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Wow, that sounds like a colossal landmark. I'll have to find an epub somewhere and read it (on an ebook reader).Thanks to spider I just read Ken Liu's The Paper Menagerie short story, and I hadn't ugly sobbed this uncontrollably while reading anything in a long while. It tackled important themes in a great & fresh way, and I'm now pretty interested in reading more from him.
You can freely read this short story over here:
Read Ken Liu's amazing story that swept the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards
Ken Liu's incredible story "Paper Menagerie" just became the first work of fiction to win all three of SF's major awards: the Hugo, the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award. And we're proud to be able to reprint the whole story, right here at io9. Here's your chance to find out what all the...io9.gizmodo.com
Working on The Price of Spring, the fourth and final book of Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet.
Only a few chapters in, but very intrigued by what seems to be Maati engaging in the heights of hubris considering
I wasn't sure whether to keep going after book 1, but i'm glad I did. Each successive book has been more interesting, so excited to see how it all ends
Only a few chapters in, but very intrigued by what seems to be Maati engaging in the heights of hubris considering
his utter failure with Sterile. Does he really think he can restore the Khaiem supremacy and the andat? And Eiah joining his cause is something I didn't exactly expect either
I wasn't sure whether to keep going after book 1, but i'm glad I did. Each successive book has been more interesting, so excited to see how it all ends
The Everyman's Library edition runs over 1300 pages. The Black Dahlia is approximately 300 of those pages, so about a quarter of the way through it now (I won't be reading all of the novels at once, for variety's sake). I've been familiar with James Ellroy's reputation as an author for a long time, and obviously as a good cinephile I've seen L.A. Confidential, but I'd never actually read any of his books before now. The Black Dahlia has an atmosphere that I'm sure must have been bracingly new at the time it came out, in the sense that Ellroy was diving into the misogyny and racism of the era in a deliberate way (whereas many old pulp novels from the era were just full of misogyny and racism); even though this is now a fairly familiar approach to the genre, it is at bottom well-written and not just for shock value, so it endures. Obviously when you're writing a fictional detective story about a famously unsolved crime, there's a particular bar of plausibility to clear as to why the truth didn't out (assuming of course that the detective finds the truth in the first place). While I do think the ending is in a number of ways the weaker part of the story compared to the initial mystery (and Ellroy's chosen solution is heavy on Gothic fiction tropes), Ellroy pulls it off.
A bit over a hundred pages into The Gutter Prayer, but I'm still not feeling it. It's very world building heavy and I've been in the mood for something more intimate and character-centric, so I'll drop it for now. I'm not invested in the characters or their struggles either, though, so I'm not sure if I'll be back.
And so I started Norwegian Wood yesterday, and it immediately pulled me in. I'm over halfway through already. There's just something extremely comfortable about Murakami's simple but nicely flowing prose. It's super captivating - I can't remember the last book I read where I didn't take breaks every time there was a break in the book. The story itself isn't incredible, but that's not why I'm reading (or enjoying) this book anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.
This made me realize I should probably read more contemporary literature, so I guess I'm looking for recommendations. But I'm out of my depth here so I'm not really sure what I'm actually looking for. Something melancholy or even sad but with a sense of humor and hopefulness, I suppose. I can go for exceedingly heartbreaking and grim books too (and some of my favorites are just those), but I can't really stand endlessly optimistic and happy and idealistic stuff. Other than that, anything goes.
And so I started Norwegian Wood yesterday, and it immediately pulled me in. I'm over halfway through already. There's just something extremely comfortable about Murakami's simple but nicely flowing prose. It's super captivating - I can't remember the last book I read where I didn't take breaks every time there was a break in the book. The story itself isn't incredible, but that's not why I'm reading (or enjoying) this book anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.
This made me realize I should probably read more contemporary literature, so I guess I'm looking for recommendations. But I'm out of my depth here so I'm not really sure what I'm actually looking for. Something melancholy or even sad but with a sense of humor and hopefulness, I suppose. I can go for exceedingly heartbreaking and grim books too (and some of my favorites are just those), but I can't really stand endlessly optimistic and happy and idealistic stuff. Other than that, anything goes.
ara good to hear you like Norwegian Wood.
