“In this scene,” the executive uncaps his red pen, “let’s have the hero’s mother survive.” Across the conference table, the author’s hands clench into fists.
Ten years of crafting the perfect story about loss and redemption – about to be “improved” by someone who hasn’t even read the whole manuscript.
This scene plays out so often that George R.R. Martin just broke his silence. Watching masterworks get mangled by Hollywood, he finally said what creators have been whispering for years:
They take Stan Lee’s heroes and “improve” them….
They grab Tolkien’s epics and “enhance” them….
They seize Ursula K. Le Guin’s worlds and “reinvent” them….
The result is this: “Nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand,” Martin tells The Hollywood Reporter, “they make it worse.”
Each time a story gets “reimagined,” another creator watches their vision dissolve into committee-approved mediocrity.
That’s why The Lesser Evil stops at my desk. Period.
And early readers agree. Senior Reviewer D. Donovan of Midwest Book Review calls it “easy to pick up and hard to put down—a winner.” The “riveting, multifaceted” story brings “Constantinople alive” through a unique blend of prose and haunting black-and-white art.
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No committees voting on plot twists.
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No executives demanding “broader appeal.”
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No one but you and the story I burned 1 year crafting.
Watch the trailer: Enter a world that hasn’t been “improved” to death
To stories that survive intact,
Wes
P.S. Right now, somewhere in Hollywood, someone’s suggesting making Frodo an influencer. Watch The Lesser Evil trailer before someone decides Koja needs a TikTok account.
P.P.S. We are working ASAP on creating a page for you to order The Lesser Evil. The page alone will be a work of art, inshAllah.
