In “The Proud Bride,” we see the classic trope of the shrewish bride who is impossible to marry off (think King Thrushbeard and …
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Fantasy For Our Time: Secular Sci-Fi & The Transcendent
What does it mean to be human? How do we interact with the Divine or find meaning in a universe that sometimes seems completely …
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Fantasy For Our Time: Violence & Catharsis in Fantasy Media
When is the violence we see on our screen or read in our books too much? There is no denying an increase in violence in our …
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In a Certain Kingdom: The Three Sons
When a mysterious old woman visits the house of three brothers, unexpected gifts begin to abound. But the greatest gift is …
Fantasy For Our Time: Cute Monsters and the Problem of Evil
Whatever happened to the good old days when we recognized that some things are ugly, some things are monsters and you can't fix …
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In a Certain Kingdom: Ivan the Peasant’s Son
Ivan, the third son of a peasant family, refuses to be left behind when his brothers go to war against a dragonish monster. And a …
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Fantasy For Our Time: Caped Crusaders and the Common Good
Should we avoid violence in media? Are certain portrayals of violence in media better for us than others? This week I continue …
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Fantasy For Our Time Special Episode: Sample Audiobook Chapter From Nicholas Kotar’s Raven Son Series
Time, despite my best efforts to conquer it, has, yet again, conquered me! In all of my busyness, I wasn't able to sit down and …
In a Certain Kingdom: The Third Son
The Third Son, a Carpatho-Russian fairy tale, starts like the well-known parable of the talents. But this time, we're looking at …
Fantasy For Our Time: Empathy vs Compassion – What Game of Thrones Gets Wrong (Among Other Things)
Isn't empathy a good thing? Well, yes. In moderation. But we seem to live in a world where immoderate empathy is causing …
Fantasy For Our Time: Should We Be Inspired by the Masters or Subvert Them?
In this throwback episode, I officially get publicly and loudly angry about The Last Jedi. Seriously, though, paying homage to …
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Fantasy for Our Time: The Power of Story – A Conversation with Author and Illustrator Vesper Stamper
In this wide-ranging conversation with YA author Vesper Stamper, we talk about the power of story, the ways trauma can lead to …
Fantasy for Our Time: The Green Knight and the Secular Apocalypse
Generally, I like to focus on the ways that fantasy stories help form us and make us into better humans; but, is it possible for …
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Fantasy for Our Time: The Best Epic Sci-fi of the Last Decade – An Interview with Christopher Ruocchio
You’ve heard me rant about bad storytelling before. And I will admit I have been a bit worried about the tendencies of both video …
Water in Slavic Mythology (Part 2)
Have you ever seen photos of Russians getting in long lines in the middle of winter only to jump into a cut-out in the ice? Have …
A Hero for Our Time: Prince Dimitry Pozharsky
Does the news cycle depress you? Have you lost any hope in the emergence of a hero for our time who might direct our political …
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Constantine the Great: Russia’s Secret Tsar
The problem of power and personality is one that has fascinated people from the beginning of history. We are going to through our …
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The Rosetta Stone for Old Rus Was… a Piece of Birch Bark?
Have you read Evgenii Vodolazkin’s excellent novel Laurus? If you haven’t, you’ve deprived yourselves of a rare experience of …
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