Modesty - what is it really?

 We've all heard the phrase "dress modestly", especially in a church context. The issue we face is how.  People have different definitions of "modesty", including some that voice their complaints to total strangers. This goes over like an atom bomb. Society has shoved us between the "be sexy" and "be modest" standards. Let's talk about what modesty really is. 

1925 public indecency - with bathing suits
Courtesy of Pinterest

Today we're looking at this issue from a Christian standpoint. You'll see scripture references and get the perspective of me, a Christian. If you don't agree with my perspective we can agree to disagree. Now that we're all on the same page, let's move on.

Modesty is referenced in the bible often, but we don't always look at the overall context. It's easy to cherry-pick verses to support your views. That's not what you are supposed to do. Any scripture listed in this blog has had the context taken into account. I have looked up commentaries and studied the scriptures myself before I put it in. Feel free to study what I have studied and dive deeper. 

We're also talking about how society is no help at all. From victim-blaming to fashion standards constantly changing, we are in a world that makes modesty almost impossible. Stores stock the fashion standard of the time, making shopping for modest clothing kind of awful. What's even worse? Everyone has a different standard for modesty based on culture and family. Oof. Let's dive in. 

Society Issues

First, we look at the elephant in the room. Victim blaming is prevalent in our society. Women who are sexually assaulted can get comments like "they asked for it by wearing skimpy clothing" when they come out and talk about it. I don't believe you asked for rape by wearing any type of clothing. Anyone who comments this or says this to a rape victim should grow some empathy and learn to keep their mouth shut. Your clothing is never an excuse for rape. The rapist should have had self-control; they are the ones at fault and should be charged in court. The crime of rape itself is mostly about power, not about sexual need. Nuns have been raped. Think about that for a minute. 

Courtesy of Preen.ph

Next, we talk about changing fashions. Every generation has a different standard for what is appropriate. If we went back to the 1800s or 1900s, all of us would be gawked at like we were nude. Why? Pants on women. It was shocking then to wear pants and be female. Now it isn't shocking to see mid-drift tops, but if you stepped into 1950 you'd be in real trouble. I think you see my point. The older generation's definition of modesty is constantly behind the current fashion, making it hard to be modernly modest and please both parents and grandparents. You can't. It's an impossible standard. 

We also have society setting standards for us. Even if you think you don't hold to that standard you've been influenced by it. We're all influenced by everything we see, especially what we repeatedly see. We're told, as the Barbie movie points out, we should be sexy but not too sexy. We can't do any of it right because we offend someone no matter what we do. Whether we offend our elders, the fashion critics, or our peers is the choice we're faced with. Society is broken. Face the truth. We'll offend someone at some point in time by the way we're dressed. 

Cultural differences are another part of this puzzle. Remember that half-time show where Shakira belly danced? I liked it, but many parents were shocked by her outfit. While I do think J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez) was vastly out of line to pole dance, Shakira was already known for her belly dancing. It wasn't that big of a deal to me. Her outfit was literally what her character wore in Zootopia (if you care to compare). Belly dancing is an example of a cultural difference. Many women worldwide belly dance and wear outfits like hers with added embellishments and longer skirts. Many people who had never been exposed to that kind of culture were offended. Different cultures have different standards, even when you look at different countries. What people wear publicly in Italy is not the same as what you can wear at a Christian college (as my one friend found out). This makes everything more difficult for women everywhere. 

What the bible says

We're going to start with 1st Timothy, which has a context many don't actually know. The city of Ephesus was the home of a goddess named Artemus, who allegedly helped women in childbirth by killing them quickly or saving their lives. She also, allegedly, was all about celibacy. (No, she wasn't into lesbianism, just to clear the air.) Many don't even take this context into account when they look at the controversial passage about Paul talking to women. The women were being sold sham information and believing it, converting their husbands to serving Artemus and selling it door to door to other women. Paul is not saying women can't be leaders or have to be silent; he is trying to fix an individual problem in Ephesus. In 1st Tim. 2:9 we get the verse on modesty. What we also know about the city is that wealthy women like to show off their wealth. The first point on modesty doesn't even connect to showing off body parts; it instead addresses women walking the streets in their most expensive attire to flaunt their wealth. If I had to say a moral of the story, it's that we shouldn't be showing off and rubbing wealth in people's faces. 

