So many books, so little time! I’m enjoying having more time for reading for pleasure now I’ve finished my MA. It’s sometimes possible to feel guilty about going back to reread books, when I’ve got so many unread books waiting for me. But you never actually read the same book twice. You never have the […]
One of the modules I’m studying this semester is Tolkien’s Medievalism. J R R Tolkien was not only a fantasy writer, but also a distinguished scholar of medieval literature. His essay Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics remains influential to this day. The rich depth of his writing comes from his love of language and […]
Some of the books I’m reading or have read in the last few months: Boundaries – Cloud & Townsend – generally very helpful, a few reservations Starcross – Philip Reeve – just riproaringly good fun Fever Crumb – Philip Reeve – mostly good, but feels incomplete Perelandra – C S Lewis – brilliant, an all-time […]
I received the book Planet Narnia for my birthday in November. It’s a fascinating and compelling look at the seven classical planets in C S Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and does a great job of making its bold claim that the seven planets are the hidden key to the books seem plausible. Even if you […]
The latest Doctor Who Magazine has a review of Short Trips: How the Doctor Changed my Life, which is very exciting, especially since reviewer Matt Michael speaks very highly of it! Here are a few quotes: Big Finish’s new collection of short stories is a departure from previous releases in that it’s entirely written by […]
Short Trips: How the Doctor Changed My Life, a collection of brand new Doctor Who short stories published by Big Finish is now available, and it includes The Shopping Trolleys of Doom – my very first piece of professionally published fiction! The theme of the collection is people’s lives who have been changed by the […]
One day Dostoevsky threw out the enigmatic remark: “Beauty will save the world”. What sort of a statement is that? For a long time I considered it mere words. How could that be possible? When in bloodthirsty history did beauty ever save anyone from anything? Ennobled, uplifted, yes – but whom has it saved? There […]
When someone accused J R R Tolkien of writing escapism, Tolkien apparently replied: “Maybe, but it’s not the escape of a deserter from the front lines, but of a prisoner from a cage.” These two types of escapism are a good description of the two ways that stories can function. Borrowing from Andrew Fellows from […]
That was the question posed in the Books section of Outpost Gallifrey recently. You might not be surprised to read that my short answer is “No”, but hopefully my further observations might be of some interest… First of all, I really enjoy all three writers and their books. Secondly, in the interests of full disclosure, […]
I went to see The Golden Compass on Wednesday, despite having been invited by a Christian friend to join a Facebook group inviting people to boycott the film, warning that it “promotes atheism”. It’s based on Northern Lights, first in the His Dark Materials trilogy written by Philip Pullman , which is certainly very critical […]
