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wotd: fatidic, brought to you by His Dark Materials

fatidic \fuh-TID-ik\, adjective:
Of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy; prophetic.




Since the beginning of 2010 I've been immersed in this excellent performance of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy. I've been able to relate nearly every wotd post to the stories. They are not pablum. They are, in fact, dynamic and didactic tales that entertain as well as educate. My favorite character, the hirsute armored bear Iorek Byrnison, pledges fealty first to the bears, then to the child Lyra Belacqua, whom he's given the name Silvertongue, then to the aeronaut Lee Scoresby, to whom Iorek pays the highest tribute after Lee's death by systematically masticating his body. Just like Iorek, I have come to love Lyra, the story's fatidic protagonist. She's a fine and fierce character.

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