Tag Archives: ursula le guin

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

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

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

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 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 le guin | 25 Comments

From The Hobbit to Harry Potter, From Fairy Tale to Epic

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

In his Cinderella Story essay, “On Stories”—an essay that was passed over when it was first published but now known by anyone who thinks about Fantasy literature—C.S. Lewis defends Fantasy literature by placing it on a higher shelf of literatures. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, Lewis' Essays, Reflections, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Dan Brown, Experiment in Criticism, fantasy, Guy Gavriel Kay, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, Narnia, The Hobbit, ursula le guin | 67 Comments

Digital Dust? Thoughts on my 300th Post

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

300 posts. Wow. When I began this project, I had little sense of an end in sight. It really began as a way of reading C.S. Lewis out loud. Over time, as my roots have deepened, the tree has branched … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Original Research, Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, fantasy, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, King Arthur, literature, Madeleine L'Engle, Neil Gaiman, Ransom Trilogy, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, ursula le guin | 19 Comments

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

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

Classic SciFi authors will cringe when I admit this, but I am reading Gene Wolfe for the first time. It just hasn’t come across my path until I found a dozen Ursula K. LeGuin and Gene Wolfe books at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing | Tagged books, fantasy, Gene Wolfe, literature, myth, Science Fiction, The Shadow of The Torturer, ursula le guin, writing, Writing Wednesdays | 10 Comments

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

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

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 →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes | Tagged beer, brewing, C.S. Lewis, Carrie, Chloe Moretz, Earthsea, fantasy, fictional worlds, Julianne Moore, Of Other Worlds, On Writing, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, Stephen King, ursula le guin, writing | 11 Comments

2013 End of Year Book Survey

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

I thought I would jump in on the End of Year Book Survey over at The Perpetual Page-Turner. Looking at the pages linked there, it was a big year for fiction. My reading list is mostly non-fiction, but I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, children's literature, Cormac McCarthy, fantasy, George MacDonald, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Madeleine L'Engle, Narnia, Stephen King, ursula le guin, Virginia Woolf | 14 Comments

2013: A Year of Reading

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

Once again I managed to keep one of my New Year’s Resolutions. In January 2012, I resolved to read 50 books or articles related to my research and writing on C.S. Lewis and the Inklings, and I hit #50 near … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Douglas Adams, fantasy, H.G. Wells, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Madeleine L'Engle, New Years Resolution, Reading, Roger Zelazny, Stephen King, ursula le guin, Virginia Woolf | 33 Comments

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

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

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 →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes | Tagged beer, brewing, C.S. Lewis, Carrie, Chloë Grace Moretz, Earthsea, fantasy, fictional worlds, Julianne Moore, Of Other Worlds, On Writing, Stephen King, ursula le guin, writing | 5 Comments

I Was Wrong: I like Ged Better than Arha

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

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 →