The Winter Olympics just wrapped up, so what better time to talk about victory medals? Even more so since the 2026 Illumination Awards winners were recently announced, and my book ‘Smoke and Mirrors‘ earned the bronze medal in the Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction category!

Needless to say, I was overjoyed. Bronze medals are, in my opinion, uniquely appealing and underrated. They’ve had a special place in my heart ever since I won my first bronze in a high school relay race.

Here are three reasons why YOU should love bronze too. I’ll list these in order of importance, with the third (of course) being the most powerful and persuasive argument. By the end of this short article, you WILL be convinced.

One: Bronze is The Fiery Metal

Let’s think about the metals themselves, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

Gold. This is one of the most unreactive metals. This makes it stable and resistant to tarnishing and corrosion, but it also makes it inert and lifeless. And therefore boring.

Silver. This is a little more interesting. Elves really like it, according to J.R.R. Tolkien, so that automatically makes it good. It’s also the name of the Lone Ranger’s steed, the ‘fiery horse with the speed of light.’ “Hi Yo Silver! Away!”

Bronze. Speaking of ‘fiery,’ the origin of the word ‘bronze’ reveals the crux of its coolness. Hours of back-breaking study on the internet revealed a startling fact: the word ‘bronze’ may have its roots in the Venetian bronza ‘glowing coals,’ or German brunst ‘fire.’ So while Italians and Germans may not see eye-to-eye on much of anything (just try driving the roads of both countries to see the difference in national character), they definitely agree that bronze is hot stuff.

Conclusion: Bronze wins the gold.

Two: The Trojan War

Did you know that the Trojan War occurred in the Bronze Age? Everyone who is anyone in the History World agrees that the Trojan War is the coolest war of all time, so if you want to be smart like these fine egghead scholars, you need to agree with them. Otherwise, they may Hector you into submission!

Three: Doc Savage, Man of Bronze

Are you convinced of bronze’s superiority yet? If not, I saved the strongest argument for third and last. Doc Savage…the Man of Bronze.

As good as the Iliad is, you could get through life reasonably well without having read it. The same can not be said of the immortal ‘Doc Savage’ books, of which (thankfully) we have a plethora. The author of this series is Lester Dent, a man of stellar literary talent and a master craftsman of the English language. His works have taken generations of readers on fantastic journeys, and nearly as often have left them scratching their heads, bemused beyond description.

My literary heroes. C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Lester Dent.

Well, there you go. If these ironclad arguments don’t convince you to put bronze on the highest pedestal, I can at least rest content knowing that I’ve done my very best to persuade you.