Courtesy of Quotesbae.com

1st Peter 3:3-5 is another one that isn't talking about the body. 1st Peter itself is a letter about how to live as pilgrims in a difficult, broken world. It's shockingly relevant. Chapter 3 is telling women who have unbelieving husbands to submit to them to lead them to Christ. The overall point is this; that the woman's godly character would show the men they married the light of Christ. Submit, in this case, should be connected to mutual submission of a marriage relationship (basically, love and respect each other). Submit doesn't have to be a bad word. Modesty here means that you have beauty from the inside out and you are not just a pretty face. Inner beauty from following Christ should shine out of you and be a beacon to others. Moral of the story, follow Christ and be a beacon to others with inner beauty. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 is the last one I'm putting in. Again, we are not so concerned with body parts showing as we are with actions. 1st Corinthians 6 has to do with lawsuits between believers (basically, how we're being watched and it looks bad) and sexual immorality. The modesty part of this puzzle is that when we sin sexually we sin against our own bodies, which (assuming we've been saved) are God's and not ours. The context here has a lot to do with prostitution and how people thought being saved was being given a license to sin (because you are forgiven of sins). You may have the right to do something, but it may not be beneficial. Being saved isn't a license to sin. In this context, you've given yourself to living for God's will when you are saved, so what you do with your body is part of living for Christ. We are to honor God with our bodily choices. 

Conclusions

If you thought the bible was going to say "cover thy boob-crack" and "skirts should be knee length" you were wrong. It's about actions, inner beauty, and not shoving wealth in people's faces. Live for God as a Christian and you are acting modestly. Really, at the end of it all, what you do with your life should matter more than your clothing. That doesn't mean you go nude or break the public indecency laws, but it does mean you act and dress responsibly. 

Society is broken. We know this to be true. While society has many clothing standards, they shift with time and many standards come back around later. My advice is to live for Christ and be a beacon of inner beauty. Let that guide how you live and honor God by your choices. Oh, and maybe don't flaunt wealth. Because we all hate that. I feel like that last one is common sense. Society has no idea what it wants. Honor God by making choices based on what He guides you to do. God doesn't change His mind every decade like society does. 

Below is an absolutely horrible, but so sadly relevant meme. I found it and thought it was relevant enough to be here. 

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I wrote a book! I am delighted to say that I have 5 five-star reviews up on Amazon now, which is amazing. I hope you like it, too. If you're interested in buying a paperback, hardcover, or ebook version go to my website link in this blog or click here to go straight to my Amazon page. 

Jack Thomas is running from a past case. He's hiding in Wrenville. Is his past case catching up with him? 

Find out in my first book, Wrenville, a stand-alone suspense novel.

How To Write Unsettling Characters

Unsettling characters make your audience think and get a little scared. Let's look at how to write those characters. 

Tom Riddle  - Courtesy of Pinterest

Examples of unsettling characters are some Bond villains, Federov from the book Argylle, and Tom Riddle from Harry Potter. If your skin crawls a bit when they enter the room or scene you've got an unsettling character. How do you write that well? That's today's topic. 

Be aware that the ending of Where The Crawdads Sing is spoiled in the the section "unreliable narrator". You've been warned. 

General Creep Factor

You need to make your reader squirm. A character needs to set off alarm bells for your protagonist. First, we need to know what creep factor is. Simply put, creepy means a threat is perceived. They come in all shapes and sizes, from trying to cop a feel during a conversation to a smile that never reaches their eyes. But not all creep behavior can be helped because maybe they just look unsettling and are fine. You can come across as creepy and not have sinister intentions.

