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BOOK REVIEW: Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan by Father Spyridon Bailey

12 Friday Jun 2026

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Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan by Father Spyridon Bailey

Review by Perrin Lovett

 

This review concerns an extremely important book, Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan by Father Spyridon Bailey. I review less than ten percent of the books I read, and I fancy that all the works in that select tenth are important, entertaining, or both. Today’s subject book is that and more, the epitome of importance. Every single Christian and all people of goodwill who, in any way, stand against the rot of postmodernity should read it. Herein, without giving all of it away, I’m going to try to go chapter by chapter in an attempt to do it justice.

(© Fr. Spyridon Bailey)

Bailey, Fr. Spyridon, Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan, Solihull, UK: FeedARead, 2017 (Kindle Ed.)

Father Spyridon Bailey is a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church in England. In addition to his pastoral duties, he has undertaken a popular public ministry with his Simple Path to God Podcast. His YouTube channel is a trove of information and inspiration; consider this recent reflection on the deception of worldly happiness. Blessed with a most sincere and pleasant conversational demeanor, he is also an excellent scholar and writer. Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan is available at Amazon.

Take a close look at the Contents of Orthodoxy…, from the TOC, page 5: Introduction, War, The United Nations, Powerful Elites, The European Union, Freemasonry, Ancient Cults, Ecumenism, Zionism, Banking, One World Government, Education, Mind Control, Child Abuse, The Council On Foreign Relations, Christianity the Real Enemy [of the satanists], Evolution, Nihilism And Materialism, and Preparing For What Is To Come. The covered topics alone should warrant interest in the book. Know that they are arranged and presented in that order for a reason. Father Spyridon sets forth the problem confronting the faithful, walks through the machinations of the wicked that afflict mankind, ties them all together, and then provides the only sane and Godly summary advice for dealing with them. 

For the sake of space, I must focus specifically. The first four chapters get right to the heart of many of our troubles: war is a racket designed to foster power at the expense of lives; the UN was designed to supplant Almighty God and Christian morality; the elites are real and really dangerous; and the EU Parliament Building looks like the artistically depicted Tower of Babel for a reason. I note that in Chapter 4, on page 51, Father Spyridon explains what few know or care to admit: Washington, D.C. is, by Pierre L’Enfant’s original design, a giant Freemasonic-satanic temple. 

Chapter 5 deals with Freemasonry: “[A]n occult organisation opposed to the Church and its teachings. Freemasonry teaches that salvation is not achieved through Christ alone, but through a collection of esoteric practices, many of which are satanic.” (See page 54.) One might know a decent Freemason. One might even be a decent Freemason. But that does not change the literally luciferian nature of the order, its hierarchy, and its two gods, LUCIFER (the good) and Adonai (the bad). In this chapter, some of what Father Spyridon presents is as shocking as it is educative. Despite the protestations of some, Freemasonry is incompatible with Christianity. From page 64: “The higher degrees of Freemasonry contain teachings entirely based on the [Judaic] Kabbalah … and it is as a whole an occult system that uses images and symbols to re-enact a promise of resurrection by means of a Godless philosophy.” 

Chapter 6 delves into ancient cults, particularly as their lingering practices are connected to Freemasonry and other facets of the Enlightenment. Such cults have been at odds with the Church since the days of the Apostles. This chapter naturally flows into the next, which concerns Ecumenism. The goal of that movement is the redefinition of Christianity, from Christ’s Truth to a man-made message of worldly unity. (See page 75.) 

Chapter 8 concerns Zionism, “a nationalistic and racist movement that has been willing to sacrifice Jewish and Palestinian lives in order to achieve its political aims.” (See page 85.) Father Spyridon shows, as did Dr. Blake Alcott at the beginning of The Rape of Palestine, that the Zionist movement is older than many think. And it has politically conquered much of the West, including the near total subjugation of the U.S. to the point that any criticism of it is considered secular blasphemy. In this chapter, Father Spyridon explains the Talmudic subversion of the faith of the ancient, pre-Christian Jews. (See page 95.) He also gets into the links between Zionism and Protestantism and those between Zionism and Freemasonry. (See pages 97-99.) 

Chapter 9 concerns international banking and, as one might guess, the links between it and all of the foregoing wickedness. The reader will learn, as summarized on page 103, “how the bankers control governments, destroy international economies when it serves their own ends, and how they are working to create a system of control that will result in economic slavery of every person on the planet.” The power of the bankers over England and America is long and entrenched. On page 104, Father Spyridon includes a somewhat craven quote from Thomas Jefferson: “Slavery to a military force can be abolished by an opposing force of arms. But a debtor’s enslavement to a creditor, no weapons can overthrow.” As Jefferson and company were loath to include any reference to the true Trinitarian God in any of America’s founding documents, one wonders if they were familiar with the Biblical concepts of the Sabbatical and the Jubilee, not to mention the subject matter of Jesus’s first public sermon. Orthodoxy… was published just a few years before Russia, China, and the BRICS+ nations began their staunch opposition to the Western financial slavery system; their traditional, nationalistic replacement approach appears to be working very well for the greater part of humanity. Yet within the West, the enslaved are approaching the tedious end of the faux prosperity conjured by the bankers; Father Spyridon walks readers through the many steps and phases that led us to this sad point. What he presents, even to those familiar with the postmodern monetary and financial systems, is staggering. One very interesting point he makes is the blame-shifting concerning the financial disaster, from the malevolent bankers to their victims. To wit, on page 120, he notes: “Greeks were portrayed as a lazy, untrustworthy nation who were seeking debt forgiveness because of their selfish lifestyle.” That false characterization should sound familiar to U.S. student loan victims, and any borrowers slandered over the impossibility of their usurious financial condition. 

The imposition of debt slavery over so much of the human population leads directly into the next chapter, concerning attempts to establish a One World Government. Christians should not fear calling this evil what it is. (See page 125.) The proponents of globalism have not been quiet in extolling the inverted virtues they wish to impose on humanity. Father Spyridon includes quotes from Winston Churchill, James Paul Warburg, and others to this effect; these are reminders that, regardless of whether ordinary people notice, the wicked usually explain exactly what they are doing as they do it. 

Chapter 11, “Education,” kicks off with an informative quote from J.D. Rockefeller: “I don’t want a nation of thinkers. I want a nation of workers.” (See page 137.) The modern schools began as factory worker and soldier training camps where a child’s curiosity and capability was beaten out of him. They have since morphed into anti-Christian social experiments and pedophile hunting grounds. Father Spyridon’s experience here is personal, as he spent 14 years fighting the system within the U.K. schools. (Id.) He goes very deep into what shaped the schools, who was behind the intrusions, and the attendant results of the assorted subversions. He reminds us, on page 152, that, “The right to educate children must never be taken from parents, and the state must never be permitted to dictate the values and standards it believes supersede all other belief systems.”

