Drawing from a Christian viewpoint informed by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Dickerson and O'Hara assess modern fantasy writers such as Philip Pullman, Walter Wangerin, and J.K. Rowling.

Matthew Dickerson (PhD, Cornell University) is professor of computer science and environmental studies at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, and a popular speaker on Tolkien. He directs the New England Young Writers' Conference at Bread Loaf and is the author of From Homer to Harry Potter; The Mind and the Machine; Narnia and the Fields of Arbol; and Ents, Elves, and Eriador.