T.C. Marti's Blog, page 3

What do you get when a ruthless government entwines with a hidden legacy?

I keep articles that talk primarily about my own work at a minimum except when I’m on the verge of a launch. And since it’s launch day for Cursed Mage, I wanted to drill home a bit of everything, from the work’s themes to what inspired it, and what’s coming up next.

Many of the books that I’ve discussed in the first few months since I launched this little review (and breakdown) site inspired Cursed Mage, most notably E.E. Holmes’ Spirit Legacy. Yeah, so if you’re wondering why I’m spending a few months reading and talking about the Gateway Trilogy, now you know why.

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From chatting with ghosts, to unveiling a hidden legacy, and, of course, the sheer government corruption within, Kaija (in Cursed Mage and its eventual sequels) and Jess (in Spirit Legacy and its sequels) have so much on their plates it’s overwhelming. But that’s what makes these works fun, right?

For me, modern-day statism is a huge thing, and those allegories are in Cursed Mage plus its two-year prequel, Deceived Mage. The latter of which stars one of Cursed Mage’s supporting characters.

A two-party system, a uniparty, or lesser of the two evils?

Something I wanted to drive home in Cursed Mage’s eventual sequels, Astray Mage and Rising Mage, is corruption we’ve seen all across the two-party system in our lifetimes. While I’ve been, to a degree, rather impressed with some of Donald Trump’s actions this time around, Carey Wedler of Pleasure to Burn also made it clear to remain skeptical:

“Considering Trump's appointments of corporate lobbyists, his empowerment of diehard Israel loyalists (along with his anti-free speech order to muzzle criticism of Israel under the guise of fighting antisemitism), and his efforts to advance the oligarchic technocracy, it is wise to view his presidency with skepticism.”

She’s right, and it’s why my work, which I call the Catenarian Chronicles, doesn’t really contain a “good side.” It’s another concept influenced by Holmes’ work, since you’ll meet the corrupt Durupinen vs. the psychotic Necromancers.

While I’m doing all I can to show readers that there is no good guy or even a lesser of the two evils regarding the powers that be, Holmes’ work is clearer. After you meet the Necromancers and discover their twisted endgame, you still won’t care for the Durupinen. But you will concede that they’re the clear-cut ‘lesser of the two evils.’

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This is a concept that continues into the Gateway Trackers, even if you find out something even more significant and outright inhumane regarding the Durupinen. Hint: Let’s just say they don’t mind imprisoning spirits to the physical realm for centuries if it means keeping a deep, dark secret or two. Still, the Durupinen are the clear-cut lesser of the two evils despite their atrocities.

As I write this, I’m currently at the endgame of outlining Rising Mage, with Astray Mage already in its early edits. And I can tell you this: the city of Prospera served as a key inspiration in Book III while a pair of political factions reared their ugly heads.

Giving readers a couple of choices of how to move forward

I think ‘a couple of choices’ are a little premature. My “superfans,” who’ve been kind enough to hand me a few advanced reviews prior to Cursed Mage’s release will have a chance to ask some questions that go unanswered in the book.

I’ve also concocted my own list, hoping to leave no stone unturned. But there’s also the choice of knowing and not knowing. I feel that, upon reading through Cursed Mage, the reader will think this is a classic good vs. evil tale…if they didn’t read the two-year prequel first.

Read the prequel first, and readers might have an inkling of what’s coming in Astray Mage. As I noted in a recent interview with Literary Titan, I compared what was coming in Astray Mage to the old TV show Lost. Remember it?

Things were never what they seemed in that mind-bender of a show. That said, I’m letting readers pick their poison.

Anyway, it should be fun to see what the masses think once they get a chance to read it. Deceived Mage is an optional read, which is why I never had it ‘serialized.’ And while Cursed Mage circulates through a decent handful of promotional sites, I’ll be able to rest a little, review a few more books and publish a few more pieces here on my backlog in the meantime.

One entertaining children’s book series that will counter official narratives

I was listening to Episode 2612 of the Tom Woods Show featuring Connor Boyack. The episode was entitled How to Evade the College Brainwashers, and it was one I listened to that made me wish I was back in school.

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During my latter days in high school, that comprised me gazing out the window and daydreaming about my next workout as opposed to listening to whatever it was the teacher droned about, I, like most people my age, had my sights set on college. Yeah, I was somehow operating under the illusion that the 2009-10 school year would be more valuable to me than anything high school offered.

I was wrong, of course, and paid about as much attention in college as I did in high school. The only difference was that I graduated with a 3.6 GPA since Wellness and Fitness came rather easily to me. Well, I worked as a personal trainer between 2012 and 2018, so go figure.

Anyway, the subject of this episode talked about Praxis, and I was blown away by Boyack and Woods’ discussion. Yeah, Tom just has that unique talent of always getting the right people onto his show.

Of course, Boyack is also famous for something else: Tuttle Twins, another children’s series that I’ll be digging into at some point over the next year or so. Once my current TBR list has been cleared a little, and it’ll be a while, I’ll dive right into them.

What are the Tuttle Twins, exactly?

For parents who might be concerned about what we see in some of today’s children’s literature, and I’m not getting into the details, the Tuttle Twins offers an outstanding antidote. How so? Well, just take a look at its sales page:

“Teach Your Kids the Principles of Liberty.

“The best-selling Tuttle Twins series teaches your kids how the world really works and the economic and civic truths they deserve to know.

“Finally, your whole family can enjoy fun, engaging, freedom-based stories that counter the media narrative and political agendas.

“When your child grasps the principles of freedom, entrepreneurship, and personal responsibility, they become unstoppable forces for good.”

As an author myself whose fiction is also centered around libertarian principles, it’s always great to come across someone who’s already carved out a bit of a path in the niche.

One reason I started The Libertarian Book Reviewer to begin with was to showcase works like the Tuttle Twins to my own audience, in hopes they’ll introduce the work to youngsters who will get something of real-world value from the books.

Currently, Boyack has books out there for toddlers, kids, and teens, so your child could grow up learning about the principles of liberty even before they learn how to read. It’s something I’d like to see more of in today’s world when progressivism continues to dominate the landscape in literature.

Oh, and if you’re a parent who would like a refresher or to just get introduced to a new outlook on, say, American history, Boyack has you covered as well with bundles that go over the subject.

Taking it to official narratives one book at a time

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that my work tends to be geared toward the young/new adult reader and I have little to no experience writing books for children and early teens. This was another reason behind my mission to create a TBR list for 2025 (and probably seeping into 2026) centered around children’s books and those appropriate for kids 12 and under.

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Connor Boyack made this one easy for me, given the gargantuan selection his website offers. Since these books are geared for younger audiences and will be considerably lighter reads, my plan’s to go through each of them quicker than I would some of the longer, darker, reads I’m usually attracted to.

That said, you’ll see more reviews here and fewer breakdowns, which is something I’ve been doing lately with E.E. Holmes’ Gateway Trilogy. So, in the coming months, often as a much-needed break from those darker reads, prepare yourself for the Tuttle Twins.

Here are the books that I plan on going through

The Tuttle Twins Learn About The Law

The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil

The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island

The Tuttle Twins and the Food Truck Fiasco

The Tuttle Twins and the Road to Surfdom

The Tuttle Twins and the Golden Rule

The Tuttle Twins and the Search for Atlas

The Tuttle Twins and their Spectacular Show Business

The Tuttle Twins and the Fate of the Future

The Tuttle Twins and the Education Vacation

The Tuttle Twins and the Messed Up Market

The Tuttle Twins and the Leviathan Crisis

The Tuttle Twins and the 12 Rules Bootcamp

The Tuttle Twins and the Medals of Merit

Like I said, this one will take a minute, especially since I have a steampunk dystopian novel to read, plus Spirit Ascendency, and other books geared toward youngsters. But, I’ve also been speeding through a few reads lately, and once my own upcoming work, Cursed Mage, is released, it’ll be on to reverting to regular content. Can’t wait!