“Education” naturally progresses into Chapter 12, “Mind Control,” and Chapter 13, “Child Abuse.” Both of these satanic phenomena stem from the operations of the elites, their governments, and the intelligence agencies within those governments. Numerous examples, from television to pornography to lgbtP predation of children, are provided. Many of them are deeply disturbing. 

The Council on Foreign Relations, as Father Spyridon argues on page 186, Chapter 14, serves as an intermediary between the foregoing groups and their dark works. Chapter 15 explains that the true enemy of the satanic world disorder is Jesus Christ and His Church. The following chapters cover the effects of Darwinian Evolution and Nihilism, two sides of the devil’s coin. The former severs man from his traditions, and the latter renders the individual a being of nothingness, ever ready to be deluded and captured. 

Father Spyridon’s final chapter, 18, “Preparing For What Is To Come,” reassures Christians that we are fighting in a spiritual war. (See page 224.) “Our struggles here in time in this world will determine our eternal condition, and so we must reject the temporary comforts that tempt us from taking up our cross. Let us open our eyes to what is happening, let us recognise how Satan is working against us with every weapon his kingdom provides.” (See page 231.) Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan is a masterfully compiled litany of those weapons. And rather than giving in to despair when confronted with the dreadful arsenal, the book and its author valiantly leap to defend the Christian Faith and those who adhere to it.

As I noted, Orthodoxy and the Kingdom of Satan will be an invaluable resource for any Christian or anyone else who wants to make sense of the current age of death, slavery, and doom. Regardless of one’s views on eschatology, one must realize at this very late hour that something, many things, in fact, have gone dreadfully wrong. Given the magnitude of what has happened to us all, even an honest atheist should admit, in the total absence of religious considerations, that there now exists a system of total degradation and control that threatens every corner of the world. Father Spyridon’s book is a no-holds-barred look at what has happened, and is a strong encouragement to take up the fight against evil. Please make reading it a high priority.

Once again, I am grateful to the esteemed Jose Miguel for recommending this excellent book. Please read some of Jose’s thoughts, some of the most learned and coherent going today.

BOOK REVIEW: Sigma Game: The Complete Socio-Sexual Hierarchy by Vox Day

05 Friday Jun 2026

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Sigma Game: The Complete Socio-Sexual Hierarchy by Vox Day

Review by Perrin Lovett

 

Hierarchies are inherent. Orcas are apex predators because they are, not because anyone labeled them as such. Likewise, a suckermouth catfish is a bottom feeder because of the way it eats, rather than how anyone perceives or captions it or its diet. The same goes for where various men fall into the grades of the socio-sexual hierarchy, based on attractiveness, behavior, and societal reception. While we may have some traits from multiple tiers, all men fall into one primary category. Understanding this fact, as it pertains to oneself and to society at large, is critical for better navigating through the myriad phases of life. Vox Day has written a masterful guide that exposes the simplicities and intricacies of human socio-sexual relationships.

(© Castalia)

Day, Vox, Sigma Game: The Complete Socio-Sexual Hierarchy, Switzerland: Castalia, 2026 (Kindle Ed.).

Years ago, Vox Day, the original internet superintelligence, broke down the ranks of men in society, adding a clear and comprehensive taxonomy to what had been a murky and frequently misunderstood concept. Since then, the classifications have still been misused, intentionally and inadvertently. Today, there is no excuse for not understanding who is who. Sigma Game is available from Amazon.

Upfront, on page 8, Day gives helpful advice for male readers: whoever you are, it’s not about you. 

Seriously, if you find yourself thinking “yeah, but what am I?” then you are not in the right frame of mind to get the most out of what this book can provide you. Just set yourself aside for the duration. You’ll still be you when you finish. As with most things, you’ve got to learn the material before you can successfully apply it.

The ranks are, see pages 14-15: Alphas, the natural leaders; Bravos, Alpha loyalists; Deltas, ordinary average men; Gammas, the annoyingly dishonest; Sigmas, lone wolves, and; Omegas, the isolated rejects. Lambdas, homosexual men, are not discussed in Day’s book as their proclivities are outside the human ordinary. 

Sigma Game, well thought out and edited, is largely arranged in chapters that either define the categories or explain them. Vexatious Gammas receive treatment in four consecutive chapters, more than any other group. Gammas receive so much attention because they have the ability to wreak so much havoc if left unchecked. Day devotes an entire chapter, Chapter Twelve, to “Dealing With Gammas.” “[T]he good news is that Gammas are, once you know what to look for, remarkably easy to identify, because their behavioral tells are consistent, predictable, and difficult for them to suppress even when they are aware of them.” (See page 242.) “Mealy-mouthed vocabulary is a specific and identifiable rhetorical pattern.” (See page 243.) Day goes much deeper into the art of Gamma spotting. And he provides advice for organizations, women, parents, and even Gammas themselves about how to deal with and avoid the irksomeness of the deluded and the dishonest.

Within and without the world of the Gamma, Day provides excellent examples for each category. Being that he is a reader, many of Day’s representatives come from literature. Paris, Prince of Troy, is the archetypal Gamma. (See page 191.) Paris’s brother, Hector, is the ideal Alpha. “[I]t is Hector who most vividly illustrates the Alpha’s burden in its purest form.” (Page 55.) “Perhaps no character in modern literature better exemplifies the Bravo than Samwise Gamgee from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” (Page 99.) 

The title classification, the Sigma, has become a bit of a celebrity in postmodern popular culture. Many men, young and old, and particularly Gammas, have erroneously styled themselves as Sigmas. But this is the rarest type, one Day had to neologize due to its anomalous nature. Achilles is the Sigma of Homer’s Iliad. (See page 278.) Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen are dedicated to the Sigma. With examples, Day defines what the designation means, what a Sigma is: “The Sigma is the outsider who doesn’t play the social game and manages to win at it anyhow.” (See page 304.) And what he is not: “[I]f you cannot stand up to the entire weight of the social consensus and confidently tell it, “No, you move”—then you should never, ever, attempt to convince anyone that you are a Sigma.” (Page 303.) 

Sigma Game provides helpful information for understanding, working with, and working around the assorted classifications, with examples from various settings. Day also delves into issues regarding women, see Appendix A, and midwits, see Appendix B. Written by a Sigma and a man with a UHIQ, Sigma Game is relatable enough and well-reasoned enough to satisfy anyone’s curiosity. It is a resource that will help everyone. For all these reasons, I highly recommend adding it to one’s library.

BOOK REVIEW: How to Slay a Wizard by Owen Benjamin

29 Friday May 2026

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How to Slay a Wizard by Owen Benjamin

Review by Perrin Lovett

 

Words have meanings. And when their meanings are distorted or subtly channeled, they become spells. Who casts spells? Wizards. They’re real, and they are not limited to the silly variety found in movies like Fantasia. Consider that, just a few years ago, millions and millions of people took a known poison out of fear, all because a wizard in the form of a talking rat on the television told them to. That’s misused authority and appropriated power. It’s a problem that calls out for a solution. Luckily, Owen Benjamin has given us one. 

