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Silver Bounty, Victoria McCombs
A Sword for the Immerland King, F. W. Faller
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Once Upon A Ren Faire, A. C. Castillo
The Genesis 6 Project, Michael Ferguson
Exile, Loren G. Warnemuende
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The Truth Beyond the Lies, Kathleen Bird
Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian, E. E. Rawls
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147. Why Can Christians Celebrate Stories about Merlin and King Arthur? | with Robert Treskillard
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Into the Darkness
“Charles Hack’s Into the Darkness summons a close-range science fiction story, focusing on the personal challenges of space warfare among alien cultures with a steady pace and serious tone.”
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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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‘There Are No Strings On Me’

Avengers: Age of Ultron’s tyrannical villain boasts of his own freedom.
E. Stephen Burnett on Oct 23, 2014
4 comments

I had strings
But now I’m free
There are no strings on me

This is the boast of generations.1 It’s the boast of the 1960s sexual revolution. The boast of the 2000s “no religious affiliation” revolution. The boast of the ongoing 2010s sexual revolution 2.0. And so on.

Now it’s the boast of Ultron, the titular tyrannical robot overlord from Avengers: Age of Ultron.

there are no strings on meIn the new trailer he sounds like a hybrid of Megatron and The Joker. But he offers more evil philosophy than either.

“I want to show you something beautiful,” he intones. “Everyone screaming — for mercy.”

There’s kind of a layer here. Like maybe something about the trailer itself.

Because the trailer is beautiful. Hauntingly so. Marvel trailers have always been fun, but this one takes a step up — toward the elevation of the film teaser/trailer as an art form in itself.

Fans of Joss Whedon (I’m more of a casual fan myself) have remarked how he enjoys exploring the ideals of human freedom versus tyranny in his stories. But what happens when someone evil powers his own tyrannical machine with the boasts of freedom?

Avengers: Age of Ultron comes to theaters May 1, 2015.

  1. And originally the glibly performed ode to “freedom” by the titular character of Disney’s Pinnochio in 1940. ↩
E. Stephen Burnett
E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy novels as well as nonfiction, exploring fantastical stories for God’s glory as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. As the oldest of six, he enjoys connecting with his homeschool roots by speaking at conferences for Christian families and creators. Stephen is coauthor of The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ from New Growth Press (2020, with Ted Turnau and Dr. Jared Moore). Stephen and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, where they help with foster parenting and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.
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  1. Julie D says:
    October 23, 2014 at 11:51 am

    I am really looking forward to this.

    Reply
  2. Teddi Deppner says:
    October 23, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    Good observations, Stephen!

    Reply
  3. Scott M. Sandridge says:
    October 25, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    That is what tyrants do. They free themselves by enslaving and/or destroying others.

    Reply
  4. Michelle R. Wood says:
    November 9, 2014 at 5:02 pm

    OK everyone, now that we’re all suitably creeped out, please head over to the guys at How It Should Have Ended and see what they’ve done to this trailer. You will laugh. You will laugh a lot.

    Reply

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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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