You know what's unsettling? Unpredictability. If I can't predict you it sets off warning bells in my head, especially if you have a dark vibe. If your audience can't predict them it is a great way to start. As long as you don't fall into the pothole of making them predictably unpredictable you're doing great. Even better if societal norms are thrown to the wayside.

Themarysue.com - Alastor from Hazbin Hotel

Show them they are creepy rather than telling them. Have someone step farther from the creepy character in the scene. Have people avoid them. Let the natural alarm bells ring. Make them wonder what they are really up to, like Alastor in Hazbin Hotel and Bill Cypher in Gravity Falls. 

Some creepy features do, in fact, reflect mental illness. Please know this when you write the character. If you don't want to reflect a disorder, you need to make sure you aren't imitating one in your character traits. Be aware of what disorders are out there, such as depression, anxiety, autism, OCD, BPD, etc...

Standing too close and not respecting boundaries makes people vastly uncomfortable. You might also add weird expressions and fidgeting. Obsession makes people squirm, too. 

Now, avoiding eye contact can mean many things but it does make people squirm. This is highly situational. Be careful with this one. I don't make good eye contact and introverts everywhere have issues with this. It's actually the opposite that makes me squirm - which would be too much eye contact or unwanted eye contact. I suggest having someone make too much eye contact, rather than not enough.

Emotion is a big thing. Having someone void of emotion, showing too much emotion, or expressing the wrong emotions in the current situation (for example, laughing at the body at a funeral or smiling too much at a funeral) is a major creep factor. When emotion doesn't reach their eyes it is unnerving. 

Most of us who are perceptive have a thing, where we play dumb to knowing more about someone than they think we know. When someone knows more about you than you told them it comes across wrong, thus it is on this list. It is creepy if someone knows a lot about you or only knows about your interests. This is a major reason many perceptive people play dumb when they logically deduce things about you in passing. 

Another thing writers do is observe people. Hobbies like people-watching and bird-watching hit the creep list because being watched is not something many people like. I don't think birds care, but some of the population of humans definitely do. It's another reason to do the above as a writer - play dumb. However, when your character doesn't it will up that creep factor.

Courtesy of Collider - From the TV series You

I need to say this to clear the air. People watching and stalking are not the same. Sitting on a park bench enjoying the city vibes while thinking is not following someone home or obsessing over them. Many of us sit in coffee shops enjoying the conversation and taking notes on what would make a neat character description. We are not, under any circumstances, following the patrons out to their cars and tailing them home. If you do that you are stalking. Stalking is one great way to make a character creepy. Another twist is if you note all their interests and obsess on those. The You series is a great example. 

If a perception of reality doesn't match reality, but the character doesn't care or insists it does you've got a good creep factor going. The scariness of the twisted perception depends on the situation, world, worldbuilding, and generally the character's interests. The sky is the limit with this one. The people with twisted views and perceptions of reality make everyone back up a few steps. 

Subtle Creep Factor

Need subtlety? No problem. Here are a few traits that might help you create a more under-the-radar creep. It might be more realistic to life. 

Are they simply too calm under pressure? Yeah, that's weird. Or they snap and go back to calm. I knew someone who did that. It was kind of scary. 

Inappropriate smiling is another one. Did someone smile at a phrase that they shouldn't have? Take note. This, with added traits, can be unnerving. For example, if someone seems to know more than they say and they smile when someone says a particular phrase you upped the creep factor. Again, the trait of knowing too much about something is going to help here. Especially if they shouldn't know what they know.

Courtesy of Crime Wire - H. H. Holmes

Being too friendly is something you'll want to add if you have an H. H. Holmes character around. The real H. H. Holmes was too friendly with women particularly. He's an excellent, real-life example of someone who is too friendly. Those that turn the charm to 12 out of 10 are usually just appearing friendly; your character can have this trait and be a serial killer like H. H. Holmes. 