(© Castalia / Owen Benjamin)

Smith, Benjamin Owen, How to Slay a Wizard, Switzerland: Castalia, 2026 (Kindle Ed.).

Owen Benjamin might be the tallest comedian on earth. And he’s one of the best. Despite being canceled by the usual suspects for speaking truth to wickedness, he continues to use humor as a weapon against evil and as armor for the good and decent. As a former insider and a man blessed with keen discernment, he knows exactly how to call out the movers and shake-downers of Clown World. Find him on UATV. How to Slay a Wizard is available from Amazon.

Within the 185 pages of How to Slay a Wizard, Benjamin packs an abundance of truth. Wizards are ultimately only servants of satan’s lies. But the threat that they represent is immense. Word wizardry convinces otherwise honest, ethical people to do things like modify their DNA based on lies, support wars against people who mean them no harm, live child-free and miserable, limit what they say for fear of offending some nebulous victim or another, and on and on. This is today, just as it has ever been, a legitimate challenge. 

The modern dominance of the wizards started, as Vox Day once suggested, by breaking the Christian prohibition against blasphemy. The people were told that anything was allowable under the guise of free speech and the like. Yet, no sooner had the wizards vanquished the old safeguards than they instituted new rules of their own. Free speech became hate speech, a concept Benjamin deals with decisively in his book. From page 88: “The word ‘hate speech’ is a wizard term. It means speech the wizard hates, because it threatens his position.” 

Benjamin uses famous wizards, like Saul Alinsky, to show precisely how a wizard’s mind works. He points out that, like all evildoers, these shifty spell masters can only invert and mock; they cannot create. As such, and I was surprised to see the connection made, instead of formulating their own new formulas, the modern wizards only stole and perverted the tactics from The Art of War by Sun Tzu. (See page 53.) 

As astounding as much of what Benjamin presents is, it is also very simple, as he explains it. He has quite the gift for communication. And he uses it, on page 178, to expose the “big lie” behind all wizardry: four simple words. And once one sees the lie, how does one then slay the wizard? Benjamin answers that question in only five words on page 129. 

A good book provides needful information and entertainment. How to Slay a Wizard hits that mark and surpasses it. A great book also allows the reader to become involved in some small way, or it recalls some memory the reader might have forgotten. Your reviewer was drawn in, with laughter, several times in this manner. 

Who needs to read Benjamin’s excellent book? You. It will be a special service to younger readers who seek a means to identify the controlling works of the word masters and how to halt their effects. These defensive tactics were once a part of the grammar, logic, and rhetoric study lessons available to Western students. Sadly, those civilized exercises have vanished from what now passes for schools in places like America. But much of the deficit can be filled with just one book, How to Slay a Wizard. As such, I highly recommend it. Buy a copy and read it today. Your reviewer gives great thanks to Mr. Benjamin for his time, talent, and dedication in writing it. 

BOOK REVIEW: The Fate of White America by Constantin von Hoffmeister

22 Friday May 2026

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The Fate of White America by Constantin von Hoffmeister

Review by Perrin Lovett

 

The United States Constitution, as originally ratified by the several American States, expressly stated that the new federal government was ordained and established for the Founding generation and their Posterity. The Founders were exclusively White Europeans, primarily of English descent. The 1828 edition of Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language defines “Posterity” as: “Descendants; children, children’s children, etc. indefinitely; the race that proceeds from a progenitor.” Likewise, “American,” as a title, is defined: “…now applied to the descendants of Europeans born in America.” So it was that the Americans were White Caucasians of European descent, largely of English stock and living in an extension of English culture. Other European races were added to the mix over time, which did complicate cultural matters. Still, until around 1950, White Europeans comprised roughly 90 percent of the U.S. population. Today, however, they account for little over half the population, their total numbers and relative percentage rank are falling, and, as Constantin von Hoffmeister notes, they are in a crisis. Here follows a brief look at Hoffmeister’s new book, The Fate of White America. 

(© Multipolar Press)

von Hoffmeister, Constantin, The Fate of White America, Multipolar Press, 2026 (Kindle Ed.)

Constantin von Hoffmeister is a German gentleman and scholar who studied English Literature and Political Science in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. A multilingual intellectual, he has worked in the United States, India, Uzbekistan, and Russia. The author of Esoteric Trumpism and Multipolarity!, he is also a commentator for Russia Today and the founder and lead editor at Multipolar Press. The Fate of White America is available at Amazon. 

At the outset of this review, I’d like to thank the author for his keen observations and analysis. I am reminded that an outside perspective, the more learned, the better, sometimes offers glimpses of things all around us that we, in our ordinary doings, might miss. Whites have been in the news, of course, and of late. Perhaps one read Alexander Dugin’s epic jeremiad about “Whites,” a tirade that von Hoffmeister defended, correctly, in your reviewer’s estimation. 

So, what is the fate of White America? At present, as von Hoffmeister asserts, White Americans are in a crisis. And that is where The Fate of White America kicks off, addressing the situation in real, historical, and philosophical terms. The book begins with a look at Madison Grant’s 1916 book, The Passing of the Great Race. Grant’s good and not-so-good ideas are presented. Long before the postmodern age of radical demographic change, with many still refusing to acknowledge it is happening or that it is of concern, some were already concerned over 100 years ago. Their unease settled around the replacement of the principles that once guided the native stock of America, those regarding not merely ethnic identity, but also, and especially, see page 6, the “religious, political, and social foundations” of the old America. The interest was real and valid; as Jose Miguel recently noted, “By the 1900 US census no more than thirty-eight percent of the American Empire’s population was of the founding stock.”

Despite the subject matter, von Hoffmeister’s thoughtful work is not a racialist or racist screed, as I suspect some might want to portray it. He covers the differences between various views on race, and does so very well. Traditional non-White Americans, and others, may find something of value in von Hoffmeister’s words. Who will be offended by The Fate of White America? Liberals, of the First Political Theory variety, and globalists. And if they are so offended, then that will be higher praise than anything your reviewer could heap on the worthy author. 

The Fate of White America then backs up and delineates the emergence of White America. The concept of standardized White people, in place of previous national identities, was a kind of compromise for early Americans. While it gave them a sense of collective identity, it came at the expense of losing parts of their various traditions. The author notes a correlation between this process and the Enlightenment ideas that helped turn the British Colonies into American States. 

Chapter 3 deals with the concept of the “melting pot,” which, von Hoffmeister notes on page 20, is relatively new, emerging around 1929. He draws on Wyndham Lewis’s thoughts on racial consciousness and how the changes faced by the Western world upset long-standing customs. To wit, page 23: 

In earlier eras, aristocracies, warrior castes, and cultural elites provided direction to their societies. In the modern age, according to Lewis, such figures drifted towards the margins. Political institutions and moral doctrines stripped them of legitimacy. The law they once embodied collapsed beneath democratic leveling and bureaucratic uniformity. These displaced figures wandered like prophets whose warnings fell upon deaf ears. They perceived the possibility that Western civilization might gradually merge into broader global systems, losing its distinct character in the process. Lewis compared their predicament to the tragic figure of Cassandra from Greek mythology, whose accurate prophecies earned ridicule rather than belief.