I finished my re-read of Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami. Good book, but it did have pacing issues (well, I guess this is issue with all his novels. During first half the mystery pulled you in, but I felt it lost some steam after protagonists arrived Hokkaido. Also felt like the conclusion of the chase wasn't that satisfying either. But beyond that the ending was great. For next Murakami, I'll go with Dance, Dance, Dance, another re-read.
But before Murakami, I think I'll read some Michel Mouellebecq, probably his latest Serotonin. I'm also 50p in The Blade Itself by Joe Abecrombie. I'm completely new to fantasy genre so I don't really have expectations at all. But it has been entertaining read so far. I'm bit surprised how much humor there has been, wasn't really expecting that.
I finished my re-read of Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami. Good book, but it did have pacing issues (well, I guess this is issue with all his novels. During first half the mystery pulled you in, but I felt it lost some steam after protagonists arrived Hokkaido. Also felt like the conclusion of the chase wasn't that satisfying either. But beyond that the ending was great. For next Murakami, I'll go with Dance, Dance, Dance, another re-read.
But before Murakami, I think I'll read some Michel Mouellebecq, probably his latest Serotonin. I'm also 50p in The Blade Itself by Joe Abecrombie. I'm completely new to fantasy genre so I don't really have expectations at all. But it has been entertaining read so far. I'm bit surprised how much humor there has been, wasn't really expecting that.
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About half way through Rage of Dragons now and this is definitely living up to the hype. It's a little more military fantasy than I was expecting but damn is it good. It does a really good job of making you feel that rage, anger, and hate of the main character.
So far it's really phenomenal.
Glad you're enjoying it. I've always thought the series got better with each book and love how it's structured. The Price of Spring is one of my favourite closing books in a fantasy series that I can remember.
I've seen so much about this book recent saying it's really fantastic and some of the best new fantasy in years. I'm gonna go pick it up when I get out of work!
About half way through Rage of Dragons now and this is definitely living up to the hype. It's a little more military fantasy than I was expecting but damn is it good. It does a really good job of making you feel that rage, anger, and hate of the main character.
So far it's really phenomenal.
It is very hard to restrain myself whenever this book rears its head, but I'm maturing, I think...
In a good way or a bad way? Cause I always get this same feeling whenever Blake Crouch comes up, and it's most definitely not in a good way.
So far 2020 has been brutal for reading as I'm up to 4 DNF's out of 8 books I've started so far. The latest DNF was Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi which I quit after 200 pages. I couldn't really get into it with the over use of tropes, same sounding characters and the lack of believably. I hope this isn't a sign that I'm becoming old and jaded and bitter and stuff since I love reading so much.
Next up is The House of War and Witness by Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey.
Next up is The House of War and Witness by Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey.
Same. Let's just say that I view The Goldfinch winning the Pulitzer as nothing short of a crime against humanity.
Safe to say I'd probably feel the same way. I read The Secret History and didn't like it so just stopped there.
Just finished Norwegian Wood. Toru was a bit frustrating to be honest (as was the plot itself at times edit: not that that was a big deal re: what I said earlier) and I was a bit surprised by the sheer amount of SEX contained within, which bordered on parody at times, but overall I loved it. The melancholy tone was perfect for my current mood. Reminded me of Oyasumi Punpun, another piece of Japanese media I absolutely adore, though NW wasn't nearly as relentlessly bleak.
Next up... I dunno, something more from Murakami, I think. I like his prose and I'm sure he's written many beautifully melancholy books like this. But it's midnight, time to sleep first.
Next up... I dunno, something more from Murakami, I think. I like his prose and I'm sure he's written many beautifully melancholy books like this. But it's midnight, time to sleep first.
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update: I knew absolutely nothing about the book when I started (except for the fact that everybody was talking about it a few years ago) but now let's just say that those first few chapters fooled me a bit...
Really glad to see people enjoying Rage of Dragons
Loved it last year and cannot wait for the next one to come out!
Loved it last year and cannot wait for the next one to come out!
Finished Rage of Dragons. Basically couldn't put it down after I hit the halfway point. I thought the pace early on was fast, but damn.
Damn good. Really didn't expect to like it as much as I did with it being more military focused.
