Collection
Essays
Disney’s Slide and Princess Leia Revisionism
So yesterday the Star Wars Twitter account tweeted something kind of dumb: First off, let me just acknowledge that there is a larger context here, though it doesn’t…
Dune on Change
Yesterday Twitter buddy Kes of RMWC Reviews commented on a Matt Walsh opinion about young people and moving: "There is no reason not to move" Friends, family, the…
Howardian Horror
I was recently gifted The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard. I’ve had my eye on this one for a while, perhaps since Alex of Barbarian Book Club wrote…
An Introduction to the Epic Poul Anderson
The illustrious Poul Anderson is another one of those scifi/fantasy grandmasters who you’ve probably never heard of if you were born after 1980. Although he was writing until…
The Lost Virtue of Lean Prose
As much as I talk about older scifi and fantasy, I like some contemporary fiction. I’m a fan of the Witcher stories. I like Harry Potter (is that…
The Cost of Magic
I’ve been thinking lately about magic. In fiction, its treatment varies widely, but I feel like there are a few generalizations I can make. First, I don’t agree…
Friggin Fairies
Fairies used to be bad, you know. As I said, elves used to be part of this basket, too. All that fey nonsense. I guess it’s been happening…
The Cool Cutter Caliburn
As I progress through James Branch Cabell’s Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice, I’m encountering many interesting references to legend, myth, and antiquity. Many seem to be fancified, embellished, or…
Infernal Elves
There was a bit of a discussion yesterday on Twitter, about elves. Specifically, Alex of Cirsova was musing about the D&D alignment systems and how traditionally, under a…
The Original Greek Superhero: Prometheus
It’s been observed that Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter was an early inspiration for the modern superhero. I believe he was actually a direct inspiration for the genesis…