The reader probably has one or more notions, or examples, of how this process has affected some facet of Western and American life, whether it be Christianity, masculinity, athleticism, or intellectualization. If so, then one will likely wonder, alongside Lewis and von Hoffmeister, if the West can regroup, refocus, and carry on. Therein might lie a large part of the riddle facing White America. 

Moving forwards, von Hoffmeister addresses America’s place in the new multipolar world order. On page 29, he writes: “Multipolarity does not herald the disappearance of the United States from the stage of history. It signals a transformation in scale, ambition, and orientation.” He is correct, though it is likely speculative whether the U.S. will continue to hold its current shape and composition. And that process, regardless of how America approaches it, is happening at this moment. The Fate of White America is a most timely book.

The book carries powerful declarative statements. On page 34, one of them is: “The true threat to mankind lies not in the recognition of racial reality but in the deliberate attempt to ignore it.” The author then proceeds to explain the rights of people, Whites included, and what it does and does not mean for a people asserting their identity. The book does not shy away from attacks on identity. In Chapter 7, “America’s Faustian Spirit,” von Hoffmeister tackles Emmanuel Celler’s lifelong project, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Of that sea change law, on page 46, von Hoffmeister writes and asks: “Over the following decades, the demographic composition of the United States changed at a pace unprecedented in the country’s earlier history. More than sixty years after that legislative turning point, the question arises once again: how do White Americans themselves interpret the identity of the nation?”

Pick a random White American and ask him that. The odds are that, regardless of what is said, a sense of confusion or frustration will be conveyed. And the next chapter, “Decline and Civil War,” delves into those sentiments, as stated upfront, analyzing “the internal fragmentation of the United States through a civilizational framework, drawing on [Oswald] Spengler and [Martin] Heidegger to interpret political conflict as a symptom of deeper cultural exhaustion.” Homage is paid to Julius Evola, among others. If one has not read Evola’s “American ‘Civilization,’” then one should.

The book proceeds with additional introspective treatment, some of it partly metaphorical, and with a presentation both informative and sublimely entertaining. For Americans blessed with Southern character, Chapter 13, “Spengler and the Confederacy,” will be a legitimate treat. 

The final few chapters are a kind of examination of the very current happenings in America. Attention is paid to the examples of Charlie Kirk and MAGA, and von Hoffmeister revisits some of his thoughts from Esoteric Trumpism. Chapter 16, “Cimmerian America,” is a bit of genius, a combined ode to Patrick Buchanan and Conan the Barbarian, confronting “the death of the West as both an ending and a threshold.” (See page 110.) “‘Is this the end?’ The answer comes, low and steady: ‘That depends on whether we still remember how to fight.’” Id. The ending is as poetic as the body of the book is insightful. I leave the final thoughts about who might “mistake motion for mastery” to the reader’s examination. 

If you, dear reader, whether you are White, American, or otherwise, enjoy a challenging ballad to the art of civilization, then do yourself a favor and read The Fate of White America. As with any great book, it will get the gears inside one’s head turning. To the White American reader, know that, though it is conditioned according to God’s designs and graces, fate is still largely in your hands. Constantin von Hoffmeister has given you, us, that is, an excellent summation of where we came from, where we are now, and where we might go tomorrow. 

*As seen originally at Multipolar Press.

BOOK REVIEW: The UFO Deception: An Orthodox Christian Perspective by Father Spyridon Bailey

15 Friday May 2026

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The UFO Deception: An Orthodox Christian Perspective by Father Spyridon Bailey

Review by Perrin Lovett

 

Unless your reviewer is mistaken, there is an excitement in the popular culture of the West, bordering on hysteria, over the prospect of a coming disclosure about the existence of UFOs and intelligent alien life. Without hesitation, I suggest that if this happens, then Christians will be urged to renounce their faith. If one has questions about the pomp surrounding this phenomenon and what lurks behind it, then one should know that today’s book has all the answers a Christian needs.

Version 1.0.0

(© Fr. Spyridon Bailey)

Bailey, Father Spyridon, The UFO Deception: An Orthodox Christian Perspective, Solihull, UK: FeedARead, 2021 (Kindle Ed.)

Father Spyridon Bailey is a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church in England. In addition to his pastoral duties, he has undertaken a popular public ministry with his YouTube channel and his Simple Path to God Podcast. Blessed with a most sincere and pleasant conversational demeanor and he is also an excellent scholar and writer. He gave a brief interview about his book a few years ago. The UFO Deception is available at Amazon.

I would be remiss not to thank the esteemed Jose Miguel for recommending this excellent book. Thank you, sir!

Six years ago, at the beginning of the great COVID deception, I predicted that the aliens might be next. Perhaps I was careless in joking about the possible spectacle back then. Humor is good medicine, but it may not be the correct response to evil. And the evil is growing, as seen in recent news articles. And it is everywhere. The Daily Mail just ran a report suggesting potential news about UFOs may create uncertainty about Christian beliefs. Just a few days before that, the Miscellany News hosted an op-ed by a Vassarite, no doubt a conscientious young woman, who believes we must try to contact alien beings. Her belief, which is almost religious in nature, is firm despite her concurrent admission that for all the attention paid by SETI and other listening outfits, there is absolutely no evidence these beings exist. 

Father Spyridon mentions such futile listening efforts in The UFO Deception. He also goes into great detail recounting the history of UFO speculation from ancient times until the present. His book is extraordinarily detailed and thoughtfully edited. And he points out, on page 8, that concerning his title matter, “with few exceptions, the Orthodox Christian perspective is missing.” In getting to the unchanging position of the Church about various supernatural or mysterious curiosities and the nature of the deception(s) behind UFOs, he covers many historical, scientific, and cultural bases.

Father Spyridon observes, on page 218, that there is no conflict between true science and true Christian belief. He makes theological and observational points about the theory of evolution, which is always taken as an iron law by its proponents, that are remarkably similar to the mathematical dismissal of Darwinism found in Vox Day’s Probability Zero and The Frozen Gene. The similarity is refreshing, and it goes a long way towards answering my previous question about the compatibility of Day’s work with existing Orthodox doctrine, as outlined in Father Constantine Bufeev’s The Orthodox Doctrine of Creation and Theory of Evolution. 

Also refreshing is Father Spyridon’s repeated and well-documented assertions that the CIA and other government agencies, in the West, and especially in the United States, are and have been involved in long-standing efforts to create and control public perception about UFOs. These asservations dovetail nicely with what has already been exposed about the CIA and other intelligence agencies in books like Gekaufte Journalisten by Udo Ulfotte and The Mighty Wurlitzer by Hugh Wilford. 