Spirit Prophecy’s most important message rightfully bashes the politically-connected

Sorry for dishing out fewer posts lately. My highly-anticipated release of Cursed Mage is just over a week away, and it’s the culmination of a two-year venture that I’ve often dubbed my first “big project.” From editorial reviews, author interviews, and even an upcoming press release, a lot, and I mean a lot of time, effort, and energy went into the work.

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So, from now until at least the second week of March, expect a smaller number of book reviews and breakdowns to be written. But on the plus side, know that I’ve kept up with reading some physical books like Spirit Prophecy and even an audiobook like Across Five Aprils.

That said, there’s a lot to talk about and today, we’re continuing with yet another breakdown from Spirit Prophecy, and one of my favorite overall chapters and scenes.

The best scene in Spirit Prophecy could be disturbing to some, but…

One of the best scenes in Spirit Prophecy occurs when the Mean Girls haze Jess and Hannah. But don’t worry, it’s nothing violent. Or, at least it wasn’t intended to get serious. Anyway, the Mean Girls, all of whom are implied to be well-connected to the Durupinen Council in at least some way, break into Jess and Hannah’s room and kidnap them.

That’s what I’m calling it, at least. They then force Jess and Hannah out of the room, across the castle grounds, and into the ruins of a prison. Most of these Mean Girls just want to force Jess and Hannah to spend the night in those ruins, and nothing else, but their ringleader, Peyton, has another idea.

Peyton, who utters a casting that her mother, Marion, likely let her know about, claims to summon an Elemental. The short answer I can give here is that the Elemental is equivalent, in a way, to what a Dementor is in Harry Potter.

While most of the girls don’t believe it exists, Jess and Hannah find out otherwise. They’re forced to face the Elemental, and it’s about to get the best of them before Carrick and Finn come to the rescue.

While Jess and Hannah were glad to have survived the night, they also know, as does their Aunt Karen, that these Mean Girls won’t even get reprimanded. And that last quip is the sheer beauty of this scene and chapter.

From through the lens of my own eyes in government schools

Go back to your own experience in a government or heavily regulated private school, and I’m sure you saw the same thing happening. Heck, I remember that our football team was abysmal because there was politics being played - that one came from in-person sources.

Were Mom and Dad part of the athletic boosters or tied to the school in any way? Hey, you got a starting gig or at least a major role on the team. Oh, and you probably also got away with a lot more than the average kid that kept to themselves and fit as well into the school’s one-size, fits few curriculum about as well as Luke Combs singing at a K-pop concert.

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I don’t know if Combs has actually tried that, but you get the point. Anyway, those are always the flashbacks I got when reading that chapter, appropriately called Hazing.

As far as hazing itself, did it occur at my old school? To be honest, the short answer is, I don’t know. I didn’t see it, but I get the vibe that, if certain people there committed such acts, it wouldn’t have surprised me if they’d gotten away with it.

Depending on the severity of those acts, anyway. I’m not about to claim something major wouldn’t have warranted harsh penalties. Though I will go as far as to say this: There’s a good chance that, if certain people knew about something, in some schools, at least, there would be an attempt to ease some penalties.

I’m being vague here for a reason. But let’s just say that shortly after I graduated from school in the good old Upper Ohio Valley that a rather severe incident had taken place regarding several athletes from a well-respected football program in a nearby district that made national headlines.

If you’re reading between the lines, you might recall this and the dogfight that ensued in the following months. Anyway, back to Spirit Prophecy.

It gets worse than hazing, unfortunately, and borderline barbaric

I may’ve brought this up in a previous post, but the hazing involved in Spirit Prophecy was relatively minor compared to what the Mean Girls mainly led by Peyton and Olivia, did next.

During a subsequent crossing, the two girls (Peyton and Olivia share a Gateway) looked rather odd. Maybe you could say they even resembled goddesses, with clearer skin, and thicker, shinier hair, and they held a strange glow. That’s because they, like Peyton’s mom, decided to Leech some energy from spirits who they were crossing over through the aether and into the next world, or realm.

This meant they siphoned some of that spirit’s essence, which explained the uptick in their looks. It also explained why Marion and many of those on the Council and among the well-connected also resembled goddesses who never aged.

And while Finvarra, the High Priestess, could be fair at times, even she was rather lax with Leeching. There’s a reason for this, and it’s something that, if you read Holmes’ subsequent Gateway Trackers books, you’ll know why. For now, I’ll just say that this was more than for her benefit.

But what’s so bad about Leeching? Well, when one gets too greedy and Leeches too much of a spirit’s essence into themselves, that spirit can weaken and become disoriented. Confused, it puts them at risk of losing their way into the next realm and trapping them in the aether.

In other words, they’re stuck between the physical and spirit worlds, with no way back into one, and no way to the next.

Corruption all over the matriarchy that is

Something I’ve always loved about Holmes’ work is that it demonstrates something else: Just because a specific society, organization, or whatever is a matriarchy for the most part, it doesn’t mean it’s any less corrupt.

Spirit Prophecy shows off this corruption through and through, and it stems from a variety of characters from Marion to Finvarra. It’s what makes the book so memorable even among those who don’t possess an interest in paranormal fantasy.

Plus, since Spirit Legacy, Book I in the series, hardly scratches the surface of what the Durupinen are like, readers won’t be lost if they started with Spirit Prophecy. There are many reasons why I’ve always recommended this book, but the way the Mean Girls hazed Jess and Hannah and got off scot-free, plus their subsequent Leeching episode in plain sight of an enabling High Priestess, drives this work home.

The absolute best Harry Potter character laid a fine blueprint for life

If I were to rank my top five favorite characters from J.K. Rowling’s classic Harry Potter series, it’d go something like this:

5. Neville Longbottom

4. Lord Voldemort

3. Sirius Black

2. Albus Dumbledore

1. Redacted (For Now)

Now, it’s the ‘why’ for Characters No. 5 through No. 2. Starting with Neville, I loved his arc. He’s somebody who should provide a confidence boost for anyone struggling to find their god given abilities, especially if one’s going through years of trying and frustration.

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We first met Neville in Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone, and for the next four books, he was known for being forgetful, accident-prone, and talentless unless it had something to do with Herbology. And no, movie watchers, Neville never gave Harry gillyweed nor did he stumble upon the Room of Requirement in the books. That was Dobby the House Elf.

Lord Voldemort is a character you’ll feel antagonistic sympathy for

Throughout the first five books, Lord Voldemort was, for the most part, a flat character. He symbolized pure evil and in many cases, he was. In Half-Blood Prince, however, Rowling provided layers for his character.

While we knew Voldemort’s dad, Tom Riddle Sr., abandoned his mother, Merope Gaunt, while she was pregnant with him, we then learned why that was. Merope hoodwinked Riddle Sr. with a love potion, meaning Voldemort stemmed from a “loveless relationship.”

A heartbroken Merope died shortly after giving birth to Voldemort (Tom Marvolo Riddle), basically choosing to die over living for her son. Tom then spent his youth in an orphanage that he hated and never felt loved by anyone.

