Ruth Russell, An American Journalist In Revolutionary Ireland
In early 1919 the pioneering woman journalist, Ruth Russell, visited Ireland to report on the brewing republican revolution for theContinue Reading
Category: Books
Lord Dunsany, An Early Influence On Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser?
In discussing the early to mid-twentieth century origins of the seminal sword an’ sorcery series, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by FritzContinue Reading
Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser, And The Tuatha Dé Danann
Despite their elevated status among devotees of fantasy literature I have yet to read any of the short stories andContinue Reading
2000 AD Creator Pat Mills On The Struggling UK Comics Business
There is a great interview with Pat Mills, the acerbic doyen of the British comic books’ industry, over on QuietusContinue Reading
Season Seven Of Game Of Thrones Stretches Believability To Breaking Point
Having watched the final episode of season seven in the Game of Thrones television series, I wonder if I am the onlyContinue Reading
Barry Cunliffe Lectures On The Celtic From The West Theory
An interesting talk by the veteran British historian and archaeologist Barry Cunliffe discussing the controversial “Celtic from the West” theory.Continue Reading
Earthlight, Arthur C Clarke
Earthlight is a largely forgotten 1955 science-fiction novel by the British writer Arthur C Clarke, based upon a short story ofContinue Reading
Beren And Lúthien, JRR And Edith Tolkien
The complex, never quite complete tales of the couple, Beren and Lúthien, date to 1917 and the earliest writing ofContinue Reading
Destroyer Of Cities, Homer, JRR Tolkien And George RR Martin
When I was fifteen or sixteen I read a relatively well-known book called In Search of the Trojan War by the British historianContinue Reading
Forty Years Of 2000 AD
The seminal British sci-fi and fantasy comic, 2000 AD, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this week so I thought I’dContinue Reading
Tom Shippey Discusses JRR Tolkien’s Beowulf Translation In Three Video Lectures
JRR Tolkien began to write a tentative prose edition of the Medieval epic poem, Beowulf, while teaching at the University of Leeds inContinue Reading
Iain McCaig, From The Forest Of Doom To The Broadsword And The Beast
Though he illustrated only a handful of publications in the Fighting Fantasy line of roleplaying gamebooks by Steve Jackson andContinue Reading
Tad Williams, An Interesting World-Builder But No JRR Tolkien
The Guardian newspaper has a somewhat effusive interview with the American fantasy writer Tad Williams, author of the popular Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series andContinue Reading
Books Comics Culture Fantasy Graphic Novels Horror Movies Science-Fiction Teicóg (Geek Culture) Television
The Epidemic Of Passable Movies, Why Genre Films Are So Average
I’ve pretty much abandoned my former interest in genre cinema over the last decade or so. A large chunk of the blame canContinue Reading
Books Culture Fantasy History Horror Irish Mythology - Seanchas Teicóg (Geek Culture) The Irish Language - An Ghaeilge
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, In Irish But Not Of The Irish
Mary Robinson of the Special Collections and Archives department at Maynooth University Library has published an interesting post in the lead up toContinue Reading
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Stories Of Beren and Lúthien
Over thirty years have passed since a weary reviewer equated the third book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “History of Middle-earth“, a twelve volume compendium edited by hisContinue Reading
Burning A Changeling, Bridget Cleary And The Good People
The Australian fiction author, Hannah Kent, whose debut historical novel, “Burial Rites“, was published to critical acclaim in 2013 is currently promotingContinue Reading
Imaginary Maps In Fantasy Fiction
Over the course of the summer the Library of Congress in the United States published a wonderful online series called “ImaginaryContinue Reading
Stephen King And George R. R. Martin In Conversation
Stephen King is one of my favourite authors and his quasi-autobiographical horror novel, “It”, is not just an outstanding example of the genreContinue Reading
The Atlantic Irish And Celts
Following on from a previous post examining the “Celtic from the West” theory, a quick thank you to ASF reader, Mark, for reminding meContinue Reading
Archaeology Books History Irish Mythology - Seanchas Religion Reviews The Irish Language - An Ghaeilge
Who Were The Celts?
I recently purchased a copy of “Celtic from the West 2“, the follow-up volume to “Celtic from the West“, the 2012Continue Reading
Better Be Hanged At Home Than Die Like Dogs In Ireland
The literary historian, James Shapiro, has a fascinating article in the Irish Times on William Shakespeare’s aversion to Ireland and the Irish.Continue Reading
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