Concerning popular culture and how entertainment, particularly science fiction, is used to sway the public, Father Spyridon makes several very interesting points. Chapter Sixteen, “The Spirit of Science Fiction,” is full of gems. One of them, on page 191, one I had never noticed before, is the inverted pentagram behind the robot throne in the 1927 German film Metropolis. Keep that in mind for a moment. He also exposes, as does Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, that so much of science fiction is intentionally dystopian. And so much of it is aimed at children. 

The heart of the Orthodox perspective is found in Chapter Seventeen, “The Truth Behind the Deception,” and Chapter Eighteen, Father Spyridon’s Conclusion. Cutting to the chase, the alleged UFOs and aliens are merely demonic manifestations. He notes that while modern people are experiencing historic levels of demonic exertion, they are no longer equipped with the proper Christian knowledge of how to handle it. The fallen angels have updated their appearance and methodology in keeping with modern technological times. But their intentions are the same as ever. Father Spyridon provides a wealth of sources, from the Bible, from the Saints and Patristic Fathers, and from modern thinkers that show the connection between man’s perceived otherworldly visitors and the demonic. Here, I note that when reading a book on Kindle, I usually highlight important portions for later use in reviews; I essentially marked up the entirety of Chapter Seventeen. Ergo, read it all. One part of special interest is on page 212, wherein Father Spyridon discusses Saint Anthony of the Desert and the power that demons have over Christians: they have none whatsoever unless we offer ourselves to them. 

In his conclusion, Father Spyridon summarily addresses the two tandem deceptions at work in the realm of UFO hype and illusion. The first is the demonic, with satan and his followers trying to deceive mankind. The second is the use made of that deceit by governments, including the one in Washington, D.C., using the phenomenon as cover for various military, technological, and social projects. For my part, I suggest there is probably a strong link between the two duplicities. Just as in Metropolis, in keeping with the original plans drafted by Pierre L’Enfant, Washington hosts a gigantic inverted pentagram around the White House. It is almost a certainty that many, if not most, high officials in the U.S. government, and other Western governments, regularly commune with demons or their earthly emissaries. 

Regardless, at the end, on page 221, Father Spyridon firmly and wonderfully states that UFOs cannot harm Christians as long as we maintain fidelity to God. “Satan is a liar and we must reject his deception.” Amen.

If any of the recent predictions come true, if mankind is ushered into a new alien delusion, and if the attendant revelations follow the patterns established by COVID and other hoaxes, then decent people will be very hard-pressed to fear, give in, give up, and conform to the new unreality. Accordingly, if one has questions or concerns about the late UFO hysteria or if one wants to know more about Orthodox Christianity in general, then one must read The UFO Deception. 

COLUMN: Multipolar Post-Literacy?

09 Saturday May 2026

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Multipolar Post-Literacy?

 

I grew up with books. And one day, I started contributing some words of my own. It’s more than what I do, it’s who I am. Somewhere along the way, I was mildly surprised to learn that many other folks don’t share my level of affection for the written word. Eight years ago, I lamented the new American age of post-literacy. Six years ago, I elegized the remodeling of the elite prep school library—huge spaces, few books. Last year, I was amazed at the results of the Bleak House test, which demonstrated that only 5% of American college English majors are fully literate. The study covered two midwestern universities, but it corresponds with what I’ve seen or read about at Harvard, Columbia, the University of Georgia, Chicago, U.C. San Diego, and other schools. USA Today just ran a piece about the rise of audiobook bookstores. To me, that’s not the same as book bookstores, but in America, we may have to take what we can get.

(A random book.)

Lately, I’ve read that the trend may have gone international. Writing in the View (translation may be required), Igor Maltsev declared, “We are no longer people of the book.” Upon describing the works he reads, he then asks what his tastes say about him. His answer? “It doesn’t matter. [My] children, most likely, will not throw away these books when I die; they are still brought up to respect books. But I won’t risk speaking for my grandchildren. And this, in fact, will happen to everyone. Because that world is over. Forever.” In Russia, the land of Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Dostoevsky! 

One of his readers wrote in a comment: “The author is right, and it’s sad, just as it’s sad to be an intelligent dinosaur looking at young, fussy, shallow and dull, carnivorous (and ruminant) small mammals. They get under their feet, fuss a lot, know almost nothing and don’t want to know how, but this is their world.” Harsh? Perhaps. Another commenter quickly reminded the first one that the ways of the young have been bemoaned since ancient Greece. That is true; in the 8th century B.C., Hesiod quipped, “I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today.” Though he died at the temple of Zeus long ago, Greece still exists. Greece has changed, of course, but it and its people are still around. So, by historical comparison, there is hope. Still, we must not let our guard down. 

If reading is at risk in the American and Russian poles, then we might look to other lands for inspiration. In 2023, I wrote about the little bookstore that refuses to die. Samir Mansour’s store in Gaza has been bombed into rubble again and again by the occupying Zionists. But as of this January, despite constant attacks, despite the murder of his readers and the wrecking of his stock, Mansour endures, books in hand.

In 2024, based on an article I read at IRNA, I looked into a little bookstore in Isfahan, Iran. Dr. Mohammad Shahrestani runs one heck of an operation at the Yara Bookhouse, complete with a snack bar and(!) a philosophy school. His problem, as originally addressed in IRNA, is that big-box discounters and supermarkets undercut the pricing structure for independent bookmen. I suppose that is akin to the Russian conundrum of Ozon and Wildberries hawking titles at bargain-basement prices and the American issue of Amazon killing authors’ profits with ebooks, among other Amazon issues. 

But Iranians love books. The Tehran Book Garden, around the corner from the National Library, is the biggest, craziest bookstore I’ve ever heard of. They carry loads of books in many major languages. There, one will find Haruki Murakami’s novels, for example, and they’ve even had him speak in person. A mall of sorts surrounds the bookshelves, with eateries, amusements, and more. And if that’s not enough, they even have a publication office where patrons can print and bind their own books.

Between Yankee freedom-and-democracy bombing sprees, this year, Ensaf News ran several stories about books as bulwarks against strife. In one, they noted, “In times of crisis, books are a safe haven to escape from bitter realities and a solution to raise awareness and align national ideas.” Hear! Hear! In another one, a report on what Iranians are reading at the moment, it was revealed that the Trumpanyahu war for Greater “Israel” has Iranians learning about the other side of the conflict: “The voluminous book Iran and America by John Qazvinian, which has several translations and editions in the market, attracts attention. Probably, now that we have entered into a face-to-face war with the United States, many people who are not very educated would like to know what happened.” If only Americans could do something like that.

The problems in West Asia stem from economic transitions and outside interference. The issues in Russia are somewhat similar, though they might be more a product of changing tastes in formats, say, from paper to screens. All of it is of concern. And much of it lies behind the American troubles, though those are also products of the decline of the average American IQ and the old American culture. 

Moving forward, readers and writers may need to adopt new strategies for keeping books in circulation. Technology is available to help us if we can make proper use of it. If you write, then keep writing. If you read, then keep it up. If you like a book, then spread the word. Let’s all adopt Samir Mansour’s attitude that nothing can stop the books. Nothing.

