Category Archives: Reviews

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

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 131st Birthday (#TolkienBirthdayToast)

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Brenton Dickieson

As J.R.R. Tolkien was born about 68,899,680 minutes ago, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor on his birthday, 3 January 2022 (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged art, Bilbo, Blogging, books, film adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle, literature, Lord of the Rings, Mythopoeia, Peter Jackson, Rings of Power, The Hobbit, The Nature of Middle-earth, Tolkien BIrthday Toast, Tolkien Society | 15 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

Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo, a Review

Posted on November 9, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo My rating: 4 of 5 stars C.S. Lewis is famous for his comment on a dust jacket autobiographical note that “There’s no sound … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged biography, C.S. Lewis, D.L. Sayers, Dante, Dorothy and Jack, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gina Dalfonzo, Joy Davidman, Lord Peter Wimsey, Narnia, Ruth Pitter, Sr. Penelope, Whose Body? | 6 Comments

A Thing of Forms Unknown: Thoughts on C.S. Lewis and Horror with Chris Calderon

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

Within a longer project on C.S. Lewis and the Ransom Cycle, I have outlined a chapter focussing on some instinctive horror elements in Lewis’ science fiction. I have written up the close readings for the piece, but am missing one … Continue reading →