Why Do We Love Elemental Fantasy?
Richard Marpole
Earth, air, fire, and water. Primal forces that make up the world and power magic. Why are they such a popular motif in fantasy fiction? Firstly, the theory of the…
magic
Monthly Short Story Winner: Letters
Xiagan
This month we had our entrants try their hand at writing a letter. Sounds boring and not fantasy-ish at all? We hope not! We didn’t want them to just write…
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Jo Niederhoff
Do as you will, but harm no one. What you give will be returned to you threefold. Fall in love whenever you can. The last of these rules is particularly…
Creating a Magic System
Aaron Miles
The naming of a thing gives you power over it. Sorcery is the will and the word. Cast fireball now and you won’t be able to again until tomorrow and…
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
I first discovered magical realism in twelfth grade, when my English teacher assigned us to read One Hundred Years of Solitude. It was a wonderful book – and still is…
Knocking People Out: Easier In Fiction Than In Real Life
Nicola Alter
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…
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…
Monthly Short Story Winner: Story Generator
This month’s stories were all crafted using the Official Bea and Xia Story Generator™. Rules: 1. Entrants must go to Roll Dice Online. Choose number of sides 5; number of…
Trees in Fantasy – Part One: Trees as Symbols
Steff Humm
Magic in fantasy, myth and legend usually occurs as a natural phenomenon, with its own place in the world of the story outside of what is created by mankind and…
Worlds Within Worlds – Part Five: Qi and Fantasy
Christopher Mahon
Most people associate magic with strange symbols, chanting, and waving a wand around. Dusty books are usually in the picture, along with ritual circles or sacrifices. The mages themselves are…
Monthly Short Story Winner: Omens
“An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. People in the ancient times believed that omens lie with a divine…
Monthly Short Story Winner: Urban Fantasy
We haven’t had a genre as our monthly theme for quite a while, so this time entrants wrote us a nice, little urban fantasy story. This means that story should…