Damn good. Really didn't expect to like it as much as I did with it being more military focused.
Finished this off quite quickly last week as the last half of the book really gripped me. Think it may just enter the top 3 of the series (so far) for me.
Now onto Dust of Dreams
Might as well move on to his magnum opus, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
NW doesn't have the surrealism of the rest of his work, and the melancholy is never so biting, but Wind-Up Bird is Murakami's most engrossing story, in my opinion. It feels right.
The next most melancholic book of his that I've read is probably Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, but that one's also light on the surreal, so that's probably too similar to Norwegian Wood to read now.
Finishing up Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now this week and starting Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad (followed by reread of its sequel, Life and Fate, afterwards).
Nice. Love Trollope, and will also have to reread Life and Fate after I score a copy of Stalingrad.
So I mainly read fantasy, with a bit of sci-fi. And I read a lot of i trying to find the latest gem and I was wondering what would be some of you guys latest discoveries, and also add some of my own. To give a feel of what I like here is some of the books I enjoyed most from the last decade:
- Anything Abercrombie, except his YA stuff, but specially The Heroes and Red Country
- Anything from Mark Lawrence, but specially his second trilogy
- The Books of Babel, from Josiah Bancroft
- Raven's Mark Trilogy, from Ed McDonald
- Kings of the Wyld, by Nicholas Eames
- Red Rising saga, by Pierce Brown
And I just finished Kings of Paradise, by Richard Nell, which was the main reason for me to write this post, to share with you guys one "gem" that would otherwise pass unnoticed. I's also free on Kindle Unlimited, so thats a plus. Please check it out if you like this kind of books, and please share your own. I'll add more of them If I have the time
PS: I'd make a list of some of the worst stuff but that's always very controversial. Let's say I prefer character building to world building, character interaction to magic system explanation, grimdark to happy endings for the sake of happy endings, things that ring true to unplausability, mary sues, etc and finally for me the a good prose is very important
PPS: I recently read Assassin's Fate, the final book of Robin's Hobb 16 book megaseries. I was putting it off because I didn't want the series to finish, and also a bit afraid of how the ending would be, because endings are always the hardest part. Hobb nailed the ending, though. Absolutely perfect ending for the best complete series of the last 25 years I'd say.
- Anything Abercrombie, except his YA stuff, but specially The Heroes and Red Country
- Anything from Mark Lawrence, but specially his second trilogy
- The Books of Babel, from Josiah Bancroft
- Raven's Mark Trilogy, from Ed McDonald
- Kings of the Wyld, by Nicholas Eames
- Red Rising saga, by Pierce Brown
And I just finished Kings of Paradise, by Richard Nell, which was the main reason for me to write this post, to share with you guys one "gem" that would otherwise pass unnoticed. I's also free on Kindle Unlimited, so thats a plus. Please check it out if you like this kind of books, and please share your own. I'll add more of them If I have the time
PS: I'd make a list of some of the worst stuff but that's always very controversial. Let's say I prefer character building to world building, character interaction to magic system explanation, grimdark to happy endings for the sake of happy endings, things that ring true to unplausability, mary sues, etc and finally for me the a good prose is very important
PPS: I recently read Assassin's Fate, the final book of Robin's Hobb 16 book megaseries. I was putting it off because I didn't want the series to finish, and also a bit afraid of how the ending would be, because endings are always the hardest part. Hobb nailed the ending, though. Absolutely perfect ending for the best complete series of the last 25 years I'd say.
Kameron Hurley's Worldbreaker Trilogy just had its final volume come out, and is a really good mix between grimdark and humanistic, with a good cast of characters and a really inetresting world.
Gareth Hanrahan's Black Iron Legacy books are also very promising so far.
OP
OP
Don't sleep on Abercrombie's Shattered Sea Trilogy. It may be listed as YA, but it's more of his grimdark goodness. I really enjoyed it. The second book had a female character that could go toe to toe with Mark Lawrence's nuns in the Book of the Ancestor.
