Mythago Wood
It is a place where myths become true. No. It is a place where myths are more than true; a place where the myths have power and you have none. The effect is a diminution of the self in the face of something older, vaster, and stranger.
Fantasy
WBH Weekly Digest 2023-06-30: The Fantasy Canon
I'm back from a work trip, a family wedding, and a family vacation. On with the posting!
A thread about the long history of Conan as a character, and the various reasons for his complicated publishing history.
Spider-Man Has Lost His Place - Front Porch RepublicSpider-Man now devalues human-scale kindness
WBH Weekly Digest 2023-04-21
Synoptic history of Europe, The Night Land, how epic fantasy has failed readers, the most horrifying anti-war satire I've read, and a cover reveal for Spengler's Future
Art as social technology
You need to ask yourself: what thing am I being accomdated to by reading this story? What am I offering, and to whom? All art does this, whether consciously or not. The character of the author is of supreme importance in making this judgement.
Eulalia!
Light Unto Another World by Yakov Merkin
Light Unto Another World by Yakov Merkin [Amazon link] is the first of a planned 10 volume isekai series, with volumes 1 through 5 already published, and 6 through 10 recently crowdfunded on Kickstarter. Uriel Makkis is on his way to a deployment with the Israeli army when he finds
The Black Company by Glen Cook
Glen Cook’s The Black Company is about the stubborn endurance of heroism in the midst of unbelievable wickedness and depravity. The story is incredibly dark, but there is a core of hope that shines through. This is the book that everyone who claims they like grimdark fantasy should read