David Louis Edelman David Louis Edelman

Tags

Posts Tagged 'Fantasy'

Older Entries »

  1. The Jump 225 Jumbo Mega-Bonanza Summer Giveaway (Finale)  •  July 29, 2008
    In the last contest of my mega-summer giveaway, I asked the all-important question that eight-year-olds have been wondering since the world was young: who would win a deathmatch smackdown, Obi-Wan Kenobi or Gandalf?
  2. Whatta Fiasco… The Book’s Got a Glossary!  •  April 30, 2008
    Why do some people have problems with the glossaries and appendices in genre fiction books?
  3. Gary Gygax: An Appreciation  •  March 4, 2008
    You may have heard that E. Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons & Dragons, lost his final saving throw with the great dungeon master in the sky this morning. Perhaps I should have called this post “Dungeons & Dragons: An Appreciation,” since I really didn’t know Gary Gygax from Elric of Melniboné. I don’t think I [...]
  4. My Introduction to the Reissue of Mervyn Peake’s “Titus Alone”  •  March 4, 2008
    Late last year, I was asked to write the introduction to Overlook Press' new edition of Mervyn Peake's "Titus Alone," last novel of the so-called Gormenghast Trilogy. So, with the permission of Overlook Press, I've posted the introduction in its entirety here.
  5. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”  •  July 26, 2007
    So the Harry Potter series is over, and I was pretty much right in my predictions. How good was the final book? I'd say "Deathly Hallows" is the third best in the series, behind "Order of the Phoenix" and "Prisoner of Azkaban."
  6. What Will Happen in the Final Harry Potter?  •  July 17, 2007
    Vizzini: So. It has come down to the final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Tolkien, Le Guin, Moorcock? Morons! Man in Black: Really! In that case, I challenge you to a battle of wits. Vizzini: I accept! Man in Black: All right. Will [...]
  7. Revisiting Middle Earth: “Unfinished Tales”  •  June 28, 2007
    There's something both satisfying and frustrating about "Unfinished Tales," a posthumous collection of J.R.R. Tolkien fetishism. You get JRRT at his most didactic, listing chronologies of imaginary kingships as if he were tracing the lineage of Jesus. You get Christopher Tolkien at his most pompous, pointing out all of the petty differences between versions of his father's stories in lots of dry footnotes.
  8. Revisiting Middle Earth: “The Children of Húrin”  •  June 6, 2007
    “A darkness lies behind us, and out of it few tales have come,” says one character early in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Children of Húrin. “…It may be that we fled from the fear of the Dark, only to find it here before us, and nowhere else to fly to but the Sea.” Sador is speaking here [...]
  9. Revisiting Middle Earth: “The Return of the King”  •  May 25, 2007
    A single theme kept running through my head as I read j.R.R. Tolkien's "The Return of the King." It's the way evil acts continually redound to the greater good in the end.
  10. Revisiting Middle Earth: “The Two Towers”  •  May 20, 2007
    Many people who read "The Lord of the Rings" falter somewhere in "The Two Towers," and that's perfectly understandable. It's a difficult book about moral choice and the temptations of good and evil.

Older Entries »