Started reading again in 2020 after taking a couple years off so far I've read:
The Andromeda Strain: Pretty neat sci fi thriller but it's pretty dry at times and never really lives up to the great suspenseful first half
The Dubliners: recommended by a friend, some of the stories really connected with me and some of them didn't. The emotional moments, and the final story The Dead made it really worthwhile
Now reading: Dune, despite being a sci fi fan (and a fan of Dune's many adaptations) never read this franchise. Half way thru the first book and it's engrossing. Don't really think I need to go to bat for this, it's Dune. It's bad that I'd gone so long without reading it
The Andromeda Strain: Pretty neat sci fi thriller but it's pretty dry at times and never really lives up to the great suspenseful first half
The Dubliners: recommended by a friend, some of the stories really connected with me and some of them didn't. The emotional moments, and the final story The Dead made it really worthwhile
Now reading: Dune, despite being a sci fi fan (and a fan of Dune's many adaptations) never read this franchise. Half way thru the first book and it's engrossing. Don't really think I need to go to bat for this, it's Dune. It's bad that I'd gone so long without reading it
Back on my Wheel of Time grind, and my favorite part of this series is posting the books here and seeing the hilarious old covers.
I think I need to just start reading the chapter summaries for the preludes and first chapters of each of these books because they're always so hard for me to first get in to because I keep falling asleep to them. As soon as I get to chapter 2 I'm enthralled and can't put it down, but I can barely make it through 2 pages of these 100 page preludes.
Back on my Wheel of Time grind, and my favorite part of this series is posting the books here and seeing the hilarious old covers.
I think I need to just start reading the chapter summaries for the preludes and first chapters of each of these books because they're always so hard for me to first get in to because I keep falling asleep to them. As soon as I get to chapter 2 I'm enthralled and can't put it down, but I can barely make it through 2 pages of these 100 page preludes.
I came to post LoC as well. I'm almost finished with it and have really enjoyed it. You're not kidding about the preludes though since they can drag at times. I just hope that I don't lose interest when the series slows down in book 7 from what I've heard. It's the reason it has taken me so long to commit to the series.
Haven't participated in this thread in a bit but still enjoy reading it.
I've just finished Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook. The first book in the collection (The Black Company) was entertaining though told in a rather dry manner. There were some rather large events that almost seemed like footnotes to the narrator. The second book (Shadows Linger) was much better written but I found the plot to be pretty slow for the first 3/4ths. The final book (The White Rose) was great and well paced all the way through in my opinion. I didn't like all the choices made regarding the ending but still enjoyed it a lot overall.
Next up is the The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski. I found I enjoyed the 2 short story collections more that I did book 1 of the full series so I'm hoping this book starts to remedy that.
Question on Malazan Book of the Fallen's sister series Novels of Malazan Empire by Ian C. Esslemont: is it worth it? I'm still on the fence on the main series as a whole and from what I've read the side series is more poorly written.
I've just finished Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook. The first book in the collection (The Black Company) was entertaining though told in a rather dry manner. There were some rather large events that almost seemed like footnotes to the narrator. The second book (Shadows Linger) was much better written but I found the plot to be pretty slow for the first 3/4ths. The final book (The White Rose) was great and well paced all the way through in my opinion. I didn't like all the choices made regarding the ending but still enjoyed it a lot overall.
Next up is the The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski. I found I enjoyed the 2 short story collections more that I did book 1 of the full series so I'm hoping this book starts to remedy that.
Question on Malazan Book of the Fallen's sister series Novels of Malazan Empire by Ian C. Esslemont: is it worth it? I'm still on the fence on the main series as a whole and from what I've read the side series is more poorly written.
It's romance novel Rand! 🤣
Back on my Wheel of Time grind, and my favorite part of this series is posting the books here and seeing the hilarious old covers.
I think I need to just start reading the chapter summaries for the preludes and first chapters of each of these books because they're always so hard for me to first get in to because I keep falling asleep to them. As soon as I get to chapter 2 I'm enthralled and can't put it down, but I can barely make it through 2 pages of these 100 page preludes.
Just read Alistair Reynolds House of Suns, on the strength of the recommendation of a member in a another thread. Really, really good bit of space opera. It's amazing what you can do when you remove the crutch of FTL from a sci fi narrative.
I'm going to buy For Whom The Bell Tolls soon, for some reason it's in my mind even though crushingly-realist-story-with-basic-writing is on paper the exact kind of novel I am pushed off of.
