Jason Albertson

How to Train Your Dragon  is an animated movie released in 2010 that tells the story of Hiccup, a troubled Viking-ish person who finds that he's unable to carry on his culture's tradition of hunting and killing dragons. On the contrary, he befriends a dragon and tames many more. Hiccup's people are enraged that he has abandoned their ways, but when a crisis comes, their old ways of thinking endanger their lives, while Hiccup's innovative way of approaching dragons provides the only hope for their lives to be saved. It's all about who is good, who is bad, and how bad people become good. Theology Who is good? Surprise: it's the protagonist! In the morality-system of this movie, Hiccup is good because he is kind. This shows in his nonviolence, his gentle approach to the dragons, and his willingness to give the dragons a chance. He is kind to everyone in a society that doesn't value kindness, and he is kind to dragons he has only ever experienced to...

I have always disliked  Prince Caspian . It's the second-published book (1951) in the Chronicles of Narnia  by C. S. Lewis. It's a bit of a jumbled slog, taking breaks from the main narrative for a four (4!) chapter flashback, and then breaking off again near the end from the main narrative to catch us up on what's been happening to the characters we haven't seen for three chapters. It's a slow read, too. The early chapters evoke a feeling of listlessness--the four children are pulled from the train depot by magic that really doesn't feel very magical, then wander through woods with hot, heavy feet, not sure where they are or where they're going. They find Cair Paravel, their former castle of splendor, an abandoned ruin. They hear the story of Caspian's failing rebellion. They make a time-consuming false start. The early chapters feel a bit like a Missouri summer day at a hundred percent humidity--it's laborious just to walk. I think Lewis in...