Browsing all articles by Leo Elijah Cristea.
Roads Go Ever Ever On
Something important is ending as we speak; the end of an era of not only entertainment, not just a story, but our invited cinematic access to a deep, rich and vivid world. I’m talking about Middle Earth. I wouldn’t even necessarily say I’m talking about The Hobbit as a movie, or an adaptation, either. Rather, […]
Chris Evans Interview
Chris Evans, author of the Iron Elves series, has once again delved into the realms of fantasy, this time with Of Bone and Thunder. This story of war and camaraderie takes place in a conflict that echoes the Vietnam War if it had been filled with dragons, magic, and dwarves. Sound interesting? We thought so […]
Faeries and Folklore – Part Three: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Last time we looked at how faeries have evolved, through some of their integral folklore as well as the genre as a whole. Some changes have been marked, others more subtle. The same goes for the faeries who constantly bask in the spotlight, one way or another; famous or infamous in folklore and stories written […]
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Online games can be a little daunting to approach—at least they were for me. I’ve not tried many—count ‘em, two—but it seems I struck lucky with the second. I never tried games such as World of Warcraft and the like, since honestly, I never could get past the character generation screens. I look for a […]
Faeries and Folklore – Part Two: The Evolution of Fae
Last time we looked at the faeries as a whole, a genus. But to really get to grips with the fae and just who and what they are, we need to be more specific, we need to go deeper. If we arm ourselves with Purkiss’ list (refreshed below) we can begin to look at some […]
Demons in Fantasy
So, demons in fantasy? A quick (and I mean a super, uber, single) search on Google for “Demon Fantasy” doesn’t yield much: the books that flag on Amazon are all self-published Kindle novels, the covers of which have a definite romance vibe, or at the very least, that kick-ass-chick-glancing-over-one-shoulder vibe, and there’s little joy in […]
Magic In Fantasy: Alternative Magic Systems
This is the forth article in our series on Magic in Fantasy. To read the earlier articles click the links below. Part One: Introduction Part Two: Real Magic Part Three: Ancient Magic Finally we’ve come to the most exciting stop on our magic safari. Real magic and ancient systems of magic are exciting enough, yet […]
Faeries and Folklore – Part One: An Introduction
We’re going to talk about faeries. For the purposes of both my sanity and authenticity, leave any and all notions of Disney’s Tinker Bell at the door. Tinker Bell is a pretty fiction dreamed up in order to invite little girls to dress in frilly gowns that glitter and sparkle in the sun. Faeries are […]
The Truth About -Punk
There is something that really gets me thinking (well, there are many things, really, but this is a big one) about the genre and its tendency to label things, to pigeonhole authors and books into categories with ‘helpful’ titles. In a sense labels can be useful; they can separate and advise. But when they’re misused […]
Love in SFF – From True Love to BFFs
Romance in SFF is one of those things that people either love, hate, or are frankly indifferent about. I’m not one of those; I will eagerly admit that I love romance. Since Valentine’s has just been and gone in a flutter of rose petals, stuffed bears, wine, chocolates and the odd grumbling status update about […]
European Dragons: From the North and East
Our final destination on our worldwide dragon journey is Europe. I know, I know—not very exciting, is it? But wait! Having looked specifically at Chinese dragons last time, it’s only right and proper to give more “Western” dragons a detailed examination. However, the usual image of a dragon—which is, of course, the traditional Western view […]
Fandom and Creativity
Fandom is a funny thing. It’s also a complex thing with practically a life of its own; an organic organism that has taken on a different meaning besides stereotypical lines of nerdy thirty-year-old men queuing up outside comic and bookstores for the latest release or, dressing up like favourite—yet fairly “mainstream”—characters on Halloween. In fact, […]
