Rats and Cats in Fantasy
Victoria Hooper
Two animals that have, throughout history, built up a lot of superstition concerning them are rats and cats. So it’s not surprising that these creatures also pop up a lot…
mythology
The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien
Steff Humm
My journey into fantasy began with Tolkien, which I imagine is the case for a lot of people. His legendary works were a deep foundation for modern fantasy, and when…
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: The Hippalektryon
Faith M. Boughan
For the fourth instalment of this series about lesser-known creatures and beasts of Classical mythology, we’re going to take a little bit of a lighter spin on things. While this…
The Fantasy Assassin
Assassins seem to have been steadily rising in popularity, wrapped in dark hooded cloaks and lurking in the pages of sword and sorcery, epic and urban fantasy, and YA, as…
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: The Ichthyocentaur
Welcome to the third instalment in this series about little-known monsters (and other assorted creatures) from Classical mythology! This series is intended to shine a bit of light on some…
The Battle of Science and Magic – Part Two: Nostalgia and the New
In the previous article we looked at the idea that science destroys magic through encouraging disbelief, and how this has influenced fantasy stories involving magic, folklore and fairies. The first…
The Creatures in the Shadows – Part Three: East Indies
James Calbraith
This is the third article in our Creatures in the Shadows series. You can read the other articles here: Part One – West Africa Part Two – South and East…
Fantastical Creatures of Greek Mythology: The Lamia
In this series, I plan to explore some lesser-known creatures and monsters of classical mythology, many of which are reminiscent of modern-day monsters and beasts in fantasy literature. While many…
The Battle of Science and Magic – Part One: Particles and Pixie Dust
For a long time we have separated magic and science, drawing a line between fantasy and science fiction, associating magic with the past – usually a pre-industrial society – and…
Magic In Fantasy – Part Two: Real Magic
Leo Elijah Cristea
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…
The Creatures in the Shadows – Part Two: South and East Africa
This is the second article in our Creatures in the Shadows series. You can read the first one on West African creatures here. South and South-East Africa is a land…
The Creatures in the Shadows: West Africa
Elves, trolls, dwarves, goblins… There’s no denying that the Western fantasy is strongly entrenched in a Northern European mindscape: those ancient myths of the Celtic and Germanic people that inspired…