Very, very mild spoilers for The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Starless Sea, and The Magicians. I have been thinking a lot about doors and thresholds. We pass through them all the time, entering and exiting buildings and rooms without thought. Metaphorically, doors represent beginnings or endings or changes, and thresholds represent the in-between … Continue reading Of Doors and Thresholds, Magic and Stories and Change
Fantasy Fiction
Weird Sisters: Atwood, Le Guin, Butler
How many other appreciators have lumped together the ineffable Margaret Atwood, Ursula Le Guin, and Octavia Butler? Combined they may be up there with poems to spring or love in terms of clichéd subjects. But I'm going to do it anyway because these three transcend easy comparison about "women writing speculative fiction." They are prophets … Continue reading Weird Sisters: Atwood, Le Guin, Butler
Summertime Slump
Into every reading life, a slump will come. Maybe you're just not in the mood for what's in the stack. Maybe the line-up of blockbuster movies and bingeable shows is too much to resist. Maybe there's simply a lot going on. Regardless of the reasons, dry spells are inevitable. My recent slump seemed like it … Continue reading Summertime Slump
Accidentally Complementary, or when the universe hands you a literary gift
Listening to: Garbage, Garbage. Drinking: Red table wine Sometimes chance gives you a cluster of works (books, songs, shows, movies, podcast) that create an intriguing juxtaposition or a complementary meshing. I first noticed this phenomenon in college, when classes chosen for schedule (or the texts assigned in them) created an unexpected, unintended harmony. When such a thing … Continue reading Accidentally Complementary, or when the universe hands you a literary gift
