N.B. Austin

American Author

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A Civilands Series Sea Shanty: “The Keagan Anthem”

The above song is based on the melody to the Wellerman (Sea Shanty). All lyrics and vocals are my own.

The inspiration to do this came from the Game Stop saga and subsequent, hilarious sea shanty meme. A few weeks after that meme released, a friend requested I re-work the lyrics for a video game contest he entered. The objective of the contest was to write an inspirational piece based on the history of a specific nation in the game. Well, the re-worked song ended up providing me so much inspiration to visit this nation (play the game), I thought it’d be cool to do this again for the Murrieta Territory, the main setting of my series Civilands.

And so, the Keagan Anthem was born. The anthem is now officially a song the Keagan brothers used to inspire their gang in the early years of their travels west over the Chorisma River and into the Murrieta Territory. It was sang in many saloons, especially by the men Clovis Keagan led following their many conquests. As a fun Easter Egg, be on the lookout for it in the final book!

The Keagan Anthem (Sea Shanty)

Sea Shanty Murrieta Map

Verse 1:

There is a land to the west, you see

Called the Murrieta Territory

It’s wild there and vast and free

Onward, Keagan gang, go!

Chorus:

Soon may the promised land come

A kingdom under the Keagan thumb

One day when the quest is done

We’ll at last be free to roam

Verse 2:

The Chorisma River was rough to cross

But the cities of the East are good and lost

So we found our gang, we found our boss

William Keagan said we’d go

Chorus

Soon may the promised land come

A kingdom under the Keagan thumb

One day when the quest is done

We’ll at last be free to roam

Verse 3:

The rumors spread of native clans

Controlling grizzlies was their brand

But we’ll focus on the task at hand

And fearlessly we’ll go

Chorus

Soon may the promised land come

A kingdom under the Keagan thumb

One day when the quest is done

We’ll at last be free to roam

Verse 4:

The V’ahani clan and the Tokali

From the north and the south, respectively

We didn’t want trouble but they won’t heed

We must protect our own

Chorus

Soon may the promised land come

A kingdom under the Keagan thumb

One day when the quest is done

We’ll at last be free to roam

Verse 5:

We found a town, Fayette its name

A settlement where our kind came

We built a mansion, some remained

To help this new place grow

Chorus

Soon may the promised land come

A kingdom under the Keagan thumb

One day when the quest is done

We’ll at last be free to roam

Verse 6:

But we’re not done the fight’s still on

Until this land has all been won

So William will makes his regular call

To encourage the gang to take it all

Final Chorus

Soon may the promised land come

A kingdom under the Keagan thumb

One day when the quest is done

We’ll at last be free to roam

Soon may the promised land come

A kingdom under the Keagan thumb

One day when the quest is done

We’ll at last be free to roam

No More Books – My Writing Career Has Unfortunately Been Cut Short

Today I must share the unfortunate news that, due to unfortunate circumstances, my writing career has been cut short. Times have been hard of late, and I will no longer have the time or means to write, edit and publish to the standard which I have previously set for myself.

It comes with a heavy heart that I share this, especially now. The Civilands series was only one book away from completion. And while it’d be possible to squeeze out a sub-par product, it’s just not something I’m willing to do. For the sake of my fans I’ve determined it’s best to just end it now. This will allow me to go out on a high note, as I move onto the next chapter of my life.

No More Books

I’d like to thank everyone for all the love and support along the way.

It was an incredibly fun ride. The Murrieta Territory brought so much twists, turns, and self-discovery. It’s a place that will change me forever. All the work that went into it – the blood, sweat, and tears – will provide a lifetime of memories. It is my hope each one of you have fond memories as well, and enjoy re-reading through the years ahead.

From Jeannie to William to Latera to Dominic, and everyone in between, there were so many great characters to relate to. I will miss them all dearly.

For full disclosure, the reason for my departure is a change of circumstances and a move. We will see where that road takes me. Perhaps our paths will cross again somewhere along the way, as I will probably document that new journey as well!

Until then, I thank you again. Without you, dear reader, all the words over all the years just wouldn’t have come. Thank you for the encouragement, the tons of great reviews, the comments, the promotion, and everything in between.

I hope you have a happy, healthy 2021; a happy, healthy life; a happy, healthy April Fool’s day; and a happy, healthy time reading book 5 when it comes out soon…

I will never stop writing. Ever. The finale is coming. Prepare for war.

