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The spiritual intensity of "The Lord of the Rings" is obvious to anyone who has read the trilogy or watched the films by Peter Jackson. Yet the majority of fans are still not aware that the authors was a devout Roman Catholic. In this book Stratford Caldecott reveals the deeper meanings of the text and films, drawing not only on the classic published works but also on Tolkien's writings unpublished during his lifetime.

Dystopian stories and visions of the Apocalypse are nothing new; however in recent years there has been a noticeable surge in the output of this type of theme in literature, art, comic books/graphic novels, video games, TV shows, etc. The reasons for this are not exactly clear; it may partly be as a result of post 9/11 anxieties, the increasing incidence of extreme weather and/or environmental anomalies, chaotic fluctuations in the economy and the uncertain and shifting political landscape in th...

Bringing together papers presented at the Academic Conference on Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy from 2005 to 2013, this collection of fresh essays includes two plenary session keynote addresses - by Veronica Hollinger and by Robert Runte - and 15 papers on science fiction and fantasy literature, television and music by Canadian creators. Authors discussed include Charles de Lint, Nalo Hopkinson, Tanya Huff, Esther Rochon, Peter Watts and Robert Charles Wilson. Papers on the television show...

During her lifetime Violet Paget, who wrote as Vernon Lee, was referred to as 'the greatest of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction', and yet today she remains on the periphery of the genre. This collection of her uniquely weird short stories and dark fantasies proves why she was once considered among the best of the genre, and why she deserves to return to those ranks today. From modernised folk tales such as 'Marsyas in Flanders' and 'The Legend of Madame Krasinska' to ingenious psy...

Carl Abbott, who has taught urban studies and urban planning in five decades, brings together urban studies and literary studies to examine how fictional cities in work by authors as different as E. M. Forster, Isaac Asimov, Kim Stanley Robinson, and China Mieville might help us to envision an urban future that is viable and resilient. Imagining Urban Futures is a remarkable treatise on what is best and strongest in urban theory and practice today, as refracted and intensely imagined in science...

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy have become among of the most popular books of the twentieth century while the recent film adaptations have made box office records. This book provides a comprehensive, informed, critical and theoretical analysis of both the book and film trilogies. The book is organised in four thematic sections. Beginning with an analysis of the critical history of Tolkien, the first section, 'Context and Criticism', examines and contrasts the historical and intellect...

The first in-depth monograph about the creator of Conan the Barbarian and the inside story about what happened to the character after his creator's death, Robert E. Howard: The Battle for the Legacy of Conan details the complicated history of the legal battles and intricate story of how Howard's Barbarian made his way from the pulps, to paperback books, to comics books, and, ultimately to the big screen. Just in time for the release of the new cinematic re-imagining of Conan, this tome is packed...

In Science Fiction and the Mass Cultural Genre System, John Rieder asks literary scholars to consider what shape literary history takes when based on a historical, rather than formalist, genre theory. Rieder starts from the premise that science fiction and the other genres usually associated with so-called genre fiction comprise a system of genres entirely distinct from the pre-existing classical and academic genre system that includes the epic, tragedy, comedy, satire, romance, the lyric, and s...

This comprehensive and in-depth study delves into the life and works of one of modern films most celebrated, succesful and intriguing auteurs, Christopher Nolan. ‘What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient…highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate.’  - Cobb, Inception  How has Nolan become this leading director? Is he the new Kubrick? What do audiences get out of his games? Visually, he...

This book explores Tolkien's mythical world of Middle-earth and the Undying lands, the backdrop to his saga 'The Lord of the Rings'. Arranged in an A-Z format, it explains the creatures, plants, events and places that make up these strange and wonderful places.