Will Greatwich

Will Greatwich

Jul
14
Book cover: a huge horizontal crucifix looms over a longhaired man, the Eucharist in front of him

"Behold the Man": Michael Moorcock's Big Middle Finger to Christianity

a juvenile and mean-spirited novel from one of SFF's greatest authors
9 min read
Jun
17
Cover depicting a crying blue-skinned woman in front of a celestial door in front of an exploding planet

Eden Among the Stars: Pauline Gedge’s “Stargate”

An obscure science-fantasy explores the bounds of Tolkien's legacy
9 min read
May
15
Book cover with greenish salamanders in front of a tidal wave and a volcano

Timeless Warning: Karel Čapek’s “War With The Newts”

Nearly a century old, Čapek’s satire remains chillingly prophetic
9 min read
Apr
16
Book cover depicting a trollish figure, white rats, and a ring hanging from a string

Liminal Labyrinth

Magic and modernity in Margaret St. Clair's "Sign of the Labrys"
10 min read
Mar
13
Paperback copy of "New Lands" by Charles Fort, depicting a dragon and flying castle

An Alternative Cosmos: Charles Fort's "New Lands"

The radical skepticism of Charles Fort's "New Lands"
8 min read
Feb
16
Paperback edition of "The Second Experiment". Cover art depicts a dragon attacking or... humping? a conical spaceship.

The Lonely Cosmos of J. O. Jeppson's "The Second Experiment"

Maybe all stories about space are also stories about loneliness
8 min read
Jan
16
Book cover featuring a chess board in front of a fantasy-looking lake and mountains

Chess, Sex and Death: Ian Watson's "Queenmagic, Kingmagic"

On sacrificial kings and cold wars
8 min read
Dec
16
book cover depicting a sentient lizard, riding on a saddled dolphin, swimming through sand dunes

Perverse Playground: Jack L. Chalker’s "Midnight at the Well of Souls"

On writers' fetishes, isekai stories, and transformation
8 min read
Dec
14
Photo of 1970s paperback edition. Depicts a semi-nude man hovering in lotus position, psychic waves coming from his head.

An Inescapable Pattern: Octavia E. Butler's "Patternmaster"

On power and the limits of imagination
8 min read
Dec
11
Photo of the novel. Cover art features a man on a robotic fire-breathing horse being attacked by giant purple hands.

The Psychedelic Wizardry of Roger Zelazny’s "The Changing Land"

On bibliophilia, van art wizards, and integrity in fiction
7 min read