Tag Archives: Ursula K. Le Guin

5 Affordable Ways to Purchase Digital Books By and About C.S. Lewis

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

It is true for me that there is no pleasure quite like pulling a book off the shelf, flipping to the first page, and wandering into a new world of ideas or imagination. Whether this is a new adventure or … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, Mere Christianity, Narnia, On the Reading of Old Books, Reading, The Inklings, Ursula K. Le Guin | 5 Comments

“Inventing a Universe is a Complicated Business”: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Introduction to the Hainish Cycle

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

I have always loved Ursula K. Le Guin‘s Earthsea Cycle and have mused once about whether I liked Ged or Arha better. Though Earthsea suits me as a fantasy reader, I recognize that Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes | Tagged fantasy, Rocannon's World, Science Fiction, The Dispossessed, The Earthsea Cycle, The Hainish Cycle, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Tombs of Atuan, The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin | 5 Comments

The Other Reasons I Became a C.S. Lewis Scholar

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

An intriguing, fun, and occasionally perverse part of being a scholar in areas where there is a lively fandom is that I am often asked to tell my “encounter” story. This can be a bit strange in that in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged academic writing, C.S. Lewis, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, culture, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, literature, Mere Christianity, Miroslav Volf, N.T. Wright, PhD Research, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sallie McFague, theology, Ursula K. Le Guin | 5 Comments

The Shepherd’s Crown: Terry Pratchett’s Last Discworld Novel

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

It was six years ago, late summer in 2013, when I decided to read through Terry Pratchett‘s Discworld. At that point, the fortieth novel had been published and we already knew that Pratchett had a terminal illness. There might have … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reviews | Tagged Anne McCaffrey, Discworld, Moist von Lipwig, Monstrous Regiment, Raising Steam, Seinfeld, Terry Pratchett, The Game of Thrones, The Shepherd's Crown, Tiffany Aching, Ursula K. Le Guin, Wee Free Men | 6 Comments

The 100 Best Fantasy Books by Steve Hayes

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Originally posted on Notes from underground:
I saw this list of best fantasy books from Reddit. Top 100 Best Fantasy books: This is a list of the best fantasy books. If you want to find good fantasy books to read,…

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Guest Blogs | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Connolly, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Suzanne Collins, Ursula K. Le Guin | 5 Comments

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

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

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 →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged brewing, C.S. Lewis, Carrie, Chloe Moretz, Earthsea, Eugene Peterson, fantasy, fictional worlds, Frederick Buechner, Julianne Moore, Of Other Worlds, On Writing, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, writing | 15 Comments

The Sea a Sham Born of Uniformity: On Subverting the Normal with Gene Wolfe (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

This year I introduced 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. This might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged Anne McCaffrey, books, fantasy, Gene Wolfe, Harry Potter, literature, myth, Science Fiction, The Shadow of The Torturer, Ursula K. Le Guin, ursula le guin, writing, Writing Wednesdays | 14 Comments

Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven: A Brilliant Apocalypse with an Almost Fatal Flaw (Part 1)

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

From Mary Shelley to Margaret Atwood, I have a deep interest in women’s sf and speculative fiction. It is not just a question of perspective and hearing other voices. Rather, it simply that some of my favourite writers are in … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian literature, On Writing, Reviews | Tagged Canadian literature, Emily St. John Mandel, epistolary fiction, J.K. Rowling, Madeleine L'Engle, Margaret Atwood, Nalo Hopkinson, Octavia Butler, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, Station Eleven, Ursula K. Le Guin | 6 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 →