BOOK REVIEW: ULTRA HEAVY by Tim Kirby

02 Saturday May 2026

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ULTRA HEAVY by Tim Kirby

Review by Perrin Lovett

 

Today, dear readers, we examine something a little different: a Sci-fi novel. Having grown up in the 70s and 80s, your reviewer supposes that he should have been more attuned to the genre, yet that has not exactly been the case. However, the right book can do wonders for anyone, and Ultra Heavy by Tim Kirby is one of the few that caught and held my attention. Here follows a brief overview of this new and very interesting tale of future imperial reach, rebellion, and, yes, even coherent philosophy. 

(© Multipolar Press)

Kirby, Tim, Ultra Heavy: Book 1: Edge of Empire, Multipolar Press, 2026 (Kindle Ed.).

Born in the United States, Tim Kirby lives and works in Russia. Popularly known as the “most Russian American,” he has worked for RT, is a champion of the “American Village” outside of Moscow, regularly makes sense of the collision between postmodern Westernisms and sovereign traditions, and educates interested Westerners about the Russian civilizational state. Find him on Telegram. Ultra Heavy, edited by the esteemed Constantin von Hoffmeister, is available from Amazon.

Set roughly 2,000 years in the future, Ultra Heavy finds a reinvigorated Russian Empire building and maintaining artificially terraformed colonies around the Solar System. An unusual soldier requests a mission from an unusual Tsar, and both have specific goals for the undertaking. Accordingly, an investigatory expedition is launched to Titan, Saturn’s moon, discoveries are made, ideologies are probed, and a battle takes place. For a book styling itself as “Hyper Masculine” and “Turbo Violent,” which is true, it also comes with a fair dose of erudition and contemplation. And, all that aside, it’s a fine story to boot.

Ultra Heavy moves ultra fast. One will note that it is styled as the first in a series; that is excellent because when one is finished with it, and it is a quick read, one will invariably want to see more. It has a distinctive style containing various subparts. Ala Dracula by Bram Stoker, Ultra Heavy proceeds from a partial epistolary format: there is a series of techno updates and notes that move the sequences along while also providing some backdrop and commentary. Immediately, the reader is presented with a certain depth via assorted terms and phenomena placed without explanation. For example, one may wonder what “the Curse” is. But these elements only served to deepen Kirby’s world, eventually being defined or, otherwise, becoming self-explanatory. 

The book is essentially the story of a very old knight, permanently shrouded in custom and honor, who must contend with societal changes and rank, no-gray-about-it evil. He is a bit heavy-handed, though he comes off as stoic, respectable, and even endearing. Not many protagonists are merely known by a number. Kirby’s hero earns a name at the end, and his new moniker is deeply Russo-Slavic, whether considered in literary, cultural, or historical terms. He also gets a girl, as Kirby integrates a rather manly romance within his action thriller. Few books come with their own built-in, appropriate summaries, but Ultra Heavy is one of them: from page 94, it is something “like The Master and Margarita but with a horrific and gory ending.” The ending, should one wonder, is action-packed, unusual, but also happy. Kirby has a style somewhat reminiscent of Bulgakov and Lovecraft, and he honors many of the older, grittier authors of science fiction past. Your reviewer found elements of the classic Western throughout the story, which was a pleasant finding.

There’s a spirit at work in Ultra Heavy, one deeply Russian and laced with the tenets of Orthodox Christianity. This Christianity is muscular; one will enjoy the good priest’s battle cry on page 124. It also dispenses with the inversion that, when confronted with evil, hate is not a Christian value. It is, and on page 113, Kirby reminds readers of Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” There is another form of correction afoot, one that takes aim at the meaningless and surrender too common in modern science fiction. One may recall that in his interview with Tucker Carlson, Professor Alexander Dugin mentioned that so much of futuristic fiction is dystopian by design. Kirby’s work leans in that direction, though it is exceptional in that chaos and nihilism present as things to be resisted and defeated. 

Kirby also includes a few political truisms, which the reader should find, like the observations of H.L. Mencken, suitable, perhaps alarming, but also amusing. For instance, on page 20, Kirby addresses the perpetual naivety of those who think authority, under any political system, is always the answer: “The populace … are absolutely sure that every wrong can be righted by complaining incoherently to power, but this has never been and never will be the case.” If that were the case, the bereft residents of Titan could amenably appeal to their self-instated tyrant, the villain of the book. He is of the old forked-tongue school, promising nebulous liberty and delivering slavery. Kirby’s hero is no saint, but compared to his wicked adversary, he comes off like a Christian warrior-philosopher dealing with a demon-possessed toddler. Kirby uses his antagonist to paint a novel yet powerful example of blasphemy (see page 129), and he demonstrates the proper response to such distasteful affronting. Behind Icon by Georgia Briggs, Ultra Heavy is the second Orthodox-grounded novel I have read in the past few years that subtly confronts an American champion of transcendental do-as-thou-wiltism. Astute readers will catch that on page 130. There’s a lot to catch in this novel, so perhaps one might want to give it a go, say, this weekend.

If one is looking for a hardcore action novel, tempered by unabashed masculinity, yet presented with thoughtful vigor and even humor, then Ultra Heavy fits the bill. I highly recommend readers, both of science fiction specifically and fiction in general, consider it a most worthy candidate for their immersive enjoyment. And I thank Tim Kirby for writing it.

BOOK REVIEW: The Formation of the Bible: A Defense for the Deuterocanon by Dr. Aaron Walden

23 Thursday Apr 2026

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The Formation of the Bible: A Defense for the Deuterocanon by Dr. Aaron Walden

Review by Perrin Lovett

Sixty-six? Or Seventy-three? How many books are in one’s Bible? Why is there a difference? And does it matter? All of these questions and more are resolved in today’s subject book. As He ascended into Heaven, Jesus did not momentarily pause, poke His head through the clouds, hand down a book, and say, “Here’s your Bible.” While divinely inspired, the Christian Scriptures were assembled by men on earth via the great gift of assistance of the Holy Spirit. They have since been read, rearranged, and debated by the Faithful, a process that continues today. Dr. Aaron Walden has given us a guide that, with high authority and handsome presentation, explains that process. 

(© Dr. Aaron Walden and Northwood Biblical Studies)

Walden, Dr. Aaron G., The Formation of the Bible: A Defense for the Deuterocanon, Augusta: Northwood Biblical and Canonical Studies, 2026 (with Robert Bowden as Contributing Editor)(Kindle Ed.)

Dr. Aaron Walden, D.Min., “a biblical scholar, teacher, and Catholic content creator,” is a man of many talents and one holding true fidelity to Jesus Christ and His Church. Walden possesses extreme scholarly prowess concerning scriptural matters. And he has an uncanny way of presenting his research in a manner both informative and easy to read, a phenomenon on display in the subject work of this review. This new book is, to your reviewer’s knowledge, Walden’s first published tome, though it is not the first of his Biblical writings I have had the privilege to read. (I remember Ruth, Dr. Walden!) The Formation of the Bible is available at Amazon. 

