Disabilities In SFF: More Or Less Than Fine?
Leo Elijah Cristea
Quite some time ago, I wrote a pretty vague and largely naive (in that I missed a lot) article about disability in SFF. It was exclusively about physical disabilities and…
characters
When Characters Shed Names
Nicola Alter
We real-world folks can get very attached to our names. Most of us only change them when we get married or divorced, convert to a new religion, or arrive in…
Gender and Stereotyping in Fantasy – Part Six: Historical Accuracy
This final part of our extended series on gender and stereotypes in fantasy and science fiction will be both a conclusion and a sweeping reflection on what we’ve already examined,…
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson: Or…A Search For Heroes
Geoff Matthews
Everyone has a book in them. At least, that’s what they say. I’m not sure who they are, but it is a truism as much as anything else. What if…
Human Stories
Aaron Miles
I’ve been working my way through the Honorverse by David Weber, a military science fiction series focused on the life and career of Captain Honor Harrington. The books centre on…
A Different Kind of Hero
The heroes in our novels come in all shapes and sizes. Their nature and actions are crafted at the whim of the author. Some heroes are larger than life, giant…
Gender and Stereotyping in Fantasy – Part Five: Bisexuality
When we talk about queer character representation, there’s letters of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum that get left behind, for whatever reason. With Bisexuality Visibility Week’s focus directing the spotlight, now seemed…
A Cast of Roles
Through the course of a novel, the author will create and introduce a wide array of different characters to the reader. Often they might do it on automatic, smoothly introducing…
Making A Connection
Most people think of reading as a purely intellectual pursuit, but the best books are the ones that inspire emotion in the reader. While you can appreciate a novel on…
Character Group Dynamics
One of the most important tasks of a writer is to get the reader to engage with their characters, but almost as important is how your characters engage with each…
When Good Turns Bad: The Reversed Hero’s Journey
The typical “hero’s journey” is a structure that can be found not only in fantasy fiction but also in many other genres. You can analyse the twists and turns of…
Harry Potter Should Have Kissed Some Boys: An Argument For Queer Characters In Main Stream Fantasy
Harry Potter should have kissed some boys. Or Hermione should have kissed some girls. Even just some passing lip-action between any of the main cast would have been sufficient. Even…