Yeah, he was dealt a horrific hand, and it makes you wonder what would’ve happened if Merope chose, or managed, to live. While Tom was an evil psychopath, and barely human at the end of the day, his situation is one I’d never wish on anyone.

Sirius Black also got a raw deal

Sirius was that “cool kid” in school everyone wanted to be friends with. Or, almost everyone. Besides its boring curriculum, Sirius was one of the reasons I was more interested in goofing around in middle school and high school as opposed to taking it seriously.

It was just more fun to sleep in class, throw bits of paper across the room when the teacher wasn’t looking, act like I was reading my textbook when I was actually reading a novel - just hide the book in front of the textbook and the teacher would never know - and taking a zero on select midterm and final exams because I didn’t feel like showing up.

You can probably call Sirius a bad influence. But there’s a lot we can learn about Sirius’ situation and how it pertains to, well, bad government. In Goblet of Fire, (Padfoot Returns) Sirius recounts that when he was convicted of murdering 12 Muggles and Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), he was never given a trial.

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Instead, Sirius was sent to rot in Azkaban. You’d have thought a bright wizard like Albus Dumbledore would’ve come to Sirius’ aid, or at least requested a fair trial, right? I mean, Dumbledore did go to bat for Harry in Order of the Phoenix.

So, here’s Sirius, condemned to a life sentence in Azkaban without even being given a speedy and public trial. Meanwhile, Sirius knew the truth the entire time. Then, a couple years after he breaks out of Azkaban, and while on the run during Voldemort’s return to power, he’s basically forced under house arrest. Living in a home that he hated growing up in and with a House Elf who hated him (and Buckbeak the hippogriff) as his only company unless it was a holiday.

Sirius’ tragic tale doesn’t justify his reckless and sometimes short personality. But he lived a difficult and resentful life, mainly because forces he couldn’t control condemned him to it.

Albus Dumbledore had skeletons in his closet the whole time

My two favorite characters on this list are those fans love, hate, or love to hate. One of them is Albus Dumbledore, mainly for a few reasons. For one, Dumbledore had some dark thoughts shortly after his youth and was a believer in wizarding supremacy.

Sounds like Lord Voldemort, right? He also had his blinders on, with his love interest, Gellert Grindelwald, seeking the same thing. Of course, this New Wizarding Order (insert nWo theme song here - nah, just joking) never got off the ground with Dumbledore leading it, thanks to intervention from his sometimes-estranged brother, Aberforth.

Of course, we know what happened. There was a duel, someone killed his and Aberforth’s sister, Ariana, and Albus changed for the better. Still, could you imagine how much one would torture themselves mentally and emotionally if they ended up in a similar situation? Bonus Points: I actually used this as inspiration for a storyline in my dark epic fantasy, Spirit and Fire.

Dumbledore himself may’ve killed Ariana, for all he knew. At that point, he became a force for good. He put an end to Grindelwald’s reign of terror, led the fight against Voldemort, and also understood he wasn’t fit to run the Wizarding government - how many people in real life should admit the same?

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Some fans may not like Dumbledore much because of the way he consistently concealed the truth about Harry Potter’s ultimate fate from everyone. Or, what would’ve been his ultimate fate if there wasn’t a flaw in Voldemort’s plan? But honestly, is there any way one could relay this to a teenager? Wouldn’t be a fun endeavor.

Anyway, in my mind, Dumbledore’s been redeemed, and it shows us that we don’t need to judge others based on their past.

Severus Snape

Oh yes, Severus Snape teaches us more life lessons than anything else. For one, don’t get so obsessed over a girl or you may “dwell on dreams and forget to live.” Yeah, Snape may have personified that, and it’s the first life and one of the more basic life lessons he can teach us.

Secondly, Snape outsmarted academia from a young age. He knew a lot about the dark arts before setting foot inside Hogwarts, and that puts a damper on his character to some.

But still, he tossed textbook potion ingredients aside and made his own, invented his own spells, and was arguably the most powerful wizard in the series next to Dumbledore (No. 1) and Voldemort (No. 2). Hey, Dumbledore won that duel in the Atrium, despite it technically being ruled a stalemate.

Still, what jumped out at me the most regarding Snape was his willingness to put himself in more danger than anyone in the series, including Harry. Yeah, Voldemort and his Death Eaters were after Harry and they all wanted him dead. This made Harry a marked man unlike any other.

But Snape was the one willing to face Voldemort often even when he jumped ship to side with Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix. That same Voldemort who saw through lies with ease and it was something Snape knew rather well.

Snape’s No. 1 life lesson

Still, Snape managed to infiltrate Voldemort’s ranks, look him in the eye, and continually pretend he was still a Death Eater. And that’s the biggest takeaway here. In today’s world, we see so many instances in which we’re faced with something we don’t agree with or even like, whether it’s in school, the workplace, or wherever.

To change things, sometimes we need to put ourselves in a position to get to know what the other side is saying. Take DEI, for example. It’s something many of us libertarians aren’t fond of, yet if we’re serious about ending it for good, getting to know and even finding ways to help dismantle it might mean getting up close, and personal, and exposing its flaws through reason.

Doing this on a rather grassroots level even. Within communities, which can ultimately create a snowball effect. Exposing its notoriety for not only shunting individuals into collective groups but also its potential violations of, say, the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As Jon Miltimore wrote in a recent article via his Substack:

“ESG and DEI have been in retreat for some time, but an avalanche of new lawsuits suggest that Americans are waking up to the fact that many of these policies are not just unethical but illegal.”

That said, Snape shows us that it’s okay to take risks, some that are necessary, and to have courage in doing so. The second it was confirmed to me in The Prince’s Tale, of Deathly Hallows, he became my favorite character right then and there, and it remains true to this day.

Characters can carry redemption arcs

Redemption arcs are among my favorite tropes in fiction, and while you don’t see it in the prequel of my own upcoming Harry Potter-inspired series, Arcane Elemental Academy, Book I, The Arcane Prophecy, might just set the wheels in motion.

Okay, so maybe I spoke too soon. You might indeed find some character redemption in that short, little prequel of mine, Arcane Awakenings. And it opens the door to a world rife with elemental magic. One that tells a tale through a libertarian perspective of education. Or, one of a few libertarian perspectives regarding the issue.

Download your free copy of Arcane Awakenings - no, you’re not required to join my mailing list but you may receive some goodies if you do - and dig into the prequel today.

The book reviewer getting reviewed as Cursed Mage steamrolls toward release date

One reason I love breaking down and reviewing books is to give recognition to authors who deserve them. With so many authors out there and even more books, it’s easy to get buried in a pile of cyber dust at just about any online store, whether it’s Amazon, Nook, Kobo, or even your own, if you have one.

That said, one way to circumvent this is to choose a niche - for me it’s fiction with libertarian slants and occasional nonfiction - and give those well-deserving authors recognition.

Yeah, I’ll talk about well-known books too, as their content may also contain more pro-liberty concepts than some may think. That’s why you get a lot of Harry Potter, plus some classics, just to throw a couple out there.

Another reason behind it is, as an author myself, I always appreciate it when I get some recognition. So, returning the favor to authors who I like but some may not know about is a rewarding endeavor.

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And that’s why there are so many emotions going through me right now as Cursed Mage heads into the ‘two weeks before its release date mark.’ Rather crazy, considering I started writing the first draft back in 2023. Then I set the work down for a while and did all I could to perfect it. So far, it’s come together quite nicely with some cool reviews to back it up.

