Author Archives: JE

About JE

James Enge is the author of the World-Fantasy-Award-nominated novel Blood of Ambrose (Pyr, April 2009). His latest book is The Wide World's End. His short fiction has appeared in Black Gate, Tales from the Magician's Skull, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and elsewhere.

Joys of Analogue Media

Posted on October 17, 2025 by JE

One of the long-lost pleasures of vinyl that I’m recently recovering is going through stacks of used LPs at record stores. These are thinner on the ground than they were in the 20th C, but when I find one I … Continue reading →

Posted in books, fantasy art, Morlock, music, sff | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Joys of Analogue Media

For the Record…

Posted on September 5, 2025 by JE

I finally replaced the turntable that broke a couple of moves ago, and have been enjoying long soaks in analogue sound. It’s fun to finally listen to the vinyl I’ve been buying to support bands over the last few years, … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Tagged , | Comments Off on For the Record…

This Means Snore: THE WAR OF THE ROSES by William Adler

Posted on September 3, 2025 by JE

I’ve never seen the Danny De Vito film The War of the Roses (1989). It came out during the first Christmas season that I celebrated with my first wife and my first child. I had lots of things to occupy … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Myth & Legend, review or meta-review | 1 Comment

CW: Trumpolatry

Posted on August 13, 2025 by JE

Many things about Trumpism are disgusting, but there’s a specific kind of abject ecstacy in Trumpolatry that is really repulsive. “It’s like something from Tacitus,” I always think. Today I ran across the quote I’d been not-quite remembering. clamor vocesque … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, Roman history, Rome, words | Tagged , | Comments Off on CW: Trumpolatry

The SF/F Watcher’s Lament

Posted on August 11, 2025 by JE

Of all sad words of tongue or pen,the saddest are “Prequel again?”

Posted in review or meta-review, sff, writing | Comments Off on The SF/F Watcher’s Lament

Deus Ex Homine: Brackett’s THE SWORD OF RHIANNON and Zelazny’s ISLE OF THE DEAD

Posted on August 10, 2025 by JE

I’ve been following with interest Steven Silver’s great series of reviews of the Tor Double books at the Black Gate. His latest, scrupulously fair, review of Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon+de Camp’s Divide and Conquer reminded me of one of … Continue reading →

Posted in art, books, fantasy, fantasy art, magic, Myth & Legend, review or meta-review, sff, sword-and-sorcery, words, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Deus Ex Homine: Brackett’s THE SWORD OF RHIANNON and Zelazny’s ISLE OF THE DEAD

Two Duds: WAS IT MURDER? by James Hilton and A QUESTION OF PROOF by Nicholas Blake

Posted on August 9, 2025 by JE

Fiction set at upper-class British schools was a popular genre in the 19th and early 20th C, and murder mysteries were the dominant form of popular fiction in the early and mid-20th century, so it’s only natural that cross-pollination would … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, books, mystery, review or meta-review | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Two Duds: WAS IT MURDER? by James Hilton and A QUESTION OF PROOF by Nicholas Blake

Water We Fighting For?

Posted on July 31, 2025 by JE

Typo of the day: Tuhursday (for an intended Thursday). Easily fixed, but now I’m wondering who Tuhur was. Mr. Internet tells me it’s a Sundanese word meaning “dry”. Maybe Tuhur was the archenemy of that Wonder Twin who turned into … Continue reading →

Posted in cartoon, language, Typo of the Day, words | Comments Off on Water We Fighting For?

Dumkupf vs. Laocoön

Posted on July 29, 2025 by JE

A cartoon from an old (1927-vintage) issue of The New Yorker. It made me smile, even though it’s probably supposed to appeal to class and ethnic biases. “Look, my dear friend Amaryllis Partington-Smith-Symythe-Vanderbilt-Smythington-Smyth–a banausic of foreign abstraction, decorating his shop-window … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, ancient art, art, cartoon, Myth & Legend | Comments Off on Dumkupf vs. Laocoön

De Rerum Natura

Posted on July 18, 2025 by JE

A wonderfully cool day for July here in the Great Black Swamp—the high temp around 75ºF (≈ 24ºC). I opened all the windows in my bookroom, so now I can hear the musical sounds of people mowing their dumb lawns … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on De Rerum Natura