Tag Archives: fantasy

Perelandra

Posted on April 4, 2017 by smellincoffee

Perelandra © 1943 C.S. Lewis 322 pages In Out of the Silent Planet, Dr. Erwin Ransom was kidnapped by two malevolent technologists who thought to offer him as a sacrifice to the ruler of Mars, a planet they were interested … Continue reading →

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Short rounds: explosives and Martians

Posted on October 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Tonight I finally gave up on Hayduke Lives!, the sequel to Edward Abbey’s Monkey Wrench Gang. The plot only arrives four-fifths of the way into the book, having been preceded by lots of stream-of-consciousness rambling, pointless arguments, and enough breast … Continue reading →

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The Sword of Summer

Posted on October 18, 2016 by smellincoffee

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer© 2015 Rick Riordan491 pages Magnus Chase is the Boy Who Lived.  As a youngster he witnessed his mother sacrifice herself for him, dying at the hands of some evil … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Posted on October 8, 2016 by smellincoffee

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child© 2016 Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling, and John Tiffany320 pages Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the book young adults who grew up with Harry have been waiting for….though it’s not quite what they … Continue reading →

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Azazel

Posted on October 5, 2016 by smellincoffee

Azazel: Fantasy Stories© 1988 Isaac Asimov221 pages George isn’t an ordinary fellow, for in times past his ancestors possessed the arcane knowledge required to summon creatures — demons? aliens? — from another plane of existence.  The best George can manage … Continue reading →

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In the Days of the Comet

Posted on April 27, 2016 by smellincoffee

In the Days of the Comet© 1906 H.G. Wells276 pages Have you been cyanogened yet?  Carl Sagan delivered that preposterous line in the original Cosmos, reading the newspaper headlines of a century past. Then, as Halley’s Comet approached the Earth, … Continue reading →

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Bilbo’s Journey

Posted on April 9, 2016 by smellincoffee

Bilbo’s Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of the Hobbit©  2012 Joseph Pearce147 pages The Hobbit begins with the sudden arrival of a pack of dwarves at Bilbo Baggin’s house. Though he is very much the quiet homebody, they have arrived … Continue reading →

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Return to Bag End

Posted on March 23, 2016 by smellincoffee

On March 25th, by the reckoning of the Shire,  the Ring of Power was cast into the Cracks of Doom and the vicious horde facing the Men of the West melted away.  I would it would be appropriate, therefore, to … Continue reading →

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Pilgrim’s Progress

Posted on March 19, 2016 by smellincoffee

Pilgrim’s Progress in Today’s English © 1678 John Bunyan,   retold 1971 James Thomas 285 pages Years ago I read Pilgrim’s Progress,  the story of one Christian’s spiritual journey made physical. The story begins when a man named Graceless, soon to be … Continue reading →

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Forward March

Posted on September 28, 2015 by smellincoffee

This past week I’ve made further progress on the 2015 reading challenge: Book on Bottom of To-Read Shelf:  The Search for Ice Age Americans As many times as I walk past this book in the library, I’ve never broken down … Continue reading →

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