Unnatural phrasing is a weird one, but many of us notice this when it happens. The character has to be a natural speaker of their language for this to work. The basic idea is that they don't talk like everyone else, but instead phrase things oddly. 

Lack of sympathy or empathy is a major red flag, as well as nonchalance toward death and suffering. That can create a scary character by itself. Insisting on getting what they want on top of this is going to create a villain faster than ever. 

Either taking everything too seriously or not taking anyone seriously is also a great way to add some creepiness. Peculiar hobbies, attitude, and attire also add to it. Maybe they also have some event or trauma in their past that created their odd outlook on life. 

Having one trait that is off-putting and a few that at least appear normal will hide this character if you need to hide them until their time. Suspense and mystery novelists should take note of this method. 

More Than Traits

Your character traits are not the only creep factor here. You can literally use their descriptions to create the atmosphere. For example, I can say "Valentino leered at Angel and forced him against the wall" instead of "Valentino shoved Angel against the wall". Both are the same event, except one paints Valentino in a darker light. The vague description doesn't paint Valentino as a creep. Valentino is an excellent example of an unsettling character. 

Words like "coerce" instead of "compel" are good for painting the character as a creep. Use words that make your audience uncomfortable. This is when you can make your readers squirm at mere descriptions of actions. Be creative. 

What the unsettling character knows is just as effective as everything else. If they know too much about our protagonist you get the feeling they stalked them. When they appear matters, too, because only appearing when our protagonist is alone or vulnerable creates atmosphere. 

Consider limiting what we know of this character. Alastor, for example, has an ulterior motive and we don't know who is forcing him to help the hotel. We have limited knowledge of his backstory at best, so it creates questions. People get uncomfortable with what they don't fully understand. 

Courtesy of kenhdaotao.edu.vn

Hidden personas help with this. Maybe someone has an outward appearance but is just acting. If they drop their mask a few times in front of a select few you add to the mystery. It might be worth having someone be a really good actor in public and making them drop that persona when off guard later, only to pick it up immediately again when someone gets a bit creeped out. 

Look at real life. Look at real serial killers, real stalkers, real criminals who did horrific things and why. Preferably, I'd do this mid-day with a palate cleanser afterward, like a comedy. It depends on whether this stuff falls out of your head or sticks like super glue. Serial killers and homicides are no joke. 

A Word of Warning

I'm repeating it again, just so you don't make the mistake of demonizing the mentally ill. Don't paint the mentally ill in a negative light because they have some features perceived as creepy. Different isn't always a bad thing. 

Many people who make less eye contact, watch birds, enjoy observing people, and own reptiles are not bad people, but these are all traits that have "creepy" connotations. Lots of individuals in the world do not perceive social cues as well as the average population, so maybe standing too close is not something they understand. Autism makes it hard to make eye contact, for example. Awkward people who don't necessarily know how to socialize or have social anxiety aren't magically going to understand the art of conversation. 

Don't demonize the neurodivergent on accident. Your story could reach millions. You never know. 

When Your Protagonist is Unsettled 

The emotion is key. We need to know your protagonist is uncomfortable around this person and senses a threat, whether it is or isn't a threat. Play with this if you want. Maybe someone isn't a threat and their "safe" person is the real threat. 

Your internal dialogue when you sense a threat is not always rational. You just want to get back to safety. You only want to get away from this person and are hyper-aware of the threat. Have your internal character dialogue play off of that. Have them think of strategies to get away. Make it clear your protagonist is scared of someone. 

Unreliable Narrators

This is a clear scenario where your narrator is the unsettled protagonist. This is when your main character's story can be skewed in one direction or the other. They can outright lie. You can lie to your audience and plant the truth along the way, where you can find it when you look for the real evidence. 

Unsettled protagonists who don't know what is real or fake anymore are unstable. In some stories, you can blur the lines between reality and fantasy to heighten suspense and fear. What your narrator sees is not necessarily what everyone else sees and hears. 

