"The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards." This is the opening line of Ursula Le Quin's book of fantasy and magic, The Wizard of Earthsea. She wrote a total of five books (1968.2001) set in the alternate reality of Earthsea. The illustration is by Ed Savage.
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Fantasy
"Fantasy is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. It is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality. In Freud's terminology, it employs primary, not secondary process thinking. It employs archetypes, which, as Jung warned us, are dangerous things. Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe."
- Ursula K. Le Guin
The illustration is by Ruth Robbins.
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Ponies, by Kij Johnson, Disturbed Me
I was not prepared for this story, nor the effect it would have on me. It moved me and saddened me. It also excited me to find an author, with the imagination and writing skills of Kij Johnson. I was a latecomer to the writing of Kij Johnson. I have since learned that she is an Associate Professor of Fiction Writing at the University of Kansas, and Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction. She says,"One of our core premises is that science fiction is not so much a literature as it is an intellectual mode of inquiry that allows you to explore things in ways that nothing else does."
She has won numerous awards including Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, World Fantasy and many others. In the past, she has worked in publishing, run bookstores, worked as a radio announcer and engineer, edited cryptic crosswords, and waitressed in a strip bar.
Here is an excerpt from the opening section of Ponies (2010).
"The invitation card has a Western theme. Along its margins, cartoon girls in cowboy hats chase a herd of wild Ponies. The Ponies are no taller than the girls, bright as butterflies, fat, with short round-tipped unicorn horns and small fluffy wings. At the bottom of the card, newly caught Ponies mill about in a corral. . .
If we like you, and if your Pony does okay, we’ll let you hang out with us. . . This is the way it’s always been, as long as there have been Ponies. All ponies have wings. All Ponies have horns. All Ponies can talk. Then all Ponies go to a cutting-out party, and they give up two of the three, because that’s what has to happen if a girl is going to fit in with The Other Girls. "
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"On an impulse,she walked into the bedroom and looked at herself in the pier mirror. A stranger infinitely familiar stared back: a stern-eyed woman in walking tweeds, with heavy laced boots and black-and-silver hair pulled away from her lined face. An old woman but not soft -- or, so she thought with a sudden inward laugh, perhaps not quite old, but also softer than she's been."
Kij Johnson, made the central character of the Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe (2017) a middle aged woman of courage, life-experience, and resilient determination. Johnson, at the time of writing this book had recently, because of injury, given up rock climbing. She was 53, and a highly regarded author when the book was published in 2016.
The scene excerpted above takes place early in the book when Villitt Boe is preparing to leave on her arduous journey. If she survives the dangers, the journey will take her to the transit point between Ulthar, a planet in an alternate universe, and passage to earth.
The cover illustration is by Victo Ngai.
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The Man Who Bridged the Mist (2012)
Kit Meinem of Atyar, engineer and architect, is sent to a remote area where he must build a bridge over a river of mist. The river runs through and divides the land on this parallel planet. However, the mist is not mist as we know it. It is corrosive, changes shape and density, and the water seems to flow beneath it. Crossing is difficult and dangerous. Here is an excerpt of the first time that Kit sees this mist. He is guided by Rasali, a woman who is able, when conditions are right, to guide her boat through the mist and across to the other side. She is a fascinating and extraordinary woman whose family -- at their peril -- have been running boats through the mist for generations.
This excerpt is an account of Kit's introduction to the river and mist where he must bridge it:
"He looked up and nearly cried out as light lanced his suddenly tearing eyes. He fell back a step and shielded his face. What had blinded him was an immense band of light reflecting the morning sun. . . It was not water nor anything like. It formed somehow in the deep gorge of the great riverbed before him. . . After a moment the pain in Kit's eyes grew less and he opened them again. The river was a quarter mile across where they stood, a great gash of light between the levies. It seemed nearly featureless, blazing under the sun like a river of cream or of bleached silk, but as his eyes accustomed themselves, he saw that the surface was not smooth but heaped and hollowed, and that it shifted slowly, almost indiscernibly, as he watched."
