Platypus of Truth

This is the second in a series of posts on Anne C. Petty's Tolkien in the Land of Heroes.   The prior post can be found here . I'm just about finished with Anne C. Petty's Tolkien in the Land of Heroes  and I wanted to add some (perhaps) final thoughts to my previous post.  The overall news is that Petty does not disappoint.  Her "big picture" approach allows her to refine the work of previous scholars in ways that suggest fruitful new approaches to Tolkien's material.  In particular, while she sees conflicting elements in Tolkien's thought, Petty stresses unity where so many prominent authors stress tension and contradiction.  This comes out in the passages where Petty deals with Tolkien's view of Evil and in her discussions of the Pagan and Christian roots of Tolkien's mythos.  My fears that the author would try to subordinate J.R.R. Tolkien's works to the level of mere illustrations for Campbell's theories (As I feel Flieger does with ...

Because it needed to happen:

Two concept sketches for a novel-in-planning:

My mind and my conversation tend to move down certain set grooves which become irksomely apparent once you get to know me.  Several of my friends once suggested turning any conversation at which I was present into a Bingo game with squares labeled "Connecticut," "Cthulhu," "Tolkien," "Tennyson," and "That one time we were playing Exalted when...".  It's a pretty fair observation.  In that spirit then, I'd like to take up one of my perennial topics: the thought and fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm currently about half way through a book by a Tolkien scholar I hadn't previously encountered, Anne C. Petty.  The book is Tolkien in the Land of Heroes .  As Tolkien criticism goes, it's a fairly typical work which admittedly seeks to look only at "the big picture" of Tolkien's general themes in the "big three" ( The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion ).  Where I have felt so far that Pet...

A new semester has started at school and I have finished Nix's Clariel .  As a reminder, my purpose in reading this book is to see how Garth Nix is able to craft a compelling novel with a heroine who consistently does everything she can to avoid the Call of Adventure.  Prior entries in the series can be found here , here , and here . *Plot Relevant Material Discussed Ahead* 17. By adding Mogget to the mix, Nix finally presents us with a character who can beat Clariel at her own game.  As an incredibly powerful Free Magic creature who has been humiliatingly bound to serve its enemies, Mogget's grievances are deeper and his determination stronger than Clariel's.  As Mogget's plot unfolds, we are able to see the real consequences of Clariel's approach to life: this is what she is becoming, a harmless-looking but incredibly dangerous villain. 18. All story thrives on conflict.  One of the things that makes Clariel  work as a novel is that Clariel's oppos...

My strategic reading of Garth Nix's Clariel , the prequel to his bestselling Abhorsen Trilogy, is nearing the end.  My purpose in this particular reading is to discover the ways in which Nix makes his reluctant and less-than-likable title character compelling.  To that end, this post and its predecessors contain discussions of numerous plot points.  Those who have not read Clariel  may not wish to continue reading this post. *Discussion of Plot Material Ahead* If your still with me, today's post will move my analysis up to the end of chapter twenty-two (Clariel's first meeting with her grandfather).  The two previous posts can be found here and here .  My previous post ran to the end of chapter nineteen (Clariel's escape from the prison hole). 14. Once Clariel is out of Belisaere, the narrative loses some strength until her arrival at Hillfair.  The reason for this is that it presents Clariel with her first real opportunity to get away.  B...