We are already biased when we tell our stories, but this type of narrator is a bit more intense than that. Do we even know who they are? That's the real question. You can establish they are liars. And maybe, like Atomic Blonde, you wink at the audience with the last phrase of the movie "I'm glad I was convincing" (looking the audience in the eye). Establish that they sometimes embellish the truth, or there are things they can't say. 

Omitting information is lying by omission, but it works here. Maybe you don't have it all. Perhaps, parts of the story don't add up based on what you have. The reader will pick up on all that. You may even have our narrator sidestep questions about themselves. What you don't say speaks volumes, too. 

Motivations being clear as mud make readers unsettled. In this case, your narrator can be clear as mud when written right. The reader wants to understand them, so they read on and continue trying to make sense of the motives. Eventually, they might come to the conclusion their narrator lied to their face. 

Is your narrator playing dumb? It's possible. Make them smarter than they seem. Reveal this intelligence slowly. Where The Crawdads Sing does this by making our character seem innocent when she isn't. The evidence is all there, but you are not looking for it because she's playing dumb. 

Courtesy of frontrowcentre.com

Secondary characters can catch your narrator in their lies. If the secondary character mentions that our narrator did something way back when and the narrator tries to brush them off it sends a message. You can see this in Atomic Blonde with David Percival.

Add some unpredictable actions into the mix. Put the character of our narrator in question. Make readers question why someone would do something after saying what they have and doing what they have. Make the reader think. 

Narrators don't all have to be evil. Maybe they have memory gaps, can't tell fantasy from reality, are going senile, going insane, traumatized, struggling, trying not to spill family dirt, or justifying their perspective in an event. They are telling what they perceive as the truth. This means not all unreliable narrators are villains. 

Lastly, make it believable and not too far out in left field. Based on the sanity level of the character, what are they likely to do when they act out? What do their struggles compel them to do? Keep it credible. An unhinged character will go farther than a straight-laced high schooler. 

The Uncanny In Writing

Uncanny things are familiar, but off somehow. It's wrong and you might not be able to put your finger on why. You can use this to create an unsettling atmosphere. 

Deja Vu is a repeated event. Take that and change the repeated event endings up. If the reader asks "did I see this before?" you succeeded. 

Liminal spaces are transitional spaces. Think in between places emotionally and physically. When trapped here it feels wrong because you need to move on. Put fewer people where there should be more people or the reverse to make something feel off. You can also make a place a simulation. 

Dopplegangers, exact doubles of other people, can create uncanny very easily. Simulacrum look or behave like an image. an example of this is in Dr. Who, where store dummies move. Put this in and you'll scare someone. 

Direct communication can be uncanny. Who knew? Have a character speak their mind with dark thoughts. It can create atmosphere. 

These are all techniques that don't always stray in the horror direction. Try it sometime. 

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I wrote a book! I am delighted to say that I have 5 five-star reviews up on Amazon now, which is amazing. I hope you like it, too. If you're interested in buying a paperback, hardcover, or ebook version go to my website link in this blog or click here to go straight to my Amazon page. 

Jack Thomas is running from a past case. He's hiding in Wrenville. Is his past case catching up with him? 

Find out in my first book, Wrenville, a stand-alone suspense novel.

Sources:

How to Write a Creepy Character Realistically – All Write Alright

Writing creepy characters in a subtle way that doesn’t spell out what this person is capable of. : r/writing (reddit.com)

How to Unsettle Readers (Writing Emotion: Unsettledness) — Shirsten Shirts

8 Tips to Writing Unreliable Narrators - Writer's Digest (writersdigest.com)

How To Make Any Story Creepy Using The Uncanny - Writers Write

The Bridge Table Murder of 1929

 I'll give you a hint; it never happened on a bridge. Let's talk about the woman who murdered her husband over a bad game of bridge, and if there was more to it than a slap in the face in the middle of a bridge game. 

