Recent content by Mason

China Mountain Zhang. By: Maureen F. McHugh Picked this up on a whim. Was not disappointed. Realistic, grim and gritty sci-fi. Incredible worldbuilding and compelling characters.

Any military era in which short-swords were popular. The romans favored a shorter sword. During the early Warring States period the short sword was popular. (They quickly realized that shield-wall formations were slow and could be countered with a cavalry charge). Imagine a mass of men pushing...

Just some questions to think about: Can only certain people give tattoos that enable magic? What if someone makes a mistake will the spells come out all wonky? Is a special kind of ink needed? If your going elemental with the magic, consider tying the ritual of the inking into the environment...

Hi. I just noticed this thread. I would love to jump in on a structured writing group-can we revitalize this thing? Thanks!

Thanks for the input guys! Here's where I'm at with my world: Many centuries before (the story takes place) magic was incredibly powerful and destructive. There was some horrible catastrophic war that basically shattered the old civilizations. After this event magic users were less and less...

The assumption has been made that magic is only useful in war. Does magic necessarily mean violence? What about invisibility spells, levitation, breathing underwater, creating light sources etc.?

Oh totally way too dark. That seriously went bad pretty quick. Its a book about magic wielding children grappling with morality and terrible powers. You guys riffing on the darker side of the idea so hard I didn't want to say anything.

Sorry for not responding promptly... @mindfire I have never heard of that Kids Next Door, I'm not sure I follow what your saying exactly... @Ireth I wouldn't be able to take the story seriously. Acquiring magic in the womb might be a minor note in the text (perhaps a horrible urban legend...

Wow that is a great site. Thanks for the link :)

Contemplating my current idea/project. In this world only children can use magic, they lose the gift upon reaching puberty. In the story a mentor teaches a young wizard how to use his powers for good while the BBEG chase them both down. What are the implications of a world where only children...

You've got a great start Argolyth- some questions to help you figure out what POV you want to take. Are the six regions varied in climate/geography enough to warrant reader exploration? I.E. do you need to take your reader to those parts of your world? Or is it all pretty standard European...

Undoubtedly, Game of Thrones for most captivating fantasy book. For non-fantasy book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kholed Husseini was one of the most satisfying books I have read. I knocked it out in 2-3 days.

Great advice! The opening of a story has always been a challenge for me. Most of my longer stories (not-quite-novels) have been the hardest to start because I feel like I don't know how to start cracking the egg. A teacher once told me to "start where the story starts," plain advice but...

Hello Everyone! I have been looking for a community of writers and world builders with similar interests to my own and I think this may be the place! For a long time I built worlds and places, came up with ideas and things to write about, but I have never really been good at writing. I'm...