Browsing all articles by A. M. Justice.
Great Fantasy Films From Yesteryear
Before I begin, as I wrote this title I thought, “How did the 1970s become yesteryear?” I have to keep reminding myself that there are adults out there—many of them friends—who were born two decades after my childhood years. So yes, Amanda, your own lifetime includes yesteryears and bygone eras. But let’s get to it. […]
Jordskott: Seasons 1 and 2 – TV Series Review
How far would you go to protect your child? Would you destroy a community? Commit genocide? Kill another’s child? On the Swedish urban fantasy crime drama Jordskott, the answer to these questions is often yes. Jordskott could be described as The Killing meets Trollhunter. It begins when Eva Thörnblad (Moa Gammel), a troubled police detective, […]
Annihilation – Movie Review
Spoiler Warning: This review contains minor spoilers for the movie Annihilation. Please read with caution if you have yet to see the movie. You can find our review of the book Annihilation, on which the movie is based, here. Annihilation is one of those rare films where the writer/director tossed a whole lot of science fiction […]
The Problem with Abandoning the “Strong Female Character”
Yet another descriptor has been caught in the verboten term net. Recently, several essays have appeared arguing that people should stop using the term “strong female character” (SFC) or “strong female protagonist” because a) The SFC has become just another trope in speculative fiction, providing authors with another cardboard token with which to people their […]
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
How many times have you read something that made you gasp aloud? I’ve cried pretty liberally over events—Dobbie’s death and burial (HP and the Deathly Hallows), the duel between Ammar and Rodrigo (Lions of Al-Rassan), Frodo’s departure for the Blessed Lands (Return of the King)—but I can’t remember gasping aloud at a single word uttered […]
Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beren and Lúthien contains echoes of Romeo and Juliet, Rapunzel, and the Orpheus and Persephone myths. In it, Lúthien—a demigod elf princess whom Tolkien refers to both as a “mere maid” and “the greatest of the children of Iluvatar”—singlehandedly defeats Morgoth, the Big Bad of the First Age of Middle Earth. The story […]