Courtesy of sonofabandit.net

We're in 1929. A woman and her husband are playing bridge with another couple. The woman makes a bad call and the husband slaps her across the face, despite an audience. The game ends. The other couple goes home. The woman shoots the husband and gets off with self-defense after a trial of national popularity (1931). She lives on into to the 90s and the whole event fades into obscurity. Bridge Table Murder? What's that? 

Today we're talking about it, not only because I need to know headline events from the 1930s for my time travel research, but also because I'm fascinated. Shout out to Jim, my coworker, for putting this on my radar. Thanks, Jim!

Some Background

September 29 in 1929 John and Myrtle Bennett played rubber bridge in Kansas City. They played with their neighbors, Charles and Myrna Hoffman. John Bennett was in the habit of slapping his wife in moments of frustration. When they started losing the game a bad bid was made, causing John to do just that after an argument broke out between John and Myrtle. The neighbors promptly left. It got to the point that John said he was spending the night in a hotel and leaving. 

Pendergastkc.org

Myrtle got the colt .32 from her mother's room after all this. John went to have a word with her to find her armed. He ran into the bathroom and bolted the door. She shot through it twice, missing both times. He took the second exit into the hallway, getting to the front door only to get shot twice - and she didn't miss this time. This is the Bennett Bridge Murder. 

The Trial Itself

This was a case where the woman got off for the murder. She even gave statements that didn't match previous statements. "Tomorrow I'm leaving town" was spun as "I'm leaving forever". Her story? That her husband had told her to get his pistol for his suitcase, only she stumbled into a chair and wounded her husband. He grabbed her arm to regain balance and it mortally wounded him. She also claimed he was emotionally abusive and cheated on her. One of those I believe, yet somehow, I don't think this was an accident. 

Despite two bullet holes in a bathroom door and a body by the front door without a suitcase, she was acquitted. Despite four shots, two direct hits, it was deemed an accident. She got 30,000 dollars in life insurance on her husband. 

At the time bridge was a big deal. What the hand actually was is debated because the cards went flying, but my sources did have what it might have been. If you care about that you can go through my sources for it. The newspapers then certainly cared more about it, to the point that some thought his poor play was justifiable for homicide. The point is that John did not play as well as he could have, though that shouldn't lead to two bullet holes. 

Courtesy of pendergastkc.org

Conclusions

I don't think a simple game of bridge was the reason for this murder. Emotional and physical abuse was probably the more likely reason. Everyone has a breaking point and hers must have been that night. Some abuse victims do kill their abusers. The most horrible Agatha Christie deaths, not to mention the cruelest, were victims killing their abusers. Even in fiction the fact that an abuser can be murdered by a victim is present. 

That doesn't make a murder right, but I do think some of her story added up - just not the story about the accidental shooting. This was no accident. She'd had enough. A smart woman got away with murder to ensure she'd never be abused again. 

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I wrote a book! I am delighted to say that I have 5 five-star reviews up on Amazon now, which is amazing. I hope you like it, too. If you're interested in buying a paperback, hardcover, or ebook version go to my website link in this blog or click here to go straight to my Amazon page. 

Jack Thomas is running from a past case. He's hiding in Wrenville. Is his past case catching up with him? 

Find out in my first book, Wrenville, a stand-alone suspense novel.

Sources:

The Bennett Bridge Murder Case | Snopes.com

The most disastrous bridge hand ever dealt (kwbridge.com)

Bridge Murder case explained

Down One | The New Yorker

"What's the first book?" - Fantasy and Sci-fi

 I'm sure you've done it. Have you considered reading a series like Star Wars or Star Trek only to not know what book is even first? Here's the post you need to see. We'll dive into Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, The Wheel of Time, and Ender's Game series to determine what order to read them in. 

