Far too much creative control.

'Nothing he could object to'

'Ice should be in are drink'

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Movies & TV A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Good Deeds Shine in a Weary World in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: “Seven” Carving out a space for hope and earnestness, even in the darkest moments… By Tyler Dean | Published on February 9, 2026 Credit: Steffan Hill/HBO Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Steffan Hill/HBO The fourth episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was absolutely the high point of the season so far. Almost all of this week’s action played out as a series of two-handers, mostly devoid of music (save for that spectacular sting of the main theme, swelling at the episode’s end in all its grandeur, rather than being played for humor as it was in the first episode). This episode, “Seven,” largely eschewed humor in favor of genuine, earnest pathos, driving home all the reasons Dunk and Egg are both worth rooting for. This article does not include spoilers for anything beyond the episodes that have aired thus far, so feel free to read on!  The Title I mean, it’s pretty obvious right? “Seven” refers to the Trial of Seven and the seven knights that must fight against injustice. Also, the Seven Gods and the Seven Kingdoms, etc., etc., etc. I feel like these episode titles are not quite as arcane or hyper-referential as they were in the original series or House of the Dragon. Which makes sense—like Dunk, it’s all pretty straightforward.  Andal Foolery — A Guide to the Ethnicities and Religions of Westeros Credit: Steffan Hill/HBO Maekar scoffs at his son’s invocation of a Trial of Seven as “6000-year-old Andal foolery.” While the point of his angry outburst is mostly to drive home how furious he is at Aerion, it’s another interesting reminder of the alien nature of the Targaryens and their position in the larger culture. As a reminder, Westeros is home to four distinct ethnic groups: The First Men are the original human inhabitants of the continent (the Giants and Children of the Forest predate them). They tend to be light skinned, dark haired, and dark eyed and are the ancestors of Northern houses like the Starks, Boltons, and Tullys, as well as the Ironborn of the Iron Islands, including the Greyjoys. They originally worshipped the Old Gods—a vaguely animist religion they learned from the Children of the Forest—and many houses still keep that faith (though many have also converted to the light of the Seven or worship the Drowned God).  The Andals arrived 6,000 years ago. They tend to be light skinned and light haired, with blue or green eyes, and are the ancestors of most of the Southern houses like the Lannisters, and Arryns. They brought the Seven gods with them from across the narrow sea and are the rough equivalent of Vikings in Martin’s pseudo-history. They waged war against the First Men and wiped out most of their cultural footprint (save in the North) and are now the most culturally dominant of the ethnic groups. The Rhoynar arrived as refugees from Essos a thousand years ago after their Kingdom lost a war of conquest with Valyria. They settled in Dorne and make up a number of Dornish Houses (including the ruling House Martell). They tend to be olive skinned, black haired and dark eyed. The ancient Rhoynish worshipped the personification of their home River (the Rhoyne) as well as an unnamed turtle god (Martin famously likes turtles), but save for a small group of itinerant, non-assimilating Rhoynar called the Orphans of the Greenblood, they mostly worship the Seven. The Valyrians are, for the most part, represented only by House Targaryen and House Velaryon in Westeros (although House Baratheon supposedly has some small amount of Valyrian blood). They are descendants of those who fled their Empire in Southern Essos and were spared the “Doom”—the magical cataclysm that destroyed Valyria four hundred years ago and wiped out the Valyrian people, save those in some of its Free City colonies like Lys and Volantis. They have otherworldly silver or golden hair (often depicted on the HBO shows as white) and purple eyes (the shows eschewed this detail). In the books they are also, traditionally, light skinned, although House of the Dragon cast Black actors to play the Velaryons. The Valyrians traditionally engaged in incestuous marriages in order to keep their bloodlines pure and keep the Valyrian heritage alive. The Valyrians used to worship their own gods but most of their religion was wiped out with the Doom. Many Targaryen dragons are named after Valyrian gods (Balerion, Vhagar, Meraxes, and Syrax being notable examples).  