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No, Leia, I am your mother.
I’ve recently been thinking about the archetypal “hero’s journey” as it appears in fantasy settings a la Star Wars, and wondering how it would look with a female main character ( Read more... ) -
Is there an overarching theme to the Queen of Attolia?
You could talk about the Queen of Attolia going from disbelief (of Eugenides's smile at the beginning, which indicates his genuine admiration and love) to belief (of Eugenides's love at the end). The reader does something similar, although it may take re-reading to truly believe that he loves her ( Read more... ) -
"Chime"
I just finished reading "Chime" by Franny Billingsley.
It was extraordinary.
I read all day. I read all night.
I was not in control of this. Sometimes, I wanted to stop to eat. It was hard. I couldn't pull myself away.
I could relate to it so very well. I, too, have convinced myself I am bad. And had to re-stomp those pathways in my brain. I ( Read more... ) -
The magical world of Harry Potter is real. And I'm not talking about the theme park.
We've been led to believe that the magic in children's books is just not real. And in most cases, this is true. But not in the case of Harry Potter ( Read more... ) -
Lyra's reaction against Puritanism
At the end of The Golden Compass, Lyra overhears her parents talking about Dust. Her father invites her mother to come with him, into the new world he has just opened, "to destroy Dust once and for all." Later on, we find Lord Asriel is in fact trying to protect Dust; he tells Mrs. Coulter he lied to her earlier, because he thought a lie would win ( Read more... ) -
Why I am excited for The Hunger Games
I'm getting increasingly excited about this new movie of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'm excited for one main reason:
These are books that, unlike most others, are extremely filmable. In fact, I think they could make better films than books.
Who knows if they will. But they might. And that will be interesting, because I think the flaws of ( Read more... ) -
Wisdom from Evannah (Luna!)
Here is something so freeing and beautiful, written by Evannah Lynch (who plays Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter, and who struggled with an eating disorder before she got cast. She credits JK Rowling with helping her over it).
Her words are truly liberating:
"On the other hand, I don’t believe in sweeping these insecurities under the carpet. Doing that ( Read more... ) -
About Lyra's role in The Subtle Knife
Recently, someone posted that it is a common criticism of his Dark Materials that after Lyra meets Will, she let's him take over as the hero and becomes "the chick", only occasionally stepping in to provide lies (something that could be seen as a more "feminine wiles" kind of role ( Read more... ) -
Fun links!
I just stumbled onto this: Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons and lots of other books....) has a great blog. She writes about writing and she's very practical... And because I like reading about writing by people who are very practical, I don't want to forget to go back ( Read more... )