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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The Long Way Round - Some really great ideas, but feels a bit undercooked. Novik admits this was exploratory writing, and you can tell this was about seeing what sticks rather than fully developed

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Dragons & Decorum - Pride & Prejudice plus dragons is a bad idea. But I think this is probably the best it could have been done. My own distaste for fanfic prejudices me here.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Seven - Possibly my favorite of the bunch; amazingly evocative and the setting grabbed me instantly. Lord Dunsany’s Teapot - Not amazing, but a sweet story in the WW1 trenches. Seven Years from Home - Imagine Avatar, but written by someone with talent.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Spinning Silver - 10/10, no notes. Apparently this was also expanded into a novel, but I can’t see how it was necessary; this is a phenomenal fairy tale and lands perfectly. Commonplaces - A Sherlock Holmes / Irene Adler story that didn’t really land for me. It’s fine, just…forgettable.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Vici - Roman delinquent with a dragon? This story was an absolute blast Buried Deep - Absolutely brilliant retelling of the Minotaur myth, a stellar short story that packs a great punch

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Araminta, or, the wreck of the Amphidrake - A weak start to the collection, this felt like a novella that had chunks sliced out to fit a page count After Hours - A side story to the scholomancy series; and held back by making it a tie in. The most interesting parts had nothing to do with the series

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Buried Deep (and other stories) By Naomi Novik Read this if: You want a solid selection of Shirts stories that starts off a bit rough, but has some absolutely stellar pieces that show why Novik is so beloved. #booksky #bookreview #shortstories #review Microreviews:

Naomi Novik’s short story collection: “Buried Deep”

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

What I disliked: There’s only so many times that the ending of a story can be “and the gods turned them into a bird” before you start getting bored. Writing lessons learned: Occasionally, you’re apparently allowed to insert in a needless section of violence, just to spice things up

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

What I liked: This works as a great companion to Homer / Virgil as a fantastic primer on mythology. This translation is excellent, great end notes; and some absolutely beautiful entries, especially the apotheosis sections

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Metamorphoses By Ovid Translated by A.D.Melville Read this if: You want the Greek/Roman #mythology equivalent of the “Now that’s what I call music” CDs of the 90s. Basically a best-of compilation, with a vague narrative through line. #booksky #epics #poetry #bookreview

The Metamorphoses by Ovid, showing a nude Greek/Roman goddess over a sleeping man

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Writing Lessons Learned: To avoid being the literary equivalent of the “Furiosa” movie, a sequel should never make you keep saying “Yep, the first one was awesome.”

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

What I disliked: Unlike the Iliad, in this one there is a clear hero Aeneas who never does anything wrong. It doesn’t have the tension or complexity of the Iliad, even though it has a more complex and interesting plot.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

What I liked: A lot of the first half is “Remember the stuff Odysseus did? What if someone who *wasn’t* a moron had those same challenges? Additionally, Juno continually scheming to ruin these particular dudes is endlessly entertaining. Also, Camilla is awesome.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The #Aeneid By Virgil Translation: Fitzgerald Read if: You liked the #Iliad, and want to see the Roman sequel featuring the secondary characters. This is the ancient equivalent of an unnecessary sequel ages after the fact, wrapped in patriotism but by a talented director. #booksky #epic #review

Virgil’s The Aeneid, translated by R Fitzgerald

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

What I disliked: The momentum of the story completely breaks with the funeral games of Patroclus. Eliminating book 23 would make the epic better. Writing Lessons learned: If you’re doing a story about Ancient Greek Gods, don’t use their Roman names.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

What I liked: The manipulation of the gods is endlessly fascinating, how they simultaneously care deeply about the humans, but also see it all as a contest between each other where the humans are just game pieces.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The Iliad By Homer Translation by Samuel Butler Read this if: You want the epic that is the bedrock of Greek mythology, and made names like Achilles and Troy famous. But oddly without the most commonly known tales about them? #Booksky #bookreview #Iliad #mythology #review

The Odyssey & the Iliad by Homer; showing various Greek mythology figures on the cover in the style of Ancient Grecian vases.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

What I didn’t like: Trying to keep track of Thorbjorg vs Thorbjorn vs Thorstein vs the other Thorstein… It gets to be very, very complicated. Writing lessons learned: Sometimes it’s better to not be historically accurate with names to enable readability.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

What I liked: You could see where there was an attempt to do a bit of editorializing for the Christian audiences circa 1300 when these were written down. Some clear editorializing on the fate of the “Christian” characters vs the “Pagans”, and tying them back to living Bishops.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The Vinland Sagas (The Greenland #Saga & Erik the Red’s Saga) Translation by Keneva Kunz Read this if: You have an academic interest in the Norse exploration of North America, and want to see what Icelandic/Greenlandic oral tradition was like 1000 years ago. #booksky #norse #bookreview

The book “The Vinland Sagas” that shows a hand drawn map of the Newfoundland(?) coast

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Writing Lessons learned: The lengthier a novel is, the more important pacing becomes. Don’t try to ramp up too early, or instead of excitement it becomes a slog.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

What I disliked: It’s impressive that a 1400 page book cannot bear the weight of its own mythology. There was so much to keep track of that big reveals didn’t land since I could barely keep track of what they meant.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

What I liked: In contrast to to previous book, the flashbacks in this one enhanced the characters and played a pivotal role in both the narrative and themes of the novel. They felt load-bearing, not obligatory.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Oathbringer #StormlightArchives bk 3 By Brandon Sanderson Read this if: You’re a fan of the series, and want a deep dive into the mythology and worldbuilding woven into the larger narrative. #bookreview #booksky #fantasybooks #sffbooks

The two volumes of Oathbringer; bk 3 of the Stormlight archives, by Sanderson

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The #Odyssey: “You must choose between Scylla and Charybdis!” The #Aeneid: “…Or just sail around them? That’s a much better choice.”