The Targaryens, as the most pure-bred Valyrians in Westeros, are definitely easy to peg as the “incestuous alien…blood magickers and tyrants who’ve burned our lands [and] enslaved our people” that Raymun Fossoway describes them as. While Aegon the Conqueror publicly converted to the faith of the Seven during his campaign to conquer Westeros, it’s clear that this was a political move. House of the Dragon drives this home by showing us how the Targaryens of that earlier era still keep their own marriage rites, and maintain ties to the old religion through the sect of Dragonkeepers. By the time of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, however, we have been through the reign of King Baelor the Blessed (who this show’s Prince Baelor is named after)—a religious zealot who built the Great Sept of Baelor (where Ned Stark is later beheaded, and which eventually Cersei blows up with her wildfire scheme) and made it clear that the Targaryens were a Seven-worshipping House in truth. All of that is to say that it’s quite interesting that Maekar derides an (admittedly ancient) Andal practice so publicly in front of the Lords Tyrell and Ashford. The show has done a great job in making it clear that, both as the youngest of four and as a Targaryen that has phenotypically Valyrian features, Maekar isn’t concerned about the slow degradation of the Targaryens’ power and the weakening of their dynastic brand, as it were—and this seems to cement it. Back when they had dragons, the foreignness of the Targaryens was an asset that made them untouchable. Now, lacking the superweapon that enabled their conquest of Westeros, it just makes them seem out of touch. In that way, you can see that the show is drawing an interesting parallel between the politically savvy Baelor (the eldest brother of Maekar) and his nephew Aerion. The former wants to maintain Targaryen legitimacy by taking a more diplomatic approach, keeping the family on good terms with those descended from the Andals and First Men (given that Baelor and Maekar are half Rhoynish, Dorne is a lesser concern), while the latter wants to do the same with a show of dominance and force. Even so, Aerion’s choice of trial reflects more than just his own unwillingness to face Dunk one-on-one—it reflects that same shrewd desire to use the religion of Westeros’ colonized peoples to make a strategic play.  Drunken Dragon Dreams Credit: Steffan Hill/HBO Martin has a penchant for writing tragic characters who are deeply flawed, profoundly and uncomfortably aware of their shortcomings, and who begrudgingly choose to do the right thing in key moments. Arguably, Tyrion Lannister is one these, as are Ser Jorah Mormont, Alicent Hightower (at least in the show), and Theon Greyjoy. We can add Prince Daeron Targaryen to that list as he assures Dunk that he’ll throw the match and apologizes for the role he played in Dunk’s legal woes.  He also is a Dreamer—a sort of Valyrian clairvoyant that the Targaryen line is famous for producing; it was Daenys the Dreamer, the daughter of the Lord Aenar Targaryen, who dreamed of the Doom of Valyria a decade before it happened and convinced her father to move his holdings to Dragonstone. It is heavily implied that Rhaegar, Maester Aemon, and Daenerys Targaryen are also Dreamers, as well as the House of the Dragon’s version of Helaena Targaryen. Certain fan theories that assert Tyrion Lannister is secretly Aerys II’s bastard son also suggest that he has dragon dreams. When Martin published The Hedge Knight in 1998, he hadn’t come up with a lot of the backstory for the Targaryen dynasty and was still figuring out a lot of the mystical elements of the plot that would become clearer in A Storm of Swords and subsequent Song of Ice and Fire novels, so Daeron is, oddly one of the first Dreamers presented in the series—at least on the “Fire” side of the books. Prophetic dreams and visions are a trait shared by magical lineages on both sides of the “Fire” and “Ice” divide. Over on the colder side, they are called “green dreams” after the Green Man-like greenseers who were shamans among the First Men and Children of the Forest. Bran Stark is famously one of these, as is the Ghost of High Heart, a woods witch that Arya meets in A Storm of Swords (and who may be connected to characters in AKot7K down the line), and Alys Rivers from House of the Dragon. Crucially, Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers—who we’ve seen in Daemon’s vision in HotD and who was played by Max von Sydow in Game of Thrones, calling himself the “Three-Eyed Raven”—is potentially the most powerful Dragon Dreamer in the Targaryen lineage and will likely appear in future seasons of this show, seeing as he is the royal spymaster during this time.  All of this is to say that, when Martin wrote The Hedge Knight, he hadn’t fully established the centrality of dragon dreams in the central story and Daeron’s ability was a winking Easter egg for what was happening with Dany in the House of the Undying. Obviously, we’re watching A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms after the totality of Game of Thrones and also after HotD made Dreamers a central trope of the dynasty with Viserys I’s obsession with prophecy (and Daemon trying to counteract it in his famous line: “Dreams didn’t make us kings; dragons did.”). So Daeron’s vision plays as far more consequential here than it did in the original novella. It also adds to the tragic irony of Daeron’s character: now, when all the dragons are dead and House Targaryen is on the decline, the one family member who still possesses some of the magic that sets Targaryens apart from most of humanity is a drunken failson who fears his own visions, drowning himself in his vices in order to dampen his powers. Oak and Iron We finally see the shield that Dunk commissioned from Tanselle. It’s one of the more iconic designs from all of Martin’s books and it looks lovely on screen—neither too perfect nor too rough. There’s a longstanding fan theory (that has been all but confirmed by Martin) that Ser Duncan is a distant ancestor of Brienne of Tarth, accounting for why the two of them are both so tall. In A Feast for Crows, while Brienne is wandering around the Riverlands and Crownlands, she remembers seeing the shield in her father’s armory, and has someone paint her own shield with the same device so that she can travel in disguise. It’s a great little moment highlighting Dunk’s legacy and Martin’s fondness for awkward outcasts. Long story short, a lot was riding on this shield, and the show absolutely delivered.  Six Plus One Times Two Credit: Steffan Hill/HBO So, with the lineups set for Dunk’s trial of seven, we have fourteen combatants to pay attention to… On Dunk’s side we have: Dunk himself Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen, the Hand of the King Ser Raymun Fossoway (newly knighted) Ser Lyonel Baratheon, our queer, devil-may-care fan favorite Ser Robyn Rhysling, “the maddest knight in Westeros,” whom Egg met at the beginning of episode 3 and knew by reputation from previous tourneys. Ser Humfrey Hardyng, who had his horse murdered by Aerion in episode 3 and is out for revenge (even with a broken leg) And Ser Humfrey Beesbury, who we have seen in brief moments during the joust. He has not had any lines yet and is only distinguishable by the beehives on his armor and his startlingly weird, bright yellow, Lorax-style moustache.  On the other side we have: Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen His brother Prince Daeron Targaryen, aka “Daeron the Drunkard” Their father, Prince Maekar Targaryen Ser Steffon Fossoway, Raymun’s cousin who betrayed Dunk for a lordship Ser Donnel of Duskendale, a member of the Kingsguard who is apparently the son of a crabbing magnate. We met him in episode 2 when he commended Dunk for being another common-born knight  Ser Roland Crakehall, another member of the Kingsguard who we also met with Ser Donnel in episode 2 Ser Willem Wylde, the third and final member of the Kingsguard contingent dispatched to the tourney. Like Ser Humfrey Beesbury, we have only ever seen him in the background of scenes and he has had no lines. Given that there are so, so many combatants here, I do like that the show has done a decent job of seeding in as many as possible beforehand, making them a bit more recognizable (both Egg’s scene with Ser Robyn and all the scenes with Ser Lyonel before this episode were invented for the show). I also love the parity of having a seventh member of each team that the show has basically shrugged at and said “uh, sure, there’s another guy there.” Hopepunk (HopeDunk?) Credit: Steffan Hill/HBO The show really is leaning all the way in on giving the audience moments to cheer for and distinguishing itself from other ASoIaF shows by embracing genuine earnestness. Martin’s first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, is the story of an honorable man who does everything right, uncovers injustice, and is brutally killed as a result. It’s not really the relentlessly grimdark story that it often gets accused of being, but it is a statement of Martin’s beliefs about the ways in which happy endings are undercut by political realities. He puts this succinctly in A Storm of Swords when Ser Jorah Mormont counsels Daenerys on why it’s necessary to be underhanded even in pursuit of justice: “Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.” In some ways, after thirty years of ASoIaF (and fifteen years of Game of Thrones on television), we are primed to view all triumphs in that world cynically. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms offers an ameliorative to our jaded expectations, and in doing so, it’s claiming a distinct space for itself within the Martin canon.  In the quiet, poignant scene where he hands over the newly painted shield, Steely Pate’s conversation with Dunk is taken nearly verbatim from The Hedge Knight, and when Dunk asks what he owes, Youssef Kerkour really nails the line reading of “For you? …A copper” that ends it. Similarly, cutting to Red, the sex worker, in the stands and her moment of stunned joy as Prince Baelor declares himself for Dunk alongside Ramin Djawadi’s main theme, hammers home the sense that this is a story where such touching and triumphant moments are truly possible. We’ll return to this discussion after the season is over to more fully examine the ways in which The Hedge Knight and this season are and are not in line with Martin’s typical worldview, but for now it genuinely feels great to end an episode of any show set in Westeros on a high note and with a stirring repudiation of wickedness.  