Courtesy of Abe Books

To restate what series we are tackling, we have Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, The Wheel of Time, and Ender's Game. Two of these I wanted to read, but didn't know the order of. Finding the books isn't a problem, yet I'm afraid I'll pick up a book and be terribly confused because I picked up book five before I picked up book one. I'll go into each series individually, starting with a basic plot overview and ending with a concrete list, or link to a concrete list, of books in the right order. 

Star Wars

We know the basic plot of the movies, yet here I am saying there is even more to explore. The main storyline is about Luke Skywalker and Jedi forces defeating the empire. The expanded world, and I do mean extensively expanded, creates many other storylines from before and after Luke Skywalker. I don't think a short paragraph would be helpful for mapping that, so I'm not going to try it. 

The sheer amount of books is overwhelming. Someone before me took this topic and made a good article about it, thus you can click here for an ultimate guide. What I found was not a simple list of books one through whatever number. Instead, we have eras and a distinction between legend Canon and a newer timeline (2014 and onward). This is horribly confusing for me. I would like to have a list of what order and just roll with that. The closest I could find was this page, which has a list arranged by eras. Good luck, young padawan. 

Courtesy of Giphy

Star Trek

In this series, many space explorers go where no one has gone before to both create diplomacy and fail at it (where the phasers come in real handy). It's set in the future with many alien races communicating openly with everyone else. Leaders such as Captain Kirk and Captain Picard made this series famous. I'm not even naming every leader at this point. The plot does not change with a new leader. 

There is a lot. I'm not going to lie and say "here, have this list" was what I found. No, in fact, the canon is not quite canon if I understood the source correctly. This whole linked website is a reading guide to different series of Star Trek books. Have fun!

Courtesy of tvovermind.com

Dune

The movies are a big hit right now. I have no doubt that you'll find the books out there in library displays and bookstores everywhere. The series follows Paul Atreides while he travels the desert planet Arrakis for valuable spices that control the empire. It gets more interesting from there. It's an older story than you think. There is an older movie, too. 

The series has more than one author. Frank Herbert has books, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The link I found gives you Frank's books and then the other two authors. The list is included in this link. It isn't nearly as complicated to find the order of this series. 

Courtesy of scriptshadow.net

The Wheel of Time

The plot is a complicated mix of time and powers. I'm not sure this book is something to be summed up in one sentence. I'm not worrying about it. You can google the basic plot and get a bit more information. I'm here to give you the order to read the books in. Maybe it is better, in this case, to just jump in and see if you like it. 

You have fifteen books in the entire series. It isn't nearly as expansive as Star Trek or Star Wars. It had to be continued after the author died. Fortunately, the notes left behind clarified for the next author Brandon Sanderson. Below I have the titles listed. My source for this list is here.

1. The Eye of the World

2. The Great Hunt

3. The Dragon Reborn

4. The Shadow Rising

5. The Fires of Heaven

6. Lord of Chaos

7. A Crown of Swords

8. The Path of Daggers

9. Winter's Heart

10. Crossroads of Twilight 

11. New Spring (prequel)

12. Knife of Dreams

13. The Gathering Storm

14. Towers of Midnight

15. A Memory of Light

Courtesy of insidehook.com

Ender's Game

This book follows Ender Wiggin, a gifted boy recruited into a military school to create leaders who can save them from aliens (Formics). This is a highly praised book in Goodreads ratings. I thought I'd have a concrete list when it pulled up a list right away. It also pulled up an article with three ways to read it. 

After inspecting the article I've decided to give you the article link. To sum up what you'll find, you can read it in publication order, series order, or chronological order. All have a list below the categories. You have a choice. 

Courtesy of The Movie Database

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I wrote a book! I am delighted to say that I have 5 five-star reviews up on Amazon now, which is amazing. I hope you like it, too. If you're interested in buying a paperback, hardcover, or ebook version go to my website link in this blog or click here to go straight to my Amazon page. 

Jack Thomas is running from a past case. He's hiding in Wrenville. Is his past case catching up with him? 

Find out in my first book, Wrenville, a stand-alone suspense novel.