Early Life and Family
Every superhero has an origin story, and Confucius is no different. But his isn’t about radioactive spiders—it’s about a 70-year-old retired soldier and a teenage girl.
Book retelling
China in Chaos
To understand Confucius, you have to understand that “China” wasn’t even a thing yet. It was more like a patchwork of states constantly beefing with each other over territory and power.
The Bitter Gourd
Picture this: It’s 2,500 years ago. You’re in your late fifties, stranded in the woods, and you haven’t eaten in a week. Your students are starting to lose it, and you’re wondering if your life’s work was all for nothing.
China's Great Sage
Who exactly was Confucius? If you’re thinking “just some old guy with a beard,” you’re missing the point. He was the most influential person in Chinese history, period.
The Impossible Biography
So, here’s the thing: trying to write a biography of Confucius is a total nightmare. When Meher McArthur started this book, a scholar straight-up told her it was impossible. And honestly? They weren’t wrong.
Confucius: The OG Influencer Who Didn't Even Have a Throne
So, we’re talking about Confucius. You’ve probably heard the name, maybe seen some “Confucius says” memes that are honestly kind of cringe. But here’s the thing: this guy was basically the original influencer, and he did it all without a smartphone or a single follower on social media.
Final Thoughts on the Darkness Before the Dawn: Dark Sun Chronicles Review
We made it. Fourteen posts covering one book about a half-elf and a human woman trying not to die on a desert planet ruled by tyrants. So what did we actually just read? Let me break it down.
Cinnabar Shadows Final Thoughts: A Dark Sun Book That Earns Its Ending
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
The Full Picture
So we’re done. Fifteen chapters and an epilogue of Cinnabar Shadows. Time to step back and talk about the whole thing.
The Final Battle and a New Dawn: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 12
The escape fails. I’ll just say it upfront so you’re not holding your breath. After all that planning, all that fighting through guards and blasting psionicists, Jedra and Kayan don’t make it out. They end up right back where they started, except now their captors are angry and the timeline just got shorter.
Cinnabar Shadows Epilogue: Pavek Stays Among Friends
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Waking Up
Pavek drifts in and out. He remembers fragments. Someone apologizing because there’s no piece of linen large enough to cover him head to foot. He remembers laughing at that. Remembers sunlight and food and sleeping under the stars because the halfling houses are too small for him.
Sentenced to Kill Each Other in the Arena: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 11
The arena chapters have been building toward something terrible. You could feel it coming. Two people who love each other, forced to fight as gladiators, performing for a crowd that wants blood. The only question was how bad it would get.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 15: The BlackTree Convergence and Kakzim's End
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Underground
Chapter 15. The climax. And it starts in the worst possible place: a dirt pit beneath the black tree’s roots.
Forced to Become Gladiators in Tyr: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 10
Tyr was supposed to be the destination. The city where things would get better. The place where Jedra and Kayan could finally stop running and start building something. But Athas doesn’t work like that. Athas takes your plans and feeds them to a mekillot.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 14: Pavek and Javed's Pursuit Into the Forest
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
The Commandant
Chapter 14 switches back to Pavek, and it introduces one of the best new characters in the book: Commandant Javed.
The Dangerous Second Crystal World: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 9
You’d think almost dying inside a crystal world would be enough to keep someone from touching another one. You’d think that. But this is Jedra we’re talking about. The guy who grew up on the streets of Urik and apparently never learned the meaning of “maybe don’t do that.”
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 13: The Village of Ject and the Mountain Crossing
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Welcome to Ject, Where Everyone Wants to Be Your Friend
Chapter 13 opens with Ruari cringing at his companions. Zvain announced they have a map. Mahtra told the armed strangers they’re looking for halflings and a big black tree. So much for keeping their mouths shut.
Trapped in a Crystal World With a Dragon: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 8
Remember last chapter when I said the crystals were a miracle and a potential disaster? This chapter is the disaster part. It happens fast, and Jedra has to grow up real quick to deal with it.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 12: Pavek Is Gone and the Map Points Forward
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Pavek Was Gone
“Pavek was gone. Pavek was dead.”
Discovering Worlds Inside Crystals: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 7
This chapter starts ugly and ends somewhere incredible. The emotional range is wild. You go from a relationship falling apart to one of the most mind-bending discoveries in the whole series.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 11: Cerk Warns Kakzim as Codesh Burns
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
The Walls Come Down
Chapter 11 starts with Cerk, and honestly, it’s the most revealing look we’ve gotten at Kakzim’s young apprentice. This little halfling has been underground, running from the fighting in the cavern, and he surfaces into daylight with one job: warn Brother Kakzim that the templars have found them.
