This article is by Martin White. Every epic needs an opposing force, and in most high and heroic fantasy, that opposing force is evil. Sometimes, it’s literal Evil with a capital E, embodied in an army of twisted champions. Other times, it’s the sort of evil that kicks puppies and kidnaps damsels. Either way, it … Read more
Your character stands on the edge of the battlefield, where the fate of the world will be decided. He prepares to lead the charge that will change history forever. But as he raises his banner high, something is amiss; there’s laughter all around! A sudden gust of icy wind sends a shocking realization to the … Read more
With some fans thinking the uber-popular Japanese RPG staple Final Fantasy (hereafter referred to as FF) to be on the decline, more players are turning to the tighter stories and open-ended worlds of games like Dragon Age and the Elder Scrolls series (Oblivion, Skyrim, etc.) Some complain that these Western games all follow the same … Read more
I love books. I love the way that they feel in my hands. I love how they smell. To me, every book is a treasure. Hence, when the eBook craze began I was a doubter. In fact, I was a fairly vocal critic of the movement. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would choose to download … Read more
We’ve previously discussed some of the best fantasy movies of all time. Now we’re going to look at the opposite side of the spectrum. The following films are not necessarily the “worst” of their kind, but they are major disappointments. In other words, these are fantasy films that had the potential to be great, but … Read more
Imaginative Realism is the art of painting or drawing what doesn’t exist. It’s the act of bringing visual life to fantasy, often based on the words of fantasy authors. Several months ago I knew Marc Fishman to be an amazing artist and an insightful human being, and A Song of Ice and Fire was just … Read more
This article is by Bets Davies. I always felt straight jacketed by fantasy’s strict genre expectations. Got a little too much romance or sex in your fantasy novel? Sacrilege. That is Romance. Wait. What if I am talking about two guys? Gay and Lesbian, then. All the way. Got frat boy zombies who want to … Read more
This article is by Frank LaVoie. For those of you not familiar with the YA moniker, it refers to the genre of Young Adult literature. In the realm of publishing, it is most often coupled with the word ‘fantasy’, thus denoting a fairly specific breed that has proven its popularity in the form of the Harry … Read more
As a twelve year old boy I resolved to write my first fantasy epic. Through months of toil I hammered out a draft and set it aside. When I returned to it, I was surprised to discover just how unoriginal it was. The plot borrowed heavily from The Lord of the Rings, with strong shades … Read more
I recently took my daughter to buy some books in a rather large UK book chain and was dismayed to discover that the Fantasy section had all but disappeared. Whereas a decade or more ago it took up an entire wall, it’s now reduced to shelf space maybe eight feet long, if that. What’s worse, … Read more