The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, 1968

On July 8, 2026 By Christopher TuthillIn Reviews, Young Adult, Science Fiction, BooksLeave a comment

Ted Hughes’ Iron Man is one of the most perfect children’s stories I’ve ever read. I know this because my five year old has requested it again and again since I got it from the library a couple of weeks ago. It’s a long book for a five year old, and we’ve read it three times so far, with no end in sight. I love this book nearly as much as my son does.

What is it that makes this book so special? I’ve now read hundreds of kids books to my children, and this one is so beautifully written it makes me pause and admire the sentences. There are not many children’s books that have this effect, but Hughes was England’s poet laureate, after all. I can count a few other writers up there in his august company. Margaret Wise Brown, EB White, Margaret Hodges, and Maurice Sendak come to mind. A well crafted children’s book is a gift to children that seems as if it was always there, like a treasure waiting to be uncovered.

This book feels timeless–we’re told straight off that no one knows where exactly the Iron Man came from, but it doesn’t matter much. A young boy befriends the giant, and my son loves this mysterious iron man, and that’s all that really matters.

In my view, children are much more perceptive readers than adults. If something sounds phony or doesn’t ring true, they tune out. My son does this all the time with lesser books. With this one, he hangs on every word. He wants to be friends with the giant, and with Hogarth, I can just tell. Hogarth likes to fish and play in the woods and have adventures, as does my son. That’s all he really needs to know to be friends with another child.

Near the end of the book, the Iron Man must fight a space dragon, of course. This quote stuck with me. It was so well observed that the words caught in my throat as I read it aloud:

“If you’re all so peaceful up there, how did you get such greedy and cruel ideas?”
The dragon was silent for a long time after this question. And at last he said: “It just came over me. I don’t know why. It just came over me, listening to the battling shouts and the war-cries of the earth – I got excited, I wanted to join in.”

This book is a rare, wonderful gem. They made an animated movie in the 90s and that’s great, too. Some years ago, when I was a teen, a favorite musician of mine, Pete Townshend, wrote a musical based on the book that I loved as well. Here’s a song from it that has stuck with me for many years: A Friend is a Friend. Here, Townshend also speaks the language of children, who need no conditions and make no demands of friendship. They’re just friends with other children because they want to share their lives with them. Like many things with children, their friendships are pure and innocent and it’s what makes them so special. If you can think back to the friends you had when you were very young, you’ll know what I mean. The Iron Man is a story of friendship and innocence and wonder. It just doesn’t get any better than this book, and being five, and dreaming of dragons and giants.

Robert Holdstock

On May 8, 2026 By Christopher TuthillIn Books, Fantasy, Reading, writingLeave a comment

My article on fantasy writer Robert Holdstock was just published in the journal Coreopsis. I love Holdstock’s work– he is one of my favorite novelists, and it was fun going through these books and writing on why they hold a special place in fantasy. If you haven’t read him, I highly recommend his work. This article will give you an idea of why I think he’s so unique.

The Devil in a Forest by Gene Wolfe (1976)

On February 4, 2026February 4, 2026 By Christopher TuthillIn Books, Fantasy, Reading, ReviewsLeave a comment

Gene Wolfe is one of my favorite writers, and this is a wonderful book of his that I found some years after reading his epic Book of the New Sun, an amazing series that I want to reread soon. Unlike that dense, lengthy work, this is a shorter novel of mystery, adventure and myth, but like Wolfe’s other novels, it is beautifully written, tightly plotted and great fun to read. I just re-read it over the holidays, after hearing the carol, ‘Good King Wenceslas,’ which reminded me of the book. Wolfe explains his writing inspiration for this novel in the epilogue:

“Shortly before Christmas one year, Gene Wolfe was singing the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’ and was struck by the king’s questions to his page: “Yonder peasant, who is he? Where, and what his dwelling?” And by the page’s answer: “Sire, he lives a good league hence, Underneath the mountain, Close against the forest fence, By St. Agnes’ fountain.”

Wolfe recalls, “I found myself wondering who, indeed, was that nameless medieval peasant from whom most of us are, in one way or another, descended.”