Kitarak's Secret Canyon Home: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 6
This chapter is basically a tour of the coolest home on Athas. And the fact that it belongs to a giant insect philosopher makes it even better.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 10: Audience With Hamanu - The Lion-King Shows His True Face
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
After nearly dying on the Codesh killing floor, Pavek and his companions get the royal treatment. Luxurious rooms, incredible food, hot baths. It should feel like a reward. Instead, it feels like the calm before something terrible. And they are right.
Why Seek Power? Kitarak Asks the Hard Questions - The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 5
This chapter is basically a walking interview. The three of them are crossing the desert toward Tyr, and Kitarak decides it’s the perfect time to figure out who he’s traveling with. But the way he does it tells you so much about who he is.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 9: Into Codesh - The Hunt for Kakzim on the Killing Ground
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
This chapter is a ride. Pavek takes his crew into Codesh, the most dangerous slaughterhouse village on Athas, looking for a tunnel to the underground reservoir. What they find is Kakzim, a mob of butchers, and a fight that almost kills all of them.
Meeting Kitarak the Tohr-Kreen: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 4
The dying creature is not what they think it is.
Jedra looks down at it and sees a thri-kreen, one of those giant mantis-like insect people. But something about it seems off. Bigger cranial bulge behind the eyes. Narrower face. And strapped to its back is a massive pack stuffed with gear, most of it made of metal. On Athas, where a single metal knife can buy you a month of food, this creature is carrying a fortune in hardware. Cooking pots, gythka blades, curved throwing weapons, and tools Jedra cannot even identify.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 8: House Escrissar - Keys, Chains, and a Gardener's Devotion
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
This is one of those chapters that is quiet on the surface but full of weight underneath. Pavek takes possession of House Escrissar, the home of the dead high templar who tortured his friends. What he finds inside forces him to confront things no amount of sword practice can solve.
Surviving the Desert of Athas: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 3
Kayan collapses within a mile.
It is the middle of the day. The sun is relentless. They were exiled with three days of food and water, and the chief’s parting threat is still ringing in their ears. They are so exhausted from the cloud ray battle and Kayan’s healing that they can barely walk. And the elves sent them out at noon, which on Athas is basically a death sentence.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 7: The Journey Back to Urik and What Waits Underground
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
After the emotional bomb that was Chapter 6, this chapter slows down and lets Pavek sit with his thoughts on a ten-day kank ride across the Tablelands. And honestly, I needed the breather too.
Jedra vs Sahalik: Half-Elf Fights for Survival - The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 2
The chapter opens with Jedra staring at the chief like the man just said it was going to rain. “Anybody here can call anybody else a coward, and that person has to fight? That’s a tribal rule?”
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 6: Mahtra's Origins Revealed - Made, Not Born
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
This chapter hit me like a truck. We finally get the full picture of who Mahtra is, where she came from, and what “made, not born” actually means. But that is only half the story. The other half belongs to Akashia, and it is devastating.
Feasting With Elves After Freedom: The Darkness Before the Dawn Chapter 1
The book opens with a slave caravan burning in the desert while a tribe of elves throws a party around the wreckage.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 5: Visitor From Urik - Dark Sun Retelling
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Chapter 5: Visitor from Urik
Salt sprites are still dancing on the Sun’s Fist as sunset dies. Golden Guthay (one of Athas’s moons) climbs the eastern horizon. Pavek stops Ruari and Zvain at the edge of the salt flats. No point risking themselves out there until the sun is well set and the moonlight is strong enough to navigate by.
The Darkness Before the Dawn: A Dark Sun Chronicles of Athas Retelling
So I just finished the second book in the Dark Sun Chronicles of Athas series, and I have thoughts.
