Literature of Horror, Fantasy and Sci-Fi

For this week's reading, I chose to read Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane.  The novel took a while for me to get hooked, as every page was a new concept out of left field. However, I enjoyed the story once it picked up, and how it played on a piece of mythology I haven't seen in a while: women in threes. In multiple types of mythologies and religions, there exists a trio of powerful women - the Moirai, the Graeae, the Norns, the three Morrígna, and many more. Some portray them all as old women, others show them as the maiden, the mother, and the crone. In Gaiman's case, he chose the latter of the two, the three appearing as the mysterious and intriguing Hempstock women. From their introduction, it was rather obvious that there was something supernatural about the  Hempstocks. It was either that, or assume that they were all crazy. From Lettie's omniscient knowledge of everyone's money dreams, to the three of them discussing the suicide letter despite

I've probably mentioned it several times in class, but Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus is one of my favorite novels of all time. I went back to read the story again for this week's assignment, after having spent some time contemplating whether or not to pitch a thesis inspired by the novel (the idea never went through unfortunately). Like the previous times, I thoroughly enjoyed Morgenstern's writing and world. As for this week's assignment, I wanted to discuss how The Night Circus  deals with both education in magic and the love story told throughout the novel. Celia and Marco never had much of a choice in their education; they were forced into it quite young and through circumstance, and simply grew to accept that their lives were bound to something much larger than them. Unfortunately, the two, having been pretty much bartered into this backwards game of chess, were more being trained rather than educated. Both A.H and Prospero used rather harsh means of m

When asked to name history's most known fantasy authors, Tolkien's name is bound to come up. His legendary world- and language-building skills shine in his Lord of the Rings series, and whose stories have been adapted and readapted for all sorts of media forms. For this week's reading, I went back to an old favorite of his: The Hobbit . It had been almost a decade since I last read more than a few excerpts of it, and was very excited to read the novel with fresh eyes. After having studied the elements of the hero's journey both in middle/high school and in this class, I've come to realize that Tolkien follows the formula pretty accurately in his prequel novel. From the hero's beginning to refusing the call to adventure, all the way to the reward, Bilbo goes through every stage in the hero's journey. Tolkein's beautiful descriptions portray Hobbiton and the Shire as the perfect place to live an ordinary life; and the perfect place to rouse our dear hero

With many young adult novels typically comes a sub-plot about finding oneself. The teenage years are full of change and self-discovery; along with the tumultuous situations presented by puberty. In many of these stories, th e protagonist is a school-age child who goes on some sort of journey, and when they finally find themselves, grow into someo ne more mature (but not quite yet an adult). In Akata Witch, author  Nnedi Okorafor portrays this story of finding oneself through the lens of a magical world set in West Africa. By setting Sunny apart in every way possible (her accent, her looks, and even her magical heritage), Okorafor creates the perfect situation for Sunny to leave her frustrations behind in search of her true place in the world. Similarly, the animated film Kiki's Delivery Service  discusses this transition in the lens of another magical world. Although not as different as Sunny is from her peers, Kiki is alienated by being the only witch in an area where people a

For this assignment, I read Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. I typically stay away from traditional horror, but the story of Annihilation drew me in quite quickly. The combination of science fiction and the fear of the unknown was both exhilarating and intriguing enough to keep me reading. Throughout the novel, Vandermeer toys with the idea of transformation and how it affects those who do so unsuspectingly. From the Earth changing with this unknown area, to the biologist herself, transformation appears as a common theme throughout the novel. In the movie, this idea is pushed in new and terrifying ways, presenting the viewer with guts that move, crossbreeding deemed impossible, and skeletons that climb out of their own bodies. This portrayal of human bodies morphing and changing in unimaginable ways definitely chilled me to the bone. In this day and age, being able to transform one's body is something discussed almost casually. From losing/gaining weight, to plastic surgery, t

Oftentimes in literature, the father figure is portrayed as either an absent character or someone with less-than-pure intentions. But what happens when your character is immortal? In Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice, this idea is explored. Against his will, Louis becomes a father figure to Claudia the moment Lestat has her transform into a vampire. As a result of his vigilant morality, the immortal very quickly latches onto her, making sure that the child will (mentally) grow with some humanity in mind rather than becoming like Lestat. This brings into question his own morality, which Louis was often contemplating. His teachings to Claudia seemed to act as a way of grounding his own self and making sure he did not lose his humanity. He feared that telling her the truth about her creation would not only make him lose her, but his own humanity as well.  In contrast, Claudia learns about humanity from a very detached point of view, having been turned much too early in life to dev