Tag Archives: Earthsea

John Garth, Maximilian Hart, Kris Swank, and Myself on Ursula K. Le Guin, Language, Tolkien, and World-building (Friday Feature)

Happy Friday everyone! I am preparing for the upcoming Signum University Ursula K. Le Guin course that I am precepting (for which there may be a spot or two open, and you can see a second invite here). Elbow-deep in … Continue reading

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Thesis Theater: Maximilian Hart, “Draconic Diction: Truth and Lies in Le Guin’s Old Speech” (Mon, Aug 16, 6pm Eastern)

I was pleased this summer to be the second reader for an exciting project by one of Signum University’s bright MA students. Beginning with curiosity about “Old Speech” in Ursula K. Le Guin‘s Earthsea series, Maximilian Hart has pulled together … Continue reading

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1,000th Post Party!

It’s the 1,000th post on A Pilgrim in Narnia! Huzzah! I began this blog way back in 2011 as a sandbox project for thoughts about C.S. Lewis’ writings. “Pilgrimage” was a word-picture I was using a lot for my life … Continue reading

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O Foolish Writer: The Living Reality of an Author’s Work, with C.S. Lewis, Stephen King, and Ursula K. Le Guin (Throwback Thursday)

Throwback Thursdays are where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own blog-hoard or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be an idea or book that is now relevant again, or … Continue reading

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“A Novelist’s Business is Lying”: A Farewell to Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018)

I have just heard that Ursula K. Le Guin has passed away. I could be humble about my opinion, but I want to impress upon you that she is one of our very greatest imaginative writers of the last 50 … Continue reading

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The Words C.S. Lewis Made Up: Grailologist

We all know C.S. Lewis as the Narnian, but behind the children’s work was his experience as a teacher of English literature, a writer about the history of literary movements, and a tinker in other forms of fiction. In that tinkering, … Continue reading

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“A Novelist’s Business is Lying”: What SciFi Can Do by Ursula K. Le Guin

When a re-encountered the books as an adult, I was thoroughly won over by Ursula K. Le Guin‘s Earthsea Cycle. I tend to write about writers who are rooted in deep worldviews. It is not that every good book is … Continue reading

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

O Foolish Writer: The Living Reality of an Author’s Work #WritingWednesdays

This post is part of an ongoing series Called Writing Wednesdays. This is repost of an earlier blog for those of us foolish enough to walk down this path. Previous blogs include: The Writer’s Spidey Sense False Starts and Missteps: … Continue reading

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O Foolish Writer: The Living Reality of an Author’s Work

I think some people think writers, as they build their fictional worlds, simply sit down and invent the details, putting together characters and places and storylines like someone puts together IKEA furniture. We’ll call that the Allen Key Approach to … Continue reading

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I Was Wrong: I like Ged Better than Arha

I take it back. Recently, in a review of the children’s fantasy book, Wildwood, I noted that I had a preference for female protagonists. I typically find that, in fiction, men are flat, simple, non-complex, and incomplete. I don’t think … Continue reading

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