The Darkness Before the Dawn by Ryan Hughes is set in the Dark Sun campaign world, which is basically the bleakest Dungeons & Dragons setting ever created. If you are picturing green forests and friendly taverns, stop. That is not what this is. Athas is a dying world. The sun is red. The desert goes on forever. Water is worth more than gold. Metal is so rare that people fight with weapons made from bone and obsidian. And the people who run things are immortal sorcerer-kings who have been draining the life from the planet for thousands of years.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 4: Pavek the Druid Templar - Dark Sun Retelling
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Chapter 4: Pavek the Druid Templar
After three chapters of scheming halflings, massacred cavern-folk, and a mysterious New Race woman meeting the Lion-King, we finally meet our main character. And he’s… weeding.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 3: Nightmare and Awakening - Dark Sun Retelling
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Chapter 3: Nightmare and Awakening
Chapter 3 opens inside Mahtra’s recurring nightmare, and it’s rough.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 2: Mahtra and the Night - Dark Sun Retelling
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Chapter 2: Mahtra and the Night
Chapter 2 shifts us completely away from Kakzim and Codesh. We enter Urik itself, in the predawn hours, and meet one of the most unusual characters I’ve come across in fantasy fiction.
Cinnabar Shadows Chapter 1: Urik and the Lion King - Dark Sun Retelling
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Chapter 1: Urik and the Lion King
The book opens with a bird’s-eye view. Literally. We see the city of Urik through the eyes of a soaring kes’trekel (a scaled bird native to Athas). The city looks like a giant sulfur growth rising from a green plain, its walls covered with murals of the same figure over and over: a powerful man with a lion’s head, bronze skin, black mane, and fierce yellow eyes that flash in the sunlight.
Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey: A Dark Sun Retelling Series Intro
Book: Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey | Series: Dark Sun - Chronicles of Athas, Book 4 | ISBN: 0-7869-0181-0
Welcome to This Retelling
So I picked up Cinnabar Shadows by Lynn Abbey. It’s the fourth book in the Chronicles of Athas series, set in the Dark Sun world. If you’re not familiar with Dark Sun, you’re in for something different. This isn’t your typical swords-and-sorcery setting with lush forests and noble kings. No. This is a post-apocalyptic desert hellscape where magic has literally drained the life from the planet.
Final Thoughts on a Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt
We’ve reached the end. Every chapter covered. Every character accounted for. Sandy MacGregor’s journey from Baltimore to Zarathandra and everything that happened in between.
The Goddess and Her Reluctant Champion: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 31-32
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
After everything Sandy has been through, you’d think meeting the Goddess face to face would be the reward. The big moment where the deity shows up, says “well done,” and sends him home to Baltimore.
The Name That Shook Worlds: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 29-30
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
This is it. The whole book has been building to this moment. Every chapter, every setback, every small victory, every death. It all comes down to Sandy MacGregor standing in front of a dark god and opening his mouth.
After the Mountain Falls: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 27-28
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
The mountain is gone. Like, completely gone. Sandy wakes up and the entire fortress that they just raided has been wiped off the map. Where Tham Og Zalkri stood, there’s nothing. Rubble, dust, and open sky where a mountain used to be.
Inside the Mountain of Evil: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 25-26
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
They’re going in. After all the traveling, the desert crossings, the bar fights, and the sorcerer’s enchantments, the group is finally entering Tham Og Zalkri. The Black Mountain. Home of a death cult that worships a dark god.
The Sorcerer's Greatest Spells: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 23-24
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
The group is about to raid a mountain full of murderous cultists. And Zhadnoboth, the sorcerer who got them into this whole mess, picks this exact moment to do the best work of his entire career. Then he bails.
The House of the Dark God: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 21-22
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
The Mountain
Just before daybreak, they see Tham Og Zalkri. The house of Zalkri.
Why the Simbul's Gift Still Holds Up
So we’re done. Twelve posts covering one Forgotten Realms novel from 1997 that most people have never heard of. And I want to wrap up with why I think this book deserves more attention than it gets.
Final Thoughts on Planeswalker by Lynn Abbey
So that’s Planeswalker. Twenty-four chapters of a Phyrexian newt trying to save a broken god from himself, and in the end giving her life to finish what he couldn’t.
A Zulkir's Gift and a Queen's True Name
This is the payoff. Two chapters. Everything the book has been building toward lands here, and it lands in a way I genuinely did not expect from a D&D novel.
Approaching the Black Mountain: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 19-20
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
The Worst Hangover in Fantasy Literature
Sandy wakes with sun blasting his eyes and sand in his mouth. He spits it out, crawls to shade, and passes out again.
The Final Battle Against Gix in Koilos
This is it. The final chapter. And it’s devastating.
Before the Fight
The sun has just risen over the Kher Ridge. Xantcha and Ratepe are on one side of the mountain, waiting for Ratepe to recover from the three-step walk from Pincar City. Urza is already at the cavern. He’s sworn he won’t go after Gix until they arrive.