The show is also remarkably good at having it both ways when it comes to its characterization of Baelor, the eldest son and heir of the current king. As I’ve discussed in previous explainers, Baelor sees his role as Hand of the King as one that prioritizes PR—it’s his duty to drum up support for the Targaryens. The Hedge Knight characterizes him as chivalrous and brave and a paragon of knighthood (though of course, it is told through Dunk’s eyes). We start seeing the seams in his outer façade a bit better here. Baelor does genuinely seem to be an honorable man but he’s asked to do (or at least ignore) unsavory things for the greater good of his family and their continued dominance. When Egg (treasonously) tells him that he wants Aerion dead, you can see the deep unease and tortured distaste in his eyes when he dismisses Egg’s statement with the rote line “the Septons tell us we must love our brothers,” likely knowing the extent to which Egg has good cause to hate Aerion. It’s meant to be insufficient, an evasion, and whatever arc the show has built for Baelor, it seems to be grounded in the realization that occurs between this moment and the final scene in the episode that the only way to earn the respect of the people is to put himself forward for a just cause. It’s not simply the right thing to do and honorable, chivalrous, etc., it’s also the smart thing to do from PR perspective—ensuring that no matter who wins the combat, there will be a Targaryen on the winning side. The writers pull of a neat trick by making sure that one of the most potentially cynical moves in the show is also one of its most heroic.  Odds and Ends Credit: Steffan Hill/HBO The opening tracking shot where what looks like stars are revealed to be the mud-streaked castle walls is pretty great. Given that so many episodes have started or ended with Dunk and/or Egg looking up at the stars, it makes for some nice thematic continuity. There’s more excellent costuming on display in this episode. I only realized this time around that the ridge of dragon scales that encircles Prince Baelor’s doublet culminates in his Hand of the King pin. It makes it look like the Hand itself belongs to a dragon. That, alongside the black doublets and red and black sashes that Maekar, Aerion, and Egg wear, it speaks to a sort of Targaryen branding that is clearly part of the effort to boost the Targaryens’ legitimacy in the era after the First Blackfyre Rebellion I say this almost every episode about every ASoIaF show, but the use of visual storytelling that cleverly cuts down the need for exposition is always fantastic. In this episode, when demanding a trial by combat, Dunk is met by his accuser, Aerion, the Princes Baelor and Maekar (the two highest-ranking Targaryens in attendance), Lord Ashford (because it’s his lands where the crimes have been committed), and Lord Leo Tyrell (because he is Ashford’s High Lord, whose honor might also be impugned). We’ve had a single scene with Leo Tyrell previously, but it’s great to see them adhering to the logic of whose honor is at stake and including him in the lineup.  The tableau with Lord Ashford on his hands and knees searching for a walnut feels very much like a Bosch painting depicting the failures of the state. It’s funny, sure, but it also has the peculiarly Medieval look of allegorical art. I’m a little bit leery of the show’s handling of Egg’s assertion of Aerion’s sexual assault. Following it up with Ser Raymun laughing is definitely in character, given how much he hates the Targaryens (in part because they are incestuous), but it also feels like the show trying to lighten the mood. Given how badly the original GoT handled depictions of and references to sexual assault (so much so that House of the Dragon had to be very clear that avoiding on-screen depictions of sexual violence was a rule for their writers’ room), this feels a little tasteless. While it is a detail taken directly from The Hedge Knight, it doesn’t seem like one the show needed at all, if they were trying to avoid a darker, more disturbing edge to these events. But if you’re going to include it, take it seriously. There is a match cut of Tanselle’s remembered scream with Steely Pate opening the window, mimicking the sound of her finger breaking. This mimics, almost exactly a passage from The Hedge Knight where Dunk in prison hears “… the snap of a lance. Dunk winced whenever he heard that last; it reminded him of the noise Tanselle’s finger had made when Aerion broke it.” I definitely appreciate the show going out of its way to recapture moments from the novella, even when they are relatively unfilmable as written.  They’ve really made Ser Robyn into a character out of courtly romance—the mad knight dedicated to the abstract concept of the Warrior’s bravery. I also love that the chainmail on his helm just dips down over the missing eye.  The shrug from Ser Arlan is fantastic.  