I found a particularly nice no-brand paperback copy in a bookshop for five bucks, but can't sensibly go back there until next Monday to buy it, so...
In the meantime, I'm almost halfway through the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey. It's so far solidified my notion that I'm really not one for Greek poetry. The translation is still excellent, though; it's immensely readable. I'll definitely give The Iliad a try as well, whenever it releases.
I found a particularly nice no-brand paperback copy in a bookshop for five bucks, but can't sensibly go back there until next Monday to buy it, so...
In the meantime, I'm almost halfway through the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey. It's so far solidified my notion that I'm really not one for Greek poetry. The translation is still excellent, though; it's immensely readable. I'll definitely give The Iliad a try as well, whenever it releases.
For Whom the Bell Tolls is very, very Hemingway. A lot of machismo and so forth, although I personally love it despite all that. Have you ever read A Moveable Feast?
No, I've not, but honestly I don't think I could give a proper try to another Hemingway book right now. Something about the premise of FWTBT just hooked me.
At least 3 of those requests aren't Sanderson.
Yeah, I find the Spanish Civil war fascinating as well. It's probably why I have such an affection for the novel, despite its flaws. His Death in the Afternoon is also a great one for pre war Spain.
I like both the world-building aspects of Sanderson's works and the character intrigue to a certain extent, I've only read the first two of The Stormlight Archive though.
Its one of my favorite books but it does slog a bit in the first stretch until you meet Pablo and Pilar. But god there are so many scenes there that I keep coming back to.
Just started reading Tampa after someone here mentioned it a few weeks ago... (It's about a middle school teacher who falls in love with her student). Normally I'm pretty resilient when it comes to objectionable content, but there's some stuff here that's really hard to read and I found myself cringing through a some passages. But at the same time, it's really well written and incredibly compelling to be able to get inside this person's head. I'm curious about how much research the author did into sexual predators, because it makes you feel like you in some way understand their justification for what they do, even if it's really fucked up.
I've read Elantris and The Final Empire and I find his work to be on the opposite spectrum of what I like :/
I've heard The Stormlight Archive is better though, and wanted to try that one day. But there are so many exciting new takes on fantasy that is hard to justify the time
I did try the first one but didn't enjoy it as much as his other work. I did buy a copy for my niece though :P
Talking about YA and Mark Lawrence I just started reading One Word Kill. So far so good but I'm just a few pages in
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You pushed me to start it too.
I agree, it's painful to read but hard to stop.
Idk how this came into my mind but I've been re-evaluating Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, but specifically his interesting character The Judge.
For anyone curious, this book follows a nameless person, the kid. It follows him as he travels through Wild West Mexico area and experiences suffering and extreme violence, some by his own hand.
This is a book that wasn't amazing as I was reading it, but it has none the less stuck with me.
For anyone curious, this book follows a nameless person, the kid. It follows him as he travels through Wild West Mexico area and experiences suffering and extreme violence, some by his own hand.
I remember reading analyses after first finishing the book about how the Judge is the Devil because he's almost completely evil. He is pro-war and violence and generally seems into any kind of debauchery. Oh and he rapes and kills the kid at the end.
I was looking at goodreads for some reason and was looking at the reviews for this book and stumbled upon one review which got me thinking. The gist was that maybe the Judge was not the devil at all. Maybe he was actually God. And it actually fits quite well with a view that God as he is portrayed is a vicious piece of shit who brings plagues and inflicts harm on people for reasons. That this omnipotent, benevolent diety does nothing to end suffering, and just lets it go on.
There are various quotes of him that can back it up such as:
"War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner."
We are made in the likeness of God.
"Men of God and men of war have strange affinities."
Would a malicious God not intend for religion and violence to go hand in hand?
"This is the nature of war, whose stake is at once the game and the authority and the justification. Seen so, war is the truest form of divination. It is the testing of one's will and the will of another within that larger will which because it binds them is therefore forced to select. War is the ultimate game because war is at last a forcing of the unity of existence.War is god."
"He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die."
Omnipotence
"Whatever exists, he said. Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent."
This could also refer to man's need for dominion, to be powerful over all.
"And the answer, said the judge. If God meant to interfere in the degeneracy of mankind would he not have done so by now?"
