Book-Bat
Exploring the world of fantasy from a Christian perspective!
“Gotta go fast!” Why does Jason like Sonic so much? And where might one find some fun Sonic the Hedgehog stories? Jason and Karlissa look at Sonic’s history, his current comic book run, and more! Also, check out this month’s blog post for a ranking of Sonic’s animated shows!
Time to nerd out! When is a superhero story not a superhero story? Jason is given the chance to gush about one of his favourite subjects as he and Karlissa J discuss movies, shows, comics, Batman, Spiderman, and even Shadow the Hedgehog.
What is your favourite superhero story? Let us know in the comments!
Announcements for the new year, how we and our fans rank Karlissa J’s seven books, and behind-the-scenes insight into Karlissa’s creative writing process! Be sure to sign up for the monthly Book-Bat newsletter for exclusive updates, as well as links to our latest podcast episode and blog posts!
Jason takes over to ask the question: why does the way a story ends matter so much to us? Are we being fair by judging the story by its ending? Or do we miss out on the journey by emphasizing the end? Karlissa and Jason give some insights into their own writing process, explore thoughts on genre, and reflect on what they read growing up.
Spoilers for Treasure Planet (Disney)!
Is C.S. Lewis’ final novel deserving of more attention, or too difficult to understand and get into? Karlissa and Jason both came out of reading it with differing opinions, and now, they want to discuss why Till We Have Faces has been largely forgotten.
Karlissa has recently read Watership Down (Richard Adams), so we’re going to talk about novels with animal protagonists, with a focus on the rabbit tale – including thoughts about the movie!
New vocabulary: Animal Xenofiction (stories told from the perspective of an animal)
Books Mentioned: Warriors (Erin Hunter), Redwall (Brian Jacques), Guardians of Ga’Hoole (Katherine Lasky), Silverwing (Kenneth Oppel), The Incredible Journey (Sheila Burnfield), Jim Kjelgaard books, Walt Morey books, Sonic the Hedgehog stories, The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud (Jenny L. Cote), Runt the Brave (Daniel Schwabauer), The Green Ember (S.D. Smith).
What is your favourite animal-led novel? Let us know in the comments!
Are the characters in Redwall Abbey religious? Karlissa explores spiritual themes in Brian Jacques’ Redwall series, and Jason brings his love of and familiarity with Jacques’ books to the conversation!
Why is it so rare that we see stand-alone fantasy books? Is it a marketing scheme? Is this what readers really want?? Jason cracked some numbers, and he has some questions!
Do you prefer fantasy novels to be in a series, or do you also enjoy stand-alone stories? Let us know in the comments!
Time for more sci-fi! Jason contemplates themes in the Star Wars animated shows. Then, Jason and Karlissa discuss their favourite scenes from The Bad Batch!
Books Mentioned: George MacDonald, Lilith; H.M. Richardson, The Prisoner and the Traitor and The Winged Warrior.
Time to talk about George MacDonald, and his final novel, Lilith! Karlissa gives six reading tips for understanding what's going on under-the-surface in this philosophical, magical story.
Fernando Soto’s article “The Worm as Metaphor in Lilith” was published in 2006 in North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies, and can be found on the George MacDonald society website, at https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/northwind/