Foundations of Fantasy: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Ryan Howse
More than any other genre, fantasy tends to examine ancient epics. Whether it’s the study of archetypes and ectypes, or a historical understanding of narrative itself, or simply a desire…
history
Languages In Fantasy
Leo Elijah Cristea
Language in fantasy: is it an outdated, often academically-gratuitous addition that bogs down a story and its world, or a clever quirk of setting that adds a sprinkle of the…
Fantastic and Forgotten Christmas Stories
Eric Christensen
The holidays are always a time for stories of magic and miracles. Whether the stories are told at a place of worship, at home in front of the fireplace, or…
Elements of Fantasy: Brownies
Janie Bill
Hidden in the forgotten rooms of a house and in cluttered corners are little supernatural children who perform chores in exchange for food and treats. Even though they are personable…
Sídhe in Fantasy: From Gaelic Origins, To The Modern Market
Recently on Fantasy-Faction, Janie wrote an excellent article on some of the origins behind faeries in mythology. This piece will both go a little further back, and a little farther…
Grandmothers of Fantasy
Nyki Blatchley
It’s often said that, until the past two or three decades, both fantasy and SF were completely male-dominated genres. To a large extent this is true, but not entirely. For…
Fantasy Influences: Ancient Greek Mythology – Part One
Victoria Hooper
When we think of typical fantasy, we tend to imagine a setting influenced by western medieval ideas, complete with knights, horses, longswords and dragons. However, there are much deeper, older…
The Romance of Fantasy
Romance isn’t a word that we usually think of as being inseparable from fantasy; some people enjoy love stories with their fantasy and others vehemently object to them. But romance…
Elements of Fantasy: Zombies
The living dead. Zombies made their first documented appearance in 1929 when William Seabrook recorded his participation with Haitian voodoo ceremonies in The Magic Island. Seabrook had been interested in…
Fantastical Biology – Part Eight: Fantasy Diseases
Shambralyn Baker
When creating a believable fantasy world, we often focus on things like politics, religion, culture; but there’s a tiny (microscopic, in fact) detail that can flesh out a story world…
The History In Your Fantasy
John Gwynne
My third book, titled Ruin, is published in the UK on 16th July. Now, that may not mean much to a lot of you guys, but to me, it’s OUTRAGEOUS!…
Slavery in Fantasy
Geoff Matthews
The subject of slavery became a hot topic on the forum for a few days in June and July. It began with a forum user’s quandary: On one hand us…