Increase Blog Traffic: 4 Tips and Tricks

So you started a blog. You designed a website that defines you and it’s beautiful. Every few days you look at your page just to admire your work. And you should be proud, because you built something. You’re crushing!

What isn’t as exciting though is your page views. You’re writing great content, but no one is seeing it. It’s a little demoralizing at times. But you’re determined to figure out how to capture enough eyes to foster engagement. So you did a search to figure out how and it brought you here. It brought you to the blog of a random fiction author you’ve probably never heard of.

Now, the questions are: how did you get here? And how can you replicate the path you took to get here for your own post content? If you’re looking for the answers, you’ve come to the right place.

Increase Blog Traffic

Tip #1 to Increase Blog Traffic – Take Stock of Your Skills/Knowledge and Help Solve a Problem

Before I explain this tip, let me tell you the reason I’m posting this kind of thing at all on an author blog. A few days ago, a person who enjoys my books mentioned they were struggling to build viewer traffic on their book review blog. As someone who has been blogging for several years now with moderate viewership success, I had built up a decent amount of knowledge on the subject. So I shared everything I’ve learned with them.

And everything I’ve learned includes all sorts of things I would have loved to know when my journey began. So in the case of this post, the problem that needs solving of how to increase blog traffic is clearly defined. It is a problem which I know for a fact people want to know how to solve, because I wanted to know it.

Now, it might seem like what I’m saying here is that the only way to get traffic is to post “how-to” or educational posts. This could not be further from the truth. The majority of my posts, for example, are bonus content or updates related to my books. What problem do those solve? Well, they solve a problem for my current readers who are thirsting for fun, supplemental information on the worlds I build, after they’ve read my books. A cooking blog, on the other hand, solves the problem of how to cook a meal. And a book review blog solves the problem of telling you which books are most worth investing your valuable time in. If that’s a problem you have, I know a great book review blog for you here!

Tip #2 – Use Search Engine Optimization

So hopefully you have now defined the problem your post solves. And we both know your post solves it better than any other post on the entire internet. But unfortunately it’s not me you need to convince, it’s the search engines. This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in handy.

SEO is a process of designing your posts to optimize their searchability, based on specific search terms. For example, with this post, the problem we discussed in step #1 was figuring out how to increase blog traffic. The goal then is for search engines to easily identify my post as a key source of information on this problem. This is done by including the relevant term(s) in everything from the title, to subtitles, paragraphs, slug (link), page description, etc. You can see here how many times I’ve referenced “blog traffic.” This tells search engines how important blog traffic is to this post. And anyone looking for info on blog traffic will certainly be able to access info on blog traffic here. Not every post needs to be this obnoxious with references to your keyword, but you get the point.

As for your search term, be as specific as possible.

If we refer back to our cooking blog example, you don’t just want to solve the general problem of needing something to cook. Think about what the specific meal you’re posting about is good for. Is it great for the person trying to impress on date night? Or is it better for someone looking to cook out? Is it a recipe that requires a lot of time and effort? Or is it something to make in a hurry?

In the case of a book reviewer, is yours a more in-depth reviewing style suited for the curious reader? Or is it more about being entertaining? Is the book you’re reviewing a tried and true classic? Or is it a hidden gem like the Civilands series for the risk takers looking to explore a new world before anyone else does? These are all questions that will define a specific type of person who needs your post, and the terms they would use to try and find it. The more specific the terms, the better.

Once you figure out your specific keywords, a huge help in getting the technical formatting stuff down is downloading an SEO plugin. My website is set up on WordPress and I use a WordPress plugin called Yoast SEO. Yoast rates the optimization of my posts and provides tips for specific things I can do to improve it, which are usually very simple tweaks. If you don’t use WordPress, just search “SEO” on your plugins and I’m sure there will be alternatives as well. And if you are familiar with SEO plugins on other blog sites, comment them below!

Tip #3 – Utilize the Knowledge/Network of Others

Increase blog traffic

Back to tip #1 on solving a problem – maybe you’re having a hard time taking stock of your skill set or knowledge base. Or maybe you aren’t struggling with this in general, but there is something additional you don’t know yet and want to learn. If so, you can learn about it by posting about it! But how can you post about something you don’t know?

This brings us to my most popular post ever on my blog, “How to Get Your Story Read on Wattpad.” You can probably guess from the name what the problem is that’s being solved.

