Eg, the warlords the US backed in Afghanistan. Our hero rescues his daughter but fucks up all kinds of shit in the process. Then he ups and leaves.
Book #38. Interesting and lively life and times of Offa, King of the Mercians (757-796).
Book #39. Not as tight as “Everybody Knows,” but still damn good. The nastiness a little too baroque and ripped-from-today’s-headlines.
It’s fucked up to learn the Nazis took all our good ideas.
rescue. Arrives in a foreign country and makes zero effort to know the culture, the language, anything. Just, “I’m here. I’ve got ass kicking to do.” Proceeds kick a lot of ass and of course the baddies do the most heinous shit the US is actually backing but projects on its manufactured enemies.
Book #40. Clearly taking off from Slotkin’s “Myth of the American Frontier” trilogy but without the film/literary references and with much more anger. Really, really good stuff.
@dameshek.bsky.social I think Taken is a brilliant critique of America post-9/11. French director. Our hero is some special ops-adjacent. Knows how to do one thing only. Well two. Break things and kill people. Daughter gets kidnapped by Albanians. Muslims but not *those* Muslims. Dad to the…
