One of my favorite quotes from G.K. Chesterton–and he just may be one of the most quotable men who ever lived–goes like this:

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

This is a great introduction into what all my favorite stories have in common. These stories include:

• Les Miserables
• The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit
• Don Quixote (hey, I almost got a PhD in Spanish lit)
• Jane Eyre
• Pride and Prejudice
• Casablanca
• Beauty and the Beast
• Fr. Elijah: An Apocalypse (highly recommend)

These are all, except the last, widely considered classics, and that’s for a reason. The classics all explore WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN, AND HOW TO BE HUMAN WELL, in our fallen world: you might say, in a world where dragons exist.

Sometimes the dragons are literal dragons, like Smaug. Sometimes they are our own pride and preconceptions. Sometimes they are the Nazis. Sometimes they are mental illness–or physical illness we must bear.

But in this world, there be dragons. The dragons attack daily, sometimes more fiercely, sometimes less. Regardless, hey are always there.

The question, then, is how to be good humans in the face of the dragons.

• How do we pursue truth, goodness, and virtue in the face of the dragons?
• How do we love in the face of the dragons?
• Why and how should we create beautiful things when the dragons can destroy them any time?
• What does it mean to be courageous when the dragons attack?
• How do we wage war when the dragons are inside us: our own vices?

Great stories–stories we love, stories that speak to the root of our souls and that we carry with us to our dying day–explore these questions.

They may take different vantage points. Some may present more of a panorama, some may zoom in on a brief moment in a character’s life. They are set in all kinds of different times and places.

But the dragons are always there. What do we do about ourselves, then, in the face of the dragons?

What are your favorite stories? Comment below!

And feel free to check out my new sword and sorcery action/adventure about a magical civil war in the kingdom of Herezoth: “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope.” It just released last week and is available on Amazon.

• Meet Verony TODAY! Find redemption with her and the Crimson League
• She took part in a sorcerer’s coup, then changed her mind.
• COVER REVEAL!!!
• My characters are kind of like my kids
• We are go! With magic of a different kind in this one.