The Devil in a Forest is Wolfe’s story surrounding this peasant, whose little village becomes involved in a struggle between a nameless evil and the forces of good. There is a dangerous highwayman, a mysterious murder, and strange powers that converge upon this village and create havoc for Mark, the protagonist. The attention to detail in Mark’s day to day life, and that of his fellow villagers, is quite well done and made for some interesting reading. Mark’s trials and his battle for survival are suspenseful, keeping you guessing right until the end. I enjoyed this one very much—it is so different from some of Wolfe’s other books, but his concept and the execution are excellent. I don’t want to spoil the fun for those who may be interested in reading this one, but I recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed Wolfe’s more well-known books. Fantasy writing doesn’t get much better.

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (1999)

On February 3, 2026February 3, 2026 By Christopher TuthillIn Books, Fantasy, Reading, ReviewsLeave a comment

I recently read the first of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series, Gardens of the Moon. I had a fun time with this book, and enjoyed the epic scope of it. This is a long and dense series, and this first installment is a huge doorstop of a novel, with a cast of dozens of mages, wizards, soldiers, fighters, assassins and those caught up in the war enveloping the Malazan empire and the city of Darujistan. There are plenty of plot twists, political intrigue, and enough magic and battles to satisfy any fan of epic fantasy. If you like reading writers like George RR Martin, Tad Williams, Robert Jordan, and Brandon Sanderson, I think you’ll definitely enjoy this book. An added benefit is that this series is already completed, though the ten novels in it may seem daunting. Gardens of the Moon was first published back in 1999, and though I’d seen his books in the store and the library, I’d never read Erikson before. I’ve already picked up the second of this series and will continue with it after finishing some of the other books I’m currently reading. Highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy.

The Navigator’s Children, by Tad Williams (2024)

On January 13, 2026January 13, 2026 By Christopher TuthillIn Books, Fantasy, Reading, Reviews3 Comments

There are a lot of fantasy series out there, but in my view, Tad Williams’ Osten Ard novels are some of the very best. I was a huge fan of his epic Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy back when it came out; I was in high school when the first volume arrived, and I was hungry for more fantasy adventures after reading Tolkien. I found Williams to be great in his own right, very different, much darker. I loved the series and read some of his other books over the years.

A few years ago, when I learned he was going to write a sequel series set in Osten Ard, I was overjoyed. The Last King of Osten Ard has been a fun and engaging trip for me, and for many of us who love epic fantasy. These four volumes exceeded my expectations. There were also two shorter, superb prequel novels for the series that I highly recommend.

I finally read The Navigator’s Children over the holidays–it deftly ties the series up in a satisfying conclusion. There is a war to be fought, backstabbing villains, heroic deeds, and endless intrigue. There are also no easy answers or morality here. I really am in awe of how Williams finished this series, after so many years away from these characters. The story is dense, the world is staggeringly vast, and it is hard sometimes to keep track of all the interweaving story lines. I think Williams deserves so much credit for doing justice to all these characters and this story. It is no easy task. Most writers struggle to write convincing prose for much simpler kinds of tales, but he has again managed to do it in a lengthy, sweeping narrative.

I was happy to adventure again with Simon, Miriamele, and their many friends. In my view, what Williams really excels at is keeping the fates of all these characters in doubt right until the very end. They face such impossible odds that you think there must be no way out, again and again. I don’t wish to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t yet read the books, but I want to encourage those of you who have enjoyed books like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, or other epic fantasy, to read these as well. If you’ve not read the original trilogy, start there, with The Dragonbone Chair. It may be an investment of time, but it’s well worth it; if you love epic fantasy novels, and haven’t read these, you are missing out. I was sad when it all ended, but pleased to see that Williams has a new Osten Ard book planned for later this year, which I will happily devour.

One observation about marketing from me, a guy who is an avid reader but who is not a businessperson or bookseller: I think bookstores could have made a better effort to promote this excellent novel. Maybe it’s just me, but my local Barnes and Noble didn’t have it when it came out, which I found shocking. I would think there would have been a major effort to promote it, with its own table, quotes from admiring authors like George RR Martin, and so on. I guess people who know and like Williams’ work were going to buy it, but it was surprising to me that there wasn’t more publicity. My local bookstore also didn’t have the latest Philip Pullman novel when I was last there, which seems very odd. Perhaps those of us who read these kinds of novels are getting older, but in my opinion it’s a missed opportunity on the part of booksellers when they don’t make a bigger deal out of new releases from major authors.

