Category Archives: Fictional Worlds

Why is Anne in Space? On Reading L.M. Montgomery’s Realistic Novels as Fantasy

Posted on September 16, 2025 by

Right now, I am prepping for a conference panel tomorrow that I announced last week: “Cinderella Anne, Paranormal Emily, and Astral Heroines Everywhere: L.M. Montgomery and the Fantastic.” I’m working with with three fantastic scholars (see what I did there?): … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, L.M. Montgomery, News & Links | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Emily of New Moon, fantasy, fantasy literature, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jane of Lantern Hill, L.M. Montgomery, literature, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, The Blue Castle, VICFA, worldbuilding, writing | 7 Comments

Cinderella Anne, Paranormal Emily, and Astral Heroines Everywhere: L.M. Montgomery and the Fantastic (Virtual Conference Panel Wed, Sept 17, 8:00-9:30am ET)

Posted on September 9, 2025 by

Hello dear readers, here is a kind of Pilgrim in Narnia crossover moment: a panel on L.M. Montgomery and the Fantastic. Drs. Heidi Lawrence, Abigail Heiniger, Trinna Frever, and I are gathering in deep cyberspace to approach this topic from … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, L.M. Montgomery, News & Links | Tagged fantasy, fantasy literature, L.M. Montgomery, literature, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, VICFA, worldbuilding, writing | 6 Comments

Why Did Star Wars Stick? #MayThe4thBeWithYou #StarWarsDay

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Brenton Dickieson

As much as we wonder about it, it’s a question that is not perfectly easy to answer. Long before technologically precise blockbuster films, Star Wars had cheesy lines, over-the-top acting, and zippers up the back of the monster’s costume. How … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Reviews | Tagged #MayThe4thBeWithYou, A New Hope, Dune, film, George Lucas, J.R.R. Tolkien, Larry Niven, May the Fourth, myth, mythopoiea, Ringworld, Ron Howard, Science Fiction, Star Wars, That '70s Show, The Force Awakens | 4 Comments

Thoughts on Classic and Contemporary SF vs. Fantasy Hugo Best Novel Award Winners while Failing to Write a Review of a Great Book that was not Nominated

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb Series is a discovery from my stint as a Hugo Award panellist in 2020 and 2021–the years that Gideon the Ninth (book 1) and Harrow the Ninth (book 2) were nominated. As much as I loved these books–and … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging the Hugos, Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Reviews | Tagged A Canticle for Leibowitz, Alix E. Harrow, allegory, apocalyptic literature, Arthur C. Clarke, Dune, Ender's Game, Gene Wolfe, Gideon the Ninth, Harrow The Ninth, Hugo Awards, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Mary Doria Russell, N.K. Jemisin, Nona the Ninth, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, Tamsyn Muir, Ursula K. Le Guin | 9 Comments

My Conference Papers this Week in Canada and K’zoo on C.S. Lewis’ Constructed Language and Intertextuality, with a Note on the Impostor Syndrome

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

In an intriguing confluence of events, this week is Canada’s annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Congress2022–what scholarly Canadians used to call “the Learneds”–and is at the same time as the International Congress on Medieval Studies, hosted by … Continue reading →