Blog plans for 2026

Hello readers! Happy new year! I’d like to post a quick update regarding upcoming projects on this blog. I’m not planning any major overhauls of its structure: all posts will remain related to science fiction and fantasy (sometimes tangentially). But last year, some of my favourite post formats were underused, with only two six-minute summaries of scientists (Niels Bohr and Marie Tharp) and only one physics-based feasibility analysis (Glinda’s Bubble from Wicked is highly infeasible). This year I’m aiming to write a few more of these. However, my main project for the first half of 2026 is going to be an analysis of The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.

Revisiting Narnia…

The Narnia series contains seven books in total, and I haven’t read any of them since I was about ten years old. I’m want to see how well these stories have aged, and whether I would still recommend them to children. They’re often viewed as an easy introduction to the fantasy genre, but I suspect that they might not appeal to modern audiences – especially modern parents, who will be more discerning than their children.

Rather than reading the Narnia books in narrative chronological order, as Lewis intended, I’m going to read them in the order in which they were published, starting with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950). I feel like this reading order will provide more insight into Lewis’ writing and world-building process, which is the aspect I find most interesting. Who was he writing for? And why? Are these books just meaningless adventures to keep children entertained, or did they have an insidious side, steeped in Christian allegories?

I suspect that I will find some very dated attitudes in these books regarding gender roles, the monarchy, and the environment – and of course some passive racism (or active racism – I should probably set my expectations low). It will be interesting to see how these attitudes influenced Lewis’ storytelling, and whether the popularity of these books nurtured budding fantasy tropes that would ingrain such attitudes in the public imagination. Or perhaps the books have aged perfectly well! Who knows.

Get involved!

If you would like to stay up to date with posts on this blog, please subscribe to the mailing list! There should be big blue subscribe buttons at the top and bottom of the page. And if you have any recommendations for scientific figures, authors, or philosophers that could be discussed on this blog, adding to the existing roster of six-minute summaries, please let me know via the contact page.

Happy reading, and have a lovely week!