Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale.
[Spoilers!]This book was great. It passes the Bechdel Test, with some strong female characters who regularly interact, and the female protagonist makes friends ...
Month: July 2020
Kenneth Burke’s Representative Anecdote & the Cult of the Kill
The final idea Burke had that was better than his Pentad was the Representative Anecdote. There are a few theories like this one floating around now, but aside ...
Is It Time to Re-Examine Firefly/Serenity?
At the height of his career, Joss Whedon was enjoying the successes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1994-2004) when he created Firefly. Thoug...
Mercedes Lackey’s Hunter
[Spoilers!] The haters are just plain wrong. Yes, the book is post-Hunger Games and Divergent–it’s also post-Maze Runner, but I guess that doesnR...
Kenneth Burke’s Identification and Consubstantiality
Another in the line of “8 Burkean concepts that are better than the Pentad” are the paired concepts of Identification and Consubstantiality. For our...
Nicole Taylor’s The Witch Hunter
[Spoilers!] This book was just horrible. First off, I was constantly double checking as it read like a book late in a series–it just jumped right in to re...
Dr. Who Series 2: Most Disturbing Premise (pt. 2; Top 10)
[Spoilers] Premises can be disturbing because, if true, they’re scary, or they can be disturbing because they don’t make sense. Previously, I laid o...
Kenneth Burke’s “Definition of Man [sic]”
One of the most discussed parts of Kenneth Burke’s work is his “Definition of Man [sic],” a 21 page section in a single book. Putting aside hi...
Julie Kagawa’s Talon
I can suspend disbelief about Dragons that a) exist and b) can shift into human form, that c) some of them are just like us and d) despite completely different ...
Dr. Who, Series 2: Best Quotes/Exchanges (pt. 2; Top 10)
[Spoilers!] I LOVE a good quote, and there are some truly great lines in this show. From my top contenders from each episode (courtesy of www.planetclaire.tv), ...