Browsing all articles in Articles.
An Introductory Guide to Reading Fantasy
Editor’s Note: Fantasy encompasses a HUGE body of works. There is literally something in fantasy for everyone. But where to begin if you’ve never tried fantasy before? Here is one reader’s picks for first time fantasy readers. As with all lists, your mileage may vary. Let us know your picks in the comments! If a […]
Knocking People Out: Easier In Fiction Than In Real Life
It’s a common scenario in many kinds of fiction, including fantasy: a character passes out, either because they’ve been knocked on the head or injured or drugged, and the world “goes black” or they “fall into darkness”. The unfortunate character usually wakes up several hours or days later in a new place, disoriented and sometimes […]
Blurring The Lines
So I started reading the Dragon Prince trilogy by Melanie Rawn. It’s part of the classical fantasy cannon, and the books have been on my TBR pile for ages. While I am enjoying the books, one aspect that stands out to me is the obvious tone implicit in the “sides” of the story and their […]
Jordskott: Seasons 1 and 2 – TV Series Review
How far would you go to protect your child? Would you destroy a community? Commit genocide? Kill another’s child? On the Swedish urban fantasy crime drama Jordskott, the answer to these questions is often yes. Jordskott could be described as The Killing meets Trollhunter. It begins when Eva Thörnblad (Moa Gammel), a troubled police detective, […]
A Fantasy Geek’s Guide to YouTube: RPG Reviews
YouTube is an app, a website and a cultural phenomenon. It’s also a vast and only partially explored wilderness full of content that ranges from dynamic to dire. Whatever your interests are, there’s probably at least one channel out there for you. But managing to dig out the channels that cater to your own SFF […]
Monthly Short Stories Winner: Alien or Eldritch Artifact
A massive artifact appears all of a sudden and (violently) disrupts the everyday life (of a tribe, a city, a country, the world). It can either be an alien artifact (science fiction) or an eldritch artifact (fantasy). This month, we wanted our entrants to think big. Something huge happens and humanity (or whoever else) barely […]
How Ideas Become Stories
One of the most common questions an author will hear is, “Where do you get your ideas from?” As if that was all you needed to write a successful book. Ideas are important, but they’re not some mystical spark from the divine, if you’re in the right mind-set you can probably come up with dozens […]
Small Press, Big Stories: Shadow Alley Press
Today on #smallpressbigstories, Michael Gruneir gives us a look at James A. Hunter’s publishing company: Shadow Alley Press. I am a huge fan of James Hunter’s work. He was also my very first interview at Fantasy-Faction. I talked to him recently about his publishing company Shadow Alley Press, its beginnings, its projects, and its mission statement. […]
A Streak of White Hair: Fantasy or Reality?
I was recently reading a fantasy romance novel where the main character pushed himself to the limits of his magical abilities and nearly died. Afterward, he was left with a streak of white in his long black hair (if you don’t mind spoilers, this is the book). I’ve seen this before many times in fantasy, […]
A Fantasy Geek’s Guide to YouTube: Mythology
YouTube is an app, a website and a cultural phenomenon. It’s also a vast and only partially explored wilderness full of content that ranges from dynamic to dire. Whatever your interests are, there’s probably at least one channel out there for you. But managing to dig out the channels that cater to your own SFF […]
Taming MICE – The MICE Quotient and Storytelling
Fantasy is a genre of strange and diverse stories covering countless themes, concepts and ideas, in order to gain a better understanding of how our stories work and the nature of their structure, it can be useful to look at the ways they are categorised and study what traits make them what they are. The […]
Annihilation – Movie Review
Spoiler Warning: This review contains minor spoilers for the movie Annihilation. Please read with caution if you have yet to see the movie. You can find our review of the book Annihilation, on which the movie is based, here. Annihilation is one of those rare films where the writer/director tossed a whole lot of science fiction […]
