Browsing all articles by Leo Elijah Cristea.
Politics in Fantasy
The idea of politics is usually a tricky subject: along with religion, politics is one of those subjects supposedly unfit for healthy (heated?) debate at the dinner table, or when out for a wine or whiskey with friends. It causes arguments, altercations, and is a subject best discussed with like-minded people who won’t order for […]
Being A Reader: The Magic of Books
Books. To some of us they’re a gentle pastime, something to read on the beach or on the daily commute; a lunch break companion or a ritual before bedtime, a chapter at a time. For others, they are like friends, companions that we look to as fondly as if they live and breathe along with […]
The Doors Are Open – SFF Goes Mainstream
Sometimes it’s difficult to imagine that, sitting here in this cafe, I am likely the only person in the building who knows who Peter V. Brett is. Because surely that’s just impossible: Peat is a legend. Moreover, it’s completely at odds with the rotation of my universe that when speaking to even my closest friends, […]
Dragons: Classifications
Last time we considered dragons as a general species, to introduce their role in fantasy fiction, giving introductory examples of their usual staging and appearances in the stories we relish. Whether a giddy groupie or an ardent loather of the (most of the time) bewinged beasts it’s always good to know your dragons: whether to […]
YA Science Fiction and Fantasy – Part Four: The Spotlight
There is such a wealth of YA SFF that sometimes navigating the shelves can be difficult. At the moment, YA is somewhat fashionable, and that’s good, because when something is en vogue, people read it. People reading is good because books are good. But our focus here is on science fiction and fantasy; we’re going […]
Elizabeth May Interview
Due out in autumn, Elizabeth May’s The Falconer is one of the most eagerly anticipated books to hit the shelves. The Twittersphere can’t wait to read it; bloggers want to review it (I know I do!) and generally, everyone is awaiting the debut of the faerie murderess of Edinburgh. But what about her author? To […]
YA Science Fiction and Fantasy – Part Three: Why YA Is Important
Instead of looking at the themes and aspects of YA and what makes it what it is (as suggested in the previous article), it felt somewhat redundant to too closely scrutinize the themes alone, without a context. In this series we’ve established that YA SFF tackles SFF slightly differently, but other than saying it involves […]
YA Science Fiction & Fantasy – Part Two: From Humble Origins to Lofty Heights
When addressing the origins of YA literature (we’re not talking SFF specific here for now, but bear with me) it all depends from which angle you decide to approach. I think the fact that often what classifies as “young adult” all depends on marketing and how a publisher and audience decide to view a book: […]
Liesel Schwarz Interview
Liesel Schwarz is the author of the recently published Edwardian steampunk novel A Conspiracy of Alchemists, first book in the Chronicles of Light and Shadow series. She was gracious enough to take time to talk with us here at Fantasy-Faction. So without further ado, on to the interview! To get started, who is Liesel Schwarz […]
Magic In Fantasy – Part Two: Real Magic
This is the second in our Magic In Fantasy series. If you missed part one you can read it here. First off, shall we—cynic, dreamer and scholar alike—agree, for at least the next thousand words or so, that: magic exists. We’re not talking about shooting mighty lightning bolts to and fro from the heavens in […]
YA Science Fiction & Fantasy – Part One: The Introduction
This is the first in a series of articles talking about YA science fiction and fantasy. In the coming months we’re going to look at YA as a sub-genre of SFF—and decide if it really is a subgenre at all—and go back to its roots to track its evolution. Finally, we’ll take a look at […]
The Evolution of Sexuality, Homosexuality and Gender in SFF – Part Four
In this, the final article of this series, I want to not only round up what’s been considered in the previous parts, but firstly to consider any issues that might have fallen through the cracks. When talking about the evolution of gender and sexuality people automatically skip to the homosexual part and to the presentation […]
