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
This article is by Matthew R. Bishop. In a recent article featured on Mythic Scribes, Christian Madera explored the strengths and limitations of “black and white” fantasy, while defending the rise of “grey” fantasy as something that can overcome the drawbacks of black and white. Let me clarify that I am an author of grey … Read more
This article is by Anne Marie Gazzolo. It’s possible to build characters who achieve a secondary reality, and become people who live in their own right in our hearts and minds. It jars me every time someone says Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee are ‘characters.’ I want to shout, “They are not characters! They are … Read more
This article is by Christian Madera. Early Fantasy literature, with its black-and-white morality, was very comfortable making statements about ethics. I’m using ‘ethics’ in a broad sense here: I don’t just mean questions about what a person should do in a difficult situation (though such questions are definitely a mainstay of Fantasy literature and merit … Read more
This article is by Dan Berger. It’s strange to imagine today, but there was a time when the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was a matter very much in doubt. There were two primary reasons for this near tragedy. One was the scarcity of paper that plagued the United Kingdom in … Read more
This article is by Anne Marie Gazzolo. J. R. R Tolkien had a life-long fascination with dragons. In his essay “On Fairy-Stories,” he spoke of the stories he liked and disliked as a child. “The dragon had the trade-mark Of Faërie written plain upon him. In whatever world he had his being it was an … Read more
This article is by Anne Marie Gazzolo. In the essay, “On Fairy-Stories,” J.R.R. Tolkien speaks of a subject close to his heart. He had a life-long interest in and love for the genre, and approaches the topic as an author. According to Tolkien, fairy-stories allow us as readers and authors to experience what he calls … Read more
World-building is a topic that comes up often in fantasy writing circles. If you’re writing epic fantasy, most often it’s going to be in a world of your own creation. Even if you’re writing in our own world, if you have fantasy elements in your story (e.g., magic, mythical creatures, necromantic hamsters), then you have … Read more
Since the announcement that The Hobbit will be a trilogy, the Internet has been abuzz. The Tolkien fan base has been divided into two camps: those who are elated at the news, and those who believe that it’s a terrible idea. Those who are apprehensive of the films becoming a trilogy have raised some valid … Read more