One long-form review has come and more are on the way

This past Friday, I was pleased to see that Literary Titan let me know that my review was in. Not knowing what to expect, since Cursed Mage can fit into a few subgenres of fantasy, that nervous excitement was brewing. But, I was relieved to see I’d gotten an outstanding review.

Below, you’ll catch just a snippet of what Literary Titan had to say!

“Cursed Mage is a must-read for fans of urban fantasy, especially if you like your magic systems tangled in real-world conflicts and your protagonists with just the right amount of bite. It’s a mix of mystery, magic, and survival, all wrapped up in an engaging, fast-paced read that keeps you guessing until the end.”

That was cool to see, and there are a few others coming over the next couple of weeks that I’ll be glad to share. But there’s also a lot of work to be done still - I’ll be getting a generic version of the paperback up onto Amazon to get some early review on the site as well from my review team, and once the back cover and spine are complete, it’ll go hand-in-hand with the work’s launch on March 3rd.

Then, there’s the audiobook, and it’ll be taking up a lot of my time over the next few days. Audiobooks have become go-to’s these days, and it’ll be fun and rather challenging to concoct since it’ll be my first rodeo doing so on my own and I’ll have no idea what to expect.

Speaking success into existence helps like none other

When I’m not writing, reading, or reviewing books, you can sometimes catch me watching funny prank videos on YouTube. Blake Bachert is one of if not my favorite, and recently, I caught a video of him “speaking” the growth of his channel and audience into existence.

I can’t recall when exactly he did that or which video it was, but Blake now has over 366,000 subscribers the last time I checked out his channel’s profile, and that number’s probably about to grow exponentially. He’s too funny and the risks he takes are ones I’ll never think of even trying, such as pretending to work at Honda, the Zoo, or changing the signs on public bathrooms.

Despite those antics, “speaking it into existence” is one of his many words of wisdom. And it’s something I’ve started doing myself. It’s a seed planter, in other words, that my book like Cursed Mage will get, in time dozens, or hundreds, of four and five-star reviews, thousands of sales, and from those sales will come thousands of subs to my mailing list. And they may trickle onto The Libertarian Book Reviewer if they’re interested in the niche.

So far, I’d written plenty of books but never had it in me to take the risk and sell many of them beyond my modest mailing list. I told myself that was going to change with Cursed Mage, no matter what. And so far, with several honest reviews on Goodreads - complete with my placeholder cover - a couple of weeks before takeoff, it’s been trending in that direction.

From Shey Saints:

“If you’re into the thrill of not knowing what really happened and what will happen next, then this is the perfect multi-genre fantasy to read. “

Let’s hope for a few more ratings and reviews like Literary Titan’s and Shey’s, as I put part of my own soul into Cursed Mage which, in case you didn’t know, drew heavy inspiration from E.E. Holmes’ Spirit Legacy.

Cursed Mage is just one of a few series rolling

As you know by now, I like to sporadically post updates to my own work, as many of the books I read and review here helped inspire them. But as an author who gets bored writing in just one niche or genre, Cursed Mage is just one of a few “big projects” I got going on at the moment.

Another one is my dark epic fantasy, Cymraeg Tales. Book I in the series, Spirit and Fire, is currently in “makeover mode,” and one that I’ll be relaunching upon the release date of Book II, Spirit and Water.

Of course, the book series I love bringing up the most, especially when I’m reviewing nonfiction, is my young adult libertarian fantasy series, Arcane Elemental Academy. Book I in the series, The Arcane Prophecy, has been through a couple of developmental edits and is coming along better than I expected at this stage.

And finally, I’ve dipped into dystopian/survival, with a trilogy I’ll be rapidly publishing a little more than a minute from now called Beyond the Lost. This one takes a deep dive into libertarian thought and even challenges official historical narratives, something that brims in Book I. I can’t wait to cover it in more detail at some point over the next few months.

Anyway, once Cursed Mage is up and ready to roll, it’ll be ‘try and make the most of authorpreneurship.’ We’ll see how that fares and, in the meantime, I’ll be breaking down and reviewing some awesome books by other awesome authors right here.

John Taylor Gatto’s Dumbing Us Down: A collection the establishment doesn’t want you to read

I first crossed John Taylor Gatto’s work when I read the essay, I Quit, I Think. In it, Gatto, a former government school teacher, chastised the state of public education. Since that essay, little has changed in the realm of government schooling, something that one can provide a sound argument is a propaganda machine as opposed to an institution that educates.

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This nonfiction collection of speeches is one of many that serves as some backdrop for my upcoming young adult libertarian fiction series, Arcane Elemental Academy. While that work tells a compelling tale inspired loosely by Harry Potter, the underlying story is what makes it so rewarding.

And it challenges much of what Gatto himself is challenging in Dumbing Us Down. For one, he talks a lot about the bell system, and how it can be structured to teach kids that nothing they do in school is important. Harkening back to my own school days, I couldn’t agree more.

Just a few examples regarding the bell system from my own school days

Anything, such as a specific class, for example, that I saw value in, it was always disheartening to know I’d be there for a finite time, no longer than 75 minutes. I remember my tenth-grade biology class, taught by inarguably the best teacher in the school.

I couldn’t tell you the last time I found a science class so entertaining, but he made you want to stick around all afternoon. That’s if his pet tarantula didn’t freak you out. It was a stark contrast from physical science the year prior in 2005-06 when I struggled to even stay awake. Well, unless you anticipated the teacher’s reaction if someone was audacious enough to write ‘BRICKS’ across the board but that’s a tale for another time.

Or, my earth science class in 2004-05, in which the teacher constantly snapped at me to pay attention.

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But was this biology class any more important than college prep English? Algebra? To me, the answer was yes. To the school and its bell system, the answer was no.

I spent most of my twenties working as a personal trainer and I was pretty good at it. An itch to try and make a living as a writer forced me out and that was my own decision. I brought this up because back in high school, we had a class called weight training, another one I could’ve spent all day in.

Wouldn’t I have gotten so much more out of school if I was allowed to hang around the weight room, learning how to correct form and design programs for a few hours?

Chances are, I’d have graduated high school far ahead of a few others who took up the profession. And if you’re keeping score, don’t biological sciences kind of go hand-in-hand here?

A fringe rural high school well-known for its FFA program

This isn’t all about me, though. But I wanted to hammer in on the bell system because it was one part of Gatto’s work that jumped out at me more than anything else. This is also about the one common interest many I went to school with shared: Their love for rural agriculture and industrial arts.

That said, the school maintains a strong Future Farmers of America (FFA) presence, and probably always will. Naturally, agricultural shop (industrial arts) and agricultural science were a pair of classes in high demand.

I know dozens of people I went to school with who never fared too well in subjects like math, science, and language arts. But when you put them in a shop room or if they were busy learning something in the agricultural science field, they thrived.

Wouldn’t that have been a better outlet for them to spend most if not all of their school day in their elements? I can tell you that a lot of them went on to have careers that were, in many ways, at least somewhat related to the agricultural shop and science fields.

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It wasn’t my cup of tea, but if these classes were more than just electives that one would take for a maximum of two hours a day, they probably would’ve enjoyed school a little, or a lot, more.

Instead, the bell system limited their time in these classes. Although many of them now do something that’s at least somewhat related to these fields, it nonetheless diminished their level of importance when they had other subjects, not to mention homework in those subjects, to attend to.

Side note: Most of them, and myself for that matter, managed to get our homework done the following day when the teacher was talking. You just had to hope they spoke long enough before they asked you to hand in those assignments.

