Samuel Peterson’s Reviews > Daemon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling > Status Update
Samuel Peterson
is on page 104 of 480
"Unfortunately, writers are not always trustworthy when they tell us about their intentions. Firstly, they might not remember; secondly, they might not want to reveal their true intentions anyway; thirdly, the context of the question sometimes determines the answer it gets. Questions like this tend to be asked at events such as literary festivals," That's why instead of those questions, I ask more personal ones.
— 7 hours, 44 min ago
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Samuel’s Previous Updates
Samuel Peterson
is on page 106 of 480
"We don't know we can write a story that will be funny, or moving, or exciting, though we hope we can. All we can honestly intend to do is try." I love this.
— 7 hours, 37 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 99 of 480
Mutiny? Is that what the English call the Indian Revolution? Or Indian War of Independence? Oof.
— 10 hours, 15 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 97 of 480
"The Fellows of All Souls announced that they had just spent an evening parading around [Oxford] following a wooden duck on a stick. That was obviously a very sensible thing to do, and I wish I had thought of it first." I love British dry humor. It catches you off guard.
— 10 hours, 22 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 88 of 480
"...understanding that since the loss of innocence is inevitable, we should welcome it and embrace the next stage of our development instead of hiding our eyes from it. Knowing about good and evil is not the same as embracing evil, though it might look like that to a church that likes to think it has all the answers."
— 13 hours, 48 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 80 of 480
"If you leave the path, the readers put down the book...meanwhile the book is lying there forgotten. Because you left the path. Because you became more interested in the wood, in the elaborating all the richness and invention of the wood you're making. Never leave the path." Exactly. I can tell that Pullman has some sharp criticisms of Tolkien and Martin as they like to elaborate in their worlds a lot.
— 14 hours, 6 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 78 of 480
"The business of the storyteller, or the novelist, it seems to me, is with the path and not the wood." Exactly. The amount of the woods that we as readers should see should only be what is along the path of the story. We as readers should not have a path that disappears or is vague and undefined that it takes us a while to get back on. It should be focused and clear.
— May 07, 2026 01:09PM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 69 of 480
"Different kinds of stories expect different kinds of audience and certain kinds of attitudes from that audience." All too true. And this does not just apply to creation stories from around the world, but also lectures, both academic and religious, and the ones we write down.
— May 07, 2026 12:08PM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 62 of 480
Describing "heaven's armies" digging mines for metal, creating guns, and using them on devils makes this depiction of Lucifer's fall quite hilarious in its contemporary-ness. You don't hear of this in the Catholic Catechisms or other liturgical teachings lol.
— May 07, 2026 11:53AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 49 of 480
Imagine if school children today read Milton's "Paradise Lost" in class? Lol. Seems to have been a loss for everyone.
— May 07, 2026 08:08AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 46 of 480
Sellotape? Is that the British equivalent of scotch tape? And is that where J.K. Rowling got the inspiration for "Spellotape" in Harry Potter? After over 10 years of reading HP, I finally made that connection!
— May 07, 2026 07:59AM
