Interview with author Aidan Mason of “The Memory Incident”

Hello everyone! Aidan here. I've recently released my third novel, The Memory Incident, a 208 page tale of Victor O'Malley and the consequences of his strange dream about the death of a boy known as Daniel Karter. I'm extremely excited for this one and I can't wait for you all to read it! In the...

WARSONG: Stretti Brings Intrigue and Adventure to Print in October

​October 4th, 2022, for immediate release Arcbeatle Press and Decipher, Inc. announce the continuation of the WARSONG saga with the second volume of “The Battle of Phobos” series, WARSONG: Stretti. In Stretti, the heroes of Preludes return to face a solar system in crisis, for war is on the horizon between Earth and Gongen (the newly...

Why “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” Feels So Mediocre

The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes is a.......frustrating book. On one hand, it's not an inherently terrible read like so many corporate IP reboots/sequels/prequels that get slogged out these days. Taken on its own, it's a perfectly okay read. On the other hand, as the fourth book in the Hunger Games series, and the first...

HARRY POTTER IS DEAD: Part 8 – Pity The Living, And Above All Those Who Live Without Love

In April 1937, a steam locomotive built to the designs of Charles Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway, was constructed in Swindon. There was nothing immediately unique about this locomotive - it was not the first of its class, and it wasn't given an atypical name: like the ones built before it,...

HARRY POTTER IS DEAD: Part 7 – Always The Tone Of Surprise

To have Harry Potter without J.K. Rowling is, at this particular time at least, an impossibility. The franchise has gone to sea, and she is still its ship's rudder, driving it endlessly into the rocks. The question of what it will look like without her is not one that can be answered satisfactorily yet, and...

HARRY POTTER IS DEAD: Part 6 – Make The Unbreakable Vow

So far I have written about J.K. Rowling's poor writing quality alongside her abysmal politics - these two things make up the bulk of why online culture, at least in part, now mostly reflects and changes their views on the Harry Potter series as a whole. However, we run the risk of thinking these are...

HARRY POTTER IS DEAD: Part 5 – I Must Not Tell Lies

Because bigotry is probably the thing I detest most. All forms of intolerance, the whole idea of ”that which is different from me is necessarily evil.” I really like to explore the idea that difference is equal and good. But there’s another idea that I like to explore, too. Oppressed groups are not, generally speaking,...

HARRY POTTER IS DEAD: Part 4 – Did You Put Your Name In The Goblet Of Fire?

The year is 2000, and the world is eagerly anticipating the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling's fourth installment in the popular fantasy series. With overall sales rising worldwide through 1998 and 1999, there was an increased publicity for the novel as yet unmatched by the previous books. For what...

HARRY POTTER IS DEAD: Part 3 – You’re Gonna Suffer, But You’ll Be Happy About It

Provided that no changes to British copyright law are made, and J.K. Rowling lives to, let's say, 85 years old, then Harry Potter will enter the public domain in the year 2120. That's just under a hundred years from now, which when considering the modern media culture seems unfathomable. And again, this is under current...

HARRY POTTER IS DEAD: Part 2 – Enemies of the Heir Beware

The year 2007 came and went, bringing the end of Tony Blair's premiership, the announcement of the first generation iPhone, and - most importantly to this essay project - the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book of J.K. Rowling's fantasy series. The phenomenon of Harry Potter was not quite gone...