But for some background

Wattpad is a social media type site where you can post serial stories and people can react with comments, likes, etc. It is a site I ultimately decided not to use. However, when I was first exploring it, I saw several stories being posted with many views and interactions. So I wondered the same thing everyone who uses Wattpad wonders: how can you best use Wattpad to increase your story reads/interactions? As mentioned, I hadn’t used Wattpad at all at this time, so I had no idea how to answer this question. But lucky for me, there were other users who did! I soon reached out to one of the popular users and sent them a bunch of interview questions to post about on my blog. These were questions I had, which came from my own desire to learn more than anything else.

The rest is history. Years after publishing this interview, it continues averaging several views per day. The networking effects of cooperating with successful people in your field is one obvious benefit of this. Another though is you are learning something you wanted to learn. But instead of keeping this golden nugget to yourself, you are also helping others solve the same problem they too are facing. Just be sure when you take this approach to show appreciation for the person you’re interviewing. Promote them as much as possible and express gratitude for their time.

Tip #4 – Join Communities that Face Your Problem and Share

For this final tip I didn’t want to just say the obvious, “share on social media,” and I won’t. A far better strategy is to find and become a part of a tight, already established community or to seek to create your own. The platform could be social media, an email list, a texting group, etc. The choice comes down to whatever is the most convenient/comfortable. As long as the community is catered specifically to the problems you and your tribe are seeking to solve, you’re in the right place. A few examples would include a book club for a book review site, or a cooking group for a cooking site.

One major thing to avoid…

If you do join an already established group is to spam your blog posts. This should go without saying but it’s rude and will most likely get you removed. When the question you’ve solved arises, share away. Your knowledge is needed and to not share it when it’s sought out would be downright selfish. But do not self promote in an obnoxious manner without first proving that you belong in the community.

*

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for today. Hope you found this post helpful! Leave a comment below with any additional knowledge or thoughts on the subject. And if you did enjoy this, feel free to subscribe to my blog with the form at the bottom of my webpage. Happy blogging and happy reading!

A Jeannie Morrell (Civilands Series) Character Bio

Jeannie Morrell
Jeannie Morrell, as played by actress Gina Fox in the live action Civilands Series book trailer

The story that was to become the Civilands series did not start with a vision of natives who control animals. It did not start with a desire to build a world inspired by Manifest Destiny and the Industrial Age. Nor did it start with any thought of the greater plot of what are now 4, and ultimately 5, books.

The Civilands series, and my writing journey in general, started with nothing more than a young girl being chased through the woods by an unknown group of men and their hounds. Why was she being chased? Where was she coming from and going to? Who was she and who were her pursuers? I didn’t know the answers to any of these questions. But after weeks of attempting to figure out what kind of book I should write by formulating high level genres and concepts, suddenly I was no longer tasking myself with creating a world. Instead all I needed to be was the messenger of what happen within one, simply writing down all the questions I wanted answered about this character and her environment. The Civilands series started with Jeannie Morrell.

Who is Jeannie Morrell?

Jeannie is the thirteen year old daughter of Adonis Morrell, a prominent businessman in the chilly northern Murrieta Territory town of Harran. Harran is a Riverlands settlement of Easterners who traveled west into the Murrieta for a new life. It is one of the only places in the Territory where Easterners reside in peaceful proximity with the native clans. This is thanks solely to relationships Adonis established with the nearby V’ahani clan of the Riverlands. With influence in the region, Jeannie’s stoic father came to develop trade routes beneficial to all its inhabitants.

The Morrell home where Jeannie grew up is located just outside of Harran. Ever since she was a little girl, she enjoyed taking trips into town with her father, mother, and older brothers, Harrison and Donovan. The people of Harran have a great affection for the entire Morrell family, but Jeannie in particular is a hit for her scrappy nature.

Jeannie has an adventurous spirit as well. Her favorite activities are any involving other people. She is an extrovert who made a habit of dragging her brothers out to explore the forest around their home, playing games and searching for anything fun they could find. While her impulsive curiosity can get her into trouble at times, her wit is usually sharp enough to help her cause.

So What’s to Come For Jeannie?

As I mentioned, we begin with a chase on a dreary morning. Before the clouds, the sky is filled with smoke pouring out of the Morrell home. Escaping out back and into the forest is Jeannie, who we follow as she is on the run from those who started the fire: the Keagan gang. But what lies ahead beyond the trees? Well, you’ll have to read the series to find out!