The Perennial Philosophy, by Aldous Huxley (1945)

On December 2, 2025December 2, 2025 By Christopher TuthillIn Books, Reading, Uncategorized5 Comments

I’ve been reading Aldous Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy, which I have found to be a gem of a book. It’s an overview of different mystical and religious traditions through history, in which Huxley takes short passages from various religious texts, selected by theme, and offers short commentaries on each. In this way he shows many of the similarities that bind them together. I highly recommend it, no matter what your beliefs are. For agnostics or atheists, it is still a perceptive book from which you can learn much about religion and its motivations. For the religious, it will show how much you share in common with believers of different faiths.

I came across the following passage as I was reading and felt it was incredibly prescient, given the constant barrage of bad information with which most of us are constantly deluged today.

“Agitation over happenings which we are powerless to modify, either because they have not yet occurred, or else are occurring at an inaccessible distance from us, achieves nothing beyond the inoculation of here and now with the remote or anticipated evil that is the object of our distress. Listening four or five times a day to newscasters and commentators, reading the morning papers and all the weeklies and monthlies nowadays, this is described as ‘taking an intelligent interest in politics.’ St. John of the Cross would have called it indulgence in idle curiosity and the cultivation of disquietude for disquietude’s sake.”

Halloween Reading List

On November 1, 2025November 1, 2025 By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, HIstory, Horror, Reading, Short StoriesLeave a comment

Starting Octber 1, I wrote short reviews and thoughts about 31 different Gothic tales that I have enjoyed through the years. I did this in no particular order, choosing a new one every day from my bookshelf. My reading is skewed heavily toward things published decades ago; the most recent one here is Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October, from 1993, with the oldest being Anne’s Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho from 1794. Thirteen of these were written before 1900. The breakdown, when I looked at it, went like this:

1700s: 1 1800s: 12 (1890s: 5, 1810s, 2, 1830s, 2 1840s 1 1860s 2) 1930s: 1 1940s: 1 1950s: 4

1960s: 2 1970s: 4 1980s: 5 1990s: 1

The entire list, with links, is below, for anyone interested. My reading habits in general skew this way, as well. For whatever reason I am not usually in the habit of reading contemporary things or bestsellers, with some exceptions, which you can see on the list. I recall many years ago a creative writing professor damning me with faint praise by saying my writing style was ‘old fashioned,’ which I took as a badge of honor.

This was a fun project, and I may do a more limited one of holiday tales in December.

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft (1936)

On October 31, 2025October 31, 2025 By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Fantasy, Halloween, HIstory, Horror, Reading, Reviews, Short Stories6 Comments

“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests.”

Lovecraft is another of those giants of horror who could fill this list all on his own, but I had to pick just one story, and this is one I really enjoy. A group of ill-fated scientists from Miskatonic University make the terrible mistake of going to Antarctica where they find evidence of a race of beings far older than anything known to humans before, beyond a range of mountains larger than any that have ever been recorded. They explore buildings left behind by this civilization, which have been devised through ‘non-Euclidean geometry,’ and find hieroglyphs that help them learn about Elder-things and shoggoths, monsters that populated the place and whom they have foolishly awakened. They escape, but not before losing several members of the party. The novella serves as a warning to others who might want to return to study the antarctic.

Lovecraft has of course been highly influential and much has been written about him and his work. “Who Goes There?”, John Campbell’s horror tale set in the arctic with a group of explorers, immediately comes to mind, as do the films based upon it, including the 1951 version “The Thing From Another World,” as well as John Carpenter’s excellent “The Thing” from 1982.

I think it’s best to learn about Lovecraft straight from the source. There are many entry points for his mythos, but I think this is a great place to start. You could also read the Call of Cthulhu, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Dagon, or any number of others. The Library of America has a wonderful collection of his tales that I highly recommend.