In the original novella, Dunk calls out a bunch of lords and knights by name when he beseeches the crowd for a seventh combatant, including Ser Otho, “the Brute of Bracken.” In that version, Ser Otho rises to tell him it’s not his fight to get involved in. Changing this to a fart joke feels, I dunno, a little beneath the show? Martin isn’t above crude humor and there is room for it in any ASoIaF show, but I feel like there has been an overreliance on it here that breaks the immersion a little bit—especially when they have had so many good gags that haven’t relied on cheap laughs. In the novella, there is a big deal made about the initial assumption that Baelor’s son, Prince Valarr, arrives to support Dunk because Baelor, eschewing participation in the tournament, didn’t bring his own armor and wears his son’s instead. They keep the moment where Baelor rides in wearing what is clearly Valarr’s armor, but because Valarr has largely been relegated to the background of the show, they don’t really go for the Patroclus-in-Achilles’ armor plot point. Apparently, however, they did give Bertie Carvel a single contact lens so that he would have some continuity with Valarr as played by Oscar Morgan, who has heterochromia. In Conclusion  What do you think? Are you excited for next week’s trial by combat spectacular? For book readers, given that Martin includes virtually no flashbacks in his novellas, are you excited to see that the show will apparently feature some scenes set in Dunk’s childhood? What did you think of this episode being so deliberately paced and largely free of spectacle? Let me know in the comments, alongside any other thoughts you have about the most recent episode![end-mark] The post Good Deeds Shine in a Weary World in <i>A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms</i>: “Seven” appeared first on Reactor.

Books Jo Walton Reads Jo Walton’s Reading List: January 2026 Compelling memoirs, Vikings, Heyer, and early experiments in authoritarianism By Jo Walton | Published on February 9, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share January started with an excellent New Year’s Eve at home in Montreal with friends, then a house party for a few days, then I came to Florence right after Twelfth Night where I have been ever since, writing and looking at art. There was a lot of ice and snow at home, and there is none here. The novel is still not finished, but I have hopes it will be by the end of February. I read eleven books in January, and they were an interesting bunch. Better Broken Than New: A Fragmented Memoir — Lisa St Aubin de Terán (2024) All through her career Lisa St Aubin de Terán has been writing about her own life, whether as memoir or thinly disguised fiction. And all through her career, since I was a teenager, I’ve been reading her books, fascinated and a little repelled. I think I wouldn’t like her in person, but I love reading about her. She’s had a fascinating life, and she writes in a confidential way that always keeps a little back, that draws you close but never quite tells you everything. She’s lived in Venezuela, in Italy, in Mozambique, in England, she reinvents herself from time to time, makes a new start, tries to make sense of herself, writes a book, starts a new life with a new person in a new country. She’s very self-centred, and yet open and looking out, and she’s constantly fascinated with herself and how she turned out to be the person she is. The title of this book is from the Japanese art of kintsugi, and she’s writing about her life that way. If you have not read her, I recommend starting with the novel The Slow Train to Milan but if you have read her, you may well want this memoir that will tell you things you know from her other memoirs and things she held back, and in which you know she is still holding back. She’s a tantalising writer, and you have to care about her and be interested in how weird her life has been. Covent Garden in the Snow — Jules Wake (2017) Romance novel set at Christmas about a woman who works in make-up and wig-making at an opera house and how she meets an accountant who likes spreadsheets, and yet of course they’re perfect for each other. Wake is a good writer, good at detail and circumstance, good at friendships and time and place. This was a lot of fun. Hearthfire Saga Book 1 — Ada Palmer (2027) Re-read. I read the first draft and now I read this revision. This is a book about Norse gods and the Norse cosmos, and so it’s about survival and the marginal way in which it’s possible to make space to survive. It’s the story of a man and a god travelling through memory to learn why they’re doing it, to learn about themselves and each other. As you’d expect, it’s brilliant, very intensely absorbing, very long, and very thought-provoking. It’s also meticulously researched and deeply grounded in all of the latest research about Norse culture and cosmology. And it’s great, and as I was heading towards the end I was just reading faster and faster in that can’t put it down way, even though I’d read it before and I knew what was going to happen. I will remind you when this comes out, and when it has an official title. Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It — Gabriel Wyner (2014) To spoil this book, the answer it to make elaborate flashcards and do them a lot, and I expect that it would work if you did it, but it would be an awful lot of work and most people wouldn’t put that amount of work in. Certainly I wouldn’t. Certainly it seems unlikely for the sort of person who’d buy this book… I’ve been trying to learn Italian for ages, and I’m much better than I used to be but still awful. It seems to me that what helps is actually using it and the repetition I get from Duolingo nagging me. The Nonesuch — Georgette Heyer (1962) A young man with a good fortune goes to a country village, not actually feeling in need of a wife but of course finding one. This is a charming book with a fun hero and heroine, and a spoiled beauty who wanders about the plot (such as there is of one) having tantrums. This is pure fluff, but that’s what it’s supposed to be. Light as a meringue. And the misunderstanding is beautifully set up. Anna and Her Daughters — D.E. Stevenson (1958) Anna, left widowed, decides to leave London and go back to the Scottish village she came from; her daughters get themselves into a tangle over a man. This book covers much more territory in time and space and emotional resonance than I’m used to from Stevenson and I enjoyed it very much. We have the three daughters growing up in their different ways, and people settling into a village, which I expected, and then then it gets complicated and interesting. (It’s fun to imagine the novel Jane writes as being The Nonesuch.) Days at the Morisaki Bookshop — Satoshi Yagisawa (2010) Translated by Eric Ozawa. Very gentle Japanese novel about a girl learning to enjoy life again, after being jilted, by working in her uncle’s bookshop. Nothing much happens, she reads some books, she goes on a trip to the mountains, she talks to some people. I think this was recommended to me by an algorithm because I read The Tatami Galaxy and Before the Coffee Gets Cold and I was expecting it to develop some genre connection, but no, just a mainstream Japanese novel about people. Great that this stuff is being translated, glad I read it. Absolutism in Renaissance Milan — Jane Black (2009) A very specialised academic book about, well, absolutism in Renaissance Milan from the beginning of the Visconti dynasty until the end of the Sforza. Much more specialised and much more about absolutism and much less about any other aspect of Renaissance Milan than I expected. Also, a large part of this book is about lawyers arguing about when authoritarian leaders are allowed to be above the law, and fighting their corners to prevent rulers doing whatever they want to without justification, and working hard to prevent them riding roughshod over the existing law. So this was also more relevant than I was expecting. Her Son’s Wife — Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1926) This has just become available as an ebook. So, she’s a wonderful writer, and this is a wonderful book, but claustrophobic and depressing to the point where I can’t really recommend it. It’s about a woman who sacrifices herself to save her granddaughter, and it’s very well observed—almost painfully so. The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1845-1846, Vol 2 (1899) Re-read. You know how I read a lot of things at once? (I read sixteen things at once. I have a system.) Two of the things I am reading are always books of letters. Every single time I opened this book, or the previous volume, every time I saw it in the list of books I was reading, I involuntarily smiled. They wrote to each other every day, sometimes several times a day, even on days when they saw each other, which was once or twice a week by this volume. And it’s all so tense and exciting as it gets towards them getting secretly married and preparing to run away to Italy! And then… they do. And the book stops. And they never wrote to each other anymore, even though they lived here (right here in Florence) for fifteen years and wrote lots of major poetry—both of them. However, I felt bereft at finishing the book. They didn’t write these letters for me but for each other, and yet, I love them both so much and I want them to be happy, because to immerse yourself in this book is to fall in love with their love for each other. I decided that, since they were dead before I read these letters even the first time, I would consider that they are alive for the next fifteen years and I don’t have to mourn them until then. I then went to look at their house, and stood looking up at their windows. (I do know they’re not really in there.) Fifteen years. In 2041 I’ll read the letters again and… They’re free on Project Gutenberg. I think I said about Volume 1 that if you like Byatt’s Possession, you’ll like these. Nirvana Express: Journal of a Very Brief Monkhood — S.P. Somtow (2018) Autobiographical book by SF writer S.P. Somtow about the time he was a Buddhist monk in Thailand for two weeks. An odd mix of information about Buddhism, detail about daily life as a monk, and actual ecstatic experiences. This was interesting and strange, like a lot of Somtow’s fiction. I’m glad I read it. This could not be a more different kind of book from Better Broken Than New and yet both are the kind of memoir I like, the kind where the author is really there and being honest about themselves and their feelings even if not telling you quite everything. [end-mark] The post Jo Walton’s Reading List: January 2026 appeared first on Reactor.