One Change to Save the Night King and Game of Thrones Season 8

For a while I was certain Game of Thrones would easily end up being the greatest show of all time. Unfortunately, the damage done by season 8 shattered any hope of that.

There is a lot I would change about season 8 of Game of Thrones if I could. In the past, I’ve posted about the changes I’d make to specific episodes, including this one on episode 5. To fix it all though would be to re-write the entire thing from what was aired, outside of Brienne’s knighting by Jamie.

Now, I could and would happily do that if there was some indication time could be turned back and the script swapped out. And who knows? Maybe one day Bill Nye will quit his acting profession to pursue engineering and he’ll build such a time machine. I won’t be holding my breath though. So until then, what if we could just change one thing to have the most impact possible? What if we could save the entire series with this one plot shift?

YouTube Critic Channels

Before I call out the “One Change,” I must give credit where credit is due. This idea was not something I spontaneously came up with on my own. Being as engrossed in TV shows and movies as I am, I’ve come to follow several YouTube critic channels. These are people who dig into the plot and character points as much as I do while I’m watching a show. Many of them are also very entertaining in their review styles. Watching their reviews can even end up being more entertaining than watching the film itself at times. Here are some of my favorite channels:

The One Change though came from a new channel I stumbled upon called MoneyMedia in a review on Game of Thrones season 8, episodes 1-3. It was an idea tossed out so casually in the video, that it took me a minute or two of reflection to truly grasp how genius it would have been for the season and series as a whole. Once I did, I decided to make a few clarifications and build out a scene around it, which I will get to at the end of this post.

The Objective: Save the Night King, Save the Series

This may seem obvious because everyone’s biggest gripe was the lackluster death of the Night King. The question though is how to save the Night King. It could be a one-on-one face off with Jon Snow, sure. This would be epic if the entirety of The Long Night episode was fixed for their faceoff to make more sense logistically.

But as we could clearly tell from every decision the writers made in season 8, their goal was to subvert expectations. So I won’t even fight their need to do so here. MoneyMedia and I will fulfill their wishes and the wishes of every single other fan involved in one fell swoop. So… who will kill the Night King? Drum roll, please!

The One Change: Baric Dondarrion Kills the Night King

Now, you may not even remember the name Baric Dondarrion. I didn’t when I first heard it. Baric Dondarrion is the man with the eye patch who was brought back to life many times by the “Lord of Light.”

The entire storyline of the Lord of Light was lost on me throughout the series. In no way did I connect the actions of this god with an intent to counter the Night King. Even when Melisandre tells Arya that Baric died and was brought back to save her, I remained confused. Arya hadn’t even killed the Night King yet and it remained too absurd of an outcome to think she would. Also, in my opinion, the abilities of the followers of the Lord of Light were inconsistent and unclear throughout the series. They seemed to be nothing more than the most obvious type of Deus Ex Machina to advance the plot in any way the writers needed it to advance. Considering the ending, Jon’s resurrection seemed especially pointless. Did the Lord of Light just want to create the “muh queen” meme the whole time?

Joking aside, this storyline wouldn’t have been much of a problem at all if it was made crystal clear that the Lord of Light’s goal/intention was to put the specific pieces in place needed to counter the Night King. In that case there would be a more apparent set of limitations on what this god would grant abilities to do. Baric’s many resurrections would suddenly have an obvious and direct purpose. This is the man who must be brought back because he is the man destined to kill the Night King. So how does it happen?

The Scene that Saves the Series

Baric killing the Night King was the tweak recommended by MoneyMedia for the reasons I mentioned above. With that little piece of brilliance to work with, I will now craft one set up to make everything else right.

The Mother of Dragons

The Night King, Daenerys, and Jon have the same big battle on their dragons. The Night King is again knocked off his dragon, Viserion, after scrapping with Jon and his dragon, Rhaegal. Also as in the show, Rhaegal is badly injured and crashes to the earth, taking it out of the fight and leaving it unconscious. This leaves Dany and her dragon, Drogon, to have to deal with a now-raging Viserion. This conflict will be impactful because she will now have to more directly deal with the emotional struggle of having to fight off and potentially kill one of the dragons she raised. The focus here will be a more face-to-face battle with her zombified “child.”

