This article is by Ashley Capes. The idea that magic in fiction might possess or need a ‘system’ was nonexistent to me when I first read my favourites as a boy in the early 1990s. Magic was but a component to the awe and wonder within the stories. I didn’t need to know how magic … Read more
Fantasy is a genre where the mythical and made-up can be reality, where the fact that something is physically impossible doesn’t stop it from burning down your town or stealing your babies. In this series, I’ll be looking at the creatures of fantasy – where they came from, how authors have used them, and what … Read more
Even when the characters’ adventures are fantastic, a good story should have an emotional core which is personal, drawing from common human experience to help readers connect with our characters. A story written in this way needs little imagination to prop it up. Which is why, in my efforts to write fantasy, I’ve been asked: … Read more