Robert Bowman is an excellent editor. And in his introductory remarks, he appropriately sums up the principles that make The Formation of the Bible work: “This book on the formation of the Bible may be read with confidence, as its historical treatment, theological reasoning, and overall framing stand comfortably within the Church’s received understanding of Scripture and the canon.” The book is a survey, not an argument. And while it is geared towards Western Christianity, and proceeds primarily from a Western history, it is an accurate representation of the title matter. Therefore, for those interested in why certain editions of the Bible contain books that others do not, it is an indispensable resource. Bowman also did a fine job of assuring clarity and continuity of thought and organizing the book in a way that is authoritative and relatable. 

Noting the proper placement of the deuterocanonical books into the Bible, in his Preface, Walden is candid about his purpose and intentions: “I wrote this book to serve readers who, like the man I once was, hunger to understand how the Bible came to be yet lacked access to advanced theological libraries or formal academic training. … This book is intended for serious readers of Scripture, both clerical and lay, who seek historical and theological depth presented in plain language.” He then delivers what he promises.

There is a tacit assumption at work that the reader is a pre-existing Christian of some denomination, or is a potential convert actively seeking reference guidance. There is no stern push towards one camp or another. That is refreshing in a Christian world where theological or doctrinal pronouncements are too frequently “my way or the highway.” Walden merely presents what came to be, along with the attendant hows concerning the whats. 

Walden begins with necessary definitions and subtle differentiations. He then proceeds to ground the superseding Christian doctrine on the ancient Hebrew Scriptures as observed before the miraculous fact of Christ’s birth. Next, he walks through the fulfilling words, actions, and ways of Jesus and His Apostles, including the fitting in of the deuterocanon. Then he works into the early patristic life within the Great Church. A key passage comes on page 38, concerning the approach of the early Fathers to the deuterocanonical books:

Their approach to Scripture was profoundly ecclesial. The canon was not a private academic puzzle for individuals to grasp, determine, or interpret on their own. It was a matter of lived faith within the communal life of the Church, expressed primarily in liturgy, catechesis, and the continuity of apostolic tradition. The Fathers read the Scriptures in the Church, through the Church, and for the Church. Their frequent and authoritative use of the deuterocanonical books demonstrates that they did not regard these writings as marginal or secondary, whether in a scholastic or merely devotional sense. Instead, they saw them as integral components of the Christian scriptural inheritance, faithfully continuing the apostolic witness received from the generation before them.

Walden’s book is also a pristine defense, explicating without preaching, of the mandatory importance of participatory life within the Church, Christ’s Bride. He deftly harnesses history, debate, linguistic analysis, and more in his reasoning and exegesis. Moving through the Christian centuries, he notes various paths walked here and there by Believers. A wonderful subsection, “The Harmony of Faith and Reason,” is found in Chapter 8. I say “wonderful” because Walden does a beautiful job of presenting and reconciling the somewhat divergent but necessarily integral conditions of the logical and trusting approaches to Christian faith and involvement. 

“Harmony…” sets the stage for Walden’s treatment of the Reformation, centered on the Continental takes of Luther and Calvin. He does a fantastic job of explaining why certain edits were made to Protestant Bibles, as well as providing the Catholic response of 1546 at the Council of Trent. He also artfully links the adherence to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura with the fragmentation of Protestantism. Walden notes, on page 79: “The irony was profound. In seeking to restore the Bible’s authority, the Reformers removed themselves from the very tradition through which the Bible had been transmitted for centuries.” This is somewhat similar to Leonid Savin’s brief examination of Protestantism in Ordo Pluriversalis (2020), though, whereas Savin expands his review into political and economic matters, Walden limits his analysis to the divergent traditions of the various Scriptural doctrinal principles. 

In his conclusion, Walden speaks, on page 87, to the importance of fidelity to the Scriptures, including the deuterocanonical volumes among them: 

The Church did not create Scripture; she received it. Yet she alone possesses the divine commission to guard and interpret it faithfully. The canon did not emerge from private study. Quite the opposite, it was received through public worship. The Scriptures were recognized as inspired because they were prayed, proclaimed, and lived in the life of the Church. The liturgy itself served as the proving ground of inspiration, as it was the place where the faithful encountered the living Word of God and still do today.

The appended materials are a plethora of guiding summations. In them, among other information, the reader will find easy-to-follow canons of the Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and even Coptic Christian faiths. Appendix G: “Common Objections to the Catholic Canon and Responses” is worth reading in its own right. The book ends as it begins, with a glossary of definitions and a comprehensive list of citations. 

Nothing in Walden’s book is a condemnation of any Christian’s particular route to appreciating the Bible. Rather, it is a synthesis, lovingly exhibited in order to foster better and congenial understanding. One day, by the grace and power of God, all fractured Christian sects will be reunited. But we are under a duty while we wait to live, worship, commune, and fathom as best we are able. Aaron Walden has just helped us out in this paramount endeavor.

The Formation of the Bible is available in paperback and digital formats. It is a needful and wonderful resource that will benefit any and all Christians, along with anyone else who desires more information about the processes that led to the published editions of the Bible today, whether Protestant, Latin Catholic, or Orthodox. I strongly recommend that the reader add it to his library. 

On the Art of Writing Novels and More

19 Sunday Apr 2026

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Here follows Christ Orcutt’s full interview with the amazing Danielle Hutchison.

In addition to talking about BTTA, he goes deep into the art and science of what makes a writer tick and how one can or should face the craft today. If you’re a writer and/or a reader, then this is for you. Pay close attention to what he says about writing being the only art form where outside assistance is expected. I’ve never before heard the comparisons he makes, but he is dead on the money. Some help for the author — proofreaders, artists, etc. — is beneficial. But with AI and other modern innovations, it simply is not mandatory now. And the old dinosaur ideas about “the way” to publish a book are dead and buried in a mad world without rules. Heck, the largest book retailer in the world is trying to kill books entirely. Increasingly, it’s either the author’s own way or absolutely nothing. Here’s one of the best interviews about writing around:

BOOK REVIEW: Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome, Episode II: True Blue by Chris Orcutt

01 Wednesday Apr 2026

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Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome, Episode II: True Blue by Chris Orcutt

Review by Perrin Lovett

 

Here we go again! Generation X, elders, young folks, it’s once again time to head back to the glory of the 1980s. Here’s another brief look at Chris Orcutt’s unfolding masterpiece, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome. Specifically, it’s Episode II: True Blue. To butcher some Whitesnake lyrics, “here [we] go again on [our] own.” But, of course, we’re not alone. Far from it. Thanks to Orcutt, we’ve got some hellaciously good company for this particular tour de force down memory lane!

(Cover design by Victoria Heath Silk with image by Hurst Photo & Top Quality Vectors.)