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The River Bank (2017)
Kij Johnson wrote a sequel to The Wind in the Willows in order to introduce female characters to this Edwardian classic. I am currently reading and enjoying it. Here is the review from goodreads.
"In this delightful dive into the bygone world of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows staunch Mole, sociable Water Rat, severe Badger, and troublesome and ebullient Toad of Toad Hall are joined by a young mole lady, Beryl, and her dear friend, Rabbit. There are adventures, kidnappings, lost letters, and family secrets—lavishly illustrated throughout by award-winning artist Kathleen Jennings."
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At The Mouth of the River of Bees Stories (2012)
In 2012, after many years of publishing a wide range of fantasy and sci-fi from her mercurial imagination in magazines, Kij Johnson published a provocative collection entitled At the Mouth of the River of Bees (Small Beer Press). The book includes several new stories and the wonderful novella The Man Who Bridged the Mist.
Here are excerpts from comments by an NPR critic and two exceptional writers of YA, adult, and children's books:
“The title piece has that wonderful power we hope for in all fiction we read, the surprising imaginative leap that takes us to recognize the marvelous in the everyday.” -- Alan Cheuse, NPR
“The variety is tremendous, exhilarating. “26 Monkeys” is as different from “Chenting” as “Names for Water” is from “The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” and each one is differently excellent.”—Ursula K. Le Guin
“Nobody writes like Kij Johnson. Nobody. Nobody finds the interstices of a story the way she does. Nobody dives down into the deep pockets of a story, coming up with the change for the ending. Nobody.”
—Jane Yolen
Crossing borders never ends with Kij Johnson.
Perhaps she lives on the border. The border of magic realism where fantasy adds dimension and depth to everyday reality.
Here is a link to Ponies .
The illustration from The Riverbank is by Kathleen Jennings
Spells of Enchantment
The illustration of The Goose Girl is by Paul Hey.
Movies and Annimation
Miyazaki films are on Netflix. The image on the left is from the wonderful My Neighbor Tutoro.
Exceptional Independent Animation: Fantasy lives in many forms. Here are 3 totally different, outstanding, animated videos.
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The Gigantic Change
Saving Our Planet .. Extinction Rebellion
Art by Nicola Jane Francis
Narration: Whoopi Goldberg and Livia Nelson
Link: The Gigantic Change 3:08
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Passage des Oiseaux
by Florence Miailhe, Artist Film Maker in Paris
Dreamlike fantasy, lyrical, painterly, ominous
Here is a link: Passage des Oiseaux length 3:45
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Bloeistraat 11/Flower Street
A lovely coming of age animated film about two young girls.
Very imaginative. An international prize winner.
Directed by Nienke Deutz
Here is the link: Bloeistraat 9:39
Save The Children -- Bombing of Schools -- Idlib Refugees
In response to the number of attacks on education, parents have asked Save the Children’s partners not open schools in certain areas because they are afraid of attracting violence. Instead, they have asked for education to be hidden away in sites like caves and basements or made harder to hit in mobile schools.
Wafaa*, 12, and her family have been sheltering in an overcrowded camp for around a month after escaping the violence. Their home was hit by an air strike while Wafaa* and her family were inside. They had to be pulled from the rubble. Wafaa’s* school was also hit and two of her classmates were killed.
Wafaa* said: “We were in class with the teacher then an airstrike hit. They had to take us out from underneath the school. Everyone started crying. There is nothing worse than this crisis.”
To stop the conflict robbing children of their education, Save the Children and its partner Shafak have turned four buses into brightly painted mobile classrooms. The aid agencies take school to some of the 575,000 displaced children like Wafaa* at the heart of the crisis.
Wafaa* said: “They’re teaching us everything. They’re teaching us how to read and write. The first step in life is that you need to learn, instead of wasting your whole life.” Here is the link: SaveThe Children School Bombings
The top photo is by Muhammad Said.
The bottom photo is from the White Helmet Squad video.
