The story of one lonely drive down a blistering desert highway.
Tag: Myth
Weird #50: “The Hospice” by Robert Aickman (1975)
A ghost story that the reader pieces together only after it is told
What are the Seven Pillars of Wisdom?
I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands
and wrote my will across the sky in stars
To earn you Freedom, the seven-pillared worthy house,
that your eyes might be shining for me [...] (ln. 1-4)
Could the Artificial Paradise of the Assassins be a Fairy Otherworld?
A tradition of viewing Paradise as an Otherworld exists in Middle English literature. Why not the artificial paradise of the Assassins described in The Book of John Mandeville?
World Fantasy Convention 2015, Part III: Challenging the Canon
Last week I wrote about my interview with Charles de Lint at the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs. Today, I wrap up my discussion of the conference with some comments on the fantasy canon and the awards ceremony, which have of late been the subject of some controversy. My MA thesis is on fantasy …
Continue reading World Fantasy Convention 2015, Part III: Challenging the Canon
World Fantasy Convention 2015, Part II: My interview with Charles de Lint
Last week I talked about Guy Gavriel Kay reading from his upcoming historical fantasy Children of the Earth and Sky at the World Fantasy Convention 2015 at Saratoga Springs, NY. This week, I continue my account of the weekend's events and provide a paraphrase of my interview with Charles de Lint. First, allow me to talk …
Continue reading World Fantasy Convention 2015, Part II: My interview with Charles de Lint
World Fantasy Convention 2015, Part I: Guy Gavriel Kay’s Children of the Earth and Sky
He spoke in a small presentation room called Broadway I in the Saratoga Hilton at Saratoga Springs, NY, introducing for the first time the central concept behind his new novel. It was Guy Gavriel Kay giving the origin story behind Children of the Earth and Sky, due for release this Spring, and I was among the privileged few to hear him …
MythCon 46: The Arthurian Mythos Part I: On Satyrs, Derrida, and Names of Power
Every Friday over the next couple of weeks I will be posting notes that I made during this year's Mythopoeic Conference at the Hotel Elegante in Colorado Springs, CO. I presented a paper there on Charles de Lint and had the occasion to reacquaint myself with the much of the same gang from the last MythCon …
Continue reading MythCon 46: The Arthurian Mythos Part I: On Satyrs, Derrida, and Names of Power
Pacifism and Kenneth Morris’s The Chalchiuhite Dragon
Lately my blog posts have been slowing down because of the attention I'm giving to my research assistantship with Professor Robert Lecker at McGill University--we're researching the history of literary agents and agencies in Canada. As such I have not had the occasion to post about my experience of MythCon 2015 as I did with MythCon …
Continue reading Pacifism and Kenneth Morris’s The Chalchiuhite Dragon
Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint
Does magic exist in the contemporary world? Charles de Lint's mythic fiction brings supernatural beings into the context of the everyday and Forests of the Heart explores the contact between ordinary people and what he calls Mystery. Bettina and Adelita are sisters, both partly Mexican, partly Indios, and raised by their grandmother to see la époco del …
Matthew Rettino 