Tag: The Destroyer of Worlds

WWW Wednesday – November 12, 2025

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www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I haven’t made great progress on it so far, but on Monday I started reading Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, a novel adaptation of the author/director’s movie of the same name. I’m really happy that I re-watched the film over the weekend before starting because even though I’ve only read the first chapter, it is immediately apparent that this is not simply a novelization; it is actively telling the story differently. The basics of the opening scene are essentially the same, but some of the characters present, where it is taking place, and the extent of the conversation are markedly different. In some cases, anecdotes that don’t show up until later in the film occur here, for example. The story still appears to be following the same trajectory of the film, but I’m really intrigued to see how it handles it differently and why Tarantino was compelled to author this version.

Recently Finished

Last week I finished reading The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff. I have some mixed feelings about this book, though this isn’t from lack of quality on the author’s part. I really enjoyed becoming reacquainted with these characters after not having read Lovecraft Country since 2017, but I recall that first novel having more punch to it. It was more a collection of stories with a narrative through line, and each ended in their own satisfying ways while ultimately weaving together by the end. In this novel, the stories were more loosely connected episodes, and a few of them I don’t feel ended in a satisfying way, particularly the one with Atticus and his father. They just unceremoniously return while another story is in progress, with something from their story eventually serving as a plot device. I was still rather invested in the story leading up to the climax, but the book just didn’t feel as much like a cohesive whole.

Reading Next

I’m actually not sure what I want to be reading next. With so little time left in the year now, I will have to give that some careful consideration.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – October 29, 2025

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

This week I started reading The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff, the sequel novel to Lovecraft Country. It’s been a number of years since I read the first book, but I’m easing back into the characters and the setting nicely. I’m worried there’s a lot I don’t remember about the first book, but this one is doing a good job of fairly seamlessly refreshing me on who is who and what happened previously. Already my memory has been jogged about a few things despite being less than 50 pages in. Reading has been slower this week, so I’m not certain I will finish it before the end of the month, but it was a last-minute addition to my Halloween reading list since I finished all the others so quickly,  so I won’t be bothered too much if it bleeds into November.

Recently Finished

Since last week I finished reading Come Closer by Sara Gran, and I’ve been vexed over how ambivalent I’m feeling about this book. Right off the bat, I do feel I was duped by the online sources that recommended it over-hyping it, as I really didn’t find anything about it to be overly shocking or scary, and the writing was fairly straightforward in its delivery, so there was nothing particularly artful in that respect that elevated the narrative. On the other hand, there was still a visceral feeling of dread to the overall reading experience as the main character is rendered increasingly impotent while the demon takes over and destroys her life, with her willingness or complacency ultimately being her undoing. I feel I have to chew this one over a bit more, so I’ll perhaps flesh out my thoughts better for a Halloween breakdown post next week.

Reading Next

There’s a book I’ve been interested in checking out recently, and the theme for the next “book mixer” at the library next month is adaptations, so I’ve decided to borrow Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, a novel telling the story of the author/director’s film of the same name. It apparently isn’t a novelization, however, as it expands upon the story in a lot of areas rather than simply novelizing the film. I’m really curious to check it out; I think I will rewatch the film first though.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – October 22, 2025

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Since last week I’ve started reading the last book on my Halloween reading list for this year: Come Closer by Sara Gran. So far I’m only about 30 pages in, but it’s a novella so that’s about a fifth of the way. I’m liking it well enough so far, but I feel like I’m still getting into it. I know it’s a possession story, and in these first chapters it has done an interesting job of feeding into the ambiguity of the main character’s situation. On the one hand, it seems quite clear that something otherworldly is intruding upon her life, but there are seeds that maybe she isn’t as emotionally well balanced and stable of a person as she wants us to believe. Personally, I always prefer if the monster or supernatural forces in a story are real, perhaps serving as an analogy for something while also being literal, but I can enjoy some well-served ambiguity. Let’s see where this goes.

Recently Finished

After writing my post last week I finished up reading The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. I haven’t got a lot more to say about it, except that I’m surprised such a great all-ages horror story doesn’t have more of a cultural presence. More people should read it, and it deserves a stop-motion animated adaptation. I also started and finished Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu since last week. I’m happy I made such short work of it, as I often worry I will struggle with the writing style of older books, though I will say that Le Fanu could calm down a little with the use of commas, for Pete’s sake. Also, I find it hilarious that the trope of a vampire existing incognito under a false identity by just rearranging the letters in their name dates back to at least this book. Of all the cemented lore and tropes of vampire fiction I expected to come from this book, I’m really surprised that this was one of them.

Reading Next

Since I’m making great progress with my reading list for the month, I’m going to try and squeeze in another for the last week. That book will be The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff, the sequel to Lovecraft Country, which will also satisfy my inclination this year to finish duologies and trilogies that I’ve left hanging. It’ll definitely be the longest of my selection of books, so I may not finish it until early November, but I can accept that considering how good reading progress has been already. I have no idea what it’s actually about, but I really like the first book so that’s enough for me.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.