Another aspect that jumped out in Dumbing Us Down

I loved how Gatto recalled one student who was placed into the wrong reading class. It was a lower-level class in a school district where Gatto served as a substitute.

He noticed this individual was a gifted reader. When he brought this up to the school administrators, they retorted that the student wasn’t gifted, and they instead made excuses. The student, they claimed, read a few sections well, or they just memorized sections.

Still, after some insistence, the administration put this reader through a test. When the reader passed, the admin was forced to admit that yes, the reader was misplaced. This part also jumped out at me unlike any other, having witnessed quite a few instances myself while in school in which students ended up in classes they never should’ve been in.

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I was nearly misplaced myself. Remember that weight training story I told you earlier? I was initially barred from taking the class since I never played a sport in middle school. The class stated that for one to take weight training, playing a fall, winter, or spring sport was a prerequisite.

After my own insistence that I take the class and a little family intervention on my behalf - that old parents vs. the government school battle at its finest - I ended up in the class. And you don’t have to have been Nostradamus to predict that I excelled and absorbed the info like a sponge, many principles of which I still use to this day. Okay, so maybe government school did make itself somewhat useful, but only after I forced my way into weight training.

But what if they still denied me and I had to take gym class instead? My options for weight training would’ve been limited to my own weight set at home which I was dangerously close to “growing out of.” I likely wouldn’t have seen a weight room until I obtained my driver’s license in 2007 and sought out a local gym.

Tiny tidbits that warrant closer looks in Arcane

I liked how Gatto touched on the artificial environment that government schools (it’s what we call public schools, in case you’re not initiated) bring. That “one size fits few (if any) setting. Some play the game of school well, and they’re rewarded for it.

However, for this to happen, one must:

Question little, at most, of what the curriculum is instilling

Sit down at an uncomfortable desk, face the front, and give undivided attention when class begins

Speak only when spoken or given permission to or speak only in designated areas

Complete homework - which is where state intervention invades the home

React reflexively at the sound of a bell and hurry to another class

Interact only with peers you have permission to interact with

Follow any and other petty rules to a T

Stay in the building while changing classes

Our school went on perpetual “lockdown” starting in 2007-08

Don’t bring anything to drink while in class, even if the AC is nonexistent

I did a good job of hiding this from the teachers, but mistakes were made

Stop at your locker only at designated times

My school actually had a rule about this - only got caught once!

Remember that the hallways are a one-way street

Even if your next class is right up the next flight of stairs

Make sure you have a relative who’s involved in the district

My district was notorious for playing politics, which isn’t out of the ordinary

Don’t use the restroom without asking

My friend was denied access for this one and he responded in the most hilarious way - but he was only suspended for two days!

Something I wanted to bring to Arcane Elemental Academy involved challenging all of the above. While Yote Diamondback (her name is a nod to the old Arizona Coyotes and the Arizona Diamondbacks) had followed all of the above to that T prior to my upcoming Book I, The Arcane Prophecy, it’s not long until she finds out that there are better ways to go about learning.

Enter the Arcane Elemental Academy, which consists of 32 different schools under it, each of which is its own micro-school or learning pod, conforming to the learning styles and interests of students who choose to enroll in one of the respective schools.

Of course, Yote is in for the culture shock of her life. But it’s not long until Yote finds out that she’s so gifted, that she’s put into different cohorts of students, not all of whom are her own age. She’s also finding herself interacting with many teachers and people of different age groups, not all of latter are school employees, by the way. Another plus.

Thanks to work like Dumbing Us Down, it only increased my understanding for not just The Arcane Prophecy, but the entire Arcane Elemental Academy Series. And you can get your preview by downloading Arcane Awakenings, the series’ prequel novella, at no cost by clicking the image above.

Just how libertarian is the Harry Potter Series? AI led me to a startling answer

Everyone has their own opinions on the good old AI revolution. Some are 100 percent against this revolutionary tech, others are 100 in love with it, and there are numerous third, fourth, fifth, and infinite thoughts.

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For me, I like to use it when I need it. If I need it, it’s there, and asking AI to clarify something is often my main motivator for using it. Well, that and, if I decide to dive into an unfamiliar genre that I’ve recently fallen in love with, like Steampunk, for example, it provides a great crash course to write fiction in IF one knows how to prompt it right.

Bad prompts lead to some horrific stories that contradict and repeat themselves. Trust me, I’ve tried it. But you’ll be surprised what the right prompts can do. So, for this one, the question was simple: What fiction book genres are best for libertarians?

Note, I said fiction and not nonfiction, since more than a few great libertarian historians, philosophers, and economists have done the dirty work for us. Fiction, however, is what’s lacking. And it’s something the great Ron Paul implied in one of his first Weekly Columns of the year.

The answer? Science Fiction and Fantasy. That’s a lifesaver, considering my own works contain elements of both. Dystopian fiction, naturally, was also mentioned, and it’s clear why that’s the case. Anyway, a few book series got a nice, little deep dive over at LFS.org in a piece by Ilya Somin all the way back in mid-2011. A source that AI linked when I typed in the prompt.

Curious, since I just told a story in a previous post about the Summer of 2011 that involved the next 13 months of my life. Anyway, back to the discussion at hand.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Harry Potter

I didn’t kick things off by asking AI whether Harry Potter was a libertarian-oriented series. But if you read Order of the Phoenix, any libertarian would fall in love with the work in about two seconds. Yeah, they might despise Dolores Umbridge (who doesn’t?), but goodness, she makes Anthony Fauci look like a saint. Not really, but you see the point, I hope.

Anyway, we know J.K. Rowling, especially back in 2011, had a history of placing herself more on the liberal/progressive side of the spectrum. At least until she said something that those same liberals/progressives didn’t like and they basically rendered her an outcast over it. But then again, this was someone whose main character and few others had the courage to say ‘Voldemort,’ so at least Rowling’s being true to herself here.

Other authors mentioned included George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones) and J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings). Still, Rowling’s work jumped out at me the most, since A) It’s my favorite, and B) I’ve long found it somewhat ironic that a liberal/progressive had it in them to make big government look bad.

Somin wrote the following:

“In his article “Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Bureaucracy,” law professor Benjamin Barton points out that the Ministry exemplifies the worst nightmares of libertarian public choice economists. It is a government that consists almost entirely of unaccountable bureaucrats who pursue their narrow self-interest at the expense of the public good. Ministry officials routinely abuse their powers with little or no effective constraint imposed by the press, public opinion, or the democratic process. They violate civil rights, imprison the innocent, and engage in crude propaganda. When pompous Ministry bureaucrat Dolores Umbridge temporarily takes over as headmistress of the heroes’ Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she institutes a virtual reign of terror.”

Rowling’s work isn’t a perfect rendition, however

While it’s true that Rowling went out of her way to chastise big government, she’s committed one fallacy that I see at times in fiction: Replacing that government with the ‘right people.’ Rowling heavily implies that the reformed Ministry of Magic following Deathly Hallows runs things more smoothly than what we’d seen under Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Lord Voldemort’s puppet government.

And I’ll concede that it’s true your mainstream Left and mainstream Right may think, “All was well,” when their people are in charge, raw numbers and data say otherwise. It’s why I loved it when the media came out and acted like the economy was “booming” because of six-figure job growth under the Biden presidency, only for Ryan McMaken at the Mises Institute to put those claims to sleep with ease.