"Books lie, he said.
God dont lie.
No, said the judge. He does not. And these are his words.
He held up a chunk of rock.
He speaks in stones and trees, the bones of things.
The squatters in their rags nodded among themselves and were soon reckoning him correct, this man of learning, in all his speculations, and this the judge encouraged until they were right proselytes of the new order whereupon he laughed at them for fools."
"Only that man who has offered up himself entire to the blood of war, who has been to the floor of the pit and seen the horror in the round and learned at last that it speaks to his inmost heart, only that man can dance."
"The subject was war. The good book says that he that lives by the sword shall perish by the sword, said the black. The judge smiled, his face shining with grease. What right man would have it any other way? he said."
The Judge appears to be a god who follows the laws of nature. The strong survive, the weak perish. War is inevitable to creatures who seek to survive at any cost. "This is the nature of war, whose stake is at once the game and the authority and the justification. Seen so, war is the truest form of divination." The struggle is prayer. There is free will to live as you will, but the nature of His creation means that the battle between animals is all. The purpose of life is to struggle and battle because He has designed it so.
He is a truly malicious God.
Or perhaps the Judge is merely the maliciousness of human nature pushed to it's extreme.
And an article I found on it: https://theconversation.com/the-unfilmable-blood-meridian-91719
Though this article ponders if The Judge is not God but a deputy. Perhaps he could be the devil, but the devil was never thrown out of heaven and has been doing exactly as God wished. In any case, I think it is safe to assume that Cormac did not have a positive view on religion and human nature.
I was looking at goodreads for some reason and was looking at the reviews for this book and stumbled upon one review which got me thinking. The gist was that maybe the Judge was not the devil at all. Maybe he was actually God. And it actually fits quite well with a view that God as he is portrayed is a vicious piece of shit who brings plagues and inflicts harm on people for reasons. That this omnipotent, benevolent diety does nothing to end suffering, and just lets it go on.
There are various quotes of him that can back it up such as:
"War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner."
We are made in the likeness of God.
"Men of God and men of war have strange affinities."
Would a malicious God not intend for religion and violence to go hand in hand?
"This is the nature of war, whose stake is at once the game and the authority and the justification. Seen so, war is the truest form of divination. It is the testing of one's will and the will of another within that larger will which because it binds them is therefore forced to select. War is the ultimate game because war is at last a forcing of the unity of existence.War is god."
"He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die."
Omnipotence
"Whatever exists, he said. Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent."
This could also refer to man's need for dominion, to be powerful over all.
"And the answer, said the judge. If God meant to interfere in the degeneracy of mankind would he not have done so by now?"
"Books lie, he said.
God dont lie.
No, said the judge. He does not. And these are his words.
He held up a chunk of rock.
He speaks in stones and trees, the bones of things.
The squatters in their rags nodded among themselves and were soon reckoning him correct, this man of learning, in all his speculations, and this the judge encouraged until they were right proselytes of the new order whereupon he laughed at them for fools."
"Only that man who has offered up himself entire to the blood of war, who has been to the floor of the pit and seen the horror in the round and learned at last that it speaks to his inmost heart, only that man can dance."
"The subject was war. The good book says that he that lives by the sword shall perish by the sword, said the black. The judge smiled, his face shining with grease. What right man would have it any other way? he said."
The Judge appears to be a god who follows the laws of nature. The strong survive, the weak perish. War is inevitable to creatures who seek to survive at any cost. "This is the nature of war, whose stake is at once the game and the authority and the justification. Seen so, war is the truest form of divination." The struggle is prayer. There is free will to live as you will, but the nature of His creation means that the battle between animals is all. The purpose of life is to struggle and battle because He has designed it so.
He is a truly malicious God.
Or perhaps the Judge is merely the maliciousness of human nature pushed to it's extreme.
And an article I found on it: https://theconversation.com/the-unfilmable-blood-meridian-91719
Though this article ponders if The Judge is not God but a deputy. Perhaps he could be the devil, but the devil was never thrown out of heaven and has been doing exactly as God wished. In any case, I think it is safe to assume that Cormac did not have a positive view on religion and human nature.
This is a book that wasn't amazing as I was reading it, but it has none the less stuck with me.