’s Postcards from Barsoom Substack. If that means anything to you then you might enjoy this collection. If you’re on the fence you can read his review. As for myself, I would probably advise skipping it, though it pains me to say that.
Specific thoughts: Maybe I expected too much
I really wanted to love this book, but I didn’t. It was fine. It had its moments. But overall I found it to be “mid” as the kids would say. On the plus side the writing was quite good. Here’s a sample:
The winter months are hard on everyone, and the admiration of a faraway town is a thin cloak against the cold. The young man longed to find some way to keep his reputation without having to endure the hardship of its maintenance. But he could find no easy solution, and was forced to carry on with the scheme in place.
Perhaps you can detect a hint of purple prose in this excerpt, and it does veer into the purple on occasion, but I’m pretty forgiving of that sort of thing. No, for me, the writing was fine, it was the morals I found lacking. Every fable should have a lesson, and these were no exception, but here the lessons seemed too on the nose. To come at it from another direction, you expect fables to have a timeless quality, and these seemed more focused on the current moment. (I would swear that in several cases I detected direct commentary on Trump.)
Still perhaps I am being too hard on the collection. Aesop’s fables are over 2500 years old. Other fables I’ve encountered (I think mostly Native American stories) are not quite so old, but all of them have stood the test of centuries, when so much else hasn’t. That’s a high bar for a new collection to clear, and perhaps we should be willing to celebrate the fact that Bethlehem was willing to step up to the plate.
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That’s the great advantage of being a critic, I can point out the bars I mostly don’t have to clear them myself. But I am overdue to put out another essay, and when I do you’re welcome to point out my many failings. It shouldn’t be hard. If you can’t wait, there are plenty of essays in the archives.