Dancing With Gods at the Sunglade
Everything has been building to the Sunglade. The scattered Cha’Tel’Quessir, the lurking Red Wizards, the ancient gods stirring beneath the forest floor. These three chapters are where it all crashes together, and the results are brutal.
The Death Feast: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 17-18
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
One Day Out
Three nights of hard travel. Everyone’s short-tempered. Nobody talks except to argue. Sandy passes the time composing bawdy limericks for Glupp. The grundzar beams at every one, probably because he doesn’t understand any of them. Sandy calls him a bootlicker. Glupp literally licks his boot.
The Spiders Scream in Pincar City
Chapter 23 is the longest chapter in the book and it earns every page. This is the climax of the Efuan Pincar storyline, the screaming spiders storyline, and the Gix storyline all at once. Buckle up.
Closing in on the Black Mountain: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 15-16
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Back to the Road
The group crawls out of the ruined tower to find the oasis destroyed. The Shurva wrecked everything. Vegetation is blackened scraps and ash. Only the fortress survived, protected by whatever ancient power lingers in its walls.
Love, Loss, and Lightning in the Forest
These three chapters are a lot. They cover Bro recovering from his arrow wound, falling for a woman who is secretly the most powerful wizard on the continent, losing more friends, and then we cut to Lauzoril having one of the most emotionally intense father-daughter scenes in any D&D novel. So let’s get into it.
Crossing the Sea of Laments
Chapter 22 starts with a storm and ends with Urza casually dismantling the life Xantcha and Ratepe have built together. It’s a lot.
The Priestess, the Storm, and Hard Choices: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 13-14
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
After the battle at the Naz Mathoni camp, things should calm down. The enemies are defeated. Water is secured. The Key of Arimithos has been found. Time to rest, right?
The Simbul Goes Native and Thay Calls a Meeting
Three chapters. Three completely different vibes. A room full of the most dangerous wizards in Faerun. A queen strapping on leather armor. And a boy getting shot in the back with an arrow right after hugging his dad.
Gix the Demon Hunts Xantcha
Chapter 21 is where everything the book has been building toward starts to crack open. Xantcha has to deal with what happened with Gix in the catacombs, and the truth she discovers at Koilos changes everything.
Among the Naz Mathoni: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 11-12
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Last chapter ended with a ridiculous plan. Sandy and Zhadnoboth would walk into a camp full of enemies and pretend to be harmless travelers. Uskban and Pognak would hide in the desert, waiting.
Bro Finds His People (And They're a Mess)
Bro finally made it to the Yuirwood. He’s walking through the forest he’s dreamed about for seven years. And it’s nothing like he remembers.
Return to Dominaria and a Stranger's Welcome
Wait. Let me clarify something about the chapter split here. Chapter 19 covered the journey from Serra’s realm through the multiverse and arriving at Equilor. Chapter 20 goes deeper into the Equilor visit and ends with their return to Dominaria.
Final Thoughts on It's About Squirrels by Lynn Abbey
Book: It’s About Squirrels… | Author: Lynn Abbey
So we made it through the whole story. Squirrels, ghosts, brownies, a fairy queen who can’t pronounce “electricity,” and a Rube Goldberg trap made of beer cups and silverware balanced on a rocking chair. What a ride.
Mythrell'aa's Long Game and the Thayan Web
Chapters 12 through 14 give us a dead father reunion, a sister intervention, and Lauzoril having a very bad day with his undead relatives. These are the chapters where every thread starts pulling tighter.
Surviving the Desert: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 9-10
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
There’s something about desert stories that just hits different. The constant threat of death by dehydration. The emptiness. The heat. When you strip away everything else, survival comes down to one thing: water.
Leaving Serra's Realm Behind
Chapter 19 is the “time passes” chapter. And a lot of time passes. We’re talking thousands of years compressed into one chapter. Lynn Abbey pulls it off, though.
The Screaming Spiders Plan Against Phyrexia
Previous: The Phyrexian Portal Is Destroyed
Chapter 18 covers a lot of ground. Urza builds a new weapon. Months pass. Ratepe becomes a secret agent. And Xantcha walks straight into the demon she hoped was dead.
Messy Chambers, Missing Kids, and Sisterly Advice
Chapters 9 through 11 are where the book shifts gears in a really satisfying way. We jump between three very different settings: Thayan spy games, the Simbul’s disastrous private chambers, and Lauzoril’s complicated home life. And honestly, these chapters are some of the most character-revealing in the whole book.