The King in the North

Now on the ground, Jon finds himself in the field before the castle. The army of the dead by this point are beginning to breach the castle walls (not fight the army of the living in front of the walls… ugh), after a long struggle to do so. Amidst the chaos, Northmen scouts on the walls see their king fall and the blue-eyed silhouettes of White Walkers closing in on him. They call out to their comrades that the King in the North is in danger. A group of Northmen assemble in the castle on horseback.

For the King!

It is for these men Melisandre uses her fire powers. Rather than lighting a fire moat Jon could have easily lit with Rhaegal in the show, she lights their swords here. “For the King!” they shout. As they cheer and rally each other, Melisandre gives Baric Dondarrion a knowing look. He smiles and nods. A proud tear rolls down his good eye as he lights his sword, knowing it will be for the last time.

Finally, we see Jon’s best friend from the Night’s Watch, Samwell Tarly. In this version of the show Samwell does not give his Valyrian steel sword to Jorah. As much as this might have felt nice as a type of Jorah redemption, it is Sam’s father’s sword. Sam is a character whose arc has been that of a bumbling coward who is progressively hardened by the Night’s Watch throughout the show. By this point there have been battles where he’s exhibited genuine bravery and I’m pretty sure he also was the first person to ever kill a White Walker. To now go face them head on in defense of the friend who defend him so many times before, using the sword his embarrassed father swore Sam would never inherit, would be the ultimate climax for his character.

In an act of heroism, Baric, Samwell, and the Northmen race out through the gates on horseback, barreling through the dead, to save Jon.

The Long Night

Finally, the stage is set for the battle everyone was actually waiting 8 seasons for. Fire against ice. Life against death.

The Northmen complete a fierce cavalry charge through the dead army. Some of the dead chase after them on foot as the siege of the castle continues. The men surround Jon and together, they fight off the approaching White Walkers and Night King. Many Northmen fall, but as Sam slices through the first White Walker, many of the chasing dead fall with it.

With the bulk of his minions off attacking the castle, the Night King is now in a more desperate situation. He slays the Northmen attempting to swing at him while Jon, Baric, and Sam try to fight their way past the Walkers and toward him. When the chance comes he raises all the fallen from what was once the army of the living. However, by this point, two more White Walkers have been slain by Jon’s own Valyrian steel sword and we can see the castle beginning to clear of combatants.

The Night’s End

At this point the Night King motions to Sam. The majority of the dead and Walkers in the fight focus their efforts on Sam and the men near him. This presents an opening for Jon and Baric to go straight for the Night King. However, Jon must struggle with the difficult choice of having to leave Sam for certain death.

The Night King and two of his remaining Walkers have begun turning back north. Their dead horses can be seen storming toward them in the distance. With desperate convincing from Baric, Jon leaves Sam behind. The two go off to have their final standoff with the Night King, who Jon fights while Baric takes on the two Walkers. At one point, Jon is knocked to his feet. The Night King rears back to finish him, but when he comes down, Baric blocks his swinging blade. Baric is then stabbed through his gut by one of the Walker spears, only for Jon to slice off the head of the Night King, ending the Long Night.

What? You Thought I Wasn’t Gonna Subvert Your Expectations?

Obviously Jon has to be the one to kill the Night King! Baric Dondarrion having a direct, key role in the Night King’s death is what saves the show, sure. But they were both brought back by the Lord of Light. There needs to be a clear reason they were both brought back and this is it. Their teaming up to complete this task was the aim and now, thanks to me, they achieved it. You’re welcome, Lord of Light.

Anyway, Samwell Tarly dies in honor while wielding his family sword. He does not get saved from death by cut scenes. Jon was given a choice. He made that choice and that choice comes with its consequences.

As for Dany, Viserion still dies to end the battle and Rhaegal still lives. Personally, I’d probably make it so she has to kill Viserion directly. Unfortunately though, I only get to make “one” change and I chose the nature of the death of the Night King. I have to accept the rest of the ending for what it is for the sake of this post. However, even with the rest of the ending, this change provides the best possible conclusion for the most important thread of the show. No matter what Jon Snow does from here, he now achieved what he was literally destined by the will of a god to achieve. And if we at least had that one thing, I think the rest would be somewhat easier to shake off.

Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts!

Live Action Book Trailer: The Civilands Series

This post is the home of the official live action book trailer for the Civilands series

Those who have been around here graciously supporting a while know this trailer isn’t brand new. However, I realized I never added a post specifically for it and decided it made sense from a logistics/SEO standpoint to do so.