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JK Rowling -- Update
1m pounds donated to UK charities during coronavirus outbreak.
JK Rowling is publishing a new children’s book, a fairy tale “about truth and the abuse of power” that she has kept in her attic for years, for free online for children in lockdown.
The Ickabog, which is set in an imaginary land unrelated to any of Rowling’s other works, will be serialised online in 34 daily, free installments. It will then be published as a book, ebook and audiobook in November, with Rowling’s royalties to go to projects assisting groups impacted by the pandemic.
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Books -- Black Lives Matter
Both Powell's Books and Amazon Books have responded to the crisis in the USA with wonderfully diverse selections of relevant books, ranging from the very young to adult readers. They are both endorsing change and unity.
Here is the link to Powell's Black Lives Matter
Here is the link to Amazon Black Lives Matter
Beverly Tatum is the author of this landmark book.
"Bookstores need to be supported. If coal plants are getting billion dollars in subsidies, I think we can spare a few million dollars to protect bookstores." Ned Wang
Like Wulff's "How to Change the World in 30 Seconds", this book is another practical handbook for helping pets. Easy to follow steps, important data, and insider info. . . Many times the pet's people have no idea where, or how, to start looking for them. This guide spells it out with lots of helpful tips and advice. And all the sales go to charity - how great is that?! Kristina Kaine, Amazon Review
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Canine Therapy Corps, Inc.
Chicago based, Canine Therapy Corps. has reached thousands of troubled people utilizing the potential of the human-canine bond and the amazing qualities of dogs. Here is an excerpt from describing their healing program for veterans at the JESSE BROWN VA MEDICAL CENTER:
This psychosocial program is for veterans being treated for a myriad of mental illnesses, such as chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression, and other mental illnesses, at the hospital's outpatient psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery center. Simply stated, participants' work with our dogs is empowering. There are infinite parallels between successful dog handling and coping with life's peaks and valleys. In order to build a strong bond with a dog, one must be patient, consistent, flexible, and perseverant, but also caring, understanding, respectful, and fair. Each participant works with one therapy dog throughout the curriculum, using obedience and agility exercises, as well as trick training, to cultivate their relationship. Typically, when participants begin, they do not fully comprehend the inextricable link between their own behavior and therapy dog compliance. As the curriculum progresses, so, too, does participant impulse control, confidence, and perspective - key recovery components. Here is a link to the exceptional variety of Canine Therapy Corps Programs
The photo is of therapy dog Swindle at the VA Center.
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Bookstores Are Vital
“A civilization without retail bookstores is unimaginable. Like shrines and other sacred meeting places, bookstores are essential artifacts of human nature. The feel of a book taken from the shelf and held in the hand is a magical experience, linking writer to reader.”
– Jason Epstein
The photo is from the Guardian.
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Castle In The Mist -- Book two of The Planet of the dogs
The Stone City warriors had changed their way of life the year before, after the Day of the Dogs. Bik, their warrior leader, had declared that there would be peace. The warriors had put away their weapons and become farmers, tradesmen and craftsmen.
The kidnapping of the children changed everything. Bik sent messengers to former warriors across the countryside and throughout Stone City, Wood Town and the Hill Tribes. The message they carried was simple: My children have been taken by an unknown enemy. The time of peace is over. Return to Stone City.
Men were taking their weapons – swords, spears, bows and arrows – from hiding places in homes and barns everywhere that Stone City warriors had settled. The weapons had been placed beneath floorboards, in spaces between walls, and high up in storage places for corn and hay, places where they would not be disturbed, places where they could quickly be found if needed. This was one of those times. -- excerpted from Castle In The Mist.
We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to [email protected] and we will send you the books.
To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs
The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from Internet sources and through independent bookstores. The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty
Here is an excerpt from Don Blankenshp's review of Planet Of The Dogs..."This story borders between reality, a dream world, fantasy, fiction, reality and wonderful imagination."
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"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog." -- Mark Twain
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