The Fairy Queen, Beer, and a Brownie Rescue in Lynn Abbey's Squirrel Story
Book: It’s About Squirrels… | Author: Lynn Abbey
So we’re at the part where Nic decides to rescue a brownie from a dead hard drive using beer and Vienna sausages. I love this story.
Witnessing Zalkring Horror: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 7-8
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Up to this point, A Name to Conjure With has been weird, funny, and kind of charming. Sandy got pulled into another world, teamed up with a cranky sorcerer and a desert warrior, and they’ve been stumbling from one mess to the next. It felt like a rough adventure. Messy but manageable.
The Phyrexian Portal Is Destroyed
Previous: Xantcha Reunites With Urza in Serra’s Palace
Chapter 17 drops us back to Dominaria and the aftermath of the ambulator battle. And it’s one of those chapters where three characters stand around a Phyrexian corpse and everyone learns something they didn’t want to know.
Bobby Walker, Squirrel Traps, and Scottish Brownies in Lynn Abbey's Story
Book: It’s About Squirrels… by Lynn Abbey
So Nic is napping between resume emails when someone bangs on her door. Her first thought is that something happened to her parents. That’s the kind of headspace she’s in.
Escaping the Desert Town: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 5-6
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Chapter 5: Shopping for Trouble
The group is in a desert town. It’s hot, dusty, and full of the kind of people who don’t ask questions because they don’t want questions asked of them. The town exists as a waypoint for traders, smugglers, and anyone else who needs supplies before heading into the deeper desert.
The Storm Queen Throws Hands in the Yuirwood
Chapter 6 opens with the Simbul standing over Bro in the Yuirwood, thumping her staff on the ground next to his head.
Xantcha Reunites With Urza in Serra's Palace
Previous: Colliding Islands in Serra’s Crumbling Realm
Chapter 16 is maybe the most emotionally devastating chapter in the entire book. Xantcha finally finds Urza. And then he tells her he’s done with her.
Meeting the Sorcerer: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 3-4
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Chapter 3: Welcome to Zarathandra
Sandy wakes up on the floor of a sorcerer’s laboratory. His head hurts. His body aches. The last thing he remembers is falling through an elevator shaft that turned out to be a portal between worlds.
The Ghost on the Highway: When Things Get Weird in Lynn Abbey's Squirrel Story
Book: It’s About Squirrels… | Author: Lynn Abbey
So up to this point, the story has been weird but explainable. Squirrels frying themselves on a transformer? That’s just Florida wildlife being Florida wildlife. A dead hard drive? Bad luck. But in this section, Lynn Abbey pulls the rug right out from under you. And it happens on the side of a road with no sidewalks.
Undead Grandpa and Thayan Spy Games
Chapter 3 is where this book goes from interesting to genuinely wild. We leave Bro and the Yuirwood behind and drop into a crypt in Thazalhar, eastern Thay. And we meet Lauzoril’s family.
Colliding Islands in Serra's Crumbling Realm
Previous: Xantcha Wakes in Serra’s Realm
Chapter 15 is pure chaos after the slow burn of the previous chapter. Islands collide. Everything falls apart. And Serra’s idea of peacekeeping is basically a giant laser.
A Half-Elf Boy, a Twilight Colt, and a Goddess Named Zandilar
Before we hit the actual chapters, the book opens with two documents from Candlekeep. The first is a history of the Simbul, Alassra Shentrantra. The second is study notes about a forgotten goddess named Zandilar. Both are important, so let me cover them quick.
Pallbearer Squirrels and Florida Power Problems in Lynn Abbey's Short Story
Book: It’s About Squirrels… by Lynn Abbey
So Nic calls the utility company. She’s lost power at exactly 9am for four days straight. Not a full blackout. Just a tiny hiccup. Barely enough to notice, really. Your microwave clock wouldn’t even blink. But her computer? Dead. Hard drive completely fried.
Sandy's World Falls Apart: A Name to Conjure With Chapters 1-2
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Chapter 1: The Soup Incident
Sandy MacGregor is having a normal Saturday afternoon in Baltimore. He’s eating at a Chinese restaurant. Wonton soup, barbecued ribs, fried rice. Standard comfort food.