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Not to mention the $36 trillion debt, massive foreign aid, lower standards of living thanks to inflation via the COVID crisis, I can go on and on here. So, we’ve spent decades trying to put ‘the right people in office,’ but it hasn’t happened yet, and I don’t foresee it being the case if government continues to grow.

I’ll also concede that Donald Trump hasn’t done a half-bad job at this point, but what’s three weeks into one’s second presidency to go on? At this point, Javier Milei down in Argentina may be as close as to ‘the right person in office,’ but he doesn’t come without his flaws. Anyway, I hope I’m wrong here, and that Trump knocks it out of the park between now and 2028.

All of that said, Rowling did show us that the Ministry put plenty of the wrong people in charge, not just one bureaucrat’s administration. So she gets a few points for that. Here’s what Somin said about ‘the wrong people:’

“Throughout the series, Rowling implies that the Ministry’s flaws are structural, not merely a result of the wrong people being in power. Even after the ineffectual Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is replaced in the sixth book by a more decisive leader, the Ministry’s performance does not improve. There are some well-intentioned and competent officials in the Ministry, such as Ron’s father Arthur Weasley. But they are unable to effectively oppose the more ruthless bureaucrats who dominate the organization. The idea that the flaws of government are inherent and can only be alleviated by limiting the state’s powers is, of course, central to libertarian thought.”

Arthur Weasley was well-intentioned?

I’d actually disagree with Arthur Weasley being “well-intentioned.” Instead, I’d call him the stereotypical “least of the evils.” In Book II, Chamber of Secrets, Arthur, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, intentionally left open a loophole in the law that, legally, allowed him to bewitch a Ford Anglia to fly, claiming a clause in the law that bewitching it was legal if one didn’t intend to fly, or use it for the wrong reasons.

Of course, his wife, Molly, called him out. And I’m paraphrasing, “You made sure that loophole was there when you wrote that law, Arthur Weasley.”

So, back to my main point: Going by recent history, ‘the right people’ just haven’t transformed from fiction into reality. That said, Rowling did get a few more things right with Harry Potter and libertarianism.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the gold standard

If any of you have never read a single word of the Harry Potter Series but you want the most libertarian book in the series, look no further than Order of the Phoenix. Somin cites several aspects of this book, which drives home the point that you can’t get any more libertarian than OP.

Not but only is the Ministry so flawed it’d make the former Biden/Harris administration at least look somewhat decent; it had the legacy media - the Daily Prophet - serving as its greatest cheerleaders. Especially when it came to smearing Harry and his mentor/Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

“The Ministry also signally fails to carry what even most libertarians agree is a core function of government: defense against attack. Despite repeated warnings from Harry, his mentor Albus Dumbledore, and others, the Ministry remains oblivious to the threat of Voldemort until it is far too late. The only genuinely effective opposition to Voldemort is provided by the Order of the Phoenix, a private organization.”

Somin ends the section with the following thoughts:

“Nevertheless, the Harry Potter series reflects a suspicion of government almost as great as that of libertarians. Barton speculates that Rowling’s negative portrayal of the wizard government stems from her own unpleasant experiences with British welfare bureaucrats during her years as a poor single mother. Be that as it may, the series certainly incorporates some strongly libertarian themes, whether or not that was the author’s conscious intention.”

Is Harry Potter the king of libertarian fantasy?

That’s up for debate. A Harry Potter fan who knows his House (Ravenclaw), his wand (Laurel, with Dragon Heartstring), and even his Patronus (Black Mamba), would have a clear bias. Plus, in late 2024, I admitted I’d never gotten around to reading Lord of the Rings, and that it too graced my 2025 TBR list.

I also never cared for Game of Thrones, if you want my honest answer. I don’t know, it just wasn’t for me and I gave up after about 90 minutes. That said, I’d naturally call Harry Potter king at the moment, but we’ll see what happens when I’m introduced to Tolkien.

Either way, if you’re libertarian and you have nothing against Harry Potter - I know quite a few people who still won’t read it because of its magical elements which pales in comparison to actual witchcraft - then I’ll highly recommend it now, and, most likely 50 years from now. Hopefully, I’m still hitting the gym hard a half-century from today!!

Anyway, Harry Potter is easy to read, the setting of Hogwarts becomes a character in and of itself, and there are few plots that are better put together. If Potter isn’t the king of libertarian fantasy, it’s definitely up there.

My upcoming young adult libertarian fantasy, Arcane Elemental Academy, might be lucky enough to become a foot soldier as far as libertarian fantasy goes. You can get your free prequel to the series, Arcane Awakenings, and join my mailing list, where I’ll talk about Harry Potter inspiring the series along with quite a few of the greatest libertarian thinkers out there. Especially those in the education niche.

When a Leftist encountered a little-known Catholic Fiction author

I laugh when I look back between the years 2007 and 2011. Part of me longs to return to those days, when my biggest concern, for the most part, involved who was winning on NFL Sunday. Those were fun times and, now that I’m older and wiser, I would never trade them for anything.

Often, we’d spend the Sunday afternoons at my grandparents’ place in tiny Wintersville, Ohio. A village that looks like a Christmas card between December and February when there’s snow on the ground and the trees are bare. It’s a town that inspired Aurora Village, the primary setting in my to-be-released young adult libertarian fantasy, The Arcane Prophecy.

By Nyttend - Own work, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

And it’s also the location where my political views changed, or at least the seeds were sown for those changes. There used to be a grocery store smack-dab in the center of town called Riesbecks. It’s where I snagged my first real job in August 2011, and on my second day there, I met a self-published author for the first time.

This author stated he’d written some books. But I didn’t take him too seriously. There was just something off about the guy. He kind of slurred his words, remembered nobody’s name (I was often called Zach), and kept to himself, opting to collect carts rather than bag groceries.

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It wasn’t until maybe a week or two in when another worker, Ray, stated, “He’s kind of tough to understand.” At that point, Ray told me about this accident the guy had been involved in at some point before I started working there. Obviously, I was taken aback by this, but as it turned out, this author indeed wrote some books.

A Catholic Fiction author helped change my political views

During this time, I had several influences on why my views shifted from a far-left, basically democratically socialist mindset into one that embraced libertarianism a little more. One influence was a microeconomics teacher who introduced me to works by Ludwig von Mises, Ron Paul, and Murray N. Rothbard.

Another was a public speaking teacher whose class I had every Tuesday and Thursday during the fall semester at the now-defunct Eastern Gateway Community College in nearby uptown Steubenville.

Just for the record, uptown Steubenville was basically an extension of Wintersville, or vice versa. Head downtown and it’s like you drove into another dimension. No kidding. The valley casts an eerie shadow over downtown Steubenville that you don’t see when you’re uptown or in neighboring Wintersville, where you feel like you’re on top of the world.

That “on top of the world feeling in Wintersville.” Sorry if it’s a little grainy - cropped it from my phone!

Before I get too carried away, this teacher was a self-described libertarian. Someone who took up the philosophy “before it was cool to be a libertarian,” he’d say. But neither my micro teacher nor my public speaking teacher garnered the same effect as this particular author.

I’ll never be a Catholic, but it doesn’t mean there’s no value here

Ancient runes, the god Tyr, and Germanic/Norse religions are what I’ve been drawn to for years and that’ll never change in the foreseeable future. But it doesn’t mean I’m one to reject or disown the Catholic or Protestant faiths, especially when I see eye-to-eye with them on some issues.

But this author’s experience was the single aspect that shifted me more than anything else. Other than writing some awesome Catholic-inspired dystopian fiction which I wish he’d have in print these days, there was one book that he had on this order form in the back of In the Wake of Michael, entitled St. Anthony Over Kansas.

