Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction

This week, we begin our unit on J.R.R. Tolkien’s posthumous work of mythology and history, and discuss reading strategies, layers of narrative and the creative impulse. Is the Professor the best letter writer in history? Did Christopher Tolkien really intend this book to be definitive? How is Middle-Earth different from Star Trek? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here [https://youtu.be/abP1PF36C70]; to see the slides, click here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oKOIY-dHRVrsH7WRc7FFxbLrC_3pmoiO/view?usp=sharing]! Next week, we dive into the text with the first part of The Silmarillion, the Ainulindalë, live on YouTube on Thursday, January 16th at 8PM Central. Footnotes: * The Silmarillion [https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0345325818] * Stars And Swords on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKRqwfnwYLVRirbVuxOC0A] * The Silmarillion Unit Production Schedule [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PCmE_pwgaJJrEnxrc1HaslMxk2s7BbogcuFtAuyPuYM/edit?usp=sharing] * The Voyage Of Earendel The Evening Star [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/%C3%89al%C3%A1_%C3%89arendel_Engla_Beorhtast] * The Shores Of Faery [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Shores_of_Fa%C3%ABry] * The Tolkien Professor [https://tolkienprofessor.com/] * Tolkien’s World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth (Robert Foster) [https://www.amazon.com/Tolkiens-World-Complete-Guide-Middle-Earth/dp/0345449762] * The Lord Of The Rings: A Reader’s Companion (Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull) [https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Readers-Companion/dp/0618642676] * There And Back Again: Exploring Tolkien’s Middle-Earth [http://pointnorthmedia.com/podcasts/there-and-back-again/] To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord [http://patreon.com/nextword] and pledge your support! ---------------------------------------- Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction is a Next Word production, written and produced by Alastair Stephens. Copyright © 2024 Stars and Swords. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------

This week, we overcome treachery to win the war in chapters ten to fifteen of C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian and discuss the Narnian timeline, fear as an alienating force, and the worst of Susan. Why is Aslan larger now? Could Nikabrik and his allies resurrect the White Witch? Is evil always self-defeating? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here [https://youtu.be/LiZ7EFxydns]; to see the slides, click here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l3HpDoYqQKQMMlp5JZwLZtINZfffWeQF/view?usp=sharing]! Next week, we begin our discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion with an introductory lecture, live on YouTube on Thursday, January 9th at 8PM Central. Footnotes: * Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis) [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345] * Stars And Swords on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKRqwfnwYLVRirbVuxOC0A] * Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis (Michael Ward) [https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Narnia-Seven-Heavens-Imagination/dp/019973870X] * Companion To Narnia (Paul F. Ford) [https://www.amazon.com/Companion-Narnia-Revised-Complete-Chronicles/dp/0060791276] * The Renaissance of Wonder In Children’s Literature (Marion Lochhead) [https://www.amazon.com/Renaissance-Wonder-Childrens-Literature/dp/090393728X] * Beaglepuss [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beaglepuss] * Bagpuss [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagpuss] To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord [http://patreon.com/nextword] and pledge your support! ---------------------------------------- Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction is a Next Word production, written and produced by Alastair Stephens. Copyright © 2024 Stars and Swords. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------

This week, we assemble our forces and call for help in chapters five to ten of C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian and discuss the medieval perspective on past and future, the oracular power of centaurs, and the difference between beasts. What is represented by each of Caspian’s companions? Who raised Aslan’s How? How did Edmund learn so much 21st century slang? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here [https://youtube.com/live/zPaetT1PeH0]; to see the slides, click here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x4VNvgiYaTNmQ6-AxgMw1TYOde-IqvPY/view?usp=sharing]! Next week, we conclude our unit on Prince Caspian with chapters ten through fifteen, live on YouTube on Thursday, January 2nd at 8PM Central. Footnotes: * Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis) [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345] * Stars And Swords on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKRqwfnwYLVRirbVuxOC0A] * Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis (Michael Ward) [https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Narnia-Seven-Heavens-Imagination/dp/019973870X] * Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (IMDb) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096681/] * Prince Caspian Remastered (YouTube) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzSq5MFfpyA&t=1366s] * Of Other Worlds (C.S. Lewis) [https://www.amazon.com/Other-Worlds-Essays-Stories/dp/0062643541] To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord [http://patreon.com/nextword] and pledge your support! ---------------------------------------- Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction is a Next Word production, written and produced by Alastair Stephens. Copyright © 2024 Stars and Swords. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------

This week, we return to Narnia with the first five chapters of C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian and discuss politics and persecution, fairytale and fantasy, and Edmund’s 2024 slang. How has Narnia changed, both as a place and as a story? What is the turning point between fairy tale and fantasy? Where did Peter’s sword get its name? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here [https://youtu.be/blF5-rDA9ec]; to see the slides, click here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JQbOkK6YwzlQAnMaO7CcDHKKm6ee07DM/view?usp=sharing]! Next week, we continue our unit on Prince Caspian with chapters six through ten, live on YouTube on Thursday, December 26th at 8PM Central. Footnotes: * Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis) [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345] * Stars And Swords on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKRqwfnwYLVRirbVuxOC0A] * Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis (Michael Ward) [https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Narnia-Seven-Heavens-Imagination/dp/019973870X] * Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis) [https://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926] To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord [http://patreon.com/nextword] and pledge your support! ---------------------------------------- Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction is a Next Word production, written and produced by Alastair Stephens. Copyright © 2024 Stars and Swords. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------

This week, we conclude our horror unit and our discussion of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with logical fallacies and the limits of rationality, Dracula as a feminist text and Bram Stoker’s Best Joke. How does the tone change in the last act of the novel? How do we contrast Lucy and Mina? What does Van Helsing have to say to the Author’s Note? To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here [https://youtube.com/live/wvzYJAHMvgw?feature=share]; to see the slides, click here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/143BAc8u9Xdhrw8dbNztTH3ydKnY7cLim/view?usp=sharing]! Next week, we begin our unit on Prince Caspian with chapters one through five, live on YouTube on Thursday, December 19th at 8PM Central. Footnotes: * Dracula (Bram Stoker) [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345] * Stars And Swords on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKRqwfnwYLVRirbVuxOC0A] * True Fact: The Lack of Pirates Is Causing Global Warming (Forbes) [https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2012/03/23/true-fact-the-lack-of-pirates-is-causing-global-warming/] * Spurious Correlations [https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations] * Madamina: The Most Beautiful Word [https://www.timothyhampton.org/blog/posts/20938] * Vampiric Affinities: Mina Harker and the Paradox of Feminism in Bram Stoker’s Dracula [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25058725] * Don’t You Know Me By Now? [http://knowmepod.com] To join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord [http://patreon.com/nextword] and pledge your support! ---------------------------------------- Stars and Swords: Footnoting Genre Fiction is a Next Word production, written and produced by Alastair Stephens. Copyright © 2024 Stars and Swords. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------