Xantcha Wakes in Serra's Realm
Previous: Summer Journey to Efuan Pincar
Chapter 14 throws us into a completely different setting and honestly, the tonal shift is jarring in the best way. We go from sword fights and Phyrexian ambushes to… an eternal sunset, golden grass, and a very unhelpful woman.
A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt: A Fantasy Retelling Series
Book: A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt (1989)
Why This Book Deserves a Retelling
Some books get lost in time. Not because they’re bad. Because the publishing world moves fast and forgets things. A Name to Conjure With by Donald Aamodt is one of those books.
It's About Squirrels by Lynn Abbey: A Fantasy Short Story Hidden in a Florida Trailer Park
Book: It’s About Squirrels… | Author: Lynn Abbey
So here’s a story that caught me off guard. I picked up Lynn Abbey’s “It’s About Squirrels…” expecting something lightweight, maybe funny. And it is funny. But it’s also this sneaky little fantasy story that slips magic into the most unglamorous setting possible: a trailer park in dead-center Florida.
The Simbul's Gift: A Forgotten Realms Deep Cut Worth Reading
So I’m starting a retelling series of a Forgotten Realms novel that almost nobody talks about. The Simbul’s Gift by Lynn Abbey. Published in 1997 as Book 6 of the Nobles series. And honestly, it deserves way more attention than it gets.
Summer Journey to Efuan Pincar
Previous: Urza Invades Phyrexia on His Dragon
Chapter 13 is where Planeswalker stops being a story about cosmic battles and becomes something more personal. And honestly? It’s better for it.
Urza Invades Phyrexia on His Dragon
This is post 13 of a chapter-by-chapter retelling of “Planeswalker” by Lynn Abbey, Book II of the Artifact Cycle in Magic: The Gathering.
The Morning After Ratepe Arrives
This is post 12 of a chapter-by-chapter retelling of “Planeswalker” by Lynn Abbey, Book II of the Artifact Cycle in Magic: The Gathering.
Urza Builds a New Dragon Engine
This is post 11 of a chapter-by-chapter retelling of “Planeswalker” by Lynn Abbey, Book II of the Artifact Cycle in Magic: The Gathering.
Ratepe Becomes Mishra for Urza
This is post 10 of a chapter-by-chapter retelling of “Planeswalker” by Lynn Abbey, Book II of the Artifact Cycle in Magic: The Gathering.
Arriving at the Cottage on Ohran Ridge
This is post 9 of a chapter-by-chapter retelling of “Planeswalker” by Lynn Abbey, Book II of the Artifact Cycle in Magic: The Gathering.
Xantcha and Ratepe Take Flight Together
This is post 8 of a chapter-by-chapter retelling of “Planeswalker” by Lynn Abbey, Book II of the Artifact Cycle in Magic: The Gathering.
Ratepe Tells His Story by the Fire
Previous: Xantcha Frees Ratepe From Slavery
The title of this post is a bit misleading, because Chapter 6 is actually about Xantcha’s past. Rat falls asleep by the dying fire, and while she watches over him with one hand on his chain, Xantcha’s mind goes back to Phyrexia again. This time, deeper.
Xantcha Frees Ratepe From Slavery
Previous: Xantcha Arrives in Efuan Pincar
This chapter is about two people who don’t trust each other trying to survive together. It’s also about what freedom actually means when you’ve lost everything.
Xantcha Arrives in Efuan Pincar
Previous: Xantcha’s Phyrexian Origins and the Sphere
Xantcha wakes up from her memories just in time to avoid crashing into a tree. That’s the kind of chapter opening that sets the tone for what’s ahead.
Xantcha's Phyrexian Origins and the Sphere
Previous: Xantcha and The Antiquity Wars
This chapter is almost entirely flashback, and it’s one of the best pieces of worldbuilding in Magic: The Gathering fiction. We get Xantcha’s full origin story, and Phyrexia has never felt more real or more horrifying.
Xantcha and the Antiquity Wars
Previous: Urza Returns to Koilos After the Brothers War
Chapter 2 shifts the point of view to Xantcha, and the book immediately gets better for it.
Urza Returns to Koilos After the Brothers War
Previous: Planeswalker by Lynn Abbey: A Magic The Gathering Retelling Series
Chapter 1 drops us right into Urza’s headspace, and honestly, it’s a rough place to be.
Planeswalker by Lynn Abbey: A Magic the Gathering Retelling Series
So you want to know what happens in Planeswalker by Lynn Abbey? Good. Because this book is one of those stories that sticks with you long after you close the cover.