I’ve done a deep dive to see if I could locate this hidden gem and, alas, I’ve come up empty-handed. So at this point, I can only speculate what’s in the contents of this book. Anyway, when I got around to asking him about the books he’d written, he handed me a couple copies of In the Wake of Michael, and it’s how I discovered St. Anthony Over Kansas, if you want the quick rundown.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to learning about the book’s existence until I started reading In the Wake of Michael in the late summer of 2012, shortly after I left Riesbecks to begin a personal training position at Anytime Fitness in nearby Weirton, West Virginia.

It never crossed my mind that, when I’d see this author every now and again, to ask for a copy. But his description of the work always intrigued me. While I’d basically shifted my views to libertarian for the greater part by the time I read the description, that book description drove it home.

St. Anthony Over Kansas was based on bone-chilling true events

Before I get into the description itself, I want to give you a little rundown on what I’d been able to piece together about this author. I was recently reading PsyWar by Dr.s Robert and Jill Malone, and I remember them talking about how the Catholic Church is a natural enemy of the modern state - I’m paraphrasing here. Oh, and if you haven’t checked out Malone’s Substack, I highly recommend it.

Well, in his prime, this author was very, very outspoken against many of the federal departments we see in the U.S. today and international organizations like the U.N., just to throw one out there. I also know he had an active newsletter going on which I believed was called Yellowstone. If I had to pinpoint the letter’s time frame, it sounded like he contributed to this in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

I know a lot of us are outspoken against statism, the attempt for a globalist new world order, etc., but I have an inkling he took things even further. I don’t know how far, or whatever, but the synopsis of St. Anthony Over Kansas makes me think, well, he knew something.

Anyway, I’m finished chit-chatting. I’ll share the description below and since these things don’t exist unless there are pictures, I’ll attach a photo for visual proof. So, here goes nothing…

The Synopsis

In May of 2000, I was returning to Ohio from California where I had just purchased a Cessna T-201 airplane. I had been followed from Minneapolis to San Jose on that trip. At 17,500 feet, blazing across the night sky of Kansas at 220 mph, we lost our engine. We had an emergency power-off landing complete with fire trucks and rescue personnel in LIBERAL, KANSAS! (Author’s emphasis, not mine). The cause?: Vapor lock due to an exhaust leak onto the main fuel line. The exhaust system was brand new.

Coupled with the fact that I was followed, I believe the US Government tried to do away with me. Saint Anthony and Our Lady of the Rosary had other plans for me, however…I have turned this true story into a novel: St. Anthony Over Kansas. I hope that you’ll consider ordering this book too. Oh, and be sure to order the book that launched my career into exposing the coming One World Government - Rebuking the New World Order.

Something to remember is that these books were published long before Amazon KDP was even thought of. And as you can see, this was all mainly during the days of paper order forms with limited options of ordering online when these books were published. Naturally, very, very few of them exist and they’ve been out of print for going on roughly two and a half decades.

If anyone’s got a copy of St. Anthony Over Kansas…

I’m hoping to, someday, have the opportunity to read this book, review it here, and share it with you. Until I can locate a copy, it’s just not possible, and I can only speculate. But that description made a drastic and long-lasting impression on me.

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It’s a major reason why I once saw a crisis coming at some point in which so many people would demand that the government usurp their civil liberties to “keep them safe.” By the end of the decade, that crisis was no longer a product of my own imagination.

Late last year, Robert Malone was kind enough to share some of the U.N.’s Summit of the Future goals. I remember him saying in that article before taking the deep dive was, “Read and be afraid. Be very afraid.”

And given what this author I’ve been talking about had gone through in what had to be one of the most frightening moments of his life, plus what Malone’s gone through since the turn of the decade, the powers that be or, maybe for the time being, want to be, do their due diligence. And that’s one scary thought.

One theme the Gateway Trilogy possesses will make it a favorite among libertarians

Now that my life seems in order, the time’s come for deeper dives. And trust me, Month 1 of 2025 was outright chaos, but not in a bad way. The good news is that I finally have some sacred reading time carved out, meaning I’m making leaps and bounds with E.E. Holmes’ Spirit Prophecy.

This is a book I’ve continually said libertarians will love, as I’ve mentioned in previous pieces. That said, I highly doubt Holmes is a libertarian but that doesn’t mean we can’t dig deep and find some themes that match the philosophy. In this case, we don’t need to dig deep at all.

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Early in the book, there’s a chapter called Gender Politics, and if you’re anything like me, it’s a section that piqued my interest. Well, these days, not so much, because the scene in which we meet Fiona, Jess Ballard’s mentor, is literally just a few away, and Fiona’s my favorite character besides Hannah.

The woman is a complete lunatic, almost a mixture between Severus Snape (the book version) from Harry Potter and Doc from Back to the Future if you want a quick take on her personality. Anyway, flashing back to Chapter 5, we get the inside scoop on the Durupinen (duruh-pine-in) and their relationship with the Caomhnoir (keev-noor).

It’s also the scene when we meet Finn Carey, another favorite of mine. He quickly becomes the book’s most complex character within a single scene, might I add. And a lot of it has to do with the turbulent and at best, cordial, relationship between the Gateway (Durupinen) and their Protectors (Caomhnoir).

A foreshadowing tale of what makes central planning awful

In the scene, we notice what’s called a Sanctity Line. On one side of it, the Durupinen sit and on the other side, the Caomhnoir. Then, Mackie, one of the few Durupinen Apprentices who is friendly toward Jess and Hannah, explains why the Sanctity Line is there, and that it’s symbolic of keeping the Durupinen and Caomhnoir separate, or pure.

This becomes a major talking point throughout the book, especially since Jess doesn’t like the idea of having a male protector. She sees the Durupinen as stuck in their ways, and she’s right. Very, very right. But even she doesn’t know how right she is.

See, the Durupinen go as far as to forbid their Sisterhood to get romantic with the Caomhnoir, and there are strict punishments for those who break that rule. We find out later why that is, and since this one’s full of fantasy genre tropes, you can guess it has something to do with Jess and Hannah.

This is where the work foreshadows and even provides insight into our own world of why central planning, regardless of your feelings toward it and how successful it may look on the surface, is destined to fail.

Central planning and fear-based policies get destructive

Climaxes in every book out there should have one goal: Provide such an adrenaline-pumping experience that, no matter how often you read that book, you can’t stop turning the page.

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Hey, I’ve read Spirit Prophecy twice in e-book form, listened to it at least once, and now I’m reading it in paperback. I’m gonna tell you this: I’m 1,000 percent sure the paperback experience will be every bit as adrenaline-pumping as the e-book and audiobook.

Throughout this dark tale, Jess gains a lot of insights on just how far (most of) the Council will go in using fear-based policymaking and central planning to try and stop a doomsday prophecy from coming to pass.

I’m sure you can guess that it doesn’t turn out well for the Durupinen. Instead of stepping back and allowing others to study the prophecy closely and knowing the signs of when it would come to pass that would have prevented catastrophe, the Durupinen, and more notoriously their Council, engaged in constant fear-mongering, jailed, and even killed to keep their Sisterhood from facing the inevitable.

A shortlist of the Durupinen’s brutality amidst central planning

They lied to the Caomhnoir and claimed the Durupinen were temptresses. To measure a Caomnhoir’s “manliness,” he had to resist the Durupinen’s supposed “lure” that didn’t exist.