The Aeneid book 3, describing that it’s better just to go around.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Writing lessons learned: 1) Don’t write in 3rd person present. 2) Trust that the reader can understand a character arc without spelling it out multiple times verbatim.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

What I disliked: The entire thing felt like it was written by someone who was way too involved with Progressive Twitter in 2019. Like a Hipster guy who really wanted women to know he’s a ~feminist~!

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

What I liked: The core premise was a lot of fun, and it was clear the author did a lot of research on Aurthurian & Pagan legends, and it was neat seeing them brought in. Lancelot was the exact right amount of annoying.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Perilous Times By Thomas D. Lee Read this book if: You want to see how Arthurian knights deal with the worst case Brexit & Climate Change scenario. #booksky #fantasybooks #bookreview #arthurian #sffbooks

The book Perilous Times by Thomas Lee, showing a dragon tail choking a tree

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Writing lessons learned: Not every argument needs to be sourced with a quote from a philosopher or professor; you can count on the reader to use some critical thinking.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

What I disliked: Some of the early chapters had so many quotes it felt like a student who was trying to pad out the essay length. Keller is stronger when explaining in his own words rather than leaning on others.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

What I liked: The middle of the book where Keller covers questions of meaning, freedom, satisfaction, and identity are excellent; with almost a Lewis feel of building up arguments.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Making Sense of God By Tim Keller Read this if: You want an incredibly well researched overview of why people believe in God, and overviews of the common arguments for/against from a variety of perspectives (scientific, moral, philosophical, etc) #booksky #bookreview #theology #theologybooks

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I know that Homer was trying to make him sound awesome and impressive, but I’m just picturing this guy as a D-tier megaman villain. #TheIliad #Megaman #Iliad

An excerpt from the Iliad, with a highlighted portion reading “Areithous whom men and women had surnamed the “Mace-Man”

The megaman villain “knight man” who has a big mace/flail

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Writing lessons learned: If you’re self publishing, take advantage of getting to tease out your slow burn rather than force yourself to traditional pacing.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

What I disliked: The main character’s love interest got fridged; and it feels like it was only to free the two protagonists up to fall for each other in book 3.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

What I liked: I said this with bk 1, but the pacing between the two protagonists is phenomenal, every time the POV shifts you’re town because you don’t want to leave who you’re with, but can’t wait to see what is happening to the other protagonist.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Legacy of Ghosts (Coraidic Saga book 2) By Alicia Wanstall-Burke Read this if: You want a fantasy book that builds and expands on everything in the first one, opening up more of the world while still feeling like a close character study. #bookreview #fantasybooks #booksky #selfpublish #smallpress

Legacy of Ghosts, by Alicia Wanstall-Burke

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

What I disliked: There are a lot of imaginary names, places, terms, etc; and sifting through what is plot critical vs what is simply world building and immersion gets tricky. Writing lessons learned: Give your readers a glossary if you’re going to be making up too many new words to keep track of.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

What I liked: Le Guin fully immerses you in the world, and there’s the feeling that you’ve only scratched the surface of the complicated politics and people that inhabit it. #bookreview #scifibooks #🪐📖 #sffbooks #booksky

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The Left Hand of Darkness By Ursula Le Guin Read this if:You want a seminal work of #SciFi that alternates between the exploration of agender societal development, the oppressive challenges of living during an ice-age, & the impact of an alien representative arriving on a politically diverse planet

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Writing lessons learned: During a longer series, it’s fine to remove characters once their arc is done and they have nothing else to add.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

What I liked: This was by far the most focused and tightly plotted of the trilogy, far less random events and wandering than the others What I didn’t like: For the female protagonists, there were multiple instances where sexual violence was a threat.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Dragons of Spring Dawning (Dragonlance Chronicles bk 3) By Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman Read this book if: You want to finish the trilogy and see the first glimpses of the villains that still define #Dragonlance #booksky #sffbooks #fantasybooks #bookreview

Dragons of Spring Dawning, the 3rd book of the Dragonlance Chronicles. I read this on ebook

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

In general, I’d probably recommend the Mistborn trilogy as a better place to start rather than the Stormlight Archive series. Much easier way to see whether or not Sanderson will *click* for you

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

What I disliked: This is nitpicking, but the publisher increased the font size and line spacing to make this look like a novel rather than novella; and charged novel prices. Writing lessons learned: Give a pallet cleanser sometimes. It makes swallowing the big story a bit easier.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

What I liked: Lift is a fun character that Sanderson clearly enjoys writing. This was fun and light, but tied just enough into the wider narrative that it doesn’t feel like wasted pages.

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Edgedancer By Brandon Sanderson Read this if: You want a fun novella between the Stormlight Archives books, with significantly more levity and silliness than the rest of the series contains. #bookreview #booksky #sanderson #stormlight #sffbooks

The novella Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson

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Jon Green Books @jonmgreenbooks.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

What I disliked: The audience is very clearly 1950s Britain, so some of the examples or assumptions Lewis makes don’t translate as well as they once did. Writing Lessons learned: Hold a high view of your readers. They’re intelligent and will meet you where you meet them if you make the effort.

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