Ghislaine Maxwell, sentenced to 20 years in prison for assisting convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, didn’t answer questions from a House panel Monday, as her lawyer attested to the innocence of both President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton in the Epstein matter.   The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating the close ties Epstein had with powerful people and what mistakes the Justice Department made in prosecuting the case.   Maxwell, appearing virtually to committee members for a closed-door deposition, invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify against herself, in response to a congressional subpoena.    “Right now, every American has questions that would be very important in this investigation, and she chose to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights,” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Monday.   Comer added, “Her attorney said that she would answer questions if she would be granted clemency by President Trump.”  Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to felony solicitation of prostitution, as well as procurement of minors to engage in prostitution.  Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019, which investigators determined was a suicide. Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 for conspiring with Epstein to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls. In addition to the prison sentence, Maxwell was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $750,000 fine.   Democrats have scrutinized Trump’s past association with Epstein, while Republicans have scrutinized Clinton’s past association. Both the current and former president have denied any wrongdoing, and said they ended their association with Epstein. Clinton, and wife Hillary Clinton, are complying with a subpoena to testify to the oversight panel after initially refusing to do so. Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said on Monday that she had pending court motions, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a member of the oversight committee, told reporters.  “The other thing, he pointed out a number of times that she has a habeas corpus petition pending for a new trial or release, and that’s why she is not going to answer questions,” Biggs said.   Markus posted his statement to the committee on X.   “If this Committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path. Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump,” Markus said. “Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing.”  Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he planned to ask, “Who were the other men who raped these underage girls? Did she have any conversations about a deal with Donald Trump?”   “Now, she’s taken a blanket Fifth Amendment on any question, and my view is that many of my questions don’t, in any way, incriminate her,” Khanna told reporters.   From at least 1994 to 2004, Maxwell assisted in recruiting, and grooming underage girls for Epstein, according to the Justice Department. Victims were as young as 14.   Maxwell attempted to befriend certain victims by asking them about their lives, schools, taking them to the movies or shopping trips, then put them at ease with Epstein by being present as an adult woman normalizing his behavior, according to the Justice Department. The victims were taken to Epstein’s homes in New York, Florida, and New Mexico, as well as Maxwell’s residence in London, England, where the abuse occured, according to the Justice Department. The post What Lawyer for Jailed Epstein Ally Told Congress About Trump, Clinton appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Communist Cuba's Last Year

Hollywood celebrities love nothing more than lecturing everyday Americans on morality, politics, and how we should live — but of course, their hypocrisy is hard to ignore.“We’ve got all the hypocrisy in the world coming from Hollywood. These are not our moral exemplars, and they really don’t have as much influence over our elections as they think they do,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says.“Thank the Lord. Otherwise, Donald Trump wouldn’t have won in 2016. He wouldn’t have won in 2024. So, we can continue to highlight their hypocrisy just as a good reminder that we shouldn’t be looking to them in any way,” she continues, noting that there are some exceptions — like Jelly Roll’s recent Grammys speech about Jesus Christ.“There was a time in my life, y’all, that I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance, y’all. There was days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size in a 6-by-8-foot cell,” he said at the Grammys.“And I believed that those two things could change my life. I believed that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life. And I want to tell y’all right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus, and anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you, Lord,” he continued.“Yes and amen,” Stuckey responds. “That is absolutely true. Love people giving glory to God in moments like that instead of saying stupid things about politics.”“There’s no better news than the news that Jelly Roll just told us of the gospel,” she adds.Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

In the wake of Jimmy Lai’s sentencing, the U.S. must stand up for democratic values.