You’ll find out that Durupinen Apprentices may have different gifts beyond just seeing and interacting with spirits. For example, Jess is a Muse. Mackie is an Empath. But there’s one gift, thanks to the Durupinen’s “Doomsday Prophecy,” that the Sisterhood fears, and that gift is a Caller. One who can summon spirits to do their bidding.

Anyway, the Durupinen had a history of going as far as to detain Callers and render them ‘guilty until proven innocent’ that they weren’t the Caller foretold in the prophecy. In the book Spirit Ascendency, it’s revealed that this caused one Caller to side with and spy for the Durupinen’s longtime nemesis (and even darker) organization, the Necromancers.

You could probably also predict that this Caller was more than willing to wreak havoc on the Sisterhood that betrayed her trust. But it gets even better because, as you’ll discover in Spirit Prophecy, one daughter of an “illegitimate” relationship between a Durupinen and a Caomhnoir was brutally murdered by the Durupinen.

Getting to the book’s climax, the Durupinen have Jess and Hannah on trial. Because 1) they’re twins (also foretold in the prophecy), and 2) Hannah is that Caller - but she’s not the one who betrays the Durupinen, just an FYI.

Still, the Durupinen have Jess and Hannah in a ‘guilty as-charged’ situation. While the reader won’t learn about who Jess and Hannah’s dad is until Spirit Ascendency, the Durupinen believe, without evidence at this point, they’re the twins and Hannah’s the Caller mentioned in that prophecy.

But this was all to keep the Sisterhood safe, right?

It depends on what your idea of ‘keeping people safe’ looks like. But even if central planning kept people safe 100 percent of the time, the fact that the principle of force is involved violates the basic human right to self-ownership, rendering it null.

As for the Gateway Trilogy, the Durupinen’s central planning may have put on the facade that it kept people safe, but does that justify murdering a young girl because of her bloodlines? Does it justify criminalizing their own people because they happen to be Callers?

And does it justify lying to a group of Protectors to keep their bloodlines “pure” from those Durupinen temptresses? Hey, most of the Council has blood and lies all over their hands. And Holmes makes it clear in Spirit Ascendency and the sequel series the Gateway Trackers, that all this central planning nearly led to the Sisterhood’s downfall.

Rather than keep the Durupinen Sisterhood safe, it merely spewed distrust between them and the Caomhnoir. Distrust also spawned between the Durupinen and anyone who happened to be a Caller. And that’s just the tip of an even larger iceberg.

As I make it clear in my upcoming young adult fantasy series, Arcane Elemental Academy, central planning only stifles and doesn’t spur growth or creativity. Yote Diamondback had spent years subjected to a heavily regulated school curriculum until she attended Arcane. And you can join her on the adventure before the adventure takes place by checking out my free novella, Arcane Awakenings.

Author's note sheds light on motivations behind The Arcane Prophecy

While Cursed Mage and my upcoming Catenarian Chronicles Series have been my main focus, it’d be a boring life if that was all I got to work on. One work that had just gone through its first developmental edit is The Arcane Prophecy, an upcoming libertarian young adult academy fantasy.

It’s my way of chastising the compulsory schooling system, but what good would a work of fiction be without some motivations? That said, I wanted to share excerpts from the latest draft of my Author’s Note.

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It all began with some fan fiction. No, not from me, but a writer who answered a question involving the Harry Potter Series. One that stated, and I’m paraphrasing here, Why didn’t Voldemort just adopt Harry?

Hey, it would have made one heck of a story. So, I decided to write one, but with my own characters and, of course, elemental magic as opposed to general magic, complete with my favorite themes. It’s almost like it all fell right into place overnight, and I mean overnight.

I honestly can’t recall who wrote the skit, but if you typed the paraphrased question I shared earlier into a search engine, I’m sure you’d find it. It was around the same time that I’d been itching to find my own voice in the libertarian movement after sort of just standing on the sidelines for a few years.

To be clearer on that latter point, I’m not some crazy armchair activist who shouts people down or engages in social media debates that often end up with name-calling and insults. Trust me, I’d seen too much of that once upon a time, and I’d rather go without it and provide long-form counterarguments to people’s nonsense. Nope, I’d rather share my views through fiction and talk about those real-life influences in this Author’s Note, let you process it, and that’s it.

This is just my way of saying, “Hey, here are the motivations behind my work, here are their sources, and feel free to check them out if you’d like!”

Creating chaos like a fourth-line winger

Further, I think you may have found Aurora and the Northern Region it’s located in a little peculiar. And if so, there’s a reason for it. Aurora and the surrounding area is a unique region of Etharia, as it’s a place based on a hypothetical society I read about in Dr. Robert Murphy’s Chaos Theory, a roughly 65-page pair of essays that outline a stateless society. You can also compare it, in a way, to the private city of Prospera.

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Sounds outrageous, right? Superficially, yes, as before I read Chaos Theory, I still held strong to a belief that probably thanks to so much conditioning in government schools, while most public services could be rolled over into the private sector, military, defense and select others were outliers, right? Luckily, Murphy dedicates an entire essay to the latter, proving me, and even the late, great Ludwig von Mises himself, otherwise.

Thus, Ukko Sharpe and his defense company needed a place in the book. I could talk all day about why I love the concept in Murphy’s takes, but again, I’m not here to preach, just to share.

Still, I didn’t envision Aurora and the Northern Region to be the ideal, ideal society. Unfortunately, since they’re still part of Etharia, they don’t have a sound monetary system but are still subjected to destructive fiat money, much like we are in the US and around the world. For more info regarding fiat currency and how destructive it is, check out my review of What Has Government Done to Our Money by Murray N. Rothbard.

The region, however, would still hold representation in a Congress that is part of the strongest and most expansive government in the world of Xadis. And while I didn’t mention it in the work, most businesses (including Arcane) remain subject to regulation like building codes and such—something I’m also not a fan of that was reinforced when I read the article Why Product Safety Regulations Should Be Scrapped by FEE’s Patrick Carroll.

Feel free to type his piece into a search engine and check it out if you have a few minutes. Whether it gives you a new outlook or not is irrelevant. But you may nonetheless find the read enticing.

Alright, enough real-life inspiration in the world of economics and politics - I know many of you read for an escape from that sort of stuff, but I hope I sounded rather lighthearted about the entire thing.

Because sports still rock even in the current epoch

Let’s talk about box thrashball, and how I came up with it. You’ll initially find the field version of the sport in my niche fiction, particularly Wind Wielder (Elementals of Nordica, Book I). It was a novel I wrote and edited on my own while I was still on a good old shoestring budget. But over time, I became more of a fan of indoor sports, so I went from the field version introduced in Wind Wielder to a more entertaining box-style game.

Plus, I had a few readers find the field version way too confusing, so I felt the box version was a simpler take on the game. Because the players were sprinting up and down the court as opposed to the field, it allowed me to turn box thrashball into a game of shifts, and one that was sort of a hybrid between hockey and box lacrosse.

I like the box version better, and the real challenge was finding a way for it to further entwine with the book’s plot, something I feel like I forced in Wind Wielder. But hey, I wrote that thing in 2020-21, and if you read it, you may laugh at how much of a novice I was at the time.

Anyway, I feel as though I’ve rambled long enough. So, thank you again for reading The Arcane Prophecy in its entirety. And if you haven’t done so yet, get your free copy of Arcane Awakenings and join my mailing list for some cool insights, book recommendations from like-minded authors in the fantasy genre, behind-the-scenes looks at my work, and even glimpses into my personal life.

Thanks so much!

TC Marti.