Tag Archives: fantasy

On The Last Witch Hunter (2015)

Posted on 03/14/2016 by kunzelman

1. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, there was a longform internet discussion on the nature of the Mary Sue. Debates raged over whether Rey, one of the protagonists of that film, was in that camp of figures. Critics of … Continue reading →

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The Social Obligation of Fantasy

Posted on 08/10/2015 by kunzelman

We see it less now, but we had almost a solid decade of thinkpieces and academic arguments about the role of fantasy in the post-9/11 American landscape. They all land somewhere around this point: the rise of fantasy media in … Continue reading →

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Ursula K. Le Guin on the use of the “surface elements” of fantasy

Posted on 03/03/2015 by kunzelman

‘Surface elements,’ by which I take it he means ogres, dragons, Arthurian knights, mysterious boatmen, etc., which occur in certain works of great literary merit such as Beowulf, the Morte d’Arthur, and The Lord of the Rings, are also much … Continue reading →

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The Lord of the Rings: Thoughts on Book 1

Posted on 12/03/2014 by kunzelman

I’m reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time since I was a child and I’m writing blog posts about the book when I feel like it. Last night I finished the first book of The Lord of the Rings (meaning … Continue reading →

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Vorpalizer on fantasy film and worldbuilding

Posted on 03/12/2013 by kunzelman

The great temptation, the fatal temptation, of adult fans of fantastic fiction is the temptation of Law. We want the contents of our imagination taxonomied and classified, ordered and indexed, subject to rules and regulations. Gaps exist to be filled. … Continue reading →

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A Charles Vess Art

Posted on 01/22/2013 by kunzelman

An untitled Charles Vess drawing/painting/art from Heavy Metal #12

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Editor’s Note to Heavy Metal v1 #8

Posted on 01/13/2013 by kunzelman

In our local bookstore and yours, too, in the section where the self-help books were (replacing the women’s liberation books, which in turn had replaced the American Indian volumes after the Black Studies tomes), we now find shelves of science … Continue reading →

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Video Games and Parochialism

Posted on 03/29/2012 by kunzelman

John H. Stevens has an article over at SF Signal titled “De-Parochializing SF Criticism: Is It Really Necessary? Or Even Possible?” The article is part of a larger column that he does weekly (?) about science fiction/fantasy and how those … Continue reading →

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