Department of Exciting Literary Developments
The first volume of Mark Twain’s autobiography (!) is about to be released.
Tagged: literature
“The Hierarchy of Contempt”
After watching his excellent Bloggingheads dialogue, I stumbled across the website of Canadian science fiction author Peter Watts, which also happens to include free digital copies of his novels (so far, I’ve only gotten...
Dragonlance
“This book was one of my earliest introductions to fantasy and thus to the limits (or lack of limits) of the imagination. I read Dragonlance before I read Tolkien, and was just amazed by...
Fantasy and myth
Will linked us to this piece by James Bowman earlier. Bowman writes: I mention this difference between the fantastical as it existed in olden times and today, which some may think a trivial one,...
A list of books from my childhood
Tyler Cowen and Peter Suderman have both compiled (non-definitive) lists of books which have influenced them the most over the years. I have thought about this some, and come to the decision that the...
Sex, literature and limits
A few people have objected to a Naomi Wolf article on pornography I linked to earlier. If you don’t buy the idea that rampant over-exposure to porn deadens our erotic senses, I recommend you...
The Art of Magic in Fiction: An Interview with Lev Grossman
Fantasy is a genre dominated by sword-and-sorcery epics, mysterious dragons, and tyrannical sorcerers. Few fantasy novels have joined the ranks of ‘great’ literature, and fewer still have crossed over into the contemporary literature aisle. The...
saving the children, one banned book at a time
This sort of thing really pisses me off. For more on the CPSIA and dangerous, lead-inked vintage children’s books, go here or here or here. Then go buy up lots of used books at...
Wicked
I saw the Broadway production of Wicked this past weekend. It was very good. An under study performed the part of Elphaba, the wicked witch, and she was superb….
Real Fantasy
I stumbled across this short essay from February by Richard Morgan whose book, The Steel Remains, I am currently reading. (And it’s good so far, and very dark, and very adult.) Anyways, Morgan takes...
a reading list for fantasy enthusiasts
So in the comments to this post, I received a lot of reading suggestions for good fantasy. They are listed below with updates to follow…
the art of magic in fiction
The other day I was sitting around drinking beers with a friend and talking about magic. Specifically, we were discussing the abuse or misuse of magic in fantasy writing. It is my theory that,...
George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.
Well, it looks like HBO will begin shooting the pilot episode for George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones in October in Northern Ireland. I am gripped with excitement and trepidation. And at...
