Fantasy Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/tag/fantasy/ a magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:18:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.publicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-favicon-2-300x300.png Fantasy Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/tag/fantasy/ 32 32 Planetary Alchemy, or, Learning to Read the Earth with “Zelda” https://www.publicbooks.org/planetary-alchemy-or-learning-to-read-the-earth-with-zelda/ Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:00:23 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=56826 “Tears of the Kingdom” lets you play through the planetary archive. In so doing, it suggests the pleasures of thinking at planetary scale.

The post Planetary Alchemy, or, Learning to Read the Earth with “Zelda” appeared first on Public Books.

]]> B-Sides: L. Frank Baum’s “The Enchanted Island of Yew” https://www.publicbooks.org/b-sides-l-frank-baums-the-enchanted-island-of-yew/ Mon, 06 May 2024 15:00:16 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=55903 Many know L. Frank Baum for writing the book that inspired the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.” However, like any good magician, Baum had a lot more up his sleeve.

The post B-Sides: L. Frank Baum’s “The Enchanted Island of Yew” appeared first on Public Books.

]]> John Plotz on Earthsea, Anarchism, and Ursula K. Le Guin https://www.publicbooks.org/john-plotz-on-earthsea-anarchism-and-ursula-k-le-guin/ Wed, 21 Feb 2024 16:00:40 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=55246 “Rather than thinking of creative arts and sciences as ‘two cultures,’ we should realize that they’re running on parallel tracks.”

The post John Plotz on Earthsea, Anarchism, and Ursula K. Le Guin appeared first on Public Books.

]]> “A New Life for Us”: Zelda and the Future of Stories https://www.publicbooks.org/a-new-life-for-us-zelda-and-the-future-of-stories/ Wed, 06 Dec 2023 16:00:22 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=54378 “As I continued to wander its world, I began to realize Tears of the Kingdom marks a new achievement in art itself.”

The post “A New Life for Us”: Zelda and the Future of Stories appeared first on Public Books.

]]> Law’s Force, Law’s Farce https://www.publicbooks.org/laws-force-laws-farce/ Wed, 26 Oct 2022 15:00:13 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=50439 Books about law are often utilitarian. But perhaps sometimes we should embrace sublime uselessness.

The post Law’s Force, Law’s Farce appeared first on Public Books.

]]> Toxic Masculinity, Spectral Homosexuality https://www.publicbooks.org/power-of-the-dog-toxic-masculinity-queer-western/ Mon, 28 Mar 2022 15:00:06 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=47932 The secret of the Western—as Jane Campion’s “Power of the Dog” shows—is that its mythology nurtures a queer fantasy, hiding in plain sight.

The post Toxic Masculinity, Spectral Homosexuality appeared first on Public Books.

]]> To Suffer a Witch in “WandaVision” https://www.publicbooks.org/to-suffer-a-witch-in-wandavision/ Mon, 01 Nov 2021 15:00:55 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=45944 Anyone who has been called a bitch-witch might have predicted the show’s big twist: there is absolutely no right way to wield your power.

The post To Suffer a Witch in “WandaVision” appeared first on Public Books.

]]> A Labyrinth for Our Time https://www.publicbooks.org/a-labyrinth-for-our-time/ Thu, 25 Feb 2021 16:00:47 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=41380 What might the dynamic of mental life look like when its physiological counterpart is ill, bedridden, and housebound?

The post A Labyrinth for Our Time appeared first on Public Books.

]]> The Realism of Our Times: Kim Stanley Robinson on How Science Fiction Works https://www.publicbooks.org/the-realism-of-our-times-kim-stanley-robinson-on-how-science-fiction-works/ Wed, 23 Sep 2020 15:00:59 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=38599 “We're in a science fiction novel now that we are all co-writing together.”[none-for-homepage]

The post The Realism of Our Times: Kim Stanley Robinson on How Science Fiction Works appeared first on Public Books.

]]> “Echo” and the Problem of Chess Problems https://www.publicbooks.org/echo-and-the-problem-of-chess-problems/ Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:00:21 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=37443 When looking at both art and life, we recognize patterns and then we learn what those patterns signify.

The post “Echo” and the Problem of Chess Problems appeared first on Public Books.

]]>