*Orcutt, Chris, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome, Episode II: True Blue, New York: Have Pen, Will Travel, 2026.

If necessary, please read my review of Episode I: Bad Boy. Please also read my interview with the author. Orcutt also gives a mean video interview! And if you’re just tuning in, then please buy a copy of both books (Bad Boy is now available, outright, and True Blue is available for pre-order) and fully acquaint yourself with Chris Orcutt, the author some regard (rightly) as the American Tolstoy and whom I’ve previously called “the best American novelist alive today.” I’ve also proclaimed, based on reading Episode I: Bad Boy, that Orcutt has joined the ranks of the greats—Homer, Ovid, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Pushkin, Gogol, Murakami, et al. With True Blue, he does not disappoint. 

Your reviewer herein incorporates all points of the Bad Boy review as if each were restated in full. I will now specifically summarize a few of them, updated for True Blue. Bodaciously… still moves like a roller coaster, although this time, there is a lot of snow, so kindly remember a parka and boots. Avery, the sixteen-year-old protagonist and James Bond fan, now acts out his admiration for Ian Fleming’s star character in gripping fashion. Once again, Orcutt’s writing is flawless. Again, my six-by-nine paperback is a marvel of literary engineering. Yet again, a spiritual or philosophical theory presents itself throughout the pages; Avery, as Orcutt put it in our interview, “is groping for meaning spiritually, kind of trying on different spiritual or philosophical hats.” As Orcutt said, this process was not deliberately inserted into the text. As I said, it is something the reader will discover and process on his own. Orcutt says, correctly, that a story is a story, not an argument. Of course, this particular story, like the better ones, comes with good examples and keen reminders—notes to engage the reader’s spirit and intellect. Avery continues to be a stellar ladies’ man, and his relationships, proceeding at a dizzying pace, add multiple aspects of excitement to the reading experience. That experience is further heightened by Orcutt’s deft usage of various historical elements, added via living incorporation, that take True Blue into territory where most novels simply cannot go. The reference footnotes keep rolling, and Orcutt even has one FOR TOLKIEN! (A big deal for your reviewer.) The exploration of human psychology continues, led valiantly by Avery, the alpha. Through all the new twists and turns, the reader, regardless of age or generation, will continue to feel and recall the attendant emotions and notions of youth. Oh, and the quintessence of our glorious 1980s music also continues! 

Now, without giving too much of the story away, here is a modicum of detail. True Blue presents a series of little reminders about things that have practically vanished from American life. Remember popping the clutch to bypass a dead battery? You will! Well, those over forty or fifty will. Remember high school employment? Avery takes a few interesting jobs, which, in addition to earning him money, further the excellent action and romantic themes of the book. There is a subtle shift, or intensification, in the story, wherein Orcutt expands on the groundwork previously laid out in Bad Boy. The refined, non-dialectical social commentary continues. For instance, Avery’s life and times, his adventures, are set betwixt and between his high school tenure. There is a long, well-woven subplot concerning the highs and lows of American education, particularly how it interferes with life and learning without necessarily adding much substance. In chapter seventeen, around page 313, a capstone is raised, more poignant than anything from, say, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, that highlights the dichotomy. At precisely the right time, Avery kindly states the obvious: “It was amazing how much of school was superfluous.” John Taylor Gatto would have approved. (Note: I’m keeping the citations slightly rough [e.g., “around page…”] just in case any minor formatting adjustment moves anything a page or so.)

True Blue dives deeper into family dynamics, in general, and, especially, those concerning the late modern American period as typified by the 1980s. Several families are portrayed, each with its own flavor and characteristic. Without preaching or even trying to scene set, Orcutt exposes the good, the great, the not-so-good, and, frankly, the awful about how we live(d). Some of the material, all of it strikingly realistic and serious, feels a little dark and disturbing—and some of it is. Therein lies part of its literary beauty, as it accurately showcases the way we were, the way many of us have always been, and the way we still are today. There is no need to consult any edition of the APA’s DSM, but one will ponder why we, any of us, sometimes do the things we do, and how we tolerate our own ways and the ways of others. There is nothing in this thread to salvage, esoterically, per se, but Avery does use some of what he discovers as the impetus to right a few wrongs. (If one hasn’t read Bad Boy yet, just know that one will simply love Avery, a legitimate hero and endearing figure.) 

One of those rightings allows, in my opinion, the best action sequence in the epic so far. I won’t give any of it away. Rather, I ask the reader how far he’d be willing to go to restore the honor of a horribly wronged friend. Avery, one will discover, is willing and able to go into icy hell and back. Previously, Orcutt opined that one of his favorite scenes in Bad Boy was the D.C. hotel pool fight. I concur with him: that scene, a relatively short sequence, was detailed in the extreme and came to life better than most screen performances. The snowy scene I’m thinking about in True Blue is like that, but better, longer, and with far higher stakes. 

In real life, one of the interests we all share involves the advice we give and receive. Avery and company walk through a sea of advice, some good and some terrible. Generation X and subsequent generations have generally lacked good advice and role models. They’re there if one is lucky. Avery lucks out during a scene in chapter nineteen, around page 348, while he’s working one of his unusual jobs. The scene could have come right out of a Robert Ludlum thriller, by the way. After a brief discussion about the Craig household, one of Avery’s older “coworkers” remarks, “It’s terrible what they’ve done to your generation. … You have to figure out all this stuff by yourselves.” In answer, Avery observes, “We might have to fend for ourselves more, but we’ve also got a lot more freedom, so I figure it evens out.” Roundabout, there follows some of the best relationship advice I’ve seen in the whole compendium, fatherly words young men need to hear more often.

One last scene I adored—find it during your reading(!)—saw Avery and a friend enjoying cigars one evening. Specifically, they smoked a few Macanudos. While it was not stated, the preponderance of the leaf suggests the exact models were probably Cafes, then and now ultra-popular smokes. When I read it, I, the man who usually doesn’t annotate fiction, jotted down a quick set of financial speculations: my guess is that back in 1986, the boys would have probably given, at most, two or three dollars for each cigar. Today, the going price is closer to ten to twelve dollars. (Many thanks to our beloved banksters and politi-critters and their mass financialization for the endless inflation!) This particular scene was personal for me because every once in a while, I get to enjoy a cigar or three with a very good friend from high school. Some years ago, he remarked that we should have smoked the occasional cigar while we were in school. It was by then, of course, far too late; however, I heartily agreed with him. So it was that I was very happy to relive the missed experience in fictional form. (To the “cigars are bad,” hand-wringing harpies: put it in your pipes and smoke it.)

If it’s possible, I might like this episode 2% better than the initial installment. And as with Bad Boy, I don’t just recommend True Blue, I’m mandating it. Or, allow me to put it like this: on January 20, 1981, in his inaugural address to the nation, President Reagan said, “We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we’re in a time when there are not heroes, they just don’t know where to look.” If you’re still in doubt as to where to find the living remnant of the American Dream, then all you have to do is look in Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome.