Tag Archives: Harry Potter

The Land Where Oz is North of Middle-earth: Reflections of a Speculative Cosmographer (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on July 26, 2018 by

Over the next year, I am introducing an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Why the C.S. Lewis and Friends Colloquium is Awesome: The Bit About Students

Posted on June 12, 2018 by

I have just returned from what remains for me the best conference I have ever experienced when it comes to engendering an atmosphere of support for emerging scholars while remaining critical on the material. Part of this is no doubt … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Original Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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

Posted on January 23, 2018 by

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 →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

The Words C.S. Lewis Made Up: Grailologist

Posted on November 8, 2017 by

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 →

Posted in Studies in Words | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

A History of Magic with J. K. Rowling (A New BBC Documentary)

Posted on November 3, 2017 by

Just in time for Hallowe’en, and in concert with the British Library’s “Harry Potter: A History of Magic” exhibit, BBC has produced an hour-long Potterlicious documentary. I saw this film on Twitter yesterday, and thought it was worth sharing–and not … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, Fictional Worlds, News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tolkien’s “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size)” in Context

Posted on September 22, 2017 by

I don’t know that there is any more famous Tolkien quote than his claim to, in fact, be a hobbit. It’s really quite a delightful statement and worth quoting more fully: I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Infodump and Identification: Thinking about Fantastic First Pages with Anne McCaffrey

Posted on August 15, 2017 by

I’m having trouble getting into the (sort of) second Dragonriders of Pern book, Dragonquest. I loved Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsong, caught up by the protagonist’s heartsore struggle to express her creativity in a world of martial law. In dire threat of the biological terror of … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments