Category Archives: Discworld

Hello to Bygone Ages

Posted on January 20, 2019 by

Looking at Robert E. Howard’s essay on his imaginary Hyborian Age got me to thinking about a few different issues in fantasy fiction that deals with lost civilizations. The essay tells of a succession of great empires contrasted with barbarians, … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Christianity, Discworld, Evolution, History, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mystery Cults, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Persian, Prejudice, Religion, Roman, Science, Terry Pratchett, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bread Dead Redemption

Posted on November 3, 2018 by

Today is All Souls’ Day in the Catholic liturgical calendar, and the Day of the Dead in Mexico (which I think is actually two days; this is the second one). I never knew that much about either holiday, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Aztec, Catholicism, Celtic, Christianity, Discworld, Eastern Orthodox, Halloween, History, Holidays, Mesoamerica, Middle Ages, Mythology, Native American, Religion, Roman, Terry Pratchett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Use Your Illusion

Posted on September 16, 2017 by

There’s a fair amount of magic in the Oz series based on illusion, although exactly what that indicates is a little ambiguous. An illusion is a distortion of sensory input, different from a hallucination in that that actually is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Discworld, Edward Einhorn, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Oz, Oz Authors, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Terry Pratchett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When Humor and Anti-Humor Collide

Posted on May 23, 2017 by

I found this post by Amy to be interesting, as I think we have similar senses of humor in many respects, and I’m somewhat fascinated by the concept of anti-humor. I’ve never come across the “No soap, radio!” joke in … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Cartoons, Characters, Comics, Discworld, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Language, Lewis Carroll, Oz, Oz Authors, Television, Terry Pratchett, The Simpsons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

You May Find Important Pieces Gone

Posted on March 10, 2017 by

Cautionary tales to try to convince children to behave seem to be pretty much universal, even though it’s quite possible they do more harm than good. I’ve written before about boogeyman legends, and along much the same lines is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Discworld, Fairy Tales, Family Guy, Humor, Jasper Fforde, Monsters, Music, Nursery Crime, Television, Terry Pratchett, XTC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Frosty Reception

Posted on January 7, 2017 by

Since our President-Elect is in love with Vladimir Putin and insists that everyone should constantly say “Merry Christmas,” I guess we’d better learn about Christmas in Russia, right? It might seem a little late for this, but Orthodox Christmas is … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authors, Christianity, Christmas, Discworld, Eastern Orthodox, Fairy Tales, History, Holidays, Mythology, New Year's Day, Religion, Russian, Terry Pratchett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nonsense That Makes Sense

Posted on April 22, 2016 by

This Tor article presented the idea of mapping fantasy lands along two axes, nonsense vs. logic and virtue vs. wickedness. Obviously there’s a lot of opinion involved here, but the first thing I thought was kind of weird was Neverland … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, Discworld, Douglas Adams, Dreams, Fairy Tales, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Humor, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, Magic, Oz, Oz Authors, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Terry Pratchett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments