Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Why Did Star Wars Stick? #MayThe4thBeWithYou #StarWarsDay

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

It’s an interesting question. Cheesy lines, over-the-top acting, zippers up the back of the monster’s costume–how many films just like it have found their way into the Betamax bins of history? Yet, Star Wars lives–not only lives, but thrives, growing … 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 | 9 Comments

Madeleine L’Engle’s Remarkable Accomplishment in The Wrinkle in Time

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

By all accounts, the young Madeleine L’Engle did everything wrong. First, she was a woman writing in a man’s genre in the 1950s and 1960s—and writing soft SF under a feminine name without the ambiguity of initials to hide behind. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Reflections, Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged A Wrinkle in Time, fantasy, film, film adaptation, Madeleine L'Engle, Oprah Winfrey, Science Fiction, SF | 22 Comments

Octavia Butler’s and Robert Heinlein’s Rules of Writing

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

My most significant alien encounter this year has been in the science fiction of Octavia E. Butler. I have only dipped into her work, enjoying her Xenogenesis Trilogy (1987-89) and a collection of short pieces, Bloodchild and Other Stories (2nd ed., … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, On Writing | Tagged Afrofuturism, Black Panther, Octavia Butler, On Writing, Robert Heinlein, Science Fiction, SF, speculative fiction, Stephen King, Stranger in a Strange Land, writing, Xenogenesis Trilogy | 7 Comments

Leatherhead and Literary Coincidence, with C.S. Lewis and H.G. Wells

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I encountered the town of Leatherhead first in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (1897). It is one of a dozen or so English place names that meant nothing to me as a young reader. As an adult, armed with an … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Original Research | Tagged George MacDonald, George Tomkyns Chesney, H.G. Wells, intertextuality, Leatherhead, Phantastes, Science Fiction, SF, Surprised by Joy, Surrey, The Battle of Dorking, The Quest of Bleheris, The War of the Worlds | 16 Comments

Joan Slonczewski’s “A Door Into Ocean” and C.S. Lewis’ “Out of the Silent Planet”

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

On the face of it, Joan Slonczewski and C.S. Lewis make an odd pair. The first is a living American microbiologist writing highly technical science fiction in environmental, feminist, lesbian, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged A Door Into Ocean, books, C.S. Lewis, creation care, environmentalism, feminism, Joan Slonczewski, LGBTQ Issues, literature, Out of the Silent Planet, Science Fiction, SciFi, SF, Theology of Culture, Theology of Literature | 2 Comments

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

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

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 Arha, C.S. Lewis, Earthsea, fantasy, feminism, gender, Harry Potter, homosexuality, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Margaret Atwood, Narnia, Science Fiction, sex, The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin | 17 Comments

Literature, Film, and Technoculture Class at Signum University (Starts Tuesday)

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I wanted to announce this great SignumU live course starting next week. I have the pleasure of being the “Preceptor” for this lecture series by Dr. Chad Andrews. This science fiction-centred course counts toward the Imaginative Literature concentration, though many … Continue reading →