So there you have it. Thirty-one tales of gothic terror and wonder over the month of October. I think it’s a pretty good list of some of the gems I’ve read over the years; I chose them in no particular order as the month went by, but I stand by each of them as tales that are either unique, or influential, or just plain scary enough to keep you up at night. Perhaps I’ll choose another 31 next October. For now, I hope you’ve enjoyed perusing this list, and that you’ve been inspired to read something you haven’t before. If you have your own favorites, or if you like what you’ve read, be sure to let me know in the comments.

Happy Halloween!

The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers (1989)

On October 30, 2025October 30, 2025 By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Fantasy, Halloween, HIstory, Horror1 Comment

“Crawford felt drops of sweat run down his ribs under his shirt as he slowly forced the muscles of his neck to tilt his head up; he saw the upper slope, bristling with trees that obstructed a view of the road, and then he saw the outer branches of the tree he was braced against, and finally he gathered his tattered courage and looked straight up.

And it took all of his self-control not to recoil or scream, and he was distantly resentful that he couldn’t just die in this instant.”

Tim Powers has had a long and illustrious career writing historical fantasy, and he ought to be a household name. You can read any of his books and be transported to a different world, but for this time of year I think Stress of Her Regard is a great place to begin. It’s a wonderful tale about Michael Crawford, who accidentally finds himself the object of a nephilim, a sort of succubi that he has unwittingly courted. His bride to be is found dead, and he’s the main suspect. He travels around Europe trying to rid himself of the creature, and meets up with Shelley, Byron, Keats, Dr. Polidori, and others, all of whom are trying to avoid these strange, dangerous creatures. It’s great fun to read and gets my highest recommendation-for those who love literary history and fantasy, it doesn’t get much better than this. I’d also recommend Powers’ other books, which are all terrific. I particularly enjoyed On Stranger Tides, a pirate story, and his Last Call series. He’s one of the best fantasy writers we have, and he’s still going, with his latest book due out this fall.

The Cask of Amontillado

On October 29, 2025October 29, 2025 By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, HIstory, Horror, Reading, Short Stories1 Comment

Today, I’m again doing some brief thoughts on a few horror stories I’ve enjoyed over the years and which deserved inclusion on this reader’s guide to Halloween. You could probably pick 31 stories by Poe to read this season, but here are two of my very favorites, as well as two highly influential gothic novels.

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe (1846)

“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled—but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.”

One of the most widely read and anthologized stories of Mr. Poe, who was perhaps the greatest writer of Gothic tales, the Cask of Amontillado has long been a favorite of mine, as I’m sure it has for many others. The first time I read it, I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading. This was supposed to be old, boring literature, and here we were amid one of the most horrible things my young brain had ever contemplated. For the first time, I realized that these old tales were perhaps better than whatever slasher stuff was at my local multiplex.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)

“DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.”

This tale gave me the chills when I first read it as a lad, and it still has that effect now. It gets weirder and weirder as it progresses; a bizarre, supernatural and disturbing story of a reclusive man, his ghostlike sister, and their creepy ancestral home. One of the greatest horror tales ever written.

I also highly recommend a trip to the Poe Cottage in the Bronx, where he lived for a time. It’s such a neat piece of local history–a lot of places want to claim Poe as their own, but he did live in New York for the last few years of his life, with his ailing wife and her mother, and the small museum there is well worth a visit for New Yorkers.

Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe (1794)

“A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. Store it with ideas, teach it the pleasure of thinking; and the temptations of the world without, will be counteracted by the gratifications derived from the world within.”
― The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe

“How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.” Dracula by Bram Stoker

No list of Halloween reading would be complete without Dracula, one of the first novels of its kind. An epistolary novel that moves much slower than most of the film versions with which people may be more familiar, it inspired many dozens of similar books. Stoker borrowed heavily from folklore to write this tale, which many critics have noted bore similarities to Anne Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho, which is also well worth reading. Those interested in literary history and gothic tales should read both of these. Udolpho was published in 1794 and is considered by many to be the first gothic novel. The tragic story of a young woman’s misfortunes and strange occurrences at a castle where she lives, Udolpho has been praised by literary critics who have written on how this groundbreaking work influenced many later writers, including Poe, Stoker, Henry James, and Jane Austen, to name just a few.

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