Background

I never used to be a reader. The thing that got me into writing was good stories and the best stories I was exposed to were mostly in music and TV shows. Shows like Breaking Bad inspired me to take the leap into telling my own stories, but I didn’t know the technical composition of a show script. So, I decided to write a book.

Next thing I knew, I had a series on my hands. As I was crafting the chapters though, I could see the TV show influence remained in various ways. It had been a dream to envision my story playing out on a screen, gripping people the way I had been gripped. Eventually I decided I needed to test those waters. So I got together some friends/family with experience behind a camera, found an actress to play the part of Jeannie Morrell, and we got to work.

To say I am proud of the result would be an understatement. The trailer features a song from the book that I wrote/recorded, the amazing videography and acting work of those who stepped up to support me, and the epic opening of a series that’s been years in the making. When I watch it back it’s crazy to think how far it’s all come from the initial desire to just tell a story.

Now, without further ado, the book trailer

A new fight for power and control begins now in the Murrieta Territory. Whose side will you take?

** 2016-2017 BooksGoSocial Daily Book of the Year Award Finalist **

Jeannie Morrell is on the run. Chasing behind her is the expanding Keagan gang that just burned her home to the ground. Before her–through the forest of the Riverlands–is the native V’ahani clan and the grizzlies they control.

With her family now gone only months after her thirteenth birthday, young Jeannie will be thrust into an adventure of survival. Somehow she will now have to build a life all her own, in this newborn territory torn apart by greed.

Parts 1-4 of the Civilands series are available now. The final book in the series, Crevasse Colossus, is coming soon!

Hope you enjoyed! For those interested, here’s an update on my current events. 

Crevasse Colossus (Civilands #5) is barreling on toward the editing process. It’s been quite a massive undertaking wrapping up such a huge series, but I am confident I did so in the most epic possible fashion. Did I expect the absurdity of 2020 and now the Great Blizzard of ’21 situation down here in Texas to be added to the equation? Certainly not. But hey, here we are now on the other side of those things. I don’t know about you but I feel stronger for it and have been blessed throughout.

That’s it on the book updates for now. Other than that, be on the lookout for the Keagan Anthem sea shanty. So far I posted the lyrics, but I’ll also be recording and posting the song itself today. Hopefully it’s as hilarious to hear me sing a sea shanty for you as it was for me. Doing so gave me a new appreciation for comedic actors. Maintaining your composure while doing/saying funny things is no simple task.

As always, thanks so much for being a part of my Civil gang and hope you’re enjoying the ride!

Book Review: 1984 by George Orwell

*WARNING: This Review of 1984 Contains Spoilers*

There are two things I want to know more than anything after reading George Orwell’s 1984:

1. what would O’Brien have said to Winston if his answer to “do you believe in God, Winston?” was “yes.”

2. How does Orwell envision who Winston was prior, that led to the enslavement he finds himself in at the start of the book.

What I Liked

The book accurately identifies societal degeneration starts with a lack of truth. Deep down, that is what makes the world built in this book relatable and timeless, much more than the technology or the nature of global conflict. In a lot of ways it reads just as much as a philosophical musing as it does a fictional tale and there are some profound moments, to be sure.

On the side of action, the interrogation and its leadup keep your attention more than the rest of the story. The tension is significant.

What I Didn’t Like

One thing I struggled with was the conflict between the musing and the plot. Much of the story, especially in part 1 and 2, was very drawn out with description. Entire relevant conversations and events are described, rather than experienced.

This book is certainly a tragedy and its lead, Winston, is a tragic character. I can hardly call him a protagonist because he isn’t a good person. In a way, he almost seems to me like the antagonist, with the protagonist being the person he COULD be, if only he had more conviction. That isn’t who he is though at the beginning or the end. And all of that is fine if that is the point. However, it’s hard to tell how much of Winston is meant to be victim versus miserable wretch.

In Conclusion

I would be curious to know whether this book represents Orwell’s opinion of the fate/position of all human beings (a boot on the neck), or if it’s just meant as a tragic tale of a particularly immoral man. If it’s the former I profoundly resent and disagree with the hopelessness of it. If the latter, which I think is probably more likely the case, it still feels hopeless but is a pretty good case study on degeneracy, with great world building. On Goodreads I gave it 3 stars, since I was left so torn.