Ben Leggins (Literature of Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-fi)

Vintage Season  by C. L. Moore is very clever because of the style it chooses to tell its story in. While reading the story, I got a film noire type of narrative. It's not told in the first person like many film noire stories of the time, but the language it uses and even Oliver's sleuthing in the story all harken back to films like Casablanca . It's also very visual, describing every character with the most detail I've caught in a story in a while. And it's a product of its time with the narrative and the descriptions. I love old cinema so the style and tone kept me engaged. At first I thought the vacationers were going to be aliens, but it subverted my expectations by having them be time-travelers, which I found to be more interesting. I was also cautious that Moore might take a time-travel story in the wrong direction, but the time-travel itself wasn't a major factor in the story. It's more just a piece of world-building, and I think not focusing on tim

I don't believe there is a myth associated with The Ocean at the End of the Lane . All of the strange occurrences in the book seem to be just unique and don't relate to anything. That was my first impression anyway. It may seem like an out-there comparison, but the Hunger Birds remind me of the locusts that Moses summons in the Bible. Mainly for the comparison between what they do to the people they attack. The locusts eat everything the Egyptians have, and the Hunger Birds completely eat Ursula and eat the Protagonist's heart. The lake, or in this case a portal to some other world, may be a sort of mythical place. It's explained that the Ocean is another world. That's where they dump Lettie when she sacrifices herself to save the Protagonist, after all. Maybe if the Ocean is like Narnia, I could see how this aspect ties into a certain myth. But really I got the impression that everything wasn't mythical. But I also can't really call this story a "

Just like Harry Potter  (in many ways), The Magicians  is about a group of magically inclined kids attending a school of magic. They learn how to harness their powers and have a relatively uneventful life. But one mistake leads them down a path that only they can control and fix. It's their responsibility. Both series deal with the weight and stress of having a huge responsibility quite well, in an exciting way too. For Harry, it's Voldemort. And for Quentin (the main character), it's the Beast. I haven't read any of the Harry Potter novels and I've only seen one of the movies, but I wonder if Harry actually sets the conflict in motion. I vaguely remember that Voldemort wanted to kill Harry as a baby because he was a Chosen One. But what The Magicians does that I think is a little more engaging is Quentin physically sets the antagonist loose within  the story. Therefore Quentin's responsibility to defeat the Beast is stronger and more intense than it is Harry&

This week I read "Troll Bridge" by Terry Pratchett. I really enjoyed it! The world was very traditionally fantasy, just like Lord of the Rings or Dragon Quest. And the story itself subverted my expectations in a good way! Speaking of subverting expectations, Cohen is not your typical hero. Considering that this story is a comedy similar to Monty Python, that makes sense. We know he's a hero because of the things he's done in the past, but throughout this story Cohen doesn't actually change at all. And typically, fantasy heroes fight some giant monster and save a princess, but Cohen doesn't do any of that. In fact, the troll he comes across, Mica, actually befriends Cohen. The entire story revolves around them talking about their everyday lives. One of the biggest changes a classic hero goes through is leaving the everyday life behind. Cohen just talks about his life and his past, he doesn't experience any new perspective on life. It's a nice change